Aaand I'm back...again...

Hopefully for good!

I'm training for the Potomac River Run now. I'm four weeks in and so far, so good! I'm using Hal Higdon's Novice 2 training program and I'm enjoying it. I've edited it a bit to include speedwork and tempo runs, plus I'm running Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and a long run on a weekend day, doing Total Body Conditioning Tuesdays, and resting on Fridays. I'm going to try really, REALLY hard not to get injured this time...I want to bump up my strengthening workouts, which I think will help keep me from getting injured, and I've been sure to stretch a lot following all workouts. I want to try to get yoga into my schedule too, even if it's just on Exercise TV, a podcast, or the NYSC classes. And I want to make sure I'm always wearing the right shoes!

Yesterday was my long run (11 miles). I knew it was going to be cold this weekend, so I was really dreading my run when I checked weather.com and saw this:

FEELS LIKE 11!!!???

Then I remembered this race, when it was 18 degrees, and I knew I could do it if I tried. I figured it would be better to get it done with on Saturday rather than wait till Sunday (plus I had a friend's birthday brunch to attend!) so I headed out just before noon and was back by 2pm. It was sunny, and it was cold, but it was also a GREAT run:

• Mile 1 - 10:16
• Mile 2 - 9:39
• Mile 3 - 9:28
• Mile 4 - 9:41
• Mile 5 - 9:31
• Mile 6 - 9:38 (had a Powerade gel at 6 miles)
• Mile 7 - 9:21
• Mile 8 - 9:32
• Mile 9 - 9:26
• Mile 10 - 9:33
• Mile 11 - 9:04

There had been a half-marathon in Central Park earlier in the day, so the roads in the park were totally clear. There were quite a few people out running, but the runners weren't the only ones working up a sweat -- I saw quite a few people sledding and even some cross country skiers!

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the gym today, but I did get to do some fun stuff like eat brunch and watch football. Could be worse :)

Three miles planned for tomorrow...according to weather.com, it'll be 3 degrees and feel like -7 when I head to the gym. The high for the day is 16! EEK! Is it spring yet?

One of those days...

Today was just one of those days. Despite the fact that I knew it would be snowing outside, it was (relatively) easy to get out of bed, but I was sore from total body conditioning on Tuesday and just had a feeling it was going to be one of those days where I wouldn't go very fast. On a speed interval day. Grrreat! (Note the sarcasm.)

It was darker than this when I went outside to head to the gym (no outdoor running today, but I usually treadmill it up during the week), but this was what I found outside my door this morning on my way to work:

 

Quite a sight, eh? Unfortunately, nothing could motivate my legs to move any faster on the treadmill this morning - not even the blizzard I knew would be waiting for me post-gym!

My training plan called for a five-mile speed interval run with a one-mile warm-up, and alternating between one mile at 8:52 pace and half-mile jogs, followed by a one-mile cooldown. Since I was feeling a bit sluggish, I decided to change it up, alternating between a half-mile at 8:52 pace (about 6.8 mph on the treadmill) and a quarter-mile jog (I warmed up, cooled down and did my jogs at 5.5 mph. I tried to do it at 5.8 mph and it was just too quick for me today!).

Since one of my goals during this training is to get outside my comfort zone (more on that in a future post) and push myself a little harder, I figured it was probably a good thing that my legs weren't in the mood to move very fast. It would be a challenge, and it was a challenge I was up for!

The great thing about speed intervals is that they make the time go by really quickly on the treadmill. I had my usual CNN's American Morning on the treadmill's TV, which always does a great job of (a) passing the time and (b) informing me on what's happening in the world, but there's something about varying the speed that helps the time go by even faster. Slow as my legs felt, those 50 minutes flew by and before I knew it I was on my way home!

If you're looking for a way to spice up your workouts, try doing intervals. Not only will they help you pass the time, but they'll help improve your speed, too. For the higher speed, try a pace that's a little bit uncomfortable for you but one that you can sustain for about a half-mile. This is something that I'll be working on a lot during my training for both the half-marathon and the Chicago marathon so you'll be reading more about it!

I know that we all have those days where we feel sluggish and slow (even my superfast marathon-running boss said he's been feeling a bit sluggish lately!), but by showing up at the gym and pushing through that feeling, we might be surprised by what we can accomplish. I know I certainly was today!

I didn't freeze to death!

And I met my goal!

It was absolutely frigid, but I think my legs were numb so it made the race in the cold slightly more bearable. I had a really great time at this race, and it was definitely good for me to see how the NYRR races are set up since I'll be running a lot of them this year!

I kept an eye on my Garmin to see what my pace was, but I started it a little early so the splits by mile are a little bit off. I'll have to be a little less trigger-happy next time and wait till I actually cross the start line to start the Garmin. Here's the first of many maps to come involving Central Park:

After the race, a bunch of people who met through Meghann's blog had brunch at Arte Cafe  - I met Meghann, Dori, Ashley, Melissa, and some other great girls who ran the race too. I had a delicious omelet with goat cheese and spinach, and was so full from the chocolate chip bagel I had after the race that I took half of the omelet home.

Brunch was followed by the obligatory post-race nap (after the obligatory post-race shower, of course), then lots of food for Super Bowl Sunday. My friend invited me over, and my roommate and I ate our body weight in homemade baked ziti, hummus, veggies, crackers, and of course, brownies, cookies and beer. All in all it was a successful race day and Super Bowl Sunday!

I'll be planning my future races for this year soon so let me know if you're running in any I should know about!

First race of 2010!

Remember last week when I chickened out of a 6 mile run outside because it was too cold? Check out the weather prediction for my race tomorrow morning:

My race is at 9am. Which means it'll be 21 degrees and feel like 7 degrees. Which means I should not have been a weenie last weekend when it was 18 degrees and felt like 6 degrees. Oh well!

I'm super excited about the race though, and am thinking that maybe this cold will encourage me to run extra fast! I'm hoping for a 9-minute mile, but my main goal is to HAVE FUN! I'll be sure to update you tomorrow after the race!

Uhh...brr?

I was totally planning on going on the lululemon Saturday morning run club at 8:45. I went a couple of weeks ago and met some great people, had fun running with a group, and totally loved it. And then I saw the weather prediction:

Hmm...all I can say is: No. I don't "do" 18 degrees, feels like 6 degrees. I mean, honestly, I don't have the gear! And I grew up in Saudi Arabia. I am not built for that kind of cold. I'm just not.