This morning I ran with Gail and Jenna again. We ran for 1:06:41, and did 5.35 miles. We were taking walk breaks after every three minutes of running, plus we had a couple of stretch stops that I didn't count. I would love to go out and really try out my legs, but I'm also trying to be prudent about easing back onto the road. It's hard to be patient, but I'm glad I have some people to run with who will keep me from over-doing at first. I'm really looking forward to the Dallas Half Marathon on the 14th! It's going to be fun to see how fast I can go! I read an article that said that for every 5 pounds gained, you increase your running time by approximately 5%. If the opposite is true, I should be able to run a sub-four marathon just by virtue of my weight loss alone! Of course, I have to take into account my lack of training for the last three months...but maybe the increase in strength will make a difference, too. :D
Today was also a lower-body-workout day, but I was running short on time...so I had to resort to squats, lunges, and calve raises. I used the BFL method, doing 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6, and 12 again, followed by a set of a different type to mix it up. I kept my weights between 8 and 15 lbs., but it felt SO easy. I was sweating when I finished, but probably more because of the temperature of my room than because of the weight training. I finished off that workout with P90X ab-ripperX.
Later....
Ben came home from work early to get a run in, and I had a piano lesson cancellation, so I decided to join him for an "easy" run. We ended up doing 4 more miles together. He said he didn't want to go over a nine-minute pace, and it felt really easy. I would have run faster if I was alone, so it's a good thing I wasn't! I had a little bit of a pull in my left inner-thigh...probably from the squats and lunges. We'll see how it feels tomorrow. On the last mile, we nearly were run down by some punk kids in their daddy's jeep, so Ben shot a well-aimed loogy onto their car as they drove past us. Well, the kid driving wasn't about to look bad in front of his friends, so he peels out and backs up to try to pick a fight with Ben. It was hilarious! After that, of course, Ben was all fired up and began to pick up the pace. We ended up doing our 4 miles in 37:13, and that includes the little "discussion" we stopped to have with the boys. I thought about going to the pool to swim, but after all that running, I'd better spend some time on my traction machine, just for good measure. :D | 