Lindsey Likes to....Walk?

I told a fib.  Yesterday was not a rest day.  I woke up fully intending to take a break, but I had SO much energy.  I'm not really sure where it came from because I've been totally embracing this whole lazy summer thing.  Since my favorite walking buddy is still out of commission, I decided to head to the gym for an elliptical workout.

I'll be here when you get back.

I took it pretty easy, but it felt good to work up a sweat and get my body moving a little.  My 45 minute work out looked like this:

5 minute warm up

1 minute focusing on pushing with arms

1 minute focusing on pulling with arms

1 minute "sprint"

1 minute increased level (from 7 to 9)

1 minute recovery

5 minute backwards 

Repeat until 5 minute cool down

I've found that continuously mixing it up on the elliptical makes the time go by waaay faster and keeps me from getting bored.  

When I got home I made sure to stretch extra well since I was still planning on running today.  Maddux supervised to make sure I held each stretch long enough.  

Excuse me, you're not stretching.

I must have done a pretty good job, because by the time I was done with my stretches this happened:

Sleepy pup.

I also did my usual arm workout  (10 front raises, 10 tricep kickbacks, 10 bicep curls, 10 overhead tricep thingies, repeat to do three sets)  and some planks while I watched Rachael Ray.  I only use 5 pound weights, but it keeps my arms from getting too jiggly :-)

Today something miraculous happened.  I made it out the door and started my run before 9am  (8:50 to be exact).  I even foam rolled before!  The first 15 minutes or so felt pretty good, but then I just started to get hot and I got this weird tightness in my hips.  I took so many walk breaks during the run.  To give you an idea, I ran for 45:30 and didn't finish my run until 9:50.  That's almost 15 minutes of walking.  My (uncalibrated) Nike+ said that I ran 4.16.  Ugh.  However, I don't have too many problems believing it today...  On the plus side, I had a strong finish and made sure to give it my all for the final minute.  

I think the highlight of today's run was discovering some other little pieces of trail that go off the main loop of the park I was at today.  This park definitely has long run potential and it was fun exploring the different parts of the trail today.  There's lots of shade on the side trails and it's SO pretty.  Having great scenery makes running so much more enjoyable, especially when it's feeling tough. 

Thinking about my outdoor runs lately, I've decided that I really need to just practice running in the heat  with real terrain.  While the treadmill runs have been an awesome confidence booster, I don't think it's doing me many favors in training for an outdoor race.  Since I just registered for a 15k during Labor Day weekend, I figure I need as much outdoor training as I can get so that my body doesn't take the heat as a complete shock.  As we've established, in hot weather I have no problem taking walk/water breaks, but I think now my focus should be on figuring out when I really need water and walk breaks and when I just really want to stop for a minute.  Today I stopped twice for water and that felt pretty good for today's heat (low 80s).   

On a happier note, I celebrated being done with today's run with a homemade frappuccino.  

No Cesars included.

Since I've been on my saving money on nonessentials kick, I've experimented a little in the kitchen to give me some alternatives to my beloved Starbucks.  I've found that tossing some ice cubes, strong (cooled) coffee, milk, a hot chocolate packet, and a few chocolate chips has given me something comparable to a $4 sbux drink.  Pour it in a Starbucks cup and it's practically the same thing, right? :-)

I've also been making smoothies a lot this summer.  I'm sure my neighbors are LOVING all the blender noises coming from my apartment lately.

This weekend I will be having a second go at speed work with a planned 6x800!  I'm excited after the last workout.  It's definitely a new kind of challenge for me!  Happy Friday!