Running with Jack

When I got home from work at 4 p.m. last night it was a humid 24C/75F and the storm clouds were brewing. I sat around for a nanosecond trying to decide if I wanted to go to the swimming pool. My wife needed the car for a doctor’s appointment (checkup), so decided to take my bike to the next town, Blankenloch, and use their smaller 25-meter pool. This is only a 7K bike ride as opposed to 14K/8.7M to the larger (50-meter) pool in Karlsruhe. In any case I had to ride along several fields, fighting a stiff wind most the way to the pool – good training. I did a quick 800 meters, 500 freestyle, 300 breaststroke – then changed quickly and headed home. The way back was much faster as I was flying with the wind, I made it back to my house just as the first drops of rain began to fall. It was a very satisfying night of cross-training.

My tapering so far has left me feeling very positive and energetic. The only side effect is that I have been having trouble falling asleep the last couple nights. During normal training weeks I am worn out enough that I usually fall asleep instantly. I hope that my sleep pattern returns to normal soon, especially at the beginning of next week. Happy training!