Spring Fever

The summertime warmth and 60 and 70 degree temperatures we've had since Saturday have struck me with a severe case of Spring Fever and have me counting down the days until I head to the BVI to sail the blue waters of the Carribean. But before I go back to my thoughts of fun in the sun and whether I can figure out how to work "outside" this afternoon, here is a quick recap of my recent workouts.

Friday - I decided to pass on scheduling a run lesson (aka speed workouts) for Friday in hopes of having more legs on my Saturday long ride. Instead, I stuck to my plan of a easy recovery run and a hard swim in the pool. 300 warm up 10 x 100 at 1:55 (45 second recovery) and 150 cool down. The consistent swimming and masters class are starting to pay off. After the first 100 I doubted I could finish the workout at the pace (1:50) I was swimming, but somehow, I got through all 10 repeats and suprised myself with times between (1:45 and 1:50). Now if I could only swim that fast for 1900 meters and not feel winded at the end!

Saturday - Bart and I were hosting wine club at our house Saturday night so we headed out for our long ride early. I was determined to have a better ride from the previous week and avenge myself on the same course that caused me such heart ache the week before. This week's ride was LEAPS and BOUNDS better. For the most part, I let Bart lead and I worked on my handling and drafting skills. We rode the Goochland route again averaging around 16.3 mph and I made it up all of the big hills without switching to my granny gear. A big accomplishment, especially on Mount Patterson. My favorite part was the fast stretch of Manakin road on the far side of Broad when I was able to keep pace with Bart flying over 22 mph. After about 2 hours, we changed bikes at West Creek and McQueen and I headed out to finish my 3 hour 20 minute workout. Luckily, before I got very far, I ran into TGs ANNN, Kate and Carrie and after catching up for a bit, I convinced Kate to keep me company for a few loops of West Creek on our new bikes. Since Kate has been busy marathon training, we hadn't caught up recently and there was lots to chat about to help pass the time quickly. Kate and Annnn you are doing awesome with your running! Keep it up! Soon, Kate was headed home and I was headed out to finish my last big loop of WC. By the end of the ride -- my longest since last September -- the sun was shining, skies blue as they could be and I felt like I could ride for hours. . . . but it was back to the house to shower up and cook for wine club.

Sunday - Wine club was a success and all of the new recipies I decided to try out, actually turned out. (My favorite was the cabernet marinated flank steak with fontina cheese, basil and proscuitto.) While I curtailed my tastings compared to club gatherings in the past, I was not very excited about having to shake off the cobwebs and head out for an "easy" hour and 50 minute run followed by 2000 yards in the pool. The sunny skies and my new running skirt, helped motivate me out the door and TG40 (also a little sluggish from festivities) kept me motivated throughout the run. While not our most stellar run ever, we finished with a respectable 10:37 pace, enjoyed a little sunshine and headed to the pool for a strong, long swim.

Monday was a rest day for me on the exercise front but certainly not at work. We had a huge filing due at work and so I spent a long 12+ hour work day at the office.

Tuesday morning, my good weather karma must have continued. I had a great indoor cycle on McQueen at Endorphin. Suprisingly, as last week was my biggest week ever, my legs felt rested and ready to go and I felt good about the technique and strength building drills Craig had cooked up for us. I still need to remember to keep my head up, but I think think power repeats the last 3 weeks have made a slight impact in my strength when I head to my big gear.

The good weather is supposed to continue for a few more days. Hopefully I'll get a few more outside workouts in before it disappears!