A Sprinty Day

Swim Day

1 x 150- Warm-up
5 x 100- 1:30
1 x 50- easy
8 x 25- no breather all out 0:45
1 x 50- easy
1 x 50- 0:45
1 x 100- 1:30
1 x 150- 2:15
4 x 200
1 x 100- Cool down

total- 2100 yds

Tried to break it off today in the water. Managed to burn myself enough to ruin three of the four 200s at the end of the workout. I was swimming hard at the start, holding a good stroke with quick turn-over, and not-stupid breathing. Haven't cranked out a bunch of 100s in a while, so it was good to do. And the 25s, while not as fast as I would have liked, were pretty decent. They were all in a 15-18 second range. Meh.
When I hit the mini-ladder I fell apart. All my energy went our the window and I was fighting for the 100 and 150. The plan was to do a 200 after the 150, then a 50 easy, then three 200s. But I took a minute or so after the 150, tried to get my head together and let my shoulders, arms, and back recover some, and added that two to the three twos already planned instead. They didn't go great. It was a moral victory. I fought through. The last 200 I managed to crank ok. Think I did it in 2:50. But the others, I'm not sure.
Workouts like this, even though it seems unrelated to the kind of endurance I'll be doing during a race, do help. Its a mental thing, and the body needs to open up and go hard and short sometimes too. Which is why I do fartlek runs.

Run Day

time- 47 minutes
distance- approx 5.?mi*

*Battery on Dirtbag Distance Determining Device was Dead. D'oh!

Know what I like about fartlek runs? Well I'll tell you. I like that they force me to stay out of my head and instead stay present in the moment. Too often I slip into a runners daze while out on the road. Make no mistake, sometimes that's great. Its an excellent way for eight miles to pass. But its also good to have a run where I stay checked in and truly aware of what's going on. Fartlek does that because I'm constantly evaluating how I'm feeling and scouting ahead for the next sprint to goal.
Today I feel positive about my running again. I oscillate on this more than anything else. I'm rarely just meh about my runs and my running shape. I either feel strong or I feel like I suck. Very little middle ground there. Today, seeing as it was a good run, I'm up. I need to hold this attitude for Sunday. My plan for race day is to really make the run hurt. I want to put some risk out there, set a faster than comfortable pace, and hold it. Its only three miles. With where my training is at right now, that isn't all that far. I have to be scared I'm not going to make it and push anyway. It'll make me stronger.