Feeling good

Tonight's ride was just about perfect.  Sure, there was a pretty strong headwind for part of it, and it was a little muggy, but really, it was pretty awesome.   I had come thisclose to not going, because my head was acting up and I wasn't sure it was a good idea to up my blood pressure.   I took some Aleve, though, and it seemed like it was getting better so I went for it.   In the interests of full disclosure, I also took some Tramadol.  My back didn't appreciate the moving in process, so I will likely be riding drugged for the foreseeable future.  

Anyhow, the ride.   We headed out towards the new Highway 14 with intentions of riding it again, but there were workers so we skipped it.   Honestly, I didn't have a problem with that, as the highway is a nice ride, but I was looking for a little more challenge.   You can look at the ride for the details, but we basically did a big southern loop.   There were some mild hills and a lot of good flat road in pretty decent condition.  

Most importantly, for me, is that I felt great.  My legs were strong, I had enough fuel in me to go and I just wanted to roll.   I pulled my second 17+ mph average on the week, which is the fastest I've gone in a good while.   For this ride, I ate about 300 calories before, and I think that had a lot to do with why I was feeling good.   I also think the running might be helping my aerobic endurance in general, which is a nice side effect.  

The days are getting shorter and the opportunities for good rides, which seemed limitless in May, are starting to become fewer and more precious.  I intend to make sure I'm taking advantage when I can.

Workout:  28.7 miles / 17.4 mph average

Moving Day Weekend

Well, this weekend was a big one.  My boyfriend of several years is moving in, and this weekend was when we needed to get all his stuff moved up.   This also meant that I needed to make room for all the previously mentioned stuff, so much of the last few days has been taken up with rearranging, moving, and unpacking.   The flip side of that is no working out.  Well, not much anyhow.   I do maintain, however, that running boxes up the stairs to my apartment counts as either strength, cardio or both.

However, despite the remaining piles of boxes in my living room, I need to get in gear in a hurry.   The Jesse James century is less than two weeks away, and immediately after that is the UP trip with the bike club.   On top of that, I need to continue to make progress with my running as we lead up to October's 5k.   I have a very positive attitude right now, I just need to make sure my body can keep up!

On the tri front, I've been doing some thinking.   Specifically, I've been thinking about goals.   I know I want to do one or more tris next year, but I hadn't given a lot of thought to how I wanted to do in them.   While spending (a lot of) time in the car in this weekend, I pondered it a bit.   Ultimately, I came to the decision that if I'm going to do it, I want to do it well.   In other words, my ego really doesn't want me coming in last place.    So, once again, I need to focus and make sure I have a plan going into the winter.  I need to improve my swim dramatically, keep a good amount of base miles on with the trainer, and make sure I keep getting out to run, even in the cold.   If I can do that, I think I have a decent chance of finishing at least second to last.

I did get out for Coffee Grind on Saturday.  It was a good, fast ride.

Workout:  23.5 miles / 17 mph avg.

Best Bike Path Ever

I was unable to ride yesterday due to some delicate issues "south of the border", so to speak.   This was a fact bordering on tragedy, as yesterday was pretty much a perfect day for a ride.   Oh well.

Tonight, the Ladies' Ride set out on the new Highway 14 segment between Owatonna and Waseca, otherwise known as the best bike path ever.   It is a newly paved, unopened road.  No cars, no potholes, just nice even concrete for 13 miles.   There was a dog though...we'll let that slide.  Now, most (all?) of the others had already had the pleasure of riding this road, but I have always been out of town, so this was new to me.   Let me tell you, it lived up to the hype.

First off, we had just a bit of a tail wind on the way to Waseca, meaning that we were cruising at a 18-19 mph average without even trying.   However, even once we had turned into the wind, the road was so smooth that we were still going at a pretty good clip back.   I elected to not ride in the pace line for most of the ride, just because I wanted a little more workout.  Well that and I'm pretty bad at riding in a pace line.   Still, I did fade to the back towards the last half of the return trip to avoid upsetting my back by hammering out the miles.   

Verdict?  Fantastic ride, and it's a shame they are going to give the road to the cars.   

Workout:  30.7 miles / 16.3 mph average

Tripped up

I learned a good lesson today.   If your legs are sore (so very very sore), maybe it's a good day for a road run.   As I mentioned, Larry and I went on a rather epic walk yesterday.   This morning, I woke up with calves half the length they are supposed to be, and sitting at a desk all day didn't help.   For reference, I almost fell over the first time I stood up at work, because my legs didn't want to extend all the way.    However, I have new found motivation!  I was going to run, sore legs or not.  

I went running out at Kaplan's again, because it's just more fun when you are lost.   I could tell something was off, as my feet kept catching on things, but I'm not exactly known for lifting my feet so I didn't think much of it.   I was probably five minutes into an eight minute run when it happened.  My toe caught on a root and BAM! on the ground at a higher rate of speed than I have fallen in a long time.    Funny thing:  my first thought was, "Darn, this is going to mess with my pace for this segment."  

Anyhow, I dusted myself off, established I wasn't bleeding and headed off again.   All in all, pretty minor, though I do think my leg is going to end up bruised, as there is currently a nice lump below my knee.   I should be riding for the next few days, so hopefully my legs will sort themselves out before I do my next long run.   On a side note, this is the last week with walking segments...from here on out it's all running (jogging), all the time.   Scary.

Workout:  2 miles / 14.2 pace (ouch!)

Tech for the win

Just a brief update before I head to bed*.   Went out on Saturday for the first day of Week 6 of C25k.   I think having a run with walking breaks was fantastic after doing W5D3.   It lent me that extra confidence to up the pace a little.   My back is still bothering me, and I am getting constant side stitches (related?), but besides that it was a good run.   The run was almost ruined by the fact that I dropped the key to Larry's apartment at the end, but thanks to my handy GPS I was able to locate it.  I also hit up the trails with my mountain bike, finally finding a couple that aren't terrifying.  I look forward to coming back next year with some more experience under my belt to take on the more technical trails.

Sunday Larry and I went for a walk on the new portion of Trout Run trail.   I didn't bring my cell phone (gasp!), so no data, but by my rough figuring it was a 5-6 mile walk.   Not too shabby.


Workout:  2.1 miles / 13.4 pace

*I may come back and rewrite this tomorrow, but I wanted to get it out there in case I don't.  :)

Lost in the Woods

It was awfully windy Thursday, which was pretty much the perfect excuse to do something other than ride bike.   Given that I had pretty new shoes just itching to be worn in the great outdoors, my choice was clear.   I had decided I wanted to go running in Kaplan's Woods, which is halfway across town for me.  I keep thinking that I should really bike to Kaplan's, but for a myriad of reasons (most of which boiling down to I'm lazy), I drove instead.   Once I got there, I dialed up the must dreaded W5D3 of C25K and headed down the path.

C25K works like this: 5 minute warm up, workout, 5 minute cool down.   Well, after I had been walking for what seemed like an awfully long time, I took a look at my phone.  Sure enough, I had forgotten to turn up the ringer, so I had missed the start of the run.   Rather than cut the run short, I decided I would restart the day, and just run during the warm-up section this time, and finish five minutes early.   Plan established, I took off.

I had never really been in Kaplan's before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.   It amounts to a bunch of very similar looking trails that loop around on each other.   I admit, I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to where I was, but I was fairly certain I had gone by a particular bridge a couple of times.   I checked the time at 15 minutes into the workout.   After that, feeling pretty sure I was somewhere near my known landmarks, I promised myself I wouldn't look again until I was somewhere I recognized.   Well, I was wrong.  Where I thought I had been doing small loops, I had actually been doing on BIG loop around the outer edge of the trail.   End result was the same, but it took a bit longer than I would have thought to get to a landmark.  

All in all, it was a good run.  Courtesy of being a little lost, I actually ran for nearly 25 minutes, instead of the prescribed 20.   I didn't move super fast, but I did keep moving, even up and down some pretty significant hills.   The only real negative is that I had a stitch in my side pretty much the entire run.  I have a very hard time concentrating on breathing out on the left foot strike and while I've read that stretching might help, I fail to understand how I can stretch the ligaments holding my liver in place.   The best part though, is that 25 minutes is the longest I have run at one time, ever.  

Workout:  2.3 miles / 13.4 pace

On the horizon

Only two of us showed up for tonight's Ladies' Ride.  Normally, that would be something of a bummer, but it led to a nice laid back ride with good conversation, so I can't complain.    There was a Tstorm watch out, but the weather stayed clear, if somewhat windy, for the duration of the ride.   

While we were pedaling along, talk came up of next year, and plans for next year's rides and runs and whatnot.   There was mention of trying to get a group together for the Wisconsin Triple Crown and I mentioned that Nana and I were thinking of doing a half-marathon in the Chicago area.   It's that time of year, I think, as the end of the season starts coming into sight, that we stop focusing on this year and start making big plans for next.

I have a number of big plans for next year.   As the blog title suggests, I am aiming to do at least one triathlon (maybe more, if I decide I like it), a few 5 or 10Ks,  a couple big rides, including (possibly) RAGBRAI.   It's an ambitious plan, but I think I have it in me.   I made a choice to focus on fitness instead of weight loss goals, and this is certainly part of it.

However, I will say, my reward for losing these next 12 or so pounds can't come soon enough....day spa, here I come!  

The workout:  26.6 miles / 15.6 mph avg

Recovery

Today was a recovery day.  My legs were still feeling shot from Saturday's exertion and I'm still trying to work up the courage to do week 5 day 3 of C25k.   It is silly, but jogging for 20 minutes in a row seems insurmountable.   More on that later.

Anyhow, it was a beautiful morning for a ride.  The rain from Sunday had passed, leaving behind that clean smell in the air that comes with rain.  It was a little muggy, but cool, so nothing this Minnesotan couldn't handle.  I had told Ann earlier in the week that I was going to ride the complete Trout Run Trail so I could show the folks back here what an "easy" trail looks like to Northeast Iowans.   The trail was only completed last week, so there was a decent portion I hadn't even seen yet.

It was a great ride at a nice easy pace.   After the first ten miles or so I had mostly gotten the lactic acid in my legs moving, which was good, as that is roughly where the first climb starts.  It is the sort of climb that looks more impressive at the top than at the bottom, partially because of the switchbacks that have been put in, presumably to keep roadies from killing themselves on the downhills.   As it stands, getting the bike down to the listed 15 mph speed limit on the curves requires a fair bit of breaking.   The climb was not as hard as I remembered, which is the most concrete evidence I have gotten to date that I am actually improving as a cyclist.  Yay!

Here is a link to the ride, as you can see, the interesting parts are in the middle.   Basically, it takes you up the bluff, down and then right back up.  I see "serious" roadies going up and down these hills all the time.  Today, I also saw a bunch of folks that fell firmly into the senior citizen category, complete with upright fitness bikes.  I'm pretty sure they were going faster than me.    It's good to stay humble.

On the running front, as of yesterday I have done 2/3 of week 5.   I have to say, I wasn't really feeling that run to start.   My legs felt like lead and I pretty much just wanted to turn around and go back to sleep.  I managed to finish, however.  Slower (and shorter?) than the day before, but finished nonetheless.   Now I have to conquer the next stage, and I'm not convinced I'm there yet.  So, in classic Jessica motivation fashion, I bought new things.   Specifically, I got these...

Sexy, no?   I damn well better do some serious running with these, or I'm going to use them to kick my own posterior.   On a more exciting note, those are a 9.5B.  If I can wear regular width in Saucony, I am in serious trouble on a shoe buying front.  

The run:  1.8 miles / 14.5 min/mile  Also, that hill feels a lot bigger than thirty some odd feet of climbing.  Just saying. 

P.S.  Saturday's ride has been linked to as well.

Tandem Tide

In a few short weeks, my years of coming to Decorah on the weekend will be over.    While this is a good thing (yay no more winter drives!), it's also sad.   While I technically live in Owatonna, a good part of my heart calls Northeast Iowa home.   I'll certainly be back, but it won't often be for the kinds of stays that allow time for riding and running, so I'm trying to make sure to get in as many as I can before the end of the month.     Saturday provided a picture perfect setting for this goal, as it was cool and sunny, with a moderate north wind.   I had the road bike in the Forester and trail shoes in my bag, and I was ready to take in as much of the day as I could.

I started out with week 5 day 1 from the C25K program, running on the River trail for part of it, so as to better prepare for my upcoming 5k.   I have to say, I really do love trail running.   The misery of running seems to melt away as soon as I step onto the rock and dirt trail.  River trail meanders along the Upper Iowa River, darting in and out of the woodlands that border it.   It was still almost chilly during my run, as the sun had not yet had the chance to warm the deep pockets of the forest, but it felt good.   I saw wildflowers and birds, heard countless critters bounding through the leaves and even had to run around a fallen tree.   These are experiences that road running has no answer for.   I didn't run particularly fast, but I felt faster and more energetic in the run.   I will say trail running makes me think that I could grow to like the minimalist shoe thing, but I still think that needs to wait until I have lost more weight.   

After grabbing breakfast and water, I got my Avail out and headed out for my ride.   Pole Line road is still closed, so it isn't possible to ride my early season loop right now.  Instead, I decided to do an out and back to Cresco, which I figured should end up around 60 miles.   The first part of this trip is a gigantic climb out of the valley, made worse by the fact that they make you do it twice.   The downhills are almost worth it though -- I hit 32 mph coasting down the first one.   The rest of the ride is actually pretty flat, as after I get to Calmar, I take the Prairie Farmer trail to Cresco.   It was when I hit Calmar I knew the ride was going to be longer, as I was at 15 miles there, and it's another 20 to Cresco.   With the ambition of fresh legs, I decided I would add on the Nature Center trail in Cresco to try and get 80 miles in.

Doping

I read a couple of interesting articles today.   This one, in particular, I found fascinating, because I am always interested in finding out more about what makes our bodies excel (or not, as the case may be).   The notion of the central regulator, or really just the idea that our bodies are designed to keep us from killing ourselves strikes a chord with me, because with the heart rate monitor I can often see that while my mind is screaming at me, my body isn't working all that hard.   Conversely, of course, sometimes it warns me that my mind is taking a vacation while my heart tries to beat itself out of my chest.   

Anyhow, this all ties into my ride tonight.   In the process of cleaning this afternoon I managed to do a bad bad thing to my back.   If you know me, you know that my lower back is a strange and dangerous place, subject to dark whims.  I've been doing a good job of keeping it appeased this summer, but whatever I did today set it off--spasms, shooting pains, the whole shebang.   Now, I was pretty upset about this, as I had plans to go riding in the evening, but I was terribly afraid that I couldn't manage it (TMI time:  sitting on the stool was enough to set it into spasms, I didn't have a lot of hope for being crunched over on a bike for two hours).   

I had resigned myself to an evening of Supernatural, when I saw Ann had replied to my Facebook post.   It's funny how it just takes that little kick to get me to do something.  So, I went into my cupboard o' meds and pulled out the prescription pain killers.   I popped one, slathered on some Biofreeze and headed out.   Now, I would be lying if I said I wasn't in pain, but it was bearable.   And after a while, when I glanced down at my computer and saw I was cruising along at 19 mph comfortably I realized a terrible thing.

I am doper.   Well, not really.  But, my mind returned to the anecdote regarding Tom Simpson and how he basically killed himself by using drugs to shut off his central regulator and over extending himself.    Now, I've been feeling a little bummed about my riding the last month or so, as it seems like I was doing better in the first part of the season than I am doing now.   It suddenly occurred to me that during the majority of the first part of the season, my back had been in pretty bad shape.  As such, I was taking a lot of pain meds to be able to ride.   Pain meds, that in their own way, alter my perception of my physical limits.   

Of course, I don't really go any faster on pain meds.   My average remains, as always, in the 16 mph range.   But I feel better doing it, which is interesting.   I figure this must be where people start that slide towards injecting god knows what into their systems.    Now, I have no intents of hunting down my local HGH dealer, but it's interesting all the same.

Workout: 39 miles / 16.7 mph avg

Incidentally, my pain meds are not a UCI banned substance ;)

Motivation

I've been seriously slacking as of late, and giving myself lots of excuses for why.  Some are valid, some are not, but regardless they are not helping me move forward with my fitness goals.   It is easy for me to come up with reasons to ride.  The biggest problem I have with riding is choosing which bike to ride and, trust me, sometimes that is awfully hard, especially when I only have so much car space to dedicate to bikes.   Running, on the other hand, is something I want to be better at, but am currently really bad at.   This creates a lot of negative feelings towards the idea of going out for a run and has resulted in something like two weeks with no runs.   Obviously, if I want to do a tri without embarrassing myself, this needs to change.

As I was contemplating this rather distasteful fact, I kept returning to the vague goal I had set for myself earlier in the year.   While I knew I was not going to be in shape for a tri this year, I had kinda sorta though that I would do a 5k at some point.   Well, vague goals are about as good as no goals from a motivation standpoint, so I decided to make this one a little more concrete.   So, I pulled up a list of races in Southern Minnesota and picked on that looked fun -- the Big Woods Run.  This race is perfect for me:  it's not until October, so I have time to train; it is a trail run, which I enjoy; and it's close to home.   So,  I've bet $33 bucks on myself that I can get my butt into gear and be in shape to run a 5k in October without shame.   Here goes!

Riding the wave of this new motivation, I did both a run and a ride today.   The run was not so spectacular on paper (or screen, if you will), but I was pretty excited because it is the 3rd day of week 4 of C25K and I was a little worried I would have lost ground enough that I couldn't do it.  No problem!  If anything, it was easier than the last run I did, though I will say it being something like 20 degrees cooler probably didn't hurt.   The ride was a mountain bike ride around the parks of Decorah.  Mostly, this ride is notable for two things: 1) I very nearly fell down a cliff after hitting a rock wrong 2) I got passed by a runner - twice.  Ouch.

Workout:  
The run:  2.1 miles / 13 min/mile pace (this is how long it took me to run a mile in high school, so woot! :P )
The ride: 5 miles / 7.6 mph avg (yeah, that was totally skewed by the 18 mph down Quarry Hill Road)