A long week but getting better

I know last week I pledged to stay on top of my posts and here it is one full week later and I am just now making a post. What can I say, I've been busy.

It's been are good week of training. I'm tired. Very tired. That being said, I am very pleased with my performances this week. Now lets get you caught up.

Saturday was my second 30 mile bike ride in a row. This time I road out by my house. This was a VERY hilly route. It started off great. I was initially just trying to keep my average speed above 15mph. By the time I made the turn around at mile 16 my average speed was just below 17mph. I was very exacted about this but this is also when things started going wrong. Besides the fact that I had put a lot of effort into that first 16 miles the wind was blowing directly into my face the entire way back. My average speed was decreasing at a fairly regular rate. This was incredibly frustrating to watch as the number just kept ticking backwards. No matter how hard I rode it seemed I wasn't going to be able to stop the slide. I was becoming incredibly demoralized. When my speed finally dropped to 15.2mph I began to imagine my friends Gary, Brad, Donny, Ryan, Ricky, Joe, Everette and Dave all making fun of me for slowing down. I list their names because I would picture each of their faces pointing and laughing at me. Needless to say this kind of pissed me off. Not only was I able to stop the decline, I was actually able to get my average speed back up to 15.35mph. I know that small increase may not seem like much but you have to remember that that is the "average" speed and this was at the end of the 30 miles. I wasn't just increasing my "current" speed. For that I say thanks for the help guys!

I was a little worried about sundays run after the bike ride the day before. As it turned out my legs didn't feel too bad. I did, however, run a bit too soon after eating lunch. I was Super Bowl Sunday and I wanted to get to Ryan + Julie's by 4:30 so I had to run when I could. I did 6 miles on the trace. Going out it was fine but my side started spitting a bit on the way back. I knew this was because I had just eaten. It crossed my mind to just walk it out but I started thinking that I'm not always going to be perfectly comfortable when I'm racing so this was a good chance to get a little used to it. I decided to suck it up and just get it done. I ended up with an 8min 40sec pace which is about average for me hear lately.

Monday was my typical swim. Like I said before, my progress with the swim has been pretty steady. I started like usual, with a 2 lap warmup, rested 90 seconds then swam 7 continuous laps. That was the goal this week. I ended with 21 total laps when all was said and done. Nothing spectacular but I stayed with my plan.

Wednesday turned out to be tough. My performances were right on target, it's just that I was starting to get tired even though I didn't workout on Tuesday because I teach all day. I started out Wednesday with 1 hour on the bike trainer first thing in the morning. Although the trainer is a tough workout because there is no inertia and momentum to help you, it is incredibly convenient to just wake up and jump on the trainer and get that workout out of the way first thing in the morning. Plus I can watch ESPN for an hour. My legs were tired, but I still had a lunchtime run. It was actually really enjoyable run. I planned to run it with James so we met at the Payne Center. Before we got started we ran into Jim, another runner, and asked him to join us. It was a pretty easy run and we kept a comfortable pace where we could maintain an easy conversation. We ended with 6.48 miles at an 8min 55sec pace. At this point, my Wednesday workouts were done but I have been trying to get an Art Department running group started and Wednesday was the first day for that run. I met 5 students at 5pm for a small 1.5 mile run. We kept it pretty slow and easy. I went to bed that night very happy that I was not working out the next day.

Friday morning I was back in the pool by 6am. This was to be another day exactly like Monday's swim. I started with my typical 2 lap warmup but as I was finishing the second lap I decided to make it a 4 lap warmup. I then took a 90 sec rest and started my 7 continuous laps. I you remember from previous posts, my goal has been to work up to 12 continuous laps before the race on March 31. Well, just like my warmup laps, as I was finishing lap 7 I decided to just keep going. I felt good and just figured why stop. I finally stopped for a break after 12 laps. So there it is. I know I can swim 600 yards (over 1/3 mile) without having to stop. I swam 4 more laps for a cool down for a total of 20 laps. Needless to say, I was very happy with this mornings swim.

This weekend is going to be a bit of a recovery weekend for me. I'll still workout but my distances will be shorter. I will crank it back up again next week. I have really come to appreciate how important recovery weeks are. It goes against my nature a little ( well, actually, a lot) to not go full speed, pedal to the metal all the time. I've learned you don't get better or faster like that though.