I need a super soaker.

Monday
Stationary Bike (AM)
Distance: 10.0 mi
Time: 50 ish minutes
Avg Pace: 12.something

Run (PM)
Distance: 5.16
Time: 35:54
Avg. Pace: 6:57
Avg. HR: 174

I actually had no intention of getting up to workout this morning. I was already mentally committed to the Movin' shoes run after work and didn't quite feel my first day back from the whirlwind that was SF warranted a double. However, the two crows outside my window at 6 AM had other plans. I tried to sleep through the constant cawing. I even went on my balcony and threw random objects at them (don’t judge me…you know things were bad if I'm in pinstripe PJ's and fuzzy slippers and on my balcony at 6:15 am chucking burnt out tea candles and assorted trash from my kitchen blindly into the trees). Finally I had to escape so I accepted defeat and headed out to the Gym. And would you believe those bastards were STILL cawing when I got back. And FYI they were at it again this morning as well. I'm thinking a super soaker might work.

Ran with AM and Manny after work and felt pretty good. My main complaint was that in the last mile my lower shins felt super tight down through the top of my foot. I have a feeling I'm going to be getting weird pains here and there as my body adjusts to the orthotics and as the strength work adjusts my stride. Hopefully it will go away because it definitely slowed me down.

Feeling antsy to start running longer distances.

Is it Friday yet?

Tuesday
AM – PT
PM – Stationary Bike
Distance: 14.0 miles
Time: 1:06ish
Pace: 13.0 mph

Wednesday
AM – Run
Course: 101 North and back
Distance: 6.0 miles
Out at 8:12, 7:42, 7:42
Back at 6:54, 6:54, 6:38

Decided to try a little out and back action. Once again felt sluggish on that first mile but then eased into that magical 7:42 pace which keeps reoccurring on my runs. I'm trying to mix up my runs from now on to wake up my body a bit. Right now it's like, excuse me? What happened to settling in to a pace and zoning out for 45 mins? Sorry body, time to rock a little extra effort. I think it's going to take a few more tempo type efforts before I can comfortably break out of distance pace.

On another note I am heading up to SF this weekend and am very excited! I get to go to a HS friends' graduation/engagement part, see a friend graduate from good ole Hastings, participate in Bay to Breakers, and catch up with some of the greatest people I've had the privilege of knowing. I am quite ready to get this weekend started. Not sure what the mileage will be like over the weekend. Might try and run a bit during B2B but not even sure who I am going to latch onto for the race yet. Might end up logging a big fat zero for Saturday and Sunday, which is probably just as well.

Recovery Day

AM: Bike (stationary)
Distance: 12.5 Miles (moderate)
Time: 60 mins
Avg. Speed 12.5 mph

I typically loathe the stationary bike. I don't get much thrill out of working hard to go nowhere. Anything that makes me feel like a hamster is never a good thing. I dislike treamills for the same reason. That and my lack of coordination makes the treadmill a risky endeavor. Running around in 400m circles is about the most I can handle when it comes to going nowhere...fast.

However, I made a discovery a few weeks ago. My gym has bikes which have TVs, not for the purpose of watching CNN or Rachel Ray, but a screen which shows you an actual course with other riders! You change gears and steer and the difficulty changes as you bike up or down a hill. It's essentially a video game! I love it! I have never been able to be on the bike for more than 30 mins without suffering from extreme boredom, and I rarely bike very hard because there is little motivation. But on the video bike people pass you when you slow down! There's scenery! And you have to pay attention to change gears! You have to steer! Being outside is still my #1 choice, but in terms of a stationary bike, this is about as good as it gets.

And I still get annoyed when girl bikers pass me, even though its a computer.

At some point there will be running in this log...

Location: Stationary Bike

Distance: 20.0 I have to assume that odometer means km, not mi.

Time: 45 min

Managed 45 mins on the bike and did lifting and finally got in my physical therapy stuff, but knee has been bothering me off and on all day. Not sure whether to attribute it to the biking (most likely, cause i kinda thought it was bothering me towards the end of biking) or the leg presses (wishful thinking...I'd rather cut out strength work than biking). Now I'm not sure whether to take a day off completely tomorrow, or bike and see if there's a change, or go for a real bike ride despite the crooked handlebars (note to self: call bike shop tomorrow). I'm slightly worried about getting halfway out on the ride then deciding my knee hurts but having to bike home.

I'll see how things feel in the morning...

Recovery mode...

Location: Stationary Bike

Distance: 0 mi (tho in imaginary bike land the odometer said something around 13.5 mi)

Time: 30mins

I am attempting to be good and not run for a couple days in order to avoid the cycle of running then not being able to run so taking 3 off days, then running, the off days, etc.

Hit the gym and decided to try the stationary bikes that you clip in to. Biggest bonus - much harder to fall off the stationary bike than the road bike.  Biggest negative - Soooo boring in comparison to a real bike.  I can only listen to so much crappy music on my ipod. Today my schedule saved me from too much tedious biking as I only had about 30 mins to squeeze in a workout.

I'm taking at least one more day of biking tomorrow, and then I really need to get my real bike fixed so I can go on more scenic rides. Not that I don't love staring in the mirror and analyzing the random ass pools of sweat that appear on my shirt.