Exercise Diary: Monday Night 3-miler

The only thing easy about tonight's run was getting to the gym.  And even that was kind of hard.

Dozed off right before going but still made it there before Castle started.  We had a major temperature drop from yesterday's warm and sunny weather, and the night walk was kind of brutal.

My favorite treadmill was again taken but who cares anymore.  My Nike+ is more or less calibrated for distance but the speed it measures was a total lie.  I totally did not run at a high speed during mile 1 and slow down afterwards.  But I guess that doesn't matter either.

I've decided to push my training plan back by a week so this will just be a catch-up week.  I got a 3/4/3 on my plan for this week but I doubt I will get to them.  Yoga tomorrow and a show on Thursday that I promised to go with a friend, and a weekend in Boston so the only other definite running day is Friday.  I don't know if I can actually do a 4-miler.

Running on the treadmill is SO boring, and I think if anything Castle made it worse.  The suspense moments mess with my heart rate and that is very distracting.  I think I do better with a harmless show that does not require too much of my attention or emotional investment but at the same time can distract my mind from the run.  I found myself staring at the treadmill monitor, looking at  distance already covered, time lapsed, and thinking about how much longer I would have to run, how much longer I would have to run till my Nike+ registers the proper distance, and that really drives me crazy.  There was a very appropriate blog post a few days ago about treadmill running tips, which I found somewhat helpful, but not entirely useful. It's mostly about running with a positive attitude and make the run more interesting by playing with the speed and what not, and that makes sense.  I tried to distract myself.  I tried to tell myself that when I do my 25K (in less than 3 months, yikes!), 3 miles will just be 1/5 of what I will have to do.  That sort of set me in a calmer mood for about 1 minute before I gave up trying to talk myself out of how boring it is.

I also felt more pressure on my feet with this run.  I don't know if it's the longer distance, the short rest before my last run and this one, my greasy dinner (I will never ever eat another greasy dinner before a run ever again). the fact that I tried to increase my speed during the run (by only ever so slightly), or the fact that I gained a few pounds during my hiatus (which I didn't really feel until after my run when I looked at myself in the mirror), but I think I was putting more pressure on myself than I wanted.  I guess the few days of rest before my next run won't be so bad.

I know it's not even March yet, but I am really over with this winter and can't wait till I can run outside.  The hills in my neighborhood may make the runs tougher, but I think I would gladly trade the scenery for the stuffy indoor runs, even with the TV thrown in.