Hardest week so far

Wednesday
This morning was my midweek long run - about 16k in 90 minutes. To be precise it was home, Balmain Cove hill loop, Bay, and back to the corner store - in 87 minutes. This week I felt really good and enjoyed every moment. It is so nice around the Bay in the morning.

As expected I arrived at the pool tonight to be told (with a smile) "Hard set tonight Zoe". We started with 500FS, 300Pull, 12x25 odds sprint/ even catch up on 60. Then it was 10x100 on 1.45. I worked very hard on my attitude, banishing all thoughts of "I can't". I was at the back behind 2 others and worked hard to stay on the feet of the person in front. The first few were easy, with 10secs+ rest, the last few were very hard but I did it. Then 200 pull easy. Then 6x150 on 2.45, but trying for the same pace as the first set, just with a longer rest. The first few were easy again and I thought we are going too slow and was even going to offer to lead out a bit faster. Then someone poured concrete powder into the pool. My arms felt so tired and it was like I was swimming in slow motion. I haven't felt like that for ages. I managed to keep to the time, but with only about 5 seconds rest and it was not pretty by the last repeat. Then we did 200 warmdown and it was 8pm. So only 3.2k, but still the hardest swim I have had in a long while.

I arrived home to an absolutely LOVELY home-made 3 course Valentine dinner - entrée, main and dessert. Very lucky Zoe. :)

Thursday
After the bitter disappointment and nagging annoyance of MISSING A RIDE on Tuesday, I was very keen for the ride this morning and even arrived on time. So I headed off with Group 3 but I struggled right from the start. I don't think the pace was any faster than last week, I just wasn't feeling that great. My legs felt heavy and weak. On the 2nd lap I thought I might have to drop off, but I hung in there and took it easy on the short hill sprints to get a bit of a recovery.

I decided not to run off the bike today because if I run off the bike on Saturday and do 3 hours on Sunday, I'll have done 65k again for the week and I think that is plenty. I feel like I am doing a high-wire balancing act with my training between enough and too much and I want to tend towards less rather than more.

Tonight we went to see Babel at the Open Air Cinema at Mrs Macquarie's Chair. It was AMAZING. I had really wanted to go to see something there, but by the time I went online to book a few weeks ago, all sessions were sold out. So I went along after work tonight to line up for on-the-night tickets and after much waiting, uncertainty and drama, I got the last 2 tickets! So I ducked across the road for a quick swim at the ABC pool (2km in 35 minutes) and Tom biked in to meet me with a picnic dinner. It was a perfect night, clear sky, no wind, calm and silent. The view, with the city lights skyline on the left, the big screen in the middle and the bridge and opera house on the right is too amazing for words. If there is a better open cinema anywhere in the world I would be very surprised. Anyway, I enjoyed it quite alot. ;)

Friday
I didn’t get to bed until midnight on Thursday and didn't set my alarm so I woke up at 8.30. Shit, I have a meeting at 9.30! Straight out of bed, into my gear, onto the bike and off to work. I am (finally) feeling really tired. I would have liked to squeeze in an extra swim today as I am going to struggle to fit it in over the weekend, but I really really need my rest day today. I am feeling pretty daunted at the prospect of the weekend. Hopefully a day off will improve the outlook.