Well that is about as good a day as you can have. Quality
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Gorgeous! You know itās a good day when you have to stop to take a pic. 
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I would love to have a run like that! Beautiful!!
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@simo74 absolutely! All the extra food is really starting to show.
@EmilyQ indeed, I am so good at forgetting to take photos, so it means a lot when I grab one.
@BethB come visit anytime! My backyard is amazing.
Monday 10/20
RUNch break, Intervals
10:00 easy
4 x 400m w/ 400m rec
1:38, 1:40, 1:43, 1:39
3.85 total, 37:01
Finally got a couple back down in the 1:30s, booya. Beautiful day with a sky so blue in hurt, or maybe that was the intervals.
Later
5/3/1 for Bodybuilding, W6D2
Leg Press
95 x5
120 x5
140 x3
175 x3
195 x3
220 x1+ (11)
Hack Squat
4x12xm+35
Leg Curls
12, 13 x80
Leg Extensions
12, 12, 14, 14 x100
Hip Adductor
15, 15, 15 x90
Rear Delt Cable Fly
3x15x10
+30 minutes elliptical
Oh yeah, the increased calories are working. Last week, Leg Press was a 3+ @ 210 and I barely got 9.
Loving having energy, Iām actually wanting to send it, not just survive.
8 Likes
Tuesday 10/22
RUNch Tempo
10:00 easy
10:00 @<8:15/mi
10:00 easy
3 mi, 29:09
Felt great, pace was challenging but not as high on the RPE scale as the last couple of tempos.
Did this after touring a nice townhome to rent. Ultimately decided the lack of run/walk ability of the neighborhood is a deal breaker. Which sucks, because the actual unit was damn near perfect. The search for a garage continues.
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Jesus, that transformation photo of you is mind blowing. One of the most impressive Iāve seen. You look fantastic!
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You just made my day, thank you for the kind words!
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Friday 10/24
RUNch Break
3 miles, 31:31
Some moderate speed surges thrown in at random, but kept things pretty easy. No pace goal for this one.
*Stop reading here if you donāt want to read TMI about my lady bits.
So I got an IUD on Wednesday. Iāve been on the pill for over a decade, and it has kept my periods light and as predictable as a Swiss watch. Until the last 8ish months. I started having periods more frequently. The last few months Iāve been having 5-10 day bleeds every 14 days. To say itās annoying is an understatement. So after blood work and a pelvic ultrasound all came up normal (yay!) my PA suggested an IUD. I got it scheduled, here we are.
On Wednesday, here I am thinking itās no big deal and life goes on. Well I get to the office and the doc placing the device asks if I am off work (it was a lunchtime appointment) the rest of the day, I say no. She then offers me Tylenol. Fast forward, device is placed. I ask if I can go do heavy squats later. She laughs. Apparently, I am supposed to wait at least 3-days for that kind of nonsense. Two day wait for running.
So yeah, I didnāt ask enough questions before the appointment. I figured my body would magically accept F.O.D and I would go back to normal immediately! I expect a lot of my body. Poor thing.
Any way, long story short, I was taking it easy today on the running. No cramps, and no uhā¦ Dislodging that Iām aware of. Which was honestly my biggest concern.
TBD on lifting. Iām feeling fine, but I want to respect the recovery timeline. Might do upper body Saturday and legs Sunday.
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IUDs are wonderful. I had one for about 14 years and all was well until about 2 years ago. They hurt like a bitch to get taken out and put back in. My sympathies for that. Hopefully yours will be as good as mine was for many years to come.
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Which IUD did you get? Hopefully we both have positive experiences 
Iāve been concerned about my body expelling my IUD at some point, but my doctor doesnāt believe there is much of a chance. Who knows though.
Iām not a doctor, but I canāt imagine running after an IUD insertion would be very risky. Lifting restrictions, hmm, maybe not a bad idea in my unqualified opinion.
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@BethB That is comforting to hear! It sounded like an overall better option than the pill, so I am looking forward to the many years of goodness after the adjustment period.
@Bagsy I picked Mirena. The copper ones sounds sketchy! Mine said the same thing regarding the chances of expellsion, little to no risk. Still, itās in the back of my mind!
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Saturday 10/25
5/3/1 for Bodybuilding, W6D4
Rogers Chest Supported Row
(Weight added to machine)
85 x5
110 x5
130 x3
160 x3
180 x3
200 x1+ (6)
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
15, 16, 16 x85
Close Grip Bench Press
15, 15, 16 x85
Machine Tri Pushdown
3x15x45
Rear Delt Cable Fly
3x15x10
Cardio:
Easy Run
5.25 miles, 56:25
Leg day 2 was skipped. Eventually got around to back day. Went well, I was able to do more reps than week 3 on the row + set. Happy with the progression on this run of 531.
Did a extra loop on the run home from the gym to get target mileage. Weather was rolling in and I didnāt want to mess with it on a trail, so no dirt this week.
Sunday 10/26
5/3/1 for Bodybuilding, W7D1 - Deload
Leg Press
90 x5
115 x5
135 x3
145 x5
170 x5
190 x5+ (10)
Hack Squat
10, 12 x m+30
Leg Curls
17, 14 x60
Leg Extension
13, 11 x95
Hip Adductor
15 x85, 10 x 100
Rear Delt Cable Fly
3x10x15
+30 minutes elliptical
I almost skipped the deload week since I missed a day last week and had two weeks off during week 3. But, I decided it would be good before starting my new program, which will be a monster volume program, 5x a week.
Glad I opted for the deload, my legs were feeling tired all day.
7 Likes
I got the Mirena too. There are other (and slightly smaller) hormonal ones too in case this one turns out to be too big for you.
1 Like
Monday 10/27
RUNch Break - Intervals
10:00 easy
4 x 400m w/ 400 recover
1:42, 1:36, 1:35, 1:38
5:00 easy
3.5 miles, 33:45
Beautiful day, ran in new shoes, great way to break up a Monday!
Later
5/3/1 for Bodybuilding W7D2 - Deload
SM Incline Bench Press (m+weight for all)
30x5
40x5
45x3
50x5
55x5
65x5+ (8)
Cable Flye
2 x 10 x 17
Seated OH Press
13, 11 x m+70
Cable Lateral Raise
2x10x10
Bayesian Curl
2 x 10 x 20
Preacher Curl
2 x 10 x 35
Conditioning:
10 Curls
20 Push Press
30 Lunges
40 Leg Raises
20 Push Press
10 Curls
- Tabata spin bike
15:00 Easy spin
Loving the speed of this deload week. This whole session took just over an hour, including cardio. Will be a nice break before talking to the volume for a few months.
Feels great to just send it on two rounds and move on to. This week be the setup during high mileage months next summer, looking forward to it.
9 Likes
Tuesday 10/28
Tempo Tuesday
10:00 Easy jog
10:00@8:05/mi
13:00 easy
3.5 miles, 33:44
Felt peppy for the first few minutes of the tempo, breathing like a freight train by the end to hold pace. Smiling like an idiot the whole time.
I mean, look at this trail and dayā¦
12 Likes
Wednesday 10/29
5/3/1 for Bodybuilding, W7D3 - Deload
BB RDL
75 x5
95 x5
110 x3
135 x5
155 x5
185 x5+ (8)
Hip Thrust
10 x m+95
Called it after one set, that felt weird and a bit painful on the lower abdomen.
Roger Squat
13, 15 x m+70
Leg Curls
2x10x70
Abductor
15 x 80, 12 x90
Lateral Raise
12, 12 x15
+30 minutes LISS stationary bike
Great day, loss of hitting failure it close to it. My tender lower abs did not appreciate the hip thrust machine pressure, so I called it after one set that felt weird, borderline painful. Rather safe than sorry and give it another week.
I canāt believe how fast these go. If I felt like I could still grow with this little volume, I would do two hard sets and call it everytime. I like lifting, but it has been nice to still have some hours in the evening to hang out with my hubby before sleep.
11 Likes
If I felt like I could still grow with this little volume, I would do two hard sets and call it everytime.
Iād say thereās a lot of evidence out there to point out that one CAN indeed grow from just this. Now, more training could get MORE growth, for sure, but you can probably get your 80% solution out of 2 hard sets.
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The more I do things in life, the more 80% becomes my sweet spot. If not the goal completely.
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Yup. I like Dan Johnās metric of āpretty goodā being the gold standard.
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