STRENGTH: P90X Back & Biceps, Abs
I had planned to swim this morning, but after this workout I'm not sure it's a good idea. Maybe later in the day? My form was bad for the strength workout, then afterwards my arms were jelly.
So I'll have to report in later.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
AMAZING afternoon!
RUN 10 miles in 1:38, ave hr 141
SWIM 2400y in ~1hr, 3x400 swim-pull-swim
The run was fasted and by the last hours (made it to almost 13) I was nearly sick. Going to have to build this one slowly. The goal of the run was low HR, but I didn't manage that. Was it fatigue? Hunger? Dehydrated? Or still not slowed down enough? Dunno.
But what I really want to remember is the afternoon. I had a really short day at work and was able to leave early to meet the woman who was interested in my old wetsuit. The thing has been unused for a year now, it needed a home! After nearly 2 weeks of trying to coordinate our schedules there was an opportunity to meet in FP. Happy to leave work (had nothing more to do anyway) I took off with no plans to come back.
My plan was that I would give the suit to a new triathlete, not sell it. I'd hoped to help them out in the sport, besides I didn't need the money for a new one or anything. So I'd put a token price on it to keep away the resale-intended questioners. Turns out she's not signed up yet for her race, but she's planning one in Colorado later this summer. Good enough for me!! The suit fit her great, and it was my pleasure to surprise her by giving it away. YAY my suit will see open water this weekend!!
After this I went for a swim at the Y. I don't think I've ever done a late Thursday swim there? I always think it will be busy with kids or classes. Nope. Empty but a few bobbers and swimmers. YAY!
Once again I came with a specific swim plan, that really helps me stay focused and not wander off into a junk yards workout. WU=800 with every 4th 25y as IM in IM order. MS=3x400 as swim-pull-swim at 70-80%. CD=8x50 total recovery. I picked the first lane and set to it. Little did I know that the choice would change my day!
At first I was alone, alternating between backstroke and breaststroke for the IM lengths. I laughed to think that just weeks ago my entire workout was only 800y, and that last year around this time my warmups were always 800+. With each 100, I'd focus on something new--stretching the stroke from finger to toe; pressing the box; head down; butt up. With that done, off to the 400's which would be my longest intervals so far this training season. Last week it was 200's. The first swim took 8 mins on the nose, maybe 8:01 or 8:02. WOW, I'm so happy to see this because when I started swimming just a few weeks ago I was doing 1:05-1:10 laps!
Now pulling. I rotate better with the pull buoy and get a better grab on the water, so I focused on that feeling with the goal of bringing it into the 3rd set. Buzzin along, and somewhere around the 6th lap I hear a voice at the shallow end. But just a voice. I don't stop, just flip n go. Again at the shallow end I hear a voice, and my lane partner is still stopped. Is he talking to someone maybe? Because when you want a swimmer's attention you throw a kickboard at them. Kidding, you just put it on the wall to flag their attention. None of that so I keep going, but plan to peek at the deck on my next turn. Deep end, tumble turn, peeking up and I hear a voice right over me--HIC--water right into the mouth as I react. Indeed someone was trying to flag me to signal a circle swim. Damn that was rude of me!! I'm happy to share, so we take off circling. I miss timing this interval with the disruption. Oh well. No biggie.
Soon enough the 2nd swimmer left leaving just me and the newer swimmer to split the lane. We agree, I offer her the selection of sides, and she picks the inner lane side leaving me with the wall. Nuts. The wall is hard to swim along. The wave mechanics along the wall, the water jets, and the rough texture all make for an annoying swim. It's a challenge! Time for my 3rd interval.
Buzzin along again, on the 2nd lap push-off I get a mouth full of water off the wall. I start to come up for a cough, then remind myself to ignore it and push on. I have learned to cough underwater. Buzzin along, getting oh so tired and sloppy, but interested in repeating the 8 min time. But it's not to be, again the lifeguard flagged me at the shallow end saying he needed my side of the lane for a young swimmer to finish her deep water test: shallow end to deep with no wall or floor. She's 7-someodd years old! Talk about buzzin--she Buzzed to the deep end, head above water the whole time, but a solid effort. As she walked by us smiling, I started applauding her and was joined by others in the pool.
Then another swimmer needed to finish her test. While this went on, I started talking to my lane partner. Turns out she did her first triathlon a few weeks ago at an indoor YMCA tri--on her 72nd birthday!!! She's training for LSL sprint in August--her first OWS!! Her goal next year is LSL olympic and soon after a half iron!! OMG AMAZING!!! She was worried about being too old or too slow, worried about learning to ride her bike, but I'm so excited for her!! (Can't you tell by all the exclamation points?!).
What a day--new triathlete with a new wetsuit, new swimmers completing their test, and a new triathlete entering the sport late in life. Inspiring day, I couldn't stop smiling. Damn I love days like this :)
SWIM 2400y in ~1hr, 3x400 swim-pull-swim
The run was fasted and by the last hours (made it to almost 13) I was nearly sick. Going to have to build this one slowly. The goal of the run was low HR, but I didn't manage that. Was it fatigue? Hunger? Dehydrated? Or still not slowed down enough? Dunno.
But what I really want to remember is the afternoon. I had a really short day at work and was able to leave early to meet the woman who was interested in my old wetsuit. The thing has been unused for a year now, it needed a home! After nearly 2 weeks of trying to coordinate our schedules there was an opportunity to meet in FP. Happy to leave work (had nothing more to do anyway) I took off with no plans to come back.
My plan was that I would give the suit to a new triathlete, not sell it. I'd hoped to help them out in the sport, besides I didn't need the money for a new one or anything. So I'd put a token price on it to keep away the resale-intended questioners. Turns out she's not signed up yet for her race, but she's planning one in Colorado later this summer. Good enough for me!! The suit fit her great, and it was my pleasure to surprise her by giving it away. YAY my suit will see open water this weekend!!
After this I went for a swim at the Y. I don't think I've ever done a late Thursday swim there? I always think it will be busy with kids or classes. Nope. Empty but a few bobbers and swimmers. YAY!
Once again I came with a specific swim plan, that really helps me stay focused and not wander off into a junk yards workout. WU=800 with every 4th 25y as IM in IM order. MS=3x400 as swim-pull-swim at 70-80%. CD=8x50 total recovery. I picked the first lane and set to it. Little did I know that the choice would change my day!
At first I was alone, alternating between backstroke and breaststroke for the IM lengths. I laughed to think that just weeks ago my entire workout was only 800y, and that last year around this time my warmups were always 800+. With each 100, I'd focus on something new--stretching the stroke from finger to toe; pressing the box; head down; butt up. With that done, off to the 400's which would be my longest intervals so far this training season. Last week it was 200's. The first swim took 8 mins on the nose, maybe 8:01 or 8:02. WOW, I'm so happy to see this because when I started swimming just a few weeks ago I was doing 1:05-1:10 laps!
Now pulling. I rotate better with the pull buoy and get a better grab on the water, so I focused on that feeling with the goal of bringing it into the 3rd set. Buzzin along, and somewhere around the 6th lap I hear a voice at the shallow end. But just a voice. I don't stop, just flip n go. Again at the shallow end I hear a voice, and my lane partner is still stopped. Is he talking to someone maybe? Because when you want a swimmer's attention you throw a kickboard at them. Kidding, you just put it on the wall to flag their attention. None of that so I keep going, but plan to peek at the deck on my next turn. Deep end, tumble turn, peeking up and I hear a voice right over me--HIC--water right into the mouth as I react. Indeed someone was trying to flag me to signal a circle swim. Damn that was rude of me!! I'm happy to share, so we take off circling. I miss timing this interval with the disruption. Oh well. No biggie.
Soon enough the 2nd swimmer left leaving just me and the newer swimmer to split the lane. We agree, I offer her the selection of sides, and she picks the inner lane side leaving me with the wall. Nuts. The wall is hard to swim along. The wave mechanics along the wall, the water jets, and the rough texture all make for an annoying swim. It's a challenge! Time for my 3rd interval.
Buzzin along again, on the 2nd lap push-off I get a mouth full of water off the wall. I start to come up for a cough, then remind myself to ignore it and push on. I have learned to cough underwater. Buzzin along, getting oh so tired and sloppy, but interested in repeating the 8 min time. But it's not to be, again the lifeguard flagged me at the shallow end saying he needed my side of the lane for a young swimmer to finish her deep water test: shallow end to deep with no wall or floor. She's 7-someodd years old! Talk about buzzin--she Buzzed to the deep end, head above water the whole time, but a solid effort. As she walked by us smiling, I started applauding her and was joined by others in the pool.
Then another swimmer needed to finish her test. While this went on, I started talking to my lane partner. Turns out she did her first triathlon a few weeks ago at an indoor YMCA tri--on her 72nd birthday!!! She's training for LSL sprint in August--her first OWS!! Her goal next year is LSL olympic and soon after a half iron!! OMG AMAZING!!! She was worried about being too old or too slow, worried about learning to ride her bike, but I'm so excited for her!! (Can't you tell by all the exclamation points?!).
What a day--new triathlete with a new wetsuit, new swimmers completing their test, and a new triathlete entering the sport late in life. Inspiring day, I couldn't stop smiling. Damn I love days like this :)
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Late start, loss of training
STRENGTH: P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps, then Abs
BIKE 50 mins and 14.4 miles
Time management sucked today. I got up around 5am but didn't get to the pain cave until about 630! What was I doing?! So after 1hr of P90X, I did what I had time for with the bike.
My legs are still shot from yesterday so I opted to shorten the bike instead of the strength. Tomorrow I have a 10 mile easy run so I'd like to be ready for that. After climbing the steps this morning, I reviewed my schedule of speed run Tuesday, Q bike Weds, long run Thurs. I have a lot of leg-intense training over these days, then you stack after that the Legs&Back P90X on Friday, long ride Saturday, trail run Sunday...my legs never get a chance to recover.
Fast forward a few mins to me trying to decide which DVD to play today: Monday's missed CS&T or today's B&B? I wondered about stacking 2 DVD's on Friday--the Legs & Back along with Back & Biceps. I did this recently and it worked. But then I had a moment of brilliance. Hey, why not skip L&B on Friday!? DUH!! Rest the legs AND get the B&B workout it. DUH!!
The bike was to one of my old CTS DVDs. The EN TP called for more 30/30...eh...boring.
I should also report that my ankle is just fine, hurts to touch but if I don't touch it I'm OK ;)
And my back is really improved, some tightness in a deep stretch and that's all. I heal fast :)
Compared to yesterday, my energy is much better this afternoon. But I'm still not drinking enough during the day. Water gets boring after awhile!
BIKE 50 mins and 14.4 miles
Time management sucked today. I got up around 5am but didn't get to the pain cave until about 630! What was I doing?! So after 1hr of P90X, I did what I had time for with the bike.
My legs are still shot from yesterday so I opted to shorten the bike instead of the strength. Tomorrow I have a 10 mile easy run so I'd like to be ready for that. After climbing the steps this morning, I reviewed my schedule of speed run Tuesday, Q bike Weds, long run Thurs. I have a lot of leg-intense training over these days, then you stack after that the Legs&Back P90X on Friday, long ride Saturday, trail run Sunday...my legs never get a chance to recover.
Fast forward a few mins to me trying to decide which DVD to play today: Monday's missed CS&T or today's B&B? I wondered about stacking 2 DVD's on Friday--the Legs & Back along with Back & Biceps. I did this recently and it worked. But then I had a moment of brilliance. Hey, why not skip L&B on Friday!? DUH!! Rest the legs AND get the B&B workout it. DUH!!
The bike was to one of my old CTS DVDs. The EN TP called for more 30/30...eh...boring.
I should also report that my ankle is just fine, hurts to touch but if I don't touch it I'm OK ;)
And my back is really improved, some tightness in a deep stretch and that's all. I heal fast :)
Compared to yesterday, my energy is much better this afternoon. But I'm still not drinking enough during the day. Water gets boring after awhile!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
I'd hit the gas, nothing would happen!
RUN: 7 miles in 70 mins, speed work of 6x800
STRENGTH: Plyo workout 45-50 mins
My lower back is improved and my ankle is about the same (hurts only to touch or stretch) so I saw no reason to skip today's run. I did see reason to skip the "speed" aspect of it, but I've learned over the years that no matter what I think I can do, I can usually do better.
So today was funny in that while I thought I'd surprise myself with a fast workout, instead I surprised myself by finding no response when I opened the throttle!
4 of us met at the track for 6x800's. I didn't have a set goal time or pace in mind, instead I just shot for a nice 75% ish range of effort. The first intervals came in around the 3:55 mark, or just under 8 min miles. As the intervals progressed, they got slower and slower until the last at 4:10.
But the funny thing was how dead my legs were, yet how awake my mind was. IT would pass me by in his interval and I'd think to myself "faster turnover, light feet, go-go-go" and.....zippo. Nothing would happen. I'd play it in my head. I'd try to find one level deeper. I'd take a long rest interval. Nothing. It was like my legs had a throttle governor limiting them to just that one speed.
On top of that, my stomach was burpy and tossing around the idea of tossing the cookies. At least if I'd have puked I'd have a good story about why my workout was so slow!
The plyo workout was soon after the run. I took the "X" out of it and just did a light easy session to rest the back and ankles. My legs were shot anyway, there wasn't much "cat" in me today.
STRENGTH: Plyo workout 45-50 mins
My lower back is improved and my ankle is about the same (hurts only to touch or stretch) so I saw no reason to skip today's run. I did see reason to skip the "speed" aspect of it, but I've learned over the years that no matter what I think I can do, I can usually do better.
So today was funny in that while I thought I'd surprise myself with a fast workout, instead I surprised myself by finding no response when I opened the throttle!
4 of us met at the track for 6x800's. I didn't have a set goal time or pace in mind, instead I just shot for a nice 75% ish range of effort. The first intervals came in around the 3:55 mark, or just under 8 min miles. As the intervals progressed, they got slower and slower until the last at 4:10.
But the funny thing was how dead my legs were, yet how awake my mind was. IT would pass me by in his interval and I'd think to myself "faster turnover, light feet, go-go-go" and.....zippo. Nothing would happen. I'd play it in my head. I'd try to find one level deeper. I'd take a long rest interval. Nothing. It was like my legs had a throttle governor limiting them to just that one speed.
On top of that, my stomach was burpy and tossing around the idea of tossing the cookies. At least if I'd have puked I'd have a good story about why my workout was so slow!
The plyo workout was soon after the run. I took the "X" out of it and just did a light easy session to rest the back and ankles. My legs were shot anyway, there wasn't much "cat" in me today.
Monday, June 3, 2013
OOF! OUCH!!
No P90X or swim this morning. I hurt! But it's a good hurt :)
The ankle is OK. It's my lower back. I just hurts to hunch over. Not an injury pain (I don't think it is anyway) but more of a dammit-WTF did you do this weekend type of pain. And my deltoids are sore. I'm gonna guess that was Saturday's swim. And they shouldn't be hurting from swimming!!
My last full rest day was 2 weeks ago on Monday, my last non-cardio rest day was 10 days ago. I just need to rest. Last week was exceptionally long at 18.5 hrs, and only 3:41 of that was strength training!
The ankle is OK. It's my lower back. I just hurts to hunch over. Not an injury pain (I don't think it is anyway) but more of a dammit-WTF did you do this weekend type of pain. And my deltoids are sore. I'm gonna guess that was Saturday's swim. And they shouldn't be hurting from swimming!!
My last full rest day was 2 weeks ago on Monday, my last non-cardio rest day was 10 days ago. I just need to rest. Last week was exceptionally long at 18.5 hrs, and only 3:41 of that was strength training!
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Money Miles at Lewis and Clark and an 18.5hr week!
RUN: 4:25ish and 23.5 miles.
This is one of those runs that goes down as a turning point training day. One of those days where you realize you can do more than you think. Not quite a crucible day, though. But definitely memorable. And it might be my fastest trail run to date.
It was a perfect day for a long run. Sorta cool but not chilled, cloudy but not raining, soft but not muddy. The only downside to the day would be all the downed trees and debris. We found out later that the recent tornadoes pretty much started in these parks before heading off to the nearby houses.
TV and I started off on the Hamburg towards Lost Valley, but after a bad advice from me we turned away from the gravel road that took us to the LV trails and instead ended up at a flooded LV parking lot. Not that bad of advice I guess, the Hamburg has a nice slow climb on the way back and it was extra miles!
The loop of the LV trails started at mile 7 and went for 10 more. Nice single track, varied footing, and switchbacks to keep you guessing. But these miles weren't the money miles. Beyond mile 17 was the money. (New term for me, gotta name it!). First off the 1-2 miles back to the truck were money. I glanced at the Garmin at one point to see 8:51 pace. Me? Doing 8:51 after 18 miles of trails?!
We ended up back at the truck at 18.4, both needing water and thinking we'd decide on going further once refilled. If I had been alone, I would have stopped there. I could feel The Stupids coming on, the fazed silly mistake-filled brain state I get, and this was already 3 miles longer than last week's trail run. But I was encouraged, and after a few lame attempts and saying "nothing fast" we took off. Of course, we were running at the same pace we were doing earlier. Bring on the money!
We planned on the shorter L&C trail (I thought it was Lewis, nope it was Clark). This trail system had less rock and more soft mud, and more people hiking. It was while coming down a rooted hill with up-going hikers that I rolled my left ankle over kinda hard. I'd tweaked both ankles already a few times, but this one left me gimping a few minutes. Do I want to rest? No. Keep going.
Onward and after a while we started meeting a lot more hikers, and they started warning us that the trail was flooded out ahead. Instead of turning back we kept going, figuring we would at least enjoy the view and maybe find a way around. Being the intrepid trail nuts, we found a way around to finish the loop. The stop/start of climbing trees, the long miles, and the ankle were adding up on me. And I think I needed just one more gel to get by (I was solidly following my 45 min strategy, but hadn't brought enough for this long of a run!) and keep focused. By 22 miles I was starting to slip. I was keeping up, but starting to lose the fun. The fun was mostly gone by mile 23, and seeing the parking lot at 23.5 was a relief.
That's the money shot right there. Those last 5 miles that I didn't think I could do, and the last mile that I didn't want to do. But in the end, I was glad I did it and looking back it wasn't that hard to do.
My ankle is fine, it hurts a little but I don't think it's injured. Pork rinds and a protein drink for recovery (the pork rinds tasted better) and a long sleep ahead!
NUMERICS: 18hr 27 mins this week (holy shit! I had no idea!)
SWIM: 1hr 2400y
BIKE: 107.20 miles in 7 hours
RUN: 40 miles in 6:46
STRENGTH: 3hr 41 mins
ahhh....3 day weekends :)
This is one of those runs that goes down as a turning point training day. One of those days where you realize you can do more than you think. Not quite a crucible day, though. But definitely memorable. And it might be my fastest trail run to date.
It was a perfect day for a long run. Sorta cool but not chilled, cloudy but not raining, soft but not muddy. The only downside to the day would be all the downed trees and debris. We found out later that the recent tornadoes pretty much started in these parks before heading off to the nearby houses.
TV and I started off on the Hamburg towards Lost Valley, but after a bad advice from me we turned away from the gravel road that took us to the LV trails and instead ended up at a flooded LV parking lot. Not that bad of advice I guess, the Hamburg has a nice slow climb on the way back and it was extra miles!
The loop of the LV trails started at mile 7 and went for 10 more. Nice single track, varied footing, and switchbacks to keep you guessing. But these miles weren't the money miles. Beyond mile 17 was the money. (New term for me, gotta name it!). First off the 1-2 miles back to the truck were money. I glanced at the Garmin at one point to see 8:51 pace. Me? Doing 8:51 after 18 miles of trails?!
We ended up back at the truck at 18.4, both needing water and thinking we'd decide on going further once refilled. If I had been alone, I would have stopped there. I could feel The Stupids coming on, the fazed silly mistake-filled brain state I get, and this was already 3 miles longer than last week's trail run. But I was encouraged, and after a few lame attempts and saying "nothing fast" we took off. Of course, we were running at the same pace we were doing earlier. Bring on the money!
We planned on the shorter L&C trail (I thought it was Lewis, nope it was Clark). This trail system had less rock and more soft mud, and more people hiking. It was while coming down a rooted hill with up-going hikers that I rolled my left ankle over kinda hard. I'd tweaked both ankles already a few times, but this one left me gimping a few minutes. Do I want to rest? No. Keep going.
Onward and after a while we started meeting a lot more hikers, and they started warning us that the trail was flooded out ahead. Instead of turning back we kept going, figuring we would at least enjoy the view and maybe find a way around. Being the intrepid trail nuts, we found a way around to finish the loop. The stop/start of climbing trees, the long miles, and the ankle were adding up on me. And I think I needed just one more gel to get by (I was solidly following my 45 min strategy, but hadn't brought enough for this long of a run!) and keep focused. By 22 miles I was starting to slip. I was keeping up, but starting to lose the fun. The fun was mostly gone by mile 23, and seeing the parking lot at 23.5 was a relief.
That's the money shot right there. Those last 5 miles that I didn't think I could do, and the last mile that I didn't want to do. But in the end, I was glad I did it and looking back it wasn't that hard to do.
My ankle is fine, it hurts a little but I don't think it's injured. Pork rinds and a protein drink for recovery (the pork rinds tasted better) and a long sleep ahead!
NUMERICS: 18hr 27 mins this week (holy shit! I had no idea!)
SWIM: 1hr 2400y
BIKE: 107.20 miles in 7 hours
RUN: 40 miles in 6:46
STRENGTH: 3hr 41 mins
ahhh....3 day weekends :)
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Rain, rain, go away
BIKE 2hrs indoors (boooo...) 34 miles
SEIM 1hr and 2400y, MS of 6x200
I didn't include in that a 30 min NAP before the swim!
This morning started off slow. I was dragging my feet about doing another indoor ride. Speed work or Quality work on the trainer is one thing. Long rides are another.
After more foot dragging (at least by this point I'm sitting on the floor next to the trainer) I finally get rolling and decide on 10 min intervals: 10 mins mid-ring, 10 min big-ring for the first hour. I broke up the 10 mins with 1 min this/that or whatever struck my fancy. The 2nd hour was more a stay-focused challenge that only worked for another 45 mins.
Then I just crashed. No energy or motivation. Nap time! I didn't sleep well at all last night, took forever to fall asleep and kept waking up. So the nap was very helpful. Thankfully RM woke me up with a text that he was on his way to his swim. Although I wanted to join, I knew I'd be no good for a group event.
But this was the kick I needed to get my butt to the pool. I'm very happy to report that I finished my longest swim yet this year, and finished my first real swim workout! I picked out a 2400y card and stuck to it with minor changes only. WU of 400swim, 200kick, 200choice MS of 6x200 swim/pull alternating. I even timed the 200's!
Swimming 200's 4:00, 4:00, 4:06
Pulling 200's 3:51, 3:5?, 3:56
My goal was steady, not fast and not anaerobic, but these were maybe about as fast as I could go and I was damned near anaerobic (and nearly puking!). For the first time this year, I felt more aggressive and ready to push the swim. Yay!
Great way to start off June.
SEIM 1hr and 2400y, MS of 6x200
I didn't include in that a 30 min NAP before the swim!
This morning started off slow. I was dragging my feet about doing another indoor ride. Speed work or Quality work on the trainer is one thing. Long rides are another.
After more foot dragging (at least by this point I'm sitting on the floor next to the trainer) I finally get rolling and decide on 10 min intervals: 10 mins mid-ring, 10 min big-ring for the first hour. I broke up the 10 mins with 1 min this/that or whatever struck my fancy. The 2nd hour was more a stay-focused challenge that only worked for another 45 mins.
Then I just crashed. No energy or motivation. Nap time! I didn't sleep well at all last night, took forever to fall asleep and kept waking up. So the nap was very helpful. Thankfully RM woke me up with a text that he was on his way to his swim. Although I wanted to join, I knew I'd be no good for a group event.
But this was the kick I needed to get my butt to the pool. I'm very happy to report that I finished my longest swim yet this year, and finished my first real swim workout! I picked out a 2400y card and stuck to it with minor changes only. WU of 400swim, 200kick, 200choice MS of 6x200 swim/pull alternating. I even timed the 200's!
Swimming 200's 4:00, 4:00, 4:06
Pulling 200's 3:51, 3:5?, 3:56
My goal was steady, not fast and not anaerobic, but these were maybe about as fast as I could go and I was damned near anaerobic (and nearly puking!). For the first time this year, I felt more aggressive and ready to push the swim. Yay!
Great way to start off June.
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