Unexpectedly Good

Tuesday’s Run (6/1/10)

Today I wanted to aqua-jog in the pool after dinner, but there was a sign posted that told us not to enter the pool area.  Sadness!  It looked so inviting and blue out there.  The pool practically begged me to sneak out and join it.  But alas, rule-follower that I am (usually), I did not aqua-jog in the pool.

Instead I hopped on the treadmill—again!

Because I was not planning to do a treadmill work-out, I decided that I needed to do something different to make this change of plans more exciting.  I decided to do a little more speedwork today, gambling that a little bit of faster running would not derail my long-term plans.  I’m very aware of the possibility of injuring myself by trying to do too much, too fast, so I try to weigh my work-outs against each other and other factors, like how tired I am or how much time I’m spending on my feet at work.

The work-out:

* Walk for 5 min. to warm up. 

* Run 16 min. at 9:30 (easy) pace. 

* Now the fun part: speed!  2 min. at 7:30 (nice!), 2 min. at 9:30, 2 min. at 7:30

* Cool down by walking for a few minutes, slowing the pace down every minute or two.

Wow, this was a great work-out!  The speed was challenging, which kept me mentally engaged in the work-out.  I need to find ways to combat treadmill boredom because that’s the main thing I dislike about the treadmill.  But I can see that if we have unbearable heat now, in June, it’s only going to get hotter and uglier as the summer continues.  I have a feeling I’ll be spending a lot of quality time on the treadmill!