We decided to skip our usual park and run in the neighborhood instead. Several factors came into play:
1) Jenny was going to take it easy due to a back issue and was going to stick to running in our neighborhood. We decided we'd rather run with her than without her.
2) Ongoing budgetary issues at our usual park have left our water coolers high and dry. The neighborhood route includes several cold water spots and - bonus! - actual porcelain potties (with doors!)
3) We could sleep in just that much longer - always a good thing.
Carin, Cherise and I headed out to do a few miles before "picking up" Jenny at 6:30. We were able to manage 2-ish by the time we got to her, and headed into a gated community (with ICE and water and bathrooms) for the bulk of the miles. I thought that the unusual route with different stuff to look at would make the run more entertaining, but instead it became tedious trying to piece together 12 miles. In addition, either what I ate Saturday night OR the water belt OR both was causing my stomach to be upset. We walked a little, stopped a lot (well, a lot more than usual) and just trudged along until we finally got 12 miles done. Cherise and Jenny joined us for about 4 of those miles, but mainly it was just Carin and me. As mentioned, I appreciate that she's great company and fun to talk to, or I swear I would have hung up my water belt about 7 miles in and called it good.
Monday my alarm rang at its usual time of 5am and I was so exhausted I was disoriented for a bit. I couldn't remember why the alarm was set, what day it was, or where I was supposed to be. If I wasn't going for perfect attendance, yesterday would have been the perfect day to dismiss the alarm and head back to sleep. Instead I got up and headed to boot camp, where we got a great lower-body workout, including a mile and a half or so of running.
Though I wanted to swim last night, I was a little scared to, because I was so exhausted I was worried it might be dangerous. There are lifeguards and I know my limits, so after a 20-minute nap, and after settling the kids in for football and cheer practice, I walked over to the Y for the master's swim class. We did a warm-up and some drills. Another classmate and I did a drill on a couple of 25s: Time your swim for the first 25 while counting your strokes. The second 25 is supposed to comprise of fewer strokes, and you use your time to determine whether or not fewer strokes made you more efficient (faster). My first 25 was 25 strokes in 25 seconds. My second 25 was 21 strokes in 22 seconds. Obviously I need to work on my technique.
Then when we were doing some sprint 50s, where you swim a 50 in (supposedly) under a minute and rest for the remainder of the minute (lather, rinse, repeat up to 10 times) -- I could only do ONE 50 in under a minute. The coach and I were puzzled. How could I do a 50 in essentially 47 minutes and not do a sprint 50 in either less or about the same?
In my heart I knew it was partially my "mental thing" and she also advised it was my technique - which is one and the same. When I am trying to sprint, I change my stroke completely, becoming far less efficient, slower and tiring myself out. I try too hard.
I was pretty excited to figure this out - especially once she adjusted my stroke and sure enough, I started coming in at 51-52 seconds, rather than 1:01-1:02. We were both very excited but I was excited about something else: Was that the answer to it all? Am I missing my times and not getting faster because I adjust my technique (running, too) and, essentially "try too hard"? I'm thinking about how when I am running speedwork or a race or even the 1-mile PT test I feel like I am stomping my feet into the ground - and I am worn out before I can finish, no matter the distance.
Speedwork tonight - I'm going to practice not trying too hard to see if that makes a difference.
1 comments:
great job!!!!! i hope to get ack to running took the month off. the heat is crazy and my hip could use down time.
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