Today, however, was different.  I embarked on my weekly long run.  I set out with Jennie on the bike for 12 miles; my longest run since Steelhead.  It was only 80*F, but the humidity was 82% which meant I was dripping with sweat after the first mile.  I started out nice and easy.  The first 8 miles were between 8:30-8:40 min/mile.   After that, I picked it up a bit and finished the last 4 miles between 8:00-8:15.  So, not only did I get in my long run for the week, but I also was able to pick up the pace at the end without falling apart.  Redemption!

I think the biggest difference was having Jennie on the bike carrying water.  I went through about 32oz of water on the run stopping at every 1 or 2 mile mark along the way.  Even so, I was down a couple pounds when I got home so I chugged some more water and chocolate milk to refuel.

But that isn’t even the biggest news of the day.  The biggest news of the day is that Jennie did her first brick workout! After biking along with me for 12 miles, we went on a 1.5 mile run immediately afterwards.  So, now Jennie has felt the feeling in her legs that is a brick workout.  And not only that, but she is looking at getting her own RoadID.  She has a birthday coming up, so well have to see what happens.

In my opinion, she looks too good for having just done a brick workout.  At least I’ve never looked this good after a brick workout.  Come to think of it, I don’t look this good on a normal basis.

I generally look like a sweaty mess after my workouts.  In this case, I left a nice swass mark on the deck after I got up.  Yep, these clothes aren’t allowed inside until they have air dried.

Now, we are spending the day vegging out on couch and watching TV.  Jennie is currently engrossed in some Gilmore Girls reruns during which she has seen ice cream sundaes, fresh strawberries, hamburgers/fries, donuts, and baskets of fresh bread; all of which are leaving her with insane cravings.  It is only a matter of time before she starts baking…

So, as soon as Jennie got home from work, we headed up to the Derby Station in Gaslight Village.  I couldn’t believe how many people were there!  The final count was 155 runners.  It cost $5 per runner, but half of the $5 was a donation to the American Diabetes Association.  The other half bought your first beer, covered the snacks, and entered you in a raffle.

After we “registered” it was time to take off.  We actually got a bit of a late start because we were the last people in line.  I headed off on a 4.5 mile route around the lake while Jennie went off on her own for 2 miles.  Because I had late start, I was motivated to catch as many people as I could.  The first two miles were spent catching people.  After that, it thinned out a bit and I spent the next half mile trying to catch up to a single guy in the distance.  When I reached him, we chatted a bit.  I recognized him from when I have run with the Grand Rapids Running Club in the past.  We pushed each other for the final mile or two.  I ended up finishing 4.56 miles in 32:23 for a 7:06 min/mile pace.  It was actually faster than I had planned on going, but that is what happens when I run in a group. 

Jennie had finished up her run shortly before I got back and was walking around Gaslight Village.  This was her first completely solo run (she had one half solo run a couple weeks ago).  I’m very proud of her – she is doing awesome!

After we chugged some water, we headed into the Derby Station for our beer.  We each got a glass of New Holland Mad Hatter IPA; absolutely delicious – Jennie (a non beer drinker) even drank about half a glass.  Then they started to put out appetizers which was a surprise to us.  The giant platter of nachos was my favorite.  I could have eaten the whole platter by myself.

Next up.  The raffle.  I totally wasn’t paying attention when they called my number.  Thankfully, Jennie’s ticket was number off of mine and she realized that I was the winner. I won a cool New Holland Brewing Company t-shirt!!!  As we left, everyone got a New Holland Brewing Company bottle opener.  All that for $5! 

Also, today I did a quick workout in the pool.  This was my first swim since Saturday.  I was really just testing out my sunburn to see how healed it was.  After doing a little warm up and feeling pretty good, I decided to do a 500 yard time trial.  The sprint tri on Saturday is a 500 yard swim and I wanted to get an idea of what to expect.  This was the first 500 yard time trial I have done in about 3 months.  Last time I did one, I clocked 8:1X.  Today, I knocked out a 7:46! My first time under 8 minutes for 500 yards!

All around, a great day!

I went to bed last night semi very frustrated that my bike was going to be out of commission until the new parts arrive.  I couldn’t even put back on the old parts because I didn’t have the correct pin for the original chain.  This morning was supposed to be a 1:15/20 minute brick workout too.  Being dedicated stubborn, I decided that I was going to try and ride my bike any ways.  It is technically rideable and shouldn’t do any damage to the bike to ride it as is.  However, I found that it was nearly impossible to ride comfortably.  Every time I would get into a groove, the bike would auto shift up or down a gear.  The auto shifting made it nearly impossible to climb because the harder I pushed, the more it wanted to slip gears.  So, after a single lap (6 miles) around the lake, I head back home frustrated and disappointed.  I could have still gone out for the run portion of the workout, but I was too pissed to even think about at the time.

Flash forward to the afternoon.  I just finished up a day long work meeting and needed to get out.  I was really itching to run.  So, I headed out in hopes of doing a long-ish run.  I ended up with a great 10 mile run at an 8:00 min/mile pace.  I felt great the entire way and didn’t feel like I was pushing hard at all.  In hindsight, this long of a run probably wasn’t a great idea with a the River Bank Run 25k looming on Saturday, but mentally, I needed to get a solid workout in.  Besides the River Bank Run is a C race at best for me this year.  I’m treating like a long training run rather than a race and am not looking to set any land speed records or anything.

So, what started off as a day with a failed workout, turned into a mental victory with a long run.  All in all, a great day in the end.  Tomorrow is an easy day with just a swim followed by race day on Saturday.  Time to rest.

I was not planning on racing today and taking it easy.  I have been overdoing it over the past week and it was catching up on me.  I am supposed to be tapering, but because the weather was so nice all week, I found myself sneaking out on an extra bike ride or squeezing in a couple extra miles.  Unfortunately, when I got to the race, I got too much into the race mindset and wound up running too hard.

I went out strong on the first mile.  Despite being only about 15 yards from the front runners, I still found myself passing people out of the gate an weaving back and forth.  Things spread out a bit on the second mile, however, the 2nd mile was all up hill and into the wind.  I was really hurting after 2 miles, but with only a 1 mile left, I continued to push on.  With the wind at my back and headed back down hill, I picked the pace up a bit.

I finished in 20:28 which is about 1:30 faster than I was planning on running today.  Factoring in the weather and how tired my legs were, I am happy with how I did.  My splits ended up being 6:28, 6:53, 6:32, which shows how much the wind and hill affected me.

Now that I am done, my hamstring has completely tightened up on me.  So, it looks like I will be spending plenty of time with the foam roller and ice pack while I watch March Madness this weekend.  It has been a great tournament this year.  Just watched #1 Kansas get upset by Northern Iowa.  It completely screwed up my bracket (I had Kansas winning the whole thing), but it was a great game.

Official Results

#1 Dogs Walking Their Owners

I am a dog person.  I have nothing against dogs.  I like dogs.  But it bugs the hell out of me when someone is out letting their dog walk them. The dog is walking wherever they want and the owner has no control over them.  I’m more afraid of the leash than the dog.  All it takes is the owner not paying attention and the dog to switch sides of the sidewalk and you have yourself a readymade trip hazard.  Today, my favorite was a woman standing in the middle of the sidewalk while her two English bulldogs were each standing on opposite sides of the sidewalk inspecting the bushes.  The only way around her (without trudging through the mud) was to jump in the street.  Ugh.

#2 Large Groups of Teenage Girls

Ever notice the smell when running past a group of teenage girls?  It is worse than walking past The Body Shop.  I think I would rather run behind a car puffing out exhaust fumes.  Yuck!

#3 Unnecessary Bike Paths

The lake that I run around (Reeds Lake) is in the process of adding a bike path around a portion of it.  To do this, they are tearing out a couple hundred trees and relocating wetlands.  It is totally unnecessary.  The entire road around the lake is a 25 mph residential road with wide shoulders on both sides of the road.  Not only that, but it is very lightly traveled.  On my run today, I only saw 5 cars during the 5+ miles I was on Reeds Lake Blvd.  During the portion of the run that was alongside where the bike path is going, I didn’t see a single car.  Another problem with the bike path is that they don’t plow the path in the winter.  So, as soon as we get snow again, everyone ends up walking on the shoulder any ways.

Ok, I am done ranting now.  I will get off my soapbox.

On a positive note, I set a new best time for my 8 mile course.  1:00:36 for 8.04 miles.  I am getting closer and closer to getting under the 1 hour mark.  My fastest previous time for the course was 1:00:50 back in November.  So, despite my pet peeves, I had a pretty good run.

The fast 3 miles allowed me to negative split the run with a 31:45 (7:54 pace) on the out and a 30:35 (7:37 pace) on the back.

On top of my great run, I took a step this week to keep myself safe on my long runs and bike rides – I bought a RoadID.  Steve in a Speedo recently posted a 20% coupon code (good until March 15th).  Head on over there if you are interested and give him some love.  The code saved me $6 off the final price.

I ended up going with the WristID Sport model in black.  The website was very easy to use and had a nice customization area to see exactly how your choices would print.  It should arrive on Monday or Tuesday.  I am excited to get it, but I am hoping that I never actually have to use it!

That changed yesterday.  I finally found an awesome 7 mile route and I flew.  I did 7 miles in 53:24 for a 7:36 pace.  All of my miles came in under 8:00 with my final mile coming it at a blazing 7:00 flat.  Not only did I have a fast run, but I was completely pain-free.  No calf pain.  No hamstring pain.  Let’s hope this streak keeps up.

Today, was a light day for me.  And it couldn’t have come at a better time.  I had a busy day at work and my stomach was upset all day long.  I did manage an hour on the trainer this evening after my stomach settled down a bit, but kept an easy pace.

Tomorrow, I am hoping to do a swim and run.  Because this is a lower mileage week than last week, I am planning on doing some more speed workouts during my runs.  I’ll be careful to listen to my body though and back off if I start experiencing any soreness.

Finally, Anne at Iron Dreams has a giveaway going on (see details here).  The giveaway includes some Tri-Swim gear including shampoo and conditioner to help defeat that post swim chlorine smell.  Also, cruise on over to Tri-Swim’s website if you are in need of a good swim workout.  They have a couple dozen different workouts available for free.

As for my run today, I am happy to announce that I completed all 21 miles pain free.  Well, at least I was free of any pain that was out of the ordinary for a 21 mile run.  Yes, my legs were killing me for the finale 5 miles or so, but they were just tired, not hurt.  My calf didn’t bother me at all the entire way.  Even now that I am done, it hasn’t even tightened up.  My hamstring is a bit tight, but I guess I’ll just have another appointment with the foam roller tonight and work it out.

Overall the run went fairly well.  I got a later start than I wanted (this seems to be becoming the norm) and headed out at 10:00.  My original plan was to do loops around Reeds Lake.  This way, I would be able to stay relatively close to home in case my calf acted up.  On my first lap, I ditched my water bottle in some bushes so that I didn’t have to carry it on the first loop.  I wouldn’t need it right away any ways. 

After finishing the first loop and picking up my water bottle, I decided to change up my planned route because I didn’t have any pain.  And, I realized that laps around the lake were going to get boring really quickly.  So, I ventured out and headed towards downtown, did a loop around Aquinas College and a loop through Calvin College before finishing with a second loop around the lake.

 
I definitely got slower as I progressed, but I’ll take it.  I am a little disappointed in the two miles that came in at over a 9 minute pace though.

It was actually pretty a good route.  The sidewalks were still covered in sloppy snow, but the roads were clear so I stuck to running on them.  Not too bad considering we just got 10 inches of snow on Wednesday.

After I got home, I immediately took a snow bath for my legs.  I didn’t have any ice again, but had plenty of snow.

I followed that by gorging myself with left over pasta and a gigantic chocolate milkshake.  It really hit the spot.

I get to take a rest day tomorrow, which I desperately need.  I may still head up to the pool though because I missed my Wednesday swim.  That may sound like breaking the rules of a rest day, but sometimes swimming is almost more therapeutic than doing nothing.

Again, thank you to everyone for your well wishes and advice!

On Monday, as I finished my run, my right calf began to hurt.  It really didn’t affect my run and I actually had a great run despite the pain.  I finished 7 miles with 7:49 pace.  I even had a final mile of 7:16.  My calf just feels really tight – like after getting cramp.  I can walk pretty much pain free.  It is at its worse climbing stairs when I have all my weight on the one foot and even then it isn’t excruciating by any means.

I took Tuesday off from running per my marathon training schedule.  I did spend an hour on the trainer which seemed to help stretch out my calf.  I also did some stretching and core training.  I stuck to only upper body work with the weights to give the legs a rest.

I woke up Wednesday almost pain free.  It was still lingering, but much better.  My 6 mile run went fairly well.  I took it nice and easy.  I had a little bit of tightness at the beginning of the run, but it was nearly gone by the time I finished my run. 

Unfortunately, though, my calf tightened right back up about an hour after my run.

So, here I sit, finishing up some work while I ice my calf and hope that it heals quickly.  I’ve got 21 miles on the schedule for Friday and really don’t want to have to miss it.

So much for our heat wave.  Today was back down in the 20’s with a single digit feels like temperature.  As I sat in my office, I was dreading my run as I watched the wind blow the snow all over the place.  I sucked it up and headed out around 4:00.  Even though it was still light out, I decided to go with the reflective gear because the blowing snow as reducing visibility and I didn’t want to become someone’s hood ornament.

It was slow going – especially into the wind – but it was a relatively good run. 

On top of running, I did a long swim today.  For my workout, I did:

800 yard warm up
3×300 yards (30 second rest)
200 yard kick
3×200 yards (30 second rest)
200 yard kick
3×100 yards pull (20 second rest)
100 yard cool down
3100 yards total

I stayed almost perfectly consistent on all of the intervals (5:10 for the 300’s, 3:30 for the 200’s, and 1:40 for the 100’s)which was the goal. 

Also, at the pool, I had a “small world” moment.  I found out that the husband of one of the women I swim with works at the same company as Jennie.  We are both regulars and see each other two to three times a week and chat while we wait for the lifeguards to get ready and didn’t realize it until today.  It is amazing how we are all connected in some way or anther.

As for my strength training, it is progressing nicely.  I absolutely love my new weights.  I am still hoping to find some good strength routines to mix things up though.  For now, I have just been doing a set from the 12 Week Triathlete book.  It takes me about 25-30 minutes to go through and I feel so good after doing it.

On the non running front, Jennie and I cleaned and repopulated our aquarium.  It turned out to be a pretty big project because I neglected cleaning it for so long.  We still need to get some new plants to replace ones that didn’t make it through the cleaning and I have to build a new hood because the old one finally bit the dust, but here it is.

Kind of hard to see all the fish, but there are: 4 Giant Danios, 4 Red Velvet Swordtails, 5 Tiger Barbs, and 1 Pelco (Algae Eater).  I will hopefully do a better job at preventive maintenance so it doesn’t get so bad this time.