I screwed up today.
I hate screwing up.
It was a time-trial run day; one hour total with 30 minutes of going as hard as my body could sustain consistently. I didn't quite grasp that last point. Instead, I tried to maintain an even pace where I knew I had fuel left in the proverbial tank, and so my heart-rate was at a low zone 4 (154-168 bpm) by the end of the run.
For most of the 30 minutes, I ran at an even pace between 6.0-6.3 mph, and my heart rate was typically in zone 3 (142-154 bpm). I felt great. The run was pretty easy, in fact. I had a lot more fuel left to burn, which I thought was the point going in. Like yesterday's swim trial. I felt so good that I felt guilty there wasn't a second workout today.
I suppose that should have been a sign that something was amiss.
Coach Gerardo wanted me to run harder. He was surprised that my speed was so low and that my heart-rate average for the 20-minute monitored portion was 155 bpm.
Apparently, I screwed up.
Did I mention I hate screwing up?
Now, I'm re-doing my time trial this Sunday. It's like doing homework over again because you screwed up so bad (there's that phrase again!) that the teacher wants you to start from scratch.
Ugh!
The rest of the day matched my mood following that notification. Damp. Dreary. Blah. (You can see for yourself in the image above, my view today from our Burbank-based offices.) And then to top it off, I read my dad's blog post about being average. Arrgh! However, today was momentous in that I celebrated my sixth-year anniversary working at my company. My job is fantastic. It allows me to grow the position the way I deem fit, while growing my career in exciting new ways. It's challenging, rewarding and flat-out fun. And it gives me the opportunity to train for Ironman guilt-free.
In this economy and at this point in my life, I never lose sight of how lucky I am.
Tomorrow, I'm swimming at the crack of dawn again. This time in Westwood at Equinox with my friend Anat. We both have swims planned, so why not do it together, we figured. With this drippy weather, we need all the motivation we can muster to get out of bed so early.
308 days and counting.
First: Since I've known you longer than anyone else reading this blog I can say with absolute certainty that you are anything by average... And, anyone who knows you knows that.
ReplyDeleteSecond: Screwing up is good... sometimes. It helps us avoid 'average:' especially if we have an aversion to and manage to learn something from it.
Third: I will be thinking of you (And, Anat) while I'm in the pool tomorrow morning at 0:Dark:30. You'll be swimming and I'll be trying really hard not to drown :-{(}... Did forty-five minutes this morning without drowning, BTW! ;-{)}
Fourth: Average performance inspires no one! I'm in the water because of you and what you are trying to accomplish...
Fifth: I'd be a lot more worried about you and what you were doing if you didn't manage to screw up at least once in the course of a year's worth of training as ambitious and comprehensive as yours...
Sixth: As Edith Ann so aptly put it: "And, that's all I have to say about that!"
Thanks Dad. You rock. Very, very proud of you.
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