Next challenge - I am a member at Las Vegas Athletic Club, which is a huge benefit. Strength sessions, lifecycles, treadmills and pool time are all done here (pool work at the Henderson Multi Generational Center also). The problem is that you are limited to two hours of childcare daily. Often my workouts will take me to or beyond this time limit and I have been written up once for being late.
Decision - Do the run first, then get in the adventure, then a nap and later the bike intervals at another LVAC location, killer.
The weather is beautiful! Probably low to mid 50s with just a little wind (5-10mph) and beautiful clear skies. This day is made to run. I drop Lulu with child care and step outside to head for the main entrance and the upstairs track or treadmill. I breathe in. The air is clean; between the week of rain and the windy days that followed, all of the junk has been cleared out of the air. The sun feels warm on my face. I start to run through the parking lot.
The Western Beltway Trail follows the 215 Freeway from Tropicana to Charleston, passing LVAC at Flamingo. You can head back toward Tropicana for about 1 mile or head toward Charleston (4 miles). Instead, I run up Flamingo and figure I will catch the Trail on the way back. I haven't run up Flamingo before, but I know there is a bike lane to the west and traffic is light. Westward Ho!
I force myself to keep my pace easy. Supposed to be a recovery run I tell myself. The first 3/4 mile is start and stop as I wait for lights and dodge traffic. It is hard to go easy. Intuitively, I feel like I have to go hard to get any benefit from the exercise. I read about the importance of recovery, my coach schedules me for both recovery sessions and recovery weeks, still I chomp at the bit to go. I'm slow anyway I tell myself. Further complicating the situation is my work on leg turnover. I'm trying to speed up my cadence on both the bike and the run. How does running slower make any sense?
Flamingo is uphill. It's so funny that you never really notice these things in a car. I feel good. I feel lighter than I have in the past. Not so much chuggin' up the hill. I pass Bear's Best Golf Course (always wondered where that was) and the hill gets a little steeper. It's still not anything crazy but I'm a big guy and hills are a killer. Not today.
Past Desert Inn and still moving along. Only supposed to do 4.5 miles and I'm already past 3. Still need to run back. I'm going over, Coach will not be pleased. I want to keep going, I feel great. I could run all day.
I turn back. I wouldn't feel this way if I wasn't getting the kind of help I'm getting. I'll cut over and catch the trail off Desert Inn.
What a great day.
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