Monday, March 9, 2009

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.

2 comments:

Missy said...

There will be trade offs for sure. You probably will be slower than 'normal' but that's the whole point. Worry about volume and getting the volume in and your nutrition right...the rest will come.

Marci said...

Running on a softer surface is much better then always hitting the pavement. Who cares if you are slower... just go out and enjoy it all :)