Changing the Routine (and Thoughts on the TC 10 Mile)

Sometime this past spring, I fell into a training grove of running Tu/Th/Sat, swimming M/F, and biking W/Sun. I've been holding to that pretty consistently. For about the 12 months prior to that, those workouts were pushed to the next day (Wed/Fri/Sun runs, for example). Both versions had their PROs and CONs, but I've liked what I've been doing recently for 3 main reasons: I don't have to try to get to the pool on a weekend (easier to quick go for a run or hop on my bike when we have busy weekends), I can push the boys in the stroller on my weekday runs (we did a lot of that this summer), and my "early" day (Wed) can be a bike ride before my wife has to go to work (and I don't have to do it late in the day after she gets home or pay a sitter to get in my ride).

Well, I might be switching back to last year's training model for this semester. (Sidenote: here's my new classroom as seen on my photography blog.) I'm teaching 8-4 on Tues/Thurs with 90 mins off in the middle. The pool where I teach is open for lap swimming then. I could try to swim one of those days, and bike the other. (I can't bike to work unfortunately because there's not enough time to get Charlie to daycare, drop Henry off at school, and then bike to work by the start of my class. I'd have to come home to head out on my ride over lunch, but it's just a 5 minute drive.) We'll have to see what happens.

This past week was the first week of classes, and I used my time on Tu/Thur at lunch to go for a run from school. That was great! The problem is it gets bright so late these days, that it's hard (read: I feel unsafe) getting out for an early ride on Wednesdays. It was raining this past Wednesday, so I REALLY didn't want to go out when it was wet and dark. So I rode on the trainer, but I just don't get the same workout as when I'm outside. And it's mentally brutal in my basement.

Last weekend's trainer ride. Borrrrrring. And then another one on Wednesday.

The focus now is to get in some distance in all 3 disciplines because the TC 10 Mile is 4 weeks away. Yesterday, I had my longest swim in 3.5 years! It was 2300 that was manly 200s (with short rests to be more of an "endurance" workout) with some kicking at the end. I found 2 swims last summer that were 2200 yards, but the last time over 2300 was a 2600 yard swim in March of 2015. It's been 3 weeks since my last decent ride, and that has to change! Longer rides are my "injury-free" endurance building when I can't be running all the time. And for my running, I just need to get in some longer runs with some decent "race pace" miles in the middle. Hoping for a couple of good weeks of running before the TC 10!

And with regards to my thoughts on the TC 10 Mile... before I took last week off because of an old injury flaring up, I was feeling quite good! I never starting thinking I could break 60 like I did in 2010. I'm NO WHERE CLOSE to putting in the workouts that Coach Jen had me putting in back then. But I was starting to think I could be around 1:01. (Last year I was 1:01:59, so that's a realistic goal.) I only really missed 2 runs with that week off, but then my first 2 runs back were easier. So I FEEL like I've lost a lot, but I probably haven't lost all that much. Who knows. At this point, I'd expect to be somewhere near the lower end of all of my TC 10 Mile times not calculating in my sub-60 PR: the rest have been in a 105 second window between 1:01:20 and 1:03:05 (that "personal worst" coming 3 years ago when I did the "Loony Challenge" where I raced the TC 10K and 5K the day before, and just never felt good in that final race in the series). I sort of expect to either run myself into the ground by training a bit too much / too hard in the next few weeks, or put in some decent miles at the right time and really have a good race! I don't expect to have an "OK" race - it will be GREAT or HORRIBLE. Mark my words.