The good and the bad

[Day 29]

The good was this morning's swim.

Today's AM Workout: CSP practice, IM day
Summary:

• WU: 400 free swim
• Pre-set: (all were done on flexible 3rd person rest, I gave pace time estimates instead of hard cut offs)
• 4 x 100 @ 1:50, 25 free/50 IMO kick/25 free
• 300 free pull w/ paddles
• 4 x 75 @ 1:20, 25 free/25 IMO drill/25 free
• 200 swim free
• 4 x 50 IMO @ :55
• Main Set: 
• 200 free @ 3:15
• 4 x 150 @ 2:45, 50 fly/50 back/50 breast
• (break)
• 200 free @ 3:10
• 4 x 100 IM @ 1:50
• (break)
• 200 free @ 3:05
• 4 x 75 @ 1:25-1:30, 25 fly/25 back/25 breast
• WD: 100 easy
• As written, the main set had another round of 200 free @ 3:00 and 4 x 50 IMO, but we ran out of time. I want to try this set again straight through (which was how it was written) and do it all and maybe bump up the pace times a bit.
• Total distance: 3800 SCY (4200 SCY as written)

Hit Rate: 30/31 (96.7%)

Notes/thoughts:

• It feels so good to be getting back into the groove. I would have preferred pace times to be a little quicker this morning, but I wanted to be fair to my lane and I knew I couldn't hit the fast lane pace times so I couldn't move up, so I've been committing myself to doing my absolute best with these pace times as they stand. It meant that today, I led (and felt really confident doing it, which is the first time I've felt that way about leading all year) and I attacked every single repeat because I knew I was going to get in with lots of time to rest before I attacked the next one. I can't be up there swimming the challenging pace times, so I'm going to challenge myself to execute every single repeat at my best effort regardless of the pace time.
• I will, however, probably find an opportunity to swim alone at some point and try to hit this workout again with some adjusted pace times and straight through. I really liked this set, so I'm going to put it back on the calendar probably sooner rather than later, just for kicks.

The bad was this afternoon's run.

Today's PM Workout: Easy 3ish mile run

Summary: 3.11 mi, 29:41, 9:32 pace

Pace splits by mile: 9:09, 9:44, 9:39

Hit Rate: 31/32 (96.8%)

Notes/thoughts:

• Okay it actually wasn't that bad because my knee felt fine! I mean the occasional twinge, but those were more likely isolated bad steps and I'm a little bit hyperaware of it all right now anyways because it's what I'm paying attention to.
• I did, however, have some back pain that's been creeping in the past day or two that actually made me feel really tight and uncomfortable while running today. Still have to work on that form and getting lean from the ankles instead of the hips. Also need to really have that be something I pay attention to during the day when it comes to how I sit and stand. I need to have my posture be minimally taxing on my back during my non-training time so it doesn't become an issue during training time.
• It was about the pace I wanted it to be but it felt really slow and sluggish. It wasn't hard in the physically taxing sense but it did feel hard. Like my steps just felt really heavy and I wasn't getting the same kind of reflexive bounce off the ground that I usually do (I usually feel pretty light when I run) and the cadence felt slow even though at 172 spm it's not as bad as it had been previously (I was really consciously trying to work on this because I know it helps with the knee issues). I also felt very locked into a single pace, not in the sense that my pace didn't vary as the run went on but more so in the sense that if I wanted to go faster or slower, I don't think I could have made those pace adjustments very easily. It's like I got stuck in that one gear, which is how I used to always feel about running but had made a lot of improvements on in the past year or so, so it sort of sucks to feel like I'm back where I started in that regard.
• In any case, I think all of that really adds up to feeling a little bit disappointed with the state of the running. I just feel like I'm very very very far from where I want to be and it's just not exciting to think that all I can really do in the next few weeks is do a lot of slow runs that will get me back up to running longer distances and help me build the right kind of aerobic fitness to try and tackle other things. And it really is like adding insult to injury when even a short and slow run doesn't feel good. There's work to be done. I just have to set the feelings aside for now and do the work. It pays off in the end, I know that, I can look to things like my swimming for reassurance that it does pay off in the end. I'm just impatient is all.

In other news, I'm going ice skating tonight! It's a sponsored event school is hosting and I'm really not one for turning down free ice skating in the park. Will have to stretch tonight and then tomorrow is a day off! Yay! Days off = so glorious. I'll do my weekly recap tomorrow. (:

Much love,

Jess