I Am the Tortise Goo Goo Ga-Choo

Swim Day
1 x 150- Warm-up
5 x 200- 3:00
5 x 50- Sideline kick
5 x 100- 1:30
1 x 500- Stretch and finish
total- 2400 yards

Run Day
time- 36 minutes

I have to admit, it was really nice to only swim 2400 yards this morning. After regularly topping 3500, this was a welcome drop. And, technically, I'm still swimming way further than I should be. I'm training for sprint distance triathlons. That's 600 yards, tops. My workouts don't need to be longer than 1500 yards. But that feels stupid to me. I am not waking up at 4:45am to be in the water for thirty minutes. If I'm making that kind of effort, I'm going to make it worth it. Besides, I love swimming. It's the most fun discipline for me. So I'm going to stay somewhere between 2500 and 3000 yards during my workouts. If I'm feeling saucy I might even bump one or two up higher.
The problem with this thought process is that I'm taking away energy from the afternoon's bike or run. If I don't need to be spending that extra time in the water, if I could save that fuel for the other workout, wouldn't that be a better use of my time? Maybe. But swimming brings me pleasure, and for me an extra 500 or 1000 yards really doesn't mean the difference between a 9 minute mile pace and an 8:50/mile pace (or faster). Its not taking that big of a toll physically. (Here is where my Swim Ego, The Tattooed Wake, jumps in and says, "Then you ain't swimming hard enough!" Just ignore him. I'm swimming hard enough to get stronger, but not so hard that I'm negatively impacting other things.) What is negatively impacting my runs is my head. I think too damn much when I'm running. It always happens after a run with severe cramping. I worry and fret and run too slow for the next few outings. And then I'm frustrated with my pace and my attitude. The doc gave me some meds and I'm experimenting with ways to stay hydrated, but that doesn't stop the runner's voice in my head from constantly fretting and screwing up my mindset. I need to get back to the place I was during my Olympic training, when I was knocking my six mile runs out of the park with no worries at all. It'll come. I should spend some more time over at the Run Smiley Collective. Those people have got their priorities in order over there. I've lost that attitude.

Running With Al

Today I decided some tunes while running were in order. It happens every once in a while, though I try not to get used to it because very few races are cool with mp3 players on course and I don't want to link music to my runs. Normally, when I go from a run with music there is a very specific type I'm pumping into my skull at full volume.
Something like this:

Or this:

Today, however, I decided to mix it up. I was looking for a fun run. So I went with this:

That is correct, ladies and gentlemen. His Weirdness himself, "Weird Al" Yankovik. Because if you want to feel goofy and enjoy yourself during pretty much anything it's hard to do better than Al.
As a rule, when I run with music I don't sing along. It's not that I'm worried people around me will think I'm crazy, it's just that I don't have the air to spare. Tell me though, how am I not supposed to sing along with this:


Impossible, I say!
The album this song is on, the album I was rocking out to today, is called Running With Scissors. How freaking appropriate is that?

Songs about Jedi, Grapefruit Diets, and the great city of Albuquerque got me through the run with a smile on my face. Did I bust a few moves? I may have. I may also have spun my visor around during my first listen through of All About the Pentiums to be more gangsta. Because around here at Dirtbag Fitness HQ we are nothing if not gangsta.
Oh yeah, I ran for 48 minutes, I have no idea how far I went or what my pace was, because I didn't care. That wasn't the point. Getting on the road and trying to enjoy a run was. And I think I succeeded. Booyah.