Treadmills, Beyonce, Taco Night and Fantasy Football

Remember yesterday when I said, “No WAY was I going to the gym at 4:00am”? Yeah, well this morning my body disagreed. Once again I was up at 4:00am, only this time instead of falling back into blissful sleep I stared at the ceiling for a half hour willing myself asleep for even just five more minutes, but mostly ended up just thinking about how I really wanted a strawberry Pop-Tart. At 4:30am I gave up on sleeping (and eating a Pop-Tart) and got ready for my run. 

Today, I had 10 miles on the agenda. I’ve worked hard so that every single one of my runs during my training for the Chicago Marathon has purpose (speed, endurance or recovery) and today’s was an endurance run at an easy pace. During my last training cycle I burned out and over-trained big time because I just ran and ran and ran as much and as fast as I could. This time around I am doing my best to avoid “junk miles” or miles that serve no training purpose and just exist to get extra mileage in. This run was supposed to be outside, but there was no way I was going out into my neighborhood at 4:30am in the morning. I would like to avoid being attacked by a dog (this has happened!), kidnapped or hit by a car thank you very much… This means I was relegated to the treadmill at the gym. 

I tried to take a picture of the time after I had already started running. Very smart.

My sister always asks me how I can STAND running long distances on a treadmill, but truthfully I really enjoy it. I set the incline at 1% to make up for the lack of wind resistance, input my pace and just run. I love it so much I came up with reasons WHY I love it:

1. When I started running, I ran exclusively on a treadmill for years and only started doing runs outside within the past year.
2. Treadmill speeds are a science to me and that makes it easier to track my progress and speed while remaining consistent. I know that a 6.2 is my recovery pace, a 6.5 is my easy pace, between a 6.8-7.0 is my marathon goal pace, ect. This allows me to just zone out, whereas outside I’m constantly checking my watch to make sure I’m not going too slow or fast.
3. There are TVs on the treadmills in my gym. Granted I usually spend at least the first hour with no TV or music, it is a good motivator to get me through the second half of my work out.
4. I generally am a very “thinky” person and have a lot on my mind aka I like to daydream. Embarrassingly enough I generally think about crossing the finish line at various marathons, but I also think about work, my family, Ben and usually what I get to eat after I finish my run or the next time I get to sleep.
5. Marathons are just as much about mental training as they are about physical training. If I can’t keep my mind occupied for one or two hours on a treadmill how can I keep it occupied for 3-4 hours during a marathon?

I ended up doing 11 miles since I had the extra time and was feeling good. Plus it is hard to get yourself to stop running when you’re watching Beyonce look amazing on the TV in front of you.

Seriously, the "Crazy in Love" music video was playing.

Needless to say I am pretty tired and very spacey today. I'm not complaining since it was 100% my choice to get up two hours before sunrise to run almost a half marathon, but the outlook for me finishing today without drifting asleep at least once is not great. The good news is tomorrow is my wonderful, glorious REST day where I do no physical exercise -- that is unless you count eating carbs like it's my job in preparation for Saturday's run. 

As for my non-running life (yes I do occasionally stop talking about running), Wednesday night = taco night in the Renda household for as long as I can remember. When I first told my sister this she reminded me on Kate's freak out on LOST about taco night. Luckily neither Ben nor I have a vendetta against nights fully dedicated to tacos. Poor Kate does though:

We also spent part of our night at the DI (thrift store) looking for a trophy for Ben's fantasy football league. He won the league last year and is having the "draft" for this years at our apartment on Saturday night. I don't want to spoil what it is for those who may be coming/participating this year, but it is a worthy award.