End Run?

Since doubling up on my workout on Wednesday went so well, when I woke up this morning I decided I could do the same thing. Heck, since my class even starts 30 mins later than my Wed. class, I could get the running in first and be totally ready to go.

I had planned to get there 30 mins before my class, but I barely managed to squeak up to the treadmill section with 20 mins to spare. This left me with a dilemma since I really need 25 mins to get my warm up and 20 mins of running in. "What the heck," I thought to myself, "I speed walked in from the car, who needs a full 5 min warm up? I can totally do with just 2 mins." So I walked for a brief couple of minutes before starting my first running interval. And it suddenly became clear to me that I really did need a warm up, because the first two intervals were MUCH harder than the last two days have been.

Around the 10 minute mark, I had to step off the treadmill during one of my walking intervals to stretch my ankles, shins and calves. Everything felt tight and not really in the groove like it had been on Wednesday. I also noticed my music in a way that I had not in the past. My second to last interval was SO hard because the music was just set on a pace that was way too slow and my body kept trying to slow down. But then the last interval hit just as the song changed to something that had the perfect BPM and was by far the easiest interval of them all. I was finally warmed up, the music was right and I was hitting my stride.....but it was time for my High Intensity Interval Training class.

I started the class feeling good, I had kicked that last running interval's butt and was ready to take names. But it didn't take long before my rear was in trouble. Apparently it is one thing to deal with running and a dance cardio class in the same day, it is a different ball of wax to run and do a class that involves weights coupled with a lot of squats and lunges. As my legs SCREAMED at me to stop, I pushed through skipping a few repeater lunges along the way. As we finished the leg portion of the class and moved on to arms, pure cardio and ab work I was fine, but that first 20-30 mins of heavy squatting and lunging had me feeling like I was moving my legs through mud.

For the rest of the day, my legs and lower back protested any sort of strain. When I took Agnes and Calvin for a short walk down the block to "explore" the "forest" next to the creek that runs through the golf course near our home (really just a swampy little tree grove in a gully), I felt like a little old lady hobbling down the block. I have no doubt that tomorrow will be a MUCH different story than yesterday was, and I will pay for the impertinence of doubling up on my work out.

I will continue on my path to training. I have no doubt that the weeks will get much harder and doubling up will no longer be an option, so I will have to pay more attention to making sure I stick to my schedule or risk losing out on my more "fun" aerobics classes. I will try to let you all know how my race goes. I am pretty sure my time will be only slightly better than other people can walk the course in, but having finished and run the whole way is my only goal at this point. But for now I have to go back to stretching in an attempt to forestall any tightness tomorrow.