I hate the heat. I mean, I really hate it and can honestly say that I would take 20F over 90F any time. The past week or so has been unbearably hot here in the Northeast; temperatures have been well into the 90s and most recently topping out over 100F. It is crazy hot out there (right up the Heat Miser's alley) and I am doing my best to avoid afternoon workouts at all costs.
On a more positive note, this morning was my first morning without any pain or soreness in about two weeks. It felt weird getting out of bed, preparing for the pain and feeling nothing. It took me a bit of time to soak in what exactly I was feeling. I think I posted it here, if not...Fifth's Disease was going around my youngest daughters' school and I think I may have gotten it (although some may doubt it). I had two days of high fevers and overall body aches. After the fever left I was still not 100%, and soccer from a week ago didn't help matters. My fingers have been swollen, ankles really sore, even my shoulders have been killing me and I haven't been swimming much. Today I felt blissful and happy. I hope that these feelings are here to stay!
Tuesday
It was supposed to be over 100F so worked out a deal with my wife on Monday night that had me to running in the morning and then doing my swim when I got home from work at the outdoor pool (Fanny Chapman Pool). It seemed like a great plan. I was up and out of the house by 5:00AM, drove to my office and did my hour run on the roads of Oldwick/Whitehouse Station, NJ. It was slow going at first, I am not a very good early morning runner, but I managed to pick up the pace a bit on the way back. I think I ran about 7.2 miles in exactly one hour (around 8:20 pace), with the last half of the run a bit faster than the first. A good start to the day, having already gotten my run over and done with by 6:45AM!
Around noon I thought that I better check the pool schedule to make sure there wasn't anything unusual going on. That is when I found out that I had a bit of an issue....there was a swim meet at Fanny Chapman which meant I was not going to be able to swim there. I was bummed, I was looking forward to doing my swim there. I was also stressed because this was not the way I wanted to start my first week of "Phase 2 Training". There wasn't really anything I could do but deal with it and move on.
NOTE: I watched the conclusion of the Netherlands v. Uruguay match (World Cup semi-finals) before going to bed. What a great game! I am a big Netherlands fan and I was psyched to see them win!
Wednesday
I was up at 5:00AM to get in my standard Wednesday BRICK work out before the oppressive heat hit. I banged out a 45 minute ride on the trainer in my basement while watching the 2004 Ironman World Championships (I am only about halfway through it....so good!). As usual, I started slow but picked it up at the end. After the bike I did a quick change and was out the door for my 30 minute run. I have just one word about the run....SLOW! It was hot and humid out there at 6:00AM and my body was not liking the run at all.
My clothes were sopping wet by the time I finished, I had to wring out my shirt before heading into the house. My pace was all over the place and honestly I just wanted to get back home. I ended up running 3.62 miles (8:18/pace) with my heart rate averaging 152 BPM (but it was all over the place). I was so happy to get inside and take a cold shower.
As for the rest of my day, it could have better. Things have not been going all that great at work, I have gotten some troubling news about some organizational changes that will have a immediate and significant impact on me. To say the next few weeks will be interesting and stressful is an understatement.
Today
I did my first 3,000M swim session ever. It took me about an hour or so to complete, but I managed it. I was hurting during my 500M warm up, but things gradually got better as I plugged along. Here is the work out:
- 500M Warm up
- 8 x 50M Drills
- 4 x 200M @ 20 seconds
- 6 x 100M @ 15 seconds
- 8 x 50M Drills
- 300M Cool down
1 comment:
Definitely loving the early mornings here! Glad that you're feeling better too. My clothes are sopping wet just walking to my car! This humidity is out of control. Hang in there with the work issues, I hope things pan out okay!
As for the NJ race, I had thought about volunteering the 6-12 slot on the day of the sprint race because I'm doing olympic, but then I realized that probably wouldn't be such a good idea because I need to get as much quality sleep as I can 2 nights before a race. So, I don't know what time I'll be there, definitely at 12 for my packet pick-up, but I assume you'll be done and gone by that point.
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