Let's Go Autobots!

This week I jumped ship again. I'm sorry, Hal Higdon, but it was too much too fast. I need to take it slower because of my shin splits, and because of my lack of motivation. I will use Hal as a starting point, but take it easier, run shorter and not so often. Running Tuesday, Wednesday AND Thursday will probably kill me (I'm not melodramatic at all... No, really...), so I will either run Monday, Wednesday, Thursday/Friday and Saturday/Sunday, depending on night shift or not. This means that if I run Thursday, I can also run Saturday etc. And with my recent work schedule I can take a "long" run Wednesday, and then rest Thursday.

Week 2 - Tuesday

I rested Monday, so Tuesday came bright and shiny, and I was ready for yet another 5 km. Or so I thought. I really don't know what happened, but I started at a sloooow pace, then decided after 2 km that I would only run 3 km (my body felt so very heavy, and I was really lazy), so I sped up a bit. I wish I'd recorded laps, bit I didn't.

3 km - 20.49 min


Wednesday, I decided to rest again. I baked an apple cake, then ate half of it. Yummy yummy in my tummy...

Week 2 - Thursday

Thursday I was quite a bit more motivated. I started slow, then after 1 km I sped up, to see how long I could keep a 10 km/h-pace. It turned out that I could hold that pretty long, and here I've been, shuffling my feet at 8 km/h because I thought it was the fastest I could go! So I ran 3 km at 10, then turned it up to 11 km/h for the last km. It went well, thanks to the Transformer score. My shin split on the right leg kept bothering me the entire run, though. Uh-oh.

5 km - 30.44.min - New personal record, woot! (...)

And today I took some lap times.
Lap 1 - first 2 km - 13.27
Lap 2 - next 2 km - 12.02
Lap 3 - last km - 5.13

Fun! I should do this more, but when I'm on the treadmill, my head seems to be elsewhere. Speaking of which, here is my old friend:


And here is me, looking VERY motivated (note: I hate taking pictures of myself in the mirror.)

Aaand after (listening to my autobots):




Then I went to make sushi with my girlfriends. Lovely evening.

I don't think there will be much running this weekend. Friday I work a night shift, Saturday I'm hosting a birthday party for a friend, Sunday I'm probably hung-over. Monday I'm going to Gran Canaria. Can't wait!

Some Days I Soar...

This Monday I started on Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Guide . Frankly, it's scaring the shit out of me. Especially since I have now (only) completed three of seven days in the first week. Monday was easy. It was a day of resting, easy-peasy. Come on, I thought, give me a challenge. The challenge came Tuesday.

Week 1 - Tuesday

Run 3 miles, it said. Since I'm used to the metric system, I looked forward to an easy distance. I used to run 3 km a year ago, ever so slowly running my way up to 5 km. I was so proud of myself back in the days. Then I got a boyfriend, and we both fell into the trap. We've been more or less couch potatoes since last April. As it dawned on me that 3 miles is actually 4.8 km (give or take a few meter), I got a little less enthusiastic.

5 km - 32.56 min.

I know, it's still not fast. But I really, REALLY don't want any injuries. I took the time to strech 20 minutes afterwards. I know it's probably only a placebo effect, but Wednesday came without any soreness or stiffness, and I give the credit to the stretching.

Week 1 - Wednesday

Started out fresh and fine. Tuesday, my legs felt awesome. Wednesday, not so much. But I remembered some of Susan's posts about lacking motivation and don't feeling like running, and I kicked my own butt and went to my favourite basement to get some miles under my belt.

5 km - 31 (?) min.

I think that is correct. I run with my Polar RS200, but this time I had a few stops (drinking water, blowing my nose, dropping my iPhone on the floor), and I only stopped the treadmill. The time isn't really what matters. What does matter is that I run the miles Hal Higdon tells me to run. But at least I ran 1-2 min faster than Tuesday. There's nothing like some dragons and ikrans to make me soar...

That's correct, I listened to film scores. How to Train Your Dragon, and Avatar. Feels silly, but I get some kind of a runner's high after 20 minutes, and I can prolong and intensify it by blasting my favourite songs into my (poor) ears. Speaking of music, I really need some tips on what music to listen to. I'm hopefully in for some long runs in the future, so I need some new upbeat music.
I love bragging about my beautiful dog, so here's a picture. It's also showing the reason I run inside for the moment. SNOW. And ice. And cold. Can't wait for spring to come.