Stronger Better Faster Longer*

*with apologies to Kanye who made my playlist via on-line searches for other running playlists.  This version of his chorus suits me better.

Still plugging away on the treadmill.  Today, I  did Week #6, Session #3, so I ran for 25 minutes, which is about 2 miles at the speeds I'm going!  I don't have the exact stats with me, but I recall alternating between 5.1 mph and 4.9 mph (based mostly on the pace of the song) and taking a couple of brief "rests" at 4.7 mph.  A year ago, that 4.7 mph was my running pace, so things are clipping along.  I enjoyed most of it - I thought about whether I was enjoying it along the way. The first part was definitely more fun than the last part - but I actually finished by speeding up for the last couple of minutes!  My heart rate after ten minutes was barely above 140 bpm, and the slower, rest, intervals kept me from staying above 150 bpm. My finger was hovering over the speed control, however, ready to slow it down the second I hit my target.

I went ahead and finished out the 5K, and because it was fairly boring walking to the running playlist, I threw in a high speed, high slope, 90 second running burst.  It took 45 seconds for my heart to climb from the 120's to above the 90% rate, and again my finger hovered to drop the speed and the incline when I hit that 90 second mark.  But from what I've read, its these extreme pushes that keep bringing the overall conditioning along.

I swing my arms, I feel my body moving and think about different parts of it as I go - swinging my arms makes me think about my stride.  I lift my knees higher sometimes, and I constantly am aware of my posture. Like my friend KCF, yoga has made me more mindful of my body, and very specifically my torso from my waist to my neck. I can't describe it exactly, but there is an opening in my rib cage on how I hold my shoulders and chest that really makes me feel good and balanced and stronger.

From here on out for the rest of the 9 weeks of the Couch to 5K program I'm doing, it is scheduled as just long runs - 25 minutes stretching up to 35 minutes. (I think they assume 35 minutes would be long enough to complete the 5K - and I don't think it will be long enough at the paces I'm going.)  I skipped my mid-week run last week and the week before, and I think I should not create an extra burden to starting on work mornings by pushing into this really really hard place.  Today, it was 10 am before I got going, and I could easily have procrastinated longer if I didn't have other duties.

Starting is always the hardest part.  I am a bit afraid of how its going to go.  And while I do like it while I'm doing it, this is still really hard.  Friday I did get in a before-work turn (Week #6 Session #2, two ten minute runs), and I really enjoyed it quite a bit while it was underway - but especially for hours and hours afterwards. I consciously checked in on how I was feeling throughout the day, and the good feelings lingered into the early afternoon. I do not get this same terrific feeling from my sessions at the gym - they make specific muscle groups feel used and good, but it isn't this same aerobicized feeling that running gives me.  I think I've felt this before - when I did the NT regularly - and I begin to understand how people can crave this feeling. I think I should target the two ten (or 12?) minute runs for this week's mid-week run - it'll seem easy compared to a solid 25 minutes. I love that break in the middle to re-settle in my breathing and heart-rate.

BTW, this aerobicized feeling does not necessarily translate into overall physical energy.  I spent most of Friday at my desk, noodling through a lot of paper (actually electrons, very little physical paper), reading and writing and thinking. My magic device suggests I burned fewer calories during the work day on Friday than on a normal day. (I have read that brain work does burn a lot of glucose, but I don't think it burns overall calories at a very fast rate.) But I treasure uninterrupted time to do that kind of creative work, so overall it was a very satisfactory day.