Cross training day.

16.0 miles on the bike in 60 minutes flat. I’m sweaty and my lady bits are numb. Good workout!

Rode from our campsite near Preston, Mn to Lanesboro, Mn. Had breakfast in a diner car and then biked back.

13.6 miles in 1:27:04.

Chicago Marathon Training: Week 3 Day 1

Today was a cross training day so I hopped on the bike trainer while watching really, really vapid TV.

On a somewhat related note… You may have noticed that I’ve been quieter than usual as of late. There’s a major reason why. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to go into any details at this point. Just know that I’m keeping a secret right now, and it’s a big one. One of those life changing nothing will ever be the same again kind of things. You all will know first, but it’s not quite time to reveal it yet.

Was that vague enough to get you curious? I hope so :)

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to get my long run in. I just wasn’t feeling it yesterday, and bailed early. So the second time was the charm. It was only 72 degrees when I hit the pavement, but man was it humid. I got sweat in my eyes at least 3 times. Ouch! I did 8.0 miles in 1:24:06. Average pace 10:30. Which was right on my goal pace for Chicago. When I got home, I took a quick shower, and the hubby and I grabbed coffee and headed to the St Paul Farmers Market.

The market was hopping and filled with the wonderful smells of fresh herbs and flowers.

All the produce looked and smelled so good!

We purchased beets, green onions, asparagus, red potatoes, radishes, snap peas, and flowers.

After the farmers Market, we spent a few hours driving around looking at houses. After sitting for so long, we needed to do something active, so to the lakes we went to rent bikes. I have one, but the husband doesn’t.

Minneapolis has an amazing bike sharing program called Nice Ride MN. You rent a bike from a station and can return it to any station in the city. They’re a very cheap and clean form of transportation. Things like this make my love my state.

We rode 7.2 miles in 42:47. Average speed 10.1 mph. That’s actually kind of amazing considering how windy it was today. At times I felt the wind pushing the bike sideways.

After biking, we decided to take the Como-Harriet Streetcar. We’ve never been on it and thought it would be a good way to get out of the sun and cool off. This historic street car runs from Lake Harriet to Lake Calhoun and back.

This particular car was built in 1947 and was used on University Avenue to travel from Minneapolis to St Paul.

We sat in the back. You know where the naughty cool kids sit ;)

For dinner we had the asparagus, snap peas, beets and potatoes. You don’t realize how good fresh produce tastes, until you eat it the day after they pull it out of the ground.

We had a great Sunday just being us. Doing the things we love to do. Tomorrow our lives my change forever, but today was practically perfect in every way.

Today was a rest day.

In my world, rest day = bike day. I was starting to feel some tightness in my right hip at the end of my run yesterday. Usually riding helps work all of the soreness out. I’m going to stretch and visit my friend the foam roller just to be safe.

I have 35 miles planned this week and I don’t want to be hurting.

No rest for the wicked.

My Dad has been in the hospital for the past few days. What started out as a stress fracture, has blossomed into a bacterial infection in his spinal chord. It looks like he will spend a few more days in the hospital and then potentially move to a nursing home. His antibiotics will need to be administered intravenously, so being at home may not be an option.

Honestly, I am fine. I don’t let things like this really penetrate my stoic exterior until it’s absolutely necessary. So for now, I carry on. I will go to work. I will nurture my body with healthy food. I will run ALL the miles. It’s what I know how to do and in times like these, structure is important.

That said, I did a brick workout today: 2 miles running, 15 miles riding.

I decided to do a brick workout today.

2 miles running, 10 miles on the bike, 2 miles running.

I haven’t done a brick since last summer so I took it easy with my pace. I wanted to ensure that I would finish all three segments with a little gas in the tank.

I’m happy to say there was very little difference in my pace between the first run and the second. My legs were very fatigued after getting off the bike, but it wasn’t enough to slow me down considerably.

Leg 1: 2.02 miles in 20:50. Average pace 10:19.

Leg 2: 10.03 miles in 39:51. Average speed 15.1 mph.

Leg 3: 2.03 miles in 21:10. Average pace 10:26.

I need to do more of these. I felt like a beast! Duathlon in September.

I think it might be time to retire the bike trainer for the season.

15.0 miles in 54:10. Average speed 16.7 mph. 781 calories burned.

Now if I only knew how to change the tube and tire myself. It is time to learn. There are a few tri’s in my future. I can feel it.

I needed to take a rest day from running. I have finally ramped up my mileage, to what I would consider my “normal” level. Which has led to a whole lot of soreness.

So I opted for the bike trainer today. I rode 25.02 miles in 1:32:53. Average speed 16.2. I burned 1,402 calories.

I then spent about half an hour using the foam roller and stretching.

I followed that up with Mad Abs March. I did 10 sit-ups, 10 push-ups, and a 10 second plank on each side. Because I am still awful at regular planks, I also did a regular plank for 10 seconds. I am still fiercely determined to make my abs as strong as my legs. That may actually be a bigger harder accomplishment than running a marathon.

One more day of work and then I have a whole week off with my husband. I can’t wait to snowshoe, cross country ski, run, relax, and reconnect with him.

I’ve been a little absent lately and for that I apologize. I just needed a few days to take some deep breaths and work through some solutions.

I have been making less than stellar choices as of late, especially when it comes to eating. Due to some stress in my personal life, I have fallen back on some very old, very poor habits. I lost sight of the importance of what I have done. I forgot about the big picture. It doesn’t matter how many marathons I run, how many PR’s I get. What size is printed in the waist of my pants. It’s about living a long, healthy, happy life with the people that I love. That is the only thing I should be concerned with.

So, now I need to get over myself and get back to treating my body with the respect that it deserves.

Step 1: I rode 20 miles on the bike trainer tonight in 1:14:14. Average speed 16.2 mph. Calories burned 1,067.

Step 2: grocery store tomorrow to stock up on all the Good things!

Step 3: run 11 miles with a friend.

Step 4: enjoy all the moments.

I went to the grocery store today and stocked up on lot’s of essentials that I was running low on. I decided to make Roasted Smashed Potatoes for dinner.

I prepped all my veggies for the week. Green peppers, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and cauliflower. If I don’t do this immediately, I forget what I bought and things go bad.

I also washed and repackaged the fruit I bought. I got apples, grapefruit, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, cuties, and kiwi.

Then I spent a little bit of time feeling bad for myself. My husband will be working overnights for the next year. I work 5am-2pm and he works 8:30pm-7:00am and then sleeps all day. It’s been a tough transition and it definetly affected my mood today. I really wasn’t feeling the love.

What do I do when I feel sad? What I wanted to do was locate a cupcake and tear into it. What I really did was get on the bike.

Then I did my Fab Ab Feb: 45 sit-ups, 11 push-ups, 40 second plank.

7 mile run on deck for tomorrow. Hopefully accompanied by a better attitude.

30-Day Challenge Recap:Day 1

1) Ran 6 miles 2 miles. 45 miles on the bike on Monday, followed by 6 miles running on Tuesday, led to very angry IT bands on Wednesday. I hobbled along for 2 miles and called it quits. 2.05 in 25:29. Average pace 12:26 (yikes!).

2) Completed day 1 of Fab Ab February. I did ten full sit-ups, four incredibly wimpy push-ups, and held a plank for ten shaky seconds. I am convinced that this is the right challenge for me.

3) Cycled twelve miles to shake my legs out a bit. It didn’t help. IT bands are perhaps even more angry now…Rode 12.0 in 42:02. Average speed 17.1.

4) Did well on the eating front. I am behind on my water intake.

Now to ice all the bands and stretch all the muscles!

I rode 30 miles on my bike trainer this afternoon, in 1:47:13. Average speed 16.8.

I then took a break to make Lucky lettuce Wraps for dinner.

I hopped back on the bike after dinner and rode another 15 miles in 55:04. Average speed 16.4.

I managed to burn a total of 2,152 calories. Not too shabby for a Monday workout. Here’s what’s on deck for the rest of the week:

Tuesday- 6 mile run

Wednesday- 6 mile run, Fab Ab Feb day 1

Thursday- 8 mile speedwork run, Fab Ab Feb day 2

Friday- 6 mile run, Fab Ab Feb day 3

Saturday- 5 mile run, Fab Ab Feb day 4, SkyRobics class

Sunday- 13 mile run, Fab Ab Feb day 5

Hopefully I’m still functional next Monday;)

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