Short but intense

I had a meeting yesterday at 3:00. I had another one at 6:30. I figured the first meeting would end by 4:00, I could wrap up a few things in the office, and get out for a run of at least an hour between the meetings. It didn't matter if I was sweaty and smelly for the second meeting; it was a teleconference.

But, the first meeting dragged on and on. And, I kept getting assigned new work as part of the discussion in that meeting. I finally got out of the office a little after 5:00. From there, it was a 15 minute walk to my car. Then, I had to change clothes and drive to where I could run on a bike path rather than on sidewalks and through traffic.

By the time I started, I figured I could run for 30 minutes and still make my meeting. So, I figured I had to make those 30 minutes count. I did a five minute warm-up, and then I did 10 x 1 minute repeats, with a one mine rest interval. According to my Forerunner, I was just under a 7:00 pace on average for the repeats. Not fast, but way faster than most of my recent runs.

Then, I had the meeting, I had to do some clothes shopping, get some dinner, etc. I never even went home last night. I stayed with some friends who live 10 minutes away from my office rather than driving an hour home and an hour back. I got to their house at 9:00, pretty much ready for bed, but we stayed up talking for a while.

Oh yeah, Monday night, I did an upper body workout. A few months ago, I got some advice from a guy who just broke the Vermont age 50+ bench press record. I can deadlift and squat more than he can, but he can bench press almost twice what I can. He spotted me on a failed attempt at a new high weight, and commented that I had a really close grip. So, I changed my grip and I instantly lost about 15 pounds on the lift. For the past couple months, I've been just clawing my way back to where I was. But, I feel more stable when lifting and I can feel that the wider grip is pulling more muscles into play. So ultimately, the change should be a good thing. Anyway, on Monday night, I finally got within 5 pounds of where I was a couple months ago. By the end of April, I hope to finally get the lift that I didn't make a couple months ago.

I think tonight is a rest night, lower body weights tomorrow and a longer run on Friday, before skiing this weekend. Saturday morning, when we start skiing, the temperature is supposed to be about 5F. No spring conditions to start that day.