Tripping in the dark.

Men trip not on mountains, they trip on molehills. - Chinese Proverbs

I took yesterday (Sunday) off to do some yard work and what not - trim the bushes, etc. I felt bad for not exercising on such a beautiful day - but oh well. I was pleased that I was not sore from the day before. The quads were just a little rough but nothing much.

I ran to work this morning in the dark - thanks to DST. It was pitch black again and foggy when I left the house for the 6 miles. I was running next to the trace on the soft dirt and pine straw when I nearly bit the dust. My foot got caught on something and my chest flew out about 3 feet in front of me. I'm not sure how I managed to right my self but there were several seconds where I knew that I was going down. This would have been such an enormous face plant that I almost wish someone would have been there to see the save - or even the disaster - it was that good - either way. But since no one was around I am certainly glad that I was able to keep off of the ground. Hitting the ground hard all alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere with 4 miles to go - not fun I imagine. This near fall tweaked my hamstring just a bit but no real damage.

So I was running to work without heart rate monitor and stuff - free running so to speak - not harnessed to technology. Well, I did have my Timex ironman watch (an older one with the GPS arm band) so I knew how fast I was running. I guess even with the full day off my legs were a little tired. I was only managing 9:30 miles. This is way off of my comfortable pace. It took me 56 minutes to get the 6 miles to work. I usually do this in 48 and my best is a hair over 42.

So much for this free running.

At lunch I got in the pool and continued to work on volume. A short warm up followed by a 1500 yard set. This took just under 25 minutes - 30 seconds slower than last week. No harm but it does seem like I am trading speed for endurance.

A quick bike ride home and I have called it a day.