Sore Weekend

Oh my gosh am I beat today.  Getting out of my car following my 50 minute drive to work was a rough, my legs just didn't want to move in the way that I wanted them to.  I am sitting here thinking that I if I am so sore from the training I did over the past three days, well then I am in in worse shape than I ever could have imagined.  Now as I think back to what encompassed Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there was really a lot more going on than just running and biking.

Friday
It is never easy slipping away for 60 minutes of running during the work day, but I had to try and do it.  The weather was sunny, hot and humid, probably around 85F but it felt much worse.  I ended up doing a big loop that incorporated some hills, nothing too daunting, but definitely not flat.  The first three miles were good, smooth sailing, but then things started to get tougher as I began to feel the heat and my breathing started to suffer.  I soldiered on and despite my desires to walk for a bit, I didn't.  I didn't get the full hour of running in, actually 57:30 (give or take).  I managed to keep my overall pace under 8:00/mile and covered around 7.25 miles. 

Saturday
My plan for Saturday was to get up early, get my hour and 45 minute ride in, coach my daughters soccer game at 10:00AM, then do whatever chores my lovely wife had planned for me.  It played out a little bit differently however....I awoke at 6:15AM thanks to my 4 (almost 5) year old daughter starting at me from the side of my bed.  I picked her up and plopped her into our bed and then fell back asleep until around 6:45AM.  It was then announced by my wife that she would be going to the food store with my youngest first thing that morning....translation, my ride would have to wait until later on in the day.  On a positive note, my oldest daughter and I got to have breakfast together and then play outside for a bit before the groceries arrived home.

It was then time to get to the soccer game.  It was a tough one, we really out played the other team but the girls just couldn't score a goal.  I felt so bad for them.  What compounded the problems were that by the fourth quarter we only had four girls remaining (we play 4 v 4) which meant no rests.  The girls were toast, totally out of gas.  I wish I could have done something to help them out.  Regardless, they played great and I couldn't have been prouder of them. 

After them game it was off to pick up some landscaping supplies....translation, my ride would have to wait until later on in the day.  Sixteen bags of mulch were PACKED into my wife's Pacifica.  I then made an executive decision that we would be having lunch at "Five Guys".  I justified my eating this for lunch by the simple assumption that I would be burning 2,700+ calories on my ride later.  It was really good!!!

From 1:00PM to around 4:30PM it was all yard work.  Mulching all of our beds in the front of our house, around all of the flowers in the back of the house, digging, raking, just working and getting dirty.  It was around 4:45PM that I finally got the OK to go for my ride (yeah!). 

Long story short about the ride....I was beat, thanks to all of the activities that I had participated in throughout the day but I was happy.  I was happy to be outside on my bike, riding through the beautiful Pennsylvania and New Jersey countryside.  I would love to write more about my ride, but simply saying it was fun is enough.  I ended up riding around 31.75 miles in 1:47, only about 17.5 MPH.  I'm not all that concerned about my average speed, especially considering the day I had leading up to it and the terrain on which I rode.

Sunday
I was fortunate in being able to get out relatively early for my run (8:15AM)....the price being an early morning bagel run for the family.  I wish that I could say some positive things about my run, but frankly it really sucked.  One hour running exactly, around 7.4 miles, equaling around an 8:10/mile pace.  I was tired and just wanted it to be over, I actually stopped about 2.25 miles in to reset, I was a bit dizzy and didn't feel right.  The only real positive from the outing was that I ran the last mile and a half at 7:40 pace, the sole purpose being that I would be home sooner.

After the run it was time for some more yard work while my wife took my oldest daughter to her dress rehearsal for dance (and pictures), leaving me and the little on to tackle the chores.  It was all about digging up bushes, transplanting bushes and then planting new bushes.  I will spare everyone the details.  Oh, I can't forget that I had a dress rehearsal for dance at 2:45PM as well.  I had the opportunity to do a full run though of our dance on the actual stage we will be performing, with a spattering of little girls and Mom's watching us.  Yeah, we are going to look like a bunch of total asses.

After dance, it was back home to finish up the planting before dinner (and watching a bit of the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament....Army beat Syracuse!!!  I hate Syracuse lacrosse!).  Such a good dinner, whole wheat pasta with meatballs.  It might just have been that fact that I didn't eat much all day, but that food tasted so good!

So it is now Monday morning and I am glad that I have a rest day today, much needed after the busy weekend.  Tomorrow back in the pool for 2,500M and then an afternoon run.  Ciao!