April in review: Improved run and bike, but not anything else

April training by hours.

I’m a couple days late and always a few dollars short, but here’s my April training-in-review anyway.

Overall, the amount of training time was a bit higher than March, 26.5 hours compared to 24.5. If you go by number of total training sessions, I took an average of one day off after four days on, training 80% of the days in April (just an average – there were a few two-a-days in there). 24 sessions in 26.5 hours means I usually worked out for just longer than an hour each session (again, just an average – long runs of 10, 11.75, and 12 miles during the month skewed the numbers a bit).

I ran significantly more mileage in April, 100 miles in 16 hours, a 9:35 minute per mile average pace, compared to 75 miles in about 12.5 hours, a 9:55 minute per mile average pace, last month. (Although, to be fair, I was recovering from a big race weekend and doing a lot of slower mileage with my husband, so March was a kind of recovery month after big-for-me mileage in January and February.) Also, all but one of my 14 runs in April were outside, which was nice.

I also logged more time on the bike, from 3 sessions in 2.5 hours (one was just a quick warmup to a weights workout) in March, to 6 sessions in about 7.25 hours in April. No doubt, the reason for this was buying a cool new bike computer, which inspired me to get on there and log some fake trainer miles.

But, I don’t have much more good news beyond run and bike. I only did three weights sessions vs. six last month. Ugh, that’s not even once per week on average. Also, I’m frustrated and borderline embarrassed to realize that I didn’t do a single bit of yoga or pre-hab for the entire month of April. Really? Not once? And I still haven’t swum this year, and only once in December since last summer. Sigh.

What I can deduce from this is, is that time is a finite resource and I have to prioritize! And right now my training priorities are run, bike, lift and maybe some yoga, pre-hab and swim if I can ever find the time.

But I’m not going to end on a down note: I made some decent running gains, enjoyed a lot of fresh air, and didn’t get injured. My cool new bike toys are inspiring me to get back in the saddle and have me looking forward to riding on the road again. I can go to a random barre class or do some weighted squats without feeling like dying. My body and marriage are still functional. (Or does that mean I haven’t trained enough?)

I’m looking forward to getting outside and moving my body more as spring turns into summer, so let’s see what May will bring.