The Need for Distance

Because of the competitive nature I have with myself, there’s been something I’ve felt compelled to do for the last few weeks. A self-declared cardio junkie and distance enthusiast, I felt the need to ride one of the more popular cycling distances, a metric century. With winter approaching and concerned that my days of riding outside are limited, Monday evening I checked the weather and decided that Tuesday was the day to attempt my first metric century ride.

 

Overview of the Week

Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll down for daily details…

 

Sunday

I declared Sunday a complete rest day and originally didn’t plan to move from my desk and my laptop. I wanted to catch up on all things blogging, but a couple of fun family related options came up that I didn’t want to miss. Needless to say, I opted for joining my family and let my blogging slide…

 

Monday

It was 60° and drizzly when I stepped outside at 6:30 AM for my 4-minute run/2-minute walk intervals. I opted to sleep in a tad so it started getting light about halfway into my run. Funny thing is, I’ve gotten so used to running in the peacefulness of the dark that I didn’t like running in the daylight.

After seeing my morning clients, I lifted and did my physical therapy homework.  Going forward, I’m going to lump both into strength training since the majority of my physical therapy exercises are for core and hip strengthening purposes, not stretching.

 

Tuesday

It was 54° and misty when I rode out of our cul-de-sac to join my friend Amy for our 8 AM ride. I met her on the W&OD Trail near her house which is about 5 miles into my ride. We decided to ride east since it was cool and damp and fewer runners and bikers were out (it’s more crowded as you head east). When we stopped for a break, I told Amy that I had a secret, I planned to ride a metric century that day!

 

Amy accompanied me for 38 of my 62.6 miles and I ended my ride with an average speed of 14.4 MPH. I ran into fueling issues and nearly bonked a couple of times even though I took in 1,200 calories immediately before and during my ride. More details on all of that on Tuesday when I do a short recap…

 

Wednesday

It was 44° and crisp when I headed out at 5:30 AM for my 4-mile 4-minute run/2-minute walk intervals. I expected my legs to feel like lead after Tuesday’s ride, but was shocked that they (and the rest of me) felt great. I completed my intervals at a 10:34 average pace. Immediately after my run I did just over an hour of strength training and later in the afternoon I gardened for 2 hours.

 

Thursday

It was 52° when I left my house at 7:45 AM to meet Amy for a 30-mile ride (15.0 MPH average speed) on the W&OD Trail. We both had deadlines for getting back to our houses and I pushed the envelope getting home with only 8 minutes to spare before logging on to train my first client.

In the early afternoon, I rushed to Meadows Farms Nursery to pick out perennials for my flower garden makeover project. Some of the flowers (peonies and bleeding hearts) won’t be available until spring so I’ll finish my project then. After 2.5 hours of digging holes and planting my deer resistant and butterfly attracting flowers, I was pooped (but in a really good way). 😀

 

Friday

A cardio-free day, I lifted weights in the late morning after training my one and only client and teaching my balance and stretching class.

 

Saturday

I opted to take Saturday off except for a 5K walk around noon (14:19 average pace). I felt like I’d been burning the candle at both ends for the last several weeks with all of the cardio and gardening I’ve been doing so I opted to sleep in (I woke up at 7:10, LOL). After a relaxing morning of doing stuff around the house and working on my blog, I headed out for a walk just before noon. There was a quesadilla food truck parked not too far from our house so I finished my walk with a trip past it and picked up my lunch. Oh my goodness, was it delicious!

 

Here’s What You Might Have Missed

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

 

Questions:
  • • How many complete rest days do you take per week?
  • • Gardening, love it or hate it? ~ Love it!
  • • Did you happen to run in a live race this week?

 

And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!

 

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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!