Thursday...or what do I talk about when it's not quite the weekend yet?

I can’t believe I forgot to rave about my track workout yesterday. I love the track! It’s been a while since I did speedwork on the track so I was super excited.

I told Liz in my post-workout comments that the track makes me happy because I always feel like a big tall fast jock there. (Yep, all 5-foot-nothing of me!)

At least next to the middle school gym class kids that run there at the same time.

So I warmed up nice and easy. Ran some steady controlled 800s (around my 1/2 marathon pace), ran some faster 400s (maybe a 5-10K pace?), and then it was time for the hard 200s.

Let me note that prior to hiring Liz as a coach, I’d never seen anything faster than a 7-something minute per mile pace in my fastest sprints. So it was on to the hard set.

I took off down the track and I felt GREAT.

The middle school kids were cheering.

I think. It was hard to tell over the whoosh of the blood pounding in my head.

I could only glance at my watch at the end of each set and it seemed promising. I saw the full results when I got home and loaded up the data.

My 200s were done at an average pace…DRUMROLL PLEASE…all in the 5-something min/mi range.

Bear in mind I could never sustain that pace for any long distance. But to see it, however briefly?

WOO-FREAKIN-HOO!

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Now on to today’s session at masters swim. Swimming, as you know…NOT my most confident area. But I read Liz’s post from yesterday and took it to heart. I was going to go to that pool and be the fearless squirrel and have a great swim. No. Matter. What.

Warmup…is that my arms feeling sore? No, it’s your arms being strong! You are smooth and fearless.

And then my No. Matter. What. happened. A silly little thing really but I got booted to the wall lane by the fast people (because the swim team kids didn’t show up today). I spent about 30 seconds thinking Well doesn’t this suck I was the first person in the pool today I shouldn’t have to move someone else should now I get to sit over here and swim by myself on the stupid freaking wall. And then I snapped out of it and remembered.

Great. Swim. No. Matter. What.

Sprinty 25s…there we go, that’s how you do it, strong strong strong, fearless squirrel fearless squirrel dammit.

Long set of 50s…I’m going to make this interval every time even if it means no rest. You can, so what if it hurts, you CAN. (And I did!)

100s of pull…Just keep swimming just keep swimming just keep swimming. No rest? Rest is for babies, you don’t need no stinkin rest, make the interval. Fearless fearless fearless.

100s of freestyle…Go go go go go. This is nothing, you could do this all day, strong and fearless. Fearlesssquirrelfearlesssquirrelfearlesssquirrel.

Um. OK. So maybe I took the squirrel thing a little seriously? Point is, it worked. My Tuesday swim was all about blah blah blah I’m tired blah blah I’m sore blah blah I’m slow. Was I any faster today? Who knows! But I worked harder and I ended the swim feeling like I’d done my best.

I may not be the fastest swimmer in any of my races this year. In fact, odds are good I won’t even be close. But I want to toe the starting line knowing that I worked the hardest of anyone out there to face my fears and post the best improvement I could.

And that, young grasshopper, is the way of the squirrel who wants the nut. Did I pick the right coach to motivate me or what?