Highs and lows

This weekend was certainly one of highs and lows in training...

Saturday the group had a 60 mile bike ride and I felt like that would be a pretty good distance. It would be my longest ride since IMAZ but still totally doable. Things started out pretty well. My heart rate was pretty consistent (mostly in zone 1 or 2). Last weekend on this same part of the route, it was zone 2 or 3. When we got to the part where we could really lay the hammer down, and Brian and Kris took off. Alphonso followed behind quickly thereafter. I was feeling good still, so I followed too. We were really trucking it and it felt SO good to go fast! And my heart rate was still good! We made it to our turn around point and headed back for a doughnut (yum - apple fritter!). That's it for the highs on Saturday....

On the way back, my knee started to hurt. I had felt it on the hilly route last week, but I just thought it was the hills. It never really hurt. Totally not the case this weekend. After going a pretty consistent 20 mph, I quickly fell behind the others...my speed dropped from 20 to 17 to 14. I had to take my left foot out of the clip and do single-leg drills. Just having my foot on top of the pedal and go around in a circle hurt like all get out - I was going down the road crying. Even the pain I felt in Arizona wasn't like this. This HURT bad! I knew I wouldn't be going the whole 60 miles. I just wanted to make it to the gas station so I wouldn't be sitting on the side of the road waiting for a ride. Brian called Orissa, who was gracious enough to agree to come get me when she finished. After Brian, Kris, and Alphonso slowed WAY down to keep me with them, we finally made it to the gas station. I was so worried about what would happen when I got off my bike. It was totally fine! No pain at all. It hurt to bend it (no squatting down allowed) but just walking was fine. Running was even fine. Weird!

After babying my knee the rest of the day on Saturday, I woke up to run on Sunday. I was hoping my knee would still be fine, and my groin issue would still be fine, and my back would be ok (stupid apartment moving!). I met the group with the hope that everything would be ok and I'd be able to run 9 miles. If I ran 9 this week and 11 next week, I'd be good to run the 13.1 HERO-thon on Jan 27. We planned to run an out and back along 1604, so I knew I could turn around and walk back if anything hurt.When we started running, it was so cold and windy! I figured it'd warm up soon so I wasn't too worried. We got to the greenbelt and I was at 4.25 miles. I realized I was feeling great! Instead of 9, I decided to run 10. After stripping off our long sleeve shirts (now we were in sleeveless shirts), we took off down the greenbelt to get to our turn around points. Linda and Kris were going out to 6, Herb was going out to 10, and I decided for sure to do 10 so I turned around at 5. On the way back, Brian and I chatted the whole time. Each mile that ticked past made me happier and happier. While it certainly wasn't easy, it was much better than before. Each run gets progressively better. I know this happened to everyone after IMAZ, but it's been hard to be the only one who seems to be struggling.

When we got to 10, I was so excited! I did that whole thing and it was virtually pain-free! My knee and groin were both perfectly fine. My back was a little uncomfortable but nothing like before. My heart rate was in 2 like it should've been. While it wasn't my fastest ever, it also wasn't my slowest. I'll take it! At least I finished my weekend training on a high note! :)