I spent Thursday and Friday nights in SF with my sister, eating and drinking too much. But, we brought our gym clothes so Friday morning we hit the gym - I hopped on the treadmill and ran a quick 3 miles, the middle mile at a 9:50 minutes per mile pace, which for me was speedy.
Today I'm pretty wiped out, so am going to take a quick nap, then Rob and I have to go to a holiday party this evening.
Tomorrow I'd love to get in a longer bike and run in, but of course hate going by myself so am trying to find a brave soul to go with me... I might just end up on my bike trainer/treadmill in the garage...
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
...and then I saw a man with no feet.
I was a bit tired and mopey last night, but got in the water anyway knowing that I have a couple days in front of me where it will be hard to get a good workout in. I was feeling whiny and sluggish and didn't want to be in the water...
...and then a man with one leg got in the lane next to me for an independent workout.
I sucked it up and swum hard after that. It's hard to remember what I'm doing this for sometimes, but every now and then there's a little reminder that this is for a good cause. And as a secondary benefit to the raising money for cancer research part of it, we all are improving our fitness and overall health as well. I need to remind myself of those things every now and then to keep my motivation high.
The swim last night was as follows:
200 warmup
5 x 50 kick
8 x 50 drill/swim
1 x 100 IM (I added this one on my own)
4 x 300 free (officially the workout was to do 3 but I got an extra one in)
4 x 150 free
50 warmdown
Total: 2800 yards!
Most yards I've put in all season so far. Next step is to add more sprinting, a la water polo workouts...
...and then a man with one leg got in the lane next to me for an independent workout.
I sucked it up and swum hard after that. It's hard to remember what I'm doing this for sometimes, but every now and then there's a little reminder that this is for a good cause. And as a secondary benefit to the raising money for cancer research part of it, we all are improving our fitness and overall health as well. I need to remind myself of those things every now and then to keep my motivation high.
The swim last night was as follows:
200 warmup
5 x 50 kick
8 x 50 drill/swim
1 x 100 IM (I added this one on my own)
4 x 300 free (officially the workout was to do 3 but I got an extra one in)
4 x 150 free
50 warmdown
Total: 2800 yards!
Most yards I've put in all season so far. Next step is to add more sprinting, a la water polo workouts...
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Running in the Rain
Tonight was an extra Captain's track workout - led by one of the workout "captains." It was raining, so there weren't very many people there - six of us, not counting the coach. The workout was short and sweet - I did a 1-mile warmup (11:18 pace), then we did a ladder set consisting of 2 laps (1/2 mile) of a 100 meter sprint/100 meter recovery/100 meter sprint/100 meter recovery (400 meters in one lap), 2 laps of a 50 meter sprint/150 meter recovery/50 meter sprint/150 meter recovery. Then we did 20 lunges (whoo, that was fun after my spinning workout and sprinting), then back "up" the ladder - so repeat the set in reverse. "Only" 2 miles of main set, but it still felt pretty darn hard. My overall pace was just under 11 minutes per mile for the main set (my fastest lap was about 2:27 and my slowest, I think, was around 2:45), so I'm happy with that, especially given that there was a bit of walking during the recovery part.
Now the Christmas tree lights are on and I'm in flannel pajamas and about to put my feet up and dive into a good book...
Now the Christmas tree lights are on and I'm in flannel pajamas and about to put my feet up and dive into a good book...
Spinning!
My goal this year is go sub-3 hours, and now that I have a specific time goal I am totally obsessed with it. I find it much more motivating to be aiming for a faster time than the more nebulous "I just want to finish," and it makes the training a LOT more fun/interesting/pointed/intense. Add to that my HRM/GPS and I'm a total freak about this now. I'm reading books, talking to coaches, logging my workouts, and just generally working harder than I was last year. It's totally fun.
I just finished a spinning workout in the garage on my bike trainer. I have four cycling DVDs, and this one focuses on sprinting. It works on a 1:5 sprint:recovery ratio, which supposedly works some specific system over another that cyclists supposedly neglect blah blah blah...
It was hard, that's all you need to know.
After the warmup, there were 5 sets of 10 seconds of all-out sprinting followed by 50 seconds of recovery. We went through that twice with a 2 minute recovery spin in between, then a third set where we do a 5-second "lead-up" to the sprint, building our pace gradually over the 5 seconds to the all-out sprint. I seem to have blocked out the middle part of the workout and can't remember it at the moment.
What I do remember is the set of plyometric jumps. Ho-ly crap were those hard. We got off the bike and spent 30 seconds crouching down and exploding up off the ground. 30 seconds doesn't sound like a lot until you're 15 seconds in and want to cut your legs off because it would feel better. After one last triplet set that involved actually standing up to sprint for 15 seconds with 45 seconds of recovery, we hit the cool down part - my favorite!
I love the feeling of being done with a challenging workout. It's so satisfying.
Also, I find it entertaining that I keep using "we" when it was really just me in the empty garage with a DVD. At least I didn't curse at this one.
I just finished a spinning workout in the garage on my bike trainer. I have four cycling DVDs, and this one focuses on sprinting. It works on a 1:5 sprint:recovery ratio, which supposedly works some specific system over another that cyclists supposedly neglect blah blah blah...
It was hard, that's all you need to know.
After the warmup, there were 5 sets of 10 seconds of all-out sprinting followed by 50 seconds of recovery. We went through that twice with a 2 minute recovery spin in between, then a third set where we do a 5-second "lead-up" to the sprint, building our pace gradually over the 5 seconds to the all-out sprint. I seem to have blocked out the middle part of the workout and can't remember it at the moment.
What I do remember is the set of plyometric jumps. Ho-ly crap were those hard. We got off the bike and spent 30 seconds crouching down and exploding up off the ground. 30 seconds doesn't sound like a lot until you're 15 seconds in and want to cut your legs off because it would feel better. After one last triplet set that involved actually standing up to sprint for 15 seconds with 45 seconds of recovery, we hit the cool down part - my favorite!
I love the feeling of being done with a challenging workout. It's so satisfying.
Also, I find it entertaining that I keep using "we" when it was really just me in the empty garage with a DVD. At least I didn't curse at this one.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Double Day
I just got back from a swim tonight - what a difference a weekend makes! I felt great in the water and was holding a pretty fast pace. At least I think I was - the lanes were crowded tonight and speedy Christina wasn't there to kick my butt.
The set was pretty straightforward:
300 warm-up
8 x 75 kick-drill-swim
150, 250, 350, 250, 150, first and last 50's hard, the rest easy
6 x 50 pull
200 warmdown
Total yards:
2550
Not bad for an hour's swim. The first hard 50 I did I swam in about 35 seconds, which is pretty darn good. Don't know if I could hold that pace, but it was nice to pop up and see the clock after the first one!
Now, something to eat and then to bed!
The set was pretty straightforward:
300 warm-up
8 x 75 kick-drill-swim
150, 250, 350, 250, 150, first and last 50's hard, the rest easy
6 x 50 pull
200 warmdown
Total yards:
2550
Not bad for an hour's swim. The first hard 50 I did I swam in about 35 seconds, which is pretty darn good. Don't know if I could hold that pace, but it was nice to pop up and see the clock after the first one!
Now, something to eat and then to bed!
Improvement
You know, I just looked at a run I did one month ago, on November 16th. The GPS software stores all of my workouts and information, which is great fun and apparently very motivational. The run I did one month ago? I ran 3.99 miles at an average pace of 13:36 minute miles.
In the span of one month I've improved my running pace over 2 minutes per mile. I just have to happy about that and stop being so hard on myself. 11:25 minute miles for me are great, period.
In the span of one month I've improved my running pace over 2 minutes per mile. I just have to happy about that and stop being so hard on myself. 11:25 minute miles for me are great, period.
5.91
I just ran 5.91 miles. I am tired. This will be a short post as I have to go soak in a tub and maybe take a nap.
I wore my GPS and tried to stay very conscious of my pace, stride length, and shoulder/head position, but I could feel myself get tired and start to fall apart. I ran my usual ~5.7 mile route, and I felt pretty strong so I decided to extend it by just a bit at the end, and instead of cutting into the neighborhood where I usually do I went around the block and added another 0.1-0.2 miles, which is better than nothing! Baby steps, right?
Anyway, I'm encouraged that my average pace was ~11.26 minute miles - for that distance that's a season best for me, and hopefully I'll only get faster as I work more on speed. Today I mostly wanted distance and form, so I'm happy with that performance.
There's a swim tonight that I'll go to as well - that should kick my butt for sure.
It's time for me to officially recommit to TNT, which means I have to give credit card information in case I don't reach my fundraising minimum. I really, really need to get on the fundraising and get over my mental block.
Now I am icing my knees - it feels like heaven. The bath I take next will be even better. :-)
I wore my GPS and tried to stay very conscious of my pace, stride length, and shoulder/head position, but I could feel myself get tired and start to fall apart. I ran my usual ~5.7 mile route, and I felt pretty strong so I decided to extend it by just a bit at the end, and instead of cutting into the neighborhood where I usually do I went around the block and added another 0.1-0.2 miles, which is better than nothing! Baby steps, right?
Anyway, I'm encouraged that my average pace was ~11.26 minute miles - for that distance that's a season best for me, and hopefully I'll only get faster as I work more on speed. Today I mostly wanted distance and form, so I'm happy with that performance.
There's a swim tonight that I'll go to as well - that should kick my butt for sure.
It's time for me to officially recommit to TNT, which means I have to give credit card information in case I don't reach my fundraising minimum. I really, really need to get on the fundraising and get over my mental block.
Now I am icing my knees - it feels like heaven. The bath I take next will be even better. :-)
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Ride-N-Tie
I have no idea why this workout is named the "Ride-N-Tie," but there you go. We were partnered with another person about our height, and shared a mountain bike. One team member began running while the other began riding, eventually leaving the bike at the side of the trail for the runner to come upon and pick up and start riding while team member number 1 runs. We leapfrog like that for three 2.2-mile loops for a total of 6.6 miles - not too bad! There is a lot more running than you might think, and I purposely kept my bike rides short so I could do more running since that's where I need the most help. Coach Keith was riding next to me for a while as I ran, giving me pointers and telling me to step it up and get some intervals in there. I mentioned my issues with heart rate - that as soon as I start running it's through the rood - and he said he used to be the same way (and he's a swimmer first and foremost so understands my issues with running!) but that after ~5 years (5 years? Really?) he's gotten better so now when he jogs his HR is in the 130's. It gives me hope. Long term hope, but hope nonetheless.
Anyway, my partner and I completed three laps in good time, although I forgot to start my watch so I don't have an actual time, but I did feel strong and felt like I was running faster than I usually do. Actually, I was a little amazed - I tried running "harder" (which probably doesn't look like much, but feels like a lot to me) and was able to hold that pace for much longer than I thought I could. Progress is good.
It's been wet outside, and we were on fire roads, and the roads were muddy. I came home covered - mud on my face, on my legs, my pants were filthy, it was great!
Now, I'm showered and wearing fleece and considering a nap... :-)
Anyway, my partner and I completed three laps in good time, although I forgot to start my watch so I don't have an actual time, but I did feel strong and felt like I was running faster than I usually do. Actually, I was a little amazed - I tried running "harder" (which probably doesn't look like much, but feels like a lot to me) and was able to hold that pace for much longer than I thought I could. Progress is good.
It's been wet outside, and we were on fire roads, and the roads were muddy. I came home covered - mud on my face, on my legs, my pants were filthy, it was great!
Now, I'm showered and wearing fleece and considering a nap... :-)
Friday, December 10, 2010
Sluggish Friday Night Swimming
My only goal was to get in the water today, but the only time I could go was in the evening. The Campbell pool is open for lap swimming at 7 Monday through Friday, and I figured there wouldn't be very many people in the pool.
It gets dark so early and it's Friday night - let's just say my motivation was low. Like really, really low. I really had to force myself to just go and get in, figuring my worst case scenario was that I'd just swim 2000 yards in smaller easy sets and call it a day. My hunch was right - there weren't many people there and I had my own lane, which is always lovely. My sad little workout was as follows:
500 warm-up
4 x 100 IM
100 (75 drill 25 swim)
400, every 4th lap hard
300, every 3rd lap hard
200, every 2nd lap hard
100 all hard
100 warm-down
I felt like I was dragging a sack of sand as I was swimming - I was so tired and sluggish, and for no good reason. Maybe I didn't eat enough today, but I suspect that I was a bit dehydrated. I had a fair bit of Diet Coke and not enough water and have been doing some reading about hydration; apparently "studies have shown" (in quotes because I haven't read the primary studies) 2% dehydration translates into a 10% decrease in performance. I need to pay closer attention to that, apparently.
Tomorrow is the "ride-n-tie." I have no idea why it's named that, but essentially I'm paired with another TNT athlete and we alternate between running and riding a mountain bike around a fire road/trail. So say my partner starts running and I start riding - I pick a distance, then dump the bike and start running. When she gets to the bike she picks it up and starts riding, passes me, and picks a distance then dumps the bike, etc etc until we go about 4 miles (I think). It's pretty fun, most people dress up in costume but my partner and I aren't feeling it so we're going as "triathletes" and calling it a day.
I'm drinking tons of water now and going to bed soon.
The rest of tomorrow is all about being a lazy bum. And maybe a nap. Sunday we are going Christmas tree hunting with friends who have kids - should be a riot and we'll get lots of pictures to post I'm sure. In the meantime, here's a really flattering one of me swimming last weekend:
And one of the team at our "color war" track night (can you find me?):
It gets dark so early and it's Friday night - let's just say my motivation was low. Like really, really low. I really had to force myself to just go and get in, figuring my worst case scenario was that I'd just swim 2000 yards in smaller easy sets and call it a day. My hunch was right - there weren't many people there and I had my own lane, which is always lovely. My sad little workout was as follows:
500 warm-up
4 x 100 IM
100 (75 drill 25 swim)
400, every 4th lap hard
300, every 3rd lap hard
200, every 2nd lap hard
100 all hard
100 warm-down
I felt like I was dragging a sack of sand as I was swimming - I was so tired and sluggish, and for no good reason. Maybe I didn't eat enough today, but I suspect that I was a bit dehydrated. I had a fair bit of Diet Coke and not enough water and have been doing some reading about hydration; apparently "studies have shown" (in quotes because I haven't read the primary studies) 2% dehydration translates into a 10% decrease in performance. I need to pay closer attention to that, apparently.
Tomorrow is the "ride-n-tie." I have no idea why it's named that, but essentially I'm paired with another TNT athlete and we alternate between running and riding a mountain bike around a fire road/trail. So say my partner starts running and I start riding - I pick a distance, then dump the bike and start running. When she gets to the bike she picks it up and starts riding, passes me, and picks a distance then dumps the bike, etc etc until we go about 4 miles (I think). It's pretty fun, most people dress up in costume but my partner and I aren't feeling it so we're going as "triathletes" and calling it a day.
I'm drinking tons of water now and going to bed soon.
The rest of tomorrow is all about being a lazy bum. And maybe a nap. Sunday we are going Christmas tree hunting with friends who have kids - should be a riot and we'll get lots of pictures to post I'm sure. In the meantime, here's a really flattering one of me swimming last weekend:
And one of the team at our "color war" track night (can you find me?):
I'm Training for an Ironman
Okay, so I'm "only" training for a 1/4 Ironman, but the sentiment is the same. I laughed my ass off at this.
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