Of Mice and Marathons

AM/Lunch: 60' on the trainer. 141W. HR 98.

Active recovery. Felt good after yesterday, but this week has been a THICC with quality on both the running and cycling front. 

Headed to Chas's house this afternoon/evening and on to Florida to see my mom, siblings, nieces, and nephews. Going to get some very light running in come hell or high blood pressure. It is a regeneration week, which was nicely time. Time to absorb the work from the last few weeks. I will be ready to get back to my Zwift universe, Kickr Bike and True Treadmill soon enough, but I am hoping for a day completely off tomorrow and hopefully 4 or so miles with Megan Tuesday, Wednesday,and Thursday. Need to watch my weight as it is slowly coming back down to pre-holiday levels. 

Off.

Travel to Florida. We got in at a decent time. The boys struggled a bit the last portion of the flight with their ears. It took us a while to get off the plane. It was pretty warm, which was nice. We went to the place my mom was staying and my aunt, aunt and uncle, cousin, sister, nieces and nephew were there. I went swimming with the boys and they really enjoyed it (as they tend to). It got a little chilly though as the air isn't super humid and the temperature drops a bit at night. We stayed at another house that has three bedrooms. Originally my brother and his kids were going to stay there, but ended up staying with my mom. 

PM: 4 miles w/ Megan, averaged 10:17. HR 124. 

We spent a good portion of the day at where my mom was staying. The boys needed a nap, so my sister took one with them. She is able to magically calm them down somehow. Megan and I went out for a run. I kind of mapped a loop, figuring it would work and I knew Megan wouldn't want to do much more than 4 miles or so. It ended up being around 3.5 or so, perfectly flat of course as it is Florida. The route had sidewalks the whole way, which made for safe running. 

Off. 

I taught my two classes for Oakland, which worked out okay. We went to Bonita Beach in the afternoon. It felt very hot when we got there. It clouded up a bit and got pretty cool quickly. We went back to the place my mom was staying and had pizza. 

I wanted to run, and probably could have in the morning, but didn't. Just hoping to get a little more running, even if short tomorrow. It is a regeneration week, but I don't want it to be too light either. 

AM/Lunch: 9 miles, averaged 8:09. HR 152. Did some strides.

Megan took the boys to meet my mom at the manatee park. I taught my classes and snuck in a run between classes. I was planning to run, but I wasn't sure for how long or about a route. I was feeling kind of anxious, but I think I was just worried about getting done with classes so I could spend some quality time with family on our last day in Florida.

The route had no shoulder or sidewalk, so I ended up in the grass. I then went back toward the place we were staying and made a loop through the neighborhood that cut through on a path to the sidewalk on Del Prado and back into the neighborhood. It actually worked well and I felt good. It was only slightly humid and warm, but it was cloudy, which actually helped because I got a little warm as the sun was coming out. Did some strides and felt very fortunate to get some miles in by myself between classes in a new area. I do not get to run in new areas on vacation that much these days, so it felt like a blessing. 

PM: 4 miles with Megan, averaged 10:22. HR 128.

We did the same route as the other day. The sun was out, but the air decently dry. It felt really good to get a second run in and another run with Megan. I cannot recall the last time we ran together twice on a break. We had a good evening with my family. The boys are pretty spent. We have to get up very early to get to the airport. I am not looking forward to going back to the snow and cold in Michigan. 

PM: 120' on the trainer. 202W. HR 116. 

Quite tired as I only got about 4 hours of sleep. Slept a little on the plane, but the boys were struggling a bit. Slept better in the car on the way back from the airport, which helped. Energy felt okay on the trainer, but my legs felt unsmooth. Kept it quite light zone 2 and my HR was quite low. My resting HR at night has dropped quite a bit, probably because I got a decent amount of sleep in Florida.

PM: 13 miles on the treadmill, averaged 7:58. HR 155.

8-Mile Aerobic Builder + 1 Mile Hard

I planned to do 2 x 4 miles slightly harder than last week, but told myself if I felt decent I would just continue straight through. Mostly just trying to get a decent amount of quality aerobic miles and if I need a little recovery it just adds to the volume. Started at 8.0 and worked down to 8.7, increasing .1 each mile. Took a long jog and did 1 mile hard. Averaged 7:11, HR 165

7:30, 7:24, 7:19, 7:14, 7:09, 7:03, 6:58, 6:54 + 6:19

I solid during the workout. The last 2-3 miles had me thinking about maybe just holding pace, but I pushed through. HR was getting into half marathon range by the end of it, which is not atypical for this kind of workout. I took a full mile job before the faster mile. I was starting to work into the half mile and by three quarters I was wondering if I could hold it, but Megan and the boys came down and were playing so it was slightly hard to concentrate. Gutted it out, but it felt quite hard. HR was not bad, but I was breathing. This was a good bit faster than last week and the aerobic miles were more continuous and faster. The last three miles were what I did the first three mile repeats at the previous Monday.