Some weeks are better than others...

I could definitely tell I did weights and speed work yesterday. All day I've been a little sore. Easily manageable, but sore nonetheless. I could really feel it in my legs and buttocks, especially the buttocks. I was glad I only had a swim scheduled for today. I've convinced myself that the cool water helps aid muscle recovery.

This week, for some reason, I've been mega productive. I had a lot of major projects that needed to be dealt with and I happily ate through all of them. It's not normal to be "happy" or "eat" through projects or get them "all" done.

Yesterday, I was so pumped about some of the exciting possibilities of a couple of the projects, that my back was actually getting tensed up as my mind was racing. I could feel it and knew if I didn't stop thinking, I'd throw my back out.

Training is the greatest cure for tension and racing thoughts. I couldn't imagine how I'd cope without exercise. After I train, no matter how I felt before hand, I'm in a much more relaxed and positive state afterwards. That's what happened yesterday, I was tensed before my run and came back "chill-axed".

Today, I worked through lunch and couldn't get to the pool until late afternoon. It was my first swim in a week and I wasn't sure what to expect. Before I got started, I tried the swiMP3 for the second time and it didn't work, I think the battery may have drained. Ugh!!! I am going to take it back and get an H20 brand and see if that works better.

Anyways, I keep reading about all these great times that my fellow P.F.G's are setting in the pool and was feeling the pressure to keep up with the team. Swimming is odd. You could have a fast swim on Monday and with the same effort, have a slow swim on Friday. Before every swim lately, I keep my fingers crossed that my body and mind remember how to swim properly. I also find myself constantly monitoring and adjusting my technique throughout my swim.

My warm-up was nice and easy. After about 700 meters I felt like quitting, but I couldn't. Having to post on the blog, and knowing people read it, provides added motivation to push through. When I want to quit, I ask myself "how am I going to explain my quitting in the blog?". Then I thought "you also need this swim, you've got Ironman China in just over 7 weeks, you can't afford to cut or miss swims".

That snapped me out of my negative thoughts and I said "quitting is not an option, so lets just try to enjoy it". I started my main set with a 6 x 300 meters. I was like a machine, every set was either 1:39 or 1:40 per 100. I then did 5 x 100's and my slowest was 1:40 and my fastest, which was my last, was 1:34. The great part was that I didn't go so hard that I'd lose my form. I pushed at about 80% effort. It was slightly more of an effort than I could sustain during a full Ironman swim.

It felt GREAT when I finished. For some reason, finishing a Friday night workout is the best. It's like a mental portal from the week into the weekend. It makes the week feel like a distant memory and sucks you right into the weekend.

Congrats to TriJackal who has lost 6.8 kg / 15 lbs in the past two or three weeks. I'm extremely jealous and happy for him. It just shows how quickly you can lose weight with calorie counting discipline. The only thing that kept me from not overeating tonight was calorie counting using the Daily Burn.

I was in one of those eating moods and started down the path of no return. Alice made pizza. I was able to stop myself by logging my current calories before I started eating more. When I saw where the day's numbers were already, it stopped me in my tracks.

Speed Swim - 1:05:57 /3000 meters

183.2 lbs / 22.7 BMI