[  Mood: Happy ]

I've been feeling guilty about not posting for awhile, but there hadn't been much to report - until now.

The plan this year has been the same as last year, work on the hip and train for the pursuit.

I started of the year riding a time that was only slightly off (4 sec) my best from last year, but then I repeated that time every month for the next three months.

My coach gave me a big change to my training program after we noticed the lack of change (I felt like I was training for the kilo!) - but the results have spoken for themselves.

During a regular training session yesterday I did a 4K for time,
and I went a second a lap faster than I had all year up to this point.

I did two sets of three flying laps on race pace during my warm up,
and from the way I felt, I could tell I was going to meet my goal of sub 5:50.

I started off three seconds faster than I wanted to my first lap,
but then I was able to hold my lap times under my goal,
and I was able to sneak under 4:45.

The best part was I really let her rip during the last lap,
and was able to shave off another second from my lap times!

I'm looking forward to finding out how much speed I can pull
in the next few weeks as I get ready for district championships.

I'm really happy with the way my coach's plan paid off,
and for how all the painful physical therapy is paying off.

Another take away is to respect one's recovery needs.
I've been "burning the candle at both ends" a bit too much this year,
and several times it's caught up with me.
I had too many training sessions lately where I just couldn't do the effort
because I short changed myself on sleep trying to honor all of my commitments
at work, running races, with my family...
This week I really wanted to do well on this test TT, so I paid special attention to sleep, hydration and everything else that I neglect in order to do more than I should.
The results speak for themselves. I only hope I can maintain good habits

I hope your training is going well too.

Stick to the plan!

P.S. - I recently got the full set of splits from my coach and discovered I set a 3k PR on my way to setting a 4 k PR! That 3k PR is over 4 years old.