Teusday Intervals

Today is Tuesday and I did bust out some intervals this morning but first I should give some background on the past few days/runs.

Friday morning (before working my 3rd 12 hour day in a row) I got up and ran outside.  I ran one of my standard out and back routes for 3.8 miles.  I used my handy "split" feature on my watch to record my time out the first 1.9 miles and then back.  I felt good on this run but did have some scary thoughts because no one really knew where I was running or that I was out running.  Brian was still unreachable in the Caribbean, my roommate was asleep and usually doesn't get up till after 7am and my parents probably knew I was running but didn't know my route.

I run with all the necessary safety items but there still was a worry in my mind.  Would the guys I work with wonder where I was and would they try to contact someone if I didn't show up to work?  Were there any traces at my apartment of what route I had taken?  In college I used to leave notes on the kitchen counter for my roommates that said "Left for run at 5am, will be back at 5:45, if you get this note and it is past that time I took this route on my run".  Usually Brian knows my routes because I tell him the night before but still its not completely fool proof.  This was just a reminder that I need to be safer!

Saturday morning I woke up exhausted so I waited till Sunday for another run.  I just didn't know where I wanted to run though so I opted for the same old 3.8 mile out and back route from Friday.

I have noticed with all my outdoor winter running that I am slower in the morning.  I think because my core temperature never really warms up because I wake up and am out the door running 10 minutes later.  On Sundays run it took my over 40 minutes to get out the door and I noticed the difference.

Friday vs. Sunday
First 1.9 miles = 15:37 vs. 14:29
Second 1.9 miles = 15:16 vs. 14:13

Basically I dropped two whole minutes on the run and I think that is because I was more awake and my body has been given a chance to "wake/warm up".

Monday I could not drag myself out of bed which really is a first for me.  Usually when my alarm goes off, I am awake and out of bed and into the bathroom.  I just laid in bed until 5:20am and by that time it was too late to go to the gym and still make it to work so I just skipped the cross training I had planned.  I did go to yoga after work though which was really good because we focused on hips.  My legs felt very tired after the hour of yoga.

So that brings us to Tuesday.  Although the temperature outdoors has been in the mid 40s during the day, mornings and nights have still been in the 30s so I went for the treadmill.

11 minutes warm up (because I just didn't feel ready at 10 minutes)
6x1000m at 7:08 pace
0.75 mile cool down

Honestly I didn't really feel like I was pushing the pace during this workout.  I know that I felt good most of the time until the end when my body was feeling the mileage (6.75 total) on the treadmill.  It could be my shoes though which have 348 miles on them.  Running intervals on the treadmill really allows me to zone out and not pay attention.  I look for the key distance markers for starting and stopping each sprint but otherwise I just don't even really think.  Its like auto pilot - my legs are running but my mind is only 10% focused on the treadmill while the other 90% runs off and thinks about who knows what! I can't even remember what I thought about for the 54 minutes I ran!

Well this turned into a very rambling post! Thanks for reading! I am posting this late on Tuesday night so hope everyone has a great Wednesday!!

Three Things Thursday

1. Thank you all so much for the wonderful Birthday wishes!  Yesterday morning and afternoon were good but around 5pm everything went wrong.  Let me explain.  I usually get to work around 7am if not before.  Last night I stayed until 7pm!  Working 12 hours on my birthday really was not ideal but I made it to my parents for pot roast and then cake and really had a great night with them!

 2. I slept in this morning (and I am still exhausted) and didn't work out but will hopefully be able to leave work and go to spin class tonight!  I am also hoping to get outside for a morning run tomorrow since there is no snow in the forecast for once!

3. Today is March 4th - the only day out of the whole year that gives a command (get it - march fourth??!!)  : )

Happy Thursday!!!

Giveaways -
Inperspire Towels at  Tall Mom
WIN detergent plus more at 5 Miles 2 Empty

Birthday Run

Today is my 24th Birthday!  I love the date that I was born on and so does Tall Mom because its 3/3 and the number three is both our favorite number!

I got up at 5am and headed out for a slow recovery run!  3.15 miles at 9 min/mile pace which is great because I always have trouble going that slow and my body really needed to take this run slow. It was about 32F outside and it wasn't quite as dark as usual!  Soon I will be seeing the sun rise on my morning runs! Yesterday I did my interval workout then met Kaylie for spin class after work and my legs were so tired.  The only reason I made it through the class was because of the girl in front of me.  She kept me entertained as she had put the bike seat too low and looked ridiculous with her knees almost hitting her chest!  I love people watching at the gym!

Tonight I will be going to my parents house for a birthday dinner and cake!  I really wish Brian was here for my birthday but I will actually get to talk to him tonight on iChat!  And we will celebrate once he gets back so its like I get two birthday celebrations!

It is Wednesday and I am bring back Literary Wednesdays -

I am totally a "judge the book by the cover" kind of girl and that is exactly why I picked the book The Wedding Machine by Beth Webb Hart.  Here is a quick summary from BookList:

For decades in Jasper, South Carolina, every wedding has been planned according to long-standing customs. The women who guard these traditions, the Wedding Guild, have been friends since girlhood and now it’s the summer of their daughters’ weddings. Ray, the group’s leader, uses her perfectionist tendencies to mask her lower-class past. Sis lets memories of her long-dead fiancé keep her from new love. Kitty B. spends so much effort on her hypochondriac husband, she’s forgotten to take care of herself. Hilda, once the princess of Jasper, has become a recluse since her divorce. The friends must band together to keep their town’s customs—and their own dreams—thriving.

I really enjoyed this book.  It was an easy read and just a very positive book about Southern Life and customs and friends.  Sometimes I just need a book that is fun and happy and this totally fulfilled that for me!  What are you reading?

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!!!  

Positive Thoughts

I really had trouble coming up with today's interval workout.  I thought about maybe doing 1000m repeats or mile repeats but instead stuck with the same old same old!  I am definitely looking for some interval workouts because I am running out of ideas!

Tuesday Workout:

After a mile warm up where my legs actually felt really good and awake, I set into my workout - 3 x (400m, 600m, 800m) with 90 seconds to 0.25 miles rest between and then 3-5 minutes recovery between sets.  I ran the 400m faster than the 600m, and the 600m faster than the 800m.  The first and second sets were decent, I felt like I was pushing but wasn't totally spent.  I started the final set and i wasn't sure I was going to make it through the intervals!  Then I proceeded to cool down for 0.3 miles! I actually ended up walking for about 0.2 miles more but I just had nothing left to continue running a cool down.

This definitely was a tough workout but it gave me so much positive energy!  I was very hyper for most of the morning until the after lunch coma set in around 1pm!

In honor of Lacey and her positive thinking journal I thought I would mention a few positive things from today!

1. The sun is shining today and it is now light outside at 6:30am!!
2. I have some amazing friends who sent me funny messages today that made me laugh out loud!
3. I am reading/almost done reading a good book - The Wedding Machine by Beth Webb Hart (review tomorrow - bringing back Literary Wednesdays!!)

What are you positive about today!  Your run? The weather?  Share the positive and let me know!  Happy Tuesday!

Snow Storm

We got hit with over a foot of snow on Friday!!  I got up at 5am to go to the gym and couldn't get my car out!  Brian ended up digging out my car and his car before the plows came through to clear the apartment roads at 7am!  The snow didn't stop there as well got almost another foot over the weekend!!

Brian left for the Caribbean on Friday night and thankfully had no trouble flying out but I was left to brave the weather alone.  He is gone until March 7th on a "Mancation" with some college friends and we are supposed to get snow here every day this week!!

I had a great treadmill run Saturday morning - I know I took it from someone else I just can't remember who!  Warm up for 10 minutes then 9 x {2 mins at 7:13 pace, 3 mins at 8:41 pace} then 10 minutes cool down.

Later on Saturday and then again on Sunday afternoon I met up with my mom for some snowshoeing!  We were supposed to go cross country skiing on Sunday but her new boots were the wrong type for her ski bindings which was a bust!  I haven't been XC skiing in over ten years!  I used to ski XC and downhill with my family all the time when I was younger!  I started skiing at age 2 and my dad would pull a sled behind him for me to sit in when I got tired!

February was a great month of running with 83.5 miles compared to January with 70.1 miles.  Quite an increase in this short month but my body is feeling good so I will just go with it!

Here's a few pictures of the snow fall we got Friday (at my apartment and my parents house) and also from the snowshoeing!! Hope you had a good weekend like I did!  Happy Monday!!