Starting over...

If ever I was going to pick the perfect day, one that incorporates training and work, today was the day.

It started with a coffee at my kitchen table, checking and returning emails. Then after I had my truck tire repaired (it was punctured by a screw), I did my swim and was at work by 10 am. I put in 3 SOLID hours of head down work and then about 1:20 I went to the Y to do weights. When I got back I put in another 1.5 hours and went to the track for my speed workout. I wanted to finish it in daylight. When I returned, I updated the blog, ate, and will probably do a hour or so of work tonight.

That is what a perfectly balanced day looks like to me. Almost 3 hours of training and 6 hours of real work hours. Not government or large institution work hours; where a 7 hour day is really only 2 - 3 hours of real work.

I was telling Alice that this would be the perfect lifestyle for me. I love the idea of intermixing work and training. I like it much more than doing training before or after regular working hours.

Today I had the worst swim in at least 2.5 years. A week and a half ago I was consistently doing 1:40 - 1:43's and today I was struggling to keep it under 2:00. It freaked me out. I wasn't sure if it was because I lost my technique or because I had no energy. I think it was the energy. I felt weak in the water.

I was going to swim longer but decided it would just be a waste of time. It would be garbage meters. I all could manage was a warm up effort for the entire swim, I couldn't go any faster. I figured it was best that I do 3000 meters and come back tomorrow and see if I feel better.

I'm sure it must be my body. Late this afternoon, when I did my running speed work session it was hard to go as fast as I normally do. I was surprised to see my heart rate hit the 170 bpm mark. That rarely happens. Then it went to 185 bpm, which NEVER happens. I'm not sure if it was accurate or the heart rate monitor was screwing up.

In any event it was a good day. I got three sessions done and mentally felt strong. I'm wondering if the performance decline has anything to do with weight loss? It seems in the last two weeks my body has finally decided to lose weight, even though I'm still eating the same volume of food.

Oh, one other thing. I took Colleen's (EME) advice and went commando during my speed work. My underwear chaffed my butt on Sunday's long run. Her suggestion worked perfectly. Thanks.

Swim - 1:05:54 / 3000 meters

Weights - 50 minutes

Speed Run - 58:28 / 12.64 km / 4:37 pace / hr avg 144 bpm

180.8 lbs