The early season run with Tempo

Headed over to the old rail tracks this morning for a nice longer run with some tempo in the middle. The trails are nice to get some tempo work in as they're relatively flat and you can focus on form, effort, and pace. Parts of the trail are paved, however, and those sections can beat up your joints and muscles. Overall, it was a very enjoyable run and it was nice to get outside for the run, as most runs have been on the treadmill over the winter.

Cause and effect

I'm sick and I have no one to blame but myself. After my classic training move on Saturday I'm sure my immune system was running a bit low and I was coming off of two decent weeks of training. Oh well, it's a recovery week. So, I'll have to make sure I don't try to overdo anything. My house is a germ fest though, as my oldest son is home with a double ear infection and pink eye. The germs go round and round, gotta love it.

Simple lessons

Early season race training can lead to some common mistakes. My Saturday workout was a 2hr ride with some tempo efforts followed by a 1.5hr run that was supposed to step up in effort each 30 mins. I did the ride on my computrainer and it went smoothly. I had planned on running outside on a hilly course for the run. I headed out and immediately realized that it was still REALLY cold. Then at 20 mins out, I started to bonk. Now the combination of freezing and bonking was not that enticing to me, especially since it's just March. I had made the common mistake of underfueling during my bike and I was really paying for it on the run as I felt dizzy and disoriented. I decided to turn around and head home for the warmth of my treadmill and see if I could get some calories in. I finished up the workout at home and re-inforced two important lessons. 1. Always check the weather report before heading out 2. fuel properly or pay the price.

1st Outdoor Ride of the Season

We did our first outdoor ride since Clearwater in November. It was a classic 1st time out. I had 2 flats before I even started, then I couldn't get air into my third tube. Ian had 2 flats on the road during the ride. However, even with these minor frustrations, the ride was a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day as it got up into the low 60s. It was really nice to be riding outside. We hit a lot of hills, since the roads are still in winter mode. We thought it would be better to keep the pace down and try to avoid the monster potholes formed from the winter plows. There is definetely a big difference between riding the trainer and riding outside. I do use my computrainer almost to a fault, but you just can't simulate the total muscle impact of riding outside.

Whew, interesting how when you start to bring the tempo efforts into your road runs, how quickly you start to feel beat up. I woke up this morning and hobbled down the stairs as my left calf was a bit tight with my quads and glutes sore as well. I had two days of tempo on Friday and Saturday. I had an 1.5hr aerobic run scheduled this morning, which felt pretty good after 15mins of very easy running. Now, I've got a day full of ice hockey as my 3yr old has hockey 101, then I take the two oldest boys to our local semi-pro hockey game, which they get to skate following the game. All good stuff.