Analyzing Monday’s Workout

I thought it would be instructive to analyze the great workout I had yesterday. So I am breaking the whole thing down into time sequence.

The path my workout took began the night before, when I stated watching the Phillies – Rockies on TV just after 10:00. Gotta love the people who set these sports schedules – clearly they don’t live in the East. So starting Sunday night, here is the chronology of my Monday workout.

Sunday 10:10 PM – start watching the ballgame. Go Phillies!

Sometime between 10:40PM and 11:30PM – fall asleep in recliner. Give me a break, I had hiked 10 miles earlier that day on three separate hikes.

11:31PM – wake up and realize I’ve been sleeping

11:35PM, go to bed, vowing to get up and run in the morning

Monday 7:15AM – wake up, looks like a good morning for a run – very cool and cloudy. But I still feel sleepy. Need caffeine!

7:25AM - start drinking a cup of tea

7:45AM – decide that it is too late to go for a run, because we are driving up to LL Beans in Northern Virginia later. Have another cup of tea, work on the computer, and listen to music instead. Plus we are going for a hike on the way back from LL Beans, so who needs a run?

9:40AM – leave for LL Beans

11:55AM – arrive at Tyson’s Corner Mall and find a place to park.

1:30PM – leave LL Beans and being hungry, walk all over the place looking for a place to have lunch, eventually settling on Panera Bread

2:25PM – Wow, “Cake Love!” We’ve heard about that place on the Food Channel. Those cakes look great, and the sign says "Nothing sold here is fat free!" No kidding! Buy four cupcakes, two of which have a remaining life of about 60 minutes.

2:45PM – leave the mall to head out, deciding to go to the REI store instead of a hike. It’s not the greatest hiking weather and I’ve wanted to go to the REI store for a while.

2:46PM – grind to a halt in the famous Northern Virginia rush hour traffic.

3:30PM – arrive at REI. Two cupcakes are selected for sacrifice. Their gallantry will always be remembered.

4:00PM – leave REI and take a back way to I-95. Once on I-95, the traffic is amazingly light for any time of day, much less rush hour. Wonder briefly if a lethal virus has struck the country in the last half hour and wiped out 90% of the population.

5:55PM – arrive home

6:30PM – arrive for my one hour water aerobics class, my only workout of the day.

7:50PM - eat a nice plate of pasta for dinner. Have to replace all those carbs I burned, right?

8:45PM - Ice cream! We have ice cream! And not just any ice cream - Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk. No better way to top off a strenuous day!

Talk about the best laid plans. Moral of the story, which I sure I will ignore in the future: if you planned a run, and you get up in time to go for a run, go for a run!