Fall! Fall! Fall!

Fall is here!

My 8 mile cool 63 degree run at Gudy. 

Sigh....I really really love my life.

The day before I had so many errands to run that I didn't get to run outside and ended up shlumping my behind up onto my treadmill. Feeling kind of bored with it all I decided to pop in one of the SD iFit cards I had purchased a few years back when I got the treadmill. Every time I went to use the cards I screwed up my face and agreed to the inner voice in me that I could give myself a kick ass workout without some stinkin' card that had me walking occasionally. I would flick the cards aside as I started up the belt to run...I didn't want to walk.

The cards were in three levels at the store, 1-3. Feeling quite fit and athletic I bought two of the level 3: Performance and Sculpting.

Yesterday I chose the Sculpting card for the very first time and slid it into the slot on my mill and pressed START.

Holy Crap I take it all back. I was humbled pretty dang quick.

I normally run anywhere from a 1.5% incline to a 2.5% just to get the feel of "outside". Occasionally I crank it to 4-6%. I also run about a 6.5-7.5 speed in general (about a 7.5-8min mile).

This level 3 shit had my lazy (apparently) ass sprinting for several minutes at a time at a 5% incline and a 8-8.5 speed. My patootie was hauling like she's never hauled before...at least on a suckmill.

Shamefully I admit I jumped off the out of control machine exactly twice for about 30 seconds to catch my breath. I felt sore immediately after getting off the treadmill an hour later, however the next day I felt it but I wasn't hurting. It did make me realized my potential and how bad I had been slacking on the treadmill all my other runs. I WAS fully capable of running a 4% incline at 8 (struggling at 8.5 a bit) for awhile and I should take advantage of that. I need to push myself more. Thank you iFit for handing my ass to me today and showing me what a slacker I have been.

My only complaint was the workout was divided into a handful of segments or legs. After each segment it would completely decline and stop the belt entirely. Once you were ready to go onto the next segment you pressed START and got ready for another round of holy hell. I don't like to come to an abrupt halt after revving my heart rate into the near tipping point of collapse. It's not good for the body to say the least. I would rather the belt come to a gradual nice brisk walking pace while I catch my breath and ready myself for some more torture. This way my muscles stay loose and warm and my heart rate/breathing return to a more steady state but still remain elevated.

Cowboy had a good point when I related my trip to the land of extreme and back. He said, "Every time the belt stops, get off and do 10 sit ups/push ups, then get back on baby!" Great idea:) I love it. Of the men I have been with he truly "gets" me 100%. Instead of looking at me crossly and saying, "why the hell would you want to put yourself through that? You're running in place going absolutely nowhere" he rather grins at me proudly and while tossing out a remark about my sexy something-or-other encourages me back towards this side of crazy. He is my kind of crazy.

Today, on my run at Gudy I felt re-energized and found myself running more of the climbs than I usually do with less effort. I am pleased. It was a good sweaty run and now the pup is pooped. I call that a fabulous day.