Ok, just because I haven't been writing doesn't mean I haven't been running! I actually have logged THREE more work outs since the last time I wrote. Thursday I had my first day at the new gym, Saturday I "attempted" to do a long run, and Monday was another gym day.
Thursday I was actually excited to go to the gym. I haven't been to one in probably almost a year since I've been so dedicated to running my runs outside. So I was looking forward to a nice, indoor treadmill run. Treadmill running is actually a pretty good training tool for myself since I can really control the pace I'm running and force myself to go faster for longer. It also just keeps me really in tune with how much my pace fluctuates! I began by choosing to do a 30-minute run. I did a 5 minute warm-up, then made myself run a mile at a 10 min/mile pace, then I felt the need to lower my pace to an 11 min/mile pace for the next 5 minutes and then I upped it to a 10 minute pace again and I repeated that for one more mile. Not gonna lie, I felt a little pooped at the end of my 30 minutes and I couldn't wrap my finger around how the 2 people next to me were able to run so fast! The one girl was going on 60 minutes of steady running too. No slowing down for her. I'm telling you looks can definitely be deceiving when it comes to how fit somebody actually is. And this is one of my biggest challenges- I need to try and find out how to increase my endurance so I can run faster and longer without feeling so exhausted. The entire time I was running I kept having visions of myself tripping, falling and causing a huge scene AND I was only running at a fraction of everybody else's speed. Once my 30 minutes plus a cool down was done on the treadmill I did 15 minutes of hill intervals on the elliptical to just switch it up a bit. This felt good and it was nice to get a little arm work out in.
Last Wednesday and Friday were my 2 days off last week.
Saturday I knew I had to do a long run since I hadn't done a run over 3 miles since my last 10K. So my plan was to do 5 and if I felt good to try and do 6. But the second I stepped outside and started running those plans quickly went down the tubes. It was one of my most awful runs ever! I felt like I had gone running for the first time! I was exhausted. Panting out of breath in the first mile. Feet were cold and wet. My face and neck were freeeeezing from the wind and the cold temps. My thighs were burning and freezing at the same time. The zipper on my pants was rubbing weird on my ankle. I felt hot on top at times though thinking I had one too many layers on. It was just bad all around. Now I guess I should preface the situation a bit. It was only 16 degrees out and it did snow the night before so there was a fresh few inches of un-shoveled snow on the sidewalks making it pretty difficult to tread through with the lack of traction. It was what running through sand probably feels like. My mom actually made me feel better about this run when she said that if it weren't for those conditions I probably would have been able to run another mile or two. So my 5-6 miler turned into a 4 miler. I guess I should also admit that I couldn't run the entire 4 miles. In fact, I probably walked a combined total of almost one whole mile...boo. I know. The only good that came from this was that I felt sore. And tired. And like I had actually had a decent work out because of all this exhaustion.
Sunday I took the day off for my Dad's birthday celebration.
Last night, Monday, I braved the snowstorm we were in the midst of having and went to the gym again. I set the timer for 50 minutes and hoped to run as much of that time as I could. I finished the work out with running 4.5 miles at 10, 11 and a few minutes of 9 minute/mile paces. And it felt good. Next time I'm going to push myself even further to run more at 9-10 minute paces and less 11. I think I may even try to do some treadmill speedwork since I'm not able to get to the Pettit Center this week.
To be honest, I'm not sure what the rest of my week is going to look like as far as working out goes. I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for a photo shoot in Cali for a few days and the last time we worked a shoot out there I slept for almost an entire day once I got back. Eeek! That'll not be good for my training since I've got another 10K coming up! But who knows, maybe I can fit a beach run into my schedule in sunny California this week!
Until next time!
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