Easing my way through recovery
This morning I rode for an easy 35 minutes in front of the TV. I did a few minutes of isolated leg training on each leg, but mostly just tried to keep my cadence high and the intensity low. Unfortunately, I think that my HR transmitter strap is finally totally dead, so I have no idea where my HR was during the ride, but based on how I felt, it was probably in the low 100’s. My back is still bothering me a little bit, but the stretching seems to help. I’m sure the slouching I do all day everyday in my office chair isn’t helping any!
After work, I went for a run. I started with Elizabeth and Emily, but decided to run at Washington Square Park instead of the West Side, where they were headed. I only wanted to go out for a half hour and do strides in the middle of that, so by the time I got to the River, I would do my strides and come home. Didn’t seem worth it. I warmed up with a few laps, and did my strides and skips on the west side of the Park. Then, I did another lap and came home. Recently, I haven’t been stretching nearly as much as I should be, so this week I’m making a conscious effort to do more stretching. I’ve noticed that a few weeks of not really stretching has made my muscles much tighter than they were when I was stretching a lot – duh, but I forget sometimes. The last few weeks I’ve been in a general rush during the transition to and from training that I’ve let stretching slip. Hopefully I’ll remember the value of it and make a point to stretch regularly from now on. I’m sure my back will thank me.
I got an email tonight from my friend Reid who’s organized a gigantic group of people to race in the Philadelphia Triathlon on June 24. Elizabeth and I were going to do it anyway and Reid (who’s from Philly) got excited about it and subsequently convinced about 25 other people to sign up as well. There are people from college, friends and family of Reid’s, friends and family of mine, friends of friends, including a bunch of first-timers. It will be great to have such a big group of fun people. We’re thinking about organizing team visors and shirts. Elizabeth and I get back from Italy two days before the race, so we might be a little discombobulated, but I’ll have to jump right back into training for the final stretch, so hopefully that race will be a great way to get me going again.
Bike – February 8
Time: 35 minutes
Average heart rate: HR monitor broken
Indoor ride
Run – February 8
Time: 33:30
Distance: 3.5 miles
Average heart rate: HR monitor broken
Course: Washington Square Park
Conditions: Clear, cold (mid 20’s), some wind