time to get serious

gibtown runner had a great point today about getting serious about his workouts (particular working the abs) if he was really going to shave 18 minutes off his half-marathon time. i, too, have some pr goals in mind as well as a goal to do ab work more consistently. as all runners know, a strong core leads to a stronger body, better running form, and faster splits.

it really is (beyond) time for me to get serious. in addition to my running goals, i'd like to get a stronger core, do yoga a couple times a week regularly, and get serious about my diet. i've been watching my caloric intake daily since august, but i've eaten a lot of "junk"/snack food in there instead of foods that are better for me. i have a mouthful of sweet teeth so i'm not even going to try to cut out m&m's and such completely, but i am going to try to limit my "treats" much more.

last night i actually slept through the whole night! i woke up this morning and the first thing i thought was "whoa, i didn't wake up at 3 or 4" so maybe i'm finally over all that silly waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night business.

i went out for my easy 7-mile run after work and thoroughly enjoyed it. my hrm was being wacky and said that my hr in the first quarter mile (which is flat and downhill) was 175-180. once it seemed to be reading more realistic hr's, i felt like i was cruising along easily. i periodically glanced down and it would either say ~137 (and i'd pick up the pace a little) or ~144 (and i'd think man this feels like a faster pace than normal for a 150 hr). i had no trouble keeping it at a 150 hr or lower and never felt like i had to pull back to get my hr to drop. these are the kinds of easy runs i like - easy pace but feel fast.

post-run i unrolled my yoga mat and stretched for a few minutes (shocker) and did some abs (300 various crunches, 45 back extensions).

pm run: 7.1 miles, 1:03:29 (8:56 avg pace), avg/max hr (145/181)