Since last Monday

Wow it's been a week since I've blogged. Easy to let time pass when there's not so much to report.

I cross-trained a good bit last week, except for Thursday when I warmed up with Adriana on the track for 1600m before deciding a 3km fartlek was not happening for me. Adriana did a very nice fast one, though - she did 16:47!!! She is improving a lot, and would improve more if she had time to work out more frequently.

Saturday I intended to do some racewalking, while we were camping at Yellowstone National Park (we were there Friday-Sunday). However, when I woke I felt awful and knew it would be a waste of time. I contented myself with a bit of light hiking around the geyser basins.

Sunday I woke feeling a bit better and decided to do an easy 5K. Yellowstone is at altitude (7700ft, about 2360-2408m on my walk, according to my Garmin). The campground had gently rolling hills - enough to notice and affect my walk, for sure. I still managed 31:55 for 6:23/km with ave HR 148. Not great, but not awful. My legs hurt A LOT though. Seriously painful. Add in an 8-hr leisurely drive home through the Tetons, and it was not a pleasant leg experience. Garmin data here.

Yesterday I cross-trained on the elliptical and rode my bike to work. My legs felt a little better, but not great. I did an experiment though. I lifted some weights with my upper body only to see how my upper body muscles respond to training. Will they get as painful as my legs? It's mostly my glutes that hurt, so I wonder. It's just so odd. Anyway, I did dumbbell bench presses (only 25 lb each arm...weak!), rows on the machine (60 lb), upright rows (20 lb each arm), military press (17.5 lb each arm), bicep curls (15 lb each arm), and tricep extensions (12 lb each arm). 3 sets of 8-12 reps each exercise.

Today, not surprisingly, my arms are sore. Not ridiculously so, but definitely sore. We'll see how I recover. Normally I'm sore for up to 48-60 hrs post-workout for lifting, so we'll see.

My legs felt decent this morning - almost pain-free! - so I decided to go for a little walk. I did a nice 6K around Liberty Park, and the first 5K felt not-too-bad, and I got to 5K in 30:11. That was decent! But then my legs crapped out and the last km was a tough slog up the slight incline home. I finished in 36:52 for 6:09/km with ave HR 156 (yeah, I was pushing). Garmin data here. My legs feel OK right now - sore, but not too terrible. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I'd like to do a 3K fartlek Thursday if possible.

Oh, and I rode my bike to work today, after doing the 6K. That might not have been smart, but I had some GI distress after my walk and hung around the house too long trying to calm my insides, so I missed the bus and had to get to work somehow!