Getting it in gear

My tuchus that is, and this is woefully overdue.

I finished the 5k to 10k training pretty strong on February 19th and then just sort of... petered out. Life, the universe and everything (and by that I mean my Kindle) intervened, and so my mileage, endurance, and ability to fit into my wardrobe went kaput.

So what am I doing to fix this?

Well, in about an hour I'm heading out to do the first race of the NYS Parks Summer Run Series in  Heckscher State Park (and potentially intermittent thunderstorms) with Gigi of Running On Candy. That will be a  five mile run and the first of eight weekly runs of differing lengths across different regional state parks.

I'm really looking forward to this! (and not just because it's NOT at eight in the morning) so I'll get back to you on how it went soon.

I've also started using Jeff Galloway's half marathon trainer app on my iPhone in the hopes that having a more rigid training schedule will keep me on track. I think I just have to face the fact that I'm not working consistently without some sort of goal or guideline. I don't really have a problem with this, it really just means I have to focus a bit more on what goals I'm looking to achieve.

I suppose you can call it a comeback if you really want to.

Do you find that there specific are things you lean on to make it easier to get out there?

Something is not adding up here

Apropos of the time of year I've been poking around at heart rate training info. I've poked at it a bit before, but not enough to really get any sort of handle on what it was I was reading.

This is an array of different heart rate range calculations based on my stats, including Karvonen which seems to be the gold standard. It also tends to have the highest ranges. I've highlighted the Karvonen calculations and the Max heart rate zone.

Calculated via http://www.racedaynutrition.com/HeartRate.aspx

Also per http://www.racedaynutrition.com:
90%-100% = VO2 Max Zone
VO2 Max is your body’s maximum oxygen consumption level. It is measured in volume/time units. You may reach this zone only for very short bursts of time. When you go into oxygen debt by racing your buddy to the finish line you have reached your VO2 max. Your lungs can’t keep up your body’s demand for oxygen and lactic acid floods into your muscles. Training in this zone increases enzymes in your muscles responsible for anaerobic metabolism.

We've already established that I'm a bit shall we say, overclocked... but what actually does that mean?

This is the average of all of the stats from just about all of my workouts since I got my Garmin

Via my Garmin Connect profile (this should be just about everything since October)

185 is the AVERAGE heart rate which I have been operating at for all of my runs for about six months. I have gone as high as 207.

Just throwing that out there.

Oh, hey wow... uh hi!

Hey, sorry everyone! Apparently I got a little wrapped up in the holidays.

So let's see, what has happened since last we spoke...

The Garmin/Nike+ converter thing I mentioned in my last post got fixed a couple of days before Christmas so I was able to upload almost all of my data to Nike+. In the process I figured out that I was less than 10 miles away from running 150 miles for the year so I made that my goal by New Years day.

I had the week off so I decided to put 5k to 10k on a bit of a break so I could do some outdoor running without any particular limitations. My one structured run during this stretch was a 2.6 mile Virtual run for the victims of Sandy Hook which I did on 12/23. I liked Running on Candy's twist and so I did 2.7 miles with the extra 0.1 honoring the memory of Nancy Lanza.

I slacked for pretty much the entirety of the rest of the week though to be fair there was a LOT going on and it didn't feel like much of a vacation. On the 29th I did an easy 5k run and tried out a screaming pink Underarmor shirt I got for Christmas. The weather has finally settled into the freezing range here and it was actually drizzling on me the whole time so I have been VERY thankful for the various pieces of cold weather gear I got from my boyfriend.

The pink Underarmor shirt went quite nicely with the cotton candy pink hair dye job I had gotten the day before. *grin*

The 30th was my birthday so I figured it was pretty reasonable to take a rest day.

That left the 31st to finish out my 150 miles for the year. I only needed 2.6 miles and had attended a pretty kickass party for a friend's birthday the night before so I didn't expect to exceed that by much or push it too hard speed-wise. Famous last words. Instead I found myself hovering around 10:00 for most of the run and finished out the year with new 5k and mile PRs!

Bringing in 150 miles for the year with a PR (and a snazzy new cold weather running jacket)

I took another few days off after that and then resumed the 5k to 10k plan back in the gym on Thursday. I also finally picked up the Zombies, Run! app as it is apparently half off again, though I haven't tried it out yet. I ran in the gym again on Friday and did another long run outdoors today beating my previous distance record.

Running in 2013

I don't have an specific "Resolutions" for this year, but I have come up with a few goals with regards to my running.

While I'm not planning to specifically run a mile a day, I'd like to run a mile FOR each day so that I hit 365 miles for the year. Seven miles per week is well within my current abilities so I don't see this being a problem by any means. I'm probably lowballing with 365 but it's a nice solid number and there's nothing saying I can't run more (aiming for double digits per week would be pretty cool I think).

Another goal is to run a sub 30 5k though really I'd love to see how close I can get to 28 by the end of the year. I wouldn't call that a goal so much as a mirage-like twinkle in the distance.

Once I finish 5k to 10k I plan to start half marathon training with a goal of not dying or hurting myself too badly at the Diva Half Marathon this coming October.

Clearly races are not a big thing for me (more to the point getting up early on the weekends is not a big thing for me) but I would like to hit a few more this year. The only one I'm specifically psyched on right now is the Color Run but I'm sure I'll find more as the year goes on.

The big list of runs I haven't told you about

12-11-12 5k to 10k wk3 d1
1.74 miles with an average pace of 11:30
20 minute "steady" run

12-20-12 5k to 10k wk3 d2
2.22 miles with an average pace of 11:16
10 minute steady run +5 minute tempo run +10 minute jog

12-21-12 5k to 10k wk3 d3
3.52 miles with an average pace of 11:21
40 min steady run

12-23-12 2.7m Virtual Run for Victims of Sandy Hook
2.7miles in 29:22 with an average pace of 10:50

12-29-12 Outdoor 5k run
3.1 miles in 33:40 with an average pace of 10:51

12-31-12 Outdoor 5k run PR!
3.1 miles in 32:07 with an average pace of 10:21

1-3-13 5k to 10k wk4 d1
1.79 miles in 20 min with an average pace of 11:10
20 minute "steady" run 

1-4-13 5k to 10k wk4 d2
2.5 miles in 30 min with an average pace of 12:00
10 minute jog + alternating 2 minutes each of fast running and jogging (three times) + 8 minute steady run

1-6-13 5k to 10k wk4 d3 distance PR!
4.16 miles in 45 minutes with an average pace of 10:48

As a holiday bonus for those of you who slogged through to the end, here's a pic of me getting ready for the 12-29 run looking like a chewing-gum-themed superhero with my ultra sexy cotton candy pink morning hair!

It's not the length of the run...

Its the motion of the... oh wait, no, that's something else entirely.

It is absolutely the length of the run.

As it turns out I'm a bit of a workout size queen! Today I finished week two of 5k to 10k and the mileage drop is becoming a real point of annoyance.

First there's the actual mileage drop.  I'm sticking to the training program which means three structured runs per week, which is about what I was doing before, but given the structure of the runs I'm only doing about one and a half to two miles per workout compared to a minimum of 5K per run previously. It doesn't help that mile two is typically my least favorite part. Today's run was actually long enough to get a full 5k in but looking at the next few workouts I probably won't get to do that again until next weekend.

While I'm sure the speed-work will help me make better use of my time so that I will be pushing my mileage back up again quite quickly I won't get to exceed my current longest run (time wise) until week 6 day 3! It's kind of frustrating at the moment to be cutting my mileage in order to... run more miles? I'm sure it wouldn't be as much of an issue if I hadn't run so little in the storm aftermath, but regardless scrolling back through my last month and a half worth of workouts is making me feel like a massive slacker and I'm itching to rack the miles back up.

As much as I question whether running a marathon is really a good idea for me, based on my reaction to this mileage drop I have a feeling that in the long run (hah!) I'm going to end up doing one anyway. "That's good enough, I'm done now" did not come as a standard feature in this model.

Secondly there's the Nike/treadmill issue. As flawed as its measurements have been Nike has been my favorite fitness community hands down. It's shiny and I get all sorts of awards and badges and nifty metrics when I do stuff. Apparently I must have really internalized all of that gold star sticker stuff when I was a kid because every time I get a new badge on Nike+ I totally eat it up.

However I don't have the Nike footpod so none of my treadmill workouts are counting toward my stats and it is kind of driving me a little bit bonkers. My listed November mileage is literally half my October mileage.

I feel rather blessed that I can recognize just how much of a ridiculous First World Problem this is.

Luckily Gigi from Running on Candy showed me this super nifty conversion site that takes Garmin data and uploads it to Nike, but it seems like the code is being a little glitchy at the moment so I'm hoping that's back up and running soon (and thank you to Angus Smithson for setting it up in the first place - please consider checking out his page and donating for his chosen cause "In 2012 I am running 2,012 miles (equivalent to nearly 77 marathons) to raise money for CLIC Sargent, a charity supporting my cousin’s son Hamish who is fighting rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of children’s cancer").

While we're on the subject of First World Running Problems - I tried to pull out a pair of dressy pants for a work holiday party this weekend and all of mine are too big, including a brand new pair in size small that are so new I hadn't even had a chance to have them hemmed! Pants shouldn't puddle when you are wearing five inch platforms, right? Hopefully I can just shrink the new ones a bit in the wash and re-claim them but finding out I'm too small for a pair of smalls was a bit ridiculous at that point in time.

It actually isn't so dire as that as I still have a lot of old clothes I have yet to slim down to, but even if it fits my body I don't know if my college wardrobe will fit me so much anymore.

5k to 10k Week 2

Sorry, I know I've been slacking on this, I have no excuse really.
Here, have three days worth of runs!

Just for reference I'm aiming for about 10:00 or under as "fast", somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00 as "steady", and anything over 12:00 as "jog".

Day 1 - Tues Dec 4 - Treadmill - Steady run
1.7miles at an  average pace of 11:46
goal - 20 min at an "easy pace"  plus warmup/cooldown

It's just way too hot in the gym

Day 2  - Thurs Dec 6 - Treadmill - Intervals
2.11 mi 27 minutes at a 12:35 pace

goal - 10 min jog, 2 minute fast runs alternating with 2 min jogs - 2 times , 8 minute steady run plus warmup/cooldown

I could have pushed the fast run way more but I have been feeling like I am maybe coming down with something and I'm still trying to get used to the treadmill. I figure there's plenty of time to work up to it. Still way too hot a the gym

Day 3 - Sun Dec 9 - Road - Steady run

3.23 miles at an average pace of 11:10 min/mile

goal -35 min at an "easy pace"  plus warmup/cooldown 

I think I pushed myself a bit overly hard during the first half of mile three, anything slower than 10:15 at that point felt impossibly slow! As a result I got a sidestitch just before mile three but otherwise I felt good.
It rained in a really annoying spitty manner the majority of the time but I got to see a red fox make a full-on dash across the street about thirty yds in front of me so that was TOTALLY worth it.

We must, we must...

I've been wondering for months, what is with all the padded running bras?

I think I may have finally found my answer.

When I started running all I had in the way of sports bras were a fairly well aged three pack of Hane's cotton sports bras. These were pretty functional for yoga and belly dance practice, but as you can probably imagine not too awesome for running. The elastic had seen better days and the cotton held on to sweat like someone was gonna sell it on the black market afterward.

I replaced those early on with a pair of bras from Old Navy (this style in the colour shown and in a light purple with salmon accents) which I have been using regularly. I also bought a pair of bra core active tanks (this style but in black and grey - respectively) but for a couple of reasons I have not found them terribly useful up until, well actually today.

All of the Old Navy items came standard equipped with removable bust pads - which I promptly removed and shoved in the back of a drawer along with all of the pads I'd removed from my swimwear over the years.

source: http://www.wikihow.com/Wear-a-Bra-as-a-Male-Crossdresser

I've always been on the *ahm* petite side. Think J-Lo-esque... without the firming benefits of all the personal trainers and professional dance background and oodles of money and stylists.  While I admit I haven't always been utterly thrilled by that fact, eventually I stopped being a self conscious teenager and embraced the positive aspects of my figure. Either way I've never seen much point in artificially altering it. The American over the shoulder boulder holder industry apparently thinks we are all yearning to let loose our inner Christina Hendricks, but a) variety is the spice of life and b) I REALLY LIKE that I can wear slinky backless dresses without resorting to uncomfortable and expensive hidden scaffolding.

I got what I got and if you don't like it feel free to look elsewhere. Nyah.

That goes double for workout clothing. I try not to look too much like a schlump in any context, but by the same token amorous interest is just about the last thing I want to deal with while working out in the gym or on the street. I'm there for MY benefit so I don't see the point of advertising, much less false advertising. In truth the Old Navy stuff has about as much "padding" as the average tee shirt bra so given the compression the effect is pretty neutral, but still the idea of it bothered me. Anyway running is sweaty work, why add extra layers between me and the air?

A couple of weeks ago I found out that I had won a giveaway from For The Love Of The Run and part of the giveaway was a bra from a company called Handful. I chose their adjustable style bra in purple size XS (I typically wear a 30 or 32 band size) and received it by mail a few days later. It came with a lovely matching mesh washing bag and... matching removable bust pads! In this case the internal pockets do make a great deal of sense as they are approved as mastectomy bras but I opted to yank out the pads as with my other bras. The pads are slightly thicker than the Old Navy ones but again with the compression effects of the fabric the sum effect on my figure is pretty much nil.

I ran with the new bra last Sunday and didn't notice anything in particular about it, except that it's cut a bit lower than the Old Navy ones so in warmer settings I'll probably layer it with higher cut tank tops in the interest of modesty. I'm so swaddled in layers for outside runs at this point I can't say one way or another how good the sweat wicking and drying properties are until I get a chance to try it out at the gym. The colour is however LOVELY.

I did notice a funny thing earlier this week. I did my first run at the gym Tuesday wearing one of my Old Navy bras and I don't know if the bra has sprung, if I've lost that much weight, or if I was just feeling self-conscious enough to notice for the first time; but either way I'm glad those bras have a lot of coverage because the effects were positively... seismic. I can't say as I've ever cared about what my boobs were doing while I run, but I was AWFULLY aware of it then.

It occurred to me that the only way to salvage the situation without buying more bras may actually be to put all of the padding back in and hope it provides a bit more structure to keep things in place!

Structure overkill? source: http://organicarmor.com/

I've experimented with running padding-in for the last two runs, but to be honest I think running outside is too distracting (and swaddled) to compare properly so I think my next treadmill run will tell me more of what I need to know.

What about you?
Do you care one way or another about padding in your sport specific structure garments?
If you have a favorite sports bra brand; is it padded and do you think the padding adds to the function of the bra? 

Saturday's run - 5k to 10k wk1 d2 -street run
2 miles over 23 minutes at an average pace of 11:33

5 minutes warm up/cool down
10 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"
3 minutes "tempo" run (challenging but not exhausting pace)
10 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"

I aimed for 12:00 as the easy pace and 10:00 for the challenging pace and pretty much hit it, though I was keeping closer to 11:30 for the second set of 10 minutes. I think I could have even pushed that 10:00 a bit more but I'm not going to sweat it for now.

The run overall felt pretty good, however I did have to do a very sudden stop to avoid a car that apparently wasn't terribly interested in stopping at a stop sign, and that torqued my outer right shin a bit. It was fairly tight throughout the run but calmed down shortly after I finished.

Sunday's run - 5k to 10k wk1 d3 -street run
2.48 miles over 30 minutes at an average pace of 12:75 minutes warm up/cool down
30 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace"

Again I aimed for 12:00 and did not have ANY trouble keeping my pace that slow since my right calf was still pissed from the hard stop I made Saturday. By the time the endorphins had kicked in enough to ignore the discomfort in the muscle I was already kind of gassed out and it was dark enough for me to full on collide with the end of a large invisible tree branch sticking out of a refuse pile. Based on the initial impact marks I expect a spectacular bruise by morning.

I think this might have actually been my first time running two days back to back. I'll have to check back through my past runs.

Interesting side note: my boyfriend decided to take a walk at the same time as I was running but due to the lateness of the hour (running was a very last minute decision) he ended up pretty much keeping up with me the whole way to make sure I was safe. He doesn't normally run so he was wearing his usual dark wash jeans, dark jacket, black gloves, and black stocking cap.

Apparently no one in my neighborhood thinks anything of a small woman out in fluorescent orange running gear being followed at about 20 to 50 feet by a man in all black, so that's good to know!

Very slow and very steady

That's what she said!

*ahem*

I used a treadmill for the very first time on Wednesday. Hooray for not getting launched off at any point!

I have seen enough of The Biggest Loser to recognize the unending shame of being launched bodily off of a treadmill so I decided to take it as slow as I needed to until I knew I was truly comfortable.

I started out at pretty much dead minimum pace and clicked up the speed one notch at a time until I was thoroughly bored of walking and knew I could safely run.

I felt a little silly moving along at a snails pace for as long as I did (I literally "warmed up" for about 25 minutes and only covered a mile) but the way I see it one day of feeling a touch silly in front of strangers totally beats wasting a year's worth of gym membership because I'm too mortified to ever go back.

Once I decided it was run time I started day one of the 5k to 10k training program app I got for my iPhone.

5k to 10k wk 1 d 1
5 minutes warm up/cool down and  20 minutes of running at an "easy conversational pace".
1.5 miles over 20 minutes at an average pace of 13:28

I started out the run section holding on to the handles but quickly realized that it was really uncomfortable and messing with my posture something fierce, so I let go of them as soon as I (again) was reasonably sure I wasn't going to launch myself.

I ended up starting out much slower than I expected (between 13:00 and 14:00) and struggled a surprising amount for about the first mile. I think in retrospect the newness of the situation and a bit of social anxiety (am I breathing to loud? is everyone watching? NO DON'T LOOK AT THEM, THEY WILL KNOW YOUR SHAME) may have had me breathing more shallow than I normally would. By the end I was able to up the speed considerably and I think I got up to running at a bit slower than 11:00 at one point, but the treadmill readout was not very conductive to tracking that sort of thing so I don't have exact numbers. I had the treadmill at the recommended 1% rise to make the run feel more properly outside-ish.

The treadmill was (as advertised) insanely boring and the lack of wind in your face seriously sucks. Next time I'm putting on the TV - even if I don't listen to it - and positioning myself as close as possible to the giant fan. I am VERY glad I remembered my towel this time. That was gross.

image from http://mastercowfish.blogspot.com but props to Douglas Adams

I do not see myself doing my weekend runs indoors unless I absolutely have to.

I received my Garmin footpod yesterday and after some fiddling I got my watch to notice it. If you get one make sure you're moving while pairing, it took a number of tries and more than a few Google queries to work this one out. I'm really excited to try it out because it annoys me a great deal when I can't functionally upload my runs to the various run sites and trying to read the pace for that split second it shows up on the treadmill readout when you change the speed was awful. I don't understand why you can't toggle between the two if it's obviously programmed in anyway.

Sassy!

I was going to hit the gym tonight in the hopes that working out would fix the unrelenting skull-in-a-vice headache, but I fear running with the unrelenting tummy blahs will have a different ending.

The usual sick rule (above the neck - suck it up, below the neck - go take a nap already!) makes a lot of sense to me with colds... would you say the same line applies to other body systems?

Running from my problems

Running once a week is NOT cutting it.

How do I stay sane when I'm not working out regularly?  

Oh yeah, that's right, I don't. 

I become a tightly wound ball of nerves and I physicalize every last bit of it; my back seizes, my joints stop working (so working out now leads to injury, catch 22!), my skin erupts and then sloughs off, my adrenaline spikes for little to no reason, I become depressive, and my immune system implodes on itself taking the majority of my favorite foods with it.

Hell on earth, or as I like to call it, the entirety of my twenties!

Don't get me wrong, there were good days too

This past week was a bit extra stressy for me for a number of reasons and on Friday I found myself somewhat melancholic and yearning to take a midnight drive to Montauk Point. Unfortunately however it's about a five hour round trip for me and I couldn't see eating through an entire tank of gas in the name of catharsis* (also at that point I wasn't sure the whole route was open as much of it runs along beach).

I had officially signed up for the gym earlier that day so now that I had noticed the inverse proportion between my mileage and my mood (*cough* not to mention the firmness of my tummy *cough*) I resolved that this was the week I was going to get back in the swing of things and try to make my runs the cathartic road experience I was clearly lacking.

Sanity: a mile at a time.

Saturday was a bit whirlwind and draining so I headed out Sunday afternoon resolved to get my kinetic therapy ON.

Sunday afternoon run: Steady run plus 5 minute warmup and cooldown walks
4.03 miles (!!) at an average of 10:53 per mile -  total run time of 43:54

Another distance first for me made all the better by the fact that I felt really good! I wasn't sure how much I wanted to push after a whole week off but even mile two was pleasant so I figured I might as well go for it. Pretty consistent splits (10:59, 10:55, 10:43, 10:54) and I didn't feel like I was swinging back and forth as wildly throughout. I think 11:00 is shaping up to be a pretty reasonable road covering pace for me for the moment.

The 43 degree temperature wasn't thrilling to be sure. My eyes watered for the first mile and I felt like I spent the rest of the night clearing out a layer of gunk my lungs apparently formed to protect themselves against the cold (I must find my balaclava!). Otherwise I was pretty comfortable but I do see why people get extra sleeve layers. I'm almost tempted to reroute so that my first mile loops back to my house so I can drop my vest off after I have worked up a bit of real body heat... then again maybe not, it's not even December yet, it's only getting colder for the next three months. *sigh*

I am mildly concerned that I could feel a slight ache in my right arch again during the middle of my run and afterward I felt it in both arches and in both knees (though all discomfort was gone within an hour). If this continues much longer I may hit up the running store and see if they have a suggestion.

As far as my brain? Road zen officially achieved.
This is usually in the form of my brain just plain shutting off somewhere around mile three, but I'll take it.
I felt better for the rest of the day and formulated a plan of action going forward, so I'm going to call that mission accomplished.

I purchased the Active.com 5k to 10k App and the Garmin Footpod today (that will arrive Thursday), and my plan is to hit the gym three nights a week through the winter to do 10K training, and hopefully get out for a long unstructured run on Sundays when the weather permits.

I'm not sure how the app works without GPS (and there is NO support for ANYTHING from Active) but they do offer the ability to disable GPS so I suppose it must work without.

If I follow fairly consistently that will take me through February/March and I can start thinking about whether I want to move the Half Marathon training plan up from its current start time of July.

*I've only driven to Montauk once (December 19, 2010) and it was (and is) the longest I've ever been behind the wheel.

After spending an evening cleaning the last of my stuff out of storage at my ex- boyfriends house I realized I couldn't just sit home among the box pile, so I hit the road for a drive. I just sort of randomly resolved to go to Montauk after about an hour of aimless driving.

I listened to Nine Inch Nails on shuffle the whole way, enjoyed a light snowfall, almost ran out of gas, nearly collided with about a million deer, and initiated the functional part of reclaiming my sanity in the wake of what had become a rather horrible couple of years (capped off by an exceptionally soul grinding couple of weeks).

I consider it the hard point that separates that time of my life from this one. It wasn't a cure all, but aside from the near wildlife collisions it stands out as one of the calmest and most centered points of my life, and that clarity carried me through.

Push it real good!

I think maybe I pushed it a little too good?

Salt n Pepa got nothing on Jillian Michaels!!!

Friday afternoon I went back to Retro Fitness to test out the gym by taking advantage of their free personal trainer session offer. I figured that would give me the best overview of the place and make it a little less awkward to be running around looking like a spaz.

Garrett and I started with a rough overview: my diet, experience, interests, goals, body fat % (I think it was 24% which is apparently the upper end of "fit"?) and a very general idea of how they structure their programs. He pretty much went out of a binder on this part which was admittedly not terribly impressive but I suppose they can't all be Bob Harper.

We got going with a few minutes warmup on the elliptical and then moved on to body weight exercises in their TRX Training area. This basically worked out to doing immensely awkward movements while holding onto a pair of wall mounted straps. Oh, and sweating a whole lot. This is the sort of thing I think most people are going to want to do with some sort of live instruction as the body mechanics are not terribly intuitive. Looking like a spaz achievement: UNLOCKED!

See how effortless they look? Now imagine THE EXACT OPPOSITE.

After that we bounced between a few machines sort of whirlwind style. My favorite was the assisted pull up machine because a) I miss being able to do pull ups b) I had to really climb to get on to it (I'm five foot two) and c) I had to climb off three times for him to adjust the counterbalance to be lighter because I was stuck on top of the arc like the small kid on the see saw.

I was very sweaty and felt terrible that I did not have the opportunity to wipe the equipment off as we were going through. Proper hydration is so overrated. I have a towel ready for next time though (actually I had it ready for that time, not sure why he suggested I leave it with the rest of my stuff). I feel this was an excellent object lesson in wiping off machines before I begin.

We finished up by doing intervals on an elliptical and I got to show the trainer how whacked out my heart rate is!

During the intake we were talking about intervals on the cardio machines and he said something like "you would do say a minute at an easy pace and then maybe a minute at a hard pace, aiming for say a heart rate of 150..." at which point I laughed. He looked at me quizzically and said "I'm a hummingbird, my heart rate runs fast". He asked how my blood pressure was (insanely low, for the record) and said "well as long as you don't have that in combination with high blood pressure it shouldn't be too bad".

Fast forward back to the actual intervals, I'm chugging away and he's standing off to the side so that he can reach the controls but isn't really watching the readouts too closely. He ups the difficulty and I'm going at a pretty good clip, sweating and expending effort but not feeling too badly (still conversant but a bit out of breath) and I look at the HR readout which reads 195. I point it out and he blinks at it a few times and says "I... I don't even know what my body would be doing... wow".

The trainer session was neat and I'm glad I did it, but in the "pitch" part of the session at the end I found  that their cheapest deal is the Black Friday special which involves a mandatory full year signup with a minimum of ONE SESSION A WEEK.

The DISCOUNTED price of $20 a session comes to just over a grand with fees (keeping in mind that membership for the entire rest of the gym is only $240) and the internet indicates that their trainer sessions are even harder to cancel than their memberships.  

Overall it was pretty enjoyable though I feel bad that the trainer went so deep into my potential training possibilities pretty much entirely for nothing.

The next morning my legs were doing surprisingly well (a bit of quad soreness but not terrible) but my upper body was PISSED. I got to do everything T-Rex style for about three days because my arms pretty much refused to do anything useful.

http://www.604republic.com/prod/epic_duel_t_shirt

My left biceps was so tight I couldn't straighten my arm for most of the weekend. I feel good now but after Sunday's run I actually got stuck getting out of a new blinding orange mesh jacket (Low light visibility issues you say? Solved!) to the point of requiring assistance. Removing my sports bra for showering involved many curses, a couple of popped stitch noises, and possibly bending space very slightly.

Regardless of what my upper body felt about physical activities I ended up running Sunday and decided about a mile into it that I would keep things easy pace-wise but aim for 3.5 miles instead of my usual 3.1. This made it my longest non-stop run ever.

3.5 miles at an average of 11:05 per mile -  total time of 38:48, max pace of 5:24 (???)
Avg HR of 193bpm

Overall I felt good and while my pace was sort of all over from minute to minute, my splits were extremely consistent. My quads were still a touch sore to start but I think running actually helped work a lot of that soreness out. The inside of my right foot was complainy for a bit but otherwise it felt great!

I'll be doing gym sign-up tomorrow, though ironically I'll probably do a road run since I have the day off. I plan on testing out a new Handful Adjustable bra I won in a giveaway from For The Love of the Run (I've only tried it on standing still so right now all I can really say about it is "SHINY PURPLE!" and "ooh, bonus matching mesh laundry bag!").

I've decided to hold off on the half marathon training for a bit and will be doing some sort of 5k to 10k training program in the meantime, but I haven't decided which yet.

I'm leaning toward getting the same brand of app I used for C25K, but I'm not sure how well it will work on the treadmill.