Ten Days

The first race of the season is ten days away so it's time to get serious about training.

Let's face it: the top form of December, peaking for the White Rock HM, is a distant memory. The weather is still very poor and so I have only ridden my bike once outdoors (and not often indoors). I've skipped two Sunday runs with Kami and Peter, so when I did a short road run Sunday afternoon, I was sore afterward--showing how fast it can all fall away. Of course, I was running in the wrong shoes. Ever since I got my trail shoes (Nike Pegasus 26+), I've had no pain in my left big toe during or after running. As a test, I've worn them consistently on every run since. But Sunday was the first time on the road (as opposed to indoor track or treadmill) and it felt like my lower legs were in a vise: I got almost no lift on the push-off and I felt uncomfortable in my knees and hips. So today I decided to wear the Lunaglides. Oh, it felt good! No effort at all. BUT.... Yes, the big toe hurts. (Sigh.) I can't win.

Without a massage appointment at noon, I was free to keep the mo' going. If I was going to have to shower, why not get even wetter first? So I went for a swim. I thought I would just do 20 laps. I expected it to be hard, but to my surprise it wasn't. I felt easy from the start. I wasn't pushing hard, but I did not have to suffer the increased heart rate of "getting up to speed" and so maintained a comfortable, steady pace throughout. So I went an extra 10. I was tempted to up it all the way to 40 but thought, "I'm going to pay for that if I try" and so I didn't. But it was a good swim. I practiced bilateral breathing throughout and it made the swim go much faster. You know the drill--stroke 1-2-3 "breathe", 1-2-3 "breathe"--and by switching it up after only three left-side breaths it was time to prepare for the turn. (Still working on that open turn.)

That was my double workout. Altogether it lasted about 1:45. And hours later I'm still not really tired. I expected to hit the wall two hours after I was done but never did. Maybe it's all that fat I have to burn!!