2-a-days

No, I'm not in the final weeks before football season or anything like that, but I am wanting to drop some more poundage (yeah, I know, I know ... lay off the cookies. I get it), so I decided that I'm going to have to double up the workouts.

Eventually I want to swim, but that's a topic for another day. So right now, my workout options are running, biking, and strength training in our corporate "wellness center." Obviously, the running and biking can happen anywhere, not just in the wellness center... yeah, you got that. Okay.

So this morning I did end up dragging my sorry rear out of bed at an early hour, and got dressed, then I spent far too much time looking for my Garmin (which I found later -- stay tuned). Giving up on that, I realized I didn't have time for a 5-miler, so I set out on an abbreviated course for a run and ended up with 3.35 miles (thank you mapmyrun.com!) in just over 34 minutes for a 10:19 pace! Not bad for an early morning run. I was really feeling good and felt like I was moving pretty well, and I was!

Then I got home, showered, and got ready for work. When that was all accomplished, I grabbed the skinny tires out of the storage room and there, lying in my helmet with my bike gloves was the aforementioned Garmin. Well, at least I'd have it for my bike ride! I put the bike on the back of the car and off I went to work. At lunch, which just ended, I got in a great 12 mile ride with a couple miles of climbing, just for good measure.

So now I've done it. I've opened up the 2-a-day can of worms. Who knows where this may lead.

Saturday ride and Monday intervals

My ride Saturday was a lot of fun, considering the circumstances. I didn't get out until about 9 a.m., so the deep cool of the morning had worn off and it was really remarkably pleasant outside. I ended up doing a somewhat rural loop with a couple of roads that are in bad need of resurfacing - no big potholes or anything like that, just rough asphalt. But rough asphalt on 100lb-per-inch skinny tires is rough! Anyway, it was about 19 miles overall in just over an hour. I was happy with it, though I wish I'd have gone a bit longer.

Today I did intervals on the treadmill at lunch. I did 4 x 800 with 800 warm up and 400 rests. (that's a 1/2 mile warm up, then 1/2 mile fast with 1/4 mile jogs/walks to recover). Total time was 34:11 for 3.5 miles altogether. It felt really good to push the legs. A couple of the intervals were near an 8:30 pace, which is huge for me. I haven't done intervals in quite some time, and I'm going to feel it! After the run I spent 20 minutes on the weights and machines. It felt like a really good workout today.

A couple runs

Hey everyone! I just wanted to put on a brief update (and no, I'm not updating you on a style of mens underwear). Yesterday I got in 4 miles on my same old City Creek Canyon/Memory Grove route. It won't be long until the leaves are changing up there and it will be absolutely gorgeous. I'll have to take a camera with me one of these times.

This morning I actually dragged my sorry rear out of bed at 5:0something in the morning and put in 4.7 miles. It was cloudy and raining off and on, and I think that interfered a little with my Garmin reception... it said I had only done 4.25 miles and that my first mile was over 13 minutes. Now, I may be slow, but I'm not that slow, at least, not usually. And I knew that I was going faster than that this morning. I came home and "mapped my run" on, coincidentally, mapmyrun.com, and it said I had done 4.7. That's more like it.

I've really been struggling with getting up early for runs. Part of the reason is that I've got the skinny tires that I like to spend time with, and I don't yet feel comfortable on them in the dark, so I've saved my workout for lunch time. Part of the reason is I just have really been liking sleeping lately, and I'm not sure why. I need to get back into a rhythym. I'm sure some of it is also that I'm not training for anything specific right now. If anyone has any tips or advice, I'm welcome to hearing it. :)

Today, the plan was to do an early run then ride at lunch, but alas, at lunch it was raining outside. I guess I probably should have ridden in the rain anyway, because someday I'll have a triathlon or a bike race or group ride or something that will have some bad weather planned, and those things don't get cancelled for bad weather. Usually.

Saturday's ride

Went out for a 24 mile morning ride Saturday. It was thoroughly enjoyable. An hour and a half later, with a maximum speed of 41 mph and an average speed of just over 15 mph, I can say that this riding stuff is fun. I didn't have time to follow it up with a run, however, so the brick will have to wait until this weekend. I'll introduce you all to the bike shortly. I got to get a good picture.

More updates

Wednesday I took the bike out for 12 miles, and today I ran 4 miles, both in City Creek Canyon. It's amazing how much further/faster you can go on a bike. Yeah, anyway... I haven't been feeling super good this week, with a bit of a cold/allergy-type thing going on. Hence I took yesterday off from exercising. I almost let it bag today too, but I really felt the need to get out there. I'm glad I did. The weather has been PERFECT all week... highs in the 70's, lows near 50. Ideal early fall for northern Utah.

Tomorrow I'm planning another brick workout, but hopefully a little bit longer of a ride/run. Going to shoot for about 20 on the bike and then we'll see how many I feel like I can do on the run after that. At least 5, hopefully 6 or 7. Stay tuned.

Brick!

Okay, I really need to get a new picture up, but let's just say the fat tires are out and the skinny tires are in. And with that said...

Last week I did 2 bike rides on the new wheels. One was around town and the other was up City Creek Canyon. I can go so much further up the canyon on a bike than I can on foot! :) Both great rides. I am amazed at the difference in fitness required for a bike ride, especially while climbing. I don't have the leg strength to be able to push up a long climb yet... at least not very effectively. Glad the new bike has a granny gear!

Saturday I went for a brick workout with a friend who is now training for an ironman. We did 11.4 miles on the bike then did a 5 mile run. I now know why they call it a "brick". I didn't feel that bad or anything, but when I started running it felt like we were barely plodding along (after going 40+ mph on a bike, you ARE just plodding along at ~6 mph!), but checking in with the Garmin showed a sub-10 minute mile pace! Much faster than I expected, that's almost tempo-run pace for me. We ended up averaging 15 or so mph on the bike and a 10:24 pace on the run.

I'm hooked. I think I'm going to like this multi-sport thing.