I smell a fartlek!

Ok, I'm much too old and mature to make silly jokes about the word fartlek. But I will say that I was so fond of the term that I bought a sticker that simple says fartlek  and I put it on my car. Non-runners probably won't have a clue what it means and I'm guessing it will provide them with a couple entertaining minutes of immature jokes when they read it while sitting behind me at a red light.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day for running; sunny, warm and with clear blue skies. So I put on my running gear and I headed out for a four mile run.

The reason I mentioned fartleks is because I did some of them during my run today. It has been said that beginner runners like fartleks because they involve speedwork but are not as demanding as traditional interval training. Yep, that's me - a beginner and hates anything demanding.

So I incorporated some fartleks into my run. It was fun because it was a change from just plain ol' running which, I admit, can get kind of boring at times.

 Yesterday's run took me along the Western Canal Powerline where I got to see horses, goats, geese, ducks, and a smattering of dogs. It also took me across three major road crossings all of which luckily had signaled crossings. Usually I'd have to wait anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute to actually cross the roads so after that brief break, I'd fartlek for a couple minutes. It felt good.  =)

Unfortunately my run wasn't quite as wonderful as it could/should have been on such a nice day. I felt really hot and was sweating a lot even though it was only 75 out. And my heart rate was higher than it normally is for a run of this length - in the 170's instead of the 160's. I'm sure if I was one of those lean runners it would take much less work to propel my body around at 5 mph.

       Here's one last photo from yesterday.........

Today I will be doing a workout at the gym. Maybe the elliptical, maybe cycling, maybe the stairs, maybe all three.

I'll let you know how it goes and if I still feel the urge to fatlek.