Marathon Training: Day 5

Hal said I had to run 8 miles today. I really hoped to do it outside, but the temperature read 13° upon waking, and with yesterday's snow...it just seemed like a bad idea. I had to run early today, too, because the rest of my morning and early afternoon was pretty busy. In hindsight, I'm glad I did it early.  The head cold was really kicking in this afternoon.

So, I tuned in the Netflix to National Geographic's Alaska's Denali National Park and got moving. After a 10 minute warm up walk, I set the treadmill to manual. I started off at a 1% incline and 6.5 mph.  I upped it .2 mph every 5 minutes until I reached 6.9 mph. Then I upped it .2 mph every 10 minutes. With 1.2 miles left I was up to 7.5 mph. I did slow to a walk at mile 3 and mile 6 to drink my Cytomax. I skipped the gel today. It was pretty sweaty in the basement this morning for a change. But I kinda wish it were colder because I would have been more comfortable. Of course, I forget I have a cold. That doesn't help. But all in all, it was a good 8-mile treadmill run. I finished it in under 70 minutes. And with a negative spit. That is the great thing about that treadmill. You can force yourself to run negative split. That will be great for training.

I'm focusing on post-run stretching and it is making a huge difference. I really need to keep that up and take the 15-20 minutes afterward to properly stretch. My flexibility is much better than it was.

I'm super sore tonight. But not because of the run, but because of yesterday's P90X Legs and Back. That workout gets me every time.

I'm so proud of my sister, The Petite Pacer. She has come so far in just one year. I have a number of friends on Facebook who have just started running as well. They have come to me for advice and suggestions as they get started. It is so uplifting for me to be able to help them in some small way to get them out there. Maybe running won't be their thing...or maybe it will. Either way, it is giving it a try and putting faith in yourself that matters. I'm so proud of all of them! There is no doubt that running changes your life.