Inter-Tempo on a Treadmill
Last night was supposed to be a 28 minute tempo run outside, but since Minneapolis received about 6 inches of snow in 4 hours…I moved the workout inside to the treadmill.
One thing I don’t like about the treadmill is that I can’t run as fast on the treadmill as I can outside. I know that it’s the opposite of most people’s experience; it’s weird. So, rather than aim for my tempo run on the treadmill, I did a kind of interval/tempo hybrid workout, using the Kara Goucher/Nike/iTunes workout thingy. Here’s an overview:
4” walking
2.5” @ 5.7 (warm-up)
2.5” @ 5.8 (warm-up)
4” @ 6.1 (interval 1)
4” @ 5.9 (recovery 1)
4” @ 6.2 (interval 2)
4” @ 6.0 (recovery 2)
4” @ 6.3 (interval 3)
4” @ 6.1 (recovery 3)
4” @ 6.4 (interval 4)
5” @ 6.0 (cool-down)
So, between the intervals and recovery, that gave me an average pace of 6.1 mph, or 9:50 m/m pace. Nowhere near the previous week’s 8:48, but again—I can’t run fast on a treadmill! It was still a good workout; I felt great afterwards. Then I did my stretches and my core work. Good times.
I also realized something last night, reading my new “Running Times” magazine—I am obsessed with running. Like, seriously obsessed. Most people who know me are probably saying “duh,” but it was a newsflash to me! I not only love running myself, I love reading about it, talking about it, thinking about it…I just love it. If only I could be a professional runner. Maybe someday? (Hey, a girl has the right to dream!)
Tonight is an easy 5. Not sure if I’ll be indoors or out, but it’ll be a good workout. This weekend is 8, and that definitely needs to be outdoors. Please don’t be too cold!
4 x hills
I ran too far last night. Oops. (Although, honestly, is it possible to run too far when you’re hoping to run a marathon in 8 months?) I did my hill workout last night, 4 reps. My total mileage ended up being 6.32, and my total time ended up being just over an hour (1:02:15, I think). Which means, that even with my hill reps, I averaged just under ten minutes per mile! Holy cow. Now, I know that seems amazingly slow for a lot of people, but for me, especially including a hill workout, that’s pretty good. Woohoo!
I tried something new for my hill workout, too. In my “beginner” years, my coach would have us do our run up and down the hill, and then we would recover for however long it took us to go up or down. This was usually about 2:30 or 3:00 minutes. Last night, I decided that rather than take the recovery at the bottom, that I would run up, and then walk down the hill for recovery. I actually ended up not walking much and slowly jogging down the hill, but it worked! (Plus, it’s probably better for my IT Band to slowly jog down the hill.) The 4th rep was tough, but I had some Weezer to keep me going. We’ll see if this new methodology works for the week when I have to 8 reps.
I also took the long way home, which I think accounts for the more-than-expected mileage. But it was fun. I had to run up a smallish hill on this route, and I admit—I did briefly think about walking up the hill because I had already done my hill workout. No! And then I thought to myself “You are not a beginner anymore. You are not taking walk breaks anymore, except on the long run. You do not walk up hills.” That got me moving. Plus, I also have this fear of hills all of a sudden. I’m hoping that my hill reps make me stronger and less fearful of hills. I’m going to start doing my tempo runs over hillier terrain too. Ideally.
On a non-running note, I realized something about myself this morning—I really don’t mind doing grunt work. I actually kind of like it. I don’t like high-level, strategy analytical mumbo-jumbo. When I have to do that kind of stuff, I get anxious and crabby. Just let me do my data entry, run errands around the building and rummage in boxes for samples and I’m a happy gal. Just food for thought. It’s good to know these things about myself, especially when someone starts asking me why I’m going to nursing school instead of medical school. (Because, among the myriad of other reasons, I don’t want to be a doctor!)
Tonight is a much-deserved rest night. I plan on doing a yoga DVD—either the “Base” workout in the “The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga,” or my Crunch! Yoga/Pilates DVD. Maybe the latter—“The Athletes Guide to Yoga” still intimidates me in a lot of ways.
Tomorrow is a 28 minute tempo run. No clue what to pick as my average tempo pace. Last week, I averaged 8:48. I did it, but almost puked at the end. But 9:30 is way too slow—that’s my easy pace now. 9:10, maybe? I guess I’ll see…
Anti-social tendencies...
And not just related to my blogging! I think I have them. I don't know how or why it happened, but I do seem to have become anti-social in my older years. I used to be a loud, boisterous theatre person who had to be the center of attention, and now I've become someone who is quite happy in her quiet apartment, reading a book. In fact, most nights, I would rather do the latter than go out somewhere with a group of people. I wonder if my current occupation has done this to me? I work for a very social, very cliquey organization, where I'm surrounded by extroverts all day. I do think that this has pushed me into the introverted camp. That, plus my crowd claustrophobia, has made me somewhat anti-social I think. I don't like this about myself. I really don't. I need to work on this. Any suggestions?
Back to running...after a quality running week, I decided to take the weekend off. Abe and I went out of town to visit his family, and while I could've run out on the prairie, I decided not to. I had a speedy tempo run (average pace 8:48!) on Thursday night, and then a nice recovery run of 6.5 on Friday morning. My legs felt worked, so I took the weekend off. I think it has helped me mentally, too, because I'm really looking forward to running tomorrow. It'll be an easy 4, but it'll be warm-ish and sunny! Woohoo!
In other fun running news, my tax return has come! That means NEW RUNNING SHOES! Yes! I will be placing my order tomorrow. I'm planning on getting a new pair of Asics 2140s, and then a pair of DS-Trainers for speedwork, and easy days. I remember being told once that it's good to alternate your shoes when you run a lot (if you could call 25 miles over 5 days a lot, which most people wouldn't, but give me time!!). That's what I'll do.
So, back to blogging. I tried blogging via Runnersworld.com, but something just didn't feel right. And this way, my only reader (my dear soon-to-be husband) can leave comments.
I'm looking forward to this week. I think it'll be a good week, running-wise, and non running-wise. I'm staying positive, and I am going to be more social.
PS--I re-read some of my old posts, and had to chuckle. Especially at my comments about the FIRST plan, and my post-marathon feelings. While I think the FIRST plan has merit, I've abandoned it in favor of building a base for higher mileage, and I'm totally doing TCM this fall. Oh well. :)
