Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Not just a land athlete...

I've been excited all day to get home and write this blog post so I could tell you all about my fabulous cross training day....in the pool!!!!! Yup! (I'm kind of as shocked as you are) I finally got my butt back into the pool and I swam 64 LAPS this morning! It's a 25 meter pool so it works out to be one whole mile! I have never done that many laps at one time. I was in the "swimming zone" this morning, following the advice of a very good friend of mine...
It's been a while since I did any swimming and I've mentioned in several posts that I have wanted to start back. It's an excellent way to cross train and even though I wasn't swimming fast, I definitely felt the full body workout that swimming provides. 

I was alone in the pool for most of the time (which is how I like it) but occasionally there were other gym members that would swim a few laps and then leave. There is something about the (mostly) quiet solitude of my workout this morning that laid the foundation for success. I loved it!

In addition to my swimming re-debut this morning, I rocked my wall sit challenge for Day 16! In fact I pretty much did the Day 17 time (but I'm not going to skip ahead)...

Today was a better day than yesterday and the work day went by relatively quickly. Tomorrow is a running day for me (yay!) and I'm scheduled to complete 30 minutes (but I may do a 5K if time permits and depending on how I feel in the morning). 

I'm trying to find ways to ensure that I am better prepared for the half marathon in December, so in addition to joining the running group and following the Jeff Galloway Half Marathon Training Plan, I have also been reading articles about different racing strategies, like this one which talks about adjusting your pace at different stages throughout your race...
I'm not really focused on racing for time, but I think that pacing yourself through the various stages of your race sounds like a good idea. Has anyone ever tried this?

Ultimately my goal for my next half is to: 
1. Be better prepared physically, mentally, form-wise, nutrition-wise and hydration-wise (oh!...and phone battery life-wise).
2. Have a better race time than I did in Chicago (which should happen if everything in #1 goes according to plan).
3. Take more pictures (I heard the race course for the Palm Beach half marathon is beautiful; I can't wait!).
4. Stay in the moment and in the mile...try and take it all in and enjoy each moment.
5. Try not to miss my Dad not being there this time :)

Do you set different goals for each race you complete? 

Do you change your training plan for different races or stick with the same plan as long as it worked the last time?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comment!