Day 41, 324 To Go

February 10, 2013

Ah, Sunday, a day of rest.

Says who?

Not me.  Not when you have kids.  Not when you work all week.  Not if you want to get anything done ever.  This Sunday was no different.  It is unfortunate that I have to work tomorrow after four days off.  It is unfortunate that I have to work on Monday ever, but that is another story.

Today I was up and ready to go at 7:15.  This week, it wasn't too cold to go for a swim.  Mike and I arrived at the river in Melbourne.  That's Melbourne beach in Florida, not Australia.  I would much prefer it was Melbourne, Australia though.  Except for all the deadly spiders, snakes and Great White Sharks that abound in Australia, it is a great place that I very much want to visit one day.  The chance that I can get Honey to visit when Australia is home to like 10 of the most deadly spiders in the world is slim to NEVER!

So, we donned our wetsuits and walked to the end of the pier and jumped in.  COLD!  At least at first, it was, but really, it wasn't too bad.  I have spent the last five years swimming in the Long Island Sound and THAT is cold water.  Not only that, you can't see more than an inch in front of your face.  The water is just plain nasty.  I think the water is purposely dirty to hide all the bodies dumped there from Long Island.  I probably shouldn't point any fingers lest my fingers end up all bloated and partially nibbled off as I float in the dark, dirty waters of the sound one day...

After a minute in the water, it started to feel ok.  We got to swimming and it wasn't pretty.  Normally, I am fairly good swimmer.  My form is good and I can swim a long way and pretty fast.  Today, I think I can best sum up my performance as drowning with style.  It was sloppy.  I haven't swam since October and I haven't swam with a wetsuit in about two years.  I have some work to do.

We exited the water after a short 800 meter swim (short on distance, but not on time...probably took about 18 minutes...hey, there was strong current too!!) and got ready for the bike.

I still suck on the bike.  I know why though.  Its because I don't ride enough...but I don't ride much because I suck.  Its an endless circle of sucking (but not the good, dirty kind of sucking).  We rode 20 miles today.  It was a short ride since it was our first ride of the season (at least for me...Mike and Daryl, our other training partner, have rode this year already).  The 10 miles out were into the wind.  I am completely neutralized in the wind because I have weak chicken legs that are good for BBQ sauce more than riding a bicycle.  On the way back, the wind was at our backs and we went from an average of 17mph to about 22mph.  What a difference.

I always show my running numbers, how about some cycling numbers:

Time: 1:05:15

Distance: 20.07 miles

Pace: 18.45mph

Max Pace: 26.22mph

Calories: 1,235

Avg HR: 135

Max HR: 163

How about those calories, huh?  Gotta love that.  Makes we want to go out and splurge calorically on McDonald's or something.  But I didn't.  I ate fairly healthy today, unfortunately.

After the ride, we went for a run.  As I feared, my foot was still hurting.  Not to mention that my entire upper body was sore from playing golf on Friday.  Yeah, it's two days later, but it's called DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).  The 2nd day after a strenuous or new activity is always worse.  So, I was stiff and slow, but I eventually picked up the pace and finished strong.

Here are my running numbers:

Time: 30:07

Distance: 3.32 miles

Pace: 9:04/m

Max Pace: 7:11/m

Calories: 431

Avg HR: 152

Max HR: 167

My plan was to run later with Honey, but she was out with Mama Honey shopping at Joanne's, Bath, Body and Beyond and who knows where else.

I'm afraid to check my bank account...

By the time they returned and the babies were in bed, I totally forgot, so Honey didn't run and I didn't run a full hour today as was my plan, but I think I made up for it with the swim and bike.  I may run extra tomorrow to make up for it.

And maybe I won't.  I do know I need to add some speedwork or tempo runs to my weekly routine to get faster, because if today was any indication, I have a lot of work to do to get ready for my next race.  Looking forward to it!

Run for life!!