Swimming in the Rain

I feel better today. Sometimes, I just need a little time and recovery to put some perspective on a bad ride. It was pretty funny though. I brought Bluebell into the bike shop today to have her gears tweaked, and she was pretty dirty from the ride yesterday. I don't remember how she got that way but it looked as if I took her off-road. I normally give her a good grooming before putting her back in the stall after a hard ride but wasn't in the mood yesterday. The guys at the shop poked fun at me a little. However, I'm really excited about having her shift perfectly. It's been quite a work in progress after changing to compact cranks.

I calculated last weeks' hours and actually didn't come out too badly. 9 hours (and 10 last week)--not too shabby, eh? 85 miles on the bike, 20 miles running, and a 2000 meter time trial. Not perfect, but not too shabby. I'm feeling better about showing up ready on race day. I have a few more weeks to put in some good mileage until taper. Plus, I've been working hard up until now. Swimming has gotten easier, running is solid, and the bike, well, the bike will come back. I know it. I can't wait to get back on this week and put in some good mileage.

It rained all day today! Very weird. Torrential downpours. And it was super hot and dry all weekend. Quite a change. I could feel the wind blowing from the east from the hot, dry Santa Ana's as I road out on Sunday. Then, when I headed back (before I got lost and called Jason), I could feel the winds shift, temperature drop, and blow from the west. Headwind both ways. Nice.

Anyway, the rain foiled my ocean swimming plans for today. So I jumped in the pool. It felt very weird to swim in the rain. At times, it was coming down hard and felt like little rocks pelting my back. Being immersed in the water was very soothing. I had a good, solid swim and have definitely gotten faster, which makes it so much fun. I did my own thing:

500 meter free, warm-up, easy--focus on form

50 breast--active recovery

250x3: 50m pull--50m kick (no board)--50m drill--50m golf (swim as few strokes across as you can)--50m back (stroke)

I was pretty happy. Using my new and improved technique, I shaved strokes off my lengths. I used to be a solid 20 but I actually got it down to a solid 17, 15 if I really stretched it!

main set: 200x4 (descend every 50m)

100x4--descend every set

I timed myself for fun. First set was supposed to be slightly easy. 1:57. Hmm, maybe I pushed too hard, considering easy used to be 2:05-2:10? Second set: 1:50. Wow! Third and fourth sets: 1:47. Is this for real? That's almost 15 seconds shaved off. And consistent. This is getting fun.

50x4--descend

Again, I timed. First set: 0:57. Second set 0:50. Third and fourth 0:47. Hmmm. Not only shaving off time but extremely consistent. I'm happy.

Total distance: 2500m

I'm feeling pretty good in the water lately.

Trying really hard to get all caught up in lab and at home and with training. Making progress. Also trying not to get Jason's cold. Taking Zicam. Washing my hands. Taking multivitamins. Getting lots of sleep. Drinking lots of green and chamomile tea. Keeping fingers crossed. I won't know for sure until Thursday.