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Work works

Some weeks are harder than others to balance work, training, sleep, and life. This was one of them. But I got the work done. And ran some numbers that show that work works. Between 2013 and 2017 I reduced my average run pace from 13:42 over all runs to 12:12 over all runs. Having a coach to be sure I am doing the right work, and doing the work...well, works.

 Monday - 5,000 yard swim. Ironman swim training has begun. And yes, 5,000 yards is farther than the Ironman swim. And it is a long time in the pool.

 Tuesday - I didn't sleep very well Monday night and was anxious about things at work. I felt pretty tired when I got to the group run and I wasn't sure how it was going to go, especially since it was mixed speed and steady state. I had a pretty solid run and felt good about it. 6.2 miles average pace 11:44.

 Wednesday - I couldn't work the watch correctly in the pool to save my life. I was more tired and hadn't slept well again. 2,000 yard swim. Then in the evening I rode 15 miles on the bike trainer. I was virtually riding a paved trail in Ottawa and didn't expect it to be as hilly as it was, but it was a good ride.

 Thursday - I finally slept Wednesday night and felt a bit better, but I had an interesting work meeting in the morning and then a few conference calls after a haircut. Then 20 miles on the bike trainer in the evening. No virtual course for this ride, just me and the trainer.

 Friday - I swam in the morning before meeting with Trainer Mark. The swim had a lot of kicking that I did without fins so it was super slow. It was also longer than I thought it was (3,000 yards) and so I ended up running behind to meet with Mark. Worked with Mark for a half an hour and then headed in to the office for meetings. By early afternoon I had a headache and I had forgotten my phone and some documents I needed, so I headed home. 

 Saturday - 16 miles at Eagle Creek. I was testing the 3:1 run/walk plan and it was pretty good. I fell on some ice after 7.5 miles but didn't even stop the watch and just kept going. I was over it by the time I finished. It was my 4th fastest 16 miler ever, which isn't terrible since I was doing run/walk and it was hilly (and I fell).

 Sunday - The training plan called for 26.2 miles on the bike trainer because Coach Matt thinks he's cute. I ended up with 28.4 miles riding the minimum amount of time he was looking for. I rode a super flat paved trail in Windsor (virtually) while watching the Olympics.

 I am still behind at work, but at least I got all my training in :)

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