Where My Fitness (Or Lack Thereof) Is

So the other B challenged me a while back to do a 2 mile time trial in order to start doing some "speed work" in hopes of recovering some of what I've lost in the last few years. I've been putting it off for a long time. Mainly because of the running hiatus, general fatigue, soreness, racing, blah blah blah, I have an excuse for everything.

I wanted to find a nice track to do my run on. Apparently all the tracks near me are crap. First, A and I headed to the high school. We quickly nixed that location since there seemed to be some sort of Little League football practice happening. Drove down the street to the middle school and it was deserted.

I *KNOW* I am slower. However, I had it in my head that I could get this run done. I texted Heather my goals:

1. Don't die
2. Don't puke
3. Finish under 21-22 minutes (What)

So. Even though it was a balmy 88 degrees, there was a slight breeze and it was sort of overcast. So... I am horrified even typing this. The first 3 loops or so went ok, I wasn't looking at my watch so I wasn't sure of effort. Everything felt ok. Then the leg fatigue and cramping started. For the next 2-3 loops I took walk breaks. I WALKED IN A TIME TRIAL. WTF, ME?? Somewhere around the 6th loop I started jogging/running and I managed at least the last half mile or so without any additional walking. I'm shocked and sad at how awful an actual attempt at speed work actually went. 2 miles done in 21:58. I crashed and burned, the first mile (even with walking) was 10:37 and the second was about 11:21. That is an average of an 11 minute mile. AS SPEED WORK. How on earth did I ever run sub 2 half marathons??

So. THAT was discouraging. A leaves this weekend for her visit with her Dad in Texas, so I promised her one last bike ride before she leaves. I may only cycle once a week (our average ride is about 2 miles), but I just LOVE my "Ride Colorful Colorado" Pearl Izumi bike jersey.

I (idiotically) decided to round out my workout for the day by doing yet another one of those Fitness Blender videos that Kim is trying to kill us with. (Why? Why do you hate us??) I barely made it through both rounds. This 39 minute barre workout is NO JOKE.

And then, I could barely get out of bed this morning. HOW HAVE I NEVER EXERCISED SO MANY MUSCLE GROUPS EVER???

Once I get past the nearly dying part of doing these videos I'm pretty happy that I have tried them. OBVIOUSLY I need some strength training. Anyone else tried this one? Was it hard? Am I just the weakest person on Earth?

Thoughts:

• I really have my work cut out for me if I am going to work on this whole "speed" thing. I'm not going to lie. I am super discouraged already. But I guess there's pretty much nowhere to go but up?
• I am going to try to find a new route for A and I to ride by the time she gets back. There has to be a safe way to get to the bike path a few miles down the road.
• I am going to try to do at least a few of these (horrible and rotten) Fitness Blender videos every week. If nothing else, it gives me some variety to my workouts.

Last Few Days

Wow.

Chronological order:

• Friday after work I took A to a birthday party. It took over a half an hour to get there (between how far away it was and Friday rush hour). A had a lot of fun and I lived up to my promise of not eating crap and snacked on a vegetable platter (mostly peppers).
• I also selected the winner of my most recent flash giveaway - the winner is Heather!! (let me know what you want):

• Saturday I got up early and did my long run. A SOLO LONG RUN OUTSIDE. I did 10 miles out and back. Did I mention I was alone?? It was pretty chilly in the morning, low 30's. I kept my jacket on the first 11 miles and still kept my gloves on until I was about 15 miles in. By the time I was done it was the low to mid 50's and felt much warmer. SLOW, but OH so pleased I got this done. 

• After my run we picked up my mom and went to the Butterfly Pavilion with the kids.

• Then we tried to drop my mom off at home, only to discover that their neighbor (a Denver Deputy) was dead (still not sure if it was murder or suicide or what). Their entire block was closed for over 4 hours and my car was trapped in their driveway until 8:00 at night.

• Sunday, I took both kids to yoga at Lululemon, then we went to brunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Yum.
• That afternoon I had a deep tissue massage. IT HURT SO BAD. The worst areas were my upper back/neck and my right thigh. Two days later and it feels like someone repeatedly beat me with a bat. Ouchie.
• NINE years ago yesterday (April 15, 2004), I joined the gym for the first time. Then, my goal was to lose weight. I had NO idea my life would turn out like this.
• It snowed an INSANE amount here yesterday. Isn't it spring?

 
And my inevitable comments about what happened at the Boston marathon. While I've never dreamed of running, I knew SO many people that WERE running. It is never easy watching something like that pan out. I had been off social media most of the morning and checked in to see how everyone was doing. I was horrified by the posts about bombing and spent the rest of the afternoon getting as much information as possible.

Basically, I don't understand. I don't understand what happens to anyone that would make them want to do that. I am so very sad for everyone that was affected. I'm sad for those that were injured or killed. I'm sad for everyone that trained so hard to run the race and for it to have been ruined. I'm sad for everyone that spent their morning cheering and supporting friends, family and strangers during the marathon. And I'm angry.

However, I just LOVE the running community, and it is awesome to see how everyone is coming together, offering whatever help/support they can.

Today, I'm wearing blue (and will be wearing my 2010 Boston half marathon shirt when I'm off work). Instead of signing up for another race to show my support, I have signed myself and A up to volunteer again. We will be helping out at the ultra marathon "Run for Aurora" - a race where 100% of proceeds of this event go to the Colorado Office for Victims Assistance to benefit the victims of the Aurora Theater Shooting. Now is a perfect time to give back - volunteer if you can. You won't regret it.