Wednesday Workout Update

Well, it was bound to happen - the bad run.  We set out to do 10 miles on Saturday morning, and we accomplished it, but not without some struggle.  We ran in a group of five, and started out too fast for me.  No one's fault, really - we were all pretty pepped up and excited and just took off.  But I have to run my first mile, sometimes two, really slow in order to get myself situated for the long haul.  Otherwise, I don't get my breathing calmed down, and I end up chasing my running groove the entire time.  And that's what happened on Saturday - I never settled in, struggled through too many miles, and was not a happy camper right around mile 9.  However, I did my intervals exactly as the Gymboss beeped - I ran when I was supposed to, and I walked when I was supposed to - and this was a vast improvement over the long runs in the past where I struggled and ended up walking most of them.  So the bummed feelings were there, but the body cooperated, and I finished.

And afterward?  One of our runners, who had been out for the entire month of January and therefore only (only!) ran 4 miles, went to Starbucks after she came in and brought back a coffee Traveler for us - oooh, that hit the spot on a cold morning!  I was alternating sips of coffee and Gatorade and felt like a new woman after that!

Much later, Jeff and I went out for our weekly frozen yogurt treat.  I had Kona coffee yogurt with carob chips and it was delicious!  I meant to take a picture of my pretty creation before I started to eat it, but I didn't even make it to the table before I had my first bite!

 Ten fingers for 10 miles!  I complained about the bags under my eyes when I saw this shot, but Jeff reminded me that I'd been up since 4:30 that morning...oh, and had run 10 miles.  Have I mentioned that? ;)

This coming Saturday we're only (only!) running 3.1 miles - yes, a 5K - the first one of our short racing season.  I'm really looking forward to this distance!

********************

Here's a funny motivational poster that made me laugh - I identified with it because my brain turns to mush on long runs and have had some very disjointed thoughts similar to these:

I DO like pancakes...

 ********************

Exercise bike has been going well - Monday I bumped it up to 30 minutes and I'll do the same today.  Slowly but surely, I'm making my way toward 45 minutes on it!  I've also discovered that if I put on my workout clothes right away instead of lounging around in my pajamas as I drink my coffee, I'm much quicker to get on the bike once the caffeine hits my system. 

********************

Changing up my planks to two 45-second ones seems pretty easy - I guess I need to add a third one?  Somewhere in my mind, it's decreed that planks must be difficult.  Am I alone in this thinking, or does anyone else have these random "musts" associated with certain exercises?