Changing Focus - Prioritizing Muscle Building

 So the ultra marathon training fell through due to family and my husband's company and just having some issues with my knees that really screwed up the first 3-4 weeks of the 16 week training. Mentally I knew I could force myself through the 50 miles, but at what physical cost? Was I willing to cause damage or serious injury to my body, nope. So I decided that I'd use this winter to focus on increasing my muscle mass, trying to get my muscle percentage back up to 50% and then come Spring I would increase my mileage and focus on leaning out while staying between 45-50% muscle all while keeping my body fat percentage under 25% during the "bulking" phase and then knock it down to 20-22% body fat while holding on to as much muscle as I possibly can.
Currently, as of yesterday I am 133.6 lbs with my BFP (Body Fat Percentage) at 21.2% and Muscle Rate is currently at 45.3%

This morning's workout:

Now I did do some calf raises along with the first circuit, I just didn't add them in there but I'll do that from here on out.

Calf Raises between the Double K-Bell Front Squat and Glute Thrust:
90x12 / 90x12 / 90x12 / 140x12 / 140x12

2021 LBL50 Training Week 10

 I was determined to continue my 60 miles a week streak, Monday I went to the gym - it was back day with some legs and torso thrown in.

I decided to go and run from the gym afterwards, it was freaking cold and I didn't feel like any pic would be better than a screenshot of the temp. I ran 6 miles with an average pace of 9:13 min/mile and it was freaking freezing. That day my race bling/package for the 2020 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon was delivered and I was excited, this Saturday I was going to try and run 26.2 miles so I could hang the medal up.

That afternoon I decided to take Jetta for another run, we went out to Blue Grass to run and ran 7.1 miles with an average pace of 9:17 min/mile. 

Tuesday - November 3rd I turned 33 years old. I did not make to the gym but I did do some pull-ups and chin-ups in celebration, as many as I could.

That evening, Jetta and I went out and ran 6.1 miles with an average pace of 9:23 min/mile. I do forget where we went to run..... though.

Wednesday morning I went to the gym and focused on the delts.

Later that morning I headed out to Blue Grass (again) and ran 8.3 miles with an average pace of 8:56 min/mile. It was gorgeous out and I enjoyed the sun and warmth.

Later that afternoon I decided to head out and get another run in, enjoying the 75 degrees and sunshine. I ran 5.1 miles with an easy effort pace of 9:02 min/mile.

Thursday I decided to rest and take it easy as I was hoping to run the 26.2 miles that Saturday.

Friday morning I decided to go out for an easy effort run, 5 miles with an average pace of 8:51 min/mile.

Saturday morning started off okay, I ate my usual and got my stuff together before heading to Friedman Park. The first loop I knew something was not going right but I hoped for the best. By the end of the 2nd loop I was feeling drained and was having some serious stomach issues. On the 3rd loop daylight was coming up and people were showing up and my GI issues were getting worse. I hit the "resume later" option and got back in my Explorer with the intentions of heading out to Blue Grass to finish up but after a couple minutes I knew it wasn't going to happen. My mind and body was drained and exhausted, and it would have been a stupid mistake to try and get the other 11 miles in. So I saved the run at 15.1 miles and headed home. I ran 15.1 miles with an average pace of 9:39 min/mile.

Sunday morning I needed some redemption so I headed out to Blue Grass and ran with an easy effort pace. I felt better but my left upper/inner quad was feeling a bit sore and tight. I ran 7.3 miles with an easy effort of 9:09 min/mile, finishing up the week with 60 miles.

2021 LBL50 Training Week 9

 October 26th to November 1st.
I've been slacking on my blog and now I'm trying to play catchup with it, along with a very hectic week coming up.
My running mileage so far has stayed pretty consistent, though  haven't rollerbladed in 3 or 4 weeks no since the crash... not necessarily because of the wreck but because I have been picking running over rollerblading.
I ran 60.9 miles during week 9, having to double days at the beginning.
Monday morning I went to the gym first and worked my glutes and back for a little over an hour.

Then I head to the river front to get a run in, the temp was cooler and I noticed my easy effort pace has gotten faster. I ran 7.1 miles with an easy effort 9:36 min/mile.

That afternoon it was still pretty cool at 51 degrees so I took Jetta with me for another 7 mile run which was surprisingly much faster than that morning. An average pace of 8:49 min/mile, very pleasing to see.
Tuesday I didn't make it to the gym but Jetta and I did go hit the trails in some mud, again I was very surprised of my pace. I ran 5.2 miles with an easy effort pace of 9:47 min/mile.

We ran again that afternoon, only 4 miles with an average pace of 9:40 min/mile with Jetta.

Wednesday I made it to the gym and hit the delts.

I went back home afterwards, probably because Dorian was awake. After taking him to school I took Jetta to the Evansville river front for a run. The first mile or 2 had me uncertain and I was very seriously considering turning back and heading back out to Warrick County, the amount of bums and suspicious people definitely had me a little concerned. But we kept going and things eased up, we ended up running 8.2 miles with an average pace of 8:52 min/mile.
Thursday morning I didn't go to the gym, instead I waited until after I dropped Dorian off at school and then took Jetta to the trails again. The night before had some serious heavy rainfall and we had some flash flooding. The woods were flooded, water was rushing out of the woods and off the "cliffs" into the river, the trails were under water with some all the way up to my knees. It was fun though, Jetta and I had a blast and ran 5.2 miles with an average pace of 9:57 min/mile.

Friday morning Jetta and I went out and ran 6 miles with an average pace of 9 min/mile, it was a little chilly with a breeze but overall it wasn't bad.
After getting home I decided to go ahead and see what the gym was like around 10:30 am as I was tired of only hitting the gym twice a week. It really wasn't that bad to be honest, I was able to get my workout in and I felt satisfied.

Saturday morning I decided not to run a very long run so I went ahead and took Jetta with me. It was a bit warm for her with the sun shining, but we did okay and we took it easy with some walk breaks. We ended up running 13.1 miles with an average pace of 9:07 min/mile.

I didn't take any fluids and fuel for this so I was a lot leaner afterwards than normally, I think I will do this for any of my runs that are not more than 18 miles.... no fuel or fluids.

Sunday morning Jetta and I headed to the riverfront to get in a quick run, it was 50 degrees but the sun was shining. I was the only one barely dressed as everyone else had long sleeves on.

So that gave me 60.9 miles for training week 9 along with hitting the gym 3 times and of course doing workouts at home.

2021 LBL50 Training Week 8

Summer tried to come back and take over again, the mornings were seeing 60-70 degrees and the afternoons were seeing 80-90 degrees. I was only able to take Jetta with me one time because of the heat, but I got my runs in nonetheless.
Week 7 saw 60 miles and this week I increased it to 65.8 miles, I'm still feeling pretty good and my pace is getting faster, I'm back to the easy effort paces I had back in 2016-2017, down in the 9-9:30 min/mile pace. I think the hills at Audubon are definitely helping, I feel pretty good that I could even see easy effort paces below 9/mile.
Monday morning I went to the gym first, focusing on glutes, legs and back. 

Then I headed down to the riverfront for a run, focused on an easy effort pace for 6 miles. It was 57 degrees so wasn't too awful, barely a breeze of 5 mph.

Tuesday I didn't make it to the gym, but I did go to Audubon to run the trails. It was only 52 degrees, so not bad at all. The hills are insane, a great place to train for any ultra I'm sure. I ended up running 8.43 miles in 1:39:51 with an average pace of 11:50 min/mile, elevation gain of 1,558 feet. 
When running trails, I've come to learn that I can go on strava and correct the mileage because my Garmin Instinct is not exactly on point mileage wise. On trails it is typically .3-.4 miles behind so I correct it on strava, on roads it is only around .2 miles behind.

Wednesday I did make to the gym, focusing on shoulders. 

Then it was off to Friedman park to run, hoping my son was still sound asleep. It was 63 degrees and not much wind, a little humid but not bad. 
From the get-go my pace was pretty good and felt easy so I decided to just push it with each mile til I was down in the mid to low 9's. I ended up running 10.3 miles with an average pace of 9:42 min/mile and the final .3 mile was a fartlek with a pace of 7:35 min/mile.... of course it was downhill so it didn't feel as hard as it would on flat ground.

That afternoon I went ahead and took Jetta for a walk around Dorian's school til he got out. We only walked 3.05 miles, at that point it was 73 degrees and the sun was shining... so it was a bit warm for Jetta but thankfully we were only walking.
Thursday morning I headed to Audubon again after dropping Dorian off at school, I decided to change up the route rather than do my usual. It 57 degrees but felt so much warmer, I was sweating like crazy and the hills were tough. I ended up running 5:54 miles in 1:06:33 with an elevation gain of 954 feet. 

That afternoon I decided to go ahead and run again, before picking my son up from school. I ended up running 6 miles in 55:25 with an average pace of 9:06 min/mile. It was 84 degrees and partly cloudy so the sun was out a lot, cooking my skull.

Friday morning I decidedly only ran once, since I had 20 miles planned for Saturday and didn't want to be too wore out from it. I waited until after I took Dorian to school, then took Jetta out to Blue Grass to run a nice little loop. Again the temps were almost unforgivable, even at 8:30 in the morning. It was 67 degrees and the sun mocked us, not much of a breeze either. We ended up running 5.1 miles in 47:54 with an average pace of 9:23 min/mile, we even took some walk breaks and stops so Jetta could catch her breath.

Friday afternoon brought some stormy weather in that immediately dropped the temps. By Saturday morning it was 46 degrees with N winds of 13 mph, a huge change from the day before it. I was really indecisive about what I was going to wear, so I decided to park at Friedman near one of the bathrooms and so I could change clothes if necessary. I ate some oatmeal before leaving the house, I took my gear bag with my fuel and stuff. I dressed in capris, gloves and a long sleeved shirt with some sort of windbreaker fabric around the torso area. Around mile 5 I was feeling pretty warm, but thankfully I was finishing up the first loop and getting back to my suv. I then changed into a thermal long sleeve with a bright orange/pink tank over it, the winds were still kicking and I was a little bit cold but okay. The second loop went okay, it was still super dark out and nobody else (which I prefer). Finishing up the second loop and getting back to my vehicle, I decided to grap a hammer nutrition bar which has 220 calories and is easy to chew without water. Sadly it appears my digestive system isn't too keen on this bar.... on the 3rd loop, things started to get a little ugly and it didn't help that I started seeing others out there so I was no longer in the mood to run another loop with people getting out there. So I took off onto one of the out and back paths that are about 1.5 miles long, I also went down some roads off that pathway to get as many miles as I could. By the time I made it back to the main pathway of the 5.3 mile loop, I had 16 miles done. From there on I just kept putting one foot in front of the other until I finished 20 miles in 3:11:16 with an average pace of 9:29 min/mile, elevation of 532 feet. I'm not so sure about those hammer bars, I really like the consistency and ease of chewing and swallowing BUT not sure if my digestive system is going to accept them. I'm going to give it one more try this coming Saturday with my 15 miler, if I get the same issues, I'll be looking for something else for fuel and energy.