It took a week, but I’m back
I can’t believe that that flu took me out for a full week. I barely remember it, which is probably a good thing, seeing as how it was pretty uncomfortable and very boring. Now, I’m done writing and thinking about being sick. It’s done and now it’s time to move on.
Today I finally really met John, my coach. We’ve spoken on the phone and emailed a lot, I met him for about a second on the marathon course and about a second during my ride in Prospect Park the other weekend, but this time we finally met and talked at the same time. It was nice to get a chance to sit with him and ask him all these questions I’d been saving up. We talked about power meters, my upcoming schedule, my pre- and post- Ironman race schedules, the family vacation to Italy in June, and my swimming. We talked about my swimming and he told me that given my good bike and run speed, my swim speed is a little lacking. When I did my 1,000 yard time trial, I averaged 1:44/100 yards. He thinks that I can and should be at between 1:25 and 1:30/100. That’s a pretty big improvement (>10%), but I think it’s do-able. I didn’t give it my all in the last time trial and I’m able to keep up that pace for 1,700 without struggle. Therefore, I think I could probably do better than 1:40 now. I also know that I have a lot of room to increase my efficiency and form. To do all that, I finally scheduled a swim lesson. I’m meeting John on Thursday morning for a lesson. I’ll be interested to see what he has to say.
This evening I spent 1:15 on the trainer, the majority it doing single-leg drills, then went for a slow, easy 20 minute run down to Washington Square Park, ran around it four times and then came back. It was pretty cold out there. Elizabeth said it was 29 degrees, but that’s without the wind and the wind was really blowing. It wasn’t the coldest weather I’ve ever run in, but it was getting there. Also, since I’d just gotten off the bike, which I did indoors without a shirt on, and since the run was only 20 minutes, I didn’t dress perfectly for the run.
Bike – January 16
Time: 1:15
Average heart rate: 103
Run – January 16
Time: 20 minutes
Distance: 2.5 miles
Average heart rate: 127
Course: Washington Square Park
Conditions: Clear and COLD!