Challenged

On dailymile I was challenged to do an increasing workout. Since Fridays are a short day in my office during the summer, I decided today would be a good day to do it. I rode my bike in but before riding it home (2 bikes) I decided I would run 5 miles (1 run) and do some strength & core training (3 sets of pushups, 4 sets of lunges, 5 sets of ab work). I did everything I set out to do with the exception of actually completing the 5 miles.

On my way in this morning I made a wrong turn (surprise, surprise) and had to carry my bike down the steps near Waterloo Bridge. Something funky was going on with my left knee, and every time I'd go to step down with my right foot and have to bend the left leg, there would be a shooting pain and I'd have to clutch at the handrail to keep from falling down the steps and throwing myself and my bike into the A road at the bottom.

It feels fine walking around, but after 1 mile running today I couldn't do any more for pain and fear of falling into the Thames where the beautiful but mean swans would peck me to death. I walked for a half mile thinking I might be able to walk it off but no dice, so I walked the mile and a half back to my office to get my bike so I can complete the rest of the challenge.

The Jetlag 10k

I live an exciting life, let me tell you. My jetlag and I got off a plane at 6:30 this morning, slept until 2, did a little work (and catching up on blogs...429 posts left!), then spent Friday evening running 10k. [And Week 1, Day 2 of 100 Pushups - maxed at 4 + down but no up]

Life is finally settling down again. No photos from the holiday yet but it was amazing. The baby is so cute, and seriously the happiest baby I've ever met. My time in New York was as expected - I got to hang out with a few friends but mostly work stuff.

I do miss NYC though. My morning run there was awesome, despite the heat and humidity even at 6:30 am. I miss seeing loads of runners in the morning (London is definitely an after-work workout town), and watching the city wake up. I'd never run along the East River at that time of morning before, and didn't realize it was home to quite so many people - some of whom had amazing setups, including one couple who managed to bed down in the garden, under a tree, and were almost definitely the last to wake up that morning as it still looked cool and dark even as the rest of us were sweating. Some people might find that off-putting, but it really felt like home to me, though of course I wish there was no need for anyone to sleep on the street ever. I had a lovely chat with a guy who was fishing for breakfast as well.

That's not really the point, now, is it?

I beat back Morning Brain this morning, who reared her ugly head at 5:45 with thoughts of going back to sleep and putting off the run until tomorrow afternoon. Rational me was awake enough to say, "remember how great you felt on Tuesday when you ran before work? Get up." and I only hit snooze twice (8 minutes total - I have a short snoozer) and was out of bed before 6. Yay me.

Took the first 2 miles nice and easy, as prescribed by the schedule: 12:09 and 12:36. Next three were scheduled to be at 11:06 pace. I ran each of them faster than that (10:25, 10:43, 10:38) but I stopped to catch my breath at the mile markers, kind of missing the objective of key run #2 - to run fast when tired. Duh. Then a nice slow jog with some walking mixed in for mile 6 (13:45) and I'm home just in time to catch Meg before she gets in the shower and leaves my key-losing self locked out on the doorstep for the second time in 2 days.


6 miles, 1:10:55 (11:50 pace)