6/16 - 6/22

Mon: 6-miles, core
Tues: 4x200m (38), 4x300m (59-60), 4x400m (81-83)
Wed: 4-miles, spin class
Thurs: 4 sets of 3-, 2-, 1-min w/ half-time recovery
Fri: 4-miles
Sat: 11-miles
Sun: Brick (bike: 23-miles; run: 5-miles)
Total: 43 miles

Monday was hot. Tuesday was hot, but it didn't feel as bad as Monday. Wednesday was humid, but I ran in the morning, so it wasn't as hot as in the afternoon. Thursday was just stupid. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were the same as Wednesday.

Summer is definitely here. That about summarizes this week. Oh, and I did my first brick workout in about two years.

Actually, I was pretty happy with Tuesday's track workout. It's a miracle what "not marathon training" does. I don't think I've run that fast since high school. And, it didn't even feel that bad. Until the next morning. I guess I'm old.

Thursday's run on the other hand... it was really, really humid. I don't even know if it was hot (it was), but it was really, really humid. I ran from the Buffalo Road Athletic Park because I was over that direction. The facility was nice. The Neuse River Greenway wasn't bad. Well, the first half of the run anyways. Because it was so disgusting out, I decided to do four sets of 3-, 2-, 1-min tempo with half-time recovery (and full recovery between sets). I've done this workout before on the greenway in the summer. It's not too bad because you only have to concentrate for, at most, three minutes. The first set went well. The second set was definitely harder. Just as I was getting ready to start the third set, the wind picked up and I heard some thunder in the not so far distance. Lovely. So, I started. About 20sec later, I almost stepped on a copperhead. Did I mention that I did an out-and-back, because I did. That copperhead was definitely not there like 5min before. Stupid snakes. However, I started paying attention more closely, which entailed jumping at every stick, leaf, bit of trash, mile marker sign, whatever for the rest of the run. I also saw a black snake. Or, I should say a snake that was black. Anyways, I was probably a little bit more conservative on the pickups on the way back. I figured that I needed to have enough in the tank to keep going at a moderate tempo pace if it did start really raining. However, as my mile splits were faster than they would be if I were just running, I decided to keep doing the workout. It never really rained either, and I made it back.

I haven't done a brick workout in 2 years. I also haven't ridden a bike for 20+ miles in 2 years (Memorial Day excluded). The bike ride felt great. We didn't have to stop too often, so I didn't have to flip out about unclipping. However, I didn't drink any water, and consequently neither did Matt because I was carrying our water bottle. I probably need to work on that. The run didn't feel too too bad. My right knee is a little iffy, so I was pretty conservative. Plus, we hit a bunch of hills that I hate on the way back. Anyways, it wasn't too bad. It probably helped that it was overcast.

Sunday's workout, and a couple of other workouts in this past while, have made me realize that I have been way too mileage focused over the past two years. I had forgotten how much I like other activities. I had fun swimming last week and the week before. I had fun riding my bike on Memorial Day and on Sunday. I had fun at spin class these last couple of months. None of these things counted towards my weekly mileage, but they were way better for me mentally, and probably physically, than trying to slog through higher mileage weeks (at a crawl) like I did last summer. Having said that, I backed out of a 10k on Saturday because I haven't done enough long runs, so I probably need to work on that a bit. I think I'm in pretty good mile to 5k shape though, which is good because I'm planning on racing the Downhill Mile on July 4th and Raleigh's Finest 5k on July 28th.