Movin' Right Along!

After a bit of rest in the early months of the year, I'm back to making training my top priority. The tendonitis in my foot no longer seems to bother me, I'm feeling stronger and healthier than I've felt in a while and I'm enjoying my workouts more than ever. I'm so excited for this season to begin, especially knowing I have yet to achieve everything I'm capable of. 

After a great weekend of training Team Lipstick up in New Paltz, NY, I'm now back to my own scheduled workouts and have been very happy with how they're going. Tuesday was an 8.5 mile run in Central Park followed by a swim workout of about 2,500 meters. Yesterday, I biked 75 minutes at high cadence, moderate intensity, then 45 minutes of low cadence, focusing on leg strength. Had to do this in my apt. because we were having a new intercom system installed in the bldg. and I had to be there to let the technicians inside. Once that were done, I headed to Equinox for my 90 minutes of strength training. Today, I had a strong Central Park trail run of 11 miles followed again by about 2,500 meters of swimming.

All these workouts were good, but I've been looking forward to tomorrow the most -- when I'll bike across the GW bridge into NJ for a good 50 miles. The weather's supposed to be perfect! I'm also planning on going back to the gym in the afternoon for my second strength training session of the week. 

SO HUNGRY!

I can't believe what it took this morning for me to feel like I wasn't starving.  I started with two big blueberry pancakes. That was followed by a bowl of Kashi U cereal (love this stuff). That still didn't do it, so I grabbed a banana, the jar of peanut butter and the bottle of honey and just went to town. I think I'm ready for my workout now. I'll be doing my killer treadmill speedwork session followed by strength training. This means at least 3 hours at Equinox today. It's a good thing I've got lots of friends there who keep me going!

Love that long run

Running the dirt paths of Central Park this morning, I was so strong and weightless. My legs moved with purpose, quickly ticking, left, right, left, right, as oxygen flowed into my body so deeply it was as if I had three lungs instead of two. Like the air I was taking in discovered another chamber of my heart and breathed life into it. The sound of my feet striking the sandy gravel became a metronome as my mind's eye could see what I know I'm really capable of. 

Hey Hyundai, we all saw Mr. Mom!

Anyone else see the new Hyundai commercials on TV and immediately think of the Schooner Tuna ads from the '80s movie Mr. Mom? I mean, they even use some of the same language. 

Watch the video I link to above and then read this text from the Schooner Tuna ad:

"My fellow Americans. I am Howard Humphrey, President of Schooner Tuna. All of us here at Schooner Tuna sympathize with all of you hit so hard by these trying economic times. In order to help you, we are reducing the price of Schooner Tuna by 50 cents a can. when this crisis is over, we will go back to our regular prices. Until then, remember, we're all in this together. Schooner Tuna, the tuna with a heart." 

Hysterical. 

Top 5 reasons to run faster through Central Park:

5) That hawk is flying awfully low and looks awfully hungry.

4) The statue of Fred Lebow looking at his watch on the East drive pisses me off. 

3) If I keep pace long enough with a group of Kenyan runners, I get to be in a few tourists' photos.

2) That damn parks department truck in front of me makes me think I'm training in Beijing.

1) The unmarked police cruisers slowing down and questioning people at the base of Harlem Hill.

Warmth!

I woke up to 51 degrees! And that was around 6:30 am. It's going to be a great day to be outside and the park is going to be packed with runners, cyclists, dog walkers, rollerbladers - basically anyone who didn't leave the city for the weekend. I'll be taking the team around the loop on our bikes, which will be a great opportunity to work on handling skills. Hey, what better way to get used to maneuvering around moving objects, right! I'll be out there about an hour before them so I can get 18 miles in on my own. I can't let their workouts take the place of mine. After that, I plan to meet my friend for a run, again in Central Park. I'm sure by 11:00 I'm going to be ready to trade in the bike for running shoes because the road will get very crowded and biking when it's like that is not enjoyable at all. 

I've given the orthotics a try twice now and I can't say they're making a huge difference, but I think it's too soon to tell. I'll be trying them out again today. 

Taking it (sort of) easy

Between my own workouts, training the team and a spontaneous social run with a friend followed by two hours of Guitar Hero, my weekend was packed and somewhat tiring. I took Monday off completely with the exception of walking the 16 blocks south to my chiropractor's office. I got my orthotics but haven't run in them yet. Today was a 75-minute session on the indoor bike trainer. One look outside at the messy streets and blowing tree branches and it was an easy decision to stay in. I had the perfect post-ride recovery food: a homemade chocolate chip cookie and a glass of chocolate milk. Yum! 

I finally spent a few hours going over my race schedule for the year and am feeling better about what will be my "A" races and what goals I think are achievable. Though I'm asking a lot of my body, I'm also confident that it will deliver. I feel better mentally and physically than I have in a long time. Maybe this has to do with the fact I'm not torn anymore between working a Wall St. job and pursuing a triathlon career! I'm completely focused, for once, on something I truly love and not a day goes by where I don't realize how lucky I am to have the opportunity to do this.