Morning run went very well. Not exactly sure of the temperature but after the first three miles I laid my gloves on the side of the road (picked them up on the second lap). Would have ditched my jacket too although I would have had to unstrap my MP3 player... too much trouble. The first 1.5 miles I felt old... small aches associated with warming up. After getting warmed up I felt really good! I stopped at 6 but only because of time, I hope to get a couple more miles in today at the gym. Although wednesday is the day I do my leg workout sooooo we will see what I am made of. I am going to modify my workout to do sets of 15-20 reps vs. my old routine of sets of 10. Hopefully this will help to continue to build my endurance! Still have not decided if I am going to lift first or run first. Obviously the first one will be easier, i.e. if I lift first my legs will feel like spagetti during my run! and vice versa.
I can definitely notice improvements in my runs now... not so much in my basic pace... however, I can keep the same pace when going up the hills in my neighborhood without slowing down. Sometimes it feels like I am dreaming when I realize that I am actually running up a hill (i.e not slowing down and taking smaller steps and huffing and puffing.. feeling like the little engine that could). My neighborhood is tough to run but I feel it will make me a stronger runner by continuing to train in it. Over the 3 mile stretch (one lap around) there are about 5 steady/gradual inclines that probably all total up to about 1.5 miles.. the other sections are gradual declines (almost no flat spots). The inclines are long enough and steep enough to make you seriously consider walking (definitely will think about walking them on the long runs and ... especially when I first started) and the declines are similar and not very steep but are definitely welcomed after getting over the incline. I am finding however that now I can crank through the inclines pretty good without loosing any of my pace.
Breakfast: Oatmeal, coffee, protein shake (right after run), orange, about 10 almonds.
Stay tuned... more to come after lunch!!
Update:
Went to the gym: Good news... my run went very well coverd 3 miles in 23 min 40 seconds.. slightly faster than yesterday. Ran the last 0.5 mile at a 10.0 treadmill pace. Felt really really good!!
Bad news... after my run I tried lifting and after my first couple of excercises I was beat. I will cover the rest tomorrow (i.e. squats!!)
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