Running update:
I’ve still been eating like, well, like a bear storing up loads of adipose tissue for a nice long hibernation. Well, like a bear who works near a Starbucks’ and loves cinnamon, chai, eggnog, and peppermint mocha, not to mention cookies and almond! M&Ms! and anything chocolate and that’s not even counting the gianormous burritos and chips and adding bacon to everything bacon’s good on… yeah. Where was I? Oh, right, running.
So I knew I needed some hard running. My allergies or whatever are still flaring up, and that puts a damper on my speed, so I decided on distance. (I still need to add the strength training that I’ve been yapping about for weeks; soon, I hope) Tonight I planned on 4.5 miles. I knew it would be busy at the gym and I knew I would probably have to break that into two sections but I was going to do that much distance before going home or the gym closed. Ha, ha, just kidding. It’s open 24 hours, see, so… yeah.
Wore the Adidas, took a hit off my probably-completely-empty inhaler (it’s a psychological crutch by now) and wore shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. Music was Green Day’s “American Idiot” and the good parts of the Kill Bill Vol. 1 soundtrack.
Annnnnnd… I was off and running. Had to start out on my second-favorite treadmill but that’s OK. It doesn’t have much of a shelf but I had forgotten my towel and didn’t really need the shelf. I set a nice steady 10:20 pace and started running. I decided that I would run for 30 minutes or 3 miles before taking any kind of a break, whether a bathroom break, for water, or just a walking break. After 2 miles I bumped up the speed a bit, and then again around 2.5 miles. And I plodded along and did, in fact, manage to make it to near 3 miles without breaking anything other than a sweat. I did fantasize about making it to 3.5 miles, so I just had to finish with a 1.0 mile cooldown, but my digestive system did not cooperate. I finished with about 0.1 mile of 8:06 pace and logged, in my first segment, 3.1 miles in 31:36 or so, for an average pace of about 10:12. Meh. But it was a tempo night, not a speed night.
Did have to use the bathroom, and returned to the treadmill about 5 lb. lighter and ready for my final 1.4 miles. I set a 9:50 pace and just stayed there. Breathing was a teensy-tiny bit constricted but I tried to relax and just go with it and nothing untoward happened. My sinuses did start clogging up, too. Ugh. I hate these allergies. I decided I wanted to end with a couple of 30 second fast segments, so when the timer rolled over to 13:30 I pushed the speed up to 8:06 again for a full 30 seconds, the dropped back to my 9:50 pace for 30-45 seconds, the back up to 8:06 pace for another 30 seconds, and by then I had gone past 1.5 miles. I neglected to check the exact speed (good for me!) but it was pretty close to 15:15 and just a shade over 1.5 miles.
Did my new-normal stretching routine, drank what felt like a gallon of water at the fountain, and I was done. 4.6+ total miles for the night.
NOTE TO SELF: Even though I have next Wednesday off due to it being my birthday, the gym is going to be doing work in the showers that day.
