Gym, Sweet Gym

I'm happy to report that the plow came down our street at about 10am yesterday, which meant I could load those stir-crazy kids into the Jeep, drop them off at Grammy and Grandad's house, and get my blobby butt to the gym!  Finally!!  How exciting is that?!  (BTW, please don't think that I actually think of my butt as blobby.  Please refer to my first blog post for my proclamation of love for sarcasm.)  (Have I also mentioned that I love writing things in parenthesis?)  So, there I was...back at the gym again...on one of those stupid treadmills with the screen right up in your face.  But, I'm not complaining.  I was just happy to be there.

I'm not gonna lie, though.  Yesterday's run was kind of tough.  I hadn't run (or done any other sort of workout, for that matter) since Saturday, when my neighbor/friend Karen and I had our impromptu 4-miler here in the neighborhood.  And, let me just say here that, sometimes, what I love most about running is when it's over.  While I do love running, I am not one of those people who finds joy in every single stride.  Sometimes it sucks and it hurts and I want nothing more than to just stop.  But, I have found that if I want to keep getting better (and, I do) it's going to hurt and be less-than-wonderful sometimes.  That being said, once it's over, I'm always glad I did it.  Even if I need to lay down for a while...

When I started running last spring, my pace was at about 10:00 (10 minutes/mile).  By the time I started doing long runs with Karen in the fall, I'd worked it down to about 9:30.  As we ran more and more together, our pace was usually closer to 9:00.  Since I started back to the gym in December I've been trying to work it down to 8:30.  Eventually, I'd love to have an 8:00 pace.  It's good to have goals, right?  But, for right now, the 8:30 pace feels pretty quick to me.  So yesterday, my treadmill workout went like this:

15 minutes at 9:00 pace
20 minutes at 8:30 pace
10 minutes at 9:00 pace

5.14 miles

I've started using my phone to take a picture of the treadmill screen at the end of my runs, so I can remember my workouts.  It probably looks kind of weird when I'm doing it, but, oh well.

Some of my random thoughts while running on the treadmill yesterday:

• I will never be one of those people who can wear those cute, short, made-of-almost-nothing running shorts.  They really do make you look like a more serious runner, but it's just not in the cards for me.  I've tried to wear them on more than one occasion, but my thighs just will not abide.  Talk about chaffing!  What I do wear most of the time are the fitted knee tights.  They look cool enough and they provide ample inner-thigh protection.  Although, yesterday, I had the thought that I might actually wear a hole in each side at some point, from continuous inner-thigh friction.  Do you think that could actually happen??
• I was having a "secret competition" with the girl 6 treadmills down yesterday.  She doesn't know it, but she totally won.  I'll get her next time...Thanks for pushing me, girl 6 treadmills down!
• 5 miles is the new 3 miles.  I used to think of 3 miles as the "minimum" distance I wanted to do when I headed out for a run.  Now, 5 miles has taken over that spot.  Although, these days, I don't often run more than that either.  I'm hoping that if I keep my "base" distance up, getting back to long Saturday runs will be easier once spring comes.
• The girl who got onto the treadmill next to mine smelled really good.  I almost said something to her.  Then I realized how weird that would be.  But, sometimes you get onto a treadmill next to someone that smells really not good, so I've learned to appreciate the ones who do smell good.  It's the little things, you  know?
• For someone who loves music and considers it an integral part of her workout, I have a really crappy iPod playlist.  I have got to get some better music on there!  But, in honor of The White Stripes (who just announced that they will be breaking up) here's the song on my iPod that got me through the first little bit of my 20 minutes at 8:30 pace yesterday...

I also wanted to post a link to an article I read about preventing running injuries.  I really liked it because it includes videos of how to do the suggested exercises.  I've never really had a significant running injury.  Probably because I just haven't run that much!  But, my shins have been bothering me on and off and my hips can be a problem at times.  Plus, I know lots of people deal with plantar fasciitis.  All of that is covered in this article.  So, here's the link:

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/prevent-the-five-most-common-running-injuries-2442312/

And, before I sign off, I've been wanting to give a big bloggin' shout-out to my friend Amanda (Holla! I love saying that...).  I've been waiting for just the right blog post to do it, and this one seems the most fitting.  I met Amanda in college when she was a freshman on my hall (I'm a few years older than her, but we don't need to talk about that.) and we've recently reconnected through Facebook.  Amanda started her own blog called  Runninghood (runninghood-amanda.blogspot.com) last October.  It's an awesome, fun-to-read blog about her adventures in running, motherhood and life in general.  Reading it is what really got me thinking about starting my own blog.  I told her yesterday in an email that she's been like my "blog mentor".  Amanda is an incredibly accomplished runner, and from reading her blog posts, a super-fun, creative mom!  I love being able to share in her experiences through her words.  So, check out Runninghood for some serious laughs and inspiration!