Mon, Wed, Thurs

Monday - 35 minute run; Zone 2 Heart Rate - no particular thoughts about this run, it felt good to get my legs moving and I tried a new route which I really liked. Down 11th street from my house, went around Lincoln Park once, down to the capitol and back home. I did much better than I thought I would.

Tuesday - didn't do anything because I was too tired from work and got home pretty late. Plus the evening swim was only for the new triathletes on our team.

Wednesday - 'Track' Workout. 20'-30' warm up Z2, 3 strides, warm down - I couldn't make it to the track so I did this by time. I did a 20' warm up down to the capitol building and did sprints up and down the hill - basically I sprinted down the hill about 15 seconds and turned right back around and sprinted up the hill. I did this until I had covered the hill (probably about 5 sprints). For the rowers out there, it was much like doing the Cathedral steps. I then went down to the fountain in front of the capitol building which is about .5 a mile around and ran for half of it at about a 8:30 minute pace (this is 3.5 minutes faster than my Z2 at the moment). I walked the rest of it and then sprinted up the hill and finally ran/walked back home. It was a pretty exhausting run only because I tend to push myself a lot harder when I sprint because I'm good at going all out for short distances. But I tend to forget that I have a lot more in front of me...

Thursday - Bike and Swim - I left work a little bit too late to get to Hain's Point for the bike ride so I just went to the swim. Jumped in the pool and it felt good. This is my 3rd swim in two weeks and before I only went sporadically so getting back into swimming shape is going to be a challenge. For not being competitive, I'd say I'm a pretty decent swimmer it's just a matter of getting used to the motions again and of course, pushing myself to get the pool time in so I don't lose it. This is the second time that my shoulder hurt a LOT. It was so painful that I cut my swim short by 15 minutes. I got some advice last time and this time for my technique so I'm going to be focusing on these things every time I get in the pool:

1. Do not cut my stroke short. I'm not reaching my left arm out enough and start pulling before my right arm comes back in the water. To remedy this, I need to do the drag drill. Pull my arm up into my armpit and push the water when reaching out. This is part of what's causing the problem with my shoulder. I did attempt this for a few laps after asking the coach for some assistance and it seemed to relieve some of the pain
2. I don't rotate enough to my non - breathing side.
3. I need to make sure I relax my shoulders and look down at the bottom of the pool instead of ahead of me.

Lots to work on but I'm up for the challenge. I think my initial goal is going to be to finish the swim in 1.5 hours if not faster.

On the plate for this weekend:


I'm going to Pittsburgh so I won't be able to bike. The schedule says 3 mile run at Z2. I'm gonna go for 5 miles on Sunday and see how that goes.

On Saturday, I'll be doing the Cathedral steps with a couple of my teammates from crew. Up 5 floors, down 3, up 5, down 3, until I get to the top of the 35th floor. Two steps at a time. Come back down and do it again...as many times as possible in an hour. If I can make it two cycles I'll be pretty happy.