Musings About the Gym (A.K.A. "The Random")

• It's not even January yet and already the gym is getting ridiculously crowded. ALL the treadmills were full when I got there. Luckily, by the time I put my stuff away and came back out, I got a free one. Unfortunately it was not my regular treadmill (yes, I have one that I manage to use 99% of the time).
• Super. Annoying. People. Are. At. The. Gym. (WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE HERE??)
• To my left - Chatty Cathy. She holds up her phone, which is on SPEAKER and spends 19 minutes (walking very slowly) screaming and cackling into the phone.
• To my right - Walking briskly at max incline while holding onto the treadmill for dear life while leaning backwards.
• What is WITH people wandering around naked in the locker room? I don't want to see it. At all. Please stop.
• The woman working in the Kid's Club told me I looked thinner. She said the same thing to me last year. I think I look the same. Compliment?
• I got BRAND NEW Newton's with an insanely good Black Friday sale. I'm fairly certain I bought my last pair last summer... and ran on/off (plus cross trained) with them for... about 18 months. The lugs on these puppies? INSANE. Did my other pair really feel that way?? These had a neon orange lining on the inside. Obnoxious. Love it.

•  Speedwork. Yasso 800's. First half, not bad. Second half... still not so bad, but was in a "light-headed zone." Almost a "squirrel zone."

• Free time and no racing=Race planning. I think I have a few more races to add to my schedule...
• Not really a gym musing, but sorta training related... I had my surgical consult today, and after TWO HOURS of sitting around, I had about a 2 minute evaluation that determined I do, in fact, need to have the lump in my breast removed. The surgery is no big deal, but "high impact" exercise is "discouraged" for 5 days. I asked if I could get around with 3-4 days off running, they seemed to think that would be ok. Crossing my fingers I get in for the first Friday in January and then I *think* I'll still be able to get all my ultra training runs in. (They were booked all December for surgeries).
• TOTALLY not running/gym related. J's birthday is 3 days before Christmas. I have planned/purchased nothing. I am the worst girlfriend ever.

Fast and the Furious

Yasso Treadmill - Wednesday, September 1

I wasn't especially tired, but for some reason my legs were pretty sore. And not in the normal places like calves or quads. Inner thighs. Wonder if that has anything to do with the random weights I had to use in class yesterday.

Not much to say, other than the more sets I do, the more I hate speed work. Le sigh.

• 10 minutes @ 5.8 mph
• SIX sets of 4 min @ 7.5 mph & 4 min @ 3.0 mph (added one set since last week)
• 7 minutes @ 6.2 mph

Followed by "easy" 10 minute run (anything seems slow after THAT workout).

In other running news... Finally got around to tweeking my race mix! Here is the latest:

Need For Speed

Treadmill - Friday, August 27

Due to my long run happening on Wednesday morning, I didn't get in my Yasso tempo training... so I switched it to today.

Increase from last week:

• 10 min @ 5.8 mph
• 5 sets - 4 min @ 7.5 mph, 4 min @ 3.0 mph (yes, added a set since last week)
• 10 min @ 6.2 mph
• 5 min @ 6.3 mph

Only thing to say about this workout is that I like Bart just a *little* less than last week. It's not so much the speed that is the hard part. It is watching myself in the mirror makes me dizzy and I swear I'm going to fly off the treadmill. Not looking forward to adding the sixth set next week. But I desperately want to improve... so there you have it.

I am in love with my heart compression socks from runningskirts.com (and the skirt too).

TGIF!