A Running Boost from Mother Nature

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·@plantstoplanks·
0.000 HBD
A Running Boost from Mother Nature
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<p>This week I was set to start an early morning outdoor group fitness class at one of the local country clubs. &nbsp;The club is only about 4 miles from my house, so it's kind of nice to be able to roll out of bed and get to my first appointment of the day so easily. &nbsp;On days that I don't have any appointments right after, I may even be able to run there and back! &nbsp;Like many new programs, I think this one may take a little while to get rolling as far as participation goes as I haven't had anyone come to class yet. &nbsp;It probably doesn't help that it's the week of spring break here. ;)</p>
<p>While I was waiting on my first morning of class I was checking out the scenery. &nbsp;I will mostly be teaching down at the tennis courts with access to part of the golf cart path if I want to throw in some running. &nbsp;Right around the tennis courts is the main clubhouse, the pool, and a small section of the golf course. &nbsp;As I was checking everything out for ideas on how to utilize my new domain I just happened to look up the sky and thought the view was so striking that I took out my phone to snap a picture. &nbsp;The juxtaposition of the vibrant green landscaping and the slowly emerging light in the sky was breathtaking. &nbsp;Though I hope to get some participants soon so they don't cancel the class, I felt quite blessed to have that moment all to myself.</p>
<p>My last few runs have been a little lackluster, but having this early morning touch of beauty put some fire back in my britches to get out later in the morning to put in the work. &nbsp;It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind and forget about what we really want out of life. &nbsp;I want to continue to improve in my distance running, so by golly I'm trying to put in the training. &nbsp;After a very easy run on Sunday, I decided to go back to a run I did a few weeks ago with a combination of distance and late-stage speed work.</p>
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<p>You can see my original stats <a href="https://steemit.com/runforsteem/@plantstoplanks/run-for-steem-putting-in-the-work">here</a> in one of my #runforsteem posts. &nbsp;This time around I had thought it would be nice to get in my 5 miles then hit the track for the 800's, but the school track right near our house was locked. &nbsp;I assumed it would be a great time since the kids are on spring break. &nbsp;Wrong. ;) &nbsp;Oh well, back up to the main route I went. &nbsp;With my detour I tacked on about a mile, so I ended up with close to 9 miles total for the day as opposed to the 8 miles I got the last time I completed this workout.</p>
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<p>Once again I was pretty happy with the consistency of my work intervals. &nbsp;I was a few seconds slower per mile on average than my last training attempt, but it wasn't enough of a difference to be worrisome to me in any way--especially since I was doing it on a hilly route instead of on a flat track. &nbsp;This was also the second run in a very long time that I actually broke out my heart rate strap for my Garmin. &nbsp;I averaged in the mid 140 beats per minute range for the first part of my run, which I think is a pretty good rate for what I wanted out of that portion and to have enough in the tank to hit the second portion hard.</p>
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<p>Then you can see my heart rate was bumped up a good bit for the interval portion of the run. &nbsp;I was a little surprised that it didn't go higher in the later stages as I felt like I was pushing pretty hard. &nbsp;To be fair, I haven't done any kind of max heart rate testing in quite a while so the 170's might very well be close to my threshold. &nbsp;I'll have to play around with it some more, but for now it's just interesting to have another metric to analyze for my training effect.</p>
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<p>I had a rest day the day after this run, then I had a solid strength workout yesterday. &nbsp;Today I should have time for another shorter easy run this afternoon in between sessions. &nbsp;I think I need to get at least one more double digit long run in and a few more speed sessions before the race, which is now only three weeks away! &nbsp;For you folks who actually read my posts, I may have a fun little contest coming up--so stay tuned! ;)</p>
<p>I hope you all find some epiphany moments in your week to keep you motivated no matter what your goals are!</p>
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