My original plan was to bike on Sunday, which was forecasted to be the warmer day. But Saturday was so nice, and the forecast for Sunday ended up being cooler and possibly rainy, so I decided to get my bike ride in on Saturday instead. As my first ride of the year, had a good time dusting off the gear.
Was able to expiriment with a new toy. I have an iPhone now, and MapMyFitness has a great iPhone app that uses the GPS device to track your route on the fly. I have elected not to use this for running because I don’t want to run with my iPhone, but I don’t have an issue with biking with my iPhone in my saddle pack. The app worked really well – you can see the route it mapped here. I’m really looking forward to using this on my bike rides. Routes on the bike tend to be really long, and sometimes it is hard to map out exactly where I went. This will make it much easier to estimate my total distance. Only problem is that the GPS drains the iPhone battery really quickly. Seems like it won’t run for more than 2 hours.
Anyway, had a great bike ride. Went up to Central Park and then did a full loop of the park. First bike ride since 10/15/08. The park was really crowded and I had to slow down a couple of times to let throngs of people cross the road. Even with the slowdowns, finished my loop in 20:02, my 2nd fastest of my training runs in the park.
On Saturday night, I was supposed to go to the gym to work out and swim in the pool. However, before my bike ride, I noticed a twinge in the left side of my back. It was not lower back, and not neck or shoulders, so I was not very concerned and went ahead with the bike ride. However, I will not lift weights or swim with any back problems. Still bothering me a little today, so skipped the gym again. In addition, my neck and shoulders were really sore from the bike ride yesterday. My next good chance to get to the gym is Thursday, so I’ll hopefully be all better by then.
Instead, I went for a nice run this afternoon. 6.2 miles – out and back down East River Park and part way down the East River path. It was warm, 61 degrees, so was able to run in shorts and short sleeve shirt. Took it easy and finished in 57:30.
Also had some good family time this weekend. Went to the New York Botanical Gardens this morning to see the orchid show. The orchids are from Brazil this year, and they were spectacular.
The challenge the next couple of weeks will be how to get going with swimming and biking without hurting myself, and reduce the need to take multiple days off between workouts. As best as I can tell, I need to work myself up to 6 workouts per week to properly prepare for an olympic distance triathlon, which doesn’t allow for many rest days. I refuse to push too hard and get injured early in training…
