Athlete?

First off, I'm not going to be doing weekly workout reviews.  Rest assured, I'm still keeping up with everything.  Just nothing new or exciting is going on with the workouts.  If there's something new to report on that front, I will.  The next big event I have on the schedule will be in February.

In the mean time, I will try to put up some thoughts on my efforts, in general.  To that end...

Last week, I got called an athlete.  Me and athlete have never been put together in the same breath before.  My previous athletic endeavors have been limited to playing softball in fifth and sixth grades.  And I played catcher, so it wasn't like I had to run around the field a lot.  For my two PE requirements in college, I took fencing and gymnastics.  So while I still consider myself a novice in my athletic endeavors, I can see how far I've come in five months.

I can run continuously for over an hour.  I've done a triathlon (it wasn't pretty, but I did it).  I've run faster than I ever have before (or since) in a 5K.  I rode my bike 66 miles over two days (at a decent pace, too).

There hasn't been any big trick to it.  I had a plan and I had a gradual build-up to my goal (which was originally just the running).  And I definitely see results.  I couldn't have done as well with the biking this weekend without the conditioning I got with the running.

So, yeah.  I guess I'm an athlete.

I like to ride my bicycle...

This weekend was the big MS: Bike Cox Atlanta ride at Callaway Gardens.  We had a great time.  The first day was 34 miles, which involved approximately 2 hours, 45 minutes of ride time but took longer due to two break points.  There were some killer hills, especially in the last 12 miles.  Some members of the team did 60 miles and some did 102 miles, but we all finished and did well.  The rest of the day after finishing my ride was spent cheering the other groups as they finished.

The second day involved a 32 mile ride.  Everyone on the team who didn't do the 102 mile ride on Saturday, with the exception of two, did the 32 mile ride.  Two people just did the Saturday ride.  I was sore from the day before, but felt good once I got moving.  This time, the ride took approximately 2 hours, 30 minutes.  Again, there were two break points and then we waited at the end for the whole 32-mile group to gather and ride into the finish as one.  Then we waited to cheer in the 64-mile team mates (same guys who did the 102 miles on Saturday).

We got cool medals at the end.  I'm sore today, but feel accomplished.  I've already signed up for next year's ride.  My goal is to save up for a road bike so I don't have to haul my mountain bike (which is heavier) up those hills again. (If anyone is interested in helping me with this goal, feel free to contribute :-) ).

The week leading up to the ride was my typical alternating bike and run days with Xfit class on Tuesday and Thursday.  I didn't do anything on Friday as I wanted to rest up.  And I needed to pack and travel.  Today has been a well-deserved rest day.  I'll start back up with a gentle run tomorrow.

Whew!

It sure has been a busy couple of weeks.  I fully intended to do an update last week.  But business and tiredness conspired against it.  So there's lots to report.

Labor Day weekend involved the whole family attending Dragon*Con.  I took my workout clothes with me in case I got a wild hair to use the hotel gym, but that was not to be.  So I went four days without doing any exercising unless you count the endless walking we did.  Which I don't, really, since I could feel the effects of not exercising for four days when I started back up again.  I really need to avoid repeating that in the future.

This weekend I did a training run with my MS Bike team, 'Cause of Carol.  It was my longest bike ride to date.  It didn't feel too bad.  I did have to walk the bike up two hills, one at the beginning and one at the end.  I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to do my long run today.  While I haven't felt overly sore, I was definitely tired in my legs.  The most I could manage today was about 5K of mixed running and walking.  But I was expecting that.

Here's the breakdown:
Monday, August 29: Biking, ~5.2 miles, 22 minutes
Tuesday, August 30: Running, ~2.5 miles, 30 minutes.  Also, ATA Fit Class.
Wednesday, August 31: Biking, ~5.6 miles, 24 minutes
Thursday, September 1: Running (treadmill at hotel), ~3.4 miles, ~37 minutes
And then...Dragon*Con
Tuesday, September 6: Biking, ~5.2 miles, 24 minutes.  Ugh, remnants of Tropical Storm Lee made it drizzly and windy.  I was fighting some headwind.  That coupled with the lack of activity the previous four days equaled a tough workout.  Also, ATA Fit Class
Wednesday, September 7: Running, ~2.5 miles, 30 minutes.  BEAUTIFUL weather.  Cool.  Loved it!
Thursday, September 8: No running or biking.  Work lunch.  But did ATA Fit Class.
Friday, September 9: Running, ~2.6 miles, 31 minutes.  Beautiful, cool weather again.  I can tell the difference with my runs.
Saturday, September 10: Biking.  'Cause of Carol training ride.  We split into two groups.  One group (my group) did a shorter distance.  The other group did about twice as much.  My ride was ~26 miles in ~2 hours, 10 minutes.
Sunday, September 11:  Rebellion of the legs.  Running, ~3 miles, ~42 miles.

This week will be mostly normal during the week.  Friday I will not be doing anything leading up to the weekend and the MS Ride.