Emily's training blog

My son says "It's snowman outside!"   so I opted for my friend the treadmill for a hill run.   We live in a cul de sac, and somehow the snowplows didn't make it into the circle.   It was an icy, snowy mess getting out of the circle.   But, after that the roads (all .75 miles of them) were clear.  

I started at a nice easy pace and increased it every half a mile.  At about .9 mph the treadmill abruptly stopped throwing me ungracefully into the console.   I switched treadmills for the rest of the run.  Every ten minutes I upped the incline to 3 percent for a two minute climb.   I got 6 in by the end of the run.  At 8.5 mph the hills were pretty easy.   At 9.6 mph . . . not so easy!   It did help break up the monotony of treadmill running. 

As I ran, I despairingly watched the morning weather report on the news.   I am not looking forward to single digit lows on Thursday.  No turkey trot for this warm weather girl.  It might be time to move to Arizona.

I probably should have braved the outdoors this morning since the next couple of days are going to be so miserable.  But, I opted for the health club again.  Ishould be able to get outside this weekend when it warms up a little, and I don't have to run in the dark.  

I ran a pretty hard 9 mile progression run.   I started at 8.5 mph and increased .1 every five minutes for the first 20 minutes, every 4 minutes for the next twenty minutes, and every 3 minutes the last 20 minutes.  I decided to throw a mini-tempo run in and ran the last 2.5 miles at 10 mph, increasing every 5 minutes, and every .25 miles during the last mile.  I finished at 10.5 mph, and the final time was 58:30.  Some guy working out near me told me that I would be able to run away if anyone was ever chasing me.    Good to know!  

Decided to do a little cross training today rather than brave the cold and ice outside. I must say, the blizzard was a little underwhelming last night, though I'm glad that all my loved ones were safely at home. 

I rode my spinning bike for 1.5 hours.  I warmed up 15 minutes, and then did 15 sets of 3 minutes on, 2 minutes off.   I would do 3 minutes fast, 3 minutes climb, and 3 minutes of jumps, repeated 5 times.   It was a nice change of pace, and worked the quads well.   Plus, I watched The Bucket List while riding, so the ride went pretty quickly.   The best thing is that the baby stayed asleep through my whole workout!

I warmed up 15 minutes and then ran a 5 x 5 minute on 3 minute off fartlek workout.

1.  6:00 mile pace.  2.  5:52 mile pace  3.  5:45 mile pace  4.  5:38 mile pace and  5 . 5:30 mile pace.   I was going to run mile and a half cool down to round out 10 miles, but my stomach was cramping, so I stopped.  (and I haven't even eaten any turkey yet!)   Overall a good workout for Thanksgiving.   I am definitely thankful for a healthy, strong body, and the opportunity to get out for a daily run.   It's my prozac!   Happy Thanksgiving everyone!