Big Day for Big Week

This week I continued my quest for 20,000 meters of swimming and a big run cycle at the same time. Finally, I was successfu, and I still have Saturday left. 

I started the day with a run. First, I did the math to find out exactly what I needed to hit 31 miles. That would be a weekly record for the year. But even though I left the house with that as a goal, I knew that my legs would determine if I needed Saturday to finish or not. You can't just force yourself through runs over and over and stay healthy or non over-trained. Believe me, over-training is real. If you push your body too hard, you wind up in a recovery ditch that takes weeks to get out of. I have been there, and it aint' fun.

My legs felt OK, not great, but decent. I went over the new bridge and down River Road to the hospital track, around it, and over the highway bridge. I was able to mentally map out the rest of my run by triangulating the distance to Monroe and the distance from Monroe to the Hideout, and how far I needed to add to get what I wanted. I finished with 5.24 miles giving me 31.14 for the week. I am not running Saturday.

After running, I mowed the front lawn at the Hideout. Then I ate lunch with my bride. I took a nap with the cats and headed to the pool while it was still early. Instead of waiting until after 5:30 for the big pool, I decided to get it done and try the little pool for the first time in weeks. When I swam it last, I had a coughing spell that cut my practice short. Not so this time. I swam

1,400 28:39
brick kick (first one in months -- it hurt)
625 12:50
500 TT 8:19
800 small paddles 15:55
6 X 50 @ 1:16
400 medium paddles
500 free/back 10:30
total: 4,525 yards = 4,135 meters.

That did it, that gave me 20,035 meters for the week, my first 20K swim week since early spring. This might have even been a record for total training, but I'd have to flip training diaries for an hour or so to confirm or disprove that so I will just call it a PR, a 20/30 week. For years, a 20/20 week has been the gold standard for building fitness. Now I have hit a new high.

Thank you, Jesus.