Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Fresh Start Required

Last week I didn't really run all that much. I have plenty of excuses to justify it, for sure. In light of the latest season of Biggest Loser that I'm addicted to and their theme of "no excuses," I feel guilty.

I guess I would feel less guilty about it if I was still meeting my goal runs. However, that is not the case. Yesterday was attempt #2 of the "progressive" run (as seen in Runners World). The plan was to run 1 mile at 8:30 pace, 1 mile at 8:00, and 1 mile at 7:30. The first mile at 8:30 was no problem. Halfway through mile 2, I could feel that this was not good. I pounding my feet really hard, could barely breathe, and my body didn't feel right. I slowed down to a 9:00 pace for a quarter mile but tried to bump it up again for the last quarter mile (to a 7:30 pace). I couldn't keep the speed up and had to finish at 9:00 pace. There were a couple different factors that might be the cause. The main reason, I think, is that I didn't eat enough for lunch to have such an intense workout. Thinking of food as fuel, I don't think there was enough in the tank. breakfast: bowl of Crispex; Snack: banana; lunch: Lean Cuisine rigatoni. The plan was to eat a salad with my rigatoni but I got busy and didn't make the time to put it together. A mixture of not enough to eat as well as a failed week last week lead to an unsuccessful attempt. Thankfully, tomorrow is another day.

Tonight the plan is to do 5 miles with the dog at a leisurely pace. I received lots of fun running clothes for my birthday, so I cannot wait to test them out! I'm also doing another 5k this weekend. I am going to aim for another sub 23:00 (obviously) and see how things shake up. With my lack of speedwork in the past 2-3 weeks, I don't know if a sub 23:00 is possible. I'm running this race with a few other good competitors so I have hopes it will be a good one!

Yesterday I asked about race envy. I have been seeing some posts about the Disney marathon. Have you ever thought about completing the Goofy Challenge? I don't know about you, but that is one race where I do not have race envy. I think just a marathon or a half marathon is enough for me in one weekend.

8 comments:

  1. That's so funny because Vera emailed me this morning to say she's doing the Goofy Challenge next year and asked if I wanted to join her for the half or full! I'm thinking about it ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a total level of respect for those folks that want to do it--I just don't have race envy! Maybe if I had an amazing 26.2 experience, I'd be thinking about it but until that day......... :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Goofy Challenge sounds...crazy! I'll stick to my half marathons.
    Hope you enjoy the run with your dog. My dog loves to run too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks! Running with dogs is much more fun than running by yourself!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Don't worry about it Kelly! Everyone needs a rest sometimes! But you still ran 3 days! That's pretty good!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Amanda. I guess I can't expect the same results if I'm not running as much. Now that I have some concrete goals to work towards (Shamrock Shuffle, Palos Half) that seem within my reach, I'll be right back in it tonight... With a fresh start.

    Plus, I want to be sure to get in my miles before Biggest Loser starts! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. runningforthekitchenJanuary 10, 2012 at 9:00 PM

    i for sure have race envy. i want to do the challenge SO bad...someday

    ReplyDelete
  8. More power to you! I hope you get to meet your goal! :)

    ReplyDelete