Finally, some mileage

Location: Up to Torrey Pines and back

Distance: I'd like to say three, but probably closer to 2.5

Time: 24min

Knee was okay...walking around today after running hasn't been worse than yesterday, so I guess that's good. Will give it another go at 3 mi tomorrow down at the beach (yay!) but probably shouldn't take it up to 4 until the pain is completely gone. 

Feeling extremely annoyed that I can't run a normal distance right now :-/

..but not today.

I seemed to have blocked out of my mind the fact that biking for some reason aggravates my knee issue just as much as running...hence my last three days of biking was not recovery so much as screwing up my knee.  I hate being stupid. 

Skipped out on biking this morning due to aforementioned stupidity and was thus in a shitty mood for the first two hours at work. But to be at least slightly productive with this blog --> Pain is not the normal shooting pain when I take pressure off of my left leg but rather just feels like a dull ache. It's not the kind of pain that makes me panic and worry I've really screwed up but rather feels like it might fade away. I don't like that it's kinda constant, but I'd rather that then the sharp pain. So today off. Tomorrow to the gym and will assess how I feel after I lift some heavy-ish objects.  Probably should be smart and do at least one more day off. Probably won't be smart and will give 3 miles a shot.

Look. I can run.

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.

I swear I know how to ride a bike.

Bike Ride

Distance: 16 mi - ish

Time: 90 min - ish

Location: 56 Bike Path

Today's bike ride was fraught with difficulties, which is ironic because as I started out I decided I was finally comfortable on my bike and ready to try a different route then my typical out and back.

First I realized that as I've improved my fitness I can go longer and farther, but the bike path ends and so I decided to venture out a little further on the roads (insert dramatic scary music here, as I live in fear of being run over due to my beginner skills in biking). Unfortunately this had me riding down the steepest hill I've ever seen (and what goes down must go up...at least on an out and back ride) and to top it off my brake got stuck which just didn't bode well for the uphill climb.

After I got that all figured out and made my way back it started to rain. Now I've never been a huge fan of running in the rain but that is nothing in comparison to biking in the rain. The storm clouds came and the temperature dropped, meanwhile i'm cruising along and it felt like every ice cold drop slammed into me.  Finally add in the rushing wind factor, as biking is generally faster than running (except when I"m biking up steep hills...that's a toss up).

I was almost home and waiting for the green at a very busy stoplight when I heard a strange noise to my left. As I looked over I felt my center of balance shift and...yep, I fell. I hate falling! Not because of any pain but because a) it usually scratches up my bike and b) It's really frigg'n embarrassing. This time it totally bent the brake/shifter on my handlebar so now I need to take it in, which is actually ok timing because it needs a tune-up anyways.

So I managed to survive but didn't exactly get the nice recovery bike ride I was looking for. For now I'm heading to Pipes (breakfast in Encinitas) and then to the Moving Shoes (running store) as a reward for making it through the morning.

Morley Field - Dirt Dog XC Championships

Distance: 6 mi total (4 mi race, walked cool down)

Time: Slow :-/ not sure race time at this point

Location: Morley Field, Balboa Park

I've been looking for a better medium to record my training (using the term lightly) when Jilane alerted me to the increase in "glory days" runners recording their recent adventures in running through blogs. 

So I've had this old thing sitting around unattended to for about six months now...might as well make use of it. Can't say I promise to always stay on topic as running itself often causes my mind to wander but here goes...

Today was the BIG championship race in the San Diego Dirt Dog XC series. I've been really happy with all of my races so far, so when this race just felt like CRAP I was bummed. I think part of the problem was the heat. I've been running at 6AM every morning and contrary to popular opinion it is quite chilly at that hour, even in San Diego. So that took a toll. Also was the fact that my mileage for this week was 10 miles. Total. My knee flared up after my record breaking 40 mi week last week so I paid the price with 4 days of no running. I tried to tell myself that not running this week wouldn't matter, but my body just didn't take the shock well.

So I survived. I was probably about 20 seconds back from where I should have been but I still managed 9th place in the series.  

Now that the series is over I can do whatever I want with running. I forgot how hard it is to be so structured with training (workouts in relation to high and low days and races and such). Now I can do more biking and be more careful about my knee.

Next race: Dana Point Turkey Trot 5k?

Thoughts on Meerkats

I went to the Zoo today for the first time in as long as I can remember. I don't think I've been within the last ten years.  I've decided Meerkats are pretty much awesome.  If it weren't for laws and health standards and silly notions like that, I would probably have to look into getting one.  He could keep a lookout while I slept, then during the day kick back and chill out.  His duties would pretty much entail...

1) Lookout

2) Chill out

3) Massive cuteness

And that's all I have to say on Meerkats for now.