Week #6. 50 Shades of Legos, T-rex poop and hibernating bears

Mon 2/2. Easy bike :45 on trainer...while reading Fifty Shades of Grey on the Kindle. ;)

Tues 2/3. nothing!

Wed 2/4. Ran 9 miles total @ 9:00-9:30 pace, 4.5 miles to get to Team RWB run club and then ran the 4.5-mile NIH loop with them. It was 52* and shorts weather! Always a huge turnout when it's warmer, me included!

Thurs 2/5. Biked 1:00 on the trainer, finishing the Fifty Shades trilogy. Yes, it can be quite awkward biking while ready such a steamy book. Eh heh heh! I have no doubt the movie version (rated R) is going to be WAY tamer, because the book isn't even NC-17, it's more like XXX! But I'm kind of glad they made it a toned-down version, because I don't imagine it would be comfortable watching a total porno in a movie theater with 200+ other people. Right? Unless you're into that kind of thing...

Speaking of which, have you seen the Lego version of the trailer yet? Everything is awesome about it!

Fri 2/6. Ran 5 miles down Sligo Creek trail after work. My legs felt tired-ish, or maybe it's feeling the emotional effects of the last week.

Sat 2/7. I took a day off just for kicks. There's been a lot to do as we are planning our move, so we ended up heading into DC and later Arlington to enjoy the sights, chill out and visit my favorite dinosaurs one last time! (I love dinosaurs, can you tell? I'm really excited about the new Jurassic Park movie coming out this summer too!)

dinosaur POOP!

Sun 2/8. Ran 11.5 miles @ 8:45-9:00 pace on Rock Creek Trail going north into Rockville. It was actually 63 degrees, so another shorts and t-shirt run in February!! I guess this is my last long run before the Austin half marathon next Sunday. I'm as ready as I'll ever be... and feel smart enough to acknowledge that it's ok I'm not in peak shape in mid-February.

I really like this old race weight/nutrition article that Macca wrote as he does a great job explaining how it is actually detrimental to be at "race weight" all year round. (He also mentions training briefly under my old coach Brett and his weight philosophies, which I can definitely add my 2 cents to in a separate post one day...TBB untold stories!) Some quotes I like:

"In my off-season I would always try to add about 7 percent to my optimal racing weight. We believed that carrying weight was actually healthy, and that the body needed a rest from the aggressive “fighting” weight. We decided in the summer of 2005 to add about 8 percent body weight and have a long off-season, a bit like a hibernating bear. Boxers have been doing this for years."

"Skinny does not always mean faster. We all have an optimal race weight, and we all have to find that. You can feel it, and you know when you are there. Be attentive to your training and record things when you’re feeling good. Do not get caught up in the mind-set that lighter is always better."

And this is why I ate this deliciousness last night...! Because #offseason! #hibernatingbear!

Chicken & Waffles :D

Weekly totals: Bike 1:45, ran 4:00 (25.5 miles!) = 5:45 hours total. Yay!

So yes, I am being like Macca: having a long off-season, putting on some weight like a hibernating bear, and not stressing out about it. But once we get done with our move, I'll be happy to get some more volume in (and more consistency), because right now I get really wiped out just from running 10-13 miles on Sundays. Not so ideal when I need to be able to run that fast, at the end of a swim AND bike for a half ironman!