On the Treadmill...And it felt so good!

Last week was a rarity: no workouts and no running for the whole week. By the end of the week, I was feeling jealous of all my friends who were posting about how their exercising was going. I realized that while getting up 'after' the sunrise was nice, I really 'missed' my run routine. Imagine that!

Today marked my first run in 10 days! And it felt so good! Perhaps it was because I gave my body a rest and a chance to focus on restoration. Perhaps it was because the short 'break' allowed my mind to appreciate the activity again. All I know is, I went to LifeTime, got dressed in my shorts, tech shirt, and shoes, activated my Polar watch, and away I went!

I listened to my workout playlist as I started out. I started with a five-minute brisk walk to warm up the legs and get a breathing rhythm going. Then I sped up to a 10:40/mm pace and started the run. The music was in my ears and the running felt effortless. The legs really wanted to go, and my breathing was in sync. So I just went along for the ride.

At some point after the second mile, I was found myself smiling! So I picked up the pace, increasing to a 9:30/mm pace, and it felt so smooth. At that speed, my heart rate was in Zone 3 and still, I felt like I could keep that pace up for a while. I was so in the groove!

Then I looked up at a clock and realized it was passed the time I had to stop (I had to shower and get to work). How disappointing! I ran for 3.77 miles but I think I could have gone for another 3 miles easily. I was late so I didn't take my usual five-minute cooldown, nor did I do any post-run stretching. (Not a good thing to skip by the way)

So, I showered, dressed, got a protein shake 'mix-in' from the LifeCafe (I bring my own whey protein), and headed into the office. Last night, I received a package from the Half Fanatics containing my HF singlet, jacket, and running cap. Very cool! So I decided to wear the jacket to work today. Not going to lie... I was pretty proud to wear the colors of the HF!

Speaking of the HF, I found a race in July (in Hoffman Estates) that I might want to run. It comes the day before the Rock-n-Roll Chicago Half, and if I finish both races I could move up to the Four Moon level in the Fanatics. The only problem is that Mike and I have friends from my W.I.S.H. Running Team coming from Canada to visit that same weekend, and I would rather spend time with them than run two races (and deal with recovery instead of having fun with them_. So I probably won't sign up for it. Guess I have to find another back-to-back Half weekend sometime in the late Fall (after the Chicago Marathon). Moving up to 4 Moons is not critical to my goals for 2012, but if I can fold it into my overall training schedule, it would be special.

And speaking of the Chicago Marathon, registration for that race opens tomorrow at Noon!!! A co-worker is thinking of signing up which is awesome! I was thinking of registering for it over the weekend. I hope registration doesn't close before then (last year it filled up after three weeks)! I wonder how many WISHers might be running the race (it would be cool to run with them).