Winning... Duh

Fitness just wasn't quite up to par yet, so I didn't end up running the U-City 10 miler or the Go! St. Louis half. I didn't go out at all for the 10 miler, & I think I rode my bike that day, but I did go out for the half to run some friends in to the finish. It was VERY hot that day, so I'm sort of glad I didn't wind up running. They even wound up black flagging the course, due to heat, if participants didn't make it to the turn-around for the half by a certain time. I was almost ready, but not quite... However, my efforts will not be completely lost!! I wound up winning a contest on twitter, & courtesy of CEP Socks through Josh Cox, I will be running Rock n Roll's Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville on April 30! Cool huh? :)

I still need to figure out how I will get down there since I hate to drive by myself with gas prices the way they are. I hope to find someone that's going & tag along, chipping in for the gas. We'll see... An old friend, Molly, has agreed to let me crash at her place the night before the race & she lives right across the street from where the race starts! Very awesome stuff, & I'm looking forward to seeing her. It's been a while... She is quite a good songwriter/singer/musician & you can check her out here:  http://mollyirene.com/

                              

Not sure what my goals are yet for this race... have yet to decide on a game plan. Looks to be fairly flat, with a mostly downhill finish, so I don't expect anything crazy there. Running has been going very well lately, & I have zero problems with the legs right now, so we will have to see. I'm thinking I will start out conservatively & just work my way into a comfortably fast pace, & race those final miles. I typically lock into an effort & hold it for the duration of the race, but I don't want to risk bonking as I'm not quite sure yet on fitness & have switched gears now to 5K training. Either way, this is a great opportunity, & though I don't really like country music this race should be a lot of fun & I intend on having LOTS of it! :) Post-race I'm hoping Dear Molly will let me take an ice bath before I head home so I can put on my Zensah compression sleeves for some active recovery for the drive home. It just so happens that I have the Run for Sight 5K in the morning &, while I don't know what to expect there either, I want to be ready! If you live in the area & want to run, or can donate, it is a great cause. You can read more about it on my post titled "Eye Heart Avery & Baby Bee"

                                   

I also just won a really cool bracelet with the message "I am not afraid" & "I was born to do this" from Kara Goucher's blog. It's a silicone bracelet, but because it's much thicker than a regular silicone bracelet it looks like a really nice piece of jewelry. Very cool :) This is the same message that's on a necklace that Kara wears from designer Tina Steinberg & I still may win the exact necklace that she has if my story is chosen! Check out her blog & submit a story if you are interested. I think it's going on through the end of April, so hurry!!

I really hope everything goes well next weekend. I'll be well-rested, that's for sure! I'm not sure what I did to myself, but I'm thinking it was over-training. I rode 73 hilly miles last Saturday (in preparation for a hilly 84 mile timed ride May 7th) & decided to really drop the hammer. I rode by myself, & was able to ride the 73 miles, with over 4000 ft of elevation gain, in just under 4 hours. For me, that is really moving with all that climbing! I felt incredible the whole time & even felt like I could have continued for at least another 30-40 miles. It was awesome. Did an ice bath & the legs felt great in the morning.

On Sunday I planned to run the final 6.2 miles with my friend Chris, who was running the marathon, & then run back to meet my friend Megan & run her in the last little bit of her marathon. They were both struggling in the heat, as everyone was, & I wound up getting in just over 10 miles on the day.

Monday, I felt great, so decided to do an easy 45 minute spin on the trainer followed by a 3 mile easy run.

Feeling even better on Tuesday, I decided on a short track workout. Ran a 2 mile warm up, then did 3 x mile repeats (400 @ 6:45 pace, then 1200 @ 7:03 pace - compound sets, 3 minute standing rest between sets). Not a terribly tough session, though I did do another ice bath that night.

Legs felt great, but I was feeling a little tired on Wednesday. I went out on the bike anyway, since my legs were fine, & rode 38 miles of hills. I'm pretty sure that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Looking back, I should have just run an easy 3 mile recovery run, & gotten some extra sleep.

I was not able to work out at all on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, due to exhaustion, & just felt like laying around & eating everything in sight. Major training error there, but that's what happens when we are self-coached & trying to fit a lot off stuff into the program. Lesson learned :)

I went to the Trek ride then on Sunday, because it doesn't have any big hills or steep inclines & a lot of people use it for recovery, & got in 30 miles with those guys. It was a nice easy-going ride & I needed that! This week has been pretty much business as usual, though I am watching my effort levels & nutrition. Don't want to wind up like that again!

I am planning to get in an easy 12 mile run this coming Saturday morning, & then will go easy all next week, with the exception of a short tempo run on probably Tuesday, in preparation for my races next weekend. I'm not sure what will happen there, but it will be an adventure & something interesting for you all to read :)

Either way, since I'm sure you're not at all sick of this expression, I am --------------------------->

Winning... Duh ;)