8 miles on the dreaded treadmill conquered!!
That was a real mental and physical challenge. I knew it was the right choice though when I stepped outside onto nothing but a sheet of ice outside my apartment.
Luckily, thanks to my mom's generosity and thoughtfulness, I slept fantastically. I wore my new eye mask, sprayed my new pillow spray, and used my new moisture gloves, so I woke up with super soft & creamy hands. Not quite sure how those helped me run but it felt good.
I was aiming for a one mile warm up and cool down, and six tempo miles in between. The warmup mile went by pretty quick, so I had a good feeling about the run. However, I knew I was in trouble when I was already looking at the clock at .7 miles into the tempo portion. I wanted to slow down about a million times but I didn't!
Tempo runs are supposed to get you used to pushing the pace when you're fatigued so basically the whole thing involves feeling like you are exhausted and need to slow down. I kept picturing myself at the start of the Shamrock Marathon, and I didn't want to be thinking to myself, wow, I wish I hadn't phoned in those tempo runs. I also always think back to the time I was injured, when I would have killed to get up early to run 8 miles, so I should be thankful that now I was! I wore my heart rate monitor and my HR was in the 170s for most of the tempo part, and to me that means its a pretty challenging workout.
My warmup mile was 10:13, my six tempo miles were done in 50:42 (pretty happy about that!) and my cooldown mile was 9:39, and I burned about 620 calories, if you care.
The treadmill can get boring, but it does have its advantages, like constant access to water and a bathroom, I at no point fear for my life, and I am enjoying sitting comfortably now without uncontrollable shivers. No wind and no hills are pretty cool too.
This post was pretty run heavy, but I want to be able to look back when I start training for my next marathon and think "why can't I do these tempo runs?? Why am I so out of shape??".
Tonight - the LAST session of Jillian's 6 weeks to 6 pack abs, and a new Office!
I care deeply about your calorie burn, lol. Kudos to you for running that long on the treadmill, 6 miles is pretty much my max. I think at the starting line of my marathon next month I'm going to be thinking "WTF is wrong with me that I sign up for stuff like this??" but maybe knowing that I did lots of speedwork will help calm me down :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome job on the treadmill. It's my worst enemy. You will be thanking yourself for those tempo runs when you finish that next marathon! : )
ReplyDeleteWhat I would do to be able to run 1 mile on the treadmill!! Stupid injuries. Thank goodness March is right around the corner & I hopefully will be able to run again :-) Lol- keep up the good work :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat job!! I have to agree that it can be boring, but I do appreciate the warmth, the potty, and the not getting run over by some driver who was texting instead of driving. I dress like a glow worm in reflective and am always worried about that. I sat down last night and tried to re-work my daily schedule to see when I can add regular workouts at the gym.
ReplyDeleteI am so proud of all of you that get out there every day (in the gym or on the road) and kick some serious tail.
Sooo, how are the abs looking??
Awesome treadmill run!! I remember when I hit my longest distance on the treadmill. I always have to force myself to not look at the distance for a while because once I do, I seem to look at it every 10th of a mile! haha
ReplyDeleteThis is actually really informative for me... I've never really known (or taken the time to learn) what a tempo run is. I had a general idea that it was a fast run. I rarely really, really push myself during a run -- I kind of stay in my comfort zone -- and I am inspired by your workout!
ReplyDeleteQuestion: is 6 miles typical for a tempo run when training for a marathon? I might try a 5 miler one of these days
Great job!! My longest on the treadmill is something like 7.25 miles on the treadmill back in July when it was obscenely hot outside. It was nice over the summer, because there were no undergrads on campus, so I had the gym to myself and didn't have to listen to someone grunting or stomping on the treadmill immediately next to me. (This is why I run outside as much as possible!) haha.
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