Some Workouts

Finally a couple of decent workouts. Yesterday I slammed a project at work that was really tough, then took off around 5:30 and hopped on the bike. The total ride was 8.3 miles in 51 minutes, which sounds really slow. I can turn left out of my street and head into the flat(ish) land where I can practice avoiding cars and bike survival skills. There is some fun terrain out in the residential areas if I head that way, but you have to cross a 6 lane highway (Wade Hampton Blvd for you locals) to get there. Then cross back over to get home.

So last night I wanted to get some hill work in, so I went right out of my street. There's nothing but hills. Some are incredibly steep and long. Jenny preferes steep and long to fast and flat, I think. That's why Glaven could never ride her. But seriously, there's no flat spots here. I never had to take her out of the Granny gear, aka the Glaven gear. Check out the garmin's elevation/distance chart:

Geez, that's some serious up and down. Nothing anywhere close to flat. But at least there was not much traffic. I wanted to get some hill work in with low milage to prepare for the http://www.assaultonthecarolinas.com/ 60k ride I've got coming up on Saturday. This ride fit the bill.

I know that an organized bike ride is different from a race, but to me it's really not. I haven't been in a race since the half marathon Jan 3, so I've really been looking forward to this one. And you still have to pay an entry fee and get a t-shirt, I'll have the garmin on for distance & time, so I'm treating it like an event. The route goes through the mountains of North Carolina, but it does dip back into South Carolina for a bit. The start/finish line is about 45 minutes north of the house, so it should be a fun and challenging ride that I have had to prepare for mentally and physically. The web site says there is 1.1 miles of solid climbing with grades reaching 15%. what fun, huh?

The ride last night had some 15% grades, I think. it was 1183 ft of climbing, which is more than I was expecting.

Then this morning I made it to the gym for a nice run. I know I'm not supposed to, whatever. I did treadmill intervals, 4 intervals of 1k (.62 miles) with a quarter mile walk in between, and a 10min warmup and cooldown. I set the interval speeds at 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4 mph. My normal distance treadmill speeds are 6.0 - 6.2, so getting faster for a bit felt really good. My shin felt fine during the run, but now it's starting to hurt a bit. i've got to call today and make the appt for the bone scan. I might ice it some too. But with no advil, it felt fine during the run! total run was 4 miles, 48 minutes, about 600 calories.

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Other Randomness

I finally got my small old point and shoot camera working again over the weekend! I wanted to get it up and going so I could take it with me on bike rides and longer runs. So of course when it started working, the girls stole it and started taking pictures of the cartoons on tv. But I'm glad I can finally take pics on the run now!

I didn't finish last in Steve's Tales of a Virgin Athlete contest! I beat the girl who locked herself out of a dressing room in tights. I know I have to use the Glaven mantra "It's an honor just to be a finalist", but that's really cool. The competition was really stiff, so thank you to everyone who voted for me! I didn't expect to beat the girl who overcame heroin or the guy that lost 365 lbs. But not last is pretty cool.

Then, I actually won something! Marcy had a book giveaway and she drew my name out of the hat. So she's sending me her gently used copy of the Cutting Edge Running book. How cool it that? I love winning, and not losing. But I'm sure Glaven has gotten so used to losing by now, it must not be that big of a deal.

Have a great day!