Finally, finding some intensity

This was a full weekend.  Friday night I helped with the timing for the Irish-Italian Fest 5k Race.  There were 298 participates.  That is a HUGE race around here.  Saturday morning I ran the timing for the Shamrock Duathlon.  A much smaller turn out but being a duathlon there was more set up and take down.

Saturday night I attended the Irish-Italian Festival and met up with friends from the running club, the beer club and work.  It is interesting to see how these diverse circles of people interact.

There was also a mountain bike race an 1/8 of a mile from my house on Sunday morning.  I had to pass on this race.

On the training front, everything is getting back to ‘normal’.  I had an excellent trainer ride on Saturday morning prior to the duathlon – 3 x 6 minutes @ HARD EFFORT.  After the duathlon I hit the trace for an afternoon run.  I was tired and I was glad to just get a few miles.  At the two mile point I ran into Becky and Susan from the pacers.  They were on their bikes getting some miles.  We chatted for a bit and then I headed home.  This would be a 4 mile run.  However, I decided to put some intensity into the last mile.  Since I knew that I would be disappointed with only a 4 mile run I race the last mile at ‘race pace’.  Watching the 5k on Friday night I really wanted to race.  But with the back and lack on intensity I did not believe that I could have put up a decent effort.  On this Saturday afternoon last mile run I was able to throw down a sub-6 mile (about 5:56).  This is the first mile at intensity in forever.  It felt good.  It was hard.  The body hurt.  But …

183 beats per minute for 5 minutes during that last mile!  Now I just need to link another 2.1 miles at that speed for a 5k PR!

But it was not the shoulder or the back or any of these extraneous body parts that hurt.  It was the legs that were the limiting factor – just as God intended.  I have been running my miles for the past few weeks and feeling dejected because I could not run long, hard or fast.  Something was hurting on each of these sessions.  Finally, the legs are getting worked!

Sunday morning brought a 12 mile endurance session.  The temperatures in South Mississippi are showing spring time (80’s).  The run was difficult since I have not been running long but I am able to tap into my base.  The mileage will build this week and I will be ready for an ‘uneventful’ Boston marathon.  The good news is that with the limited mileage I won’t have to taper for the race.  That will be less time lost!

I also jumped on the Sunday group ride.  The crowd was a lot smaller than I would have thought but it was a good effort.  I was able to complete a couple of hard pulls.  The back only ached towards the end of each pull.  I was able to rack up 36 miles on the Sunday excursion.

This week I hope to get 3 sessions in the pool, several sessions on the trainer and a good bunch of miles on the run.  It should be a solid week