Thursday, February 08, 2007

Bronchitis No More, Touch and Pull, and a Mysterious Encounter

The bronchitis is gone. The 3 day Z-Pack did it's job, and I managed to only miss out on a Friday swim and a Saturday bike, but I made the bike up on Sunday. By Sunday I couldn't take the depressing nature of sitting around eating cough drops and blowing my nose any longer, so I did the 2 hour Have Mercy Spinnervals DVD on the trainer before the Super Bowl came on. And while watching the first half, I did some strength and core work. Felt much better. It was all downhill from there.

Monday called for a 40 minute run and a 3200 yd swim. I did the run outside during my lunch break and got 4.43 miles in 40 minutes for a 9:02 pace. It was cold, but it felt good to be outside running. I swam that evening while Briar was having his swim practice, but I only did 2750 yards - I shortened the warmup and skipped a couple 100 intervals - because I ran out of time.

Tuesday Briar and I got up and went back to the rec center at 5:20 a.m. We ran a mile together before I took off to the pool to do my scheduled 2000 yd swim. It looked like this:
WU: 300
MS:
10x50 FAST on 20" rest.
10x50 FASTER on 30" rest.
10x50 = sprint 25, easy 25 on 15" rest.
CD: 200

Last week at the triathlon swimming class I went to in Franklin, Coach Ashley had me doing lots of "touch and pull". So on all the "easy" 25's and on the warmup and cooldown, I did the touch and pull drill. Slowwwwly. And then that evening, I did a one hour ride on my trainer while watching some basketball with J.T. and Briar, and then practicing T-ball with Bo during my 15 minute cool down. Talk about multitasking...but hey, the season will be here before we know it. Bo threw the ball to me on the trainer, and I would catch it and throw it back. So we got in some good practice that would have ordinarily been a boring 15 minute cooldown for me. Wish I could figure out a way to work on the batting part while on the trainer....

Wednesday came and I elected not to go to 5:30 a.m. toning class, as I have gotten somewhat behind on my sleep by now. I decided it was a good time to catch up since Michele and I would be making the hour long drive to Franklin that evening for the new tri swim class we've been taking. So during the class, Coach Ashley once again had me doing all "touch and pull". And she explained that instead of gliding on my side while swimming, I am dropping my arm, especially on the side where I take a breath. And you know what, she is right. She says I have to retrain my body to swim without dropping that arm, before I can go faster. So hey, if "touch and pull" is what it takes, then touch and pull is what I'll do. I plan on doing all the touch and pull I can possibly do for a while. Another thing we did was drills where during one 25 meter interval we swam all the way across the pool without coming up for air. I thought "NO WAY"...and I didn't make it the first time. But with a little more determination, I made it on all the rest!! Once again...you can do a lot of things you think you can't.

We got home around 9:10 p.m., I ate a bowl of Corn Flakes for dinner - have I mentioned that I love Corn Flakes? Absolutely love them. They are my most favorite kind of cereal, and I could eat a whole box during one sitting if I wasn't afraid of how many pounds I would gain from it. I so wish they were good for you like Total and Special K. But oh well. I finally got to bed around 11:00, and 5 and a half hours later the alarm rang to inform me it was time to run 10 miles. I really bundled up this time, as it seemed especially cold last night. So I took off from my house, hit the greenway at mile 3, and started getting a little concerned because there was not a single light on the whole way. So I run through the park, and come upon the ball fields where I see an old truck parked by the greenway. I think "hmmmm...what's up with that? Oh, maybe somebody just met someone and left their car there." So I keep running, and as I run by the truck I see a man squatted down behind the truck!!!!!! CAN YOU SAY ELEVATED HEART RATE?!?!?! In about 3/10's of a second, here's what goes through my mind:
  • take out an IPod earbud so you can hear - Sorry SteveRunner, I've got business to tend to
  • Can I outrun him? I've only gone about 2.5 miles so far, I believe I can if I need to
  • If I can't outrun him, I'm gonna have to beat the shit of him, so, Miss Adrenaline - I'm glad you are readily flowing now
I was very scared, but as it turned out, I think I scared him more than he scared me. Because as soon as he saw me he jumped up, quickly got in his truck, and sped away. Now what the hell was he doing in the park, in the dark at 5:30 a.m. squatted down behind his truck? He was fully clothed, so I don't think he was trying to take a bathroom break or anything. Was he doing some kind of drug? I don't know...but let's just say I won't be running through there alone again for a long time.

I've got to make some race decisions soon. What half iron am I going to do? What plan am I going to follow when I decide? What mtb races/rides will I do? And what metric and century rides will I do? Will my sub 4 hour marathon attempt be in Chicago this year? Or San Fran? Or Memphis? Can I even fit all this into my schedule with everything else? I believe that the time to decide is coming soon.

7 comments:

Stephanie said...

Hi there!

I'm always impressed when I hear someone is living the tri-life. My friend just started training for one!

Great blog!

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

umm yesterday I was taking a nap then I was gonna do some touch and pull BUT said hey get up Bob you have to go for a RUN--- HAHA umm was that too much Info :-) ?

Not being a swimmer never heard of touch and pull, sounds kinda funny... OK well maybe just kinda funny to me :-(

anyways, I love Cereal also and used to be a big fan of Honey Nut Cheerios, now I am trying all these different ORGANIC kinds, some are good some are DRY Cardboard...I am still in testing Phase...also after doing my seven day cleanse last month I KICKED the sugar cravings and I also got hooked on JUICING...may fav. so far is CARROTTS and APPLES ...I have one glass a day, the energy from that drink is awesome, and it tastes great!

Glad Your feelin better and looks like your back into a good workout routine.. Very Nice!!

Bob

Michele said...

I know which half Iron you should do and have the perfect plan for you to follow. ;)
You are on your own on the mountain bike, I am too old for that crazyness.
I think you should try Memphis. The December marathon is perfect and it is a good race, plus I will be there.

Anonymous said...

I vote for Chicago. Right now, I'm planning on going back. The crowd support is overwhelming. It is like running in a 26.2 mile parade and you're the star!

Since Chicago is the first of October, you could still do Memphis with Michele.

Kate said...

I love cornflakes too. Glad you're feeling better- I love the multitasking idea.

Joe said...

Yikes! That was a weird encounter.

What is the touch and pull drill? Is that an alias for "catch up freestyle" drill.

Lance Notstrong said...

Scary running through the park story. There's alot of weirdos out there.