Getting into the rhythm of training hasn't been as bad as I'd expected. If you had told me 2 months ago that I would be getting up before 5:00 two days a week (and around 7:00 every Saturday) I would have said you were nuts. In fact I'm pretty sure I said that exact thing to Teen three years ago when she first did TNT. But it's not the early wake ups that are causing interruptions to the schedule; it's finding time around other parts of my day.
Yesterday was supposed to be a short 30' bike ride with some built-in speed intervals, but a really annoying day at work kept me in the office until 11:00. On top of that I've been fighting off a head cold for the past couple of days. I thought I had it kicked but the long day of stress let it creep back in. I did make it up at 5:15 today for a morning swim at Takoma with the usual suspects, but it was hard going. I felt sluggish, and parts of the workout that weren't too bad on Tuesday were painful today. Some of it had to do with the fact that we weren't constrained by the 4-person circle swim and had our own lanes. No excuse for extending the rest intervals waiting for the whole lane to finish the lap as a group. I tried to stick to them and felt the difference. My arms were dead on some of the final lengths for the long intervals. One thing that I'm now totally convinced about is that by trying to go faster I'm actually slowing myself down. On the fast laps my arm turnover was higher and I was getting winded, expending more energy, but I'm pretty sure that they were slower on average than the moderate paced ones were I was more relaxed and conscious of my body position. It's hard to fight the urge to "go hard" in the water on the assumption that it will make you go faster. Just another mental stumbling block to get past I guess.
Since I was feeling crappy (and worked was calling ... literally) I bagged the 30' run we were supposed to do. I'll count yesterday as my off day and try to get it in tomorrow. Weather is looking nice for our first group ride on Saturday. Let's hope it holds up.
1 comment:
Good work in the pool today despite your obstacles! I think it is smart to hold your run off until tomorrow...that is exactly what I am doing! Saturday should be good times. See you in Vienna, or wherever it is we are going.
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