Dec 22-29 : Gym Time and Christmas in ATL - p

My sister had to work on Christmas night and the day after that and the day after that, so my parents and I visited her in ATL to keep her company over the holidays.

Dec 22 - Travel to ATL.  Planned to work out, but I was tired by night-time.  No big deal.  I'm not training for anything anyway.

Dec 23 - 6.0 in 50:03,  8:21 ave.  Did it at a 3 degree treadmill incline, my third 2-3 degree run in a row.  I've been loving how the incline feels, since it reduces pounding and works my muscles a bit differently.  3 degrees at 8:21 is the equivalent of 7:42 at 1 degree.  Splits> 8:38, 8:38, 8:30, 8:28, 8:19, 8:12, 7:54.  Morning run.

Dec 24 - Our family went for a walk in a neighborhood trail in the morning. 

In the evening, worked out right before Xmas-Eve dinner with my sister.  Spin biked for 40 min, then did strength training for 40 min.  Decided to tack on the strength because I hadn't done a session in 2.5 weeks (usually start to lose fitness after about 2 weeks).  My equipment choices were a bit different, but I did exercises that were equivalent to my usual collection.  It's fun to work out with my sister!

 Dec 25 - Treadmill intervals.  1 mi warmup in 8:19, 3x [1/2 mi @ 9mph (3:20), 1/4 mi @ 7.5mph (2:00)], 0.35 cooldown in 2:37.  68 degrees, 11am.  3.6 in 26:55, 7:29 ave.  I decided that I'm going to follow the Furman FIRST Run Less Run Faster training plan for my next marathon.  I do better with high-intensity, low-volume training.  For Philly, I tried higher-volume, lower-intensity training, and it didn't seem to help.  My muscles fatigued.  I had read the book before after borrowing it from the library, but once I decided to do FIRST, I bought the book.  The revised edition has plans specifically for the BQ times, so 3:35, here I come, most likely in Fall 2013.  I considered going for the Eugene Marathon, but that's in April, and I'd need to start the 16-week training program on Jan 6th if I wanted to do that... I don't think so.  Still just getting back to normal after Philly, so I'm happy to stick with shorter distances for now.  In any case, I thought it would good to give the FIRST strategy a try, so this was the speed portion of the speed / tempo / long run trifecta.  It was good to get in some speed anyway.  I decided to sign up for a 5K on Jan 12th.  Post-run, I felt great and felt like I could run again, but by night-time, the DOMS started setting in.

Dec 26 - Spin bike session.  45 min.  My mom joined me at the gym.  She did some weights and stretching.  I tried doing 3 short stand-up pedaling spurts, but my left knee didn't handle it too well, so I didn't do it for very long.  My HR at the 1/3 and 2/3 points were 156 and 166bpm. 

Dec 27 - Treadmill tempoy session.  5.3 in 41:13, 7:47 ave.  Splits> 8:07, 7:48, 7:42, 7:41, 7:39, 2:14 for 0.3.  Took until 11am for my legs to feel re-energized and capable of running.  Tempo work would help me get my speed up for the 5K.  Felt like I could run again later that day, just like I did after the interval session.  A good feeling.  Left ATL afterwards. Swung by my apartment for a night, then off to CHS.