12/20/09: running

I went for another run with Maddy. I decided to push myself a little further than usual, so we ended up going 4 miles. This is going to sound ridiculous, but I feel really out of shape. I blame that partly on Maddy. She likes to sprint when she runs, so we have to alternate between running really fast and walking. But I also haven't been exercising as much as I was over the summer. Here's a quick tally of my week:

1.5 hours biking
1.75 hours of running (8.5 miles)
1 hour of yoga

Compare that to the summer where I'd regularly bike at least 60 miles a week (~5 hours), plus hit the gym several times a week. Many training guides will tell you to set a daily workout schedule. That doesn't work for me because I get very discouraged when I miss a workout and then give up. What's worked really well for me in the past is setting weekly or monthly goals. Even if I don't meet them, I still feel really good about what I do manage to accomplish. As a test run, here's my goal for this week:

1 hour of biking
15 miles of running (~3 hours)
1 mile of swimming (~45 minutes)
total: 4.75 hours

Run stats for today: 4.07 miles, 53'24" minutes, 13'06" minutes per mile