I Probably Should Make My Blog Public again

I warmed up .9 miles and then did 5.2 miles at 8 minute pace.  I'm counting those as fast.

I forgot to post on Tuesday's that I lifted, so I don't even remember what I lifted.  I think I did legs, lower back, and abs.

Yesterday I did arms, but only shoulders, bench press, biceps and triceps.

Today I did legs and abs (but only one set with a medicine ball--I ran a little longer than I had planned and needed to make it home for dinner).

I ran 1 mile at 9:13 pace, 1.5 at 8:49 pace, and then 2 at 8:41 pace (although I sped up the treadmill a bit towards the end.  It was a good run.  When I started running, my knee hurt, but after a mile, it didn't hurt anymore I just stretched afterwards and I am planning on lifting tonight at home.

I've been skimping on stretching lately, but I made sure I stretched well today.  

I warmed up for .3 miles and then did 1 mile in 8:34, 3 miles at 8:20 pace, and 1 mile in 8:34.

I get really bored running on a treadmill at my usual easy pace.  I watch the clock and it seems to take forever.  If I challenge myself a little, I feel less bored and more satisfied.  

I was a little challenged towards the end of my tenure at 8:20 pace, but I just stayed focused and allowed myself to go slower on the last mile so that I would finish my 45 minutes right at 5.3 miles.  To help myself concentrate while I'm running, I like to do the math--like, if I run at this pace for x minutes, how many miles will I do?  Then partway through when I feel like I'm in a rut, I'll think, now how much will I need to increase my pace in order to tack on an extra tenth of a mile?  I find that if I do math while I'm running, for some reason I feel more focused.  I always do it on long runs outside--when I finish a mile, I calculate what percentage of my workout I've completed.  I'm a dork, I know, but I bet other people do similar things.

And now I'm taking a break from tedious grading--it's finals week!  As soon as I finish another 10 portfolios, I'm leaving and probably heading to the gym, depending on the time and the weather.  We are due for an ice storm today, but no one's real certain about when it'll hit.

I had only a bit of time to run, so I went to the gym and ran for 1/2 hour.  I can't remember my pace but I remember my mileage.

Ran easy for 3.5 miles and then a little harder for the last two miles.  It took me 50 minutes to run and I think my easy pace was 9:05 and harder pace varied between 8:20 and 8:34.