I just finished my "evening" run. I did an extra 5 minutes for a total of 45, and felt pretty good today.

For the final minute I usually bump up the speed to 5.5 mph for 30 seconds, then 6.0 mph for 30 seconds. By the end, I usually can't wait to hit the 3.0 button for my cool down walk.

But today I felt like I could have kept going for a bit longer at 6.0 mph. So, that felt pretty good.

Last week, though, I felt like my legs were made of lead. Ugh. I kept saying it was a miracle that I got through all my runs that week!
(But I did, just to be stubborn ;))

Here's a copy and paste of my post on the Blue TBL thread about my time trial last night:

So last night I did a time trial through my running clinic. Our instructor mapped out a 10K route and we were to run it at race pace in order to get an accurate idea of what our half-marathon race time will likely be. I was a little antsy at first as I'm not a fast runner and speed tends to wreck my legs, but I listened to my body and pushed as much as I thought I could.

My first thrill was that I hit the 5K mark at 32 minutes, one full minute faster than I've ever done it. I'm really curious as to what my time would have been if that had been my entire distance and I'd pushed myself more. I'm setting breaking 30 as a personal goal!

The rest of the time trial went well but I did "oops" on the route (I turned around at the loop when I was supposed to keep going!) so I accidentally cut my run short. I ran back to the start then turned around again (so mentally tough to do!!) to add in more distance. When everyone who was running and our instructor on his bike had met up we turned back, so I only ended up completing 8K but it was close enough to get an accurate idea on my time, which was 52 minutes.

I totally chickened out of the ice bath last night since it was cold and I'd gotten chilled, but my legs have been kind to me anyhow. I'm slightly gimpy today but not in pain so it's way better than I'd expected.

Amanda - GRRREAT time on the 5K! Holy smokes!

Kim - it's actually quite easy for me to do it at 5:30 am - as opposed to, say, at 6 pm after I have come from work and it's hot hot hot and humid as well. I am turning the A/C on only when there is no other choice (I have two dogs at home and my house is a ranch bungalow with no trees shading it so the sun is hitting it all day). Also, I am a morning person by nature and once I am up, I am up - so there is no point trying to go back to sleep (no matter what time) since it would not work anyway. I am sure I would not be as diligent in the evenings when i am already pretty tired from my job etc.

We had torrential downpour yesterday but I heard on the radio this a.m. that humidity is dropping down so turned off the A/C - and then I sort of regretted. But once I am on treadmill, I don't like to get off so I finished but man, I looked like I ran under water. :fr:

Man, I'm going crazy with the flu and not running. I've been taking it easy with about 1 hour on the exercycle the last two days (against everyone's advice, of course), but I may have to actually skip that today as I thought I'd feel better by now, but instead I feel worse. :( Booo hiss. I hate skipping exercise, I'm always terrified I'll lose my forward motion or something. But I'm loving reading about everyone else's runs, w00t! Ya'll are making me so anxious to get back on the road!

Tomato -- that's so funny about not getting off the treadmill once you get on -- I am so obsessive compulsive like that whenever I get on either a treadmill or an exercycle. Everything around me better be perfect because even if I only have 4 seconds on the clock I just mentally can NOT stop and get off to go fix things. I've done hours of cycling with the fan pointed in the completely wrong direction for just that reason. Glad to know I'm not the only person who is nutty like that. :)


AppleCheeks -- Isn't it nice to feel improvement so clearly! Way to go, that's just awesome!

Kim -- as always, I love to hear about your training runs! Your dedication to your training program for your race is so inspiring! I've found myself looking at race schedules for the fall! Great job on the time trial and I know you'll break a 30 5k in no time!

Feel better soon Josephine!!! :carrot:

Jo - I'm inspiring the super star? Cool. :D The way I look at it, I've spent the last six years pining for the shape I was in when I ran my last half. It takes less energy to just do the fricking training than it did hating my body!

I realized after I posted that I forgot to share my funny from my run last night. I went to a drumming circle a couple of weeks ago and one of the things that the woman does is getting people to create mantras with the drumming. Her theory is that drumming the mantra is more powerful than just saying it.

Anyhow, with drumming I created the mantra "I am strong and I run fast and I am strong and I run fast..." and on and on. Last night was the first time I've ever really used it during a run and it was awesome having that running through my head. When I was at about 7K and starting to get tired I noticed that the mental chatter of the mantra had shifted to "I am strong and I can walk" :lol: I had to do a delete and edit to get myself back on track!

Hi All,
I am still at week 3, I had done 2 in the beginning of July, but now have done 3 more in the last week. I think I am in for a 5 k this weekend, and seriously considering new gym shoes, possibly on my credit card cuz money is tight. I really wanted to get to the 20 lb mark before I bought the shoes, but I think it is just too risky for me to run in these old shoes anymore, that could have been why I injured my foot. I am going to have to do my 5k this weekend on the treadmill, I think the out doors could be another factor in the injury, (I was on the street, not a trail or track). Those factors also with pushing too hard. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

vixjean,
Definitely go for the new shoes. When I started with my treadmill it did not take me long to develop shin splint in one leg (in spite of being chubby, I have always walked quite briskly). It was a PITA, I had to skip the exercise on a few days etc. Then I got new shoes (on the advice of 3FC chicks). You have no idea what a difference it made. Soon after that, I was able to progress from walking to jogging and I have never had the shin splint since (knock on wood).

Jo,
Sorry to hear that you are still under the weather. Take a good care of yourself, OK? Maybe I could fedex you one of my greyhounds (she would be there by 8:30 tomorrow morning LOL) - she would love to curl up with you in bed and keep you company.
By the way, I had a good chuckle over your story with the fan facing the opposite direction - I so totally understand! :-)

I hope everybody will be participating in Ezmoney's Midsummer Night's 5K (except for the sicklies of course) - I am planning to to do 5K tomorrow and then another 5K on Monday.
Have a nice weekend all!