elliptical; 20K at last!

Yesterday: 20 min elliptical in the morning (got up late before breakfast date with dad, so squeezed in what I could), and then another 40 min elliptical in the afternoon. Walked over to the Student Life Center from work; it took 10 min to walk over there, which isn't bad. That's pretty convenient for a workout during the workday, if needed. Unfortunately I don't usually have time to fold that into my workday except on Thursdays & Fridays. Because I work 30 hr/wk, I work only 5 hr on Mon-Wed and then a longer day Thursday & Friday. My 5 hr days are always packed full with no flex at all. I might be able to leave home early and work out on my way in to the lab, but that is tricky with making sure the kids get off to school OK. Ah, the life of a working mother is complicated - in a good way.

Today: At last, I made it to 20K again. The last time I went that far was the Canyonlands Half Marathon last March (not counting the SLC Half Marathon in April, because I didn't racewalk that - mostly just fast walking and casual walking). It was good to go the distance, and I had moments when I glimpsed my old self again - times when I felt fluid and fast and good, like everything was clicking into place. Those moments were all before 15K though :). After 15K I was just really, really tired, but I didn't end up as slow as I thought I might have. It went pretty well even though I did want it to be over! 5K splits were 31:44 (slight downhill), 32:15 (mostly flat), 32:10 (mostly flat), and 32:30 (slight uphill). Very consistent. Good job (pats self on back). Total time was 2:08:38 for 6:26/km with ave HR 147. For my first 20K of the year, that seems pretty good. Now I just have to stay healthy and feel good and maybe my old mojo will come back. Garmin data here. 

Side notes: I took Sugar with me (photo at left a while after our walk), and she made it the whole 20K! At first I could not get her to drink at the doggie water fountain at Liberty Park, but then I realized she was scared of the dripping water, and so I pulled out the dish for her to drink and she greedily sucked it down. Poor thing! At least we have it figured out. I need to get one of those portable water dishes for dogs for my longer walks so I can take her to the Jordan River Parkway, which is where I really wanted to go this morning. In another note, the weather was absolutely stunning this morning. It was 8.9C (48F) when I started out and by the end of my walk I was too hot in capris and a long sleeved shirt. Oops. It wasn't terrible though, as I wore a white shirt. It was sunny and beautiful, and it seemed like half the city was out enjoying the weather. Once it's above 60F (15C) around here, people start wearing shorts and flip flops, and today was no exception.