Made2Move Performance Training

Solace by Swim

A shot of yesterday’s phenomenal trainer session. Yes, that is indeed ANOTHER Jeff Gordon towel.

Let me first begin by saying that I’ve had a great training week thus far; I’m getting my hard efforts in, and – to use the words of a previous post – I’m “nailing” them (my stomach may not agree with this statement). Today’s swim workout was no exception. I “nailed” it. And I found a little solace in the meditativeness of my laps, which I was greatly in need of by the time I hit the water.

It was just what I needed. I looked at what I had prescribed for myself this morning, and I remember thinking, “this is going to be awful, I don’t know if I am going to be able to get through this”. I had long intervals today, 600’s and 400’s, distances I sometimes don’t even like to do on the track, let alone as laps in the pool. However, it is for the greater good I told myself; I need to do this, I’ll be better off because of it.

A couple of laps into my warm-up, there was a sense of energy going through my body that I haven’t had during swimming in quite some time, and I was pulling myself through that dihydrogen monoxide substance with an ease and grace that I was starting to think was gone. I felt strong.

Today’s swim. It’s a little beat up, but you get the idea.

I powered through all four 600-yard repeats, the last three being “broken” 600’s. The same held true for the 400’s. I powered through all four of those as well. And when I got to the final 100 yards of my swim day, I let ‘er go. Gave it all I had, and. It. Was. AWESOME. I left the pool happy with the effort I had just put in, an effort the likes of which I have been lacking as of late. Even better, I completed the majority of the workout sans pool toys. After all, I’m not there to play games.

I finished off my training day by teaching a great yoga class in the afternoon. I’m in zen mode now! Relaxed and ready for the next training session. Tomorrow. Strength and more trainer time. It has been a tough hard week, as it should, and I am already looking forward to my recovery week. Perfect. That’s right where I want to be.

It Ain’t Always Pretty

Or comfortable.

Today it was neither pretty nor comfortable. As I alluded to yesterday, today I had a strength session in the morning and mile repeats in the afternoon. The morning strength routine was great – I hit some numbers I haven’t seen in awhile, my form was looking good, and I was definitely feeling strong. I fueled up well afterward, I hydrated well, and I was psyched and looking forward to pounding out those miles.

Yes. Those miles. Six miles repeats were prescribed to me today. Just after 1pm I hopped on the treadmill (where I unfortunately have to conduct my speed sessions for the time being), and began my warm-up. My legs were feeling great, but in my mind I could sense that something was up. With my stomach. Oh, please, no, I thought.

IRONMAN image — “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do, it comes from overcoming things you thought you couldn’t.” (used from the IRONMAN Facebook site)

I got through repeat #1, and my stomach started to experience great distress. A little extra recovery time, I told myself. Half-way through repeat #2, I thought I was going to have to stop and either lay down or puke. Or both. Relax, I told myself. You’ll be fine. Two more laps.

I finished repeat #2. Another slightly longer recovery, and I began repeat #3. Same result as repeat #2. At this time, the battle in my mind began. It would be easy to stop now, give in, go home, and try another day. My stomach is just not up for it today. But then another thought came into my mind, and it is this train of thought that will keep me going throughout my entire training, throughout the race. That thought? What if it happens on race day. Am I going to stop, give up, and quit? Am I going to throw in the towel, come back, try again another day? NO. As a matter of fact, I know that it is highly likely I will experience some degree of gastrointestinal distress during Ironman. And there will be no stopping. I can slow down. But I will not quit. The best way to prepare myself for this is to experience it in training; to learn how to best handle it so I can continue on in the safest and most efficient manner. What do I do if it happens during the race? 1) Calm down – you’ve been here before, and you know you’ll get through it. 2) Slow down – it’s ok, you can even walk for a bit until things settle. 3)Stay positive – don’t let the negative experience of stomach distress win the battle!

As some people may find hard to believe, and I am certain I have said this before – I am indeed human. I experience a great deal of GI upset and sickness during my training and racing – I have all my life. It is something I have learned how to handle (with a little help from my Pepto-to-Go!), and I have gotten better with every year. Do I recommend training like this for everyone? Certainly not. I know what my goals are, what is normal for me, and what I am capable of. And when the day is right, I will push through almost anything.

I successfully made it through all six of my mile repeats (of course I end up with a wicked right-side stitch for the final three laps of repeat #6). Once I hit repeat #5, things had started to settle, and I knew that I was going to win the battle and that I would make it through. That thinking alone probably provided a major role in getting me through. Nine-and-a-half miles later, I finished my workout.

My favorite post-workout refueling option. Chocolate milk.

Now, I am happily enjoying one of my favorite post-workout beverages (chocolate milk) and planning tomorrow morning’s yoga class. Ahhh yes. The feeling of putting in a great workout, beating the odds, and getting that much stronger.

Serenity by Ski – Week 12 in Review

Another trainer session. Another Jeff Gordon towel.

Three times this past week I attempted to start a post, so that I could get everyone updated a bit more frequently, and so I could avoid an excessively verbose week’s end review post. Three times this week, I had to lend my hand to other tasks. It never fails, at the beginning of every new year, the workload increases dramatically…and the hours in the day stay the same. Bear with me as I get through it all! Nonetheless! I had a successful twelfth week of training.

Well, as I wrote in last week’s review, this week was going to be a mini-build/harder week to see if I would be able to handle the rigors of a true hard week after the decreased load I had the previous couple of weeks due to that stupid cold. How did I fare? Most excellent. I got in three very good swims this past week (finally! knock on wood!), a good session on my trainer, two good lifting sessions, some mile repeats, and to top it all off, a couple of hours of cross-country skiing. Therefore, I am feeling pretty confident coming into this week – Week 13 – that I can put in a good, solid, heavy week.

I had intended to get a longer run in on Saturday, but the snow that fell Friday night was looking to thwart my plans upon my waking up Saturday morning. I hmm’d and haww’d as the day wore on, thinking: ‘well, I can always go swim, then I won’t have to be outside in this freezing cold,’ and then I thought, ‘well, I could always try to run, but the last time I ran on roads in this condition, I screwed my knee up and couldn’t run for four months.’ Ok, cross that last option off the list. My final option was to get out my cross-country skis. Which I really wanted to do, however, my skis were stored up in the shop, above the furnace in that special storage space. That meant I would have to go up there, climb up to that little spot, get them down, and walk back down (apparently I wasn’t highly motivated Saturday). Alas, when my dad came home for lunch, he said he would get my skis down because he had to go up there anyway. Hooray! Thanks, dad. Now I had really better get out there.

And get out there I did. The sunshine was too beautiful to pass up, and after putting on several layers (it was 14 degrees out, after all) I headed out my door and put my skis down. Literally. I am supremely blessed where I live, as I can walk out my door and bike, run, or ski anywhere and everywhere. So, I put my skis down, made my way down the driveway, crossed our quiet little road (yes, I took my skis off for this), and skied to the trail. Perfectly beautiful untouched snow awaited me. It was peaceful and serene, and no sound but that of the swish-swoosh of my skis was to be heard. It was one of those days where I just can’t imagine why people don’t like winter. To see the snow, the way the sun set in the sky, and to quietly and (not-so-)effortlessly glide along was absolutely rejuvenating. Exercise in the colder temps can do that for you; don’t be afraid to get out there – with proper layers on, you’ll be amazed at what you will see and accomplish. And the feeling of being out there when most people wouldn’t is also pretty great; that’s something special that few others in this world will ever experience.

Completely untouched trail awaits! The conditions were so perfect, I am glad I got out there. As I knew I would be once I got myself going!

The sun sinking down through the trees. My tracks were the only signs of life (minus those of a few small animals). How could people miss out on this?!

Now I begin a true heavy week. A heavy lifting session and more mile repeats await me tomorrow. Stay tuned!

I wanted to swim, but….(Week 11 in review)

But it was 54 degrees out. In January. In Western New York. The air was still, and there was a partial clearing of the clouds in the sky. It was a PERFECT morning to run, a perfect spring-like day. In the midst of winter. The forecast for the remainder of the week looks grim: bone-chilling temperatures in the single digits. And wind. For those of you who have been following along, you know the plight I have had with the pool recently, and given my recent (and ongoing) bout with a head and chest cold (caused from water in my ear from the pool), escaping outside for a jaunt seemed much the superior decision.

Puddle Jumping — Puddle jumping! This is what I felt like today, being able to get out and run.

So I did. And I felt like a little kid out skipping through puddles for the first time on a warm spring day after a long, cold, winter. In my mind, anyway. My legs did not particularly feel like they were skipping, but they trudged through our little 15k route like champs. I didn’t wear a watch – this is one of the paramount rules of recovery week, since this is now a recovery week – because I was least concerned about my pace and all the numbers therein. I just wanted to get outside; to move, and to simply enjoy the fact that I am able to do so. You can always find something to be thankful for – a reason to be grateful. Use that as the base of your training, as the base of everything that you do, and you will notice that it will have a profound effect on your attitude, your life, the way you do things, and the way that you handle them. If you don’t already, try it. It’ll work, I promise.

Week 11 went nothing like I had anticipated, being my “hard” week and all, and with the way things have been going as of late (the past couple of months), it is hard to not get discouraged at this point. With this, I bring myself back to a statement I made in my previous paragraph. Attitude is everything. If I let it get me down, if I let the negative things take hold, then they will start to get hold and they will get me down. I’ve put in a lot of good, solid, work up to this point. And I have made some GREAT progress. No, I did not get that 16 miler in this week that I was so greatly looking forward to in order to test out my strength. No, I did not get those swims in that I wanted so I could continue to improve, continue to work on my butterfly stroke. No, I did not get that long trainer-to-outside run session in that I wanted. I did, however, manage to perfect holding crow pose and jumping back – lightly – directly into Chattarunga. Yes, this is yoga speak. If I remember, I’ll post a video of this sometime this week. I’ve had other improvements – namely, the end of my hip/back/hamstring pain – but I won’t get into a list now. What I really need to remember is this: I’ve been doing extremely well. It’s been a rough couple of training cycles, not everything has gone according to plan. But it’s ok. That is life, and life NEVER, if only rarely, goes according to plan. I just need to keep moving forward, keep progressing my training plan, and I will without a doubt successfully make it to the finish line.

So now what? I am heading into Week 12, which should be my true recovery week. What am I going to do, you ask? I am going to make it a mini build week. If, at the conclusion of this week, I am satisfied with where I’m at and how I am feeling, I will make next week my “hard” week, and continue my routine from there. Adaptability. You have to be able to adapt your training to the crazy demands and ups-and-downs life throws at you. If you have a coach that is very rigid with your training plan, you might want to think things through. I see this happen too often, and it results in injuries and unsatisfied customers – unsatisfied with their results and unsatisfied with their progress. In the words of my mentor, and one of the nation’s (and world’s!) renowned speed and movement coaches: you have to be able to adapt a training program at the snap of a finger.

Week 12 – let’s see what you’ve got.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
– Harriet Tubman

So long 2014 (and December)…

Yes, this is one of those year-end reflections. Or month-end. Definitely month-end, because December handed me quite a walloping this year.

Crossing into 2015! (This is from one of my favorite trails to run. And I only need to head across the road to get on it, the old railroad bed).

First of all, allow me to correct an earlier statement. In my post Monday, I stated that this week – Week 11 – is my second build week. That would be incorrect – it is my third build week, aka my “heavy” or “hard” week. Well, as luck would have it (and this seemed to be a recurring theme for December), I ended up with one heck of a nasty head cold – which progressed to head AND chest cold – at the close of this past weekend. In other words, because I haven’t been able to breathe, I haven’t been able to sleep (albeit intermittently), so I therefore feel tired, and because when you’re sick your heart rate increases to increase your body temperature so that the enzymes and antibodies necessary to fight off the cold can become activated and working at the proper temperature (whew! got that all in), my effort levels have increased substantially. In simple terms, I’ve had to make this a recovery week. Much to my disliking.

I know what some people may think, that maybe I don’t seem that motivated and that I seem rather “laid-back” when it comes to my training. It’s just a cold, Tina! On the contrary, I am EXTREMELY motivated, and I’m not about to risk a training day when my body simply is not up for it, thinking that I’ll be better in the long run for getting something in instead of getting nothing in. Again, on the contrary. Trying to pound pavement for 16 miles today isn’t going to better me, instead, it could end up setting me back for days, or weeks, and that could even turn into months when you string the compound effects together. I’m not about to do that. I wish more people would get this into their heads.

I’m not saying I haven’t been doing anything, because I did get in a good lift this week, and I’ve been getting on my bike for 30-45 minutes. I’m just not getting outside. Or into the pool. Which is how this whole cold started. By getting water in my ear, and it finding another way to get out (through my sinuses). (And in my mind I’m repeating, “I love swimming, I love swimming, I still love swimming…)

Yes, December was a humdinger for me. Finishing up two certifications that took a large amount of time, and then I end up sick. Jeepers! Well ending the year on a “low” note and starting the next year on that “low” note, means that this year – 2015 – has to end on a high note! Right?!

2014 was not, of course, a bad year. I mean, I did FINALLY get that trophy for winning fantasy football…in 2013. And I did get signed up for this whole Ironman thing. I suppose I did have a couple of good races in there, too. However, I am looking ahead to what lies in store for 2015. I now have to really start to solidify my race schedule in the time leading up to Ironman, and every month my training plan has to get a little tighter, a little more progressive, a little more pinpoint – the gains of each month shaping what I will do in the next.

Yes, this is my name, on a trophy for something related to football. Yes, something other than a triathlon-related sport. I have to be proud of it. I mean, who’dve thought?!

CHAMPION. In big words. Fantasy Football CHAMPION.

For the full effect. (Have I included enough snapshots yet?)

It is exciting. Very exciting. It’s here, it’s here! It’s really here! And July 26th, will, without a doubt, be here before you know it. Here we go! Bring it on!

Here’s to 2015!

I Made It! Weeks 9 &10 Review

Order restored.

Thank you for your patience. I think I could have said this a lot recently. The past couple of weeks were a crunch time of sorts for me. I had to finish up my continuing education units for my NSCA certification, and I also had to get in all my courses and quizzes for my Mind Body Specialist certification. It seemed as if everything suddenly had to be done at the same time, at of course the last minute. Hence my absence from blog writing. But now I’m back at it!

All of this educational action required a small dent in my training, as it takes a good deal of time to read through articles, take notes, take the related assessments, and so on and so forth. I felt like I was back in college, cramming at the end of the semester. Some of the hustle and bustle I can probably contribute to the holiday season, although that would be a very minor amount. But I got it all done! And now a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. One, two, three…exhale.

Christmas Day brought with it (aside from plenty of gifts and cookies to go around) my first long run greater than 12 miles in, well, quite some time. 14.09 miles I covered on that blustery afternoon, combating a few scatters of a rain-like substance precipitating from the sky. Aside from this wind and rain, it was excellent. I felt very strong, and this is a very good sign. My pace is a bit slow, but, as I believe I have stated before, that will come once I am completely confident of my endurance (running) base. Another cycle, and then I will start to add more volume to my speed work, to make it proportionate to my distance work. For example, why would I spend only 30 minutes (about 4.5 miles) of time doing speed work, when I am training for a race with a marathon – 26.2 miles – at the end?! If I want to be faster over a longer period of time, then I need to devote a greater portion of that time to being fast. If you want to race fast, you have to train fast! Along those lines, anyway.

I also managed to complete the highest run volume I have been capable of mustering in a few months as well – four days this past week, and two in a row! My swim work is FINALLY back on a more routine schedule, and my lifting routines are plowing ahead. Now that my certification work is completed and up-to-date, I can really dive into my yoga practice, and begin putting some of the concepts to work and poses together to make my own routine. Hooray for learning new things!

Ok. Here we go. Week 11, the second build week. My daily routine is back in order, my training routine is back in order, and now my blogging can get back in order. Whew! I made it!

Week 8: Recovery in Review

Well, this was certainly not the recovery week I was anticipating. Maybe I was recovering from a physical stand point, but mentally, there was no such thing. I believe I touched on this in my last post (Totally Out of Sync) and I will say that I am still totally out of sync. However, routine is slowly restoring.

I guess the best parts of my recovery week occurred on the last two days of it – Saturday and Sunday. Saturday morning I got in a nice, long, session of yoga – an entire two hours worth. That session itself was almost enough to restore the balance of the week. Saturday evening I took place in my first 5k in quite some time, and my first race during my new training program since getting things straightened back around with my hip and back (literally).

I’ve lost some speed, and this I knew and was expecting, but I have without a doubt gained strength. A lot of it. The difference in my form, my stride – everything – is so amazing to me that I can only look with great anticipation as to where I will be within the next few months. I don’t need to hurry; as I’ve stated before, this will only slow you down in the long run. I wish I could adequately describe to you the difference I feel; every time I plant my foot, every time the muscles in my legs contract to keep my forward momentum going fluidly – to put it simply, it is awesome.

Along comes Sunday morning, and a long, impatiently awaited and anxiously anticipated moment…my Sunday morning swim. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it finally happened. Sunday morning at 10am I was able to swim at my beloved Y in my beloved little pool, with the water temperature a perfectly lovely 78 degrees. I had a lane to myself, and nearly the whole pool (all four lanes of it), save another soul who braved the still slightly cooler than normal temps for a short while. I was elated. I even had some IM work incorporated into this swim – and boy, has my body missed my IM work. My heart was pounding, my lungs were heaving, and my muscles slightly complaining (possibly also due in part to all the yoga and inversion work the previous morning), but boy oh boy, did I enjoy every minute of my float-around time.

My Sunday morning swim. Short and sweet. And it kicked my ass. This workout never used to kick my butt so much, but my time out of the pool certainly did a little number. I expect that by the beginning of the next cycle, my swim conditioning will be back in order (or pretty close to it).

It is now Week 9 (where does the time go?), and it is time to begin to progress my training slightly more aggressively. My hip, back, and hamstring have been pain-, problem-, and symptom-free for a solid 2-3 weeks now, so it’s time to start upping the ante. Faster intervals, longer interval sets, and longer runs (finally! Woo!) are now popping up onto my schedule.Time to see just how far my newly-developed strength will take me. And how much more strength I can gain.

Totally Out of Sync

My routine is in disarray. My weeks are all messed up. And I blame it on swimming. Or the lack of. I am totally, and completely, out of sync. I haven’t even been able to post the posts that I’ve wanted! This is pretty much an update to say that I’m behind on posting and updating and that I’m trying to update! (this is said all in one breath at a very fast pace in an exasperated manner).

My Friday morning swim workout. Larger intervals to accommodate for the recovery week. Nothing too fancy or complicated, and no IM work.

This recovery week has not been quite the recovery week I was hoping for. I blame two things. One: the unavailability of a pool to swim and my subsequent lack of swimming as a result, and two: the weather. It took me over two hours to get home on Wednesday in the snowy oblivion. I exercised my patience extremely well during this time. Until I got stuck in my driveway. Then I had no more patience. Wednesday was supposed to be my nice, relaxing, 90 minutes of yoga day, enjoy some tea, and catch up on some reading. Then make an awesome dinner. I did none of those things. When a very routine person’s routine gets all messed up, they get all messed up. That is essentially me right now; I can handle a few curves thrown in there, I can dodge some throws, but when they keep piling up, it can get a little overwhelming. Especially when I have been missing out on one of my biggest sources of stress relief in swimming. I did, however, manage to get a good amount of time in today, the most I’ve gotten in awhile (so not everything is lost this week). Still, it was not enough, and I was rushed between things, so it was hard for me to relax and really get into the groove. I felt better when I was done, however, so that was a start.

I know, slow down, calm down, Tina, you say, the world is not ending. Yes, I know it isn’t. I have managed to get in some good practice to improve my inversions this week. And let me tell you, inversions work your upper body and core significantly more than I ever anticipated. It makes me excited to think of how much stronger and more balanced I will be when I can do them easily. That will go a long way with my training and race performances.

Hopefully, peace and routine will be restored soon!

Inversion Practice #1: Feet against the wall, hips at 90 degrees. It is harder than it looks. It really is.

Inversion Practice #2: One foot against the wall, the other one straight up. I need some work there.

Inversion Practice #3: The “egg”. This is pretty simple, but it is good for working the core – you have to use your core musculature to pull your legs in.

Inversion Practice #4: A headstand! Right from #3 – you just bring your legs straight up. Now I just need to be able to do a HANDstand – that was the first couple of attempts. Five minutes every day, that is what my reading tells me.

Weekly Review: Week 7

Toy Story_Muscle Soreness — Sums up my Friday post-lift pretty well.

The hard week. I’d been looking forward to this week since the beginning of this cycle – I believe I even stated it in an earlier post. In fact, I know I did. It started out great, I nailed my treadmill intervals, I got in a long run (unexpectedly) that went supremely well. I got in my second lifting session of the week Friday afternoon, which went very well. But then things got a little lackluster. Saturday I was aiming for a longer session on the trainer, with a nice run afterward. Well, time got away from me, and I was SO sore from lifting on Friday, that my ability to put forth effort was pretty dismal. I guess I have some work to do in that department, still. I know this, of course, but boy, I certainly wasn’t expecting soreness on that level. Ouch!

Sunday I was looking forward to a day in the pool. I’ve been recording my lamentations on this subject as of late – as many of you know – so I was excited to finally be able to get in the pool for my usual, Sunday 10am swim. Once again, I am out the door in record time. Upon arrival at the pool, I see a sign posted with the words “Pool is OPEN. Temp 70 (Dec. 1)”. Better than 67, I thought. I inquired at the desk what the temperature was today. “Well…she just took it, and it said 63”. WHAT?! NOOOOOOO!!!! This can’t be happening. The swim gods must not be happy with me. The lifeguard saunters around the corner at that moment to say that it feels warmer than that, but it’s still chilly. I returned to thought. If it feels warmer, and was recorded at 70 a couple of days ago, it has to be warmer now. I sat on the bench in the locker room for about ten minutes. I decided to give it a go. I walked into the pool area, and stuck my foot in the water. Yes, definitely warmer than 63, and certainly warmer than what it was on Thursday. Alright, let’s do this.

It wasn’t that bad, but after 50 minutes, my heels were going numb, and my times were beginning to slow down. I was starting to get cold again. Really cold. It didn’t help that they were pumping more water into the pool. That wasn’t heated. I got more than half-way through my workout, but it still wasn’t enough. Damn. Now I’m getting mad. I can do without the pool for a couple of weeks, but not getting in a good 4000-5000y workout was really starting to get to me. I love swimming. I’m pretty sure it’s what keeps me sane. I love being able to stick my face in the water and just go, without having to worry about anyone or anything else. I love being able to work hard, really hard, without the wear on my body that is accumulated through running, and (to a lesser degree) cycling.

Although I was not particularly happy about the morning’s attempt to swim, I did manage to have a great yoga session in the afternoon. 90-minutes of leg-burning, core-strengthening, all-over-stretching later, I felt much better. I just feel so awesome when I get done with it.

I am now at the beginning of Week 8 – my recovery week. Even though I don’t feel I earned it, that’s not what it is about. I still had some hard sessions last week, and regardless, I have been building and increasing my work load over the last three weeks. It’s time to let the real work take place. I’ve said this to many people many times, and I will continue to say it: recovery is the most important part of a workout, the most important part of your training plan. Muscles don’t rebuild and become stronger while you’re working, they do it when you STOP. The little conversation within your muscle cells goes something like this:

Muscle cell #1: “Well, if she is going to keep working like this and breaking us down this much, whaddya say we one-up her and make ourselves stronger so we don’t break down at this same effort and load the next time?”

Muscle cell #2: “What a brilliant idea! The load seems light now….let’s use this time to our advantage! Let’s get stronger before she knows it!”

And that, my friends, is the beginning of the discussion on recovery. Put simply.

With that being said, onward to recovery! Let’s get stronger! (and keep our fingers crossed for a Thursday swim!)

Change of Plans

Have a better day.

This is what the (rather cute) police officer who pulled me over yesterday morning (at 4:22am) for a missing headlight said as he departed. It hasn’t been a bad one, I thought.

That was how my day started. A slight disruption in the morning was going to lead to a slight disruption in my schedule in the afternoon (to get my light fixed), but I would still be able to get my long run in, I said to myself. I’d been looking forward to getting out and testing the endurance of my legs for awhile now, and I was finally going to get a chance!

When I got home, the weather was looking a bit iffy. It was still rather warm out (35ish), and even though the winds were picking up, I decided I was going to get out there and do it. I’ve run in worse. My run starts out great, but by mile two significant precipitation was falling from the sky. Five miles in, I think I hit my new worst; the ice pellets pelting me in the face with gusty winds and dropping temps convinced me that it was not worth it to stay out there. That, and I was already pushing the boundaries of daylight. Change of plans, I said. Long run is not going to be today.

This morning I awoke with excitement: the pool is finally back open! I can swim again! I get out the door in record pace, so I can be the first in the water at 5:30am. I walk in to the Y and am greeted by one of my favorite people on earth, followed by the words, “the temperature is 67 degrees”. Oh, no. The lifeguard then walks around the corner, perfectly timed, and corroborates this statement. I ‘hmm’d and haww’d’ a bit, and decided I would give it a try. I’ve swam in colder, I thought.

(anyone notice a pattern here?)

I had gotten everything packed up and I waited two weeks for the pool, I wasn’t going to turn back now! So I get all my pool toys together and walk into the freshly-renovated aquatics area. I stick my toe in the water. Barely. Eh, not so bad. I sit on the edge of the pool, and stick my feet in. Ahhh! Cold! Knowing a little about physiology, I knew that the age-old ‘just jump in’ was not going to be the smartest way to acclimate myself to the water, especially at such a cold temperature. Slowly, allowing my body to get used to it, and maintain sufficient circulation to my entire body, was better. It took me almost 20 minutes to fully get in the water. The lifeguard thanked me for coming in that morning and providing his morning entertainment. He’s a good kid.

Finally, I push off. I’m swimming! It feels great! The water isn’t that bad! I finish my warm-up. I start my descending-pace 50’s. I was fine when I was in the water and going, but stopping and starting, not so much. I decided I would try a longer warm-up, and started with some kicking, after about 300 yards of kicking, I wasn’t warming up…I was cooling down. Ok. Change of plans, I said. Swim isn’t going to happen today.

Probably the worst picture I have ever taken. But if you could see what I saw – an amazing sunrise, the road dropping off, and fields aplenty – you wouldn’t see the worst picture, but amazing scenery.

I’m back home. I can either run, get on the trainer, or pack everything up again and swim at the Y in Skaneateles before work. After some deliberation, I decided I would run…I would give the long run another go. It was cold out, but the sun was shining, and the air was still. The radar was clear.

Everything happens for a reason. I fully believe this, and the chain of events that began yesterday morning prove it. This morning I ran the farthest I have run in quite some time, completely pain free to the fullest extent. I felt great. I felt awesome. And I was so glad I had a change of plans.

If something happens that prevents you from getting in a prescribed workout, it’s ok. A change of plans could mean that something better is in store, you just have to be patient. Don’t waste time and energy fretting about it. Carry on.