Week 20 - Gym-athon

T-minus 3 weeks and counting now. The cycle of nerves that I have experienced since registering for the marathon has been notable:

•I was scared 's'less in November.
•December and January that fear was turned into motivation.
•February and March were filled with ups and downs between decent race performances, and battling shin-splints.
•Now I've come full circle, and April's emotions closely match those of November.

I find myself lying awake at night wondering what I got myself into, and what led me to register in the first place (other than Jose's jab about Oprah and P-Diddy being able to pull it off). There's no single answer to the question. Bravado, testing my physical abilities as well as my wits, clinging to youth, wanting to achieve a long term goal, the BSIM being a world-class event, and insanity all played some part in the decision.

I put in some decent mileage again this week and my legs are feeling strong. I had planned on doing a 3 hour cardio circuit at the gym on Friday in an attempt to keep my HR above 160 for the duration. That workout was shifted to Saturday when scotched-up Keith agreed to go for a 5 mile run with the MIIS running club. Grad students are fast. They took it pretty easy on me too. Despite half the run being on Del Monte Beach, our pace was somewhere around the 7 min/mile mark.

My cardio circuit had another setback on Saturday when I neglected to notice that the sports center closed at 5. I was only able to get in 2 1/2 hours of the scheduled workout consisting of 20 min treadmill, 20 min elliptical, and 20 min bike (repeat). I forced myself to maintain at least 160 bpm heart rate while eating/drinking consistently. All systems were functional throughout. The last 10 minutes were a slight test, but I pushed through to keep up pace. Sunday brought very little muscle pain. I will try to get the full 3 hour circuit in next Friday before beginning to back off leading into race-day.

-Mar 29: Sparticus circuit, 20 min on treadmill, and 30 min on bike.

-Mar 30: 1 hour yoga during lunch. Sparticus circuit, 20 min on treadmill, and 30 min on bike after work.

-Mar 31: 1 hour run on soccer fields in riverfront park.

-Apr 1: 1 hour yoga.

-Apr 2: 5 miles with MIIS running club along coastal trail and back to campus along Del Monte Beach. Fast, 55 deg, headwinds on return, and had a decent hill.

-Apr 3: 2.5 hr cardio circuit at gym. Three 20 min treadmill sessions, and two 20 min bike and elliptical sessions. Sweatiest and probably stinkiest guy at gym today.