Friday, January 6, 2012

Day 83 (1/5): 4 miles / 36:19

Yesterday was such a frustrating day trying to get in a workout without running... between the DVD player not working properly, then having no sound at all, I tried to do what I could remember and ended up too irritated to get in the kind of workout I wanted.  So, today's workout was meant to make up for that while permitting me to think as little as possible... I have to say, I think my plan worked out pretty well.

I'd originally set out to run 3 miles on the treadmill, but half way through my first mile, I decided to repeat what I'd done a few days ago with breaks between each mile to mix up my workout.  I started at a 6 mph pace and continued to increase the speed throughout the first mile finishing at 6.4.  I hopped off the treadmill, did push ups, some ab work and some mountain climbers (yeah.. those aren't fun at all), then got back on the treadmill for mile 2.  That mile started at 6.4 and I worked my way up to 6.8.  Another "break" for push ups, ab work and a few other random exercises I could think of on the fly, and back to the treadmill for what I intended to be my last mile.  I decided to give this one all I had, starting at 6.8 mph and finishing at 8.0.  I felt pretty darn good about that last mile... until I looked down at my treadmill to a little magazine cutout I'd managed to hang on to since high school that says "One More Mile"... so that's what I did.  I knocked the speed down to 6.5 and, even though I thought I'd given my third mile everything I had, it turned out that I still had a little bit left.  Of course, I was pretty beat by the time I finished, but it felt great to give a little something extra at the end that I wasn't sure I had in me.  And, of course, the fact that I was completely free of any discomfort for the first time in months, made me feel like a million bucks... a winded million bucks, but a million bucks just the same :)

So, now I'm down to just over a week before my official marathon training schedule starts.  Of course, I have no intention of pushing myself any harder than my body permits... but I am hoping to follow the schedule as closely as possible... no need to run a marathon being completely unprepared.  I'm pretty sure I'm already in way over my head... and enjoying every minute :)

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