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April 3, 2008
Out-Riding the Rain
Before I even moved an inch this morning I knew I was sore. As in whole-body sore. And while there are many suspects (hard bike Tuesday, track workout Wednesday, massage Wednesday) I believe the true culprit for said soreness is the weight room activity yesterday. Dang weight room! :)
So off to masters practice I went! The workout today was 40x50 in sets of 5. Four of those sets of 5 where supposed to be on the tightest interval we thought we could handle. The pool is still long course meters (yippee!) so lane partner Matt and I look at each other and know we have a decision to make. Shall we make those 50s on :45 or :50?
Now before I tell you our decision I'll have to say that I have some sort of speed warped brain when it comes to LCM. Everything *seems* like it should be so easy. 100s on 1:30? Sure - no problem! 300s on a 1:30 base? Sure - no problem! 50s on :45? Sure - no problem! And then I actually attempt these things and...uh oh...PROBLEM! :)
So Matt and I decide to do the first set of hard 50s on :50 and then try the last 3 sets on the :45 interval. It was during that first set that I realized that if I'm cutting it close on the :50, the next couple sets on the :45 are going to be pretty rough. And they were. Touch and go if you will - as in, touch the wall and go! I'd be good through 2 or 3 but the last 2 I was swimming hard, touching the wall and going again. But I'm really happy we went for the tougher interval because next time it might be that little bit more doable. And we'll be deciding between going on the :40 and the :45. :)
Next up was a big stress filled day at work where there were sick people EVERYWHERE! Ah! So many sick people! And they all seem to have nutritional issues. So we are busy to say the least. And of course I was obsessively checking the weather throughout the day knowing that I could ride outside in the afternoon if ONLY I got home quickly enough to ride before the rain started.
It's days like this that you have to stay late at work. :)
But I hurried home as quickly as possible and got all my gear on, checked the weather a few more times and then decided rain or shine I was going.
And it was a great ride. I rode out all my work stress and frustrations and just really, really enjoyed being on my bike. I decided somewhere along the way that if I had to choose one of the triathlon sports to soley do it would be cycling. I've already done the running thing and it's too hard on my body and I'm not a good enough swimmer (nor do I like cold water). But cycling? That's just good stuff. Of course I'd have to move to Tucson for the winter months but otherwise I'd be good to go. :)
I headed to the hills and rode and rode and was so sad to turn around. Mostly because that meant I was on my way home but also because I was going to be facing a beastly headwind on the way back. :) And beastly it was! It was more of a cross-head-wind (does such a thing exist?). A couple times I was gripping pretty tightly on the handlebars hoping not to get blown over. I was thinking though that my definition of wind is probably very different than someone that lives in...say Chicago...or Florida...or somewhere where there is a lot of wind. With our hills and mountains we probably don't get near the wind that those folks get!
And that was my day. Now it's time to do core exercises and sweet talk O into fetching the laundry. We really need to teach Roxy how to work the dryer...if only I could trust her not to eat all our socks on the way up from the basement... :)
Good night all!
Posted by beth at April 3, 2008 9:04 PM
Comments
Can Roxy come and do my laundry next?
Good for you to push those intervals on the 50s. You will get closer every time you try!
I remember lots of workouts when I was a kid, just having enough time to touch the wall and leave on the next repeat. On a few of those days, I realized that I'd been so worried about making the interval, that I hadn't even realized that I'd equalled a PR.
-Danielle
Posted by: Danielle at April 4, 2008 2:20 PM
After Roxy does your and Danielle's laundry, can I borrow her as well? :) Perhaps she could teach Tabbitha a thing or two...
EXCELLENT JOB on the swimming! Beth - you will be my swim buddy/soul sister! I'll live vicariously through your swimming - wonderful that you're pushing the envelope, really reaching new heights on your swimming. So totally awesome!
As for the bike - you know what? I've always said EXACTLY THE SAME THING!!! How cool is that? Hey - nothing wrong about a cross-headwind, except its very devious and tricky. When you race in Hawaii, I'm sure that you'll get a lot of those! :)
Posted by: marit c-l at April 4, 2008 4:53 PM