In honor of National Running Day, I was motivated to get out of my comfy, warm bed to take on Day 2 of my morning running challenge. It was much more difficult to get out of bed Day 2 than it was Day 1, because I could not fall asleep Tuesday night. It did help that I had a speed/interval workout to look forward to. :)
I had decided to save gas and jog to my gym as my warm up, and then jog home for my cool down. Somehow I had it set in my head that my gym was 1/2 a mile away. Ha. I was wrong. More like a mile and a half. Oh well, it was a great warm up, despite the fact that it was 40 degrees out. SERIOUSLY!?! I had to wear sweats and a long sleeve over my shorts and t-shirt so I didn't freeze my tas off.
1. 9:00
.36 3:19 (9:50 pace) This is the point of the run where I had to run through grass/weeds that were knee deep because there wasn't a shoulder or sidewalk to run on. Awesome.
At the gym I got a good stretch in, and then had 7 x 400 to rock. And rock I did. :)
2 @ 1:42 (6:48 pace)
2 @ 1:41 (6:44 pace)
2 @ 1:40 (6:40 pace)
1 @ 1:38 (6:31 pace)
I walked .1 in between each interval and felt super strong during each of the quarters. I did realize that I need to scout out a track nearby because it's so much easier to pace yourself when you're not actually pacing yourself. Shocking, I'm sure. Plus it'd be nice to relive my fast track days. Ha.
After the sprints I stretched again and headed for home. I felt like SUCH a B.A. running home from the gym. I had to take a different route because traffic had finally picked up, and it was kind of fun taking a new trail route home.
1. 10:04
.39 3:56 (10:07 pace)
It was pretty slow going, since my legs were tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired. I really wished that the cool down was hmmm.... half mile instead. :)
Morning running finally caught up with me yesterday afternoon when I was half-zombie the last 2 hours of work. Yikes. I may or may not have accidentally fallen asleep for 30 minutes before heading to Tay's softball game after work. Ha.
The other thing that I've noticed about running in the morning is my eating habits. Usually I would eat a smaller breakfast and lunch, with a decent sized snack around 2 or 3, and then a very large meal post run at night. Now I'm needing to get the eating switched around to have a decent sized breakfast and maybe a morning snack so I'm not dying of hunger at 10am. Learning curve, right?
All in all, I think I'm getting a hang of this early morning junk.
P.S. Who else wishes they could dance and were rockin' So You Think You Can Dance this season? Oh man, I just love this show, and since I have two left feet, I'm in awe of their skillz. :)
That's a good 400 workout! And you are such a b.a. running to and from the gym!
ReplyDeleteYay for running to and from the gym! I love doing that, too :) So much better than driving, which seems counterintuitive.
ReplyDeleteMan I have been trying to be a morning runner forever! Just doesnt happen! I think we're about to join a gym and the criteria for me is one location closet to work, and one close to home so I can run to both!
ReplyDeleteDid you decide if you want to do the relay...??? :)
WHOA those were some fast 400s!! I like it!
ReplyDeleteI started the Morning running routine about 3 months ago. went in head first after being an 'afternoon runner' for a looong time - and definitely won't go back! some mornings its easier than others to pull myself out of bed, but I've never backed out on a run. You're UP, so you might as well just Go right?! :) I Love it.
Morning running really is learning what is best for you! Eating a big breakfast is good for you! That is a great 400m speed workout...the track is fun too. I think 400m is my fav distance...except when actually racing that distance!! Keep it up. in the beginning I am sure you will feel tired from getting up and running just because you aren't used to it...but once you get the hang of it, it will give you more energy!!
ReplyDeleteWhat was with the weirdo cold weather last week? Boo! It's June! Although... I do like to run in cooler weather ;)
ReplyDeleteI get up earlier to work and I noticed just that makes me hungrier in the am, so I cannot imagine running every day in the morning! I already notice how hungry I am on the days I do. I feel like it negates all the calories I burned ;)