1-09-11

A couple of firsts last week have me in a pretty good mood. A few days ago I decided to check out the new city aquatic center and I am glad I did. I noticed that by the end of the evening I was usually the last person in the pool which enabled me to do a pretty cool "Mike" workout. I had about thirty minutes left and I had already swam my hour workout so I decided to run in the lazy river. I ran against the current for about 25 minutes. The lifeguards didn't seem to mind and I wanted to make my 5 dollar admittance fee count and count it did! I used some crazy lower leg muscles that I didn't even know I had and biggest thing of all is that it was fun. My other first came in the form of a 6am workout! First time in a long long time and it too felt pretty darn good. The reason for my early workout was due to the fact we were invited to a happy hour party and I knew if I didn't do something early then I would be writing a big goose egg in my log. Those goose eggs really bother me and usually don't happen unless its the day before or after a pretty big race. Currently I am on a 20 day workout streak and double digit training hours for two weeks in a row. I know it doesn't sound like much, but going from 7 up to double digits really makes me tired for a while, until I get used to it again. I came close to three firsts in a single week, but happy hour wiped out any chance of making it to hot yoga at 8 am. I was a little bummed about that, but we are going this Tuesday afternoon. Last season I decided to stop taking intentional days off each week (from training) because by the end of the year it would reveal 53 days off which would equate to around 100 hours a year..off. When I think of it this way it's clear to me to train daily. My other "Mike" workout of the week was a 2x up A mountain with a pair of 5lb hand weights. I like to run with the hand weights in the winter months for a complete body workout or in this case to keep me running nice-n-ez while working off my happy hour hang over;) So far I have managed to run for 2 hrs with the hand weights this season, but I admit that one left my arms dead!

Next week has me thinking about giving the Rock and Roll Phoenix Half Marathon a go. Take care and think about giving something new a try... it might just be the funnest thing you've done in a while.

Party on...and train hard