Well. That was Weird.

Today's workout, that is.  It was quite weird, in a (presumably) thyroid sort of way.  The workout started with a WooHoo, switched to a WTF, then back to a WooHoo and then another WTF.  Those of you with kids in kindergarten will recognize this as an ABAB pattern:  WooHoo/WTF/WooHoo/WTF.  The weird part, of course, is that once workouts descend into WTF, they rarely return to WooHoo.

All signs pointed to today's 5x4K (5x10 laps) going well.  I had rested up over the weekend (a bit too much, actually), and my legs were feeling good.  It was actually below 60 degrees when I started for the Oval at 7 am--I love cool weather.  And, Coach TieGuy had been in town this weekend and we had met at the Oval on Sunday.  He set up my new long track skates for me (adjusting the position of the blade is kind of an art: TieGuy excels at it, and I suck at it).  He gave the official TieGuy stamp of approval to the new stretches I have begun doing in a attempt to get my inflexible hips, quads, and hamstrings to more happily assume a near-correct skating position.  And best of all, despite the fact that I've been on my own, technique-wise, all spring and summer, he was able to watch me skate a few laps without covering his eyes in horror.  He gave me a couple new things (er, actually old-things-I-haven't-mastered-and-had-been-forgetting-to-work-on) to focus on:  drive the left knee in the corner entries; and relax the left arm on the back. My left arm apparently no longer does the chicken wing, but now it's all stiff and tense.  Actually, "stiff and tense" is kind of a trademark of mine; once, at an inline clinic, one of the coaches watched me attempt the skill du jour and then said "well, you're doing it more or less correctly...but you're out on the dance floor doing the robot and the band is playing a Barry White song."  I'm not a dancer, but I think I got his point.  TieGuy and I refer to my skating style as "All Force No Grace."  Apparently, though, the left arm stands out even amidst the general stiff-and-tense gracelessness.

Anyway, armed with a couple new things to focus on, a cool morning, and fresh legs, I was ready to go.  Melissa was there, as was her dad--he's a skater, too, but wasn't planning to do the workout with us.  In fact, his eyes widened a bit in horror when we told him what TieGuy had written for the day's workout.

"Welcome to TieLand," I said.

The first two sets of 10 laps went very well--I was planning on trying for 47 second laps, but the first set averaged 46.1, and the second 45.4.  WooHoo!  The third set started out a little slow; 46's instead of 45's, but still feeling OK.  Then, at lap 5, the WTF--a 48.  Followed by a 50, which by lap 10 had turned into a 55.4, for a nice 49.8 second average.

As I said...WTF?!  This is NOT my usual "getting tired in an endurance workout" pattern.  I suddenly went from "feeling pretty good, still pushing it" to "nothing there, nope, forget it" in one lap.  I was not amused.

Well, I was pretty sure it was thyroid med timing again.  I had taken my fast-acting dose a bit too early, and since this workout was a long one, it was now over 5 hours since I had taken the meds.  Three hours is optimal, four is pushing it.  So I did the only thing I could--I skated directly to my car and took one of my two remaining doses.  I didn't know how fast it would start to take effect, so I decided to wait a half hour before my next set.  I spent the time talking to Mel's dad while we watched Mel do practice starts and fast laps--yes, in the middle of a 50-lap workout.  The girl is an animal.

Then, when my half-hour was up, we went out for set number 4.  Back to WooHoo--laps averaged 46.3.  And set 5 was even better...well, most of it.  I was hammering (well, it's hammering for me!) out low 45's for the first 6 laps, then slipped to 46 and then 47 but still felt pretty good--until lap 10, when I encountered WTF #2.  Lap 10 was a 51.3.  This time, though, I knew the cause; I could feel that I was getting PVC's, a harmless but performance-thwarting heart arrhythmia that I've had for over 20 years.  Oh, well...the first 9 laps in the last set averaged 45.8, which I was thrilled with.  And the 4 WooHoo sets averaged 45.9--the first  long endurance workout all spring and summer that has averaged less than 48 second laps.

Weird or not, I'll take it.  And I really need to start paying closer attention to my thyroid med timing!