Changing Gears

Daily Quote: "I cannot have survival as my only goal. That would be too boring. My goal is to come back in my best running form. It is good for me to have that goal; it will help me." --Ludmila Engquist (Olympic champion hurdler facing cancer and chemotherapy)

Early AM (before bedtime): Warm up, 10 minutes on stationary bike. Full body weight circuit training. Cool down, 10 minutes on the elliptical. I have a slightly sore lower stomach muscle after my circuit training and doing 3 sets of 20 reps of crunches on the incline bench. Did I pull a muscle? Hernia?

Normally today would be a Middle-Long distance run, but I'm in Recovery Week and will change gears and do a General Aerobic Run instead.

Later AM (after sleeping eight hours): General Aerobic Run.
10 miles. Time, 1:26. Overall pace, 8:36 minute miles. Life Fitness Treadmill set at 1% grade. First eight miles at 6.6 mph pace, the last two miles at 7.5 mph (marathon pace) Average heart rate: 150 bpm (77% of MHR). Cardiac Drift: 159 bpm (84% of MHR).

I was hesitant to add two miles of marathon pace today, but I won't be doing a speed workout on Wednesday and a little speed after my General Aerobic Run shouldn't hurt my recovery too much.

My sore stomach muscle later today was just a dull ache with no sharp pains, I'll just keep a close eye on it and avoid crunches for the rest of the week.