Running

Thank you to everyone for all your kind words.  The hamstring is feeling great and I'm back on my plan from Jeni @ Roadwaves.  Thankfully I only missed one workout - 3 mile run Monday... aka "The Pub Run"... Lucky for me I had to do a 4-5 mile tempo run last night.

Now, I am by NO means a runner.  I don't enjoy it, but I realize it's a great way to cross-train for cycling and I must run in order to compete in a triathlon.  I've always been able to go out and just run 3 miles.  It may not be fast, but I can do it.  My first time running in years was the fall of 2008 when I was in Chattanooga for work.  The project executive was a runner.  He would come into town about once a month and I opted to run with him after work one day.  It was a great time for discussions about life, work, and for me to ask him questions about my career path.  He became a mentor to me and these were great conversations which enabled me to enjoy the company while doing something I did not enjoy.

On that first run he asked me multiple times if I needed to turn back.  I just kept telling him, "No... Not yet."  I also instructed him to not tell me how far we'd run.  Finally he looked over at me and said, "I think it's time we turned around."  To which I... breathless... nodded in agreement.  Just over an hour after we'd set out on the run, we arrived back at the hotel having covered close to 6 miles.  I felt it that night... and the next day, but it was good.  Did I become a runner that day? NO.  But every time he came into town we'd run somewhere between 3 & 6 miles.  I even started running a couple times in between his visits.  Typically 4-5 miles along the Tennessee River.  I wasn't really getting fast but I was getting consistent.  Sometimes I'd even run on a treadmill.  Though I'll admit my loathing for running outdoors is doubled when it comes to a treadmill.  So I'd do maybe 1-2 miles on it at a faster pace.

Alas, as the cycling season kicked in, the work days got longer, my mentor made fewer visits to our project, and I stopped the running routine for months.  Even when I switched projects to California I tried, but a combination of smoke from the fires and bad downtown neighborhoods kept me inside.

Then came my remote project.  With it I had evenings to enjoy at home... and could finally partake in "The Pub Run".  My friend Jess would do this run hosted by Fleet Feet every Monday night and I thought... Why not? It's just 3 miles.  The hubby and I started doing this run every Monday night... and it was always 3 miles.  I know the route and it's now routine.  I know which sections are hard... which easy... and my relative finish time.  Never pushing myself... just 3 miles... and only once a week.

Well, thanks to Jeni that is all changing.  Last night I ran 4 miles.  She said to make it an easy run to see how my hamstring felt... but it felt fine so I went ahead with the original tempo run.  That, and I had a conference call to jump on for work, so I had to do the tempo run or I wouldn't make the call.  Due to the crazy wind, I opted for a flat course - the Treadmill... I had never run more than 2 miles on a treadmill... AND in my rush to get to the Y I forgot my music & headphones... so I jumped on sans any form of entertainment and started kicking out a 10 min pace.  Every 1/2 mile or so I'd pick it up to 9 or 9.5 min pace, then drop it back down.  I could tell I hadn't run the pub run this week b/c a couple of times I had to slow it down to a brisk walk to catch my breath. As it got close to 3.85 miles I picked up the pace to a 7.5 min mile and sprinted to finish 4 miles in 39 minutes flat.  I cleaned off the machine, ran to the locker room while dialing into the conf call one minute late.

So... I am still no runner... but maybe one day...

Last nights NOMs:  More Chicken Cacciatore was requested... kind of like more cowbell... you can never say no!

Weekend Woes & Goals

Have you ever anxiously awaited an order from the internet... constantly checking the tracking status, and then... the wonderful day comes when it's "Out for Delivery"... and you never know when between that 7:30 am time stamp and the evening it might arrive.  So you're constantly checking the updates to see if it's been delivered.  Friday was like that for me, and thankfully the package arrived around lunch so both the hubby & I were home.

The Omron Full Body Sensor Body Fat and Body Composition Monitor :
This monitor is very easy to setup and use... however the numbers it provided me weren't exactly what I was expecting... let's just say my body fat percentage (the reason I bought the scale in the first place) was waaaayyyyyy higher than expected.  I always thought myself pretty lean... but apparently there's not as much muscle present as I'd thought.  I used to workout (strength training) 3-4 nights / week and played a couple different sports so I know I was leaner then, but I thought... with all the riding I do... it has to make up for the lack of strength training in some way... right?  We'll see.  Some of the reviews I've read say that the numbers are sometime a little off, but at least they are consistent.  So I'll wait for my body analysis and do a measurement on this scale afterward.  The percentage they are off, I'll use that for my calculations going forward.

But that body fat % stuck with me the rest of the day... and into the evening.  While cooking Friday evening the hubby and I received our training plans for the next two weeks... here's what mine looks like:

Sat - Spin 2 hour focus on pyramid intervals
Sun - Outdoor Ride - Heritage Loop
Mon - 6 am Yoga @ Y & Swim 400 yd PM run 3 miles (pub run)
Tues - Off
Wed - Run 4-5 Miles
Thur - Outdoor ride or Trainer Class
Fri - 6 am Yoga @ Y & Swim 400 yds
Sat - 30 mile ride and Run 10 min
Sun - Heritage Park Loop
Mon - Swim 200: 5x50's with 1:00 rest after each 50: 200 cood down & 7 pm KettleBell @ Y
Tues - Interval class 5:45 am & Outdoor Ride
Wed - Swim 600 yds & 7pm KettleBell
Thur - Outdoor Ride or Trainer
Fri - 6 am Yoga
Sat - Spring Training Series Race

Thankfully we have relatively similar plans so we can do much of the above together.  Finished cooking and enjoyed some "Fancy Mac-n-Cheese" (Macaroni with Artisanal Cheese & Chorizo):

It was a great dinner and we headed to bed dreaming of our 2 hour Pyramid Intervals trainer class at Roadwaves the next morning... the last thing I said to the hubby before falling asleep, "xx% body fat!? I've got xx% body fat!?!"

Saturdays Intervals and a team spin class came and went... but come Sunday morning my hamstrings were tight... especially my left one.  I stretched it for about 15-20 minutes and started prepping for the ride.  The sun was shining and the very thought of riding outdoors, no matter how cold it might be, was too much to resist.  The hubby and I had two simple breakfasts about 2 hours apart to make sure we had the right fuel for the ride and headed down to Simpsonville.

There were close to 30 people in our ride group which later split to an A & B group.  First... I can really see the difference the trainer workouts are doing for me.  My usual place in a ride is at the back of the front group, the front of the back group... or no man's land in between the two.  Sunday I found myself able to bridge more easily than ever!  Perhaps after a hill I was dropped back in no man's land and instead of coasting to the rear group... I'd let out a burst of energy and sprint ahead to catch the front group.

Another group would get ahead and I'd be exhausted thinking there's no point in trying to bridge b/c once I get there I'll be exhausted and they'll leave me again.  But that didn't happen.  Mentally I knew I could do it and I'd bridge, realizing once I got there how much easier it was to recover while drafting off the riding in front of me.

As we got about 1 mile from the entrance to Heritage Park my teammate Jackie and I were once again in no man's land.  Larger group ahead and a group behind... so I came around her wheel and said "jump on, we're bridging this!"  I got in the drops, found a cadence I thought I could hold (channeling my inner Jeni) and pulled us up to the group ahead... by the time I got there I had such momentum and could see the entrance so I kept pounding it out, almost catching up to the hubby.

The feeling of satisfaction after that ride... wow!  I saw some real changes in my riding and can't wait to continue the hard work!