Recovery Week.. OR NOT!

This week was recovery week. The idea? Push for three weeks... HARD! And then take one week to regroup. But there was a catch.. there always is! Didn't your mother teach you to read the small print? It ALWAYS has a catch! OR they wouldn't say.. It's too good to be true!

SO... We had two tests this week.. A RUN Test and a SWIM Test. That is the CATCH!

My tests... Run Test made me realize that my run has come so far in ONE Year. I impressed myself! See.. my run is my weakness. AND.. I've spent alot of time paying attention to it, working it and improving it. SO.. when it came to 20 second sprints and I felt like a gazelle.. I was impressed! The 20 minute run was an all out hard effort. AND it was hard. I was blessed to have my Tom running around the track with me. I did pass him.. which made me so very happy. But it was his companionship that I really loved! He was there.. sprinting his sprint for 20 minutes too..why? Not because he had to.. but he wanted to...to support me. I was glad to have done the test on the indoor track versus the treadmill like everyone else.

THEN... The swim test. I have met my match in swimming in my Ironman group. His nickname.. Bean. Bean is an incredible swimmer!! So.. I convinced him to show up for the Swim Test and test his swimming against me. Why? I'm not sure. He swam his entire collegiate carreer, unlike me. Bean swam the entire swim test hung over, held 1:06 AND passed me. I was very disappointed with my swim test. I never really found my stroke. I did swim all 10 - 100s on an average 1:17, but I didnt feel amazing. I didn't have that awesome stroke or that adrenaline going into the turns. It was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT for me. You see, swimming is the one thing I am good at. I feel confident about it. It makes me happy and I get a groove in the water like no where else. I don't have a good explination for it.

This weekend's workouts are "easy". I have a 30 minute swim, a 50 minute run, and an hour bike. THEN... next week starts the BIG push again.

ONE LAST THING... Bean mentioned I need to ride the course at least seven times this summer. I'm putting this information here now.. so you hold me to it. SEVEN RIDES from Fireman's park.. I will get 'er done. I can't wait for 9/13... it's only 200ish days away. That terrifies me!

Jen