Two Wheel Blogs

Countdown to the Tracks 'n Treads Biathalon: 3 days

Today, I spent about two hours riding my cyclocross bike around the north (unpaved) section of Queeny Park. The weather was beautiful, and I had time to kill between work and teaching tonight. On Tuesday, I'd brought my bike to work so Boz could take it home to give it the once over before the race this Saturday. I picked it up from him today, so I was ready to ride.

I worked hills today -- even though, with only three days until the race -- I may not get the benefit of the workout. I don't know. I figure "Any riding is good riding," so I hit the hills. I did not pass up a chance to climb. If I rolled down a hill, I made a point of doubling back and climbing it. I can't count how many climbs I did today. All I know is I left no hill unclimbed. It was a good ride.

The Plan

• Thursday: It's supposed to rain. If I do anything, I may run a couple of slow miles in Forest Park, just to keep my legs moving. But I may just take it as a rest day.
• Friday: I know I should take this as a rest day, but I need to know which route we're riding: the single-track trails or the alternate route. So, after work, I plan to take my cyclocross bike and my son's mountain bike out to SIUE to see which route they have marked. Then I'll ride whichever one is the race course.
• Saturday: Race, then head to Edwardsville High School to watch the Southwest Relays.

The Milestone

Yesterday, I ran did my last run on the cross country course before the race. I know, I should have just gone out to the Nickel Plate and run a couple miles on its mostly flat surface. The time for building up is over. I should be tapering to the race.

But I couldn't. The Edwardsville Tigers and the Belleville West Maroons were doing a warm-up meet to get ready for the Southwest Relays on Saturday. I wanted to get there as soon as I could, so it was expedient to run the course. My goal was to run about an 8:330/mile pace, and I pretty much hit that, finishing in 26:02.

More important, when I got home to log my run, I found that the day's 5K were miles #122, #123, and #124 of the year for me. That's one more mile than I ran last year. Granted, last year I didn't start trying to run until August, and that was from a dead start. I ran 0 miles in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2009, a year after my knee surgery, I managed to return to running, getting in 66 runs in the last five months of the year, good for 123 miles. And now, three months into 2010, I've surpassed that total.

I have no idea if I'll be able to keep this up. I don't know if my surgically repaired knee will continue to be (knock wood) injury-free. I don't know I'll continue to regain strength in my leg, to smooth out my stride, and to get a little bit faster. It is too soon to know any of this. What I do know is that, as long I feel able, I will keep lacing them up and going out to run as long as I can, as best as I can. And come Saturday, I'll be back on the Start line, ready to see what I'm capable of. I can't wait to find out.