It's More Than Minutes and Miles

This past weekend I completed a 53.4 mile bike ride on Saturday  (the Pancake Ride to Korth's Pirate Lair) and a 12 mile run on Sunday.

Pancake Ride by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details

Sunday Run by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details

I lamented the fact that my run times weren't as fast as I wanted them to be and questioned whether or not I was making any progress with all of my training.  Monday morning I got up for work and went about my daily routine.  It wasn't until Monday afternoon that I realized the progress I had actually made.

Fun times early in the race

Boring Stats

Lindsey was still having fun at the end

Last year I ran the Avenue of the Vines.  My official time of 1:56:00 is incorrect.  My timing chip was defective and I actually finished a couple of paces behind Lindsey with a time of 1:58:25.  This was roughly a pace of 9:00+ minutes per mile... my goal pace for Barb's Race.

On Sunday, the first 7 miles of my run were faster than my 2012 Avenue of the Vines pace.  Mile 8 got messed up because I made a pit stop at 24 Hour Fitness for a bathroom break and to fill up my water bottle (My Garmin kept running so mile 8 had a pace of 11:20).  My average pace for the run (including my cool-down) was 9:23 minutes per mile.

What the Stats Don't Tell You

Blah, blah, blah... that's a lot of stats about my Sunday run.  Yes, if you throw out mile 8 and the cool down, I ran faster than I did at Avenue of the Vines. Yes, it was following my longest bike ride ever.  However, the stats don't reflect my true progress.

What the stats don't tell you is that two days after Avenue of the Vines I could barely walk. My legs were so sore that I had to use my arms to lower myself down on to the toilet.  My buddy, Mike Turner, put a name to my affliction... DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.  (I felt this same pain the day following my first full marathon).

That is what finally dawned on me Monday afternoon...I was not sore!  Ok, maybe a little stiff, but nothing like the days following Avenue of the Vines. This is major progress!!  This means that instead of taking a week or so off to nurse my aching muscles back into some sort of light activity, I am able to keep going.  I am able to build on my fitness instead of backing off.

I need to remember that sometimes the progress I make is measured in more than just minutes and miles.


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PS:  I'm doing Avenue of the Vines again this year and my goal is to be smiling at the end just like Lindsey ;-)