Run Lola Run

Well la-dee-frickin’-dah. I accomplished my goal. My goal for tonight’s tempo run was to do the 3 mile tempo portion without walk breaks, so that I could actually experience the lactic acid buildup in my muscles and move beyond it. With this in mind, I aimed for a slower pace, a mid-tempo pace (9:13) rather than the assigned short-tempo pace (8:58). Lo and behold, my average pace for the 3-mile tempo portion was 8:54! Of course, I could not have done with it without help from my friends—Britney, Weezer, Kelly Clarkson. Thanks guys. But yay! I did it. It was really tough for the first 2 miles, and then things just kind of evened out and it got easier. And it was kind of fun. ☺

I’m already thinking about post-Twin Cities Marathon and winter training. Isn’t that insane? But I was thinking the other day that perhaps I will really take a break following TCM, like a serious month-long break. And I won’t actually TRAIN (like crazy, FIRST training) over the winter. I’ll aim to run 3 times a week or so, and that will give me more flexibility to run on a treadmill when the weather’s crappy. Anyway, just some thoughts.

I did do speedwork earlier this week…2x1600 and then 1x800 with 400 meter rest intervals. Somehow, I miscalculated how far out I should go, so I ended up running 7 miles instead of 5. I had a 2.5 mile cooldown, which was fine. But I hate 1600s. They are so hard. I could do 400s or 800s until the cows come home, but 1600s? UGH. My target pace was 8:25 for each rep. I did 8:23 for the first one, and 8:28 for the second. Close enough. Ugh.

This weekend is 8 miles. I can’t let this one get cut short, so I really need to pick a good route. I’m wondering if Isles, Calhoun and over to Harriet would work? I’ll have to map it out.

On the nursing school front, despite my recent freak-outs, I’m now thinking about cardiac nursing. I’d love to work in cardiopulmonary rehab, if one can do such a thing as a nurse. Thanks to my physiology class, I’m just fascinated with these two systems. Maybe I could even teach yoga to rehab patients…

I like to dream. ☺

posted by Lola @ 8:47 PM