May 18th through 24th

Sunday-In the midst if a quick visit to my old hometown, I met up with Shara, who was at Mount Holyoke College for some alumni stuff, and ran some miles in the Chicopee State Park.  I posted about running in this park last fall.  Out of my entire running career there isn't one place where I've ran as many miles as the state park.  There are plenty of trails, dirt roads, and hills for just about anyone's liking and it's a very scenic place.  We started the run at a small park right near the house I grew up in and ran into the park.  After getting to the lower pond I asked Shara if it would be "okay" for me run a few hill repeats for old times sake.  I got after four hill repeats, rested for a minute or two, and then got running again.  We then ran the remainder of the Chicopee High/Chicopee Comp XC Course.  The coolest part is the roller coaster..a series of small up and down hills on a single track before the final 1/2 mile of the course.  I found it fascinating that as I ran this I still knew where every rock and root was and could fly up and down the thing..funny how the brain works. Very fun run on a beautiful afternoon. Miss this place! (6)

This park made me a real runner

Monday: More running with Shara..even Lulu joined in on the run today.
2 mile warmup
8:30 Challenge-I randomly came up with the grand idea of trying to run 2X800, 2X400 with rest in less than 8:30.  Forget about splits-just try to get it all done in this short period of time..while I had great fun trying, I came up short in 8:33.  I'm not sure of the benefits of this kind of workout, but it was pure fun!
2.5 mile cooldown
(6)

Tuesday:
a.m. 20 minute core routine, pushups, shoulder press, pullups, abs.
p.m. 18 mile ride with Gazelle on Charlestown backroads.  Gazelle was on fire on today's ride. No signals of a hernia as he hammered various sections of the ride and I had no response.  I swear the man was doing altitude training in Colorado while claiming he had a hernia.  Towards the end of the ride I landed my first flat ever.  Fortunately I had most of the necessary supplies to fix it and had Gazelle to walk me through changing a flat.  Tri training is on! Feeling fatigued


Wednesday: SHS Distance Project-1.5 mile warmup, 3X2X200/1X400 (200s..31-32, 400s-65-67) Windy, fun.  Semi short rest on 200s..and a little over a minute rest of the 400s.  This was the kids final workout before their ECC Conference Meet on Saturday.  For some, it's the last workout of the year.  1.5 mile cooldown. (4.5)

Shortly after arriving home, I took Lulu for a jog on a route I affectionately named after her (Lulu's Loop, 2.5 miles)


Thursday: Woody Thrill with Gazelle. 6+ miles on humid afternoon.  Checked out new trails that were recently purchased by the Town of Westerly and just enjoyed the run.  I was very impressed by all of the efforts of the Westerly Land Trust to create new trails and make the area even nicer than it already happens to be.  I was feeling it physically today..good fun.

Friday: 2400 yd swim at the Y..600, 500, 500, 200, 200, 4X50 (Slow), 200 cool
Need to get in the water more.

Saturday: 15+ miles WTAC Group Run (Gazelle, Boumenot, Muddy) on Woody Hill Trails from my house.  Great run, great fun.  Just need to learn these trails.

Totals:
Run: 5X, 40 miles
Lulu: 3X, 8 miles
Swim: 1X, 2400yds
Bike: 1X, 18 miles
Core: 1X, 20 minutes

Synopsis: running was good (workouts, long run), but TRI training was poor (1X bike & swim).  Still need to get two rides/two swims a week while keeping miles up.  I face the same May/June mileage-training dilemma that Muddy does.