Gettin Physical

Yep that was us at the gym yesterday… an hour…  not a single weight was touched…

We did do a bunch of stuff like this:

Specifically:

walking lunges 2x 50 reps

side stepping squats 2x 50 reps

2 circuits of the below:

#1-Hip Circles 15 reps each way
#2-Circles 15 reps
#3-Inner Thigh Lifts 15 reps
#4-Side Kick Up/Down 15 reps
#5-Prone Leg Lifts 15 reps
#6-Reverse Lunge 15 reps (you can skip this)
#7-Heel Walking 15 steps each foot

Yesterday I was a bit wiped out…  from just that little Janeish workout

Today I am sore…  hips..  glutes…

and I snapped a quick self-portrait in the mirror this morning

Traveling Fools

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Saint Augustine

This past weekend we went down to Tampa.  Judi went to take a certification exam while I took an opportunity to check in with our company's Tampa office.  I found the router…  and plugged in the secondary power supply.  Pure genius!

It can get hot in Florida in March…

Since we were in the vicinity… and since we did not register in time to actually do the race this year… we decided to run the course for this race: 

Croom Trail 50 Mile, 50K, & 16 Mile Fool Run http://www.fools50.com/race.htm

The loop was 16 miles…  we wanted to

a.      Run 18ish

b.      See the River

So we planned to do an out-and-back to the river roughly from Aid Station #2 above.

We found the start…  a nicely maintained park at the trailhead.

After chasing Judi down the trials for a couple of hours

(Check out her new "Women's Specific" hydration pack)

We made it to the Withlacoochee River.

Yes…  it was raining slightly.

the trails were hilly by Florida standards...  and beautiful....  over three hours out there and we saw no one else on the trails....  my idea of a blissful day

We made it back to our car…  and eventually back to Jax.

Since we got our long run in on Friday…  we pretended to be cyclists on Saturday.

We felt awesome heading south on A1A

25 MPH headwinds on the return leg reminded us that we were not yet ready for the Pro TOur

A beautiful Sunrises greeted us in Jax beach for our Sunday run.

Then having done all that strenuous exercise…  Judi finished off the weekend by eating an entire jar of Peanut butter (not really)

February in review

Doing some stretching while I watch my daughter's football practice.

Swim -- None

Bike --- 210 miles

Run ---- 179 miles

Core --- 230 minutes

Stretching -- as much as possible (doing a standing pigeon at my desk as I type this)

Lacrosse Ball - the same...

Total -- 46:45

A year ago I was in the best running shape of my life...  Then fell and tore a muscle in my quad.

I changed my gait to accommodate both a bum knee and an injured quad...  I was using almost all hamstrings then Bing! Piriformis

I'm treating the Piriformis...  strengthening and working on mobility... and trying to learn to run properly again.

Now I'm in overall better shape core/flexibility/strength wise...  but the speed is missing still.

I am, a work in progress.

Getting my Gandhi on...

Our local track club traditionally puts on a 50K in the February/March timeframe.

I've done the race before and very much enjoyed it.

http://allaboutpace.blogspot.com/2010/03/guana-50k.html

I had it on my race calendar this year… 

http://www.jtcrunning.com/Calendars/Club_Races___Events.htm

Here is what the webpage currently says…

Late February has come and gone with no word of the event and with no response to my repeated emails to the club president.

So yesterday I wrote a check…  and filled out an application to become a member of the club…  and on my membership form I noted my desire to organize this event in 2013…  so I may be the RD for the race next year…  we shall see.

What to do?

Rest week… What is that?

I am now somewhat at the mercy of the coach we hired for Judi.  This was a calculated decision we made to keep my natural tendency to over-train cause me to drag Judi along with me.

With last week's 40 miler behind us (relative) rest was on the agenda

Our training for the weekend was to be limited to an hour run on Saturday and 30 minutes on Sunday.

We did pretty well..  just adding a little Core on Friday after work and an hour spin on Saturday but it still left us with time and energy on our hands…  so we did other stuff

We stocked up on wine (we had a coupon!)

Went out!! On Saturday night!!!

It was a Pub Run/Fundraiser for a local charity Marathon High.  Marathon High is a non-profit program under the Galloway Training Program. It is a free, school-based, long-distance running program open to all teens in grades 9-12.

http://www.breastcancermarathon.com/run/marathon_high/

The evening was themed "Dress up as your High School self"

I dug my old letter jacket out of the closet…  it still fits well enough:

We did clock some impressive mileage…  My Dodge broke the 6 figure barrier:

And Sunday dinner must have smelled delicious as evidenced by Jimmy's drool

Back to real training this week and none too soon…

And I'm just itching to race again too…  I think I'll sign up for this:

Running QOTD

a Forty

No… not that kind of forty…   this kind.

We were at the trailhead…  just before dawn… to set off on what would be our second "do it yourself" Ultra

Our route was pretty simple…  Down through the Guana reserve…  on the east side roads which we had never traversed…

The loop the Guana single-track trails

Then run south on the beach to Vilano…

And finally a beeline through Guana again back to the car…

We had to be back by 5 PM due to parental responsibilities.

The first few miles we kept it steady…

We threw in some walk breaks…

And yes…  that is a cotton t-shirt… and yes it was a mistake to wear it…  and yes I should know better.

The single-track was nice…  cool and shady

The beach was miserable tailwind going south was stifling… and I'd forgotten how steeply canted the beach is in Vilano…  even at low tide.

Inexplicably I felt really good for the last leg…  Judi had some back issues which forced some long walk breaks

But she kept smiling….

And we made it back to the trailhead at about 1630…

40 miles covered.

Some sore feet

A sore back

A few black toenails

But overall we survived