9 and a half minute mile!

I went to the gym to do the speed work of my training plan on the treadmill.  It says you only have to run two miles, and then lift weights.  It was sort of supposed to be done on Wednesday or Thursday, but my legs and feet were killing me, and I didn't want to overdo it.  So, today was Speedwork Saturday.  I started with a two minute warm-up at like an 11 minute mile, then bumped up to 10.46 minute mile, then I decided to try to do 30 seconds at 9.5 minute mile.  And it wasn't that bad!  So, I alternated 9.5 minute mile for one minute with 10.46 minute mile for one minute.  In total I think I ran 10 minutes at 9.5 minute mile!  I was on the treadmill for 26 minutes and went 2 and a half miles.  Which was much less painful than the usual 3.1 miles I do.  I think that speeding up and slowing down also made the time go faster.  I'm definitely going to do that again.  Goes to show there is truth in the saying "if you want to run faster then you have to run faster."  We'll see if it makes a difference in the rest of my running.

I was trying to follow this plan I got online, but I'm not sure how it's going to work.  I did OK for about 4 days.  Then on Wednesday last week I was supposed to do speed work and lift (I actually did lift today.  Ya, still sucked, but what are you gonna do?).  But it was really sunny and beautiful out, and there was this free outdoor yoga class on the Esplanade, so I couldn't resist going.  I was so glad I went, too!  It was great, tons of people lined up by the river, blue sky with just a few puffy clouds, sail boats on the water and people running and walking their dogs.  It was a perfect "summer in the city" day, and I felt so lucky to get to be a part of it!  They also have free cross fit on Thursdays, which I might try, though I'm a little scared of it. And that's a really public venue to totally bomb at an activity (I mean, tourists were stopping and taking pics!)