A long run and a benchmark workout

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January 20, 2014 by Amy B

Saturday’s long run pretty much wiped me out. Again.

Team /var/run and Team Zoe for 7.25 miles in Calumet. I’d mapped something out, which is dumb, since I cannot follow a map nor evidently remember WHERE I’m going, so we ended up at a dead end near an old mineshaft.

Zoe: Snow? NBD, humans.

It turned into a bit of a snowy adventure that landed us into someone’s backyard. Thanks for not shooting us, random Rambletown residents.

After stopping for a few minutes to figure out how to get back to a road, it was tough to get going again. I think we were about 5 miles in at this point. My legs just felt lifeless and wasted, which is not how I think they should feel after a mere seven miles.

Post-run beers, mmm.

Then again, I haven’t exactly been logging serious miles this month. Evidence:

Only 31 miles are running miles.

It also could be that running with Zoe is setting a pace that’s a little too fast for us losers. Long run ends up being more like a tempo run. Not that I don’t need more tempo runs in my life, but yeesh. It’s kind of killing me.

And on the seventh day, She rested.

I hadn’t planned on Sunday being a 100% rest day, but it was. And fortunately I had a lot of shit going on to distract me from thinking all day about NOT DOING ANYTHING.

I did do a few sets of push-ups and hip thruster thingies while the annual church meeting was going on and I was keeping Aaron quiet in another room, but that’s it! I swear!

Benchmark Monday!

I’ve wanted to do this 8 Minute Test in Trainer Road but haven’t had a good day to do it. I’ve either been too tired or too strapped for time. It’s possible I was still both of these things today, but I did it anyway.

I don’t think my results are that great, even not knowing what a lot of these numbers mean, but it was still a really good workout. My accomplishment today was gutting it out for an entire hour when I wanted to bail after 30 minutes.

It turns out intervals, whether you’re on a bike or running on a road, are really damn hard. But when I look at the numbers, especially HR, I think I’m probably not pushing it as hard as I can, though my biking HR stats are ALWAYS lower than when I’m running, even for efforts that seem like they should be equal in difficulty.

My numbers weren’t great, but I guess it’s a place to start. I’ll try to remember to do this test again (and the 20-minute test when I get brave enough).

It’s hard for me to look at my running numbers and see them so low, but I made a commitment to cross-train, and if this is what it means, then I’m going to keep going with it. It’s not like I’m dreading every time I hop on the bike, either. I’m starting to remember that at one time in my life, I really enjoyed this.

Now to get outside when the weather is cooperating.