Tonight was a quick coached track workout with only about 15 people. Temps were in the 40s and it had been raining before we began, so I think a lot of people bailed.
The workout was very casual - warmup for me was 1.25 miles, the first timed mile I ran at 10:44 - for me, that is fast for a warmup mile! After that, we jumped into the main set - a short but sweet ladder as follows:
200, 400, 600, 400, 200 (total just over 1 mile), with core work in between. Sounds easy, right? Ha ha ha.
We were supposed to try and keep our pace constant, but apparently I am totally incapable of that, so my splits looked like this:
53.54 (200 meters), 2:02.89 (400 meters), 3:48.35 (600 meters and really?! That is SLOW - I must have screwed something up here.), 2:32.29 (400 meters, notice how much slower this is that the first 400?! So bad at pacing), 52.50 (WOO faster on the last 200!).
I thought we were finished after that, but oops - there was more! The last part was a 3/4 mile (3 lap) run, sprinting the sections in front of the bleachers (so about 60 meters) and recovering for the rest of the lap. This worked out to 6 full-on sprints with recovery, and I forgot to get splits for this, but I got the total time, which was 8:26.53. This is a really slow mile time, but I don't care because I busted my ass on the sprints. On the third one I was hurting so badly I actually closed my eyes and pictured my little legs spinning faster and faster. Thankfully, there were no obstacles or I would have ended up face down on the track! I also found that on the recovery I was able to jog instead of walk, whereas the last workout like this we did I almost had to lie down after the sprints. Progress! Good.
After we finished the running, we all hung around to stretch and chat for a few minutes. When it's cold like that, our hot sweaty heads give off steam. Actually, even my legs were steaming tonight! Together we looked like a sauna. A bendy sauna.
Tomorrow I have to go into the city to meet one of the UK contingent from the job (still waiting on the official offer letter, although I have been assured it's on its way...), so I'd better go figure out what to wear, bring, and where to park!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Swimming and Fundraising
Today I swam at the Campbell Community Center pool during their midday open lap swim. The other few times I've been there it wasn't too crowded to have only two people per lane, which means you split the lane and don't have to swim circle pattern or deal with the various speeds in your lane that can screw up your set (nor do you screw up anyone else's set).
I figured the mid-40-degree temperature would keep people away, but boy was I wrong! At one point we had four people sharing one lane, one guy trying to do a kick set, I was trying to do speed 50's, it was a disaster. I got almost through my set and then gave up and just went for total yards. What I was able to do looked like this:
400 warm up
100 IM
300 kick/drill/swim
5 x 50 @ 1:05
5 x 50 @ :55
5 x 50 @ 1:00
5 x 50 @ :50
5 x 50 @ :55
5 x 50 @ :45
That's where I gave up. There were too many people swimming and I was barely able to hold the 45s anyway, so I swam an extra 500 free and called it a day. Looks like I only got in 2800 yards instead of 3000, which sucks, but I did get a few speed 50s in there. Plus, the sun was out and the water was warm, so I can't complain all that much! Plus, who gets to swimming in the middle of the day?! Seriously!
I'd planned on going to the grocery store immediately following, but seemed to have forgotten to pack undergarments in my swim bag, so I had to swing home first. Oops.
My fundraising is abysmal! I am working on a big raffle that will involve (so far) one Keen computer bag and one two-night stay at a Fisherman's Wharf hotel in SF. Still waiting on other stuff to come in - just mailed the letters at the end of last week, so I'll give it until February or so to see what gets donated and then use it in the raffle. Hopefully I can make a big wad of cash with this one (and hopefully I get more donations!) to take some of my stress away... Fingers crossed. I might send out another batch of requests this week, who knows.
Tonight I'm headed to Whole Foods in Cupertino for a healthy cooking class. A bunch of us are enrolled in this crazy "Engine 2 Diet" thing that's being partially run/supported by Whole Foods, who are offering cooking classes and a 28-day program to jump start you. Essentially, the diet/lifestyle focuses on plant-based foods and eliminates almost all animal-based products. It's not vegan, but it does cut waaaay back on anything from an animal. We'll see how long I last - my downfall will be cheese, I guarantee it. At least there are a bunch of people enrolled, so the support network is strong. That will help.
Now, I have to go plan a meal that involves lots of leafy green things and some protein (probably meaning beans)...
I figured the mid-40-degree temperature would keep people away, but boy was I wrong! At one point we had four people sharing one lane, one guy trying to do a kick set, I was trying to do speed 50's, it was a disaster. I got almost through my set and then gave up and just went for total yards. What I was able to do looked like this:
400 warm up
100 IM
300 kick/drill/swim
5 x 50 @ 1:05
5 x 50 @ :55
5 x 50 @ 1:00
5 x 50 @ :50
5 x 50 @ :55
5 x 50 @ :45
That's where I gave up. There were too many people swimming and I was barely able to hold the 45s anyway, so I swam an extra 500 free and called it a day. Looks like I only got in 2800 yards instead of 3000, which sucks, but I did get a few speed 50s in there. Plus, the sun was out and the water was warm, so I can't complain all that much! Plus, who gets to swimming in the middle of the day?! Seriously!
I'd planned on going to the grocery store immediately following, but seemed to have forgotten to pack undergarments in my swim bag, so I had to swing home first. Oops.
My fundraising is abysmal! I am working on a big raffle that will involve (so far) one Keen computer bag and one two-night stay at a Fisherman's Wharf hotel in SF. Still waiting on other stuff to come in - just mailed the letters at the end of last week, so I'll give it until February or so to see what gets donated and then use it in the raffle. Hopefully I can make a big wad of cash with this one (and hopefully I get more donations!) to take some of my stress away... Fingers crossed. I might send out another batch of requests this week, who knows.
Tonight I'm headed to Whole Foods in Cupertino for a healthy cooking class. A bunch of us are enrolled in this crazy "Engine 2 Diet" thing that's being partially run/supported by Whole Foods, who are offering cooking classes and a 28-day program to jump start you. Essentially, the diet/lifestyle focuses on plant-based foods and eliminates almost all animal-based products. It's not vegan, but it does cut waaaay back on anything from an animal. We'll see how long I last - my downfall will be cheese, I guarantee it. At least there are a bunch of people enrolled, so the support network is strong. That will help.
Now, I have to go plan a meal that involves lots of leafy green things and some protein (probably meaning beans)...
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Hilly Running - A Bad Idea the Day After Cycling Hill Repeats?
Of course not!
I just went on my usual 5.9-ish mile run but added ~0.4 miles to it by extending one portion of the loop. I checked the elevation profile on gmaps pedometer before I left, and for some reason didn't register that the big ups and downs were in the part I added. There are already a couple of good hills in my usual course, so maybe I got confused and figured those were the hills I was used to running. Oops.
I started the run feeling good, if a little slow, but I was really out for a longer, lower intensity jog today so I wasn't too worried about it. Plus, it takes me like 3 miles to feel good while running anyway.
The weather was nice and cool - I started the run with my sleeves pulled over my hands because they were starting to go numb, but once I got moving everything warmed up nicely. I've been running with my Lavaman visor from last year that soaks up sweat and it's really changed the experience - I don't know how I ever ran without a hat or a visor! I need like 100 of them, really.
My run wound me through some nice neighborhoods, and there's not a lot of traffic, which I like. I am car-phobic. At one point I came upon a mother and her 5-ish year old daughter on a walk, and the daughter kept turning to watch me approach (slowly, I am not fast, have I mentioned that?), and as I passed them she started jogging behind me. It was pretty cute.
On the part of the run I usually do, there's a long uphill, so gradual it's hard to notice. Then I get hit with a couple of really steep hills, and then the reward is a nice long downhill and the flat part back to the house.
I ran past my usual turn-off into the extension I'd mapped out. Fun area - really nice homes, lots of dead Christmas tree obstacles on the side of the road, not a lot of traffic. And then all of a sudden, I was going downhill. Like really downhill. Like so much downhill it kind of hurt my knees.
I realized I was rapidly losing all of the elevation I'd gained, and that I was going to have to run up another hill, and it wasn't going to be gradual at all. I was right.
I turned a corner and in front of me was a super steep hill that felt like it just kept going, and going, and going. I have to admit I was forced to walk part of it. Not much, but a small part. And even walking kept me huffing and puffing.
I finally crested the hill to find...
...the next set of hills! For some reason I thought I'd circumvented my usual hills, but nope - there they were, right in front of me! Yay. I tried to sprint up those suckers, and as I review the GPS stats now I see that's where my HR got up to a whopping 180!
My final stats:
My GPS tells me it was only 6.18 miles, but gmaps pedometer says it was 6.36. I believe the latter. If that's true, then my pace was really 11:22 per mile - not too bad for me. My max HR was 180, I gained a total of 1028 feet in elevation over the course of the run (!), went a max speed of 7mph, and burned about 600 calories.
I'm tired. And hungry. Time to eat, and then nap.
I just went on my usual 5.9-ish mile run but added ~0.4 miles to it by extending one portion of the loop. I checked the elevation profile on gmaps pedometer before I left, and for some reason didn't register that the big ups and downs were in the part I added. There are already a couple of good hills in my usual course, so maybe I got confused and figured those were the hills I was used to running. Oops.
I started the run feeling good, if a little slow, but I was really out for a longer, lower intensity jog today so I wasn't too worried about it. Plus, it takes me like 3 miles to feel good while running anyway.
The weather was nice and cool - I started the run with my sleeves pulled over my hands because they were starting to go numb, but once I got moving everything warmed up nicely. I've been running with my Lavaman visor from last year that soaks up sweat and it's really changed the experience - I don't know how I ever ran without a hat or a visor! I need like 100 of them, really.
My run wound me through some nice neighborhoods, and there's not a lot of traffic, which I like. I am car-phobic. At one point I came upon a mother and her 5-ish year old daughter on a walk, and the daughter kept turning to watch me approach (slowly, I am not fast, have I mentioned that?), and as I passed them she started jogging behind me. It was pretty cute.
On the part of the run I usually do, there's a long uphill, so gradual it's hard to notice. Then I get hit with a couple of really steep hills, and then the reward is a nice long downhill and the flat part back to the house.
I ran past my usual turn-off into the extension I'd mapped out. Fun area - really nice homes, lots of dead Christmas tree obstacles on the side of the road, not a lot of traffic. And then all of a sudden, I was going downhill. Like really downhill. Like so much downhill it kind of hurt my knees.
I realized I was rapidly losing all of the elevation I'd gained, and that I was going to have to run up another hill, and it wasn't going to be gradual at all. I was right.
I turned a corner and in front of me was a super steep hill that felt like it just kept going, and going, and going. I have to admit I was forced to walk part of it. Not much, but a small part. And even walking kept me huffing and puffing.
I finally crested the hill to find...
...the next set of hills! For some reason I thought I'd circumvented my usual hills, but nope - there they were, right in front of me! Yay. I tried to sprint up those suckers, and as I review the GPS stats now I see that's where my HR got up to a whopping 180!
My final stats:
My GPS tells me it was only 6.18 miles, but gmaps pedometer says it was 6.36. I believe the latter. If that's true, then my pace was really 11:22 per mile - not too bad for me. My max HR was 180, I gained a total of 1028 feet in elevation over the course of the run (!), went a max speed of 7mph, and burned about 600 calories.
I'm tired. And hungry. Time to eat, and then nap.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Why Do I Do This To Myself Again?
Today was a combo swim/bike workout in Menlo Park. The swim was okay - we only got in 2000 yards, which is a bit low for us, but there was some good speed work in there so I can't complain. We had one set of 4 x 100 yards descending each 100, which I absolutely detest because I am just crap at pacing for slower swimming. And true to form, my first 100, which I swear felt super easy and slow, clocked a 1.25 - descending from there is hard, but I guess it's supposed to be! I ended up swimming the last 100 in about 1.15, so I can't complain.
After the swim, we changed into bike clothes and headed out for a ride. There were three options: a shorter ride, a longer ride, and a middle distance ride that included a "performance" option - hill repeats. Guess which one I did?! That's right - hill repeats!
We rode from the Burgess Pool in Menlo to Huddart Park, which really was one big uphill already. I was pretty tired even getting through those 8 miles! We then hit the actual hill, where coach Keith had us do four sets - 1 minute riding up hill in as high of a gear as we could manage (so a slow, slogging, powerful pedalstroke), then turn around and come back down, 2 minutes uphill at high cadence/low gear, 3 minutes uphill in a high gear/low cadence, and 4 minutes uphill at high cadence/low gear. We ended back at the bottom, patting ourselves on the back for our great effort, and then Keith sprung one last hill on us - we were to ride back up all the way to the top, "only" about 300 yards. I beg to differ - I say is was more like 300 miles.
Whoo did my legs ever protest. Seriously, I thought I was going to have to walk my bike at a couple of points, but my pride wouldn't let me hop off. I got passed by just about everybody, including coach Keith, who was whipping up and down the hill like it was nothing and shouting encouragement. Out loud I was saying "this is awesome!" and under my breath I was saying "f--- you," but I know it will make me a stronger cyclist.
Once at the top, we were rewarded with a long, winding downhill through the redwoods, which lovely if chilly. Three of us were riding in a cluster, going pretty darn fast, and from behind me I heard a loud pop - the guy behind me had a blowout! We waited at the bottom for about 20 minutes for the tire change, freezing our arses off, then headed back to the starting point.
There was a lot of stopping and starting, so my GPS profile only gives me an average speed of 9.1 mph, which is artificially low. My HR got up to 179, which is quite high for me - and I held it around 170 for quite a while. Actually, even just standing there my HR was about 100 - maybe because I get nervous at these things, who knows.
But here's the fun part - my maximum speed was 33.4 mph, we gained 2525 feet over the whole ride (that includes all the ups and downs - absolute elevation gain was about 1200 feet), rode 21.1 miles, and my GPS tells me I burned 1474 calories. Can that be right? I hope so, it totally cancels out the burrito I just ate... :-)
I'm rather proud of this ride - I worked very hard and it was a fun group. And of course my reward is an afternoon in my fuzzy robe. Now I just have to pick out a good movie to watch...
After the swim, we changed into bike clothes and headed out for a ride. There were three options: a shorter ride, a longer ride, and a middle distance ride that included a "performance" option - hill repeats. Guess which one I did?! That's right - hill repeats!
We rode from the Burgess Pool in Menlo to Huddart Park, which really was one big uphill already. I was pretty tired even getting through those 8 miles! We then hit the actual hill, where coach Keith had us do four sets - 1 minute riding up hill in as high of a gear as we could manage (so a slow, slogging, powerful pedalstroke), then turn around and come back down, 2 minutes uphill at high cadence/low gear, 3 minutes uphill in a high gear/low cadence, and 4 minutes uphill at high cadence/low gear. We ended back at the bottom, patting ourselves on the back for our great effort, and then Keith sprung one last hill on us - we were to ride back up all the way to the top, "only" about 300 yards. I beg to differ - I say is was more like 300 miles.
Whoo did my legs ever protest. Seriously, I thought I was going to have to walk my bike at a couple of points, but my pride wouldn't let me hop off. I got passed by just about everybody, including coach Keith, who was whipping up and down the hill like it was nothing and shouting encouragement. Out loud I was saying "this is awesome!" and under my breath I was saying "f--- you," but I know it will make me a stronger cyclist.
Once at the top, we were rewarded with a long, winding downhill through the redwoods, which lovely if chilly. Three of us were riding in a cluster, going pretty darn fast, and from behind me I heard a loud pop - the guy behind me had a blowout! We waited at the bottom for about 20 minutes for the tire change, freezing our arses off, then headed back to the starting point.
There was a lot of stopping and starting, so my GPS profile only gives me an average speed of 9.1 mph, which is artificially low. My HR got up to 179, which is quite high for me - and I held it around 170 for quite a while. Actually, even just standing there my HR was about 100 - maybe because I get nervous at these things, who knows.
But here's the fun part - my maximum speed was 33.4 mph, we gained 2525 feet over the whole ride (that includes all the ups and downs - absolute elevation gain was about 1200 feet), rode 21.1 miles, and my GPS tells me I burned 1474 calories. Can that be right? I hope so, it totally cancels out the burrito I just ate... :-)
I'm rather proud of this ride - I worked very hard and it was a fun group. And of course my reward is an afternoon in my fuzzy robe. Now I just have to pick out a good movie to watch...
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Track and Season Totals
Tonight a group of ladies (and Kevin) met at the Campbell track to get in a run. It helps me to workout with a group - I find I am much more motivated and less likely to throw in the towel, so I was excited to be at the track, which is NOT my favorite, with other people.
I suggested a pyramid workout that was a bit ambitious, but certainly doable (we did almost the exact same workout last year), and for some insane reason I decided to just do the whole damn thing even though I was hurting at the end of it. It will make me faster. The set was as follows:
1 mile warmup (11 minutes 30 seconds for me)
Stretch!
400 (1 lap), 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400, with 1 minute of core or "active recovery" (aka walking in circles) between each distance.
I felt great after the warmup - even was carrying on conversation while running, if you can believe that! Running AND talking! I know - crazy! Who knew I was so talented? (<--sarcasm)
I of course took my splits, which I know you are all fascinated by, but here they are:
400: 2.06.15 (!)
800: 2.31.77, 2.39.60
1200: 2.45.68, 2.47.22, 2.49.77
1600: 2.50.88, 2.47.93, 2.55.88, 2.54.06 (can you tell I'm getting very tired here?)
1200: 2.53.52, 2.56.14, 2.58.61
800: 3.00.61, 2.56.79 (clearly I am dying at this point - my legs felt like they were going to shatter)
400: 2.31.56
I added a 400 yard cooldown (walk), and after the 1600 I gave up on core and walked in circles for the rest part of it.
Now I feel a little ill. That might have been a bit ambitious after all...
Moving on to my season totals:
Total miles: 148.73
Swimming: 22.05 miles (!)
Cycling: 32.77 miles (clearly this is where I need to spend more time, but this doesn't include spinning)
Running: 70.91 miles HOLY CRAP!
I can't believe I've run almost 71 miles since November. I'm almost impressed with myself. Now, I just need to get faster.
I suggested a pyramid workout that was a bit ambitious, but certainly doable (we did almost the exact same workout last year), and for some insane reason I decided to just do the whole damn thing even though I was hurting at the end of it. It will make me faster. The set was as follows:
1 mile warmup (11 minutes 30 seconds for me)
Stretch!
400 (1 lap), 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400, with 1 minute of core or "active recovery" (aka walking in circles) between each distance.
I felt great after the warmup - even was carrying on conversation while running, if you can believe that! Running AND talking! I know - crazy! Who knew I was so talented? (<--sarcasm)
I of course took my splits, which I know you are all fascinated by, but here they are:
400: 2.06.15 (!)
800: 2.31.77, 2.39.60
1200: 2.45.68, 2.47.22, 2.49.77
1600: 2.50.88, 2.47.93, 2.55.88, 2.54.06 (can you tell I'm getting very tired here?)
1200: 2.53.52, 2.56.14, 2.58.61
800: 3.00.61, 2.56.79 (clearly I am dying at this point - my legs felt like they were going to shatter)
400: 2.31.56
I added a 400 yard cooldown (walk), and after the 1600 I gave up on core and walked in circles for the rest part of it.
Now I feel a little ill. That might have been a bit ambitious after all...
Moving on to my season totals:
Total miles: 148.73
Swimming: 22.05 miles (!)
Cycling: 32.77 miles (clearly this is where I need to spend more time, but this doesn't include spinning)
Running: 70.91 miles HOLY CRAP!
I can't believe I've run almost 71 miles since November. I'm almost impressed with myself. Now, I just need to get faster.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Ooooh I was bad.
After a snowshoeing adventure (1 mile, but at ~7500 feet in deep snow, so it was hard!) on Christmas Eve, I was ready to hit my workout schedule as planned.
And promptly didn't do a damn thing. For two weeks.
Last night was the first night back at track, and oh boy did I feel the last two weeks of inactivity and eating and drinking. We ran a ten-minute warm-up, which I cut to ~8.30, and ran 0.75 miles in that time. That's about an 11 minute mile.
Then we did some core work and jumped into our main set - a ladder (sensing a theme?) that consisted of 400 meters (1 lap), 800 meters (2 laps), 1600 meters (1 mile), 800 meters, and 400 meters with 30 seconds of rest in between. I of course kept track of my splits per 400 meters (per lap), which were as follows:
2.17.68
2.30.43
2.42.83
2.47.37
2.51.50
2.50.24
2.51.01
2.47.34
2.44.83
2.34.13
That averages out to a 2.41.30 minute per lap time, meaning a ~10.45 minute mile. I guess that's not too bad after all, but oh boy did it ever hurt! I need to get back into the building - this week I am trying to take it easy to prevent hurting myself, but it's hard - with free time I want to go hop on my bike or something, but I also really don't want to push it too hard. This week, I suppose, will have to be slow-and-steady to get back in the swing, then next week I will start my ass-kicking...
And promptly didn't do a damn thing. For two weeks.
Last night was the first night back at track, and oh boy did I feel the last two weeks of inactivity and eating and drinking. We ran a ten-minute warm-up, which I cut to ~8.30, and ran 0.75 miles in that time. That's about an 11 minute mile.
Then we did some core work and jumped into our main set - a ladder (sensing a theme?) that consisted of 400 meters (1 lap), 800 meters (2 laps), 1600 meters (1 mile), 800 meters, and 400 meters with 30 seconds of rest in between. I of course kept track of my splits per 400 meters (per lap), which were as follows:
2.17.68
2.30.43
2.42.83
2.47.37
2.51.50
2.50.24
2.51.01
2.47.34
2.44.83
2.34.13
That averages out to a 2.41.30 minute per lap time, meaning a ~10.45 minute mile. I guess that's not too bad after all, but oh boy did it ever hurt! I need to get back into the building - this week I am trying to take it easy to prevent hurting myself, but it's hard - with free time I want to go hop on my bike or something, but I also really don't want to push it too hard. This week, I suppose, will have to be slow-and-steady to get back in the swing, then next week I will start my ass-kicking...
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
4000 Meters, Baby!
Tonight was a 90-minute long course (50 meter lane set-up instead of 25 yards) all-you-can-swim swim. A swim buffet, if you will.
I hopped in, first one in the pool, which I just love - the whole pool in front of you and you're the only one making waves - it's awesome. The 50-meter set-up makes keeping track of distance so much easier for me, as I get to count in 100's instead of by 50's. For some reason I can actually remember where I am in the set when it's long course and we're going distance.
Anyway, I got a strong start, finished the first 1500 meters (Lavaman race distance, the Olympic tri distance) feeling pretty strong, then cranked out the next 500 no problem. My arms started to get a little tired and I could feel my form falling apart around, so instead of focusing on pace I focused on trying to keep my form together. It was still hard.
I paused at 3000 meters to grab some water, then counted out my next 10 x 100 meters, and was so thankful to finish. I was tired, my legs were starting to cramp (weird), and I was hungry - the hungry part is scary since after workouts I'm usually not interested in food right away.
And in fact, after I got home and showered and put on warm clothes, I turned into the crazy hungry person who hates everybody. When I came home with my burrito and Rob's mahi mahi tacos I had to tell him to not talk to me until my blood sugar was properly elevated. For his own safety.
Now I'm fine - we've opened the first round of Christmas gifts, are packing the car, and I'm trying to figure out how early I can go to bed and still be considered a grown up...
I hopped in, first one in the pool, which I just love - the whole pool in front of you and you're the only one making waves - it's awesome. The 50-meter set-up makes keeping track of distance so much easier for me, as I get to count in 100's instead of by 50's. For some reason I can actually remember where I am in the set when it's long course and we're going distance.
Anyway, I got a strong start, finished the first 1500 meters (Lavaman race distance, the Olympic tri distance) feeling pretty strong, then cranked out the next 500 no problem. My arms started to get a little tired and I could feel my form falling apart around, so instead of focusing on pace I focused on trying to keep my form together. It was still hard.
I paused at 3000 meters to grab some water, then counted out my next 10 x 100 meters, and was so thankful to finish. I was tired, my legs were starting to cramp (weird), and I was hungry - the hungry part is scary since after workouts I'm usually not interested in food right away.
And in fact, after I got home and showered and put on warm clothes, I turned into the crazy hungry person who hates everybody. When I came home with my burrito and Rob's mahi mahi tacos I had to tell him to not talk to me until my blood sugar was properly elevated. For his own safety.
Now I'm fine - we've opened the first round of Christmas gifts, are packing the car, and I'm trying to figure out how early I can go to bed and still be considered a grown up...
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
My 10 Minute Mile Barrier
And how I broke it tonight! Woo!
We had a coached track workout tonight, in the rain, and there was a surprisingly large turnout. The warmup consisted of 4 x 100 meters of drills, including lunges, butt-kicks, high knees, and a slow jog. Then we got to the main set. Oh, the main set.
4 sets of 10 minutes of running, with 5-ish minutes of core work in between. I was determined to break 10 minutes on my first mile, then just try to keep it close to a mile in each of the remaining three 10 minute running periods. I purposely didn't look at my watch, I just ran, and I ran hard. I did try to get splits at each lap, and stopped the timer after my first mile.
So yeah, I broke ten minutes! By more than I thought possible!
My first lap was 2:10.55, the second lap was 2:19.26, the third lap was 2:23.33, and the last now-I'm-getting-desperate lap was 2:22.99, for a total mile time of...
9:16.13!
HOLY CRAP!
Of course, even though the ten minute period wasn't over, I had to walk - I was dying. Like thought my legs were going to shatter and my lungs were going to spontaneously combust kind of dying. Whoo.
I walked about a half lap before we stopped to do core work, which involved a lot of squats and lunges and not a ton of actual core, but whatever!
My second 10 minute period I nearly made it a mile - I was about 1/8th of a lap short, so I'd guess my mile time would be about 10 minutes and 10 seconds, or something close to it.
The third 10 minute period I made it a bit less than that - about 1/4 of a lap short.
The last 10 minute mile period was less stellar - I was about 1/2 lap short. That would still be under an 11-minute mile, and I held THAT pace for 4 miles. Even though they weren't continuous, I'm absolutely thrilled with that performance.
Of course now I feel not so great, and getting off the couch is rather challenging, but that's how you improve...
We had a coached track workout tonight, in the rain, and there was a surprisingly large turnout. The warmup consisted of 4 x 100 meters of drills, including lunges, butt-kicks, high knees, and a slow jog. Then we got to the main set. Oh, the main set.
4 sets of 10 minutes of running, with 5-ish minutes of core work in between. I was determined to break 10 minutes on my first mile, then just try to keep it close to a mile in each of the remaining three 10 minute running periods. I purposely didn't look at my watch, I just ran, and I ran hard. I did try to get splits at each lap, and stopped the timer after my first mile.
So yeah, I broke ten minutes! By more than I thought possible!
My first lap was 2:10.55, the second lap was 2:19.26, the third lap was 2:23.33, and the last now-I'm-getting-desperate lap was 2:22.99, for a total mile time of...
9:16.13!
HOLY CRAP!
Of course, even though the ten minute period wasn't over, I had to walk - I was dying. Like thought my legs were going to shatter and my lungs were going to spontaneously combust kind of dying. Whoo.
I walked about a half lap before we stopped to do core work, which involved a lot of squats and lunges and not a ton of actual core, but whatever!
My second 10 minute period I nearly made it a mile - I was about 1/8th of a lap short, so I'd guess my mile time would be about 10 minutes and 10 seconds, or something close to it.
The third 10 minute period I made it a bit less than that - about 1/4 of a lap short.
The last 10 minute mile period was less stellar - I was about 1/2 lap short. That would still be under an 11-minute mile, and I held THAT pace for 4 miles. Even though they weren't continuous, I'm absolutely thrilled with that performance.
Of course now I feel not so great, and getting off the couch is rather challenging, but that's how you improve...
Monday, December 20, 2010
Swimming
Quick post - the pool is set up for long course, which means less flip turns, which means more swimming, which means it's harder. Plus, there were like 100 people in each lane, so it's hard to get a good interval workout in. At any rate, here's what we did with our 90 minutes (we got 90 instead of 60 today - awesome!):
300 warm-up
10 x 50 meter kick with fins
8 x 50 drill/swim
100 easy free
300 free
6 x 50 free
3 x 100 free
6 x 50 free
100 easy free
10 x 50 pull
2 x 50, 25 hard 25 easy
100 warm down 3300
Christina was there tonight, and I'm keeping up with her more easily, which is nice to see. I like visible, measurable progress...
300 warm-up
10 x 50 meter kick with fins
8 x 50 drill/swim
100 easy free
300 free
6 x 50 free
3 x 100 free
6 x 50 free
100 easy free
10 x 50 pull
2 x 50, 25 hard 25 easy
100 warm down 3300
Christina was there tonight, and I'm keeping up with her more easily, which is nice to see. I like visible, measurable progress...
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Blah
Two nights with my sister plus one holiday party = not feeling the workouts. I had to miss yesterday morning's run, but got on the bike in the garage today for a quick workout. I chose the IronGirl DVD because it's efficient - 30 minutes and you can select either the beginner, intermediate, or advanced workout. I chose advanced, mostly out of guilt. Advanced, apparently, means there is little to no recovery in between sets, and man was I sweating at the end of it. I'm happy I did it, but am very glad it's over, and now I feel a little ill...
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