Q: How long is a city block?

A: Long.

Especially this morning at 520! Raquel introduced me to speed training in an effort to mix up our work outs, increase time and build more lower body muscle. Prior to this morning speed training was something I had heard of but never looked into.

Well, folks...today was the day. I was speed training. The first few blocks were good, like keeping up with my trainer good...(if you remember a few blogs ago I posted a photo of a lady running "this is what I feel like when I run, this is what I look like when I run") I'm sure I was a hot mess sprinting but, I felt good. She said, "run like someone is chasing you"!

Then one of two things happened:
1. The adrenalin wore off and I tired (which is normal and what we're working to over come, heart/lung conditioning)
2. The city blocks got longer!!

I'd like to say number two, but let's be honest. I also decided not to wear my Garmin today, in an effort to focus on the health aspect and just praise myself for getting out there instead of how fast I went. When we were done Raquel told me that she tracked that we sprinted two total miles...WOW, that went by fast! So, if you're anything like me and unsure of what speed work is...we ran a block, jogged through the intersection and sprinted a block, repeat. Eventually we'll get to jogging the previous blocks and then sprinting, and hopefully get to timing out a distance, setting an attainable goal and meeting it.

I'm continuing to meet her weekly:
Wednesday - speed work
Friday - personal training and running
Saturday/Sunday - run

and attend strength training, spin, and yoga in between!

So, when Raquel asked me towards the end of the run, how far is a city block...my response was, long.

Running is a pain in the ass...but it'll give you a nice one ;)