Weekend plan: Musselman course and Fleet Feet group run

I'm sleepy just thinking about all I have to do this weekend, but I know it will be over soon. 9 miles... class... yoga... work... swimming... Musselman course.

Not really. I'm struggling with how I'm going to train for a Century ride then a full marathon one month later. Will I try to do my long runs on the same day as my long bikes? Opposite days? Perhaps while the long runs are short I can do those on the weekdays.

Of course, I could go the same route I went with the Highlander Cycle Tour last year and just not train.... (I guess I didn't blog that... my longest ride prior to was 50 miles all flat.)

Anyway, that's a question for another day.

This weekend is going to be long, especially since I have to go into work for a few hours Saturday! The sched:

SATURDAY 7:30 a.m.: Run 9 miles with Fleet Feet in Charlotte (meets at 1000 North River Street). I plan on sticking with the 12-minute pace group. Then head to the Downtown Fitness Club for my high intensity interval class at 11 a.m.  Yoga at 12, then work 3-7. HOY!!

SUNDAY When I get up (hopefully not too late) AND REMEMBER TO BUY EAR PLUGS SOMEWHERE... and BOGO tubes at Park Ave bike (no flats on Flower yet but good to be prepared.) Oh and gotta buy snacks somewhere too. First stop at Kershaw Park to swim, aiming for one hour in open water continuous. Then get back in the car and drive another 20 miles down 5&20 to Geneva to ride the Musselman course.

(Sidenote: Jeff Henderson, the race director for Musselman, has been wonderful. For the second time he's gotten back to me pronto with questions I've had about the race. He did recommend a couple places I could swim in Geneva, but I'm terrified to go into unchartered waters alone!)

Kershaw Park has been a haven. Everyone says not to swim in open water alone, and I know I shouldn't. But a lot of triathletes flock to this park in Canandaigua so I'm really not alone there! I have made some triathlete friends and it's hard to coordinate everyone's schedules. Plus there's a lifeguard!

The buoys are great, I'm not 100 percent sure how far out I can go so I just swim around the close ones. Mental note: Ask next time!

The Musselman Course starts at Seneca Lake State Park. I'm not sure, I might have to pay to park there (note to self: bring cash.) If I don't want to pay, then perhaps I can get away with parking at Hobart and William Smith colleges four miles away, then it will just be a quick jaunt down 5&20 to the start.

Here's the cue sheet. The online map looks a little confusing because it's hard to tell which way it starts and which way it ends. I will want to continue on Route 96A. Then a left onto Blaine Road, another left onto 414. Then a right onto Ogden Road, quick right then left, then a right on Route 89 down Cayuga Lake. I'm halfway there.

A right onto Swick, a left onto 129, a right onto 130. Then a left onto 414. Follow 96 A for a short time, but go straight when it curves up. Follow 132 through Sampson State Park, then follow East Lake Road until it meets up with 96. A left on 5&20, then back home.

The course is a steady uphill through Mile 17 (not steep, 400 to 800), then the same grade down til mile 34. It climbs from 400 to 900 from miles 33 to 39, then 39 to 42 steep downhill. It's flat the rest of the way home.

If I'm feeling really ambitious (good god, I might die), I might tack on the half marathon course on the bike. There are a lot of little turns on the run, too lazy to type them out here. It's steadily uphill until mile 8, then downhill the rest of the way!