Monday

Nothing exciting to report from my training sessions yesterday. I did a three-mile run followed by a 7-ish mile bike ride.

My hamstrings are upset for some reason. Both of them are giving me problems when I run. Not so much when I'm on the bike. I might need to take a few days off from running and see if that helps.

Not even gonna question it this time

Three miles in 29:50

Mile 1 - 9:52
Mile 2 - 9:52
Mile 3 - 9:55

Kick ASS

Followed by 6-ish miles on the bike.

Socks - yellow Smartwool micros
Tape - none
Result - no issues

Brick

Today I did my first brick workout. Bricks involve running and biking consecutively.

The first part of the brick was the run. 3.25 miles (up the Shopko hill) and back to my place. That damn hill. I still can't make it up all the way, but I was able to make it up a minute faster than I did back in March. My recovery was also faster by two minutes.

The second part of the brick was the bike. 7.65 miles at an average speed of 10.2 mph.

Surprisingly, my legs did okay after all the flogging they took. However, tomorrow and Wednesday will tell the true tale.

The third part of my brick involved picking up a few things from Shopko then the grocery store. :)

Foot report:

socks - yellow Smartwool micros
tape - big toes, one piece underneath

No blisters, no tender spots.

And so it starts...again

Day one of training for the Fox Cities HM was a nice three miler. At least it was nice until around 2.5 miles. Then the upset stomach I had all morning returned and I ran the last half mile trying to decide whether or not I should throw up. I didn't, but I think I would have had I continued. Bleh.

Ho hum

Two runs this week, Monday and tonight.

My Monday run was uneventful. Windy, if I remember correctly.

Tonight's run was pretty decent, except for the part when it started to rain and I had a mile left to go. I was completely drenched when I got home.

I ran an old favorite route of mine, the Dodgeville loop. There are some seriously scary looking people living in Dodgeville. I had neither my pepper spray nor my phone with me, so I felt a bit uneasy until I got to Green Acres Road. I need to find that pepper spray.

And cut my grass before I get a ticket from the grass police.

Not that I'm complaining, but how did that happen?!

I ran last night.

Three miles to from my house to Josh's office.

Didn't really set out to run fast.

I just wanted to get a run in.

Garmin said 10:04 for the first mile.

No big deal, most of it was down hill.

Garmin said 10:01 for the second mile.

Hrm. That's flat. It does feel like I'm running faster and my stride is longer. But.....

Garmin must be screwed up.

However....

Garmin said 9:54 for the last mile.

NINE MINUTES and FIFTY-FOUR seconds.

How is that even possible?

My legs are short and stubby. They just don't go that fast.

And now the best.....

Garmin said that my average pace for those three miles was 9:59 minute/miles.

This is the fastest I've ever run. EVER.

And the best thing was that when I was done, I only sort of felt like puking.

That means that I can run that fast. I just don't push myself enough to do it.

And even if Garmin was somehow screwed up...

I'm keeping it.

Finally, a good run

I had a good run tonight. I tried a few things with my hip and they worked out well.

First, I used a heating pad on low heat on it for 15 minutes before I left in order to get the hip muscles loosened up. Then, I started out running slowly, letting my body warm up. Next, I ran with traffic so that my left leg wasn't always on the down side of the road. It worked. I felt a few twinges here and there that I would lump in the same category as the rest of the twinges I feel during any run, but overall it was a good run.

I'm back!

After a 11-days off from running, I did a swift three-miler after work today. I'm happy to report that I didn't seem to lose any of my stamina during my running vacation. My bet is that it's partially due to my harder than usual cardio sessions in the fitness center of the hotel. Getting the old heart rate up to 170-180 bpm for 30+ minutes four days/week was the way to go. I also hit the weights pretty hard as well. I'd say my hip is about 50% better than the last time I ran. I'm not sure what to make of that. It feels like the muscles surrounding my hip are really tight and they're constantly being pulled. I'm going to try to get into the massage therapist in my gym and see if she can work things out for me because no amount of stretching that I do on my own helps.

I am worried about my endurance, though. My longest run to-date has been 9 miles, and while that was a piece of cake, between my hip and the rotten weather, I haven't been keeping up with increasing mileage on those long runs. Unfortunately, my schedule is now in taper mode and there really isn't any room for a long run. I might attempt a 7 or 8 miler on Saturday, just to feel things out. The key to taper mode is to run, but run slow short distances in an attempt to avoid all injury prior to the race so I am a bit reluctant to attempt any longer distances.

I bought some fancy new insoles from the New Balance store in San Francisco. These insoles fit my shoes perfectly (no trimming involved) and my feet were really happy (and blister free) during my run. I also paid a very expensive visit to Nike Town, which was a block from my hotel. I dropped around $85 on shorts and running capris (ran in them tonight, loved them!) that I've had my eye on for a couple of months now.

I took some pictures while I was in San Francisco, but they're on my work computer so I'll have to upload them (hopefully) tomorrow.