Sunday, May 29, 2011

elliptical again

Well, at least I've been getting some good reading in. I like the elliptical for that reason - I can read while I do it, unless I'm doing hard intervals, and then forget it. No reading possible when my HR is above 155, for sure.

So far I've read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand (author of "Seabiscuit", which I also read and enjoyed), which is about Louis Zamperini, an Olympic miler (1936 Olympics) who gets captured by the Japanese in WWII. Fascinating read, though very difficult to hear about the indescribably awful conditions in the Japanese POW camps. I'm almost done reading it, but because I can't just read one book at once, I'm also reading (as of today) "Pathfinder" by Orson Scott Card. Card is probably my favorite author; he's got an amazing knack for storytelling, and a talent for getting inside of people's heads and understanding the way they think and what makes them tick.

Today I did 10 miles (16km) on the elliptical in 71:40, for a 7:10/mile pace. I doubt I could actually run that fast for that long, but it's fun to imagine that I could. In any case, I'm training to keep up my fitness for racewalking and for some hiking in Bryce and Zion National Parks when my coach Jim comes here in June.

I cooled down for a few minutes, so total time was 1:15, which is a longer workout these days...sigh...I miss racewalking. But i do enjoy the reading, and I'm grateful for equipment to cross-train.

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