Slow and Steady....

I was thinking of doing the other half of the run I had done last week, but then I decided to suck it up and do the full 30 minutes. After all, I wanted to blog, and if it was just finishing the other half of the run, I don't think it would be legit. It was a pretty slow run today, I tried to talk myself into 5.8 mph on the treadmill, and I did it for like 10 min, but then I needed to slow down to 5.7, then 5.6 and finally 5.5 for the last five minutes. In the end it was like 5K, but I'm starting to think those treadmills will tell you that you've gone like 5K no matter how far you run.

I hope it warms up soon because all this gym running is for the birds!

Treadmill Fartleks

It's so cold out, there weren't even any crazy running nuts out there running today.  Everyone was at the gym, including me.  I decided to try to make my run a little more interesting with a few fartleks on the treadmill.  It actually did make the time go by faster!  I was running 5.7 mph, and then for the first fartlek I bumped it up to 6 mph for about 45 sec.  Then I thought "I wonder if I could actually run faster than 6 mph?" because I had never tried on the treadmill.  So, for the next sprint I bumped it up to 6.1 mph for a minute.  (Because that's so much faster.)  Then I decided I could go faster than that, and did 6.3 mph for two minutes!  It was actually fine, and I was impressed with myself.  Then I did a couple more in the 6.2/6.3 range.  I did about 4 minutes at a faster pace, the rest at 5.7 or 5.8.  In the end I went 3.2 miles in the 35 minutes, so not much more than usual (though I think that's my missing .1 mile from Monday).

Then I lifted weights for about 20 min, which sucked per usual.

I think the "new" gym is going to be exactly the same as the old one, but with more florescent paint.  I don't get it, why would you pay more for that??

10K - ish

My goal for the day was to run 10 K, if it wasn't too cold out.  Winter is supposed to be back in full force tomorrow, and I know there's no way I can run 10 K on the treadmill, so today was my big chance.  It's about 37 degrees out, but a little breezy, and worse by the water.  I mapped things out on MapMyRun, and found a loop on the Charles that was pretty much exactly 10 K.  The plan was the third parking lot after the Elliot Bridge to the BU bridge and back.  I had forgotten that you can't get from the BU Bridge to the path by the Charles easily - there's a railroad track there that gets in the way. So, I looked at it for about 10 seconds, and then decided to go back and cross the next bridge.  Of course, the way the bend in the river was, that made it a little shorter.  I was thinking maybe going over the bridge a couple times would make up for it, but not quite.  BU Bridge is actually much shorter than Mass Ave and the Longfellow.  I bet it's only 100 Smoots or so, Mass Ave is 364 + an ear.

Everyone and their favorite cheetah was out running today.  I got passed by soooo many people, and I passed no one.  Except walkers.  I am still faster than all the walkers out there.  In the end I went about 6.1 miles or 9.8 K in 1 hour, 7 min and 54 sec.  I thought I was probably a little short and should run for another couple minutes, but I was back at the beginning and I was moving at tortoise pace, so I didn't see the point. It was a pretty slow run, about an 11 min mile for most of it.  But you gotta start somewhere on the longer runs.  I'm not gonna lie, I was a little annoyed with me for not quite making 10 K, and for going so slow, and for being pooped at the end.  But, I guess next time (whenever that is) will feel more triumphant.

I suspect the next time won't be for a while.  Bad weather is coming.  But, I have new snow shoes, so I'm kind of excited about it :)

Half run

I'm not sure that it really counts, but I went to the gym today to lift weights (boring, but I think I gotta do it more) and as a warm up I jogged for 15 minutes at 5 mph.  I went a total of 1.25 miles, which isn't that far.  But then again, when I first started running I couldn't imagine going that far.  So, I decided to sort of count it, as a half.  Running for 15 min on the treadmill is way easier than for 30 minutes.  Lifting weights still sucks, but there's that whole "build muscle to burn fat" deal, so I'm gonna work at it.

40 degrees

Went for a longer run again today since I didn't go over the weekend (though I did walk a mile to this totally kick-ass yoga class, and then walk home after it, so that's something.) I did the same MOS to Mass Ave loop, but I made it a little longer by making the full loop, and then running back to my car. It wound up being 4.83 miles in 50 ish minutes, so like a 10 min 21 sec mile. I thought I turned off my watch, but apparently I hadn't, so I'm not sure of the exact time.

It was really foggy out tonight, and the Charles was spooky. Lots of cheetahs, and a couple dogs. Oh, and I took a wrong turn and had to kind of crawl through a fence.

It was a little chilly out, about 40 degrees, but really good running weather!

Just like a spring day....

It's been so cold, but today it was like spring - 40 degrees!  I was thinking about going to the gym, but then I decided that maybe it was warm enough for outdoors.  So, I put on my winter Athleta pants and top, and went to the Charles.  I was thinking that I would just do a short loop, from the Museum of Science bridge to the Longfellow, but once I started running it felt so great I decided to make it a bigger loop than usual, I did the Mass Ave Bridge to the MOS one.  (Starting near the Cambridgeside Galeria).

There was a dusting of snow this morning, so there were a few spots that were kind of slippery, and I walked down some steps instead of running.  There was a point where a couple cheetahs came around a curve in the path, and were gone.  I don't know how people can run so faaaaast!

In the end I wound up going 4.45 miles in about 45 min.  I'm not sure exactly how long it was because I had a couple layers on my arms with sleeves with thumb holes and gloves, so it took a bit little between starting my stop watch and starting running.  I put 5 quarters in the meter, and I had exactly 30 min left when I got back, so I'm kind of going by that.  That's a 10 min 6 sec mile, which I'm crazy happy about.  It really didn't feel like I was running that fast.  Go me :)

Oh, and I got all excited because someone new posted a comment on my blog, but again it became clear that they hadn't actually read my blog, it was some religious nut who wanted me to read his blog.  Delete.

Gym

Great storm!  I was supposed to go back to work on Thursday, and work Thursday and Friday.  But the snow was so bad that things were closed!  It's like adding an extra four days to my vacation.  I still had to work for part of the day Thursday, but I got to sleep in, and was in my PJ's in the living room for work.  It's still enough of a mess out (and pretty cold) such that I went to the gym to run today.

I did the usual 30 min on the treadmill, half at 10 minute mile, the rest at 5.7 mph.  In the end I went 3.2 miles in 35 minute, which is a little faster than my norm.  I was thinking I should do some interval training with the treadmill running, and go a little faster for some of it, and a little slower for some.  But then of course I didn't.

I finally asked about the new gym.  My price is staying the same, new memberships will cost more.  I don't know what I will be saving, but now of course I will need to be a member here forever.  I can't pass up a bargain :)

Happy New Year!

I was going to go to my friend Greta's party for New Years, but then I got all lame and didn't feel like it, so I wimped out on her and instead went to this two hour Kick Ass yoga class.  I thought that the instructor would go easy, since it was two hours, starting at 10 pm, but not so much. The guy on the mat next to me spent about 15 minutes just lying on his back, before the part where that's what you're meant to do.  So, today I was a little tired out.  I decided to go for a run anyhow, because there's a storm coming and I don't know if I can run tomorrow or Friday.

I wound up going to the gym because it was a little too cold out, and because I wanted to see if they have new club info up. There was nothing that said if rates are meant to go up or not, but the advertisement says that they will have classes and an oxygen bar, so I'm a little nervous.  If they do hike up the rates I'm totally defecting to Golds, they are opened 24/7, which probably I would never take advantage of, but it sounds cool. Anyway, I ran a little slower than usual, but still went over 3 miles in 35 min.  For most of the run I did 5.7 mph, but then at the end I slowed down to 5.5.

I've been working on cleaning all the crap out of my home.  Today I took all the change that I had sitting around, all pennies, nickels, and dimes, and brought them to Coinstar.  Well, you have to pay 10% to use the coinstar to get cash, which is lame. But, you could get 100% of the money if you got a gift card, and they had them for Athleta!  So, though I swore I would not indulge in that addiction anymore, I got a really cute top and sports bra for all my change and $12.  Sometimes I think I spend more time shopping for cute work out clothes than actually working out.