Taper and Race are over. Back to work.

Monday morning I went to to the pool to do a recovery swim. I knew I was going to be sore and the best thing to do was to get some blood to the muscles and move. When Maija showed up I followed along a bit with her warm up. There was kicking involved so naturally I didn’t get the distances in that she did.
I was glad to find that my aches and pains were limited to the muscles. Hip Flexors, lower back and knees were all fine. I can deal with sore muscles, they recover easily.
Monday evening I hopped on the bike trainer did an easy spin to get warmed up. Then I went upstairs and worked on getting stretched out. I was really feeling good. Unfortunately once I cooled off I was back to being sore again. I guess that’s to be expected.

I skipped my planned Tuesday morning bike and took the extra time to sleep.
Muscles are still sore today but I’m really pleased by the fact that my left leg feels like it’s tracking properly and I’m not having hip issues either.
I was planning on warming up on the bike before heading to swim class but another wetsuit arrived for Genine to try on. So we spent some time going back and forth between the QR size medium and the small that had just arrived. I think we left it at, try them again tomorrow to make sure she still has the same decision
Off to Masters Swim which is typically on Monday. There were only 4 of us at class, so that really allowed for a ton of feedback. The structure of the workout was good too. It was all drills but they all seemed to progress into the next and build into a more complete stroke. The time went by very quickly and Genine and I both left feeling really good about the class.
At one point the coach had Genine put the hand paddles on in an attempt to get Genine to grab more water which would slow down her pull. That definitely worked. The hand paddles are quite large. (not Vashaw size plates but large). Genine loved using the hand paddles. I’m starting to think Genine might be an awesome swimmer for the swim leg of the Tango. With fins, hand paddles and her wetsuit, she would probably beat me easily.
The only downside to the swim tonight was the fact I started to get tight towards the end of the class. Left hip flexor and my lower back.

This morning I got up to run with Todd. I’m still feeling kind of tight but I don’t think we are going to do a hard run. 22 degrees out, what else is new? We run out from the Y do 3 of our hill loops then back to the Y. 6.7 miles in 57 minutes. Unfortunately I left my jacket and train ticket at home. So instead of getting a shower at the Y, I had to get back home and shower there. The seat warmers are really nice for times like this. It’s only a 10 minute drive but sweaty tech gear can really make you shiver, which is basically the exact opposite of the hot shower immediately following a run.
Even with the extra trip home I made the train. I definitely feel like my hamstrings are tighter today than they had been. We should be going to yoga tonight, it’s probably going to be my toughest session yet but hopefully the stretch will be worth it.