Unexpect PR in the 500

I'm beat.  After feeling so good and fresh for the last week or so, I think it all finally caught up with me.  Yesterday's hard workout must've really taken a lot out of me.  I'm stiff and just overall tired.  I stayed home this morning because Bailey didn't need to be at school until 11, so rather than have Joan come home just to get her to school, I took the liberty of going in late to work.  I took advantage of the time to catch an morning nap: 1 hour; light's out.  I keep saying it, but I really should get into the habit of getting more sleep.  I might be kidding myself that 6 hours a night is enough for me.  As my training rigors increase, I think my sleep needs do too.  I can feel it.

But today?  I had it on the plan to do my 6 mile HM-pace run and take tomorrow off as a rest day before the imposing hill intervals. But I decided to listen to my body and cross train today instead.  I'll move the pace run to tomorrow.  Hopefully, that'll just refresh me and I'll be primed for the hard workout on Friday. 

So, I got back in the pool after a bit of a layoff.  I did a typical 30 minute session, doing 3 sets of 500:

First set: just straight freestyle, starting out in warm up mode, working on lengthening my stroke and getting into a rhythm.  I managed to cut my stroke count down to 16 on some lengths.  I was surprised at the end to see I had completed the 10 laps in under 8 minutes.  7:56 to be exact. That's 15-20 seconds faster than usual, and I wasn't even trying to be speedy.

Second set: used the buoy and give the arms and shoulders a work out.  I did press the pace a little on this set, and finished up in 8:09.  Wow.  That's faster than I normally do with the leg kick, and only 10 seconds slower than my previous set.  I might just be able to hit 7:30 for 500 if I really go for it.  Maybe I will on my next session.

Third set: 10x50 intervals on the minute.  I made it through 7 before I really needed to resort to a longer break.  I was hitting 38-40 seconds per lap consistently, giving me 20 seconds to recovery.  But after the 7th, I was really sucking wind and took an extra minute before beginning #8.  I finished out the last 3, and I noticed that when I try to go fast, my form breaks down and I don't really gain any speed.  Instead, I still finish in about the same time but with more energy expended. 

I relaxed with a bit of breast stroke, but that was the end for me.  It was cloudy out, but I sat by the pool in one of the chaise lounges for a good 10 minutes, not too anxious to hit the weights.

I did though, and put in a 30 minute circuit on the shoulders, lats, chest/back and arms.  I did one set of everything, from fixed weights to dumbbells.  But I was pretty tired, so it amounted to just a little bit of cardio and refresher strength training and not so much any real power-building. 

I weighed in at 142.5 on the gym scale, which is a pound less than what I'm seeing at home.  I'm feeling pretty lean though.  There's still a bit of stubborn fact pocketed around my waist and abs that I'd love to trim off.  I'd really have to get severe, I think, in my diet to make that go away. 

Survivor's on tonight.  It's Quin's night and I'm making dinner.  I hope to get to sleep early.  Thursday's are my busiest days at work.  Ugh.