Pushing Boundaries

I had my second training session with Ed over at Strength, Fitness, and Speed, Inc. this morning.  Last week's workout left us both surprised.  I expected to be a blubbering mess on the floor by the end and Ed must have too.  Instead we were both pleasantly surpised at how much of my fitness has returned post-baby.  I did my 3 mile run before I went and was scared it was going to make the training even harder but I surprised myself and excelled beyond both of our expectations!

Today, I knew Ed would be ramping things up a little but I was less nervous.  We did some plyo drills, some strength training, and some circuit training.  I was a little sore afterwards but not as much as I expected.  I put off doing my scheduled 4 mile run for a few hours for fear I would feel it then.  However, I finally sucked it up and jumped on the treadmill.  (I still haven't braved the snow/rain yet!) 

Once again I was pleasantly surprised.  I figured I would just go all out and see if I blew up or not.  I started out at a 10 minute mile pace (yes, I'm slow, I know...) and stayed there for mile 1.  Mile 2 I pushed to a 9:30 minute mile pace.  That actually didn't feel too bad!  I had an outside chance at breaking my official 5K PR of 29:59 (I pulled a 27:xx in training but never in a race).  I kept pushing the speed through mile 3 until I got to 7MPH.  I managed to hold myself together to the 5K mark and shaved 6 seconds off that race PR!  I was elated (and wheezing, choking, red-faced....)!  I wasn't sure how well I would finish off that last mile to get my scheduled 4 but I didn't want to chicken out now.

I kept pushing, dropping back only to a 10 minute mile pace instead of 11 or 12.  I got myself to the 3.8 mile mark and notched the speed up to 6.5 MPH and then edged up to 7MPH for the final tenth of a mile.  I finished that 4 mile run in 39:45, an average pace of 9:41!  A truly amazing accomplishment for a penguin like me!  I'm going to rest up and really hope that I can break my pre-baby PR less than 4 months postpartum.  And, if the weather is only 20-ish degrees like they're forecasting, then there's an outside chance I could snag myself another age group award! 

I have to say I'm pretty fond of my newfound pain tolerance and 'speed'!  I'm starting to think I do have an outside chance of having a good first marathon and setting a new PR at the Rachel Carson Challenge this summer and still being able to walk in the days following.  So here's to pushing ourselves beyond our wildest dreams and finding that perserverence and determination are the keys to opportunities doors!