Swimming in place

Yesterday the fog was out again. I decided to swim 4k at Titlow. There were only 10 people in the water and 1 lap swimmer. The swim gods must have wanted me to swim fast. The main set was 3x100 fast followed by a 200 cruise four times through. I was hoping to swim a little faster. At least I wasn't swimming in place. I hope the swim gods do not bring bad weather for the ride.

Have you ever worked out so hard...

I am not sure what has been going on with the Garmin satellites lately. It has taken over 5 minutes on average to locate satellites. I know there are out there somewhere. Tell E.T. to move his ship, it's blocking my signal.

I went for a run yesterday morning. It was short and sweet. The watch said I averaged 5:25s for 30 minutes, running backwards of course. Luckily I had run the route a few times, so I knew it was a little over 4 miles. My internal GPS said it was closed to 6:45s.

After work and a nap, I went out for a killer ride. This workout had more rest than Tuesday. Interestingly enough, I had the same amount of time and distance for the workout as Tuesday. The focus of the set was improving Max VO2. It was 5x (6 minutes hard + 5 minutes cruise). I didn't realize how windy it was out there until my speed picked up. As speed increases, drag exponentially increases. This by far was one of the hardest workouts I have ever completed. I couldn't figure out why #2 had my lowest power numbers. I have to assume tailwind. I put out the biggest numbers on #3, only because I climbed up the hill from the bridge. I descended 1,4,5. I saw a coyote on the road looking back at me. He may have been licking his lips as he saw chicken legs riding around.

I cleaned up, stretched out, took the dogs out to play for ten minutes, then picked up dinner. Have you ever worked out so hard that your hand was shaking as you held food? That was me. At first, I thought I was losing my mind. Then I realized my hands were shaking for every bite. I tried to use the force even the Jedi mind trick to make it stop. No luck. "What doesn't kill me, only makes me stronger. Right?"

Swimming in another dimension

I don't know why, but I felt great in the water yesterday morning. The main set was 3x200 on 2:50/2:45/2:40 + 3x100 on 1:40/1:35/1:30 + 100 cruise on 2:00 two times through. I can't believe how fast I am swimming right now. The crazy part is that my 1st 100 and last 100 of the 200s were the same. I couldn't go any faster or slower. That was a, "Go buy myself some pineapple upside down cake for having a great workout and eat the whole thing :-)" I finshed with 4k.

Swimming forward yesterday

I felt so much better in the water yesterday. I descended both sets and the effort required was minimal. It was and easy 3k with mostly IM.

After work, I ate a bowl of cereal, took a nap, then headed out. The focus of the workout was to hold Olympic Distance effort three times for 20 minutes each with 10 minutes easy between. My goal was to start off just under and make sure the last one was over. I performed better than expected. My first one was high, the second higher, and the last even higher. I negative split the last one by a considerable amount. It helped having to turn around at the bottom of the bridge and climb back up the hill. At one point during the ride, I tasted puke. I need to put a sign up in the kitchen kind of like don't feed the bears - DO NOT EAT WITHIN 1 HOUR OF HARD WORKOUT.

Swimming backwards

I ran nine miles on Sunday. Fina only ran half and Kona ran it all. It was a nice day.

Yesterday, I felt like I was swimming backwards. The main set was a 400 + 2x100 + 2x50 on a 1:30 base send off, four times through. Aerobically I felt fine. It really sucks when you think you are swimming faster, only to have the clock call you a liar. I made the set, barely. Another 4k in the bank. "Just another day in paradise."

Have you ever sat in your car...

Yesterday, I swam 4k at Titlow. My main set consisted of a lot of 50s pulling with paddles. This is my second favorite set. Karen's team swam next to me. They couldn't figure out how I finished my 2k set faster than them. "To finish faster, you must swim faster..."

I got up early this morning and headed out for a solid ride. I opted for the Johnson Creek route. Early in the ride my handlebars moved when I hit a good bump. Nothing like sitting in aero and all of a sudden you are trying to kiss the tire at 20+mph. I felt strong until mile 70. I guess my body isn't fully recovered. Maybe it's because I started a little too fast after the first hour. I ended up averaging 22.2mph with good power numbers. Once home, I took the dogs out for a short brick run. It was nice and toasty out there. Fina was done after a 2 miles and Kona after another 1/2 mile.

After a few hours of being a vegetable, I took the dogs out for a quick toss the ball while I bake in the heat session. Have you ever sat in your car after it has been in the sun all day? OUCH!!! I think I lost a layer of skin. The dogs were done with their play session in less than 10 minutes. The rest of the night will be relaxing.

Recovering nicely

It was a long drive back from Monterey on Monday. I left at 4:15AM and arrived back to my house a little after 8PM. Traffic was good until Portland. I was tempted to park the car and get on my bike at that point. My average speed was 7mph for 30 minutes.

I swam an easy 2k Tuesday. My legs were a little tired. I normally take a big jump into the pool, not this time. I think my jump was as far as a 3 year old, 3 inches from the side. I dropped my LYNSKEY off at Triumph, so they could send it back. Russell Stevenson was kind enough to let me use his TT bike. If you want the best fitter in the area, he is the guy. I have been fit by three different people and he was hands down the best.

On Wednesday, I felt pretty good on my first short run of the week. Fina does not like running on leash in the heat. Later in the day I swam 3.5k. I felt better in the water. The main set gradually built up by decreasing rest and increasing speed.

I don't know where the sun decided to go yesterday. It was windy and cloudy, no sun. I ran a little longer. My speed is coming back. I am almost fully recovered. In the afternoon I went for a 2.5 hour bike. I could not shift into the big chain ring. I guess my body did not want to ride too hard.