Sunday, June 27, 2010

Glub Glub Glub

It's official.  I've finally had enough of swimming - at least for a little while.  Nine of the last eleven days I've had a workout in the pool.  I'm not complaining.  The workouts are all going according to the plan. I just miss my bike, and, as surprised as I am to say it, I miss running.

The good news is that I've actually been able to do a couple short runs in the last few days.  I hadn't run for almost two weeks because of my stupid foot.  On Thursday, I did a quick 2-mile jaunt around the neighborhood.  I was able to do it at my usual pace, so at least I know the foot still works.  I could still feel something wasn't right though and didn't want to press my luck and risk making the injury worse.

Yesterday - Saturday - the scheduled workout was essentially a reverse Olympic-length triathlon.  Olympic (AKA International distance) races are a .9 mile swim, 25 mile bike and 10K (6.2 mile) Run.  However, this time around I would start with the run and then move onto the bike and swim.  I decided to drive to my health club, which is conveniently adjacent to a running trail and several good cycling roads.

It only took about a mile of running for me to realize that something was off.  It could be that the foot was still a little wonky from Thursday's run, but it started to hurt pretty quick into the workout on Saturday.  I ended up cutting the running part in half and limped back to the car to start the bike.  My splits were 9:30 per mile - which is right on target with race pace from Liberty, but there wasn't any way that I could have put in another 30 minutes of running without setting myself up for another week of recovery.

The bike portion went well.  I was able to keep my average speed over 18MPH during a 30 mile loop through Excelsior, Orono, Wayzata and Minnetonka.  This is just as smidge slower than race pace two weeks ago, and this time I had to deal with stop lights, traffic and other things that aren't an issue during a race.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

By the time I hit the pool, I was starting to run out of gas.  My caloric intake was pretty small compared to the Liberty race, and it showed.  But, I was still able to crank out 1 mile (1750 yards) in 29 minutes.  That's a 1:40/100y average pace, which is actually faster than my race pace at Liberty.  But since it was in the pool, rather than in a lake and I wasn't contending with wind, waves and other swimmers, I won't break my arm patting myself on the back.

Overall, I was pleased with the workout.  I'm feeling like I'm at about 90% of where my fitness was prior to Liberty. 

So, 'How's the foot?' you ask?  Eh.  It's better than it was last week, but there's still enough pain to have me worried.  Tomorrow starts a a bike-centric week. The next run won't come until next Thursday.  Hopefully, that'll give my foot the time it needs to get back to normal.  I'm also thinking of giving Superfeet a try.  I don't like the idea of spending $40 on insoles, but they'll be worth it if I can get back to my usual running volume again.

That's all for now.  Hopefully in the next few days I'll be bitching and moaning about my sore booty and not about my sore foot-sy.  Later y'all.

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