Stupid gym. I can't wait until I get to run outside on Saturdays and avoid the headache there!!! In order to get an 8:00 spin pass before 7:30 you can swim or do lift, but if you do the 7AM spin or anything else you have to wait until 7:30 to get a pass. Well, when it is 6:45 and there are only 4 passes left, you know your chances are slim to none. So, I played the game and took my lift pass and figured I'd just give it away and/or ditch class - two can play this game! BUT, just as that happened the wicked aerobics director of the West walked up behind me "but, they have to DO the lift class!" yeah, yeah...fine, whatever. She even sought ME out on the TM (I decided to get a 10 min session in before class) and make sure that I was planning on coming to class and said "well, we're setting up right now" "oh, well class doesn't start until 5 min after, right?" "yes, but it is best if you set up beforehand, because you need a partner...blah, blah, blah," "Okay, I'll be there by 5 after." Whatever. So, I went to lift class and did everything she couldn't - HA! Take that!!! So, with tired legs and arms from lift (I think she was trying to challenge ME personally! - yes, it is always all about me) I snuck out (thanks to a partner who offered to put everything away, she knows how crazy spin gets!) before she could say anything and didn't stretch, but went right into spin. Allison was crazy hard and I swear gave us about 10 seconds of recovery every 5 minutes. Holy cow, my legs were burnt. This is why I wanted to run first, but dumb stupid rules made me do lift! After class I headed out to the TM for my 'long run' of the week. I wasn't sure this was going to happen. I was spent. I just kept thinking...you would be doing around 18 miles today if you weren't injured so suck it up and work it out! I modified my normal 10 min intervals, because today is long run day. All, again, at 6% incline: I ran 1.25 miles at 5.3-6.3mph and then walked .05 to recover - this took me to nearly 15 minutes, so I decided to do this 4X and finish with 5.0 miles. Between set 3 and 4 I walked .15 to even the mileage out to 4.0, then I could finish my last 1.25 with a total distance of 5.25 (between walking and running). Speeds were the same for all of the sets, a little slower than normal, but longer. Good pseudo long run, right? Well, since I'd done my 8 min before lift I had a total of 5.75 miles of running and wanted to round it out to 6.0 - but I was tired of that D$%# 6% incline. I swear my PT is just laughing his head off thinking about me trying to run at that incline!!! So, since this was my 3rd day of over 30 min with no pain (so far) I decided to try 4% just for the last quarter to get a taste of what next week has in store :) Oh, my DREAMY!!! Do you know how easy a 4% incline is?!? I was cruising along at a 8:27 pace and felt incredible. I was at a decent pace!! I'm sure I couldn't do that pace for a long time, but 4% feels SO much nicer than 6%!! I can't wait. So, I got a good 3 hours in at the gym. I certainly hope all this cardio and crazy incline work will help me to get back into the groove again quickly when I'm allowed to run outside. I still hate hills!
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