Lunchtime Running to the Rescue

We're 5 days into April and I've basically already done more this month than I did all of last month.  I had some legit excuses, but whatever, the point is not to hate on March, but rather to say that I think I'm on the right track for working towards a strong go of it at the Brooklyn half this May.  Of course, I got a little freaked out when Kathleen pointed out that it's only about 6.5 weeks away, but let's focus on the things I can control; currently, the time-space continuum is not one of them.



I've completed the first of my Love Your Legs workouts (from my Thin Thighs Thursdays post - my favorite so far), and although getting through it felt a bit easier than I remembered from the few times I tried it in February and March, I was just as sore today as I remembered being back after it back then.  So maybe I haven't gotten so much fitter as I first haughtily believed was the reason the workout seemed easier.

With my a 10k (a distance I haven't completed since, oh, probably before I stated this blog about 2 months ago), race coming up this Saturday, I figured I'd better get my last run in today.  But I had dinner plans tonight and knew I would have a lot of work to finish up following them.  Naturally I set my alarm for an oh-so-early 7:00AM [pause for your mocking laughter...I know that seven's not that early, or perhaps not even early for a lot of people, but it is for me, okay!?] thinking, "tomorrow's the day I begin the transformation into morning runner!"  I'll let you guess what happened when the alarm went off.

Luckily, despite my lazy snoozing habit, I didn't have to throw in the proverbial towel just yet.  Fortunately, I had recently read a fellow running blogger's post entitled, "Perfecting the Lunchtime Workout."  I realized that if I was going to be working after dinner tonight anyway that with a little luck I could manage to turn lunch into a quick jog.  Staying at a hotel near my client's office during the week doesn't hurt either.  So I kicked off the heels, slid into my Nikes and hurried a few blocks over to my home gym.

My home gym - a.k.a. the gym at the Hotel Palomar

The nice thing about staying in a hotel for work all week every week is that there's a gym in the same building you live in (okay, so that's true for some of you enviably people in fancy shmancy big city apartment buildings, too, but not for me!), and, most people are lazy when they travel and don't bring work out clothes, so it's almost always mine, all mine!  (Full disclosure: there have been some rather uncomfortable moments with odd glances from strangers when I've had to hop off the treadmill upwards of 2-3 times mid-work out, but such is the life of someone afflicted with runners trots)

As I scooted through the streets and over to the hotel I felt a bizarre sensation like I was sneaking off for a tryst.  And I guess in a way I was...for a treadmill tryst, anyway.  I couldn't see myself doing this everyday, but after a quick survey of my to-dos, status on open items, and ability to quickly travel/workout/shower/change, I realized that the lunchtime workout really could keep me on my great April workout kick without sabotaging work.  Hooray, lunchtime workout - you saved the day!

I was tempted to try a good sprint work-out after Jen shared the details of hers (way to go Jen! for more on her run you can check out the link to the BK half training sheet on the right!), but an intense workout wasn't happening for me today.  Maybe my legs were tired from hill work Tuesday, the squat workout yesterday, or staying up too late last night, but acceleration just wasn't happening.  AND, my treadmill's deceleration button was faulty.  After my first 7.1 interval I realized that the speed buttons on the machine only worked to INCREASE it, but not to decrease it. Was the universe trying to tell me not to be lazy and that I need to start practicing faster, faster, faster?  Perhaps, but I also had a lurking suspicion that the outcome could be something devastatingly similar to an America's Home Video's submission, so I erred on the side of lazy recovery.  I felt a little bit disappointed that I couldn't go all out like Jen did, but it probably wasn't the worst outcome given that I'll need my legs to be fresh on Saturday.  All said and done, I kicked up the speed for the last few tenths to get in right under the 30 minute mark (29:58) for my 3 mile lunchtime run.  Maybe the lunchtime workout is occasionally doable after all!

How do you feel about lunchtime workouts?  Any tips for getting out of bed and up and running early?