Giving Blood and Running a Mini Marathon with Chris' 5:00 Interval Training

Howdy Project Pilots!

First off , this entry title does NOT mean I gave blood, THEN ran a Mini-Marathon!

I wanted to mention first about giving blood. Jen and I do it regularly. Jen has been deferred a few times due to low iron, but if you have that problem, check this out! The blood center will put you on a great iron supplement FOR FREE!! And give you good education materials to make sure you are eating what you need to boost your iron.

I am all for everyone donating. And once you start doing it, it becomes second nature. And the needle isn't half as bad as the anticipation of it......like most things :0)

And yesterday I gave platelets, which takes longer because they put everything else back in you. The good thing is your recovery time is less with platelets.....and they are always in huge demand because leukemia patients need the clotting factor in platelets....am I even spelling that right?!?!

Anyway. I say give it a try.....good karma.....AND you can call ten days after you donate and find out your blood type and your cholesterol! AND AND AND!!......many times you get a wondeful "prize" for giving. This week Jen and I got $40 gift card for the Outback Steakhouse!! One time we got free passes for King's Island! Of course the real reason to give is to help the great need for blood, plasma, platlets, ect......but the extra stuff you can get doesn't hurt.....

I think we'll use the Outback for a celebration at the end of the twelve weeks....which ain't that far off!!

Okay! Now for running the mini:

I expanded Chris' interval training to match a longer run. Instead of running at an RPE of 8 for 5 minutes, I extended it to about eight minutes, then took about a 90 second RPE of 6.5. Then I was back up to 8 for eight minutes. I did this for about 50 minutes. I think if I had been able to sustain that pace, I would have broken a personal best for half marathon time. But I decided to pull back a bit because of fatigue and the fact that I really hadn't had a day of rest in a week. I finished the mini in 91:19. About two minutes off my best time. But I am interested in trying to do a whole mini with the interval mindset and see how I do. I think it will take some building up to be able to endure it, but I'm game!!

I really love tweaking my running with Chris' interval work, particularly the Monday run.

And these last weight workouts began today......holy crap! Where did he think of this stuff? And the combo of excercises!!! I have a real love/hate relationship with it......but mostly love. Helps to have my honey workin' alongside me........

Have a great week 9 everybody!

Peace and pushups....

-Rob