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Monday:<\/strong><\/span> Do some cross-training, but only at a very easy level. <\/em>Well since I bike commute to work I could have just used that as my cross-training but I didn’t really like that idea too much. I decided awhile back<\/a> that I would try to avoid the elliptical machine as much as possible, so that really only left swimming. I’m not a really good swimmer so this has been something I’ve had to work on and I haven’t done any swimming since January! But I dutifully went to the gym and swam for awhile. I’ve found that if I slow down I can actually breathe properly, which makes it a little more fun. I lost track of how many laps I’d actually swam so I just called it 500 meters<\/span> yards. I used mostly freestyle and backstroke and then sat in the hot tub for a little bit. It felt pretty good overall.<\/p>\nTuesday:<\/strong><\/span> 3 miles at a comfortable pace<\/em>. It was 57 and sunny for my easy 3 miler around Powderhorn Park. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to run through the park and get an accurate 3 mile course, the park has a perimeter trail and then some inner trails too. I knew the distance was going by quickly while on an inner loop and took off straight up the hill to get to the outer trail. I ran the 3 miles in 24:17.<\/p>\n Wednesday: <\/strong><\/span>Five miles today. <\/em>It was 59 and humid for this out and back run along the Greenway. This is the run where I am allowed to pick-up the pace if I want to. Last week I through in a mile at an increased tempo but this week I just ran the 5 miles. It felt pretty good and I tried to just stay at a steady pace and ran a 38:15. The legs still felt tired but that’s ok!<\/p>\n Thursday:<\/strong><\/span> 3 miles at a comfortable pace <\/em>This morning’s run felt very sluggish. It was 62 which was nice except that it was 93% humidity which never feels that good! I ran the downtown loop in 23:34. The bike trail leaving downtown was fairly full, a lot of people walking and of course lots of bike commuters!<\/p>\n Friday:<\/strong><\/span> <\/span>A day of rest. <\/em>This still feels weird to not run on Fridays. My body clock gets me up at the same time anyway so I got up and did some chores around the house – my wife works the night shift so I can be pretty loud at 6:30am if I want! I did cheat a little bit as we rode our bikes downtown for the Minnesota Bike Festival<\/a> race. It was a lot of fun to watch! It was only 5 miles at a very relaxed speed so I’m not too worried about it!<\/p>\n Saturday:<\/strong><\/span> Run 5 miles.<\/em> I did another 5K today. This was very low-key. I got fourth and ran a 19:11 for 2.91 miles according to my GPS. I did a little warm-up so I did actually get 5 miles in. I’m being careful and probably won’t race for awhile. Read the race review tomorrow for all the gritty details!<\/p>\n Sunday:<\/strong><\/span> 11 miles<\/em>. It was pretty much a perfect day for a long run. It was 59 when I left and like 62 when I go home. I did run 11 miles along the Greenway and then down the West River Parkway. Sadly it was an out-and-back. I played with some different routes on the computer to see if I could make this run a loop but it ended up being too far. Although it kind of became a loop course during the run – let me explain. There is the paved trail on the road and then in some places – pretty much the length of the course today there is a dirt or really messed up paved trail that is farther down the cliff towards the river. In some places it is really nice and others it is just a dirt single-track. This also added a more rolling hill effect to the run which was good. It was near perfect for getting off the pavement. Running to and from the river was in the sun which made it pretty warm but all along the river it was shaded and almost cool. I did the 11 mile run in 1:34:12 which is 8:33 pace. My slowest mile was 9:38 for mile 9 and my fastest was 7:40 for mile 2. By the end of the run I was pretty wiped out – having biked 20 miles on Saturday didn’t help. I think for my long runs now on I’ll need to make sure to carry or drop water and start looking at using my Clif Shot Bloks.<\/p>\n Weekly Mileage Totals:<\/strong><\/p>\n Running – 26.9 miles, this is actually a drop from last week. Though last week I ran on my cross-training day!<\/p>\n Biking – 67 miles. Most of these are at a fairly easy pace. I bike commute 8 miles round-trip at about 15mph but when I ride with my wife (who will be at 50 miles for the week) we ride more like 10-12 mph average.<\/p>\n Swimming – 500 yards.<\/p>\n