TFIE

Thank God I'm Eighteen. Otherwise, I definitely couldn't have made it through a 4150yd workout on Friday with about 3 hours of sleep the night before. Funny thing? Practice wasn't too bad, either. We did a really awesome set of 3x300 pull with paddles, 1x200 Fast, and kept doing it while increasing the second distance by 100 until we swam an all-out 300. Since this is an honest blog, I am going to come straight out and say that 300s SUCK. Give me 20 all-out 50s, 2x1000 pace, but do not make me go all out on anything over 200. I have no idea how to pace for those strange, not-quite-sprints. I am sure with time and practice, I will figure it out, but for now, whenever I see those on the board in the morning, I sort of want to scream.
     Today brought an easy, hour-long spin in the morning, shopping, and a 1:30 run. What, you don't consider shopping to be exercise? Because trying on piles of clothes and shoes and walking around the store definitely wears me out the same way a track workout does, and require the same amount of nappage, i.e. I slept from 4:30-6:30. This sort of ruined my plan of starting to run at 6, but I still managed to hop on the 'mill before 7. We are in the middle of another heat wave, so I have had to stick to inside workouts until the heat index drops below 116. I definitely find it harder to get my pace down on the treadmill- when I am outside, I can push myself no matter how awful I feel, but on the treadmill, having to constantly either run at the same speed or change it up sort of messes me up. Also, all I have wanted to do the last couple of days is grab my iPod and run long, so I was so disappointed when this morning my Dad informed me that when he ran, the air quality was soupy and awful, and that running over 3 miles would be 1. unenjoyable and 2. unwise.
    Tomorrow I have a 2:30 ride and :30 transition run on the schedule, but since I have to work until 3 and be there by 10, the brick is going to have to be done after work. Mentally, I just need a jam session though, so I am planning on waking up a little early and sneaking in a nice, easy 3 or 4 miles before work to pump me up for the day and get the juices flowing. I am not a pleasant person when I don't get my sweat on in the morning, hence why I still swam on Friday when I probably could have used the z's. Such is the life of an endurance athlete...