Tempo Runs

It’s after 5 PM, which means my workday is technically over. Thankfully, while I have tons to be done during this month, I’m staying afloat for now, which is a change from the last quarter-end period, when I let things simmer on the backburner until they were due immediately all at once. Not good. This time around, I’m prepared and I’ve been busting my ass to get everything done. It doesn’t help that I’ve picked up several more responsibilities which are taxing my time. However, it makes the day fly by so I’m not complaining. Besides, it’ll all be (hopefully) worth it when my annual review comes around in three months. The more I do now, the more I can ask for when the question of a raise comes along.

Anyway, this week I have also made an effort to get back into a running/exercise routine. The Running Festival is but 8 days away now. I just got an e-mail telling me so to prove my widget countdown correct. I’m so excited, and I hope that I can really turn in a great PR. I’m also very excited about the Health and Fitness Expo taking place before the race. I am going to take about $75 and get some totally sweet technical shirts and shorts and socks and other stuff. It’ll be awesome because if there’s one thing I like more than an enjoyable hobby, it’s all the kit (that’s British for equipment) that comes along with it.

So, back on topic. I went to the gym on Tuesday night after taking a nice power nap once I got home. Of course, it being Tuesday, the gym was packed and all the treadmills taken. I turned right around and walked back to my building and ran my 4 miles in the workout room there, which is a nice backup place. Unfortunately, the treadmill there sucks. It’s noisy and when you run on it, it sounds like you’re banging a 2X4 against a thick plastic sheet. I had my headphones on, but I can imagine how annoying that was to the other girl working out. Unfortunately, I can’t fix that. So, the run was fine and I felt great afterwards.

Yesterday I tried running a tempo run at the gym. So far as I can tell, a tempo run is nothing more than a run at a “moderately uncomfortable” pace. The Smart Coach tool at Runner’s World’s website is very helpful in finding that pace for you, so I used that as a barometer to gauge how fast I wanted to run. Since this was my first attempt, I ran one mile at a 10:30 min/mile pace and then bumped it up to 9:30 min/mile for another 3 miles. I think I got it about 60% right. I ran faster for a farther distance than I ever have, and by the end I was getting tired. And I by about the second mile I was moderately uncomfortable, but not terribly so. When I stopped, I felt like if I had to, I could have kept going for a while. I’m not sure if that’s the goal with these runs or not. It felt good though and I felt great afterwards, which is always the sign of a helpful run.

And today my legs aren’t tired, but I have some mild soreness, another sign that I was working hard enough to merit some muscle building. So I will run another one next week and see what happens. I still need to figure out how and where to do speedwork around here. So far as I can tell, there isn’t a high school track around here and I’m not about to drive somewhere to do sprints. I’ll think of something.

So, tonight is an off night. I might go to the gym and do some cross training in the form of a spinning class. But maybe not. I have 30 minutes to get there so I may not be able to sign up. We’ll see.