end of summer

Ah, so end the days of summer.

I have not posted in a while. I was out of town for a week because of the death of my grandmother, followed by a planned backpacking trip on the John Muir Trail.

My own training has been a bit sluggish, but coaching has been going well.

I enjoy working with the team on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It's a small group of people (about 30 or so) and attendance has been sparse, but I expect that to change now that Labor Day has come and gone. We just started our first build phase and added our first brick workout last night. Everyone is doing well and most are proficient swimmers...unusual for a group of complete beginners. I love answering questions about injuries and strength and conditioning. Yesterday a guy on the team asked me if I felt like I was still at work when I came to practice. I realized I hadn't thought of it before, but the answer is no--it's just too much fun!

I now have to get a bit more serious about my own training; I've got an half-marathon looming on the horizon. Last night I did a timed 2 miler after a decent warmup and some speed drills. I still suck, but not as badly as I'd thought. I ran a 17:26, mile 1 in 8:22 and mile 2 in 9:04. Pretty crappy split, but I have some time to improve it. I'll fit in some hill work tomorrow, a long run this weekend, hopefully 7+ miles, and maybe some mile repeats or a pyramid next week at the track. I guess, in retrospect, I don't have to feel too bad about my timed 2 mile run...after all, I was recovering from hauling a 40# pack around at 10k of altitude for 4 days!

Sigh. Off to swim a bit.