Good Day/Bad Day

This weekend was a one filled with lows and highs. One day I felt like I had just picked up running after a five year lay-off as I struggled to maintain a 9:00/mile average, the next I was pounding on my bike like I was competing in the Tour de France. It made no sense to me at all. The one constant throughout the whole weekend was how great my wife was. I don't know if it was but she was wonderful yesterday and today. She knew that I had to get my workouts in...and not short and simple workouts...more along the lines of a 10 mile run on Saturday with a swim later in the day, then a 40 mile bike and 3 mile run off immediately after. Despite this all she was awesome about it.

Saturday
The day started out like no other. For whatever reason, act of God, planets mysteriously aligned, or the simple law of averages, both of my daughters slept past 8:00am. How does this translate to me? Well, that means I was able to sleep in as well. I felt like half of the day was over and I still had to get out and run. After eating a bit of breakfast (Pop-Tarts), I geared up and headed out for what I hoped would be a respectable 10 mile run into town and back. I was to be sorely mistaken as this run turned into a horror show. It was eerily similar to my run last weekend. No matter what I tried I just couldn't get myself going. I don't know if it was some residual exhaustion of my lack-luster 5K two nights before, but for whatever reason I sucked. I am looking back at my stats from the run and it reads like this:

10.34 miles - 1:32:31 (8:57/mile)
Average HR - 158 BPM

Atrocious! My average HR is lower when I am doing a speed workout. I am starting to suspect that it might be a bit of over training as I am trying to get back into the shape I was prior to my groin injury. Whatever it is I need to figure it out fast because I have a race this coming weekend and then another two weeks after that.

After my disgusting display of my running skills it was off to the pool to play with the girls. We had a great time and I was able to escape up to the lap pool and get in a quick 1,000 yds. I averaged a little under 2:00/100 yds, wearing my board shorts which I was very happy with. I felt so good in the pool for the first time in a while. Maybe it was that there was no pressure to swim hard, but rather just get some yards in.

I ended the day with a well deserved hamburger at Dilly's....maybe it really wasn't that deserved, but I needed something to lift my spirits. I did manage to fall asleep by 10:00pm. I was extemely tired.

Sunday
Today was to be a new day, one that would better define me as an athlete. Despite my soreness from Saturday's workout, I was determined to fight through it and put in a solid 40 miles on the bike. I was given the blessing from my wife and at 8:27am I began my quest. The first six miles were mellow as I tried to loosen my legs up and prepare myself for the NJ hills (yes, there are some hills in NJ). Once I crossed the Delaware River into NJ I decided to try a hill that a few local cyclist had told me about, Federal Twist Rd. I made the left onto the road and rode steadily towards the first incline. It was then that I realized how f'ing steep and long it was....there were two cyclists shooting down and they were flying. I took a few deep breathes, bore down and started up it (see mile 7 in the elevation chart below). In a mile it goes from 100 ft above see level to about 475 ft, 375 ft of vertical gain in a mile, an average of 7%, with the last 1/2 mile closer to 9%.





Despite some technical issues with my Garmin Forerunner 305, I managed to put in 40.75 miles and I felt pretty good about my workout considering the difficulty of the ride. Granted I was slower than I would have liked to of been, but I still felt good. On a side note, I really have to remember to bring my camera with me when I do these rides, the scenery is really awesome!

40.75 miles - 2:23:49 (Avg. 17 MPH).

Avg HR - 137 BPM

The run after the bike was cut short a bit because my wife wasn't feeling all that great. I ran a quick 1.5 miles in 12:32 (8:18/mile), which I was pretty psyched about considering it came after a very hilly 40+ mile bike ride.

It is now time for bed, and trust me my head will be hitting the pillow and I was be dozing in no time. Ciao!