Feelin' fine!

It's always a great day when you can go into a workout looking forward to it, have fun while you're in the midst of it, and come out of it nicely fatigued but still not so worn out that you can't look forward to another workout the next day.

Yesterday I got in a great bike ride! I started too late in the day to get in the longer distance that I had hoped, so I did my standard ride: a 26.4-mile loop to the Knapps Narrows drawbridge.

Lessons I learned or re-learned yesterday:

• I'm faster in shorts. I don't know if it just feels better or it's more aerodynamic, but they're faster. The DeSoto tri-shorts feel pretty darned good, too! They're going to be my mainstay race shorts this year. Love those side pockets!
• Keep your tires pumped up close to their maximum to reduce rolling resistance - it really helps the speed!
• Losing weight helps the aero position because I can bend over more without so much big old tummy in the way.
• Keep hammering even when the wind is at your back! Don't relax just because you see a big number on the speedometer!
• Refuel early and often. But although those Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Bars taste great, they give me stomach cramps on the bike. :-(
• Woot! I can average 17.2 mph on a loop over 25 miles, even including two slow passes through the center of town! Yay! New workout record, I think!
• It's probably better to stop counting the sections through town in my average workout speed, since then I tend to ride too fast through town, and it's just too dangerous. Too many elderly tourists driving aimlessly through!

Then this morning I got in a Most Excellent Swim as well. Maybe it's the contrast with the crowded, yucky pool that I swim in on weekdays, but the pool at our Y is just delightful. Rarely more than one or two other people in the pool at mid-day, and it's clean and quiet and well-lit and peaceful.

I swam ten laps with the pull-buoy to simulate the buoyancy and slightly different position that happens when wearing a wetsuit - which also provides a wonderful boost in speed, even when my legs are just dragging behind. It gave my shoulders a great workout! I sure hope I can attain that speed at the Columbia Triathlon with my wetsuit - 12:04 per 500 yards ( = 13:11/500m) could get me around that 1500m course under 40 minutes fairly comfortably, or faster if I push it, which would simply rock! But I'm definitely not counting any chickens yet, because anything can happen on race day. I'm just very pleased to see progress in my swimming, and hope it will carry over to a big improvement on race day. It would be a dramatic change to start a triathlon swim feeling positive and confident instead of scared to death of not finishing the swim leg cutoff in time!