Inside Long Run: Sadness

It's raining.  It's been raining here since Sunday, which is when I would've liked to have done my long run.  Here we are at Thursday and I was getting desperate.  I knew I was going to have to do this mess inside.  Sigh.

Plan: Run on the track at least six miles, then go to the elliptical for at least an hour.  Try very hard not to go insane.

Route: I'm so sad because I had this excellent adventure at Elm Creek Park Reserve all mapped out.  Instead I was running in circles on an indoor track. 

Weather: Rain.  Clearly these bullet points that I created for my posts will never work for an indoor workout.

Execution - Run: I am surprised to report that the track running went better than expected and I stayed on the track longer than expected.  My initial goal was to run 6 miles on the track, with a possible bail point at 5 miles if I hated everyone.  Instead, I was able to keep my pace steady and my heart rate low.  At mile 6 I felt good and stayed out there.  At one point I had delusions of grandeur and was picturing all 10 miles done on the track.  By mile 7, the track was getting crowded and less fun for me, and my heart rate was creeping up.  So I stopped there and headed over to the elliptical.  I'm calling this a win.

Execution - Elliptical: It's always much easier for me to manage my heart rate on the elliptical.  With such precise measurements about incline and resistance, how could it not be? Even though this graph looks somehow worse than the running one, the heart rate is lower overall.

Nutrition: It was nice I didn't have to carry water with me.  The downside of track running is that I will not stop for water or food on the track, because I'll never get started again.  So I had a few gummies before I started, and a few at the end.  On the elliptical I had a couple gummies at 20 mins into the workout and 40 mins into the workout, and that was all the food I had.

Bonus: I have no photos because it's creepy to take photos at the gym. Sorry.