It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster week on the training front… I had a couple late nights on the weekend (which is fairly rare for me) and the interruption in my sleep pattern has definitely not helped my mental state. That said, I’ve probably had more good workouts than bad workouts, it’s just that the bad always seem to stick out in one’s memory. Why is that?
The weekend was pretty solid. I had another mini-tri of sorts on the Saturday. I started at the pool, with a lane almost entirely to myself (heaven!) and just had a really strong swim. It wasn’t anything spectacular or record breaking, but I felt loose and relaxed and while I was putting out a decent effort, it felt almost effortless at times. Since the weather was atrocious, I opted to do my 90min bike on the trainer, and as such, my transition time was probably about 45min or so by the time I got changed and drove home.
What can you say about a 90min trainer ride really? It was steady. It was strong. It was a tad boring. I pedaled and watched a show about overweight teenagers. Good times.
My transition from bike to run was much quicker, and before I knew it, Rusty and I were absolutely drenched. I would guess it took less than 2 minutes to be soaked through to the bone. I could not believe how hard the rain and wind were pounding… So, while it wasn’t necessarily a fun run, it got done.
Sunday’s long run was a nice outing around the Lakes. I’d kind of been itching to run there for a while so Kirsten and I met up and headed out. I will say, I’m glad it wasn’t a solo mission for me, and that Kristen was there to keep me going, as I was feeling a little drained and sluggish as the run wore on. All in all, it was good though and definitely falls in the positive column. It was mucky, but the sun was shining and our legs were moving…
Monday was a day off, which was nice, because my ankle decided to rebel. I’m not sure what happened, but it just started aching on Sunday night and by Monday morning I was walking with a noticeable limp. I could feel the swelling gradually increase in my boot throughout the day. I gave it a pretty good self-massage treatment when I got home that night, which helped relieve the pain a bit, but on Tuesday morning when I got up, it was still aching (and I was still limping).
I headed to the pool in the morning and actually had a good swim. My ankle felt much better in the water, and kicking didn’t hurt it (go figure). As soon as I got out though, it was “locked” back up and swollen again. Of course, what do you do when it hurts to walk – well, you run of course!
I had planned to do my Tuesday fartlek workout at lunch and figured that the run might help loosen up my aching joint (and it actually did, but that was about the best thing to come from that run). Plain and simple, this run sucked. It was possibly one of the worst run workouts I have had in a very very long time. My ankle loosened up about 15-20mins in (and hasn’t hurt as badly since thankfully) but I must have been carrying myself funny and my calf was absolutely screaming at me. On top of that, the wind was so spectacularly fierce that at one point during a 2min RP effort (going uphill no less) I think I may have actually moved backwards! Elements and aches aside, I think the worst part was that I just couldn't shake the negative thoughts. So yeah, the wind won.
I had to put that bad run behind me though, as this week is Time Trial 2.0 week. [I’m going out of town this weekend, so my TTs have been moved up from Friday (swim) and Saturday (run) to Wednesday (swim) and Thursday (run)]. The anxious TT tummy is slightly less, but still not gone.
So, Wednesday morning rolls around and it’s swim TT time! It was decent. Not spectacular, but not horrifying either. I definitely didn't feel as smooth as I had last time and unfortunately, felt like I was working a fair bit harder, but when I hit the stop button on my watch, it wasn’t any slower. Exactly 6:51 yet again. So apparently I’m owning that 6:51 pace at the moment. Next time I’m hoping that if I stay a little more relaxed my time will improve.
Wednesday night, bike trainer class with Kelly. Fun. Great. Good effort. Not much to say really. It was another on the “YAY HAPPY” list for the week.
Then comes today, Thursday…
I decided to get up early to do my run TT as I know I will be rushed after work and well, I just prefer morning workouts. It was icy, but manageable and I seemed to be finding my footing well enough. I had a really good warm up, did some drills and strides and was ready to run! At the 3 minute mark of the actual “time trial” part, I was flying – although not in a good way. In the dusky shadows of the morning, I didn’t see a curb and went half flying, half skidding across the pavement, full on Superman style. My hands now full of gravel and my knees throbbing, I popped back up, walked a few feet, realized I was a bit stunned, allowed myself a few tears and contemplated what to do next. In hindsight, I should have just kept running, but I knew my time was shot and well, I was completely frazzled at this point. So, I turned around, tears in my eyes and did a slow “cool down” run home. So yeah, the curb won.
So now, here I sit, frustrated that I got up early and didn’t actually get my TT done, and now have to try and fit it in to my schedule on a weekend with other priorities (it is Shane and my 5 year anniversary + one of my best friend’s stagette in Whistler). Perhaps I will be able to squeeze it in after work today or tomorrow morning before I head off to Whistler, or maybe even Monday???? (Can you hear my brain churning?)
Or, maybe I just need to stop being so neurotic and remember that I do this for fun. *sigh*
heh, it's fun to accomplish all the little goals that we set though, TT work, or brick work, or whatever. If we don't finish them it feels wonky (for me at least).
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the 5 year anniversary btw. I'd do the TT run before that if you are in solid shape (no scraped knees?) so that you can just enjoy yourself.
I need to figure out how you get your swim down to that pace. that's freaking quick!