SWIM: 1600m in 50 mins
RUN: 6.3 miles in 57 mins, about 9m/m
Still recovering from the holiday weekend. But I'm awake enough to swim, so why not? Just don't go too nuts. Focus on form, which by the way is slowly getting better. I'm not timing myself yet on the 100m times, or the 50m times for that matter. And I hate to admit I'm only swimming 50m at a time! Yes, I swim 50m, then have to stop and rest. Am I too focused on arms and not breathing right? Am I too tired? Hard to say.
But the catch is getting better. When I get it right I can really feel it!
Then the run, the goal of which was a 45 min Form Run. I did this over lunch in the heat of the day. In a manner typical of my fatigued-mental state, I didn't charge the Garmin. So it died 3 mins into the run! But I caught the start time: 1:10pm. I had a pretty good idea of where 2-2.5 miles would be to turn around. The run felt a bit weak as the heat accumulated, but I was feeling good and the drills kept my form in check. But I was getting thirsty and few of the fountains work in the park. I found my turn-around point and check the time: 1:38. 18 minutes, I thought, perfect, turn around!
Yup, more of my bad math. But I didn't realize this until later.
Bippity boppity, back to the barn. Now I'm dripping with sweat, very thirsty, and getting hot. But I enjoyed it, and it was relieving some stress I'd had building this week. Upon arriving at my stop I check the time again: 2:07.
57 minutes?!?! To run 4.5 miles!?!?! WHAT??? Maybe it was hotter than I realized?
Shower, eat, and check the route on MMR. Sure enough, I'd overshot the goal distance by 2 miles. So the run was about 9:02m/m! This made me much happier! :)
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Recovering on a Tuesday!
BIKE: 45 mins, only 12 miles on the trainer. ILT and 2x10 mins 80%
STRENGTH: 15 mins of core work
I woke up stiff and a little sore. The session for today was only 45 mins with some ILT work. I debated skipping, but decided to go ahead with it but take it sort of easy. I'm not sure I hit 80%, maybe more like 70%.
The core work was uninspired. I was tired!
STRENGTH: 15 mins of core work
I woke up stiff and a little sore. The session for today was only 45 mins with some ILT work. I debated skipping, but decided to go ahead with it but take it sort of easy. I'm not sure I hit 80%, maybe more like 70%.
The core work was uninspired. I was tired!
Monday, July 4, 2011
4th of July Long ride and brick
BIKE: 60 miles in 3:45
RUN: 1.75 miles in 15mins
The morning started off at breakfast with DH, the volunteering at the MM. Then a long ride with the IB group from the marketplace. The late start threw me off a bit, but in the end the only problem was realizing that we were finishing the ride at 4pm and not 1pm. It was a very strong group, everyone pushing each other at times and helping each other out at others. It's not often to find a group that can hang together so easily!
Frea was fixed after Saturday's problems. turns out the Mavic wheels need scheduled annual maintenance to keep the hub from drying out. The drive train was quieter too, maybe the clean-up helped? But there was some clicky noise coming from the derailleur or jockey wheels? Not sure what that was.
I've been working on hydration and nutrition on the long rides. This ride had 500 calories of Infinit, 1.5 powerbars, a mini Lara, 2 bananas, and some nuts. Some of this was consumed jsut before the ride. Felt really good, no stomach upset and very little hunger. After the ride I was less starved too, so improvements all around. I lost track of how much water I drank, but it was on the order of over a bottle/hour.
Also worked on nice pedal stroke that doesnt leave my feet in pain. Success here too, and they didn't even hurt on the brick run! MK pointed out my wobbling on hills. I thought at first it was me getting used to the new bike fit, but after some testing and consideration I think I'm both adapting to the fit and being sloppy. I need to focus on keeping the core engaged and planting my body on the seat. I was focused on planting at the aerobars.
Yes! A brick run! Even in the heat and fatigue LC and I went for 15 mins. I don't think I would have done it alone, and certainly not at that pace.
Overall, an awesome day capped by a post ride dinner with the group. So much for the housework we had planned....
RUN: 1.75 miles in 15mins
The morning started off at breakfast with DH, the volunteering at the MM. Then a long ride with the IB group from the marketplace. The late start threw me off a bit, but in the end the only problem was realizing that we were finishing the ride at 4pm and not 1pm. It was a very strong group, everyone pushing each other at times and helping each other out at others. It's not often to find a group that can hang together so easily!
Frea was fixed after Saturday's problems. turns out the Mavic wheels need scheduled annual maintenance to keep the hub from drying out. The drive train was quieter too, maybe the clean-up helped? But there was some clicky noise coming from the derailleur or jockey wheels? Not sure what that was.
I've been working on hydration and nutrition on the long rides. This ride had 500 calories of Infinit, 1.5 powerbars, a mini Lara, 2 bananas, and some nuts. Some of this was consumed jsut before the ride. Felt really good, no stomach upset and very little hunger. After the ride I was less starved too, so improvements all around. I lost track of how much water I drank, but it was on the order of over a bottle/hour.
Also worked on nice pedal stroke that doesnt leave my feet in pain. Success here too, and they didn't even hurt on the brick run! MK pointed out my wobbling on hills. I thought at first it was me getting used to the new bike fit, but after some testing and consideration I think I'm both adapting to the fit and being sloppy. I need to focus on keeping the core engaged and planting my body on the seat. I was focused on planting at the aerobars.
Yes! A brick run! Even in the heat and fatigue LC and I went for 15 mins. I don't think I would have done it alone, and certainly not at that pace.
Overall, an awesome day capped by a post ride dinner with the group. So much for the housework we had planned....
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Masters and Queeny and Sad News
SWIM: Sunday Master's 1:15, 1900 y. Really? Or did I forget a set?
RUN: 1:15 7 miles in Queeny Park. HOT.
Time to test the new drills swimming! I could feel a difference every 4th or 5th stroke, still moreso on the left side than the right. But I was still feeling slow, just had those brief moments of Oomph. CHG video'd me again in a short swim, pointed out that I need to "hook" the forward arm out but not out as in towards the side of the pool, but rather out away from the body. I need to think of my arm positions in terms of my body. The hand needs to go out sideways and and bend back and sweep and..... no wonder I'm struggling.
I left the swim and went to QP to run. Lawdy, it was getting HOT, but I figured the shade of the trails would help. I was struggling just 2 miles in. One goal was to work the hills, well I'd work the hill then just stop at the top. My HR was flying, leaving me with a funny quivery/vibrating feeling in my chest. I've felt this before, not sure what it is.
Anyway, I was cooking. And not in terms of speed. And I was walking way more than I wanted but there was just nothing there to give at some points. I found the rec center at 3.5 miles, paused to get cold water, and consider my options. I could cut short now and head to the truck only 0.5 miles away. Or I could double back and get 7 total. Apparently I wasn't that worn out, I really wanted to keep going. The way back has kinder up hills. By the time 6.5 miles rolled around, I had soaked clothes dripping sweat and my HR was sustained at a high level. I felt much better in the shade and luckily there was a lot of that at the end. I walked in the last 5 mins after I'd hit 7 miles. Ugh, was I hot. And sort of sick, but not unexpectedly.
On the way home, I received some bad news about a fellow cyclist. I was crushed, and had to pull over to a parking lot to absorb the news. As I sat there, shocked and numbed, my mind was just stuck on the horror of it all. I'm not sure I can discuss it here. Just hurts to think about. :(
RUN: 1:15 7 miles in Queeny Park. HOT.
Time to test the new drills swimming! I could feel a difference every 4th or 5th stroke, still moreso on the left side than the right. But I was still feeling slow, just had those brief moments of Oomph. CHG video'd me again in a short swim, pointed out that I need to "hook" the forward arm out but not out as in towards the side of the pool, but rather out away from the body. I need to think of my arm positions in terms of my body. The hand needs to go out sideways and and bend back and sweep and..... no wonder I'm struggling.
I left the swim and went to QP to run. Lawdy, it was getting HOT, but I figured the shade of the trails would help. I was struggling just 2 miles in. One goal was to work the hills, well I'd work the hill then just stop at the top. My HR was flying, leaving me with a funny quivery/vibrating feeling in my chest. I've felt this before, not sure what it is.
Anyway, I was cooking. And not in terms of speed. And I was walking way more than I wanted but there was just nothing there to give at some points. I found the rec center at 3.5 miles, paused to get cold water, and consider my options. I could cut short now and head to the truck only 0.5 miles away. Or I could double back and get 7 total. Apparently I wasn't that worn out, I really wanted to keep going. The way back has kinder up hills. By the time 6.5 miles rolled around, I had soaked clothes dripping sweat and my HR was sustained at a high level. I felt much better in the shade and luckily there was a lot of that at the end. I walked in the last 5 mins after I'd hit 7 miles. Ugh, was I hot. And sort of sick, but not unexpectedly.
On the way home, I received some bad news about a fellow cyclist. I was crushed, and had to pull over to a parking lot to absorb the news. As I sat there, shocked and numbed, my mind was just stuck on the horror of it all. I'm not sure I can discuss it here. Just hurts to think about. :(
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Saturday solo ride
BIKE: 49 miles in 3hrs 15 mins. No garmin or autopause or HR. Just a timex watch and MMR.com
What was going to be a hills-fest out west turned into a simple tour of the BS route. What was supposed to be a hills-fest on Frea ended up being a hills-fest with the Bird who was ripped off the trainer and quickly readied to ride. What should have been a measured test of a familiar route turned out to be a terribly simply analysis with time and distance only.
It all started with an awful noise from the rear hub of Frea. It sounded like a dry bearing or hub, and only happened when my weight was on the bike. It took some time to swap bikes, move the water bottles, fill the tires. By this time the Garmin had died, and I went back to my watch. I took off towards FP, then realized I didn't have many CO2's, so back for those. Taking off again, I realized I don't have any gloves. Not a very organized start to the ride.
But the ride went well anyway! I consumed 3 bottles of water in the 3 hours, ate about 600 calories, quickly ascended HH Hill, and never really stopped to rest. I turned it into an APB ride--Always Be Pushing. In reality it was more of a Most Always Be Pushing :) But I kept working riding in the hardest gear I could do without burning out.
By then end, my feet were starting to hurt especially the right one. I just wanted to get home, rest, and eat. I was hungry!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Swim lesson with CHG
SWIM and I sure ain't counting this for time or distance :)
I've got one major problem in swimming: for all the upper body strength I have, I don't have any "catch" or "feel" for the water. My arms and hands slide under me in a mostly useless way. I know it can be fixed, and for the longest time I thought I'd just Figure It Out some day and the little light bulb of Eureka! would burn brightly.
Years later, no dice.
Any improvement I'm seeing is a result of me fixing other inefficiencies or just getting more efficient with my inefficiencies. There's so much room for me to improve and every little bit counts.
So we set a lesson up for Friday morning. Seemed a good way to start the month.
A quick above water filming, and the problems were laid out. My elbows drop. My hands don't catch water. My front quadrant swimming is OK, my breathing could be earlier, and most everything else OK. Ok in the sense that we aren't going to worry about them right now.
This isn't news. I just don't know how to fix it.
Solutions: forward arm sweeps out towards the side of the pool, then sweeps under, instead of just straight out, bend, and back; keep the elbow high, instead of letting it drop; when the hand starts chattering against the water that's the feel, instead of dropping the elbow use it as the anchor.
I could go on all day. We worked longer than one hour, with some time lost to a cut on my finger that opened up and started bleeding again. It was a distraction for me, I sort of lost my focus after that. But the hour+ was well worth it all. Now I'm looking forward to getting back to the pool to test it out. I've been excited before, hopefully this time it all sticks!
Additionally, I got 7-8 hrs of sleep last night and I'm feeling so much better! Hope that sticks too!
The year is half over
July 1st already. I can't believe it. This year is flying by and I feel like I'm missing out on it even though so much has happened! I've had a good race season so far, but not a great training season. I'm not where I want to be but that's not the end of the world really. It's a bit distressing, yes. OK so maybe comparing it to the end of the world isn't fair. Maybe it bit extreme.
Do what I can. As I can and when I can. No one expects more of me than I do, so I'm going to start looking out for myself. I'm going to focus on me, my little world, and what I want to do with it.
Not every season can be perfect. It will only be the best it can be, given the circumstances unique to that season. And just because it's not everything I want it to be right now doesn't mean it can't still improve!
What can I focus on the next few months?
1. Get more sleep. If I'm going to get up at 4-4:30am, I need to be IN BED by 8:30-9pm. That makes for 7.5hrs of sleep. This past few weeks have been short on sleep. It's so fixable.
2. Start to take swimming seriously. After the CE race, I lost momentum on swimming. I lost the urge to work on it. But I have a swim lesson with CHG scheduled already, more on that later.
3. Get running again. I lost momentum here too after the DC race. I had worn out on running after all that run training. There was some disappointment in that after all that training I wasn't any faster. Well duh. I wasn't surprised, just let down. Start running again, get specific!
4. Re-define some goals after CE. Don't get so let down over one bad day that didn't go my way. Start accepting things for what they are and work on what I can.
5. Start taking care of myself better. I shouldn't have to be worrying about low iron levels, dehydration, or anything along those lines. Start tracking nutrition and find ways to improve.
Some of these goals are already underway. Working with CP and CHG have already started. I started tracking nutrition today and ID'd some areas I can fix. Sleep is hard to come by, but that's do-able.
I keep thinking that life is "on hold" for something. That once that something is done and over, I'll get back to real life. Sometimes I get paralyzed by this overwhelming sense of "too much to do". I look at my calendar and see every weekend coming up full of something that will fill the time. I wonder, how will I get my training in? Will I get enough work done? When will I be able to go home and see family? This can be overwhelming.
This past week I worked off a to-do list, happily checking things off. And that's how I'm going to work through this. One step at a time. Doing what I can, as I can. Prioritizing and enjoying the time as it passes.
Do what I can. As I can and when I can. No one expects more of me than I do, so I'm going to start looking out for myself. I'm going to focus on me, my little world, and what I want to do with it.
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