For my long ride on Wednesday I did the Ironman AZ bike route again, because I was curious to gauge my progress and also wanted to re-familiarize myself with exactly what I would face on race day so I could focus my training efforts effectively. My progress turned out to be less than zero, because I actually averaged less than 15 mph on this go-round, compared to over 16 mph last time I did it. I felt good for most of the ride, but I was definitely dragging the last 7 miles or so, and I was so exhausted that I skipped my 20 minute transition run afterwards. I just felt completely spent. I could barely stay awake to drive home, and once I got there I just wanted to go to bed. I decided to make Thursday a rest day. Clearly my body needed to recharge. The problem was, on Friday I did not feel recharged. I had rested from training for a day, but I had seriously skimped on sleep for several nights, and I was feeling the affects big time. Sleep has always been the first thing to go when my schedule fills up, but when you are training for an Ironman, sleep becomes more important than ever.
During my swim on Friday I applied my "breakthrough" swim technique, hoping it would make me faster eventually. Once again it felt so much more efficient. It just felt like I was flowing from one stroke to the next in one fluid movement. But it also felt like I was working harder; like the difference between running fast and actually sprinting. But once again, the end result was slower than before. So here is my thought: Even if it feels faster, if it is harder, and is in fact not faster, than it is probably not the most efficient swim technique.
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