Overnight Recovery

Today, what with balancing kids sports, a birthday party, grocery shopping and a neighborhood party (can you say 35-foot slip and slide hill), I didn't get out for my long run until about 7:15 pm.

And I didn't think until I was out there that my long ride/brick tomorrow will probably start at about 7:15 am.

So, with an estimated ten and a half hours recovery between them, I might just sleep in these compression tights.

Day By Day

Not much posting going on these days, as I feel not much is going on worth commenting in my training life. Workouts are getting done, miles are being run and cycled and, more slowly, swum, but nothing unusual or particularly noteworthy.

I am riding a little longer than I have in a couple of seasons, it feels like. Since I am a bit of a short distance specialist, sprints and olys, having only done one half-Ironman back in 2009, I don't feel the need to ride particularly long. I like long weekend training rides, but since I don't exactly have time for that kind of thing these days, short distance is working out for me and I can feel good about the days I get 40 or 45 in, even while my Ignite teammates are all banking 80+ mile  rides, something I have never actually done.

Those long days in the saddle on gorgeous summer days out in the Virginia countryside actually sound kind of fun, but so is being at home with the family, so I make the choices and I am often riding out the door in the early morning. But I love beating the crowds!

Pacer

Today the stars aligned and Dave and I were able to go to the track together --without any children-- for the first time in...maybe more than five years. The stars aligned even more for me because he raced yesterday and, therefore, was willing to do my workout instead of running his paces, quite a bit faster.

So we ran over there and set out to do 3 x 1 mile repeats. He said he would go my pace, but it was painfully obvious after a 400 that I was having trouble finding my pace. I was too fast, too fast.

At my request, he pulled in ahead of me and slowed us down. As I felt the pace, it occurred to me that although I have been loving my 800 repeat days at the track, whenever I have longer intervals, it has been somewhere on the spectrum of wildly uncomfortable (rather than the pleasantly uncomfortable that a hard track workout can be) to complete disaster.

I have been going out too fast. Just like I did today Like I am doing another 800 instead of a mile or longer. But without someone to check me and help me correct, I have just been like, Ok, I'm holding this pace now - let's see if I can keep it up.

That's not very smart. And I never put it together? That's really not very smart.

Whereas today, the first repeat felt easy, too easy. The second felt like a little bit of work, and the third was a bit more and then we opened it up a bit in the last 800, and that was quite a bit of work. I tried not to just tuck in behind him and let him block the wind, but I did go ahead and just trust him on the paces and let myself not think about that so much.

I don't think my pacer will be able to be with me every week, as he meets his running partners early morning and goes then, but hopefully I will carry the lesson along with me. At least for about 6 more weeks until my next race. 

Problem Solving

The legs are bonkish about 20 minutes into my long ride this morning.

I am a bit grumpy at the kiddos in the morning.

Too tired to be the patient mom I want to be. Too tired to make proper use of the training time I have.

Time to find a way to go to bed earlier again.

(Though the bonk could have been partially caused by the lasagna I thoughtlessly had for lunch yesterday. Darn you, cheese!)