3-Day Weekend

03/26/09 - Run & Core

Great 4+ mile run today after work. I'm just really feeling strong, however I need to remember to wear my watch! I was late for Core class, so I just skipped it and went home to enjoy some grilled wild salmon and asparagus! It's exactly what I was craving... thank you to my fiance for that treat. I got some core in on my own, but it doesn't quite match up to the class we get from coach!

03/27/09 - Run

By some miraculous alignment of scheduling, my guy and I were both off today! Thank you state holidays!!! We headed out the door early to Nisene Marks, a nearby state park that boasts some great trails, mountain biking, camping, climbing... you get the idea. With our dog in tow, we headed up the beautifully soft trail. It's the kind of trail that you dream of as a runner, buoyant, shock absorbing, but hard enough that you don't lose any of your speed or form! AHHH!!! Felt like heaven after all my concrete runs.

This trail is surrounded by redwoods with a creek alongside it. It's truly magnificent, and I had the company of my two boys, dog and fiance. What a wonderful morning. I felt really strong again, especially when I started thinking back to my memories of the first time I ran this trail. About 7 months and 60 lbs ago, I ran this same trail. It was my first real run, 8 miles! It was agonizing, I had blisters on my feet, I felt insecure, I walked just about every 10 minutes, but I finished. Yes, I got sick afterward, but then came this feeling of great accomplishment and success. That feeling has now continued with me and pushed me to where I was on this Friday morning. On the same trail, a half-person size smaller, and 5 minutes a mile quicker!

After the turn around, we let our dog take a quick run in the creek and headed back to the trail entrance. I had forgotten one of the nicest parts of this trail... it has a slight incline the entire way in. It's not so noticeable that you get overly fatigued, but it sure does show it's beauty on the way back! We flew back to the start with a nice negative split time! I focused on staying calm and strong, and my speed just seemed to follow, it was nearly effortless to change up my pace by just using more from my hamstrings and staying relaxed everywhere else. Ha, all this work on pacing and form seems to have finally paid off! I sprinted in to the finish where PJ was already waiting for me.... sneaking past me in the last half mile.

I expected to feel tired or worked after such a great run, but instead I just felt normal. My heart rate steadied quickly, my breathing returned, and I realized that I could definitely run this distance, and swim, and bike!!!! I guess my training is aligned with my thoughts, because next week begins our peak training performance. We've built up our athletic base over the last two months, and now we'll just focus on finishing as strong and as quickly as possible! Here we go, I'm about to become a triathlete!

03/28/09 - REST

I had a scheduled ride today, but was in need of some rest... or at least a chance to lay in bed past 7:00am. I thought we were only going to be riding hills, but turns out we did a ride I've wanted to do since I got my bike.... from Soquel out to Sunset Beach along all the strawberry farms and coastline! BOO!!! Too bad I didn't know sooner, I'd have parlayed my rest for another day!

03/29/09 - Swim

I finished up the week with a nice, long swim. I got to the pool early to find it jammed packed. So, I turned around and went to another pool 10 or so miles away on the UCSC campus. Ha, it was closed for spring break!!! I grabbed a bagel, got a $35 parking ticket, and then went back to the first pool. Finally my morning started right and I found that the pool was now clearing out (too bad I didn't just sleep in today!).

I shared a lane with 3 other women at first, which kind of put a hamper on my timed intervals. I had to continuously slow down and stop to wait for the person in front of me. One of the ladies was doing a set of all pulling for backstroke.... not the quickest thing ever when it didn't actually look like she had swam backstroke before! Oh well, I just worked on stroke technique or pulling. All of a sudden though, they were done, and it was on. It was gorgeously sunny out, and I swam for about an hour and a half. Swimming, and then just doing stroke technique drills.... what a wonderful way to start a Sunday morning. I think I did about 2300m, but to be honest, I was so relaxed I wasn't really paying attention!