Well, I did it.  I accomplished my first double workout since college I think.  And it wasn’t so bad.  Sure, I will be ready to crawl into bed after I finish off this glass of wine and episode of Top Chef, but my legs don’t hurt – yet.  I decided to avoid the indoor track because Jeremy Block thinks indoor track workouts are lame and because I wanted to avoid the teeny boppers (Lisa you understand my pain), and because it was pouring freezing rain, I had only one option… dun dun dun, the treadmill.  I gave the treadmill an obligatory swift kick, as I often do before I hop on it.  I literally hop on the treadmill, I don’t know why.  35 minutes later, I was done running and it wasn’t so bad.  Today was a good day, to say the least.  The ONLY good thing about the treadmill is that I don’t have to dodge and weave to get past anyone.  But of course, one of the many bad things, other than what I listed in previous posts, is that people go over the 30 minute time limit by quickly restarting the timer after the 30 minutes expires.  Um hello, do you think I didn’t notice that your speed just went from 6.0 to 0.0, your “time elapsed” now magically says “0:25,” and your shirt is drenched in sweat? I have actually said to someone “I know you have already gone for 30 minutes” and the response was “so has the person beside me.”  Seriously?  Luckily I did not have to deal with that today, or I probably would have just turned in my YMCA membership because of my outrage over the multiple breaches of track/treadmill etiquette.

Tonight, I wore my new BodyHelix calf sleeves in OmniSkyn.  I used a different material before and had a harder time running in them because they are a bit more restrictive and I am between sizes.  The OmniSkyn is great.  I did my run in the OmniSkyn sleeve tonight and really felt like my shins/calves were well supported.  I have no pain while running on the treadmill, which is a first.  See below, where I model my new Dexter t-shirt, some serious pit stains, and the BodyHelix.

As you can see, I am built more like a shotputter than a Shalane Flanagan

Tomorrow is a recovery run with a few Fartleks (brief intervals of faster paced running).  Sunday is my long run.  Let’s hope this weather clears up.  There is nothing fun about running 12 miles on an indoor track, or for that matter- 20- my personal record.

I am taking a much-deserved coffee break to provide you all with a brief look at how my past two days has gone.  I have a humongous knot in my right trapezius muscle that makes me look like Quasimodo… or so I think.  It led to a horrendous tension headache last night, so I wasn’t able to do my dreaded ladder workout.  Knowing that my readers demand more running and more intense running at that, I decided to push my ladder workout to this morning.  So I went to bed just after 9, skipping out on my reality tv and facebook fix, and when the alarm went off at 5:45, I was almost as chipper as I’d be after a twelve hour hibernation.  I think that SuperDad was astounded I actually rose when I pledged I would, as I have made morning workouts a goal on at least 79 occasions and have lived up to my goal perhaps 2% of the time.

As planned, I did the ladder workout.  I started out with an easy 2 mile jog (about 16 1/2 minutes) then proceeded to 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min at 5k pace.  Afterwards, I finished with about a 1.5 mile jog, for a total of 7.5 miles.  The total time was just over 58 minutes, so I was pleased.  And it did not hurt nearly as bad as last week, probably because my body prohibited me from averaging faster than a 6:55 pace on the sprints at such an early time of day. 

I had some issues with the geriatrics on the track, as I typically do with teenagers wearing flourescent colored leggings and Uggs walking the track in the evenings.  Apparently, the older crowd come out in droves at the crack of dawn.  It’s like a bus loads them all up at Sharon Towers at 5:30 a.m. and they proceed to hobble around the indoor track for hours.  I guess it’s because the malls aren’t open yet.  I am not trying to alienate my octagenarian readership, but I get angry when I am attempting to raise my pulse above 60 and there is a wall of 85 year olds gabbing about what they had for supper at 4:30 the “night” before, traversing at a pace of no more than 2mph. There is a sign displayed in several places which says “walkers please use outside lane.”  Maybe the residents at Sharon Towers think it means “if you use a walker on this track, use the outside lane,” so they think they are allowed to use the inside lane because they have left their walkers behind with their rehab nurses.  I don’t know, but I try very hard to be polite and speak loudly, and no one listens.  So I spent a good deal of time weaving in and out, trying not to knock anyone over, because I applaud anyone who wants to exercise…  Although it might be amusing to hear a “help, I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!”

I plan on doing an easy 5 or 6 mile run tonight if the weather permits.  I don’t know if I can deal with the Justin Bieber fans walking the indoor track tonight, and we all know how I feel about the treadmill.