I have the best fiance

[Day 99]

Henry drove me out to practice this morning in a car borrowed from a friend. Friends with cars are wonderful. Having a fiance who is willing to get up at an ungodly hour in the morning to drive me to practice is the best kind of blessing in the universe. He's taking a well deserved nap now lol.

In regards to practice, I really should've worked harder given that someone else gave up many hours of their morning to get me to and from practice. It's hard though without really aggressive pace times to push me and I wanted to keep pace times reasonable for the lane because towards the end of the set people were falling off the pace so it was a weird balance to try to strike. (It was IM day so I was leading.) My knees hurt a little bit, my left knee specifically, from breaststroke so I'm gonna try and keep an eye on that. Here's the set.

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

• WU: 
• 500 swim
• 2 x 250 @ 3rd person rest
• 1 - alt. 50 IMO kick/50 free swim
• 2 - alt. 50 IMO drill/50 free swim
• 4 x 100 free pull w/ paddles @ 1:35
• 4 x 75 IM no free @ 1:20, descend 1-4
• Main Set: straight through unless indicated
• 5 x 100 IM @ 1:45
• 4 x 50 IMO @ 1:00
• 4 x 100 free @ 1:35
• 4 x 50 free @ :50
• (break)
• 3 x 100 IM @ 1:40
• 4 x 50 IMO @ 1:00 (pretty sure this was supposed to go down to :55...but we just didn't...)
• 2 x 100 free @ 1:30
• 4 x 50 free @ :50 (again, pretty sure this was supposed to be :45...)
• 1 x 100 IM @ 1:35
• (there was supposed to be 4 x 50 IMO MAX @ 1:00 or 1:10, but we didn't have time)
• WD: 100 easy
• Total Distance: 4100 SCY (4300 SCY as written)

Hit Rate: 97/107 (90.6%)

Originally had a long run with a big tempo effort in the middle scheduled for today, but might be shortening that down because honestly I need to do the rest of life too. It's fine. I'm ready, I don't need the extra distance, I know that. It's just hard when I want to do more but I know that I can't without compromising my schoolwork. We'll see what comes of it. I'll be back. Happy Friday everyone!

Much love,

Jess

Friends make you better (:

[Day 71]

It's late so we'll keep it brief today.

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

• WU: 
• 400 swim
• 4 x 150 fly/bk/br by 50 @ third person rest
• 1 - kick (w/ board)
• 2 - 25 kick/25 swim
• 3 - drill 
• 4 - 25 drill/25 swim
• 300 free pull w/ paddles
• Main Set: straight through, breaks indicated
• 3 x 100 IM @ 1:45/1:40/1:35
• 3 x 100 free @ 1:40/1:35/1:30
• 3 x 100 stroke @ 1:50/1:45/1:40
• (break)
• 2 x 100 IM @ 1:40/1:35
• 2 x 100 free @ 1:35/1:30
• 2 x 100 stroke @ 1:45/1:40
• (break)
• 1 x 100 IM @ 1:35
• 1 x 100 free @ 1:30
• 1 x 100 stroke @ 1:40
• (break)
• 3 x 200 kick w/ fins @ 3:30 (I think we did more like 3:00/3:15, it was sort of arbitrary)
• 1 - 25 fly/25 free
• 2 - 50 fly/50 free
• 3 - 100 fly/100 free
• I did the fly kick on my back, free mostly on my side with some lengths on my front
• WD: 100 easy
• Total Distance: 3800 SCY

Hit Rate: 75/83 (90.3%)

Notes/thoughts:

• I didn't feel like going when I woke up this morning, but for the first time in a while, it was a very normal kind of lack of motivation. It wasn't catastrophic or devastating, I didn't feel too emotionally over-involved, I was just tired and I didn't wanna go. I wanted to stay in bed and sleep. Obviously I didn't, but it was interesting to just feel a normal emotional response instead of the overblow emotional responses I generally have. I feel like I have a much better handle now on the difference between my mentally low days that I should try and push through and the mentally low days that are probably indicative of bigger things at play that I should probably respect and rest through. It was an interesting perspective shift.
• It took me a long time to get ready to swim fast today. I really went in with the attitude of, "I have made it here, that is the most you can ask from me today, if I swim poorly then whatever", but because the set eased into the faster efforts, I found that by the time we got to the end of the main set and had to be swimming seriously, the rest of the set had already prepared me for that and gotten me fired up to go and hit those repeats fast. It was good. (:

Today's PM Workout: 10 mi building long run

Summary:

• The pattern was 3 mi @ 9:30-9:45, 3 mi @ 9:00-9:15, 3 mi under 8:45 pace, 1 mi easy
• 10.14 mi, 1:32:34, 9:08 pace, 172 spm

Pace splits by 1.5 mi: 9:21 (14:02), 9:39 (14:29), 9:11 (13:46), 8:58 (13:27), 8:37 (12:55), 8:33 (12:50), 9:45 (1.14 mi in 11:04)

Hit Rate: 76/84 (90.4%)

Notes/thoughts:

• I ran w/ Brian and Tsehay today! Having friends was super key for the pace in the fastest 3 miles, I think it was much easier to mentally attack those miles with friends who were fasting than me leading the way. Just focusing on keeping up instead of focusing on pushing harder makes a lot of difference for me mentally. I guess this is part of why I have an easier time racing than I do training. 
• Cadence was a bit low today, definitely felt that happening but also couldn't do too much to fix it. Just gotta keep working on it more. 
• The paces were all pretty on target, a few of the earlier splits were a bit faster than the target range but it all played out okay today. 
• I honestly put out a much better run than I thought I was going to. My body didn't feel great and I was exhausted today so I actually took a nap in the afternoon that I think helped give me enough juice to get through this. The fastest 3 mile block was rough, but I definitely managed it way better than I thought I would and I didn't drop off over 10 minute pace for the warm down which makes me pretty confident that it was a good effort level and I wasn't over-extending or anything. I'm really happy with how this particular run played out, I think I'm gaining more and more confidence in my running with every workout of this nature that I manage to hit well in terms of pace targets. 

CrossFit experiment happening tomorrow, along with looooooooots of studying. Happy Friday! (:

Much love,

Jess

Well that was mildly unpleasant...

[Day 64]

We did end up doing core stuff last night! Along with that timed 100 push ups challenge. And watching the 16.2 announcement, which was freaking insane. Made even more insane by the fact that one of the judges counted Dan Bailey's reps wrong and he's probably gonna have to do the workout again. Ouch.

Anyways, if you don't know what the 100 push up challenge is, it's basically a thing that Henry and I do because I enjoy winning at stuff where we take turns doing 100 push ups for time. Not continuously, because honestly I have a hard time linking together push ups past 20 reps. But you know, broken up however you want until you get to 100. Henry went first yesterday and set the bar really high and put the fear of god in me and I subsequently crushed it. 6:57, best time yet by a lot. I broke them up pretty similar to how I usually do but I was able to stay in the 5 rep range for longer and I think my reps were faster and my breaks were shorter. I was very very happy about that. Then we did some core stuff, and since we were sort of on a challenge streak, we started with some max reps stuff. Literally unbroken reps until I failed out of one, which was fun. (Yes, this is the kind of thing I find fun.) Unfortunately, fun doesn't always mean productive? I mean it was a great workout, but I also definitely didn't focus as much on form as I typically try to and blah blah blah. A good thing to do every once in a while, but probably not something I should get in a habit of. Also I need to plank, which we skipped yesterday because of the push ups. Here's the summary of that.

Yesterday's Core Work:

• 100 push ups for time: 6:57
• 128 sit ups (unbroken)
• 92 leg lifts (unbroken)
• 200 Russian twists, broken twice (at 96/179 if I remember correctly)
• 35-18-12 V sit ups (was aiming for 35-25, but the reps got ugly and I reset and tried to hit good ones)
• 10 x 10 second leg lift negatives

Then I swam this morning! Henry gave up some of his life yesterday to make sure he could be home and support me so I could make it out to the pool this morning, so when I woke up and felt pretty crappy and didn't wanna go, I sucked it up because of him and got my butt out the door. The workout in and of itself wasn't bad, but I felt pretty terrible. Even not hard things felt hard today, I just didn't have it. We got through though. The lane sort of opted out of deciding on pace times, we just swam. There are like 5 of us girls that are virtually the same speed so it does work out in the end, but it was kind of weird for me to be like, I don't know what the send off is gonna be but as long as I come in some reasonable amount of time after Emily it'll probably be fine (I went third in the lane). The ride back was terrible and very slow. I was very tired. Biking while tired is slightly dangerous. I kept feeling like I was veering and not very steady (probably because I was veering and not very steady...). Here's the summary:

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

• WU: 
• 300 swim
• 300 drill
• 250 alt. 50 kick/50 drill (was supposed to be 300, but idk what my lane decided to do...)
• Pre-Set:
• 4 x 200 IM
• 1 - drill, 2 - swim, 3 - kick w/ board (no fins), 4 - swim 
• 5 x 100, odds IM descending 1-3-5, evens free
• Main Set: 3 x 
• 125 double up IM (first round 50 fly, second round 50 back, etc.)
• 50 weak stroke (breast)
• 100 free
• 50 strong stroke (back)
• 75 IM no free
• WD:
• 200 kick (free w/ board no fins)
• 100 swim
• Total Distance: 3650 SCY (3700 SCY as written)

Hit Rate: 68/75 (90.6%)

Had a pretty productive day, ended up taking a nap in the afternoon though because the exhaustion from the morning never really cleared up. Ran right after my nap, opted for a 12 miler instead of a building 10 miler today because I've done more speed work than I typically do this week and I knew I had no kick in my legs today (based on the swim/ride). So long and steady it was. 

It was actually pretty nasty in terms of how it felt. I was honestly aiming to be just under 10 minute mile pace, I figured something nice and leisurely would do for the longest run of the year to date, but it just didn't feel nice and leisurely. By about mile 8 or 9 I was struggling with the focus and the pace and my legs just felt shredded. I got through though and held on for the finish. It's weird because these long days used to really intimidate me, but now I almost feel like I can compare it to any other run when I just don't feel so hot. Sometimes I take easy 5 milers and they feel horrible. You know you're gonna get through it, it's just gonna feel horrible. I could tell myself the same thing about today's run, except it was 12 miles. I don't know where that confidence of "oh of course I can run 12 miles, there's no question about whether or not I'll finish, I just have to decide to do it and go out and do it" came from, but it's nice. Progress. Even if today's run in particular ended slowly and with me in a lot of pain, I can see the progress hidden in it.

Today's PM Workout: Long run (12 miles), easy pace

Summary: 12.65 mi, 2:03:19, 9:45 average pace, 176 spm (Nailed that! Didn't realize it til just now but I'm real happy about that)

Pace splits by mile: 9:48, 9:52, 9:43, 9:44, 9:30, 9:47, 9:38, 9:53, 9:44, 9:46, 9:47, 9:48, 9:45

Hit Rate: 69/76 (90.7%)

I've been a huge lump since I've gotten home though. Don't feel so hot, haven't really been able to stomach much real food so I had a smoothie and have been munching on random snacks that don't upset me (tomatoes eaten as if they were apples because tomatoes are amazing, hummus and pita chips, roasted potatoes, yeah I'm random). It's late so I'm gonna stretch now and probably hit the sack. The real planned day off is tomorrow. It's interesting, that'll be the third day off I've had in seven days, which is way more than is typical. The workouts this week have been longer and higher intensity though, so I feel pretty justified with the extra rest. xD Maybe I'm just making excuses. But right now my body definitely doesn't feel that way. It'll be nice to have the day off. TGIF!

Much love,

Jess

Every up and every down

[Day 41]

Sometimes your days are unpredictable. Today was one of those days that yo-yo'd between being good and bad so many times that I'm here at the end and I'm not sure if I should be expecting another down after that latest up? I don't even know. Let's talk about the workout first, then I'll give you the timeline of my day.

Today's Workout: PM rec swim slash tri team practice (I sort of used both time periods because it was what was convenient to me)
Summary:

• WU: 1000 SKIPS
• Main Set: straight through
• 200 free @ 3:10
• 4 x 150 IM no free @ 2:30
• 200 free @ 3:00 (was supposed to be 3:05 but it made counting awkward so I just sort of did whatever...)
• 4 x 125 fly/free/back/free/breast @ 2:00
• 200 free @ 3:00
• 4 x 100 IM @ 1:40
• 200 free @ 2:50 (was supposed to be 2:55, but again, counting...)
• 4 x 75 IM no free @ 1:15
• 200 free @ 2:50
• 4 x 50 IMO @ :55
• WD: 200 easy
• Total Distance: 4200 SCY, 70 mins

Hit Rate: 44/46 (95.6%)

Notes/thoughts:

• My legs were not 100% rested because I felt them burn a bit early on in the set and opted not to use them very much because of it, but the rest of me felt real good from the extra rest (I slept in this morning and I skipped the AM lift, will explain later on) and I think that really showed in this workout. Also, both workouts that I've done in the Wash U pool this year have been way quicker than I was expecting, enough to make me question if the pool is even set to the right length. I'm sure it is. So the only other explanation is probably that these are the only two swims that I haven't done fasted. The test set AM swim involved me getting up early enough to eat and digest breakfast before going to the pool and today I swam in the evening so I had already had dinner. I know from my college days that the gap between how I swim when I'm fasted and how I swim when I'm fed is huge, but I think I had sort of not thought about it much since I take all of my swims fasted in the mornings now. It's mind blowing to then have a non-fasted workout (while rested no less!) and see that difference first hand again. Fuel is so key. 
• (On that note, some people will probably wonder why it is that I don't eat before morning workouts. That's actually totally elective. I think one important thing about being an endurance athlete is teaching the body to function while fasted. Sure, it's also important to practice race day nutrition, etc. etc., but at the end of the day the body can only process so much external fuel so fast. You're really limited by your digestive system. It makes more sense to try and train the metabolic system to be able to find fuel when it's got nothing external to depend on, so that's why even on weekends when I do have time to eat before my workouts, unless I'm up really early for another reason, I don't intentionally get up early to eat breakfast. I like to take my workout first.)
• I was honestly expecting to need to go on more forgiving pace times than this. To have gone straight through at this pace seriously blows my mind. I mean the free pace times were pretty easy (although that last one did hurt) but the IM times definitely pushed me and I dunno, I just didn't think that I was here fitness wise. It's really amazing. Another interesting thing I've noticed is just how much more resilient my body is during workouts. When all I did was swim full time, I had way more speed/power in the water than I do now, but I couldn't last through workouts like this and just keep pounding consistently like I can now. That's a really recent development and I think it's just the rest of the training showing through. I love that so much, I love seeing the work I'm putting in pay off in places that I don't expect it to. It makes me just want to keep working harder.

Okay let me tell you about my day:

• Henry talked me out of the morning lift. I was worried about being unprepared for my microbes quiz and he was the reasonable one who told me that I need to prioritize school. I was planning on getting up early and studying for that but actually ended up sleeping in by a lot. (I had a 5:30 am alarm, then ended up sleeping until 6:30 am, and the most amazing part was that it felt like I had closed my eyes for a split second after I reset my alarm before it was going off again.) I felt physically fantastic (which seemed like a small miracle given how horrible I had felt last night going to bed, the trainer ride hit me pretty hard) but also a bit guilty about all the extra sleeping...In any case, it was still more time than I would've otherwise has and I was able to get all the studying I needed to do in the morning.
• Morning classes were good, I was able to go home and make some food as well so I would have lunch and dinner today and lunch for both Henry and I tomorrow. I took my microbes quiz in the afternoon and it was easy and went well. I had a library session for a POM assignment that I didn't really want to go to, but honestly that went pretty well too. Then I think my brain sort of gave up on me so when I had to go home and cram for my immuno take home and then take it, I had a really rough time. I did eventually get it done and I ate dinner and wasted some time (which I felt pretty guilty about, but I was just so mentally blown) before heading out to my swim.
• Now at this point, it seemed like everything was going according to plan. I had worried that I would need more time for immuno than I ended up needing, so I had been concerned earlier in the day that I wouldn't be able to get out to the pool in time to go pick Henry up, but that turned out not to be an issue and I was so excited to just do my swim and then go see Henry. Well I got to the pool and realized that I had brought everything I needed except for my suit, which I normally wear under my clothes when I swim in the morning, but that wasn't what I did today because I was swimming in the evening. I was devastated. I know, I sound like a total diva, but that's what it was. Here I was going about my day thinking, man it's been so crazy but I'm getting to the end and all I have to do is swim and go to the airport and everything will be great. Instead I find myself trekking back to my place in the snow via the metro and wasting about an hours worth of time in order to pick up my suit so I could go swim. I thought briefly about just not swimming and doing work or going to the gym or something else instead, but I really wanted to do today's workout and it was important to me to prove that I wasn't going to let my own idiocy stand in my way, so I ended up sucking it up and going. Boy am I glad that I did.
• So I had made contingency plans to not be able to go to the airport, since I had wasted an entire hour. (Which I really could have used to do things like study for my physiology exam next week... -sigh-) I was expecting the workout to take me pretty long, since it was a 4200 yard IM workout. Instead I ended up being in and out of the pool in 70 minutes and I realized that I would have just enough time to get to the airport if I rushed and made the metro. I did. I am here now, writing this post from the airport, waiting for Henry's plane (which was actually conveniently delayed by a bit, this is the only time in my entire life that's I've been glad a plane of his is delayed), eating a bagel and drinking some milk I treated myself to from the airport bagel place. I know, not quite the right balance of macros for a post-workout snack, but whatever, carbs for life, right?
• Fun thing worth noting, there was a sign posted up on the blackboard that I noticed for the first time today. I'm sure it's there for the varsity team, and what it reads is this: "The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do". Honestly, I had counted myself out after all the madness earlier in the day, but my workout blew my mind. I don't think I have very many people telling me I can't do stuff, but I think I tell myself that all the time. I have so much doubt and so much fear and so much uncertainty and the only reason I keep going is because I love it so much it hurts and because there are so many wonderful people in my life who believe in me. Today, I got to prove myself wrong, I literally thought the words, "I can't do X, Y, and Z" and then went on to do those things. That is in fact a great pleasure in life. 
• As an addendum to that, I think part of the reason I swam well today was because I had been fired up. I was so upset with myself for making a stupid mistake like forgetting my suit and I was so worked up, and being worked up puts me on a different plane mentally sometimes. Sometimes it totally wipes motivation out of me, but today it didn't. Today I felt like I had something to prove. I had to make my workout so good it was worth that wasted hour. I had to prove that I was better than these stupid things that I do sometimes. And I think I did prove that, but my point is really that on some days, making mistakes drives me. Although if given the chance to do things again, I would have definitely opted not to do the dumb thing that led to my great swim, I do also want to acknowledge that I think the experience did have some value. It put a kind of fight in me that I don't always have, and I'm appreciative for that much. 

Okay this post is long enough as is. Henry just landed. Yayyyyyyyyy. Oh one last thing to explain: I'm not docking the hit rate for not going to the gym today because that workout is actually getting shifted to tomorrow evening, so I'll get to go lift with Henry! It means back to back doubles the next two days, which will probably be sort of rough, but whatever, I'll get by. No change in total number of workouts, so as long as I actually do go to the gym tomorrow, I figure the it's fine. Morning trainer ride tomorrow and gym sesh in the evening, let's get it! (:

Much love,

Jess

Another day, another destiny

[Day 36]

Today's AM Workout: CSP practice, IM day (Kate coached today!)
Summary:

• WU: 
• 400 swim as 75 free/25 no free
• 6 x 50 alt. drill/swim by 25 @ :55
• odds free, evens reverse IMO
• Main set:
• 2 rounds of:
• 400 IM broken as 50 fly, 100 fly/back, 100 back/breast, 100 breast/free, 50 free w/ 10 SR each break
• (regroup)
• 2 x 200 free @ 3:00 (I did swim, some people did pull with paddles) 
• 100 IM MAX
• 50 easy
• 400 broken IM, same pattern as above, FAST
• 100 easy
• 8 x 50 kick @ 1:10 (I did the first one free and the rest fly, tried to come in under :50, with a board no fins)
• WD: 200 easy
• Total Distance: 3700 SCY

Hit Rate: 39/40 (97.5%)

Today's PM Workout: Easy run, still just focusing on strengthening that connective tissue and all

Summary: 6.19 mi, 1:03:57, 10:20 average pace

Pace splits by mile: 9:27, 10:33, 10:41, 10:35, 10:17, 10:25, 10:38

Hit Rate: 40/41 (97.5%)

I can't do the comments today. Let's just save it.

Much love,

Jess

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

Kate is fast

[Day 22A]

The main news in my life right now is that my appetite is becoming unbearable obnoxious. I don't think I ever stopped being hungry between the hours of 3 pm and 9 pm yesterday...I pretty much ate until I felt like I was going to make myself sick if I kept eating, and was still hungry...What are these problems. Why. Anyways, I swam. (And got a ride in a warm warm car it was so wonderful not to have to bike in the very very cold thank the universe for lovely teammates.)

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

• Everything was swum on whatever pace Kate led the set at...
• WU: 300 swim (500 as written but we showed up late)
• Main Set:
• 4 x 50 kick IMO 
• 400 pull w/ paddles
• 4 x 50 drill IMO
• 300 kick w/ fins
• 4 x 50 swim IMO
• 3 x 200 pull w/ paddles descend 1-3
• 6 x 150 
• 1, 4 - 25 fly/back/breast, repeat
• 2, 5 - free
• 3, 6 - 50 fly/back/breast
• WD: 100 easy
• Total Distance: 3200 SCY

Hit Rate: 21/22 (95.4%)

Kate led my lane today! Even though she really should have been in the fast lane, doing fast lane things. On one hand, it was awesome, because she's great at lane leading and we didn't spend forever on the wall trying to figure out what we were doing and what pace time we were going on. On the other hand, Kate is fast. I don't even think she was trying, she's just fast. I think I had forgotten what trying to swim fast felt like? It doesn't feel super pleasant. xD I really have to get back to treating swim practice with some degree of seriousness. It's not supposed to feel pleasant lol.

Life is pretty standard otherwise. I may be reworking my schedule for next week depending on whether or not it stays cold, because I won't be able to get rides to practice later in the week so maybe it would be better for me to just take my swims at the Athletic Complex at night? We shall see. I'll take a look at the plans over the weekend. As for the rest of the day, there's a trainer ride in the plans this afternoon so I'll report back after that. Lecture is starting so I'm gonna peace out! (:

Much love,
Jess

Mind body dualism

[Day 15]

I used to think that brain tired and body tired were different things but they're really not. I was surprisingly exhausted this morning. I went to bed later than I wanted last night because I had a bunch of things to get sorted out at home before I leave for the weekend and I'm a little bit stressed out just because going away on vacation and taking a break from my perfectly controlled schedule is anxiety inducing for me. It really showed at practice I think, the focus just wasn't there, which made my swimming not great. I can't really tell if the big factor is my brain being tired from stress/less sleep than I would have liked or if my body is actually tired from the week of training (it doesn't feel like it necessarily? Also I don't feel like I did that much this week? But sometimes judgments/perceptions about this kind of thing can be deceiving). In any case, it all goes into the same bucket of tiredness at the end of the day so my point is this: stuff is going on, I needed to focus more during practice and I didn't today, I swam okay but I could've done better and would like to do better in the future.

On the upside, we had a nice full lane of some of my favourite girls today, so that was nice and fun. (I'm probably not supposed to have favourite lane mates? But these guys are particularly great and we blend well pace wise as a group and it just makes me happy to swim with them.) Also one of my teammates (a much faster one who swims in the fast lane) gave me a ride to and from practice today which was so key. I got to sleep in by like 15 minutes, it started raining on the drive home so if I had biked I would've gotten stranded or very very wet and I didn't, which I was very grateful for, it was just generally fantastic to be able to hitch a ride to practice. Here are the deets!

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

• WU: 500 free swim
• Main Set:
• 4 x 150 @ 2:40 as 100 free/50 kick IMO 
• 4 x 125 @ 2:10 as 75 free/50 drill IMO
• 4 x 100 @ 1:40 as 50 free/50 swim IMO
• 4 x 75 @ 1:20 as 25 free/50 swim IMO
• 300 kick w/ fins
• 200 swim w/ paddles and fins
• 3 x 100 IM @ 1:45
• 200 IM @ 3:30
• 100 IM @ 1:45
• 300 pull w/ paddles
• WD: 100 easy
• Total Distance: 3800 SCY

Hit Rate: 15/16 (93.7%)

Notes/thoughts:

• I need to start compiling a list of things about my swimming I need to work on, because it's a massive list and I should probably take time to go to the pool by myself at some point (semi-regularly hopefully?) and just try and hammer down on some of these details things. The big one today was when we swam with paddles (first time I've done that in a while), I was like, wow everything about my wrist entry is terrible. And my pull trajectory isn't great power-wise either. Many things to work on and try to translate into my actual freestyle. Also my fly kick and timing is so bad. I can sort of compensate for it nowadays because my pull is stronger, but that's no way to go about swimming that stroke. Need to be better about working on these things during practice, but I also really do need a dedicated drill/technique day or something, because I know that makes a huge difference. 

Honestly that one bullet point above is all the thought I am able to generate today. Brain so tired. Gonna get the house all ready to go and then head out to school now. Boston-bound in the PM! (:

Much love,
Jess

Double double toil and trouble (and weekly recap!)

[Day 8]

Two double days in a row is usually real rough but we made it work!

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

• WU: 3 x 300 
• 1 - swim (free) 
• 2 - 50 kick/25 swim (free) 
• 3 - 50 drill IMO/25 swim (free) 
• Main Set: straight through unless break indicated 
• 100 IM fast (1:30) 
• (break) 
• 4 x 50 fly @ 1:00 
• 3 x 50 free @ :50 
• 4 x 50 back @ 1:00 
• 2 x 50 free @ :45 
• 4 x 50 breast @ 1:00 
• 1 x 50 free @ :40 
• (break) 
• 100 IM fast @ 1:40 (1:30) 
• 200 IM fast (3:10) 
• (break) 
• 4 x 50 kick @ 1:05 (back) 
• 50 fly @ 1:00 
• 3 x 50 kick @ 1:05 (back) 
• 50 back 
• 2 x 50 kick @ 1:05 (back) 
• 50 breast 
• (break) 
• 300 IM @ 10 SR 
• 200 IM @ 10 SR 
• 100 IM @ 10 SR 
• WD: 50 easy (lol "warmdown") 
• Total Distance: 3450 SCY

Hit Rate: 7/7 (100%)

Thoughts about the swim:

• I'm starting to mind the bike out and back a lot less. It's hard because I'm tired on the way out and on the way back and none of it feels good per se, but it's nice to be able to do the biking at a relaxed pace and just try to focus on not being stressed out. It's therapeutic transit time I guess.
• I felt sort of bad today because there were two slower swimmers in my lane who were struggling with the pace times and I hate to do that to people, but I don't set the pace times, even when I do lead the lane (which is what happened today)...this is why I prefer lanes and workouts based on base times better since everyone has a better sense of where they stand in a workout, but I guess there's not much to do about that. 
• That having been said, the pace times were mostly pretty forgiving to me. I feel like I probably should have done other strokes during the kick or at least worked on something (like improving my underwaters, which suck) but I just wanted to enjoy getting back into the pool and I didn't want to try that hard this morning honestly. My body's starting to feel much better, I probably should have worked harder, but I just wanted to be in the pool and swim and enjoy swimming. So I did that. I'll probably continue to allow myself to slack off in the interest of having fun for the next couple of weeks since they're just base weeks anyways. Will worry about putting in the actual hard work later on. 
• The biggest places where my core weakness shows through is (a) during fly and (b) when I try to swim freestyle with faster turnover and I wobble in the water. I really need to do more core work. But I hate it so much. God help me.
• My shoulders are also super weak right now. On the 300 IM, by the 75 I felt like such an age grouper, it took soooooo much effort just to get my arms to clear the water. I either have to swim more or lift more or both because that problem also really needs to be remedied. 

Today's PM Workout: Base run w/ Tsehay

Summary: 6.79 mi, 1:05:28, 9:38 pace.

Pace splits by mile: 9:11, 9:31, 9:40, 9:41, 9:43, 9:51, 9:55

Hit Rate: 8/8 (100%)

Thoughts about the run:

• Another swim/bike/run day! (If you count the biking commute to and from practice.)
• Friends are lifesavers. Tsehay and I just talked the entire time while we ran and every once in a while it would register in my mind that I felt awful but I had someone beside me so I just kept going and it was done before I knew it! I felt kind of bad because she was about a step ahead of me the entire time and I'm pretty sure I was holding her back, but I honestly couldn't have run any faster...I did tell her to go ahead up the last hill and she charged away from me which was kind of fun to watch from behind. 
• The weather was great today. In the sense that it wasn't too cold. It was really overcast and I was worried the sky would open up and rain us out but that didn't happen which I'm very happy with. The sun even made an appearance for our last mile!
• My turnover is still terrible. 166 spm again, really need to focus on bringing that up.
• Today has been weird in that my legs hurt markedly less but they feel really exhausted. It's funny how soreness and energy/strength don't always go hand in hand. 
• I MADE IT! Week 1 is done! Rest day tomorrow yay (:

Reflections on Week 1:

• 2 swims, 2 trainer rides, 3 runs, 1 lift with a short extra run for ~9-9.5 total hours.
• Things could honestly not have gone any better. There was the unexpected soreness and the hiccup on Wednesday but honestly that's all so minor in the grand scheme of things. If the next two weeks of base focused work go as well as this week, I'll be in a great place to start ramping things up and start going longer/faster/whatever it may be.
• The major takeaways from this week: sleep is super key (earlier jetlagged days were mentally rougher than they needed to be, sleeping well makes everything better), I need to do more core work and strength work (but that has to come slowly, as evidenced by my body's really negative reaction to Monday's gym sesh), and batch cooking a ton of food on Monday really came through in the clutch for me.
• It's always funny seeing my body realize that we're getting back into training again. I'm normal appetite wise for the first couple of days and then all of a sudden it's like, I NEED CALORIES NOW. GIVE ME ALL THE CALORIES. Basically I'm hungry constantly. -sigh-
• As for next week, I technically have a plan laid out already but I'll revisit it today or tomorrow and make adjustments as necessary and put it all in my schedule (and I'll also work my studying and meal prep time into that schedule). 
• Not too much else to say, other than what a great way to kick off 2016! Really hoping to keep up this great momentum going into next week! (:

Much love,

Jess

First thing's first!

Started the day with a swim today. 4:30 am alarms are never easy, but I think it's generally better to start my days with a workout rather than spend the entire day anticipating it. The thing about genuinely loving and caring about everything that you do on a daily basis is that it's draining. The things we learn sitting down in a lecture hall are draining, the things we learn standing at a dissection table or at the bedside are draining, the extracurricular things I do that I care about and love are draining, and genuinely being about everything that you're doing does not make it any less draining, so given the choice between the 5:15 am workout with a 4:30 am alarm and the 5:00 pm workout after a full day of school/work, I'd probably prefer the 4:30 am alarm just because it's so hard to have anything left to give at 5:00 pm.

That having been said, I have "I've been up and at it for 12 hours already now" problems. It's 4:30 pm, I should really have spent the past half hour of somewhat free time either working or cleaning my apartment and I did neither, I just sort of sat on my computer and browsed Facebook. I get that everyone needs breaks throughout the day but honestly I feel terrible when I'm this busy and I take breaks. I don't have time to take breaks. I really just have to get through what I have to do.

The weekend's also shaping up to be a stressful one. Weekends are full of errands for me (grocery shopping, lots of preparatory cooking for the week, cleaning, etc.), as well as long workouts, sometimes volunteer work, and time I have to carve out to spend with Henry and hopefully get some amount of academic work done, so it's a lot and they're honestly not very relaxing. You know you're probably in a bad spot when it's the end of the workday on Friday and you're dreading the upcoming 72 hours. (And I cap it at 72 because I can't think about the upcoming week after that yet.) Just want to rest. But no rest for the weary...Anyways, the point: I'm glad I swam this morning, because if I had a workout scheduled for now (which I don't because I have a PT appointment in less than 30 mins and an event I have to attend from 6-8 pm after that), it would so not be happening.

Today was the first time I'd gone back to masters swim in a while. The commute is long, a half hour on my bike out and a half hour back, going at a leisurely pace on my hybrid. It means I tack about an hour of activity onto a 1:15 swim and on the way back, my legs burn real easy if I don't make a conscious effort to go real slow and just spin in low gears. Today was IM day, which I generally enjoy, although the soreness from yesterday's gym session made certain parts of the workout a little rough. I'm generally disappointed with how slow my swimming is right now, but seeing as I haven't been seriously training the swimming recently, it's to be expected. I've got a lot of work to do in the pool, but for now I'll save that for January and those mid-winter months when I'll probably be spending a lot of time focusing on my swimming while working on base building for the bike and maintenance for the running in the lead up to prep for USAT Collegiate Nationals. I treat my pool time now as just a necessary part of staying well-rounded while I do my little run-focused block. Here are the details!

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

• WU: 500 swim
• Pre-set:
• 4 x 125 IMO, 50 kk/50 dr/25 sw @ 3PR
• 3 x 100 pull w/ paddles @ 1:35
• 4 x 75 IM no free @ 3PR
• 6 x 75 kick choice w/ fins @ 1:15, 50 mod/25 fast
• Main Set: 3 x
• 50 stroke IMO by round @ 1:00
• 200 IM @ 3:30
• 50 stroke IMO by round @ :55 (1:00 for breast)
• 100 free @ 1:35
• Extra 30SR per round
• WD:
• 50 easy
• 4 x 75 free/stroke/free @ 3PR
• Total Distance: 3600 SCY, 75 mins

Hit Rate: 4/4 (100%)

Tomorrow morning will start w/ an easy 7 miler I'm planning on running with one of my friends. She's a lot faster than me so hopefully I'll be able to reign her in and keep the pace where I want to keep it. That's important to me right now since I've been aching from last weekend still and a lot of it is in my joints so I want to prioritize being safe while I'm easy back into the serious running. Time for PT! Send me good vibes to get me through the rest of this long long day...

Much love,

Jess

Soreness and compromise

The rest day was not as relaxing as I would have liked. It was a pretty non-hectic day though which I appreciated. I still woke up pretty early and basically just chilled in the morning. Had a long school day (9-4) but a good chunk of time to stretch and take care of some chores and errands before dinner which was nice. I went to bed later than I would have liked, but it wasn't a huge deal. The main complaint I have about yesterday was that the gym wrecked my body pretty hard. In all honesty, I've had worse before, but even this is pretty bad. I'm expecting most post-lift days to feel like this, maybe slightly better once I get into the swing of things, but overall I'm going to have to learn how to manage with the soreness.

This morning's masters practice was pretty brutal. Our lane leader was really fast and the main set turned into a lot of "just turn at every wall" and I wasn't getting much out of that so I skipped a few things in order to get rest and try to improve the quality of the rest of my swim. I was pretty drained today. Between the continuing soreness and my inability to get any food in my body this morning, it was an exhausting ordeal. I did the best I could though and even with the skipped 300 total meters, it was a 3500 LCM workout, so I'm not going to berate myself too much. I made the best I could have out of a non-ideal situation and I showed up despite feeling exhausted and sore and under-motivated, so I will give myself credit for that and forgive myself for being imperfect. I have to remind myself sometimes not to accuse myself of always making excuses: real valid situations get in the way of your performance sometimes and what's important is to try and do the best you can given the cards you're dealt.

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

• WU: 500 swim
• Pre-set:
• 4 x 150 IMO kick/drill/swim by 50
• 4 x 200 rotate 50 stroke IMO and free
• Fly/free/free/free, free/back/free/free, free/free/breast/free, all free
• 6 x 50 free @ :55, 2 fast, 1 easy
• Main Set: pace times were just sort of whatever we could do…
• 200 IM
• 2 x 100 free - I only did 1
• 200 IM
• 4 x 50 free
• 200 free - I only did 100
• 2 x 100 IM
• 200 free
• 4 x 50 IMO - I only did 2
• WD: nope, no time…
• Total Distance: 3500 LCM (3800 as written)

Hit rate: 31/33 (93.9%)

The plan was to do an interval trainer ride followed by a transition run this afternoon/evening but that's probably not going to happen. I think if I put that kind of load on my legs today, I'd be asking for an injury. The temporary plan is just to do the interval ride portion of the workout. Although I may swap the real workout for just a steady state ride (indoors or out) to clear some of the gunk out of my legs because they are still really hurting. We'll see how I feel as the day progresses and how much time I really have in the evening after school today. Trying to make the best out of what I've got. I'm proud of myself for plowing onwards despite it all. (:

Much love,

Jess