Week 9 Recap

With each recent passing week becoming a personal best in terms of mileage I welcomed Week 9, a recovery week. I'm sad to report that all the running has begun to burn me out a little.

I took Tuesday off of work for a me day, which was very nice indeed. I slept in late, made a big breakfast, napped, and then set off to get some training done. Six Yasso 800s and 2500 yards at the pool were on the schedule. Since I was ahead of my usual after work training hours I was not a bit surprised to see the local university holding track practice. I proceeded to stretch and scan the competition. Eventually I asked the coach if he minded me jumping in for some repeats. The athletes were running what appeared to be race-pace efforts of varying distances (2-3 miles) so I felt I wouldn't disturb them much. Coach didn't mind at all. By my fifth 800m (5:40/mile pace) I had gathered a bit of attention from the students, one whom asked if I was interesting in running track. For fear of getting runoff, not being a student and all, I politely told him I'm a triathlete and kept running. Makes me wonder if I have any eligibility left...

My swimming volume took a big hit this week because it's little kid swim lesson season. A swarm of children will infest the pool for several hours at a time over the next month and a half. I don't necessarily mind having to wade through kids in the locker room or on the pool deck. What I do mind is the countless times I've had to clear the pool for turds and vomit. Tuesday was one of those days.

The rest of the week was rather dull in comparison. I finished up with a total of 5550 yards swimming, 5.2 miles biking, and 31 miles running in 6 1/2 hours. I was hoping my legs would rebound with the reduced amount of mileage but they haven’t felt right all week. I’ve got maybe four good weeks of training till the Smithfield Sprint so I may shift my focus away from the marathon plan and into biking.