Dry Spell

I've been MIA for over a week and need to catch up....will start with today.

With the Ironman Boulder 70.3 coming up next Sunday, we did a shorter ride today: 2.5 hrs. We rode to Pierce and back (from Sarah's house), which I believe is 40 miles. Its nice to be at the point where a 40 mile ride is considered an "easy ride"!

At left, there is Kevin, Geoff, Sarah, and Todd. We had a nice time.

Yesterday, I ran 10 miles with Lynne and it was a very hard run. I just didn't have much steam and Lynne is a fairly fast runner so I ran out of gas around mile 6 (unusual for me). I had to reach deep to finish but i did.

Sarah and a group of others ran at 6:00. I really wanted to run with that group but it's just too hard to get there by 6:00. I would have to get up at 4:30 to eat (just a little) and drink coffee and drive to WOW. When I'm not in a hurry, I just don't want to get up that early. I was hoping Sarah would change it to 6:30 as I would've done that, but she wouldn't budge (her in-laws were in town and she had things to do).  I understand that but I do hope there can be some compromise in the future!

Fortunately, I had Lynne to run with. Lynne is on the other extreme: she likes to go as late as possible, or should I say it this way, she likes to sleep as long as possible!  She wanted to run at 8:00 which is much later than I would normally want to go but given the choice of getting up at 4:30 or running in warmer temps, I chose the latter.

Ideally, I'd like to run at 6:30, 7:00, or maybe even 7:30. But 6:00 is just too hard to do. And one of the reasons is because I am notorious for having to stop and pee and the earlier I run (closer to coffee time), the more I will have to stop and I hate having to do that so much.

And maybe we'll just have two groups or maybe I'll end up running by myself. I don't mind running alone but I'd prefer to run with at least one other person on long runs. We'll see. I know Dan has to go early too so it may be hard for me to find people to run with.

Back to workouts, in the last few weeks I've done the usual routine: swim at the lake on Monday (I swam the entire perimeter by myself last Monday), swim at Centennial on Weds, and swim at one of the two places on Friday; run Tues/Thurs, and bike Weds and Sunday.

Last week's bike ride was great. I rode with Colleen and Todd again. I ended up doing about 45 miles and they cut back early so they did a little less (so they could get to work). They go so fast!  I have a hard time keeping up with them, esp Todd. Colleen hung back with me but only because she had to teach a spinning class later in the day. Whew!

I love riding on Weds mornings. The air is cool and fresh and the country scenery is peaceful. I just love it. I wish I could ride in the morning more often. More on that later.

Here's Todd, Colleen, and I last Weds:

After riding 45 miles, I swam a mile at Centennial!  I did 16 laps and was really happy about that. I was not able to do that last year.

Running wise, I've been doing the short 4-6 milers on Tues/Thurs but still having minor heel pain and significant hip pain. The hip is the worst. I'm very worried about it.  It hurt during the run yesterday. I'm just afraid to run on it too much. I feel like I'm so far behind in my running and I get pretty discouraged sometimes. Dan, Kevin, and Colleen have been very supportive and I appriate that very much.

All in all, a good two weeks. I'm feeling more fit and ready to tackle the official Ironman training plan that starts after Boulder. Wish me luck!