Twelve

I woke up WAY before dark:30 this morning so I could get my run in.  Although I have the BEST job in the world (see this post in my other blog), I do still try to maintain a schedule.  Tuesdays are full, so when my every-other-day run falls on this day, I have the choice to either swap days, or run in the dark.  I already tried swapping days and I hated it.  I am positive that I'm obsessed with running now, because there's no way I would voluntarily go two days in a row without it!

When I got up, my leg was hurting  a little bit and my stomach sounded like Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors ("FEED ME").  I had just gotten good and warmed up when my 30 minutes was over.  I might have kept going, but I feared for any neighbors that might be out and about.  (That's a reference to the movie, so if it doesn't make sense, check out the link!)  Seriously, I'm sticking to the plan so even if I FEEL LIKE doing something different, I'm committed to doing what I already decided to do.

Having said that, I trained to my heart this morning!  Heart rate that is.  I haven't figured out the textbook way to do this quite yet, but I worked out with a personal trainer a about a year and a half ago (strength not running) who set some heart rate zones for me that I'm (roughly) using...along with "perceived exertion levels".  At my "max", 180bpm, I feel like I can't breathe.  At 175, I'm just to the point that I don't want to talk (or sing, since I run alone).  So, starting with my first interval, I ran until my HR got up to 175 (about a minute and a half), and then walked until it was down to 165 (about 30 seconds).  I repeated that until it was time to cool down.  (Okay, so I did cheat a little bit, running a couple of minutes longer, ending with only a 2 minute cool down.  Yeah, I remember what I just said about "sticking with the plan", but I don't think I veered too far off!!)

I had SEVERAL intervals that were longer than 1:15...and most recovery intervals were about 30 seconds.

I'm not going to pretend that's "good" in relation to ALL runners, but I do know that's "good" for me.  AND, I do know that's an improvement--after just TWELVE training days!!


And, yes, I sing when I run!  I stopped using earphones when I found out they aren't allowed in races.  Instead, I play music on my iPhone (via the external speaker), just loud enough for me to hear, and I sing along.  Some (obviously not all) of the songs  I listen to are in my "Playlist" on the side bar.   (Feel free to mute it if it's not your thing.)


Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!

:D