I can’t believe that I’m entering my 6th week of LIIFT4! I am still absolutely loving this program and it has really fit perfectly into this phase of life for me. I had hoped to combine it with 3 days a week of running but these last two weeks were pretty crazy and I prioritized sleep over my runs (Rowan is in the 4 month sleep regression – so far Scarlett seems unaffected and sleeps 10-11 hours straight at night, thankfully!!!). But the good news is I still feel like I’m making progress both in the program and in my running! I definitely think that the HIIT component of LIIFT4 is helping my running. Technically I started training for the Rock n’ Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon at the start of week 4, though in all honestly right now the program is higher priority than my running is right now!
I’ll make the recap fairly quick since I’m covering 2 weeks!
LIIFT4 Week 4 & Running Recap
Monday: Rest day. After a terrible night of sleep, a mild hangover from our wine tasting tour the day before, and with a busy day with the kids, I didn’t have the energy for a workout! This was my second rest day in a row.
Tuesday: LIIFT4 Chest and Triceps & 3.5 mile run. I increased my weights to 25 pounds for the chest portion at first, but had to drop down toward the end. But that’s pretty freaking good! I felt great on my 3.5 mile run – the day off must have helped. I PR’d on the Strava segment that goes up the giant hill by my house!
Wednesday: LIIFT4 Legs. This was HIIT only, no weights and was intense! I was happy when it was over!
Thursday: LIIFT4 Back and Biceps. I love how every workout is unique in this – even though we do a lot of the same moves (which is nice because you can track your progress), it’s almost like being in a live class because you never know exactly what to expect!
Friday: Rest day.
Saturday: 9.5 mile run. I met up with my running club and ran with my friend Miranda (who is also doing LIIFT4). I was thankful that she was ok running a little slower! This was my longest postpartum run and although it was tough at the end, overall felt decent! The tough part about meeting my running group in that they meet so early. I have to wake up an hour before I leave the house to pump, so I was up at 5 AM, after being up in the night a couple times. I was pretty tired the rest of the day and unfortunately wasn’t able to nap.
Sunday: LIIFT4 Shoulders. Shoulders has two back to back shoulder workouts followed immediately by 30 sec of HIIT. The HIIT actually helped stretch my legs out and loosen them up after the long run the previous day.
Total Miles Run: 13
Total Strength Workouts: 4
LIIFT4 Week 5 & Running Recap
Monday: LIIFT4 Chest and Tris. Was dragging after a bad night of sleep but did the workout and felt way better.
Tuesday: 4 mile run with unofficial speedwork. Instead of trying to actually follow a training plan with pace based speed intervals, I’m kind of just winging speed work. Despite it being really hot and humid and nearly noon when I started this run, I felt really good – I planned to maybe do a half mile at a faster pace and then some recovery but was feeling so good that I just kept going until the end, then recovered a bit, turned around and sped it up again! I ended up with my fastest postpartum run (9:20 pace), fastest postpartum mile (8:40 I think), faster postpartum 5K – I had reset my Garmin records after my pregnancy and it’s been very rewarding seeing these new “PRs” show up!
Wednesday: LIIFT4 Back and Biceps.
Thursday: LIIFT4 Legs. I was sore for days after this but it felt great! I actually tried to increase my weights for squats to 30 pounds but couldn’t maintain good form so I dropped back down to 25s.
Friday: Rest day. We had a fun day at the beach which was a workout in itself!
Saturday: 9 mile run. My friend Kelly and I ran the coast and even a couple miles on the sand! It was a fun run and we finished at the beach so that we could take a dip in the water – it felt so refreshing! 
Sunday: LIIFT4 Shoulders.
Total Miles Run: 13
Total Strength Workouts: 4
LIIFT Weeks 4&5 Nutrition
I’ve developed some great habits nutrition wise since the twins were born but admittedly did not follow the container system over the last two weeks. Instead of taking a cheat day, I ended up doing 3 different cheat meals both weeks – not the way the plan is supposed to go! I’m going to get back on it for the final 3 weeks of the program because I see much better results and feel better when I do!
LIIFT Weeks 4 & 5 Weight Loss
I’m down 7.5 pounds total for the program, which means I only lost 1.5 pounds over the last 2 weeks. This all had to do with my nutrition and that’s fine! I’m getting so much stronger and faster and building that endurance with running again. I really don’t believe it’s all about the scale, but it does tend to show when I am not doing as well with my diet.
I’m looking forward to finishing these final weeks strong! I have a challenge group that started today (it’s not too late to join us!) and it’s just the motivation I need to pick up the pace and achieve my goals!
If you want to try this program for yourself (it can be done as is or mixed with running or the activity of your choice) or try my old favorite 21 Day Fix (30 min/day beginner-intermediate level) or go all in with the more demanding 80 Day Obsession, please join me! Fill out this form to get more info about joining my accountability group for LIIFT4 or any other Beachbody program.
Wow you have made fantastic progress on getting back your long runs and keeping up your strength training.