What I Did This Week

Today I rode Santiago Canyon for the second time. It was a 2 hour ride. I went farther than before and felt better. I even did a hill repeat at the end of all that, we had a 2.5 hour ride on tap, and was FASTER than I have been at any previous time. WTF? Seriously.

Also, the quitting thoughts were no where to be found. Instead the chorus of My Chemical Romance's Dead! ran through my head. Did I think I was going to die? Did I wish I was dead? No, but the cadence of the music kept me going.

I did set intermediate goals for myself, this telephone pole, that next road sign, sometimes those goals were the only things that kept my legs pumping up the hills.

Here's a recap of the rest of my week:
Wednesday: swimming at Corona Del Mar. Much better than the last time I was there. No panic/asthma attack. I finished 3 laps (~1.3ish miles), although I didn't quite do what was on the plan. Instead of sprinting on the way out and aerobic on the way back, I was a bit more than aerobic on the way out and aerobic or less on the way back. I still count it as a victory.

Thursday: Hill repeats at El Toro, 10 minutes up, 5 minutes recovery. I semi failed at this one. My back really hurt after the 3 repeat and a fellow TriDiva had a flat tire, so I stopped to see if I could help and never did my 4th repeat.

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: 5.5 mile run around Lake Mission Viejo. I found out something very important this run. The heat kills me more than the hills do. It was basically the same route (well it was exactly the same venue, but I didn't do 2 full laps) that I did one afternoon and averaged a 12ish min/mile pace. This time I beat my workout pace of 11 min/mile (it was 10:57 min/mile). This also leads me to believe I can push my long distance pace. It's usually around 11.