Running The Carolinas: I just run.

here's a guy that gets it


Running The Carolinas: I just run.

Gate River Run - DNS Report

Last weekend was our areas largest road race the Gate River Run 15k...  Over 17,000 runners toed the line.  I was not one of them...  I was registered but was unable to race.  I did go down to support my friends.

prerace self-portrait note shadow if phone and hand on my face

and yes we had our bikes on the car and went for a ride after the race.



Judi stretches note shadow dog on her back

Mark and Chris pre-race



Judi and me @ the blue corral



looks kinda sure of herself eh?



they're off



this went on for almost 15 minutes

I did walk over and watch the pros finish as well as the first 2000 or so runners....  saw lots of friends and foes.



Post race stretch



Post race Mark and Chris



that *is* a beer but *is not* a cigarette

I had a good time spectating and supporting but...  all in all I'd rather race

February Recap

Training run at the Jax Shipyards

I decided to kinda take the month as it came…

No specific training schedule…  excepting Masters Swim

I had a few nagging aches and pains…  no big race plans for a few months

So…  I skipped workouts… even goosegged the training log on a weekend day… ate peanutbutter and valentine goodies… did zero speedwork or tempo

One of my Valentine Treats

Basically I just trained (and raced once) for fun and concentrated on rehabbing my injuries.

Now it is March and I’m ready to go…  I have a couple of goals

http://floridachallenge.com/

http://greatfloridian.com/

defined by a one word mantra “Clermont” and it’s time to train…  and I’m ready

Taking aim at Clermont

February Totals:

Swim: 18,750

Bike: 325

Run: 150

Weights: 395 minutes

Race Report - 26.2 with Donna Marathon, National Marathon (withthelongestnameever) to Finish Breast Cancer Marathon, Half Marathon, and Relay



Yes folks this was Judi's first attempt at the full marathon distance...  and what did my little 110 pound bundle of energy do on Friday afternoon before the race? 



Red badge of courage

Yep she gave blood...  when I questioned her thought process...  her reply was "I've got plenty of that stuff"

We rode our bikes to the race..  about 3 miles...  most of it on the freeway (which was closed) that's a good thing too because it was dark still...



We ran on the beach

in Atlantic Beach

 And Neptune Beach

Topless

 Why is Judi only smiling in pictures when I'm not around?

 we are actually in the both finish pictures above...  we stopped and made out about 15 meters from the finish... 

Judi with our groovy bikes

She dedicated her race to her MIL's memory



Happy at the finish

Thursday Check In

Swimming….  I’m not sure where you are with that but it is my focus right now.

Mainly because I sucketh….  And I know I’ll never win my AG, or even come close if I’m a BOP swimmer.

Started Masters in January…  have only missed practice 2x since (Philly trip)….  Today my shoulders are sore…  my sinuses are clogged up but last night… I swam 3000yds…  and even kept up with the rest of the Guppies on everything except for the few sets where I was doing drills while they swam.

GFT is my focus this year but…  IM type training is what I like to do…  for example… New year’s w/e found us doing an 80 mile ride on Saturday and a 18 mile run on Sunday…  It’s just what I like to do with my weekend.

I have a problem tho….  I tweaked my knee running through the woods like a Banshee Warrior… (aka idiot) and I’ve had some knee pain ever since…  This led me back to the weights for some rehab…  in so doing I realized that my left leg does a lot more work in both cycling and running because my right leg is weak… so I’ve set about trying to fix that as well…

My left calf is about 1” bigger around than my left…

The dragging of my left foot is quite evident by the wear pattern of my shoes

See the picture

I’ve been doing single leg:

Leg presses

Leg extensions

Calf raises

That said… I’m off to run a marathon in a pink skirt this weekend… 

http://www.breastcancermarathon.com/

 

Spin Cycle

Email from Friday....

From: Cowart, M
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 10:11 AM
To: Judi S
Subject: Friday!

Hey babay,

My mind is on the weekend already… 

Time to look at the hourly forecast…  and plan a ride route

Looks cold wet and windy….

Maybe 2x or 3x spin and fitness yoga

What do you think?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Well…  Judi was game.

0720 found us at the Y with cups of coffee in hand… and our gym bags packed for a fun-filled morning.

The first class was “RPM” I think…  http://www.lesmills.com/global/rpm/about-rpm.aspx

The instructor was a little hard to understand but the music was okay.

This was not our instructor…  although ours did wear a backwards cycling cap:

This was not us…  although we were just as thrilled.

We had about 45 minutes between our 1^st and 2^nd classes…  and decided to lift.  We di chest/tris and for the first time in months I was able to do 10x135# on the bench without too much pain…  sore pecs now…  nice…  I was a little self-conscious sweating all over the place in tri-shorts and a jersey…

The 2^nd class was taught by one of Judi’s friends…  she is a riot and had a great music selection.

Between class 2 and 3 we only had 15 minutes…  I decided to run a quick mile on the treadmill…

Class 3 was taught by a lady I refer to as “Geritol Barbie” she’s a little older…  quite fit and a bit full of herself…  and by this time I was a little tired of the spin room.  The first few songs were not so bad but..  by the 3^rd Kei$ha song I was about to go nuts…  I tried to poke some headphones in my ears deep enough to drown out the “Boots and Boys” but I found no relief… Judi’s iPod had no issues and she spun next to me in peaceful, Linkin Park accompanied, bliss… the class ended up being 90 minutes long too…  and the music got no better…

After class…  cool down and stretch Judi wanted to stretch more…  so I hit the treadmill for another quick mile…

In the end 190 minutes of spinning…  2 miles run and 35 minutes of weights… and we were off to Babies ‘R Us.

No we are *not* having a baby...  just picking up a gift for a baby shower...

Just about right for a training session… On a rainy, windy, Saturday in February…   but…  praying for decent weather nest week so we can get back on the road.

Base

Lately I’ve been in the so called “Base Period” of training.

My two big A races back in October (1/2 IM) and Marathon (December) netted PRs and signified the end of a successful season.  Now my goals are months away

It has been quite a while since I have experienced this…

In June 2009 I started training for the ACT ½ IM…  then immediately into Marathon training…

While training for the marathon I decided to sign up for Desert RATS 2010…  Well…  having never done an ultra…  the thought of basically doing  a few of them in a week (RATS) scared me into signing up for a few.  Which I did last year leading up to RATS.  Once that was over tri season was in full swing…  which in turn ran into running season again last fall. 18 solid months of build/race/repeat…. Whew!

So January 2011 was rest/cross train/base build for a new season.  And this year is all about Triathlon….  None of this ultra silliness (well…  maybe just one http://www.performancemultisports.com/Jetty2JUltra.htm )

to that end…  and with some seriously tired running legs…  I did the following:

• 1.      Pilates
• 2.      Absoloution (another core fitness class)
• 3.      Yoga
• 4.      Started swimming with the masters group
• 5.      Had my highest swim yardage output ever
• 6.      Bought some new tri/swim gear (Aero Helmet/Paddles)
• 7.      Had the lowest run mileage output in the past 2 years
• 8.      Had a solid cycling month
• 9.      Well rounded and consistent strength training.

January Totals:
Swim: 20K (highest ever!)

Bike: 443
Run: 131
Weights: 10 hours

Now it’s February…  I do feel a bit more rested…  ready to continue with this “base phase” (and run a marathon – but just as training).  Feeling like some additional core and leg strength will go a long way…  to helping me go a long way later in the season.