This morning the Army trainees headed out on the Mt. Vernon Trail to knock out 5 miles. It was so nice to mix up the route and be out and about in beautiful weather!
Everyone did great! I felt pretty good. I picked it up a bit as we headed back over the Key Bridge to just wake up my muscles and give them a little stress.
I'm still cautious about my hips and need to get back to focusing on strengthening those muscles with more lateral movements. Add it to the To Do List!!!!!!
Nothing eventful...other than a realization that Nations is RIGHT around the corner. I need to get myself together.
We headed out for the usual 3-mile out and back. It was hot and muggy and gross. Welcome to summers in DC.
Looking forward to getting back into a regular routine.
Though I am slated to pace the 11-12 minute mile group, today I volunteered to be the sweeper. I focused on 4 runners who were running 13 minute+ per mile.
My goal was to keep talking, be funny and distract (while still encouraging) these runners along the way. Everyone finished the run.
The trainees are all very inspiring and provide such motivation to me to get out there and "just do it."
Separately, it's great to see so many alums back with the program. Looks like it will be a fantastic summer!
Though I did the Sprint tri on Saturday, since then I've only ran once...that's it.
I dragged my gym bag to work on Thursday with all the best intentions of getting a workout in, but felt so weak and sick at the end of the day I decided to finally drag myself home at 6:30 pm.
This is all an added bummer since the Army 10-Miler training officially starts this Saturday. I have to pull myself together. I can't be a dud coach to my group of runners!
Luckily I have a dr's appointment early Friday morning. All I can say is, "fix me up doc; I can't fall behind."
Clearly in a moment of weakness or less than perfect clarity, I signed up for the DC Tri Club's July Training Sprint Triathlon at Hains Point. Believe me, I was looking for an excuse to bail out.
The good news is that I finished and I met the DC Tri coach who will be in charge of our training.
The Prep
I got to Hains Point at 6:30 am to check. I had no idea what to expect, but was surprised by the 80 participants and how many fancy triathletes were also there. After setting up my transition area and getting marked I anxiously waited for the start. Above is a pathetic attempt at capturing the moment or a very artist version of capturing our transition area.
The Swim
We lined up in two groups at the Hains Point Pool to start the 400 meter snake. I picked a spot toward the front and jumped in. Soon enough I was off and swimming. It was kinda nice to swim laps outside. My fear of feeling crowded never happened since the heats were 30 seconds apart. No issues swimming. My only two critiques would be --- (1) I could swim hard and (2) I slacked out again on kicking consistently. Overall, I had a nice swim and actually caught the guy in front of me during the last 25 meters. Hee hee!
T1
Man...there was a bit of a run through the pool, the parking lot and across the street to my stuff. My only challenge was getting my socks on! I had to wear a different kind today b/c I hadn't done laundry and they were hard to get on with wet feet. I finally gave up, jammed them on and later learned some grass got stuck in my socks too. Nice.
The Bike
I felt good on the bike. The course consisted of 3 laps...which made it a bit boring at times. I was happy with my ride. I still have work to do here, but I hung in there and passed some people along the way.
T2
I am a rock star! I kicked ass here. I slipped out of my shoes while riding and was able to quickly dismount my bike, slip into my running shoes and grab my visor as I pushed on into the run. Literally, I'm convinced that I was outta there in 30 seconds.
The Run
And then it all fell apart...again. I was hurting on the run. I really struggled to just keep moving. My quads were still sore from earlier in the week and at the halfway point my left calf started cramping. I ended up walking a bit after stretching it out. I watched folks just sprint by me. I think a kid on a tricycle even passed me. Seriously...those kids are faster than you think...likely all hyped up on sugar and a zest for life. Of well. Still much more work to do here.
All in all...great experience. Who would have thought I would ever voluntarily choose to do a practice triathlon!
Another great ride here at the beach.
I intended to make this a short trip, but instead decided to keep pushing and rolled over the Indian River Inlet bridge this time.
What a great view. This is a pix from the other side of the bridge.
I headed out to cruise around the neighborhood.
I still am having focus issues while running and seem to flake out after 1.5 miles or so. Definitely not good. I think being around the Jump Starters in the future will force me to be more focused.
On Friday morning I popped out of bed early and headed out for a 28 mile adventure from 94th Street to the Indian River Inlet. What a fabulous ride. Bonus that there was no humidity.
On the way out I did experience some ocean wind that seemed to push me and my bike around Coastal Highway a bit. That was a strange feeling and at times I struggled to keep up. Again, I really need to work on my overall strength. I also am still getting used to my new set up --- different seat height and longer stem. It felt awkward on the way, but then fabulous on the way back.
Once I got out of the mayhem of OC, the ride through lovely Fenwick Island, Bethany and Rehoboth were fantastic. There was so much activity out on the roads --- bikes, runners, walkers and dogs.
Once I made it to the Inlet I decided to stop and take in the scenery vs heading over the bridge to tack on even more mileage. As I stood on the side of the rode to drink and check email tons of cyclists would cruise by and yell out if I needed assistance or just a general greeting. Those kind words definitely dispelled the impression I sometimes have that cyclists can be jerks. They actually were surprisingly friendly. Maybe it was the beach air.
The ride back was fabulous. I seemed to just cruise. I used the return to work on pushing myself by doing mini sprints here and there. In no time, I was back to 94th Street.
All in all, it was a great ride.
