Diabolic Calories

This week has been successful from every perspective.

First, it has been the week with the highest number of miles for this year... Yeah, you know, I haven't logged as many miles as I'd want to... so, surpassing 20 miles became a highlight. A sunny Saturday closed the week with and easy run of 8.3 miles around Mukilteo.

Second, the tempo. Even though did not follow (again) the fine print of the plan, was close enough to be a good tempo. I take it...

And last but not least, my dear Intervals. They were awesome. Again 12 sets of 1/4 mile with 90" recovery at 8:34.... No life support or cheating this time for that matter!!! And to be unforgettable, a funny number registered the calories spent during the intervals, 666 diabolic calories.

From Washington to Washington, From Flowers to Snow

Last week on Sat 04/12, we Seattleites felt like if we were released from prison. The most beautiful day of the year was in front of us: a sunny sky and a summer temperature of 75F/24C. Seattle runners, GO!!! The parks were packed. I decided to join Green Lake runners and felt in ecstasy. It was extremely gorgeous. Spring was here, and everything was blooming. 2 laps, 6.4 miles was my plan. As there is one water fountain in the loop I didn't take water with me, because 3.2 miles is ok without water. Well, no, it was not ok. I forgot that 75F is hot for running, and I needed more water. After a lap, I knew that I was not going to be able to run 3.2 more miles without water. I ran another half a mile, to complete 3.7 miles and went home.

Not being happy with my short performance, I grabbed my fuel belt and went to Harbour Pointe in Mukilteo which is another of my favorites routes (pic above). Running under gorgeous trees in blossom, I ran 4.4 miles and then I felt satisfied with my 8.1 miles albeit they were done in two sets.

Then, I crossed the country, and arrived to Washington DC on Monday 04/14. The whole week was too beautiful to run. Yes too beautiful. I wanted to stop and "smell the flowers", so I traded a week of running for a week of walking so I could stop and see what was left of Cherry Blossom, enjoy my guys, my heroes, my monuments, and everything that relates to our nation's capital.










After that pleasant week, I arrived to Seattle to be knee-deep in snow. I was caught in a snow storm just driving home from the airport. At midnight I had 6 inches of snow....

Neither Green Lake on Saturday, nor Harbour Point. At 10 am the temperature was in 34F/1C and sidewalks were a mess. Guess what? Back to the treadmill!!!! No way I was going to work endurance again in the treadmill, so I tried to run a 5K sub-30.... HA HA... after a week of walking I got far from it....34:52. At least I tried....

Below pictures of my lateral and backyard last night, and the route around Lake Serene, and Harbour Pointe this morning. The Harbour Pointe pic is in the same spot than the picture above. See that last week there were not as many flowers as today.


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WARNING
I have noticed blog comments from spammers that say: check my blog, click here, or something like that. I did once and was a spyware site. Be aware and don't open anything like that. Also I recommend to delete them so other blogger friends that read our comments aren't caught in the trap.

Ten Miles of Insanity

Ten miles is a nice distance. I like it... but I like it outside. Seattle's weather didn't improve last week, so under 38F/3.3C I drove to the gym to work on the treadmill.

I used the strategy I had for my kids when they were teenagers and visited me at the office. Their behavior was, of course, way different than when they were little kids. They rolled the chairs around, and made fun of somebody else, danced behind a column so nobody could see them but me, etc... I always laughed.... besides telling them to be quiet, I always told them to look at a fixed point in the wall and don't move.... Of course it didn't work but gave them more fuel to make fun of me... After looking at the dot for a minute without even breathing, they always cracked me up.

That was my strategy last Saturday, to look at a fixed point in the wall. That was insane. The dot didn't make me laugh as my kids did... From time to time I looked through the window but the view didn't give me too much excitement.

The TV in front of me had the Slam Dunk Championship, and I couldn't understand how people get entertained with that, and worst than that, how people pay to see that. When the championship ended, more basket continued.














Notwithstanding being resigned with my three options (the dot, the window, and the slam dunk), the work out was good. I had a steady easy pace and completed Ten Miles of Insanity.

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PS: The intervals of the week were 3 x 1 mile at 8:34. Recovery of 3min. The first interval was completed. The second was reduced to 0.65 miles because I was about to die. The third was 0.75 miles. I think they were good, even though didn't follow the fine print of the plan.