It has been a few days...

...so I'm going to work backwards. I just finished a trainer ride that was scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday). It's been nearly a month since I've done something stupid like lose my wallet or keys, or flush my cellphone down the toilet, so I due for some act of stupidity. All things considered, leaves one's lights on while parked a mile from one's home ain't too bad, so I shouldn't complain. Still, I was unable to make the four mile drive to the gym to do the stair stepper (and there are no good ways to bike there), so I was stuck on the trainer.

I did an hour and a half, with 20 min. at each of 146 bpm, 151 bpm, and 155 bpm. The 155 bpm was pretty tough (I think that pace may be a bit too high for an HIM this year), but I was able to hold it. My legs felt good, meaning they were only mildly tired.

This morning I did a 1:00 run at a very easy pace, with the exception of two 20 sec. all out sprints. I celebrated after each sprint, knowing I had likely set an unofficial world record.

At the beginning of the run my HR went right up to 150 bpm even though I was running slow. By the end of the run, my HR was in the high 120's even when I was running 7:50/mile. I'm not sure what the HR change was about, but perhaps it was because I ran shortly after waking up.

One other note about this morning's run is that it shattered my faith in humanity. To add a few minutes to my run, I turned off a first dirt road onto a second dirt road that is U-shaped, meaning the only available route on the second dirt road was two turns that would take me back to the first dirt road. So, I turn onto the second dirt road and see a Canyonero-esque SUV driving slowly toward me, and a large dog (black lab?) is right in front of the SUV. I figure the car is going so slowly so as to avoid running over Rover. I veer to the shoulder of the road to give the Canyonero some room to pass, then continue on my way. After rounding the second road's two turns, I see the Canyonero approaching me again, and the dog is still in front it. I also notice that the driver's window is rolled down, and the driver yells at the dog when the dog strays from the road. Apparently the driver is too lazy to actually walk her dog around one small block. Gas prices, please go back up, way up, and never come down.



Back to the important stuff. Monday was 3500m of swimming including three sets of broken 1000m's. I was glad none of the sets called for extremely high efforts, as 80% and 85% were about as hard as I could muster. I tried to keep my elbows high on pulling sets, but it's difficult to critique myself. I decided to cash in my Amazon gift certificates (free in exchange for using an Amazon credit card) to purhcase a water-proof video camera, which should arrive next week. I'll be interested to see my own catch and pull.

Finally, following Sunday's hike (and a nap!), I hopped on the trainer for an hour and a half at about 130 bpm. It wasn't too difficult to get my HR up, and I felt better as the ride progressed. I guess that's the point of a recovery ride.