all wound up

[Tuesday 5/9/06]

Run - 7.2 miles, 1:02 - warm up, 5 x 1 mile @ 7:30 w/ 0.3 mi recovery jog/walk, cool down
Strength workout - Power focus/Drop Sets - 3 x [9 Push Ups, 9 Pull Ups, 10 Side squats, 8-10 Ab throw-downs]

It was an amazing run this morning on the treadmill. It is nice to do a canned run like that every once in a while to tune up my pacing. I was able to hit the 7:30 pace for all 5 1 mile repeats. I thought about my breathing and relaxing into the pace. It was a challenging pace, but not that difficult to handle for 5 repeats. I could have done more. I wanted to nail this workout so I put it as the first one of the week after my rest day.

The strength workout was good too. I did as well as I could on the normal (non knee) pushups and assisted chin ups, though these are always hard. My massage therapist who is 6 feet tall commisserated with me the other day that it is always much harder for tall women to do pushups. The lever is longer and there is more weight to push.

I have been engaging in some retail therapy lately... I got a new polyester swimsuit, neoprene swim cap, deluxe sports bra, running top, large container of Sustained Energy, cushion inserts for my running shoes, water bottles. While I was at the bike shop I continued my research on improving my bike gearing situation. The options are a compact crank, a triple chainring, or a larger cassette. I have now decided that it will either be the compact crank or the larger cassette. I have to look on eBay for some good deals on those parts and check out the relative weights compared to what I have now with my Dura-Ace road setup.

[Monday 5/8/06]
REST Day

I went in Lake Monona for the first time today. I am aware that this is slightly nuts. It was cloudy and in the upper 60's with the water temperature probably in the mid 50's. It was really cold!! I would like to get my body acclimated to the cold temperatures because I am going to do the Lake Mills sprint triathlon. My goal today was to stay in for 6 minutes. I tread water for 5 minutes and then swam for 3 minutes. It was so cold it hurt my hands and took my breath away when I put my face in. I can say that I began to get used to it though. By the end it wasn't quite as cold. I wonder if I was the first person this season to get in that lake from the Ironman Wisconsin swim start line. I was certainly the only one out there today.