Frosty My Ass....It was Frigid!!

I read the post where I predicted temps to be in the upper teens today at race time. Yeah, try 2 deg!! It was pretty cold running along the river front on a mostly snow and ice covered course. Dont get me wrong, it was enjoyable but far from a time I was looking for at that distance. I think I was right at 24 minutes and a few seconds but I'll get the official results in a few days. Going into the race I was hoping to come in under 23 min's. I won't blame the time entirely on the weather, I think my sleeping issues came into play also. My HR seemed to be pretty high, I hurt for more of it that I wanted and my recovery numbers after the race were low. I dont feel like I'm getting sick, but I have to think the sleeping issues may be causing some fatigue.....which will make me sick later if I'm not careful. Anyway, I'm not disapointed. It was a learning experience and one of those days where I found the strength to run despite all the things going against me. These kind of runs make me stronger down the road and I'll accept that.

EZ run tomorrow night before work and then it's 60 minutes of suffer in the Dungeon Monday night.

I Hate Court

Yeah, but its part of the job I guess. I had my best bike session so far on Monday night with Howie. I really pushed myself and made it count. It was absolutely the best I've felt since my "mini comeback". So Tuesday I wait around all day on a court call in only to find out that I wouldn't be needed at all on Tuesday but at 8:30 Wednesday morning.....when I was planning to be about an hour into a great trail run at Indy. To make matters worse I was there until noon which pretty much killed the entire day since I needed to eat lunch and try and get to bed yet before I went back to work. I made the most of it though. I woke up rested with plenty of time to get a short run in on the treadmill last night before work then followed it up this morning with a short easy spin on the trainer while Tiffster walked on the treadmill. It was nice actually. Plus I made a little extra cash for the court appearence.

I'll probably relax the rest of the day and hit SF tonight. I dont want to push myself too much though as I have the Frosty 5K on Saturday morning. Tomorrow I'll get a short tempo run in to get my legs loose for the race. I slept good yesterday so hopefully that will set the trend for the week and I can be rested well for Saturday. Lookin like some cooler temps for the race, probably in the upper teens or early 20's come race time. I'll make my list today for attire and pre-race prep.

Sleep Troubles

Last week had another sketchy ending to it. It started off fine again through Wednesday but that's when my problems really started. For some reason for the next few days I had trouble sleeping. I went to sleep fine but after about 3 hrs. I would wake up and not be able to go to sleep again until about 7:30. So when the alarm went off to get up and get some work done I was so dead that I couldnt make myself get it done and would end up sleeping till 9. By Friday this sleep pattern was wearing on me. I was irratable, groggy all the time and just had no real ambition. Not sure if it was the extreme cold I was working in at night or just the recently added workload getting to me or what. At that point I just put training on hold and concentrated on rest for the next few days. I just made myself not get worked up over the lack of training and made sleep a priority. So here I am back to Monday well rested and looking forward to some dungeon time with Howie. Hopefully my body can stay adjusted and get me through the week with some time of pattern being established.

Temps are looking better this week so hopefully I can get back outside by Wednesday morning. I'm going to try the Indy thing again and start hitting those trails hard both running and on the bike. Speaking of which is in and I need to go see it and give those guys a little more money. I'd like to have that thing by the end of the month so I can start getting some rides in on it. I'm still hoping to do a trail duathlon at the end of April and will need all the bike time I can get.....especially on a mtb.

Frost 5K on the riverfront this Saturday. No expectations. Just want to race and practice weekly prep.

Bad Ending to Last Week

My week started out fine last week with a ride with Howie and a nice trail run at Jubilee on Wednesday. Unfortunately the training went downhill from there due to some surprise court appearences and some overtime. By this Sunday I was getting frustrated and was a bit of an ass. I made it through til today and got my strength session in this morning. I was like a new person. Tomorrow morning I'll get a 60 min run in on the treadmill. The temps for the rest of the week are looking pretty nasty with snow and wind chills of -25 til Friday. Better Keep it indoors the next few days.No worries though. I've been pretty lucky to be outside as much as I have.

The new bike should be in by now. I'll slide over this week and put a little more money down on it. I'll be hitting Indy pretty hard both running and on the bike starting next week. If you train at Indy your racing improves at about all the other parks around here.

Missed the PAMBA meeting tonight. Just totally forgot about it. I was hoping to start hitting some meetings again. Have to wait til February now.

Week in Review

Lets start with the "good", tonight is my last night at the airport. That's very good! Next, I'm fairly happy with my first week adding back riding. I got better and more comfortable on the bike every time out. When I'm looking forward to the next chance I get, I know things are going well. My running was pretty solid this week to with a nice trail run and a fun tempo run added to the mix. The bike/run stuff overall went well for me.

My diet for the week will fall into the "O.K." category. Overall, not to bad but the gorging on pizza today was a hit I didn't need. I also seem to have been drawn back to Monster Assaults again. Not bad in moderation I suppose, but one/day is too many in my book. Way too much sugar. Probably going to get back to coffee now that I'm out of the airport for awhile.

The "Bad", I was lazy with my Simple Fit. I was 1/3 on it this week and that can't happen. Oddly enough I got it in the longest of the three and had a good day. One would think the other two would have been a no brainer. The added negative is that I use that time to really stretch and keep loose for the week. That can come back to hurt me sooner rather than later. Later it will just hurt worse. Just lazy! The stuff planned in the evenings seem to be the part that's giving me fits right now. I mean, what's 30 minutes of sleep anyway? I just have to be disciplined enough to get up and get it done.

I know adding another component is difficult and I was expecting to add two. No excuses though. I move on to another week which is an opportunity to improve. My focus this week will be on correcting these issues and getting the Simple Fit and any other evening stuff before work done.

On a side note, planning on a 5K on the 24th on the riverfront.

Puttin In The Work

So far so good with my work the last few days. Missed my easy spin today since I didnt get home from work til noon, but otherwise getting in some good days.Monday I was back in the Dungeon with Howie for 45 minutes of good times on the bike. He had a pretty fun training DVD that we worked to. I've got to get me some of those. It kept me involved and into the workout.


Me and Howie coolin down

On Tuesday I had my best Simple Fit day so far. I started over again at L1D1, but it was needed and it paid off. I should have got one in tonight too, but again, thought I better get my sleep after a long night at work. NYE would have been much more relaxed at the airport. Instead I was runnin all night and into the day. I needed some sleep

On Wednesday, it was back to the trails for my first trail run in a long time. The temps were a test by themselves. The radio said it was 2 deg with the wind. Little warmer in the woods, but the sweat coming through my hat and gloves were freezing at the 1hr. mark so I thought I better call it a day. Jubilee was refreshing. It's like goin home.



On the bike front, I have decided..........the Kona 4 it is. I really think I'll be happier in the long run on a f/s frame. It's the one I've wanted for a year and as long as I can still snag an 08, the price helps too. I'll find out for sure on Monday if its still possible. If not......maybe it's back to the Stumpy ht.

Gonna try an actual tempo run tomorrow. I found some good treadmill workouts on our local running club site. They arent long, but will be challenging and fun and give me some variety.