Do you feel EPIC?

In a word – NO.

I moved my training around this week to better accommodate my schedule. My training plan consistently has a Saturday swim which is just not happening. This left Wednesday with only a swim – this would take place in the lake after work. I am still feeling run down so I decided to skip EPIC DAY. This is very hard for me. With my ironman training these additional days are just pushing me over the edge.

Vic and I both successfully completed another day of the 100 pushup challenge. These are getting harder – more sets (8) and less rest (45 seconds).

So for lunch there would be no EPIC DAY. So, foolish me, I decided to do a little running on the treadmill. I thought to myself -why not a 3 or 4 mile run at LT – a hard and fast tempo run – maybe even a 5k PR. What am I thinking? I warmed up for half a mile and then adjusted the speed to a 6:30 pace. I ran a quarter mile. My heart rate was staying low – I increased the rate to a 6:00 minute / mile pace. My heart rate slowly started to respond and get into the appropriate range. This was hard. Why was I doing this again? Oh, that’s right – there was no purpose behind this session. I just wanted to prove to myself that I was still fast – that my fitness has not suffered. I stopped the work out after 1 mile. I did an ego check and this time I won!

A little dejected but happy that I made the decision to scrap the run I headed towards the stadium to cheer on the EPIC DAY participates. I did not run the stairs or lunge the bleachers, instead I did a bucket load of crunches out on the field. As the guys were finishing up in the stands I jogged a few football field lengths with them. I was not feeling fast and I was still a little tired. For this lunch session – I just went through the paces.

I still had my swim after work. I was tired all afternoon and was thinking about blowing this swim off. I knew that I would regret this decision. I got to the lake and JD and Jen were already there. The wind was blowing right at us and there was a considerable chop on the water. These were rough conditions – this would be a good test. Lance, his friend Todd and Terry soon arrived. Then Robin came running up. The water temperature had really dropped in the last week. We have had some cooler days and nights recently. The water felt cold but we soon warmed up. There would be no sprinting today. I just wanted some endurance swimming and the rough conditions just made the session that much better. I swam out to the second buoy – the chop was on my left side – my non-breathing side. I swam into the wind – it was coming at me at about 10 o’clock. I would have thought that the wind would have pushed me right but I have a natural tendency to drift left – the wind could not overcome this drift. I rounded the buoy and headed back to the dock. I traded off between which side I was breathing. Breathing to my left feels awkward and I feel slower. I switched back to my dominate side and was able to time my strokes. Even with the chop breaking into my breathing side this was still preferable. Back at the dock I turned around again and was going to do a second out and back loop. When I got to the first buoy there were several swimmers hanging around. Shawn was there – I am not sure when he pulled up. We chewed the fat for a bit and talked about upcoming races – I think he has talked me into the Dragonfly. I set out towards the second buoy and rounded it home. I ended up with a mile swim with never touching bottom or resting. I did tread water for a bit but it was for the most part a straight swim in rough conditions. I believe that these types of swims will pay the highest dividends.

Lance and JD were still planning on the group ride in the morning. I told them that I did not think I would make it – I am going to take some rest time – better now before the training really builds. I have read so many times that most people train too hard and do not let themselves recover. I am going to be smart this year and swallow my pride when necessary.