The Countdown Continues – FIVE MONTHS!!
Today marks five months until race day. I think it’s 150 days away (now, if I could figure out how to get that damn countdown clock in the sidebar working, I wouln’t have to think about how many days away it is…). I feel like I’m on track do to this thing. My bike and swim fitness are each already world’s better than they were last season. My run fitness is better – I’m faster and fitter. I know that I have a lot to get done in the next five months – including somewhere around 280 hours of training – but I’m certain that I can do it and will keep improving my fitness and skills along the way. That enthusiasm is somewhat tempered by my hip. It’s still achy, and as a result I’m skipping a scheduled run for the first time in months. I’m disappointed that I’m skipping it, but I’m certain it’s the right move, and still hoping that it will be totally better soon. I feel comfortable enough with my run fitness to skip a run or two, even if at this point I think I’ve only done one real run since the Bronx half marathon nearly two weeks ago. Fortunately, I’ve spent a lot of time on the bike and in the pool.
This morning I did get up and get in a good ride on the trainer. It was a tougher trainer ride than I’m used to, with the middle 35 minutes at a pretty high rate of exertion. Thankfully, my hip didn’t bother me at all on the bike and it didn’t feel any worse after the ride than it had before the ride. Over the course of the day, it just tightens up. There are two areas that are giving me troubles – the less important one is the bruise I have from the impact of the fall. That’s on the side of my left leg starting about three inches below my waist. More troubling is the ache is that is in my groin and follows the joint where my leg fits into my hip. It’s a bit painful when I walk and worse when I try to run a few steps. It’s much, much better than it was on Sunday or Monday, so I’ll lay off it and hope for a quick recovery.
The other day Assaf put himself on the waiting list to run a 100 mile running race in Virginia this May. Insane. He had a good race at the JFK 50-Miler in November and is on track to kick ass at Boston in April. I have to admit that when he first decided to run the 50, I thought he was crazy, but over time I came to grips with it and began to think that maybe it wasn’t totally out of this world. I can guarantee you that I will never feel that way about the hundo.
Bike – February 22
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 118
Indoor ride