A Lean and Hungry Look

I managed to sneak in a short workout between work and my dad's 60th b-day party.  Parked at Murray Park and ran around the outer loop (along part of the old XC course) a couple of times.  It was plenty cold, but the effort was just enough to be invigorating.

Given my schedule these days and the fact that Brooke and I are going to Boston together, I've decided to run the race with her (not just at the same time).  We've never done that, and I think we'll both enjoy the vacation a lot more if I'm not in pre-race stress mode in the weeks leading up to it. 

Since our treadmill at home will only work for Brooke (it's getting old and needs about $1200 worth of upgrades to bring it back up to speed), I'm looking into joining a health club for a couple of months in order to have an alternative for speed work and bad-air days.  As a result, I checked out the new Anytime Fitness franchise on 23rd East and ran there after work.  3 x 1 mile with quarter-mile recovery jogs in between.  First 2 were at 6:00, last one was 5:30.  I can tell I've packed on a few pounds since I last did speed work in the lead-up to SG 2009, but the effort felt better than I expected.  The biggest problem was that my feet kept heating up, and I finished with a blister or two.  It was nice to stretch the legs out, though.

I bought a 90-day membership at Steiner to get me through the inversion season, so I stopped on my way home from work to sneak in a workout.  I was going to do some tempo today, so I warmed up with an easy mile, then did the following:

Mile 2: 6:18 pace, 0.5% grade

Mile 3: 6:00 pace, 0% grade

Mile 4: 6:00 pace, 0% grade

Mile 5 6:00 pace, 1% grade until 5.5, then moved grade to 0% and increased speed by 0.1 mph every .05 until 5.9, then finished with final 0.1 at 5:00 pace.

Although the treadmill clearly doesn't mimic the road and the pace is unrealistically fast (probably by 30 seconds per mile), I like the fact that it forces me to use a little turnover and am hoping that by doing speed on the treadmill for a couple of months, I'll be ready to move outdoors when the roads and air are safer. 

Although the temperature was downright balmy today (low 40s), it was another red air quality day.  As a result, I retreated to Steiner for a dreaded treadmill-bound long run.  My mind feels numb after that fine experience, which I hope not to repeat anytime soon.  I listened to the worst This American Life episode I've ever heard (called "Say Anything"), and that didn't help matters.  The only thing that kept me from dying right there on the 2nd floor was the fact that I could watch the youth hockey game going on down below.  Even that was a snoozer, though--4-0 (and it wasn't that close).  I switched treadmills after 7 miles in hopes of breaking the monotony a little.  That helped, but only slightly.

That is all.