Monday February 14, 2011

Workout: 5.5 miles 2 % incline

Time: 53:15

Pace: 9:40

Weight: 126.4

Ran this morning at 9:30ish.  THAT is a perfect time to run, but not in the cards for 99% of my days.  Anyway, run was good.  I've been off since last Wednesday so I was feeling (mostly) good while I ran.  I also read a garbage magazine, which really occupied my brain for 3.5 miles, which means I wasn't focusing on the number of songs I was doing or where I was or any of that.  The whole 5.5 miles went pretty quickly.

I have had a sinus infection since last Wednesday night.  I went in to the doctor on Thursday afternoon and got a script for antibiotics, but I finished them today and don't feel a whole lot better.  While I was running, any time I stepped off (once to stretch, once to put the fan on) I would get a blasting headaches that made me cringe.  This whole time that is what it has been - a movement of my head causes a sharp pain for a brief moment, which makes me wince in terror and then goes away - until the next movement.  It really sucks.  Right now, though, I have some serious sinus pressure going along with it.  Wondering if I'm going to need the refill of the zpak - don't want it, but may be necessary. All of this to say... I've wanted to run my workouts for the last several days, but haven't felt quite up to doing so.  I wanted to run my tempo run so badly, but never found an opportunity where I felt good enough to try.  Today, I was bound and determined to get my run in, but now I am suffering.

Also trying to hammer the water today in the hopes that MAYBE some of this is due to dehydration, but not very hopeful about that.

Wednesday February 9, 2011

Workout: 4.5 miles
Time: 44:06
Pace: 9:48 (average)
Weight: 126.6


Ran at the gym again this morning.  I like the routine of going to the gym.  I think their treadmills are harder to run on, though.  And I get too distracted with the magazines and the tv and don't focus entirely on my workout, which is not always a good thing.  This morning, for example, I think I stopped every half mile for the first 2.5 miles... for this reason or that reason.  Never for more than 10 seconds, but for dumb things - to turn a page in my magazine, to try to turn on the closed captioning on the treadmill tv, to take my overshirt off, etc. etc.  I'm dumb about it sometimes :)  I am pleased that the last 2 miles were good, though.


I decreased the incline to 1.5% after figuring out that I just wasn't going to make it at 2 %.


Dave had the flu for the last 2 days.  I was feeling better and then suddenly last night out of nowhere my ears and throat started hurting.  I am not happy about it and spent some time crying and feeling sorry for myself.  I don't want to be sick again.  AND, I'm sick of running like crap.  My cough is not entirely gone - I did have to stop once or twice to cough this morning - and I feel a lot of sinus pressure today.  I just want to be 100%.

Monday February 7, 2011

Workout: 5 miles
Time: 48:55
Pace: 9:41 (average)
Weight: 127.4


Ugh, it was a rough one this morning.  I made myself go to the gym.  I figured I need to get these workouts done earlier in the morning and I'm not motivating myself enough to get downstairs that early, but I will for the gym.  Still incredibly dehydrated from being sick - having a hard time getting rehydrated right now.


I get to the gym and walk in right behind Carissa.  She hasn't been to the gym in months, so this was very exciting for both of us.  I wanted to run next to her, but the treadmill didn't work - so I moved over.  Got started and for some reason my ipod was not working.  BUNK!  That sucks, but I could plug my headphones into the tv so I at least could listen to something... although still much harder to run to SportsCenter than to music.  In addition to the ipod bunkness, the guy next to me smelled so bad.  And every time he lifted his arms up to hold onto the consol (I find a lot of older walkers do this - I don't get it) the smell intensified.  It wasn't BO, it was just person smell... can't describe it except to say it was horrible.


So I allowed myself to run at 0% incline, increased my speed to 9:30 (first mile was at 10:00, which is why my average pace was 9:40), and allowed myself to hop off when I needed to.  I didn't do it much, but I really let myself have a shitty workout because I knew it was going to be crap right away.  I got the miles in, though, and thats really what matters today.

Thursday February 3, 2011

Workout: Tempo run - 4 miles total
Time: 38:17
Pace: 9:34 (average)
Weight: 127.2


Tempo workout was:
1 mile warm up (10:00)
2.25 mile tempo (9:13)
.75 mile cool down (10:00)


The tempo portion was supposed to be 2 miles, but I felt so good that I added another 1/4 mile.  I was also very disappointed because I want so badly to write here that I did the entire run with not breaks, no step-offs (other than my short stretch at 1/2 mile), in fact it was that thought that was motivating me to get through it.  But alas, it was not meant to happen on a snow day...  somehow I cannot run on the treadmill without at least 1, or 2, or 3, interruptions, which eventually for one reason or another require me to hop off for a minimum of 10 seconds (this time it was simply to put my headphones back on).  So I cannot say that I ran even the whole tempo portion without hopping off, however brief it was... so I added a 1/4 mile to it:)  Really, I felt so good during the entire run and am quite excited to feel good while running again.


Still coughing a little bit, but otherwise feel healthy.  Still very dehydrated and the scale is driving me crazy (the weight and the dying battery).  Need to hammer the water for the rest of the day - lost steam yesterday.  Not sure I can fully rehydrate with it being this cold, though, so it may be wasted effort.  Whatever - my clothes fit again, thank you flu!

Wednesday February 2, 2011

Workout: 4.5 miles
incline: 2%
Time: 43:30
Pace: 9:40
Weight: 126.0


Run was better than it was on Monday, but still hacking up a lung on occasion.  I also suffered from frequent interruptions due to having a snow day.  My first 6 songs didn't go as continuous as I had planned but, it wasn't too bad.  My last 5 songs were continuous... however, I did have almost a full 1/4 mile break (after song #6) in order to help G put on some gloves & a scarf to play outside.  I made up for it by running an extra 1/4 mile...  so i ran 4.5 miles total.


I kept my pace at 9:40 the entire time.  


Weight is back up to 126, but I am terribly dehydrated...  got really dehydrated while I was sick last week and haven't been able to get it back because drinking water kind of makes me sick to my stomach right now (always does when I have a cold).  So today I'm forcing myself to drink a bunch to try to help that out.  I can tell by more than just my weight, so I'm not worried about my weight creeping up, I think its fine.


Snow seems to have stopped for now.  Dave shoveled this morning... we must have had 2-3 feet of drifts on the driveway.  Hopefully we'll get a little more today so I'll have a chance to get out there and shovel this afternoon.  Last night was wicked - swirling 50mph gusts and lightning.


(We did yoga yesterday afternoon).

Monday January 31, 2011

Workout: 5.078 miles on the treadmille
Time: 50:00
Pace: 9:50 (average)
incline: 2%
Weight: 125.4


This was a pretty sketchy situation.  I still have a chest cold and can almost always feel a catch in my chest when I'm breathing and am still coughing a lot trying to expel whatever is in there.  I don't want to fall too far behind on my training and since I was off all of last week except Monday, I wanted to try to run today. I knew it would sketchy and I knew I'd likely have to jump off a million times to cough up a lung.


The first part was much better than I anticipated.  I was really mentally gutting through it - I wanted to stop many times, but told myself I had to wait until after 7 songs... at that point I'd be more than halfway done & I could turn on the fan.  Somehow I found myself off at 20:00 - not intentionally, I think my body just had had enough and needed to cough.  At that point I was little concerned because not only did I cough and hack and cough, but I couldn't catch my breath.  My lungs were aching and I felt a little like how I imagine someone with asthma feels.


I got through the 7th song and allowed myself a full minute to catch my breath, which was terribly difficult.  At that point I gave myself permission to hop off after every song to try to catch my breath a little bit.  It was tough.  It is 3 hours later and I can still feel it in my lungs.  


I really wanted to quit at around 3 miles and call it good, but I just couldn't mentally do it.  


Other than my lungs, I felt great...  hoping that I am feeling better than this by Wednesday.

Thursday January 20, 2011

Workout: Tempo run - 4 miles total
Time: 38:11
Pace: 9:32 (average) 
Weight: 128.0


Tempo run was: 
  1 mile warm up at 10:00 pace 2% incline
  2 mile tempo run at 9:15 pace 2% incline
  1 mile cool down at 9:40 pace 1% incline


This was the best I felt while running in quite a while.  I made a mental goal to get through the first mile of the tempo run (+the mile warm up) before I could take a quick hop off to turn on the fan.  I ended up finishing out a song... and then a lap... so I got through 1.25 miles of the tempo run and hopped off to turn on the fan.  I was off for .07 miles, so I added .10 on to the second mile so that I ran 2 full miles at 9:15 pace.  It was hard, but I mentally gutted through it and really focused on my breathing and the regularity of it.  I was going to complete the entire thing without any stops, but at 3.3 miles I had to get off and go to the bathroom.  Was pretty ticked about it, but it was what it was... debated about finishing the cool down and ultimately getting the mileage in won out in the end and I finished.


I took Tuesday and Wednesday off of working out.  I felt so horrible on Monday after my 4.5 mile run.  I thought it was just over training, but it ended up being fever/flu symptoms.  I laid on the couch for the entire day with fever aches in my back, butt & knees.  Other than that I felt fine - head was fine, sinuses fine, stomach fine.  Not sure what was going on, but two days off helped a lot.


I'm really happy that we've revised the training schedule, but at the same time I have an internal conflict because I feel like I'm not rising to the challenge of the harder schedule.  I think it was too much.  Jason doesn't feel like it was too high of mileage.  I mentioned that to Dave and his response was: "Jason is a much better runner than we are."  Very, very true.  Ultimately I need to listen to my body and be mindful of how a too hard training schedule will impact my marriage and my family.  With the way I was feeling - physically - it was bound to start impacting things with it being so many miles so early on.  If I gradually work up to higher mileage, like we've done in the past, my body will get used to it.


I've got to remember that I'm running my own race.  

Monday January 17, 2011

Workout: 4.5 miles
Time: 43:36
Pace: 9:40 (average)
Weight: 128.2


I had a rough go of it this morning.  Mentally, I'm doing much better, but physically I had a tough run this morning.  My right calf felt like cement for the first 2.5 miles - like it did during the Turkey Trot - so I had to hop off several times to stretch it out.  The last half of the run was good, though.  Like I said, mentally I'm back in.  


My recovery today has been rough.  I feel like I ran 12 miles this morning.  My body is beyond exhausted, I am tired and just want to take a nap.  And I got up later than usual (6:15 as opposed to 5:15) and I only ran 4.5 miles.  I really think that I'm not eating enough calories to sustain this, but when I check and recheck the number of calories I should be eating in order to lose .5-2lbs/week, it is right now.  Something is not right, though.  I shouldn't be feeling like this.


I revised the training schedule yesterday.  I made it similar to Hal Higdon schedule where it has step back weeks every third long run.  We will get all the way up to 14 miles two weeks before the race and then taper... something I noticed was missing from the 5/3 RBR training schedule.  I'm not going to be gipped out of my taper lol!


I had to think about the idea of revising and realized that what was holding me back was my pride.  I COULD complete that schedule, but I don't WANT to & I'll be incredibly exhausted from now until the race.  I had to get over the fact that I felt it was weak to revise.  Its not.  Its realistic and necessary for both of us.  I don't need to be a hero or prove anything to anyone - I need to run my own race.

Thursday January 13, 2011

Workout: 6 miles total
Pace: 9:41 (average)
Weight: 128.4


Actual workout was:
2 miles at 10:00 
5min at 9:05 
5min at 10:00 
(repeat) 
5 min at 9:05 
1.25 miles at 9:30


I added the 1/4 mile to the end to make it an even 6 miles.


The run went well this morning.  Much better than my previous few runs and much better than anticipated.  I enjoyed myself and focused on that instead of being miserable.  My floating ankle bone started hurting me toward the end, though - I hope that is not a sign of things to come.


As I was running, I was thinking about what I actually want to do in terms of fitness, weight, body, etc.  I'm seriously considering not running in the 5/3 RBR this year.  I haven't decided, but I'm leaning toward not doing it.  Here's my deal:

I LOVE yoga.  I want to be better at yoga - like I wanted to be better at running 2 years ago.  I feel like I have lost a lot of my strength in the last year or so - since I began training for races and cutting out my weight training.  If I train for this race, I don't have time to do yoga, train, cross train & do strength training.  I simply can't fit it all in.  Yoga is 90 minutes 2x/week right now and I'm not giving that up.  Running is okay right now with 3 & 4 mile runs - I still have time to do abs after that, but in 2 weeks we move up to 5 & 6 mile weekly runs.  I just don't have the time to do that AND abs or any other strength training I want to do.  So I'm trying to decide what is most important to me - running this race and training for it OR running AND strength training.  Strength training will help my yoga, which will help my running...


I am not training for a time, I'm training to finish.  I've already proved to myself that I can finish... I know I haven't run a 15 mile race, but given how I felt after the Holland race, I know I could have completed another 2 miles.  I don't have any ideals of getting much faster - and trying to be faster only proves to be miserable for me... setting expectations, not meeting them, not being able to figure out the puzzle.  I MIGHT decide to run a marathon at some point, but I can't train for it until Georgia is in school all day - so I can't begin to train for it until fall of 2012.  By that time, if I've focused on yoga I should be a much better runner.


I don't want to give up running altogether - it is my cardio of choice - I'm just trying to figure out what is a realistic amount of running for me to do and if this race is more important than my other desires.  I'm going to try to find a different training plan and see if that seems more doable... still thinking about all of this and haven't made any decisions.

Wednesday January 12, 2011

Workout: 3 miles at 2% incline
              p90x Abripper
Time: 38:57
Pace: 9:39
Weight: 129.0


After spending a great deal of time complaining to Jason last night about how badly I suck at running, I was determined to get through this run and do it well.  I decided to use the mantra "Conquer it!" as I ran.  It helped.  It also helped that it was only 3 miles :)  However, I always feel like I settle in right at that point...

Next week, I may make a very concerted effort to slow my pace down by quite a bit to try to get back some confidence.  I may run at 10:30 and see what my heart rate is with that.  I know that last year when I was training for Indy, by the end I would have a heart rate of 165 bpm while I was running, so I know it will get better as I go, but I haven't taken THAT much time off to make this big of a difference.  It will get better and I need to stop complaining, stop focusing on how miserable I feel while I'm running and start focusing on something better.  I'm going to try to figure that out today.


Abripper was good this morning.  I really didn't feel like doing it, but its only 15 minutes and I didn't want to give in - because if I gave in this time, then I'd feel it was okay to give in other times and pretty soon I wouldn't be doing it anymore.  I need to work my core and get it stronger - for my running, yes, but mostly for my back.  I've never consistently worked my core, so this is new and I want to keep with it.


Still hungry all.the.time.  I hate counting calories.  I keep telling myself that every pound I lose will make running even easier, so its worth it.  

Monday January 10, 2011

Workout: 4 miles 2% incline
              p90x Abripper
Time: 38:55
Pace: 9:45 (average)
Weight: 131.0


I'm getting really discouraged with running.  I suck.  And bad.  I just feel miserable the entire time and I'm not sure why.  I need to get outside later this week and see if that makes a difference, because as of now, I'm ready to bow out of the race and try to regain my enjoyment.  I don't want to feel this miserable and discouraged for the next 3 months.


Maybe I need to really consider doing the Jeff Galloway method of walking and running, but I don't want to be staring at my watch the entire time I'm running either.  Not sure what to do.  


Abripper was better this morning.  I hate how much it hurts my hip flexors.  He says something about that, so they must be part of your core.  It hurts.  


I did okay with calories over the weekend - at least yesterday I did.  I didn't count calories after lunch on Saturday and used Saturday night as a splurge meal.  We went to the Karners and Jane made soup, so I didn't eat a ton of calories for dinner... but then I had a piece of chocolate cake, 2 glasses of wine and some Bailey's.  So there you go - my splurge was on booze.  And I hardly drank any water yesterday so I am again retaining water, because I certainly did not splurge enough to gain 3 lbs over the weekend.  Hammering the water today - already at 64oz for the day and its 9am.

Saturday January 8, 2011

Workout: Long Run - 7 miles
Time: 1:08:23
Pace: 9:46 (average)
Incline: 2% (mostly)
Weight: 128.2


This run was fine.  I decided to do it at a slower pace to try to get through it a little better and I think that helped.  I varied my pace and incline throughout the run based on how I felt. I never went lower than a 1% incline, though, and didn't spend much time at 1%.  I mainly ran at a 9:40 pace, but a little 10:00 and a little 9:30 mixed in there at times.  I really struggled through the first 2.5 miles but mentally pushed through it, making myself get through 6 songs before I could step off to turn the fan on.  That helped.  The last mile was a struggle, too, because I just wanted to be done.


Dave and I are thinking about revising the training plan.  He struggled through his 7 miles this morning moreso than I did.  I did pretty well considering, although I mentally battled through a lot of it.  He didn't feel like he did as well.  We both feel like this is kind of too much too early.  There are also 3 15 mile runs before the race.  I'm just not sure we're at that level and I'm not sure we need to pretend to be at that level.  We're not training for times, we're training to finish.  

Thursday January 6, 2011

Workout: Tempo run - 4 miles total
Incline: 2%
Pace: 9:30 (average)
Weight: 128.4


Run was 1 mile warm up (at 10:00) 2 mile tempo (at 9:15) and 1 mile cool down (at 10:00 and gradual decrease of incline).


I'm still sucking wind the entire time.  Not sure why I can't settle in and get into a groove.  I think I need to get back outside - I was thinking in the shower that I really want to start to love running again.  There are probably a lot of things I need to do to make that happen - go outside, stop caring about my time and pace, stop caring about my mileage, etc.  Basically, let it go.  But not sure I can do that and train for a race at the same time.  If we remain snow-less next week, I'm going to try to get outside for at least one run.


Ate just shy of 1500 calories yesterday.  Went out for lunch with Dave, Carol & Jan Gewont to Mimi's Cafe.  I stuck with an item on their fit and fresh menu which listed the calories, so that was easy to track.  I'm pretty hungry throughout the day, but what I miss the most is my treat with my coffee in the morning.  I'm having biscotti on Sunday morning and I can't wait.  Glad to see a 1lb loss every day, though - that is nice motivation:)

Wednesday January 5, 2011

Workout: 4 miles
              p90x abripper
Time: 38:27
Incline: 2%
Weight: 129.4
Calories: 1510


The run was rough again today, but I mentally gutted through it better than I did on Monday.  Today I could tell my heart rate was high (it was 180 bpm halfway through) and my legs were tired.  I wish I could figure out why I'm struggling so much - I'm going to chalk it up to the extra 5 lbs on my body right now.  


Abs was torturous again this morning.  I'm not sure that they will ever NOT be torturous.  I kept thinking - its only 15 minutes.  By the end of the year, I am going to complete every one of the 340 reps on that video.


I hate dieting/counting calories.  I hate how hungry I am throughout the day.  But I must pay the penalty for my lack of discipline in December... and I needed some retraining anyway.  

Monday January 3, 2011

Workout: 3.1 miles
              P90x Ab Ripper
Time: 30:00
Pace: 9:40 (average)
Incline: 2%
Weight: 131.4


My run this morning SUCKED.  It was horrible.  I was horrible.  It hurt from second 1 and didn't stop.  I was sucking wind the entire time and finally gave in and just took 20 second breathers between songs.  Thats weak.


Not sure what the deal was... early morning + no fuel; dehydrated; 1st day of t.o.m.; extra 6 pounds on my body.  Whatever it was, or combination of them, it was bad.


Ab ripper was okay.  I want to get familiar enough with the video that I don't need to watch to see what he's doing.  I still didn't complete one leg climber, but I'm doing okay on the rest.  There are some that I can eke out all 25 reps, there are some that I have to take a break because my hip flexors are burning, not my abs.  I'm glad I'm doing this.  I will conquer it by the end of the year.  Bring it ab ripper!

Thursday December 30, 2010

Workout: 6.0 miles total
              intervals - 3 mile run, 3x3:00 RP, 1 mile cool down
Pace: average 9:48
Incline: 2%
Time: 59:45
Weight: 128.8


Was not looking forward to this run.  In fact, I did everything I could to avoid it all morning.  Just wasn't excited about running 3 miles and THEN killing myself with the intervals.  Would much prefer to just go straight to intervals.  But I did it and it was fine.  I got interrupted a million times during the 3 mile run, so instead of taking 30:00, I think it probably took 35-40 to finally get that section completed (running time was 30 minutes - held myself to a 10:00 pace).


I did the 3:00 RP at 8:57 and the 5:00 in between at 5.8 for 1 1/2 minutes and 6.0 for the rest.  One mile cool down was at 9:30 pace because I wanted to enjoy that mile.


Heart rate was again consistently 180.  One full minute after finishing, it was 138, so I'm recovering fairly well, which is a good fitness indicator.  Still troubling that it is so high while I'm running, but it always has been.  174 during the 3 mile run and 180 when I was totally finished.  Not quite max heart rate, but pretty close.  Would rather be running at 160-165, but not sure how to get there.

Wednesday December 29, 2010

Workout: p90x Ab RipperX
              4.25 miles
Time: 40:45
Incline: 2%
Pace: :35
Weight: 130.0


Dear Ab Ripper: I WILL conquer you.  I may not be able to do some of your exercises right now, but give me time... I WILL complete the entire 340 exercises - properly - by this time next year.  It is going to take consistency, dedication and discipline, but I can do it.


Sincerely,
Your core-challenged friend.


Ugh.  I attempted all of the exercises this morning.  I used a pillow to protect my tailbone and was able to do almost everything.  I cannot even get my torso off of the ground for the leg climbs at the end, though.  That is going to be my biggest challenge...  I would have made my goal April 1st, except for that one exercise.


My hip flexors & abs are pretty sore from the ab ripper on Monday and yoga yesterday.  I am excited about these things, though, because they are challenging me and are something that I'm bad at and want to accomplish/conquer - like running has been.  I'm going to try to do the ab ripper on my running days and yoga on my off days.  


Run - started out at a 10:00 pace because my body is sore from all of this p90x stuff, but I'm finding out that its actually harder to run at that pace than it is at my normal pace (9:20-9:30).  I should probably try a little harder to run slower sometimes.


I had to stop twice to go to the bathroom.  That sucks.  Once at 1.25 miles and once at 3.8 miles.  And then Nora came down with the phone at 3.5 miles and I stopped because I thought I needed to talk to someone, but evidently she was just bringing it down for me to answer it because she didn't recognize the caller id number.  I didn't answer it, but I stopped for probably close to a minute because of it.  So all in all, the workout was not fantastic because of the multiple 1:00 stops, but while I was running I felt pretty good.

Sunday December 26, 2010

Workout: 5.3 miles on the treadmill
Pace: 9:31
Time: 50:30
Incline: 2%
Weight: won't discuss


Don't know my exact distance or time... I was intending to not look at the display until after 12 songs, because I figured 5 miles would be about 12-13 songs and staring at the display is miserable.  So I jumped off after 6 songs so I could take my heart rate (it was 174bpm) at what I believed would be close to halfway.  And after counting my heartrate, I accidentally pulled the safety key off and lost all of my information.  So I ran the exact same 6 songs for a second time and figured that would give me the best idea of what my original info was.  Which is why I ran 5.3 instead of 5.0.


Run went well.  I am continually dehydrated and have been eating garbage for days/weeks.  I feel like a complete slug and am disappointed in myself for doing it, but I also recognize that this is what happens during the last couple of weeks in December every year.  I also know that as of next Monday things will be 180* different.  I am the queen of self-discipline when I'm motivated... I just have a hard time being motivated around holidays...  takes so much extra energy to be disciplined, so I just give in entirely and stop feeling guilty.  I don't feel guilty, I just wish I wasn't all or nothing.

Wednesday December 22, 2010

Workout: 3 miles
Time: 28:35
Pace: 9:31
Weight: no clue, but its not good


Decided to do an easy run at home this morning.  I have been baking non-stop since Monday morning.  For real - probably 8 hours on Monday & 10 hours yesterday.  Given that, I haven't drunk any water.  Its always the first thing to get eliminated when I'm busy or away.  We were also in GR for the weekend, which means I didn't drink water over the weekend either.  And I mean, I didn't drink any water.  Not that I didn't drink enough... nope, none.  The only liquids to pass my lips were coffee and alcohol.  Bad news :)  


AND, I had a double glass of wine last night as a celebration for finishing all of the biscotti.  Actually, I poured me and Dave each a normal glass, but then he got a headache and I HAD to drink his, too.


So all of that to say... I barely had any saliva in my mouth this morning.  So I didn't want to embarrass myself at the gym, so I ran at home.  And I knew it was going to be tough, so I ran without an incline.  It was fine, but I think I hardly sweat and when I was done, I couldn't have spit if someone paid me.  Today, since I'm done baking, my mission is to rehydrate & clean up my house and catch up on my laundry.  I've already had 2 16oz glasses of water, so I'm on my way.


Run was fine this morning.  Nothing remarkable about it.  Neither good nor bad.  I ran the entire time, jumping off for 20 sec. to stretch my hamstring after .25 miles and for 5 seconds to turn the fan on after 4 songs (almost 2 miles).  


I also ran 3 miles on Monday morning (9:30 pace at a 2% incline).  All three of which sucked big time.  The first 2 miles were horribly difficult.  Then my ipod died at the last mile.  So I sped the treadmill up so I could get it over with as quickly as possible.


Sunday morning, I did my long run at my parents house.  It was awesome.  I did 4.5 miles at a 2% incline and felt great.  Which was surprising since we stayed up so late and drank the night before.  I felt awesome.  I am a bit suspicious of the incline on that treadmill, though, so that could be part of it.


I noticed today that my herniated discs are not hurting anymore.  Must be the running.  Yet one more reason to keep at it.  And probably one of the more important ones.

Wednesday December 15, 2010

Workout: 2.5 miles on the treadmill + shoulders & back & core
incline: 2%
time: 24:40
weight: 127.0


Run was tough this morning.  Luckily I was at the gym, where I feel accountable to stay on the treadmill and not hop off for a rest:)  I jumped off after 1/4 mile to stretch my hamstrings... something happened with my hamstrings in the last month - they are SO tight.  Maybe two years of not stretching before running has finally caught up to me.  Huh.


Decided to take advantage of the low mileage and add some weights, core & stretching to my workout.  I like the little stretching apparatus they have.  I want one for in front of my tv.


Core - 
planks - 3x1:00 HORRIBLE.  My abs hurt so badly from yesterday's planks.  I gutted these out, but they were painful.


Weights:
Lateral Raise - 3x10x15
back thing (don't remember the name of it) - 3x10x30/arm


Nothing major this morning, but still proud of myself for getting up and getting there.  I'm exhausted and want to take a nap.