16.2 back-to-back-to-back

Tuesday RUN 4.98 miles on track

Wednesday RUN 5.16 miles around neighborhood

Thursday RUN 6.16 miles around Fo Pa

BIKE COMMUTE all three days, total about 33 miles

Whoop!  This is getting back to normal around here.

BE brought his workout -- on the straights we did high knees, butt kicks, grapevines, etc. This felt good and kept the HR under control.

Wednesday I just loopy-looped the 'hood, TGP and back I think.

Thursday I was all jazzed about being able to run the "entire loop", but the loop is under construction so we did the "new" 6.1 miles. So I still have that to build up to.

Not sure of weekend plans yet. The parents are coming down Saturday night with K and J. I'd like to get 8-10 miles more running in and a bike ride. I'd thought about trying to get out early today (Friday) to get a ride in but I'm still at work and won't get home until well after 6pm. That and it's dang windy out there. Yuck.

So my options are ride tomorrow morning, probably after a run so my legs are fresh for that. Then get up early 6am Sunday while every one still in bed to finish a run. 3+7? 7+3? 2+8? 8+2? Not sure. Heck even a 6/4 combo give me 10. 8 might be a bit long right now.

My legs feel good, I can feel some quad fatigue though. Maybe skip the bike? Reduce the bike? I have a 40-miler in Chesterfield on the brain.

I'm a few days in the SCD reset and feeling so much better already. No gut symptoms for a few days now!

Back to TGP ride! And back on statins

BIKE probably a squeak under 20 miles in 1:20
COMMUTE 9.4 miles

I started the chatter about the Monday and Tuesday events, but didn't seem to be getting any traction from the group to start so early. Happily BE sent an email last week to get the ball rolling, I jumped on for sure.

So up today at 4:30am for a 6am ride. Sun-up at 6:38. It rained all night so it was wet and foggy but wonderful and warm. I had all my lights ready to go, didn't have to fumble around and no running late. Arrived on time in the dark. With a somewhat upset tummy. Again.

BE and I rode conservatively the first loop, and sometime in the 2nd loop it was just all the sudden light out, BE said it was "like someone just hit the switch", haha! Still foggy with the mist under the flowery trees. So when BE cut out at 2.5 loops I just had to continue to finish the third.

This was my first Monday ride since last August, the day after Sunset Hills Tri and before the heart attack took me out for the season. So this was like my Return To Biking. Aside from the half century I did two days ago! I'm still so happy with that ride, some nice speed put on at the end. I've been craving that. I think I'm fast, but then I think about SO who probably coasts at 22 mph. And can do a decade (haha, if it isn't I think that should be a cycling term, you know, like a century?!) anway.... he could ride miles and miles + at that pace. I did 3-4. Patience. Baby steps, like he says to me.

Back at the house, still stomach upset and still ate a meal. I felt better energy but Oooooof the tummy upset still going and it's 8 hours later.

I'm slipping a bit on the SCD reset, not 100% committed yet. But after days like today, I could  get closer to 100%. I ate oats and some rice, of course, because I just can't learn.

I got a reply back from the lipidologist -- pretty much said that my cholesterol being that high on a plant-based diet suggests "genetic predisposition" and yes I should start a statin regimen. Ordered a creatinine kinase blood test to look for muscle damage, awaiting results. Do I start the statin tonight? On the 8th of 8pril?

22.2 run miles this week, I made it and so did the Garmin

RUN 6 miles in just under 58 mins, ave 44 bpm and 9:38m/m

Was Gonna bike, but thought yesterday had enough extra on it to make up for it. Geez, it's April I don't need to be breaking all my benchmark goals so fast, haha!

Yesterday the Garmin started a Low Battery cry near the end of the bike. Today the same but it held out for the run and didn't die until later in the afternoon.

Another late start, same as yesterday just wasting time around the house and eating things to upset my stomach on the run. Today was Go! St Louis Marathon and this year they looped through TGP in miles 14-18. I ran counter to the course on the roads or trails along the course. They looked so tired it seemed, this would have been 9-10am so yeah 2+ hours into a run. Slouched posture, low turnover, walking. And it was relatively warm, the heat had to be dragging them down too.

But back to my run, awesome! Especially after yesterday's run and ride. Starting to feel like normal again, busy hours and good fatigue.

Met TG, EC, and TH for lunch in Chesterfield. Again it way BYO with my tuppie of chicken and carrot. Wasn't hungry, still stomach upset, but ate anyway. Why?!

NUMERICS  8 hours and 27 mins, doesn't include commute time
BIKE 83.3 miles
RUN 22.2 miles
COMMUTE 39.6 miles

Still not swimming, since early February. No urge yet.

But having thoughts about doing IMWI 2020 --  ten years after IMWI 2010 where this whole thing started!

50 miler!! on the MCTs

RUN 3 miles in 29 mins, ave 153 bpm!
BIKE 50 miles in 2 hours 52 mins, ave 125 bpm

And in that order, run in the morning then to work then to the bike. So I didn't start biking until 1pm or so. One of those mornings.

Up early but diverted to prepping meals, I bought chicken thighs and eggs last night after the fish fry. Time for my new Instant Pot to prove its worth! It did, wonderfully, but it kept me from running until kinda later. I ran to Grand to Cherokee then home. Did I know this was a straight up 3 miler? I forgot? Anyway, my HR was way too high for the effort. So home to drink more.

Then to work, and oh it's GORGEOUS outside and SO is sending picts from his ride and oh I'm HURRYING. Once done I was torn between the MCT and Chesterfield area. Something familiar? Or something new, with hills? Chose the former, off to Culvers.

I didn't have a specific plan in mind other than ride. My stomach was still upset and on the way to the Shoehouse trailhead I was burping up that damned rice I also bought last night. Yuck. But that settled and eventually I settled in. My new pink jersey and gloves and arm sleeves, felt so new and neat! And fast!

Out n back then passed the truck to see how much further I'd go. I thought maybe 40 total, but I kept redoing my math until I'd hit 50. I was feeling a bit fatigued but great overall. I wasn't eating much (urp, had rice so I was OK). I had a tailwind going north so I had good speed and low HR. On the way back south I slowed with higher HR. This fun data to have, but it doesn't tell me much this early. Need another week or so.

Then on the final leg, around 44 miles I went full press with Frea. How fast could I go? And good did it feel?! AWESOME 22-24.7 mph up to 48.5 miles, excepting road crossings. HOOOOOOO but oh my HR was getting up into the 150s. But I didn't care.

Some quad fatigue after this, might be riding to quad dependent. Yah think?! No other aches or pains or sore spots. Nutrition was OK with just a string cheese and a clemmie. Oh and that stupid rice.

I looked up last year's data -- I did my first 50 miler on the same course in late May in 3 hours. I'm ahead of schedule.

Oh wow how did I not update all week?! And SCD Reset. Again. New Moon.

Wednesday BIKE 1 hour and about 17 miles, indoors
     RUN 3 miles in 28 mins
     COMMUTE 9.4 miles
Thursday RUN 5 miles in 49 mins. ave 137 bpm
     COMMUTE 9.4 miles
Friday COMMUTE only 2 miles from Fo Pa

I'll leave the weekend for its own post.

Not sure how the week got away from me? Busy at work, but geez, so much to say. Now I don't remember as much.

Wednesday indoors ride due to weather. Then a quick run afterwards. This was a back-to-back run, felt great!

Thursday a back-to-back-to-back run sequence, kinda wondering how it would turn out, but it's OK and no issues. EW and I did what we thought might be a longer run by the Jewel Box but it turned out to be all the same in the end. I had the HRM on, so I have data from that. Higher than expected? My stomach was upset in this run, pained and bloated by the end.

Friday...what did I do Friday....oh yeah. I think it was raining, or post-rain muddy? And my hip muscles hurt. And I needed to be home in time to join TV and MP for the mexican fish fry. So I drove in and biked up to campus.

In regards to the fish fry, there was nothing I could eat :( Happily I brought in my own foods. :)

My gut and diet are all out of whack. Ever since the health screening cholesterol result showing my serum cholesterol going on a vegan-esque diet I've been discouraged. Suddenly the gut issues from the veg and new foods didn't seem so tolerable. Friday I fired off an email to the lipidologist. It took me awhile to write this message, because I have so many questions but that's not the forum for questions. And I needed to accept having to go back to taking the statins before I could ask anything. Because I could expect that would be the answer, and why ask the question if you aren't going to accept the answer?

So I'm starting an SCD Reset to get back in to that diet again. I like to start things on moon days, so here we go.

Run 3 miles, nah why not 4, oops that's 5, oopsie again that's 5.2!

BIKE about 16 or 17 miles in 1 hour
RUN 5.2 miles in 49 mins
COMMUTE 9.4 miles

My Tuesday morning bricks continue for now, and maybe continue for awhile. Later in the season they sometimes get replaced with a track workout. But since it's "early" for track workouts, I'll be doing bricks for at least a few more weeks.

The bike was WU then 2x through of 8-on, 2-rest, 2-on, 8-rest. This went fast! Nice breakdown of times and enough distraction.

The run was 'supposed' to be 3 miles according to both of my plans. But I headed out the Lemp to enjoy the sun coming up over the river and instead of turning back early I continued on to Lafayette. Hence the extra mileage. And I didn't have my HRM on (still on my to-do list!) so I can only report that it felt right in the middle of moderate effort. Eh...maybe a little on the easy-moderate. All felt great in the end, and later in the day I'm feeling it a little in my feet. Yes!! 

Tomorrow was 'supposed' to be 4 and Thursday 7. Gonna modify. If original mileage was 3+4+7, then... maths... could do 4+5 over next two days?

8pril 2019

COMMUTE 9.4 miles

In 2016 I did an 8pril challenge, I knew I did a challenge, but only just now looked back and saw that it had a name. So now I'm doing a 2019 8pril challenge too.

8 goals for 8pril:
1. Get back on track for cholesterol. End of March showed my total up to 185 (from 111 in Feb) and my HDL up to >100 (from 77 in Feb). I've been letting go on this and eating more saturated fat. I'm doing egg whites but not yolks. This also gets addressed below, but I want to be more mindful of the choices.
2. Start tracking more accurate. For goal #1, keep track of SF and cholesterol intake so as to be sure of what I'm eating. Not guessing.
3. Stop the processed. I relaxed my settings on this and it's getting away from me. I'm using pre-prepped foods a little more than I like to for meals. So instead of a real meal I'm just noming instant potatoes, for example.
4. Introduce new foods. In place of the lazy foods, find new good ones. Like the recent addition of canned salmon. More like that.  
5. Reduce reliance on D for protein. My protein sources this past few weeks has been cottage cheese, yogurt, milk, and pudding. Huh? Vary it, yo.
6. Less Blerch time - no news or Reddit. Blerch has been taking too much time, some days 3hours! WTF. Get it under two, and use the limits.
7. Fend of the pairing of M and the B. They been winning. They been winning lots this past 2 weeks. Once it started I couldn't stop. It stops now.
8. Get to RW. That's really what it's all about.