Most people might think of thanksgiving as a time to to kick back with the family, stuff themselves full of goodies, and start off the holiday weight gaining season with a bang. I don't. Well ok I do love spending time with my family, and come to think of it I also like stuffing myself full of unhealthy foods. BUT I also see the thanksgiving weekend as a glorious time to spend at my grandparents ranch down in the hill country of Texas.
This year was fantastic. It started off with the Austin turkey trot which was extremely cold, windy and awesome. I was still very tight from playing soccer on sunday but I went in with the mindset of just having fun and running a solid race. For this reason I started off a little slower then I normaly would and it resulted in a much more pleasurable experience with a still very good time for me. My first mile was like 6:20 and I ran steady until 2 miles to go where I closed with 2 5:55 miles. I didn't notice I was picking up the pace a bunch but I was trying to hang with this guy just in front of me and that probably helped. The Austin turkey trot is ridiculously hilly and there is one hill especially inside the last half mile that is absolutely killer. Well I knew it was coming and so I relaxed up it and stayed right behind this dude who I'd been following the last 2 or 3 miles. Then when we made the right hand turn towards the finish I kicked it in and beat him by a few seconds. I was definitely exhausted by the end but part of this was due to the cold air I wasn't used to and after a minute or two I was fine.
Friday saw me doing a 35 mile bike ride with my friend Ian. This ride included the steepest hill I have EVER gone up in my life. Afterwards we mapped it online and it's like a 17% grade! Crazy! It's less then a quarter mile long but I couldn't make it up the first time. Yes, it's true, I did the walk of shame. then I went back down and tried it again this time making it to the top. After the bike I got off and bricked to a 40 minute run that included lactic repeats of 5x40 seconds FAST on the 1 min with 3 minutes rest between sets. (I think I hate that workout more then any other)
Saturday was the ill-fated day that saw us attempting to ride in the 40 degree, pouring rain, gusting wind weather. But after wrapping ourselves in plastic and going out 10 miles we were done and turned around to come home. The trek home was miserable. Uphill, into the wind, soaking wet and freezing it was pretty much everything a cyclist wouldn't ask for. But we did something.
Sunday was a 70 minute run in which I did almost 9 miles up and down big rolling hills along ranch rd 12. I like the cooler weather but I wouldn't mind it a little warmer.
Now it's back in the pool 5 times a week. I'm looking forward to school being over so I can start biking more and hopefully will get to do a training camp with the team after christmas. Happy holidays to you!!
No comments:
Post a Comment