A Quick Lunch Run With "The Guys"

No offense to the girls that I run with at work. But, I've been feeling kinda left out among the running guys at work. Well... one thing is that most everyone is faster than me. I don't consider myself to be slow. But, even my running buddy (Justin) has made big strides in getting faster. Part of me is like... awesome, great job. The other part is... man, I better get faster.

All that said, I got the chance to run with Marcus and Justin today. They actually weren't running that fast (for them) at 8:35 pace. But, it was still encouraging to not get dragged along by them. In fact, 8:35 didn't feel that bad over 3 miles for me either. However, if we had tried to do their tempo 7:00 pace, I would have absolutely died.

Eh... I'm sure I'll get faster. But, it's not exactly like I'm putting all my ducks in running right now. With having just started triathlon training, there's definitely enough mental energy going into that. So, the speed work will probably have to wait a bit. But, I really think all this cross-training is gonna add fitness without the wear and tear (ok, I stole that thought from Marcus, but I was already thinking it). So, maybe I'll gain with the weight loss and cross-training. Here's to hoping...

Smarter not harder?

I've been really thinking a lot about injury and how to avoid it lately.. It dawned upon me that there are a lot of plans that don't stress the number of runs in the week and incorporate all kinds of cross-training. If I've learned one thing since I've had the injury bug lately, it's that I can handle a little cross-training. I'd rather be running, no doubt. But, I'd also rather be running and not on the sidelines.

So, my goal is to really pay attention to how I'm feeling and not overdoing it. Any plan that I adopt will need to have at least one day of cross training. And, this time, I'm gonna do it (the Higdon plan I was on for the marathon had one, I just didn't do it). I'm still sticking to the three runs a week of no more than three miles until I'm totally healthy. But, I plan to get on a half marathon plan as soon as I feel right (yes Nate, I'm signing up for Lehigh Valley). In fact, I will probably adopt the plan that Nate is doing so that we can do some of our long runs together.

As for today, I got my first run in of the week... I went to the Y on the treadmill to save the feet.

Run recap- 3 miles, 30:00, 10:00 pace

*** Edit- I'm signed up for Lehigh Valley