I woke up today a little tired, stiff and with low motivation. I had a swim, a hard bike and a hard run up ahead. I needed to trick my brain into embracing the day and not being scared of it. So I focused on the fun parts of the job ahead: a new pool to swim in with an awesome view of Tucson, a Bike route with good roads and few stop lights, a beautiful bike to ride, a beautiful sunny day, a race pace run that was only 3km, 1 insole per shoe...this definitely worked! I had a great day of training today.
When I got to the pool I just stared at the view for a few minutes. It was only 32F (0C) so a little chilly, but I wanted to make sure I made a few memories of my trip that weren't of just swimming, biking and running. I hope I never forget that view...the pool, with Tucson in the background and the mountains in the distance. It was breathtaking (the picture below doesn't even do it justice). Before I froze to death I jumped in the 82F pool and started my recovery swim. 500 free - 500 forearm paddles - 500 pull - 5x100IM - 10x100 snorkel with a pull buoy & band around the ankles. This is a great core workout, specific for freestyle. With the band and pull buoy around your ankles you have to engage your core muscles to keep your middle from sinking. If you are a swimmer, try it on your recovery swim days! It's great. And you know what? I actually didn't feel THAT sluggish in the water, so I took that as a good sign.
The pool and the view
After a yummy breakfast and meticulous planning of my bike route, it was time for my brick workout. A 95km bike with 5x10' bike intervals and then a 3km race pace run right after the bike. I knew as soon as I got on the bike that I wasn't feeling as bad as I expected. My first interval confirmed this fact. My heart rate was low and my power was high. I actually had an incredibly enjoyable ride. I hit maybe 2 or 3 stop lights at the most and had fairly smooth roads the whole ride. I was a little tired by the final 10km, which was a steady uphill...but, because of all the climbing I have done, I barely notice when I'm on an incline anymore.
I arrived back at the house to find that Papa had arrived! Him and mamma were enjoying a nice antipasti lunch and some wine. I was still a little pumped from my ride so I wanted to get out on the run as quickly as possible. While in "transition" Papa told me about his flight and how he got to sit in the Admiral's Lounge while he waited for his flight from Dallas to Tucson. American Airlines had actually cancelled his original flight, but they managed to switch him to another flight so he would arrive at around the same time as originally planned. This re-arranging all happened at 4am EST! Anyway, within minutes I was off on my run...3km at 4'/km...the first km (a net downhill) went by in 3'53, then another km in 3'49, then I had to run uphill...ahhh...heart was racing as I tried to keep my pace as close to 4' as possible. Ouch the legs were burning! In the end it was a 4'13. So I did it, 3km in avg pace of 3'59/km. Not sure if I could have kept that up for another 18km though, but it's a start!
Post-run happiness
OK...off to spend the rest of the day tanning, relaxing and spending time with Mamma and Papa!
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