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Yoga

What a tiring past few days. I am finishing up in my microbiology class and I have an online final to take before wed. Karel and I went to my parents house on Fri evening so that we could attend the Gearlink Cycling team, Holiday party, which was on Sat. The party was awesome and it was so great to be around all our close friends. We haven't them since our wedding so it was nice to catch up. Plus, as a married couple, Karel and I can know get great advice from all our "older" friends (I am one of the youngest on the Gearlink team).
Because I knew I would be doing a bit of cycling this past weekend, I had to think ahead with my workouts. Thursday morning I did my normal morning swim and it was tough. However, I had one of my best workouts in the pool and that was great because the past few weeks of swim workouts have been kinda crappy for me. The main set was 4 x 100's, 3 x 100's, 2 x 100's, 1 x 100's and you get faster with each set. I started out at 1:30 and I thought that I picked a good cycle but then when I got to the 3 x 100's on 1:25, I was feeling the burn. The 2 x 100's were fast on 1:20 but i made them. However, I didn't make the last 100 on 1:15. I think I came in on 1:18.
After the swim I dried myself off, dried my hair, changed clothes and headed home. I put on my cycling gear and headed on my bike with Karel and Jeff. I only joined them for 15 miles and I ended up getting in a good 27 mile ride. I was tired after I got home.
Because I wanted to ride on sat I did my normal saturday morning long run on Friday. It was kinda weird heading out for a long run with lots of cars on the road but I went to my favorite roads to run and look at nice houses. The roads I run on are the same as the Jacksonville marathon (12/21!) so it is nice to have those roads covered in my training runs.
I had my radio to entertain me but I went for my first REAL long run. 2 hours and 18 minutes. I was surprised that I felt ok for the run. No bonking, no brain fatigue and no cramps. My legs did feel really tired around 1:30 and I wanted to take my 30 min short cut home. However, I kept going and stayed focused.
The rest of Friday was really tiring for me. I had to pack, clean our place, get the car ready and of course, take Campy to the park to play with Annabell. Lenore and I took them first to PetSmart to walk around and then we went to the baseball field. They had so much fun running after each other. It was just too cute to see them tire themselves out.
Karel and I headed out at 7pm and after 4 hours in the car, we arrived at my parents.
Sat morning we were a bit rushed as we were riding to the CVS for the Gearlink ride. I thought it would take us an hour to get there from my parents but with Karel pulling me at a fast 21 mph in the wind, we made it in 1 hour and 1 minute. I was more than warmed up after a quick 20 miles.
The 50 mile ride was great and I was so happy to ride with the Gearlinkers. They are so organized and smart when they ride and of course, we have a lot of fun talking to each other. It was a recovery week for them so I could actually talk to people and not have to suffer and hope for red lights after being dropped. There was no getting dropped for me.
Saturday evening was the Gearlink party and after another late night, Sunday morning came quickly. Karel headed off to San Antonio (florida) for his favorite hill ride (he misses that ride so much!). I went out by myself for a 3 hour ride but after realizing that I would get head wind (and mean HEAD WIND!!!) all the way home, I barely made it home in one piece with 40 miles. I averaged 13 mph for about 15 miles on the way home and I felt like I was climbing mountains. That's ok, you can't beat the wind and it will just make you stronger.
After the ride yesterday I was pretty toasted. I thought about swimming this morning but instead I stayed in bed and told my mom I would do Yoga with her at 11.
I don't think I have stretched since April. Yes, I know it is horrible and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I was SO tight when the class started and the class started really slow. I wanted to just walk out after the first 20 minutes. I was so bored and just watching the clock. That is just me and my go-go-go personality. But, at around 30 minutes the class became a lot more challenging. I couldn't believe how tight I was and how good it felt to stretch. Especially my tight, tight, tight hip flexers. When I left the class I felt so relaxed and clean. It was a great feeling.
I really advise everyone to keep up with stretching. Your muscles work according to your range of motion and if your muscles are tight, you don't allow the muscles to move properly. That is advise to myself and I think Karel and I will start stretching more.