Shark!

As my fingertips hit the water, I strongly pull it back, keeping my elbow high… I feel my body whoosh forward and I find myself at the end of the pool within seconds!  Well, maybe seconds is an exaggeration but I killed my swim workout this morning.  Killed it!  I felt like I was a hunter in the water, confidently catching up and overtaking each one of my competitors.  (and winning my age group – hah!)

I don’t know if it was just one of those days where I got lucky and felt great in the pool… or if I am actually getting stronger and faster!  I’m gonna go with the latter.  This was my fastest 3000 yard swim and I loved every minute of it.  I never got bored, tired (well maybe a little tired) and I was fast – fast for me! I held a 1:40 pace on 2 400’s, a 1:38 pace on 2 200’s and I swam 2 300's in 5:15 which didn’t take any extra effort!  To put that in perspective, my “test 300’s” came in at 5:15 where I was huffing and puffing.  I’m so glad my first workout of Week 5 was a confidence builder – it means I’m headed in the right direction and I can’t wait to see more results!

Speaking of results, I had my second tempo run yesterday and I improved on that as well.  I made it a point to keep my 2 mile tempo intervals consistent and I was able to do just that! I warmed up for approx. 16 minutes, 1.72 miles, then ran 2 miles tempo (8:30 & 8:25), 2 minute walk break which was actually a 2:30 minute break since I had to strip off my top layer in the hot 30 degree weather, ran 2 miles tempo (8:34 & 8:29), 1:30 walk break, then the final 2 miles tempo (8:27 & 8:17) plus a 1 mile cool down.  Look at those intervals – pretty consistent if you ask me.  I had no idea I had an 8:17 as the last interval in me either!  I’m really happy with that workout.  What a world of difference 3 weeks of consistency does to your run! 

Overall I still have a lot of work to do, faster splits to swim, bike & run… but I know I’m headed on the right path!

Here’s my full month of January numbers:

Swim: 7.93 hours 21,130 yds (28.96%) - fyi... that's 12 miles of swimming!!

Bike: 8.33 hours (30.42%)

Run: 8.12 hours 51.4 miles (29.65%)

Strength: 3 hours (10.95%)

Total hours: 27.38 hours - I can do this!!  

This week will be another test for me... not only is it supposed to snow AGAIN, but I'm working crazy long hours this week so my 530am wake up call is a mandatory one.  Fortunately, my longest workouts this week are scheduled for Sat/Sun so I should be ok.  I just have to make sure I'm getting my beauty sleep!  Which by the way is hard to get when you're reading an insanely good book.  I'm currently reading Unbroken: an Extraordinary True Story of Courage and Survival.

Many of you Runner's World readers are probably familiar with this story after they published an excerpt of it in the magazine.  This is a fantastic read and I highly recommend for any type of reader.  What this man went through in WW2 was just unthinkable.  I feel like I learned more history from this book than any high school or college class taught me. (Yeah I wasn't a history buff... I got a C in my last college history class).  So when I hit the hay early, I pick this book up and the next thing I know it's 1230am!  Whoops.  I'm learning to control myself though and am only allowing one chapter per night.  So far it's working.  Happy Training Everyone!