Week Fourteen

This week was a little frustrating. Not only was it the first week back to work after vacation, but I also had a class both Saturday and Sunday all day. It was so much nicer to train at whatever hour I wanted the previous week. Anyway, I tried. I got in what I could. Tuesday was great because I got to run with my friend Denise, and it only rained on us during the last mile. My Friday workout was nice. I went up to my friends Sara and Michael to meet their new dog, Oscar. Sara, Michael, Oscar, and I went for a nighttime run. (My dog Saphira stayed back, as she hates to run on a leash.) It was the longest distance that Michael (or Oscar, as far as we know, had ever run, and they did great! Sara just joined the tri team, so I imagine that Oscar will get many more runs in the future.

So, I was in class all day Saturday. It was a beautiful day out. Warm, sunny... a perfect day for a bike ride. The team all did a great hilly 2.5 hour ride that day that I had to miss. I LOVE biking in beautiful weather, so it killed me to have to miss it. When I got home, it was too dark to ride, and I was exhausted. The idea of spinning for that long was not appealing, so I actually didn't really train at all that day. On Sunday during class, I missed a coached swim (where they videotaped everyone under water) and a 90 minute run. I hear that they are going to try to tape those of us who missed it at some point in the future. I really hope so.

Anyway, I felt so badly that I missed my training on Saturday that I was determined on Sunday. As soon as the class got out, at around 4:30 in the afternoon, I started my run. I parked at the back entrance of Natural Bridges. I knew that when I would return, it would definitely be dark, but I didn't want to make any excuses for myself. I set my timer and headed off, down West Cliff. The waves were the biggest I had ever seen them. There were crowds on the sidewalk watching them. I continued down towards the coast hotel. At the coast hotel, I realized that I was getting to an area that I shouldn't be alone after dark, so I ran up Bay Drive (towards my home). I turned down California, and got to the high school before my 45 minutes was up. By now, it was officially dark, and I still had to go back. I did go back and ran my hardest. West Cliff was much emptier now, but it was partially lit. I thought that this was a good practice for me because when I am at Ironman France, I will be running in the dark along the water too. Anyway, I made it back, without incident, and had clocked 8.5 miles in the 90 minutes - about a 10:30 pace. Not bad at all for me.

(It wasn't until later that Sara reminded me of the time a woman got stabbed in the same place I ran that night. Not sure I'll do that run again alone in the dark, as much as I liked it.)

Anyway, the stats for this week:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: spin 40 minutes, run with Denise for 58 minutes (6 miles)
Wednesday: track (about 5.5 miles, plus drills)
Thursday: swim 2000 yards. Brrrrr.
Friday: run about 50 minutes, 4 miles and change
Saturday: :-(
Sunday: run 90 minutes, 8.5 miles

Body Check: No news is good news. Same as before.

Total Fundraising to date: $2116