Day 216, 149 To Go

August 4, 2013

Hello Sunday...nice to see you so bright and early. 

I'm lying, but I am trying to fool myself into enjoying getting up early.  For a few years, I was ok with getting up early.  I did it every day and I was away and rested.  I also went to bed at 10pm every day instead of 12 or 1am like I do now...something I can't make myself do right now.  Work in progress...

I was out there bright and early and I had a good swim with my training partners Mike and Daryll.  I like swimming, but I am always nervous swimming in the ocean (it is shark week, you know!)  I realize the chances of getting bitten, or worse, eaten by a shark are so small, I am more likely to win the lottery.  I know this.  But it is hard to rationalize fear, so, I tend to swim nervously.  I am sure this does not help my breathing.  I was able to stay relaxed most of the swim and work on my technique.  I felt free and loose in the water, so progress was made.

After the swim we went for our ride.  I felt really strong today, and that is not something I often say when I am riding.  Basically, I suck on the bike.  Today, I didn't suck.  I am usually sucking wind and trailing behind my two partners, but today I kept up and even surpassed them at times.  I don't know why, but I hope it sticks!

Here are my bike numbers with the caveat that I left my bike computer off for about 3 or 4 miles, so the total mileage is really 27 or 28.  I hate when that happens:

Time: 1:14:47

Distance: 23.98 miles

Pace: 19.23mph

Max Pace: 39.32mph

Calories: 1,480

Avg HR:135

Max HR:174

How about that top speed!  Not easy to get up that fast in Florida, but with the bridges, you do get some fun downhills.  That 174 HR was on the way up the last hill.  It was a fight to the finish with Mike to see who would get up to the top first!  He is a stronger rider than me by quite a bit, but when he passed me, I stayed on his wheel and drafted which allowed me to rest and pass him near the top of the hill.  Strategy can help you out sometimes when you fitness fails you!

After I got home, I rested most of the day and finally went out for the run with Honey on her Rollerblades at about 7:30pm.  I was tired and lazy and I knew I had a long run ahead of me, so I procrastinated a bit.  I went on this run with no pace expectations.  My goal was to take it easy so I could get through the entire 70 minutes.  Considering my physical and mental state, I think it was a good idea.

Here are my numbers:

Time: 1:10:00

Distance: 7.25 miles

Pace: 9:39/m

Max Pace: 6:52/m

Calories:683
Avg HR: 128

Max HR: 144

The pace is nothing to write home about, but I did have a 15 minute section in the middle where I stayed at an 8:30 pace.  I knew I couldn't hold this for the entire run, so I waited until I was on the way back before I pushed it a bit.  This is my target race pace for a long race, so it is important that I practice this pace, especially when I am already fatigued.

I was very fatigued after and I spent the rest of the evening resting with Honey in bed.  We were very disappointed that our cable provider, Brighthouse Networks, dropped Showtime due to negotiations breaking down over who should pay what and how much, etc.  Greedy motherfuckers cost me my Sunday night Dexter viewing!  Not happy.  They had better fix it soon!!

Until next week then...

Run for Life!!