It's Not the Heat...

Got a five mile run in last night after 9pm. When I went outside, it felt a little bit muggy. I walked to the corner where I normally start my run and the bank clock/thermometer said 80. That's not too bad...I was glad I waited until the evening to go running. The day was really hot, I think the heat index was up over 100.

I wasn't running fast...still had quite a bit of dinner in my belly. This was causing some discomfort and some gas, but not enough to make me stop. After the first 3/4 of a mile, I was already feeling a powerful sweat coming over me. I was drenched from that point on.

When I got home and was entering my workout into my log, I checked the weather stats. 90% humidity! Yuck.

I was glad to get the run in. After Evergreen I think I went through a little bit of a post-success hangover. I met my goal and was dealing with the letdown that followed. After work, when I normally workout, I was feeling a lack of motivation - almost feeling depressed. I couldn't get myself going. I've finally gotten a couple of runs and a bike ride done and I think I'm back on track.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Got a good swim session in tonight. Rather than my normal series of 500s or 400s, I switched it up tonight and swam a 500, 400, 300, 200, 100, 200, 300, 500 series. If I would have had time, I would have stuck the 400 in there on the ascent, but I was happy to get 2500 in tonight.

On a sad note, I realized once I got home that I left my goggles at the pool. Waaaaaah! Those were my favorites. I'd been wearing them for 3 years. I tried calling, but the pool was closed. I'll try again first thing in the am, but I fear my Speedo Sengars are no more.

Relaxed. Comfortable. And. In. Con-trol.

Had a great 5 miler tonight. It was sunny and hot, but not too bad in the shade. I set out to have a good run...to not push the pace too hard, and to feel good. [SNL Target Lady] Successss![/SNL Target Lady]

I was chanting to myself as I ran: Relaxed. Comfortable. And. In. Con-trol. It worked, I felt good the whole run.

Swim tomorrow...

Great Ride

It's a beautiful day in Champaign. The day started with an early thunderstorm, then cleared up into a sunny, slightly windy warm summer day. I waited for quite a while to ride, putzed around the house, ran some errands, etc. Finally got onto the bike around 4:30.

I headed out on one of my normal routes, but headed north and then west towards Mahomet...the wind was blowing NNW at about 15 mph. Heading out was tough. I equate windy riding to climbing...we have no mountains here in Central Illinois, so the wind is our substitute. I was planning on a ride of about 30 miles, but when I got to the halfway point, I was past 17 miles. I stopped at a gas station in Mahomet to top off my bottle, and bought some vitamin water. I got the biggest bottle of water in the cooler, which filled up my bottle and I stuck the big bottle in one jersey pocket and the bottle with the rest of the vitamin water in another jersey pocket. It kind of felt like I had scuba tanks on my back as I rode the route back.

What was such a hinderance on the way out, was a huge boost on the way back. The wind pushed and I shifted up onto the big ring and cruised back at 24+ mph. Total mileage was 36.4.

Felt great...planning on a long run tomorrow.

Good Brick

Squeezed in a nice brick workout last night between thunderstorms. My friend Andrew invited me to ride and run with him near his house. He has a good 13 mile bike TT course through country roads, and a choice of 3 mile out and back runs.

After riding a quick 10 mile TT the night before, I wasn't sure how I would feel on the bike. But, I felt good...really good. I had a nice pace and my cadence was fast and strong. I'm hoping this bodes well for this weekend's race. In my last race, May Madness, I just felt like a little power was lacking on the bike. I'm hoping I've timed my bike workouts well going into Tri Shark.

Following the ride, we took off for the run. I chose a route to the west (into the weather) and Andrew headed east. I was planning on running about 3.4 miles, but I had to cut a mile off due to looming dark clouds and flashes of lightning that I was running directly into. I picked a turn-around point and headed back. The run felt good. I tried reminding myself to control my breathing early in the run and get the legs stretched out...

It was great to get a workout in on an unfamiliar course. Often workouts on familiar territory can feel too static..."here's a rise in the road...I can go fast here...need to brake here for the turn...yawn." So, it was nice to ride a course where all I knew was where to turn.