06/06/07: A shift in perspective

On Monday I was contemplating lifting weights or not, since I'm doing a sprint race this weekend. I found myself thinking the same thing as Shannon, "it's only a sprint," so of course I hit the gym. Funny how things change.

This time last year I still approached the sprints with a bit of apprehension - probably since I knew the 1/4 mile swim would kick my ass....well - some things haven't changed :)

The one thing that has changed is my perception of the sprint - it's no longer a race that I'm preparing for; instead it's an event to go have fun, race against some friends, and use as a part of the rest of my training. The last couple of years it was an end result - now it's just a piece in the puzzle. The same thing happened with running. A couple of years ago I gave some thought to 5k's and 10k's. Now a 10k is a short weekend run for me.

I think what surprises me a bit is how quickly the shift came about, taking only a about a year and a 1/2.

So far training has started off well. I hit the weights on Monday, ran for about a 1/2 hour yesterday morning, and swam with the masters group last night. Since I lifted weigts on Monday night, the run definitely felt a but sluggish, which I somewhat expected.

Last nights swim set was:

200 swim, 100 kick, 100 pull
5x100 on 2:45
400 continous pull
16x50 on 1:30 (was supposed to be on 1:20, which was too fast for me)
200 cool down

This morning I put my bike on a trainer at an un-godly hour for an hour ride with some form drills thrown in.

Isolated leg drills (pedaling with only one leg) definitely seem to be improving my pedaling stoke, helping make it nicely and smooth and circular. At some point in the next couple of months, I plan to buy a set of rollers to really work on form and balance. The smoother I can pedal, the less energy I have to use on the bike, and the more I'll have left for the run :)