Relativity

Last night my daughter made her T-Ball debut and I got to learn a lesson in relativity. Up until last night I was under the impression that my daughter threw and ran like a girl. I didn't think she was quite cut out for sports. Then I saw her against other girls her age. In comparison she's a freakin' all star. Up until then my only point of comparison was her brother - who is and always has been a natural athlete (unlike his father!). Relative to her brother she's a bench warmer. Relative to other girls her age she's at the top of the class.

She had no trouble hitting the ball as far as some of the boys. Her throws actually made it to the coach unlike most of the other girls. They worked on handling ground balls and she was able to stop and return the ball where many of the other girls watched it roll between their legs. She was energetic and focused. She out ran a few of the boys when they were running bases. Only a couple of the ten or so girls were doing that well.

This got me thinking about whether or not there were other areas where I was making incorrect relative judgments.

Relatively speaking my run sucks this year. Looking back at my blogged accounts of my running workouts more or less confirms this. But does it? Not so much it turns out. My run seems to suck because I'm comparing it to how I felt last year at this time. Not an apples to apples comparison as it turns out. Last year at this time I had trained for and completed a marathon and was keeping my long runs on the high side (15 to 20 miles) to keep in form for the Ironman. In general I was also running about 25% more on my midweek runs so a 5 mile run felt last year felt like a walk in the park. Relatively speaking last year's 20 mile run should feel like this year's 15. It does. How about that. Relatively speaking, things with my run aren't so bad after all.

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Workout Summary

45 minutes yoga (yesterday)

2000 yard swim - 35 minutes continuous

45 minute spin class - intervals

6 mile run - 1/3 Z2/Z3, 1/3 Z3/Z4, 1/3 Z4/Z5

Swim went a lot faster than usual for the distance. I was a bit on the gassy side so maybe I was more buoyant today. My form also felt "on" which I'm sure helped. Some days you feel like a torpedo and others you feel like a bowling ball. I like the torpedo days.

I think I'm just about done with spin classes - at least on the non-rainy days for the remainder of the summer. Instead I think I'm going to start bringing my bike to the club and doing that after the swim instead. I haven't been able to ride as frequently as I was able to last year due to my kids getting more involved with sports, etc. and I'm seeing a big difference in my riding. Of course it's quite a hassle so we'll see if I follow through.

The run went relatively well (pun intended!). For the first time in a while I ran without music and mixed up my tempo to push against my heart rate boundaries. I was surprised to see I was running under 8's for a lot of the run. Not having the music also helped me focus on my form instead of just my cadence. Of course there was no long run this past weekend to melt down my legs so that probably helped as well.

And yes, I was accosted by a well known red winged black bird who seems to wait for me now along my run route. Bring it on I say.