lovely ass whoopin’ by trainer ben last night. one of the best, in fact. my arms, back, abs and legs feel like they were all tortured by egg beaters. it was exactly the kick in the pants i needed to restart my routing after a few weeks of total and complete randomness.
i spend 5 days in chicago a few weekends ago and squeezed in a few runs (6.8 miles and 3.9 miles) as well as some crossfitty type shenanigans (roosk, don’t judge) in my back yard and around the neighborhood on another day. trav and i took several long walks too. it wasn’t the most intense five days, but i’m glad i kept active. then i was back home for a few days and got into the gym once or twice doing mostly cardio with a little strength training in there. then this past weekend i was in nyc and finally got to get a run in central park under my belt. and let me tell you how awesome that was! i went with harmony and left the garmin at home. we just ran and chatted and stopped to admire the park a few times along the way. i need to do that more often, leave the watch at home and stop to take it all in. there is a time and place to get your run on for serious and a time to take it all in and really enjoy the time, place and company. not training for a running race helps make that easier.
i’m getting back into my spin schedule, which is feeling amazing. the main difference this time around is i’m packing in some extra cardio and strength training around each session. this usually means a mile or so on the treadmill to warm up and weights/mat time afterwards. i’m getting stronger and it doesn’t totally wipe me out like it used to so i try to wipe myself out a bit:)
i’m going to run the cap hill classic in may. missed it last year, but wanted to put a motivator back in place to train on foot again instead of getting 100% focused on the bike and pool. i won’t have a problem actually finishing, but i really want to do it faster than the last time. we’re not talking sprinting here, but i’m going to put some speed work back in the routine so i can get stronger again. i think my running break has been nice, but i’m ready to focus again. to aim for a specific goal again. i love the bike and i enjoy the pool, but i’m learning that i LOVE the road. and ohmygosh i can’t stop thinking about trail running season in the fall!
okay, that’s a good recap. i’ll obsess about my newest intrigue, barefoot running, a bit later.
