Long Lost Blogger

Once upon a time I blogged on a regular basis.

In many of those posts I made mention of having a few too many things going at once, and not getting enough sleep.  It dawned on me that writing and reading blog posts was one more thing I was trying to wedge into the day, often late at night when I should be sleeping and recovering from the early-morning workouts.  So …. the blog got pushed well down into the depths of the to-do list, and suddenly two months had passed.

Some quick updates since last I felt bloggish:

• My wife and two partners opened a tennis shop, and things are going really, really well.  Steep learning curve in the world of retail, but every day brings a new lesson, and learning is never a bad thing

• Ultra training has been going very well, and I’ve been able to avoid any issues beyond the usual aches and pains that seem to come with running in your 5^th decade.  I’ve dialed the biking way back and focused on quality running.  260 miles in August, 265 miles in September.  Really enjoyed the warm weather, and not looking forward to icy morning runs in the months ahead.

• In the category of “hasn’t quite registered yet”,  I signed up for the inaugural Ironman 70.3 in Raleigh coming in June of 2013.  I’ve been toying with the inevitable move to triathlons, and since this one starts about 15 minutes from my house, it seemed like destiny.  Guess I’ll have to get back into the pool once I’m through my upcoming races.  Damn pool.

• In three days I’m driving up to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia to run the Freedom’s Run marathon.  My training plan called for a 25 mile run, so I figured I’d add an extra mile and have some fun with a race.  Treating it as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for my upcoming ultra, using my run/walk approach.  Hopefully my legs will bounce back quickly so I can wrap up the rest of my training.

• Three weeks after the Freedom’s Run I’m off to Nashville for my first attempt at a 50-miler.  I’m feeling good about my training, but don’t really know what to expect beyond 31 miles, which is the farthest I’ve run in a race or training.  Should be interesting.  I’m really looking forward to it.

I’ve got lots of blog reading to catch up on, but (hopefully) not at the expense of sleep.  Damn sleep.

July Training Recap - Strong in the Saddle

July was a good training month.

According to my trusty training spreadsheet I ran the most miles I’ve ever run in a month, 192.34 miles, and came through relatively healthy.  I also logged the highest weekly total I’ve ever run, 58.63 miles, and the numbers only get bigger from here per the ultra plan I’m following.  My legs seem to be adjusting fairly well to the increased workload.  Still not getting enough sleep.  Broken record on that one.

The more interesting stat in July is my mileage on the bike.  I’ve generally substituted my Sunday recovery run with a relatively long ride on the bike, and I’m really enjoying the time in the saddle.  I think I like the speed a bit too much.  Hopefully that doesn’t end up getting me hurt in new and even more spectacular ways than running ever offered.  Although I only got in 5 rides in July, I managed 193.06 total miles, with a longest ride of 53.55 miles.  I think the biking is helping the running, and the running is helping the biking.  At the very least it’s giving my feet a break on Sundays and keeping the pounding in check.

Here’s the recap for July:

Running:  18 runs, 192.34 miles

Biking:  5 rides, 193.06 miles

Lifting:  8 trips to the gym

Sadly, zero times in the pool.  I’m planning to get there eventually this summer, but for now the running and biking are working for me, so they’re winning out when I need to decide what to do.

This Saturday I have a 24-mile long run on the plan, which will be the longest training run I’ve ever done.  Planning to try the 25 minutes running / 5 minutes walking approach which I need to adopt as part of my Ultra strategy.  Will also walk any major hills.  Still trying to get over the mental hurdle of feeling like I need to be running all the time.  We’ll see how it goes.