I’m Going for It

Week of September 2, 2012:

Monday: Yoga (Gentle Hatha Yoga #…I forget!)

Tuesday: Treadmill running work-out (see below)

Wednesday: Morning run (20 minutes)

Thursday: Evening long-ish run (33 minutes)

I’m no exercise physiologist, but to my mind, there are three very good ways to become a faster runner, and they are:

1)  Practice running faster (duh).

2)  Get stronger by strength/resistance training.

3)  Cross-train.  (I have heard lots of stories about people who either added cross-training to their running or were forced to cross-train due to injury.  Many of them report that they are able to run much faster when they return to running.)

I think I’m doing a little bit from each category these days.  My main focus, running-wise, is just building the base, ever so slowly, with each mile run.  To be quite honest, I just want to be able to run outside easily, to feel like whenever I want, I can just slip on my sneakers and head out for a nice 3-4 mile jog around the neighborhood.  That’s all I really want.  I know I’m planning a half-marathon and a marathon for 2013, but right now, I just want to my running to be fun, an easy release.

That being said, I’m digging the chance to do speedwork on the treadmill, and I hope to make it a weekly event.  Being able to do a running work-out in the evening adds flexibility to my schedule, and I look forward to it. This week, I pushed myself a little harder with the following ladder:

5 min. @ 9:00/mile

5 min. @ 8:30/mile

5 min. @ 8:00/mile

5 min. @ 7:30/mile

5 min. @ 8:30/mile

5 min. @ 9:00/mile

Did you catch that?  I added a new step to my ladder, then jumped back down to complete the ladder at the easier paces of 8:30 and 9:00/mile.  This work-out was a good one.  I felt pretty strong through the middle of the 7:30/mile set, then I started to feel tired, and the remaining steps were far more challenging as a result.  But I think that’s a sign that this is a good ladder work-out for me right now—I wasn’t dying after the first or second set, but I certainly felt challenged by the hardest set.

This evening I surprised myself by heading out for a long-ish run in the hot evening, and it wasn’t bad!  I think this may be a sign that I have fully acclimated to the worst of the Texas heat.  Of course I’m still very, very excited by the prospect of cooler temps, but it was nice to have the choice between running outside and running on the treadmill.  I’m glad I’ve been getting up to run in the mornings, but it really does make my life easier to have the option to run in the evening.

Catch you later, gators!