Small victories

After Monday's rest day, which went by way too quickly, I was in the pool bright and early Tuesday morning. I decided to avoid the humiliation that comes with swimming alongside the Masters group, and instead swim in our gym's indoor pool. And it was my best swim in a very long time.

Every once in a while, the stars align, and I have a day in the pool that actually feels like I think it should feel every time I swim - fast, smooth, bouyant, effortless. Needless to say, those days are few and far between. I usually feel like I'm dragging a bucket behind me. But not on Monday - it was nice to feel like I was actually swimming well, and I'll file that small victory away for the next time 2500 yards feels like a death march.

My afternoon, post-work, session was a 45-minute run with a 5-minute pick-up (Z4, fartlek) stuffed inside. I ran out to the old Meigs Field, which is now a quasi-nature preserve/outdoor concert facility with a paved running/cycling path around the perimeter. It's actually a very tranquil and scenic place to run, but a full loop is only about one and a quarter miles. Perfect for a shorter set, though. It took me about 15 minutes to get there from our place, and I began the pick-up at the 20-minute mark. Whew. Yeah, that was hard. The five minutes actually went by pretty fast, and it was great to mix up the run and really test myself a bit. Hopefully, this kind of thing is what makes you stronger. Or leads to an early death. We'll see.

Today, I'm either doing an hour ride with another 5-minute Z4 segment or a 45-minute ride bricked with a 15-minute run. I'm going to wait and see how I feel on the bike before I commit to the run part.

Hope everyone's having a great week.