Week 15 -"More Cross Training"

“Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

Every season I am reminded how the first couple weeks of a new training regiment taxes the body. Even though I decided this year to go through the “off season” in base mode and not drop off entirely by maintaining my fitness level, this week of marathon training has taken its toll.

Is it age? It is the cold weather? It is coming off 2 weeks of holiday? Who really knows but at the end of the first week, I am exhausted.

Last night I was milling around the house while Ellie read and Sarah and Grace brought the cat, Digory, up to the vet’s to get the cat’s paw taped again. The cat has had an infection that would not heal for two weeks, so a small fortune later we are pumping antibiotics into the cat along with dressing the wound.

"The Cat In The Cone"

After prepping for Tuesday, it was around 8:15PM and I was ready to call it quits for the night. Ellie had 15 more minutes of reading so I decided to ice the inflammation, heat the back, and read a few articles in Runner’s World. Ellie came in to the bedroom around 8:30PM as Sarah and Grace were making their way upstairs from their trip to the vet. Both Sarah and I put Ellie to bed and I crawled back into the bed ready for lights out.

I glanced at the clock and figured that 8:40PM was too early to sleep. I would be wide awake at 3AM and there was no way I wanted to be awake at 3AM. I read a little more, talked to Sarah and watched a little tube. By 9:30PM I was ready. Turned over and I was out.

4:50AM came quick. I hesitated, once the alarm went off, on just hitting the off button and rolling over in the warmth of the bed for another hour of slumber. But…then I realized that I had paid for a full months of Master’s Swim and had to get up and go. Money is still a motivator for me even at 5AM in the morning.

I shuffled my stiff body over to the closet and I as I opened the door a rush of cold air bellowed out from the dark. The coldness felt as if I was walking into a freezer as I fumbled for the light switch. The air was still and frigid atmosphere snapped me out of my groggy state as I put on ice-cold clothing that had been piled up on the floor.

The rest of the events leading to the pool were mundane. Coffee was brewing, car warming up and 8 out of 16 traffic lights stopped me. At traffic light number 15 as I waited for the crimson dot to award me with the green tint of go, I saw a white sedan coming the other way on Windward. Before I could register, “I think that is Ann Marie” the white sedan flashed me with its halogens signifying it was Ann Marie. I chuckled to myself (of course being in the Jeep alone at 5:15AM) as I thought she was bright eye and bushy tailed for so early in the morning on a cold, early morning. Then I realized this is the first day of her new job as the Pool Manager. Ann Marie has volunteered to take over the administrative duties of making sure everyone pays “their dues” to swim on Tuesday & Thursday mornings. I need to come up with a good nickname for Ann Marie on her newfound duty, but I am thankful for her taking the time to organize a bunch of Alpha athletes so early in the AM.

The swim. What can I say about the swim today…Difficult comes to mind. My head was not into it. With the focus on running and training for the marathon, swimming is starting to take a back seat. In addition, with the shoulder injury I have not been hitting 100% on my workouts for fear of further damage. At this point, I am thinking about reducing the distance and speed to stay focus on the task at hand with running and nurse the shoulder. This may prove to be futile for the moment since this morning there were on average 5-6 swimmers per lane. To move to the “B” lane I may throw a kink into the B swimmers workouts which I do not want to do. It is not fair to them to disrupt their flow. I will finish the month of January and decide if another avenue for swimming maybe more conducive to my goals.

Coach Mike’s Workout: (might be a little off)
400M EZ
150M Drills
200M Non Free
3 X 100M Kicks no fins
5 X 100M @ 1:50
200M EZ
1000M Time Trial
100M Fist
100M One Arm
100M Catch-up
200M EZ
200M Kick
50M EZ

The decision as stated above, on the swim came during the 1000M swim. I had no mojo and could barely propel myself forward in the water. I will not quit on the swim, but maybe just dial it down for a while. I need to give up a little to be better on the run. Cycling indefinitely tabled; swim may need to take a back seat in order for me to achieve my own personal greatness.

Tomorrow is Track. The temperature was 18 degrees this morning. Tomorrow morning it will be a balmy 24 degrees. A proper warm-up is in order for me to be great on the track and hit my times.