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| From sparkly to sludgy |
The snow began falling last night when I left the office and it had coated the streets and lawns of my neighborhood by the time I got home. The reflections from the streetlamp revealed ice in the mix, prompting my daughter to compare it to glitter poured all over the road. By morning, that beautiful scene had changed to a dangerous combination of dirt and ice and my only choice would be an indoor workout.
The freezing cold has made outdoor running hard over the past week and I've grown tired of the treadmill. I wished we'd already received our new elliptical because it would have been the perfect workout for this cold morning. With no other options, I headed to the treadmill with some new ideas about the run.
Since it was the weekend, I had more time for my workout. I decided to focus the first half of my run on elevation and the second half on speed. I started with 1% elevation and increased that every few minutes until I hit 4%. I maintained the same speed throughout these elevation increases and watched my heart rate climb toward zone 4. At the 15 minute mark I began stepping down the elevation. At 25 minutes I was down to 1% and soon leveled off while blipping up my speed.
It was tough to get through the first 25 minutes with both the elevation and the indoor heat. I began to feel a second wave of energy around the 30 minute mark and wondered if it was induced by ketosis. I took full advantage and increased my speed periodically until my heart rate reached my target. I maintained that pace through the remainder of the run.
It was a really tough workout, far more challenging than my usual treadmill session. I was pleased with today's effort and glad that the speed and elevation workout had distracted me from the tedium of the treadmill. Tomorrow I hope to be back on the road or trail. I'd like to cover enough miles to reach my weekly goal.
Even with this freezing weather, my friend KWL is planning to run his first half marathon tomorrow morning in Central Park. I'm wishing him the best, and I know that he'll do well. I'll be thinking of him and my friend FS (who will do this Half or a different run) while we all go out in the 18 degree temperatures. Why do we do it? That's probably a good subject for a future post.
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Braver man than I. Hit the treadmill yet again. Hopefully I can make it out next weekend. I came up a mile short of my weekly goaloil 20, but I consider that a success in this weather, especially since I got two cross-training workouts in (spin). Quick question if you don't mind: when you talk about running at bethpage, are you referring to the bike path? And if yes, do you have to stay aware of the cyclists? I run with headphones on. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteI was referring to the Bethpage bike path. I differentiate that trail from the dirt trails by calling them Bethpage's wooded trails. Both are great running spots.
DeleteMost cyclists on the bike trail are careful and courteous to runners. There have been a few times when I've had a cyclist fly past with no warning from behind, but it's rare. I've also had to yell, "Share the road!" more than once to those riding side by side in my direction. My elbow "accidentally" caught a rider who nearly forced me off the trail. I think he learned a lesson about courtesy that morning.
I don't run with headphones at Bethpage because I like to get the full experience of my surroundings. I never use them on the road either, but that's for safety.
Odd. But the above was intended to comment on Sundays post; not Saturday's.
ReplyDeleteBlogger sometimes does some wacky things!
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