Patience...Grasshopper

Training has been going well of late with some good feedback on the run and until yesterday, I wasn't too sure about the bike.  I rode what is probably considered the second hardest bike loop in Marin County with a crazy 6-7 km climb called Bolinas to Fairfax.  I did the 70 mile ride solo in 4:40, which is about 1 hour faster than what I did 4 months ago.  I was much more consistent this time around, keeping a solid pace the entire time and taking very little breaks for water/food.  I never felt like I was maxing it out but instead felt like I kept it strong and solid.  I was really unsure of my biking up to this point as I had only ridden the bike outdoors twice in the past month.  My running however, has been progressing quite well.  This past Tuesday, I did a brick where I ran my fastest 5K route off the bike, 18:58.  The next day, I did my first speedwork on the track all by my lonesome:  3 rounds of one  800 on 3:15 and one 800 on 4:45.  I held 2:43, 2:48, 2:48, 2:50, 2:45, 2:47 for a total time of 20:00 minute for the workout, but 16:41 of running for 3 miles.  Once again, I stuck with my motto that it's about speed and not hurt so I found a speedy pace and didn't feel a need to ramp it up.  Rather having a rest interval, I made this speedwork like a swim set where I had intervals (3:15, 4:45) and the amount of rest I got depended on how fast I ran the 800.  I averaged about 30 seconds rest on the first 800 and then 1 minute on the second 800.  My swim, however, hasn't been so hot.  In fact, up until Wednesday, I actually thought I was out of swim shape.  I had some conflicts last week and was unable to do my normal hard effort swim sets.  I struggled to hold 1:20's for 3 x 1000's on Sunday and Monday but come Wednesday, I was back to holding 1:10's for 300-400 yards.  I also held 1:08's for five 100's on the 1:15, so things are looking better. Staying true to my vow that I would not let training absorb all my time this year, I skipped my brick run and weight session on Saturday for a social event and instead of doing my long run today, I only ran 40 minutes to watch the Alcatraz race and cheer friends on. I have a rule that I don't try to make up missed workouts so tomorrow should just be a swim as usual.  All this positive feedback had me wanting to race this past weekend but I decided against it in favor of building more onto my aerobic/training base and I just didn't want to blow any more money on races. The rest of June is pretty quiet with very little races offered so I intend to find a 10K road race to do sometime in late June.  I do have a rant or more like a rave but am tired and will wait to post it tomorrow or the next day.