This week started with a rare February day off from work. February and March are the busiest months for us with all the collegiate, club and high school championships going on. I work 15 hour days pretty much every weekend in addition to my regular work week, so when I found my calendar clear on the same day my daughter had off school, I took full advantage of it. We went to the Science Museum and saw "Hubble" in the Omni Theater...it was awesome. I love that my kids are fascinated by science and interested in the active process of learning...I can only hope it lasts! Anyway, after a busy day out and about, we headed to the Y. I had an "easy three" on the training plan today, but bailed after two on the treadmill, I was worn out. I spent the rest of the time doing core work, which reminded me, I really need to be doing A LOT more core work!
Tuesday the sub-zero windchill was back, which meant my five miler was going to be inside. I opted for the treadmill thinking that I would try to watch something on Netflix to pass the time. But after browsing my options, nothing sounded interesting. I put my music on and tried to get into a groove. It wasn't happening. After three miles, I decided I was done. That's when I opened up my Nike+ app. If you aren't familiar with Nike+, it's an app that tracks run mileage, like many others, but it is the only app I've found that accurately tracks INDOOR mileage, and you can program it so that your Facebook friends can give you "cheers" along the way. The app posts to your wall that you are on a run, and when anyone "likes" it or comments on it, you get a cheer in your headphones. Anyway, I had gotten a ton of cheers in that three miles, so I looked at my phone to see what was up. That's when I saw TEN posts from my friend Jason encouraging me to keep going. I broke into a huge smile and decided that I would finish my five miles on the track. It wasn't easy, but I was really glad to have done it. So, next time you are on Facebook and you see a friend "out on a run" with the Nike+ app, give them a cheer, you never know how badly they might need the extra push!
Wednesday I was back at TRX. I decided I was going to go into class expecting burpees and that I was going to tackle them with gusto. It paid off, we did a set of three intervals and I gave them my all...it was the first time I haven't totally hated them, so I'm calling it a win! Thank goodness we didn't do box jumps, because there is nothing I can do to make myself think those are anything other then pure torture!
Thursday we started an event at work, but knew I'd be able to get a way for my four miler over lunch. What I didn't know was that my BRF was going to suggest we go out for lunch at my favorite Chinese restaurant. I figured I'd have time to both eat and run, but wasn't really thinking about running after eating. I scarfed down a huge plate of Tofu Chow Fun (so delicious) and headed back to the pool to digest. After two hours I figured I needed to get off my butt and get this run done or I'd be out of time before the evening session of the meet started. I headed up to the TM (windchill was -2 today, I'm holding fast to my "no outside runs unless the windchill is above zero" rule). After a sloggy mile with some leftover Chow Fun threatening to become Chow Barf, I decided to bail and hit the spin bike. I did a 10-mile hill repeat that kicked my butt, and thankfully, settled my stomach!
Friday was swim day. I decided to push my pace by doing a set of 3 X 3-100's. First three were on 2:00, holding 1:45, second three were on 1:45 holding 1:30, third three were on 1:30 holding 1:20. Much to my surprise, I held them all right on interval. I even felt too slow trying to hold the 1:45's. I'm feeling stronger in the pool each week. Last year I didn't start swim training until April, so I am really excited to see how much I can improve before triathlon season starts in June!
Saturday I had my long run planned, 11 miles. Even though we had our event at work, I knew I could get away for a couple hours between sessions to get it done, and it was supposed to be considerably "warmer" on Saturday, all the way into the 20's with windchills above zero! I've never run longer than 5 miles around campus, so I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to get 11 miles in. I figured I could piece together my two normal loops, one is a little over 5 miles and the other is 4 and a half, then I would just improvise the other mile and half somewhere at the end. The windchill was 2 when I started, I had two layers of tights and a long sleeve shirt under my jacket, so I felt okay warmth-wise. The first loop on the run was the 5-miler and I felt pretty strong during that portion. I started to slow a little when I hit the second loop, but chalked that up to the massive hill I was going up. I never regained my original pace though and decided to stop worrying about that and focus on my energy level since this was the first day of my "fueling trial".
My energy of choice today was Watermelon Gu Chomps. These are gummies that are about the size of a quarter and fairly thick. They don't contain caffeine and they come 8 chews to a pack. I took two before I started. Flavor-wise they were really tasty, a little tart, but not pucker-worthy. I didn't notice any big surge of energy after I took them, but then again, I hadn't started running yet. I took two more at the three mile mark, and again while I didn't feel an instant boost, I could definitely tell I had fueled. The next two came at mile 6. I was breathing pretty heavily at this point and noticed how hard they were to chew while running and breathing hard. These things are pretty big and pretty chewy, so that was a little annoying. I took a big swig of water to help wash them down, and I definitely felt a bit renewed after taking them. I took the last two at the 8 and a half mile mark. I was starting to drag and was also preoccupied with where my route was going to go, so these last two chews seemed vital. This time I took advantage of a stop sign to eat them while waiting for a green light. They went down much easier this way than trying to eat them on the run. All in all, I give Gu Chomps 3.5 out of 5 stars. They are very tasty and definitely provide a subtle boost of sustained energy. My stomach tolerated them just fine and I did not feel the need to find a port-a-potty along my route. However, they are really big and hard to chew and the boost I got was very subtle, which was fine for a training run, but I might want something with more kick for race day.
The end of my second loop put me at 9.5 miles, just as I suspected. I was probably only about a half mile from my office at this point, so I headed up an unknown block past the football stadium. I am not very confident in my directional capabilities, but I figured if I kept the stadium in my sights I would be fine. I was starting to get a little chilled at this point too. My paced had slowed down and I was fighting some pretty slippery spots now that I was off my normal route. I turned towards campus and decided I was going to head in, whether that put me at 10 miles or 11 miles didn't really matter anymore. When hit the sidewalk that leads to my building, the pace lady on my Strava app said "10.5 miles completed". I decided I had enough left in my legs to make it a few more blocks so I could cross over on the campus ped-bridge and get that last half mile in. I was pretty relived to make it back to the pool after that. My legs were tired, my face was frozen, but I felt really accomplished. As soon as I got to the pool I changed into my swim suit and took a nice long soak in the hot tub. Until it thaws out a bit, I might need to consider doing all my long runs from work because there is no reward like an interrupted soak in a hot tub after a long, cold run!
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