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I'm pretty tired so like the previous post, I'm not proofing this for grammar and typos.
Tucson Days 4 & 5
I'm definitely feeling the results of the day after day sessions. Yesterday (Thursday) started off with a 4000 yard swim session which definitely took me out of my comfort zone. A comment that has been floating around in my head is that you have to do what everyone else is not willing to do. For me, that means many things but in regards to the pool, it means that I have to do hard drills. It wasn't my typical run of the mill swim back and forth, these were the famous "Monsy 100's" and although there were pacing guidelines, I just felt like I was swimming one pace -- FAST.
The problem with swimming in a group for me is that I feel pressured and I don't feel like I'm getting the quality workout that I get out of going slower. I fixed that by doubling up in the afternoon with another 3000 yards bringing the total to 7K for the day. But I'm getting ahead of myself so after the first swim, we went on what was supposed to be a 50ish mile ride. After we made a wrong turn, the group decided to continue on anyway because it would shorten the ride. When we arrived at the back side of Gates Pass, I realized we would be back at the hotel much sooner than I wanted but with the big ride on Saturday, I figured the rest would do me good.
Later in the afternoon, the group was going back to Starr Pass for another run in the desert. You know, the place where I get lost. Between getting lost and just hammering out there two days in a row, I decided that I should pass on the third run in a row, especially with the long run on Friday (today). Being the obsessive-compulsive that I am and not feeling like I got a quality swim in the morning, I decided to go back to the YMCA for another swim. As I mentioned, I cranked out another 3K but I did it my way -- slow and steady.
This morning I woke up and I definitely felt like I'd been going hard all week. I felt a little sluggish and while I was looking forward to running long, I wasn't looking forward to the swim session hosted by Jonas Colting. We were given a heads up that the session was going to be short but HARD. But I'm getting ahead of myself again.
Our morning run was on a different part of town and the trail while rolling was much smoother than the rocky debris field known as Starr Pass. One would think "long run" would mean a slower pace but since we were limited to 90 minutes, the group decided to make it a race. Off the front of the group went Gordo, Jonas, and Kevin followed by the rest of us. Our group was initially slow but it took only a few minutes before everyone spread out. I found myself solo for a few minutes but quickly caught up to the chase group making a total of four but we were quite a bit behind Gordo and gang. I'm not sure they were racing but we were.
Our group was moving along pretty darn fast but to catch them was harder than to stay on pace with them so rather try to get around them, I decided staying was better than being chased. When we approached the turnaround, we saw Gordo and Jonas in pursuit of young Kevin who apparently was doing track workouts in the middle of his long run. We paused for a moment at the turn around but then were off at our blazing pace. Within a few minutes, one went off the front, one went in pursuit and one fell of the back.
As we ticked away at the miles back to our starting point, our pace got faster and faster but I was unable to close the gap on the two in front but managed to open a gap on my pursuer. Within a mile or two of our starting point, I managed to get lost for a second but Jonas (I'm not sure how he got behind me) and another runner approached and pointed me in the right direction. I started chasing Jonas on the return and we managed to drop his companion. I think at one point Jonas gave a small surge to play with me but I just pushed harder and stayed with him. Truth be told, I'm sure he could SMOKE me if he wanted so perhaps he was just playing around... I don't know.
When we finally arrived back at the van, snacks were served and I was starving. In fact, I'm pretty much starving all the time now even though I'm trying to keep the calories going in. When we arrived back at the hotel, we ate breakfast and then I decided to take a quick nap before our swim session. I napped for about 30 minutes and then I went down to the gift shop to get a mocha. I'm starting to crave sugar so I think the effects of the camp are starting to get to me.
The coffee did a good job of waking me up but I was still dreading the pool session. Rightly so. The session started off easy and I thought it was going to be a breeze but then we start 12x25 yards FAST on short rest. Then we started racing the people in the lane next to us which made it even more stressful. Let me interject that prior to this session, I felt like the risk to value had me thinking I should go to the Y but I want to get out of my comfort zone to explore other potential ideas. So I decided to go against my better judgment. In hindsight, I can say I was initially correct because after doing this session, my shoulder feels a bit tweaky and hammering out 25's doesn't seem all that race specific. The other side of the coin is that I train solo so often, it's nice to have a group with a similar mindset. But I won't be doing these again anytime soon.
With one more workout remaining tomorrow, I only had a massage scheduled for this afternoon. I have to say, that was the best massage I have ever been given. And no, it wasn't a "massage", it was just a massage. But the massage therapist... (intermission)
There's a SNL skit where they do Celebrity Jeopardy with a Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek and Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery.
Sean Connery: "It looks like this is my lucky day. I'll take "the rapists" for 200!"
Trebek: "That's 'therapists,' not 'the rapists' "
Anyway, the massage therapist works at an upscale resort which runs $10K per week. Needless to say, the guy gives a darn good massage although when the hour was over, I didn't want him to stop. Kudos to the EC group for hiring these guys because they were top notch.
Tomorrow is the final day with a long ride up a big hill. It should be interesting to see how the group approaches the hill. My guess is they are going all out. Stay tuned.
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