Speed day
wu: 250 continuous.
main: 4 sets of (4x50 fast with 50 kick recovery). Rest 1min after each set.
cd: 150 easy

Swim felt really good tonight. I'll put the individual splits in later. Problem is, now I can't sleep. Was tired at 10. Crawled in bed. Heart rate shot up. Mind took off. Nuts. So now it is 11 and I'm wide friggen awake. Doh. Just watchin a little Robot Chicken.

I did forget to talk about something that happened at the gym last night.  So I posted once, a long time ago either here or on a thread on the forums about a girl at the gym that I find a lot of inspiration from.  She is technically a quadriplegic.   She has some use of her arms, but not much at all.  Anyway, sometime last year, I was fortunate enough to watch her take some of her longest steps with a walker.  She walked approximately 150 feet non stop.  She had never gone that far before and I got to witness it.  Well, she was at the gym last night and she was actually pushing herself around the track in her wheel chair.  That's new.  She now has the strength to not only hold herself up, but to also push herself.  I continue to be amazed by her.  Her strength inside and out.  Her determination.  Her drive.  There have been many times when I've been in pain training, and I think of the pain and exhaustion she has gone through and I keep pushing.  She truly is an inspiration. 

Race-specific
wu: 6 x 50, odd swim, even kick.
main: 1900 ladder. Start with 300, then 275, 250, etc.. Until 25. Start pace should be T pace +10 or about RPE 3. Increase pace each set until finish
cd: 200 easy

Logging this in on Tuesday morning because I didn't get to it last night.  Tough swim.  Shoulder started to actually hurt a bit around 1/2 way through.  Whatever it was it was worked out.  I'll have to keep an eye on that, though because it is my right (bad) shoulder.  Last thing I need is to injure it.  It feels fine this morning, thankfully.

Long workouts this week, again.  And don't have a day off till Sunday. 

Yeah!  Day off day!  And of course it is beautiful outside.  When in the world will it stay nice out permanently.  I'm so sick of the cold.  I know, I've been harping on that a bit, but still.  Sheesh. What a long winter. 

Liverpool won yesterday.  Torres scored yet again.  What a stud. And the Fire start soon.  And so do the Sox.  What a great time of year for sports!  Awesome! 

2.5 hour bike. Keep RPE 3-4. Use race clothes if possible. Use race equipment.

20 minute recovery run after the bike at RPE 2.

Today was both the best and worst workout/ride I've had.  It was the worst because of the wicked head wind I had to ride into the whole way back.  I wasn't paying attention to the wind on the way out and I paid for it dearly when I turned around.  That being said, I was able to learn quite a bit from it, making it a good one.  I learned what I need to do when going into the wind.  Aero tuck first and foremost.  Dropping it down to the small chain ring too.  But more importantly, I learned I still need tons of T.I.T.S.  Even after a year of training, I need more T.I.T.S. 

And again, my toes were frozen.  Made for a VERY difficult run.  Felt like I was running with logs on the end of my legs.  So hard.  REaly glad I have the day off tomorrow.  I'll need it.   

Oh my goodness I'm tired.  I thought I was tired yesterday.  Nope.  So glad I have today off of working out.  I soooo need it. 

I think that even though it is supposed to be cold again tomorrow morning (32?) I'm going to do my brick outside.  I just can't even stand the thought of doing any more long rides on the drainer at the gym.  I can't even fathom it.  And at 2.5 hours it might push me over the edge.  So today, I'll research that new route again and see if I can actually finish it.  All the way to Peotone and back.  About 40 miles or 16 mph.  I should be able to do that.  As long as it isn't too windy. 

So thankful warm weather is just around the corner.

30 minutes at RPE 4-5.

90 minutes at RPE 3 using race nutrition/hydration plan.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.  Awesome, awesome, awesome.  WHAT A FRIGGEN AWESOME WORKOUT!

Ok, to start out with, I was tired all day.  Just exhausted.  Felt slow.  Lethargic.  Walking through syrup.  Yawning. Achy.  Everything. 

BUT, I knew it was going to be a pretty night so I had something to look forward to.  And boy did I ever.  Jumped on the bike and took off.  Felt pretty good.  Nothing special.  17+mph and other than one spike (sprinting through a light before it went red) I kept it fairly low.  And got back, threw on the shoes and took off for the run.

I didn't realize till I took off that I haven't gone this far, in a straight run, outside since last year.  So I went out and did the long loop through the forest preserve.  The weather was perfect.  60 degrees.  Slight breeze.  BEAUTIFUL sunset.  Some clouds in the sky made it even more so.  Lost count of all the deer in the FP.  Heck, there were three of them just standing at the side of the trail just watching me.  All of 10 feet away.  I wasn't really paying too much attention to my pace.  Just paying attention to my RPE and how it correlated to my HR.  At one point, I felt I was going the same pace but my HR was starting to spike.  Then I took a big swig from one of the Aquipod bottles (8oz) and within another couple of minutes it was back down again.  Could be coincidence but I'll have to keep an eye on it. 

Long and short of it, this is, by far, the best long run I've ever done.  Helps that it wasn't too hot out, but still, it was awesome.   Sure I'm a little sore and tired.  But it felt SOOOOOOO good.  By the second half, I barely felt my legs.  They didn't hurt.  They weren't numb.  They were just machines turning over and over and over.  The best part of it all, my HR average was only 168!!!!  For 9 miles!!!!  I think the last time I came this close, my HR was averaging 178.  THAT is a HUGE drop.  THAT is the progress I've been looking for.