Training for a Belt Buckle

Man - I am really tired right now.

After work I ran 1.3 mile to Gold's Gym.

Hopped on the treadmill (1% incline). 1 mile at 6.0 mph; 1/4 mile at 4.5 mph; 1 mile at 6.2 mph; 1/4 mile at 4.5 mph; 1 mile with 2/10 mile increments at 7.0/6.9/6.8/6.7/7.0 mph; 1/2 mile at 4.5 mph.  Walked around for a while to get cool down and get some leg muscles back.

Started my fall strength training rotation:: squats/lunges/quads/hamstrings/inner thigh/outer thigh/standing calves.

Walked home 1.3 miles with my legs feeling as sturdy as jellyfish tentacles.

Did a nice easy slog to work this morning. My legs aren't as stiff as I thought they would be from yesterday's speed work and weight lifting.  A few twinges in the left knee. But the legs are definitely tired.

Big question is.....Do I walk home or run home after work?

/*******************/

OK - Kelli ordered me to run home so I did (another slog). I much prefer running to work - it is downhill and I have to run uphill home.  I was cursing Kelli the entire time because the backpack strap that rubbed my neck raw this morning rubbed it even rawer (if that is a word) on the way home and my running bra was still a bit damp, so it also rubbed me raw where it occasionally does.  The bright side of the run (other than it being over) was my tootsie roll I sucked on since I realized I had only taken in 600 calories today.

As soon as I finish my protein shake, I am going to play the banjo to relax for a while and then hopefully do my pushup and some abs work.

Oh yeah - and work on the talk some more.

My lower body muscles started aching a lot last night from Monday's workout and weren't any better this morning.  My body woke up at its usual time - even though I have a class to go to today and could sleep in. I spent a half hour trying to talk myself into moving and finally decided to go run.  Getting down the stairs was pretty painful.  

The first mile wasn't too bad, even with uphills. I had to push the long uphill on 8600 South and was glad to reach 13th East.  From about 1.5 - 2.5 miles I was feeling really good, then hit the big downhill and that hurt my quads and glutes A LOT.  I didn't enjoy it at all. Right at the start of mile 4, I hit a wall and just lost all energy.  I really wanted to stop and walk the rest of the way home, but just kept repeating the mantra - "The sooner you get home, the sooner you can stop." The last mile felt worse than mile 26 of St. George.

12:27   11:47   10:43    10:58

On the bright side - I saw 2 gas stations with gas for $2.99 a gallon.

Stopping was painful. Walking up the stairs to my kitchen was painful. Sitting down was almost impossible.  Remind me why I am doing this?

34 degrees out.  I had on running capris and the lower body felt fine.  Long sleeved running shirt was not enough on the upper body. I was cold the entire run.

I'm feeling old today.  Both knees are aching.  I think it is a good day to take a break.

Reversed my killer course from last week.  I think I will run it one week with the long uphill and the next week with the short but horrible uphill.

12:03   11:34   11:26    10:26    8:31 (.75 mile)

I was surprised that mile 3 was that fast.  For about 2/5 of the mile I was running between 13:30 and 13:50 because the uphill was so steep.

Legs feeling good and excited to run with Leslie and Odee tomorrow.

Leslie, Odee and I ran 4 nice, easy miles on the Pipeline Trail up Millcreek Canyon.  Odee found lots of dogs to play with.

It was pretty cute.  When I showed up to pick up Leslie and Odee, Odee was all ready with his running pack on and kept barking to tell Leslie to hurry up and finish breakfast because he was raring to go.

After the run, I did a 1 mile time trial on the road in Millcreek Canyon.  A couple of good downhills, some few flats, two small uphill sections. I ran it in 7:43 and felt like I wanted to throw up and sounded like a freight train - but was pretty pleased with myself on doing that after a 4 miler.