Week 2/17 HM Training - Run #2 8K

8 km @57:02

Avg. Pace 7:08/km

Moving Pace 6:59/km

I'm feeling good today because my morning run turned into a "Part II" following yesterday's ... this post may have a deja vu feel to it. :)

Last night, I went to the fitness club for that "Rock Bottom" class, the one I missed last week. It was taught by a substitute instructor, who was amazing. She made the class a lot of fun, made us do an incredible amount of leg work, and boy! did she have us sweating! Jane Fonda helped to make "feel the burn" famous and that's all I kept thinking about - can I ever feel the burn! I definitely have to incorporate this Tuesday evening class into my schedule because it was such a good glute/quad/everything south of the waist workout!

Classes like this can sometimes make me feel like I am completely and utterly out of shape when I can't do all the repetitions, or when I can't keep up to the faster pace set by the instructor ... but I'm not the only one. I smile when I see the instructor stop her exercising to watch the class because it makes me think, how much do you want to bet that she needed a break from this at that moment? :) These classes are just like running - you can either feel completely self-conscious and "think" that other people are watching you, or you can just focus on yourself, challenging your own body to do the best that it can, and celebrating your own milestones. I may wish that I could have done every single repetition in keeping with the instructor's pace, but instead, I was focusing on how great it is to see my knees lift so high, on the number of repetitions that I am able to do, how much more flexible I am since committing to yoga twice weekly, and pleased that I can do this class as my second workout of the day after a 10K run earlier. :) :)

But I also have to admit, it's sobering to realize how much work it takes getting back into healthy shape after being so out-of-healthy-shape for so long. It really does take a lot of hard work, commitment, perseverance and chutzpah!

Needless to say, I was moving very slowly around the house between the end of class and bedtime. I also took it very slow walking down the staircase first thing this morning. :) I was still determined to do my run, but my mantra was to tell myself repeatedly, this 8K is just for mileage ... not for speed ... it doesn't matter how slow you run it, just run 8K this morning.

With Wallace and Angus on either side of me, my first 5K were tougher than usual, but not as bad as I assumed it would be. When I checked my pace later, it was in the 7:10-7:25/km zone, which is a bit faster than I expected ... but once I hit 5K, my muscles didn't feel as sore any more and I could feel my pace pick up. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I actually felt stronger. I was happy to see my pace for that last 3 km:

6K - 6:43

7K - 6:47

8K - 6:46

Not bad after all the thumping, jumping, stretching, lifting and weight bearing exercises I have put my legs through in the last three days. :)

There is another "Body Sculpt" class tonight just before Kundalini Yoga that I may check out because it has a different instructor, and this is my week for trying them out and comparing.

I also have an 11.5K/7 mile run scheduled for tomorrow morning. :)