Generally, the the two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Years are not very active for me. Kind of lull in training but this year hasn't been so bad. Since my past last Wednesday I've had four decent workouts.
Friday I went to the gym for my first spin class. Heather and got there early lifted a few weights to pass the time and the got into the class. It was the Friday before Christmas and as expected the class was empty, only 6 people. I didn't really know what to expect and I don't ride my bike that often so my plan was to take it easy as not to be regretting it Saturday morning.
My plan was out the window 10 minutes in and I was huffing and puffing as I pretended to be pushing up a very steep hill. I kept my effort level fairly high, deciding that I might as well put in a good work out, which was evident by the puddle of sweat which quickly accumulated around the base of the bike. I was spent after 50 minutes when we hopped off the bike for some light stretching. Heather surprised me by suggesting we hop in the pool for a few laps to stretch, which we did. I surprised myself by actually completing a few flip-turns and getting a good rhythm going up and down the pool. 10-15 laps and we were done.
Saturday morning was the group run. Shanley, Kevin, Ben, new guy Eric, and a couple others kept together almost the entire way around the drives. The pace was generally in the 7:30-7:40 range. I expected to be sore from the spin class but I felt fine. However, towards the end on the uphill towards the museum I felt drained and I had no oomph to push my way up the hill.
It had been a while since I had seen Ben and I found out he also moved to NYC and was living somewhere in Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan. We now have Ian, Ben and Brian up in the big apple. Perhaps they can start a satellite Philly runners. 9.2 miles 70 minutes.
Christmas Eve - 8 easy miles with Heather in the Wissahickon. It was cool and brilliantly sunny. Heather wasn't feeling so hot so the pace stayed slow with a few walking breaks. By the end, I wasn't feeling so hot. I was searching for a port-a-potty that never materialized. We walked the last mile. 8 miles in 85 minutes. (Does that pace even count as a run? Maybe I should call it 7 miles in 65 minutes and knock out the walking portions)
Christmas - A long trail run, the first in a while. I ran the trails on the west side of the Wissahickon from home up to Valley Green. The up, down, jumping, turning, and twisting make these trails fly by and before I knew it was was 30 minutes in and wishing I didn't have to turn around. I felt great, hopped over to Forbidden Drive and pushed it the 3.5 miles home. A very conservative 8 miles in 62 minutes.
I am currently at work a was just forwarded pictures from the Jingle Bell 5K I ran a couple weeks back. Somebody got a shot of me crossing the finish line, with my Centocor Santa hat on clicking my watch. To me, I look a little to relaxed, I probably should have pushed it more over the last mile but I knew the guy in front of me was out of reach so I just cruised in.
Happy Holidays
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