Starting Over

My first run was one year ago today. Getting ready to start again.

Keeping at it.

Another easy 3 miles this morning. Keeping it easy. Learned my lesson these past 11 months on pushing too hard too fast. One more short run this week is planned. Next week, may lengthen one of the runs. Need to cross train, too. Any idea when summer is too arrive?

Cross training

Quiet on the blogger front. Not sure about you guys, but I'm switching gears a bit, spending time on family stuff, and seeing where the exercise bug bites me next. For Sunday, at least, I was bitten by mountain biking. The intense running crew that I've written about here (the guys who go out at 6AM on Sundays) really only uses running in the off-season to train for their fun stuff -- mountain biking, some road biking and cross country skiing. I've been thinking about riding with them for probably two years now, but always had some excuse that made my slight fear of riding with them more palatable. Last weekend, with excuses diminished, curiosity peaked (and intimidation still intact), I finally joined the crew.

I met up with four guys promptly at 6AM for a grueling-but-fun, technical, slippery/wet ride in the wooded hills of Waterbury. We did equal shares climbing, switchbacks, and straight downhills over the course of just over two hours. I went over the handlebars (think full-on superman launch) once, walked a couple of times and slid out a few more, but had a blast the whole time. (Full disclosure, the end, which was a full mile uphill on my road home, sucked, but at least it was the end.) I was completely spent, covered in mud, achey and psyched for having done something new in my own backyard.

I was struck by how different mountain biking is from running. On a run, I use the steady rhythm to zone out and go to another place. The mind is left to wander and randomly check back in, while the body runs mostly on cruise control. On the trails on a mountain bike, I have to pay attention to every detail of the terrain, including mud, roots, trees, fall line angles, and who knows what else. It's a technical experience in which I get lost in the details of all that's going on around me. And conquering those details, no matter how small, provides lots of little "wins" over the course of the ride.

It was a great ride, and I'm looking forward to the next one. Oh, and I have run a couple of times here and there. I went out last week for a couple of three milers, which felt good. Not ready to sign on for another race yet, but not burnt out either. Just taking things as they come for a bit.

Hope all's well with this crew.

That's Better.

Three runs in the last 5 days. All 3 mile runs to ease back into it. Re calibrated my watch/footpod on Saturday which was sorely needed. Pace showed a huge improvement today, mostly due to the watch, but also due to shaking off the rust. While the pace/distance may be suspect, the HR is not. Sometimes this is more telling than how you feel or how fast you ran.

Back in the saddle...again.

Work, life, colds, vacations have all provided excuses to not run over the past 6 weeks. Finally pushed them all aside and made it out this morning for 3 miles. The good news is that all previous injuries have healed. The bad news is the ankle is now officially a chronic injury as I could tell over the past few weeks, while at rest, it just wasn't right. I'll just need to manage it. Hopefully the additional 13 pound drop (25 since I started last August) will help reduce the chance of more injuries, especially those impact related.