Last Year

Running – 39 miles

This was Easter week last year and between the Human Race 8k and traveling home for Easter my Week 8 training was a little messed up.  I discovered how to create “blog bling” or the little picture of me in the address bar.  Being back in Indiana and having easy access to dirt trails made me long for trail running.  I think I’m at that point again this year, I think in part because it is a long wait for trails to clear and not be a complete muddy mess.  Even before the 100 push-up craze hit the blogosphere I was extolling the benefits of the push-up for all around physical fitness.  Last year’s Foto Friday was a terrible picture of me finishing at the Human Race.

Monday I ran the Metrodome 3.25 mile loop in 25 minutes.  It was a nice 42 outside with a wind chill of 38.  It had rained earlier in the morning, but didn’t while I was out.  I was sore from the Human Race but loosened up by the end of the run.

Tuesday was another great morning for a workout.  Today was 4 x800 meters in around 6:30 pace (or 3:15). It was 51 with a little wind and overcast.  I did the intervals on the Greenway, heading East.  My splits were 3:04, 3:04, 2:59, 3:00.  Obviously I was quite pleased to have all the intervals under goal pace – even with the wind.  This workout made me feel a lot better about where my running is.

Wednesday I did a nice easy run around Powderhorn.  This time I actually ran my old two lap route around the lake. it was 3.3 miles in 27 minutes. The temp was a nice 38 but the gusty winds brought the wind chill down to 14.  It was also flurrying and starting to stick – though it never accumulated.

Thursday was a nice day of rest!

Friday I went looking for a different place to run and decided to head to Wirth Beach and run around Theodore Wirth Park.  I haven’t run there very often and stuck mostly to the Grand Rounds Parkway before.  I could clearly see some of the trails and decided to take them.  I didn’t really know where they went or anything, but soon found a map that showed some general directions.  I was a little disappointed because I was on the paved trail section but they went North and caught the parkway and that’s what I decided to do.  After catching the parkway I was presented with a dirt trail option or staying on the paved trail – obviously I took the dirt path and eventually found myself back on the road – but not where I expected, nor did it have anything to offer besides sidewalk running so I turned around.  I retraced my steps and stayed on the parkway heading back south.  I got back to the beach area with about 10 minutes left so I kept running and found another little trail near the Bird Sanctuary and ran the dirt paths for a little bit.  It was a good run – didn’t really hit tempo pace but I pushed the pace when I could and felt solid with it. It ended up being 5.77 miles in 43 minutes on the sunny and windy morning – 24 with 14 wind chill.

Saturday we met at Jensen Lake in Lebanon Hills which was a great change of pace and scenery.  The plan was to run between 90 minutes and 2 hours but after arriving back at our cars after 90 minutes most of us were ready to be done.  We had logged a tough 12 miles on the rolling hills around the park.  It was a sunny and brisk morning in the mid-20’s when we started and into the 30’s by the end.  It took us about 94 minutes and I was feeling it more in my legs than anywhere else.  If you want a tough hill workout this is the place to go!  The trail was virtually ice free with some small remnants here and there.  One nice thing about the freezing temps was that the trail wasn’t muddy at all.

Sunday my foot was hurting last night so I opted to go for a swim again this morning.  I managed to get 400 yards out of the morning before becoming worn out.  I did a mixture of freestyle and using the kickboard.  It was nice to finish off with a sit in the hottub!!

Total Mileage:

Running – 29.6 miles

Swimming -400 yards

Biking – 7.8 miles