Tuesday run, no fartleks

RUN: 6.6 miles in 54.5 mins for an 8:15m/m pace
BIKE: 14.5 miles in 50 mins for a recovery/stretch/energy burn

I keep saying "energy burn". What the heck does that mean? I guess it makes me feel all "Ironman" to do a double like that.

The weather was super warm this morning--low 50's! It was even better in the afternoon--maybe 65F?--but I didn't get to enjoy it much. Work sucks that way.

This run was supposed to be fartleks, but DC and JM and I didn't go there. So it became my 10Kish tempo run of the week.  It's become a habit on this run for my mind to say "sh!t this is hard I want to slow down" but I don't let myself. Today my mind popped up with those thoughts and had to disagree with itself. It was hard, but a good hard, and I loved it. 8:15's!! WOW.

The bike was indoors and boring. Good time to focus on form. My week is messed up a bit schedule-wise since I'm traveling out of town starting Thursday, but I have my workouts planned around it. Which means that I'm on the bike again tomorrow for a pyramid workout. I really hope to get to the swim!! I'd hate to miss fly day.

GAH missed Monday swim!

SWIM ZERO
BIKE: 18 miles in 60 mins

I was awake at 410am, but didnt stay awake. My body was happy for the rest, my mind guilty for missing it. And when I learned later what the set was, I really regretted it. 4x500's!  I have it on the schedule for Friday.

I got the ride in, the set from CP was a little on the boring side (boring but worthwhile...) so I watched a Coach Troy DVD (Lake P) and held onto a 19mph ave for the interval.

Later in the day I emailed CP to talk about where the training plan is (Base 2 is just starting) and to discuss late season races. He mentioned a word I hadn't considered in these grand plans yet: injury.

Here I'm thinking about a 2nd full at Redman and a month later doing a 50M. And injury never crossed my mind?

I'm thinking the Redman half looks like a lot of fun!

Merry Christmas to ME! (Dec 2009)

Another Unpublished post from late December 2009....

RUN: 6.5 miles abt 56mins Xmas eve run

Merry Christmas to me! It's not often you wish yourself that, how many times do I look back at myself and send greetings? Sounds weird, I know. But Merry Christmas to me anyway.

I even have presents for myself! IMWI training starts in just days, so why not get ready for that by celebrating now? Let's review some things we need for IMWI.

Patience: time will be in short supply this year. But Patience comes in a big box, and inside are thousands of small pieces that fit together. There will be so much going on between work, Worlds, and Wisconsin. Life will be a swirl of activity, and between taking care of yourself and others, So this year for Xmas, I will tend my time like a small fire. I will take care of it, enjoy it, and make use of all I have of it. I won't rush the moment, live in the next or mourn the past. I will ride the current of time while enjoying every moment.

Courage: Courage will get you through the highs and lows of the upcoming year. This one is in a very small box, with a silver bow, and what appears initially to be but a small spark of light. But that light is like a fire in the heart, a small spark to start the day, finish a long ride, or face a fear. Some days will be brighter than others, some days the spark will nearly burn out, and on some others it will be bright enough for everyone to see. I will keep that spark of Courage burning inside, not to blind others, but to keep me going.

Belief: I may not always know what I am capable of, but I will Believe I am capable of anything I put my heart into. This gift is hard to wrap, it's fragile, like a mirror. It will be hard to believe in yourself after some hard days, and hard to find confidence to go back and do it again. But Believe in your goals, Believe in your abilities, and Believe in those around you. I will take a look at who I am in the mirror each morning, and remind myself of what you've accomplished, what my goals are, and what I am capable of.

Some stocking stuffers:

I will take care of myself, and make decisions that benefit me. My daily training will have a reason and goal. I will feed myself good food as fuel. I will not waste a day to look back on in regret. I will listen to that inner voice that I ignore too often. I will stay positive about me and about others. I will keep negative thoughts and feelings locked in a back room, to avoid letting them out to hurt me. I will value each step in this progression for what it is, a step towards a goal.

Did you always know? (Dec 2009)

Just found this post in my drafts bin, labeled for December 2009. Why didn't I publish it?

"Oh, no. No, I didn't. But I believed...I believed.

This is what I will be asking myself in September. Did I know I could finish the race?
Oh, no. No, I didn't.
But I believed...I believed."

Let March begin today

SWIM: 2000y in 55mins, MMM. 6x50mostly kicking, 2x100, then 3x500 as 200-100-200.

The 6x50 was supposed to be 6x100. The 2x100 I did OK. The 3x500 was supposed to be 5x500 as 200 moderate, the last 200 faster, and the 100 at the last 200 pace. 15s rest. I just swam.

This is a frustrating swim. My form is awful, I'm distracted by the chop and other swimmers, I'm always hitting the wall or worried about hitting it, and I'm going at >80% effort all the time just to keep up. I tell others that you don't need to be fast to swim this Master's but in all reality--yes you do. For the last half hour, I was the slowest person in the pool. I was swimming 3 laps to everyone else's 4-5 in my lane alone. So I can imagine that faster lanes did 3500-4000y. So why do I do this swim?

Let me start by relaying one story from today. I'm pushing along, just trying to keep out of the way. It sux but I keep going, trying to keep my pace and focus. I rest at the wall to let the other 3 swimmers go by me. As I wait, one of the women starts talking about how unmotivated she felt today and how slow she felt today and etc. She's slow? Wow, you're not that slow, cuz I'm in your way. And she's unmotivated? Then get the F out of the pool and give me space to swim!

So why do I do this swim? Because I'm motivated to get better. And that's a bit of a revelation for me today. As much as I hate swimming, as bad as I am, and as slow as I am, apparently I'm motivated to improve. Otherwise, why would I get up at 4:10am for a 5:15 swim that I don't enjoy?

I also realized that while I'd prefer to swim alone sometimes, this is like a group run. There's peer pressure to go and there's always someone pushing at you to keep up. Swims like this are the only way I'm going to improve.

And for some reason, I like to set goals by the month. Today is Feb 28 but it's also a Monday. And Monday's are the start of my week. So consider today the 1st of the month and start thinking about goals for the next 31 days. Get 'em on paper by end of day.

It's only been 3 days

Yesterday: BIKE 60m on trainer, super low effort, 15miles?

Today:
SWIM: 600-700m in ???? (how can you lose count with such a small number?!
RUN: not done yet

Yesterday was pretty bad. I finished the bike "ride" and felt so sick I debated even going to work. But you know I did anyway. And I got nuttin done. Nuttin.

Today I woke up with the alarm at 4am for Masters, decided to go, decided to not go, decided to go, then finally left the house. The goal was a short, no plan, no interval, no "work" swim. Just stretch out, move around, and enjoy the cool water and temps.

I stretched out. I moved around. I didn't enjoy it. I was happy to see the group and CHG, but not happy about laps. No Happy Laps for me.

I was tired within 200m. By 250m I just didn't care. I hung at the wall just lost in space. After a rest I'd go again, getting sloppier and sloppier as the meters added up. CHG got me going again with a few fin-kick laps on my back. Those felt good, except my quads weren't interested. Too bad for them. I did 200m like this and decided to call it a morning.

July comes to an end

BIKE: 1hr for about 17 miles. MS of 5min hard/5min mod for 45 mins

SWIM: 1:29 for about 2000m.

Got up early to get the bike in. I knew I'd be too tired after the picnic (and I was right) to get a ride done. As much as I dislike sitting on the trainer when the weather aint that bad, this was the plan. And there was no way I'd get in 5/5 intervals on the road around here.

The swim was a near fail. I just didn't have the energy, mental or physical. The umpteenth email to come to me this week reminding my of my inability to balance things out and get things done arrived at the end of the bike ride, and I couldn't shake it off for the swim. But that's just part of it. I was tired. I ended up doing just 50s and 100s, hanging on the wall to rest. We worked on the ABC drill, getting my right arm to catch wide, and w-i-d-e arm entry. When I get it right, it feels good! When I don't, eh, I don't feel so good. But even my "oh geez what am I doing wrong" laps still came in around 1:06 for 50m.

Then near the end my left leg cramped a little. Just a minor one, it shook out in a few mins, but it spooked me. F^CK. I decided, that was it. I'm done. Get out of the pool. I got to the wall where I overheard HJ in the next lane saying she had a foot cramp. Then she pushed off the wall. Then I pushed off the wall.

In the end, the distance is only a reasonable guess. There was lots more standing around today than usual, but still I only did freestyle so it's not like the time was eaten up in the kicking sets that I opted out of.

How do I feel? I'm told my eyes have a glazed over look. A few people have asked in I'm OK (them's being CHG and PS). I tired as all hell but lovin' it. July is over! What a month! Something for the club every stinking weekend! August is for ME.

NUMERICS: planned:
SWIM
BIKE
RUN