Well, the question was going to have to be answered later in the day because I was too tired to get out of bed at 5am. For some reason I could not fall asleep last night and ended up finally dozing off around 2am. So I ended up sleeping in to 6:30 and that extra time was really needed!
After work and a haircut I made my way to the gym and decided to swim first and run second. Yes, I did a swim - run brick! First off I got in the pool and they must have fixed the heater because it was no longer cold. I was very excited about this! I did an easy 200 meters to warm up and then another 200 meters doing the drills from the Swimming DVD. Then I did 4 x100 sprints at a pretty hard pace. In between each 100 I would rest for 45 seconds. I finished off the swim with another 200 meters of drills and then an easy 200 meters to cool down. Good swim. I can feel the drills are really helping with my form. However, I am still slow!
After the swim I showered off and changed into my running gear and headed for the treadmill. I did some light stretching and started off at about a 10min/mile pace. At this point my legs were feeling really good and after a mile I cranked the speed up and ran at a harder pace. I ended up doing 4.8 miles in 40 minutes. That is an 8:33 min/mile pace and more importantly my legs felt great and I have no more stiffness or pain. Yeah me! After I finished on the treadmill I did a few laps on the indoor track (I am using the term "indoor track" rather liberally because it takes 13 laps to complete a mile!) and ran at a hard pace and did some longer strides to see how the legs would do and everything still felt great! I am pretty confident now that my legs are fully recovered and I can resume my running without fear of injury. Good Day!
Tomorrow morning I have an hour ride scheduled on the trainer and then after work Annie and I are going to go for a run in the neighborhood. The run is supposed to be for 30 minutes but if I am feeling good then I might go a little longer - I'm afraid of losing all the running endurance I have gained over the last few months. With my next race being a 1/2 Mary in Feb I need to keep the weekly miles higher than what my training plan calls for.
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff
You have really gotten used doubling up your workouts. Nice job on the brick, especially being able to endure the "dreadmill".
ReplyDeleteSo are you ready to put your stamp of approval on the swimming DVD? If so, then I will probably check it out.
Boomer - Yes Stamp of Approval administered, you should get the DVD. It has been very helpful. The drills are easy to follow and they give me some structure during my training. The best part is that he shows you how to do them correctly with multiple angles and slow motion. I am a visual learner so this really worked for me!
ReplyDeleteGood news about the pool heater! As soon as I read that you were going to do a swim, that's the first thing that came to mind. I guess they actually DID look into it!
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already, I'd invest in some good cold-weather biking apparel and do some winter rides. I found my neon-yellow Pearl Izumi cycling jacket the other day and thought of you. Some of my favorite rides were during cold weather. With the right gear, riding in 30-degree weather is nothing to fret.