Shortly after the 3-mile mark I realized I would have to hustle if I wanted to match my previous best time, but somewhere in my overheated brainmeats I was operating on the mistaken notion that my previous best was 46m flat. And of course it wasn't, it was 46m30s. So I huffed and puffed at a 5.5ish mph pace, and at the 3.25mi mark it was obvious I wasn't clearing the 46-minute mark, but I rode out the last .05 mi at that pace anyway. It wasn't until well into my cool-down phase or perhaps even the shower, that I realized I had in fact raised that bar after all.
Oh, and cold water onry in the fucking showers. Every time I turn around, they've put up another wallboard partition or rebuilt the stairs to the cardio equipment deck in the main gym area, but the locker room amenities are a little bit more broken.
It's become part of the routine to hit Subway between the gym and home. "Gym days" I typically have my vitamins and omega-3's with wake-up coffee, a Dunkin's egg-and-cheese and more coffee on my way to the office, and go straight from the office to the gym - so by the time I'm out of the gym I'm feeling ravenous. And from everything I've read, it's perfectly appropriate to chow down on some protein right after the working-out. By happy coincidence, Subway started serving omelette sandwiches all day not long ago. It's a fairly generous amount of egg; egg protein is remarkably pure and complete; it's in the bottom pricing tier at $5/footlong; and the price includes an additional meat, and the standard cheese selection. I typically roll with turkey, and the shredded cheddar is one of the highest-protein cheeses on the menu.
Today I splurged a little though, and went with the "Big Philly" (i.e. a double-meat steak sandwich) with provolone, pickle, black olive, banana pepper, jalapeno, oil + vinegar. 1080 calories, 75g protein, 100%DV calcium and 50%DV iron.