12K

Yesterday: 40 min elliptical (a bit crunched for time).

***

Today: 12K (7.4 miles). Weather: -7C (19F), sunny, calm. The inversion is building, so it was a bit hazy.

I met Stevie at Liberty Park for a good 12K together. His dad took some video of us in the middle of it, and I'll post it once he uploads it and e-mails me the link. Jim wanted to see some video to help with technique, which I'm happy about, though already I can tell it has improved since he gave me some suggestions the other day. Stevie was kind enough to give me some pointers today as well (arm stuff) and I helped him out the same way. No local coach = we have to look out for each other!

I was SO glad to have Stevie along. I was slowish today, and my legs got tired at the end, but I could tell my technique was a lot better and I had none of the weird soreness at all. The last few km I struggled to keep a reasonable speed, sinking to 6:45/km at times, but Stevie kept me entertained with stories from the racewalking camp in Texas, which helped me a lot. I was pretty worried that today would be really hard, but it wasn't that bad! It's been a pretty good week, aside from Wednesday's failed attempt at a 3K fartlek. In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't do it, as I probably would have made the piriformis worse, and as it is, it is getting better now. I tend to err on the side of pushing myself too hard sometimes, and I'm trying to learn that sometimes less is more.

Total time: 1:17:51 (fastest at that distance or greater since 15K Nationals in May, believe it or not!) for the 12K with ave HR 150. I was reading over my blog to see when the last time was that I did that distance that fast, and WOW what a terrible year I had. I knew that, but it was good to be reminded of how bad I felt and to realize that even though I know I still have a VERY long way to go to be back in shape, at least I'm a lot better than I was, and I'm on the road to recovery.

In other news, I went to Weight Watchers today and the scale was not kind. OK, well, considering the holidays, it could have been worse. I weighed in at 163.2, which is 0.2 lb less than on December 14. Still - I am 8 pounds over my goal weight (gulp!) and about 15 lb over my racing weight. Time to get it together. No more excuses. I talked to my leader, and she suggested I try the Simply Filling technique for two weeks and see how that goes. Basically, you confine yourself to Weight Watchers Power Foods in amounts that leave you feeling satisfied, and you are also permitted to have 7 points of "indulgences" daily. I think this is just what I need to get back on track.

Garmin data here.