Stationary Bike & Inspiration

I didn't feel bad waking up this morning after the 10k. There is a bit of tightness in the hamstrings and calves, but nothing more than what I felt after some of the marathon training runs. For my workout today, I decided to do 30 minutes on the stationary bike. I did a hills course at a low-medium intensity with an average rmp of 65. I did sweat, and it did get my heartrate up a bit, but nothing intense since I was still able to talk just fine. I love the feeling after you get off the bike where your quads feel incredibly powerful.

I also picked up a Runners World magazine today for some inspiration, and I'm glad I did. I've never read this magazine before, but now that I've been running a little more, many of the stories made sense. (E.g. how to overcome feeling overwhelmed by the distance of a run, etc.) There's a lot of runner lingo I still don't understand (what's a split?) but it was inspiring to read stories about other beginner runners, as well as Olympic athletes. For example, this month the magazine profiled the trials and triumphs of Olympic Athlete Shalane Flanagan. I was surprised to learn that she had never run a marathon until she did the NYC last year in her late 20s (mind you, she placed second for women). But her story was not full of victories - earlier in her running career, she burned out and collapsed several times at major competitions just before the finish line. I was very intrigued to hear and learn about other people's running styles and I will certainly pay attention to my own in the future. Also, the magazine was full of practical tips like how to pace yourself. They had a cool little pace bracelet you can print out for example, that you can use with your watch during a run to pace yourself for a specific time on a marathon.