Happy New Year!

Well, we are two full weeks into the new year and I'm back on schedule. I haven't missed a run OR workout since the start of the new year. Things are looking much better than they were just a few short weeks ago during the Holidays. I didn't expect to get pulled into the traditional holiday issues of over-eating and slacking on the exercise, but I totally did. Thankfully I didn't gain any weight, I actually dropped a pound the week of Christmas and have stayed at that weight now for 4 weeks. So, even though I slacked, I still did OK.

Unfortunately, these past couple of weeks have basically been indoor workouts/runs. I've become a little bit of a chicken to go outdoors and do my runs now that we have snow on the ground. I am so worried about slipping on ice or having to trudge through the snow that I've not been willing to go outside. If the roads are not completely cleared, I'm pretty much heading to the treadmill. While I was nervous the first couple times I hit the treadmill, I've found a groove and am already seeing improvements. So if nothing else, I'm still working and getting better, that is the goal anyways. I'm sure I'll be nervous once the weather clears and we are through the snowy months and I am able to get back outside again. I will likely see a week or two where I have to adjust and then hopefully I'll continue to improve.

Here's to a new year, a new training plan and new goals. My marathon training schedule starts a week from today!

Unintentional Break

With the Holidays in full swing, I had intended to fit in at least 3 quality runs a week in addition to my personal training sessions that were scheduled. Unfortunately cookie making always seems to take more out of me than I expect and I ended up with zero runs last week. So, after taking an unexpected break from running, I hit the treadmill yesterday and planned for a 2 x 3 workout. As soon as I started my warm-up on a measly 6.0 speed, I knew that 2 x 3 was not a good idea. I changed it to a 2 x 2 instead, which happened to be one of the workouts I missed last week. I'm glad I did. I barely managed to finish it without my heart rate going out of control. Even though I was able to maintain a faster speed than my last 2 x 2, I didn't feel like I was really in shape at all. My legs are a little sore today, especially my quads which is unusual... I'm chalking it up to pushing too hard and not stretching long enough after! I'm glad that run is over though, the first run back after a break is never fun for me. Whether the break is one week or many, its always a tough first run back.

400M Repeats

Today was my first 400M repeat workout, it actually went really well and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. It was a relatively short workout, but the speed bursts were challenging. I used to do speed work on a treadmill in my previous training plans, 2 min on and 2 min off, this was very similar. The only difference was trying to keep a steady pace, not having the treadmill to set the speed made it difficult. Sometimes I think I miss running on the treadmill... not having to deal with weather factors, clothing, etc. Unfortunately my mindset has changed in that I am starting to feel like treadmill running is kinda like cheating and that I shouldn't really do it. My other problem though is that I'm doing an indoor triathlon soon and I'll have to run on a treadmill for that. My plan is to do some bricks on non-running days, incorporate short runs after spinning and swimming. We'll see how it all goes!