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.