Closer to the weekend

It's been a couple of days since I ran. I did put in 7.1 miles around the track last Friday with the kids at school. The hamstring is feeling better, but still not 100%. I keep telling myself that my goal for Pittsburgh right now is just to finish. Then a little rest before I start focusing on a couple of tri's coming up and training for the MCM starts June 13th. With the marathon training going on I should be able to ROCK the RNR half marathon in September.

Running Woes

I set out on a 5 mile run last night in the drizzle, but things did not go well. I was .9 miles down the road when my husband drove by on his way home from work. I ended up catching a ride home. My right hamstring was locked up so tight I could barely walk. This is not good.

I did some stretching when I got home, and rolled it out on the foam roller. I soaked in a hot bath later, too.

I'm going to try a bike ride tonight and see how that goes. Now is not the time for an injury. I need to build up my mileage a little more so I'm ready to start marathon training in a few weeks.

Right now the plan is to just finish in Pittsburgh, then reevaluate. I would lose no sleep in pulling out of Black Bear to save myself for marathon training. I'll keep you updated.

Tuesday Night Swim

I love my Tuesday night swims. The past few weeks since I've been swimming at the college, they have been really big nights for me. I really like the college, pool too. It's not crowded like it is at the Y, most nights I have had the locker room to myself. I don't feel rushed when I'm there. It just feels good.

I logged 2250 yards in my training log for tonight but I swam farther than that. I'm just not sure how far. If I'm doing sets, and I forget which one I'm on I'll go with the lowest number. If I forget which lap I'm on, I'll go with the lowest number. I forget a lot tonight while I was swimming. Not necessarily a bad thing, because I was able to clear my mind and just swim, but not a good thing when you're trying to keep track of how far you've gone. I lost track 3 times in one 300 yard swim. I lost track of how many 300's I'd done. I lost track in a 100, that one may have turned into a 200 because I was sort of timing myself and while I know I'm slow, it does not take me over 4 minutes to swim 100 yards.

It doesn't matter how far I went, I felt good. I'm not worried about the distance at Black Bear, and now I'm starting to focus on speed for Hagerstown.

Weekend Workouts

I got a short swim in on Saturday, 1150 meters. I had wanted to do more, but my kick started to fall apart, followed shortly by my form. Then add in that the guy who asked if he could share my lane wasn't so much sharing as he was swimming right down the middle, I called it a day.

Too windy and cold for me to go out on the bike Saturday.

Sunday I ran 13.1 miles again. More running this week than last week. I actually walked very little. I'm not fast, but I have been persistent with these past 2 long runs. The first 10 miles weren't bad at all. It was the last 3.1 into a strong headwind that gave me troubles.

Today was a rest day since I won't get one on Friday. The legs were a little sore, too.

I hit the pool last night and I had a GREAT swim! I felt really good in the water, which is surprising to me because I haven't been in the pool in awhile. I got a good 2,000 yard swim in at the college. I really like that pool.

My workout looked like this
10x50 freestyle
1x100 kick
1x300 freestyle
1x100 back
1x100 kick
1x300 freestyle
1x100 back
10x50 freestyle

I could have gone more I felt that good. The last 50's should have been a cool down, but I did them hard. I had a class of Pinot Noir for my cool down. It worked.

Biked 21.72 tonight. The legs were a bit tired from Sunday still. I should have ran when I was done but I felt a popping at the top of my calf on the bike. Mainly when I was climbing. I can't say it was painful, but it was definitely uncomfortable.

Here's a tip for you, too. Don't try to change gears on your bike while you're out of the saddle and climbing a hill. Things have the potential to not end well for you.

Running and swimming tomorrow.

Long Slow Distances

My legs are very tired now. 32.86 miles on the bike yesterday. I averaged 15.81 miles per hour but I don't think that's an accurate reflection. The time keeps running even when I slow down and stop. I think I was a little faster, but not my best ride by far. The winds were brutal yesterday. I did a figure 8 in the beginning, it did not matter which way I was riding I had either a cross or headwind. How does that work? Somewhere along the way I should have had a tailwind.

Hoping to make a big 40 mile ride in 2 weeks where the majority of the trip is climbing. Between that and the long run I have to do that weekend my legs should be ready to fall off.

I really need to get in the pool more.

I covered 13.1 miles today on my run. I didn't run it all, I did a lot of walking. I needed to get out of the house, had to clear my head, and I just kept going. I could have made it home in 9, or less, but I got to a point where I kept telling myself I'm doing a half marathon today.

I have the Pittsburgh half marathon in 3 weeks. At this point my only expectation is to finish. If I have to walk I will walk. I missed 3 weeks of training with my knee injury. My heart hasn't been in it lately either. There will be other races.

Guess what I did today

Yeah, before we get to that is it wrong that the title of my blog is Run Ann Run and my profile pic is of my bike?

Anyway...

So I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon today. It's 6 1/2 months away, I have time to train. Here's what's weird. I have wanted to do this for a long time. I signed up for my first tri last year, never really thought twice about it. The morning of my first race, I wasn't even nervous. I ran a half marathon in January, no big deal, signed up for 2 more. I have 3 triathlons this summer, one of them has some bitchin' hills, whatever. After I signed up for the MCM I was a little freaked out. What the hell did I get myself into? I know I can do it. I know I can. This is just huge though. 26.2 miles. 20 miles of hope followed by 6.2 miles of truth.

At least there will be some Marine pace booty for motivation :)

Now for today's run. Yeah... you know that "things never go as I have planned" thing. It hit again today. THE PLAN was to run 6.5 miles home from the school. 2 miles into it I had to call for a ride home. I could have run it. I felt good. My body felt good. What didn't feel good was the whipping wind that was bombarding my eyes, arms, and legs with little pits of unidentifiable objects. At times I felt I was moving backwards. Through this I'm watching the storm clouds getting closer and darker. I got another mile in before my ride got there. About 15 minutes after we got home we got hammered, and not in the good alcoholic way either. I wouldn't have been home yet. I'd have actually been in the middle of nowhere. No where to go for shelter. I don't mind running in the rain, but the winds and lightning I can do without.

I have Sunday's long run to look forward to. Not quite sure how far I'm going yet, but it will be at least 10.

April 6 - The first day of summer

I know I'm a few days behind, sorry about that. I know they changed the daylight savings time but no one informed me that they moved the first day of summer to April 6th. It was 63 degrees at 5:30 yesterday morning, I knew I was going to be in trouble. It was 86 at 5:00 when I went for my run. I went 5.1 miles. That was the longest run I've had in almost 3 weeks. I did have to stop and walk a bit around mile 3, my heart rate was off the chart. Once it slowed down I started running again. I was slow, but at least I was out there, right?

Today was even warmer. I believe it topped 90 today. I came up with a lot of reasons to not go on a bike ride. I even took a nap when I got home. I finally talked myself into going for a short ride. There is a section that has a lot of long straightaways that I like to ride. I rode around this area for awhile. I had 9.5 miles in and had to make a choice. If I went right I could head home and have 13 miles in. If I went left I would have another 12 miles to get home.

It's 86 degrees out. Which way would you go?

I went left. I finished off with 21.72 miles today. It wasn't my fastest ride, I averaged just over 16 miles an hour. I was glad I took the long way home though.

Spring Fever

I had planned to ride to the LBS this morning to get a new saddle bag for my bike, but things never go as I have planned. I did get out for a ride this afternoon though. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous. I have been on my new bike on the trainer, but haven't had her outside yet. I also haven't been out since my encounter with the dog 2 weeks ago. It was a beautiful day out though so I just had to go.

I took a new route today. I wasn't even sure when I started out where I was even going I just rode. Other than some rough road it was a pretty good ride. It ended up being 19.3 miles. I'll add some to it to put it over 20.

Tomorrow morning I want to get up early and swim and hopefully get another bike ride in before all of the craziness of the weekend sets in. We'll see how that plan goes.