Fun trips down Disney memory lane. I might have to jump in on that action soon. Right now though it is training update time.
Yesterday was my long run day for the week. I am on week 5 of
Hal Higdon's novice plan and it was time for a 6 mile run. That seemed like a really long run, but I had 3 hours to get it finished and I had those Vibram's to go look at for a reward. I got up in the morning and layed EVERYTHING out on the bed. I unpacked my entire run bag and set each set of clothing, and shower stuff, in its own pile. Then I double checked each pile before loading the bag. I actually made it all the way to the Y with all my clean clothing. Of course this was the one day that I wasn't having to be social afterwards.
I hit the treadmill swearing I was going to take it easy like I was supposed to be doing on my long run days. I did very good at keeping my pace down, but honestly, I had no choice. I got winded really quickly.
I think I have figured out my early morning run saboteur, my coffee.

Normally my body has enough time to process the extra caffeine before my runs, but not on those earlier runs. I am probably at the height of caffeine strength when I am trying to run at 9. What that translates to is an already increased resting heart rate therefore my heart really races when I am trying to run. As it is, most of the aerobic settings on machines hate me. My average heart rate during a run is in the 170s. By the time I get up to 185 I am really having to work to run. I've seen as high as 190 once or twice, but my body was telling me to STOP. I guess this means I have to bring my coffee to drink after morning runs.
But wait just a second... what better way to solve this problem then to get my own treadmill so I don't have to go anywhere for my runs. So that's exactly what I did.

I asked DH if I could get one way back when it started to get hot, but he said no. We've had several exercise equipments that were nothing more than glorified coat racks, so I understand his hesitation. I guess since he has seen me go to the Y 3 days a week all summer long, he realized I was serious about this running thing. We were at Sears yesterday and he saw one on clearance (regular price $1499, on sale for $539) and asked if I wanted it. Inside I was all

, but outside I was

. That is a lot of money, but since it was their last one we had to decide fast. I slept on it. We came home and read reviews. Everything we read was positive. So today we took measurements to make sure we could get it in the back of our van (seats out of course). It went in. But now we have a new problem. Those big strong guys that put it in there, didn't come home with us to take it out. We have a second much bigger problem... our house is currently a MESS. We are laying new flooring down in every single room. We have bedrooms in toy rooms, living room in the dining room, and kitchen and toy room is in the den. The treadmill is going in the den, but will have to live in the garage for a little bit. Talk about motivating to make sure the rest of this house gets done ASAP. I was thinking about taking a week "off" of the whole ordeal. Now I will be working on cleaning my bedroom out tomorrow.

That is the last room that has to be cleared before it can have flooring done. Unfortunately it has been the overflow room for all the other rooms so it is packed. It is scary bad in there right now. Don't yell fire in the middle of the night, I might break a leg trying to get over it. So without further ado... my new toy the
NordicTrack Elite Zi