11k run in the hot and humid weather. 20 min open water swim. Heart rate at 120 beats per minute – which feels very slow but I know that the long term benefits of keeping my heart rate in Zone 2 is more important than a 1 day heroic effort.
There is certainly discipline needed to keep the heart rate slow when the body feels it can go faster.
Discipline is a mental toughness – the ability to say ‘I am going to do such and such’ and then follow through with it. It is a skill that has to be practiced – practice that encourages the muscle of will power to fire.
Another note worthy point is in the 11k run my pain prone knee was not an issue – I attribute this to focusing on my Psoas.
After re-listening to David Goggins on Joe Rogans Podcast discuss how his psoas muscle caused his legs to pronate which in turn caused a myriad of issues. I put two and two together and decided to double down on my hip flexor and psoas flexibility.
15-20 minutes of the past few days have been dedicated to hip mobility. And on my run today I focused on keeping my hips engaged, butt flexed, and posture upright and strong.
Again, my pace was slow (7 min per kilometre) but my form and heart rate were exactly where I wanted them.
The goal for my run on Wednesday is to run with perfect form and maximize the efficiency of each stride.
Open water swim felt great. I tried to maintain a down hill feel while using my hips to generate movement. Really felt nice – good breath control – although I do favour breathing over my right shoulder – I need to practice breathing over my left in case I get into a situation where I have to breathe on both sides. This will be a focus of tomorrow morning’s swim.
I am extremely tired while writing this and recovery will be a priority for tonight. Once the kids are asleep I am gosure my to get my next batch of kombucha fermenting then off to bed after a nice recovery Epson salt bath.