Monday, March 25, 2013

Two Great Workouts

I have two workout rundowns for you today - both a bit overdue.

Last week's group run was a Speed Workout - an entirely new experience!  First, a weather report, because it's Illinois, so the weather is ALWAYS a factor.  Yeah, it was FREEZING, and WINDY!  Temps were in the 20s, I'm not sure the exact number, but it was freakin' miserable out there!  But sunny... it was the first workout after the time change, so that was a big plus.

We met at a local high school track, and once we finished bitching about the cold, we got started just a quickly as possible.  Here's the plan we followed:

  • 1-mile easy jog to warm up
  • 400m (once around the track) FAST, 400m recovery jog - do this 4 times
  • 200m recovery walk/ jog
  • 200m FASTER (you're only going half-way around the track, MOVE IT!), 200m recovery jog (try really hard not to walk now... but that's tough)
  • Cool down walk / slight jog, 800m.

It was really great - I think if not for the cold I might have actually enjoyed it!  Total mileage was about 4 miles, and we were at it for about an hour.  Hard to tell about the time; I think I stopped and forgot to restart my Garmin during one of the intervals.  The best part is that it was a true "group run".  Normally, we in the "Relaxed Runners" group have such disparate paces that we spread out quite a bit during our weekly runs, end up running in even smaller groups - sets of 2 or 3, or on my own - which is fine, I still get the motivation and accountability of being with the group, and I enjoy running on my own as much as anything, but with this set schedule, we stuck in a tighter unit.  I got to know several of the other women a bit better.  It's funny how the conversation flows during the "recovery" intervals - we were working hard, getting tired, and at least for myself, getting honest.  I find myself talking about things I don't normally think about, much less talk about.  Funny how everything is so interconnected.  Diet, fitness, health - it's all mental, it's all physical, it's all the same.  I'm turning into a freakin' Zen runner?

Okay, whatevs... I have another run I want to share, and this one has pictures!

There was a big snowstorm coming this weekend, scheduled to start Saturday night, so I planned my long run for Saturday.  (Good thing, too, since the storm was worse than I expected - good god, we got over 8 inches!  Started Saturday night as planned, didn't stop until Monday morning!)  But Saturday.  Saturday was perfect.  I took Coty to the vet for her checkup, then out for a run to work off her anxiety.  It was warmish - in the 40s, no wind, sunny skies.  Cool enough to run comfortably without a ton of gear and layers on!

I wanted to do between 7.5 and 8 miles, so we headed out from the house and then north to the very end of the trail, and then a bit further, until my Garmin beeped 4 miles.  I was so glad I remembered to bring my phone - I took some pics along the way!  Right at the start, Coty had a little run-in with a cat.




"Wait!  Come back!"
I wasn't quite quick enough on the draw with my phone, but it was pretty entertaining! This was during our warm-up walk anyway, not an interruption.  Once that little distraction was past, it was time to start running. My goal for the day was to run by and large the entire route, with a short break every two miles.  Due to various factors, some dog-related stops, ran into a couple of people I knew, etc., it ended up more like a short break every mile.  The only two miles I ran solid were #s 5 and 6, but man, it was a great time, I don't regret that one bit.

Here are some photos I took along the way:

Before - all keyed up!


Coty, before her Running Rehab.


We came across some geese who landed just beside the trail where we were running.  Coty couldn't resist!


The End of the Road (but we went just a bit farther)


 
Looking to the north-east at the turn-around point.

The view south-west from the turn-around point.

Looking back the way we came.

The road ahead, at the turn-around point.


 


Coty, half-way through!


This one is my favorite!



We've done this before.  Back in August, when I failed to blog for a couple of months, I went on this same route twice.  Once to see if I could go 8 miles (it's still the longest long run I've ever done), and again because I didn't have a camera the first time.  But I never did write about it, and I always wanted to.  Now I have.

Have a good week - I intend to.  After two great workouts like these, what could go wrong?


1 comment:

  1. Running is great for overall well-being. I was actively searching for advices to improve my runs and found plenty of them at militarygradenutritionals.com/blog. Their articles on the proper nutrition helped me to find perfect engine for my runs! I feel strong, full of energy, and ready to achieve whatever goal I have set.

    ReplyDelete

I’d be delighted if you’d join me on Facebook or check out my previous posts. I welcome your comments!
- CPAGrrrl