Fire lit by 2012 review

BIKE 23.6 miles in 1:25, 2x20 90%
SWIM 1600y in about 42 mins, 24x25
COMMUTE 6.5 miles Y to work to home
SWIM! OWS with the SBR group

Last night I pulled out the 2012 log book to see what I was doing in my Redman build. I was surprised (and disappointed!) to see that I had ridden a 200K (in 7:20, with bad weather) and was doing 4-5K swims on a somewhat regular basis. No swims like that this year yet. And worse yet, it seems my bike speed is not what it used to be.

I hesitate to make major comparisons between races like these, so much time can pass and they are different! This year I'm coming back from a year of ultrarunning, suffering a bad job (2 more weeks!!), and going through a lot of body changes. It's fair to say that I've lost a lot of leg strength, so there's some speed right there. But I haven't been doing a lot of fast riding and it hasn't been a focus yet. Heck, yesterday's 2x30' at 75% came in averaging just under 16 mph (granted, in town, some stops, but still...). What am I waiting for?

So today's 2x20 at 90% had much more inspiration behind it! I took the Puppy, still dusty from last weekend's Katy training, and did HARD loops around TGP. I thought maybe I'd get 2 loops in the time, but was happy to do 2 loops plus the extra to the TG Ave cross street -- 7 miles in 21:40 and 22:40 which calculates to 18.5-19.4 mph. I focused on keeping the effort even both up and down hills, not burning up in a higher gear, and trying to see "90%" projected on the roadway ahead of me. So I can ride fast...YAY!

I rode to the pool for the swim, with some limited time but eager to do what I could. The workout on the surface seemed kinda easy -- 24x25 in groups of 6 as 25fast, 25mod, 25 kick, 25 choice (10s) -- but it worked out to a 6x100 that went by fast. I liked the change-up, but it's no 4-5K swim!

As a bonus I got to swim AGAIN! SBR's swim finally happened for me, while frustrating it was beneficial. 86F water (so they said), no buoys but moving kayaks, and a glaring sun in the west. So no neoprene binky, poor course direction, terrible visibility = DISTRACTION! And as I've been suspecting, distraction is killer for me in OWS. Instead of focusing on form I'm more worried about everything else. Am I on course? Where do I go? Where are the other swimmers? These factors, along with OWS nerves in general, were a downfall for me at the Hudson race I DNF'd. So I've emailed SM my thoughts with some questions about swim form and how to overcome OWS distractions. See what she says!

Better energy today, but still wiped out and tired.