Treadmill Motivation & Geese

Monday I did half of a progression run.  I don't know why.  I was on the treadmill and 3 miles in it came time to increase the pace, but stopping seemed like a better option.  I was sweating quite a bit and working hard at it, but as I walked home from the gym, I felt like I wasn't even tired.  Maybe that's a good thing, but then again it was only 3 miles so it shouldn't feel hard to me.

I did the first mile in close to 9 minutes, then the next 2 at 7:30 and 7:19, respectively.  I was trying to take it a mile at a time, but wasn't having it I guess.  I wasn't in a bad mood or anything, I was just super bored and yes, it was hard, even though I ran 18 miles of the marathon at 7:30 pace and plan to run a half marathon even faster than that.  Actually, Sara Hall, a professional track athlete, tweeted this a few days ago:

It really is true.  A 7:30 pace on a normal day feels like I'm really working, but during the marathon, it felt so easy to maintain for a long time.  And outside, I feel like I could run like 5 times as long without nearly as much problem as on the treadmill.  Last week I did the  same progression run I was aiming for this Monday, but made it through the whole 6 miles.

I don't know why one day can be fine and I can get through it without as much difficulty and then another day all I want to do is stop.  And the problem with the treadmill is that you can just stop running at any time.  You can't do that outside.  You can't go out for a 6 mile run and get 3 miles away and decide you're done, because you still have to get back home.

There's nothing left to do though except get over it and focus on the next run.  At least I had 2 miles at a faster pace than my standard 8 minute.  Gotta work in that pace variety!

Yesterday, I decided to take a slightly longer lunch break and go for a run outside.  It was very chilly, but I bundled up and wore my new hat.  I didn't bring a watch, but mapped out the run to about 5 miles.  The first and last half mile were super slow because of traffic lights and pedestrians, but once I got to the lakefront, it was smooth sailing (aka running...all the boats are gone from the harbors!)

I ran south on the path to the museums and Soldier Field and then headed back north the same way.  It was very nice and peaceful compared to my runs on the lakefront this summer.  In the summer, the path is crowded not only with runners, but also bikers and I'm still afraid I'm going to get hit by one again.  But running in the middle of the workday in the chilly weather means very little people outside!  But as I've said before, I watch too many episodes of SVU to feel safe running out there by myself, with few people around, next to a lake.

But I wasn't just worried about human predators.  There were so many geese!  If one of those things came charging at me squawking with its beak out, I'd have no choice but to go dive in the lake.  I wish I took a picture of the geese.  Next time I promise I will.  I need to get better about taking pictures!  But I also don't want to stop TOO much during a run for pictures.  Oh well, all about balance.

How do you motivate yourself to keep going on the treadmill when it's so easy to stop?

Have you ever been threatened by geese or other animals on a run?

Working Out @ Work

I'd much rather run outside than on the treadmill, especially when the weather is decent like today.  But I had a tempo run planned and I don't really trust myself to know proper pacing/distance when I'm running outside by myself.  I'll give it a whirl next week though to test out how I do.  Today I couldn't seem to get up early because I didn't sleep well last night and work is really slow right now, so I figured I could take a longer lunch break and use the work gym to get this tempo run done.

I'm pretty sure no matter how hard you try, if you have to pack a bag to work out either after work or during work, you will forget something.  For me today, it was a hair brush and deodorant.  I should probably just buy another deodorant to keep in a gym bag and also throw in my travel hair brush.  The hair brush wasn't a huge deal because I can just throw it up in a bun per usual without it looking too terrible.

I got on a treadmill all ready to go and couldn't seem to figure out how to turn it on.  So I was looking all around and pressing buttons and then just moved over to the one next to it.  The same thing happened, so I figured I just didn't know how to turn the darn treadmill on.  Eventually, I asked the guy that was a few treadmills over and he said "those 2 don't work."  Gee, thanks for telling me while you clearly saw me trying to turn them on.  He wasn't even listening to music or running that fast, so it couldn't have interrupted his workout that much to just tell me before I wasted 5 minutes.

So anyways, here's the run-down of my workout.  I did a 2 mile warm-up @ 8:00 pace, which felt nice and easy.  Then I picked it up to 7:13 pace for 1.5 songs (Footloose and Teenage Dream),  7:08 for 2 songs (I Love It and The Other Side), 7:03 for 2 songs (Jai Ho and Thunderstruck), then to 6:57 for 1 song (Alive).  This got me to 3.25 miles at tempo pace and I needed to stop.  Plan was to do 4 miles at tempo, but it just wasn't going to happen today.  I did a 5 minute cool-down on the elliptical then so I could get back to work.

What do you usually forget when you have to pack a bag to work out?

What is your favorite song to run to right now?

My First Runch

My first 2-a-day is done!  I can't wait to not run tomorrow.  It will definitely be a nice break that I need.

Run # 1 - I woke up in a very bad mood and did not want to run, but I knew if I didn't run I'd be even more angry and I definitely wouldn't do it later.  When I was about to leave, I realized my iPod wasn't charged and I was definitely not going to get through running on the treadmill without it.  So I straightened my room and made my lunch while I waited for it to get some juice.  Then finally, I headed out with the intention of running 2 miles outside, ending at XSport to do 3 miles tempo on the treadmill, then a mile cool-down to get back home.  SO...my warm-up ended up being 2.5 miles in 20 minutes because I made my loop a little too long.  I got on the treadmill and cranked out 3 miles starting at 7:13 pace, then I increased it to 7:08 after 2 songs, then 7:03 after 2 songs, then 6:57 for the last mile so my average was probably a little over 7:00 pace.  And in case you were wondering, the songs were: Jai Ho, Wagon Wheel, I Gotta Feeling, We'll Be Coming Back, and there must have been another 1.5 songs until I changed it at the end to finish with Teenage Dream.

Run # 2 - RUNCH.  It means a running lunch.  We did about 4.5 miles in 42:30, so the pace was super easy.  But I definitely felt glad that it was just a slow recovery run and was nice to run and chat with other people.  We ran to the lake and then did a loop around Soldier Field and then back to the office.

I'm glad I was able to get these runs in before the derecho storm coming for us right now!  I got home from work just as it started to drizzle, but it definitely looks to be picking up now.  I hope the power doesn't go out.