Treadmill test

After not running for more than a week I was curious how it would feel to run 8 miles. Since the weather was only so-so, I felt it would be good to go on the treadmill and check up on things. There are very few flat courses where I live and none starts from our house so there was added incentive to do a treadmill test.

I started out slowly running an 8 minute pace for a mile or so. Last time I went on the treadmill after a long break I had started out running 7:30 miles, which is fast for me, and I ended up with a calf injury. Better safe than sorry. 

I gradually increased my speed until I ran 8.4 mph or a 7:09 pace. Then I kicked it up a few notches until I to a 6:58 pace. That way I was able to run 8.25 miles in one hour, which is pretty decent for me. I added a 5 minute cool down for a total of 8.8 miles or 1/3rd of a marathon. All the while I felt pretty good and I had no problems whatsoever. That is quite reassuring given how close the Boston marathon is. I plan to run more from now until mid April in preparation for the race.  

My goal is to qualify again for 2010 so I can run another marathon next year. Three is a charm they say and I would like to run Boston three times. A Boston qualifier also gets me into New York and I am toying with the idea of running NY this year or maybe next. We will see how things develop.

Mirror Image

Today was a mirror image of yesterday. It started out wet and rainy and it got better as the day went on. By mid-afternoon it was nice and sunny. And warmer too.

Today I went to the pool again and made another attempt at swimming 1.5 miles freestyle non-stop. Today I succeeded although by the end my left shoulder was quite painful. Not sure why and I have never had a problem with that shoulder. My AC separation is on the right, but the right was fine.

It took me slightly less than one hour to swim the distance. Although the pool is rather short, 20 yrds, and short pools result in faster swims, I almost always swim faster in open water than in the pool. I am not sure why that is, but maybe my inefficient turns take too much time. 

Suffice it to say I never conquered the flip turn. Furthermore, in our pool, unlike all other pools I know of, one is supposed to swim in between the black lines. I guess that gives them one more lane, but it also makes calibration for flip turns difficult. One female swimmer -who is better than me- insists she needs to swim on the line, lest she gets a brain injury from missing her flip turn. I can understand why people want to swim on the line, but this "medical justification" is hogwash in my opinion.

Whatever the reason, my swim speed -if this can be called speed- is below par. Long distance swimmers, such as those conquering the English Channel swim a good 24 miles in less than 10 hours. That is 10 consecutive ironman swims, all completed in less than one hour each. As a matter of fact, it is much better than that, because in real life, hardly anyone swims "only" 22 miles. Some have been known to swim over 35 miles to make it across. Not to mention the cold, the wind, and the currents they had to fight. Clearly, swimming is not my cup of tea.