Enjoying the Madness

I knew running hills the day after doing 1000 lunges was going to be rough, but I really wanted to stick to my schedule and see what I could do. (OK maybe not 1000…but a lot.)

My day started at 2:00 a.m. when I woke up and spent the next 2 hours trying to fall back to sleep. I was WIDE AWAKE. I don’t know what happened-I passed out at 10 (I was exhausted!) and then Bam! Wide awake. When my alarm went off at 5:30 I was surprisingly refreshed, so I jumped right out of bed and headed out to the gym.

I started out with a 10 minute elliptical warm up, stretched my legs, and headed toward the dreadmill of hell for a 20 minutes “Pike’s Peak” workout. I set my workout to max out at level 5, and within the first 5 minutes I was already gasping for breath. Halfway through it I was wondering if I should stop and walk, but I kept thinking about the races I have planned this year and the hills that will come with it.

“Remember the Boilermaker 15K from last summer? Remember how hilly that race was? Remember the Rockville 10K you ran last fall and how that hill at the last part of the race kicked your ass? Yeah, that’s right. Suck it up Nicole, it’s only for 20 minutes!”

That got me through it. I keep having to remember that training runs are just that: training. I don’t need to run at any particular pace, I don’t need to beat any kind of goal, I just need to do it. Once I got that through my head, I was able to finish the 20 minutes and even add a few minutes more to the end for a cool down.

I’m actually surprised that I wasn’t very sore from yesterday’s crazy burpee workout. My legs are a little sore but my arms weren’t, and when I say I did at LEAST 50 push ups, I’m really not exaggerating that one. Maybe I’m getting stronger without even realizing it?

Then just after noon, the madness began.

My brackets are ALREADY screwed (Hey Jude, if you’re reading this, your Notre Dame Fighting Irish SUCK!!! I was so stupid to have any kind of faith in them!!)

Ehem…getting back my composure…

Do you love March Madness? Did you fill out your brackets? I love it. It’s just so exciting and so much fun to watch. I fill out my brackets every year and every year I lose (although last year I was 2 points away from winning the $1000 office pot.) Go ‘Cuse!