Distance is estimated

How come I can get through an hour ride just fine but playing in the pool with the kids for an hour makes my right heel and left IT band flare up? 

Base ride on the W&OD trail.  Lots and lots of crossings.  I didn't bring the Garmin so I rode based on RPE.  My quads are a little better but I think I would have had trouble if I had tried to push it.  My right calf still wanted to cramp up.  I've eaten 5 bananas today.

Natalie, Tristan (my 11 year old nephew) and I went to the Udvar-Hazy museum.  It's part of the Smithsonian's Air and Space museum and it's AWESOME!  They took an old hanger at Dulles airport and turned it into a museum.  The Enola Gay is there, an actual Space Shuttle is there, there's an SR-72 Blackbird, and tons of other planes, helicopters, gliders, ultralights, and spacecraft.  I could have spent all day there but the little ones were getting tired and hungry.

I'm driving back to GA tomorrow and I'm scheduled for a :45 base run.  I'm not sure if I want to do it before or after the drive.  It would be cooler before but there is NO flat place to run at the farm.  I guess I'll see how I feel in the morning.

This week's schedule:
M - Base ride 1:00
T - Base run :45 (after returning from VA)
W - Masters swim
Th - Weights, Tempo Brick (1:00/:20)
F - Masters swim
Sa - Covington Century  - 100 mile option
Su - Recovery ride :30

Blazing Saddles
78 mile option

Did the 78 mile option at Blazing Saddles today.  At the start my quads were still hurting from my idiot run on Thursday.  They loosened up a bit but hurt the whole way.  The fact that the route has a lot of climbing didn't help.  I kept in contact with Leslie for the first 25 miles or so then she took off.  By the time I got to the turn off for the 78 mile route at mile 76 I had no inclination to do the 103.  At one point early on I actually thought that I would have to cut out early and do the 54 mile option.  After getting done I took a shower and ate.  A while later I laid down on the floor of the gym for a minute and woke up about 20 minutes later.  My hamstrings seized up as I tried to get up. On tomorrow's drive to VA I need to remember to stop a few times to stretch.

My hydration was not good but not as bad as it has been.  I didn't need to pee on the course but I did as soon as I got back.  My nutrition really sucked and I'm not sure why.  I took a couple of crackers at each rest stop but for some reason I didn't take any of the gels (five shots in a gel flask) or sport beans that I had brought with me.  I think that I was so frustrated by the pain in my quads that I really lost focus on the ride. 

Master swim at Marist

For most of last night there was an alarm going off four houses away.  It would go for about 20 minutes, turn off for 10, and come back on.  This continued almost all night.  I'm the kind of person that once I wake up it is hard for me to go back to sleep so I had a very bad night.  I felt alright for most of the day but it is finally catching up with me.  It turned out that a family went away for a three day weekend and turned on the motion alarm.  Unfortunately, they left the cat roaming around the house.  So the terrified cat would set off the alarm, ADT would remotely turn it off, and the cat would set it off again.  At about 6 the police opened the door and a neighbor took charge of the cat.  That family is going to have a great deal of nasty things said to them when they return.

Hahahahaha! That's what my legs said when I tried to do an "easy" run today. It turned into a 10 minute walk followed by 20 minutes of stretching. The semi..whatever muscles in my hamstrings are really tender right now. This evening I'm going to get funky with "the stick".

My hamstrings are still a little touchy but I think I may be able to do my run this afternoon. One thing I am pretty pleased with is how well my heel is doing. It bothered me a bit on the run last night but is doing well today. Two months ago I would have been hobbling around the day after a hard run. I ice it every night and have worn the boot every night but once in the last two months. It's heartening to actually have made some progress.

I had to abort the last set in today's workout. My right hamstring (I'm pretty sure it was the semimembranosus or the semitendanosus) cramped up bad when I bent my leg to put on my fins. It was a little touchy during the swim but finally went nuts. I rode out the pain, got out of the pool, and stretched for a few minutes. I was able to get my fins on but when I tried to kick hard (the sets were supposed to be all out) my calves would cramp. I ended up taking the fins off and pulling all out for a couple 50s then just did a 100 cool-down. The spot in my hamstring is the same one that was bothering me last weekend. I need to stretch it alot more. I also think that I need to take in more electrolytes and sodium when I am working out in the heat like I did last night. Because of my high blood pressure I tend to pretty aggressively avoid salt but my doctor has OK'd it for workouts.

I have a 1:00 easy run on the schedule. I'll see how my legs are feeling this afternoon.

Today's swim:
WU: 200 swim build
50 kick
MS: 2 x 250 drill (50 L arm, 50 R arm, 50 fist, 50 CU, 50 build)
10 x 175 (75 build, 50 mod, 50 fast) :10 rest
10 x 50 w/fins (evens kick, odds swim) all out - Aborted-cramps
CD: 100 swim easy

Brick Part I
Z3 Intervals

Brick Part II
Z3 Run

Boy that was a tough workout!  Leslie had to turn back to make sure I was alright on the last interval then she laid the smackdown on the run.  I still had my best t-run ever trying to keep up with her. 

I have 2:00 of Z3 bike intervals and a :30 Z3 brick run on tap this evening on the Silver Comet. I've had two bad Thursday bricks in a row so it would be nice to hammer this one. I keep wavering back and forth between feeling like crap and just feeling bad. The word for tonight is "survive".

Wow. My shoulders are still really bothering me. Even my left shoulder, which is supposed to be my "good" one.

My throat hurts and I'm feeling stuffed up. I really wish I could have a few weeks of completely good health. Maybe a good, hard workout on the Comet tonight will set me straight.

Base run

I ran from home to the car repair shop to pick up Anna's car with three loops at Hembree Park thrown in.  The route is hillier than the ones I have been running and I really felt it.

Got the MRA done. The machine was LOUD! Unfortunately I had to keep my arms above my head and sticking out the machine the whole time so my shoulders, particularly the right one, are killing me. I had to get the technician to lower my arms for me. I hope they recover in time for Friday's swim. I should find out the results on Friday or Monday.

I'm kind of depressed that I missed Masters this morning. One of these weeks I will be able to go all three times. This afternoon I'll get the MRA on my kidneys at North Fulton Hospital if the schedulers have not screwed up again. I have to get there a little early to have dye injected. It should be a rockin' good time!

And I'll do a 1:00 base run after the testing is done if I'm able.