Saturday, February 21, 2009

Hey swimming and cycling--YOU LISTENIN'?

What the freak show has gotten into my running lately?!

I don't know what the heck's going on. But it's in a good way. Earlier this week I did 6 miles and negative split it heeeyooooggggee-ly, and today I did the same thing on my 1:45 run. Ended up going 11.5 miles with a ginormous negative split.

Bonus!

It's seriously nuts. What feels like a nice easy pace is what used to borderline my half marathon race pace. I'm not sure what's going on. I swear I'm not on "the cream" or "the clear."

You hear that, A-Rod? I AM LEGIT.

Anyhoo.

Training is ramping up, which means I am teetering on the borderline of sanity/insanity. It also means I am EATING EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT NAILED DOWN. This week threw some crazy curveballs at me, but I'm going to be able to hit most of my workouts, which I am pretty darn proud of.

The pool is--the pool, meaning, it's not in my basement so it's harder to get to, but I'm super consistent when I'm there (pace-wise, that is). I feel like such a pool underachiever. If I could get there 4-5 times a week, I'm sure I'd see some definite time dropped off. But I just don't have that luxury. So, I'm just trying to get there as much as I can, which lately, hasn't been much. Good thing I can (relatively speaking of course) kinda wing it...I definitely can't do that on the bike or run.

Cycling is coming along. I am coming to terms with the fact that I might have to just sack up and get outside in very much less than ideal conditions here pretty soon. I mean, holy CRAP it's almost March, which means I'm almost a MONTH OUT...and I really need to get a little actual road experience, you know? So I'm really, really hoping for a nice 60-70 degree dry Saturday or Sunday in March. However, Cleveland is known to have absolutely nutty March weather, ranging from 75 and sunny to 15 and 18 inches of snow. So, the reality is, I might have to bundle up and get out there in (gulp) more like 40 degrees.

*crossing fingers*

So there you have it. A teensy part of me is thinking perhaps I should have signed up for a spring marathon with the way this running is going, and knock a few minutes off on my quest to BQ. But, there's plenty of time for that, right?

After all, in 4 years, my qualifying time goes up five more minutes.

(don't worry--there ain't no WAY I'm waiting THAT long) ;)

I'll leave you with a little conversation that was had in my doctor's office last week:

Nurse: I'll just need to take your blood pressure.

TST: OK--no problem!

Nurse: *looks at the numbers* Wow, that's really low...

TST: Yeah, I know. My old doctor used to joke with me about it...

Nurse: Well, that's a good thing! Now let me take your resting pulse.

TST: *thinking: oooo goody! this is always a fun one*

Nurse: *scrunches face* Um...wait, let me do this one more time...

pause for dramatic effect

Nurse: *makes funny face* Wow--are you aware your resting pulse is 47? Do you exercise or something?

TST: Uh, yeah. A little bit.

Yahoo for endurance sports! You make TST's ticker strong. :)

7 comments:

Aaron said...

Awesome work on the run. Sometimes you just don't know where it comes from - it just arrives.

As for the bike, yep I'm with you. Lake effect snow rules seem to be in effect on both sides of the lake. Snowing on the north side again today so the bike goes back in the basement.

Jumper 2.0 said...

47? Man that is low! I'm amazed when I see 59 or 60 on me.

Then again, you are quite the studdette!

I have been quiet on how well my running is going. I am still 12 weeks out from my marathon and just want to make sure that I'm not just having a good couple of weeks. Looking forward to see how you do (as well as the others) in NO!

Pharmie said...

Um, yeah. We'd have to have miracle weather here in order for me to get outside on the bike. It's about 7 degrees here right now, and we got 3+ inches of snow last night. I may be doing 70 miles on my trainer in a couple of week :(

RobbyB said...

Love to see the progress. After yesterday's 7 inches of snow, I've totally resigned to the fact that I will be in the basement likely until the race.

About the heart rate, I always freak out the nurses when checking in. I freaked myself out the other day before I got on the bike. I glanced at my Garmin before I got on and it was sitting at 38! I love it!

Keep running!

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

Way to go on the running, girl!! You are going to do GREAT in The Big Easy!!!

Michelle said...

I've gotta stop reading these blogs; between you and Steve in a Speedo, running awesome abounds!! Reminds me of how much work I need to do!

Triteacher said...

"If I could get there 4-5 times a week, I'm sure I'd see some definite time dropped off." - Ooh. That is exactly where my swimming is at. I'm getting there once a week and am crushed that my times are slow. Guess once a week ain't cuttin' it.

Grr.

Sa-weeet on the running gods smiling on you - way to go!