Hill Repeats and an Easy Run

Yesterday and today I did manage to get myself to the gym in the evening - no small task. Yesterday I mostly have my awesome and supportive husband to thank, since he nearly had to push me out of he door. And I am so glad he did! Also, I am especially glad that hill repeats only come up once every other week! It took me a bit to figure out how to effectly do it on a treadmill. At first, I put the treadmill up as high as it could go, to an 18% incline. I about fell off the darn thing!! Way too high. Finally I nailed it though: two minutes flat, two minutes uphill at a 10% incline. I did that for twenty minutes, running uphil at a 4.5 mph speed and walking at 4 mph on the flat surface. Next time I try them I think I will run on the flat as well, to better mimic a true outdoor running experience. Also, I will aim for a thirty minute workout. I was so worn out by playing around that twenty minutes was all I could handle yesterday.

Today was an easy 1.5 @ a 12 min/mile pace. Joshua came along and we chatted as I jogged. It was very, very rediculously easy which I guess is the point. Next week I am upping my easy runs to 2 miles. I'll slowly increase them after that, but leave them at 3 miles.

Tomorrow will be my long run for the week. It was scheduled for Xmas but we all know that would never happen... So I played around with the schedule a bit. As I said, tomorrow will be my long run - 55 minutes at an easy 12 minute pace. I'm going to do it on the treadmill to see if I like that better. Friday will be another easy run which I will have to do outside since the gym will be closed. Saturday will be "cross training" and I am hoping to at least get a good walk in there. Sunday we will home again, so I am planning on doing my tempo run there. That last one I am most worried about. Doing a faster and longish workout in the evening after having just gotten back into town sounds problematic.. But we will see. Maybe if I get new sneaks for Christmas I will feel more motivated!

My total mileage for last week was a measly 8 miles. If I stay on track, this week it will be 13, next will be 13.5, and the following will be 15.5. I've gotta be careful not to do too much too soon, so I will listen to my body and lighten the mileage if need be. But I really can't wait to see my mileage go up :)

My goal race pace will be a 12 minute mile. That's slower than my 5k, and my 10k, and so although it feels slow, I believe it is a good goal. I would finish in two hours. Therefor my race goal is to 1. Not get picked up by the sweeper and 2 to finish between one hour and 55 minutes and one hour 59 minutes and 59 seconds. I think it's doable. I plan on walking through every aid station and going to the bathroom whenever I see a portapotte. And I'm assuming I'll be running faster than I should a great deal of the time, so it'll even out. Can't wait!!

Speaking of weight...