Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Fartleks In Utero

This morning I woke up really really tired. I did *not* want to get out of bed. I convinced myself because it is Wednesday, and if I can just make it through this morning, tomorrow morning I can sleep a little later on my "swim only" morning, and then it'll be Friday!

So I finally dragged myself out of bed, dressed, and went upstairs to get my Garmin, where it was charging overnight. Press power, and , nothing. Nothing! Confused, push power again. Nothing. Go back over to the charger, place Garmin on it, and nothing. ARGH!!! Finally I decide to run without the technology, silencing a little voice that told me that that was my second warning to get back in bed.

Warning number 3, you ask? Simple. That was just stepping outside, because oh, buddy, it must have been in the upper 70's, and so freaking humid it felt like I was breathing liquid. I knew then, that this run was going to suck.

Nevertheless, I walked my warm-up, and gamely started jogging. After about half a mile, I decided I'd run the first mile, then turn the run into a fartlek-type interval workout where I'd run hard to a set point, then walk a bit, then run hard again. That's exactly what I did. It took me 45 minutes to go 3.5 miles, but I think the running segments were good and hard (based on RPE, no Garmin, grr), and I focused on not losing my running form.

This spring has been really tough on me... last year I didn't really start running until it was already a bit warm, so I didn't have to go through the transition of cold to hot, which frankly sucks. I keep reminding myself that I could run 3 miles without walking last May/June/July, and surely soon I'll acclimate sufficiently to the heat to bring some no-walking back. Blarg.

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