Weekly Recap (11/23-11/29)

Monday: Swim—Masters swim team (2700 yds)
I felt so much better swimming this week than I did last week. We did a tough workout where we were supposed to complete sets until we hit failure (i.e. didn’t finish the swim until we were supposed to start the next set), and I almost finished the whole thing.
300 swim
200 kick
100 pull
4 x 50 (closed fist)
4 x 50 (build speed throughout set)
10 x 100 @ 1:50
100 @ 1:50
100 @ 1:45
100 @ 1:40
100 @ 1:35
100 @ 1:30
100 @ 1:25 (crossed out because I missed this interval by one measly second)
100 easy
2 x 50 (strong finish)
25 fast
25 easy
Geez, longest list of sets ever. The final 50s and 25s were there to fill up the rest of the hour for those folks in the fast lane. I got through one of the additional sets before I had to hop out and leave for work.

Tuesday: Run—800m, 3 x 1600, 800m
Rob and I had plans to celebrate his stepmom’s birthday with her on Tuesday evening, so I couldn’t do my speed workout after work like I have been doing. My options were the treadmill in my office’s little gym or a very early morning. Treadmill-hate won out, and I set my alarm for 4:20am. Upon arriving at the track, I saw it was all locked up. So it was the treadmill anyway. The 1600s were slated to be run in 7:05 according to my training plan. I have regularly been running 10-15 seconds per mile faster than my training plan dictates, but I decided to run these closer to the prescribed pace. One reason was that I knew I’d be running a 5k on Thanksgiving and I didn’t want to wreck my legs. The other was that I wasn’t sure I could run much faster anyway. If I could run 1600m repeats at 6:50, I probably would be able to run a little faster than a 22:45 5k. I set the treadmill at 8.6 (mph) for my 1600s and took a 400 rest in between (just hopped off the treadmill). The workout went much more smoothly than my last treadmill workout. I was tired and pushing it by the end, but I wasn’t dead like I normally am after speed work. I’m looking forward to my next 1600 workout on the track to see how I do there.

Wednesday: REST
I took Wednesday off so I could recover a bit before the Thanksgiving Day 5k. I have some time off I need to use before the end of the year, so I took a half day at work as well. I wanted the extra time to make my pies so I wouldn’t be stressed about it on Wednesday evening or during my race on Thanksgiving.

All in a day’s work.

Thursday: Run—Thanksgiving Day 5k (21:56.9)
My first Thanksgiving 5k ever went well. The weather cooperated, and other than the being colder than I was used to (25°), the conditions were great. I’ll post a race report soon, so expect more info there. After that, it was Thanksgiving with Rob’s family which was a ton of fun. My pies went over well, and I ate way too much food. Wonderful!

Friday: Swim—Masters swim team (3000 yds)
I woke up early to go to Masters. It was a Black Friday workout. Basically, we had to do math and swim, but it was a super cute idea. We had sets like “1000 (70% off)” which meant a 300. You get the idea. I’ll chronicle the actual distances, though.
300 swim
200 kick
100 pull
8 x 50 distance per stroke
4 x 25 (underwater)
300 build
4 x 100 strong
200 kick
2 x 500
I didn’t feel great during swim, but I felt okay. Not many people showed up, so everyone was getting some pretty good feedback from the coach. I got advice to reach a little more with my stroke. Previously, he’s also mentioned my kick and told me to kick more from the hips than the knees. This time, he noted that he could tell I’ve been working on it and that it looks much better. Hearing that I’m doing better at something that needed to be improved is my favorite type of feedback, so I was pretty pleased with that information.

Saturday: Run—10 miles (1:22:55)
I woke up to a thin layer of snow which was both exciting (Snow! Christmas! Winter wonderland!) and depressing (Driving! Cycling! Running!). I spent the morning lounging around and slowly preparing for my run. Beforehand, I had a bottle of water, cherry pie and ice cream, pumpkin pie, a hardboiled egg, and a roll. Yes, I know I’m a weird eater. I took off around 10:45 wearing tights and sweats on bottom and a t-shirt and jacket on top. It was around 28°, but I felt good in what I wore. I was never cold and was sometimes too warm. I had heavy legs again which was frustrating, but maybe not surprising after a hard 5k on Thursday. I’m ready to feel fresh for a long run again. Regardless, I kept up a good pace. The roads were wet but not snowy or slushy expect during my park loop (a little over a mile). I’m sure I slowed down, and I could feel some stabilizing muscles working that were not used to that kind of effort. I did eventually loosen up, and felt pretty good during the middle miles of the run before facing some fatigue during the final miles. I finished with an 8:17/mile pace. Just a few minutes after I got back, it started snowing again, so I pretty much timed my run perfectly (for once!).

Sunday: Bike—30 minutes
With the temperature at 28°, this was my coldest ride ever. I set out for a simple half hour ride with the intention of assessing the warmth of my clothing for potential longer rides in similar temperatures. I wore my Gabba jersey and a base layer on top and shorts, tights, and knee warmers on bottom. I had some five-finger, heavy-duty gloves for my hands, shoe covers for my feet, and a headband to keep my ears warm. My legs and torso felt great, even when I hit 20+ mph. My extremities will need some adjustment. My hands felt okay, but I need to do something so I don’t get brain freezes when I hit faster speeds. Additionally, my feet wouldn’t have lasted much longer out there. I think I just need some insulated socks to work with the wind-breaking capabilities of my shoes covers. Fortunately, it’s supposed to warm up some next week. I’m hoping to get in a little more riding.