Slowly but surely

Man, time management is a killer!

I am really going to try to update this blog more often. My goal is to post an update after every workout which is five days a week. That is a tough goal. If I am not working out, I am either teaching class or prepping for class. I know I have to find the time though.

Enough of that. I made a statement in my last post that I had my best run last Friday. That felt really good to be the one doing the butt kicking for once. So far so good. I don't think I jinxed myself (so far).

Sunday was another brick workout where I rode my bike then immediately ran afterwards. I was supposed to do this with Mary but we couldn't get out schedules to match up so I tackled it alone. The bike ride was good. Nothing to write home about but I was pleased with my effort and performance. I rode 14 miles and averaged about 16.25 mph. I think that is solid for a rookie beginner. The run was a little strange. Mainly I was really pleased that my legs didn't cramp like they did before. I guess they are getting used to the bike. The purpose of a brick is to get your legs used to running coming off the bike. My legs had a bit of the "noodle" feel at the beginning of the run but that quickly worked itself out. I was trying really hard to run slow. I was only running two miles and wanted to keep a 9.5 min pace. I couldn't do it. My legs were still in the rhythm I had on the bike and I was running a bit faster than I wanted. I eventually just accepted it and finished the two miles at an 8 min 50 sec pace.

WINNERS WAKE UP AT 5:30! That is my new montra. Monday morning I was back in the pool at 6:30. I love swimming first thing in the morning. I made the statement a few days ago that I'm not currently a fast swimmer but I'm going to be. Actually that's not exactly true. I am a fast swimmer, I just can't do it for very long yet. I think this is going to be the best part of my race. This sort of sucks because you really don't make-up much time in the swim. It would be much better if the bike were my best sport. Oh well. I swam 15 laps (750 yards). Just like before, I would rest after avery 2 laps or so. After a two lap warm-up, I swam the next four continuously without stopping. My plan is to add a lap to the continuous laps each week until I am swimming half a mile (880 yards) without stopping.

I had a fairly tough run Wednesday morning but only because I made it tough on myself. I had a four mile run planned. I decided to run it as an interval. This is were you run at an average pace for a portion of the run then increase your pace for a portion and so on. Since this was a four mile run I planned to run the first mile at a comfortable easy pace of 9 minutes. I would then increase my pace for the middle two miles before reducing my pace back to 9 minutes for the final mile. I started a bit two fast. After a half mile I realized I was running at an 8.5 min pace. Its getting harder to run slower but I forced myself to slow up a bit. The middle two miles I ran at an 8 min pace. That is fairly fast for me but not crazy. It was tough but I didn't kill myself. I finished the 4 miles at an 8 min 20 sec. pace and I was very pleased with that. I'm not sure if this is the correct way to run intervals but it seemed logical to me. If any experts want to chime in with suggestions please do.