Sunday AM I started out by swimming at Ward's Masters swim practice. Had a good lane of myself, Dirk, Jacky (who qualified for USMS nationals in the 50 and 100 backstroke and trying for the 200 back, 50/100 breast and 100 IM, geez!) and Eileen, our favorite Curl Burke coach who can put Dirk and me to shame easily with her speed (despite being 15-20 years our senior!). Main set was a good one, consisting of 2x(8x100 on 1:35, 4x50 descend). The recovery was a little much, but oh well. I came in consistently at 1:13-1:14, which is a jump for me, as a month or so ago, I'd do the same set but coming in at 1:17-1:18. And I still felt strong for the descending 50s, being able to descend by at least 2 seconds on each. Still got plenty of lecturing on my stroke though. I really need to extend my arms out, especially my left arm, as my breathing can cause it to pull too quickly. I'll be sure to integrate more catchup into my drills to improve on that.
Just after practice I arrived at the Capital Crescent trail for a 10 mile run. My plan was to go out 5 miles on the downhill portion, easy and controlled, at 6:45 pace, and come back on the uphill grade at a faster pace, maybe 6:00 pace. Despite being itchy from chlorine, I ran comfortably at exactly 6:45-:50 pace for the first 5 miles, picking up a little bit to 6:30 over the last half mile to the turnaround. I headed back up, and really picked up the effort. I hovered right at 6:00/mile. The first two miles back were not so easy, but with 5k left to go, my legs suddenly felt lighter and I really was able to cruise in, locked into pace. Finished the run with 6:20/mile overall average pace and a time of 1:03:19... perfect! My pacing was spot on, which was my goal. Not go out too fast, and finish stronger. This was a pretty major confidence booster in my fitness and ability to pace myself over longer miles. Legs felt strong afterward, but I was definitely tired from the 5500y swim followed by a hard run. Thanks to Jacky for keeping me company on the bike!
Later that evening, I watched Commando... a superbly awesome movie. It made me punch things repeatedly. LET OFF SOME STEAM, BENNETT!
So what did you do on the bike?
ReplyDeleteYES. Commando is Arnold at his best. "Remember when I said I'd kill you last. I lied"
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you watch the scene where he's storming the villa, you can clearly see the springboards launching the stuntmen in the air. I guess they didn't have the budget to do a second take.