tempo tuesday

The beauty of being my own coach is the flexibility I can afford myself within my workouts. Take this morning for example.... it's Tempo Tuesday which consisted of a 60 minute ride / 40 minute run, done as a brick workout. I like to make my hard days hard and my easy days easy. That way I have a chance to fully recover on Wednesday. Wednesday's volume is almost triple Tempo Tuesday's but the pace will be easy.

I hopped on my bike at 6am next to my husband. I knew today was going to be a tough day and not in terms of workouts. Luc is beginning a series of evaluations this morning that determine whether he can attend a school better suited for his needs.

Knowing it would be a long day I did what I always do, I began the workout and during my warm up I decided what the intervals would be.

Some days I choose longer intervals such as 20 minute tempo efforts. Other days I am better suited for some shorties. This morning I was feeling the need for short and several. So I chose 5 minutes tempo / 3 minutes endurance for the 60 minute ride and it worked. I felt good, I felt strong. The sense of fatigue and apprehension I have for this entire day began to melt.

Transitioning to the run I am very proud to say that while I was wearing 2 layers plus gloves.... I have been running in shorts. I love the feeling of running with bare legs. It's the only way I seem to be able to nail intervals.

As I began the run I decided to hang with the same theme as my bike, short tempo efforts of 4 minutes on / 2 min easy. My tempo pace is a 7:40. Which is RR's freaking easy pace but hey, we all have our strengths. I not only nailed my 7:40's I was seeing 6:50 at times. I backed those off because you know me.... something horrid like a torn hammie would make it's way through if I went off the plan.

There are times when we are training and racing that we get stuck in our heads. Maybe we play through events or the occurrences of the day like a movie reel. And sometimes that movie reel gets stuck on repeat.

This morning there was none of that. Just the feeling of owning my intervals, occupying my paces, occupying every breath I took. It was that feeling of running free that so many of us crave and attach to once we find it. It felt good, it felt strong, I felt like I was meeting myself right here.

This morning's session gave me a good feeling that things are where they should be in this frontier of self coaching. My long run on Sunday was much the same, I was able to hold my paces despite the hangover from the entire 8 ounces of pink wine I drank with dinner before (and I didn't even funnel it or anything!).

The plan for New Orleans is unfolding. My goal time are as follows: swim 30 minutes. Bike 2:30-2:40. Run sub 1:50. That run might seem oddly out of balance with the other 2, but with the mishaps and such of the past few years I havent' run much faster than that in a 70.3 in a while. I will unfold the run as it comes aiming for a faster finish.

I will take the data form New Orleans and spend a real week recovering, rather than my usual rush and prep for the next race. The week after N.O. I will evaluate my data, take some good rest and plan my assault on the Musselman in July. Throw a few running races and short distance triathlons in there for help on speedwork and I am going to be one happy girl.

As I finished this morning's tempo brick I smiled. The workout was short but it was sure sweet. The doors got blown open for whatever happens this morning and afternoon. I smiled because listening to my body and allowing the weeks to unfold as I allowed my body to dictate what it needed...... seem to be working.

Imagine that.