Notes
I've decided to start making notes again on my workouts as I previously did on MapMyRun. It's nice to have information that doesn't come through in the raw numbers when reviewing my log. So I'm going to start recording things like how I felt, how I liked the route, future plans, and random thoughts I had during the workout.
I'd like to start with a short summary of these past six weeks since resuming a regular running regimen. I received a Garmin Forerunner 110 for Christmas from my parents. The watch was far more expensive than I realized and somewhat regretted even asking my parents for such a pricey item. That said, I didn't want to return it so I thought the best course of action would be to use it as much as possible.
I feel like the watch has liberated me from running the same old routes that I manually mapped out on the old site. I can now run wherever I please, taking turns on a whim or to avoid traffic, and still have accurate distance information. As a result, I've run a much larger variety of routes and explored paths and roads I would have never thought to use previously. It's also fascinating to see my heart get steadily more efficient as both my average and maximum heart rates seem to drop with each passing run.
In addition, I joined the YMCA at the beginning of the year after Ryan and Allen got me hooked by letting me use their guest passes in December. I've mostly only using their pool so far. Swimming has been great cross-training on days I'm not running. It lets my legs heal from the frequent pavement pounding, yet I feel like I've accomplished so much by the time I get out of the pool. I really like how it works my upper body and I've improved dramatically in the short time I've been at it.
It's been a fairly brutal winter thus far, with snow on the ground more days and not. By now I'm getting pretty accustomed to running in the cold and snow and even take a sort of perverse pleasure in battling the elements. I complained about it last winter, but by now I realize it beats running in the extreme heat. However, I hope to be in better condition this summer and find similar gratification in battling the heat.
Right now my training plan is to run for three weeks, lift for one week, and repeat. Each running week I increase my mileage by 10%. I also try to increase my swimming distance and duration, but I don't have any set goals. My lifting week is an "off week" of sorts with reduced mileage, but the first one was more intense than the running weeks. My plan is to do a week's worth of P90X resistance workouts with plyometrics and a couple moderate distance runs mixed in and a rest day at the end.
That's all for now. I'm feeling great, slimmed down a bit, and seem to have more workout energy with each passing day. I'm really optimistic about sticking with this for the long term and seeing continued results. I've also again signed for the Run The Bluegrass Half-Marathon April 3 and hope to get my time under 2 hours this year.