Back in the saddle?

My lazy butt slept in this morning, so I had to do hill workouts on the treadmill tonight.  I decided to get the hard workout over first so I don't have to do it tomorrow morning on not-fully-recovered legs.

I started with dynamic stretching and then hopped on the treadmill.  I didn't have my iPod (it was stolen and I haven't bought a replacement yet).  Let me tell you: treadmill without music is BORING, especially while jogging at recovery pace!

I warmed up with 1.5 miles of easy jogging at a 1.0 incline, then stepped it up for the hill repeats.  I set the incline at 3.0 and ran 4 2-minute hill intervals at 7:53 pace with two minutes of jogging at 0 incline between.  I ran a longer cooldown to make it an even 5 miles.  My pace during warmup and cooldown was 10:42 (recovery pace) and quite a bit slower during my interval recoveries.

The good thing about the treadmill: I was able to keep the pace steady and strong throughout the hill intervals and not go too fast on the warmup and cooldown portions.  I'm looking forward to getting back outside tomorrow morning, though.

I think I'm going to step up the mileage beyond what the plan calls for this week because I won't be able to run this weekend.  I will be on a boat at Lake Powell-there is literally no place to run.  I will probably do a .5-mile open water swim, though, and definitely water-ski until I drop!

I'm getting better at this early-morning thing.  I actually woke up a couple minutes before the alarm went off!  I ran 6 miles on my normal trail, and it was getting really busy around 6:30.  I just took it easy but felt a little sluggish.  I don't know if it's because I ran hills last night or because I was STARVING before mile 3, or both.

No Garmin or iPod, 77 degrees at the end of the run, felt OK weather-wise, not too hot.

Whew-tough run!  I ran 6 miles with 4 x 2-minute intervals at 3K pace (only 7:57 for me right now).  I hit all the intervals, and was able to sustain the pace, which is really all that matters, right?  The first mile was pretty slow, and I started the fartlek intervals after that.  I ran 10:00 pace between intervals until the last one.  I don't know what happened after that, but I slogged home with a 10:37 last mile-ouch!  I guess the In n Out Burger for dinner last night didn't help!

My husband had troubles too.  He had to take a bathroom break at the big Baptist church.  We don't go to that church, so I'm sure they were thrilled to see a stinky, sweaty stranger using their bathroom!  We rarely eat fast food.  I was just so exhausted yesterday and craving In-n-Out.  Maybe it's because I didn't have time for lunch yesterday....

I also did dynamic stretching before the run.  I hope these little speed intervals pay off, because I'm sick of being slow for the rest of the time!

PM: chiropractic adjustment and massage.  The massage therapist massaged my legs and glutes-it felt great!  She told me my chakras indicated that I'm harboring feelings of betrayal and trust that have been around for a long time and suggested that maybe my first boyfriend broke my heart (not true).  Wow!  Either I have some serious issues, or I look WAY young-ha!

She also said my legs are more muscular than most-yeah! 

This was kind of a rough run, and I'm not sure why.  My legs felt very sluggish, especially after stopping at traffic lights-they felt like jello!  I'm pretty sure I slowed down quite a bit in the last couple of miles.

No garmin, so I don't know my pace/time.  I'm trying really hard not to care about my pace on easy days, but I can't help wondering!

I have been pretty consistent lately, and keeping my weekly mileage steady, so I can't help wondering why I am struggling so much with "easy" 6-mile runs...

After today, I think this is the most I have ever run 5 days in a row.  I used to not run on Fridays because I ran at night.  I won't get in 6 days this week, though.  I will be on the water at Lake Powell all day tomorrow and Sunday.  I'll get plenty of cross-training exercise up there!

The 8 miles was fine.  It took about 3 miles to feel warmed up, and the last 5 went much better.  I need to get up a little earlier though so I won't be late to work.  Total time was 1:19:48, a 9:58 average.  I lost about 5 minutes waiting at traffic lights (turned off the Garmin, though).

Weekend plan: LOTS of water-skiing (not sure how that would translate into cross-training miles!), at least one .5-mile open water swim, and maybe some climbing around on the rocks!  So I will still get plenty of exercise.  We're driving to Flagstaff tonight and getting up at 4 am to leave for Page tomorrow.  Sorry, I am NOT getting up at 3:00 to run!

Happy Father's Day weekend to all you dads!

water-skiing