RUN 6 miles in 56 mins
BIKE 19 miles in 65 mins, afternoon indoors
Met up with NK and new friend LR for a pre-RockNRoll cheering run. NK is only just starting to run again after a summer off and injury so we dialed back the planned 60 mins and did 45 mins and 5 miles together. After seeing the first RNR runners go by, I finished my last mile before getting some food, a bee costume, and a BumbleBasset.
We didn't spend too long at the race before BumbleBasset wanted to go home. Her foot and antibiotic-upset tummy probably not helping the situation. After dropping her off, I rejoined the group to see the last runners go by. It's more fun to cheer the last runners than the early ones!
I did the ride in the afternoon, the goal was 1hr but the Downton episode was longer than expected! Not a big oops, but a funny one to wonder how long I would have kept spinning.
NUMERICS for the last training week: 13:24 hours (11 were planned)
SWIM 3:14 and 8200 yards
BIKE 6:49 and 114.2 miles
RUN 3:21 and 22.1 miles
COMMUTE 0 miles
LOL The first round of numbers I typed in were wrong, I kept thinking "is this the right week?!"
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Try Try Try
BIKE 56 miles in 3:20
RUN 3 miles in 27-28 mins
Did NOT want to do these sessions, why not? Not sure, am I getting burned out? Either way, they are done done done donedonedonedone!
It was a cool but sunny morning, so a great test of what race morning might be like with expected air temps in the low 50's. I needed at least one more ride on Frea after her pre-race check, and I needed to test the clothing I was bringing for the race. Many reasons to do this, motivation not really one of them.
I chalk most of the problems up to mental issues, first and foremost today was nutrition. I ate a big brekkie then didn't do more than a gel and sweet potato during the ride. And the gel was an add-on to the plan when my head started to fail and clamor for more glucose.
Frea and I rode out on the MCTs, parking for the first time at the Collinsville lot. Today's Culver flavor was caramel cashew...ick.
Out-n-back first to the Madison lot, saw some Partridge Family-like turkeys crossing the trail on both the out and the back. Going the same way (northwards) too, so was it the same group of turkeys? Dunno! But thinking on things like this kept me moving: The NNW wind should have been a tailwind so some degree on the way back but wasn't. Happily I wasn't as cold as I thought I'd be. The leaves covered sections of the trail, but not so bad I worried about slipping or hitting something under them. 18 miles in, some motivation but not much.
Off to Drost, where I pit-stopped and refilled the bottles. I'd just come up behind a woman walking a dog on a long leash that blocked the trail. She tried to coo the dog out of the way, that wasn't working, and I really wanted to suggest picking up the dumb 5# dog to move it, but I stayed nice and just smiled. One bike in a group of riders blocked the whole bike race by leaning the bike against the rack, I'm annoyed but make a point of talking to them to stay positive. Amazing how mental this ride was!
At mile 30.5 I'm passing under a tunnel, happy that it blunted the headwind but I started swerving into the left lane, almost to the point that I nearly scraped the wall!! WTF? Why can't I focus?! I'm preparing to pass two slower riders (blocking the left lane, of course) but I can't climb the small hill out of the tunnel. Again, WTF?!
Flat tire. Dear Gawd, another one? I stopped, and very methodically fixed it with cold hands and drippy nose. Part of me wanted to give up and just finish this ride on the trainer. WTF?! No way! Only a marathon distance to go, why do I have to talk myself into this? Fixed the flat, back on the road.
P!nk's "Try Try Try" song stuck in my head... Turn around, eat some more, and try to get excited about the last 19 miles.... Try...Try...Try...
Finally I'm done, it felt like the longest 56 miles. And the whole ride I'm debating the run. The training plan says to rest the legs and do this later in the day. But DH and I have a baby shower to attend. Normally I don't attend these, but like the song says I need to Try Try Try so I'm going. Which means I should run right away and not put it off. I told myself, that's the Blerch telling you to wait. Telling you to go home to your trainer. Telling you to switch trails for something different (meaning shorter). Fuck off, Blerch. Not today. I'm doing this run!
I most certainly did not want to run. Well, actually, to clarify, the part of me that likes to get stuff done and checked off wanted the run. The part of me that is drug around by that OCD aspect did not want to run. In the end the run wasn't so bad! Boring, but it's done. One more training day...
Why is this getting so hard?! LOL, late season races, two big back-to-back races, I knew this could happen.
RUN 3 miles in 27-28 mins
Did NOT want to do these sessions, why not? Not sure, am I getting burned out? Either way, they are done done done donedonedonedone!
It was a cool but sunny morning, so a great test of what race morning might be like with expected air temps in the low 50's. I needed at least one more ride on Frea after her pre-race check, and I needed to test the clothing I was bringing for the race. Many reasons to do this, motivation not really one of them.
I chalk most of the problems up to mental issues, first and foremost today was nutrition. I ate a big brekkie then didn't do more than a gel and sweet potato during the ride. And the gel was an add-on to the plan when my head started to fail and clamor for more glucose.
Frea and I rode out on the MCTs, parking for the first time at the Collinsville lot. Today's Culver flavor was caramel cashew...ick.
Out-n-back first to the Madison lot, saw some Partridge Family-like turkeys crossing the trail on both the out and the back. Going the same way (northwards) too, so was it the same group of turkeys? Dunno! But thinking on things like this kept me moving: The NNW wind should have been a tailwind so some degree on the way back but wasn't. Happily I wasn't as cold as I thought I'd be. The leaves covered sections of the trail, but not so bad I worried about slipping or hitting something under them. 18 miles in, some motivation but not much.
Off to Drost, where I pit-stopped and refilled the bottles. I'd just come up behind a woman walking a dog on a long leash that blocked the trail. She tried to coo the dog out of the way, that wasn't working, and I really wanted to suggest picking up the dumb 5# dog to move it, but I stayed nice and just smiled. One bike in a group of riders blocked the whole bike race by leaning the bike against the rack, I'm annoyed but make a point of talking to them to stay positive. Amazing how mental this ride was!
At mile 30.5 I'm passing under a tunnel, happy that it blunted the headwind but I started swerving into the left lane, almost to the point that I nearly scraped the wall!! WTF? Why can't I focus?! I'm preparing to pass two slower riders (blocking the left lane, of course) but I can't climb the small hill out of the tunnel. Again, WTF?!
Flat tire. Dear Gawd, another one? I stopped, and very methodically fixed it with cold hands and drippy nose. Part of me wanted to give up and just finish this ride on the trainer. WTF?! No way! Only a marathon distance to go, why do I have to talk myself into this? Fixed the flat, back on the road.
P!nk's "Try Try Try" song stuck in my head... Turn around, eat some more, and try to get excited about the last 19 miles.... Try...Try...Try...
Finally I'm done, it felt like the longest 56 miles. And the whole ride I'm debating the run. The training plan says to rest the legs and do this later in the day. But DH and I have a baby shower to attend. Normally I don't attend these, but like the song says I need to Try Try Try so I'm going. Which means I should run right away and not put it off. I told myself, that's the Blerch telling you to wait. Telling you to go home to your trainer. Telling you to switch trails for something different (meaning shorter). Fuck off, Blerch. Not today. I'm doing this run!
I most certainly did not want to run. Well, actually, to clarify, the part of me that likes to get stuff done and checked off wanted the run. The part of me that is drug around by that OCD aspect did not want to run. In the end the run wasn't so bad! Boring, but it's done. One more training day...
Why is this getting so hard?! LOL, late season races, two big back-to-back races, I knew this could happen.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Third morning swim in a row!
SWIM 35 mins and 1500 yards
I had hoped for a more structured session, but arrived later than planned and had somewhere to be afterwards (Brekkie with DH!). So while this cut short my swim, it also kept me on track and moving. No stalling or Blerching.
SM, RM, LC, and DP were there too, a full pool and most of them friends :) Hope this enthusiasm and "see ya there" accountability continues after B2B.
Another no-commute day. It's sunny and pretty, but time constraints and errands need to get done. My EFS is in at Big Shark so that's high on the list. That, and the rest is good for me.
I'm having severe salt cravings these days, what the heck? It's so bad I'm using mustard to get that salty tongue-tang satisfaction. In addition, I'm having a lot of stomach displeasure (not upset, bloated, pained, or the like) in the way of blurpy feeling. I'm blaming the recent introduction of cornmeal, which I threw away the other night to stop myself from continuing with it. Hate to waste food, but the $2 wasn't worth it. I'm pretty sure that was the cause of some of the problems.
And I'm hard to satiate this week. What's the deal? I'm eating very random, bad thrown-together meals with too many veggies and too little fat and protein? Gotta get on track, can't have this heavy, blurpy feeling next week!
7 days!
I had hoped for a more structured session, but arrived later than planned and had somewhere to be afterwards (Brekkie with DH!). So while this cut short my swim, it also kept me on track and moving. No stalling or Blerching.
SM, RM, LC, and DP were there too, a full pool and most of them friends :) Hope this enthusiasm and "see ya there" accountability continues after B2B.
Another no-commute day. It's sunny and pretty, but time constraints and errands need to get done. My EFS is in at Big Shark so that's high on the list. That, and the rest is good for me.
I'm having severe salt cravings these days, what the heck? It's so bad I'm using mustard to get that salty tongue-tang satisfaction. In addition, I'm having a lot of stomach displeasure (not upset, bloated, pained, or the like) in the way of blurpy feeling. I'm blaming the recent introduction of cornmeal, which I threw away the other night to stop myself from continuing with it. Hate to waste food, but the $2 wasn't worth it. I'm pretty sure that was the cause of some of the problems.
And I'm hard to satiate this week. What's the deal? I'm eating very random, bad thrown-together meals with too many veggies and too little fat and protein? Gotta get on track, can't have this heavy, blurpy feeling next week!
7 days!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Another morning swim!
RUN 7 miles in 60 mins, 8:34 m/m
SWIM 2000 yards in 49 mins
I'm feeling the good taper energy! My mind is so much clearer, I'm more relaxed, and I'm looking for more to do. (Can't discount some relief from personal stress either, it's not gone but it is alleviated a bit).
Great run this morning, lots of little things: finally saw that LC's guy is real; I managed to remember my knuckle light but it was dead; the yellow leaves glowed in the sunrise; we actually had a visible sunrise for the first time in 5? days; there was a pretty misty fog of the soccer fields; a misty cloud that looked like it was coming from a picnic table around mile 6.3 (it was really coming from a vent in the ground); gave my USMS punch card to LC; what else...
And for the 2nd morning in a row, I got to the pool! Today's workout seemed so easy, in fact it seemed easier than the WU and CD. WU was 4x200's and CD was 600 pull. The MS was 4x (25 easy, 25 hard, 25 kick, 25 choice). I ended up doing 5x the MS set and a 500 pull. I was cold, bored, and wanted out of the pool.
I was debating a swim tomorrow, but after sending an email to SM about finding an "accountability group" she stepped up and announced she's swimming tomorrow morning. So now it's looking good for 3 mornings in a row.
Why am I suddenly getting to the pool as schedule with only days left before the race! LOL!
SWIM 2000 yards in 49 mins
I'm feeling the good taper energy! My mind is so much clearer, I'm more relaxed, and I'm looking for more to do. (Can't discount some relief from personal stress either, it's not gone but it is alleviated a bit).
Great run this morning, lots of little things: finally saw that LC's guy is real; I managed to remember my knuckle light but it was dead; the yellow leaves glowed in the sunrise; we actually had a visible sunrise for the first time in 5? days; there was a pretty misty fog of the soccer fields; a misty cloud that looked like it was coming from a picnic table around mile 6.3 (it was really coming from a vent in the ground); gave my USMS punch card to LC; what else...
And for the 2nd morning in a row, I got to the pool! Today's workout seemed so easy, in fact it seemed easier than the WU and CD. WU was 4x200's and CD was 600 pull. The MS was 4x (25 easy, 25 hard, 25 kick, 25 choice). I ended up doing 5x the MS set and a 500 pull. I was cold, bored, and wanted out of the pool.
I was debating a swim tomorrow, but after sending an email to SM about finding an "accountability group" she stepped up and announced she's swimming tomorrow morning. So now it's looking good for 3 mornings in a row.
Why am I suddenly getting to the pool as schedule with only days left before the race! LOL!
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
More rain! But I managed to swim!!
BIKE 74 mins and 21.1 mph, 3x [11' hard; 5' easy]
SWIM 60 mins and 2600, 4x [125 yards hard;200 easy], broken 500 in 9:32 or 1:54 min/100y
More rain! Less so rain, and more of a fine mist that keeps the roads wet. Sure, I could ride, but is it really worth an accident? Not just 9 days out from the race! So another day with no commuting. Maybe Friday, since I normally drive Thursdays. We'll see.
And another trainer ride, the last (hopefully!) before B2B? This was 3x 11 mins hard, managed 19.1, 18.5, and 18.5 mph in the intervals, so 3.4-3.5 miles each. It's hard to get your speed focus up while watching Downton Abbey...
Last night LC texted to ask if I was swimming this morning. I said I usually end up skipping my Weds swim, so I'd be happy to have some accountability with a "see you there". Sweet! So after the ride, feeling the pull of "skip-the-swim" habit I went to the pool.
Today was a broken 500 yard as a 4x125, add up the 125 times for the broken time. Between each 125 is a easy/mod 200. This went fast! It took a total of 9:32, so while the time went by fast I didn't! Boo! I wasn't sprinting but in all honest I was pushing it. LC was swimming in my lane and she was lapping me repeatedly. Dammit! Gotta get fast!
Thanks to LC for the text :) In looking over my Training Peaks log, I haven't done my Weds swim since Sept 24 when I did some "lazy 100s" over lunch!
SWIM 60 mins and 2600, 4x [125 yards hard;200 easy], broken 500 in 9:32 or 1:54 min/100y
More rain! Less so rain, and more of a fine mist that keeps the roads wet. Sure, I could ride, but is it really worth an accident? Not just 9 days out from the race! So another day with no commuting. Maybe Friday, since I normally drive Thursdays. We'll see.
And another trainer ride, the last (hopefully!) before B2B? This was 3x 11 mins hard, managed 19.1, 18.5, and 18.5 mph in the intervals, so 3.4-3.5 miles each. It's hard to get your speed focus up while watching Downton Abbey...
Last night LC texted to ask if I was swimming this morning. I said I usually end up skipping my Weds swim, so I'd be happy to have some accountability with a "see you there". Sweet! So after the ride, feeling the pull of "skip-the-swim" habit I went to the pool.
Today was a broken 500 yard as a 4x125, add up the 125 times for the broken time. Between each 125 is a easy/mod 200. This went fast! It took a total of 9:32, so while the time went by fast I didn't! Boo! I wasn't sprinting but in all honest I was pushing it. LC was swimming in my lane and she was lapping me repeatedly. Dammit! Gotta get fast!
Thanks to LC for the text :) In looking over my Training Peaks log, I haven't done my Weds swim since Sept 24 when I did some "lazy 100s" over lunch!
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Wet westerly wind
BIKE 1hr and 18 miles, 1x40 mins 75%, 19.3 mph
RUN 58-ish mins and 6.1 miles, 9:30m/m
Another trainer ride in the dark, I miss being outside!
Yet another rainy day, and a busy one too. I didn't get my track workout done due to lack of time, so I ran home over lunch in the afternoon to let the doggie out. 28 mins too get home, about 28 mins to get back, give or take. There was a wet, misty wind out of the west but otherwise a great run! I'm feeling the taper! I noted right at the beginning that one of the things I love about energy like this is that I feel good in the first few mins of the run. No warm up, no slog, sometimes I can just GO!
RUN 58-ish mins and 6.1 miles, 9:30m/m
Another trainer ride in the dark, I miss being outside!
Yet another rainy day, and a busy one too. I didn't get my track workout done due to lack of time, so I ran home over lunch in the afternoon to let the doggie out. 28 mins too get home, about 28 mins to get back, give or take. There was a wet, misty wind out of the west but otherwise a great run! I'm feeling the taper! I noted right at the beginning that one of the things I love about energy like this is that I feel good in the first few mins of the run. No warm up, no slog, sometimes I can just GO!
Monday, October 13, 2014
Evolve swim: 5x200 with sprints
SWIM 50 mins and 2100 yards
WU then 5x200 as #1 sprint 1st 50, mod 150; #2 as sprint 2nd 50, mod the rest; #3 sprint the 3rd 50; etc; with the last 200 all moderate. I liked this, keeps it moving.
Again only 4 swimmers so TB and I split a lane. I felt good, more focused and not so cold once I got going. Another benefit of an engaging workout.
Hope I can keep this momentum after B2B, I'm signed up until early December for this swim.
More rain all day, so no commute. A pretty and misty rain, with waves of heavier rain. Sitting here I can see clouds on the horizon, are we done with rain?
Feeling a bit fuzzy today, really noticing the lack of balance and focus I normally have. The taper is feeling great, much like the clouds my fatigue is clearing. But I'm still tired. Also had some gut pain that I cut short by lying down as soon as I could. Whew! Probably inhaled air during the swim? The dairy yogurt I had with brekkie? Methinks I inhaled air.
WU then 5x200 as #1 sprint 1st 50, mod 150; #2 as sprint 2nd 50, mod the rest; #3 sprint the 3rd 50; etc; with the last 200 all moderate. I liked this, keeps it moving.
Again only 4 swimmers so TB and I split a lane. I felt good, more focused and not so cold once I got going. Another benefit of an engaging workout.
Hope I can keep this momentum after B2B, I'm signed up until early December for this swim.
More rain all day, so no commute. A pretty and misty rain, with waves of heavier rain. Sitting here I can see clouds on the horizon, are we done with rain?
Feeling a bit fuzzy today, really noticing the lack of balance and focus I normally have. The taper is feeling great, much like the clouds my fatigue is clearing. But I'm still tired. Also had some gut pain that I cut short by lying down as soon as I could. Whew! Probably inhaled air during the swim? The dairy yogurt I had with brekkie? Methinks I inhaled air.
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