Good Run, Good Swim, Good Food!

• GOOD RUN!
Tues, I hit the Metrodome for some intervals. I wanted to do one of my LEAST favorite workouts: a ladder. I LOVE doing intervals if it's something like 3 x 1600 - that means I find a pace and hold it throughout. But in a ladder (where I break up the distance of each interval), I never get to fall into a specific pace, and therefore it's harder for me. But probably much BETTER for me, too...

I brought along some of my previous splits from different Dome workouts so I could try to “better” them:

The plan was to do 1 lap, 2 laps, 3 laps, 3 laps 2 laps, 1 lap as my workout, with 90 seconds rest between. (That's roughly 600 meters, 1200, 1800, 1800, 1200, 600.) I didn’t realize it until I got home later, but the other time I did this workout this winter (mid January), I gave myself 2:00 rest between intervals.

Here are my splits from Tues, with the difference in pace as compared to the same workout in January in parenthesis after the times:

600m: 2:03 (0:04 slower)
1200m: 1:59, 2:03 = 4:02 (0:05 faster)
1800m: 2:04, 2:06, 2:02 = 6:13 (0:11 faster)
1800m: 2:07, 2:08, 2:04 = 6:20 (0:05 faster)
1200m: 2:06, 2:04 = 4:10 (0:06 faster)
600m: 2:01 (0:05 slower)

So I was slower in both of the short ones, but faster everywhere else. That makes sense: I feel like I have good endurance right now, but it’s hard to “keep the speed” over the winter in MN. Damn ice.

Here’s a photo I snapped JUST as I finished the last interval, as I was huffing and puffing (and glistening):

Oh hi there, vein of approval!

• GOOD SWIM!
Yesterday, Julia and I were going to go swimming (and do one of Jen Harrison’s workouts). But Julia changed the swim date so she could fit in an outdoor ride. So I hit the pool by myself yesterday morning. The workout called for 10 x 400. Yeah. You read that right. 10 x 400. Yay.

I knew I wasn’t going to do all 4000 (it was 4500 actually, once a couple of easy 100s were added into the mix). I figured I’d start out and follow the plan and see how far I got. Some 400s were 4x100 with a specific goal of kick / pull / etc. Near the end, there were 2 tempo pace 400s that made me feel like a fat, heavy stone. I was able to manage 6:36 and 6:40 for those last nasty 400s (around 1:40 / 100 pace).

Then I cooled down and called it good. 3200 sounded like enough. Heck, I’m training for olympic swims of 1500 meters, so 3200 was PLENTY! ;)

• GOOD FOOD!
Pharmie made something delicious on Wednesday while I was on my trainer. It’s called “Corn Bread-Topped Sausage Pie!” I finished my Spinerval “tempo” ride, cooled down a bit, and served myself a large slice of sausage pie. Here’s what it looked like:

Here’s the recipe:

Click the image for a larger version

Pharmie used ground turkey (seasoned like sausage) instead of pork sausage, and she left out the mushrooms - because mushrooms suck. It wasn’t the most amazing thing that I’d ever had, but it had a nice little spice, and was a good, hearty meal! Thanks Hun!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This morning, I had a nice 10 mile run. I ran the first 9.25 pretty hard, and then eased out of the run over the last 0.75 mile. I did the 9.25 miles in under 6:40 pace. Nice. THAT WAS MY LAST LONG / HARD RUN BEFORE NEXT WEEKEND’S BIRTHDAY RACES!! (The 100% Irish For A Day 10 Mile on Saturday and the Indoor Triathlon on Sunday.)

Tomorrow is the 2 hour trainer ride at the Target Center! It’s being dubbed as the “World’s Largest Cycling Class.” The event is full at 1,000 people! Should be fun! I’ll have photos on Monday!