Three Things Thursday

1. I saw on twitter yesterday that the Jeff Galloway training plans for the Disney marathon were available and decided to read through them out of curiosity.  It's not something that I am planning to use, but I always like seeing the different training options.  First of all, these are 28 week plans, which is a long time to be training for a race!  Of course, then when I saw that they started this week I realized that in 28 weeks I will be running a half marathon and marathon in the same week!  Maybe I do, in fact, need 28 weeks to prepare myself. :)

I was surprised to see that the plan for experienced runners had a 29 mile long run!  I realize it's a long training plan, but it seems to me that most plans I’ve read peak at 20 miles (or maybe get up to 22-23).  I certainly did know that any of them went that far over the distance.  I’m not sure how my body would handle that, though given that I’ll be doing 39.3 in a weekend, maybe a 29 mile run is exactly what I need!

2. I’ve been feeling a bit unmotivated recently.  I think the bike crash contributed to it (I know, I’ll stop talking about it soon!), but it was building before then.  I see a few other bloggers commenting about taking some time off today, so maybe it’s just the time of year, or the heat and humidity or something all together unrelated.  As both Katie and Emily said, a few days off aren’t going to derail a training cycle or race and they may just be what the body needs to train even harder until the big day.  And if it's true for them, it's true for me since I'm not even training for anything nearly as long as they are!  The only race I have on my calendar in July is a sprint tri on the 31st.  I know I could complete that race even if I did nothing for the next month.  My bigger concern is that I have to start marathon training right at the beginning of August.  So I'd like to have a decent running base going into that, but at the same time I don't want to start out training feeling like I need a break!

I’m going to the beach in a little over a week.  I hadn't really decided how I was going to approach training, but I think I’ll take this as my opportunity to back off a bit.  I’ll fit in a few runs and maybe attempt a bit of ocean swimming if I feel brave (for some reason lakes and rivers don’t bother me at all, but I get the heebie jeebies about sharks in the ocean).  Hopefully I will come back mentally and physically refreshed!

3.  On that unmotivated note, I have decided to let the universe decide if I will exercise today.  I have tentative plans to meet a friend after work for dinner but she has a late afternoon meeting that has the potential to run late and require her to cancel our plans.  I debated heading to the pool this morning, but decided last night that I’d really prefer to sleep in.  If she cancels, I'll work out.  If not, today is a rest day.  I’m leaving my fate to the workout gods.

CSA Week 1

As part of my office's healthy living initiative, the HR department arranged to have a weekly CSA delivery to our building.  I've been interested in trying a CSA for a while, but they always seemed to expensive, or inconvenient to pick up, or like there would be too much food for one person.  This farm offers a half share, the price was reasonable, and it couldn't be easier to pick up, so I decided to commit myself for the summer.

I can follow a recipe but I wouldn't say I'm a good cook and I'm definitely not very creative.  I've figured out a few meals I can make relatively easily and I stick with those basics.  I'm hoping that this will force me to try new things and branch out of my normal kitchen comfort zone.  And I feel like by sharing it on the blog, I will be even more accountable since I know that none of you want to hear about salad week after week.

Here's what I got in the first delivery last week:

Lettuce, kale, onions, yellow squash, cucumber

Kale:

I've read about kale chips on various blogs, so I decided that they would be the perfect use of the kale I received.  I read a bunch of recipes, but ended up following the one by Smitten Kitchen.

Lettuce and Cucumber
This is where I was pretty boring.  I made a few salads and also took sliced cucumbers with my lunch.

Yellow Squash
I searched around for squash recipes and ended up following some general concepts I had seen, but not a specific recipe.  I cut up the squash and one of the onions and covered it with a mixture of bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Then I baked it at 350 for 30 minutes.

All in all, I'm pleased with how I did this week.  I managed to use everything (except for a few onions, but I'll get to them this week) and tried two new recipes.

Week in Review - 6/19-6/25

Sunday June 19
Rest

Monday June 20
Rest

Tuesday June 21
Run 3.06 mi
I gave myself two complete rest days after last Saturday's bike crash.  I figure there was no sense in pushing it and I might as well give my body some time to heal.  By Monday night I was feeling pretty good so I decided to test things out with an easy morning run on Tuesday.  Fortunately there were no weird aches or pains and it felt good to be exercising again!

Wednesday June 22
Bike - 19 mi (AM), 5 mi (PM)
I was nervous to get back on the bike, as I discussed more than once last week (here and here), but I made myself do it and, of course, nothing horrible happened.  It ended up being a nice morning ride. 

Thursday June 23
Run 5.07 mi
It was really humid and I never felt good during this run.  It was so soupy that I felt like I could have been swimming!  However, I got it done and that's all that really matters.

Friday June 24
Bike - 22 mi (AM), 5.3 mi (PM)
Another Friday morning ride with Sarah.  I ended up having my highest average pace for a ride so far (14.2 mph, first time in the 14s!), so I was excited about that.  I've decided I really like riding on Friday mornings, it's a great way to get the last day of the work week off on the right foot. 

Saturday June 25
Run 10 mi
I was excited to finally get in a weekend long run since it had been a few weeks.  I had hoped to run long last Sunday, but my crash on Saturday negated those plans.  I felt really good on this run until about mile 8 and then the last two miles were tough.  When I got home and checked my training log, I realized that the last time I ran 10 miles was the Broad Street Run on May 1!  My longest runs since then have only been 8 or 9 miles.  So it's no surprise that this run got difficult at the very end.

Friday Five

1. As I said in my post on Wednesday, I got back on my bike.  It was hard.  My physical injuries were relatively minor, but the mental damage was pretty significant.  As I said back in my first post about my thoughts on biking, I came into this with a great fear of falling.  Once I started riding more I started feeling much more comfortable and in the last few weeks I finally was confident enough to make the switch to clipless pedals.  I had two newbie shoe/pedal related falls and those did not trigger my anxiety.  I think I knew that they were inevitable, and since both happened when I was essentially stopped they weren't too painful.  Saturday's crash was completely different.  It was at a decent speed and doing something that already made me nervous (picking up speed on a downhill).   So, as a result, all of my original scared feelings came back to the surface.  I felt much better after Wednesday morning's ride, but was extra nervous for my commute home and again when I went out this morning.  I know it's just something that I have to accept and that over time I'll feel less and less nervous (until I fall again, haha).

2. I'm participating in a CSA for the first time, through my office (so convenient!), and this week was my first delivery.  I'm not much of a foodie (and my skills in the kitchen are extremely limited), but will probably try to do a weekly post about what I received and what I managed to make.  I signed up because I wanted to motivate myself to try cooking new things and push myself out of my cooking comfort zone.  I'm hoping that by sharing it here, I'll be even more motivated to try new things since no one is going to want to hear about how I made a ton of salads.

3. Look what came in the mail yesterday!

I feel like I should put a little piece of tape on it to correct 10k to 5k. Or I could just let people be really impressed when I tell them my time for the "10k."

4.  I don't talk about it much on this blog, but I am a sports junkie.  I'll watch pretty much any major sport (excluding NASCAR) on TV or in person, as well as all of the minor ones that fall in what I would call the "Olympic" category.  Having grown up in the area, I'm a big fan of all the DC teams.  I've been happily following the Nationals' recent success, so I was shocked yesterday afternoon when news popped up on Twitter that manager Jim Riggleman had resigned.  Only in DC would a manager leave (over a contract dispute) when the team had just won 11 of 12 games.  Clearly the universe doesn't like any departure from mediocrity!

5. And to end on a happy note, here are some cute cat pictures!

Back on the Bike

I was going to wait until the weekend to get back on my bike, but the more I thought about it, the more nervous I was, so I knew I couldn't wait that long (or my nerves would get the best of me).  It seemed like a lot of other bloggers were heading down to Hains Point this morning, so I decided to go.

Not surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I was imagining and, of course, I survived!  I did learn that my bike needs some work post-crash (couldn't shift the front gear to the big ring), so I'll be heading to the bike shop tonight.

My elbow is still kind of gross and scabby and I was worried about riding with it exposed so I wore one arm warmer (rolled up slightly because it's hot) to create a cover.  Not that it would have really protected my elbow from injury had I fallen again, but it made me feel better.  And, obviously, looked awesome!

Week in Review - 6/12-6/18

Sunday June 12
Bike 30.57 mi
This was my longest bike ride to date!  I headed out early on Sunday morning to avoid the crowds on the trails and was somewhat successful.  By the time I was close to home things were picking up.  I wore my new bike jersey for the first time and realized it is very nice to have so many pockets.  I did the return trip about five minutes faster than the way out, so I was quite happy with that.  I also felt a lot more comfortable getting in and out of my pedals.

Monday June 13
Run 6.2 mi
I feel like despite my best intentions and plans, my running mileage has been rather low recently.  I decided to start the week with six miles to get off on the right foot.

Tuesday June 14
Bike - 25.7 mi (AM), 4.6 mi (PM)
This was another successful morning ride at Hains Point with Sarah.  I still get passed by almost everyone, but I feel like my pace is improving every so slightly.

I realized in the evening that I am probably going to have to avoid bike commuting on Tuesdays.  I go past Arlington Cemetery and Iwo Jima on my way home and on Tuesday nights the Marine Corps band has a summer concert series.   There were a ton of tour buses parked along 110 and herds of tourists on the bike path along 110 and Iwo Jima.  Despite the fact that I kept yelling "passing on your left" and "excuse me" and "coming behind you on a bike," people really didn't move out of the way.  I feel lucky that I didn't fall over or hit anyone.

Wednesday June 15
Swim 2800 yds
This was another good morning swim.  I actually forced myself to push the pace a bit with a set of 100s and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.  I definitely feel like I should be able to do them on a faster interval, but it was a decent start.  I know I can't expect too much when I'm only swimming 1 or 2 times a week.

Thursday June 16
Run 5.25 mi
Another decent morning run at a steady pace.  I know I need to start fitting in at least one speed or tempo session a week, but for now I'll take these even paced runs. 

After work I went to the Nationals game and blogger meetup organized by Amanda.  Unfortunately I didn't plan very well and forgot my camera so I don't have any photos.  It was a lot of fun and great to meet some DC bloggers in person (and get introduced to some new blogs).
Friday June 17
Rest

Saturday June 18
Bike 21 mi
I had plans for a 35 mile ride and short run (30ish minutes) for my first brick workout in several weeks, but that all got derailed when I crashed shortly after hitting the halfway point of my ride. 

Wipeout

I had my first major bike crash on Saturday morning and while it (fortunately) did not end with serious injuries, it was still pretty scary!

I was planning on a 35ish mile ride and had just turned around to head back home.  I was down near Mount Vernon where the trail is relatively hilly and the path is pretty curvy.  I'm already nervous about downhills and the curvy narrow downhills make me extra nervous.  I'm not sure if this contributed to my wipeout, but I'm sure it's possible.  The paths were also still pretty wet from the rain the night before because there are a ton of trees that block the sun.  I headed down one of the hills and was trying to avoid riding on my brakes, but was pumping them to keep myself from going to fast.  I came around a curve and my wheel went out from under me and I went skidding across the trail.  I'm not sure if I just took the curve at the wrong angle or hit an extra slick patch, but I had no time to think before I was on the ground.  I do know that even if I hadn't been clipped in there would have been nothing I could do to stop it.  My elbow took the brunt on the fall and was really cut up.  I quickly determined that nothing appeared to be broken, but I had a lot of cuts and bruises.  I was really shaken up and wasn't sure I could make it the 15+ miles home.  I walked my bike back up the hill because I knew there was an open grassy area where I could sit down and I was pretty shaky on that short walk.  I ended up calling my mother who said she could come and get me.  Once I had been sitting for a few minutes I felt much better and we decided to meet closer to Old Town because it would be easier for her to pull off the GW Parkway and because it was probably going to take her at least 30 minutes to get to me (so I might as well head back towards her).  I managed to put my chain back on and rode the 4-5 miles to meet her.  Once I started riding again, I realized that I wasn't all that bad off (and probably could have made it all the way home), but I was still glad for the ride.

I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed by the response of other cyclists and runners.  When I still extricating myself from my bike and accessing the damage, a guy rode by up the hill and didn't even slow down.  While I don't know how much help I really needed, it certainly would have been nice for him to at least check!  Multiple people went by when I was sitting by the side of the path in the grassy area, but I was on the phone, so I think it's more understandable that they kept going (though I think I still looked bloody!).  It was not until I walked my bike back down the hill (I knew I could get back on, but I wasn't about to do that hill again) that an older guy stopped and asked if I was okay.  At first when I said I had wiped out he kind of laughed and said "yeah, it's slick out here, I've gone down least twice today," but when he noticed I was pretty shaken up he stayed and made sure that I had my chain back on and was back on my bike before he rode off.

When I got home and got in the shower, I noticed my clothing had covered road rash on my shoulder and thigh and the back of my hand (ripped my gloves, unfortunately) on my right side.  I also had significant bruises the inside of my right knee and left shin (both of which I assume slammed into the bike).  My poor Garmin also took a bit of a beating, but fortunately still appears to be working fine!

a little blurry, but you can see the buttons are scratched up

I am feeling a lot better today, though the big cuts on my elbow are early on in the healing process (and the whole area is still swollen) and my shoulder is sore when I lift my arm.  I did learn that apparently I am not one to get big colorful bruises.  The "bruised" areas on my legs hurt when I touch them, but are not noticeable when I look at them. 

I know that I am very lucky that this wasn't more serious and I would bet a lot of you have been through a lot worse.  I'm not sure exactly when I will get back on my bike, but I know I shouldn't wait too long or I'll start playing too many mental games with myself.  It certainly seems like I will have more mental repercussions from this fall than physical ones.