treadmills=bad; bananas=gooooood

Thursday's attempt at a 40 minute tempo run on the treadmill: 40:38. 4 miles. I HATE TREADMILLS. I tried to run the whole thing at 6.0 (ambitious, much?) but I think I didn't have it in me, mentally, to hang with that much time on the hamster wheel. I couldn't find a comfy pace - something would work for a while, then it would feel either too fast or too slow. I sped way up at the end, which is why the end result was so close to 40.

No more tempo runs on the treadmill for me.

Friday: circuit class. Lots of strength training.

Saturday: too much to do. Didn't get time to run. I'm having shin splint issues so that's not the end of the world.

Today: 6 miles, 1:04:23. I can't believe I pulled off that time; I didn't even want to run and I wasn't feeling great, thanks to bad food and bad beverages last night. ;) I really should've brought water, since by the end of the run I felt so dehydrated that I could barely swallow. Despite all that....it was a really good run. It (mostly) felt great. I wasn't pushing myself to go fast but I got faster anyway. That would be my fastest 6 mile run to date.

And even better - I went to Loveland to run, for a change of scenery and to check out the Saucony van at the running store up there. There is a little coffee shop right on the bike trail that sells chocolate and peanut butter dipped frozen bananas. I can't think of anything yummier and awesomer that I've ever eaten after a run, EVER.

The saucony van featured a gait analysis. My result: I overpronate. Yeah, I knew that. Surprise: the inserts in my shoes actually cause my feet to roll OUT too far, so I'm actually overcorrecting my pronation issues. Something to keep in mind for the next time I buy shoes.

This week: Run Like Hell is Friday! I mentioned it to a coworker, who said, "Oh! You know that's half uphill, right??" That confirmed my decision to throw out a time goal and just have fun with that one!