Week 1 - 10K training

The week started off rough but got better day by day. My first run was good for about 1.5 miles, but the last mile was miserable. I got my heart rate up too high and just felt crappy. I took more walking breaks than I wanted but I made sure I ran a for 2.5 miles. On Tuesday, I met a friend at the track for a "tempo" run. I'm not sure if it was exactly what Hal Higdon had in mind but we were out there running in the cold December evening. My next run was scheduled for Christmas Day. I kept to the plan and went with Dad to West Cliff Drive and ran 2 miles in my new running shirt and tights. :-) I didn't expect West Cliff to be quite so busy, but it was a beautiful day!


On Saturday I met up with some Mermaids for a practice run on the Los Gatos Creek Trail up towards Lexington Reservoir. (Somehow those tricky Mermaids talked me into doing the Resolution Run on 1/1/2010. We thought it was a 5K, but no, it's 5 miles.) We did 3 miles with a little walking. Overall, it was a pretty good first week of training and I think this whole 10K thing will be a good thing.

Also, Santa was very good to me this year. Both Sara and I were lucky enough to get transition bags. At the end of the day we packed all of our gifts into the bags.


Totals:
Miles - 10.26
Time - 2:29:22
Avg Pace - 14.33

10K training begins . . . tomorrow

It all begins tomorrow. Ten weeks of training for the Mermaid Run 10K in San Diego. This is my challenge for my 40th birthday. I hope that these ten weeks of training will improve my endurance and speed. And, losing a little weight along the way will be nice.

This week I . . .
Ran: ~7 miles
Lost: -0.2 lbs

Gettin' back in the grove . . .

Yesterday was my first day back in the pool. It took me awhile to pack up all my pool toys and remember what I would need to get ready for work. It was very early and dark when the alarm went off at 5:07 am. But I got out of my warm bed and made it to the pool. The water felt so good when I in, it was warm but not too warm. I started to warm up and was relieved that I still remembered how to swim. After two laps I was out of breath. Wow, two months off and out of breath after a 50? They were supposed to kick 8 x 100 IMs. Ha, ha. I just tried to stay out the way while I tried to kick the stiffness out of my legs and stretch out my calves. Next up was 16 x 100s on 1:40. I did o.k. but still tried to stay out of the way. I was shocked at how sore my shoulders were after just a few 100s. After about 50 minutes and I was done with my reintroduction to swimming. It was great to be back in the water!!

Today was a rest day but I still have to walk the dog. After two days of running and one day of swimming my calves and hamstrings were really tight. Hello, stretching, foam roller, and ice packs! I really haven't missed you. Icing in the winter isn't all that much fun.

Well, that's it for now. An, exciting reintroduction to activity.

Catching up

Where have I been? What have I been doing? Nothing. Really, truly, nothing.

In October and early November I was working hard to have a strong 5K at the Mermaid Run San Francisco. I week before the race a medical issue (nothing serious) popped up and I wasn't able to do the race. :-( I've been out of commission since November 9th. No swimming. No biking. No real running. Last week I started reintroducing running to my legs. I start swimming again on Tuesday!

In the middle of my month off I had the amazing experience of watching my friend Molly complete her first Ironman in Tempe Arizona. Watching more than 2,500 people attempt to swim, bike, run 140.6 miles was incredible. That is some dedication and training. I wasn't inspired to complete one myself (it's the marathon) but a half-ironman in couple of years is not out of the question.

This week will be my first week back to regular exercise. It will be interesting. I haven't gone this long without exercise in years. Years! I hope one month off isn't like starting from scratch.

Next up . . . training for a 10K in February. Get ready for a lot of whining about running.