SPEED UP

SWIM: 1500m? in 50 mins.

Finally it’s cooled off. 100F yesterday and 74F this morning. Ahhhhh……

I rolled out of bed still tired, still with the feeling of mind awake but body tired. But very little soreness or pain, just general fatigue. And I have to admit, I like it. I’m not complaining, I’m just reporting. With a little smug smile on my face :)

It was still dark out when we started, and the water was slightly warmer than the air. Why do I keep bringing my smoked-lens goggles to these morning practices? Oh yeah, because I don’t have clear lens goggles!

I lost count of the laps in the swim right off the bat. I got to 5 and that was it. It was backstroke day but I only did a little of that before switching back to freestyle. Backstroke has always been a recovery stroke for me, but I used to feel faster in backstroke than I do now. CHG pointed out a few tips—that the recovery is more like an arm-wrestling rather than a straight-armed paddle.
I was feeling very sloppy today. I think in sane-world thinking, I’d take a day off right about now. But it’s Build-world right now and a race is on the horizon. No more extra days off right now. This fatigue and mental fuzz tells me I’m working hard and stressing my body like I need to be. But it’s always a balance between just enough and too much. Don’t think I’ve crossed into too much just yet. In fact, I’ve been much, much tired-er than this before.

So I buzzed along, with no lap counts and the lane lines hitting me for swimming crooked. And just when I thought “maybe I should step out instead of practicing bad form” I suddenly started swimming great laps. I felt awake, aggressive, and faster. Relatively faster, anyway. I had a faster turnover, less waiting in the glide, and I rode higher in the water. Nice way to end it.

The run came soon after, around 8am. I had thought about running in the rain that was predicted for later, but since I didn’t know when later I went early. Otherwise I lose time in the day. Besides, it would be nice to rest the day away for my longer run tomorrow.

Today was the form run: 5 min WU, 10 min IM pace, 15 min as 30/30 drill/jog, 10 min IM pace, 5 min CD. I chose the Kinvaras to see how I’d hold up after 5 miles, which would be my longest run yet in these shoes. I also had the Garmin programmed to beep at the intervals. This worked slick! Until the Garmin told me to SPEED UP in the first 10 min interval. Speed up? Did I program that? No. But did I feel the need to do it anyway? Yes. Of Course Yes! Turns out all it was looking for was about 8:20-8:30. Otherwise it would beep all during the 10 mins.

I chose a new route: Home to TGP to The Hill to work. All felt great! I added a new drill: breathing. I need to learn to not breathe on each right foot strike. I practiced a 2 strike/1 breath and it worked better. Otherwise I ramp up my HR and breathing just doing drills. The run after the drills felt great, even though I don’t maintain the form as well.

I came to the parking lot at 55 mins and was going to keep going until 60 mins, but then I realized I should just stop. If I wasn’t reporting to a coach, I would have kept going! Damn this being held accountable stuff is working!