Good Tweener Week

This week didn't turn out to be quite as productive as I had hoped, but it was a good "tweener" week between the tough week that I had last week and the absolutely fabulous week that I'm going to have this coming week.

I ended up running twice (4 and 5 miles), and going to the gym twice. I walked on the treadmill after my first gym workout, but ran short on time today. I did have a very intense 40-minute weight training session today though. I really blasted my muscles with a bunch of drop sets. I take little to no rest when weight training. I do all of my exercises like one giant set - going from station to station without pausing. Once I've completed the entire circuit, I start again from the beginning. It's very similar to circuit training, but from what I understand of circuit training, that includes a period of time between circuits where you do a cardiovascular exercise for ten minutes or so to keep up the heart rate. My workouts are just one continuous weight training session. I do my cardio at the end.

Recently, I've been reading Run Less, Run Faster http://www.amazon.com/Runners-World-Less-Faster-Revolutionary/dp/159486649X which details the FIRST training theory and approach. I used the FIRST training program two years ago after reading an article about it in Runner's World and ended up shaving over 15 minutes off of my marathon PR. I am a big believer in the program. It works, and I will be using it again this summer. I highly recommend checking out this book. Their approach to measuring the effects and results of the training program is very scientific, which sets it apart from many programs that are proven to work based on only anecdotal evidence.

If you're looking for some good motivational material, check out this site: http://www.walkthetalk.com/the212movie.php?refsource=gpc1&gclid=CKzNnoa-wYwCFSWQGgodyUs0dA
They showed us this video at work during a training, and it really had an impact on me. Many of the tenets discussed in the video are applicable to running and to life. There are a ton of cool quotes to be mined from the video along with the 212 degrees book which I borrowed from someone at work. It's simple and straightforward yet powerful stuff.

On an interesting, but totally unrelated note, I think that I'm finally going to get my first tattoo. I'm not sure as of yet exactly where I want this body art to be located, but I do know what image I want decorating my body for the rest of my days. It will actually only be writing, but I'm still pretty excited about it.

Well, that's pretty much my week. I do have some other interesting news that I will address later in a separate post.