Wednesday Workout Update - Running Club!

My running club started up again on Saturday - this time, we are doing a 10 Week/10K program. I was both stunned and honored when Coach Joni asked me - ME! - to be the guest speaker at our kickoff meeting. I have done very little public speaking, and next to math, my least favorite class in high school was Speech. But, I loved my running club, so of course I said yes. Helen suggested that we videotape it, so thanks to my running buddy Jenny's loan of her video camera and tripod, Jeff was able to film it. Sort of. He missed the very first part, where I mentioned that I used to weigh over 250 pounds. But the rest is all there, and if you have nearly 11 minutes of your life that you want to waste, click on the video below. Apologies for the poor sound quality - occasionally a loud vehicle would drive by, and the birds were chirping pretty loud at times (I know, how rude!)...and of course, we aren't anywhere NEAR professionals when it comes to making a movie. Also, I choked up at the very end - surprised me, as I didn't see that coming. But I quickly recovered. :)

So, after my speech, we all set off to run 2 miles. It was great to have so many people to run with! As I mentioned on last Friday's post, I was afraid of how my ankle was going to feel during this run. It was ok. Not perfect - there is still some discomfort, but it's not terrible. I'm taking it easy, which I have to, since my running base is pretty much zero right now. I ran most of the time - took a few walking breaks, but I still hit 2 miles in 25:02, so that's not too far off my 12-minute mile that I was doing for the long runs. After the run, I was hot and sweaty and I loved it! I know it probably doesn't sound all that appealing, to be all out-of-breath and dripping sweat, but to me, it was wonderful.

With this training program, we are incorporating more cross-training, since we are running less miles. So on Monday, not only did I have to run for 20 minutes, I also had to do an additional 20 minutes of core and strength training! I got my run/walk in - it was so windy, leaves were blowing into my face at times! For my core work, I did ab crunches on the stability ball, a couple of plank holds, and...wait for it...the hula hoop! I had a few good rounds with it - getting better and better, I am. Wait til my neighbor girls see me - they are going to be so impressed!

Yesterday at the ridiculously early hour of 6:15 am, I met up with my friend Terry to go running with her - this was my Christmas present to her - a commitment to be her early-morning running partner. Why yes, it's April, and she's finally getting her present. What can I say...stuff happens. Did I mention that I was meeting her at 6:15? Well, I actually got there about 10 minutes late - it was dark, I missed my turn, and then got lost and ended up near the junior college. How the hell I did that I can only sum up in one word - "talent." Anyway, we did 3:1 intervals - running for 3 minutes, then walking for 1 minute. Ricky Bobby did an awesome job of letting us know when to run and when to walk, and I have to say that this was the best my ankle has felt both during and after a run in quite a while! So I think it will be intervals for me while I'm getting my ankle back into shape. Hmmm, now if only someone would have recommended for me to do them a couple of weeks ago...(back story - someone DID, and probably wants to slap me right about now, lol).

Last night was speedwork at the track, and I went. Although Jeff is doing this program too, he's out of town during the week so I went by myself. I'm kinda lazy and not a big fan of speedwork, but I know it's helpful, so I'm going to force myself to go instead of just doing a regular run that day and calling it even. That is my plan, so if you see me slacking, please feel free to yell at me call me on it in the comments. Anyway, we had 20-second sprints on the schedule. I did 4 of them - my LEFT calf was hurting me. Really? Sigh. Probably because I already ran that morning, or it could be the shoes I was wearing. All I know is that I didn't have a great workout at the track, but I did get to know a few of the new members of our club better, so that was fun. Afterward, I zipped home so I could watch the Aggie women beat Notre Dame and become the National Champions in Basketball - Whoop! What a great game!

If you missed the Tuesday post I snuck in, I'd doing a giveaway for ReNew Life products - click here to read and enter, if you want. I have a couple more giveaways coming up, so I'll probably be posting them on Tuesdays.

Source: http://www.myjourneytofit.com/2011/04/wednesday-workout-update-running-club.html

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