A Great Ride. A TOUGH (meaning I struggled) Run

Even though the training calendar (for the 9/03 Austin Tri - see my "upcoming events") called for a "70 minute" ride workout this weekend, couple of riding buddies and I decided to take advantage of the lack of rain, and non-scorching temperature, and put in a 45 mile loop (the route is posted in the left column of the blog - although we started from our neighborhood, which added 5 miles). We had a great time. We mixed in some "social riding" while cruising at about 18, took several miles at 20+, and did about 3 sprint intervals at each persons' max/near passout stage.

Then at mile 40, we hung out at Starbucks for about 30 minutes, solved several problems, then leisurely pedaled home. Really enjoyed both the workout aspect of the ride, but more importantly, being on the road with some of our group for the first time in several weeks.....heck, since the MS150 in April.

Then today came, and I still had to get my run in . The calendar calls for "55 minutes". Well, with my wife and boys out of town, I naturally slept in. By the time I finished my "pre-run" breakfast, and read through the paper, the morning clouds had given way to unrelenting sunshine, and 90+ temp, with relative humidity pushing 80%. Typical Southeast Texas in late July.

And typical for boneheaded runners who wait until 10:30 AM to get their run in. I gave passing thought to going to the gym and hitting the treadmill.....but that didn't sound all that wonderful, plus, my dog would never forgive me. Not to mention that it is certain to be this hot, or hotter in Austin on 9/3. So I downloaded a couple of new songs for the playlist, and hit the road.

I typically drop the dog off after a 1 1/2 mile loop around the neighborhood, and she was ready to be dropped off today. Felt pretty good at that point. Sucked down some water, and got back on the road. Was running pretty good until the 3.89 mile (yes, I have a GPS) mark. Took a little walk break there and grabbed some water from my Amphipod water belt, but never could ramp it back up.

Maybe it was the ride the day before. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was just "one of those days." But, here came those thoughts again......."how the heck am I going to perform well in Austin if I can't even run a lousy stand-alone 10K without struggling?" "How the hell did I ever run a marathon for crying out loud?" Complete an Ironman? HAH!"......and so on and so on.

Then, I calmed down, reminded myself that training runs are always harder than the event itself. The Marathon was the culmination of a dedicated 18 week plan, and I always struggled on the long runs over 15 miles. But on race day, I performed better than I expected.

I continued talking to myself (remember, family is out of town, and the dog and I have run out of things to talk about): Relax, dude. You'll be ready for Austin, and when the time comes, you'll be ready for Couer d'Alene. This is July 2007. CDA is in June 2008. The real "training" doesn't even begin for months. These next few months are for maintaining a base while having fun. That's why you rode with friends on Saturday, as opposed to hammering out 70 minutes on a "training ride".

Don't forget that. Oh yeah, and also don't forget that anyone with an ounce of a brain cell will begin all summertime runs in Texas before 8:00 AM.

Have a great week everyone.