Thursday, May 7, 2009

Today's Run (and Ride!)

I am going to try to make this short (or at least try!)

With a break in the rain that has been deluging New Jersey, I went out for a lunch time run.
Upon leaving I discovered two things: it was very warm, and somewhat humid. Great!
Run was somewhat uneventful, I ran my regular "lap" course around the Sports Complex and schools behind my office.
Could never really keep my pace or heart rate in check, so I did the best I could. Even though I was working very hard, I felt OK, and at one point actually took a 45 second walk break to get my heart rate down (or at least get it out of the 180 range!)

Here are the numbers:

Distance: 6 miles (11:02; 11:05; 10:51; 11;40; 11:35; 11:27)
Time: 1:07:52
Pace: 11:18 mpm
Calories: 1015 cal
AVG HR 174
max speed 7:25 mpm
max HR 187 (somewhere around mile 5.25)

Yeah nothing outstanding, but I am OK with it.

I actually toyed with the idea of maybe a very light and slow 3 mile run once I got home. Instead I decided to go for a ride (I do have the Tour de Cure in 3 weeks ya know, riding 62 miles isn't easy!)
So got home, and went off for a hour long ride.
Weather was great, and I felt pretty good.

I did realize a couple of things though:
  • my bike is not fitted right
  • even though I live at the shore, there are a lot of little rolls around here
  • I have a very active imagination

I did notice my speed was all over the place, and apparently my heart rate was pretty high the whole ride. Oh well. I do have to get my bike fitted, I was getting cramps in my feet and I know I am not getting full extension in my legs as my seat post is small and I could use a longer one.

The roads around town are pretty beat up, and there were a lot of puddles all over the place. I guess this is close to Belgium in early Spring as I will ever get. LOL

I missed a couple of turn offs and found myself back tracking a bout twice.

My favorite part of this ride was at around mile 12 to 13. Its a long hill that runs next to my daughter's school. The hill looks daunting but its not. I have run it on a couple of long runs, and its always a nice fun part of the course. As I made the left on to it, I went into imagination mode. Check this out:

Being that I was wearing a Team Discovery kit (the Contador Tour de France model) as soon as I made the turn and the climb started, I came out of the seat, looked back and took on the identity of my fellow countrymen, Jose "Ace" Acevedo. I would lead the the climb as the humble and noble domestique for my lord Armstrong. I kept the pace pretty hard even as the climb got a little tougher. Alternating coming out of the saddle and riding seated. I imagined this was a day in the Alps, pulling and setting a high tempo in order to destroy the other riders behind me. LOL. Yeah as soon as I got to the top I realized I would have one more "hill" to get over till I got home. Apparently it was this hill that got me at my max heart rate for the ride.

It was getting late and darkness was settling in, I just wanted to get home at this point. But I still had the one last "hill" which ironically goes past the town church. Its a little tricky in that it climbs flattens, and then climbs again. But it's one of those climbs that you can just keep a good tempo and it goes pretty quick. I was trying to go as fast as possible to get home. So I just tried to hammer it.

Overall it was a decent ride. My legs feel a little beat up though.

Here are the numbers on the ride:

Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:12:31 3:50 pace
Distance (mi 18.89
Moving Speed (mph)15.6 avg. 24.3 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)+461 / -461
Avg. Heart Rate 173 bpm Max Heart Rate 190 bpm
Calories: 1324

So after going a week and a half without nothing, I think I put in two solid workouts today.
My plan is to put up 5 miles tomorrow, hopefully very very slow, LOL.

Stay tuned the ride is getting started and it may get bumpy ;-)

Apologies on the last week and a half

I really have no easy way of saying this but, "I am sorry"

The last week and a half have been rough for me. Thanks to my "other" life, I had no time nor desire to even think about running. My life was more complicated then I could have imagined. This always seem to be my downfall, when it comes to training consistently. If I have no training plan I seem to wander. The idea of junk miles didn't even enter my mind. Sometimes junk miles can be the difference between talking yourself into a run or not. This is not an excuse, but unfortunately it's all I have. I am sorry for letting everyone down. I hope I am back on track.
I have some great things coming up and I am anticipating doing something very special (at least to me.)

I hope everyone can forgive me.
Send emails to tony@gravato.com