Making the Most of It

I have never been a morning person and I'm assuming I never will be. But it's amazing how much you can get done when you get up really early. I ran a 5-mile race at 5:30 this morning so I was up about as early as I can manage to be. I was all ready to go and headed out the door when I noticed it was raining. It was actually pouring. Even though it was in the 60's, it felt cold. But there was no turning back so I hopped in a cab and headed up to Central Park.

Because of the rain and cold, the first mile was very slow for me. I used it as a warm up and paid close attention to how my foot was feeling. All was good so I stepped up the pace to catch up a bit for the remainder of the race. The rain never stopped, but I don't mind running in the rain. It's a great sensory experience that takes your mind off the fact that you're actually running for at least some of the time. It was also great to be in Central Park so early. It's amazing that 2,000 people agreed and showed up despite the weather. I ended up finishing in 45:06, not bad at all for my first race in New York this year.

Since I got an early start, I decided to make the most of it by going right to the pool after the race. I was worried I might be tired in the water, but it was actually quite the opposite. I swam my best today. Maybe the race was the ultimate warm up. Maybe it was finally time. I don't know what it was, but it felt great. I did some drills, but was mostly just swimming laps, which has been fairly elusive thus far. I still had to rest a lot, but tried to shorten my breaks in an effort to keep moving.

I did 36 laps, which is a half mile, and then did an extra four to wrap up. I actually didn't want to stop, but I have learned that if I try to overdo it, I end up having a relapse and everything falls apart. So I left on a high note feeling optimistic about the next time. I might be closer to that breakthrough than I know. We'll see.

Sport - Running (NYRRC Anniversary Run)
Distance - 5 miles
Time - 45:06

Sport - Swimming
Distance - A little over .5 miles
Time - 50:00