Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Tuesday - Good Day/Bad Day

Today's workout was very strange. It was one of those days where I just couldn't find that "good rhythm". As it turns out my pace was exactly what I was shooting for but it certainly didn't feel that way while I was running it.

The day even started out "off". I woke up about 4:30ish and struggled to stay in bed for those extra 15 minutes - that was my mistake. I need to realize that when I wake up like that I need to get my butt up out of bed and get myself moving. So, by the time I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed, it was probably after 5:15 before I got out the door. Not a habit I can afford to keep! Come September I need to be out the door MUCH quicker - I'm a preschool teacher and need to be much more disciplined if I'm going to get my workout finished, get myself ready, get the kids ready and get us to school on time.

Now onto the run. I'm not sure if many others use this technique and I'm not even sure how I started doing it (maybe it is my swimming background) but I coordinate my breathing with my foot falls. My usual cadence is 3-4 steps to breathe in and then 3-4 steps to breathe out. The faster I run the fewer steps I take to get my breaths in and out. Well, my goal for the 3.5 mile run was to maintain an 8:30 pace and I just couldn't get my breaths and foot falls together. The breathing would have probably felt perfect at 3.5 steps per breath but I haven't figured out how to do that yet - LOL! That was the bad part. The good part was that I was able to hit my goal of 8:30 pace.

Speaking of pace, I love my Forerunner 301! I gives me information about pace, speed, time, distance and heart rate all while I'm running. I stink at knowing what my pace is while I'm running so having this watch has been wonderful. One of the best presents my husband ever gave me!!

Tomorrow is my first Tempo run as well as abs and lifting. I love to do 2 workouts in a day and am finding the in between days a bit difficult. While going through my body transformation I have routinely been doing 2 workouts a day. I want to continue that, but I'm also afraid of moving into an overtraining state. I keep going back and forth about this matter. I look at the ultra-distance runners as well as the triathletes and think I can do it but I also don't want to risk all the hard work I'm putting in. Anyway, I'll just have to play it by ear and figure it out as I go.

Have a great day and keep working hard toward your goals!

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