T12 - Breathing Water - Run/Swim

Gainesville

2 Lipodrene
So, I basically skipped my workout yesterday to go to the NBA finals. I think in the grand scheme of Ironman training, a run I wasn't even sure I was gonna do because of my knee is not a huge thing to miss, and watching an NBA champion get crowned, well, that is a big thing to miss. Honestly, had Trevor been ready to pull the trigger that morning, I would have gotten the run in before we left for Orlando, but whatever. He knows training better than I.

But I decided to so Sunday's 90-minute run today instead of the 60-minute run the training card called for, and then do my long swim. So instead of missing a long run, I missed a relatively short one (tell me two years ago a 6-mile run is relatively short, and I call you a showoff jackass). Whatever.) Today was a long fucking training day, the kind I need to start getting used to

Run: 90 Minutes
I left about 4 to do a campus loop and then a stadium down-and-back. I also decided to bust out the iPod today, since it was the first really long run of the training cycle. This was ultimately not the best idea. The knee started to really hurt about 3 blocks into the run, but I adjusted my stride to drop less weight on my left foot and try and glide through it, which worked well.

I lost the gel I took out of the hole in my pocket, which pissed me off. Then at about the 45 minute mark, the skies decided to open up. Why do I think Gainesville is not going to have afternoon storms like Miami does in the summer? Seriously, I need to start either doing runs earlier or later. This 4 PM shit is just stupid. So I'm running and all of a sudden my headphones start getting scratchy. I realize some water has gotten into the connection and fucked it up, and now I'm worrying my iPod is going to be wrecked. It gave out at just about an hour, but I'm pretty sure this was the battery running out and not the thing getting irreversible water damage.

At any rate, the run was tough, I was chopping some steps on hills and was not thrilled to turn around and do the stadium down-and-back when I finished the loop. Pretty sure this is the heat causing this, but that's why it's called training, right? Just getting better, I suppose. But man, had it not been for that rain this run would have reminiscent of the one in the Orlando half.

Swim: long day-mental toughness day!
6 x 500, odds are RPE3, evens RPE 5

2 more Lipodrene

Yeah, that's a lotta ephedra, Bob. But if I'm gonna cut back on drinking and sex, by God I'm making up for it somewhere. I also like how the guy calls this mental toughness day. Sets of 10 laps, even 6 of them, are a lot less mentally tough than, say, one set of 60. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, I had a full dinner and did some work before heading to the GHFC pool at 10. Night swimming is the best, really. Got my own lane, and again the swim felt great. I did not keep to the RPEs so much, but my stoke felt good as I worked on hand position when entering the water a lot. Felt a lot more glide-y than splashy. I lost count a lot during each set of 10, thinking mostly about the Ironman race itself. Anyway, long fucking day today, but I know in 2 months I'll look back wishing for a day like this. Training is still feeling good and I was even down to a post-dinner 212 pounds today.