I missed it. I missed the near 50 degree on Saturday and hence the opportunity to hook up with some teammates to get the first road ride in for the year. I had a pretty full schedule and unfortunately it just didn't turn out in my favor. That's ok, I see it's supposed to be even nicer tomorrow so I think I'll be taking a little bit of PTO and getting a nice long bike ride in. The weekend wasn't a total disaster, I did get some running in. Saturday I was at the gym when they opened the doors at 6:30. I knew with my schedule for the day that if I didn't get it in then, I wouldn't be getting it in at all. On tap was a 6 miler at race pace. For me that means running 6 miles at a 7' 30" tempo. I'm a bit of a sissy and I know through experience that I need a long warm up before I can get my engine firing on all its cylinders. I'll fess up, I ran that first mile at an 8'00" pace before I pushed it up to race pace. I made up for it by running the last mile at a 7'10" pace. Well looking at the math, I guess I didn't quite make it up but came close!
Sunday was another long run day, this one being the long day at a slower tempo. My program showed me needing to complete 11 miles. I was a bit nervous heading into it as the last time I ran a 9 miler I had some pain in my left femur, the same leg that I had the stress fracture in last summer. I noticed that the discomfort was on the outside of my leg and not on the inside where the fracture occured so I figured with close monitoring and taking my increases in mileage pretty conservative, I should be ok. The goal in Cleveland is to just finish the race, nothing more nothing less so there is really little reason for me to push things too hard right now. So w/ the break in the weather, I ventured outside on the roads for the first time of the year. Hard to believe that I've been confined to running indoors for almost 6 weeks but time flies. I don't mind running outside, in fact I enjoy it more but it seems as though few people in the Falls shovel their sidewalks so I'm forced to run in the roads. I'm ok w/ running there if I have to but I prefer the safety of the sidewalk when possible.
One thing that I realized about running outside, it's not as easy as running on the treadmill. I haven't googled any research on this but I have to imagine that it takes more effort to move yourself outside than to keep yourself upright on the treadmill. I'll have to do a little more research on this. The second thing I noticed is how much I missed running outside. I get super warm inside so having the cooler air keep my core temperature down was nice as I was able to run the route in a bit more comfort. It's also nice not to have to watch episodes of Tool Academy or Rock of Love on VH1. The last thing that I noticed is that there are some really weird people living in the Falls. Besides those running during the middle of winter :) I noticed a lady walking down the street carrying a 'boom-box' like she is an extra in Beat Street. Yes, I am that old-school to pull out a pop culture reference like that.
Besides that bit of a break, it was a pretty uneventful run. I am happy to say that I completed the run, I felt good and at no time did I ever feel like I couldn't complete the run. In fact, I felt like I could definitely keep going which is a good sign that my training is coming along nicely. Now if I can just get that cycling training back on schedule. Here's to good weather and the ability to get out of work tomorrow.
Data from my run:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/2052134
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