Week 3 Day 1

Wasn't sure about this one, folks.  I had shoveled 17" of snow in the last 20 hours, I didn't sleep that good, and the little nap I attempted was a disaster.  But, when Tami asked if I wanted dinner I told her I needed to do my workout first.  So, I saddled up, put on the thinnest cotton t-shirt in history, and prepared for battle.  This week's routine calls for a brisk warmup walk of 5 minutes, a 90 second jog, a 90 second walk, a 3 minute jog, a 3 minute walk, a 90 second jog, a 90 second walk, a 3 minute jog, and finally a cooldown walk of five minutes.

I utterly crushed this workout!!  In the last workout, I could feel my lower legs acclimate to the stresses.  But, in this workout, they didn't complain in the least:

Mind / Body

Ankles? -  "Ready to go, chief"

Shins? - "No worries, boss"

Breathing? - "Um, let's talk later, k?"

The incline was 1% throughout,  I wiggled at 3.3 mph and jiggled at 5.1 mph (the first short jog was 5.2 mph).  I was thinking the whole time, and I think I improved my arm swing.  Turns out I was "sawing" - keeping the forearms parallel to the floor, instead of maintaining a 90 degree bend.  I did a good job of hitting just behind the outer ball of the foot (behind the 4th and 5th toes).  And I kept the cadence high enough so that my foot landed under my body.  The last minute of the last run was a little tough in terms of breathing.  I breathed like a race horse, with occasional bits of H2O flying out in front of the treadmill like tracer fire.  I did all the stretches, and everything feels very awesome.  See the photo below?  That's attitude, folks - something that athletes are prone to exhibit.

I told Elaine (my seven year old) that I had run nine minutes (I neglected to mention the walking in between).  She looked up from her computer game and said "Big deal, I bet I can do twenty minutes."  So, tomorrow I'm going to put her on the treadmill at 7.5 mph and see how long it takes her to go off the back!!  (Yep, that's a joke - no need to call Child Protective Services.)

The dinner I put off was so worth the wait.  I've told you guys before that my wife is a wonderful cook, but you have no idea: look at the feast below - imagine the coconut milk and curry, the snow peas magically between crunchy and soft, the shrimp and noodles saying 'yum' all the way down!

Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp with Snow Peas