What a Difference

Monday I went out the front door not knowing how far or how fast I would go. I wound up doing an eight mile multi-paced run. It was a superset shuffle, but I added another step. Superset runs are conducted at several known race paces with no rest interval in between the pace shifts. For example, warm up and then do .25 at current 5K race pace, then slip into .25 at current 10K race pace, and then go for 1.5 at goal marathon race pace. Run slow for four minutes and repeat. Jolly good fun. Really, jolly fun. I did my first one of these last week and enjoyed it so much I couldn't wait to do it again. Despite the fact that I'm still overweight, I hit my pace times and finished tired but not trashed.

Luvie has been very clingy of late and that has made it difficult to get anything done. I love it. I did get out the door Tuesday afternoon for a 4.34 mile shuffle. Then it was off to the grandchildren and after that Delta State.

Somebody said, "What a difference a day makes." I really don't remember where that comes from, but I found out what a difference a week off makes for swimming. During the Thanksgiving Break, I did not get in the water at all. Besides taking a bath. Last night, I went to DSU and was not surprised but shocked at how I felt. When I first got in I felt smooth and strong. But that old burn started and it was like I never warmed up, like my muscles were tight, hurting, and protesting the whole time. After a

600 warm up that didn't warm me up, I swam
2 X 800 first with medium paddles, 2nd swim; last 25 of each 100 fast,
16 X 50 @ 1:00 with fins,
4 X 50 @ 1:00 swim,
100 small paddles,
total: 3,300 yards.

Wednesday I did another multi-paced run. After warming up, I decided to do a mile for time. Enroute to the mile, I kept a check on my watch to see if I could go through six minutes (the vVo2 max test) at a pace faster than the 7:47 I did a week or two ago. At six minutes I was exactly at 7:47 pace and slowed to 7:51 at the mile. I did another hard .25 after a rest and then hit a tempo pace for a bit over two miles. When I got home, I lifted weights and found that although I did lift once last week, I had lost a bit on my bench. Dude, what a difference. I had hoped my week off would advance my fitness. 

Tonight it is back to DSU and I hope I notice a difference from Tuesday. Tomorrow, me 'n Buddy have plans. I saw him at work today, and he is eager for another long run.