I think I must be completely Goofy!

Tuesday - 3 miles

• 3.58 miles, 40' 02" minutes, 11' 11" min/mile average pace, 155 BPM average heart rate

I already know that I have caught the running bug. What are the clues that tipped me off you might ask? Let's see. (1) I go through withdrawals if I miss just one training run! (2) After I finished my first race, I signed up for 7 more, including 3 half marathons! (3) I am currently going through race withdrawals because I haven't raced in 3 months! I am pretty sure that I have gone from just catching the running bug to being fully infected by it. My proof of this is quite overwhelming.

Today one of my best friends, who is also infected by the running bug, informed me that she is going to be running her first full marathon on February 18th, 2012. She asked me if I wanted to join her. I actually seriously considered it! Now keep in mind that I am running the Rock 'n' Roll St. Petersburg Half Marathon the weekend before that! We decided that wouldn't be the best idea. Then I told her that my goal for 2012 is to train for and run the 2013 Walt Disney World Full Marathon. She thought that sounded really cool and I figured that was the end of it. I didn't stop there though. After we had decided to run the 2013 WDW Marathon, I told her about the Goofy Challenge. The Goofy Challenge is for those people who are brave enough (or just really stupid) to attempt running the WDW Half Marathon on Saturday morning and then run the WDW Marathon the very next morning. That got her even more excited. So she said that she wanted to do the 2013 Goofy Challenge instead and seeing as how I don't like to be out done I said that I would do it too! Am I crazy or what ?!? I haven't even run a half marathon yet, let alone a full marathon and I am already saying that I can run both on back to back mornings. When my boyfriend finds out, he might actually have me committed. I think I might not tell him until we actually commit to it.

After all of that talk about running craziness, I was really excited to get home and jump on the treadmill. I know that treadmill running is not the same as running outside. I actually prefer running outside but it is just way too hot to enjoy the run. Instead of doing my usual hill workout, I did an interval workout. After my five minute walking warm up, I increased the belt pace to 4.0 mph (without building up to it like I normally do) and pressed the interval button on the treadmill. I chose the 1-1 intervals, which set the high and low to the same limit (two minutes each). The low interval had a belt pace of 4.0 mph and an incline of 0%. The high interval had the same belt pace and an incline of 3%. I really liked this workout and I know that I can push myself harder than I did tonight. My average heart rate was well out of the zone that it should have been in. Maybe next time I do this workout , I will increase the belt pace or the incline of the high interval. I am glad that I didn't push myself too much tonight. As I was finishing my run, my left knee started to feel sore. I am thinking that it may be a result of the number of squats that I did during my workout last night. I need to be very careful with my form when it comes to my squats. My knees are crucial to my running.