Short update today - my best friend is here visiting from Texas, so I still have time to run, but not as much time to type about it.  :)
I worked out at the work gym on the elliptical on Saturday (yesterday) for 30 minutes.  Today, I slept in - it was already thundering at 7am - and then headed to my apartment gym and its swanky treadmill.  I only had to run 3 miles today and I did - at 6.6 mph.  Next week, the endurance day gets a bit longer than 3 miles - twice that, in fact.

earlier in the evening and was slightly cooler - the sun had set at this point - so I was able to finish the run behind the scenes on the service roads.  Not the best option, but it was kind of fun to pretend to be in Entertainment.  I sometimes see the dancers here at the park running along the service road as part of their training/job/healthiness...and now I got to feel special too.

The next night, it happened all over again, but I was prepared with the sheet that said the gym closes at 9pm!  The security guard checked with her supervisor and let me stay.  But my dinner break (which I use to work out) was interrupted by work, so I had to cut the elliptical short.  It was 10pm by the time I was home, and I had to work at 6am the next day, so I decided to sleep instead and finished that workout the next day, which is technically a rest day, but this sentence is  going to run on and that makes everything okay, doesn't it?

Today, I ran for 40 minutes at 6.5 mph - my legs felt a little tight today, so I took it "easy."  I finished the workout with a set of  sprints on the treadmill - I maxxed it out (10 mph).  After my cooldown walk, I did four sets of 30 sec sprint + 1 min walk.  I feel great, and will continue to do the sprints post-run every Thursday as prescribed by Marathoning for Mortals.  I had forgotten to do them that last four weeks...oops.

I ran on the treadmill after work on Friday for 30 minutes at 6.7 mph.  I felt pretty good, but I've been tired all week.  I got on the elliptical for 30 minutes after work on Saturday - still at Level 2.  Blah blah blah.  I've just done the work-outs this week, but I have to say I'm looking forward to my first weekend in 12 days.

This afternoon I was itching to run and didn't want to wait for nightfall for it to be "cooler" so I hit the gym at my apartment complex.  They have swanky new equipment including a treadmill with an iPod dock and a fan that blows at your stomach - didn't do much good for me.  My arms were dripping sweat all over the arms of the treadmill...yuck.  I was able to run 2 miles at 7 mph, which I know is pushing it, but I was doing alight.  But then I was a good Samaritan and let someone into the gym (security card access) and that threw my rhythm off.  I walked about half a mile of the remaining 3 miles and varied the pace between 6 and 6.6 mph.  I am going to just say this week was off because of the 12 day work week and leave it at that.

I was able to run on Tuesday.  I didn’t look at my training schedule, so I ran for 40 minutes at 6.4 mph, thinking that it was Week 4 and the minutes would probably be upped (which is why I "downed" the speed).  I was wrong – so that day I ran an extra 10 minutes…but that worked out because I was so wiped the  next day that I did not cross train.  Hey, when you’re not feelin’ it, you’re not feelin’ it.  Marathoning for Mortals also recommends not to train when you’re tired. There is a greater risk for injury and you might overtax your body and immune system.  And Thursday was a rest day, which was sorely needed.  I went to bed at 8pm!  Technically, I did have a pretty hard day at work - a large tree fell across the train tracks and we had to remove it.  It took seven of us about 30 minutes to get the pieces off and loaded onto a truck.  So...we'll call that a "more or less."

Today, I ran for 30 minutes on the  treadmill at the gym after work.  I was able to hit 6.7 mph, which puts me under  a 9 minute mile pace. Woo hoo!  It did feel like a little extra work, but with me pushing the speeds up the last few weeks, it was doable.  Going to finish out the week strong, but I am looking forward to seeing Man of Steel on Monday (my “Sunday”)!

This week has been really busy!  One of my co-workers went home on bereavement leave, and another had her baby a month early!  Baby and mom are both doing well.  :)

As a result, the schedule got a little wonky.  I had to work a double shift yesterday (one of my weekend days) as well as early shift today (the other day of my weekend).  It's been tiring, but a lot was accomplihsed at work despite being short-staffed, and it's worth the overtime pay.

I'm proud of myself though, as I was able to keep up with my training.  The above photo was from Friday - I ran at 6.6 mph.  I used the elliptical on Saturday for 30 minutes, watching more Oz, and finished up the week with a 4 mile run on the treadmill after work (the day of my double shift!) alo at 6.6 mph also.  Overall, a good week - but I'm ready for bed and it's only 5:10 pm.  Hehe.

Oh…my…god.
But, I’ll get to that.  :o)

So,  yesterday I continued my trend of running at the gym after work.   I amped it up (extreme!) to 6.5 mph for 30 minutes and ran almost 3.3 miles.  Very happy with that.  The Voice was on and I had the cardio room to myself, so I watched the first half of that (and finished it once I got home on the DVR).

And now, to discuss taking the Lord’s name in vain earlier. 
 
I found a program similar to “Couch to 5K” but for swimming. The first workout consists of 4 x 100m (with 12 breath breaks in between each 100m), 4 x 50m (with 8 breath breaks) and 4 x 25m (with 4 breath breaks).  I stopped at Sports Authority and bought some Speedo® goggles.  They fit pretty well and I didn’t get water in my eyes at all.  I debated on what swimsuit to wear – thinking the smaller and tighter the better – but I’m glad I went with mid-length trunks, so I didn't stick out too bad.  It is a semi-public pool and I was the only one doing laps.  The rest of the kids were all playing, diving, etc. and had long board shorts hanging off with their underwear visible.  I don’t understand this!  You want your suit to dry off as soon as possible once you’re out of the water. Cotton (boxer) briefs don’t allow that.  But I digress… 

I was unable to complete the Week 1 workout – at least with the freestyle stroke.  I got to my third 100m and had to switch to the sidestroke – I could not get enough air in between strokes and I
started swallowing water.  I think I went out too fast.  In any case, I am sure my arms will be a little weak tomorrow.

According to the workout, which says you can swim a mile after six weeks if you follow the program, I need to swim three times a week.  I should iterate here that this is not my goal.  I am merely using swimming as a cross-training activity so I have some variation – right now it’s just elliptical and stationary bicycling.  As I’ve said before, cross-training is twice a week.

Because of today’s performance, I know I have a long way to go.  It felt eerily similar to when I started running over a year ago – barely able to jog for 3 minutes.  It was definitely eye-opening.  I have a newfound appreciation for swimmers like Ryan Lochte (see above) – meaning, those that compete at any athletic level.  I consider myself a fairly good swimmer, but I have never done laps before today.  We shall see how I develop - skill- and body-wise.

Yesterday, I did 30 minutes on the elliptical at the gym after work.  Today, I planned on getting up at 8 am and running, but decided to sleep in instead.  I got up at 10:30 am and was planning on going to my apartment gym, but when I got outside, it seemed so nice, I decided to run the loop.

Kind of a mistake.

I misjudged the temperature and let's just say, it was challenging to fnish the run.  I did, however - 35:46 for 3.6 miles.  It was about 85 degrees when I finished.  I was rather sweaty and it took me about 20 minutes in the A/C before I felt normal.  And like 3 glasses of water.  Lesson learned - get up earlier, lazy bones!

I kept a 6.4 mph pace for the whole 30 minutes today - ended up running almost 3.3 miles.  Raise the roof!

I had to work the super-late shift tonight (until 10:30) because we have a night safari, so I worked a 30 minute session on the elliptical at the work gym during my "lunch" hour.  I am continuing with the "Level 2" setting.  There were other people in the cardio room with the television on, so I couldn't watch Oz on my iPod - the volume of the TV overrides the volume on the iPod.  I would like to keep my hearing. 

So, I watched the news with them, but listened to music simultaneously.  It worked pretty well - I kept the pace to the beat of the faster songs and worked up a pretty good sweat.  The Tampa Bay Parks & Rec logo is up there because before work I picked up my Rec card!  I'm excited because I will be able to start swimming as part of my cross-training.  I need to look up some beginner work-outs and buy a pair of goggles (contacts + chlorine = unhappy Sean), but I'm hoping to start sometime next week.  Woo hoo!

I've already completed one half marathon, so I'm technically trained to run the one this September.  The challenge is to maintain that training, or even better, get better.

So, in light of that sentiment, I ran a little faster on the treadmill after work today.  I set it at 6.4 miles per hour, as opposed to the 6.0-6.2 mph I was running earlier.  It definitely felt faster, but I'm going to continue to challenge myself.  I'm so used to running at 6 mph (10 minutes per mile)...it's too comfortable.  I need to push myself.