I forced myself to go to sleep a bit earlier last night to hopefully get back into the swing of things; plus, I had a sprint workout planned for this morning and wanted my legs to be fresh.  When I woke up, the side of my right foot was bothering me a bit…I am chalking it up to wearing rain boots yesterday; last year the boots never bothered me, but this year it seems like my foot sweats and swells inside them (some days I REALLY struggle to get them off!)–guess that’s what I get for choosing to go to college in New York, where it rains 121 days a year on average!

Anyway…I woke up closer to my usual time, but felt groggier than usual–nothing some coffee couldn’t fix.  I had some raisins and cashews and headed to the gym.  I completed 8 rounds of sprints with 1 minute easy run, 1 minute sprint.  At first, I was taking it easy because of the pain on the side of my foot, but it quickly dissipated.

Lately, I have been feeling that ever since I started running longer distances that I have gotten slower, but when “Let There Be Love” by Christina Aguilera came on for my final sprint (I didn’t plan it, I swear!), somehow I was running 2 minutes per mile faster and my legs didn’t even feel any fatigue–heart was definitely pumping though!  This made me realize that I may have just lost some of my mental strength to hold a fast pace when I built it up to handle longer distances and had to force myself to hold a slower, more comfortable pace.  You better believe that next week when it is my speedwork day (usually Wednesday) I will be trying to this higher pace.  Maybe all those other times, my legs were just still tired from the last workout…who knows.

After the 8 rounds, I cooled down with a mile at a pace slightly faster than the one I was using for the non-sprint intervals. Then, I headed to the weight room and was shocked at how packed it was; I had to use a 15 and a 5 in one hand and a 20 in the other to do chest flies! Usually, Monday is packed and it is basically barren by Friday; this time Monday was empty.  Luckily I only needed 10s and 20s for today’s chest and back routine.  I was also pleased that I seem to have made progress with my triceps pushups; they seemed almost effortless and I was going down much further than normal (almost like a full pushup).

Once I finished my routine, I realized that I forgot to do the assisted pullup machine after getting off the treadmill, because after working my back muscles I knew it would be even harder.  So, I went back to the machine and boy was it so much harder than usual; I guess that is good, in a way, because it means I was definitely working my back muscles well in the weight room.

I went over and stretched out for a bit, because my hamstrings were feeling a little tighter than usual.  Then, I walked back to the dorm for a shower and some overnight oats.  I going to work on my cookbook a little before I go to class, luckily I don’t have much work yet!

Do you find distance running or sprinting easier? Do you ever feel like you are getting slower from distance runs?

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