I got a great book on V's recommendation: The Competitive Runner's Handbook. I'm already 100 pages into it and I'm fascinated by how little I know! I've realized a few things though.

1: I'm running too fast for training. Seems odd to say that. So I went by what the book said and slowed my pace down to 10:30 today and my goal was 6 miles. I haven't done that in a year! I was really looking forward to my "easy" day, but it was anything but. That last half mile was brutal. My ankles and knees are very upset with me. Not an injury, but sitting on the couch with my heat packs feels wonderful. I'm confused though since the book said I should be at about 70% max HR for this pace. I was more at 90%. Also, I should be able to hold a conversation, which I couldn't. I didn't feel bad, just very tired.

So that's #2: I need to base my pace/distance on my heart rate. But I feel so slow at that pace, it's really hard to do. I guess my muscular fitness/endurance level isn't matching with my cardiopulmonary fitness. Seems weird to me.

So #3: I need to improve my aerobic capacity and endurance. More lower-intensity workouts and cross-training.

Which leads me to #4: I need to find out what my max HR is and what my VO2 is. I'm going to test myself tomorrow. I'm almost afraid to find out.

Lastly, I need to lose some fat weight if I want to go faster. Not much, maybe a few lbs. Thing is, I don't want to lose weight. I like how I look and feel. I'm not skinny, but I don't want to be. I like being able to eat 3 cinnamon rolls (like I did Monday night) and not gain weight. I like not having to count calories and ending up eating 1000 calories for lunch like I did today. I don't want to watch what I eat! Unless you count watching it go down my gullet.

So now I need to decide: what do I want, and how bad do I want it?

P.S. I changed the song--here's another one that gets my feet moving. Feel free to change it to your own favorite!