9/28 – Speed Work at the Track

First, let me say that It has been almost a whole year since I’ve actually gone to a track to do speed work.  My training schedule said I had 6 miles to do Wednesday… but I had homework to do and kept pushing it off and pushing it off until I didn’t feel like running… ever done that?! It’s not a good thing!

But then I remembered I had new shoes that needed to be initiated (more so than a mere 2 mile treadmill run).  I’m not gonna lie, the run in I had with the dog on my long run had me leery of running on the road, so I decided I would go to the track for a change in scenery, but I had to go “now” because silly fall brings shorter days… I don't like it when it gets dark so early lol…

I wrote down my plan and took off:

I did pretty good at hitting my goal paces for the workout:

I really enjoyed it… it was refreshing to do something different, not to mention the weather was perfect… slightly breezy, cool but not cold, peaceful (I was the only one on the track at 6:30 at night lol… I think I enjoyed running at dusk; that was different too. My feet enjoyed running in my new shoes as well ;) Sometimes you just need to switch things up… Do you ever switch things up when you run?

 

I ended up finishing before it got too dark and took a few minutes to stretch and enjoy the peaceful evening before heading home to shower and finish my homework.

It was a fabulous run… I have no clue why it’s been so long since I went to the track… I see more track speed sessions in my near-training future. ;)

Do you do speed work at a track? If so, do you enjoy it?
If not, do you just run your intervals on the road?

An Evening Spent in the ER

Well, I have been MIA this week because I have not been feeling well at all!  Monday evening after I got off work, I decided to head to the track to get in my speed workout.  I was supposed to do 1mi warmup, 4x1600 @8:35 pace with 800 recoveries between, and 1 mile cooldown = 8mi… well, I did the warmup and I got the first 1600 with 800 recovery done.  After that, I just couldn’t do it… Maybe it had to do with being on my feet at work all day or that it was kind of hot but I finished with an 800, 400, 200, 100 working on speed… I really dont know how speedy I was, but probably not very lol.  I started not feeling good but said “Zaneta, you can do a 1 mile cooldown… seriously!”  so I slowy did my last mile and cut my workout short by only doing about 4.5 miles.  I went home feeling yucky… headache, slight cough, feeling nauseous, and kind of like I couldn’t catch my breath. Soo…

Tuesday, I decided to take a rest day and I stayed in bed until I got a text from my boyfriend that said “someone’s here to see you!” He had had class that morning and had the rest of the day off so he came over to chill with me all day… we played games like mancala and guess who and read the latest runners world, then we made french toast for dinner…  I was still feeling a little weak and tired and still like I was short of breath, but felt like it was getting better.  I really enjoyed the day despite being sick.  Then…

Wednesday, I woke up feeling OK, so I got out of bed and met my running partner at my door at 8:30… our plan was to run 9.5 – 10 miles but we only got in 8.25.  We had to stop a couple times due to me feeling a little nauseous and I couldn’t catch my breath… we walked a couple times and cut it short because I just couldn’t do it!  I went to work for 2 hours at my sitting down job then came home and rested the rest of the evening.

Thursday (yesterday), I went to my “Stand on your feet all day” job and actually ended up leaving early because I just couldn’t catch my breath and my chest was hurting on the left side a little bit so I came home and my dad took me to the ER.  My boyfriend met us there and they got me into a room right away which is weird for the ER…  They had me standing and sitting for some of the time and my hands and feet were tingly and my lips started tingling… so as soon as they let me lie down, I started feeling a little better but still was short of breath.  They did blood work, gave me some anxiety medicine thru an IV, did an EKG, and took some chest xrays all of which came back ok.  Also, I had no clue I was anxious about anything?! lol… anyways… They ended up telling me no training until I could follow up with a specialist… which Im doing today!  I was really surprised he could get me in today at such a short notice!  I’ll let you guys know how it goes!  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers!

Random Thursday - My Thoughts Are a Bit Jumbled

1. I ended up meeting up with M on Saturday to run... she just started getting into running... I got there at 9am. I had a sad face cuz she wasn't there yet... she didn't show up til 9:30 and we headed out and she ended up wanting to do more walking than anything but it was still fun none-the-less... we got to catch up on life since I haven't seen her in ooo... 6 years lol. We ended up running less than 1 mile and walking about 7 lol.

2. I'm drinking 7up right now... does that make me a bad person since I normally only drink water or gatorade?

3. My youngest sister is going off to college for the first time tomorrow... I made her a fleece blanket to take with her... it'll be like a big hug waiting for her whenever she needs it :)

4. Said youngest sister had a going away party with a few friends a few nights ago and someone wore these!! First time i've seen them in person, they are pretty sweet... im now intrigued haha... I restrained myself from trying them on for a few obvious reasons lol ;) (mainly cuz I didn't know the person and because they look pretty used tehe)

5. My boyfriend agreed to do a track workout with me so we headed to the track yesterday after we took care of some college things (which took longer than they needed to) my plan was to do 7 miles of a speedworkout but it was so stinkin hot... i ran in my sports bra which is major since i have some body image issues... especially in front of my boyfriend lol... I just couldn't take it anymore and neither could he so we only ended up doing about 4.5 miles

6. Challenge update: I've done lunges twice and hardcore stuff once... I'm planning on doing hardcore stuff tonight and then lunges and hardcore after my recovery run on saturday

7. I have a long run planned for tomorrow... my training plan says 8... but i kind of want to do 9... i ran 8 two weeks ago... should i go with 8 or 9? I may have to make saturday my long run day this weekend because i may have to drive some of youngest sisters things to her school for her.

8. I have exactly one week tomorrow to finish up my big paper so I can graduate... so far I have 2 pages lol...

9. Im starting to get excited for my half marathon!! :D Only 36 days left!! I'm starting to think about what i'll need to take for my mini vacation but especially for my race and what songs I want on my playlist.... any suggestions?

10. I keep getting emails saying "you won a $500 walmart giftcard" "pick up your $1000 walmart giftcard today" and while i want them to be real... they just aren't!

11. I won 2 blog giveaways!! I won sigvaris compression recovery socks from Erica at I Run Because... I Can and a Salonpas water bottle, pain relief patches, pedometer, and towel from Beth at Shut up & Run! :D

12. I was looking to get another part-time job (probably minimum wage paying) when I realized that I will officially have a BACHELORS degree in a week... so i decided to do something a bit more ambitious... I'm thinking about substitute teaching... maybe :)

13. Also, I am getting tired of getting almost bit, snarled at, chased after, and scared enough to pee down my leg by the dogs at the end of my road... I started carrying a long stick to beat them with if they dare try to bite me again... maybe I should call someone about them? They are allowed to just run around outside (all 4 of them) while their owner isn't home... and I feel very much threatened by them everytime I put my running shoes on... stupid dogs!

Well, I'm going to bed... tomorrow could be a very long day for me... we shall see! By the way... does anyone else really really really look forward to their long run days? (I do)