Running against the clock

Home with time to spare

Today's run (street): 3.7 miles

Fall is a busy season, especially on weekends. All summer I could usually count on having enough time on Saturday mornings to get out for a five or six mile run without having to start at the crack of dawn. Lately, that's not been the case, and I did the best I could with the short time I had to run this morning.

I usually run against a distance target, but today I needed to get my run done by a certain time and live with the mileage. Instead of setting the display on my Garmin to show elapsed time, distance and mileage, I kept it on the clock. I knew that no matter where I was in the run, I needed to be back before 7:15. I was fine with this because it was nice not having my average pace flashing at me every time I looked at my watch.

I was cruising through the neighborhood, feeling liberated from the Garmin's judgement, when the watched chirped, indicating that I'd reached my first mile. I realized then that even though I didn't have the distance display up, the Garmin was keeping track. I looked at the time and saw what was left and felt pressure to accumulate some mileage before I had to be home.

I can't say that I significantly increased my speed once the Garmin announced my progress, but I did gain about ten seconds on each mile that followed. I managed to get home a minute sooner than my deadline. If I was late, Mrs. ER would not have been pleased.

Tomorrow I'll try and take advantage of having more time and get out for at least 5 miles. Fall may be busy and disruptive to my running schedule, but the weather is far more running friendly.

When the little hand is on the 2, go back to bed

Today's workout (elliptical): 25 minutes

This morning started an hour earlier than planned because I woke up and misread the clock. It took me a minute to realize the error but I caught myself before heading downstairs for coffee. I'd felt exhausted by the thought of going out for a run but as soon as I realized the clock said 2:50, and not 3:50, I felt wide awake. So awake, in fact, that I barely fell back to sleep. After an hour's tossing and turning, I needed to face my workout for real.

Given my tired state, I decided to stay indoors so I wouldn't need to deal with all my running, reflective and illumination gear. I looked back and forth between the treadmill and the elliptical and chose the latter because it's a quieter piece of machinery and quiet was preferable. I was significantly more alert by the end of the session and I'd worked up quite a sweat in the process. I'm hoping that this energy boost will carry me through the day.