NBD, except the last time I ran was wayyy back in the beginning of March. A couple of big hikes left my knees feeling pretty achey, so I've been doing a lot of swimming and other low impact workouts lately.
Today's run wasn't exactly planned.
When I was packing for our current trip to the US, I packed some fitness gear for swimming, yoga, hiking in Boulder and the possibility of a run or two. My knee has been very happy with the break from the pounding it takes while running, so going for a run wasn't super high on my list. Sad, but true. I made the choice to bring my wave horizons because they are pretty multi-purpose.
Bringing my running shoes turned out to be a good decision.
Three things about today's run:
1) The hotel fitness options are pretty poor. The small swimming pool is closed for maintenance and on my first trip to the fitness room I was disappointed to find that 2/2 treadmills were not working. Today I was fully expecting to do another elliptical workout, but was surprised to find one treadmill operational. I didn't waste a second getting on that thing.
2) Since the treadmill faces a wall, I opted to listen to music rather than mess with the built in TV. I went with a playlist called Grrl Power 2 from Rock My Run to listen to while I ran. I used it during my first Reach the Beach relay and it has stayed one of my favorites.
3) Intervals seem to keep my knee happy, so I stuck with what works: run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute. My interval timer was programmed for 8 sets, but I stopped after 7 when I had reached 3.14 miles. My legs felt kind of awkward at first but eventually they loosened up. I was running pretty slowly (5.0 then I bumped up to 5.2), but it's not about that anymore. It's about what makes my knee comfortable.
This run made me realize that I miss running. I like that my knee has been happy, but I'm not quite ready to hang up my running shoes yet. For now I will focus on getting ready for my next official race: the Queen Bee 4 Miler in Cincinnati in the fall.
Do you use hotel fitness centers when you travel?
Have a favorite playlist?
