30 Min Swim, 8 Mile Run

Hopped into the pool for a relaxed 30 min swim. It's coming back to me. Stroke, stroke, stroke... flip, turn... repeat. I feel a lot better this season knowing that in two months of consistent swimming I can get back to reasonable swimming shape.

Then some core work and a treadmill run. My standard 8mph for one hour. Felt darn good. Heart rate started around 130bpm and by the end had risen to 145bpm. Last year at this point in the season it was a good twenty or thirty beats higher. These long runs are paying off... and I'm really just getting started with them.

Wanted to do a treadmill run because the inside of my right knee was a bit sore after my last long run. The cushion of the treadmill felt nice tonight.

The key for me is to remain in base mode... to not "test the engine." To not overdo the mega-workouts. I'm not looking at total hours much. But I can tell that I'm slowly ratcheting up the hours and the workouts are feeling better and better.

I have to make a strategic decision about my season within the next month or so: one-peak for IM Fla has me keeping weight on and staying in base mode through the early races (St. Anthony's & Gulf Coast)... two-peak has me dropping some weight in a month and adding some threshold/speed work. Given my interest in the long runs I'm leaning for the one-peak but I know that the closer I get to the races the more I'll be tempted to hit it hard. I have to decide what I want out of this season, commit to what that means and then operate accordingly.

Pierre was in there hitting it hard for an hour and a half on the treadmill and stairmaster. Inspirational to see him working.