Step Back!

Today marks the start of the 15th week of Boston training. For those of you who have followed an 18 week training schedule, you know what that means. It means that this week is the highest mileage week in the training schedule. On the schedule this week is my last 20 miler, and a total of 58 miles for the week. I have to say, I will be glad when it is over. Not that I love the taper weeks, but it will be nice to be able to go for a bike ride, or a hike or a kickboxing class, and not have to worry about it cutting into precious running time.

Speaking of a bike ride, last week was a step back week, which means that my long run was only 12 miles and the total mileage for the week was a lot lower than this upcoming week. This did give me a little bit more freedom and I ran with it (ha! no pun intended).

On Sunday, I ran a 5k for Jill's Virtual St Patrick's Day run. It was a great day for it and I gave it my all, finishing in 21:46.

Then I bought a few more accessories for the bike (U-lock and cushy seat cover), I took it out for it's first REAL ride. I have been using it to run errands, like going to the grocery store or library, which are only about a mile from my house. There is one big hill between my house and the grocery store though and I can ride all the way up it one way but coming back it is steeper on that side and I have had to walk it up.

So I was pretty nervous about attempting a longer bike ride. There were a few things I worried about.

(1) That I would get hit by a car. Other people on the road don't always pay attention! I know this, because as a runner, I have come VERY close to being hit a few times. I always feel a bit smaller when a bus comes within a few inches of me. I feel very small in fact.

(2) That I would have to walk up all the hills. Ah, failure, how we fear thee.

(3) That my butt would be on fire by mile 4. Hence the new cushy seat cover.

The Beast, with a new hat for the seat and a fancy St. Patty's day U-lock.

As a runner, we have the same issues. Chafe, pains, fear of failure, and feelings of fragility. So I am used to them. So I said to myself that it is no different than what I am used to, and I got to it. My running friend broke her toe and she asked me if I wanted to ride to a pub that was about 16 miles from my house. Why not? You only live once. YOLO!

It went well. In fact, it went better than I thought it would. I did NOT get run over. We started in Oakland, going through the town for about 7 miles before we got to the SF Bay Trail, where we stayed until we reached Richmond. We stopped for a St. Patrick's day beer at a local pub and then we headed back. We tackled one big hill on the way back and I didn't get off the bike once. The cushioned butt pad was fabulous!

Point Richmond

When I got back to Oakland, I had a humongous burrito and then headed for my final two miles to get home. Unfortunately, the last mile has another fairly steep hill (0 ft - 200 ft in about a half a mile) and I just couldn't do it. These legs were toast and they had really started to realize it when I sat down to eat the burrito.  But I made it. So that's one ride over.

See that hill at the very end? It was brutal!

Total miles: 41.4
Average speed: 11.3 mph

I am pretty excited, because I have always thought I would like to try a triathlon, but it's the biking that was my biggest fear. Now I just need to get over this week's "hill" in my Boston Training (and the Marathon itself) and then I can work on getting better at my biking skills! 

What did you do for St. Patrick's Day? Have you ever done a long bike ride? How do you combat butt soreness?

Virtual Weekend

This weekend I had a really great run along the San Francisco Bay Trail. This is 500 miles of shoreline trails around the bay. The trail doesn't go continuously the entire way; there are some gaps. The section I ran runs from Emeryville to Richmond with no gaps and is about 11 miles long. It's a really nice section, with views of San Francisco almost the entire time. I did an out and back totaling 20 miles and it couldn't have been a better day for it.

As I've already mentioned, Laura is doing a 5 by the 5th Virtual Race where you run either a 5k or a 5 miler before the 5th of each month. This is a great way to get out there and get each month started right. In fact, I may make a tradition out of it, even after June is over. For this race, I used the last 5 miles, where I clocked a 40:30 for those 5 miles.

I also used part of this run as an entry for Jill's Tackle the Miles Virtual Race. For hers I used the first 13.1 miles of my run, which I finished in 1:52.24. Even though the Niners lost, I still tried to make some tackles of my own. The first half of the run was actually a lot harder than the last half. I had a really hard time getting going and was glad to have Jill's challenge in my mind to help push me along.

It is always fun to participate in these virtual races. It never hurts to have a little more inspiration to get my butt moving! Plus, it was well worth it. The views were fabulous and the weather was great and I was so glad to get out and enjoy it (at least after the first 13 miles were over). These races also count as part of my 13 in 2013 challenge that Jill is hosting! 

What did you do this weekend? How was the weather in your neck of the woods? Did you join either of these virtual challenges?