Spin Class... Seriously, I Die and running times

So today's blog post is going to be a little random. Several of the blogs I read are about running, and a few of those bloggers have started to post about their running times. I've always liked running, and consider myself a recreational runner, so I really enjoy those posts. It helps remind me that I'm not the only slow run on the sidewalk, while also showing me how much hard work it takes to get faster.


Before I jump into all the data of my runs let me just say that today was my "cross-training day." I'm planning on running a half-marathon near Austin at the end of March (if any of you Texas bloggers want to join in let me know!). So I'm following a training plan which gives me one day off a week, and one cross-training day a week. Today I picked Spin Class. I used to be a Spin regular... you know those people who show up 15 min early just to get the good bikes... the ones who never seem to have to turn down the resistance but are always turning it up, up, up... yeah that USED to be me - okay, I did turn my resistance down once in a while, very discretely :)

However, today in Spin Class.. I died, seriously, I died. And not in the "Rachel Zoe how chic and awesome is that" way, but in the "I'm about to go into cardiac arrest and the EMT's are going to have to clear out this room and resuscitate me, and oh my gosh if someone's giving me mouth to mouth I hope the EMT looks like Mark Consuelos and I hope my breath is okay" way. Yeah, it was one hour of pure torture. Glad I did it, and I'm glad I don't have to do it again until next Sunday... hopefully next Sunday won't be sprints and hills.

Phew... on to running, which by the way also leaves me huffing and puffing and gasping for breath, but I am improving as the weeks go by. This week I ran 3.5 miles twice, and 4.1 miles once. My slowest mile was a 12:09 minute mile, and my fastest was a 9:45 minute mile. With an average mile of 11:30. So there it is, I'm slow and now you are all in on the secret. But being slow is one of my favorite things about running, to me it proves that anyone can run. You just put on some shoes and go. Sometimes you have to walk, somedays you do way more walking than running, but as long as you keep trying eventually you'll get to the point where you are running more and walking less... even if it's very, very slow running. 

I'm hoping to run my half marathon in 2 hours to 2 hours and 40 minutes. That would put me at a pace of 10-11 minutes per mile. Do I think it's likely I'll drop 30 seconds per mile in the next 8 weeks... probably not, but I'm a goal oriented girl and this is what I'm pushing for. I may re-evaluate when I hit my first "long run" of 7 miles in the next few weeks. But for now, 2 hours, 2 hours, 2 hours is my new mantra!