Monthly Summary – October
Here’s October:
Swim: 14,175 yards
Cycling (outdoors): 22.0 miles
Cycling (indoors): 6:47 (hours)
Run: 150.75 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 6 sessions
Approximate monthly total training/racing time: 39 hours
Weight: 163 pounds. If I weighed myself correctly this month and last month, I lost about seven pounds in October. Even with all the running I’ve been doing, I’m pretty surprised about that. I’m still eating a ton. I think it’s mostly lost upper body muscle mass. I can see that my chest and shoulders have shrunk. After the 50, I’ll concentrate on hitting the weights a little more to recover some of that lost muscle mass. I wouldn’t be unhappy at 163 but I’d rather be a few pounds of muscle heavier…
October was a good training month. The highlight was my discovery of the Palisades trails. I did both of my longest October runs on those trails and loved being out there. I was blessed with good weather both times, but I’m excited to keep going out there throughout the winter as long as the trails are open and safe. I ran about as many miles in October as I did in September and I really feel comfortable with the distances. I’m at a point now where going out for a 10-12 mile run isn’t much of an issue. Even going out for 17/18 miles (like I did last Saturday) doesn’t scare me. But, 17 miles is a far, far cry from the 50 that I’m going to have to run in just 17 days. I didn’t miss any training this month and my body feels pretty good. Not surprisingly, I do have some nagging soreness and aches in my knees and back, but nothing that’s affecting my training. I’ve really been enjoying my Monday evening yoga class. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue to fit that in during the coming “off season”. I can feel myself getting weaker and slower in the pool, but that’s not surprising given the fact that I’ve only been swimming once a week and it’s generally within a couple days of my long run. I’ve only lost a few seconds per 100 yards, but that adds up over the course of a 3,000 yard swim and I can feel that it’s slower. My form still feels pretty good, so I’m not worried that I’ll regain the speed once I get back to swimming 2-3 times a week.
Since it is Halloween, I want to leave you with this picture of our “Frankenstein”:
Swim – October 30
Distance: 3,050 yards
Time: 1:00
Run – October 31
Distance: 3.2 miles
Time: 27 minutes
Average heart rate: 133
Course: West Village
Conditions: Sunny, nice
Bike – October 31
Time: 1:00
Average heart rate: 111
Indoor ride