Treadmill Love ( or Hate )...

Sunday was a complete rest day for me especially after my long run on Saturday and then having a low grade fever and awful cough!  Plus having to work a 12 hour midnight shift also. 

Monday after a much needed post work nap and NyQuil I decided to do a little run and see how I felt.  Well,  I warmed up for 20 minutes 2.5 miles and felt pretty darn good so I decided to do my speedwork...5 x 1 mile repeats that went like this 6:58, 6:53, 6:44, 6:40, 6:40 then 2 mile cool down.  I surprised myself on this run and was glad to have fit in in this week.  I go through spurts where I could do every single run on the treadmill and LOVE this machine..then there are some times that I think it would kill me to do a single mile on the mill.  Right now I am in my LOVE phase so all is good but when I am not I have to trick my mind on the mill and here are some of my mind games:

1.  Speedwork:  Like I mentioned above I did mile repeats but you can do repeats of any distance or time.  I am following a marathon training plan and one of my weekly runs is always for speed.  For me the treadmill is the best way to do my speedwork...and the Y TM actually as a "speed interval" program where you can set your jog speed (RI) and you run speed all with a push of a button!  Love this!  If you are new to speedwork start with shorter intervals and increase as you get more comfortable.  Here is a link to some ideas of intervals. 

2.  Hills:  I like to do different hills intervals also when the boredom sets in.  The change in elevation keeps things interesting and challenging.  One thing about Delaware and my routes I run there really are not many significant hills and with Boston right around the corner hills and declines are very important right now.  Once again the Y TM also has some pretty awesome hill programs.

3.  Progression Run:  One of my favorite TM workouts is a progression run.  The goal is to try to run each mile faster then the last and end with a pretty swift pace.  This has really help me in the final miles of my races and has trained my legs to push when they are tired.  Plus it makes the run go by faster!

4:  Match minute for minute:   This type of run I will run either for speed or for hills...I will jog at a comfortable pace for 3 minutes then increase either my speed or incline for 3 minutes then return to jog pace or flat road.  I vary the time each interval 1:1, 2:2, 3:3 and so on. 

5. Song Game:  I also like to put my play list on shuffle and then when my fast pace or working songs come on I push the pace for the entire song or do a hill climb. 

So these are just a few things that help me change up the monotony of the mill!

Today was a cross training day so I took Amy's Spin class and it was ALL work NO fluff!  I was dripping with sweat when I was done and felt great to use different muscles.  I did 25 miles in the 60 minute class.  I also did my kettlebell work:

Squats with 40# KB
Lunges with 15# KB
Deadlifts with 40# KB
Hamstring Curls on Swiss ball
Push-ups
4 x 10 reps each

All finished and ready to refuel with my Premier Protein...Which there are coupons for in this weeks ads!!!

 

 

Yummy!

Then this beauty!  Spinach, Chicken, Almonds, Cranberries, Apples, Gorgonzola, and Apple Cider Vinaigrette!!

Did you love or hate the TM? 

What tricks help you on the TM?

It "pays" to run sloooooow!

Today's run was my LSD (long slow distance) with my two best running buddies!!  We headed out around 7:30 am and our plan was to run 16-18 miles.  I had the 18 miles to do and ideally wanted my pace in the low 8's...Angel and Dawn had 16 miles at 8:30 pace.  I absolutely love my runs with my girlfriends!!  We talk about EVERYTHING and anything.  Dawn has some killer hills back by where she lives so our goal was to hit some big hills early on then loop back grab our water then reverse the run to end with the monster hill!  



This is Dawn and Angel charging those beast hills!!  They are a pain to go up but a blast to come down.  I love this route because it is challenging and preparing me for Boston but also because of the surrounding.  There are tons of horse farms, rolling hills and usually very little traffic.  One thing I noticed today was the amount of litter on the side of the roads..people are so rude sometimes and it is just careless to throw out McDonald's bags and 40 oz bottles!  I am thinking of join the road cleaning crew or adopting a highway especially after finding this on the side of the road...



This will definitely go to a good cause!  Dawn and Angel also got some green bills too!

 After I stretched and showered my brother took me and my boys to Atlantic City for the day. I believe this was my 1st time there and we had a blast!  There was lots to see and do especially shopping.  We had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe and meet up with some friends.

  

After lunch we went down to the shore and checked out the ocean.  This is when the boys spotted this.....



Which had this inside....



NO I did not buy this!!!  Even though there was some begging... I gave up candy for lent and had to walk away for this beauty!

Have you ever found $$$ or anything unusual on a run??

Happy Running!