rough day

Here's what I did today:
Jog 0.25 mi at 5.7 mph
Walk 0.1 mi at 4.0 mph
Jog 0.5 mi at 5.3 mph
Walk 0.25 mi at 4.0 mph
Repeat (I did the whole sequence 4 times)

In total, I did 4.42 miles in 54:30 at an incline on 0.5 (whatever that means on this treadmill, I'll get into that in a minute). That did not include a 1/2 mile warm-up walk at the beginning or about a 2 minute cool-down walk after the last 1/4 mile walk (again, will get into that in a minute).

Things I liked:
- I liked the 5.7 mph more than last time when I did the 1/4 miles at 5.5 mph. It seemed like a big enough difference in pace between the 1/4 mile and the 1/2 mile runs that it felt worth it. Like I was actually working harder. Which was the point. So yay.
- I forgot that I was trying to hang out with my friend (the same one whose fault it is that I'm doing this) tonight. He texted asking when I was leaving work because he only had a short period of time between family obligations and other-friend obligations and my first reaction was "That's weird that he's asking me when I'm leaving, why would he care... Oh sh*t!" But when I was leaving didn't match up with when he was available. Why is this something I like, you ask? Well a week ago I would have said to myself "Julia, screw the gym. Just stay at work a little longer and then go get a drink with your friend! This can only end well for you!" but this week is a new week. A better week. A week in which I am training for a half-marathon. So what did I do, you ask? I went to the gym. To train. Which means I am for serious about this running thing. I see my entertainment bills being significantly lower than in 2011. So what about my friend, you ask? Don't feel badly for him. It's his fault I'm doing this, he's already up to running almost a full 13 miles so I need to catch up a bit, and we've made plans for tomorrow after my gym time.

Things I didn't like:
- The treadmill I was using this time. I work out at New York Sports Club which has a big room filled with treadmills (and the noise they make!) and so far I've always gotten ones that I either really liked (I'm talking about you, treadmill with the automatic 4.0 mph button!) or ones that I thought were fine. The one I got tonight was a Woodway Desmo (don't quote me on the Desmo bit). In the future, I will not use this treadmill. If this is the only treadmill open, I will wait. Here's why I didn't like it: It vibrated. Not in a good way. When I put my foot down on it, I would feel unpleasant vibrations going up my leg. I found it so annoying that I both couldn't focus on other things and couldn't stop focusing on when that jogging period would be over. Even the walking bits were unpleasant. Although I find it unfair to say that they all do this (it may just be this one machine, who knows), I'm definitely not going to use any of them again. Usually when I go to NYSC, there's a line for the treadmills. Which means that once one opens up and you start walking towards it, you're pretty much stuck to that specific machine. Heaven forbid I risk picking a different Woodway Desmo and then it turns out to also vibrate and I have to do a 2-6 mile run on it. No, I refuse to let that happen.
- Drinking coffee before going to the gym. I have water at my desk. There was no particularly good reason I chose to drink a Starbucks tall Americano up until the point I left work for the gym (which means I really only had about 3/4 of it, it was way too cold outside to keep my hands out of my pockets even with gloves). The reason I got one was (a) a woman I work with offered to go and get it and pay for it; (b) I had no idea how late I was going to have to stay at work; and (c) I started drinking it at 4:30 so I honestly didn't even think about it and I didn't end up leaving work until 6:30 (yes, I took a very long time to drink 3/4 of a coffee). Here's why I didn't like it: I had to pee. Not when I first started running, otherwise I would have just gotten off the treadmill and waited for another one to open up. No, I had to pee when I was already done with my second sequence of run/walks. Which means that I would have had to wait for another treadmill and my heart rate would have gone back down and I would have lost my groove (that I didn't really ever gain because of that damn treadmill!). The coffee was not worth it. From now on, coffee in the mornings or not at all!

This sh*t is for real.
-J

PS: The plan for tomorrow is the same sequence but I'm going to try to push it up to 6 mph for the shorter runs and 5.5 mph for the longer runs.
PPS: I still don't like how I have to count the miles. That damn 0.1 mile walk totally throws it off being easy numbers!