Wednesday squeeeeze

SWIM: 600y about 20 mins. Running short on time but wanted to at least get to the pool. Just did 12x50 drills. These felt easy, fast, clean. Makes me wonder why I struggle in the Masters' swim. Is it mental?

BIKE: about 6.8 miles in 25 mins in FP. Again, short on time and just wanted to enjoy the wonderful weather. I debated what would be more beneficial, 30 mins at work or 20 mins on the bike. Given my stress levels, the bike won out.

Tueday bike and run

BIKE: 70 mins, about 20 miles. 4x14 mins at 75%. Was going to go outdoors, but it was raining.
RUN: 7 miles in about 75 mins. Loop in FP in the evening. Did 4x125 right foot strikes, goal was to increase cadence without increasing heart rate. Didn't have an HRM, so I went by exertion. I don't think my HR increased but my pace did a bit. Consistently did 125 RFS in 85-86 seconds, or about 84 rpms so to speak. I also counted RFS in a rest interval and got 93 seconds, so I'm not sure I was really making a difference or not. Today was one of those runs where I feel better after the workout, as opposed to before. Therapeutic running!

Much better day than yesterday! I'm making a point to recover from this long stretch of long days.

Masters swim = a beat-down

SWIM: 60-70 mins, guessing 2000-some yards. My first CSP Masters swim in 2010.
BIKE: 45 mins about 14 miles. Aerobic extension workout, 15 mins in big ring at 75%.

I got up at 4:15am this morning and shelled out $6 to get flogged in a pool this morning. I was so frustrated and tired and near tears that I'm surprised I'd even think of going back. These are the same Master's swims I did last summer in the 50m outdoor pool. Today was a 25y indoor, warmer but more crowded.

There were 5 in our lane, including EK who described the lane as "entry level". Sounded like where I belonged. During the warm-up I got the sense that I was the slow poke of the lane, if the people swimming around me were warming up at my normal swim pace (I only have one speed) then I was in for trouble. Trouble indeed.

This was the choppiest pool swim I'd ever done. And since we swam along the wall, I repeatedly swam into it, much to the delight of my right ankle which is missing some skin. Chop is fine. Running into other swimmers is fine. Being the slowest person in the whole damned pool is fine. But being in the way of the other swimmers, having to stop at the end to let them all pass, seeing them turn early to avoid having to go around me--disheartening. Having to struggle just to keep up, being near lactate threshold for an hour to keep from being run over, being dizzy from the effort and still failing--crushing. Just crushing. Half-way though the swim, I was nearing tears of pure frustration. Oh My G8D, am I really that bad?!?!?

See, the faster I try to swim and the more tired I get, the worse my technique is. The worse my technique is, the slower I swim. So then I try to swim faster, which makes me more sloppy...

Master's swims have a coach on the deck telling us to do--or example 3x300y at a certain pace, then do 1x800, etc. Today I just swam. No counting, no clock. Just swimming.

This happened last year too. I'd go to monday masters and just get killed. I'd be so stressed out my stomach would be upset. Once I was so dizzy and overworked the coach told me to leave the pool and rest. I kept thinking, if I just keep at it I'll get better, but to no avail. I just got discouraged. After the swim lessons, and feeling pretty good about my swim, today was a harsh reality check. I can't swim.

I talked a few minutes with the coach afterwards, asking if I was ready for this or not. He said I was and offered a few suggestions, but while talking to him I was more concerned with the near-crying catch in my throat and the tears threatening to well up.

But what do I expect? Swimming is my weakness and the first training session I'll sacrifice in a time crunch. See last week for an example. I keep telling myself that I can swim the 2.4 miles for IMWI and missing a few swims here and there won't make things worse. Is that true? Or will I just survive IMWI and Worlds, having a so-so swim that wears me out for the bike and run.

But it's one thing to have a weakness, and a whole 'nother thing to realize just how little progress you've made. After this morning, I'm so discouraged, so frustrated, and apparently terrribly disillusioned. :(

But I'll be back, I'll go again next week. I know me, and this is only going to piss me off.

Heard a song on the radio today that about sums this up:
Cowgirls don't cry
Ride, baby, ride
Lessons of life are going to show you in time
Soon enough, your gonna know why
It's gonna hurt every now and then
If you fall get back on again
Cowgirls don't cry

Cap to a long week

BIKE: 15 miles in ?60-75 mins. Group ride up Pitman and back with The Bird. I love hills.

RUN: 5.3 miles in 50 mins. Threw this in cuz I knew it would hurt.

I was having a bad morning. I think there is something in eating high carbs for long runs that throws me the next day, or, something about waking up to rain, a long to-do list at home and work, and tri club duties all pulling me in different directions. I didn't really 'wake up' until 11am! Although I was crossing things off the list, nothing inspired me until I received an email for a group ride. I had planned a ride for the morning but couldn't find the oomph needed to get things together and get out the door. It wasn't a long ride, but it did feel great to get out and enjoy the great weather. So I put work aside hoping a ride would clear my head. It did.

As soon as I finished the ride, I realized just how tired I was. Although I didn't get any swim time in this week, I did get 70+ bike miles and 34+ running miles. And 16 of those running miles were just yesterday. So what did I decide to do at the last second? Go for a run! The Katy was close so I buzzed up there and decided to do 20-25 mins out, then back on the same pace.

The way I envision it, the last miles of IMWI are going to suck. I'm going to be tired, run down, hungry, thirsty, sick, who knows? Doesn't that mean I should train that way once and a while? For today's run, I was fed and hydrated. Just tired, unfocused, and drained. Sounded like a good get-it-in-gear-and-keep-it-rolling type of run. I had the new blue Saucs on and those stupid shoes need to be burned (or re-laced). My feet hurt within 2 miles, my pace was too fast then too slow, and my form started to fall apart in 3 miles. But it still felt good to be moving fast, not wearing a heavy jacket, and enjoying sunshine on my arms. As much as it hurt, I enjoyed it.

Oh, and a quick memorial service for the Garmin 305. It hasn't worked in a week now--refuses to show HR or sync with the GPS service. But I brought it along on the ride anyway hoping it would. I hit those alarm-bumps along the side of the road, didn't have weight in the handlebars, and it literally popped out of the dock, over my shoulder, and onto the pavement. I found 3 pieces total. Surprisingly, I wasn't all that broke up over it, but if had been a new 310 I would have cried. Even more surprising, DH snapped the pieces back together and it came on! Haven't tried to use it yet though. Time for an upgrade. RIP (Rest In Pieces!).

Weekly Summary:

SWIM: zero !!!!!

BIKE: 72 miles in 4.33 hours

RUN: 34.8 miles in 5.39 hours

STRENGTH: rested from xfit this week

WORK: 3 awesome results in 55-60 hrs, but that's not what we're here to talk about.

3rd 16-miler

RUN: 16 miles in 2:38 in Simpson Park with JB. Great run with a few firsts. First run in Simpson Park, and first this year where I didn't run alone. The miles go by so fast when you're chatting away. The run was multiple out-n-backs mostly on nice paved trails. We also did something I don't normally do--stop for a water break. It felt great to let the legs clear out and find nice form when starting up again. No problems at all on this run, 16 seems easy now.

Compared to previous 16's: The first 16-er was in 2:26 on Jan 23rd, and the second 16-er was in 2:34 on Feb 20th. I'm not getting slower, at least I don't think I am. I'm definately getting stronger in terms of endurance and ability to just keep going. But I worry that my speed will falter if I keep on like this. But I can really only focus on one at a time. For now, base. Next up, speed building.

February Recap

SWIM: 11681 yards in 5.5hrs (16388y in 7.57hrs)
BIKE: 294.15 miles in 16.57 hours (259.14 in 15.17 hrs)
RUN: 110. 08 miles in 17.38 hrs (102.43 in 15.91hrs)
STRENGTH: almost 3 hrs. (that's it?!?) (1hr)

Swimming is 13% of my time, biking 39%, running 41%. (19%, 38%, 40%)

Can ya tell I'm prepping for a marathon?

Total of 42.5 hours, or about 10.6hrs/week or 1.5hrs/day. This was markedly similar to January, which had 39.65 hrs. Feb was just about 1hr/week more. I'm hitting the plans goal hours, so I think I'm not doing too bad.

Mon-Tues-Weds-Thurs-Fri

The work week will be more memorable for me than the training week. Work=long hours and great results. Training=no swimming and crunched time sessions.

Monday OFF
Tuesday: BIKE: abt 20 miles, 70 mins 4x9 minutes RUN: 7 miles in 63 mins. FP loop
Wednesday: BIKE: abt 17 miles, 55 mins 20min at 75%
Thursday: RUN: 6.5 miles in abt 52 mins.
Friday: BIKE: 22 miles in about 80-some minutes. First ride outdoors!

What a week. I didn't realize I was so far behind! And getting to the pool when I'm busy just seems impossible.

My stupid Garmin isn't working again, the HR monitor is dead. And when that is dead, the speed sensor on the bike doesn't work either, not sure why that is.

Tomorrow--16 mile run on low water and low fuel. Wasn't a good week for keeping up on nutrition.