Monday-1300 yd swim at the Westerly Y. Warmed up 500 yd, 2X50 yd, drills, 2X50 yd, warmdown. Felt good to be back in the pool.
Tuesday-a.m. track workout with Which Way ( I guess that's his new nickname) and Gazelle. As I arrived at the WHS track around 4:45 am both of these guys already had over a mile under their belts. Do they sleep at all? I'm not really sure. Anyway, back to the workout. Mile track warmup. Followed this up with 4X400 w/400 jog rest, walked 200 m, and then did 4X200 w/200 jog rest. I was especially pleased with this workout because we were all really consistent. My splits were the following (400s-72, 70, 69, 68) and (200s-33, 32, 32, 32). I felt really good throughout and made sure not to overwork. Mike offered a good reminder not to push the turns and I kept that reminder of back of my head. Right when we finished the workout, the rain started and I did a very short jog to try to remain loose. (5)
p.m. 2.5 mile shake-out on local roads since I did warmdown after the workout this morning. Stretched when I finished.
Wednesday- a.m.-SWIMMING with the BIG boys. I met Steve Schooning and Jeff Duda at the Town Beach for a 40 minute swim/1 mile + swim. These guys are legit triathletes and I knew I would struggle to stay near them in the water. Regardless, I was motivated for the workout and was willing to listen to any tips they could offer. Entering the water, I immediately noticed the surf was on the rough side and it would be a good opportunity for me to experience the surf while really trying to swim through it. Steve and Jeff were extremely smooth in the water and it seemed like they were moving effortlessly. My goal was to just keep them in my sights and remain comfortable. All in all, it was a really good and fun workout. I'm really liking this tri stuff even though I'm not good at it.
pm -WTAC Tom McCoy Fun Run..5k..20:50
Warmed up for a mile with JP and then connected up with some other WTAC Cats to do the run at an easy pace. This group included the Gazelle, New Zealander Ryan, JP, and myself. It was fun running in the group and chatting it up with other runners along the course. I was really happy to keep things under control with a morning race coming up. (4)
Thursday-a.m.Quonnie 4 Mile Fun Run on the 4th, 22:31 1st
Results
I can't come up with the last time I ran a race that started at 7:30 a.m. My pre-race routine was a but different this morning since I didn't wake up early enough to throw down a breakfast. Instead, I ate a few handfuls of cereal, had some orange juice, and shot over to Quonnie. Driving into Quonnie, I was trying to spot out arrows and race markers...but nothing. I ended up pulling into the ballfield where race registration was taking place. I happened to be one of the first runners to show up. As soon I started warming up, the sweat just poured out of my veins. I felt I was in a sauna and maybe even went out on a bender the evening before.
Before I knew it, the race director was shooting out commands and the race was underway. Right from the start, I matched strides with a fast looking young guy and tried to determine what kind of fight I was in for this morning. After rounding the second corner, the young guy put a little gap between me and him. Shortly after that, another guy made a move on me and jumped into second place. Crossing through the first mile in 5:44, I was immediately disappointed. Not only was I feeling lethargic and slow, but I was in third place. The front two guys maintained a gap on me and I was becoming more and more frustrated. If I was hitting fast splits, I could have dealt better, but this was just bad. After hitting the 2 mile mark in 5:41, the leaders still were in my sights. I told myself to maintain. Right around the 3 mile mark, the 2nd place guy came right back to me. Keeping with my negative thoughts, I figured he was tired but was also conserving himself for a strong finish. I told myself to forget about him and focused on the lead guy, who the entire community of Quonnie seemed to be cheering on. Right around the 3 mile mark, I ran neck and neck with the guy. I could definitely tell he was a college runner and wasn't sure he had much left in the tank. Instead of letting him hand, I tried to make a gap between the guy and myself. After pulling slightly away from this dude, I took the lead for good and actually felt really well. Running on windy roads with frequent turns, I could no longer hear that guy behind me. Crossing the finish, I took the win in 22:31 and 5:38 pace.
While I wasn't happy with my first few miles, I was really pleased with my finish (i.e. ran my last mile in 5:22). It was a good lesson learned and moving forward, I will give more thought to just trying to hang in there and see what happens. 1 mile cooldown. (6)
p.m. Bonus Sightseeing Adventure with Mike B. As I'm sitting in my chair at the Town Beach, I catch quick glance of this dude running by. I took a second look and noticed the guy's form and sure enough it's Which Way?! I watched him for a second and made a quick, impulsive decision to try to catch him and run with him. We ended up running to around the Pleasant View and back. It was a fun little trek with many sights to see (both good and bad). Nice way to add on 3 fun bonus miles.
Friday-Week #3 of the Beach/Splash Friday runs with Gazelle and Which Way. We started at 5:30 a.m. in Watch Hill. Initially, we ran quiet roads and ended up hopping on the beach before hoping back on the roads by East Beach. We finished the run at Napatree and quickly jumped in the water to cool off and body surf. Ended up running 6 miles total and I came back to Napatree later in the day on the boat.
Saturday-After feeling some serious tightness in my calves and lower legs the night before, I opted for an easier bike ride. Ended up riding between 18 and 20 miles. Later in the day, I fit in some pushups and stretching in between chores.
Totals:
Run: 7X, 30+ miles
Lulu miles: 0 (but I did take her for a walk)
Swim: 2X, 2900yds
Bike: 1X, 20 miles
Core/Stretch/Strength: 2X, 60 minutes
Synopsis:
Overall, it was a well balanced week. I wish I could have made it out on the bike more, but you can't do it all. The 30 miles was the most I've run in months and I was really happy to get in that long swim Wednesday morning. This next week should be another solid training week. The week after is going to be hectic.
Impressive win on Thursday, Tom, especially 5:22 for the final mile on such a humid day.
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