So… I’m kind of in a taper place now, with the race being two weekends away. I feel like I kind of called it in this round of training. Overall, I’m disappointed in my effort – and my knee was definitely giving me trouble again on my run Sunday (I iced it afterward and attempted to stay off it, despite having TOO MANY STEPS in my house). I plan to keep it mostly rested and not do any more long runs until after race day. I see a lot of spinning and yoga in my immediate future!

MONDAY: Rest Day.

TUESDAY: First travel team practice of the season (2 hours), and it was moderately intense. We worked on drills aimed at keeping us square and using (or not using) our partners/wall; the practice was book-ended by some fun team-building activities, so we could learn more about our teammates. I think I’ve played with everyone at some point in my derby tenure, but it’s always a good exercise to remember where everyone is at this moment and the individual struggles each has experienced. While most of us have our own goals, this type of exercise is really important for future goal-setting for the team overall.

WEDNESDAY: Joined up with my run//yoga//run//club and ran 3.23 miles at average 10:10 pace. I did not take total advantage of the amazing weather to run in shorts — I was definitely dressed too warm! Nonetheless, what an incredible night outdoors. Yoga, meanwhile, was SUPER sweaty and destroyed my confidence and energy. Namaste, n’at.

THURSDAY: [walked to/from work] Ended up working late and had to miss practice. Yeah, I’m that guy already.

FRIDAY: [walked to work] Date night — dinner at Poros and tickets to Cabaret! Did I work out in the morning like I intended to with my clothes all set out? NOPE.

SATURDAY: Date day! I probably got some bonus points for walking around Sewickley for a couple hours (though negated by all the chocolate, I’m sure).

SUNDAY: Long run day! Yes, I got my ass out of bed on a Sunday morning to join SCRR for 9 miles. I had 11 on my training plan, so I planned for my usual 1-mile warm-up to the marathon garage and 1 mile back home after the group run. I had a great pack on this run, despite being really unhappy about the course taking us up Penn past Children’s Hospital. Anyone in Pittsburgh knows that’s an awful incline. But one of the guys enjoyed singing, so that was a fun way to pass the time from the mid-point (“Ohhhhhhh, we’re halfway there…”) to the end of the run (we need some work on our lyrics for “I like big butts” and “Space Cowboy” though).

Mile 1 (1.13): 9:54 average pace
Group run (9.24 miles): 10:19 average pace [Splits: 10:12 (1) / 9:55 (2) / 11:26 (3) / 10:04 (4) / 10:31 (5) / 10:03 (6) / 10:09 (7) / 10:20 (8) / 10:06 (9)] Run home (1.14): 9:56 average pace

TOTAL CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: 2 (2 hours of skating; 1 hot yoga session)
TOTAL RUNS: 2
LONGEST RUN: 11.51 miles
TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 14.74 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 78.64 miles