Taking It To The Streets

After the great weather we had all week, I still didn't believe the forecasts for rain on Saturday. I was meeting Steven for a ride at 7:30am and when I left for his house there wasn't any rain or clouds to speak of. The plan was for us to take the tri-bikes if the weather cooperated. We rolled out a bit after 7:30 and were greeted with some wind (not a good sign for the trip home since it was still pretty early to be getting such wind).

The ride ended up being great......beautiful weather, nice mix of HILLS and flats. I was testing a forward seatpost on my bike and all signs seem to indicate that it will make a positive difference. My top-tube on the bike always felt a tad long so this eliminated that issue. My legs felt ok, still not 100% running but easier to fake it on the bike I think. In the middle of our ride we even had a celebrity sighting. Steven was in the middle of telling me about how we would ride right by the home of the family featured in "Little People, Big World", when we happened to ride right by Zach (one of the kids)....their house / farm was next.

Overall the ride went well...just a minor bobble at the end when we were maybe 20 minutes from Steven's house, I felt a bonk coming on so had to juggle riding with trying to get some calories via a gel pack. My fault, as I should have been more aware of how many calories I was ingesting. We had a pretty solid ride.....seemed like we put in a fair bit of climbing and we were always pushing 20++ mph on the flats so definitely not cruising. Our pedestrian average speed is a testament to the amount of climbing we did. As we finished up the ride, the clouds started rolling in big time. Steven was planning on doing his typical brick run but due to the semi-bonk at the end of the ride and my less then stellar running lately, I graciously bowed out of joining him for the session. I use that term loosely as well because it would have been about a minute of "joining him" before I would have watched him disappear down the road! ;-)

Bike Stats (My odo stats varied from Steven's computer slightly)
76.5 Miles
17.1 MPH Ave
4.5Hrs

Later in the day, I was sitting in a Borders reading some magazines and enjoying a non-fat mocha while watching it rain pretty hard. It definitely put a smile on my face.....like we cheated the weather that day. The early bird definitely catches the worm.

Today was a pretty lazy day. I did put in a run but didn't push the distance or intensity. I figure i'll keep it at the maintenance level until the legs come around.

Run Stats
56 Minutes Total
7 Miles
160 Ave HR

Have a great week!

*peace*

Embrace It

You gotta love the change in weather and the endless possibilities it brings. Today we hit the 80's for the first time this year. It definitely felt foreign but, coupled with the beautiful day, I will take this kind of weather anytime. The Oregonians definitely embrace the good weather and I like that. The talk turns to lunch time workouts...running / cycling etc.....Noone taking it for granted which is the way it should be with all things, not just the weather.

"I want to live where soul meets body and let the sun wrap its arms around me...."
DCFC
**Yes**

I went running at lunch and it was definitely "work". I am not feeling it right now in the running dept.- definitely pushing the doo-doo miles at the moment. You know that feeling when you are in the groove....just clicking off the miles, feeling smooth....effortless? Well, I am the opposite of that right now.....ugh. I took a loop off the campus and through the Tualatin Nature Preserve. I was only running 8's but my heart rate was definitely elevated.....I saw it hit the 170's at certain points...it probably didn't help that I ran at around 1:30pm when it was pretty darn warm. I can't blame it all on the weather though since I felt the same way earlier in the week. I am hoping it'll turn around here soon.

Run Stats
40 Minutes Total
5 miles
164 Ave HR Z2

One nice thing about my current job is that I could burn all my suits , dress shirts, ties, etc. We do not have any dress code to speak of so you never know who you might be dealing with...that tattoo'd, spike-haired guy in the baggy jeans and T could be a VP.....it took me awhile to embrace the whole super-casual dress code but once I started, I'd hate to go back. This week there has definitely been a shift with the warmer weather...more and more people wearing shorts and flip-flops to work. I've been there over a year now and that still catches me off-guard sometimes. It's all good though.....bare that skin people!!

Anyone have any exciting plans for the weekend? Training? Not training? Whatever you do, do it with passion...continue to make your adventures happen!

*peace*

Living Life....

Do you think I need to put on some weight? I've been feeling a bit light-headed lately. Just kidding....if you don't recognize him, that is Mike Rasmussen...the Great Dane. The shot was taken during the 2005 Tour De France....I have a guess as to why he was spitting guys off the back as he flew up those climbs in the tour....He probably weighs a buck twenty....maybe. Scary stuff for sure. I love eating way to much to ever get that skinny.....that's concentration camp skinny - yikes!!

I am definitely feeling the blahs lately. I ran today and felt like crap....my legs felt fine but just felt queasy the whole time....strange.

Run Stats
30 Minutes Total
4 miles (2 x 2 mile loop chip trail)
Lap 1: 14:50
Lap 2: 15:40 (notice the slower pace? that wasn't intentional!!)
163 HR Ave

I am going to get a major ass-kicking from Steven this Saturday on a long ride if things don't turn around here real soon. I'm just going to take it one day at a time....not much else I can do. Definitely enjoying the blog-surfing in the meantime...definitely some cool cats out in the blog-o-sphere. Guys like Rob...he is going to do the McDonald Forest 50K in a couple of weeks. He invited me to join him.....I've never ran beyond 26.2 so it would definitely be interesting and you can't beat the trails for that. It looks like a beautiful trail run based on the pics from the website. I was seriously thinking about it but considering how I felt for a short 4 miler today, looks like I should take a pass on that one.

I really need to focus on the Pacific Crest 1/2 Ironman in June and my "A race" for the year, Ironman Canada in August. I'm sure I'll blink here and they will be right around the corner. Scary how time flies when you're just livin life.....

*Peace*

A Whole Lotta Nuthin.....

Happy Monday! Zero training for me the last couple of days.....I just don't feel "right" so figured I'd take another day off. It doesn't help that my break happens to coincide with some of the best weather we have had this year. I didn't think I pushed it at all during the bike ride on Saturday but felt like crapola yesterday so didn't work out and more of the same today.

I plan on working out tomorrow....I promise. But I need you all to get out there and give me some inspiration. Push those workouts - I'll be reading your blogs so don't let me down!

*Peace*

Heeellloooo Lover......

Ok...my lame Carrie Bradshaw impression for all the Sex In the City fans out there.....she's got her Jimmy Choo's, I've got my bikes.....and they were the only words that come to mind when I finally unshackled my tri-bike from the trainer and let her hit daylight. I haven't taken the bike for a "real" ride as in *rolling on pavement* since I did Ironman Canada in 04. My legs are still a bit dead from the marathon and I definitely need to focus on recovery right now but the sun was out and the temps outside were in the low 60's. Definitely forcing me out the door....the only bummer was the wind....some solid wind out there today.

She may not be the lightest or latest thing out there but she has carried me through some unforgettable moments...multiple Ironman races, a 10:23 double century, and a number of EPIC training rides. Always faithful....no surprises.....it's a good thing we got going here.....

I didn't spend alot of time riding but looking forward to re-establishing this relationship. I was rolling along at 24mph before I slammed into a wall of wind and immediately slowed to around 17mph....still nice to cut an aero position through the wind though. With the Zipp Disc and 404 combo, it'll be a beautiful thing.

Also, the first tri-fecta for the year....BARE skin on my legs, arms and hands.....no arm warmers / leg warmers / winter gloves today....it felt great out there.....one of the benefits of starting your ride at 2pm....the flip side is that you have to deal with the wind.....fair trade in my books!

Bike Stats
30.2 Miles
1:37 Total Time
18.6 mph Ave
142 HR Ave

On another note- movie review: Brokeback Mountain - thumbs up. Whew- talk about a heavy movie though.....some serious pain there......If you happen to be blessed with the chance to be with the one you love, don't ever take it for granted right? Ledger deserves all the accolades for that performance. Now I really need to watch something light.....now where did I put that copy of Napolean Dynamite?

Hope everyone is having a great weekend....rest...recover...recharge......that will continue to be my theme for a little while....

*peace*

Missed Connections, Big Mac, & Starschmucks

I am not a big fan of flying and will now have to narrow that down to "not a big fan of flying with American Airlines."

In my opinion, THEY SUCK!

Missed Connections
My flight from Boston to LAX was delayed. American Airlines continued to increase the departure time in 15 minute increments until it was over an hour...not good. When I landed in LAX, I still had 35 minutes to make it to the Alaska Air terminal and my connecting flight to Portland. Since I was in a hurry, the American Airlines staff pointed me in the direction of their ground transport that shuttled across the tarmac vs. running to another terminal. I figured they knew what they were doing...WRONG. I ended up in some bus depot on the American Airlines tarmac waiting for another bus to take me to the Alaska Air terminal. By the time they got me to my gate, my plane home had been in the air for 10 minutes!! It was only a 10 minute walk back to the American Air terminal- I could have made the flight if they didn't direct me to their friggen ground transport. To add insult to injury, they tried to get off with just a lame apology...no offer of a hotel, etc until I had to practically demand it. I am not a big fan of Los Angeles and was not happy to spend a night there when I should have been home. AA definitely has the worst service of any airline I've had to deal with...or at least in comparison to my airline of choice, Alaska Air.

Big Mac
By the time I got my hotel and flight arrangements for Friday squared away it was after 10 pm. I was starving and with slim pickings in the airport, ended up eating at Mickey D's. I figured the day couldn't get any worse so might as well end it on a good note with a good ole American, artery-clogging Big Mac & fries.....mmm...mmmm...MMMM! Seriously, I haven't eaten a Big Mac in ages and it was pretty darn tasty....I can see why you can easily fall into a pattern of eating that stuff. I ended up at the Westin, LAX stewing over how loud the jet engines were until I finally drifted off to sleep.

Starschmucks
I was up at 445am to catch the airport shuttle and make my 630am flight to Portland. At this point, I was pretty tired so I figured I would give myself a jolt with some java. Again, I know we all have our personal tastes but does anyone really think that Starbucks serves good joe? Seriously? In comparison to Peet's, Diedrichs, Intelligentsia, Stumptown, etc etc etc ...so many GOOD alternatives out there.....but I digress.
Back to my sorry state....you'll love this part. I bought a large coffee from the bucks and walked over to the coffee station for some half&half and sugar. I grabbed the cream and when I attempted to pour it into my coffee, the lid of the creamer fell off and I dumped the whole container of half&half onto my coffee, the counter, my luggage, and my clothes. **F_ME!** To add to this comedy of errors, some a-hole sitting next to the coffee station started barking about me splashing him with cream and how I needed to pay his dry cleaning bill. When I turned to face him and asked where I hit him, he stated that he was joking.....JOKING.....Me and my luggage covered in cream and this a-hole wants to make a joke!??! Finally cleaned up my mess with the help of a really sweet gal from S-bucks and was on my way.

Flight was pretty uneventful. I drove straight from the airport to work and dove headfirst into email hell. 106 emails when I logged in.......I was never happier to get out of work!!

Hope you all had a better Thursday / Friday then I did....looking forward to getting some good sleep tonight! I haven't worked out since the marathon so will have to get that going here soon before I get used to this sedentary lifestyle.

Have a great weekend!

*peace*

Attitude Adjustment

I just read through the comments on my last post and realized that I seriously need an attitude adjustment regarding Boston and my "performance" this year. I really don't like to make excuses or whine about any aspects of a race and I did alot of both in my race report. Big thanks to all of you that posted responses- I appreciate each and every one. I'm sure you all had to probably slap your hand from typing a much deserved "shut the hell up!" ;-)
With all the tradition and history at Boston, it really is a priviledge to race that course- I will keep that in mind going forward.
And with every race, you need to take the good and bad....learn from your mistakes and come back stronger.
If it was easy we wouldn't keep coming back for more right?
Let your passions run DEEP!

*Peace*

A Tough Day.....Stupid Mistakes

I made some serious rookie mistakes at Boston this year. While hanging out in the "Athlete Village" pre-race, the weather kept F'ng with me. It would go from chilly / breezy to warm so wasn't sure what to wear...I finally decided to wear a long sleeve thermal Nike Pro shirt under my singlet which was my first mistake. The race started and after less then 5k I realized that I was going to be seriously overheating if I wore the thermal for the whole race. I don't know what the "F" I was thinking, I run in cooler temps all the time in Oregon and typically just toss on a dri-fit T. I tried to wear the thermal for a couple more miles before I couldn't take it any longer. I peeled off the race course and wasted 3 minutes taking off my singlet, thermal, watch, hat and putting everything back on sans thermal. I ended up tucking the thermal in the back of my shorts since I didn't want to throw away a new $60 thermal shirt. After a couple miles of feeling like I had a diaper in my shorts, I had to make the drastic decision of tossing my shirt....F$@#!

The only positive was that I was feeling good after losing the "sweater" and was clicking off 7 - 7:15's. I crossed the 13.1 mile mark in what I thought was 1:34 and change but *this was my MAJOR mistake* in the marathon- I was going off the run time on my Garmin GPS and forgot to take into consideration that the stopwatch actually STOPS when you aren't moving. Remember my pitstop to take off that thermal? Yep, 1:34 + 3 minutes for an official 13.1 split of 1:37:17.

The second half marathon was tough. I had some "stomach issues" which caused me to hang out in a couple porta potties...nuff said there. After mile 18, I was started to get cramps in my calf...I'd be running along and get a twinge *yikes* I was stressing that it would go "full lock" on me but, thank God, it never did. I really didn't have any problems with the hills.....ran all the hills including heartbreak...had more problems on the downs...my quads were officially shot and with the intermittent cramping, it had me running scared thru the finish. My Garmin finish time as I crossed the finish line was 3:16:31. Again, totally forgot about the GPS unit stopping during my pitstops so another 3 minutes lost on the second half during my 2 porta potty stops so my 2nd 13.1 split wasn't 1:42, it was actually 1:42 + 3 minutes or 1:45.

My official finish time was 3:22:33. I lost 6:07 due to my clothing switch and 2 bathroom breaks. I know the bathroom breaks couldn't have been avoided but 6 F'n minutes of stoppage in a marathon where I was NOT MOVING!?!? Definitely need to work on that "sense of urgency" during a race...being parked for 6 minutes is ridiculous.

Ok, enough of my whiny bitching...I'm sure all the "shoulda, woulda, coulda" gets old. Some positives from this race were that the 7- 7:15 pace felt alot easier during this race then the last marathon I ran in early February......I just need to work on staying injury free and getting some solid miles under my belt. I think that would prevent the cramping issues I seem to be plagued with during the latter stages of a marathon. I know it isn't a hydration issue because I carried a water bottle and supplemented with salt tabs in my drink mix. Also, you couldn't have asked for better weather for a marathon ...heat wasn't an issue today.

Official Results
3:22:33
Overall Place 4278
Gender Place 3840 (Do the math, 438 women kicked my slooow ass on the course today- girl power- gotta love it!!)
Division Place 2188

Also, hats off to all the finishers out there today. It was very motivating to be racing the course with the hardcore runners out there. There were some very fast men and women out there today...I got passed by more then a few today as the stats attest- good times!

I am going to be spending a few days hobbling around Boston with Deb....she has been a great cheerleader out here so looking forward to doing everything but think about running for the next few days......

If you're still reading this, thanks for hanging out till the bloody end of my whiny race report. Next year at Boston, I will not make the same mistakes.

Peace out!

Big Thanks from #6360!

Hey all...wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes as I head out to Beantown. You all have definitely been a source of motivation so BIG THANKS! I seriously can't wait to get this thing out of the way! Body and mind are in the zone......now just need to toe the line and run 26 miles in a row....

as_fast_as_I_can

I'll see you all on the flip side! Good or bad, I will post a race report next week. I won't be back until Thursday though so keep the lights on for me! :-)

Keep it rolling friends!

*Peace*

T Minus 5 Days......

One benefit of being so busy lately is that I don't have time to stress about the little things like running a marathon in 5 days. I actually prefer it that way although I wish I had all the details ironed out.
Where is that email with my hotel reservations that I placed in a folder somewhere so that I wouldn't "lose it"...hmmm.
Flight info?
Do I have too many miles on my current pair of fave shoes?
Should I switch them out for the race with a new pair?
Is it too late to switch them out?
What race gear should I bring? It'll probably be hot...no, might be cool....aaah shite, better bring everything...
I could go on all day....**Fun Times**

Went out for a quick 3 miler, post work, on the chip trail...felt pretty good.

Run Stats
21:45 total time
3 Miles Total
7:15 min / mile pace
154 Ave HR

Harness your inner energy people!

*peace*

Buried

It has been a crazy couple of days....I've been buried at work.....my "to do" list has been neglected as I try to keep up with the never ending distractions / interruptions. I returned from lunch today and had over 40 unread emails in my inbox.....sometimes I get the urge to just delete everything and start over...never have given in to that urge though! ;-) I don't even want to talk about my outlook reminders.....*sigh*

On a positive note, I finally unshackled myself from my desk at 7:30pm and headed to the gym. I walked out of the gym at close to 8:45pm and was pleasantly surprised by the lack of any chill in the air....just jeans and a tshirt and I was feeling fine. You gotta love the change in seasons....I can't wait.......warmer temps and sun...bring it on!

Run Stats
Treadmill Yassos
38 Minutes
4.5 Miles Total
1/2 mile warmup @ 8 min/mile pace
6 x 800 @ 6:18min/mile pace

Regarding my Yassos- not sure why I am running 3:09's....I don't have 3:09 fitness right now with that little "speed bump" I had in my training over the last month. Boston isn't necessarily a PR course either. I would like to better my 3:29 at Boston last year though. I went into that race with even less running miles under my belt. So I have no excuses. If I can't beat 3:29, I will retire my running shoes forever.

Damn, relax people....I WAS JOKING!! ;-)

You never know what you're gonna get out on the race course right!? I can't be throwing out any crazy pronouncements!

*Peace*

Hot Laps

It really feels strange not getting on the bike this weekend for a long ride.....so much time on my hands, what to do??
Tapering is always such a strange deal...I toyed with doing a longer run of around 10 miles but I think most studies indicate that it takes about 14 days for your body to reap the benefits of most workouts so, at this point, really no benefit from going long. I did get out for a shorter run and threw in some intensity. Again, the focus on maintaining fitness at this late stage.

I ran 3 loops of the woodchip trail around the Nike campus and increased the pace on each loop. I was suprised that I was running in the 6's for the last 2miles (granted it was the high 6's but I'll take it). This pace is moving for me but it felt comfortably hard....well, maybe comfortable isn't the right word....definitely felt it on the uphills. It was quite a bit faster then my goal marathon pace. I plan on incorporating some speedwork on a weekly basis thru the year to see if I can get "more comfortable" at a higher intensity.

Run Stats
7 Miles Total
3 x 2 mile loop
42:39 Total Time
Lap 1: 14:48 (7:24/mile pace)
Lap 2: 14:16 (7:08/mile pace)
Lap 3: 13:34 (6:47/mile pace)
1 Mile cooldown @ 8:30 pace

I was surfing around the youtube.com website and ran across some old nike commercials...pretty good stuff. Check them out....

Nike Move
Nike Free - Chariots of Fire
Nike Enjoy the Weather

Here's looking ahead to a great week.....positive vibrations people!

*Namaste*

Short Run And That Is All.....

Hope everyone is enjoying this weekend. I had a late afternoon appt. that forced me to skip my workouts yesterday. It was only going to be a short run anyway.....I may continue to swim here in the next week but will try and give this race a proper taper in the last week without too much cross-training in the form of cycling & swimming.

I was surfing around my fave blogs and saw that Zeke had posted a link (unfortunately a broken link) to Pre racing the mile. Sorry to steal your thunder Zeke but you can see the video here. Not the best quality but pretty exciting watching Pre take the lead early, in typical fashion, and hold off the late charge from the milers.

Pre Lives.....gotta represent



My legs felt pretty good today....ran a 5 miler over a course with some rollies....hurt on the hills but those endorphins sure feel good post run! :-)

Run Stats
5 miles
33:41 Total Time
6:45 min / mile pace
172 HR Ave

*Peace*

Breathe Mike.....

I had a one hour massage scheduled today at lunch.....and the old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" is so true.....Candice, the massage therapist, seemed so nice...so friendly... but I should have been worried when she asked, "Kathy (PT) told you I don't give foo-foo massages right?". My initial impulse was to jump off the table but I figured it couldn't be that bad right?!

Wrong

I was pretty knotty and stiff which involved alot of "breaking up the adhesions" on her part. She kept telling me that it was good for me and I really wanted to believe her but it wasn't too fun at certain points. My calves were especially painful but I was expecting that with the problems I have been having in that area. When she dug her paws in there, the pain caused the nancy-boy in me to hold my breath. I didn't realize I was doing it until she would remind me several times in her soothing massage therapist voice....

"Breeeeaaathe Mike"

Ouch! Overall, it wasn't too bad. I must have been in that post-massage euphoria because I scheduled another massage for the following Thursday with Candice....sometimes you have to embrace the pain.....

Kept the recovery rolling by avoiding any workouts today....figured I'd let the massage "absorb" if you can do such a thing.

Breathe deep.....

*Peace*

Yassos

Happy to report that the ole leg is doing better.....not getting alot of noise from the shin/calf area but still icing religiously....not willing to take any chances at this point. This injury has definitely been humbling. I have been pretty lucky in the last 4-5 years without any serious problems that have kept me off my feet. Durability was one of my strengths *I thought* but I found out the hard way why there are old maxims like :

Don't increase your mileage by more then 10% a week
Don't increase mileage and intensity at the same time

After the marathon this month, I definitely plan on keeping it rolling with the running. Maybe not ramping up the mileage so quickly but I do want to keep the frequency up and work on throwing in some faster runs. Zeke had an interesting post about how many runners want to get to Boston but avoid the "blue-collar miles"...the necessary consistency in training and base miles that will get your legs ready to push the intensity. In essence, getting in the base training so that your body has the endurance to absorb the type of training necessary to meet the Boston Q time. Speedwork on a shaky foundation of minimal base miles is an injury waiting to happen......so run long...run aerobically...run often......

No worries though- he states (and I totally agree) that most healthy adults should be able to hit their Q time if they focus on the goal. If I can qualify, anybody can....no lie! ;-)
But no shortcuts peeps- gotta put in the aerobic miles.

I did a faster run on the treadmill....not sure if I'm just spinning my wheels with the faster stuff at this later stage......I wonder if it will help for a race in 12 days....hopefully our resident scientist, Mike, can chime in with some thoughts here...at the very least, I figure it will prevent me from losing any fitness...but I was hoping to have an additional 2 weeks of intensity already under my belt before the injury knocked me out for that period.....definitely not an ideal taper...two run-free weeks followed by intensity......so maybe a little to late? At least I was able to keep the aerobic system primed with the cycling /swimming. Who knows how it will all play out but I do know it feels good to be running again and pushing the pace to boot! The last 800 though....not so fun....incredible that some runners can maintain that kind of pace (and ALOT faster) for a marathon...nuts!!

I was so proud of my little calf/shin.....tough little guy just hung in there for the whole run.......no whining......no crying......that's my boy!;-)

Run Stats
Treadmill .5% incline
6.25 miles
57 minutes total
Yasso 800's
9 x 800 (6:18/mile pace)
1 x 800 (5:49/mile pace- just for giggles)
2 minute brisk walk/rest between intervals

Post work, got in a recovery swim.....it was swim lessons day at Nike so the pool was filled with a bunch of ankle-biters.....some of those little ones have excellent form.....at their age...just watching them glide through the water....nice stroke...nice kick.....maybe 8-9 yrs old....maybe....pretty darn cool.

Swim Stats
3000 yards total
57 minutes
1 x 1000 Free
1 x 1250 Free
1 x 250 TI drills
1 x 500 Free

aaaaah...another beautiful day......keep chasing the dream!

*peace*

I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can!!!!

Whew! I had one of those busy days at work that just seemed like it would never end...I was planning to run at lunch since it was such a beautiful SUNNY day but had a last minute appt. that forced me to skip the workout. I was planning to give it a go after work but trying to get through the pile-o-crap on my desk, as well as preparing for meetings tomorrow, put an end to that silly idea.

I finally threw in the towel at 7pm....the fun never ends! ;-) The good news is that it will all be waiting for me there tomorrow. ("Zeke" this is not one of the perks of working here!!)

I thought I would just take a complete rest day since my legs are a bit sore from the cycling I have been doing lately. I really tried....I was sitting there watching TV while my tri-bike just sat in the trainer......finally decided that I could watch tv just as easily while spinning on the trainer so did a quick bike session for the last 45 minutes of "House"....great show...check it out if you haven't already.

Bike Stats
Tri-Bike Trainer
45 minutes
Mix of Aero Intervals / EZ spinning

Steven- thanks again for the map of cycling routes...I plan to get familiar with those routes real soon!

Much respect to all of you out there who continue to motivate....keep pushing!

*Peace*

Under The Radar

I've been keeping the whole Boston thing on the down low at work since I haven't been running much here lately....

Ok, let me re-phrase that...I haven't been running at all....

A lot of people run at Nike...and quite a few of them run awfully fast. It's often hard to avoid the whole discussion of PR's, goal finish times, etc. With an injury thrown into the mix, it makes it even more difficult so figured I'd try to fly under the radar. That all changed today when a couple of friends in Event Marketing brought me these "Boston 06 goodies". We talked about the race...the hot weather the last couple of years...forecasts for this year....and finally they mentioned how impressed they were in the fact that I was headed to Boston. They couldn't have cared less about PR's or finish times......from their perspective, FINISHING a marathon was impressive.

I think it's so easy to lose perspective on what we do....it is a beautiful, incredible blessing that we can push our bodies in this manner.....***don't ever forget that**....I'm as guilty as anyone in this regard.....it truly is a gift and I am going to definitely treat it with much more respect once I am back at 100%.

I swam at lunch but my mind was drifting to the run I had planned after work.

Swim Stats
57 Minutes
3000 Yards Total
1 x 1000 Free
1 x 250 TI drills
1 x 1500 Free
1 x 250 TI drills

After my run on Friday, I really wanted to "test" my leg a bit further by pushing the intensity slightly....if there was any pain I was going to shut it off. Slight ache at times during the run but no serious pain....just as long as I focused on technique and kept it smooth, I was fine. It wasn't a long run but it really felt good to open it up a bit.

Actually it just feels good to be running! :-)

No pain, post run but currently icing the calf as a precaution. I'm not taking any chances!!

Run Stats
Treadmill
37 Minutes Total
4.75 miles
5 minute warm-up at 9 min pace
27:30 tempo effort - 4 miles, successively faster in 15 sec increments
1 x 7:15 mile
1 x 7:00 mile
1 x 6:45 mile
1 x 6:30 mile
5 minute cooldown walk

YES!

*peace*

Spring Forward

I love the time change and the promise of longer days.....now if I can just get the weather to cooperate up here, things will be perfect!

I am hoping they fiddled with the chlorine mixture in the pool today because that would provide an explanation for the elephant sitting on my chest during my pool run and shortened swim. I started off with the pool run and right from the start I had trouble breathing- not good! I have heard of chlorine induced asthma so hoping the shortness of breath had something to do with the chlorine in the pool. It got even worse when I tried to swim...made it through 150 yards before I shut it down....couldn't breathe and started feeling claustrophobic...reminded me of my rookie days in triathlon where I immediately buried the needle in the red zone during the swim starts and felt like my wetsuit was strangling me within 100 yards.....not fun!

Pool Run Stats
30 Minutes Total
Felt "hard" the whole workout

Swim Stats
150 Yards Total
Elephant sitting on my chest

Had to salvage one good workout for the day so I jumped on the bike trainer at home for a spin...ended up getting in some good intervals in the aero position. I can't wait to unshackle my tri-bike from the trainer and take it out for some "real rides" once the weather cooperates!

Bike Stats
Tri-bike Trainer
1:15 Total Time
4 x 10 Minute Intervals - Aero bars (5 min rest)

Here's looking forward to a good week peeps - keep it rolling!

*peace*

Solid Chamois Time

With running on the backburner right now, I was finally able to meet Steven in person for a ride. I decided to ride to his house (13.5 miles) but didn't take the signal lights into account (and I seemed to hit every red on the way there) so was pushing it to make it by the 8am start when I got a flat a couple miles from his house. I haven't flatted all year and the day I am meeting someone for a ride, I flat...nice.

Finally made it to his house and was able to check out his new Scott Plasma in person....photos don't do the bike justice......that is a VERY LIGHT and sexy piece of carbon fiber. Unfortunately, he kept it parked in the garage with the clouds and rain in the forecast.

Not sure of the complete route but it was really nice to get out on a new route...expanding your horizons and meeting nice people are a good thing. I wasn't expecting all of the climbing since Steven mentioned a "flatter ride" but nice to get some hillwork in.....obviously he has a different perspective on what is considered a "hilly ride"! We rolled through Hillsboro, Bethany, Banks, Helvetia.....just the towns I remember off the top of my head. We passed a ton of cyclists...probably saw more cyclists today then in all of my training this year around my typical loop.

The tough part of the ride was the tail-end of the ride after we were done with the hills....the wind was relentless and, in open farmland, there was nowhere to hide. My legs felt like doo-doo at that point but we kept it rolling. Steven is a cool dude- he stayed out of his aero-bars all day since I didn't have any....he could have dropped into the aeros and ridden away from me but rode alongside me on the hoods taking his lumps.

And of course, with all the rain in the forecast, our ride was pretty much rain-free until we were within minutes of his house.....darn weather forecasts. Overall, a solid day in the saddle....hit a small stretch of rain after I left Steven's on the way home but it was a good thing since it justified all the rain gear I wore today.

Bike Stats
80 Miles Total
5:03 Total Ride Time
15.96 mph ave
140 HR Ave (Z1)

Hope you are all out there making your adventures happen this weekend!

*Peace*