It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction. - Rob Reiner

July 25, 2011

Great Weekend!

Well, the weekend was busy as usual, but fun-filled too! 
Friday night we headed to the Kansas City Royals Game with some friends.  It was so hot!!  We were all a sweaty mess, but the Royals won so it was still a good time.  I took pictures but haven’t had time to download them yet.  We got home around 11pm, which meant we weren’t going to get much sleep.  I was up at 5am the next morning for my long run.
So Saturday I completed another 8 mile run in the stifling heat and humidity.  I got to wear my new Camelbak during my run though.  I love this thing!!  I bought the kind that goes around your waist vs. the backpack.  I really love it!  I think the backpack would have driven me crazy, but the waistpack is great!  It was so nice to have water (well Gatorade) anytime I needed it.  Last weekend on my 10 mile run I didn’t get any water until mile 6 and thought I was going to die.  Last weekend I also tried to incorporate a walk/run strategy.  I did 9 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking.  It worked pretty well for about 5 or 6 miles, but then I totally bonked at the end.  Running in this heat and humidity just really takes it out of you.  This weekend I decided to opt for a 4 minute run/1 minute walk.  It worked great.  I was able to keep this up for 7 miles with no problem.  My last mile had some major hills and I was tired, so I ended up walking a lot more that last mile, but overall I thought it worked well and I finished about 30 seconds per mile faster overall than during my 10 mile run – even with walking more.  I think this might be the strategy I use for my marathon training.

This is my new Camelbak....cute even :)

Sunday, I got up for a long bike ride.  It was overcast and gloomy and by the time I made it to the lake it was raining.  I was riding alone.  I almost thought about going home, but decided not to be a wuss.  It was actually a beautiful morning.  It was the first rain in at least 3 weeks.  The sun was peaking through the clouds – it was gorgeous!  It was also about 10 degrees cooler for a change too.  The high yesterday was only in the low 90s vs the 100s and the humidity was a bit lower too.  It rained on me several times during my ride, and both me and my bike were a dirty mess when I got home, but I still had an enjoyable ride and put in 33 miles.

Just before my ride.  Beautiful!  Great pic even with a camera phone
After my ride I met up with some girlfriends for a day at Oceans of Fun (a local water park).  We had a blast.  The rain finally moved out and the sun came out.  It was perfect!  It was nice to just relax by the pool and enjoy some sun and girl talk.
Overall, I have had some great training weeks over the last month.  My last three weeks I put in 10 hours and 12 minutes, 10 hours and 21 minutes and 10 hours and 23 minutes of training per week!  That’s a lot for me.  This week I will scale back a bit.  I have my next Sprint Triathlon on Saturday.  Then the following week will be a bit of a recovery too as I will be on vacation.  I am going to try to run and swim while on vacation, but biking will be limited.  More on the vacation later!
I hope everyone had a great weekend too!  What did you do this weekend?

18 comments:

  1. Congrats on the good training, and good luck this weekend!!!!

    I raced yesterday, but it was brutally hot and humid so my performance wasn't even close to what I wanted. Oh well. Mother Nature is a biotch, isn't she?

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  2. wow! those are some impressive numbers!!! nothing exciting last weekend....ive put myself on a running hiatus until this heat subsides. it redunkulous!!!!

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  3. woohoo!

    You are tough I def quit my ten miler yesterday and said nuh uh!

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  4. I love the Camelbak! I didn't know they made waist bags.

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  5. SWEET Camelbak! Good for you on your lonely ride Sunday! Jake and I rode 26 on Saturday morning, early, but you most definitely had the best weather! See you tonight!

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  6. I'm so glad you said that walk / run was working for you. I'm going to give it a try this weekend and see if that'll give my IT Band some relief. I COULD NOT believe that it snuck up on me close to 10 miles in! What a pain right! Did you find that you were able to run about the same pace in the end or did it end up being slower?

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  7. You've got some nice consistent training going on there! I think you're going to be really pleased with your sprint. Hopefully it will be cooler for it!

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  8. My weekend was not as good physically as yours as I only got in four miles, and it wasn't a great four miles either. Oh well.

    However, my wife and I took our girls to see Annie at a nearby playhouse. We loved it! The girls really enjoyed it and I liked it better than I thought I would. Sunday I had to cover a game so I was gone most of the day. Blah. But at least Saturday was awesome.

    Looks like you were kicking butt all last week though. Nice mileage on the bike.

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  9. Great job on the training Michael. I can not run in this heat and humidity either. Excited for your race!

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  10. Nice Camelbak. I may have to show that to my wife.

    As for what I did this weekend, well, I put off writing a blog post about what I did this weekend. Better get it done .....

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  11. I'd love to hear more about the Camelbak! I've never seen a waist one. Way to go training this weekend.

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  12. I love weekends like that where there's a good mix of the physical and social. So much fun!

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  13. I didn't know you could get a waist pack Camel bak. That is much more appealing.

    I did my first marathon run/walk. I may do that again.

    I was at Lake Placid Ironman this weekend! Woot!

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  14. I also did not know they make those for the waste...pretty cool...
    run/walk....never tried it...I fear that I would not get back in running if I walk to often...but I read a lot of people who have great success with this and with great times....

    this weekend I had a 10k race.
    it was not my day but it is ok

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  15. I worked this weekend so no workout for me but this morning the humidity broke & I did 7 miles in glorious 75F weather with minimal humidity....thought I'd died & gone to heaven! Tomorrow is supposed to be 18 miles....does it still count if I have to carpool a bunch of sweaty teenagers at mile 12 & go back out after dumping them???? I think I need that camelback....it is AWESOME! How much does it hold?

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  16. Seriously you are doing fantastic!!!

    Love that Camelbak!

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  17. Great work in that mucky weather! And I'm glad you like your Camelbak waist pack. I used one of the backpacks for the first time on my weekend long run and loved it. I had been carrying a bottle in my hand during the long run and it was so nice not to have to do that.

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  18. I dont "mind" the rain, as long it isnt a cold rain. Nice ride

    Good luck this weekend!!!

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