T107 - My Kinda Sprints - Swim, Run, Bike

Gainesville

Well, it's race week. I've got this kinda strange focus going on right now. Like I really don't want to talk to anybody or be too social. All week, just thinking about Saturday. It keeps occurring to me that a week from now, it'll all be over. And nice as it'll be to get back to a semi-normal life, I'm not looking forward to it at all. But more on that later.

My wetsuit came over the weekend. When I get up to Panama City Wednesday night, I'm going to do some wetsuit practice, then go swim a lap of the course Thursday morning. Until then, I'm just trying to get in some good meals and some good sleep. I took Monday off to recover from the weekend's strenuous events in Miami. I figured the short, keep-loose stuff the cards has scheduled wasn't overly crucial, and the rest would do met better. That being said, I still need to keep in constant training mode, as too much time off seems to have led to some bad workouts. But today's didn't look overly daunting.

Swim: warm up 5 minutes, 6 x 50 fast!, cool down 5 minutes

3 Sudafed
2 Lipodrene
The only concerning part about today's swim was when I did my traditional drop to the bottom of the pool when I got in. At about 1 foot down, my head started to feel like it was in a vice. Like one might if they don't eqaulize enough while scuba diving. But I was at 1 freaking foot! This is obviously a sign that I have some serious sinus congestion going on in my head, and the Sudafed, while making me breathe ok, isn't doing much to help that. Not that it's gonna keep me form doing the race, and the swim does not include a 30-foot underwater portion, but I do hope I get better.

The swim itself was fine. I definitely needed the warmup, and the sprints were hard. But short. And few of them. I can't keep that kinda pace for 100 yards, especially since I really haven't done much sprint work here in the last month and a half. Still don't like sprints, and even though I let up a little at the 40-yard mark of a couple of sets, my muscles felt good and I did for the most part what the card had instructed. Not my best swim, but I do like short sprints.

Run: warm up 5 minutes, 5 x 1 minute fast!, cool down 5 minutes (Treadmill)

Anything involving keeping a fast speed, I pretty much have to do on the treadmill. And, of course, I used the iPod. This section also felt fine. My legs needed a minute to warm up, but once the muscles got warm I made it through the sprint sections (which I only did at 8.0-8.3, depending on the song I had on) without difficulty. Holding a sprint for a minute is doable even for me, and my strides felt good. I think they just do these sprints to keep your muscles a little challenged without wearing them out. Good strategy, I think.

Bike: warm up 5 minutes, 5 x 2 minute fast!, cool down 5 minutes (trainer)

I briefly considered just doing this on the stationary, but I want to spend as much time in the saddle this week as I can. So I went home, had a sandwich, and got on the trainer. This was a bit more of a challenge, since the fast sections were 2 minutes long instead of one. For each one, I slowly shifted into my hardest gear, got into aero, and just went as hard as I could. I'd drop about 1-2 mph in speed by the end of the two minutes, but kept it over 22 the whole time. Again, I know speed isn't that relevant a stat, but it does give you something to show how you're doing relative to the rest of that workout. And my biking muscles felt challenged, used, but not worn out as I still felt fine after. I think all of this was a good first workout for race week.

Trevor told me today that I need to sleep by myself in my own bed the rest of the week. Obviously, that's not happening Wednesday on, since I'll be in PCB. And while I'm not sure I can keep to that tonight, I am promising myself that I'll be in bed by 12, to ensure a solid eight hours sleep. That's my minimum (at least attempted mimimum) for all but race night. When we know you never sleep. Other than that, a short bike and run tomorrow during the break, and then I'm off to Panama City. Hopefully these condos have wireless. Otherwise, I'll have to do the full report when I get back.