Morning everyone!!
I hope you are all having a kick-butt start to your Saturday!
I woke up this morning with a jolt– not because I wanted to get out of bed at 6:30 in the morning- but because Sketchie pounced right on my stomach!! What a crazy cat. I screamed SKETCHIE!!!! Then fell back to sleep for a couple hours. lol.
I decided today was going to be my long run for the week since I ended up taking yesterday as an OFF day (my DVD didn’t come!) and my body also had an OFF day on Tuesday. I have built up to the 8-miler now. Time sure is flying! Last week my long run was 7 miles, so this week was 8.
And I admit, I was a bit terrified halfway through mile 2.
Not so much terrified because I didn’t think I had the stamina; running at 6.0 mph is not very challenging for me. Terrifying because running on a treadmill isn’t very, how shall I say, entertaining.
Boredom set in around mile 3, much sooner than usual, probably because I was defeating my mind by reminding myself how many miles (and time left) I had to go.
Do. Not. Do. This. When. You. Run. Long. Runs.
!
With each mile I increase, I can understand more and more why you need to be strong mentally to get through those long runs.
Today I was literally yearning to be able to run outside. Sure, I could have in –7 degrees Celcius, but I’d rather not. Total newbie wuss here. In the spring I will, and I will appreciate every minute of the fresh air. I prefer it to be 3 degrees Celcius or above to run outside. Maybe I will luck out and get a few of those this or next month.
And what I discovered today on my 8-miler, was that you sure can think a lot about things when you have 1 hour and 20 mins. and a beautiful backyard in front of you.
Oh and think I did. I thought about new stuff I want to do for Oh She Glows– such as adding a FAQ page and a Recipe page, perhaps even a Road to Health page.
I thought about ways to find runners in my town that I can run with in the Spring.
I thought about how Eric and I have to go to William Ashley’s to round up what china we got for Wedding gifts and see how much $$$ the rest is going to cost.
I reminded myself to sign up for a 5km race at the end of March to give me a feel for racing before my first half marathon.
I read a few great articles in my Runner’s World Magazine.
And I won’t bore you with the rest! The point is, it was a great learning experience for me today. And a lesson in discipline.
The workout:
- 0.10 mile walking warm-up, 4.0 mph, incline 3%, 40 seconds
- 8 mile run, 6.0 mph, incline 3%, 1 hour 21 mins. 40 secs.
- 0.10 mile walking cool-down, 4.0 mph, incline 3%, 40 seconds
- Max Heart rate: 161 bpm (83% of max)
- Avg heart rate: 151 bpm (77% of max)
- Feel the burn: 681 kcals
- Total duration: 1:23:08
It felt awesome hitting a new PR for distance! I kept reminding myself of the quote in Hal’s Marathon book that said in essence,
When you think about it, 20 miles is only 2 more miles from 18. What’s another 2 miles?
When I got to mile 6, I reminded myself that and it worked. And I will be reminding myself this with each new long run!
After my run, I did these Top 5 Stretches for Runners. Thanks Hal!
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I mailed in my Warranty Card for my Landice treadmill a while back. They said that they would be sending me a free T-shirt. Sweet! I need a new Tee to run in, I thought.
Then this arrived yesterday:
They only carry size X-L.
Are you joking me?!
Ladies and Gents, if this isn’t motivation to lose weight when you buy a new treadmill, I don’t know what is.
I’m going to make a video of myself running in this rediculously big t-shirt outside this spring and send it to them.
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Ok, the fact is I’m sweaty and I need to go shower then eat! I have much more to blog about today and this weekend so stay tuned!
I intend on doing another FAQ this weekend (possibly a video), so if you have any last minute questions ask away so they will make it in.
Peace out Health nuts!
Hello,
I was wondering if your breakfast banana bread, that you made yesterday, got reallly toasty in the oven? I made it this morning and it was crunchier then I expected. It was still awesome, but I was just wondering if maybe I adjusted the cooking time, it would turn out even more delicious!
Thanks for the recipe, too!
haha il ift weights all day long at work. or if i have a light training day, and more of a computer day, i take breaks every hour to walk on the treadmill for ten minutes. its sweet working in the fitness feild because fitness is such a high priority you can take breaks to work out.
Kelly Turner
www.everygymsnightmare.com
what a cool idea to have treadmills at workstations! i would have loved that when i was working my desk job. i used to take my hour lunch break to go walk on a trail near my office, so that at least gave me some good exercise! i could usually make it about 4 miles if i walked quickly.
What a great idea!
I’m a reading specialist at an elementary school so I’m always on my feet teaching. I also pick up and drop off my younger students (1st and 2nd graders) at their classroom. I get a lot of exercise walking up and down the stairs! :-)
I love your blog!
~M
Aww, Sketchie :-D
8 miles on a treadmill is painful. Back when I lived where it was cold, my routine was to run the first 4 on a treadmill and then take 2 minutes to bundle up and run the rest outside. After the first 4, you’re pretty warmed up and the cold isn’t so bad.
CONGRATS on the new distance PR!!! i was always sooo excited to add more distance when i first started training.
and another CONGRATS for running 8 on the treadmill… that sounds like pure torture to me! but i also dont have to deal with -7 degree celcius weather :)
So far this year, my longest run on the TM is 5 miles and I can’t seem to get over the boredom, mental aspect of it.
Of course I am in a gym w/ others and sometimes I watch people which helps me with the boredom. People are funny…
Gotta love the huge t-shirt! looks more like a sleeping tshirt instead.
Do you do anything at work to stay fit?
Take the steps most of the time and run them 2 by 2. haha
Congrats on the 8 miler. I must say that I am amazed by your athletic ability. 8 miles at your pace is no slouch….
The only thing that I can add is when the longer runs get harder slow down a bit. 65-75% of max HR. You are real close though… 77%, but you seem to handle it well.