I walked into a quiet and cool indoor pool area to find it was just the lifeguard and I. The pool water looked like glass until my temp-testing toe sent ripples through it. I jumped in and the contrast between my body temperature and the water's 85* sent chill bumps over my skin for the first 2 laps. I settled into a comfortable pattern enjoying the peace and quiet of the room. What could possibly ruin this moment?
A leaky face mask.
More annoying than fifty thousand vuvuzelas!
First one little drop penetrates the seal at the forehead and rolls down the nose to pool under my left eye. Staying right in my peripheral vision, it sits there taunting me, rolling with my head as I come up for air. Soon other drops follow its path until I'm having to close my eye when I take a breath on the left or take a drop in the eye. Soon another pesky issue, fog, develops.
Still I do love an empty pool.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Cold SNAP
So in the middle of summer there was a cold snap where it was only in the 80s for about a week. Yep, ONLY 80s. The mornings were high-5os - 60s, which is when I tried to get out and take advantage of it.
It did make a huge difference in my training. My speed work this week called for 3 x 1600m. I managed a 8:08, 7:50 and an 8:26. Felt great! My long run for the week was 12 miles and that too went pretty well, except for all our 'breaks' which we need to get better about.
But all good things must end and we're not only back to hot temps but bad air quality has accompanied it. It's now truly brutal out where before we only thought it was brutal. This is the time when you start feeling like you're a slug and like you can't run fast if you were being chased by bigfoot. Fortunately I've come across (thanks to my friend Emily) a run calculator that will tell you your pace based on previous times for different temperatures up to 100*. Found here http://www.runworks.com/calculator.html I'm already stuck some of my times in to see where I could be in Minnesota in the fall when it will be cooler.
This weekend is a cut back weekend where I only have to run 10 miles. 10 miles at 10:35-10:20 per mile pace. If I start early enough, like at 3am, I could make that pace. Highly unlikely that I will.
It did make a huge difference in my training. My speed work this week called for 3 x 1600m. I managed a 8:08, 7:50 and an 8:26. Felt great! My long run for the week was 12 miles and that too went pretty well, except for all our 'breaks' which we need to get better about.
But all good things must end and we're not only back to hot temps but bad air quality has accompanied it. It's now truly brutal out where before we only thought it was brutal. This is the time when you start feeling like you're a slug and like you can't run fast if you were being chased by bigfoot. Fortunately I've come across (thanks to my friend Emily) a run calculator that will tell you your pace based on previous times for different temperatures up to 100*. Found here http://www.runworks.com/calculator.html I'm already stuck some of my times in to see where I could be in Minnesota in the fall when it will be cooler.
This weekend is a cut back weekend where I only have to run 10 miles. 10 miles at 10:35-10:20 per mile pace. If I start early enough, like at 3am, I could make that pace. Highly unlikely that I will.
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