Putting Things in Perspective

On Tuesday morning my mother-in-law, Cindy, passed away after a 6-year battle with cancer.

Training for Ironman has taken a lot of my focus for the last two months, and sometimes it's good to remember that in the grand scheme of things it's not that important. Whenever my training schedule changed due to rain or something else out of my control I would get frustrated, but after Tuesday it all left my head without a second thought. Ironman training is a nice distraction from life, but it's not life.

I did an easy 10.36 mile bike ride on Monday, and ran with my wife for a few miles on Wednesday. We have the RockNRoll Half Marathon on Sunday, and since I have my sprint triathlon the following weekend I'll be taking it easy and running with my wife during the race on Sunday.

In honor of her mother, and to raise money for cancer research, my wife is running in 12 half marathons in 12 months. Please visit www.StillEasierThanChemo.com and support her during her quest. 

Catching Up

Well it's been an interesting few days.

Swam 1650m on Wednesday. I decided to switch things up, so I skipped the long swim and did sets of 100 instead:

• 500m warm-up (4x25, 2x50, 2x75, 2x50, 2x25)
• 10x100m
• 6x25m

I felt strong at the beginning, and my first set of 100m was done in 1:41. My strokes were very smooth and strong, though by the 2nd and 3rd sets my arms were getting fatigued enough that I couldn't keep it up and had to slow down. I also only waited 60 seconds between sets instead of 120 seconds, so my endurance is improving. I can't wait to see where I am by the spring.

I had a lot of errands to run on Thursday so I took the day off, but I bought some new Vibrams! I was sick of waiting for the Amazon.com vendor to send me a return box, so I went to my local run store and bought these:

They didn't have any with laces in my size so I stayed with the velcro model, which should help with speedy transitions in my triathlon. 

I had Friday off work, so my plan was to do a 50+ mile long ride followed by 3 miles running in the new shoes. This was also going to give me the opportunity to test out my new top-bar food bag, which I had filled with pretzels. I need to figure out a nutrition plan for my long triathlons next year, so eating a handful of pretzels every 15 minutes was going to be a starting point. I felt good for the first loop, but on the second I had an unusual amount of fatigue in my legs. My heart rate stayed nice and low, and I was drinking/eating regularly, but my legs just didn't have it in them. I stopped after 18.90 miles and went home. I think all the speed-work I had done all week had finally caught up to me:

8/17: tempo 5K, followed by sprints at the track

8/18: 10K, tempo intervals with rest intervals in-between

8/19: tempo ride near LT

8/20: 2000m swimming

8/21: race simulation, 12 miles biking followed by 1 mile at LT

Four of those five days had speed-work included, so even with a rest day on 8/22 it was too much. I'll take this as a lesson and avoid getting carried away in the future.

I was lazy as hell during the weekend too. My wife ran in the Patrick Henry Half-Marathon on Saturday (check out her blog at www.StillEasierThanChemo.com !) and I sat on my butt all day Sunday. With the RockNRoll half-marathon only 6 days away, and my sprint triathlon a week after that, I need to take it easy. Here's what I'm planning for this week:

Monday: 10 miles easy bike

Tuesday: 5K easy run

Wednesday: 2000m swim

Thursday: 10 miles bike, 5K run

Friday: 1650m swim

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: RACE!

Race Simulation!

It rained all day Monday, but by 4:00 it was clear so I went to the pool. The water level was very high from all the rain, and cold, but the worst part was all the bugs in the water. The entire wall at one end of the swim lane was covered in furry little caterpillars, at least 50 of them under water. I tried to ignore them as I did my workout:

• 500m warm-up (4x25, 2x50, 2x75, 2x50, 2x25)
• 750m long swim (in 16:13)
• 2x100
• 8x50
• 6x25

That 750m long swim was a pace of 2:09/100m, and I know I can go a bit faster in the race. 

Tuesday was the big race simulation day: 12 miles on the bike, hard, followed by a quick race-pace run. Originally I was planning on running the race distance (5K), but my left achilles tendon was a bit sore so I decided just to run one mile. I've done plenty of bike-to-brick workouts before, but I usually take it easy on the bike to make sure I have the legs for the run. The purpose of this brick was to see how hard I can push it on the bike and still have the legs for the run, and to give me the confidence to not hold back during the bike portion of the race. Two days before this I did a tempo ride on the bike, and at 18.83 mph I crushed my previous best. So for the race simulation I was hoping for about the same.

I ended up crushing that record as well, and averaged 19.43 mph over the 12 miles. I focused on keeping my heart rate just below LT, between 160-165, and was able to keep it in that range consistently. Every now and then I would start getting tired, but then I would see that my heart rate was in the 150s and would pick the pace back up, knowing that my legs could handle it. By the time I finished my quads were aching pretty bad, and I was worried that I went too hard and wouldn't have anything left in the tank for the run.

After a 2 minute transition I started the run. I decided not to look at my pace at all, and only focus on keeping my heart rate right at LT, between 170-180. After pedaling hard in the big gear for 30+ minutes running felt easy by comparison, and my legs were churning out a solid pace. I was hoping for a 9:00 mile, and based on my perceived effort that felt within reach.

My reaction when I saw that I finished the mile in 7:55:

So not only can my legs handle running after a tough ride, but they're faster than normal! GLORIOUS TRIATHLETE MASTER RACE.

Picking Up The TEMPO

Tuesday was intervals day on the bike, so I went out and did 13.76 miles in the neighborhood with 6x2:00 loops in the middle. I had the misfortune of hitting every single stop light, but hey, that's how it goes sometimes.

I was excited to swim on Wednesday (after having my big breakthrough on Monday) but it was thundering when I got home at 4:00. So I threw on my bike shorts, filled my tires, and walked outside my garage... just as it started to pour. I considered lifting weights for the first time in a month, but ended up doing nothing. Thursday was spent driving to Richmond, so this was the first time since May that I had taken two days off in a row. For reference: I only had two rest days for the entire month of July, and only three in June. 

Throw in the fact that my new Vibram KSO's came in the mail, and were one size too small, and I was pretty antsy by Thursday night.

Friday morning Briana and I went for a 5K run. I had recently read a few articles talking about the importance of tempo runs (running right at your lactate threshold), so I decided to give that a try. I did the first mile as a warm-up at her pace, then did the rest as a tempo run (keeping my heart rate between 172-180). It was somewhat challenging, but not bad. We parked at a high school, so when I was finished I went over to the track and ran some sprints for the first time in 10 years. I did 400m in 1:31, and then 200m in 0:42. Usain Bolt runs the 200m in less than half the time. It made me feel pretty lame.

Saturday morning I woke up and did a 10K, alternating easy miles with tempo miles. I'm very pleased with how I felt the whole time, and with my splits:

Having a heart rate monitor makes training incredibly easy, as I have real data to work off of instead of perceived effort. During some of the tempo miles I felt tired, but then saw that my heart rate was too low, so I forced myself to harden the fuck up and speed up. Running is incredibly mental.

I got home Sunday hoping to swim, but it was raining so I went out for a wet bike ride. I felt great from the get-go, so I turned the ride into a 10 mile tempo ride, keeping my heart rate between 168-175. Two weeks ago I hit an average pace over 18 mph for the first time, and haven't been able to match that since then, but yesterday's tempo ride averaged 18.83 mph, crushing my previous best. I'm confident I can crank out over 19 mph in my sprint tri now. 

Last week was my lowest training week since I started two months ago: just 3:46 total training time, which was one swim, two runs and two bike rides. With the RockNRoll half-marathon just 13 days away, and my sprint triathlon a week later, I really need to avoid going too hard this week to make up for it. With that in mind, I'm hoping the week will look like this:

Mon: Swim

Tue: Bike-to-run brick (12 miles, 3.11 miles)

Wed: Swim

Thu: Bike (10 miles)

Fri: Bike-to-run brick (50+ miles, 3.11 miles)

The brick on Tuesday will be a race simulation, going hard on the bike and then near race pace on the run. This will be to gauge how hard I can push myself on the bike and still have the legs for the run. Thursday's ride will be a slow recovery ride. Friday's brick is something I had hoped to do this past weekend but didn't have the time for: a long ride, with an easy 5K tacked on the end. I want to start doing this on each of my long bike rides to really get used to the transition.

Swimming Breakthrough!

When I first started running two years ago I couldn't go a full mile without having to stop and walk. So I could run for half a mile, walk 30 seconds, and repeat. I kept this up for several months, and could run up to 7 miles at a 10:00/mile pace by doing this. One day my wife came with me to run, and I stayed with her at a much slower pace (11:00/mile) for the start. She dropped off after 5 minutes, but I kept going at that pace. My runkeeper app notified me when I passed one mile, then two, then three. Before I knew it I had completed the entire 5 mile loop at Newport News park, all without having to stop. I had found the perfect groove to run in without exhausting myself too quickly.

Yesterday I had the same sort of breakthrough in swimming.

I forced myself to swim as slow as possible, really stretching my hand out forward on each stroke. I quickly fell into a good rhythm, and by the time I finished the first 100m I didn't feel tired at all. The second 100m was also easy, as was the third. It started getting a little more difficult after that, but still easy enough that when I reached 500m I kept going. I stopped briefly at 750m to get some water out of my goggles and to look at the clock: 15:17, a pace of 2:02/100m. In the final 250m my arms got noticeably more tired and my form started unraveling, but I finished the 1km in 22:11, a pace of 2:13/100m.

This sudden breakthrough is attributable to several changes I've made in the last week or so:

• Doing 75-freestyle, 25-breaststroke breaks each 100m into small goals to swim towards. It also makes it easier to count my distance, which lets me focus on breathing and form.
• Breathing every two strokes instead of every three.
• Forcing myself to maintain a slow pace. In the past as I got more and more out-of-breath I would speed up in order to breathe more often, which is obviously a vicious circle.
• Exhaling harder under the water to make sure I get most of the air out of my lungs.

The first three are "training wheel" type exercises, and I will eventually stop doing them, but for now they're really helping me on the long swims. I walked away from yesterday's swim feeling amazing. For the first time all summer I'm not dreading the swim leg. 

Weekend Roundup

Four great days of workouts!

Thursday

Brick day: 10.37 miles on the bike followed by a 5K with 5x1:00 intervals. The bike was easy, and for the most part so was the run, but by the last interval I felt like I had asthma: my throat was closing up slightly, and I couldn't get a full breath. No big deal, the cool-down was fine.

Friday

More swimming! 2000m total:

• 500m warm-up
• 500m long (in 10:05)
• 4x100m
• 8x50
• 8x25

Felt great the whole time. The 500m was a breeze, and I almost wish I had gone farther, but I'm glad I didn't as I struggled a bit more in the 100's. 

Saturday

56.50 miles on the bike, 9 loops at Yorktown. Runkeeper messed up a bit, and it lags like crazy when I try to edit it, but oh well. I had gatorade prime before the ride, and a cliff bar at the half-way point. I didn't have any heart rate issues on the last loop (unlike in my 50 mile ride last week), but it was still pretty hard on my quads, and a bit on my knees. No mechanical issues either, of course because I now carry a spare tube in my saddle bag for just such an occurrence. Went home and pigged out on a cheeseburgers, fries and soda. Probably not a good idea, but I had a craving.

Sunday

After watching the Olympic Marathon (won by a Uganda runner in 2:08) I was inspired to attempt a 20 mile run. I took last Sunday off, did 19 miles the week before that, and 18 the week before that, so I felt like I was perfectly primed for a big push. So I filled up a 1-gallon jug with water, grabbed a bunch of energy gels, and planned on doing four 5-mile loops at battlefield. However, after one loop it was obvious that I didn't have 20 miles in me, so I cut the mileage and push the pace instead. Ended up with 13.1 miles at a 10:00 pace, though I focused primarily on keeping my heart rate just below 160 bpm. It's a good thing I cut the mileage early, because by the last few miles my left knee was acting up a bit... not major pain but a little discomfort. Went home and pigged out on cheez-its and soda.

My diet has been garbage on the weekends lately, but it is what it is. I'll shore that up when I have races coming up, but during training I don't think it's a big deal.

Who Said Swimming Was Hard?

I was able to shake off my poor swim workout for the rest of the night on Tuesday, but at work on Wednesday it was like a stain on my pride. It was in my head, gnawing away at what little swim confidence I'd built up in the last month. I felt like a baseball closer who had blown a game: I wanted to get back on the mound as soon as possible. So I tinkered with my training schedule and went straight to the pool when I got off work. It was my first "Week 5" swim, which meant the following:

• 500 warm-up (4x25, 2x50, 2x75, 2x50, 2x25)
• 500 long
• 6x100m
• 10x50m
• 12x25m

I took the warm-up as slow as possible, and I felt pretty fresh, but the 500m long swim seemed like a daunting task. I got started, felt okay after the first 100m, but by the 200m mark I was already bartering with myself. "Okay, if you can't do more than 250 then stop and rest for 30 seconds before doing the rest." That sort of thing. But 250 came and went, and I fell into a nice groove and finished the 500 without much trouble in 10:01. Doing 75-free/25-breast really breaks up the monotony of the long swim and gives me something to focus on. 

I moved on to the sets of x100, and felt so good that I did 8 instead of 6. During the 50's my right shoulder started getting exhausted; not sore the way it has gotten in the past, but "dead" the way it gets when I've done 5 sets of barbell overhead press. Weight lifters call this the "pump", and I'm sure I got this because I swam two days in a row. I was happy that this was my limiting factor instead of cardiovascular exhaustion, so I did 5x50 and 4x25 before exiting the pool victorious. My success was immediately rewarded by an ice cream social that the neighborhood was hosting at the pool. 

Before now I've been scheduling each pool workout rigorously: warm-up, long swim, and then this many sets of 100, this many sets of 50, this many sets of 25. I'm thinking from now on I won't be so strict. I'll keep the warm-up and the long swim the same, but beyond that I'll just do as many 100's I can and listen to my body for the 50's and 25's. 

Fuck You, Rain.

There was a high chance of rain on Monday (for the 4th time in the last 5 planned swims!) so I hopped on my bike and did intervals instead. This proved to be a good decision, as it started thundering a few minutes into the ride. Did one loop warm-up, then 5x2:00 intervals up in Z4. I usually do a full loop as a cool-down, but the wind was picking up and it was sprinkling so I went straight home.

First time averaging over 18 mph! I can feel myself getting stronger. Next week I do intervals again, and then the week after that I'm doing a brick speed test to simulate my sprint triathlon: 12 miles on the bike followed by a 5K, both as fast as possible. Because I've felt so good while doing bricks I want to see how fine my legs feel after KILLING it on the bike. This will let me know if I need to hold back on the bike at all to save for the run, or if I should go all-out the entire race.

On Tuesday I went to the pool after work, and had probably the worst workout I've ever had. The warm-up felt fine, and even the 400m long swim wasn't terrible, but after that it fell apart. Instead of 6 sets of 100m, I did two. No problem, I thought, I'm just extra tired today. I'll switch to 50's earlier. So I switched to 50's... and could only do 7. I stayed winded, couldn't take a deep-enough breath in between sets, and could tell that my heart rate was too high the whole time. I switched to sets of 25's, did four of those, and reevaluated everything.

Sometimes you have to power through the pain and push yourself during a workout, and sometimes you have to call it quits. Today was the latter.

I went home and encouraged my wife to go for a run (she was debating it because the sky looked like it was going to rain), but the heavens dumped on her. After 2.5 miles of rainy running she called me to come pick her up since there was lightning. We both felt pretty pathetic, but hey, not all days are rainbows and gumdrops. I'm planning on swimming again on Wed and Fri, which would allow me to focus on the long bike on Sat and the long run on Sun. 

Impromptu Half-Century

Saturday morning I woke up at 4:00am to watch the Women's Triathlon in the Olympics, and was glad I did after seeing the photo finish. I met Uri at Yorktown afterwards, with the plan of biking with him until he got tired and then continuing on until I hit my goal of 40 miles. This time I brought my newly purchased repair bag, which straps on underneath the saddle. I also had my hand-pump, which attaches to the cross-bar on the frame and rattles slightly when the ground is bumpy. I also brought plenty of nutrition: two bottles of water, a bottle of gatorade, 2 gel packs, a gatorade prime pack, and a power bar.

Uri and I got started a little after 7:00, and I gulped down the gatorade prime (which tastes like liquid jello!) before heading out. Riding with a partner is much easier than going solo. Not only are they a welcome distraction, but drafting is fantastic. This was my first time drafting, and you can really tell a difference, especially going down hills where the wind resistance is high. We did three loops together, stopping after each one so Uri could refill his water and I could eat a gel pack.

After he left I continued on, feeling fantastic. However, I felt so good that I didn't pace myself well at all. My heart rate was in the 140s for most of the first three laps, but in lap 4 it was up in the 150s and 160s and I didn't bother to slow things down. After 36 miles I still felt good so I decided to do two more full laps, which would put me at 56 miles, the distance in a half-ironman. But in the next lap I really bonked. My heart rate quickly got into the 160s and never slowed down, even though I was riding at an easy pace. My legs started getting tired, and the hills got harder and slower, and after 50 miles I was done. Still a great accomplishment for me, but I learned a valuable lesson: no matter how good you feel, don't push yourself too hard too early. The data told me that I should have slowed down and I ignored it, and I paid the price.

Before now I've been using triathlon shorts for biking, and on Friday I bought some cycling-specific shorts. They're significantly more comfortable with a larger, thicker chamois pad. I felt good during the entire ride Saturday, and can't wait to see how they feel when I do intervals on Monday.

Sunday morning I woke up and had no motivation to do a long run. My quads were sore, it's was hot/humid at 6:00am, and the Women's Marathon was on, followed by tennis. So Bre went running and I stayed in and relaxed. At 11:00 I went to the pool (since I skipped it on Saturday) for my swim workout, and I tried another new trick. I found a website that talks about how most swimmers don't exhale enough, and suggested a way to test this: go to the deep end, take a deep breath, and float under water. Then start exhaling air until you begin to sink. The amount of air required to sink is how much you should expel while swimming. I did this for a few minutes to get a feel for the amount and then swam my routine, and I felt pretty damn good the whole time. Between that, swimming every stroke, and adding breast stroke every 4th length I had no problem doing my 400m long swim, which I finished in 7:48. Slightly slower than on Thursday, but I felt better the whole time, and probably could have done more. My arms still ache by the end of the 100m sets, but I'm not getting winded anymore and they were noticeably easier. The 50s were a breeze as well. After that I was very thirsty and could tell I was getting sunburned, so I only did 4 sets of 25 before calling it quits. Felt great, and ate like a horse the rest of the day.

Two more hard weeks of training before tapering for the RockNRoll half-marathon on Sep 2 and my sprint triathlon on Sep 9. I'm getting excited!

Saved by the Thunder

Why does it only seem to rain on days that I have a swim scheduled? It was sunny all day yesterday until I got off work at 4:00, and then the clouds are rolling in. Like Tuesday it looked like rain was imminent, but I headed over to the pool anyways to get my first Week 4 swim workout in. Here was the plan:

• 500m warm-up (4x25, 2x50, 2x75, 2x50, 2x25)
• 400m long
• 7x100m
• 10x50m
• 16x25m

Fearing the worst from the rain I skipped the 2x75 warm-up sets in order to ensure I at least got my long swim in. I asked for advice in the Swimming group on Fitocracy about getting winded too easily, and received some good pointers. I mentioned that I start off breathing every 3rd stroke, and eventually switch to breathing every stroke when I get winded, so someone suggested breathing every stroke from the beginning and continuing that the entire time. Another person suggested switching to breaststroke or backstroke every 4th lap as a way to "catch up" on breathing. I tried both during my long swim, and I think it helped. Breathing every stroke seemed more natural to me, though I think this caused me to swim faster than I otherwise should have, so I need to focus on keeping slow, smooth strokes. Doing breast stroke every 4th lap also helped, though not as much as if I had done backstroke, which I may try next time. However, doing a different stroke every 4th lap made it MUCH easier to keep track of how much I had swam, as it begins getting difficult after 200m or so. I completed the 400m in 7:45, a 1:56/100m pace. Good enough for me.

I continued breathing every stroke as I switched to my 100m sets. It seemed fine, and I wasn't getting winded, but my arms were getting fatigued very quickly. My first few sets I was averaging about 1:41 (very pleased with the time!), so perhaps I'm going too fast since I feel less winded. In any case the speed is unintentional; on the 100s I just sort of swim without thinking about pace, trying to focus on good breathing. I'm wondering if I'm starting to find my ideal groove to swim in, though my arm strength needs to catch up. It makes me hopeful. 

After three sets of 100 my arm fatigue was pretty extreme, so I decided to listen to my body and switch to 50s. I did four of those at an easy pace before thunder closed the pool. I must admit that I was relieved at the thunder. My body just wasn't feeling this workout, and I didn't want to cut it short on my own accord. 1250m is still a solid workout though, and every drop in the bucket helps.

I pigged out for dinner: homemade nachos, Half Baked icecream, and sour patch kids. Shut up.

Looking forward to the weekend: 40+ mile ride with Uri on Saturday followed by a swim, and then a long run on Sunday. The forecast is a high of 88 both days, though some cloud coverage would be welcome. I'm not sure how much I want to run: I think I'll either do a half-marathon at a pretty solid pace, or if it's cooler I'll push it and go for 20 miles. The women's triathlon is on Saturday morning at 4:00am, so I want to wake up early and watch that before going on my long ride with Uri. I'm also planning on buying some real cycling shorts before my long run, since the tri shorts have been killing me lately. 

Brick and Intervals - All In One!

Yesterday I was scheduled to do running intervals, and I decided to throw in some cycling beforehand because I haven't done a brick in a while. It was a pretty easy 10.43 mile ride, which ended up being my fastest average speed (17.65 mph) while keeping my average heart rate at 147! That's at the very low end of Z2, hardly any effort at all. It helps that I didn't hit a single red light, too.

Quick 3:00 transition to throw my vibrams on and I was out the door on the run. When I just run it takes 2-3 miles for my legs to feel good, but I always feel fantastic when I bike beforehand. Today was no different. I kept a pretty good pace (9:33) for the first mile before starting my intervals. Here's what the map looks like:

LOOK AT THE PRETTY INTERVAL SPIKES IN MY SPEED!

When I did intervals last week I felt dead by the end, but this time I felt so good that I did 6x1:00 intervals instead of 5. And once I finished those I kept my pace reasonably high for the final mile; my heart rate was staying right at 180, which is at the very top of Z4, but I felt good so I didn't slow down. Finished feeling unstoppable, and I almost wish I had pushed myself to do another loop to attempt a 10k PR. Oh well, maybe next time.

My contact lenses have been bothering me lately, and I've chalked it up to dehydration from all the exercise. However, I woke up this morning and my right eye is a little swollen/puffy, so it may be something worse. It seems to happen after going to the pool, which worries me. Hopefully it's not bothering me this afternoon so I can start Week 4 of my swim plan.

Saddles Sores are Becoming a Problem

Monday was interval day on the bike, and I felt surprisingly good despite running 19 miles the day before. 10.38 miles total on the bike, 5x2:00 intervals at >170 heart rate. When I did my first bike interval workout last week I was struggling by the end. This time it felt much better, and if it weren't so windy I probably would have done more. But it was windy, so I stopped at 5 intervals and did a very short 4 minute cool-down before heading home. It's good to know that my enormous thighs are good for something!

However, I had some pretty bad saddle sores during the ride. I'm wondering if this had anything to do with Saturday's ride. I felt fine during the first 24 miles before getting a flat tire, but hurt that afternoon when I went back out for another 10. I wore my tri pants in the 4 hour period in between rides, which may have been a bad idea. Regardless, I think I need to buy some real cycling pants for training.

Tuesday had a 100% chance of rain forecast from 4:00-6:00, confirmed by the huge blob of green on the radar, so I delayed instead of going straight to the pool after work. Around 5:00 the radar showed the rain directly on top of us... but there was no rain outside. After 10 minutes of this I said "Fuck it", ran over to the pool, and swam my workout. It sprinkled a little bit while I was there, but there was never any thunder that required everyone to leave the pool. I'm glad I didn't play it safe by staying home. It was my final Week 3 workout, and it went pretty well: the 300m long swim was a little tough, and I had to resort to breathing every stroke to my left, but I got it done in 5:50, a 1:56/100m pace. Not great, but right now I'm just trying to get the distance down.

The rest of the workout was easy, but a bit monotonous. The 100m sets are easier every time, and the 50s are now a piece of cake. My biggest struggle is still getting winded too soon. Focusing on swimming slow is key, because when I start getting winded I speed up in order to breath more frequently, which of course exhausts me even quicker. Thursday is my first Week 4 plan swim, and I'm going to do my best to concentrate on slow, easy strokes.

When I first started running in 2010, I could go for maybe half a mile before getting winded, and I would stop and walk for 20 seconds before running again. I would run/walk like this for long distances, but could never just run endlessly. It wasn't until I ran with my wife, which forced me to go at a slower pace, that I found my "groove" and could suddenly run continuously at the right sustainable pace. It was a breakthrough for me, and running became extremely easy afterwards. I'm hoping for the same sort of breakthrough in swimming, and feel as if I'm only a few weeks away from that.