Today was a cross-training day, and I somehow convinced myself to drag my booty out of bed at 5:15 a.m. to get to spin class at 5:45.

Now peeps, remember how I don't like spinning?

Right well now I've done it twice this week. What give?

And I had so much fun in today's class. (Ok well at least as much fun as you can have with an alternating songs of extremely high speed or extremely high tension).

But the music rocked, the instructor was upbeat and the class format was solid. I felt like I got a great workout in.

So I think I'm going to have to reconsider my stance on spinning because seriously I was craving spinning by this morning.

Anyway, tomorrow's supposed to be a six-miler. I'm debating if I want to do a three mile loops twice around the neighborhood or head into the city and check out this trail everyone keeps telling me about. Depending on the weather I might go for the trail.

Check back tomorrow for the final decision.

Sorry I've been gone for so long peeps. It's been a busy few days. Here's a quick recap.

Monday: Crappy morning run (see previous post for details) and then ended up working a 12-hour day. Yikes it was long and made me really glad I worked out in the morning.

Tuesday: Had to cover an event in the morning so that meant I was back to my evening workouts. But it worked out perfectly for me because I had to take a half day because of the long day Monday and the early start on Tuesday. So I went grocery shopping, did laundry, caught up on two episodes of Lost, took a 20 minute power nap and then headed to the gym for an early cycling class. I was so tired I had thought about skipping the gym all together on Tuesday, but I ended up being really glad I went even though I wasn't a huge fan of the cycling instructor and her class format.

Wed: Back to my morning run on the thrillmill at the gym. Got in a solid 30 minutes, but kept the pace at 5.5 miles per hour because I didn't want to end up with shin splints again. It was a solid run.

Thursday: Today was a scheduled 25 minute easy run, but because Monday's run wasn't the best, I decided to push it a little bit this morning. I started out easy enough warming up with five minutes at 5 mph. Pushed it to 5.5 for the next five minutes and then kicked it up to 6 mph for the last 15.

Today's run was solid and left me feeling great. And that combine with reading this article from Active.com, inspired me to consider putting a full marathon on this year's race calendar. Originally I had four perspective halfs planned for this year with a few 5K's possible. But I don't know, I'm really toying with the idea of doing a full again.

I promised myself after my last one that I would take some time off (like a couple years) from the full because I was so sore afterwards and it took me a long time to recover because I got sick for the two weeks immediately after the race.

It's been about 1 year and 4 months now and I'm seriously considering doing it. I think I'm also being a bit competitive here because a friend of mine who's never run a marathon before is training for his first one, and I mean if he can do it, I think I can obviously do it again.

It's just a matter of whether or not I want to dedicate the time to it. It's something I have to think about.

Most of the snow has finally melted, but it's still freezing and not spring. Soon enough though.

This weekend was great. I was at home for my graduation party. My friends from CP came up and my mom made some delicious food. We ate lots of yummy food and hung out and caught up. Overall it was good times.

I've officially decided to move my workouts back to the a.m. I always used to be a morning work out person, but since starting the job I had moved them to at night. I'm not sure why, it just seemed easier at the time. But with my luck with all the snow and sometimes sheer exhaustion at the end of the day, I missed a lot of workouts this past week. So I'm back to the mornings. (Except for tomorrow because I have to be at an event for work at 7:30 a.m.)

Today's run was kind of sucky. Because it has been a week since I ran I thought it would be smart to push myself a little bit so I didn't fall too far behind. Now smart runners all know we shouldn't push ourselves after a bit of time off, instead we should ease back into it.

Well I wasn't in the mood for any kind of easing this morning. So I went out hard. Too hard. After 13 minutes I was walking because I had such a bad shin splint in my left leg. (And I almost never get shin splints on the treadmill.) I was frustrated as hell but kept walking because I was supposed to get 35 minutes in and I was going to be damned if I quit early. So I walked for a while, then stopped to stretch and then walked some more and then ran for a few minutes and walked again.

It sucked. I get frustrated with less than stellar runs too easily.

Tomorrow's cross-training, but I guess it will have to be at night because of the thing tomorrow. Maybe I'l hit spin class. We'll see.

It snowed yesterday so the roads were slippery after work. Thus my run was canceled because I wasn't driving to the gym in that.

It's supposed to sleet tonight and tomorrow as well so I may not be getting out of my house expect for work for the rest of the week. That's just what I need in the middle of training.

Go away stupid winter weather.

Thank gosh it's a rest day. Ok well it was an optional rest day/cross train and I'm choosing rest day because I am exhausted. I have been out far too late the past few nights and it's finally catching up with me.

I need a solid night's sleep tonight to help me get back to some semblance of a normal sleep schedule.

I got in a run outside yesterday. It was glorious to be outside, but my legs felt extremely heavy. I had a sports massage Saturday afternoon to work out the kinks that have been building up lately and whooo boy I was sore afterwards. I think that was some of the reason my legs were so sluggish.

But I still ran 3.39 miles in 35:19. I don't have splits, but that's an average time of 10:15. Not too shabby for my legs feeling so gassed.

Man I miss being in college. On a day like today I would just sleep all day.

It was a chilly morning for a 5K next to a river, but that just happened to be where the Road Runner's were holding today's 5K in the winter series. It was an out and back course that was fairly flat expect for a big hill at the beginning and end.

I was using this as my Stubble 5K for Vanilla's Shave your 5K Challenge.

Here's a funny thought. I finished 3rd to last and PRed. HA what are the chances. My watch time was 30:50 and the official results haven't been posted yet so I'll update when they are. But seriously the runners in the race were smoking.

My friend from work finished in under 24 minutes. Her goal was 24 so whooo hooo for Laura!

As far as other race details, we both think the first mile marker was too soon because my time was 9:52 and her time was something like 7:20. Both of us agreed there was no way we were going that fast. My mile 2 split was 21 even according to the guy yelling out the times, which seems more normal for my pace. And then by my watch 30:50 was the final time.

So that means my splits are as follows (assuming I did the math right):
Mile 1: 9:52
Mile 2: 11:08
Mile 3.1: 9:50

Strange.

Anyway....Saturday's are normally my distance run days, but I wanted to make sure I fit in my Stubble Race, so I was just going to chalk today's run up at 3.1 miles instead of the 5 I was supposed to do. But at the start line Laura was like why don't you just run 2 more miles when you get home.

Duh Jess why didn't you think of that.

So I did. Actually I did 2.29 miles when I get home in 23:54.

For the day that left me with 5.39 miles and a time of 54:29. Peeps for me that isn't so shabby.

I'm heading down to College Park tonight for my friend's birthday. Hope you all have a rockin' weekend. See you back here on Monday.

You all know how much I've been hating this weather and being forced to run on the treadmill. So it should come as no surprise to you that I made a slightly dumb decision yesterday.

I was wrapping up things at work, getting ready to suck it up at the gym on the treadmill again, when I looked outside and noticed there was still some daylight. Immediately I began figuring out how long it would take me to get home, how dark it would be and if it would be feasible for me to run outside.

By the time I left it wasn't very light, but it wasn't dark yet. I got home threw on some running stuff and went outside.

Oh and peeps it was glorious. I was cruising. Everything felt amazing. I wish I had my watch (I'd left it in my hurry to get outside) because I felt like I was flying. I did 2.6 miles in I don't know how much time, but it felt fast.

Tonight's cross-training and tomorrow was supposed to be 5 miles, but I'm doing my stubble 5K instead for Shave your 5K, so the 5 just won't happen. I'm not worried about it setting me back too much. I should be fine.

Last night's run put me in the most fabulous mood ever. Plus the weekend is thisclose!

So we've been hit with a bit of a wintery mess this week. Yesterday it snowed and then sleeted and this morning the roads were a mess and it's supposed to sleet until at least noon and then just rain some more.

All of this makes for really bad road conditions and two skipped workouts because I couldn't get to the gym.

Well that's a lie, Monday the roads were fine, but I was still super sore for the fitness conference that I took a rest day. I wouldn't have had I known I wouldn't be able to get to the gym Tuesday because the roads were going to suck so bad.

So no workout yesterday.

I'm hoping the roads are better tonight by the time I leave so I can get a run in. I hate this many days of not doing something. Grrrr.

I guess it's about time I fill you all in a little bit more about this fitness conference I was at over the weekend.

Every year a whole bunch of schools from the Southeastern states get together to teach and share different ideas and techniques to improve our fitness classes and personal training skills. We spend all day Saturday (from 8-5) taking different classes and learning different formats. And then Sunday we come back and do it again from 9-12. It's a lot of working out and it leaves for one extremely sore car ride home, but you bring home a lot to use in the classes you teach.

On Saturday, we started off the day with a class called Perpetual Motion, it was about an hour of fitness-based dance. Hard, but fun. Then break-out session started. Each session was an hour. I had two kickboxing classes back to back. The first one was awesome. The second one was sub par.

Then we had one of the most challenging yoga classes I've ever taken. My upper back and shoulders are still sore.

My last two break out sessions were a cycling class and a step class. The cycling class was amazingly fun. It was set to old school boy band music and the instructor was fabulous. By the step class I didn't have much gas left in the tank but I managed to slug through the class.

Sunday morning we started off the day with a class called something like Boogie Fever, fitness-based rocking out to 70's tunes. It was hilarious and fun. I was registered for a kickboxing and a step class afterwards, but my legs were done, toast, in huge pain. Instead I sat in on a sports nutrition lecture and skipped the last session all together to grab a bagel and rest with some of the other girls.

This morning my legs are still insanely sore. I have my gym stuff with me, and I have an easy 30 minute run scheduled. But I'm not sure if that will be able to happen. I will see how I'm feeling tonight and then decide what to do.

I'll just be honest. Long runs on the treadmill absolutely suck. Yes it could only be four miles, but because it was a "long" run and not just a regular training run it sucked. In my mind long runs should always be done outside where there's at least interesting stuff to look at.

In order to entertain myself last night while I was running I decided to play with the inclines. I set the speed at 5.3 mph, which is a 11:19 minute-mile, just a little faster than the 11:30's I averaged in my long run last weekend.

There was no real rhyme or reason to my inclines. I started by adding a .5% increase every 30 seconds until I got to 3% and then I decreased .5% every 30 seconds until I was back at 0.

I kept it flat for a while and then I did a longer climb. Every minute increasing .5% until I got up to 4% and then taking it off by the .5's until I was back at zero.

For the last little 10 minutes or so I just played around taking it up by half percents to 2% and then back down.

I was trying to make the run as realistic to the outside as possible and the hills aren't really predictable there. And I was trying to entertain myself because seriously, I miss running outside so much.

Also just wanted to throw this link out to a great story I just read in the Washington Post about this insane 100-mile race in Tennessee. If you have a few minutes, check it out.

Yesterday I punked out and skipped my easy run. I was exhausted and my legs still felt heavy. I had every intention of going to sleep really early. But of course I got tied up in watching good sports and didn't go to bed until 12:30. Thus today I am still exhausted. But I will NOT skip my four-miler today. Even though I have to run it on the treadmill.

That's all I've got for now. I skipped my run. Shame on me.

Yesterday was a cross-training day, which means I normally wander around the cardio equipment until I decide what I want to do. But yesterday the stars aligned to get me into my first spin class in ages. Class starts at 6:45 p.m. and by that time I'm usually at the end of my work out, but yesterday I got out of work late and made it to the gym just in time to sign up for the class.

I figured what the hell? I hate cycling, but it's something different and it will keep me entertained. True to my normal self about 20 minutes into the class I was thinking, "Ugh, why did I decide to take this. I know I don't like spinning."

I spent the next 10 minutes looking at the clock counting down until class was over.

But then some time around the half way mark something clicked....was I actually starting to enjoy spinning? No, couldn't be. Must be those crazy endorphines on over drive. 15 minutes left in the class and I'm feeling good. Dripping in sweat, but feeling really great.

She gives us this killer interval to do and all of a sudden I'm in racing mood in my head talking myself through it. Class ends and I want to keep going (okay well, I was tired, so maybe not still going for too much longer).

WTF happened peeps? I suddenly almost want to go back to spinning class. The seat didn't even hurt my butt that much.

Strange indeed, but if the stars align again (it's a cross-training day, I'm tied up at work again, make it to the gym in time for the class) I may just spin again. Crazy I know.

Monday was my push it run. I was able to crank the speed up to 8:30 minute miles. I only held that for three minutes though. I set up the run like a mountain. Three minutes at 5 mph. 3 at 5.5 mph. 3 at 6 mph. 3 at 6.5 mph. 3 at 7 mph. 3 at 6.5 10 at 6.o mph 5 at 5.5.

The ending was a little strange because my legs were tired, but I wanted to try to stay about 5.5 for as long as possible. I think I ended up averaging about 10 minute miles. Not to shabby.

Today is my scheduled easy run because I had to move my long run up to Thursday. So just want to keep the legs loose tonight.

Especially when it's for a really important story I'm working on! AHHH!

Okay and weekend recap begins now:

Friday night I ended up using the rowing machine for a half hour. I wasn't really 100 percent sure how the settings worked or anything, so I probably would have gotten a more intense workout had I figured that out. Oh well, my shoulders were still fairly sore and it was good to do something for my upper body for once.

Saturday was a schedule four-miler. I did 4.1 miles in 46:54. I was happy with that because I just told myself to take it slow and steady. It had been a long time since I had run outside and I didn't want to get shin splints and I wanted to be able to finish. So I had expected to run a little bit slower than 12 minute miles. In reality I ran a little bit slower than 11:30 minute miles. I was pretty pumped about that.

Sunday was a rest day, which meant being a lazy bum and eating lots of delicious but oh so bad for me Super Bowl foods. I was so full this morning I couldn't even eat my normal breakfast before work haha!

Tonight is a scheduled run. I'm making it my challenging run of the week because I have to do my long run on Thursday because this weekend I will be in Virginia for a fitness conference. Craziness!

Yesterday was my scheduled 25 minute easy run. I warmed up at 5.0 mph (12 minute mile) for five minutes. Then I set the treadmill at 5.5 which is about an 11 minute mile and cruised through the rest of the run.

Today it is absolutely disgusting outside. It has been raining all day and apparently there's a lot of flooding going on. Tonight is a cross-training day, and I still don't have my mind on what I'm exactly going to do.

I'm toying with the idea of trying out the rowing machine, but I'm also debating between the bike and the elliptical. I think it will in large part depend on what equipment is free. I'm pretty sure there are only two rowing machines and if they are being used I'm not waiting around for them. It's Friday and I want to be able to go home and read this David Baldacci book I'm in the middle of. He's one of my favorite authors and I'm catching up on a bunch of his older stuff that I haven't read. (Mainly because I couldn't get my hands on the book for the Blogland Book Club)