A Solid Weekend

As Sunday afternoon rolls around it's time to recount my weekends workouts.  I took friday off and Erin and I carbo loaded at my favorite cheap Italian joint in Soho.  It's a great place, tough to get a table, but worth the wait if necessary.  I had my usual Papperadelle with Sausage, headed back to my apartment and fell asleep.  

I got up Saturday morning knowing I was going to run 8 miles.  I needed some fuel before I headed out.  I grew up in Ohio and we never ate grits.  I'd eaten them on my travels in the South but didn't know until recently you can make then fairly easy.  I had some instant grits that I had purchased for a previous meal and cooked some of those up for my morning fuel.  Plain grits are kind of boring and lacking flavor, so i added some honey to provide a little sweetness.  I had some water and a few sips of Coke, yes Coke, I like it, it's a good sweet/caffeine combo in the a.m. with my grits and headed out for my run.  

It's approximately 8 miles from my apt. to 60th St.  and back on the West Side Path.  It was pretty warm yesterday morning, in the upper 30's with the temps dropping all day.  With the cool air coming in, the wind was blowing really hard on the west side.  Heading north up the path i started slow, getting my legs warmed up.  I ran the first two miles in 19 min. and 20 seconds, slow....  The 2nd two were a little fast 18 min and 40 seconds for a total of 38 minutes for the first 4 miles.  I was dealing with the wind and wanted to start slow, so this is what i expected.  I also expected a much faster trip back.  Miles 5 and 6 total 18 minutes and the last two i ran hard and made it back in 17 min 20 seconds.  I shave about 3.5 minutes off my return trip and was happy with that.  According to my HRM i burn 1234 calories, not to bad.

Since I usually run on the path on the west side, I'm starting to see some regular faces out there, my favorite being this guy who looks exactly like Napoleon Dynamite's uncle.  This guy is a dead ringer and to top it off has a funny gate when he runs.  He's like a gazelle, bounds down the path.  It always makes me laugh.  I can also tell it's cold in NYC b/c when it's warm I undoubtably see a few rats on my run out there.  I guess it's to cold for them so they moved in doors somewhere.  

I got home from my run, had some chocolate milk, a gatorade and a meal replacement bar.  I warmed up and put on my bathing suit and headed over to the pool.  

As usual, it was me and my chinese friends at the pool.  It was good only about 8 people in the pool and i had a lane to myself.  I swam 1700 yards, just over a mile.  I felt pretty good in the water, with a total swim time of about a half hour.

Sunday morning came and I woke up to more grits this morning to provide the fuel for my trainer ride this morning.  I filled my water bottles, grabbed the remote and mounted up to ride for a couple hours this morning.  I rode two hours and emptied my DVR again.  I watch games shows and MMA as usual, oh and great episode of 30 Rock.  I know I 'm late to the party, but this show is great, if you don't watch it, you should.  I wore my HRM this morning and it said just over 900 calories burned.  

This will be my last week of me creating workouts, I start my coach/team training this Saturday.  I'm really looking forward to this, it's very motivating to be out the with others and a coach, it helps keep you going.  Tomorrow night I'll be attending a symposium about triathlons, training, injuries, gear, etc. it should be interesting.