M-W

Let's see...Monday included an easy run and a swim of 3000m, if I recall correctly, and Tuesday included a secret workout and 3600m of swimming. Tuesday's swim went well, meaning I had no shoulder pain during the 10 x 300m @ 95% effort (not that I've had shoulder pain in the past, but the first five 300m's were with paddles, so I made sure to closely monitor my shoulders for any signs of strain). Working hard with the paddles is tough, as I equate hard work with respiratory stress. With the paddles, though, even when working hard my respiratory system isn't taxed that much; instead, I think strength is my limiter. Even at the end of this workout, I wasn't that spent.

This morning I awoke at 5am, downed a cup of coffee and small bowl of cereal, and headed out into the darkness and rain along with Stacey for a 2 hour run. I did an extended warm-up, which worked well because unlike how I often feel on early morning runs I had no problem getting the legs going. After the warm-up, I cruised around 7:30 to 8:30 pace, though I didn't pay particularly close attention to my Garmin, going instead mostly by feel with only the occassional reference to the watch to make sure my internal gauge was accurate. Other than my hands becoming frozen, the run went great. I felt fresher at the end of the run than I'm used to. My calve didn't bother me, but I did notice it once when going up a steep hill. Real massage tomorrow.