One Heck of a Weekend!

 


So all seems to be progressing on the home front.

After some Xrays, an MRI and several doctor visit following up my the tibia stress fracture and the fractured radius, I was given the green light to do what I felt like...well within reason!

So 4 and a half weeks ago I started back running. I wish the snow had not been so bad as the soft surface of the Towpath would have been perfect, but given the sketchy footing I decided to take the soft cushioning of the treadmill. I guess to be perfectly honest, when I have to run alone and it is less than desirable out, I really don't mind the treadmill. And I think I have been longing to run for so long, that it makes me happy. Either that or my strong detest of elipticals! In the back of my mind is that Nasvhille marathon on 4/24 is quickly approaching. I am trying to ease in speed and distance slowly. Longest runs by week have inched out as follows-5 mi, 6.5 mi, 9 mi, 12 mi...planning on 15 this weekend. Right now just two other runs per week, one about 45 minutes and one about and hour. I have also really tried to hold back some with speed. The first week I would not let myself run faster top speeds than 9 min mile, then 8.5 and finally today I was doing some 2 mi intervals averaging just under 7:30 which felt surprisingly comfortable.

On the running front, I will run the Mill Creek half marathon on 3/7 as a training day...I am NOT RACING IT. REPEAT TO SELF. The following Saturday is my favorite race of the year, the Saint Malachi run! OH AM I EXCITED and will be wearing my green, working the booth on behalf of the tri club before and after and then enjoying the party with all my high school friends that NA has conned into running, many for the first time! Nashville is said to be a hilly couse and coming back from injury, my plan there is to just enjoy it and run a respectable pace and maybe run something like a 3:40.

After a hiatus from swimming (except kick drills :-( ) my arm seems to be coming back. So much so, that 5 weeks out from the fractured radius, I did our CTC's clinic & challenge for a nice total of 4000 yards Sunday. Not bad considering even 2 weeks ago I could barely swim with that arm! Oh I should also plug one of the Trakkers sponsors, SBR Sports and their Foggle Product. I had just picked up some new TYR goggles at Bike Authority and used the Foggles wipes before swimming Sunday. I was in disbelief how clearly I could see the entire morning. Apparently I have been in the fog way too long...haha, ok so I was up to early again today which leads to bad jokes!

Oh and I finally made my return to Rays Indoor Mtn Bike Park! Had a minor setback Monday but rode conservatively Friday with about 150 other women and had a chance to demo a bunch of bikes. That may have been a bad idea as I really liked the way the full suspension bike handled obstacles. (Hmmm, what to buy this spring as I need a new one and this is beyond a want, a full suspension mountain bike or 29er hard tail) My arm is still rather weak for jumps, etc so we will take it easy there for awhile!

The one consistent this winter has been the bike and indoor trainer rides. Coach MG really has been making me sweat through some hard core workouts this winter and while often I don't know that I will make it, I find a way! These have been my saving grace along with our Saturday morning East side cycling rides.

This past weekend was sort of a culmination of all of this stuff and made for an absolutely fun time! I had been looking forward to it for awhile and it was all that I hoped for...!

Friday I took off work and hit Angels Day at Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park. Got to ride and learn from some of the nation's best trial, cross country, free ride female mountain bikers! What a great day, free entry, free food, free shirt, free clinics and did I mention free Sierra Nevada Keg and lots of give-aways!

Left Angels Day around 5 to prepare for our Tri Club's Member meeting which was a blast including fantastic info from Coach MG, and fun with all the club members.

Saturday morning came way too soon and included CTC's 2 hour indoor cycling sweat fest followed up with a 45 minute swim. Then it was off to the USAT rules clinic which always is full of valuable info that I would suspect many people may not be aware of.

Sunday was the club big Swim Challenge and Clinic which seemed to be a huge hit. LN from Liquid Lifestyles ran the clinic and really did a nice job! I know I learned some good techniques to work on! Yes, I might have had some Mexican and beer after...but only because my husband (who volunteered) said he deseved it and I agreed!

I crashed hard Sunday night and had to pry myself out of bed super early Monday morning because even with that busy of a weekend I still owed my 12 mile run before work!