Close Call

Came close to tossing my run for today. For those not in the Midwest, winter is a difficult time to stay focused and train. This morning (which is when I normally do my long workouts) it was cold (wind chill was 6 degrees) and the streets and sidewalks were icy. Not particularly conducive to running. Fortunately as the day went on things heated up enough to melt the thin layer of ice and snow and I was able to get out. My alternative was to go to Lifetime and run on the treadmill. Since today's run was 13 miles we're talking about a 2 hourish run on the treadmill. I am not a fan of the treadmill. A 2 hour workout on the treadmill is more of a mental workout then a physical workout for me.

I finished the run in good form and without a nagging soreness in my knee that has been bugging me for a few weeks. I suspected this was due to doing seated leg presses during my Tuesday/Thursday workouts. I cut those out a couple of weeks ago and the knee has gotten progressively better. Going to be staying away from the leg press machine from now on.

Eventually I'll start posting my workout schedule. Basically I do tempo work on Tuesdays, Interval work on Thursdays, and long workouts Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Monday is a day off as is Wednesday normally. My workout structure follows the same basic pattern (has for more than a year now):

Brick workout Tuesdays and Thursdays (done out of Lifetime Fitness)

• Pool Swim - 30 to 45 minutes
• Spin Class - 60 minutes
• Run - 30 to 45 minutes on treadmill or outside weather permitting)
• Weight Lifting - 20 minutes of circuit or dumbbells
• Core and Stretching - 10 minutes

Long workouts

• Fridays: Long swim - 2.5K to 3.5K
• Saturday: Long bike - 3 to 5 hours (though this time of year it's usually around 2 hours - couple of spin classes)
• Sunday: Long Run - 1.5 to 2.5 hours - either at the Poplar Creek Forest Preserve or any one of a number of run routes around town.

Ok - enough for tonight. Gotta go play hockey with the kids and then help them clean the hamster cages!