Sprint 411

Any Nextel/Sprint customers besides myself out there? They've got their Sprint 411, and this is MY sprint 411....

I've been really busy with work over the last week. Not much time for blogging, after work and training. Last weekend was busy. Saturday I woke and headed out to the Jim Klett Memorial 10K. What a beautiful race course along the bottom of the Cuyahoga Valley, over the Everett Covered Bridge and past Hale Farm. This was my first 10K, I guess; although I ran a 10K leg in the Akron Marathon last year. I felt good for this run, reeled in a few runners over the last mile and a half of rolling hills, and PR'd with a 42:18. Since this was my first run over 5 miles since my calf strain I planned on going pretty easy.....which I can have a difficult time with. I went a little harder than I had planned seeing how my first tri is this weekend but have recovered well this week. Saturday night I HAD to spin over to Todd's house to ride out with him on his new (to him) Fuji road bike's innagural ride. We took a nice spin from Highland Square down to the bottom of the valley and back up to the square. Total on the bike that eve was 25 easy spinning miles.

Sunday called for a nice, easy and somewhat long spin on the bike. So I headed out to Portage County on the Bike and Hike trail, did a loop on the country roads and spun back. Total for Sunday was 42 miles....easy, and I felt fine. I got off the bike, reached for the buckle on my shoes and OUCH!!!! SHOOTING PAIN UP MY BACK!!! I have had back problems for the better part of my life and thus far have been doing pretty well to give my back enough love since I've begun running and cycling. My back was sore for the rest of the evening and next day but was not spasming, so I decided to go on with my Monday workout....

Which was my first open water swim in Lake Erie. The tri club put together a wonderful newbies open water swim out on the West side (with accompanying dinner afterwards, thanks Sara!!!) and I got the feel for swimming in the lake. The water was VERY calm and clear. I could see the moss covered ivy on the floor, no matter the depth. Gotta love watching fish swim under you during your workout!!! The lake temperature was perfect, probably near the mid 70's. No back spasm's in the lake....thank goodness. I didn't drown, and I realized that I enjoy open water much, much better than the indoor pool. A visit to my chiropractor yesterday for a little help setting things straight and now I'm feeling almost back (no pun) to normal for my lunchtime swim @ Monroe Falls and evening spin with New Vision Cycling (my first with the group). Then.....

a mini-taper for my first triathlon, this Sunday. The purpose of this blog; my sprint 411. I'll be competing in the sprint distance at the Summitriathlon @ Monroe Falls metro park. 500M swim. 11M bike. 5K run. I hope to be under 1:10 and will be pretty dang happy if I break 1:05. I'll finally learn if I'm as slow of a swimmer as I think I am on Sunday. Good thing my run times keep improving.....