Long Run Day (and Snow Day)

My little snow angels

We all packed up the truck (dog included) and drove to the snow to play. It was so much fun! What a beautiful, sunny day. As we got closer to our destination, the kids grew more excited and everytime they saw snow they'd yell, "SNOW!" It was almost like Donkey in Shrek 2, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" But the kid's excitement was contagious and once we got out of the truck, the snowballs were flying, and The dog even had a blast running around out there getting tagged with snowballs. The baby sat down in the snow and couldn't stop touching it. I'll post more pictures of the day trip tomorrow.

After we got back I headed to the gym for my long run of the week. I'd forgotten it was Monday, so the cardio room was packed. There were people waiting in line for the machines so I followed the rules and jumped off the treadmill (aka TM) when my time limit was up but jumped back on as soon as one became free, just to jump off again after a few miles. I used the stationary bike (aka SB) for some cross training. Running experts say that 60 minutes on the bike at about 70-75% of your maximum heart rate (aka MHR) is equivalent to a 5-mile run. That being said, I biked the equivalent of a 3 mile run, and actually ran 9 miles on the treadmill.

The workout was like this: 3 miles TM @ 9:20 pace, 24 minutes SB @ 80% MHR, 3 miles TM @ 9:00 pace, 12 minutes SB @ 80% MHR, 3 miles TM @ 8:30 pace. My body felt just as taxed as it usually does after running 12 miles. It was a tough long run tonight, maybe being tired from our trip to the snow was the reason. I didn't feel warmed up and ready to go until about 1 hour into the workout. Mentally I just wasn't in it until the last hour. The last 3 miles I picked up to an 8:30 pace. Glad it's done and glad I'm home!
TOTAL MILES: 12