Huff and Puff

Thursdays currently are my running day. Hopefully, there won't be too many more Thursday posts that can aptly be named Huff and Puff. As I've mentioned before, I hate treadmills. I actually don't mind running outside, though I've never been fast or had much endurance. But treadmills seem so much harder. I definitely have a much harder time finding a comfortable stride - I don't know if seasoned pros have a trick to this, or if it just comes with practice. I do find though that if I put the pace up higher than I think I want it, then the stride is easier. Maybe running on a treadmill will become easier when I develop the cardio ability to run at a faster pace on the treadmill and therefore am able to lengthen my stride a bit. I suppose I can hope.

The other reason that I think running on a treadmill is harder is because I don't naturally slow down when I get tired, as I would if I were running outside. Instead, the treadmill keeps moving at the same pace, causing me to keep moving at that pace even though I'm tired.

The good news from my workout today is that my knee brace seems to be the key to happier running. Last week, I had residual pain in my leg after running, but I think it was just my leg getting used to the brace. This morning it felt good the whole time I was running and even after I was done. Oh! and the other "good" knee felt fine while running today - so I guess I just tweeked it or something yesterday.

So, after getting a late start this morning - I always try to do too much in the mornings - I ended up squeezing in a 30 min workout anyway. I worked really hard and for that I give the workout a 8 out of 10. I wish the workout was easier given what I did, but I worked hard and stuck with the whole 30 minutes even though I was running late.

By May, when my training program starts, I want to be running 3 miles at a 10 min pace, or faster. I have easily done this in the past, but it is going to take a while to build back up to it. I do think my lifting is helping though, my legs weren't as tired this week as they were last week.

Workout:

approx. 5 min warm-up at 3.5 -- walked .2 miles

Brought up speed to a 5.0 (over an 11 min mile). I sorta forget now, but after about 10 minutes (after one mile), I had brought the speed up to 5.5 (around 10:50 mile). Then, during the second mile, I took it up one beat every .2 miles, and I finished out the last .2 at a 6.1 (a 9:50 mile).

Then I did around a 4 min cool-down.

total time - 30 min
total running distance - 2.0 miles
total running time - 21:06 min.