Night ride, soccer, wine and the Arizona heat

I have a new training plan for the Berlin Marathon. It is from McMillan Running. It is much more scientific from the one I had amateurishly created. While the long runs are still on weekends, the new plan actually has a strategy. The hard runs are harder and the easy ones are easier. The rest periods are longer with a nice sprinkle of cross-training mixed in.

Wine recovery after bootcamp

It’s been boiling hot in Scottsdale over the past week. Except for biking outdoors in the heat, all my training has been either on the treadmill (even 11 and 12 mile runs), in the gym-studios (bootcamp), or at home (cardio strength with jump-rope).

After running long (11 miles) on Sunday (June 19), I went easy on Monday for 5.5 miles in 46 minutes. Tuesday was the usual hard and thumping bootcamp with Allison at The Village. I don’t drink too often but I felt like wine afterwards. Of course, I had only half-a-glass before Binita polished off her own glass and the rest of mine. Usual stuff!

After running relatively easy intervals on Wednesday, I went for my first night bike-ride with Bicycle Ranch on Thursday. It was a fast ride averaging 18MPH. I could barely keep up with the group. There was a single mile-long uphill near hidden hills where a few of us were easily dropped. I’m just not a strong biker!

Cyclologic group ride on Saturday

After resting on Friday, I went out with the Cyclologic group for an easy morning for 28 miles in the 100+ degree heat. After the fast Bicycle Ranch ride, this one was easy and relaxed (albeit hot). Sunday was my long run on the treadmill. I was bored running 100 minutes for 12 miles but what choice do I have when it is this hot!

12 treadmill miles in 100 minutes

Last week was also full-on football (soccer) week. The Copa America final was exciting with Chile downing Argentina on penalty kicks. I was rooting for Argentina but was disappointed to see them lose after Messi messed up his penalty shot. Messi is easily the best footballer in the world today.

Over in Europe, I’m rooting for underdogs Iceland who beat mighty England in the pre-quarters. Germany looks formidable though and are the odds-on favorite. We’ll see what transpires this coming weekend.

As for politics, it is silly season these days with Trump making idiotic statements all the time. He even puts Sarah Palin to shame. Okay, maybe not!

We leave for Monterrey, CA on Saturday (July 2) for the 4th of July weekend. I may run a 5k in Sprekels, CA in farm country near Monterrey. It should be good running weather with temperatures in the 60s. We’ll see if my training so far is any good!

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