RnR: Week 3 Day 4

I did 7x800s today instead of 6x400s but this almost never happened. I had some guests over late in the afternoon and had a little bit of wine. I got a little tipsy even with the little bit of wine I had and it took me awhile to feel normal enough to run. When I finally did, I headed for the soccer field near my house and did laps around it which is about a quarter of a mile around. I had my Runkeeper set up to coach me via my iPhone. It was supposed to be set for 6x800s with 2 min recovery in between but I somehow screwed up the setting to 7x. I started off with a 5 min warmup and closed it with another 5 min cooldown. Here's my splits according to Runkeeper:

Intervals Pace (min/mi)
5:00 (warmup) 11:36
1) 0.50 mi (fast) 8:56
2:00 (slow) 11:06
2) 0.50 mi (fast) 9:01
2:00 (slow) 12:49
3) 0.50 mi (fast) 9:49
2:00 (slow) 11:57
4) 0.50 mi (fast) 9:44
2:00 (slow) 10:18
5) 0.50 mi (fast) 10:20
2:00 (slow) 10:14
6) 0.50 mi (fast) 10:32
2:00 (slow) 9:26
7) 0.50 mi (fast) 9:23
2:00 (slow) 15:32
5:00 (cooldown) 15:00

Total distance: 5.38 miles
Total time: 56 mins

I am not sure how accurate this is because the fast/slow laps seemed to be weird starting from Lap 4. I am pretty sure I ran faster during the 800s than the 2min recovery. Oh well! Not a big deal, anyway. The only thing that matters is that I was able to get my butt out there and do this intervals. It certainly wasn't easy doing interval training and pushing myself beyond my comfort zone but it felt great though once I got it all done.

Runspiration courtesy from Pinterest

RnR: Week 1 Day 4

Week 1 of training is half way over and I have been tweaking the routine according to what my schedule has allowed me to. Today is scheduled for a 3 mile run + strength but this will have to move to Friday since I did 5x800 interval training a.k.a fartleks this afternoon. My pace time for the intervals are: 5:07, 5:31, 5:27, 5:26, 5:26 for a total of 4 miles and then added another extra easy mile @ 11:34. I did a total of 5 miles @ 54:10. I am careful not to overdo it when I am doing intervals or fartleks because for some reason it messes up my left shin. I could feel a little soreness and the leg felt a bit heavy while running but it didn't bother at all. I followed it up with a nice stretching right after the run and iced it when I got back home.

I added another 12 minutes or so of weight training before heading back home for dinner. I could have added a couple ab crunches to my repertoire but the machine got stuck somehow.  Here's what I did:

• Chest press 30 lbs 3x 10 reps 
• Lat pull 50 lbs 3x 10 reps
• Bicep Curl 20 lbs 2x 6 reps

Then before heading to bed, I did a 20-minute yoga from Exercise TV On Demand called Zen In Your Den by the same yogi from last night named Jennifer Galardi. She did an even simpler and gentler movements on this one compared to Yoga Refresh. This one's definitely a nice way to ease into a relax mood before bedtime.

It was another busy day today spending all afternoon bonding with my little miss. I took her to the movies to watch Monte Carlo then hang out for awhile at Santana Row. It was a blast but totally wore me out by the time we got home. One thing that still amazes me is how exercise changes my mood. No matter how tired I get if I just get my butt off to workout, even a short easy one, I always feel like a million bucks afterwards.