5k's and Hitting the Wall

In preparation for Alcatraz, since November I've been doing a 5k road race every month.  Sometimes the timing of the date for my “monthly race” fits well in my training schedule and I'm relatively well rested to run.  On the other hand, sometimes these races have been on days that I've trained hard for weeks and I'm not ready to run at all.  These 5k's are a lot of fun though.  They’re a means to an end and I'm not looking to set any records or anything.  I use these races as a barometer as to how my training is coming along.  In December I ran a 5k in Freeport on a flat course and had planned to set my personal best in the 5k that day.  It's wasn't to be, as I had no legs for some reason.  Conversely, I ran a 5k just a few weeks back in Portland and took 4 minutes off my time from last year despite poor footing in the snow and having trained a lot in the weeks leading up to that race.  If I had planned a little better I think I could have set my 'pb' in the 5k that day.

I've been swimming a lot.  I swim two to three days a week with a masters swim group in Waterville.  It's been fantastic.  With the 100’s of laps I’ve been doing I'm getting less and less worried about the swim across The Bay every day.  I'm planning on doing two sprint triathlons in April and May prior to Alcatraz and I hope all of this pool work will show some results then.

Funny, I've discovered I'm a klutz in the water.  I'm a terrible wall turner.  Other swimmers in my masters swim group think my wall turning is a contact sport as I hit a new part of my body on every wall turn other than my feet. I just can seem to summersault and push off the wall with my feet consistently.  I strike the wall with my shoulders, elbows, knees and my butt repeatedly, all bruised from learning how to turn at the wall. Even if I do land my feet on the wall I often push off too deep and get disoriented as to where the surface of the pool is.  This might seem insignificant, but when you think you’re at the surface…and you’re not…breathing becomes problematic in a hurry.  The upside?  I've managed not to hit my head yet... but I'm still learning.

JP