Running, Cycling and Too Busy

I am quite thankful that last week was a recovery week, as life has been incredibly busy. I guess this is best evidenced by my failure to write any entries. I have at least been trying to scan my favorite blogs so I can follow your adventures.

Following my 100K and 50 Mile runs in June (12th and 27th) I decided it was time to get some rest. My body rebounded very quickly from the runs, but I could feel the weariness setting in. So last week I only ran three short runs, 4, 7, and 8 miles respectively.

I also rode my bike to work last Friday, about 15 miles one way. I have been wanting to do this for a long time, but the lack of a shower facility at work always stopped me. Last week my coworker rode his bike to work, changing his clothes when he arrived, and no one seemed to be bothered with the sweaty clothes lying in the corner, so I decided to go for it.

The first half of the bike ride to work is on a long straight, paved bike path, so it went fairly quickly. But then I have to traverse Karlsruhe, a city of almost 300,000, this took a little longer. The last 5 kilometers were over a paved bike path and some gravel forest trails. I need around 65 minutes to reach work, just a few minutes longer than with train and streetcar.

On Tuesday after work, 5 members of my running club met at my house and we drove to Weingarten to try out my hilly running route. We warmed up with a relatively flat kilometer, then headed up the hill. About halfway up the first started walking, I could tell the group haven't done any hill training for awhile. I ended up modifying my route to take this in consideration. After about an hour and a half I brought five weary runners back to the cars, I'm curious if any of them will run again with me next week ;-)

The next morning (Wednesday) I rode my bicycle to work again. This time I had to fight a strong headwind, it was hard going at times. On the way home it was still windy, but this time it was in my favor, I made good time. Later, I joined my running club for a run...half of those that ran with me on Tuesday were missing...I hope they are all right ;-) No, actually they had other plans, one of the reason they ran with me on Tuesday.

I settled in with some of the normal group that I run with. As luck will have it, they wanted to run at a faster pace. By the halfway point I was really feeling the hill training from the night before, and the cycling to work and back from earlier in the day, but I managed to hang with the group. This morning my legs are a bit tired, a credit to some good training.

My next major race will be on July 19, the Hornisgrinde Marathon, a countryside marathon in the Black Forest. The first half of the marathon is mostly flat or downhill, but the second half is a steady climb, it's tough, especially if you expend all your energy during the first half. In any case it's a beautiful course, in the middle of the Black Forest, and only about 45 minutes away.