Sunday-Tuesday catchup

Sunday: rest day. A nice quiet day mostly at home with cats, marking assignments and rereading Diderot for class on Monday.
Monday: frenetic. A compressed 30 as 1:1 at the end of the day before heading downtown for dinner with an old friend.
Tuesday: my reward for surviving Monday! 1000 yards swim (work set as 2 x 6 x 50 on 1:15, descending by pairs: 2 easy, 2 moderate, 2 hard). Then 40 as 1:1. Happy! Must stretch now tho as I need to be somewhere at 2:30....

Friday-Saturday catch-up

Friday was pretty much a perfect day: I was supposed to chair a tenure case for the A&S committee in the morning, but that got rescheduled for two weeks from today (giving me crucial extra time to read the materials - I will take them to Cayman with me and do it all there, since I have one last promotion letter for another university that I need to write this weekend). So it was like a gift of a morning: I woke up before the alarm, had 40 as 1:1 in the park, came home and did my 15 minutes PT+, then went for a very nice swim. 1200 yards total: 200 swim, 200 kick on back, 2 x 100 drill-swim by 25 (back, free). 5 x 100 IM on 3:00 (I need about 2:20, bad turns - nice other swimmer has really good turns and always practices them as part of her workout, I need to start doing that), 100 easy swim down as 50 back, 50 free.

Saturday: long sleep, that was good, but rather late going out for my run. Beautiful weather, SORE BACK! 90 with 20 as 1:1, 40 as 4:1, 30 as 1:1 - written as a full hour of 4:1 but it was just too uncomfortable.

Run!

Did my 15 mins PT in the morning after an overly early and long meeting; misc daytime stuff, only got out for my 1hr as 1:1 as the sun was setting. It was lovely out there...

Wednesday run!

PERFECT. Back already feeling better after just a week or so of (semi-)regular stretching. Extraordinarily beautiful day. Just feeling lighter-hearted than I have been for a while - this is good!

1:10 or so, 20 as 1:1 to warm up and cool down, ladder as 2-3-4-3-5-3-4-3-2-3 (faster run interval, then 3 min brisk walking recovery). Happy!

Swim!

The water feels so good! That said, I didn't have a lot of motivation and got out a little early (I was excited by mid-morning phone call with marketing people about Margaret's book and didn't feel 100% in the exercise zone). Also thinking about how to swim more times in the week - I suspect being willing to swim short is one of the components.

Let's see if I can remember what it was:

100 swim easy
200 kick on back
100 back alternating double-arm and full stroke
100 whip kick with board
2 x 100 free alternating drill-swim by 25 (thumbs-and-salute, finger-drag)
2 x 75 fly as kick-drill-swim by 25
50 breast

Pulled it together for a nice final 100 IM, sort of wished I hadn't already decided to get out but when the brain is out of the pool, the body follows....

1000 yards total

Monday

Post-teaching 1hr as 1:1 (it's better than trying to get up early enough to do it before my 9:30 meeting), then back out to a talk - so I haven't done PT and am not sure I now have it in me.....

Friday-Saturday runs

Friday: a rather compressed 30 as 2:1 due to awkwardly scheduled day; today, a gorgeous 90 minutes with 20 as 1:1 to warm up and cool down and 4:1 for 50 in the middle. LB gets sore very quickly in the longer interval but I just keep core muscles activated to hold slight pelvic tilt and it at least feels well supported, even if I am making a grimace or two...

Swim!

I am so in love with swimming right now, it's ridiculous. I walk out of the gym in a preposterously good mood - then I get a tuna sandwich and chicken caesar salad at Pret en route home, Jose is happy to get a tithe of greens out of the deal. OK, let's see, what was it:

Warmup (800):

200 kick on back
100 "tombstone" kick (kickboard in vertical position to increase drag)
200 as 2 x 100 drill-swim by 25, first thumbs-and-salute, second finger-drag
300 as 2 x 150 kick-drill-swim by 50, first breast, second fly (doing single-arm fly for drill and 3-3-3 for swim)

IM set, curtailed due to running out of time (350):

10 x 25 hard on 1:15: 4 fly, 4 back, 2 free
100 IM

50 easy back to swim down

1200 yards total

Hmmm, that's not very many yards, but it really was nice!

Wednesday run, belatedly

(It was a chaotic day again!)

20 min easy as 1:1, 8/6/4/2 min running faster with 3 min easy recovery, 20 min easy as 1:1 - 1:12 total.

Best run I've had for a long time! Got reasonable sleep on Monday and Tuesday nights and had a quiet day Tuesday, it makes a huge difference.

Tuesday double!

Basically after working so hard Sunday night and all day Monday, Tuesday I just FLOP and can hardly do any work, it's not good! I had a midtown doctor's appointment mid-afternoon but otherwise was just catching up on email, trying to organize a few things and calming my mind and body with a double dose of exercise.

am: glorious swim! I thought I'd logged it here already, but I guess not (oh wait, now I see it, unposted, and I've just put it up).

pm: 40 as 1:1, plus 15 mins quality PT and ball release.

Swim!

It's a beautiful day, and post-swim I walked back out into the world feeling amazing - buoyancy in water and the mindful nature of this kind of a private swim workout contribute immensely to my sense of wellbeing. My left knee is a bit sore (left ankle rolled outwards on run yesterday and tweaked something) so I got out after about 45 minutes, though it pained me metaphorically not to do any actual IM after all the buildup! Still need to run later; I've moved the schedule around a bit. 1500 yards total.

Warmup (800):

200 kick on back
200 back alternating fifty double-arm drill and fifty swim
200 drill-swim by 25 (100 thumbs and salute, 100 finger-drag)
200 whip kick (really frog) with board

Set #1 (300):

150 breast as kick-drill-swim by 50
2 x 75 fly as kick-drill-swim by 25

Set #2 (400):

8 x 50 on 1:30: 2 fly-free, 2 back-free, 2 breast-free, 2 free-free

Monday

1hr as 1:1, by the skin of my teeth. Nice one (but terrible night of sleep, was awake 3-7am, ugh).

Sunday

Rest day, just normal walking plus (finally back at it) 15 mins PT/ball release. MUST DO THIS DAILY!

Friday, Saturday

Friday: 1hr as 1:1

Saturday: 90 minutes! Done as 30 as 1:1, 30 as 4:1, 30 as 1:1. Feet feeling pretty good now that they have adjusted to the orthotics (bunion foot was sore during the transition period), but very sore lower back on both sides in the longer run intervals - was written as 40 as 4:1 but after doing six of them it was clear that that was enough....

Gotta get back on the daily stretching!

Friday

1hr as 1:1, really nice. Had hoped to swim as well but realized when I got up that it wasn't realistic or at least wasn't a good idea, conference today 1-6 plus dinner and it's much better if I head over there not feeling like I've already pushed a bit too hard.

Swim!

So good - I really love it, and now I'm starting to get back into the routine.... (And I had the whole lane to myself for the whole time, that is the best!)

Warmup: 200 kick on back, 200 frog kick with board, 200 back as drill-swim by 25, 200 free as drill-swim by 25 (first 100 thumbs-and-salute, second 100 finger-drag)

Set #1: 300 as 2 x 75 fly as kick-drill-swim by 25, 150 breast as kick-drill-swim by 50
Set #2: 3 x 100 IM on 3:00 (easy effort, good technique)

50 kick on back

1450 yards total

Rainy intervals!

OK, very happy to have a "real" run on the schedule again! 1:03, ladder as 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 faster with 1min walking recovery after each. Very rainy - I was drenched and am still freezing even post-shower!....

Tuesday

It was dusk by the time I got out (hugely stressful day taking Jose to the cardiologist at the animal hospital - it's very good but it's at 62nd just off the east side highway, took Ubers both ways but that is stressful too and the one coming home wasn't good), but 40 as 1:1, done, and will do the harder one that was written for today tomorrow in the morning when I'm fresher.

Monday

1hr as 1:1, exhausted and demoralized - the true cost of conference-going comes in the aftermath of the return....

Short Saturday run

Just 45 as 1:! rather than the full hour, lost some time stopped at pedestrian crossings and also taking pictures of pretty things I saw! Had lovely working session in my hotel room before that, a quiet day was what I really needed - now, onwards!

Friday run

1hr as 1:1, really gorgeous - perfect New England fall weather, also I had no idea that Worcester is so pretty. No lunch available at hotel, that's inconvenient, so I'd better get myself over to the conference now and hope I can find food on campus somewhere....

Wednesday-Thursday update

Wednesday: warm but pleasant 1hr as 1:1.

Thursday: 9am meeting, hoped to get up early and run first but woke up around 3 and only slept lightly thereafter with much tossing and turning, could barely get up in time for the meeting let alone earlier. So I brought all the stuff with me and had a great double! 30 as 1:1 on the Columbia track (and WOAH I was wearing the Hokas and that plus indoor track surface lead to springy mega-bounce, it was lovely, I felt like I was jogging on the moon!!!!), then right downstairs to the pool for about 50 mins. Warmup: 200 kick on back, 200 pull, 200 as 2 x 100 RaLaCuBa, 200 as 25 thumbs-and-salute drill, 25 swim. (Highly beneficial.) 300 as 4 x 75 kick-drill-swim, first two fly (gosh the fitness comes quickly!), 2nd two back. A nice 100 IM concentrating on form, then 150 frog kick with board (need to work on my breast, it's my least favorite stroke and inevitably also the worst by far) and 50 swim. 1400 yards total.

I don't really need to leave here till maybe 7:30 (I would say 8 but I am remembering that time it took two full hours to get to JFK - this shouldn't be like that, it's later into the evening, but just as a precaution). Need to write the second half of my conference talk!

Run!

Warm but pleasant, just 1hr as 1:1. Now I must get on with things - I have had a leisurely morning (including a long sleep) as my main goal for the week is to STAY CALM, but this conference talk isn't going to write itself! A mercy today: we have no arduous midday department meeting. This lets me roll with my natural schedule (and my official work obligations run 5-8:30pm so it really is better if I don't run myself too hard earlier in the day).

Swim!

A very good one, after a rocky start: I was grumpy going in, after having spent too much attention wrestling with my virtually unusable purchasing card as I try and sort out expenses for upcoming conference. Then I dropped my pool locker key into the water, I was in a middle lane next to the diving well, it's something like 10 feet down, ears were popping for sure as I bobbed back up to the surface! Just not feeling the love, and annoyed with myself for letting admin tasks take up the pre-gym hour - but then I got into it and it was really good.

As I was finishing my warmup, L. came to give me some stroke coaching - goal of getting both arms recovering with high elbow and smooth efficient movement with hand back vertically into the water. "Wave" drill and some thumbs-and-salute, it really made a difference, I was happy!

Warmup: 600 as 200 kick with board (other lady in lane already kicking on back, collision avoidance means no back work for me, yes that was also mildly grumpifying), 200 pull, 200 as 2 x 100 RaLaCuBa. Then about 400 very productive drill work: 200 working with the wave, somewhat imperfectly (I overthink the front end - what is a wave anyway? Why is my right-hand wave totally different from my left? - and forget to keep kicking), then about 200 as 4 x 50 thumbs-and-salute down, swim back. After that: 300 as 4 x 75 kick-drill-swim by 25, first two back and second two fly, then 100 IM concentrating on technique. Call it 1400.