Balance

Last night a group of us went to the Audubon Loop for hillwork. Our goal was 5 times up and down the hill. Amy earned Queen of the Hill honors for doing all 5 in good stead AND then going up for another half. Peer pressure is big in this group but none of us joined her for that last bit.

I power walked the uphills and jogged the downs. I told myself at one point that practicing the downhill is just as important. One can rationalize anything if one tries hard enough. I didn't feel like I had it in me to do run the uphills. I'm wondering now how much of that was the heat & humidity, the bike ride I did first or just plain mental breakdown. Maybe a combination? As we jogged over to the hill I was already wondering if I could do it. I wondered if riding my bike was such a good idea first. I think I psyched myself out of running the hill before I even got there. I was just so anxious to get out and ride.

So how do I balance the biking with the running? I don't know the answer. I've tried to research it but - as you might expect - the advice is all over the place. As with running it will be read, ask questions, try stuff and see what works for me.

So what do I want to accomplish right now?
- I want to build a base of riding miles.
- I have three half marathons in Sept, Oct and Nov so I want to keep running. And even after that I'm not giving up running. It's my understanding that the two actitvites are not mutually exclusive and in fact compliment eachother.
- I'm also old - at least my body is - and one, preferably two, rest days have become a necessity.

After thinking (yes, probably over thinking) this last night I've come up with a plan that allows three days a week riding, three days a week biking and two rest days.

Monday - OFF
Tuesday - Run(speed or hills)
Wednesday - Ride
Thursday - Run(tempo or progression run)
Friday - OFF
Saturday - Long run followed by easy bike
Sunday - Long bike ride

I'm going to also try to work in 4 week blocks. 3 weeks of increasing miles and the 4th week cutting back. I'm following phillyfit's marathon schedule through the 15 miler which doesn't exactly follow the 3 up one back schedule so I'm going to work with total miles (bike + run) through The Philly half in November and see where that leaves me.

Any of you who have tried to follow my progress in this blog before know that I'm prone to changing things up. I don't really like that about myself. It is what it is but I'd like to do better. I'm hoping that by working on total weekly miles I'll be better able to stick with the plan better. Stay tuned and thanks for reading. I welcome your comments, thoughts and advice.