Weds: SWIM 2150 in 45 mins, 3x500
BIKE 22.2 in 1:15, 5x7 mins
Thurs: RUN 53-54 mins for the 6.6 mi loop
Fri: BIKE 1hr about 18 miles of stress relief
Sat: BIKE 1:45 and about 30 miles?
SWIM 1hr and 2500y, 7x200 all just over 4 mins
Sun: OFF
Mon: OFF
What a whirlwind of a week. I can't even remember how it all ended, the last few days are a fuzz!
DH was out of town for the week, my leg is bothering me when I run, my family was visiting over the weekend, and of course the dog was not 100% either. Oh and my appt with the surgeon was today. She first made a mess in our bedroom, then I found a smell in the guest room around Weds night. Through Thursday and Friday I tried to find and clean the mess, and the lack of success only ratcheted up my stress levels. How could I expect anyone to want to sleep in there!?
So Friday night during another cleaner incubation, I got in a stressed out bike ride. The day did not go according to my schedule, and I hit near-breaking point.
Saturday morning DH is back but sleeping in, so I do some more cleaning and another ride. I'm quiet as long as I can tolerate, then I wake him up with my guest room complaints. I don't know why he puts up with me, I get him out of bed to sniff a smelly room, then while I'm starting to crack he comes up with a solution to fix it. We spend the morning working on that. The whole time, I'm obsessing about my swim. The same swim I missed Thurs then again on Friday. I was determined to get it, OCD like. We finish cleaning, and I swim. It ain't pretty. My 200's are all just over 4 mins. They should be just UNDER 4 mins!
Parents arrive Sat evening and we get a late dinner. I sleep in Sunday as planned, kinda wanting to run but telling myself that the leg needs rest and there's no really good reason to run and make it worse.
Monday I skip the Evolve swim thinking I'd get it in the afternoon. But after the appts, dinner, and everything else of course it didn't happen. At least I'm not stressed about it.
The appt was good, but it looks like I'll be undergoing surgery after B2B. If it happens before B2B, it means things didn't go well for me this summer!
And wow what a nice segue into that topic.
The past few weeks since the last "events" I've been skittish around food again. After months of wanting to fix the problems, then weeks of intensive fixing, I've slipped back into the old habit of eating because I feel I "have to". This was especially bad last week -- a few nights I overate thinking "I need more calories!". But I don't! At least, not like that -- crammed down in a poorly planned dinner.
Well it just so happens that tomorrow is the first of the month, what better time to repeat my W30 challenge of January. I know I need to do this, the past few days had a few aborted starts (it's hard to start something like that with family and other schedule changes). But after dinner tonight -- at which I manged veggies until I could pop -- it's time to review the January thoughts I had and get back on track. This time with a slightly different purpose and a bigger goal: to keep out of surgery until after B2B, and to undo the neurosis I'm developing.
Here's how I ended January:
The LifestyleWhole30 ends tomorrow, and days like today have me planning ahead to the next month. Yup, it's gonna keep going! This month's changes of mindful actions, pre-planned meals, sit-down non-distracted eating, and increased scheduling have been great for me. I've been slipping a little as the month winds down, but I have identified a few trouble areas to work on. Specifically, bringing more food for long days and post-training, pre-planning mornings so I can get out the door on time, and streamlining the weekend duties to the entire thing isn't spend preparing for the week.
Here's how I ended March: Stressed, tired, off-balance. Unhappy with work, unhappy with a lot of things. Belly so full from dinner I'm uncomfortable. Dog starts barking and I don't even want to get up to see why. Leg needs foam rolling and here I sit typing. Lots of mental churning, note writing in my planning book, but not much happening.
March came in like a lion -- with the 2nd "event". It went out like a lamb, bleating and whining and weak.
Time to turn it around and get focused!
Monday, March 31, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Brick session on snow! With right inner quad pain!
BIKE: 1hr and 18.5 miles, 10 min intervals with high cadence
RUN 53 minutes and some-odd seconds, 6 miles
I switched the Tuesday and Wednesday bikes so that I could focus on a great track session. This might be a good change for me to keep.
The ride was to this awful movie (some Resident Evil sequel) that was all action and no plot. Great for riding, lots of motivating fight sequences and music with no need to pay attention. I focused on keeping it ABP and alternated big and mid rings.
The run was in the COLD 30F fresh dusting of SNOW! WTF! DH is out of town in the 70+F degree desert and I'm here freezing my butt off. OK once I got running it wasn't that bad...but dammit warm up already!
The goal was 3x 1.5 mi intervals at mid-6 pace, but after the first 1200 my inner right quad muscle that hurt in Saturday's race started hurting again. I can't tell if it's injury pain or tightness pain. Either way, it really too the steam out of my sails. It set in motion that "niggle" doubt -- can I keep going or will I make it worse? Should I go home now and rest it? Am I fine, just keep going? Arg!
So I did one interval on the snowy track (I thought it ironic that an injury like this should come after running on the snow and twisting something...) in a pace that I think was in the 6:50s. Then I did a long recovery to see if things improved. After a mile they didn't and suddenly running on the track wasn't so interesting anymore. I took off around the neighborhood for the last few miles. The discomfort seemed to come and go, was I changing my stride? Climbing or descending? Just not paying attention to it? Couldn't tell.
Nuts. The muscle feels OK walking around, heck the past few hours it's a non issue. Foam rolling! Stretching!
RUN 53 minutes and some-odd seconds, 6 miles
I switched the Tuesday and Wednesday bikes so that I could focus on a great track session. This might be a good change for me to keep.
The ride was to this awful movie (some Resident Evil sequel) that was all action and no plot. Great for riding, lots of motivating fight sequences and music with no need to pay attention. I focused on keeping it ABP and alternated big and mid rings.
The run was in the COLD 30F fresh dusting of SNOW! WTF! DH is out of town in the 70+F degree desert and I'm here freezing my butt off. OK once I got running it wasn't that bad...but dammit warm up already!
The goal was 3x 1.5 mi intervals at mid-6 pace, but after the first 1200 my inner right quad muscle that hurt in Saturday's race started hurting again. I can't tell if it's injury pain or tightness pain. Either way, it really too the steam out of my sails. It set in motion that "niggle" doubt -- can I keep going or will I make it worse? Should I go home now and rest it? Am I fine, just keep going? Arg!
So I did one interval on the snowy track (I thought it ironic that an injury like this should come after running on the snow and twisting something...) in a pace that I think was in the 6:50s. Then I did a long recovery to see if things improved. After a mile they didn't and suddenly running on the track wasn't so interesting anymore. I took off around the neighborhood for the last few miles. The discomfort seemed to come and go, was I changing my stride? Climbing or descending? Just not paying attention to it? Couldn't tell.
Nuts. The muscle feels OK walking around, heck the past few hours it's a non issue. Foam rolling! Stretching!
Monday, March 24, 2014
Evolve my swim #3: STILL crossing over, 500y TT:
SWIM 1950y in about an hour
I missed a 50 so I didn't get the full 2000. There was a 500 y TT (still waiting to hear my time) that was the main set. ETA: Time was 10:25.
NK said something funny today -- that my stroke improved when I was slowing down in a pull set behind PT! HA! I wonder though if it was the pull and not the speed?
The swim felt good, can't believe I'm still crossing over!? I only swam twice last week so I can't go into the whole "but I worked so hard on it!" routine because, well, I didn't work that hard on it. So I've moved my normally scheduled Monday swim to Friday as a bonus swim. I think it's worth reminding myself that my running improved because I spent so much time on it. My swim could do the same.
I missed a 50 so I didn't get the full 2000. There was a 500 y TT (still waiting to hear my time) that was the main set. ETA: Time was 10:25.
NK said something funny today -- that my stroke improved when I was slowing down in a pull set behind PT! HA! I wonder though if it was the pull and not the speed?
The swim felt good, can't believe I'm still crossing over!? I only swam twice last week so I can't go into the whole "but I worked so hard on it!" routine because, well, I didn't work that hard on it. So I've moved my normally scheduled Monday swim to Friday as a bonus swim. I think it's worth reminding myself that my running improved because I spent so much time on it. My swim could do the same.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Wussed out and rested
BIKE 1:50 and 32.2 miles
Indoors, dammit, because it's even colder out today than it was yesterday. It's spring dammit!
The main set of this ride was 3x3.1 miles, I timed them at 9:20, 9:43, 9:43, so 19.9, 19.1, and 19.2mph. I don't have HR data. I figured that after yesterday's race I wouldn't get good numbers.
OK, I was just being lazy.
But it wasn't laziness that kept me from the brick run. I rested! My right hip that plagued me yesterday feels JUST FINE today, WTH?!
Next week is 15/36. Approaching the halfway point.
Indoors, dammit, because it's even colder out today than it was yesterday. It's spring dammit!
The main set of this ride was 3x3.1 miles, I timed them at 9:20, 9:43, 9:43, so 19.9, 19.1, and 19.2mph. I don't have HR data. I figured that after yesterday's race I wouldn't get good numbers.
OK, I was just being lazy.
But it wasn't laziness that kept me from the brick run. I rested! My right hip that plagued me yesterday feels JUST FINE today, WTH?!
Next week is 15/36. Approaching the halfway point.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Alton Half Marathon Race Report and PR!!!
RUN: 13.1 miles in 1:44:04 for a 7:57 m/m pace
7th female out of 123, 4th in AG of 26, 3rd place hardware
BIKE ~1hr and 16 miles, indoor spin later in the afternoon to shake things out
All those "out of" and hardware numbers, but the best part was that I FINALLY BROKE THE PLATEAU I've been lamenting! So much to say, how to get started?! Get ready for lots of exclamation points.
First off, a sub-8 pace! My only prior race with a sub-8 pace was a 5K in Nov 2009. ONLY. (I didn't look at my sprint tri times, to be fair, but I don't expect to find sub-8 there). The closest I got was an 8:01 at the 2010 St Patty's 5-miler.
Second, this was faster than my 10K PR pace from an olympic tri in fall of 2011, which was an 8:13 m/m pace. So this means I have a new 10K PR awaiting me, I just need to race it.
Third, holy nailed-that-goal cow, did I nail that pace! My goal set in late February was an 8 m/m and 1:45 race. It felt so good to see the miles go by at sub-8's, it was a confidence building boost. The 1:45 time was suggested by the McMillan Running "oracle" for my marathon goal time of 3:40. Now for the first time probably ever in my running career, I can use the oracle to say "this is my __K pace" and have a realistic number to shoot for in longer races:
CURRENT TIMES
Fourth, bring on the marathon!! Wow, I'm feeling good about this race now. I thought about the marathon during this race, thinking ahead to how I feel at this pace, how would I slow myself down, would I be able to do this distance twice over? I have a half-minute pace change to make, I'll need to do some training at the pace to be able to identify it. As a point of reference, Thursday's group run was an 8:43 pace, could I hold less than that for 26 miles...hmmm....
Fifth and finally, this result puts to rest so many doubts I've been having. I registered for this race the Monday after the second "event" then spent the next few days lamenting the decision. It's hard to feel race-ready when you're sick, I was getting certain that this would turn into a training day. Also, the recent weight loss and nutrition habit changes had me doubting my body and wondering what would happen when I got 8-10 miles in -- would my body would be ready for the rigors and up to the challenge? Today I learned: I'm not only fine, I'm doing great.
In February, this is what I typed into my Anti-Blerch Training Goals page:
Look-it that plateau I had going! BUSTED!!! WHOOP!!! My other half-mary PR was last summer's Route 66 Half Iron run of 1:49:28 at a 8:21 m/m pace.
This was a remarkably simple race, and reminded me of the ultras I did last summer. No big frills, small field, just a simple set-up and go type of race. Parking, packets, everything super easy. The course was simple too: short 2 mile loop then over the bridge (cross-tailwind), out-n-back along the river (tailwind then headwind), back over the bridge (cross-headwind) to mile 8, then out-n-back along the river again (tailwind then headwind again) on the levee trail to the finish.
I knew going in the race could be windy, and the low temps only added to my "what to wear" doubts. What you can expect from this situation is feeling too-warm in the tailwinds and too-cool in the headwinds. It's hard to dress for both! The irony of running from this park and along the levee trail was looking back at a training brick I did for Redman in 2012, in which the heat was so horrible that I promised myself I could play in the Pavilion's water fountain if I finished a good brick run. No playing in the fountain today! And no heat to warm me up, the temps were in the mid-30's. I decided right before the start to wear two hats and two pairs of gloves. You know me, would rather be too warm than too cold.
In previous races like this, I'd be hesitant to do any running as a warm-up. Today I jogged about 15 mins and did some speedy pulse-ups. I reminded myself that my best runs were after bike rides, so certainly I could handle a few mins of jogging today! I kept looking at the pretty half moon in the southern sky. A half moon for my half mary.
As for the race itself (this is a race report, and I've yet to get past the start line in it!), it was wonderful! I started nearer the front than usual (something I'm still learning to do) and was surprised to find that I stayed there the rest of the way. I was buoyed by the sub-8 mile intervals reported by the Garmin but wasn't really able to adjust my pace based on a mile of 7:43 or 8:13, I just ran what I could for that moment. The slow climbs up and over the bridge weren't as spectacular as I expected them to be, I ended up just staring at the roadway instead of the river. As I approached the first turn-around, I used the opportunity to count the females ahead of me -- only 7 of them! To distract myself from the headwind I counted the ones behind me too -- 122 womens total -- and I was struck by how many there were. [In fact, I just looked as I typed this, there were only 95 males in the race]. I also noted that the women runners tended to run in social groups and were having quite the fun :)
In contrast, I ran alone. Around mile 6.5 a guy passed me who was cheering on every runner we passed, I spoke briefly to him, and that was the extent of my talking for this race! At least the out-loud talking, my mind never shut-up: "I'm a strong runner, if I can be a smart runner today I'll nail my goal". "You can run the heat all you want on the drive home, just suck it up for now". "Two miles in, it's normal to feel tired, you're still warming up". "Perfect nutrition with the EFS, take only what you need, and take the cold aid station water even if you don't want it". "Run in your bubble, don't worry about the woman ahead of you". "It's supposed to hurt". "Stay in the bubble, don't worry about the woman right behind you!". "Remember Hoka/IM guy ahead of you? With the perfect easy form? Is my form like that too?". "My race, my pace". "How in the world is that person wearing shorts and t-shirt?!".
Oh if anything should get tired during a long event like this, you'd think it'd be my brain.
The race really started for me around mile 9.5. A tight inner quad muscle started to hurt, and it spread to form an upside down V from my hip, pulling on both inner and outer quad muscles. I was benefiting from a tail wind at this point and picked up my pace to take full advantage before I turned around. My goal was to save at least a little bit for a strong 12th mile and even better finish. As mile 11 came up, I could see the woman in front of me. I was slowly reeling her in, the question would be her mile 12 kick -- will she have one? (I joked that since she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, she might be in a hurry to finish!). I slowly, slowly, slowly, caught up and passed her. Then the worry was on that she'd be right behind me! So mile 12 was fast, legs starting to numb a little, and the worry about tripping or turning an ankle started to seep in. No such -- I saw the Mile 13 sign, turned it up a little more, and crossed the line a minute under my goal!
I've learned that I'll doubt my effort if I feel like I have left over energy afterwards. So although I felt OK at the finish, I don't think I could have run it any better. I probably made a mistake of not walking more than a few minutes, my fingertips were so cold they ached for 20 mins and I huddled in the truck waiting to warm up. My right quad muscles were definitely going to hurt tomorrow. But I nailed the nutrition (Powerbar nibbled before start, 2 servings of EFS in-race, 1 serving EFS immediately after), had no gear fails or chafing, managed to find the best balance of clothing for the weather...I was a smart runner today :)
I'm in a great place to start final preps for the upcoming May marathon only 7 weeks away!
7th female out of 123, 4th in AG of 26, 3rd place hardware
BIKE ~1hr and 16 miles, indoor spin later in the afternoon to shake things out
All those "out of" and hardware numbers, but the best part was that I FINALLY BROKE THE PLATEAU I've been lamenting! So much to say, how to get started?! Get ready for lots of exclamation points.
First off, a sub-8 pace! My only prior race with a sub-8 pace was a 5K in Nov 2009. ONLY. (I didn't look at my sprint tri times, to be fair, but I don't expect to find sub-8 there). The closest I got was an 8:01 at the 2010 St Patty's 5-miler.
Second, this was faster than my 10K PR pace from an olympic tri in fall of 2011, which was an 8:13 m/m pace. So this means I have a new 10K PR awaiting me, I just need to race it.
Third, holy nailed-that-goal cow, did I nail that pace! My goal set in late February was an 8 m/m and 1:45 race. It felt so good to see the miles go by at sub-8's, it was a confidence building boost. The 1:45 time was suggested by the McMillan Running "oracle" for my marathon goal time of 3:40. Now for the first time probably ever in my running career, I can use the oracle to say "this is my __K pace" and have a realistic number to shoot for in longer races:
CURRENT TIMES
Fourth, bring on the marathon!! Wow, I'm feeling good about this race now. I thought about the marathon during this race, thinking ahead to how I feel at this pace, how would I slow myself down, would I be able to do this distance twice over? I have a half-minute pace change to make, I'll need to do some training at the pace to be able to identify it. As a point of reference, Thursday's group run was an 8:43 pace, could I hold less than that for 26 miles...hmmm....
Fifth and finally, this result puts to rest so many doubts I've been having. I registered for this race the Monday after the second "event" then spent the next few days lamenting the decision. It's hard to feel race-ready when you're sick, I was getting certain that this would turn into a training day. Also, the recent weight loss and nutrition habit changes had me doubting my body and wondering what would happen when I got 8-10 miles in -- would my body would be ready for the rigors and up to the challenge? Today I learned: I'm not only fine, I'm doing great.
In February, this is what I typed into my Anti-Blerch Training Goals page:
| Half | Spirit of St Louis | April 2006 | 2:06:23 | 9:38:00 |
| Spirit of St Louis | April 2007 | 1:59:37 | 9:07:00 | |
| Frostbite | January 2008 | 2:10:02 | 9:55:00 | |
| Go St Louis | April 2009 | 1:58:22 | 9:02:00 | |
| Track Club | November 2009 | 1:54:38 | 8:45:00 | |
| Frostbite | January 2010 | 1:58:30 | 9:02:00 | |
| Alton | March 2014 | 1:45:00 | 8:00:00 |
Look-it that plateau I had going! BUSTED!!! WHOOP!!! My other half-mary PR was last summer's Route 66 Half Iron run of 1:49:28 at a 8:21 m/m pace.
This was a remarkably simple race, and reminded me of the ultras I did last summer. No big frills, small field, just a simple set-up and go type of race. Parking, packets, everything super easy. The course was simple too: short 2 mile loop then over the bridge (cross-tailwind), out-n-back along the river (tailwind then headwind), back over the bridge (cross-headwind) to mile 8, then out-n-back along the river again (tailwind then headwind again) on the levee trail to the finish.
I knew going in the race could be windy, and the low temps only added to my "what to wear" doubts. What you can expect from this situation is feeling too-warm in the tailwinds and too-cool in the headwinds. It's hard to dress for both! The irony of running from this park and along the levee trail was looking back at a training brick I did for Redman in 2012, in which the heat was so horrible that I promised myself I could play in the Pavilion's water fountain if I finished a good brick run. No playing in the fountain today! And no heat to warm me up, the temps were in the mid-30's. I decided right before the start to wear two hats and two pairs of gloves. You know me, would rather be too warm than too cold.
In previous races like this, I'd be hesitant to do any running as a warm-up. Today I jogged about 15 mins and did some speedy pulse-ups. I reminded myself that my best runs were after bike rides, so certainly I could handle a few mins of jogging today! I kept looking at the pretty half moon in the southern sky. A half moon for my half mary.
As for the race itself (this is a race report, and I've yet to get past the start line in it!), it was wonderful! I started nearer the front than usual (something I'm still learning to do) and was surprised to find that I stayed there the rest of the way. I was buoyed by the sub-8 mile intervals reported by the Garmin but wasn't really able to adjust my pace based on a mile of 7:43 or 8:13, I just ran what I could for that moment. The slow climbs up and over the bridge weren't as spectacular as I expected them to be, I ended up just staring at the roadway instead of the river. As I approached the first turn-around, I used the opportunity to count the females ahead of me -- only 7 of them! To distract myself from the headwind I counted the ones behind me too -- 122 womens total -- and I was struck by how many there were. [In fact, I just looked as I typed this, there were only 95 males in the race]. I also noted that the women runners tended to run in social groups and were having quite the fun :)
In contrast, I ran alone. Around mile 6.5 a guy passed me who was cheering on every runner we passed, I spoke briefly to him, and that was the extent of my talking for this race! At least the out-loud talking, my mind never shut-up: "I'm a strong runner, if I can be a smart runner today I'll nail my goal". "You can run the heat all you want on the drive home, just suck it up for now". "Two miles in, it's normal to feel tired, you're still warming up". "Perfect nutrition with the EFS, take only what you need, and take the cold aid station water even if you don't want it". "Run in your bubble, don't worry about the woman ahead of you". "It's supposed to hurt". "Stay in the bubble, don't worry about the woman right behind you!". "Remember Hoka/IM guy ahead of you? With the perfect easy form? Is my form like that too?". "My race, my pace". "How in the world is that person wearing shorts and t-shirt?!".
Oh if anything should get tired during a long event like this, you'd think it'd be my brain.
The race really started for me around mile 9.5. A tight inner quad muscle started to hurt, and it spread to form an upside down V from my hip, pulling on both inner and outer quad muscles. I was benefiting from a tail wind at this point and picked up my pace to take full advantage before I turned around. My goal was to save at least a little bit for a strong 12th mile and even better finish. As mile 11 came up, I could see the woman in front of me. I was slowly reeling her in, the question would be her mile 12 kick -- will she have one? (I joked that since she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, she might be in a hurry to finish!). I slowly, slowly, slowly, caught up and passed her. Then the worry was on that she'd be right behind me! So mile 12 was fast, legs starting to numb a little, and the worry about tripping or turning an ankle started to seep in. No such -- I saw the Mile 13 sign, turned it up a little more, and crossed the line a minute under my goal!
I've learned that I'll doubt my effort if I feel like I have left over energy afterwards. So although I felt OK at the finish, I don't think I could have run it any better. I probably made a mistake of not walking more than a few minutes, my fingertips were so cold they ached for 20 mins and I huddled in the truck waiting to warm up. My right quad muscles were definitely going to hurt tomorrow. But I nailed the nutrition (Powerbar nibbled before start, 2 servings of EFS in-race, 1 serving EFS immediately after), had no gear fails or chafing, managed to find the best balance of clothing for the weather...I was a smart runner today :)
I'm in a great place to start final preps for the upcoming May marathon only 7 weeks away!
Friday, March 21, 2014
WasGonna swim, but took the day off
Title says it all. I WasGonna do the 1200 straight through swim that I missed earlier in the week, but a long day at work and the need to rest for tomorrow's half marathon kept me from doing so.
I'm pretty convinced that this one swim won't make or break my races in August!
How am I feeling for tomorrow? Lots of doubt. Doubt about being 'sick' in the past few weeks, doubts from missing what I considered to be key workouts, doubts about how my changing body will respond in a race.
I'm pretty convinced that this one swim won't make or break my races in August!
How am I feeling for tomorrow? Lots of doubt. Doubt about being 'sick' in the past few weeks, doubts from missing what I considered to be key workouts, doubts about how my changing body will respond in a race.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
8:43 is the new 9:15
RUN 6.6 miles in 57:40 for an 8:43 pace
SWIM 2600 yards in 1:05, 15x100 (10s) in 32:30
COMMUTE 6 miles
Spring has sprung! Although you wouldn't know it this morning with the chill in the air. Warm up dammit!
My goal for the run was an easy, pre-race loop of the park. DC wasn't running so I didn't feel the need to keep up with him :) If I had to have guessed my pace, I would have said 9:15-ish. So I was surprised to see 8:43! Whoop! It felt good and easy, unpushed but brisk.
Can't say the same for the swim. After a WU and drills (I'm now much better about including drills after my WU, just needed to make it a priority. And habit.) I started the 15x 100y with 10s rest. My goal was do to the 100's in 1:52-1:55ish, maybe even 1:50. So the overall time I was shooting for was 30 mins, which included the 100's and the rests.
Didn't happen. The first 100 came in at 1:52, the rest closer to 1:57-1:59. My form definitely fell off as the distance progressed, but it was disappointing to see the 2nd and 3rd 100's slower. And things were chugging along nicely until the very end of the 8th interval when a CRAMP hit the right calf. I stopped my watch and waited it out. I needed the break anyway to get my head around my slower than expected pace, and adjust my goals.
Tomorrow I'm planning to do the 1200 straight through, and REST into Saturday's race. I'm having some doubts about how I feel for the race -- can I expect to go as fast as I'd hoped without the speed work? Maybe. After this morning's surprise, who knows!? But I'm still tired and feeling a little on the weak side sometimes. REST!
SWIM 2600 yards in 1:05, 15x100 (10s) in 32:30
COMMUTE 6 miles
Spring has sprung! Although you wouldn't know it this morning with the chill in the air. Warm up dammit!
My goal for the run was an easy, pre-race loop of the park. DC wasn't running so I didn't feel the need to keep up with him :) If I had to have guessed my pace, I would have said 9:15-ish. So I was surprised to see 8:43! Whoop! It felt good and easy, unpushed but brisk.
Can't say the same for the swim. After a WU and drills (I'm now much better about including drills after my WU, just needed to make it a priority. And habit.) I started the 15x 100y with 10s rest. My goal was do to the 100's in 1:52-1:55ish, maybe even 1:50. So the overall time I was shooting for was 30 mins, which included the 100's and the rests.
Didn't happen. The first 100 came in at 1:52, the rest closer to 1:57-1:59. My form definitely fell off as the distance progressed, but it was disappointing to see the 2nd and 3rd 100's slower. And things were chugging along nicely until the very end of the 8th interval when a CRAMP hit the right calf. I stopped my watch and waited it out. I needed the break anyway to get my head around my slower than expected pace, and adjust my goals.
Tomorrow I'm planning to do the 1200 straight through, and REST into Saturday's race. I'm having some doubts about how I feel for the race -- can I expect to go as fast as I'd hoped without the speed work? Maybe. After this morning's surprise, who knows!? But I'm still tired and feeling a little on the weak side sometimes. REST!
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