Not Speedy Gonzales, but I'm working on it!

When I started training for my marathon last year, I had to switch my way of thinking when it came to running.  I used to think that speed was everything, but soon learned that that mentality was not smart in terms of getting through your first marathon. Now that the marathon is over, I'm trying to switch gears and get what little speed I had before back. 

Since I've had a couple sick kiddos that past couple weeks, I had to re-introduce myself to my dread--I mean treadmill.  I get so bored on that thing, but have found a way to break up the boredom and work on speed.  Quarter mile sprints at increasing speed, baby!  Definitely not easy, but I'm actually kind of addicted to them.  I got this idea from Elisabeth Hasselbeck from The View.  Even though listening to her speak on The View makes my skin crawl (her politial views are SO different from mine), she shared one of her workouts one day.  Since I rarely watch TV during the day, and haven't seen The View in years, I felt this episode was meant for me.  She warmed up by doing 6 quarter mile sprints at 10.5 on the treadmill.  That's flat out MOVING.  I haven't gotten to a 10.5 yet, nor have I worked my way up to 6 sprints, but it is my goal.  I have progressed from a 7.5 to where I'm at now, 9.5.  And, the most I've done in one workout is 4 sprints.  I guess that's not too shabby for this almost-40-year-old.

On the subject of speed, I had a great 5 mile hilly run the other day.  Did I just say "great" and "hilly" in the same sentence?  I hadn't run that fast in quite a while.  5 miles in 44:19.  We're getting there...