A Little Bit of This

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So far this week all I've done is post race reports and monthly wrap-ups. Have I done any actual workouts? You bet!

On Tuesday I was able to run with the lunch time group for the first time in over a month. We did our short route of 3 miles and I ran the first mile or so at a nice strong pace while chatting about a work project. I have to say, running with coworkers is quite good for that whole networking thing.

The second part of the run, though, was tough. I was starting to feel a little dizzy and get chills toward the end. It was HOT and super sunny outside and running in the middle of the day was probably not the best idea. I had to take a rinse-off shower in the locker room afterward. Let me tell you, showering with only a hand towel to use afterward is quite an experience.

Also, I was totally still sweaty for the rest of the day. I'm not sure the underside of my hair ever dried out. Good thing I didn't have any afternoon meetings!

Then last night was our weekly track workout with my other running group. I was pretty sleepy beforehand and the call of the couch was strong. Plus, the running group's monthly meeting was the night before and instead of having a speaker we had a Pilates instructor come in and do about 45 minutes of exercises with us. I haven't done Pilates in months and my abs, back, quads, and hip flexors were still sore and tight on Wednesday. But, after a nice warm-up around the track I felt pretty good. So, it was off to the races. Five 800s and four 400s. Whew!

Warm-up mile: 9:18

1st 800: 3:59
(30 second rest)
2nd 800: 3:53
(Full recovery)
3rd 800: 3:50
(30 second rest)
4th 800: 3:58
(Full recovery)
5th 800: 3:50
(Full recovery)

1st 400: 1:52
(30 second rest)
2nd 400: 1:51
(Full recovery)
3rd 400: 1:53
(30 second rest)
4th 400: 1:51

Cool-down mile: 9:24

Total mileage: 5.58

You can see I started to lag in that 4th 800 but then Maribeth got in front of me and I made it my goal to stay on her heels. We rallied and busted out that 5th 800. And my 400s were nice and even. Overall, a good track workout.

In other exercise news, a new yoga studio just opened up close to my house. They have a coupon for one free week that I'm totally going to take advantage of. After I've heard so many people rave about the whole hot yoga thing I knew I wanted to try it. Unfortunately the only places I knew of were 45 minutes to an hour away from me. This place does TWO different hot yoga classes and it's more like 10 minutes away from me. I'm so excited to try it! Now I just need to figure out the best week to use my coupon so I can try as many classes as possible.

Also, I'm one step closer to possibly buying a bike. At least, I've picked out two bike stores to check out and I'm going to try and go this weekend. The one that a guy in my lunch time running group suggested doesn't let you test ride the bikes (!!) so even though they have a huge selection I'm going to try two other places first. However, if you're reading this and you're in the Chicago area and have a suggestion of a good bike store, let me know. Remember, I'm a total bike noob (haven't ridden in almost 10 years and even then it was a cheap mountain bike) so I need a nice, non-bike-snob place.