All Tracks are NOT 1/4 mile!

Well, I'm in Minnesota for work again.  One of the reasons Steve and I decided to start running for fitness was because of the travel we are doing and it's not easy to continue cycling.  October in Minnesota is a lot colder than October in California for sure.   The days are in the 40's and last night as I drove late into my hotel, there were snow flurries.   From my last trip two weeks again trying to run early in the morning I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up with my exercise plan because it was soooo cold.  I had resigned myself to having to run on the treadmill in the hotel fitness room. 

My 1/2 marathon training book said that treadmills aren't really that accurate and one of the things I love about exercising is that I can be outside.   Plus the fitness room is so small and when someone else is in there I'm a little bit self conscious.  So I did a little research and found out that Minnesotans not only have remote starters for their cars because of the cold, but they have indoor running/walking tracks.   I found one very close to my hotel that opens at 5:45 a.m. and closes at 9:45 p.m.  No excuse to not be able to continue training.   The single visit fee is $2.00 and you can get a 5 day pass for $5.00.  Although it is indoors it's a very large area and you kind of feel like you are outside.

Well assuming that the track was 1/4 mile I did what I thought was a 3 mile run/walk.   When I was beginning my post run stretch, I saw a sign that said, "11 laps = 1 mile."  What?  The track looked as long as the one on the Alaskan cruise ships which 6 laps= 1 mile - course maybe my memory is failing me.   So I went back out and did another 12 laps.   I was wondering why I wasn't as sweaty, just assuming it was because I was in an air conditioned or climate controlled environment.

The weird observations coming from a California fitness person, was there was a coat rack to drop your jacket off when I came in.  Then after my second set of 12 laps, I was a little more sweaty, it was hard to think about putting a jacket back on to go outside.  It was very windy and cold though, so I'm glad I did.

When running outside I use my Garmin 405 which keeps track of interval running and distance.  I thought the indoor track would be easier, but it was amazing how easy it was to lose count of tracks.  Everyone else seemed to have headphones and ipods.  Maybe they know with their play lists how much walking/running to do.  One older man was walking with a heavy pack on his back.  I wanted to stop and ask him what kind of large hike or summit climb he was training for.

Tomorrow is a strength and stretch day.  Let's see if I can get up early Friday morning to try the track again.

Running can be fun when you are with your honey

Like training for the Amtrak, I'm enjoying this season of fitness because my husband, Steve is running with me.   Although we are still arguing (ok discussing) our training plan we have joined a running class with Snail's Pace academy.  http://www.runasnailspace.com/training/ We meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6 pm by the HB pier and Saturday mornings at 7 a.m.   The coach is great and there seems like we will get a lot of information.  This class is meant to train people for a 5 K in 12 weeks, yet we need to be ready for our 1/2 marathon in February.  

I was encouraged that the coach and the 1/2 marathon training book I'm reading says you shouldn't plan to run every day.  Your body needs a day off in between to prevent injuries and for proper recovery.  We do need to do either cross training or strength and stretch on the opposite days.   Also the new way for increasing endurance is to put walk rests at intervals in your run.   It provides recovery during the run.

On Saturday, since Steve and I were camping with the Travel Bee's at Newport Dunes, we did our own run before breakfast.  We got a total of 5 miles in and started with 2/2 intervals (2 minute walk/2  minute run) after our walking warm-up and at the end of the 5 miles we were able to do 2/4 intervals (2 minute walk and 4 minute run).  It was the first time Steve's calves didn't hurt after running.  We definitely felt like we had a workout, but it was doable.

Steve's jog is a bit faster than mine because he has longer stride (and longer legs) but I just ran the interval a little bit longer in order to catch up to him during the walking portions so we could talk.  Even though we are training together, I don't think we will be running the 1/2 marathon together because we will each need to go at our own pace.

My new book says your first 1/2 marathon should have a time goal.  The goal should simply be to finish upright, with a smile on your face, and wanting to do it again!  

Here we go, week 3 of training, here we come.

...but I'm not a runner

Jessy said, "Mom, let's do the Surf City 1/2 Marathon in February. http://www.runsurfcity.com/Half-Marathon-s/23.htm They have cool surfboard medals!" 

Hmmm Steve and I recently completed another Amtrak and although I've been working a lot of hours and traveling again, I've not been doing every day boot camps.  One thing, at least when I travel, even though I can't bring/ride my bike, I can run.

Steve and Jessy devised a training plan.  On Saturday we did 3 miles of 2 minute intervals.  Sunday we took a day of rest and Monday we ran 1 mile straight.   Sunday night Paul encouraged us to sign up before they ran out of space.  I didn't understand why we needed an estimated completion time and I just picked a time out of the hat.  Now I realized that is the pace group they will put us in.   I think I can do it in a lot less time that I estimated. 

Now on to the training.