Jumping Off the Hamster Wheel

Spring is here and I'm moving off the hamster wheel (also known as treadmill) and out into the world - HOORAY!!!!

After a long winter inside staring at TVs and breathing recycled air I broke out of the gym and took my new running legs out for a test drive :)

After 6 weeks of working on getting comfortable with ratio workouts where I'm running at different speeds for different time periods, I decided yesterday was too beautiful a day to stay inside.

I'd been kind of skeptical on how well I'd be able to do trying to feel out a pace on the road without the feedback of the display on the treadmill telling me I was for sure going 5 MPH etc. Fortunately I ended up near a pond I used for training on my last 1/2 Ironman which I know is .33m around so I did the math for my workout and held my breath hoping I would just know how a 12min mile felt.

My workout today called for:

10min warm-up on the bike then 5 min @ 4MPH and 5 min @ 4.5MPH

After that I did 5 min @ 4MPH and then 6 min @ 5MPH three times followed by a 5 min cool down. I ended up running faster than the pace a few times which made me happy that I could do that although I did try to dial it back when I realized I was going to fast.

Today I'm taking my tri bike out for a ride from the office so we'll see how that goes what with traffic and all.