Booo....snow

I am the first to admit that I love the snow. I love playing in it. I love sledding in it. And for the most part, I enjoy running in it. But for now, I am over it.

We just had our fourth serious snowfall of the past 2 months. And by serious, I mean enough to mess up schedules or prevent me from leaving the house. The kids were out of school ALL last week due to the storm. They are out again today. Sigh.

I was all excited about getting back to training this week. The first of the week was good but yesterday and today fell a part. At least it will cause me to pick up my swimming a bit more. And I am finding the trainer tolerable (for now).

The worst part of it is that I brought home a nice, new, shiny carbon toy from the bike shop to test. Riding it on the trainer tells me nothing. I need to get in the saddle for about an hour and see how it works for me. Alas, the forecast calls for flurries several times over the next week.

Enjoying some time off

Initially, I seriously entertained the idea of turning my 50 in 50 into 100 in 100. And for about a week, I was on that path. But it seems that life got in the way. I feel like I am battling some tendinitis in my right foot. It hasn't prevented me from running but it is nagging me plenty. I suspect some of it is from the 50 in 50. But I suspect further that it has more to do with my career change.

Prior to coaching full-time, I had an office job. I moved around the office a fair amount but it was far from active. Now, I am on my feet when I work. Be it standing on a pool deck coaching or leading a class in strength training, my body is still making the adjustments. I also have a personal training client that I run with twice each week. So when I calculate my training + coaching + additional clients, I am easily on my feet 10-15 hours more than normal. This is why I think I wake up with tight calves.

So I decided to take some time off. Err...plus life forced it a bit. Last weekend, Jessica and I traveled out to Arizona to attend the BCS National Championship (War Eagle). We stopped off in Sobino Canyon for a run on Sunday afternoon. By the time we arrived back in Nashville on Tuesday, I was beat. Not to mention, we were snowed/iced in.

I took this opportunity to rest and recovery. I did NOTHING for the entire week. My logs are empty for five straight days. I think I needed the break. I taught SpinSanity on Saturday and did most of the workout. I assume I will run sometime today and slowly re-integrate training back into the life.

Taking a break from time to time is really nice. Yes, I was a bit stir crazy from the downtime. But it helped that I was also exhausted. So the added rest was a bonus. Most of us get too caught up in training and racing that we forget rest and recovery are the keys to success. During this period, you body is able to repair itself and make all the adaptations needed to increase your fitness. And it is really good mentally for you.

Now I am not sure, I would necessarily recommend a full week off for everyone. But why not? I like this idea. I wonder if I can take a full week off 4 times a year and let it reset my body to go into the next phase of training.

Resolution Run 5k

No better way to start off the New Year than with a benchmark race. I didn't expect too much from this race seeing that it was the day after my 50 in 50 ended and my legs weren't feeling strong all week. Plus it was on a hilly course.

Jessica and I arrived in plenty of time. The temperature was nice but it poured the night before and was still raining that morning. We stayed dry, in the car, up until about 15 minutes before the race started. And then it was go time.

In my forgetfulness, I left my Garmin at home. I liked the idea of not having my time, but I also knew that I would go out too hard. And I was right. I seeded myself aggressively and went hard that first mile. I knew I was pacing off 17 minute 5k people but I felt great (don't you always). The first mile had the first of the two big hills. I backed off the pace a bit and let the next pack catch me. I came down off the bridge to a first mile split of 6:15. Oops. That was about 20s too fast.

Despite the next section being the relatively flat part of the course, I slowed, along with everyone else, to about a 6:45 pace. The final mile had one more climb and a sharp descent. And I felt every bit of it. The climb hurt. And the descent was too sharp to fly on wet pavement. I wanted to pick it up but I could tell that I had wasted my energy on the first mile. I had a fast cruising pace but no hard kick and no real desire to kick.

Time: 20:22 (6:35 pace)
AG: 3/29
OA: 27/644

Overall, it was a small pr for my 5k. Just not a good race. I still want to get under 20 minutes which continues to elude me. But for now I will take it and hope for the best in the next round.

50 in 50 is D-O-N-E

It's over. Done. Finished. No more.

So my 50 in 50 challenge is finally done with. And not a moment too soon. There were highs, there were lows. And there were plenty of aches and pains. In the end, I nailed 50 runs in 50 days. The breakdown looked something like this:

Total miles: 186.6
Average miles per day: 3.7
November breakdown: 65.3 (19 days)
December breakdown: 121.3 (31 days)
Number of non-running days: 3
Number of two-runs in a day: 3
Average pace: 8:20 per mile

Number of runs under 3 miles: 24
Number of runs between 3-5 miles: 19
Number of runs between 5.1-7 miles: 3
Number of runs greater than 7 miles: 4

Easiest run: Probably the first. Most of the runs were easy. There were very few runs I didn't look forward to.
Hardest run: Hands down the last. I thought this would be my favorite run. I just finished a hard 2 hour ride and I was wiped. I came back to the house bonking and still knew I needed to run at least two miles. It was miserable. I only recall one other hard run where my legs were in so much pain that I really questioned going back to bed.

I have yet to decide if I am going to continue with the program and attempt to stretch it to 100 days. I really like the idea but I fear it will impact tri training too much. Plus I would really like to take a few days off without the pressure of feeling that I need to play catch up. More to come later.