Valentine's 2-A-Day

How do you make your Valentine's Day as good as possible when you're single? Lots of running!

I knew I wanted to do a somewhat longer run in the morning. I was on the treadmill though, so wasn't sure exactly how long I'd make it and didn't have a specific goal. I ended up doing 9.1 miles in 1:13, for an average pace 8:01.

I made up this workout/progression run on the fly and decided to call it the "3, 2, 1 Run."

3 songs @ 7.0

2 songs @ 7.1

1 songs @ 7.2

3 songs @ 7.3

2 songs @ 7.4

1 songs @ 7.5

3 songs @ 7.6

2 songs @ 7.7

1 songs @ 7.8

2 songs @ 7.9

I think this is a great progression-style workout for longer runs on the treadmill.  Since I was planning to go long, I knew I didn't want to be increasing every song, or even every 2 songs and I didn't want to throw in anything super fast.  This pattern of increasing the speed kept it nice and relaxed, but still proved to be a great workout because I was worn out by the end.

I hate that the treadmill turns off after 60 minutes! But I didn't let myself take a break.  I let the treadmill stop on its on and started up right back up to where I left off.  After an hour of running, the last thing you want to do is give your legs a nice break and then have to start up again!  It's all about the mental will power I guess.  This would be equivalent to running an hour outside, and returning to your house...but then keep going for another loop away from the house.

And then in the evening I headed to the South Loop Fleet Feet for a Valentine's fun run!

Upon arrival, they gave out wristbands dependent on your relationship status - green, yellow, or red.

After some general introductions and directions on where to run, it was time to head out into the cold.  I spotted Jackie and we ended up running the whole way together chatting.  Jackie and I actually met on Twitter a few months ago and realized that we are from the same area of Chicago suburbs and share a love of running :)  We were both planning to come to this event so it was a perfect opportunity to meet IRL (in real life, in Internet speak haha).

It was not as cold as I was expecting, or maybe I just wasn't paying attention to the cold since I was just glad to not be running on the treadmill and to be running with other people!  The route was 3 miles and went by super quick.  Parts were really icy, but once we got onto the lakefront path it was nice and clear.  Towards the end of the run, Jackie and I met Linton.   The 3 of us hung out during the after party, where they had snacks and beverages at the store.  None of us won the raffle, unfotunately.

All in all, it was a successful Valentines Day, with a total of 12 miles running, a fun event in the evening, and meeting new friends!

How was your Valentine's Day?

Do you have any internet friends who you haven't met in real life yet?  Or that you have met and are now real-life friends?