Training week #2; December 17-23

Here is a summary of week #2

Monday - YAYOG ladders. I did the same workout as last week. It wasn't quite as hard but I've a looooooong way to go yet.

Tuesday - 3 miles. I set out to run the same route as last week, About half way through I realized I took a slightly different beginning. I couldn't figure out why I was hitting the mile mark sooner than last time. No big deal. 3 miles is 3 miles. No shin or knee issues this week and At times when I took notice of my form I wasn't crooked this week. :) Garmin stats

Wednesday- I get partial credit for tonight. I skipped the bike ride due to darkness. I did do the Tabata routine. Tonight I mixed it up more to avoid the muscle soreness that bled into my Thursday run last week. Tonight I did a combo of sumo squats, bicycles, dirty dogs and side planks.

Next week I'm off work so I'll do my bike ride in the morning. Then beginning Jan 2 I'm going to take a yoga class that my friend Kristie M is teaching at Plymouth Whitemarsh HS Adult School. The class is 5 Wednesdays evenings. By the time it is over the sunset will have shifted enough that I can get back to bike rides on Wednesdays. Isn't it cool when things work out that way?

Thursday - My work day today was less than enjoyable. Not quite stressful but a lot of stuff that was out of my control and having to deal with people who were treading heavily on my nerves and all I could do was smile and pretend to bear it. I couldn't wait to get home and run.

I took my camera so I could take photos of Christmas lights in the neighborhood and at Rose Tree Park. The run was not without it's hiccups. For example it started raining halfway through and the strap to my headlamp came off. This last caused me to have to stop retrieve the lamp and try to get the strap back on. I tried to keep moving but finally had to stop to put it back together. Because I went out to Rose Tree Park there were some traffic delays which could not be avoided and I allowed my self to stop and take some photo there. Oh and then there was the dog out on a leash with its owner (thank goodness ) whose eyes reflected bright blue as it growled at me. If they had been red I'm sure I would have gone home after that.

Despite all that I enjoyed the run and felt much better after.

I need a brighter headlamp. This one is ok if there is no other light but I'm having trouble on neighborhood streets. In that case I can see where I'm going from the street lamp but not enough to see what obstacles or ruts may be in the road. Garmin stats

Saturday - 7 miles. At 7 am I joined Pete, John T., Maggi, Russ, Mike, Dennis, Julius and Amy for some miles along the Towpath in Manayunk. John and Julius kept me company for 7.22. The others did their own thing. Some doing more and some less. I love that we can meet and keep our own schedules.

We ran the first mile and then I switched to 3 and 1 intervals and John and Julius stayed with me. We stayed along the river and just about the 3.5 point we went up the steps to get on the Schuylkill River Trail bike path to head back. The run intervals were faster than I would have done on my own. I was failing the talk test but it was ok. I'll have to be more conservative when I get to the longer miles but for today this was fine.

The temps were in the mid 30's when we met but the wind chills were in the 20's. I added a layer at the last minute this morning and probably could have done without it. I drank water with breakfast and on the way to the run but didn't carry any on the run. This is about as long as I can or should go withiut carrying though. Garmin stats - I need to work on negative splits (slower start; faster finish) but at least my last mile today was faster than the one before :)

Sunday - 75 minutes bike - Considering I wanted to bail after 10 minutes this was a very successful workout. The temps were still in the 30s but much less wind so not quite as bone chilling. Although despite gloves my fingers were in a lot of pain when I returned and they started to warm up again. I didn't realize how cold they were while I was out there.

I was very tired this morning. The bedroom rehab we started yesterday after our morning run took a lot out of me physically. We are going to celebrate Christmas with the family this evening and want to put in more hours into the work in the bedroom so I had to get my ride in the AM if it was going to happen at all. I'm pretty sure I was even slower than last Sunday. But I kept moving and managed to get in the full 75 minutes. I spent a lot of time wandering around my own neighborhood and the various apartment and townhouse parking lots just to stay off the streets. I wasn't in the mood for traffic even as little as there was on a Sunday. I didn't want to take time to drive to any of the trails.

So lackluster it may have been but it's done :) Garmin stats