So after a nice Thanksgiving weekend, packed full of eating, drinking and time spent with family and friends, I was feeling well-rested but also beyond well-fed.
Certainly I already have moved past my offseason and unstructured workouts and into preseason, where my current focus has been running. However my overall diet has not followed suit and I’ve had that feeling you just can’t shake sometimes, where you just KNOW you’re not helping yourself, or doing yourself justice in the nutrition department. Simply put, I’ve been kind of crawling in my own skin the past couple weeks thinking “why’d I eat that extra cookie/slice of pizza/etc” or wondering if I really needed those last few drinks with the crew.
In any case, I entered the week determined to switch things up and start eating better. Yesterday and today have gone pretty well, with the exception of a couple leftover cookies and, rumor has it, a few Twizzlers. Damn sweet tooth is a curse, I tell ya.
Today I had a hill run session on the treadmill, which I was able to knock out in the late morning following some client meetings. An hour stop at the training center on my way back to the office and the hill workout was complete. As I ran at 2, 4, 6 and then finally 8% for my hill repeats, my mind drifted back to how it felt doing similar workouts last winter. Yup, they still kick your ass…but damn they pay off when it comes to the open road. So despite my lack of enthusiasm for running on treadmills, the hill workout felt great both physically and mentally. My right hammy/glute continues to hurt a bit, but I’ll continue to try to work it out via foam rolling and getting massage therapy.
This evening we had our second of four swim technique classes. Tonight was focused on having an efficient catch and really developing a “grip” on the water. Not just having the proper rotation, but also the right form with respect to the leading arm and hand position, a high-elbow catch and then being able to pull with the entire hand, forearm, upper arm and lat muscle. About 90 minutes of drills, drills and more drills made up class, with a few 50s, 100s and 200s mixed in to shift from seeing and practicing drills to actualizing it in the water. While many of the concepts aren’t new, Coach Keith is great and has a good knack for explaining things in such a way that they click quickly.
So far, so good. Time to rest up and work on that “other thing” that has been a failing so far this preseason, which is getting to bed at a reasonable hour so I can wake up early for morning workouts. Tomorrow morning is a run, so I’m off to bed with a solid day of training in the books.
