Super blend for a workout!

Tonight I tried to shake things up a little bit, so I did a combination of several different workouts. Loved it!

First, I did 135 abdominal crunches on a machine -- basically it was 9 sets of 15 and included the front, left and right abdominal muscles or three sets of 15 for each side. Confusing? Probably not worth explaining, but it's much harder than sit-ups and was done with 45 lbs. each time.

Then I hit an elliptical machine and did 10 minutes on that. I've never really used one before except for a few minutes, so this was a nice warm-up for my run. It was kind of awkward at first, but I can see mixing this in occasionally as part of a workout. The low impact can be very helpful.

For my run, I decided to do a blend of tempo running and speed intervals. The first mile I ran in about 8:20 to get going. Then I dropped down to a 7:30/mile pace and alternated running at 6:53/mile pace for 1 min. 40 secs then switching back to 7:30/mile pace for one minute. I did six sets of this, before cooling down at an 8:34/mile pace.

Ultimately, my total run including warmup and cooldown was done in 30:57. It was 4 miles long for a total overall pace of 7:44 per mile.

I thought today's Runners World Quote of the Day was appropriate:

"Do quality workouts year-round, including during the winter. You're less likely to get injured because you won't hurry the training process, and you'll race better because you build fitness on a solid foundation."

Brad Hudson, elite coach

Happy running!