Monday I had off from work; it was nice to have a day home after two days of driving. I got in a 9 mile run, did laundry, went grocery shopping, emptied the dishwasher, and then because I'm crazy, I went to an hour of spinning with a friend that night too, then I made dinner. I'd say it was a productive day!
I ran 9.02 miles without music. I made myself a route that included some hills, just for fun. There were so many pretty flowering trees to look at along the way.
It was also 80ish and humid with clear skies. I did not wear sun screen (hey, it's not as hot as Florida, and the sun isn't as direct!), and as a result my shoulders and upper chest were sunburned. Guess it's time to start wearing sunscreen while I run again. I got more color from that run than I did the whole time we were in Florida (I was good and used sunscreen in FL though). I had a pineapple roctane gu
around mile 4.3. It was my first time trying the flavor, it was recommended to me by the bike shop guy where I buy gu. He claimed it tastes like pineapple soda; I guess I'd agree- maybe I'd say it tastes like pineapple soda with a little salt in it.Tuesday I took a day off since Monday was a tad cardio-intensive. I did go for a 45-50 minute walk with the dog and the dude before watching the Buffalo Sabres hockey game. Watching the game was a bad idea, they lost badly to Philly (2-5). No Stanley Cup for Buffalo this year.
Wednesday I had a long day of work and was looking forward to spinning in the evening. I got to the gym a little early, ready to pedal my little heart out only to find out my gym card was not in my wallet. I realized I left it in my handheld water bottle pouch from Monday night. The one other time I forgot my gym card last summer I was still allowed in with my license (also, they recognized me), and just signing my name on a sheet of paper. Apparently the policy changed or the student worker at the desk was new...she wouldn't let me even with my license and/or my ID card from when I was a grad student there. I hoped someone else might walk in to the office and veto her decision. I asked, but she also wouldn't let me be a guest of my friend who was already in the spinning room (and I was bringing water for my friend because she forgot and I had no way to get in touch with her).
I was pissed and this put me in a foul mood. I had planned to spin and do some speed work on the treadmill since it was over 80% humidity out and running in that just isn't pleasant. Additionally there was a possible thunderstorm rolling in...
...and I didn't feel like running in a downpour.
There was not enough time to drive home and get it and get back for spinning... and I didn't want to see that girl again last night anyway. Luckily the rain held off and those dark clouds passed (but the humidity stuck around). I went home and changed into my running shorts but was still stewing and sat on my butt for over an hour before getting out the door for a run. I finally did though...
I ran 5x800m at 10k pace with 400m rest intervals.
My goal pace was in the 9:41-9:49 range based on a hopeful 2:14-2:16 half marathon.
I did a .65 mile warm up (random, yes), then banged out 9:35, 9:09, 9:26, 9:28, and 9:38 (second half of that last one was even up hill!) splits. After the final 400m rest interval, I slowly ran for almost half a mile.
Total: 4.87 miles in 51:33.
Despite my grumpiness earlier in the evening, I was very pleased with my speed work. ESPECIALLY considering the humidity. I felt sweaty just stepping outside, let alone running in it. And my Heart Rate was an average 163 to boot, which is pretty good for me during 1. speed work and 2. heat. Even without the heat, I'd be happy with that HR. My HR peaked at 183 while running that uphill portion at the end.
And just to end with another picture, here is a grainy cell phone picture of some pretty tulips I passed while driving to the gym:
How's your running/biking/yoga/whatever going this week?
Who's signed up for spring races?
You're a machine! :D Great speed work!!
ReplyDeleteMy running's slow but mostly pain-free, so that's what I'm happy about for now. My biking is GREAT! I biked to lab for the first time this season on Tuesday! Yoga was going to be great, until my allergies made it hard to breathe. ;) I'm doing an abs challenge, though, 5 days a week for six weeks of this: http://ohsheglows.com/run/abs/. That is going well. :)
It's so pretty where you are! It's all rain all the time here. Bleh.
ReplyDeletevery nice speedwork! I had a satisfying session myself...although I have lightyears of progress to make but I'll get there.
Running is doing good. Long run tomorrow with great weather in the forecast. I love spring running it's so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI'm signed up for a 15k in May and a 5k in June.
I need to learn to do speedwork, do you mesure out the distances ahead for the repeats or do you have a garmin?
Yoga is good. Bicycle is yet to happen this week.
That happens at my gym all the time, makes me CRAZY!
ReplyDeleteI need to sign up for a spring race but i'm being a chicken :oÞ
I have been making an effort to get to the gym for at least 4 classes a week and run at least 3 times but we are having insane storms right now and this mornings run was rained out, boo!
I love that first shot with the nicely manicured green grass.
ReplyDeleteJess- that ab workout looks great! That post actually has some great pictures of things we've done at boot camp that are not easy to describe.
ReplyDeleteTeamarcia- thanks! Looks like we're about to get another wave of rain here too :(
Trailrunningchick- I've never done a 15k before! I have a Garmin that helps me with distance for speedwork, I set it up for an interval workout ahead of time so it yells at me when it's time to run fast/rest. I actually didn't do speedwork before getting the Garmin, but I used to use: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ to calculate distance. Map My Run is decent too!
Travelbug- 4 classes + 3 runs a week is really good!
Green Girl- thanks! I swear the flowers were brighter in person, but that's the best picture I was able to get.