Saturday, April 9, 2011

Freedom!

It is a misty Saturday morning and you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking, but it's going to be a beautiful day. I am staring out onto the tarmac at the Dane County Airport already anticipating the end of my workday. I've been here for an hour and a half and I'm ready to jet (no pun intended). By the time I leave work today, the sun will be out and it will be over 60 for the first time this year.
Yesss!! I can barely contain myself. After a long winter, this is heaven.
I am looking forward to a nice bike ride home, made easier by the addition of a rack to clip my saddle bags onto. I no longer have to carry everything I need on my back. I will be able to do my short 4-5 mile run outside today and I'm super excited about it. After three consecutive days in the gym, it's about time I got out for some fresh air. My calves were still sore on Wednesday so I hit the elliptical for 45 minutes at half resistance. It said I traveled 5.5 miles but I'm still not sure if I can trust the distance readout from the machine. I kept my heart rate around 160-170 and I was sweating a lot so I must have gotten a decent workout. Yesterday it was the treadmill and it felt great! Four miles in 45 minutes. After walking for five minutes, I set the pace at an 11 minute mile then increased it to an 8.5 minute pace for the last mile. That last mile was hard and I wanted to quit a couple of times, but I didn't. After the 4th mile I threw in an extra 2 minutes at 8 mph just because I was feeling so good. Sprinting used to just kill me but now I love the feeling. I finished up red-faced and sweaty. Great workout. However great my treadmill experience was yesterday, I'm ready for a change. Today I get to be outside!
I haven't decided on a course just yet but today I will have company on my run. I usually am more of a solitary runner. This partly because I don't want the pressure of competition, and partly due to my lack of organization and or friends that run. For the longest time I fell into the group of people who would boast of not ever running unless I was being chased. Most of my friends fall into that category as well. It will be good to have a friend with me today. She has been training indoors on a treadmill so far this year and doing pretty well, but she hasn't run outside yet. She expressed reservations about running outside attached to the added impact of the pavement so we're going to keep it easy today. I'm planning on running anywhere between 4 and 5 miles. I know she'll do great; she's been running better than a 9 minute mile for 4-7 miles at a time. I'm almost afraid of being left in the dust. Either way it'll be a great run. I just know it.
Can't wait!

I hope everyone else out there is looking forward to a great weekend run as well!

1 comment:

  1. I prefer outside over the treadmill any day. Isn't it great when you feel like quitting and don't...I feel so accomplished when I push through haha. Hope you had a good run today.

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