Training Day 7!

Ahh--what a beautiful day! I can't even tell you guys how much I love Fridays and the opportunity to do absolutely nothing for at least a few hours.

Today was cross-training day:

• 40 minutes of cardio on the elliptical--sheesh--so boring! I can't believe I used to do hour-long workouts on that thing on a regular basis.
• 2-mile run: 17:50! my fastest yet. That includes slowing down to tie my shoe since the pause buttons don't work reliably on the junky gym treadmill. heck yes! But, I found this pace pretty intense, and my heart rate was at 173 at the end--a little high for my liking. I'm not going to try to push for speed much more for a while.
• 1/2-mile cool-down walk
• strength circuit and situps
• stretch

I burned about 800 calories just at the gym today--that doesn't even include my bike ride to and from. I'm definitely going to grab a beer or two this evening :)

Also, I probably won't be posting many pictures because I don't want to have to carry my camera. But here's the park where I'll be doing my long runs:



The rose garden is in full bloom in these; right now it's all pruned back. This is an extremely popular running spot for the lunchtime crowd, although I have no idea where they shower. Anyway, it's very peaceful on weekends and should be a great place to run, especially since it's pretty well shaded--nice during the 100-degree heat of July and August...and September and October... :)

Happy Friday buddies!