Top of the Key

Taking me a bit longer these days to update the blog, wonder why?  Saturday was a solid swim in the morning, and then met up with BSG to ride in the gusty conditions.  It really helped to have a friend out there riding with me, as I do almost ALL my workouts solo, minus 1 masters workout per week and then the occasional ride like today.  And it was huge on the mental side.  After BSG and I parted ways, I rode a few more miles, some fast efforts to see how the legs were responding…not bad.

Off the bike I ran 10 miles really strong.  Started the first mile with some defizzed GoFast to give my system a jolt, and wanted to start trying new things.  It worked as far as I know, but Tim later commented that too much too early can backfire.  So next time, I’ll be using Sugar Free Red Bull or Rockstar. Actually, this upcoming Saturday I’ll give it a go.

Then off to the HEP party, where I met a few new athletes that I’ve heard about, but never actually met.  Good times, everyone had their own stories to tell, experiences from the past year, and a few still are racing Ironman late in the season.

Sunday involved my big swim, but most importantly, I dedicated the whole morning to Harry and Lhasa.  They needed to get to the dog park, and swim, and roam, and get in trouble.  They were swimming fools.  Lhasa was retrieving the ball too, other dog owners there were surprised to see a Berner go after the ball…and swim.  Then we walked for a mile or two, just enjoying the morning, nothing really planned.  Got back home, and they slept ALL day…I mean, all day.  Just now they jumped off the bed, because it’s dinner time.

Had a pretty good feeling about my swim workout today.  Moving it to Sunday was a good change, i’m a little worked from Saturday, but fresh because it’s the first thing of the day.  I’ve worked alot on my stroke and technique since CDA, and I believe it’s paying off now.  I write sometimes about the stabalizer week, and how you get a little ‘taste’ of your fitness from the 2 previous week’s workouts.  Well, Saturday was the run, and today was the swim.  I felt fresh, and building through the swim I was getting stronger, more comfortable.  I even set a new PR for 100 yards, which Craig has me do as part of the warm up.  Things are clicking.

Oh, and back to the calf strain I was feeling on Friday, no signs of it all on Saturday.  So Todd really worked it out, and does great work as shown by the ability to suck one day, and then go out and basically do a 1/2 ironman the next day.

Jess comes home tomorrow, looking forward to all her stories of life on the east coast.  I think she enjoys my shocked face at some of the things that just never change.