Runs for Cookies

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 06:00 PM PDT

After a (too) restful weekend, I woke up back to reality in that I had a 50-minute run to do today. Jerry was off work, so we laid in bed for a few minutes while I procrastinated running. I looked at the weather on my phone and it said it was only 68 degrees (this was 7:00 a.m.), so I decided to run outside instead of on the treadmill.

I was scheduled to do a 50 minute run with 8 pick-ups (30-sec sprints). I set my Garmin for intervals--5 minutes easy, then 30 seconds fast. I've only done this particular workout on the treadmill, so I was curious to see how my pace would compare--because I know that I run slower outside than I do on the treadmill.

It wasn't TOO hot (much cooler than Friday's run!) and the time was going by faster than it does on the treadmill, which is a bonus. It was actually pretty uneventful. I have to say, I love the 30-second sprints. It's so short that you can go all-out and not have to worry about holding anything back for later.

As expected my pace outside was slower than the treadmill. But my heart rate shows that I was working just as hard (actually even harder!) outside.

Today's splits

Now, this is about to get really nerdy, so skip ahead if you don't like nerdy math stuff.

Since I wanted to compare the treadmill vs. outdoor running, I set them up side by side:

The one on the left is today's outdoor run, on the right is the treadmill run from last week. Same amount of time. So I was slower by 40 seconds per mile, but it certainly didn't feel like it. I'm actually pretty happy with this. I think I might actually calibrate my Garmin foot pod to the treadmill, instead of how I had it calibrated with a track. Then I will see slower paces, but it will be more likely to match up with the outdoor runs.

Anyway, none of this really means anything! It's just fun for me to analyze ;)

After I ran, showered, and had breakfast (a Key Lime Pie Protein Shake--Yum! I will post the recipe on Thursday), Jerry and I (and the kids) went to the running store so that Jerry could get fitted for some shoes. I really didn't think he'd stick with running this long, but he's been doing it three times a week. Since the store was having a sale on ALL of their shoes today, it was the perfect time to go get some good ones.

I was kind of jealous! I wanted to get new shoes, too. But my Mizuno's only have about 100 miles on them, so I'm good for a while. Jerry tried on a bunch and ended up picking Asics GT-2170. I told him he should get some running shorts and a shirt, while we were at it. I told him that he should wear what the elite runners wear:

I think he decided that he didn't want to be an "elite" runner after all. ;)

Oh, and speaking of shoes, I decided to wear my Brooks Adrenaline's on my long run last Friday--just for the hell of it to see how they felt after wearing the Mizuno's for a while. I actually think I am liking the Mizuno's more now! The Adrenaline's felt kind of heavy and stiff, something I was so used to. I think I'll probably get the Mizuno's again when it's my turn to get new shoes.

Because I had such a ~~lazy~~ relaxing weekend, my house is pretty trashed right now. I better get cleaning.