Why not hit the legs one more time?

STRENGTH: P90X Legs & Back, Abs

Tuesday speedwork, Wednesday Q bike, Thursday a long run, Friday rest leg specific strength training, all to be followed by a long bike Saturday and a long trail run Sunday.

Why not?

Another 10 on Thursday

RUN 10 miles in 1:36, more data this time with mile splits
SWIM!!!!! dammit, no swim.

Average 9.43 146
1       10.23 130
2        9.36 142
3        9.28 144
4        9.45 140
5        9.45 145
6      10.23 147
7       11.13 137
8        8.35 159
9       8.54 157
10      9.13 163

I started off at 5:15am and got 3.14 done before the group run. Surprisingly, I managed a similar pace for the first 3 miles of the group run, I thought for sure I'd speed up. I fasted this one, and it was a struggle to keep a high pace going. Or so I thought...

We had two new runners who split off with JM (he joined too!) at the zoo ( mile 6 we slowed for them, mile 7 waited a bit) then I took off with the goal of catching IT who was just head. you can see the times increase for miles 8-10, that's when I ran with him.

My goal for this run was to run tired, run fasted, and keep a low HR. I kept the low HR promise for the first hour, although I think I should be lower. Yes, looking back I can be. Sunday's 8 miler with RM at a 11:17 pace had an ave of 126bpm. So I guess I didn't really accomplish that goal. But I sure as heck was tired!

Bike-Strength-Bike

BIKE: 17.5 miles indoors in 1 hour, 30/30 hard intervals workout
STRENGTH: Abs, Back & Biceps, 1hr
BIKE: long commute with goal of ride extension: 1 hr and ~11.4 miles

Today satisfied a few goals for me. The first is getting more bike time in, even if it's easy riding around town (which I don't particularly like as a workout) and/or part of my commute. The second is time management. By stacking with sessions this way I can skip the P90X warm-up and cool-down, and I don't have to leave the house and come back again for the doggie.

I got up early at 430 but didn't start riding until after 6. The plan was to start closer to 5-530am. So in terms of time management, I kinda failed. What was I doing, anyway?

Bike 1hr 6:12 to 7:12
Abs 7:15 to 7:30
Strength 7:30-8:15
Eat, shower, eat more, walk the dog...
9:35 leave for work
10:20 arrive at work.

I must be the only person who can wake up at 430am and take almost 6 hrs to get to work. The really depressing thing about this is that only 2.75hrs (maybe 3) were actually spent training. I lost 1.5hrs doing who knows what and another 1.5hrs getting ready to leave for work. Can't speed that up a little bit?

Anyway, in good news, today was probably my BEST Abs Ripper workout yet. Still not hitting every crunch, but on the In/Out, Froggie, Mason Twists, and VUp/Pulse Ups I'm finally keeping up! Yay!

Step-Downs at the track

RUN about 55-60 mins and 6.5 miles
STRENGTH 45 mins of plyoX

Workout was 2x1200, 2x800, 2x400 then I added a 200 just to get a rounded 5K speedwork total.

1200's in 5:21 (7:10m/m; 151bpm) and 5:18 (7:06/162)
800's in 3:30 (7:02/159) and 3:38 (7:18/162)
400's in 1:42 (6:50/156) and 1:40(6:42/153)

I ran this workout alone, RM and BE were at the track but doing their own thing. I was very happy to see that I was mostly steady between the intervals, and picking up the pace as the workout progressed.

As usual, while running to the track I started coming up with reasons I would be slow today. I've just learned to not listen anymore. I'm not as fast as I want to be, but I'm happy with how today went. When I finish an interval and can't do anything more than lean over and breath--YES! Now my next goal will be to puke after an interval :)

According to the pace chart that accompanied the Step Down workout, I'm running at a 23-something 5K pace and a 3:30-3:40 something marathon pace?! How does that work out? What do I need to do to make progress on that type of marathon time? And if I add together my times above for a 5K, it comes out to about 21 minutes. That's my 5K PR time, so I know I can go faster than what I did today. (ETA: the footnote of the Step-Down pace chart says "Being able to run these times does not predict the corresponding race performance. Rather, it indicates that your aerobic plumbing will not limit you...you must also train to have enough endurance and lactic acid clearing capability to meet that goal."

I'm also improving at the plyos workout, and wondering if there is a 2nd version I can buy to keep the variety up. I figure if I did this every week in the training season, I'd be doing it about 40 times. Is Tony H that funny? He cracks me up, but it's more laughing at what's he saying, not with it.

More MCT's

BIKE 3-some hours, and 40 miles
STRENGTH: 1 hr of Chest Shoulders and Triceps, then Abs

Yay for 3 day weekends! And ones with great weather! It rained later in the afternoon but not a drop on the ride.

I was with a new group today, and in the first 20 miles it was me and BG pushing a faster pace and intervals. I'm getting better but still weak on the intervals. This really highlights where I need to start focusing for improvement.

After 24 miles I turned around to ride with G, she was hoping to do her first 40 today and I was so excited to see it happen. She was fantastic, always positive and laughing (she has 2 beagles too!), lots to talk about, and even when she started hurting kept pushing it. I ook back and wonder if I was so pleasant on my first long rides? And whether I did them alone? When I was unsure of myself I go off alone to ride so others wouldn't see my weaknesses. I think it takes a strength to join a new group to try something new.

She did it! and BS did his first 56! What an awesome ride!

I came home and did my Monday P90X. Even though I did CS&T Friday, I did it again today to get back on schedule. There was definitely improvement even in just the few days, many more pushups :)

Oh and I have a schedule worked out to blend the UM and HIM plans.
Monday: swim and p90x
Tuesday: speed run and plyoX
Wednesday: p90x and Q bike extended for time (2hrs)
Thursday: extended group run (90-120 mins) and swim
Friday: swim
Saturday/Sunday: long trail run one day, and long bike/brick the other.

So I'm moving the 2nd long weekend run to Thursday, and doing a long bike instead on the weekend day. I'm also extending the Weds ride to increase my biking. I still need another bike in there somewhere, or I really need to push the weekend ride hard to get the miles, time, and improvements I need to make.

Next I need to set some benchmark goals. My HIM is only 2 months away!!!

Easy run with RM and D

RUN 8.3 in 90 mins, easy pace

My legs were still burning from Friday and Saturday, so this was a good idea all around. RM and I could talk all day, sometimes we get a little negative on others but that's easy to change :) Besides, you need to rant sometimes. And he loves to talk training, and we all know that I do too.

I'm not used to running with a doggie, and D is a great partner. A little wandery, but she keeps pace and doesn't dart off much (one exception for a goose today). I wonder if Sugar could be that good?

My legs hurt after this, and so did the bottoms of my feet. It took awhile to figure it out--I was spending more time with my feet on the ground at this pace. Another evening early to bed.

NUMERICS total of 11:05 hours with one day off
Swim zero
Bike 28.6 miles in 1:40
Run 33.65 miles in 6:15
Strength 3:10 of P90X

My ratios are WAY OFF! Spend some time working out a better schedule!

Three climbs up the Chubb

RUN: 15 miles in 3.5hrs on the Chubb

My goal was 20 miles. It wasn't until I hit 12 miles that I realized how ambitious that goal was. I also had a goal of doing a Triple Chubb, as a stepping stone to doing a Quad Chubb.

Absolutely gorgeous day and start to the Mem Day weekend! The plan called for a 20+8 weekend but I knew I'd be biking some of it. I still haven't figured out the best way to merge the HIM and UM plans.

The first hour didn't go so smooth. I veered off onto the wrong trail early on and found myself at the bottom of a very steep rocky hill. I took it just for kicks, but in getting back onto the right route I realized I was going the wrong way--heading back to the shelter! Oh well. I re-calculated and planned to run out 9 then turn around. It didn't hit me until later that 9 miles was most of the trail. Bad math. So in the 1st hour, I did only 4 miles.

Hit the shelter lot and headed back up to the picnic table, this time taking the correct trail. I was able to feel the improvements the plyometrics are making for me--I was pushing the leaps and lateral jumps much more than I was before and feeling good with it. This was the good thing from P90X today, the bad was that my back muscles were sore under the Camelbak!

I was getting some anxiety about my bad math, and picked a goal of doing a "hard" mile, then an "easy" mile, all relative to each other. Up and over the bluff, down to the river where flooding blocked the DC course just a month ago. The water was gone by now, but the damage is still there. Trees and branches blocked the river trail only a quarter mile in. I was able to cross or go around a few but eventually I was blocked off. Humph. Well, didn't I want to do a Triple anyway? Back to the bluff.

Once at the bluff, I veered off to run along the gravel road that I discovered in volunteering for the DC. Out a mile, found a golf ball and kept it for some reason, back a mile. I was back at the RR tracks and needed many many more miles before I hit 10 miles. Nuts. Back to the water. Back to the tracks, only around 8 miles now. Dammit. Up the bluff. I passed for the 2nd time a group of guys, this time I walked a bit up the hill with them, learned they are going to the Grand Canyon for hiking next weekend! Doesn't that sound fun?!

Anyway, back towards the truck after re-doing the Chinkapin. The Garmin beeped for 12 and I knew that if I stopped I'd lose more time. So I skipped the truck and headed up Flint Quarry, planning to turn around after 1.5 miles so I could hit 15 today. Found the guys again at the top, more talking, then back down.

So while I'm disappointed that I only got 15 miles, I'm still happy. My legs were sore from the previous day's P90X, I only ran a total of 15 miles last weekend, and it's the Chubb for cryin out loud! Technic alus Maximus! It took me 2.5 hours to run 15 miles on the TTT course, and just under 3.5 on the Chubb. Wow.

Another WasGonna Swim

STRENGHT: Legs & Back, Chest Shoulders & Triceps, and Abs

What was that they say about not cramming workouts? Oh yeah...don't do it.

The CST DVD got skipped since I took Monday off. I tried to do it Weds but the DVD wouldn't play. So here I am on Friday doing 90 mins of P90X before a long 3-day training weekend. Bring on the pain.

This CST DVD was my first of this workout, lotsa pushups! At least I was supposed to be doing a lot of pushups, I failed there. Wow, there's work to be done.

I had said I was going to swim, but in the end I didn't. This now makes a full week that I haven't been to the pool. I really have to turn the screws on that. It's not that I dont' want to work out, more that I just don't prioritize going to the pool.

10 mile benchmark run

RUN 10.3 miles in 90 mins

The first 6.6 was with the group, EK and MK joined us today! This first loop was in 8:47m/m, a comfortably fast pace.

As we talked at the fountain, my coworker ran by in the direction I was going to finish my run. I ran with him for a short time until he turned off. His pace was quick and I made it a goal to hold that pace for my last 3.4 miles--8:32 ave in the end! So probably  not as fast as his, but definitely faster that the earlier segment :)

My fatigue is much improved by now. Thank gawd.

This indoor riding thing...starting to suck

BIKE 1hr and 17.4 miles, 30/30 workout
STRENGTH Back & Biceps, Abs

After almost a 10hr snooze, I'm feeling so much better. But not so good that my biking has suddenly improved. I'm still doing a "hard" workout and only covering 17 miles. This is indoors! "Hard" effort! Shouldn't I be hitting at least 18? I never stop spinning! Maybe my rest periods are too easy. Whatever it is, my biking is still weak. And staying indoors isn't likely to help that much.

B&B for the first time. Oof what a doozy :) I tried to keep the focus on swim muscles for some of the pull up sets. "pull up" I should say, since I'm using the bands.

Triple B recovery?!

Monday Rest
Tuesday P90x Plyo and a 40 mind easy bike ride, 11 miles


Fatigued. So freaking tired I can barely walk. Monday I was excited post Triple B but by Tuesday it was worrisome.

It's kinda easy to see where it came from--3 days in a row of up early and to bed late.

Speaking of bed: Get there now!

Triple B weekend

Saturday RUN 6.1 miles in 1 hour on the TTT run course
Sunday RUN 8.3 miles in 1:30 on the course, 3 hill repeats

There's too much to be said about this weekend, much of it I'll only mention in passing. And even more that I'll never get to put into writing. Or maybe I will later as I absorb it all.

First off, the weekend reminded me of why I love triathlon so much. It seems to apply to ultrarunning too. That looking-out-for-everyone aspect. Does it come from shared pain and suffering? A respect derived from the knowledge that this other person is just as involved in the self challenge as you are? I can't put it into words, that feeling that others don't "get it" and that we bond from that.

Whatever it is, the support from friends, team mates, and fellow athletes left a mark on me this past weekend. I'm so proud, lucky, and honored to be a part of this culture.

Second, those same people provide the greatest inspiration. Sometimes you see another athlete who makes it look so easy. Other times it's an athlete who looks to be suffering it on the course. Either way, and for all who fall in the middle of that spectrum, I often wonder why they are doing this. What drives them? And what drives me to do the same to myself? The answer to that is the same as theirs. I don't believe so much that we are "finding ourselves" out there as much as we are "creating ourselves". And I think that is why we bond and why it's so inspiring to see it in others.

This weekend, I saw so much inspiration that I might have finally lifted out of my post-race slump. It's hard to admit to this slump, but it's there. I just kept feeling like my A race was over and I'm "done". Done? In April? Oh, to the HELL NO. But up to last week I was still in the slump and trying to dig out. Trying to find the oomph needed to hit the registration button. Trying to find the motivation needed to drag my ass to the pool a few times a week. Seeing my friends this weekend reminded me of why I love this so much. From a redeemed athlete who fixed problems from last year, to many doing their first like this endurance event, to a particular inspiration who relished the individual joys of each race, to one who pushed to the limits and recognized the need to quit, to one who pushed through a wall into an ER visit, to two who sacrificed their race for another, and finally to one friend who experienced the worst--I have more inspiration than I can handle right now.

They gave so much of themselves this past weekend each in their own ways. How can a bee not give back? I had so much fun and would do it again :)

10.00 miles and 1000 yards

RUN: 10 miles in 1:35. First 2.9 miles at 10m/m, last 7.1 at 9:18
SWIM: 1000 y as 2x [1 lap-2-lap-3 lap-4 lap]

I know I keep saying this, but what a beautiful morning. We started with the sun on the way up, warm mid-70's, potential for rain in the forecast....

It was a small group today, LC JF and new Club member DH. With pretty much everyone but me racing this weekend, I'm happy anyone showed up at all. They wanted an easy 3, so we ran out backwards (I know--crazy right?!) from our usual way to the bridges around the water and back.

I had only planned on doing a total of 7 miles today, not another loop of the park and certainly not extra on top of that to hit an even 10 miles. Does this count as a WazGonna? Or maybe a WaznGonna? Song in my head was George Strait's It Just Comes Natural.

I went to work, started an assay, then went for a swim during a long incubation. And here is where the day gets more memorable.

I hadn't eaten much before the swim. In fact, I probably should have really focused on eating more. But I didn't want a fully tummy to be an excuse for skipping the swim, and I didn't think it would be 2.5 hrs between the run and the swim. So by the time I got to the pool I was in a daze. I dressed up then rinsed off in the shower for about ... oh... 5-10 minutes? I just stood there. No motivation to leave. I occurred to me that I could just strip the suit off and leave (I didn't have to swim) but I knew that would disappoint me in the end. Eventually I turned off the shower and went to the pool deck.

The water felt really cool after a hot soak in a shower. HTFU and get in!

I didn't have a huge plan for the swim, it's probably better if I did have one. Anyway, I decided to do a lap count ladder and focus on one thing in each "rung". Not surprisingly, I kept dazing out during the swim. It's probably good that I didn't go over 4 laps because by the end of that I wouldn't have been paying attention anyway. I hung on the wall a few times to rest, with my head completely unengaged.

While it's probably a great idea to run yourself low now and then to see how it feels and test recovery, maybe swimming isn't the place to do it. Especially when the lifeguard is watching a class of "bobbers" that is usually more of a risk than I am!

But I'm glad the swim is done, very happy I went.

Q bike + Plyo = TIRED!

BIKE: just over an hour and 18 miles, 2x15 shooting for 20mph
STRENGTH: about 45 mins of PlyoX
COMMUTE: 6 miles

Oh My Goodness. Even though I took my BCAA supps this morning I'm still feeling that dragging, underwater, heavy feeling after this morning's workout. More protein? Or this is normal for back-to-back Q days?

As much as it sucks to ride indoors, that's about the only way to get in a workout like this. Where in town can I do 15 minutes uninterrupted? I could drive out of town to the MCT, that's about it. Maybe on days when I don't have anything else going on (hahahahahaha let me know when that day is here!) I could drive out to the trails or open road. Until then, and as I've done for the past couple of years, I'm doing my Quality rides on the trainer.

I struggled to stay focused, particularly on the 2nd 15 minutes. As I have been for the past few weeks, I'm surprised that I can't get up to speed like I expect to. Some of my struggle was just to keep the speed at or above 20 mph. That doesn't seem like it should be that hard for me. But I'm just getting started. Ask me again in a few weeks.

I'm seeing the benefits of the plyos--climbing stairs, reaching for something on my toes, getting up off the floor--all feeling stronger and more flexy. I love this DVD and maybe I can find more to keep me entertained over the summer. Doing this same one over and over all summer long....boring! But I can't get too bored yet, the workout leaves me drained. When I can finish that workout and beg for me, then I'll go shopping.

5x600 then Core Syn

RUN: ~50-55 mins and ~5.3 miles
STRENGTH: P90X Core Synergystics
COMMUTE: 5 miles from DB Chevy

In trying to figure out my constant fatigue lately, we found that my sleep pattern has changed with the dog. She wakes me up around 4-430am. To counter balance this, I need to be getting to bed around 8-830, something I haven't been doing. So I'm making an effort on that front to see if it helps.

I also tried for the first time today the BCAA's we purchased over the weekend, to see if consuming those during my strength training sessions help out. I tried 1 scoop today in a bottle, added more than the recommended 6oz of water, then flavored it with a squirt of lemon juice. That didn't seem to ppt out the proteins like I thought it might. Hey, I'm no protein chemist. So it was an experiment all around.

I'm surprised at how far the sun is up at 6:15am, the day is in full swing! I thought I'd be alone to day since the rest of the group is racing this weekend, but BE did join. I let him pick the workout--5x600's with a 200 walk/jog. We mostly walked. He timed my 600's at 2:36 ish, and the pace calculator says that's a 6:58 m/m! Really? That's a lot faster than the 400m intervals last week.

Then back home for the Core Syn DVD. It was good, kinda boring, not very satisfying overall as a fatigue-inducing session. But measured as a what-was-I-good-or-bad-at, well that's a different story. Some moves were too easy and some were just downright awful. Like the banana (shoulders, arms, and legs up) was WEAK. And that's what keeps me coming back. Finding and fixing weaknesses.

Then a commute in from DB Chevy. It's uphill most of the entire way back, so plan ahead for that!

How did the BCAAs work? Still seeing how it goes.

Back at Babler

RUN: 14.1 miles in just under 3hrs, Babler!

Oooh I missed trail running and now I'm back to it. No, I'm not registered for the MT50 (yet) but I really do intend to. I just have to plan things out and feel certain about it.

Anyway, today was exciting because I finally get to run with someone I don't run with often--RM! And he had his doggie :)  He's nursing an injury ahead of TTT, so we took the first 1:20 easy and walked when needed. There's no rush, and we did 5.7 miles in this section. I am so used to TH's steady run that running with a doggie and RM changed it, the talking rhythm and cadence are all different.

After he was done, I was on my own. One of my goals for this next race is to be stronger on hills (or smarter, depending on how you want to look at it) so I set out planning to hit hills instead of walking them.  in the next 1:40 I wrapped up 8.4 more miles. Still some walking (hillz power doesn't come on overnight) up the bigger hills, but I'm satisfied with the intervals I got done.

I stuck to my 45 min nutrition and thought a lot about what gear I'm going to wear this summer. It was on the brain because it was warm today. I'm sure a bra top won't work with the Camelbak, so maybe those DS Cool Wings I've looked at for years?

Either way, I'm also happy to report that I didn't seem to feel at all the effects of yesterday's ride on the legs. Yesterday my hips and hammies were sounding off during the ride. Today was all cool. So that means I'm one step closer to signing up for the MT50--I've shown that I can long bike/long run a weekend. Now I just want to be sure I can get enough long bike/loooooong run in to effectively finish July's HIM and Sept's 50M.

First "long" ride! WooHoo!!

BIKE: ~3:20 and 56.3 miles on the MCTs

Finally. Finally finally finally! I got in a real bike ride! YES!!!!

And it almost didn't happen this way. I was supposed to go to NT for a bike-swim-run type of thing, or at least some combination of the three (or maybe just two) but when I went to bed last night I realized I didn't want to go to NT. I hated NT. OK, that's strong. I really dislike NT.

Even though I needed the swim practice, something about paying $$ to swim in a cold pond 35-40 miles away from here just didn't appeal. Gee, what could that be? The temps? The money? The time lost driving? All peeves I have.

So I gave myself overnight to incubate on it, then when I woke up and still didn't like the idea I email-opted out and made my own plans on the MCTs, my security blanket-like trail system. I have other good reasons for doing this.

I wasn't sure of my bike skills yet, for some reason I had it in my head that I'd have to "learn" to ride again, so I was apprehensive about being in a group about to race TTT. I like to think that races are 'protected' in these situations. I sure as hell wouldn't want so f-up joining my group ride right before my big race! Also it was the first test of the bike outdoors, if there were any mechanicals I wouldn't want them slowing down the group. Wow, had a lot of reasons to skip NT didn't I?

Well, enough with the explain-aways. On to the ride!

The day was sunny and cool with the promise of warmer temps and pollen. My first eye-opener was how low Frea's bars are. Wow, I got used to the Bird's lax position. As soon as I started out on the trail, I remembered my previous experiences here in the spring. Sandy, itchy eyes and burning throat from the pollen! I also remember this ride (I thought it was last March but I can't find it in the history...) as one in which I mashed the pedals too much and ended with killer sore feets.

I got rolling and had some mental issues at the start. Somewhere around 10 miles I wanted to turn around and head home. Yeah, came all this way for 20 miles. Suck it up, buttercup.  Hit 15 miles and realized doing 30 would be easy enough. Hit 20 and knew that I was good for 50. The ride got better as I settled in.

Anything noted I need to work on? Well this was a flat ride, so I'll say hills need focus. And I say that because I had no "upper HR" stamina on this ride. I could hit a hard interval but I was only good for 30s or so. Hahaha, it's only the first ride! Everything felt great.

Legs and Back and Abs and AURAx2

STRENGTH: L&B then Abs

YAY I was able to do the abs work out with minimal pain. And I'm not just saying that, after a few workouts of HTFU. Really, it felt good. I think next time the push-ups are featured I should do abs first. I think it's the push-ups that are aggravating things.

I need to report in on a few things here. Many times I ignore what's going on for a few days then realize that if I had kept better track I might have been able to figure things out faster.

Yesterday I had an aura before the run, and today I had one before the P90X and one mini one after. The room spun, my tummy turned over, and my HR elevated (probably all due to hypervigilance). I pushed down a lot more brekkie than normal. Urp, it's not feeling all that good yet.

I'm having trouble sleeping and I have uneven energy. Some days I just want to sleep, other days like yesterday I'm bouncy happy and OK. When my head hits the pillow I'm ready to snooze, my body doesn't want to get up again for anything, yet I don't sleep right away and wake up often. Then my doggie wakes me between 4 and 430 in the morning...that's OK since I'm going to bed around 9pm though. So I'm getting enough time in bed, but is it quality sleep?

I'm trying to eat more at breakfast, but my brekkie schedule is different now. DH pointed out that I'm getting up earlier to do P90X then still doing tri training. I knew this, but didn't really realize it until I started tracking how I felt in the mornings. So my first brekkie is smaller or non-existent so I don't get tummy upset strength training. Then an hour or so of cardio. Then second brekkie which lately has been smaller than before. I feel full and satisfied by the tummy, but maybe this isn't enough in the end to recover properly.

It's notable that my energy was better yesterday and it was a P90X day off. Just did 1:45 of cardio. Haha, "just".

At the same time, I'm getting dehydrated at work a lot lately. I need to make a better effort to drink more water!

It's hard to say if this brain-dead fog I'm in lately is due to poor fueling, extra training, the change in schedule, the fatigue of strength training, dehydration. All possible cues to keep an eye on.

Get Your Shine On

I am not registered for my first triathlon this year! Route 66 Half.

I had good energy this afternoon, and had dreams of a huge PR, racing myself to the edge, and blowing up while training. Good dreams, really!

I'm also looking for a 13.1 to PR between now and then. Not a lot of options!

Oh and I need to report in on the aura this morning before the run. Just mentioning it.

I like the run-swim combo!

RUN: 6.6 miles in 56.5 minutes, right around 8:30 m/m pace
SWIM: 1500y in 43 mins, right around too-damned-slow pace, 10x150's

Beautiful, warm, muggy morning. When spring sprung it did a good job.

It seems every time I drive into the parking lot for this run, a part of my mind starts finding potential reasons as to why I could be slow. Today was no different, with my brain adding up Tuesday's and Wednesday's hours, only to realize that a few hours of quality work shouldn't change too much. Suck it up, buttercup.

And in the end, it was still a quick run. I'm looking forward to when the 8:30 m/m is easy again. In all honesty, it's not that today was hard. It's more like the pace is hard to hold when running alone, and I'm struggling to get back to that point again. Patience!

The swim was about 45 mins after the run, too much time as I was slacking and talking, but plenty of time to recover from the run. I didn't have huge goals. Hell, I'm happy that I'm getting my ass to the pool! D said he swam a 7100y yesterday at a 1:35/100y pace, and the old guy sharing the lane with me (swimming with a noodle and a kickboard) flanked me with a wide spectrum of abilities. Where I was years ago--struggling to swim from one end to the other. And where I hope to be someday--able to crank out major yardage at a fast clip. I was able to crank out the yardage last year, but never at that pace. I'm not sure I ever will, but it's something to aspire to.

I've been thinking about my lat muscles during the P90X, how to build and engage them. And today in the pool I felt stronger. Is that the P90X talking?

Super Triceps!

BIKE: 1hr and 18 miles, 2x12mins hard
STRENGTH: arms and shoulders DVD

Saved some time today by doing the WU in the bike, then I could skip the WU in the DVD! Go me! Unfortunately, I still couldn't do the abs DVD. Still pained.

This is now my 3rd time doing this DVD, and my progress sheets are showing progress. When I started, I could only use the 5lb weights for the tricep moves. Today I did 12lb. Stuggled a bit, but progress!

Had stupid thoughts today about doing the MT100 instead of the MT50. I was tired.

Track + Plyos=TIRED!

RUN: 5 miles in about 50 mins, 8x400m on the track. ~7:28m/m in the intervals
STRENGTH: 45 mins of PlyoX

Today was the first "official" Sunrise Speedwork (it now has a name!) with the group, two others joined this morning. We did the BRR workout of 8x400 at 10K pace. I'm pretty sure that 7:28 isn't my 10K pace, as that equals a 46 min 10K. Yeah, that wasn't my 10K pace. No wonder I was so tired! I'd feel good over the first 200y but then lose energy and BE's tail as the next 200 progressed.

Beautiful morning. Great run. Off to Plyos!

Then off to work, and OOOF the fatigue was like a pile of bricks. By the time meeting was over (1.5hrs sitting in an uncomfy chair...) I was brain and energy dead. No momentum. No drive. No interest. I was awake and functioning, but not much.

I love the fatigue, it tells me I'm working. But what am I working for right now?! I'm not signed up for anything, although a MT50 sign-up is imminent ..  Yet here I am logging hours and staring at training plans.

And speaking of the MT50, today is the official "first run" of the training plan!

OK back to fatigue. I put two 45-50 mins HARD workouts back-to-back today, what should I expect? TIRED! Duh, I know. But I just seem unreasonably tired the last few days.

Stupid ab muscle

STRENGTH: 52 mins of Chest & Back, had to skip the abs

Today I'm just not feeling right. It's like I'm in a fog, or underwater. I can't focus and I feel like I want to go home and take a nap, except I'm too tired to walk out to the truck.

My plans for today were to P90X then swim, but I backed off and just did the strength training. The Chest & Back felt good but I really wish I had a pull up bar--I tested JG's and found I could barely do 2 pull-ups! But a real downer was the return of the pained lower ab muscle. It seems that pushups are irritating it, not the crunches like I first thought. So while I was able to do most of the pushups (some hurt more than others, depending on the form) it still suffered.

But I am happy to report that my pushup numbers are improving over my first week! This is the 3rd run through the C&B DVD. Next week I get a different schedule.

I did some thinking and reviewing of my training schedule, and called up the numerics for last week. 12hrs of training, when I'm not really training for anything! Taking the day off from the swim might be what I need to catch up on fatigue.

I thought it was going to be 10 miles

RUN: 1:29 and 9.1 miles

When I crossed the "finish" for this run I really expected the Garmin to report 10 miles. Why? Bad math, I guess. How I expected to get 10 miles when the first half had only 4.54 and I didn't run any faster in the 2nd half is beyond me.

And why I though I did 3hrs on Saturday and 3hrs on Sunday? Ugh, more bad math?

This run was on a quiet, calm, warm, dry morning with only light winds. Gorgeous and calming. But it felt like I was running faster than the 9-something pace I did.

NUMERICS, I looked at these because I'm remarkably tired. Surprise!

SWIM 3800y in 1hr 38 mins
BIKE 51.5 mi in 3hrs
RUN 25.86 mi in 4hrs
STRENGTH 4hr 20 mins
COMMUTE 12 bike miles

Total 12:08

Another day indoors

RUN: 45 mins, 5 miles on a treadmill
SWIM: 45 mins, 1800y as 100y intervals

I really need to pay more attention to the ILV YMCA pool schedule when I go. I felt like such a sleep-in slacker when I left the house at almost 9am to go to the pool, only to get to the pool and see that the lights weren't even on yet! The pool didn't open until 9:30. So instead of swimming first, I ran first.

It was a dry, warm day out but I hate running in the short city blocks when I want to get sustained intervals in. I could have drive to a park with a trail, but that would have really decreased the likelihood of getting a swim done. So I stayed and treadmilled.

Treadmills aren't all bad. It does suck to have a TV screen shoved up into my face, but worse this time was the lack of air circulation and the heat. I love me some good sweating--makes the run feel like all the more work--but this was more than usual. It also sucks to have no change in scenery. But I can't complain, can I? I chose this!

So many times in the run after the 25 min mark I wanted to rest and walk. But something about doing a 50 miler messes that up for me, I tell myself that "I did 50 miles, I can do 5" and thusly the challenge with myself is ON. But by 40 mins I was counting the seconds, talking myself through it.

On to the swim, and at first there was a guy next to my lane with a IMWI swim cap. I was excited to ask him what year he raced (he did IMWI 10!) but now sitting here I think I've seen him before and asked the same question. Oh well.

This was my longest swim so far this year, and I can feel the swim coming back to me. I timed a non-raced non-sprinting 100y at 1:57, a huge improvement over the 2:11 of a few weekends ago. My endurance over 100y is still suffering, whether it's boredom or really fatigue is something to consider. I kept wanting to hang on the wall to rest, but just like in the run I kept myself going.

I'm enjoying this! I love being back in the saddle. Today in STL was the Vino Fondo, amazing how much I would have sucked at that right now.

I love rain, but COME ON!

STRENGTH: 50-55 mins of Legs & Back, 15 mins of Abs
BIKE: 2 hrs and 34.5 miles as 30, 20, 10, 10 mod-hard intervals

I do love rain, really I do. But yet again another weekend of missed riding due to rain. On top of that, I was traveling home so I didn't want to spend too much time in training while I'm there.

It's funny to say "in training" when I'm not even signed up for anything. What am I training for?

Well to be honest, another 50 miler! I did the back calculations and I re-start the training plan this coming Monday. I'll be honest again, and say that I'm not quite ready for the long weekend runs again just yet. So I'm looking to sub in long bike rides instead.

This L&B session didn't leave me as sore as the first one did. Some mild soreness is all.

I got a little worried after the bike ride about doing all those miles indoors--would I cause a similar injury as I did last year in which I inflammed a knee on the trainer? Am I wasting time with indoor riding? As for the 2nd part, it's not a waste of time if I enjoyed it. As for the first, time will tell.

Fast for me, but not fast enough!

RUN: 6.6 miles in 56 mins, ave HR 162
SWIM: 1000y in about 25-30 mins

Oh what a gorgeous morning! Made for running, being outdoors, and being fast! I know that you can only run or race what you train, and that I need to be patient for the speed to come back, but goddamn the group was fast this morning! I was dropped before 1.5 miles and after they left I felt really slow. I had the Garmin but wasn't looking at it. Maybe I should have--it would have been encouraging to know that I was running the same (relatively) fast pace as last week.

I should have known when I hit the bridge at 45 mins, but instead I was more focused on the fact that I needed to keep moving, keep turning it over, keep pushing. Knowing the group would be waiting at the VC was a big help there, I hated to think they'd be waiting for a walker. So I didn't walk. And in the end, I wasn't that far behind them.

For the first time I think, I went swimming after the Thursday run. It's in the Ultra training plan but I don't think I ever actually did it. I had rescheduled the swim to Friday. LC has been following this, so I joined her at the pool. I set a goal of 1000y as 10x100 and stuck to it. Maybe a little too much, I probably could have done more. But should I have done more? My form really falls apart once I get tired. I'd be drilling bad habits into my swim.

But at the same time, I pushed the run. So why not push the swim?

It's May?! Oops...

STRENGTH: Arms and Shoulders
BIKE: 60 mins and 17 miles, 3x12 mod-hard
COMMUTE: 6 miles

It's really little wonder that I'm so tired--I went from resting to 2+ hours of activity a day. I usually wouldn't count strength training as "activity", but when it's a sustained hour I need to count it. Then add in the commute...and put all but 3 miles of that commute back-to-back....well yeah I'm going to be tired.

I skipped the Abs workout again today. The muscle is much better but still slightly pained. No reason at all to make it hurt again! So I focused on and A&S, then did the bike. I'm disappointed at the bike, I didn't expect to get "only" 17 miles, especially when 3x12 of that is 'moderately-hard'. Was the A&S enough to knock me down a gear? The lack of brekkie before the workout?

Commuting is wonderful. We're having a brief warm up in the weather, with temps approaching and hitting mid-80's. I think it ends Thursday :( but it will be back soon enough :) I can't believe it's May already.