Rest Day

I wasn't feeling terrific last night and I've pushed myself decently hard this week, so I'm taking today as a rest day.





I will be up bright and early to run 6 or 7 miles on Sunday morning... my longest run in Korea so far (if all goes well).





Have a great weekend!



Weekly totals:


Miles run: 19


Days of strength training: 3

TGIF!

I am so happy it's almost the weekend...and it's a 4-day weekend for me!









I ran to the gym this morning, and lifted for shoulders. I also did some abs and my IT band exercises, so here's what my workout looked like:




3 sets military press




3 sets hip abduction




50 sit ups




3 sets dumbell front raises




50 swiss ball crunches




3 sets lateral raises




3 sets hip adduction




50 Russian twists




3 sets dumbell shoulder press




3 sets back extensions




50 leg lifts









...and then a mile run home.





My legs were definitely a little tired from the hills yesterday!



Happy Friday!

Conquering the Mountain

I live right at the base of Namsan Mountain, which is basically right in the center of Seoul. The mountain has an observation tower on top which is a pretty big tourist attraction, but I still haven't gone up it. The views from the mountain are pretty spectacular, and it's a great place to run.






It's not easy though!



It's about 3 miles from my house to the top of the mountain (and I take a shorter way home). I don't know the elevation gain, but it's a lot! My calves were really sore going up, but after stopping to stretch, they were fine.



The views at the top weren't as great as I was hoping... too much air pollution (sorry, lungs). But it was still a really good, tough 49 minute run!

Wednesday strength training

This morning was so beautiful I was a little bummed to be going inside to work out, but I couldn't miss out on some good strength training!



I did 3 sets each of


Bench dips


Decline chest presses


Chest flys with dumbells


Overhead tricep cable extensions






..plus some abs and my IT band exercises





The new work schedule (12-8 instead of 3-10) means I'm at the gym before the crowds so I don't have to wait around for machines, which is AWESOME.





I soaked up the sun on my run to and from the gym, and then ate most of this half of a watermelon and a giant cup of soymilk with some instant espresso stirred in.




Now I'm just cooking up a big pot of brown rice and doing some laundry before I have to go to work. This week is FLYING by!

Love those Hill Repeats

I did not feel especially energized for my hill repeats this morning. I was a little queasy and my legs felt like my muscles had been replaced with steel cables, but I made it through my 30 minute run and 6 1-minute hill repeats, and I'm feeling a lot better now that I have it out of the way.





My IT band is still cooperating so I'm trying REALLY hard not to overdo it and reinjure myself (AGAIN...)





Happy running!

Monday Mornings

Monday mornings can go one of two ways. Either I feel completely sluggish and miserable about the weekend being over, or my eyes pop open and I'm ready for the day. Fortunately, this morning was the latter. I was out the door within 5 minutes of the alarm going off, and I had a nice easy run to the gym.



I hadn't lifted since last Tuesday because I was feeling a little under the weather, so I felt really fresh and strong this morning. I did my usual IT-band exercises (from physical therapy) plus lifted for back and biceps.



If you ever feel like you're running out of ideas for ways to work various muscles, check out the exercise guide at bodybuilding.com. (Obviously, if you're unsure how to do something, have a trainer help you because you don't want to injure yourself!)



Now I'm just working my way through this bottle of water

and getting ready to go to work.

Have a great Monday!

A New Blog...

I already have a cooking blog, but one just wasn't enough, so I decided to create a blog about running, fitness, and nutrition too!

I'll be posting about running and living a healthy life, so put on your running shoes and follow Cate on the Run!