Can be hard for me on a weekend morning.  Not because I don’t want to run, but because while I am getting my “system in order” I begin projects.  This morning I started making truffles (post to come in the next week or so), and began deep cleaning my kitchen.  Like, hands and knees, moving things around, SCRUBBING.

At some point it occurred to me to remove the drawer under the oven (you know, the “broiler” drawer or whatever the heck that extra bit is for)- and OH. MY. GOD.  There are no words to describe how gross it was- except to say that it had to be taken care of.  Immediately.

At this point it had already become 10:30 AM.  Groan.  I usually like to be out by 9/9:30 on the weekends…  but this was egregious.  Might as well make it the crack of 11 and get a few more things done-  so counters were scrubbed…  backsplashes were scrubbed-  and as I went to get some shmears off of the light switch –  BZZZZZZZZZT- 120v of house current gets me.  UMMMMMM I was electrified  (I wanted to say electrocuted, but Mike said that by using the term electrocuted it implies death.  I did not die.  But my hand tingled for a LONG time).

So yeah, an eventful (but productive) morning.

Because I left so late, and because I did a FAST run yesterday- today was a general aerobic 7 miles, with some random sprints thrown in when the music moved me.  Today I cruised to my Third Eye Blind Station.  I probably looked really goofy singing along and running down the middle of the road.

 The sun came out, shining quite brightly in the second half of the run- so even though it was 36 degrees out I was sweating my butt off-  totally overdressed.  I am always so petrified of being cold that sometimes I sabotage myself with too much clothing.  I wore my underarmour fleece-lined pullover today and 3/4 pants- and would have been more than fine in a base layer and just a thermal.

For the longest time I thought this run was much closer to 7 miles than 7.4- so I was always upset that I didn’t go faster. Alas- today’s average pace was 8:35 min./mile –   with the last 2 miles @ 8:00 min/mile.  I felt pretty good throughout the run (if a little hot), and my calf did OK.  It felt really tight for the first 3 miles, but once I got going I did OK.

I promise to do a full update on my PT plan and what the full deal is with my calf in another post-  I have a lot to say

For the Stats junkies- this is a pace and elevation chart for my run today.  It has one, really, really big hill.  

The spike (err drop) in pace was when I took the pic, above  For the most part, I run very consistently.

Mentally, during today’s run I did a lot of reflecting on this week’s runs.  I was confined to the treadmill for most of the week- and did 2 arc trainer workouts.

Sunday- 6 miles with my Mom
Monday- 75 Minutes Arc Trainer, Cardio Program, Level 10
Tuesday- 6 Miles- 2@7.0, 2@7.5, 2@ 8.  Felt hard.  Muscle Pump directly after.
Wednesday- 8 miles, 7mph – felt SORE EVERYWHERE.  (8:34 pace) (treadmill)
Thursday- 70 Minutes Arc Trainer, Abs + stretch.  Still sore.
Friday- 8 Miles (treadmill)- progression.
This is a new favorite workout.  It is HARD.  Begin @at 6 mph, and every minute increase the speed by .1 mph until you reach 9 mph (6:40 pace). (It takes exactly 30 minutes).  When you reach 9, begin going back down the ladder decreasing the speed by .1 every minute.  Instead of going all the way back down to 6 I hung out in the 7’s-  I did several minutes at 7.6, 7.4 and 7.2 mph-  my goal was to try to get 8 miles in exactly an hour.  I missed it by 2 minutes-  but I fought the built-in “cool down” mode, cranked the speed back up and finished in 1:02:18.  I felt AMAZING after.  This run tricks you into a tempo run of sorts- it includes 20 minutes of running between 7:30 and 6:40 pace.  I think the next time I do it I am going to start at 6.5 and peak at 9.5 and see if I can do it.  That would keep the faster running more in line with the speeds that I need to be achieving for improvement.

Saturday-  See above!  I needed today to be more of a “fun run”-  since proper recovery from yesterday’s run needs to be taken into account so that I can be successful tomorrow.

Tomorrow-  I have every intention of running 15 miles.  I am actually really looking forward to it- I have several NPR podcasts lined up- and I am definitely going to be moving at a simple cruising pace.  I am aiming to keep most of the miles between 8:30 and 9:00-  hopefully the average pace works out to about 8:44 or 8:49.  Yes-  I can usually predict this

And right now???  Off to the outlets!  Let the games begin!

And some pics from yesterday:

My necklaces are really popular

Smoked brisket, happy babies, mac and cheese = AWESOME Friday night.