Weekend Recap ~ More Biking/Running

This weekend was filled with lots of fun in the sun...100+ degree sun that is :) 

Saturday

Jason and I woke up bright and early and were out the door to ride the Total 200 - well the 200k.

Without going into a lot of detail as I will write up a report on it for tomorrow, the ride was good. There was some tears, lots of sweat, down trees and power lines, cokes, and smiles for the most part. This is the longest I have ever ridden my bike (128 miles) and maybe the longest I will ever ride it in a single day. I was mostly happy that I felt good through the 112 split mark and also realized that I will not be finishing the Louisville bike course in under 7 hours. But, that's ok. As long as I finish.

Once we made it across the finish line, I had more coke and a water. We probably hung out at the finish line for a half hour or so before riding back home. 

In the future I will not ride to this event and will be driving there! Getting back on my bike was the last thing I wanted to do to get home. I also was suppose to do a 4 mile brick run, but felt like I took such a long break and the finish line that I skipped it once I made it back to my house. I know, slacker.

After we made it back home, I showered and started to fall asleep on my couch before I realized that I wanted bacon cheese fries more than anything in the world. From Outback. Now I never really leave the city to go out to eat but I really wanted these fries. So we drove to Arlington not even thinking that most of NOVA has no power from the storm. Once we made it in the parking lot the restaurant had a tent and a grill set up as they had no power. Duh. Stupid Me. 

But they still were making hamburgers and fries and those still tasted really good! Along with getting some fro-yo once back in the city :)

Sunday

I normally run with the =PR= running group on Sunday and they meet at 6:30, but I wanted to get in some miles before we met up so I wouldn't be running in the 100+ degree weather for any longer than I had too. Let me tell you, I have never been so tired when my alarm went off at 5am. I literally had to pry myself out of bed. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was to run 15 miles. But I found myself getting dressed and eating a granola bar before leaving at 5:30. My legs hurt like no other for the first couple of miles. But, I got in a little under 7 miles before meeting up with the group. While running on my own, the thought meeting up with other people to run with kept me going. It was really something to look forward too. Once with other running buddies we ran on the Canal Path over in G-town. There were trees down all over the place and at some parts we had to crawl over them! 

Never the less, I felt good on this run for the most part and managed to keep at 9:30 pace despite slowing down and crawling over trees. I did call Jason with 4 miles to go though and asked him to please come pick me up from Georgetown. I really, really didn't want to take the metro home. And of course Jason came and picked me up because he is the best! Then I stuffed my face with not one, but two bagels and a whole made smoothie.

Afterwards I was tired and napped! It was great! I could not will myself in the pool, so instead treated myself to Lauriol Plaza and a pedicure.

I was asleep by 9 yesterday and got a great nights sleep. Lets go week #17. I'm ready for you!

Happy Monday All :)

Confidence run

Sunday I felt like death warmed over me, so I pushed back my final longish run before the B&A Half till Monday.

 

I was wondering how I was going to fit this run in since I coach after work and lets face it, I'm not a morning person. Although I know I will have to be a morning person sooner than later. I did set my alarm for 5:50 but turned that sucker off and got up an hour later :) Which left me with one choice, do an extra long lunch run.

 

And that's exactly what I did. Unlike Sunday my body actually felt awake and I was excited to run. Plus it was warm and sunny out which means I always wish I was running instead of sitting at my desk.

 

Running in the middle of afternoon can always be a little tricky food wise. I had a cup of dry cereal at 8:30, greek yogurt at 10, and an apple at 10:30. My stomach seemed happy with this during the run and didn't give me any issues.

 

I was out the door running by 11am and my legs felt so happy. I could tell I was excited to be running because my Garmin beeped 7:28 for the first mile. I knew I had to slow down and my second mile was a little slower at 7:52. I really didn't have a pace goal in mind at all for this run and really just wanted to be taking it easy, but I was feeling good and just went with the flow of things.

 

For the rest of the run I tried to ignore my Garmin, best I could. I passed the Lincoln and made my way down to Haines Point were I saw some cyclists out and I got jealous of them. I don't know when I started to get jealous of people riding? I have always gotten jealous when I see people running and I'm not, but now this silly thought has moved onto cycling as well. And with that I guess I can say I'm officially addicted to biking which is a good thing since I will be doing a lot of it. Anyhow, after leaving Haines at 15th St, I made my way back down to the Capitol, up the lovely hill and back around to my office.

 

It such a beautiful day out and I felt like I had a really strong run. My splits for miles 3 -7 were around 8:10 - 8:15 with my last mile at 8:05. I think pushing this run back one day was a smart move on my part because I would have struggled big time on Sunday and felt defeated when I was finished. But now, I can go into the B&A half with confidence and I can only hope I feel this good on race day.

 

Happy Tues All :) 

Week 3: HIM Training

I have nothing to really complain about from last weeks training. I actually thought I had an ok week besides one blah day. Here's how it went:

Monday: Rest Day ~ Bike 4 miles
Mondays are rest days on my schedule. I will always have a small amount of mileage though since I commute to work either by walking, running, or biking. This week I chose to bike.

Tues: Bike 27 miles, Run 5 miles
It was super nice out with a high of 70 for the day I think. I went into work from 6:30 - 3pm so I could ride at Haines after work. And it was just to nice out not to run so I met Carly for a nice easy lunch time run. It's always nice meeting a friend and being able to chit chat. I can't think of a better way to spend my lunch break.

Kristine was able to met me down at HP after work, so I had a bike buddy for the day as well. It was a nice easy ride as I am still getting used to my new tri bike. I am thankful though for the nice weather we have been having and it has been so nice to ride outside instead of on the trainer.

Wed: Run: 6.65, Swim 2500 yards
My new shoes came in the night before and I did a small run commute of 2 miles to test them out. My feet felt like I was running on fluffy clouds and I knew they were keepers. After work I attempted to do a tempo run. It was pretty much went like how you should not do a temp run! I went out way to fast and died at the end. My splits were: 6:51, 7:42, 8:06, 7:28. Last .65 were a cool down at 5:55.

Later in the evening I went to the pool with M while he was at his swim class. Swim felt great and I did a ladder that was 100-200-300-400-500 and back down. I somehow finished just as his class was finishing up and we stayed a little extra so I could tried to help M with his stroke.

Thurs: Bike 10.5, 20 min strength
Bike commute of 4 miles then a failed attempt on the trainer. I felt tired and unmotivated when I got home from coaching. I spun for 25 minutes and felt like I was doing it half assed so I just stopped. I was suppose to ride an hour, but I don't think the world is going to end that I only did half the workout. I did manage to do some gymnastics strength with the girls I coach though. I need to do more strength in general.

Friday: Run 5.64, Swim 2600 yards
In the morning I did a mile warm up run then did 5 x Capitol Hill repeats. This was my first day of hill work and I thought it went ok. I would like to add a couple more repeats so I need to remember to wake up a bit earlier.

After work I ran 1.5 miles to the pool so give myself a little more time before it closes for classes at 5pm. I had 50 minutes in the pool and set out to do 4 x 700s. I only managed to finish 3 sets and my last set was only a 500 before the life guards kicked me out.

Sat: Bike 31 miles
2 hours of biking glared at me on my schedule and I wasn't sure if I wanted to ride outside or on the trainer. In the end I was a cold weather baby and chose to ride inside. This is the longest I have been on the trainer and it wasn't so bad. I did a 15 min warm up, then 9 x (5min hard, 5 min easy) with a 15 min cool down. It also helped that I set it up in the middle of my aunts living room and I was surrounded by family. The best part of the ride was when my mom gave me a chocolate covered potato chip and hour into the workout. Yum.. thanks mom! I also thought it was cute that my cousin's son was asking me a bunch of questions. He is 5 and couldn't understand why I was riding my bike in the house...

Sunday: Run 11 miles
My mom made a great dinner on sat night that included roast beef, roasted veggies, and roasted red potatoes. I of course loved it so much I had leftovers for lunch on Sunday around 12:30ish. By the time I made it back to DC around 2 my stomach felt super full. I waited an hour to go run hoping my stomach would settle a bit. I still felt full an hour latter, but didn't want to wait and longer and lose my window or running while it was still light out. So out the door I went and from mile 1 - 11 my stomach killed me. I felt like was going to puke the entire time!

I wanted to stop, but at the same time I didn't. I had set a goal for myself of maintaining an 8 minute pace for this run. Surprising I actually maintained that pace despite feeling like shit. My splits were: 7:54, 7:47, 7:58, 8:01, 8:19, 8:03, 7:51, 7:57, 8:17, 8:01, and 8:07 :)

Total Miles for the week: 104

Happy Monday All :)

5 Things Friday

1. All I can say is that DC has had some crazy weather in Jan. Last Friday we had a mini snow storm (only DC would call it a snow storm) and this Friday it was super hot at 63 degrees when I stepped out the door this morning for my easy 2 mile run into work. I had long pants on and had to run back into the house to change. The entire time I was running I was like oh my gosh, I can't believe this is Jan. And of course the thought of "I wish I was biking right now" crept into my head as well.

 

2. My team has their third meet of the season this Sunday :) Which for me means I will be in the gymnastics world from 8 in the morning until around 9 in the evening leaving me no time to get my long run in. Not a problem at all. I just switch my long run (10-11 miles) to today. And with the weather being so nice (minus the rain) it should be an enjoyable run.

 

3. When I first started dating my M, our Friday nights consisted of either going out to dinner/drinks or partying with our friends. Oh how the times have changed! On Wed. he asked me out on a very special Friday night date: the pool! Yes, the pool :) M is on a mission to improve his swim and asked me to help him on his form/stroke. Even though I don't know if I'm on the best person to help him... 

 

4. On the nights I coach, I need to come up with a better nutrition plan. I work my full time job from 7:30 - 4. Run or bike home, change and am in my car driving by 4:15. Then I coach from 5 - 8:30 and sometimes swim afterwards (sometimes not) but I usually don't get back home until 9:15 - 9:30. It's a super long day. I currently bring a snack in the car which usually consists of the following: a cheese stick, a granola bar, and fruit snacks. Then when my team gets their 15 minute snack break I take one as well and eat a yogurt and a piece of fruit. But by the time I make it back home I'm super hungry.  I guess the easy solution would be to bring more a dinner type snack for the snack break. You would think after doing this for I don't know many years I would have figured it out by now, but I haven't.

 

5. I don't get to sleep in this weekend. I guess that is nothing new. Oh and I finally slept last night! I think my insomnia streak is over with.

 

Happy Friday All and I hope everyone has a great weekend :)

Sharing the Run Love

I am always trying to pass the joy of running (or tri-ing) onto others by encouraging them to run, bike, etc. Jason, I think, gets the blunt of my running talk and before he knew me he was staying active by drinking playing kickball. Since meeting each other he has ran a several 8ks, 10 milers, and a half marathon! Now, he still may not hold that special place in his heart for running like I do, but he has thanked me many times for helping motivated him. He recently thanked me for getting him into cycling, which made me feel so good :)

 

I try to talk just about everyone I know into running or tri-ing and tell them how good it feels when you cross the finish line a race.

 

I usually here stuff like this:

 

I don't have the time

Ummm... I don't think anyone really ever has time to do anything and it's an easy excuse. Time management is key and if you really want to do something, then you can always make time for that activity. It may mean that you have to get up an hour early or give up your hour lunch to go for a run instead. I think being a gymnast for so many years and practicing 20 hours a week while going to school really helped me joggle all that life throws at you. I actually like the challenge of trying to fit everything into one day.

 

I am not in shape

When I first started running I had never ran more than 2 miles and thought of running 26.2 just seemed ridiculous. It's never easy doing something for the first time, but the first step is really just putting yourself out there and trying. This may mean that you run for 1 minute and walk for 4 minutes and repeat for 20 minutes. And guess what? There is nothing wrong with doing that! As your fitness level improves, you can increase your run time and decease your walk time.

 

It's boring

I'll admit that running by yourself can be boring something, but it is also the best time to do all your thinking. And if doing things on your own isn't your thing and you need a little help with motivation the best thing to do is to join a running group! Most running groups have people running at all paces. I think that group running makes running social instead of an "OMG I have to run, what a drag." Plus surrounding yourself with other people who have similar interests and goals is very motivating.

 

Anyhow, this past weekend I had the chance to pass on my running joy to all of my nieces! Sharing is caring, right?? So, why not spread the running love to your family? My Dad acted as the finish line as we all lined up to run the 100 yard, ok maybe more like 50 yard, dash. It was so cute to see the girls run and they were having so much fun. And watch out for my niece, Grace, she is one fast chicky at 7 years old.

How do you get others involved in something you love?

Happy Thuesday All :)