The threat of Hurricane Irene to South FL was a non-issue this morning. Luckily both training sessions today could easily be accomplished indoors.
AM workout: Tempo Bike ride – 20 easy, 25 tempo, 20 easy. It’s amazing how time flies when you watch hurricane coverage by local news. This bike session definitely seemed to go by quickly. I have my trainer setup in my den, well really my training room, and in front of a flat screen TV. Early morning news is mindless TV watching that helps distract one from boredom on the trainer. With all the hurricane coverage I was distracted enough to not even notice the pain. Again the 25 minutes of my tempo ride was a high wattage that demanded significant effort. Easy cool down, more hurricane news, stretching and protein recovery drink.
Off to work, braving the storm!!! Yeah, right.
Lunch workout: Swimmy at the fishbowl. 2 x 1,000 r=1 min. Headed to the gym around noon, the sky was looking ugly!!
My swim has been coming along pretty nicely. Swimming around 6,000 a week. For me that is a lot! Plus I am feeling much more confident in my endurance pace swimming. The breathing issue has now been resolved and I am feeling faster. Back a few months ago I took an excellent clinic by Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen (http://www.aquaticedge.org/). She taught me how to relax and to simplify swimming. Additionally she introduced me to my new favorite swim product (I have used it on my biking/running sunglasses and it worked like a charm) - FOGGLE. I have always struggled to keep my goggles fog-free and this product does the trick every time, guaranteed!! I usually have to stop once or twice during a race to clear the fog from my goggles and now it is not even a concern. Just reduced my swim time by a few minutes!! Woohoo!!!
So I began my “hurricane” swim in the comfort of the LA Fitness indoor pool. The pool was empty, the water was clear (this is never the case) BUT it was a little too warm. Last Sunday’s swim at the Deerfield Aquatic center has made me a believer in the COLD pool. By the first 200 yards today I was literally sweating bullets in the pool. I convinced myself that it was perfect training for the warm water in IM Cozumel’s swim. The workout was 2 x 1,000 yards with a 1 minute rest interval. I had a great swim, was able to relax completely and maintained my endurance zone pace. I am actually starting to feel really good about my swim. My final confirmation that I am improving is the fact I felt I could swim another 2,000 easily without much effort. Very happy!!
Thursday “hump” day is officially over and actually looking forward to the big volume weekend. Since the hurricane threat is over I will be able to ride outside, because 5 hours on the trainer was NOT appealing at all!!!
