Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Treadmill slog!

I must confess that I was having very low morale and negative thoughts at various points during this one. Last night it was clear to me that I was so unbelievably and shatteringly tired that rather than trying to run, I would be better off taking a sleeping pill and going to bed at 8:30 when B. did! Which was what I did. (I had to be up at 5:30 - hahaha, this is funny - to be on television to promote my book event Thursday!)

Anyway I came home post-interview (it was very enjoyable) and went back to bed for a long nap. Was on the verge of talking myself out of it, but fortunately B. runs for an hour on Tuesdays in the middle of the day at World Gym, so I walked over with him and tried not to think about how horrible it was going to be!

Bought a three-visit pass that can be used over the next couple weeks (will get another if I need it, wouldn't mind doing some shorter speed workouts especially as I am going so slowly on long ones, but 2 x the 3-visit pass was still cheaper than a 2-week pass, and really I won't be there every day, so that was the way to go).

On the treadmill I always find myself playing a lot of mental games with fractions. If you're shooting for two hours, there are a lot of great moments in the first half-hour: you go from 5min to 10min (1/24 done to 1/12 done) so quickly, and 10 to 15 (1/12 to 1/8!); another particularly satisfying transition is from 20min to 30min (1/6 to 1/4). Then it's a bit of a slog in the middle - I think the middle 40 minutes is the hardest on this sort of indoor workout - then again there is great satisfaction going from 1:20 (2/3) to 1:30 (3/4, a significant chunk closer to completion).

I was throwing out huge gouts of sweat all over the treadmill - it is warm - and having a hard time staying focused.

The total time was non-negotiable (I have been skimping on run training, rightly, due to the prioritizing of cycling, but I do need to get some time on feet), but I knew intensity would be an issue. I did the first 90 minutes in zone 1, I am sorry to say (5.3mph, 1.5% incline), and the only way I could talk myself into the full two hours was by switching to a walking speed (3.4mph) on a high incline (6%).

Meant to run the last ten minutes, but so much sweat was draining out of my drenched socks/shoes that the treadmill belt had become quite slippery, and I dialed it back to the previous walk-on-incline mode.

Anyway, good running chemicals always kick in after you're done, I don't feel too bad about it - but if I can do at least one of the 3 further 2-hour run-walk workouts I would like to complete over the next two weeks OUTDOORS, it would be beneficial, I think!

2hr misc. jog/walk on incline (zone 1)

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