I started the morning with my tempo run. I was nervous because I'm still doing some catch-up on these runs. My last tempo run was in Arizona and I wasn't able to quite hit the paces. Today, since it was so cold I was hitting the treadmill. I set the pace at 7:30 and had 5 miles to do. You can't slow down when the ground is moving beneath you, right? I was really hoping to get through it without touching those buttons - and I did! I broke it up in my mind into quarter miles. I counted down from 20 quarter miles and kept my mind focused on that. I think that really helped. I counted down to 12 and had some water, then when I got to 6 I had some more. My legs and lungs wanted to quit during the last mile. My mind would say things like "well 4 is good enough, blah blah" and then I would remember how Mike has drilled in my head how important these tempos are and I would quickly counter the thought and get myself back in the game. During the last mile I visualized the track and had 4 laps to go, then 3, 2 and 1. I was so happy to get through it and now I have set the tone. When I have another 5 mile tempo at 7:30, I will have no excuses because now I know I can do it.
I took a quick break between workouts, did some core and got a snack. Then headed into the pool...
The plan called for a long swim of 1500m. So far on these long swims I have been breaking them into 3 sets and catching my breath between. Well, today the goal was to break it into only 2 sets. So, 15 laps straight, a little breather, then 15 more. I was gearing myself up for this and wondering how I would be coming off the intense tempo run. I decided it didn't have to be fast, but I would try to get through it, take it nice and easy. Well, to my complete surprise, I felt GREAT. I again mentally broke it up into 3 sets of 5 laps, just for counting purposes. I got through the 15 laps and decided I didn't need a break yet, I would do one more set of 5. Well, long story short, I never took a breather. I swam the whole 1500 meters, straight, no stopping! I felt good the whole time, felt strong and I was just so excited! One thing I started working on with my stroke is to swim "downhill", sort of pushing my chest forward to help put my butt and legs up more and eliminate drag. I really worked on this and felt my core more engaged and felt like I was swimming more efficiently. It's possible that this helped and is part of the reason my swim went so well. Whatever it is... it made me happy and motivated. I am really getting stronger, I can feel it.
