...Your cycling DVDs are killer!
It's rainy and gross outside today, but I needed to cram in some kind of bike workout, so I popped in one of my spinning DVDs and set up my trainer in the garage and off I went. I figured I'd do about 30 minutes of intense spinning then call it a day. The DVD I put in contained a 65-minute workout. Okay, I'll just go for 30-40 minutes (notice the time already creeping up?) and then hop off.
Right.
I totally did the whole thing, and I cycled hard!
The DVD, called "Cycling for Cadence," focuses on your pedal speed (or cadence) and increasing your power output while maintaining a certain rpm. I don't have a bike computer that tells me any of those data points, but I watch the people on the screen and try to match their pedaling. When that fails, I put my head down and just pedal as fast as I can. There are a number of sets, where you pedal really fast at a low resistance for 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 4 minutes with 1 minute breaks in between. Then you get a ~4 minute break, then you do two sets of 5 speed intervals of 30 seconds on/30 seconds off. The "on" means high cadence and high power - so increase the resistance but keep your cadence up - for 30 seconds, then recover at a low resistance/high cadence for 30 seconds. Five times through, ~3 minutes rest, then do it again. THEN you get to the good stuff.
At this point I'd finished my water bottle, so I hopped off my bike to refill it during the break. I have clipless pedals, which means my shoes clip directly to the pedals of the bike, and to exit you spin your toes inward and the clip unlatches and you can step out. I, being a bit tired, leaned to get off the bike before properly unclipping, and over I went, bike, trainer, and all, onto the garage floor.
Awesome.
No injuries except bruised pride, which really isn't so bad when you're the only one there.
The last set was killer - three sets of 3 minutes on/3 minutes off, where the 3 minutes "on" was high cadence/high resistance, and the "off" was moderate cadence/low resistance. "High" resistance for me is only a cog or two up the chain ring, not much but I can really feel the difference, and for the very last set I spent all 3 minutes in a higher cog than I had before, and really focused on keeping my cadence up. Three minutes is a long time, and to get through it I can't watch the clock so I just put my head down and close my eyes and listen to the awful music they have playing on the DVD. When the idiot on the screen opened his mouth and said "You only have..." I figured that was going to the 30-seconds-left mark, but then he said "one minute..." - and I thought, okay, I can do one more minute of this, but then clearly he'd read his stopwatch incorrectly, because he added "...and a half left!"
I actually cursed out loud at him.
Again, glad I was by myself.
After that, there was a ~7 minute cool down, which was just spinning at a low resistance to loosen up your legs again.
Oh, I almost forgot - of course I started the set chewing gum, and guess what happened? It fell out of my mouth! I really need to rethink this gum chewing habit, but I don't know how else to not end up with a really dry mouth...
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
I STILL can't run and chew gum.
Last year I posted a similar theme. Last year, while running, I looked down and my gum, which I chew to avoid dry mouth, flew out of my mouth and promptly froze on the track. You would think I'd learned my lesson, but nooooo, I still try to be extra-advanced on the track and chew gum and run.
I also couldn't help but notice that there are huge signs at the track specifically prohibiting gum chewing. I wonder if that was because of me.
Anyway, we opened with some drills - 400 or 500 meters worth - including butt kicks, fast feet, building to a sprint, lunges, and side-steps. Then it was a ten-minute warm-up, of which I only did ~8:30 (and three laps) because our next run was two times miles. Oh, my favorite. Coach Keith was there, and I've asked him for some extra help getting me under 3 hours this year, so I was especially conscious of my pace. And kind of embarrassed because I'm so damn slow.
I felt pretty strong, and for the first few laps ran a good pace. I wasn't looking at my watch because I didn't want to get taken out of the moment and concentrate too hard on what lap I was on; I was trying to concentrate on my pace and pushing myself just a bit harder than I usually run. I mean really, it was only two miles, right?
About two laps in I started pushing a bit harder, and - now remember I am chewing gum - and I'm working on relaxing my shoulders and keeping my head up (apparently it's a more efficient way to run), and I take a big breath in...
... and my gum gets stuck in my throat.
I kept running, feeling rather calm (realizing I could still breathe helped), but noticing that the gum was pretty well lodged. I figured the worst case scenario was that it shifted and went down the wrong pipe, at which point I stop one of the thousand other runners out there and have them give me the heimlich, but as it turned out I took one big breath, swallowed, and the gum went right down. Whew. Of course, then I felt ill, but that might have been the big bowl of cereal I ate about an hour before the workout. I was hungry, so what?!
At mile 1 I hit the lap button on my watch, but didn't look at it as I didn't want to get discouraged or excited, I just wanted to keep running and finish strong.
Keith yelled at me - "Go Megan! Make it hurt!" Which seemed a bit unnecessary as I felt like I might die at any moment, but I appreciate the thought. Also, it helps to know I'm being watched - I certainly picked up my pace when I was running in front of the coaches!
My last lap was strong - there was a woman who passed me and I made it my personal mission in life to keep up with her and pass her at the end. I think she could hear me sticking with her, because she kept picking up her pace as I would get closer, but with about 1/8 of a lap left I turned it on and sprinted to the finish and passed her. Victory! (Every little thing helps.)
My total time: 20:24! I checked my watch - mile 1 was a 10:07 and mile two was a 10:17 mile. I am rather impressed with myself, even though I had to spend a good amount of time bent over nearly puking and catching my breath.
Tonight's workout gave me hope that I might actually break three hours this year - if I keep it up hopefully I'll get there! Fingers crossed.
I also couldn't help but notice that there are huge signs at the track specifically prohibiting gum chewing. I wonder if that was because of me.
Anyway, we opened with some drills - 400 or 500 meters worth - including butt kicks, fast feet, building to a sprint, lunges, and side-steps. Then it was a ten-minute warm-up, of which I only did ~8:30 (and three laps) because our next run was two times miles. Oh, my favorite. Coach Keith was there, and I've asked him for some extra help getting me under 3 hours this year, so I was especially conscious of my pace. And kind of embarrassed because I'm so damn slow.
I felt pretty strong, and for the first few laps ran a good pace. I wasn't looking at my watch because I didn't want to get taken out of the moment and concentrate too hard on what lap I was on; I was trying to concentrate on my pace and pushing myself just a bit harder than I usually run. I mean really, it was only two miles, right?
About two laps in I started pushing a bit harder, and - now remember I am chewing gum - and I'm working on relaxing my shoulders and keeping my head up (apparently it's a more efficient way to run), and I take a big breath in...
... and my gum gets stuck in my throat.
I kept running, feeling rather calm (realizing I could still breathe helped), but noticing that the gum was pretty well lodged. I figured the worst case scenario was that it shifted and went down the wrong pipe, at which point I stop one of the thousand other runners out there and have them give me the heimlich, but as it turned out I took one big breath, swallowed, and the gum went right down. Whew. Of course, then I felt ill, but that might have been the big bowl of cereal I ate about an hour before the workout. I was hungry, so what?!
At mile 1 I hit the lap button on my watch, but didn't look at it as I didn't want to get discouraged or excited, I just wanted to keep running and finish strong.
Keith yelled at me - "Go Megan! Make it hurt!" Which seemed a bit unnecessary as I felt like I might die at any moment, but I appreciate the thought. Also, it helps to know I'm being watched - I certainly picked up my pace when I was running in front of the coaches!
My last lap was strong - there was a woman who passed me and I made it my personal mission in life to keep up with her and pass her at the end. I think she could hear me sticking with her, because she kept picking up her pace as I would get closer, but with about 1/8 of a lap left I turned it on and sprinted to the finish and passed her. Victory! (Every little thing helps.)
My total time: 20:24! I checked my watch - mile 1 was a 10:07 and mile two was a 10:17 mile. I am rather impressed with myself, even though I had to spend a good amount of time bent over nearly puking and catching my breath.
Tonight's workout gave me hope that I might actually break three hours this year - if I keep it up hopefully I'll get there! Fingers crossed.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Swimming!
Tonight was a swim workout at Santa Clara, with a swim seminar before to discuss technique. I attended mostly because I'm interested in the differences between these guys' recommended technique and everything I have ever learned as a swimmer...
Their recommended technique is to "catch" the water by cocking your wrist, then pulling with a straight-ish arm in a straight line. I was always taught to catch the water by bending your elbow to ~90° and keeping it high, then pull using an hourglass shape. This way, you pull more water per stroke and are actually pushing at the end instead of pulling, which is more powerful. I'm bothered by this discrepancy, enough to have sent an e-mail to another one of the coaches who has a swimming background to try and clear it up. Maybe my technique is outdated, but all the videos I can find online recommend the way I was taught, not this straight-line-pull technique. Anyway, I'm mostly worried that people are getting misinformation, and swimming is all about technique, and I want them to go faster. Either that or I want to fix my stroke so I can go faster.
I was not motivated tonight - but am glad I went. My interview kind of took it out of me today (but I think it went well - hard to say but I'll keep you posted!) so I was feeling a bit tired. Christina was in my lane and that's motivating for me since she's so much faster, and it actually turned into a nice little workout. Swim went as follows:
300 warm-up
8 x 50 kick free
3 sets of 4 x 50, drill/swim
3 x 50, 25 hard, 25 easy
3 x 100, 50 hard, 50 easy
3 x 150, 100 hard, 50 easy
6 x 50 drill/whatever (I did breathing drills since I'm an air hog)
200 warmdown
For a total of 2500 yards. Not bad for an hour! We timed our hard 100s in the 3 x 150 part, and I was really surprised to find my first two were 1:17 and my second was 1:18 - for me that's spectacular to hold in a workout. Granted, we had lots of rest, but still. I'm getting stronger.
I'm about to head off to bed - I'm exhausted!
Their recommended technique is to "catch" the water by cocking your wrist, then pulling with a straight-ish arm in a straight line. I was always taught to catch the water by bending your elbow to ~90° and keeping it high, then pull using an hourglass shape. This way, you pull more water per stroke and are actually pushing at the end instead of pulling, which is more powerful. I'm bothered by this discrepancy, enough to have sent an e-mail to another one of the coaches who has a swimming background to try and clear it up. Maybe my technique is outdated, but all the videos I can find online recommend the way I was taught, not this straight-line-pull technique. Anyway, I'm mostly worried that people are getting misinformation, and swimming is all about technique, and I want them to go faster. Either that or I want to fix my stroke so I can go faster.
I was not motivated tonight - but am glad I went. My interview kind of took it out of me today (but I think it went well - hard to say but I'll keep you posted!) so I was feeling a bit tired. Christina was in my lane and that's motivating for me since she's so much faster, and it actually turned into a nice little workout. Swim went as follows:
300 warm-up
8 x 50 kick free
3 sets of 4 x 50, drill/swim
3 x 50, 25 hard, 25 easy
3 x 100, 50 hard, 50 easy
3 x 150, 100 hard, 50 easy
6 x 50 drill/whatever (I did breathing drills since I'm an air hog)
200 warmdown
For a total of 2500 yards. Not bad for an hour! We timed our hard 100s in the 3 x 150 part, and I was really surprised to find my first two were 1:17 and my second was 1:18 - for me that's spectacular to hold in a workout. Granted, we had lots of rest, but still. I'm getting stronger.
I'm about to head off to bed - I'm exhausted!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Interview...
...on Monday morning. Please cross fingers and toes for me. Spending the rest of today and all day tomorrow preparing (although how on earth do you prepare when they can ask you anything in the world about science?!)...
Daily Mile tells me...
...that I burned 1269 calories today.
That just can't be right (but I hope it is)!
Check out my progress to the right - so far I've gone 80 miles total of swimming, biking, and running - not too bad for a month, where I hardly cycled at all!
That just can't be right (but I hope it is)!
Check out my progress to the right - so far I've gone 80 miles total of swimming, biking, and running - not too bad for a month, where I hardly cycled at all!
Whew!
Today was an official TNT workout at Burgess Pool in Menlo Park. The calendar said 8AM, so of course I rolled in at 7:40 and sat in my warm car for 20 minutes waiting for people to show up. I need to remember that the workouts actually start 30 minutes after the time posted on the calendar...
The workout was to be a swim and a bike, but I brought run stuff just in case. Also, it is wet outside - not raining, but the roads are still wet from some previous rain, so I packed many layers. My bag was overstuffed and not organized well. In fact, I desperately need a new tri bag. Mine is one big compartment with some pockets that have all ripped so nothing stays where it's supposed to, and I can never find anything. My wet stuff gets the rest of my gear soaked, my dirty shoes are jammed in with my clean clothes, and my keys go floating into the main compartment - especially annoying when you are soaking wet and covered in mud and trying to get into your car to go home and get warm!
We began this morning with an injury-prevention seminar from a physical therapist, which was great. My hamstring has been bothering me, but just a twinge here and there - nothing major, but I'm going to keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't blow up into a bigger deal. I would be extremely disappointed to ruin the season at this point!
Aside: I hit a tipping point today and am absolutely excited about this event. My workouts have been great, the people are awesome, I feel fantastic. Now, just have to raise some money...
Anyway, post-injury prevention seminar we hopped into the pool. Christina wasn't there today, so I didn't have her speedy feet to follow (seriously, she is so fast), and as people hopped in no one joined my lane. The lane adjacent to mine had three people, and I invited someone to hop over but had no takers, because they "didn't want to get lapped right away."
It's funny, because I'm really not that much faster than any of them, and Christina is 100 times faster than I am. I think I might have better stamina, so can hold faster speeds for longer, and that's how I end up lapping them? I don't know.
Michelle hopped in a few minutes late, after we'd all finished our warm-ups, and the lanes were all so crowded that she glanced down at me in my very own lane and her face fell. I joked that I was going to start taking this personally! Do I have cooties? Anyway, I talked her into joining my lane and we split the lane, meaning instead of swimming circle pattern we each took half the lane and swam it straight. That way we could each go at our own pace without running into each other. Less frustrating for both of us.
The workout was fun - ~200 warm up follows by a pyramid set:
50, 100, 150, 200, 200, 150, 100, 50 for a total of 1000 yards of main set.
I finished a little early, so the coach for the day had me jump right into the next set, which was 5 x 100 yards on an interval that gave me between 5 and 10 seconds rest. I figured a 1:50 would probably be a good pace for me, thinking I would be swimming about a 1:40 100, but when I hit the wall after the first one I realized that was way too conservative - I'd come in at about 1:27, so I made 1:35 my interval and was able to hold it for all 5 swims.
Next we played "swim golf," where you count your strokes and add that to your time in seconds. You want the lowest number possible. I predicted 17 strokes per lap and was right on for my first 50, then I was at 18 or 19 for the rest of them. My "golf scores" were 75 (35 strokes + 40 seconds), 74, 74, 73, and 74. At least I'm consistent.
I had a 100 warm down after that, but one of the women watching asked me to do a lap of fly, which I always love (for a lap, at least), so really it was a 25 fly sprint and a 75 warm down.
After the workout was over, the entire pool gathered in the shallow end for a "gauntlet swim." Essentially people lined one lane on both sides, and then people swam the "gauntlet" while we all splashed the hell out of them. It was crazy and fun and great for people who aren't that familiar with the craziness that is an open water swim start. Seriously, it can get violent.
We then crammed ourselves into bike gear for a ride, and I was so concerned with getting a good spot in the way-too-small locker room that I ran in with my bag, stripped off my suit, and only then realized I'd left my towel outside.
Oops.
I "dried" off with an extra shirt I brought, then crammed myself into my cycling gear: sports bra, cycling jersey (both of which got stuck and took some serious maneuvering to get into), cycling shorts, leg warmers, jacket, socks, and cycling shoes. I have never felt more like a sausage in my life.
The ride was a simple out-and-back, but of course it started to rain as we were rolling out and the roads were soaked. All of us had that attractive stripe of water and dirt and mud up our backs - mine going all the way into my hair! I felt very strong on this ride, and my pace was a little over 14 mph, which for me is really quite good. I ran into a couple of people on the ride and as we were introducing ourselves the guy (Dave?) asked if I was the Megan that people were talking about in the pool.
This is getting ridiculous. I was a bit embarrassed and tried to play it off by laughing about how slow I am at everything else, but it kind of makes me not want to get in with the group. I just want to put my head down and do my workouts and leave it at that!
Anyway, the ride was lovely, and I didn't even realize my toes were numb until I took my bike shoes off afterwards. I rode for just over an hour and hit a little over 15 miles (last year, for Thanksgiving, I got lost in the Paso Robles hills and rode under 15 miles but in like 2 hours. Granted, there were LOTS of hills, but I think I'm in better shape now than I was last year at this time! YAY!), and I feel very good about that.
My overall time last year was 3:04:34, and this year I'd love to get under 3 hours. Coach Keith has kindly agreed to help me with my speed (or lack thereof) - he's known within the group as someone who'll spend extra time helping, looking at your form, and giving extra workouts and tips to help you get faster, and he's super nice about it and seems excited to do it. There's one woman he's helping who's a great runner but needs help swimming, so she and I are going to hook up to help each other out, although I fear I'm a lost cause in the running department...
I'm finally excited about this thing. It took me a month of reluctant workouts to get back in the groove, but today I finally got over the wall and think it's going to be a great season!
The workout was to be a swim and a bike, but I brought run stuff just in case. Also, it is wet outside - not raining, but the roads are still wet from some previous rain, so I packed many layers. My bag was overstuffed and not organized well. In fact, I desperately need a new tri bag. Mine is one big compartment with some pockets that have all ripped so nothing stays where it's supposed to, and I can never find anything. My wet stuff gets the rest of my gear soaked, my dirty shoes are jammed in with my clean clothes, and my keys go floating into the main compartment - especially annoying when you are soaking wet and covered in mud and trying to get into your car to go home and get warm!
We began this morning with an injury-prevention seminar from a physical therapist, which was great. My hamstring has been bothering me, but just a twinge here and there - nothing major, but I'm going to keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't blow up into a bigger deal. I would be extremely disappointed to ruin the season at this point!
Aside: I hit a tipping point today and am absolutely excited about this event. My workouts have been great, the people are awesome, I feel fantastic. Now, just have to raise some money...
Anyway, post-injury prevention seminar we hopped into the pool. Christina wasn't there today, so I didn't have her speedy feet to follow (seriously, she is so fast), and as people hopped in no one joined my lane. The lane adjacent to mine had three people, and I invited someone to hop over but had no takers, because they "didn't want to get lapped right away."
It's funny, because I'm really not that much faster than any of them, and Christina is 100 times faster than I am. I think I might have better stamina, so can hold faster speeds for longer, and that's how I end up lapping them? I don't know.
Michelle hopped in a few minutes late, after we'd all finished our warm-ups, and the lanes were all so crowded that she glanced down at me in my very own lane and her face fell. I joked that I was going to start taking this personally! Do I have cooties? Anyway, I talked her into joining my lane and we split the lane, meaning instead of swimming circle pattern we each took half the lane and swam it straight. That way we could each go at our own pace without running into each other. Less frustrating for both of us.
The workout was fun - ~200 warm up follows by a pyramid set:
50, 100, 150, 200, 200, 150, 100, 50 for a total of 1000 yards of main set.
I finished a little early, so the coach for the day had me jump right into the next set, which was 5 x 100 yards on an interval that gave me between 5 and 10 seconds rest. I figured a 1:50 would probably be a good pace for me, thinking I would be swimming about a 1:40 100, but when I hit the wall after the first one I realized that was way too conservative - I'd come in at about 1:27, so I made 1:35 my interval and was able to hold it for all 5 swims.
Next we played "swim golf," where you count your strokes and add that to your time in seconds. You want the lowest number possible. I predicted 17 strokes per lap and was right on for my first 50, then I was at 18 or 19 for the rest of them. My "golf scores" were 75 (35 strokes + 40 seconds), 74, 74, 73, and 74. At least I'm consistent.
I had a 100 warm down after that, but one of the women watching asked me to do a lap of fly, which I always love (for a lap, at least), so really it was a 25 fly sprint and a 75 warm down.
After the workout was over, the entire pool gathered in the shallow end for a "gauntlet swim." Essentially people lined one lane on both sides, and then people swam the "gauntlet" while we all splashed the hell out of them. It was crazy and fun and great for people who aren't that familiar with the craziness that is an open water swim start. Seriously, it can get violent.
We then crammed ourselves into bike gear for a ride, and I was so concerned with getting a good spot in the way-too-small locker room that I ran in with my bag, stripped off my suit, and only then realized I'd left my towel outside.
Oops.
I "dried" off with an extra shirt I brought, then crammed myself into my cycling gear: sports bra, cycling jersey (both of which got stuck and took some serious maneuvering to get into), cycling shorts, leg warmers, jacket, socks, and cycling shoes. I have never felt more like a sausage in my life.
The ride was a simple out-and-back, but of course it started to rain as we were rolling out and the roads were soaked. All of us had that attractive stripe of water and dirt and mud up our backs - mine going all the way into my hair! I felt very strong on this ride, and my pace was a little over 14 mph, which for me is really quite good. I ran into a couple of people on the ride and as we were introducing ourselves the guy (Dave?) asked if I was the Megan that people were talking about in the pool.
This is getting ridiculous. I was a bit embarrassed and tried to play it off by laughing about how slow I am at everything else, but it kind of makes me not want to get in with the group. I just want to put my head down and do my workouts and leave it at that!
Anyway, the ride was lovely, and I didn't even realize my toes were numb until I took my bike shoes off afterwards. I rode for just over an hour and hit a little over 15 miles (last year, for Thanksgiving, I got lost in the Paso Robles hills and rode under 15 miles but in like 2 hours. Granted, there were LOTS of hills, but I think I'm in better shape now than I was last year at this time! YAY!), and I feel very good about that.
My overall time last year was 3:04:34, and this year I'd love to get under 3 hours. Coach Keith has kindly agreed to help me with my speed (or lack thereof) - he's known within the group as someone who'll spend extra time helping, looking at your form, and giving extra workouts and tips to help you get faster, and he's super nice about it and seems excited to do it. There's one woman he's helping who's a great runner but needs help swimming, so she and I are going to hook up to help each other out, although I fear I'm a lost cause in the running department...
I'm finally excited about this thing. It took me a month of reluctant workouts to get back in the groove, but today I finally got over the wall and think it's going to be a great season!
Friday, December 3, 2010
WTF Blogger?
The ads change often on this blog based on the content. I tried to get a screen shot of the ad that was just at the top right side, but for some reason my screen shot camera screwed it up so I can't post it here.
It was an AARP ad.
Really?
It was an AARP ad.
Really?
Rest Assurance
Yesterday was a lovely off day, and although I ate too much I felt very rested, albeit unmotivated, today. I finally dragged myself out of the house, thinking I'd just get in a couple of miles of running and call it a victory, but in the back of my mind I was hoping I'd feel so good I'd keep going.
Indeed, not only did I feel great and keep going, I even felt strong at the end of my run! My pace is still abysmally slow, but at least I am feeling a tad bit better while running so slowly. I broke the 12-minute-mile pace today, running 5.77 miles in 1:08.40, for a pace of about 11:50-something. The run was fantastic - about 50 degrees and cloudy, which I think is perfect since I overheat so easily (why, then, am I doing another tri in Hawaii of all places? Not sure on that one...), but I actually overestimated how cold it would be and ended up with too many layers on. I wore my fancy-schmancy winter run pants that are super thick (and, I think, more flattering as they hold everything in and prevent jiggling - let's call them my Spanx running pants), a long-sleeve tech top with neck-zip, and a hot pink windbreaker over that. I forgot my HeadSweats visor, which was unfortunate (partially because I sweat a lot and it keeps the sweat from running into my eyes and partially because it says "Lavaman 2010" on it and I like to show off while running slowly - maybe I should wear it backwards so people can see it as they are passing me), but about 15 minutes into the run I was overheating. I decided to call it "faux hot weather training" and left all the layers on and mostly zipped to get the feel for running while a tad overheated. Last year that was the hardest part - running in the heat and humidity - and it makes a huge difference in performance I think. If I can get some practice in heated conditions I think I might be better off this year..
Anyway, I think it's fun to have a familiar route, especially through neighborhoods. Maybe I'm nosy, but I like to see what people are doing to their front yards and which houses are being renovated and who's out walking their dog and whether the vultures are hanging out near San Tomas Aquino Creek again waiting for me to keel over. Not today, vultures! Today I found a black squirrel on one of the streets in our neighborhood, which is something fun to keep my eye out for the next time I run that route.
I finished my run strong - actually consciously picking up my pace as I got closer to home, feeling strong. Well, feeling strong until I stopped running - once I opened the garage door and came inside I just about fell over. I spent a good amount of time stretching and using the foam roller to get some tight spots in my legs, and now I can just feel my hamstrings tighten up as I sit here...
Also, there's something about the right side of my body that makes it more injury-prone. My right hamstring is the one that was bothering me last year, and I've been extremely careful to treat it gently this year but I can still feel it twinge and pull and tighten up. My right hand and wrist is bruised from whacking the lane line while swimming (clearly I need more practice swimming in a straight line), and today the bottom of my right foot felt like it was pulling while I was running. The pain went away but I think I need to stretch out the bottoms of my feet with tennis balls. I wonder if we have any? Add it to the list of crap triatheletes need. Sometimes I think this whole event is one big racket to get us to buy gear...
Now, since dailymile.com tells me I burned about 650 calories, I get to start thinking about my late lunch.
A burrito, perhaps?!
Indeed, not only did I feel great and keep going, I even felt strong at the end of my run! My pace is still abysmally slow, but at least I am feeling a tad bit better while running so slowly. I broke the 12-minute-mile pace today, running 5.77 miles in 1:08.40, for a pace of about 11:50-something. The run was fantastic - about 50 degrees and cloudy, which I think is perfect since I overheat so easily (why, then, am I doing another tri in Hawaii of all places? Not sure on that one...), but I actually overestimated how cold it would be and ended up with too many layers on. I wore my fancy-schmancy winter run pants that are super thick (and, I think, more flattering as they hold everything in and prevent jiggling - let's call them my Spanx running pants), a long-sleeve tech top with neck-zip, and a hot pink windbreaker over that. I forgot my HeadSweats visor, which was unfortunate (partially because I sweat a lot and it keeps the sweat from running into my eyes and partially because it says "Lavaman 2010" on it and I like to show off while running slowly - maybe I should wear it backwards so people can see it as they are passing me), but about 15 minutes into the run I was overheating. I decided to call it "faux hot weather training" and left all the layers on and mostly zipped to get the feel for running while a tad overheated. Last year that was the hardest part - running in the heat and humidity - and it makes a huge difference in performance I think. If I can get some practice in heated conditions I think I might be better off this year..
Anyway, I think it's fun to have a familiar route, especially through neighborhoods. Maybe I'm nosy, but I like to see what people are doing to their front yards and which houses are being renovated and who's out walking their dog and whether the vultures are hanging out near San Tomas Aquino Creek again waiting for me to keel over. Not today, vultures! Today I found a black squirrel on one of the streets in our neighborhood, which is something fun to keep my eye out for the next time I run that route.
I finished my run strong - actually consciously picking up my pace as I got closer to home, feeling strong. Well, feeling strong until I stopped running - once I opened the garage door and came inside I just about fell over. I spent a good amount of time stretching and using the foam roller to get some tight spots in my legs, and now I can just feel my hamstrings tighten up as I sit here...
Also, there's something about the right side of my body that makes it more injury-prone. My right hamstring is the one that was bothering me last year, and I've been extremely careful to treat it gently this year but I can still feel it twinge and pull and tighten up. My right hand and wrist is bruised from whacking the lane line while swimming (clearly I need more practice swimming in a straight line), and today the bottom of my right foot felt like it was pulling while I was running. The pain went away but I think I need to stretch out the bottoms of my feet with tennis balls. I wonder if we have any? Add it to the list of crap triatheletes need. Sometimes I think this whole event is one big racket to get us to buy gear...
Now, since dailymile.com tells me I burned about 650 calories, I get to start thinking about my late lunch.
A burrito, perhaps?!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Donations and Days Off
So Rob's company matches donations - so FYI to my three readers, if there is a donation in your future, send it to me (I promise to not spend it on burritos, although it's tempting as I've found a great burrito place around the corner!) and I'll give it to Rob and he'll donate through Cisco to get the matching! Then I only have to raise half as much! Woo!
Today is an off day for me, and I'm feeling guilty about it already. I think that's bad. I need to allow myself the rest days, especially at the beginning of the season when my endurance isn't so great. I have a couple hours of time right now that could be used running or biking, but rest is also an important part of the training regimen, and I have workouts through next Wednesday so I'd better just take today off and get over myself.
The other hard part of days off is that I have the mindset that an off day means I can eat whatever I want (like burritos, my current obsession). Not true! I'd better go eat an apple before I get into the candy that Rob brought home last night...
Today is an off day for me, and I'm feeling guilty about it already. I think that's bad. I need to allow myself the rest days, especially at the beginning of the season when my endurance isn't so great. I have a couple hours of time right now that could be used running or biking, but rest is also an important part of the training regimen, and I have workouts through next Wednesday so I'd better just take today off and get over myself.
The other hard part of days off is that I have the mindset that an off day means I can eat whatever I want (like burritos, my current obsession). Not true! I'd better go eat an apple before I get into the candy that Rob brought home last night...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Holy Great Swim Batman!
Tonight was a Team in Training official workout at Burgess Pool in Menlo Park - the site of the dreaded bubble-covered pool. There weren't too many people tonight, so we all got to swim at the same time and cut out the core workout so we could cram in more yards. We also scored some outside lanes, so there was no bubble swimming for me! Woo!
We initially had one lane, then expanded to two lanes, then Coach Mike pulled me and the faster girl, Christina, into a third lane so he could abuse us specifically. Awesome!
We got our own longer workout that consisted of the following:
250 warm-up
6 x 50 yards drill/swim
Ladder set: 150, 250, 350, 250, 150 (first and last 50s easy, middle part hard)
8 x 50 with fins, as long as you can go underwater, then backstroke
8 x 25s, descending 1-4 and 5-8
100 yards for time (with fins) - I hit 1.04-something, humiliating.
100 warm down
Total yards: 2250
Christina is super fast, and it's very humbling to swim with her - but she's only 22 so I don't feel that bad about getting smoked!
I'm wired and exhausted at the same time, if that's even possible.
We initially had one lane, then expanded to two lanes, then Coach Mike pulled me and the faster girl, Christina, into a third lane so he could abuse us specifically. Awesome!
We got our own longer workout that consisted of the following:
250 warm-up
6 x 50 yards drill/swim
Ladder set: 150, 250, 350, 250, 150 (first and last 50s easy, middle part hard)
8 x 50 with fins, as long as you can go underwater, then backstroke
8 x 25s, descending 1-4 and 5-8
100 yards for time (with fins) - I hit 1.04-something, humiliating.
100 warm down
Total yards: 2250
Christina is super fast, and it's very humbling to swim with her - but she's only 22 so I don't feel that bad about getting smoked!
I'm wired and exhausted at the same time, if that's even possible.
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