Redemption! This week's long run was way better than last week's crappy one.
I didn't really want to get started, but I knew I had a better chance of doing it today than tomorrow, what with all the Halloween festivities going on tonight, so I hit the road this afternoon, after it warmed up a little. I never want to get started, but once I do, I'm generally happy about it. And it was a beautiful afternoon to be out today! I didn't map out a route, which I usually do, and thought I'd just run laps around the neighborhood so that I could stay close to home in case I needed the bathroom or more water or whatever. I was feeling a little blah, but knew that I really needed this run, both the physical training and the mental boost for the half marathon next week.
I did a mile through the neighborhood and decided I'd hit the Clear Creek Trail, even though I don't normally like to run on it so much. Today, it wasn't so bad. I joined up with my favorite B Line Trail and just cruised. I saw lots of families out walking and riding bikes today. I passed an older couple and then ran towards them a couple miles later, after turning around. They were so sweet. They cheered for me. That was about mile 7. I was feeling good. I just ran for fun, wherever I felt like. I eventually found my way back to my neighborhood and was worried I'd be a little short of the 10 miles (It really was an important milestone to me and I really wanted my Garmin to say 10.xx miles. It's a mental thing.) so I decided to run up the giant hill behind my house and get back the long way. It was really painful to run up that giant hill, especially along my backyard where I could just stop and go inside if I really wanted to, but I just told myself it was good training and buckled down and did it. I made it home with 10.04 miles under my belt in 1:46:25 (average pace of 10:36 min/mile).
I feel awesome! I am much more confident about the half marathon next week. I did 10 and I felt like I could do 3.1 more. Woot! Exciting!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Run Report
Planned to run five miles on the track this morning, but it was so cold! And I convinced my husband to go to the gym too, so I made the last minute decision to run on the treadmill instead. Bad idea. I was way overdressed in my capri length pants and long-sleeved shirt (note: Layers are awesome. In the future, do not leave home without them.) and was pretty toasty in the gym. I ended up doing 3.38 miles on the treadmill at the sort of speedy for me pace of 10:20 min/mile. Kanye West is crazy, but his songs do make me harder, better, faster, stronger.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
CycleFit
Bleh. I was sluggish in CycleFit today. I have got to stop eating apples as my afternoon snack on CycleFit days. I love apples and normally they are an okay snack for me (not filling, but delicious), but they just make my stomach do weird things in CycleFit. Weird considering how awesome the apple cider was during the Hilly Hundred. Anyway, we did a good mix of speed work and climbing, but I only burned 327 kJ! Can I blame it on the fact that I used a different bike than I normally do? No? Okay, I'll keep blaming the apple.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Run Report
Track run this morning. 5.10 miles before work! Average moving pace of 10:24 min/mile. I think I was a little faster than normal because it was cold! I wanted to test if I could wear shorts in 40*F weather just in case those are the conditions for the half marathon. I think it was just a shade too chilly for shorts for me. If it's less than 45*F to 50*F, I'll be wearing my capri length pants.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Long Run Report
So you may have noticed that I decided not to do the Hoosier Half Marathon and instead signed up for the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon. I just couldn't figure out if the Hoosier Half got cancelled or what. Registration never opened and it was getting too close. I didn't want to do all the training for nothing, so I signed up for the Indy Monumental, which is two weeks earlier and only two weeks away. This actually works out according to the training plan I've been following, but I'm a little freaked out not to have that two week buffer period I had built in. The idea of only training up to ten miles for a half marathon is scary. But at this point, I'm just going to have to trust that Hal Higdon knows what he's talking about. :)
So today I ran nine miles. It was painful. But I learned some important lessons. Like don't drink Mike's Hard Lemonade the night before a long run and always carry chapstick with you. I think I must be a little dehydrated, even though I've been trying to make a conscious effort to drink a lot of water. I guess with the changing seasons and the drier air and the Mike's, the amount I've been drinking just still isn't enough. I also learned that running on Kirkwood on a Saturday is a bad idea. Too crowded. I also learned that while my Smartwool compression socks are awesome, I don't really like to actually run in them. Too hot. I'll stick to using them for recovery.
Anyway, even though it was painful (especially after mile 6), it was a nice run. The sororities and fraternities were having some sort of bicycle time trial event, I'm assuming something related to Little 500. A car full of guys (probably undergrads, which, let's face it, I'm too old (and married) for) honked at me. It was a little flattering. At least I hope so. I wore my ipod the whole time, so who knows if they honked to tell me I'm too slow. I'm sticking with the flattering option. I saw my friend Aulaire walking her dog Juno. I stopped to pet the puppy and talk for a minute.
So I ended up running 8.85 miles at a 10:35 min/mile average. Not too bad considering how much my butt and hamstrings hurt (after mile 6 or so). I refueled with chocolate milk and showered and Seth and I headed to Indiana Running Company where I got a shiny new foam roller. I just got finished using it. It. is. AWESOME. I am in love. In a hurts so good kind of way. Oh baby.
Here is the link to my Garmin info. Untitled by jamadren at Garmin Connect - Details I used autopause, but I'm unsure I like it.
And just for photo evidence of how painful and gross this run was:
No, my eyebrows aren't the gross part.
When I came in, Seth asked if I was wearing sunscreen. Confused, I said no. And then he says, "Oh. OH! Is that salt?"
So, yeah, no drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade the day before a run, no matter how crappy the data you get at work is! Trust me on this one.
So today I ran nine miles. It was painful. But I learned some important lessons. Like don't drink Mike's Hard Lemonade the night before a long run and always carry chapstick with you. I think I must be a little dehydrated, even though I've been trying to make a conscious effort to drink a lot of water. I guess with the changing seasons and the drier air and the Mike's, the amount I've been drinking just still isn't enough. I also learned that running on Kirkwood on a Saturday is a bad idea. Too crowded. I also learned that while my Smartwool compression socks are awesome, I don't really like to actually run in them. Too hot. I'll stick to using them for recovery.
Anyway, even though it was painful (especially after mile 6), it was a nice run. The sororities and fraternities were having some sort of bicycle time trial event, I'm assuming something related to Little 500. A car full of guys (probably undergrads, which, let's face it, I'm too old (and married) for) honked at me. It was a little flattering. At least I hope so. I wore my ipod the whole time, so who knows if they honked to tell me I'm too slow. I'm sticking with the flattering option. I saw my friend Aulaire walking her dog Juno. I stopped to pet the puppy and talk for a minute.
So I ended up running 8.85 miles at a 10:35 min/mile average. Not too bad considering how much my butt and hamstrings hurt (after mile 6 or so). I refueled with chocolate milk and showered and Seth and I headed to Indiana Running Company where I got a shiny new foam roller. I just got finished using it. It. is. AWESOME. I am in love. In a hurts so good kind of way. Oh baby.
Here is the link to my Garmin info. Untitled by jamadren at Garmin Connect - Details I used autopause, but I'm unsure I like it.
And just for photo evidence of how painful and gross this run was:
No, my eyebrows aren't the gross part.
When I came in, Seth asked if I was wearing sunscreen. Confused, I said no. And then he says, "Oh. OH! Is that salt?"
So, yeah, no drinking Mike's Hard Lemonade the day before a run, no matter how crappy the data you get at work is! Trust me on this one.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Run Report
Hoofed it on the treadmill this morning. Too cold and windy and rainy and nasty to be outside this morning. I managed 3.0 miles in 31:00 minutes for an average pace of 10:20. Not too shabby. I knew I had to go fast if I wanted to get my three miles in. I started at an easy pace of 10:30 for one mile (walked a little at the very beginning to get my ipod and stuff situated), then did mile two at 10:00 min/mile. Mile three I bumped it up a notch for the first half (9:40-something pace) and finished strong with two more notches for the second half mile at a 9:30 min/mile pace. I was tired, but felt like a rock star at the end. I was quite proud to get in all three miles in the little time I had.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
CycleFit
Speed work in CycleFit today. I normally don't necessarily enjoy speed work and usually feel that I'm not very good at it. After all, I am from the South where we do everything slow. :) But today I felt like I was rocking it and managed to burn 499 kJ. So close to 500, but I just couldn't push it over before it was time to get off the bike. Although if I had remembered my water bottle and didn't have to get off the bike twice during class to visit the fountain, I could have PRed it! Oh, well. Still felt awesome and that's what counts. :)
I just registered
for the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon on November 5th! I am scared. But I think I can, I think I can.
I'm going to try to remember this guy while I'm out there running. :)
I'm going to try to remember this guy while I'm out there running. :)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Run Report
4.23 miles around campus. Average pace a little on the slow side at 10:55 min/mile. Guess my legs are still tired from the Hilly Hundred. Although I have to say that I think there's something to these compression shorts. I slept in them Saturday night and my legs were fine on Sunday's Hilly ride. I didn't wear them Sunday night and they felt tired on Monday. So I wore them last night and while my legs were a little tired today, I think they were much better than they would have been if I didn't wear them. Also, it was 45*F and raining this morning. I was the only runner I saw out! I felt hardcore. I ran around campus today instead of on the track. I thought my shoes would get gross on the track. Campus is a little hilly and I learned that the sidewalks that the sorority houses paint for upcoming events is pretty slippery. But I felt good about getting over four miles in before even getting to work!
EDIT: I finally got the Garmin connect website to work! I have discovered that the average pace my Forerunner displays is different than average moving pace. Maybe I should use the autopause feature? I thought I did okay with pausing at stop lights and stuff, but maybe not? Anyway, my average moving pace was 10:46 min/mile, a little closer to my "normal" run speed. Here's a link to all the info that I'm still working with. I'm so excited about all these numbers!
EDIT: I finally got the Garmin connect website to work! I have discovered that the average pace my Forerunner displays is different than average moving pace. Maybe I should use the autopause feature? I thought I did okay with pausing at stop lights and stuff, but maybe not? Anyway, my average moving pace was 10:46 min/mile, a little closer to my "normal" run speed. Here's a link to all the info that I'm still working with. I'm so excited about all these numbers!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Hilly Hundred Day 2
The Hilly Hundred was such a great event! I had such a good time!
Here is the Day Two route:
Again, ridewithgps lists the elevation gain as 2953 ft, but the info they gave us says 3597. Quite a discrepancy. My Garmin also said 2355.
Speaking of my Forerunner, I did much better managing it today. I still forgot to turn it off at at least one of the rest stops, but overall, I did much better. Here is what Garmin Connect has to say:Hilly Hundred Day 2 by jamadren at Garmin Connect - Details Average Moving Speed of 12.2 mph over 49.71 miles.
I had wanted to compare Forerunner activity to my old cyclecomputer activity, but somehow my cyclecomputer managed to do some reading on the car ride home. So the numbers I got from it aren't right. I did check it at the end though and I averaged 12.8 mph over the 47.1 miles. I will have to do some more testing. :)
The morning started chilly again, but the wind was insane! I heard a lot of people talking about it. Here is a screenshot of the current weather:
That is some serious wind. It was like that pretty much all day.
Here I am at the start line, rocking my new leg warmers and jacket.
I met up with Rachel and Barb and we set off. The ride to the first rest stop was short. It was also a little more crowded than yesterday's ride as we had more stop signs and busy intersections to deal with. I did take a few pictures though. It was a beautiful day out.
At the first rest stop we ran into John and his brother-in-law. It was nice to see another MRT rider, if only briefly. We refueled with apple cider and hit the road again. The ride between Rest Stop 1 and Lunch followed roads that I'm familiar with, Sample, Bottom, Anderson. The big attraction was Bean Blossom Hill. I was worried about Bean Blossom. I've only ever gone down that hill, and it is a lovely downhill. I didn't really understand why anyone would want to go up it. It is both long and steep, but does have built in rest plateaus. Sort of like a stretched out staircase. It is a beautiful, smooth road though that goes through Morgan Monroe State Forest.
I made it up the hill! I did stop on one of the plateaus because I was hot and my jacket was sticking to me, so I took it off. I waited for Rachel and Barb at the top and we cruised downhill to lunch. Apparently the other side of Bean Blossom is just as fun to go down. :)
Lunch was the same as yesterday. The bands at all the rest stops were awesome, but I particularly enjoyed the one at the lunch stop today. It warmed up considerably during lunch (like yesterday) and I stashed my leg warmers and jacket in my rack trunk. Except for the wind, which continued to be brutal and never came from behind (always cross or headwind), this was perfect bike riding weather.
In apparent Hilly Hundred tradition, there was a fairly steep climb right after lunch. I didn't think it was awful. After climbing Bean Blossom, I was convinced I could do anything! I made my way along, up another hill and onto a ridgetop. The views were beautiful, but the wind made for a very exhausting ride. We rode through lots of open farmland with no shelter.
We saw lots of cows and goats and horses. I had to stop to take a picture of these two beautiful horses right by the road. I didn't make this lady move because she cracked me up and had smuggled apples from lunch to feed the horses. She said they do this every year.
Around mile 33 or so, I was starting to feel tired. (TMI approaching, don't be shocked.) I also had gotten my monthly visitor (that's a nice euphemism, right?) and Tylenol just wasn't keeping the cramps at bay so well today. I had gotten a bit ahead of Rachel and Barb so when I saw a church, I pulled over for a little break to see if I could get some of my organs to calm down. I waited for a good while, but I was glad for the break. I took a self portrait while I waited.
Isn't my new mirror awesome?
Rachel and Barb caught up with me and took a little break themselves. Apparently this was a good stopping place. I had thought the last rest stop was before Mt. Tabor, the most notorious hill of the weekend, but it is after it. If I hadn't stopped at the church, I would have been in for quite a rude awakening.
We left the church and after a mile or two, we hit Mt. Tabor. This is a short, but very steep climb. They put a sign at the bottom instructing walkers to stay right. I am sorry to report that I had to join the walkers. I made it about 3/4 of the way up; the end was thisclose, but I was tired from battling the wind and uterine cramps and then two guys practically flew past me with super loud Zipp wheels. I got totally distracted and lost my (little) momentum. I had to put a foot down. I thought I would start back up, but it was next to impossible to get going on that hill once you stop. So I walked the last 100 feet or so to the top and waited on Rachel and Barb. Here are some pictures from the top:
Next year, Mt. Tabor. You're going down! Or at least I hope to make it all the way up.
The last rest stop was in the little town of Stinesville. I was a little scared the Porta Potty was going to fall over. But the chocolate chunk rice krispie treats were awesome. As was the cider. Apple cider on a fall bike ride is the best idea ever. Love it.
The last section was more open farmland, but I ended up riding with a woman from Indianapolis who was very nice and enjoyable to hang with. We talked about random things for a few miles.
And then, I was at the last hill of the Hilly Hundred. Water Tower Hill at mile 46 (cumulative mile 103!). Another short but steep monster. I conquered it. And at the top, these lovely people set up their own unofficial rest stop. I wasn't going to stop because it was so close to the end, but the girl they had advertising on the street yelled, "Free drinks! Free homemade cookies! Free candy corn!" For me, the exact scenario went like this: Free drinks... that's nice. Free homemade cookies... wow! Free candy corn... "STOPPING!" pullover brake brake CANDY CORN!!! These people know how to please!
I took a handful of candy corn while I waited on Rachel and Barb and had a cup of sweet tea (sweet tea in Indiana!). I didn't have a cookie, but everyone was talking about how good they were. I think this was my favorite rest stop of all. It was so nice of these guys to stand out there all day and provide treats to the cyclist. I made sure to sign the guest log and dropped some money in the donation box.
Rachel didn't stop, but Barb got a drink and then we rode the last couple miles back to Edgewood High School. Seth greeted us at the finish line and took our picture.
Overall, I had an absolute blast! The wind was a challenge, but I am really happy I decided to do this ride. I hope to make it a tradition.
Here is the Day Two route:
Again, ridewithgps lists the elevation gain as 2953 ft, but the info they gave us says 3597. Quite a discrepancy. My Garmin also said 2355.
Speaking of my Forerunner, I did much better managing it today. I still forgot to turn it off at at least one of the rest stops, but overall, I did much better. Here is what Garmin Connect has to say:Hilly Hundred Day 2 by jamadren at Garmin Connect - Details Average Moving Speed of 12.2 mph over 49.71 miles.
I had wanted to compare Forerunner activity to my old cyclecomputer activity, but somehow my cyclecomputer managed to do some reading on the car ride home. So the numbers I got from it aren't right. I did check it at the end though and I averaged 12.8 mph over the 47.1 miles. I will have to do some more testing. :)
The morning started chilly again, but the wind was insane! I heard a lot of people talking about it. Here is a screenshot of the current weather:
That is some serious wind. It was like that pretty much all day.
Here I am at the start line, rocking my new leg warmers and jacket.
I met up with Rachel and Barb and we set off. The ride to the first rest stop was short. It was also a little more crowded than yesterday's ride as we had more stop signs and busy intersections to deal with. I did take a few pictures though. It was a beautiful day out.
At the first rest stop we ran into John and his brother-in-law. It was nice to see another MRT rider, if only briefly. We refueled with apple cider and hit the road again. The ride between Rest Stop 1 and Lunch followed roads that I'm familiar with, Sample, Bottom, Anderson. The big attraction was Bean Blossom Hill. I was worried about Bean Blossom. I've only ever gone down that hill, and it is a lovely downhill. I didn't really understand why anyone would want to go up it. It is both long and steep, but does have built in rest plateaus. Sort of like a stretched out staircase. It is a beautiful, smooth road though that goes through Morgan Monroe State Forest.
I made it up the hill! I did stop on one of the plateaus because I was hot and my jacket was sticking to me, so I took it off. I waited for Rachel and Barb at the top and we cruised downhill to lunch. Apparently the other side of Bean Blossom is just as fun to go down. :)
Lunch was the same as yesterday. The bands at all the rest stops were awesome, but I particularly enjoyed the one at the lunch stop today. It warmed up considerably during lunch (like yesterday) and I stashed my leg warmers and jacket in my rack trunk. Except for the wind, which continued to be brutal and never came from behind (always cross or headwind), this was perfect bike riding weather.
In apparent Hilly Hundred tradition, there was a fairly steep climb right after lunch. I didn't think it was awful. After climbing Bean Blossom, I was convinced I could do anything! I made my way along, up another hill and onto a ridgetop. The views were beautiful, but the wind made for a very exhausting ride. We rode through lots of open farmland with no shelter.
We saw lots of cows and goats and horses. I had to stop to take a picture of these two beautiful horses right by the road. I didn't make this lady move because she cracked me up and had smuggled apples from lunch to feed the horses. She said they do this every year.
Around mile 33 or so, I was starting to feel tired. (TMI approaching, don't be shocked.) I also had gotten my monthly visitor (that's a nice euphemism, right?) and Tylenol just wasn't keeping the cramps at bay so well today. I had gotten a bit ahead of Rachel and Barb so when I saw a church, I pulled over for a little break to see if I could get some of my organs to calm down. I waited for a good while, but I was glad for the break. I took a self portrait while I waited.
Isn't my new mirror awesome?
Rachel and Barb caught up with me and took a little break themselves. Apparently this was a good stopping place. I had thought the last rest stop was before Mt. Tabor, the most notorious hill of the weekend, but it is after it. If I hadn't stopped at the church, I would have been in for quite a rude awakening.
We left the church and after a mile or two, we hit Mt. Tabor. This is a short, but very steep climb. They put a sign at the bottom instructing walkers to stay right. I am sorry to report that I had to join the walkers. I made it about 3/4 of the way up; the end was thisclose, but I was tired from battling the wind and uterine cramps and then two guys practically flew past me with super loud Zipp wheels. I got totally distracted and lost my (little) momentum. I had to put a foot down. I thought I would start back up, but it was next to impossible to get going on that hill once you stop. So I walked the last 100 feet or so to the top and waited on Rachel and Barb. Here are some pictures from the top:
Next year, Mt. Tabor. You're going down! Or at least I hope to make it all the way up.
The last rest stop was in the little town of Stinesville. I was a little scared the Porta Potty was going to fall over. But the chocolate chunk rice krispie treats were awesome. As was the cider. Apple cider on a fall bike ride is the best idea ever. Love it.
The last section was more open farmland, but I ended up riding with a woman from Indianapolis who was very nice and enjoyable to hang with. We talked about random things for a few miles.
And then, I was at the last hill of the Hilly Hundred. Water Tower Hill at mile 46 (cumulative mile 103!). Another short but steep monster. I conquered it. And at the top, these lovely people set up their own unofficial rest stop. I wasn't going to stop because it was so close to the end, but the girl they had advertising on the street yelled, "Free drinks! Free homemade cookies! Free candy corn!" For me, the exact scenario went like this: Free drinks... that's nice. Free homemade cookies... wow! Free candy corn... "STOPPING!" pullover brake brake CANDY CORN!!! These people know how to please!
I took a handful of candy corn while I waited on Rachel and Barb and had a cup of sweet tea (sweet tea in Indiana!). I didn't have a cookie, but everyone was talking about how good they were. I think this was my favorite rest stop of all. It was so nice of these guys to stand out there all day and provide treats to the cyclist. I made sure to sign the guest log and dropped some money in the donation box.
Rachel didn't stop, but Barb got a drink and then we rode the last couple miles back to Edgewood High School. Seth greeted us at the finish line and took our picture.
Overall, I had an absolute blast! The wind was a challenge, but I am really happy I decided to do this ride. I hope to make it a tradition.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Hilly Hundred Day 1
I am so happy. Today was so fun! And even though I was worried that I'd have to walk up all the hills since I have barely ridden my bike in over a month, I didn't have to walk at all and feel that I actually sort of kicked butt.
Here's the route for today:
The ridewithgps website lists it as 4015 feet of elevation gain, but my Hilly Hundred route says 5202 feet. I wonder which is more accurate?
And here are the numbers:
Time: 4:26:46
Distance: 56.120
Average Speed: 12.6 mph
Max Speed: 35.9 mph
Calories Burned: 1929.2
Fat Burned: 199.8
My day started with an awesome breakfast that my amazing husband made for me.
We headed over to Edgewood High School and I met up with Rachel and Barb. It was really chilly this morning. I was just going to wear a jersey and arm warmers, but then I decided that I'd wear my raincoat too, and I was really glad for that decision! I didn't take it off until after lunch! And was still quite chilly this morning.
The first part of the day wasn't too bad. There were a couple tougher climbs, mostly just in steepness, none were terribly long climbs today. Before I knew it we were at the first rest stop, 14.3 miles in. I got a pumpkin doughnut. It was great! I also saw these people who were kind enough to let me take their picture. And I'm pretty sure they didn't drop bananas on the road or throw turtle shells at people. :)
Between the first rest stop and lunch at 28.1 miles in was pretty uneventful for me. I talked to a guy on another Surly for a while. I got a little ahead of Rachel and Barb, but I was too cold to stop and wait on them. We got to the lunch stop and enjoyed live music while eating chicken, pasta salad, veggies with ranch dip, and delicious cookies. We refilled our water bottles and hit the slightly warmer road.
After lunch it started to warm up (I even took off my raincoat!) and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. It was a very fall day and fall is my favorite season, so I was very happy. Not far after lunch was an excellent photo op of the Tulip Train Trestle.
And me with the whole thing.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of a lot of this:
With views like this:
It was great. We made it to the third and final rest stop where they had the most amazing chocolate rice krispie treats and apple cider from Musgrave Orchard! After that stop, there was one more big hill and a lot of rollers. The apple cider really energized me and I flew the last 14 miles. I was passing people left and right. But still managed to stop to lend my air pump to someone that needed it. I just felt awesome. It was a little chilly again, but I made it back to the school without having to stop to put my jacket on.
Once it was over, I hit up the vendor tent and picked up some stuff I needed. I got some leg warmers and an actual cycling jacket (no more black raincoat!) and I got a helmet mirror made my the Mirror Man.
Overall, it was a great day for me and I'm very excited about tomorrow!
PS I did take my Forerunner today, but I'm an idiot and experienced some user error. I'll try to do better tomorrow!
Here's the route for today:
The ridewithgps website lists it as 4015 feet of elevation gain, but my Hilly Hundred route says 5202 feet. I wonder which is more accurate?
And here are the numbers:
Time: 4:26:46
Distance: 56.120
Average Speed: 12.6 mph
Max Speed: 35.9 mph
Calories Burned: 1929.2
Fat Burned: 199.8
My day started with an awesome breakfast that my amazing husband made for me.
We headed over to Edgewood High School and I met up with Rachel and Barb. It was really chilly this morning. I was just going to wear a jersey and arm warmers, but then I decided that I'd wear my raincoat too, and I was really glad for that decision! I didn't take it off until after lunch! And was still quite chilly this morning.
The first part of the day wasn't too bad. There were a couple tougher climbs, mostly just in steepness, none were terribly long climbs today. Before I knew it we were at the first rest stop, 14.3 miles in. I got a pumpkin doughnut. It was great! I also saw these people who were kind enough to let me take their picture. And I'm pretty sure they didn't drop bananas on the road or throw turtle shells at people. :)
Between the first rest stop and lunch at 28.1 miles in was pretty uneventful for me. I talked to a guy on another Surly for a while. I got a little ahead of Rachel and Barb, but I was too cold to stop and wait on them. We got to the lunch stop and enjoyed live music while eating chicken, pasta salad, veggies with ranch dip, and delicious cookies. We refilled our water bottles and hit the slightly warmer road.
After lunch it started to warm up (I even took off my raincoat!) and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. It was a very fall day and fall is my favorite season, so I was very happy. Not far after lunch was an excellent photo op of the Tulip Train Trestle.
And me with the whole thing.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of a lot of this:
With views like this:
It was great. We made it to the third and final rest stop where they had the most amazing chocolate rice krispie treats and apple cider from Musgrave Orchard! After that stop, there was one more big hill and a lot of rollers. The apple cider really energized me and I flew the last 14 miles. I was passing people left and right. But still managed to stop to lend my air pump to someone that needed it. I just felt awesome. It was a little chilly again, but I made it back to the school without having to stop to put my jacket on.
Once it was over, I hit up the vendor tent and picked up some stuff I needed. I got some leg warmers and an actual cycling jacket (no more black raincoat!) and I got a helmet mirror made my the Mirror Man.
Overall, it was a great day for me and I'm very excited about tomorrow!
PS I did take my Forerunner today, but I'm an idiot and experienced some user error. I'll try to do better tomorrow!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
CycleFit
CycleFit and 6:15 AM do not get along for me. Apparently Wednesdays are a good day for me to work late. I ended up missing Judy's class yesterday. So I decided I'd make it up at way-too-early this morning.
We did a lot of climbing this morning. But it was weird climbing. Instead of adding resistance, we always just spun faster. I didn't like it. Although it could be that I felt miserable since I didn't eat breakfast before I left. I was pretty pitiful within about 15 minutes (bad in a 45 minute class!). I did push the watts up some (made it to Zone 4 a couple times), but not as consistently as I normally do and my recoveries were a much lower wattage than I typically do. I just didn't have enough juice today. I only ended up burning 362 kJ.
Also, it was depressing to go to campus and come back home, all in the dark and rain. And then go back to actually work. Although it was nice to shower in my own shower...
We did a lot of climbing this morning. But it was weird climbing. Instead of adding resistance, we always just spun faster. I didn't like it. Although it could be that I felt miserable since I didn't eat breakfast before I left. I was pretty pitiful within about 15 minutes (bad in a 45 minute class!). I did push the watts up some (made it to Zone 4 a couple times), but not as consistently as I normally do and my recoveries were a much lower wattage than I typically do. I just didn't have enough juice today. I only ended up burning 362 kJ.
Also, it was depressing to go to campus and come back home, all in the dark and rain. And then go back to actually work. Although it was nice to shower in my own shower...
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Run Report
Man, I'm awesome!
I was in the mood to work hard this morning. I guess I was making up for the shortened long run on Sunday. Also, I was excited about my new compression shorts.
I ran on the Woodlawn Track this morning. I did 3.09 miles in 32:10 for an average pace of 10:24 min/mile!
I decided to do some mini interval training. I warmed up for about a mile and a half and then ran the long length of the track (about 1/10th of a mile) as hard as I could three times (running normal pace the other three quarters of the track). It was tough, but felt so good! Here's a breakdown from my Garmin:
Mile 1 (warmup): 10:41 min/mile
Mile 2: 10:14 with a 6:40 max!
Mile 3: 10:34
Mile 3.1: 7:40
Turns out I can go fast! Just for very brief periods! But I'm hoping to incorporate more interval training and hopefully start getting faster overall. I'm hoping to break 30 minutes in my next 5K.
I was in the mood to work hard this morning. I guess I was making up for the shortened long run on Sunday. Also, I was excited about my new compression shorts.
I ran on the Woodlawn Track this morning. I did 3.09 miles in 32:10 for an average pace of 10:24 min/mile!
I decided to do some mini interval training. I warmed up for about a mile and a half and then ran the long length of the track (about 1/10th of a mile) as hard as I could three times (running normal pace the other three quarters of the track). It was tough, but felt so good! Here's a breakdown from my Garmin:
Mile 1 (warmup): 10:41 min/mile
Mile 2: 10:14 with a 6:40 max!
Mile 3: 10:34
Mile 3.1: 7:40
Turns out I can go fast! Just for very brief periods! But I'm hoping to incorporate more interval training and hopefully start getting faster overall. I'm hoping to break 30 minutes in my next 5K.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Run Report
Long run fail! Ugh.
I was so excited about my new Garmin and testing it out on my Sunday long run.
I even made my husband take some pre-run pictures.
My training plan called for a 10K race this weekend, but there weren't any going on and I'm cheap. However, the Hilly Hundred is next weekend, so I thought I'd switch the 9 mile run scheduled for next week with the 10K for the Hilly Hundred. So the plan was to run 9 miles. I laced up my shoes, put on my Garmin and hydration belt, and donned the bandana of awesomeness (aka get-this-hair-out-of-my-face-now) and I was off.
And four miles later, I was sitting in a parking lot waiting on Seth to pick me up. Fail.
I don't know what happened, but it was hot and I was sweaty and managed to get chafe! It was on the inside of my right thigh and it hurt. I knew I could keep running, but I didn't want it to get worse with the Hilly Hundred next weekend. I definitely don't want to be suffering uphill for a hundred miles with the inside of my thighs burning. So I cut my run short.
But I still got fun data! I'm still figuring out how to make the software do the cool stuff I want it to do, but here's some numbers in the meantime:
Total Distance: 4.08 miles
Total Time: 44:25
Average Pace: 10:53 min/mile
Total Calories: 522 cal
I set it up to autolap every mile. Here are the mile breakdowns (min/mile pace):
Mile 1: 10:20
Mile 2: 10:56
Mile 3: 11:01
Mile 4: 11:11
Mile 5: 11:34
So a little slower than I was hoping, but the first half is all slightly uphill. I was expecting better numbers on the way back. :)
Anyway, I'm still super pumped about my Garmin and am looking forward to using it a lot.
I was so excited about my new Garmin and testing it out on my Sunday long run.
I even made my husband take some pre-run pictures.
My training plan called for a 10K race this weekend, but there weren't any going on and I'm cheap. However, the Hilly Hundred is next weekend, so I thought I'd switch the 9 mile run scheduled for next week with the 10K for the Hilly Hundred. So the plan was to run 9 miles. I laced up my shoes, put on my Garmin and hydration belt, and donned the bandana of awesomeness (aka get-this-hair-out-of-my-face-now) and I was off.
And four miles later, I was sitting in a parking lot waiting on Seth to pick me up. Fail.
I don't know what happened, but it was hot and I was sweaty and managed to get chafe! It was on the inside of my right thigh and it hurt. I knew I could keep running, but I didn't want it to get worse with the Hilly Hundred next weekend. I definitely don't want to be suffering uphill for a hundred miles with the inside of my thighs burning. So I cut my run short.
But I still got fun data! I'm still figuring out how to make the software do the cool stuff I want it to do, but here's some numbers in the meantime:
Total Distance: 4.08 miles
Total Time: 44:25
Average Pace: 10:53 min/mile
Total Calories: 522 cal
I set it up to autolap every mile. Here are the mile breakdowns (min/mile pace):
Mile 1: 10:20
Mile 2: 10:56
Mile 3: 11:01
Mile 4: 11:11
Mile 5: 11:34
So a little slower than I was hoping, but the first half is all slightly uphill. I was expecting better numbers on the way back. :)
Anyway, I'm still super pumped about my Garmin and am looking forward to using it a lot.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Commute
Time: 22:16
Distance: 5.214
Average Speed: 14.1 mph
Max Speed: 27.1 mph
Calories Burned: 186.4
Fat Burned: 21.7
Worked up a sweat on my way home today. Just a little bit.
Came home to my shiny new Garmin Forerunner 305 on the porch!!! I'm so excited to configure this thing and test it out!
Distance: 5.214
Average Speed: 14.1 mph
Max Speed: 27.1 mph
Calories Burned: 186.4
Fat Burned: 21.7
Worked up a sweat on my way home today. Just a little bit.
Came home to my shiny new Garmin Forerunner 305 on the porch!!! I'm so excited to configure this thing and test it out!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Run Report
Ran my four miles on the track this morning. Fall is my favorite time of year, but it's hard to dress for! At first I was wearing shorts and a tshirt for my run, but thought it was too chilly when I let the dog out so I put on capris and arm warmers. By the time I made it to the track, I knew the arm warmers were too much (although they were nice for the walk over) and by the end of my run, I wished I had stuck with the shorts!
I'm enjoying running with my ipod lately. It makes the track more entertaining and usually if I feel like quitting (which is easy on the track since it's so close to the gym), a good song will come on and reinvigorate me. However, I've just been sticking it in my waistband and it's a little annoying. It slides around and pokes me and my headphones don't stay in well. I'll just add better headphones (maybe with those over the ear thingies) and one of those arm band ipod holders to the wish list.
I'm enjoying running with my ipod lately. It makes the track more entertaining and usually if I feel like quitting (which is easy on the track since it's so close to the gym), a good song will come on and reinvigorate me. However, I've just been sticking it in my waistband and it's a little annoying. It slides around and pokes me and my headphones don't stay in well. I'll just add better headphones (maybe with those over the ear thingies) and one of those arm band ipod holders to the wish list.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
CycleFit
Mostly climbing in CycleFit today. It's like she knew I'm worried that the Hilly Hundred is going to kill me. I burned 487 kJ today, close to my PR of 508 kJ. I felt lazy, but I guess I was pushing the power. I may have even been able to beat my previous record, but I chose a different bike today and there was something weird going on with the right pedal. Oh, well.
I heard about this ride tomorrow to advocate for women cycling here in Bloomington. I think I may have to go!
I heard about this ride tomorrow to advocate for women cycling here in Bloomington. I think I may have to go!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Run Report
Four miles before 8 AM on the Woodlawn Track. About 50 minutes. I felt slow, but my playlist was working better for me today. Thanks to Shakira.
I finally ordered a Garmin today. Forerunner 305. Watch out for crazy data overload coming soon. Yay!
I finally ordered a Garmin today. Forerunner 305. Watch out for crazy data overload coming soon. Yay!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Commute
Rode home today. Left my cycle computer with Seth. It's interesting riding home in my work clothes. I got my shoelace caught in my chain today. Luckily I was at a stoplight. I saw two deer on the Clear Creek Trail. And I'm definitely loving the weather. Hopefully October will see more bike miles than September did.
Swim Report
Swimming is hard work.
I have been having a hard time sleeping lately. I'm just so jazzed up! I don't know if it's the awesome weather (seriously, where is it fall all the time so I can move there ASAP?) or the pumpkin goodness or if I'm drinking too much coffee, but I keep waking up at all hours of the night ready to go! So getting up early this morning to hit the pool was not so hard for me. Seth, however, was a little pokey this morning. So we still got here later than intended and I had about 25 minutes in the pool.
I saw Laurence (of kick my butt and leave me in the dust at the Popcorn Road Ride fame) in the locker room. She was heading out as I was heading in. She told me I was getting a late start and that I should convince Seth to swim with me. I told her it was hard enough to convince him to get out of bed at 6 AM. :)
Anyway, I swam for about 20 minutes. I did 10 laps for a total of 500 meters (or yards? I'm not sure how the HPER pool is measured). It takes me about a minute to do one lap and I rested for 30 seconds between laps. Much like when I first started running, I did well for the first 4 laps, but was pretty tired on laps 5-8. Laps 9 and 10 I picked it back up since I was close to the finish. I need to learn to do that fancy flip turn without drinking half the pool. I'm scared to do it and look like a dummy or run into the wall or something. I really think I should do the swimming lessons. I make it from one end of the pool to the other, but I have no idea if the lifeguard is secretly making fun of me for flailing around like a fish out of water.
I have been having a hard time sleeping lately. I'm just so jazzed up! I don't know if it's the awesome weather (seriously, where is it fall all the time so I can move there ASAP?) or the pumpkin goodness or if I'm drinking too much coffee, but I keep waking up at all hours of the night ready to go! So getting up early this morning to hit the pool was not so hard for me. Seth, however, was a little pokey this morning. So we still got here later than intended and I had about 25 minutes in the pool.
I saw Laurence (of kick my butt and leave me in the dust at the Popcorn Road Ride fame) in the locker room. She was heading out as I was heading in. She told me I was getting a late start and that I should convince Seth to swim with me. I told her it was hard enough to convince him to get out of bed at 6 AM. :)
Anyway, I swam for about 20 minutes. I did 10 laps for a total of 500 meters (or yards? I'm not sure how the HPER pool is measured). It takes me about a minute to do one lap and I rested for 30 seconds between laps. Much like when I first started running, I did well for the first 4 laps, but was pretty tired on laps 5-8. Laps 9 and 10 I picked it back up since I was close to the finish. I need to learn to do that fancy flip turn without drinking half the pool. I'm scared to do it and look like a dummy or run into the wall or something. I really think I should do the swimming lessons. I make it from one end of the pool to the other, but I have no idea if the lifeguard is secretly making fun of me for flailing around like a fish out of water.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Run Report
Yay for Sunday morning long runs!
I really never thought I would ever say that I was looking forward to running eight miles (or two miles for that matter), but I was totally looking forward to this run. I've been more or less following this half marathon training plan and I really like the add one mile approach to the long run. I think it's as much mental as it is physical. I don't get really tired until the last half mile or so. I mean, I know I can do the previous mileage and surely I can do one more mile. And today I even thought that the only reason the last half mile is so bad is because the giant hill I have to run up. In fact, I'm pretty certain that I'll be able to do the half marathon in November. :)
Anyway, my run today was pleasant. It was really chilly this morning when I woke up (37*F!) so I skipped church and ran later when it was in the 50s. I felt like I was going really slowly the whole time, but decided I didn't really care and that it was beautiful and that I was just going to enjoy it. I got passed by pretty much every other runner I saw. Although I think the majority of them were on the IU track team. Three or four groups of five or six guys all in IU shirts passed me. They were really fast. And they had nice legs. Even if I was fast, I might have let them pass me anyway. :)
I figured today's run would take me between 1:20 and 1:30 to complete. I also got a mixed box of Honey Stinger gels in the mail this week. I figured running for an hour and a half, I could experiment with my nutrition some more. So I took a Gold Honey Stinger gel and ate it at the half way mark. Holy cow, delicious. I think I may finish off the Gus I have left and never look back. Honey Stinger is where it's at. It was delicious (tastes like honey) and was thinner than other gels I've tried so it was a lot easier to eat. And my stomach did not complain at all as it sometimes does with Gu. I also feel okay about eating it as honey is nature's energy food.
Anyway, I ran 8.1 miles in 85 minutes! That's a 10:30 min/mile pace! I'm pretty proud of that, especially since it was pretty windy for part of the way too.
I really never thought I would ever say that I was looking forward to running eight miles (or two miles for that matter), but I was totally looking forward to this run. I've been more or less following this half marathon training plan and I really like the add one mile approach to the long run. I think it's as much mental as it is physical. I don't get really tired until the last half mile or so. I mean, I know I can do the previous mileage and surely I can do one more mile. And today I even thought that the only reason the last half mile is so bad is because the giant hill I have to run up. In fact, I'm pretty certain that I'll be able to do the half marathon in November. :)
Anyway, my run today was pleasant. It was really chilly this morning when I woke up (37*F!) so I skipped church and ran later when it was in the 50s. I felt like I was going really slowly the whole time, but decided I didn't really care and that it was beautiful and that I was just going to enjoy it. I got passed by pretty much every other runner I saw. Although I think the majority of them were on the IU track team. Three or four groups of five or six guys all in IU shirts passed me. They were really fast. And they had nice legs. Even if I was fast, I might have let them pass me anyway. :)
I figured today's run would take me between 1:20 and 1:30 to complete. I also got a mixed box of Honey Stinger gels in the mail this week. I figured running for an hour and a half, I could experiment with my nutrition some more. So I took a Gold Honey Stinger gel and ate it at the half way mark. Holy cow, delicious. I think I may finish off the Gus I have left and never look back. Honey Stinger is where it's at. It was delicious (tastes like honey) and was thinner than other gels I've tried so it was a lot easier to eat. And my stomach did not complain at all as it sometimes does with Gu. I also feel okay about eating it as honey is nature's energy food.
Anyway, I ran 8.1 miles in 85 minutes! That's a 10:30 min/mile pace! I'm pretty proud of that, especially since it was pretty windy for part of the way too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)