Review of the "crash" and some other stuff

Well the "crash" was tough. More mentally than physically actually. A lot (more than I'm used to anyway) of hours were spent on the trainer. And as I've said before, I hate the trainer for many reasons... The total hours trained during the past 8 days was 20.5. Not bad. I would have liked to be around 24 by 8 days, but I canned a 2 hour trainer ride one evening, and I took Thursday off because quite frankly, I just didn't have it. Disappointing that I couldn't make it through the week as productive as I would have liked. On a positive note, I did much more training than my plan calls for, so there is a bright spot in somewhat of a let down. One thing that I'll say is that I will definitely be doing another "crash" before IM Lake Placid. I think I'll wait until it's warmer out, and maybe until school is out (June 3). Next time I'll make sure I can get outside on the bike, and I think I'll try to put in about 30 hours for my next "crash".

Also, although I didn't hit the run/bike as much as I really should have, I did have my highest volume week in the pool. I hit 15,000yds, which is a number I have been chasing for a little while. I'd like to make this more of a norm than an exception over the summer. Something that is killing me is that I still can't call myself a swimmer... I swim a decent amount, but I don't have the confidence in the pool that I need. I'm not very fast, and although I'm up to about 90% flipturns during my sets, I hit the lane line like 6 times during my long set Friday. I was also getting smoked by some chick who was obviously a serious swimmer (she did multiple IM sets - anyone who does butterfly in the middle of a set is a legit swimmer). I am thinking about getting some pool toys to (hopefully) get me past my current plateau. I currently don't use any, but I'm thinking about purchasing some hand paddles and maybe even some short fins to see if they make a difference... I'm also thinking about shortening my sets so I can really focus on speed, rather than distance. Maybe swap out my 12x100 for a 25x50 this week... We shall see.

I had a good brick today. 1hour bike (outside!) and then a 1:45 run. My run feels strong. I'm happy about that. I can hold about a 7:40min/mile pace with very minimal effort. And lets be serious, I'm shooting for a 3:30 IM marathon, so if I feel comfortable with a 7:xx pace, I should be able to hold it off the bike if I fuel and hydrate properly. Tomorrow should be in the 50's so I plan on heading out for 4 hours followed by a 30 min run. We'll see how it goes.

I didn't eat well during the "crash". Capped it off with a burger from 5 Guys tonight, plus wings, plus beers (plus a late night chili cheese dog). I have a feeling that will hurt my ride tomorrow.

The last thing I'll write about is how my boy, Andy Potts, won the Oceanside 70.3. I love that guy. Part of it is just because I wish I was a swimmer, and he is. Also, I love his attitude, work ethic, morals, and overall approach to triathlon. He's basically just the man. And from what I read about the race, it came down to the last mile. The first 4 finishers were within 2 minutes of each other. According to Laval magazine, "Potts threw down a huge kick" in the last mile to outrun Rasmus Henning. (**Potts was a division I swimmer at Michigan who walked on to the track team his senior year and ran like a 4:15 mile...what a stud). I usually don't use the word "epic", but this might be worthy of the description - an epic race. I can't wait to read more and watch some clips from the race.

Ok time for bed. I'm up WAAAAY later than I should be... Went out with the boys tonight. It's just worth it once and a while.