A Glimpse of Things to Come

This weekend was the most active weekend I've had thus far for triathlon training. Taking advantage of the "rest" week from my marathon training, I added some cycling to the program. The combination of the two leads to a long bike ride on Saturday and a long run for Sunday. As I look at my triathlon training plan for a bit later in the season, this is going to be a typical weekend workout. It was nice to be able to shift my focus, at least for the weekend, from marathon training to triathlon training. Up till now, my training has revolved around getting in my runs, and fitting in some swim/bike cross training in between. Well now that I am getting up in mileage on my long runs, I have recovery weeks built into my marathon plan following long runs (18 miles +). This will allow me to get back to focusing on some of the tri stuff that has been neglected.

Saturday's workout included 2.5 hours of spinning (2 classes plus 30 min between each class). This was the first time I've done back to back classes, and Rebecca joined me as well, so it was double the fun. Our butts need to build up those callouses early so we can enjoy some fun rides out in the country this summer!

Sunday's "easy" run was 12 miles at light pace. I included what I consider the most challenging part of the National Marathon course. Its about a 2-3 mile steady up hill climb from the National Mall up to Adam's Morgan, with only a few short flat sections to break it up. The steepest part is almost at the crest and lasts for about 3 blocks, but after climbing for a while, it burns. This section comes around miles 4-7 of the marathon, so it shouldn't be too too bad. Of course, this section used to be a downhill going the other way in the previous version of the course. Once through that section, my course looped back toward Virginia by running along Georgetown and over the Key Bridge. Once back in Virginia, the finish home included the whole nasty hill I use for my hill repeats. I took my time since this was my first long run AFTER a long bike ride.

Overall, my legs feel great with minimal damage done. Nothing a few beers while watching the Super Bowl won't take care of ;) I hope so, because next week its back to the marathon focus with an 18 miler scheduled for next Saturday.