Crap

Its been a crappy week, although I’ll concede that it flew by.

Monday, I ran with the Delco crew. I was feeling crappy, and luckily, the only people who showed for the run were some of the slower folks, and one or two guys recovering from some lung weekend runs, so banged out an easy three miles with them. Tuesday, I took a day off. Wednesday, I started feeling poop-ish as soon as I arrived at the office. I had a massive headache, and I felt that little tickle in the back of my throat that’s usually the early-warning of an oncoming cold. I bagged out of work early, went home, and slept for two hours. I then slept for another 8 hours going into Thursday. Yesterday, I felt fine, and I went to the Thursday night Delco run over at the Springfield Library. I was only one of three people in attendance. The other two guys are faster than me, and I was kind of regretted showing up. Luckily, Bill declared that he was doing a short three miler, and Steve usually takes it easy if he has no one to race. We kept the pace comfortable ~ 8:40 min/mi. Bill cut out around three miles; Steve and I did another mile and a half for a total of 4.5.

Today, I feel like crap again. Both Heather and I didnt sleep very well last night. I think I got four, maybe five hours of sleep. I felt fine going into the morning, and then I hit a wall around 2;00 this afternoon. I can feel that tickle again in my throat. I think I just need another good night of sleep. My knee has been giving my some pain in the last two days as well. I am not sure if this wet weather has anything to do with it. I have stretching (not as much as I should), and I havent been doing alot of miles.

I would like to get a long run in this weekend, even though the training plan outlines this week as a “scale-back” week – no long runs scheduled for the weekend. But that’s for sissies. I would like to get in at least 10 at a very minimum. Originally, I was thinking about heading over to the Springfield library tomorrow morning and running the 7.5 mile course with the 7:30 group, and adding in the “add-on” leg of about 2.5 miles for an even 10, and then following that up with the 9:00 three miler, for 13. I am hesitant to join the 7:30 group because they tend to push the pace a bit. I should know because I did a bunch of these Saturday morning runs last year when I was training for the Philly Marathon and we were moving petty good on a lot of those runs. The Running Club is doing a long run on Sunday morning down in the City, but I can’t make that due to a scheduling conflict.

It’s been nearly two weeks since I have been on the mountain bike. I am getting a little antsy. This is great and all that, but nothing beats the bike. I got a new (used) fork from Ebay, and I would like to get that on the bike this weekend. I went the used fork route because I am not prepared to install a new fork on a bike that isnt worth anything. I have put forks on my bike before on my own, and its not rocket science, but I think I might need a new headset, which is something I cant do on my own. A headset installation requires something called a head press. I dont own one of those, and I am not going to go out and buy one just to install one measly headset. If I determine that I need a new headset, I’ll run the bike over to my ship in Upper Darby and have Frank slap one in.

I normally go to a shop in Swarthmore. They are located less than three miles from me, and they do good work – sometimes. I used to go to a guy named Frank Havnoonian over in Upper Darby. Frank is an old schooler. I have been going to Frank off and on for nearly 15 years, starting way back when I was still living at home in Briarcliffe. before I got married, I lived in Upper Darby for a short spell, and I would frequent Frank’s shop since he was located less than two miles form my apartment complex. Frank has been around for ages. He was at one point the team mechanic for Team Saturday, back in the 80’s/90’s. Frank is great, and he’s cheap. Frank’s the go to guy. Not that I dont trust the shop in Swarthmore, but about two months ago, I brought the bike in for a bottom bracket and a headset adjustment. I am not convinced they did the headset adjustment properly. I am not going to take any chances – I am taking it to Frank. He’ll straighten sh*t out. There are two mechanics that I think work miracles- Frank Havnoonian and Rob V formerly of my old sponsor, Mainly Bikes. Rob got out of the wrenching biz when the shop closed and he now works for Jamis. He’s been my Jamis hookup for the last couple of years. Thats why Dom and I have ridden nothing but Jamis for the past ten years, and why most of the old crew rode Jamis or Yeti exclusively, Anyway, the fork install should be a fun little weekend project. Hopefully, this new (used) fork will solve the clanking problem I am having with the current setup. If the clanking is still there after I slap this thing in, then I know its the headset, which would confirm my suspicions that my shop half-a$$ed the adjustment.

Date: 8-24-2009
Scheduled Workout: 
Rest/ Cross Training

Actual Workout:
Easy run of 3.12 miles at a 9:20 pace

Course:
The Delco RRC Monday Night loop that meets the Ridley YMCA. Flat course, kind of boring, low traffic.

Workout Nutrition:
N/A

Post workout Eats:
I think I might have pigged out. Cannot remember.

Weight:
Not sure.

Comments:
Like I had mentioned above, I was a bit tired and I ran easy with some of the slower crew from the club. I got home and did my stretching routine. Knee was feeling great

Date: 8-25-2009
Scheduled Workout: 
Easy run; 5 miles @ 9:13 pace

Actual Workout:
Rest; I more or less swapped out Monday for Tuesday, although I didnt do the scheduled distance for Tuesday’s workout.

Date: 8-27-2009
Scheduled Workout: 
Easy 5 miles at 9:13

Actual Workout:
4.5 miles at 8:39 pace. I traded some distance for pace.

Course:
The Delco RRC Monday Night loop that meets the Ridley YMCA. Flat course, kind of boring, low traffic.

Workout Nutrition:
N/A

Post workout Eats:
I had a very late dinner. I had a turkey burger (no cheese); some sugar free pudding;

Weight:
Not sure.

Comments:
Like I had mentioned above, I was a bit tired and I ran easy with some of the slower crew from the club.

Date: 8-28-2009
Scheduled Workout: 
Rest

Actual Workout:
Rest; see above – I feel like crap