Oh treadmill, how I love you

Well, I usually don't love the treadmill, but I have to this time of the year.  I forgot that last winter when I was a newbie, I ran the treadmill all the time.  In fact, I was scared to hit the pavement for a real run.  That is, until I had a 5k to run and thought that I better get used to running outside.  That was a big wake-up call because running outside was so much harder than the treadmill.  Fast-forward a year and I have run about five 5k's, an 8k, two 10k's, and a 15 mile race.

I decided that I would stop using the "it's too dark and cold outside" excuse and just go to the gym to run on the dreaded treadmill.  If I do go to the gym to run the treadmill, it's either early in the afternoon on my day off from work, or late in the evening around 8:30 after the evening rush of people has left.  Tonight, I decided to go to the South Charleston Rec Center.  I'm not a member of the rec, so it's $4 a visit, but I think it's very worth the money considering their treadmills have televisions on them, and they stay open till 10:00 at night.  My lame gym down the street has 3 treadmills and only stays open till 9.

I tuned into the Carrie Underwood special and started my run.  I needed to get a speed workout in, since the 5k is this coming Sunday and I haven't been running very much.  I did a 1 mile warmup @ 11:30, 4 x 1/4 mi @ 9:13 with 1/4 mile recoveries, and a 1 mile cooldown.  Actually, I did the first speed interval at an 8:48 pace, but that about killed me, so I droped it down a little, lol.  9:13 felt pretty comfortable, though, and by the end I was pooped.  It was probably my best and most productive run in a month.  It was a great workout.  I'll probably take tomorrow off from running, but if I feel skippy I may do the Wii Active or something at home after work.

Workout stats
Distance: 4 miles
Ave pace: 11:09
Ave HR: forgot the HR monitor on purpose, lol, it's been elevated since I've been a couch potato)

A little update

I know I have been MIA for the past two months.  I have definitely been taking a long break from serious running and working out all together.  After the Distance Run, I kind of went into my "fat phase", if you will, lol.  This is the phase where you really don't care about working out or eating poorly, you are happy and content just being and enjoying life.  That is, until you suck it up and get on the scale, lol.  I realized that during my training for the race, I simultaneously trained myself to eat whatever I wanted (example- eating wings, Chinese buffet, etc with the guys all the time) because I was burning it off running.  Exit running and combine that with still eating what you want and you end up with a couple extra inches on your waist and about 5 more pounds.  But, I have been happy, lol.  Except that I have a 5k to run on December 13th, the first in a 3-race winter series.  I have been out here and there running small distances, barely reaching 10 miles per week (ouch!).  I definitely have the cold winter weather blues, combined with the fact that it gets dark at 5:30 now.  I used to get off work at 6:00 and could run outside till 8:30.  Now, all I want to do is go home and get under the blanket with my kitties. 
New Years Resolution time is just around the corner, and I will revamp my eating and working out schedule accordingly, lol.  I definitely need a better plan for the cold winter blues time of the year.  For all you guys who have supported me through my tough training times, I'm sorry I haven't been around.  I will be back, I promise!  My 5k is next Sunday, so I will update you on that.  I'm proud of you guys, training and running your half and full marathons while I'm sitting on the couch!  Keep it up and run a few extra miles for me!