Kelsey is back home for the holidays. She has already started working out in prep for the 10K. She and her BF have been going to the campus gym a few times per week all semester long. I had better get my act together if I want to compete. I've only recently started prepping for the April 14th 10K.

Last night Kel and I did our first workout together at neighborhood gym. She jogged a fast 1.5 miles. I did a 32 minute aerobic workout on the elliptical. It was surprisingly easy, considering the fact that this was my first extended aerobic workout since the 10K last spring. As is typical for me, I felt like quitting after 2 minutes, then it got easier. I spot checked my heart rate a couple of times. It was in the 130 to 150 range the whole workout. When the 30 minutes was up I was cruising along just fine and could easily have continued on. The only reason I stopped was because Kel was done and waiting for me to finish. Like last year, I did a sprint at the end - one minute of pushing my speed to the max. I got my heart rate up to 170 BPM. That's about what my max heart rate is supposed to be for my age. So my ticker seems to be doing fine. I had no ill effects from this first longer cardio workout. I felt great afterwards. I just need to start making a routine of it - 3 (or so) times per week.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 66 degrees. I want to take advantage of that. I may go to the middle school track and try my luck at a longer slow jog. I'm sure I'll feel that one the next day, but I've got to get started on the "real thing" some time. Last year I didn't do real jogging outside until the last month before the race. I felt that I was less ready for that race than I could have been. That was a mistake that I don't want to make again this year. My goal is to finish this 10K in under 60 minutes. To get to that I'm going to have to put in some serious work.