Early morning workout

I managed to get to bed at a decent time last night so I could get up really early to work out this morning. We're talking pre-5AM!

The workout went well. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical as a warm-up then did Workout 5B of the first stage in NRoLfW. (Geesh that book has a long name!) Even though it's been way too long since I did one of those workouts, I completed it with the same weights as last time.

A week off

I didn't work out for a whole week since my husband was on a business trip. I could have worked out in the basement, but I didn't. I goofed off instead.

This morning, I got out and got to the gym. Ran on the treadmill. It was just ok. I didn't use an incline because I forgot. I went a tad faster than normal, which still isn't fast. Morning TV is boring, but I didn't have a magazine to bring with me. Maybe I'll listen to a fixed bpm podcast next time. The TV on the treadmill is just so novel right now, I don't think about it.

I also stretched and lifted weights. I tried the Smith machine today. A nice way to do weighted lunges.

Trying the Fdip152

I was a little faster getting out this morning. Still didn't get right out the door because I decided to try the Phedippidations podcast today. Although Steve makes a top-quality podcast, I'm not sure spoken podcasts are my thing right now for running. I found my mind starting to wander then I'd get annoyed because I would miss some of what he was saying. With the electronic music podcasts, the repetitiveness allows my mind to wander freely. Plus, I have the rhythm to guide my feet. So, I'll probably try this one again some time (I didn't finished the whole hour of the podcast), but I think my standard will be the Podrunner podcasts for now.

One benefit of not doing much of my own pondering during my run is that I might not be as long-winded today!

I did have my HRM again today. No surprises there. It worked the whole time, which was nice.

bunny count: only 4, but one ran with me for a while!
people count: 4 , one runner, three walkers, and a dog

I ran 2.65 miles in 31:17. 11.8 minutes/mile 7.3 minues/km. No speed demon here today. I purposefully took a route that wouldn't have me coming by my house too soon, so that I wouldn't be tempted to quit early!

G28K W3D1 - Bunnies, bunnies

Well, it's 6:07am and I finished the first day of week 3 of Gateway to 8K. Today I tried pushing it a bit harder. I am ultimately trying to improve my 5k time, so that should help. I tried to keep the pace normal and then during the last couple minutes of each run, I'd pick up the pace. For some reason, I doubt I ran faster, though. I had to walk pretty slow to get my HR down during those one minute intervals. (Today was 4x 9 minutes running with one minute walking in between.) Checking.... Map my run says I still only did 11.5 minute miles (including the three walking breaks) for 3.4 miles during 39 minutes. Granted, there were several hills, but darn it, I want to run FASTER!

During a few of the hills, I got in a very interesting zone. I focused on my form and my legs just carried me up the hill. It didn't seem hard, although I think my HRM would tell you otherwise. It registered a max HR of 184 today, although I didn't have it working for at least a portion of the first run. I almost felt like I was flying. Some of the hills took 2-3 minutes to run. Not huge, but enough to get my heart really pumping.

I hit the road at 5:20am. During my whole run, I didn't see one person that wasn't encased in wood or metal. Some people were leaving in their cars for work, but no other runners or walkers.

Although, I didn't see people, I did see plenty of bunnies. Most were alive, one wasn't. I think I should start a bunny count for each run. I wouldn't notice them, but when I get anywhere near, they scurry off, their bright white cotton ball tails advertising their location.

Time to start my day. Have a good one!