I had a little trouble figuring out the pace to start - as I was running this summer, I learned to think of things in terms of 5K pace, 10K pace, marathon pace, etc. To translate that to effort percentages was a little challenging. I did OK, I think. I was constantly tweaking my speed, but I guessed pretty close for the most part. We did hill intervals, speed intervals, and a few really nasty sets that combined hills and speed. To which I said, well, not much, really, since I was pretty much sucking wind at that point and praying for the 30 or 45 or 60 or however many seconds to be over already. It was tough. By the end, I was winded, sweaty, and my heart rate was up. It was awesome. So I went back for more this morning. Today's workout was slightly different, focusing on speed more than hills - this is good. I feel like I can do this class twice a week without killing myself, and so that is the plan from now on. It's a lot more interesting than straight running for that time, and I feel like I'm getting more bang for my buck, so to speak, even if I do only cover 3-3.5 miles in the course of the class (according to the treadmill).

One thing I will say about this class - it's fun. Today, we had a 2-minute sprint interval. I started it at 7.0 MPH, and then gradually kicked it up over the course of the two minutes, realizing that I could actually go faster. By the time the interval was over, I was cruising along at 7.7 MPH, or 8:00 pace. I may have only held that pace for 15 seconds, but it was a cool feeling to be going that fast. It was an even cooler feeling to think I could have gone faster and/or longer.

So, because I like this class and I think it'll do me some good over the winter, I'm revising my off-season plan. I'm tossing the mileage guidelines out the window, and I'm just going to run by time. The treadmill class is 45 minutes long (although we only spend about 40 minutes of it running), so I'll do that twice a week. Then I'll try to get in another weekday run of an hour, and a weekend run of 1.5 - 2 hours. Add in a day of swimming, and a day of biking, and I think I'll be all set for the next couple of months. The next trick is to figure out how to get workouts in on Mondays and Wednesdays. I've been working from home on those days, and so far, I've failed to either get up early enough to run before work or get my butt out to run at lunch. After work isn't an option, partially because it's dark, but also because I just don't have time - in order to get to my Japanese class in the suburbs on time, I need to leave pretty much right after work. Since I no longer have the long, no-good, very bad, horrible commute into the office, I'm thinking about giving up my work from home days so I can go to the gym before work. (Yes, I realize I could get up, go to the gym, then come back home, but that just doesn't appeal to me at all, especially since the gym is wickedly close to the office.) Thanks to my new-and-improved commute, I'll still get home in time to leave (immediately) for class, especially if I sneak out a bit early. Maybe I'll try that on Monday, see how it works out.

Also, I'm pleased to report that the strengthening and toning classes are going well. The woman who teaches that is the same woman who does the treadmill class, and, while she's tough, she's not the Crazy Workout Nazi that was covering for her the first time I did the class. As a result, I totally could have run yesterday if I'd managed to get my butt out the door, and had no problems with the speed and hill drills this morning. Also, during the circuit training classes, she goes around the room and lets us know if our form is OK, or if we need to fix something. This is something I don't think I've ever seen an instructor do, and it's nice. (Although, there have been a few times where I've felt like I've been working, she's made an adjustment, and then it just got HARD. While I may not have appreciated it right then, at least I know I won't be forming too many bad habits on her watch. Nor will I be killing myself.) Plus, a lot of her exercise incorporate a balance or core strength component - Tuesday morning, we did one-legged squats, and today, we did shoulder exercises and push-ups on a BOSU. As I am quickly learning, I have horrible balance and a fairly weak core, so these things will definitely help that.

In summary: gym, good. Classes at the gym, good. Building core strength, super-good. By the time my next marathon training cycle starts in January or February, I'll be ready to rock and roll.