Weekly Workout Totals 12/04/2006-12/10/2006

Swim: 9000 yards (5.11 miles) in 3.15 hours; 20% of weekly workout time; approx. 1104 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 84.01 miles in 4.8 hours; 31% of weekly workout time; approx. 2529 calories burned
Run: Approx. 38.95 miles in 6 hours; 39% of weekly workout time; approx. 2730 calories burned
Strength: 1.5 hours; 10% of weekly workout time; approx. 375 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 128.07 miles in 15.45 hours; approx. 6738 calories burned
Sleep: 9.21 hours avg./night
Stretching: 3.53 hours. Massage: 1 hours

It was a good week; it was a tough week. I tried to remember how I felt last year around this same time when I was training for Goofy Challenge. Tired! I have trouble understanding how ultrarunners can run so much every week. They must be built differently than me!

Yesterday I ran almost 15 miles in 2:15. That's the fastest I've ever covered that distance. I did 2 hours on the treadmill, and as I approached the 2 hour mark, considered whether I wanted to finish up on the indoor track or not. When I'm doing shorter workouts, I have a tendency to run faster than I need to when I run on the track. But having already covered 13 miles, I didn't think I was in danger of overdoing it today. The transition to the much cooler basketball court/indoor track area revealed that in fact, I stunk. Oh well, not much I could do about it.

As I started running, I noticed I felt almost weightless. At least I couldn't really feel my legs! I didn't feel like I was running that fast and I wasn't breathing too hard. There was a very tall, fairly large man on the track who was running much slower than me, and when we'd approach corners, he kept taking the inside lane. I think he probably didn't understand track etiquette--slower folks get outside lanes. Anyway, I enjoyed passing him, knowing how much ground I had already covered on the treadmill.

I ran a mile in 8:25. Not bad after 13 miles down! I finished out running 8:34, and then I took a nice, slow walk around the track, and then I went back into the cardio room and to lie down on a mat to stretch. I wanted to just curl up into a ball and go to sleep, but I decided to stretch about 10'. I couldn't spend more time, as I was out of Gatorade and needed to get some post-run nutrition in me quickly.

I showered, went home, slammed a bottle of Endurox R4, and then got to work on my pizza. I was tired, but knew that all I had to do was roll out the dough (which had been rising while I was running), bake the crust for 30', then cool slightly, fill and bake the final product. Good thing my appetite hadn't kicked in right away after running.

My dad arrived while the unfilled crust was baking, and he noticed I was pretty tired. Once the thing was finished, we each had a "slice" (about 1/8 of an 18" diameter 3.5" high pie) and enjoyed it. After which I cleaned up the kitchen just a bit, and then we moved to the living room, where I laid down on the big couch and my dad sat on the love seat, and we listened to some nice music for several hours and chatted. At some point, I was able to move off the couch and do some more stretching.

Today I am taking the day off from work, but I have the phone company coming to check out intermittent problems I've been having with my DSL line. Of course right now as I sit here writing this, there have been no problems today. Oh well, I just hope they come and go quickly so I can get on with the rest of my day, which will hopefully include a nap. I don't feel too badly right now, but I know that after I lift, I will need some quality rest time, and I am going to try and get in a run today.

This week's training will be tough again--long run up to 2:30, rides increase a bit more in duration and intensity, and strength training adds another set (ouch). This is my biggest week, and then I begin a much needed taper!