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April 11, 2007
Third Time's a Charm?
So the past two days I've driven to work I've gotten lost. No, I didn't change jobs and no, the hospital didn't move. What did happen however is the evil people at PennDot decided they needed to shut down one lane of the major highway that I take into work. This creates mass chaos. If I swim or train in the morning and don't leave until 7:30 or 8 from my house, the traffic is backed up for miles (and I'm not exaggerating here either) making my commute more like 75 minutes instead of 45 and that doesn't include the 10 minutes I walk from my parking spot to where I actually work. The price you pay for working in the city but not living there. Geez.
ANYWAY - this PennDot project is slated for the next 2 years. I kid you not. They are making said highway 3 lanes each way instead of 2 so in the end it will be better but for the next 2 years it will be bad. Very, very bad. Especially bad if you drive a stick and must repeatedly push in the clutch in stop and go traffic. That makes for some very unhappy calves.
Well of course all the obvious shortcuts get really backed up too because everyone is trying to avoid the main highway. So O and I outsmarted everyone and came up with our own shortcut that's really much longer but all on back, country type roads that nobody would even think to use. It's much farther going our way and truthfully not that much faster but you avoid the bumper to bumper traffic that makes me want to bang my head up against the steering wheel very hard.
Problem is, I keep getting lost.
These back roads don't seem to care much about signage. No road signs and one very bad sense of direction and you have major trouble. I first tried this new route on Tuesday and it ended in utter despair. Let's just say the very first turn I made was wrong and as you may guess, it didn't get better from there. This morning I tried again but with mixed results. I started off better (after some intense studying of maps last night) but missed a turn somewhere along the way and ended up in the wrong place...again. I'm thinking the third time is a charm though. Tomorrow is my day to shine! I'm just hoping to get to work before 10... :)
Anyway, this morning I went to the pool and swam until I couldn't swim anymore...
4500 yds total
wu: 300 easy, 6x50 w/20 sec rest alt back & breast, 6x50 kick w/20 sec rest
ms: 3x(4x200 w/30 sec rest, 1x400 w/15 sec rest) - 2:44, 2:44, 2:41, 2:41, 5:24, 2:40, 2:39, 2:39, 2:40, 5:24, 2:41, 2:41, 2:40, 2:41, 5:25
These long swim workouts just really kill me. I know it has a great deal to do with a big training day Tuesday and then not much recovery before I'm back at it in the pool Wednesday morning but I also think that these workouts are very, very mentally challenging for me. For instance I'll be in the middle of the 2nd set and start thinking...oh dear Lord I have another whole set of this?!?! Plus, I'm just getting used to swimming long main sets like this. It's like when I first started running and I heard my high school coach say "we are doing 12x400 on the track" and I just wanted to cry because that seemed like so much.
Anyway, for all the reasons above is precisely why I love the long swim on Wednesday. Because I tough it out and get through it every time and even though it may not be pretty it shows me that I can do it. A little piece at a time and I can do it.
When I got home from work I went for a 30 minute easy run in 40 degrees and pouring down rain. I was so cold when I was done I couldn't open up my hands to get the door open! In the high 30s or low 40s and rain is just about the worst weather to me. You can't even wear enough clothes because they just get soaked and heavy anyway!
After the run I headed to the YMCA and warmed up with a lifting session. Nothing exciting or new there other than the fact that the weight room was packed!
And now I must fold laundry and study maps... :)
PS Pizza Night made it's triumphant return tonight! Our first Pizza Night since Lent. And boy did that pizza taste good....
Posted by beth at April 11, 2007 7:47 PM
Comments
Good luck with navigating your way around tomorrow!
Posted by: Meghan at April 11, 2007 9:39 PM
Good luck with the road construction . . . I totally feel for you. The minute Spring hits, the roads are a mess.
By the way, can you send some of your mentality my way? I need a serious kick in the ass to motivate my running life :) Your blog is so inspirational!
Posted by: bridget at April 12, 2007 12:45 PM
4500 yds... awesome... and very consistent...
Posted by: Kranky C Dale at April 12, 2007 1:45 PM