Working It Hard (with some intensity)

I think last week brought 3 or 4 days of snow or at least some sort of precipitation. Which is great for our drought situation, but kinda sucks for those of us who want and need to get training in, or just playtime outside in general. B and I did manage to get out to the track one day before the snow started for some fun flat running in circles. I am being very cautious about my return to the oval, because in the past that's where I have gotten injuries. But it is a good way to measure your fitness on a measured course, especially if you don't own a tri geek Garmin. We did some quarters and half miles, all at controlled goal pace, and I was surprised to feel pretty good. B was right there with me the whole time, pretty amazing for someone who started running about 6 months ago.

The weekend had called for another one of those blizzards we had a few weeks ago, but "sadly" that never materialized. Still, it snowed a good amount and got pretty chilly out with temps hovering in the 20s and low 30s all weekend so that a ride outside was scratched off the schedule and the trainer was brought out in full force to fill out most of the walking space in my living room.

I managed what everyone else seemed to have done, and did a 3hr trainer ride sweat fest with some intervals thrown in here and there to mix things up, since a ride in place for three hours can get pretty stale, pretty quick. After I got off the trainer, soaked in sweat and dripping out of every pore, I made the choice to head over to FAC to run on the tready instead of risking running outside with hair wet from sweat in 20 degrees.

After about a 1hr transition (ha) I was on treadmill, complete with i-pod and a gel (! how tri geeky of me, the gel was never consumed however) and some water. It didn't take long before I was dripping again, and probably pissing off the guy running next to me because my ponytail would fling sweat left and right, but I kept a somewhat steady tempo pace, although hard to judge because the treadmill pace never seems to equal the pace I would run outside, it always seems harder. I floated off it after an hour and went for an easy swim before calling it a day.

Sunday was a longish run (originally I had planned for the Platte River Half but let that one fly out the window when I heard about the forecast, which actually didn't end up being that bad, oh well) but for some weird reason my hips were sore,which they never are, I am thinking it was the treadmill's fault... In the afternoon B and I ventured back to FAC for a swim in a blizzard which wasn't even registered by the weather stations. It actually went really well, we both got a good workout in, Wolfgang would be proud, I managed 10x100 all under 1.30 pace, which for me is quite something! Ofcourse I felt like I was having a heart attack during each with my lungs squeezing out my ears but that's altitude for ya...

Today the skies finally cleared and I was able to apply sunscreen and head out for a ride on the roads. I swear it seems like it only snows in Boulder, I didn't see anything out on my ride... B and I pushed through some tough efforts, which will hopefully help make me a little stronger on the bike. Funny how a few short 5 min intervals can leave you more drained than a 5hr ride. Next week I leave for Powerman AL- Elite Du Nats, and I am hoping things will go smoothly. The bike course looks a little tricky to say the least. 3 loops of 11 miles each with tons of turns in each.. I better starting practicing navigating... Here's to spring finally making a comeback, no more hats and gloves and tights!