Validation

Well I started this post last week, but I got sidetracked...I can't quite remember but I think it had something to do with Beamish, corned beef and cabbage, and black pudding. Anyways, I think we all, consciously or not, seek some form of validation from time to time. Whether it's watching your 5K times drop, or getting some positive feedback on a project you put your sweat into, or even a return smile when you smile at someone first. During last week's training, I saw a few things that confirmed my progression. Here's a quick review of last week since I want to throw up another post tonight.

Swim: My coach took a look at my swim again for the first time since December. Back then I looked so bad he scratched my normal workouts and had me drilling for months. He watched and then said something like this: "Well, you're not going to be an Olympic swimmer, but you've come a long way." Hot Damn!!! I still need to keep working at it, especially gliding and reaching, but boy that kind of news, it feels good.

Bike: I know I am improving, I can feel it. My coach puts into my indoor trainer session what he calls a lactate ladder. You spin at 100 rpms for 55 secs in then accelerate to 120 rpms for five seconds. Every minute you accelerate for 5 more seconds. You work your way through the ladder down to 5 seconds at 100 rpms and 55 seconds at 120 rpms. I am a masher, so I really struggled with these. But this past week, boom, no sweat. Well, actually liters of sweat, but I finally nailed it. But yeah it feels good.

Run: I had been nursing that ankle for a little while. I finally worked myself off the treadmill and hit the bike paths. Well I had runs on consecutive days of 9.5 and 6.5 miles. The ankle still isn't 100% but it's pretty strong. The really good news is that getting back to my form from two years ago. After a long slow warm up I revved up the engine a bit and was cruising nicely between 7:05-7:30 pace for about four miles. Hard to tell with a few missing mile markers and the traffic light. Seeing your mile splits improve, that definitely feels good.

So to sum up last week: It feels good...