“T-Bear, is that sweat?” My step-daughter, Hannah, asked smiling, but with a hint of disgust.
“Yeah, probably.” I answered while dripping in late afternoon, high-90’s second run of the day, sweat induced euphoria.
“Why did you run in this heat?”
“It’s not that bad,’ I replied while lining up the camera on my phone for her, ‘It’s breezy.”
“Wow, okay. What do you want me to do?”
Sunday morning after Run #1 - An 8-mile TEMPO.
Last Sunday I had my first double run day in over six months. I had a Tempo run in the morning, a long swim in between, and an easy run in the afternoon. The sick twist was that we are currently surfing a heat wave in California, and it is blazing hot where I live in the San Fernando Valley, so my second run would be indulged in high 90’s F temps. Fun times.
Sunday afternoon after Run #2 - A 3-mile, easy run. Photo credit goes to Hannah Spates.
A lot has happened since my dashed 10K on the track a week ago.
I put that run away after writing about it on Tuesday, and focused on what my mind and body needed to do to move beyond it.
I was energized by a bolt of feedback regarding my injury from friends and teammates, and decided to do everything I could to increase the strength of all the muscle groups in my legs to help take the load off of my hamstrings, and to seek out a million different holistic remedies to increase blood flow to the most likely frayed tendon fibers connected to my hamstring.
Imagine how excited my plant-powered heart was to find Vegan Collagen at Whole Foods!:)
On Thursday, while searching for the Calabasas Hidden stairs, 375 concrete steps stacked in between the 101 Freeway and the Kardashian Compound, I let myself day-dream a little. I felt lighter than I had in months, even though I was carrying 25 extra lbs., and started thinking about, and actually believing, I could accomplish some sturdy swim, bike, and run goals over the next decade.
Bottom of stairs.
The weighted-vest stair climb, a signature Biscay Coaching workout, forced the load of each step up the stairs onto my glutes, and each step down onto my quads, giving those muscle groups a boost, and my hamstrings a much needed break.
Top of stairs.
My quads and calves were sore from the stair jaunt for days. In fact, when I ran an easy four-mile brick after my bike ride on Saturday, my quads were crushingly sore. Nevertheless, I happily hobbled through the sting of each step of that first mile, (a similar feeling to the first mile of an Ironman), and quickly dipped down to my aspirational Ironman marathon pace, (sub 8min. mi.), and cruised along beaming because my hamstring didn’t ping at all.
Sunday: Post-Run #1 routine.
After that first Tempo run, and long swim on Sunday, I slept for about forty minutes before leaving for my second run just after 4PM.
“You really shouldn’t be running right now.” Marion said while our dog Blue stretched across his lap.
“I’ll be fine.” I said out loud, but whispered internally, would I?
“It’s 97F degrees out there.”
“I know, I know, but I don’t need to go fast, I am just going to enjoy myself, and I’ll be back in less than a half an hour.”
I didn’t waste too much time going back and forth with Marion, (or myself), and quickly changed into my Smashfest Queen running outfit, grabbed a handheld freezer wrap deal I bought from the Triathlon Lab in Redondo Beach over a decade ago, and walked out our front door, and into Mother Nature’s oven.
This thing was a life-saver! Although, they might be out of business? Check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/user/BEXrunner
The first mile felt good. The soreness in my quads and calves that was still lingering during my morning run had vanished, (shout out to lots of laps in the pool), and my hamstring was quiet, too. There was no drama at all, I was just running.
The next mile was peppier, and all uphill, so to feel springy was a surprise. Then as I dipped right onto a straight-a-way to begin mile 3, a breeze picked up, so I opened up my stride and juiced as much power as I could muster and ran as fast I could home. It was SO MUCH FUN!
I ran that last mile in 7:07, and best of all, I felt pain-free the entire time. Next, just as I was opening up our front door, I saw Hannah roll up out of the corner of my eye, and seized the opportunity for a Millennial photographer to capture this amazing moment.
That, "I just had the time of my life!" post second run of the day sensation. Photo credit goes to Hannah Spates.
And yes, she might have felt a sprinkle of sweat standing downwind from her glistening step-mom while I was setting up the shot, but she was a trooper, and we grabbed what I wanted in one take.
Later that night, revealing she was more inspired than disgusted, Hannah said these magical words, “I’m going to try this run this week, T-Bear.”