Full Swing

Two very important things happened this week.

First of all, I began my training on Saturday with a 6-mile long run. It felt amazing. It was cool enough that I started with a sweater, but warm enough that I was ready to take it off by the end of the jog. The sky was slightly overcast, the wind was minimal, and my ipod was pumping out some great tunes (I have to admit that I may have thrown in some fartlek-type sprint intervals because of the songs I was listening to . . . so much for staying in zone 3). My pace was apparently 10:55 (according to gmap pedometers), which surprised; I felt like I was running much faster. I suppose I shouldn't be too concerned with pace, at this point in the season. My main concern is that I felt awesome during the whole run! I also got in an 18-mile bike on Sunday (it was supposed to be 30 miles, but I flatted around mile 18 . . . I had a spare, but no air pump). Amazingly, the weather was even nicer on Sunday than it had been Saturday, and I passed a ton of cyclists, walkers, joggers, and parents out with their kids. Tuesday was my first endurance swim workout, and I felt amazing. I did my warm-up and drill sets in the pool, then hopped into the Swim-Ex (I know! how cool is is that my gym has a swimming treadmill?) for my endurance set--a 20-minute continuous swim. I set the timer, found a speed that felt challenging but aerobic, and started swimming. I had the speed set at 2.3 MPH (covered about 1325 yds in 20 minutes), which is probably the fastest I've ever done an endurance set. But I'm skeptical about the merits of swimming in the current; I think the current might provide extra buoyancy. All-in-all, it's been a good start to the season!

The second big thing that happened this week was the beginning of Genesis Multisport workouts. All-in-all--between multisport workouts, cycling classes, and water aerobics--I'm teaching about 25 hours a week. As jobs go, that's not a lot of time, but it seems like a lot more with coaching. Also, my days begin at 4:30, now, every weekday, thanks to the multisport club's 5:30 a.m. workouts (but I can't complain too much, since I'm the one who set up the schedule). That's not so bad on Mondays and Wednesdays, when I get to go home at noon, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when I have to be in town from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., it can be exhausting.

Fortunately, coaching the multisport club is incredibly rewarding. Right now, we have a solid member base of about 12 people (although I'm sure we'll build momentum in the next few weeks; after all, it's only been three days!), half of whom have been coming to the 5:30 a.m. workouts every single day. They're a dedicated group, and I look forward to seeing how they improve in the next several months. And I'm holding up okay, so far; I've been able to get plenty of nap time in, and I'm having a surprisingly easy time of waking up at 4:30 (so far).

It's shaping up to be a very good, very exciting year!