Nine on the Ninth

A Valentine's Virtual Race Report

The story behind the story...

Every year, my son's club holds an Icebreaker tournament for the Academy. The Academy is made up of younger kids who want to be more competitive than normal recreational soccer. Sometimes, the weather is brutal. Two years ago, we had rain, sleet, and freezing temps. This year, it was much nicer. The temps were in the very low sixties, but we had some pretty strong winds coming through Georgia.

I had wanted to get up and go for a bike ride before my son's first game at 11 AM, but I just couldn't drag myself out of the warm bed and out into the cold. I told myself I could ride after Matthew's last game of the day. We made it to the fields and Matthew had a great game, winning 1-0. After the game, I reffed a couple of games. The first game was a line, and the second game was a center. It was good getting these games under my belt as I am woefully out of practice.

Matthew's second game was another barn buster. He lost 1-0 in the final minutes of the game. By that time it was really getting cold and windy. We had invited David to come over for dinner on Friday, as he was in town for training again. We hurried home, then ran to the grocery store for food. When we got back, David was sitting outside the house. Matthew, evidently, hasn't learned the proper way to treat guests :-)

We had a really nice dinner and enjoyed having David over. As Dee Dee and I were tearing up the kitchen, David asked if our dinner time always involved a production of this magnitude. I laughed. Evidently, he hasn't gotten the word that I am the world's messiest cook!! In truth, we added one extra pan to the stove to cook the extra food we bought, but Dee Dee was making a separate side for herself. After dinner, we hung out for a while, chatting and watching ESPN. Dee Dee MADE us eat dessert. As the night progressed, it became evident that I had gotten sun and wind burned at the fields. I was feeling the affects of the weather on my face and the rest of me too for that matter.

After Dave left, Dee Dee and I went right to bed. I was wondering how and when I was going to get my race in. It kind of depended on how Matthew did in the tournament on Sunday. After he won his third game 5-1, his team managed to squeak into the finals by winning his division. I was tempted to run to the soccer fields for Matthew's final game, but I was afraid that I would take too long and miss part of his game. In retrospect, I should have brought my gear and run home after his game, but I didn't do that either.

Matthew's team won their final! We were so excited for him. The team went down 2-0 early in the first half. Matthew scored the tying goal with like five minutes left to go in the game. The team went on to win in over time. We got home about 5:15 or so, and I decided at that point, that I had better get out and get my run in.

My body has basically been in a state of shock all week. I'm not sure what I did, but I did a number on it fer sure. With that in mind, at first, I didn't want to do the run at all. Then, I thought I would stop at six miles, but in the end, I did the entire run. Due to the fact that I wasn't feeling 100% and that I had reffed two soccer games the day before, I decided to keep my HR in zone 2 for as much of the run as I could. No small task given the hills in my neighborhood. The run test paid off though, and I managed to keep my heart rate in the zone for 45 minutes of the 1:30 or so, unlike like last time, where I kept a measly twenty something minutes in the zone.

As I passed The Test on my way home, my knees began to ache and my shins hurt. I knew I was pushing my luck. My shins have NEVER hurt since I started on this journey. I coasted downhill to the house and came in with a time of 1:40:12 for an 11:08 average pace. I ran the whole way, walking a couple of times to slow my heart rate.

This week begins my training for the Ironman Florida 70.3. It is a 12 week plan with two extra weeks thrown in so I can taper and recover for Langely Pond. Mondays are my official recovery days. In order to keep the streak alive, I'll either walk or do a recovery ride on the trainer. I think the latter is more appealing today. We'll see how it goes!

Have a great week, y'all!!

Wes

ORN: 9 miles, 1:40:12, 11:08 mmp