BLT and swimming and running and....

Wow, that kind of sounds like a triathlon...thank goodness I did all those things over the span of 3 days. Wonder what it would be like to do them all in the same day? :)
I have been wanting to do a long time trial in the pool for a few weeks now, since I am cautiously optimistic that all this swimming I've been doing has or will pay off. So, Tuesday, I talked some of the EWU tri club athletes to agree to count laps while I swam a 1950m time trial (because I knew there was no way I could count to 39) The swim went really well, and I was pleased with my pacing and how I doled out my effort. I could have probably gone a bit faster, but I sort of wanted to use it as a dress rehersal for IM. My time was 34:10, which was right about where I thought I'd be. Simply doubling that works out to a sub-1:10:00 IM swim, which would make me exceptionally happy. I know that there are many other factors, both good and bad, that will come into play (drafting, wetsuit, water conditions, race day adrenaline, etc), but after my swim I felt very good about where I'm at in the water.
Tuesday after work, I linked up with the BLT group for the second loop, and quickly joined in on the fast-paced fun. The pace picked up a bit earlier than the last few weeks, but I was able to hang on ok. I even led the pace line for a bit, which felt good, until my 30 seconds were up :) Toward the end, I could feel the soreness from Sunday's race creeping back into my legs, but I'm glad I got out there and hopefully flushed some of the lactic acid out. It wasn't my best ride ever, but hey, 20 miles is better than nothing!
Wednesday, while I was on the bus home, I really didn't feel like getting out for a run. But, fortunately Andy was there when I got home to guilt me into it. For some reason, its easier to run when someone you know is also out there on the same course...and when its your wife, hey, bonus!! It was another sub-8 run, but only 4+ miles, and it was a struggle. My running legs had most certainly not recovered 100% from Sunday. I'm supposed to run 6 tonight with Steve...wonder how that'll go?? My only hope is that he had a hard speedwork session on Wed, and is looking for an easy, recovery run.
Today I was tight on my lunch timeframe to get a swim in, so I hit the water precisely at the stroke of noon, did a quick 50 warmup, then proceeded right into my descending mile. I would have liked to have gone farther, but with limited time, I decided to just do my "fall-back" workout that I know I can get done in about 30 min. I felt great the whole way, pushing the pace, but not so much that I was gasping for air. Previously, my total time including rest for this workout was in the mid- to low-29s, so it was a pleasant surprise to see 27:52 on my watch when I hit the wall for the last time! Keats and I shared a lane, and it was great to have someone pushing me. Except for the fact that I was barely keeping up with a guy who has a broken rib and who has done like zero training over the past month or so. Damn. But, I guess that's why he's been to Kona, and I'm still stuck trying to find Kona on the map :) Now, I just need to not get too overconfident that I'm going easily to rip off a 1:10:00 IM swim....maybe I'll just focus on a PR.....
The weather is still crappy. Cold, windy, cloudy. Fortunately I only have to run tonight, so I can manage the weather. This weekend looks nice, which is good for me, since I've got the Lilac Century ride on tap. Longest ride of the year, followed by (hopefully) a 6m run. I'm tired already after just typing that!