Day One

Today, my plan was to go to the gym and do my normal workout on the treadmill (mainly walking at 3.5-4.0 mph with some inclines for 45 minutes) while adding in two 5 minutes periods of running. I armed up for 5 minutes walking and proceeded to start the first one at 5.5 mph. After 4 minutes, I was winded but felt okay and finished up a little gaspy, but fine. I walked for another 10 minutes and did the second one. After a minute, I thought "hmmm this is not as easy as the first one." After ninety seconds, I was figuring out the percentages of how much total running I had done and how much of this interval were complete. After three minutes, I was fairly confident that I, like a dragon, could open my moth and breathe flame because my lungs were on fire. At 4:30, I thought "perhaps I was made for the sedentary lifestyle. I mean, isn't that a lifestyle choice and who is denying me choice. I am pro-all kinds of choices." I did, however finish, and felt really proud of myself and good. I was not able to do a full 45 minutes of inclines and walking quickly, so I was on the treadmill for 35 minutes instead. Tomorrow is weight and core work day which I am especially excited about because I got to try out some of the exercises on Sunday and they seem slightly brutal but effective. There is also a lot of balance work involved which will be incredibly helpful for biking.

Things I learned today:
1. Coming straight inside from -10 degrees and only warming up for 5 minutes might not be enough. Next time I think I will walk for 10 minutes or so before the first running set.
2. I need to bring my inhaler with me. This falls into the "no shit sherlock" category.
3. Perhaps I will bring my heartrate montitor with me so I can play around with the numbers later.
4. The difference a good pair of running shoes makes is incredible. I got new shoes this weekend that stop my ankles from bending inward. I didn't trip at all on the treadmill today and running felt a lot better than it had previously.

Next step: Run 5 minutes, rest, then 10 minutes on Wednesday. Get a foam roller. Right now my legs would LOVE one.