Week 48: Day 4 - November 30, 2017 (Training Week 5)

• cycling = 22.55 miles; time = 1:50:24; average speed @ 12.5 mph
• easy walk with dogs = 2.6 miles total

Yay for a bike ride. I almost didn't want to do one. I think I am struggling to get a ride in because I'm riding for the sake of riding and I'm riding alone. It's easier to ride with other people, but my schedule doesn't always work with other people's schedule. And I don't have to be somewhere, like work, when I do ride alone. I mean, I could still ride to work now that I'm working closer to home, but I don't know. I guess doing a four mile bike ride (eight miles round-trip) to work doesn't seem as fun as a 38 mile round-trip ride for work. I don't know. I'm making up a million excuses why I don't want to ride to work anymore.....

Week 48: Day 3 - November 29, 2017 (Training Week 5)

• hilly trail run part 1 = 3.95 miles; time = 53:42; average page @ 13:26
• hilly trail run part 2 = 1.1 miles; time = 16:18; average pace @ 14:49
• easy walk with dogs = 2.3 miles total

I think starting next week, I need to do a different hilly trail run because it's time for a change of scenery and I'm getting kinda bored with the two that I'm currently doing. I haven't done this hilly trail run in awhile. Change is good.

Week 48: Day 2 - November 28, 2017 (Training Week 5)

• easy run = 4.31 miles; time = 57:47; average pace @ 13:24
• easy walk with dogs = 2.6 miles total

So nice and cold this morning!

Week 47: Day 7 - November 26, 2017 (Training Week 4)

• long run = 8.03 miles; time = 1:48:04; average pace @ 13:27
• easy walk with dogs = 2.6 miles total

Running:

Total Weekly Mileage: 23.18

Total Monthly Mileage: 83.13

Total Yearly Mileage: 903.47

Cycling: 

Total Weekly Mileage: 59.48

Total Monthly Mileage: 133.02

Total Yearly Mileage: 1448.41

I didn't feel sore from yesterday's ride. Maybe a little tired, but that was it. I have stairs at home, and I felt fine using them yesterday. I definitely felt sore this morning and it didn't help that the beginning of my run was hilly (hilly enough to be considered hilly, but not like mountains). I knew that my run would have some hills, but I didn't think they would be such a problem. During training for my last half marathon, I would do my long runs on Sundays and then go to work on a bike the next day. I did this for basically the entire training. The commute to work was 38 miles round trip and the ride was harder than yesterday's ride, but I never felt sore from doing a long ride and a 38 mile bike commute two days in a row. Maybe because I stopped doing long rides regularly since I got a job a lot closer to home, albeit I don't ride to work anymore.

Tomorrow is a rest day, so I have some time to recover before my next run on Tuesday.

Week 47: Day 6 - November 25, 2017 (Training Week 4)

• cycling (group ride) = 27.41 miles; time = 2:03:46; average speed @ 13.3 mph
• easy walk with dogs = 2.3 miles total

I did a ride with a group from meetup this morning. The group did the same ride last weekend, but I was unable to attend because I left work very late (we were very busy). I was not that busy at work last night (people could have been shopping for Black Friday and eating leftover Thanksgiving food?), so I left work early. I was happy to be riding with a group because sometimes it's nice to.

Being that it was 27 miles, I was actually expecting for us to take almost three hours (for the distance plus a few stops (stop lights, water break), but I take very few water breaks)). My rides (30 miles) must be more challenging because they take me almost three hours. Today's ride had some hills, but was considered more "flat" compared to my rides and it took us a little over two hours for the distance (2 hours and 35 minutes if you include stops for any reasons).

Week 47: Day 5 - November 24, 2017 (Training Week 4)

• easy walk with dogs = 2.6 miles total
• cycling (easy ride) = 11.72 miles; time = 56:2:28; average speed @ 12.5 mph

I was going to do a 15 mile bike ride that had an 11% grade hill, but at mile 2, I changed my mind and decided to do a different route. I think my ride from yesterday was a little more challenging than I expected. I don't feel sore, but my legs were struggling with the mild hills (1 - 2 % grade) from today's ride. If things go okay, I hope that I don't leave work so late tonight because I'd like to do a ride with a bike group from meetup tomorrow morning. We are doing a 27 mile ride and I'd like to ride with others once in awhile, so I don't get bored from riding alone. I also would not like my legs to be sore for tomorrow's ride either.

Week 47: Day 4 - November 23, 2017 (Training Week 4)

• training run = 6.02 miles; time = 1:17:21; average pace @ 12:51
• easy walk with dogs = 2.6 miles total
• "long" ride = 20.35 miles; time = 2:00:44; average speed @ 10.1 mph

Surprisingly, I am feeling pretty good after doing a six mile run and a twenty mile ride. I may be paying for it tomorrow, but I guess I'll have to wait for tomorrow morning to find out. The bike route that I did today was on the challenging/hilly side. I hadn't done this route in awhile. Today was a good day for a ride because it is Thanksgiving and there is less traffic out. Not that it would have matter because most of the route didn't have much traffic on a regular weekday anyway, but there were some parts (near a state college and a junior college) that would have been a little busy on a regular day. Glad that they had the day off for the holidays.