Friday, April 30, 2010

Ouch!

Bit of a setback yesterday..i went for an easy 30 minute run in in the morning (over the next two weeks I'll be focusing on run endurance and healthy distance increase, not speed). My right knee hurt a bit on the inside, but nothing worse than usual. I thought nothing of it. Then I went to swim class, where I tried my hand at frog kicking! It didn't go well, and at one point I felt my knee 'pop'. Again, it was a little uncomfortable, but I didn't worry about it. After swimming, throughout the day my knee hurt progressively worse, until by 9pm anytime I was standing or walking, I was limping!

This morning I decided to walk to a coffee shop for breakfast, partly to test my knee. So far, no pain. But I definitely won't be running today--in fact, I'll likely take it easy and just ride and get in a core/strength session. In light of my knew training perspective (less can be more!) I'm only a little disappointed that I'm missing out on a good training day, but more than that I'm proud of myself for knowing when to back off for a day!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Back At It

Well after a looong weekend where I did little but work and shower and sleep and work and do homework (and a 30 minute run on Monday), I finally had a day off today and was able to get in some good workouts. First was a 1.5k swim as 300s/150k/50s/200p/200s/200p/200s/100sh/100cd. It was a good workout, and I was so happy to be back in the pool! It's funny-when I first learned to swim..2 and a half years ago..I couldn't imagine missing the pool! But the more I stuck with swimming, the more I came to love and appreciate it.

After the swim I hopped on my bike for an easy ride out to the lake and back. I was a little pressed for time so the ride was only 45 minutes, but it was fun! My first ride with my new shoes and new bar tape. The weather kept things interesting too...sun, then wind, then rain, then hail (here is where I had to chuck my sunglasses onto the side of the road, because I couldn't see! Looking back, I probably just should have put them in my jersey pocket..haha..) and after the hail was more sun! So much fun!

After a meeting I hurried over to the Y for a yoga class. It wasn't as intense as I prefer yoga to be, but it's probably for the best that it was more of an hour long stretching session--I sure did need it! I'm hoping I'll be able to fit in one or two classes a week. Yoga really is so amazing.

Good day, all in all! I'm so happy to finally have a solid, steady day of training under my belt. And with a relaxed work schedule the next few weeks, hopefully I'll be able to fit in many more days like this one!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

New Gains!

This weekend has been an awesome one so far-and it's not even over! Yesterday I didn't swim very far (my shoulder kind of hurt, and with my new mentality of 'each workout doesn't have to be the longest and fastest' I stayed smart and kept it short. 500m of warm up, then 4x100 which descended well, then 100cd. In the evening I didn't exactly ride, but I did FINALLY learn how to ride in cleats! Now I just have to take my bike to the shop and have them help me switch out my pedals--it's for real, now! And I can get my pink bar tape! I've wanted pink tape forever, but told myself it'd be my present to myself when I learned to ride in cleats. Now I've earned it!

Today I ran a 5K-I wasn't sure how it was going to go, seeing as how I didn't run seriously the week beforehand because of overtraining. I told myself to take it easy and not stress out about it, to just turn the race into a good effort. And I think I did just that! 22:30...not a PR, but a good base run. I work the rest of the afternoon, so no more workouts, just running around the restaurant all night!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Reality Check

Such a bad run yesterday! But I guess it's to be expected, after taking three days off of running. Ran a warm-up mile at 8, that felt fine. But from the first step I had the 'when will this be over' feeling. That's always a hard one to overcome, that negativity towards what I'm doing, and when it pops up in the first few seconds, it's especially hard to deal with! So I ended up running only three broken miles, the fastest at 7:20--not at all what I was hoping to do, but it was just one of those days I guess. At least I stretched afterwards! :) Then a nice climb, and no swimming.

Today went a little better..had a good swim where I worked on a lot but it only ended up being 1k! That's ok, though-I'll swim long tomorrow. Then in the evening I was about to go for a run in the park when I ran into some friends headed to the track! So I joined them, ran a warm up mile, and two 800s. The first was 2:58?! WAY too fast for me. But it really felt slow! So..maybe my legs just feel worse than they actually are? Anyways, ran the second at a much more reasonable 3:25. Done. Wrapped up the night with an hour of good climbing!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

First Post!

I wonder how many people use this title as their inaugural blog post title! But what else is there to say at first?

This weekend is my first serious 5K in about a year. I overtrained in the last few weeks, and all this week I've been-and will continue to-take it easy, to avoid seriously messing up my knees. I was really happy with where my running was at, and today will be my first serious run in almost a week. I hope I haven't lost too much speed! I had my heart set on PRing this weekend, but then I remembered that its' not the race this weekend that counts the most, it's all the races yet to come. I could run myself into the ground for one chance at a PR, or I could run smart and potentially save the PR for another race. But who knows? Maybe the race will go well!

Also, I'm becoming more and more set on the June triathlon. Tom at the bike shop reminded me the other day-in lines with my new running mentality-that each race doesn't have to be The One. I can train through this race, and probably should. It's in six and a half weeks! There's another tri in July I can do, and another great one in August. This race can be experience, and can serve to set me up to feel really prepared for races throughout the summer.