Yeah, baby, that’s running and me.
Three workouts to record. Yep, that’s right – Billy’s been having a phenomenal week so far.
1.
Tuesday night, I was drained after work. I was convinced I was getting sick. AND the baby hadn’t let me sleep much. I was cranky.
Got the boys in bed. Managed to avoid the couch. Kissed the wife and drove to the Y. The whole time I was thinking of reasons not to swim. Seriously considered just taking a quick nap in the parking lot. Bleh. Dunno why, but i was in the dumps.
For whatever reason, I dragged myself into the Y. Managed to get changed. Managed to get into the shower for the pre-workout hose-down for consideration of the other swimmers. Really, really thought about skipping the swim and just showering and heading home. Somehow managed to get out of the warm shower, walk through the chilly locker room, and eased into what I expected to be a frigid pool.
The pool wasn’t frigid. Wasn’t warm. Was pretty much just right.
250 yards of breast. Easy. Nose felt a little stuffy, so I made a pact with myself. I’d managed to get my lazy butt into the pool, managed to warm up. But, I didn’t want to push too hard and go straight to sick, so I said that I’d do as many as I could in the next set and then call it quits. 25 laps later, I decided I was done swimming.
The best part of the evening? I’d seen another guy in the pool doing some water jogging when I started swimming. So, I paddled down to the deep end (swam underwater most of the way just ’cause I could) and screwed around. Dove down to the bottom, 12′ with a stuffy nose. Looked up. Enjoyed being weightless. Pushed off of the bottom with my hands over my head, then swept them down to see how high out of the water I could get. Looks like I’m not going to be featured at Sea World any time soon, but it was fun.
Somehow, the lifeguard didn’t whistle at me…
2.
Wednesday, I stopped at the rail-trail again on the way home. Changed in the car, started running. GOod tunes, good times. 58 seconds from the car to the mile 0 marker. 8:48 first mile. Hit two miles (8:53 for mile 2) on the way out, and decided that five was a good number for the day. Ran out for 4:20, turned around and hit the mile 2 marker again at 4:10. Woo Hoo, negative split.
Somehow, running back was tough. Feet started slapping (thud, thud, thud) instead of the effortless, silent running I strive for. Tried to rein in the beast. 8:46 back to the mile 1 marker. 8:42 back to the mile 0 marker. Run another 19 seconds to make it an even 45 minute effort. The last mile was ugly, but I never really felt I was pushing into overdrive. Probably should have just done 4 so I could have maintained good form.
3.
Today (Thursday), stopped at the rail-trail yet again. It’s kind of fun; I keep seeing the same people since I’ve been running at the same time in the evening. There’s been just enough variance that I can tell a house where the people get home at about 5:05 and light off their wood stove. Today was a little bit later, so the smoke was pretty much done as the stove was getting up to full heat.
I was a little stiff from yesterday, and am somewhat concerned about getting injured. So, the goal was 30 minutes of solid effort, shooting for an easy 3 miles. 40 seconds to the mile 0 marker, 9 minutes even for the first mile. I was listening to the podcast of On The Media, which is always fascinating. I’m claiming bonus geek points for recognizing that last week’s guest host was the same Xeni Jardin of Wired and BoingBoing fame. Listening to a talk show was kind of nice, since I got to hear a whole lot more of the world than I do with music blasting. Listening to the ducks settle down for the night was particularly nice.
Did a little bit of mental math aimed at hitting 30 minutes total running, and ran another 5:40 past the 1 mile marker. Think it was about .7 miles. Turned around. Hit the mile 1 marker again at 5:33. Woo Hoo! Negative splits!
Last mile was 8:44. Not too shabby, especially since I felt like I was running easy, and the feet weren’t slapping nearly as much as Wednesday night.
Epilogue
“Earl” continues to be the best show on television, hands down. I am going to break down and pay for Ecto (Love that it automagically takes what’s on the clipboard and pastes it into the link field when you’re creating hyperlinks). Newsvine – still don’t know that I get it. What I did get, though, was absolutely great news about an old friend, more of an acquaintance these days. But I’m not spilling it.
Keep the rubber side down, y’all. ‘Cept for you barefoot types. Or the swimmers. I may be officially crazy.
You are making some great progress here in the dead of winter. It must be that coastal effect weather.