Running for two--or, mostly walking

Well, my ellipto-laziness tried to kick in again today, but I told it where to go.  Ran to the gym, 30 min on the elliptical with about 6 1 minute segments at 7:30 pace (twice my normal elliptical pace), ran home.  It was pretty nice out and the gym wasn't very crowded (not that it's ever really crowded, there were just fewer people there) so I enjoyed my run and my workout a fair amount.  I really had to push myself not to stop and walk while I was running because my right shin was really hurting, but I pushed through it.  I have been having tight muscle problems (hammies and calves mostly) during my runs, so I have to stop and stretch in the middle of my runs.  Considering the distance I'm running that's pretty sad, but I never said I was strong.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that I said the opposite.

So, as far as my new schedule goes, I think I'm going to like it.  It was kind of hard to stay until 5:00 today, but it's only an hour later than I'm used to and I don't have to still fit my workout in after that, so I was able to walk the dog and make dinner before Paul got home (okay, so dinner is still on the stove, but that's an improvement).  Also, four hour shifts are much easier than nine hour shifts, so work flew by today.  I think this is going to work out well, but I'll keep you posted.

I did the treadmill for the first time ever today and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (incidentally, I expected it to be like the elliptical, so when I first got on I was trying to push the belt faster and I couldn't figure out why it was so hard. Then I realized that you actually have to tell the treadmill how fast you want to go, rather than just settling into whatever pace feels good, which is kind of good for me). 40 min and I felt pretty good. I had to stop a few times to stretch my tight hammies, but other than that it went pretty well. I averaged around 14:00/mile pace, which I know is really slow, but I'm concentrating more on running without stopping right now than I am on speed. I know, though, that I am capable of running much faster than I am right now. I just don't have the motivation to do it. I'm just happy to be sticking with it, which isn't something that I usually do.

Oh, and because Bethany asked and I'm sure everybody is really concerned: Yes, I am still planning to run Moab in March. I haven't registered yet, but I will soon. When does registration end, again? My goal is to break an hour for the 5 miler. I'm not actually sure that I can at the rate that I'm going, but we'll see. My secondary goal is to run the whole way without walking, which I'm pretty sure I can do by March.

No snow today so I ran to and from the gym (well, ran to the gym and mostly walked home). Last night Paul told me I should do an experiment today, so I did and then modified it a little. Paul's experiment idea came from the fact that I know I am capable of running much faster than I am right now and I think he wanted to see if it was true. Anyway, he suggested I just set the treadmill to 10:00/mile pace and see how long I can go. I decided that it would be an interesting experiment, so I tried it.

Here's how it went. I started out at 10:00/mile pace and could tell after about two minutes that I would probably be able to maintain this pace for about five minutes and then I would be toast (for reasons I will explain below), so I asked myself this question: do you want to do that? Do you want to kill yourself in five minutes (possibly I could have gone longer, but there's no way of knowing) and then have nothing left to get you home and then hurt enough that you have to take a day off tomorrow? Or, would you rather go a little longer and have something left in the tank so that you can do it again tomorrow (and you can get home)?

Well, I decided on the latter, so this is the workout I ended up with: 2:30 at 10:00/mile pace then 1:00 brisk walk recovery x 4 for a total of 15:00. I probably could have gone to 20:00, but I decided against it. Why, you ask? 1. My leg strength leaves something to be desired, so my quads were hurting a little (which is a good thing because it means I actually worked them today). 2. The thing that was keeping me from running faster for a longer amount of time was not my leg strength, it was the fact that I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest (I really pushed myself to the limit as far as heart rate is concerned). My heart isn't used to pounding so hard and fast yet. 3. I was noticing that my gait is unbalanced (I kind of turn to the left when I step with my left foot), which kind of bothered me. After I stretched later I noticed that my left hip flexor was hurting a lot more than anything else. Not sure what to do about this.

Anyway, I know it isn't anything to write home about, but it felt good. I'll probably try to do something similar (hopefully better, faster, longer in the future) regularly, just so that I don't get lazy. It was fun, so why not?

Where's Stacy, you say?  What happened to Stacy?  Where's she been for two days.  We miss her so much.  We must have more of Stacy.  Okay guys, that's a little much don't you think?  I mean, I'm pretty great, but it was only two days.  Anyway, where have I been?  I worked ten hour days Thursday and Friday, so no lunch break and no energy to go workout in the evening.  I think I'm done with the long days, though, at least for now.

So, today I slept in really late and then realized that I needed a refill on my prescription, so I decided to run my errands today.  3 miles to and from Fred Meyer.  It was cold, but I'm pretty sure it was above freezing, so it wasn't too bad.  The worst part was that on the way home my belly was starting to go numb, so my shirt rubbing on it was really irritating.  Had a good time with my friends Caedmon's Call and had a good stretch with my 100 lb dog trying to lay in my lap.

Paul tells me that I should stick around 12:00/mile on the treadmill for the next month.  That's probably a good idea.  It means that I won't get too lazy and just go with what's comfortable, but I also won't push myself too hard and get injured.  I'm thinking that I'll probably try to find a New Year's Eve 5k somewhere.  Paul knows of a few.  He told me that one of them starts at 11:30 so you can ring in the New Year.  I told him that that would be great if I could finish a 5k in 30:00, but it will probably be more like 35:00 (I'm counting on some race day magic).  It still kind of sounds fun.  We'll see how the next month goes.

OH, by the way, Paul told me that I need to change my mileage on my treadmill running days, so I'm doing that momentarily.  Fun times.