Turtles Can Run

The weather has been beautiful the past couple of weeks and I have been enjoying running outdoors.  Saturday, I ran 8  miles solo  and felt good during my run  but did not eat or drink anything after.  I was severely fatigued and dizzy the rest of the day, even after I ate.  So I ended lazing about all day,  even took a nap.  Sunday, I was feeling much better but I did not run,  I decided I needed to take another day off to recover fully.

Monday,  I joined my running group for intervals.  We did 1 mile warm up,  4X400 meters (400 recover), 1 mile cool down.  It was a great work out.  Once again the group was divided up  and almost everyone else ended up with someone of similar speed.  I ended a little behind J ( the one I mentioned before who runs just slightly faster than me) on every fast interval, but that was good for me, it gave me a visual goal.  The fact that she is faster than me but not by much helps me push a little harder, I am hoping I will be able to match her fast pace  soon.   We stuck together during recoveries, warm up and cool down.  I enjoyed having someone with me during this hard but satisfying workout.  One of my fast intervals was lost because I pushed the stop button instead of my lap button.  But the other 3 ranged between 7:20 and 7:30 min/mile.  Really nice pace for me.  As I think I stated in my last post, I really think that this running group is going help me not be such a slow turtle .  I made sure I consumed something as soon as I came home yesterday (chocolate milk)  and I also ate lunch at an appropriate time, so I felt just good all day.

I ran 4 miles in 36 minutes today on the treadmill.  I actually did not mind being on the treadmill, probably because I did it by choice.  My plan was to do a spin class after but realized after that I had the time wrong so instead I jumped on the step mill and then the elliptical.  I had a great workout.  Refueled and once again I have not had any problems all day.  Tomorrow I am planning on doing a short easy run with hubby and maybe a spin class.

I have been enjoying setting my own schedule and mileage  since my half marathon.  Although it may seem that the running group is doing it on some days, I don’t have to show up if I don’t want to, so I don’t really think that counts.  Not having a preset plan has allowed me to listen to my body and not feel guilty if I have to miss  a day of training.  I have yet to find other races to put on my schedule between now and my full marathon.  There are plenty but I don’t really want to think about races for a little while, just want to run.

Filed under: Running Blog