Feeling good...

My recovery week is coming to an end and I am feeling pretty good. Yesterday I did a club Aquathlon and pushed pretty hard on the run and was expecting my legs to be feeling it this morning, but they aren't. I did a good cool down and propped my feet up when I got home and I am sure that is why I am not too sore.

Thursday:
AM: 40 min easy run - just focusing on cadence
Lunch: 15min stationary bike/15min stretching
PM: Club Aquathon - 1000m swim/3 mile run

I was really looking forward to this club race. I had a really good time at the last one. It's a great workout and a chance to race stress free. When I got down to the beach I was feeling pretty tired and honestly did not want to run hard. There was a really good turnout for this race including my coach, members of the UCSD Triathlon team, and a lot of fast guys from the club. I warmed up with a 5 minute jog and about 300m of easy swimming.

The Swim:
The start was pretty congested. There were about 150 people from the club doing the race and everybody sprinted for the water as soon as the horn went off. I started right in line with the buoy. As I was diving through the waves my goggles got knocked sideways and I had to stand up and put them back, and missed my chance to get out clean. I dove back in and just followed the draft of a group of about 20. The first 200m was really rough, a lot of feet and elbows. I was able to stay really relaxed and just got through it. I didn't bother sighting to often as I had so many people just ahead of me, this was a mistake. The group swung about 20 yards wide of the buoy so I had some ground to make up. Once around the first buoy I got into a really good groove and started to pass a lot of people and got on some feet for a while. I think I ended up being in the top 10 out of the water, but I was quite a ways behind the lead pack that included Marc and Jim. Overall the swim was good for me. I didn't feel like I pushed it at all and was still able to hang near the front.

The Run:
After tranisitioning out my wetsuit I went out on the run in I think 8th place. The run was 2 out and back loops. Just like last time I looked at it like 4 laps (2 out, 2 back) and my plan was just descend on each lap. On the first lap I passed a couple people but I was feeling like crap. As I got near the turn around I could Jim, my coach, leading with Marc in 2nd. At that point I was in 6th and new if I went hard I could into third, but that was probably going to be it. So I picked it up at the first turn around and made up a lot on ground. At the next turn to start the second loop (3rd lap) I picked up my pace again. On this lap I ran my way into 3rd place and then at the final turnaround I just gave it everything I had and was actually feeling really good. I ended up finishing third with Jim in first and Marc in second. I am not sure how much they beat me by but I was really happy with my run and I'll take finishing 3rd to those guys anyday.

I was really stoked about the swim. Seeing constant improvement defintely keeps me motivated to keep getting up at 5am to hit the early morning master's sessions.

Friday (today):
AM: 1.5 mile swim - took it easy
Lunch: weights - upperbody core (still to come)
PM: chiropractor/massage/epsom salt bath (still to come)

As for the weekend... I have a 4 hour ride tomorrow that will be done at an easy pace and then a 90 minute run on Sunday. Then it's back to hitting it hard next week including a 4 mile XC race on Saturday!