4/18 & 4/19 & 4/20 -- Racing hangover

It's hard to give your all in a race and then get up the next morning and get back to work. I gave lots of physical and emotional energy to the Pike's Peek cause. But Todd didn't allow me any rest before or after the race. I had to reset quickly...

I woke up Monday AM but I really didn't want to wake up at all. I had a headache from all the excitement the day before. Because of spring break at Prep there was no master's practice, so Michelle and I agreed to meet at GISC that evening for the swim. It wasn't the best idea, as we were stuck in the LAVA pool. The workout had a lot of fast 200s and 100s, and the warmth certainly didn't make it easier. It doesn't bother me terribly however. What did bother me was the aquajogger who plopped herself right in front of me. I have a feeling if we collided it would have hurt her more than me, so after a few mean words I convinced her to hug the lane lines and watch out. Finished the swim pretty tired.

Tuesday included all 3 sports. I ran with Red Fox, Karl and an Ethiopian fellow named Ben. I haven't been able to join my teammates for the morning runs as masters practices and evening bike workouts make most mornings my preferred recovery periods. But since there was no masters practice, I was able to wake up to run. We totaled around 8 miles in a little less than an hour through some hilly neighborhoods. It's good to be running with Jake again, since he has been out for so long. I rode sort of easy for an hour in the afternoon on the trainer as the weather was sketchy. I spent the first 30min around 185w, and the last 30 at 215w. The run in the morning loosened me up and I was watching a pretty exciting battle in Stage 16 of the 2005 Tour de France and it got me motivated to pedal harder.

I then waddled into swim practice, meeting the Beastman along the way. We were finally swimming together again. Work got in the way of his training schedule the past couple weeks, but we'd finally put our fists together for another fight against the water. Workout was 30x100, with 10 on 1:35, 10 on 1:30, 10 on 1:25, and 3 more after that on 1:20. I led for the 1st and 3rd sets of 10 and the final 3, and we averaged around 1:18-1:20 per 100, with 1:12 average for the last 3x100. Just the kind of workout we like. Swim a lot and maintain a solid pace. Whew, that was a long day for a Tuesday!

Wednesday track workout was 5xmile (5:15, 5:10, 5:05, 5:00, 4:55), a pretty long workout considering I just raced a 10k, but I went with it, along with Dickson, Matias, PMurph and Charlie. I managed 4.25 of the 5 total miles, hitting 5:14, 5:08, 5:04 (my lead), 5:00, :73, and then a 5:26 as I followed Michelle for her last interval to keep her company. I felt heavy going in but got better around the middle of the workout, but got a little too much lactic acid built up by the last repeat that I just really didn't want to finish it. I thought I had done enough!

I found this picture from Pike's Peek. Apparently, Dirk and I have the power to intimidate Ethiopians. See how they cower in fear as they are surrounded by our game faces.