As usual I haven't been all that great in keeping up with writing lately. It isn't because I don't want to or I don't have a lot to say, but rather I am just super busy at work and I have zero time once I get home. I figured this morning is the only spare minutes I have to recap the last week or so....I will stick to the highlights.
The end of last week went pretty well, I managed to get in the pool on Friday which made me happy. Actually, I wasn't happy to be in the pool, I was happy that I managed to drag my ass out of bed, got in the car, drove to the gym and physically and mentally was prepared to go swimming despite my desire to not swim. My swim workout was uneventful and only a mere 850 meters, but I will take it. I decided to do a bit of light lifting while I was at the gym, heck I am paying for use of the whole facility so I should maximize my usage. I did some dumb bell bench press, some dips, some lat pull downs and a bunch of ab work. I can say now that it was not a good idea.....NOT AT ALL. It wasn't until Tuesday morning that I finally felt the soreness receed from my chest. Holy crap!
I went for an easy four mile run on Friday afternoon, which turned out being a sub-8/mile pace. I planned on going at 8:15 - 8:30 pace, but it just isn't in me to run slowly, even if I want to. Damn you competitive nature, damn you to hell!
Saturday I slept in to 7:00AM (oh yeah!) and was fortunate to be able to watch the Liverpool v. Stoke City soccer match. I say fortunate because I had the freedom to watch it, not because they blew a 1 - 0 lead in the 90th minute and then failed to pull out the win in stoppage time when Dirk Kuyt's header hit the right post and rebounded safely preserving the draw. So frustrating. After the soccer match, I went out for 3.9 mile run with my dog Willie. Running with my dog is a good way to ensure that I run easy. He always wants to run all out for the first mile, then by the second mile he is right at my side, then the third/fourth miles I am pretty much dragging him home.
There was a time back maybe seven years back when Willie was in great shape, he would accompany me on 6 - 7 mile runs. That isn't the case anymore. I have let him get out of shape, largely because I do almost all of my running during the week at work (during lunch). Despite my best efforts to get him in shape, it is tough when you work 8 - 9 hours a day, then spend time with your kids, while making dinner and waiting for my wife to get home. It doesn't leave a lot of time for taking the dog out for a 30 minute exercise romp.
Anyway, Sunday was a race down at Tyler State Park with my running club. It was the Polar Bear 8 Mile, traditionally the coldest race of the year, but not this year. I'm not sure why, but I just didn't feel great during the race. My legs were a bit sore, my breathing the slightest bit heavy and my head just not quite there. The long and short of it is that I managed to stay close to a couple of guys and planned to overtake them on the second of the two loop course. Around two miles from the finish I passed two of the three and set my sights on number three. He was about 200 yards ahead of me and as I got closer to the finish I started to lose hope of catching him. Then with about 300 yards from the finish and he only a mere 40 yards ahead of my I decided to unleash my kick. About 20 yards from the finish he heard me and started to pick up his pace.....beating my by only one second (see second picture below). Kudo to him for picking up the pace and even though I didn't catch him it was good having a target out there to spur me on to finish strong. I finished the 8 mile race in 58:11 (7:16/mile pace), faster than last year, but slower than two years ago by about 25 seconds. I think if I felt a bit better, sharper, I could have been close to 57 minutes.
The end of last week went pretty well, I managed to get in the pool on Friday which made me happy. Actually, I wasn't happy to be in the pool, I was happy that I managed to drag my ass out of bed, got in the car, drove to the gym and physically and mentally was prepared to go swimming despite my desire to not swim. My swim workout was uneventful and only a mere 850 meters, but I will take it. I decided to do a bit of light lifting while I was at the gym, heck I am paying for use of the whole facility so I should maximize my usage. I did some dumb bell bench press, some dips, some lat pull downs and a bunch of ab work. I can say now that it was not a good idea.....NOT AT ALL. It wasn't until Tuesday morning that I finally felt the soreness receed from my chest. Holy crap!
I went for an easy four mile run on Friday afternoon, which turned out being a sub-8/mile pace. I planned on going at 8:15 - 8:30 pace, but it just isn't in me to run slowly, even if I want to. Damn you competitive nature, damn you to hell!
Saturday I slept in to 7:00AM (oh yeah!) and was fortunate to be able to watch the Liverpool v. Stoke City soccer match. I say fortunate because I had the freedom to watch it, not because they blew a 1 - 0 lead in the 90th minute and then failed to pull out the win in stoppage time when Dirk Kuyt's header hit the right post and rebounded safely preserving the draw. So frustrating. After the soccer match, I went out for 3.9 mile run with my dog Willie. Running with my dog is a good way to ensure that I run easy. He always wants to run all out for the first mile, then by the second mile he is right at my side, then the third/fourth miles I am pretty much dragging him home.
There was a time back maybe seven years back when Willie was in great shape, he would accompany me on 6 - 7 mile runs. That isn't the case anymore. I have let him get out of shape, largely because I do almost all of my running during the week at work (during lunch). Despite my best efforts to get him in shape, it is tough when you work 8 - 9 hours a day, then spend time with your kids, while making dinner and waiting for my wife to get home. It doesn't leave a lot of time for taking the dog out for a 30 minute exercise romp.
Anyway, Sunday was a race down at Tyler State Park with my running club. It was the Polar Bear 8 Mile, traditionally the coldest race of the year, but not this year. I'm not sure why, but I just didn't feel great during the race. My legs were a bit sore, my breathing the slightest bit heavy and my head just not quite there. The long and short of it is that I managed to stay close to a couple of guys and planned to overtake them on the second of the two loop course. Around two miles from the finish I passed two of the three and set my sights on number three. He was about 200 yards ahead of me and as I got closer to the finish I started to lose hope of catching him. Then with about 300 yards from the finish and he only a mere 40 yards ahead of my I decided to unleash my kick. About 20 yards from the finish he heard me and started to pick up his pace.....beating my by only one second (see second picture below). Kudo to him for picking up the pace and even though I didn't catch him it was good having a target out there to spur me on to finish strong. I finished the 8 mile race in 58:11 (7:16/mile pace), faster than last year, but slower than two years ago by about 25 seconds. I think if I felt a bit better, sharper, I could have been close to 57 minutes.
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Just finished 5.3 miles and still with a tough 2.7 to go.
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Couldn't catch him....maybe if I could run a bit more quietly.
Monday - No work and no working out. The only exercise I did was take the family ice skating to a super packed rink (it was ridiculous how many people were on the ice). It ended up just being me and my oldest daughter doing the skating while my wife and youngest watched us. We had a good time, I just have such a great time doing "athletic" things with my girl.
Tuesday was swim/run day. I managed to top 1,000 meters in the pool and it was the first day that I felt good in the water. Don't get me wrong, I didn't feel great, but definitely better than I did on Friday. The run was a rough one; my left hamstring was really tight. Even though I wanted to take it real slow I still managed to go at 8:07/pace, which didn't help my hammy the rest of the day.
This morning was a 1,100 meter swim in 22:58. Definitely not blazing through the water, but not bad either. I felt so much better today, so much so that I am looking forward to getting back in the pool tomorrow morning. I am planning on getting on my bike tonight and doing 45 minutes. I think my hamstrings need a bit of a rest from the beating I put them through on Sunday (and Tuesday).
That is it for now. Time to get some work done!
1 comment:
That guys face in the second picture is classic. Way to get some time in the pool. The more and more you go the better and better you'll be feeling in there! Soon it'll be feeling great, not just good.
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