Weekend of Workouts

Friday night, Masters Swim Class: I was looking forward to getting back to class. I had missed 2 weeks. Sick/Thanksgiving. Also I had thought I had made some improvements and was looking forward to a good night of swimming. The coach had a different plan. He had us do 10 x 25 sprints 4 different times during the class. Some he wanted us to go "no breath". I learned the hard way you can't hold your breath AT ALL if you want to swim well. So that is my newest focus, relaxed breathing.
This was the hardest class we have had. I left feeling beat up.

Saturday: Tried to run 12 miles, got in 10. I started to tighten up (hamstrings) somewhere about mile 9. So I just ran home. I stretched out and everything was feeling ok, except my legs were very fatigued. I ate a ton at dinner. Then I crashed and was asleep by 9-9:30.

Sunday: Back to the pool. This turned out to be a recovery swim. I put the fins on early and did some kickboard drills to get the blood into the legs. Once they started to feel a bit better, I decided to focus on my breathing and working on the high elbow catch from those videos in the previous post. I also put on the Hydro hip belt and worked on rotation for 200yds.
Lastly here is something new. Sculling for 3 minutes. Basically this is treading water but no legs. Keep them still below you and keep your breathing relaxed. Doing this at the end of class Friday and near the end of today, big time triceps burner. Also oddly enough, the pinky side of my hand is pushed very near to cramping.

So here is the main point of my post. On many of the triathlon forums people ask "what do I need to do differently to run a half iron vs sprints and olympic distance?". The response is usually "You need to be diligent with your diet." Which always sounds to me like you have to watch your weight and not eat junk.
Well after this weekend, I think I now understand what they mean. They mean you need to know how to feed yourself in order to train well and recover well. I guess Jim is the only one on here that has done endurance events. I'm curious to hear how he manages his diet as he ups the mileage.
I mention this because I know Shawn has his eyes on the Tango which is similar to Half Iron, I suppose.
I feel that now that my weekly run mileage is increasing, I'm going to have to start messing with the diet to handle it. That being said, there is snow on the ground today. It might become tougher to become inspired to run outdoors, in the slop.

Also I sent an email to Thad regarding the Tango, I forwarded a copy to the team. Let me know if you didn't receive it.