Bike and Run.

A beauty of a day today! It's actually nicer than the picture (certainly warmer). I managed to bike in to work today. I did a different route than normal - this time taking Haley Farm (including a tough hill to get there). I had thought it would cut down on mileage - but when I estimated it on Google Earth, it came out to be ~9 miles, less than a mile saved - and one extra mean hill. If that wasn't enough, I did a slow 4 miles with a friend of mine from work over lunch and will have to bike home as well. So the weekly 'equivalence' mileage should be around 23 (5 swim, 4.5 bike and 14 running), which is good, although I wish I had a longer 'long' run. Nevertheless, I'm setting up to have a nice 4 week run before the JP Morgan race.

I Need to Bike

So I made it out for ~5 miles today (a little less). I didn't have my watch, but that counts as my 'long' run for the week. Tomorrow I need to bike into work. I've had a tough time gearing up and getting out on the bike - so I really need to get off the shnide.

Finally, a Swim

Tonight I made it over to the empty YMCA pool for 1350 yards of swimming. It was my first non-run workout in 2 weeks and felt difficult. I mainly struggled with the breathing. I'll split the next 2 days between a run and a bike.

Spring Intervals

Today I started my spring intervals. I headed over to Con College early (~4:00) so that I could still eat dinner with the family. I wanted to start with 5x1000s, but didn't feel great - so I only did 4x1000 at a 6:10 min/mile pace. They felt ok, but my stomach was queezy (to much drinking on Memorial day?), so I didn't push the extra lap.

Four Days in a Row

Today I did 4.5 miles at lunch to cap 18 miles in four days. This was unintentional of course - I missed my swim, wussed out of the bike... Now we have the 3 day weekend - so I'll likely be hitting another 4 in a row day next week, although (hopefully) it'll be more varied: track, swim, bike, long/trail. We'll see.

Filling out the Week

So it's been a busy week at home and at work. I did 5 miles yesterday with Dave from work at a pokey pace. My legs still felt like dog meat after the hills the day before. I ended up skipping the swim workout so that I could help my wife setup for my 2-year old's birthday party (which is tomorrow evening).

Still, after missing Monday's run, I needed to get out again today. I initially wanted to bike in today but the rain discouraged me, so I ended up leaving work a little early and going for what turned out to be a beautiful trail run - back at bluff point. I just did one loop (~3.6 miles) at another slow pace since the legs are still sore. I was absolutely stunning out - the sun was shining, but it was in between rain storms so everything appeared very bright and clean. I saw some very vivid blue jays, red wing black birds and even a racoon scooting along the trail.

Now, I'm left with the need for yet another run or bike tomorrow - as I need to boost my mileage some more, but I've also got to get home reasonably early for the big party. It's just a busy week. Oh, and Jen has a new car.

Final Team Hill Run

Finally. It's over. Today we did the last hill ladder: 2x(45,90,120). Which is a grand total of 8:30. My legs felt supremely sore during the hills and on the way back - I'm guessing from the TTR last Friday. They'll get a swim day tomorrow and a possible bike day Thursday to recover before a 'long' run Friday.

Twilight Trail Run 2008.

Last night was the Twilight Trail Run out at Bluff Point State Park. As it has the last 3 year, it rained on and off the whole night. Despite the rain, the weather was almost perfect for running - temps in the low 50's and breezy, but not windy. I felt very good early and pushed the pace more than I planned, since after a little bit I felt as though I could get a pretty good time. Racing without my lost GPS probably helped. I kept the leg turnover going, but tried to pull up a little until I had made it around the Bluff Point loop, then I made a push along the Amtrak rail line and around Haley Farm. At that point I knew I was probably running a good time. I ended up strong, but exhausted: 53:45 good for a 7:15 pace - much better than the previous years.

I then hung out for about an hour for waiting for the raffle drawing. I never stayed around for the raffle - just about everyone won something - I won $50 dollars of car washes. So if you live in the area and need a car wash, let me know. I wrapped-up the night getting some rice-spice and noodle 'drunken noodles' and a mic-ultra (I forgot to throw the Cottrell in the fridge).

Not that they read the blog, but I'd like to thank the race organizers, the many massage volunteers and the ham radio geeks. And of course, I'd like to thank my wife for the support and the night off.

Today, I got up at 6:30 with the kids, and feel a little sore, but not too bad. My total mileage for the week tops out at 23.5 miles (liberally including my walk and swim). I have one more week with hill training, then a few track weeks before the JP Morgan Chase run. I'm feeling pretty good about heading into that, since my first 2 runs this year have went very well. I'm pretty convinced that bumping up my weekly mileage and sticking with a weekly long run has really helped.

Another Swim

I think I need to change things up a little next week. Getting out for the swim felt like a drag. I ended up swimming well: 1x400, 4x400, 6x50 and 6x25 with a 100 warm-up: 1350 yards (~4.9 em). I'll take it easy today and then run the Twilight Trail Run Friday. My only goal is negative splits and sub 1 hour time - since I'm still considering this spring as an aerobic base build.

Ugh. More Hills

Seven down (ok, six for me) and one to go. Today felt tough. It didn't help that the wind would blow me over after ~60 seconds into the interval. The ladder today was: 45,60,75,90,105 and 120 - for a grand total of 8 minutes and 15 seconds. For the second day in a row, I got hit by a stick. And my engine light is on...

Horrible Day For Running

Miserable, especially for May. I did the Jupiter Loop which is about 4.3 miles. I didn't have a watch, but the pace was slow - but not as slow as I would've went if I hadn't been freezing. I would guess ~ 7:50 min/miles. I also got hit by a wind-blown stick that fell from the tree. It did no harm, but was close enough to my eye to scare me a little.

Friday Night Swim

Swim. Survivor on the DVR - that's my Friday night. I did a quick 1000 yards at the Y pool: 100 warmup, 400, 4x100 and 100 cool down. That probably caps my 'milage' for the week at 18. Not great - but not bad. I'm glad I made it to the pool - otherwise, it would've been 4 days with nothing.

Beer

It's why we run.

I'm stalled at 14 miles this week. I hope to get to the pool Friday. Saturday?

10K Today

Today I (almost) ran 10K - 6.12 miles in 51:36 (8:26 min/mile pace). I would have rather run this later in the week, but the weather is suppose to sour the next few days. The run felt pretty good - although I didn't have much in me after the hills yesterday.

6th Hill Workout

Ok, my 5th, but 6th on the team schedule. 3x60, 2x90, 1x120 - good for 8 minutes of hill running. The arch and legs felt a little sore heading out but warmed up ok. I feel a little queezy now - but not horrible.

5K+ Again

This time I ran it pretty fast - probably faster than what's good for me - but it felt good. The total distance was 3.22 miles, and I covered it in 22:16 - a 6:55 pace. It's good to know I still have some speed. Weather wise, this was a perfect day for running. Tomorrow, I'll do another hill workout. I should be able to get a run or swim in every day this week - so total mileage should be getting up there again.

Quality of Quantitiy

I really dropped-off this week for total mileage. However the week's 3 workouts included (1) my fastest recent run, (2) my longest swim (ever) and (3) my longest run this year. The last one occurred today over lunch: 8.83 miles in 1 hour and 14 minutes - good for an easy 8:23 min/mile pace. Since I missed 2 workouts this week - my total mileage was only ~18 miles. The other thing I liked about the run was that it's a solid 15-20 minutes longer than the TTW - which will be in 2 weeks - I always like to get a few runs in that are longer than the goal race - and I've done that with these last 2 long runs. The bad about today: drizzle - but an unusually strong drizzle. It kept me cool during the run - but led to some nipple chaffing. I'll apologize in advance to confused nursing mothers looking for advice. I can't help you, but I feel your pain! I noticed chaffing problems during the New Haven 20K, after getting doused by a hose. I'll have remember to band-aid up before running in wet clothing.