Step it Up Thursday

I have been kind of a slacker this week. Well, not a total slacker, but a partial slacker. As I wrote in previous posts, I had my Sprint Triathlon this past Sunday and felt pretty good about my performance. Since Sunday I have taken it pretty easy with regard to my training, specifically with regards to my swimming, my weakest part.

Monday
I was a touch sore from my race but I still managed to get out and do a 3.4 mile run with a friend from work. The route is an out-and-back up a pretty significant hill for the first 1.7 miles and then the consequent return. I wasn't really feeling like running too hard, but rather just getting out and stretching my legs. We ended up running it in about 8:15 pace, which I was good with. My heartrate averaged around 151 BPM and I wasn't terribly exhausted at the end of the run. I really wanted to get to the pool on Monday night but I just didn't have the energy to do so.

Tuesday
I decided on Monday night that I was going to ride my bike home from work on Tuesday evening and then ride it back in on Wednesday morning. The trip is around 31 miles each way and it is a good way for me to get my bike miles in since it is nearly impossible to do so after work....at least until I can save up enough money to get a trainer. So around 3:30pm I headed down to the lockerroom, changed into my biking attire, grabbed my bike out of my car, and off I went.

I opted to take a different route home that night, heading a bit more west than usual, as I wanted to ride along Round Valley Reservoir and tackle some of the hills. The route is a touch longer than the course I normally take by about 4 miles and the hills are more dramatic. Without getting into to much detail, the ride was pretty rough, as my legs were extremely sore for the first 3 - 4 miles. Within the first 6 miles or so, it was largely uphill...and by uphill I mean really up hill. Miles 7 - 9 were downhilll and definitely fun....I think I hit around 45 MPH on the decent. I was fortunate to not encounter the thunderstorms that were ravaging the area just to the south of me. I did see the aftermath as I rode into Flemington, with some very wet and steamy roads and branches littering the streets.

The ride ended up being about 34.5 miles, which I completed in 1:58 for an average of about 17.4 MPH. Not blazing by any means but I got in some solid miles. As for my planned swim, yeah, if just didn't happen as I ended up hanging out with the family afterwards and had a late dinner.

Wednesday
After a somewhat solid night of sleep, my wife woke me up at 4:50am to have me take our 6 year old off to her bedroom (she has snuck into our room around 2:00am). I thought to myself, "You couldn't have just let me sleep for another 10 minutes as my alarm was scheduled to go off at 5:00am?" After a bit of movement, I ended up leaving my daughter in our bed and I just got up and got ready for my ride into work.

I downed a package of Pop-Tarts and off I went into the foggy morning at around 5:40am. The sun was just starting to come up but there was still a solid layer of clouds delaying its appearance. The ride back into work is always faster than the ride home, mostly due to the net elevation loss of about 200 feet. Again, I won't get bogged down into details, but will say that I felt a whole heck of a lot better on the bike than I had 12 hours before. I managed to make it to my office by 7:20am and I felt surprising good. The rided stats: 30.5 miles, 1:38, Avg. 18.6 MPH.

Today
I hit the pavement for a hot and steamy afternoon run of 5.06 miles. It was about 90F out there and the humidity was probably equal to the temp. Suffice to say my clothes were soaked to the bone and it was a relatively rough day. I managed to run it at 8:18 pace, still not where I want to be for an everyday training run, but I assume my times will start to drop a bit once I get used to the heat.

After work today, I went straight to the pool and played with my little girls for about a half hour before it was time for them to head home to get showered up and get some dinner. I stayed behind and swam 2,000 yards. Here is my work-out:

Warm-up: 500 yds - 9:09 (200 free, 200 pull, 100 free)
5 x 200 yds: 3:49, 3:53, 3:51, 3:53, 3:53
Stroke Drill with Pull Buoy: 300yds - 1:51, 2:02, 1:59
Cool Down: 200 yds - 4:04

Not a great swim session, but one that I am very content with. It is 9:30pm and I am beat. I am going to drink a big glass of water and then hit the hay. I am working from home tomorrow so that I can see my daughters in their swim classes. I also hope to get in a ride and a swim at some point.