Started my 70.3 (half ironman) Training Group this week through Fleet Feet. I've been in their training programs before and it's always been a fantastic experience!
Having a hard time getting all my mileage in and getting to the gym twice a day. But I'll figure something out. I have another commitment that will be wrapping up next week, and that should free up a little time and a lot of my metal energy to use on training.
First big Group practice last night. 20 mile bike followed by a 3 mile run. It was raining all day long - just pouring! But it cleared off to just a drizzle and we got all 20 miles in before it started to pick up again. And it was 'only' raining for the run, so I was wet but not as soaked as I was afraid I might be.
I also cut my hair REALLY short. I had plenty of length to donate to Locks of Love (again - this is either the 3rd or maybe 4th time I've done it). It was all a mental game so when I look in the mirror in the morning [and we've established I'm NOT a morning person] I see someone who looks like an Athlete, and therefore I must be an Athlete, and an Athlete needs to get her butt to the gym! The bangs are driving me a little bit crazy though ;-) I haven't had bangs in YEARS so I'm still learning how to cope with having something brushing my face and close to my eyes, and how to keep it out of my face when I work out.
Off to a great start and I'm really excited!
Also, the bathroom scale had nice things to tell me this morning, and that's highly motivating too :-)
Friday, July 13, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Exercise and Travel
There must be a trick to exercising while on travel. Because so far it's been really really hard.
Heck, it's been hard just to eat well and at decent hours!
Now, to be fair I do know how to work out while on travel for work. But that's mainly because I'm staying in a hotel with a few workout machines, I keep quasi-normal business hours during the day, and I get to bed at a decent hour.
Traveling by myself to see family is a whole different ball game. I haven't gone to bed before 01:00 in three days, consistently sleep through breakfast, only have time for a light lunch between doing things and seeing people (all on other people's schedules because I am getting rides from friends/family to avoid rental car fees), and then my family insists on spoiling me for dinners - despite me telling them I would rather do something light. Instead mom wants to make me all of my"favorites" from when I was growing up or go out nice. *sigh* I love that my family loves me and misses me... they just have funny ways of showing it.
Happily, my teenage sister is still a bit vain about her body image and works out almost every day. I tagged along with her for a long run today and got 5.5 miles in, which felt awesome. And we were outside running alongside the wheat fields and totally flat horizon where you can see for miles on end... loved every minute of it! I do like where I live now in Alabama, but it's just so different from the Red River valley where I grew up! I missed it.
But anyway, that made today the first time in the past 3 days I've worked out at all. And I'm not eating well, and my sleep schedule is WACKED. Traveling even further north tomorrow to see my uncles and my Grandmother. I doubt Grandma will be keeping me up past 01:00 every night! so maybe I'll get back on schedule.
Other than that... having a Great Time because I only get to see my family maybe once a year! :-)
Heck, it's been hard just to eat well and at decent hours!
Now, to be fair I do know how to work out while on travel for work. But that's mainly because I'm staying in a hotel with a few workout machines, I keep quasi-normal business hours during the day, and I get to bed at a decent hour.
Traveling by myself to see family is a whole different ball game. I haven't gone to bed before 01:00 in three days, consistently sleep through breakfast, only have time for a light lunch between doing things and seeing people (all on other people's schedules because I am getting rides from friends/family to avoid rental car fees), and then my family insists on spoiling me for dinners - despite me telling them I would rather do something light. Instead mom wants to make me all of my"favorites" from when I was growing up or go out nice. *sigh* I love that my family loves me and misses me... they just have funny ways of showing it.
Happily, my teenage sister is still a bit vain about her body image and works out almost every day. I tagged along with her for a long run today and got 5.5 miles in, which felt awesome. And we were outside running alongside the wheat fields and totally flat horizon where you can see for miles on end... loved every minute of it! I do like where I live now in Alabama, but it's just so different from the Red River valley where I grew up! I missed it.
But anyway, that made today the first time in the past 3 days I've worked out at all. And I'm not eating well, and my sleep schedule is WACKED. Traveling even further north tomorrow to see my uncles and my Grandmother. I doubt Grandma will be keeping me up past 01:00 every night! so maybe I'll get back on schedule.
Other than that... having a Great Time because I only get to see my family maybe once a year! :-)
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Consistency
Finally getting the mileage up where it needs to be...
Saturday: Long bike ride
Sunday: Long run
Monday: Morning gym workout, abs and upper body.
Afternoon pool workout.
Tuesday: Morning gym workout, abs and lower body.
Afternoon short run
Wednesday: Quick ab workout at home, then pickup the car from the mechanic before work.
Afternoon short bike (maybe a 60 min. spin class if I'm feeling up to it).
The plan is to do morning workouts on Thursday and Friday. Then I'm on vacation for two weeks and workouts will be impromptu, depending on opportunity.
My Vibrams got back-ordered. Really hoping they come in before I leave on vacation! :-(
Monday, June 18, 2012
Not A Morning Person!
But when necessity calls, I will answer. Even if it's 5:45 am.
And that may not sound "too early" by many people's standards, but when I'm not usually up until 7:00am, that missing 1.25 hours is a killer. I'd much rather stay up late, go to bed with everything handled, then wake up a little later. Verses going to bed early with a big To-Do list waiting for me to wake up early and hit the floor running. That's just not the way I prefer to start my day.
Even the logical argument that if there's consequences I will do it doesn't apply. Or it didn't until very recently. Even when I was on college swim team I was perfectly willing to skip 6am practice and take the consequence of 2 afternoon practices rather than get up early. I went almost an entire year of 2 afternoon practices and only made a tiny handful of morning practices. My coach was exceptionally annoyed, but I was quite content ;-)
But this morning I was in the gym by 6:45 am, and will be for the rest of the week because my afternoons are jam-packed with things that need done before I leave for a 2 week "vacation." And I say that with emphasis because it's to visit my parents in Minnesota for a few days, before going up to see my uncles and grandmother in Canada... and vising family - while always worth it and something I do really want to do - is never the relaxing endevour usually associated with "vacationing."
Here is my morning attitude in a picture, by one of my FAVORITE artists Ursula Vernon.
(If you like her print as much as I do, check out her Gallery and order yourself one! http://www.redwombatstudio.com/wpg2 )
And that may not sound "too early" by many people's standards, but when I'm not usually up until 7:00am, that missing 1.25 hours is a killer. I'd much rather stay up late, go to bed with everything handled, then wake up a little later. Verses going to bed early with a big To-Do list waiting for me to wake up early and hit the floor running. That's just not the way I prefer to start my day.
Even the logical argument that if there's consequences I will do it doesn't apply. Or it didn't until very recently. Even when I was on college swim team I was perfectly willing to skip 6am practice and take the consequence of 2 afternoon practices rather than get up early. I went almost an entire year of 2 afternoon practices and only made a tiny handful of morning practices. My coach was exceptionally annoyed, but I was quite content ;-)
But this morning I was in the gym by 6:45 am, and will be for the rest of the week because my afternoons are jam-packed with things that need done before I leave for a 2 week "vacation." And I say that with emphasis because it's to visit my parents in Minnesota for a few days, before going up to see my uncles and grandmother in Canada... and vising family - while always worth it and something I do really want to do - is never the relaxing endevour usually associated with "vacationing."
Here is my morning attitude in a picture, by one of my FAVORITE artists Ursula Vernon.
(If you like her print as much as I do, check out her Gallery and order yourself one! http://www.redwombatstudio.com/wpg2 )
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Rain, Rain, Go Away...
Grocery shopping in the rain is Zero Fun. I do mean absolutely, positively, no fun at all. Running in the rain (and squishy sneakers) rates slightly above grocery shopping in the rain. But only very slightly. So with a large storm system coming into the area - and the weather man says it's going to hang around for a couple days - I opted to get the outdoor chores and the grocery shopping instead of my usual long bike and long run. I'll just have to make it up at the gym.
The longest workout I've ever done in the gym was an 18 mile run during the near peak of marathon training. I had to split it up over a couple of treadmills and even a short stint on the the elliptical to keep from getting completely bored out of my skull. BUT it was way better than the kinds of blisters I get when I run in wet socks and soggy sneakers, with zero risk of getting hit by lightning, run over by drivers that shouldn't be allowed to drive in precipitation of any kind, or risk illness/injury from getting doused to within an inch of drowning!
And in more exciting news - my new Vibrams are on their way! For those that follow this blog, I purchased a pair of Vibram five fingers a couple years back for training purposes. Sine then I have maintained low mileage on any one training run with them, but I really do love them. And I did find a pair of racing flats on sale that I loved running in and wore the soles right off them. Getting upward of 10 miles at a time before I noticed any discomfort (and that's with my "normal" bad running form and no strength training of my foot muscles). I really do enjoy minimalist and barefoot shoes. While I do not claim 100% devotion to the barefoot movement. I do ascribe to the general principals of forefoot running and ground feedback which both attribute to good posture and more efficient running.
But the fact remains that I have a desk job, am required to wear "cute, professional women's shoes" 5 days a week, and own more than one pencil skirt and matching suit jacket. There is no room in my wardrobe for thick soled, scraggly calloused, eternally dirty feet. I do not run barefoot and have no intention of ever doing so when 99% of the terrain available to me is paved. If I wanted to bad enough I could find places to run not so dirty and take extra care of my feet to prevent the worst of the above foot hygiene issues. Instead, I choose to invest large sums of money on barefoot shoes that provide a barrier between my little tootsies and the world at large.
My New Shoes! (Not being picky about colors means I got them for 40% off!)
The longest workout I've ever done in the gym was an 18 mile run during the near peak of marathon training. I had to split it up over a couple of treadmills and even a short stint on the the elliptical to keep from getting completely bored out of my skull. BUT it was way better than the kinds of blisters I get when I run in wet socks and soggy sneakers, with zero risk of getting hit by lightning, run over by drivers that shouldn't be allowed to drive in precipitation of any kind, or risk illness/injury from getting doused to within an inch of drowning!
And in more exciting news - my new Vibrams are on their way! For those that follow this blog, I purchased a pair of Vibram five fingers a couple years back for training purposes. Sine then I have maintained low mileage on any one training run with them, but I really do love them. And I did find a pair of racing flats on sale that I loved running in and wore the soles right off them. Getting upward of 10 miles at a time before I noticed any discomfort (and that's with my "normal" bad running form and no strength training of my foot muscles). I really do enjoy minimalist and barefoot shoes. While I do not claim 100% devotion to the barefoot movement. I do ascribe to the general principals of forefoot running and ground feedback which both attribute to good posture and more efficient running.
But the fact remains that I have a desk job, am required to wear "cute, professional women's shoes" 5 days a week, and own more than one pencil skirt and matching suit jacket. There is no room in my wardrobe for thick soled, scraggly calloused, eternally dirty feet. I do not run barefoot and have no intention of ever doing so when 99% of the terrain available to me is paved. If I wanted to bad enough I could find places to run not so dirty and take extra care of my feet to prevent the worst of the above foot hygiene issues. Instead, I choose to invest large sums of money on barefoot shoes that provide a barrier between my little tootsies and the world at large.
My New Shoes! (Not being picky about colors means I got them for 40% off!)
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Try, Try Again
Second real attempt with clip-less pedals went MUCH better!
One of my running buddies also enjoys biking, and after relating to her how my first attempt went with my new pedals (not good!) she insisted I needed to get out of the garage and out on the road. The act of pedaling and naturally putting the forward/downward pressure on the pedal as I rotate around would help the clip snap in. And it Worked!
There was of course a fair amount of fumbling, but I already knew the trick to KEEP PEDALING with one foot while I continued struggling with the other to keep from losing momentum and falling over. And as much as I struggled to get INTO the clips, I luckily have no problem getting OUT of the clips. So, no falling over when I come to a stop :-)
I managed to put on 15 miles in a little under an hour by the time my feet were getting achy. A couple small blisters but nothing major, and I will continue to practice without socks because that's how I intend to race. I think a little extra Glide around my toes should do it, and if I need to take further measures I might start putting a dot of mole-skin on the hot spots.
15 miles today, on top of a 6.5 mile run yesterday morning out with The Girls, along with the usual house chores (much going up/down stairs), mow the lawn with the push mower, wash the car by hand (it REALLY needed it!), some minor woodworking to finish up the raised vegetable beds, and getting them planted before it rains... I do believe that counts as a FULL WEEKEND!
Short story about my vegetables: I started them from seeds in the front bay window, from a children's "Taco Garden" kit. It had a special little watering tray, those funny little expands-to-5-times-original-size-when-wet peat pods, and seeds for cilantro, lettuce, jalapenos, tomatoes. There were a couple close calls when I forgot to water them a couple days then over watered them the next day, but they all made it and got moved to nice big pots in the front window. Enter, the new kitten. It didn't take long for the kitten to make the front bay window her favorite place to play/nap. And her new favorite toy is my cilantro plant! (with the soft floppy lettuce leaves a close second!) After all that work keeping the silly stuff alive this long, I'm not about to let the kitten kill it out of simple curiosity! It's long past time for the plants to go outdoors, but I don't have a proper garden plot tilled up yet. So, I am putting together a set of raised boxes and filling them with soil for my veggies to finish growing.
One of my running buddies also enjoys biking, and after relating to her how my first attempt went with my new pedals (not good!) she insisted I needed to get out of the garage and out on the road. The act of pedaling and naturally putting the forward/downward pressure on the pedal as I rotate around would help the clip snap in. And it Worked!
There was of course a fair amount of fumbling, but I already knew the trick to KEEP PEDALING with one foot while I continued struggling with the other to keep from losing momentum and falling over. And as much as I struggled to get INTO the clips, I luckily have no problem getting OUT of the clips. So, no falling over when I come to a stop :-)
 |
| (not actually my feet here, but similar style cleat/pedal) |
I managed to put on 15 miles in a little under an hour by the time my feet were getting achy. A couple small blisters but nothing major, and I will continue to practice without socks because that's how I intend to race. I think a little extra Glide around my toes should do it, and if I need to take further measures I might start putting a dot of mole-skin on the hot spots.
15 miles today, on top of a 6.5 mile run yesterday morning out with The Girls, along with the usual house chores (much going up/down stairs), mow the lawn with the push mower, wash the car by hand (it REALLY needed it!), some minor woodworking to finish up the raised vegetable beds, and getting them planted before it rains... I do believe that counts as a FULL WEEKEND!
 |
| Me, Lisa, Nancy. The Crazy Girls from 4610 |
Thursday, May 31, 2012
An Adventure in Clipless Pedals
Not doing too well at regular entries to my workout diary/blog. I recommit to keeping track of these things.
So, many moons ago I found a pair of clipless pedals/cleats on sale and ordered them. A few moons later, I found a pair of compatible road shoes, on sale, and ordered them. They came in sometime this winter when I didn't have my road bike out so they got shoved under the bed together until I remembered them later.
It's "later." I have installed the pedals, attached the clips, and spent my first evening figuring out how the heck to work these clipless pedal thingies... per recommendations from friends and YouTube videos, instead of going out on the road I just settled in to a corner of the garage to practice clipping in/out repeatedly until I had the basic motion down. And apparently, I stink at it. After over half an hour of trying to clip in, clip out, clip in, clip out, I still can not do it consistently with either foot, I have bruises on my shins and calves from the pedal getting away from me and whacking into the leg that was on the ground, and when the pedal got away from me I would slip forward/backward on the saddle such that my pants pocket caught on the nose of the seat and ripped a rather large hole in my jeans.
I am not discouraged, nor am I overly-annoyed about the jeans. But I think I need a few more evenings in the garage before I dare try going out in traffic! :-(
So, many moons ago I found a pair of clipless pedals/cleats on sale and ordered them. A few moons later, I found a pair of compatible road shoes, on sale, and ordered them. They came in sometime this winter when I didn't have my road bike out so they got shoved under the bed together until I remembered them later.
It's "later." I have installed the pedals, attached the clips, and spent my first evening figuring out how the heck to work these clipless pedal thingies... per recommendations from friends and YouTube videos, instead of going out on the road I just settled in to a corner of the garage to practice clipping in/out repeatedly until I had the basic motion down. And apparently, I stink at it. After over half an hour of trying to clip in, clip out, clip in, clip out, I still can not do it consistently with either foot, I have bruises on my shins and calves from the pedal getting away from me and whacking into the leg that was on the ground, and when the pedal got away from me I would slip forward/backward on the saddle such that my pants pocket caught on the nose of the seat and ripped a rather large hole in my jeans.
I am not discouraged, nor am I overly-annoyed about the jeans. But I think I need a few more evenings in the garage before I dare try going out in traffic! :-(
Monday, May 14, 2012
A Lesson in Flexibility
Not flexibility like, being able to touch my forehead to my kneecap during calf stretches (which I am getting really close to being able to do again!) Today I'm talking about calendar flexibility.
It's really easy to get discouraged and the first time I miss a trip to the gym and think, "Oh well, I blew it, might as well eat fried food for dinner too because today's a total bust."
Thursday was a planned day off, and Friday was supposed to be a stationary bike workout, but a buddy we don't see often dropped in on us just before I got home from work - with the makings for Beer Brownies and Mixed Drinks. And yes, I skipped my gym workout and had a fun evening hanging out and blatantly ignoring how many calories I consumed in a single evening.
Saturday morning I met one of my friends for a long run at the local Greenway. We did a 10K easy run, but I kept the pace a little higher than maybe I would otherwise because I was trying to redeem myself from Friday night's shenanigans. By the end of our run, I spent some time with the nagging side of my brain - what I usually call "Mind Talk," and coming to terms with the fact I didn't have to "redeem" myself to anyone, including myself. And it's okay to rearrange my schedule to have an evening of fun when the opportunity presents itself! Such a simple conclusion, but it took a while to come around to that because I wanted to grill myself as being a terrible person for not sticking to my training commitments. But doing that just makes me feel even worse and makes me even more likely to skip workouts. A tad counter productive, don't ya think!?
And Sunday was raining all day long so I stayed indoors instead of the long bike ride I had planned. Where I came to the conclusion that cleaning the garage and reorganizing the library involved enough going up/down stairs and heavy lifting that my arms, legs, and backside felt like I'd done a serious weight training round at the gym anyway. So I will call that one even.
This entire weekend I just kept coming face-to-face with the fact that having a balanced, organized workout calendar printed and posted on the fridge is all fine and dandy, but if I get too focused on that little sheet of paper, The Real World makes a special point of shaking up my schedule and reminding me that I have to be flexible if I want this to be a great training season!
In summary, I got a great long run in, and some strenuous housework that counts as a workout, and the rest of the weekend involved spending quality time with friends and family. The majority of which was NOT according to plan, but it turned out to be a great weekend anyway.
And I am totally ready to get back to my schedule with my usual Monday spin class tonight :-)
It's really easy to get discouraged and the first time I miss a trip to the gym and think, "Oh well, I blew it, might as well eat fried food for dinner too because today's a total bust."
Thursday was a planned day off, and Friday was supposed to be a stationary bike workout, but a buddy we don't see often dropped in on us just before I got home from work - with the makings for Beer Brownies and Mixed Drinks. And yes, I skipped my gym workout and had a fun evening hanging out and blatantly ignoring how many calories I consumed in a single evening.
Saturday morning I met one of my friends for a long run at the local Greenway. We did a 10K easy run, but I kept the pace a little higher than maybe I would otherwise because I was trying to redeem myself from Friday night's shenanigans. By the end of our run, I spent some time with the nagging side of my brain - what I usually call "Mind Talk," and coming to terms with the fact I didn't have to "redeem" myself to anyone, including myself. And it's okay to rearrange my schedule to have an evening of fun when the opportunity presents itself! Such a simple conclusion, but it took a while to come around to that because I wanted to grill myself as being a terrible person for not sticking to my training commitments. But doing that just makes me feel even worse and makes me even more likely to skip workouts. A tad counter productive, don't ya think!?
And Sunday was raining all day long so I stayed indoors instead of the long bike ride I had planned. Where I came to the conclusion that cleaning the garage and reorganizing the library involved enough going up/down stairs and heavy lifting that my arms, legs, and backside felt like I'd done a serious weight training round at the gym anyway. So I will call that one even.
This entire weekend I just kept coming face-to-face with the fact that having a balanced, organized workout calendar printed and posted on the fridge is all fine and dandy, but if I get too focused on that little sheet of paper, The Real World makes a special point of shaking up my schedule and reminding me that I have to be flexible if I want this to be a great training season!
In summary, I got a great long run in, and some strenuous housework that counts as a workout, and the rest of the weekend involved spending quality time with friends and family. The majority of which was NOT according to plan, but it turned out to be a great weekend anyway.
And I am totally ready to get back to my schedule with my usual Monday spin class tonight :-)
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Lucky Me (and I mean that sincerely)
Hubby volunteered to take the kitten to the vet all by himself so I could make it to my 'Body Works' class, AND he packed a gym bag for me so I didn't have to run home and grab stuff.
I am loved :-)
So, I made it to class. And as the name implies, Body Works is a total body workout. I knew I needed some upper body work; that's the number one thing that gets ignored during my bike and run training. But Oh My Goodness! My butt hurts! Glutes, and also lower back and lower abdominals.
And the things I could really feel my body struggling/getting the most work from, were movements that I recognized from exercises my physical therapist was giving me last time I landed in her office. So it's the same problems threatening to come back if I don't keep working on. You'd think a girl would learn to listen to her doctors a little more often! But, at least I noticed before it became a problem again, and I still have my exercise cards from the physical therapist so I can get fix the problem on my own this time.
Thursdays are my day off, but I still plan to do a little yoga before bed - since I didn't have time to do it this morning before work. Mornings are getting easier, but I still wouldn't call myself a "Morning Person." There's some early morning short runs in my training schedule about two weeks from now. I anticipate the first half dozen of those workouts are going to STINK.
I am loved :-)
So, I made it to class. And as the name implies, Body Works is a total body workout. I knew I needed some upper body work; that's the number one thing that gets ignored during my bike and run training. But Oh My Goodness! My butt hurts! Glutes, and also lower back and lower abdominals.
And the things I could really feel my body struggling/getting the most work from, were movements that I recognized from exercises my physical therapist was giving me last time I landed in her office. So it's the same problems threatening to come back if I don't keep working on. You'd think a girl would learn to listen to her doctors a little more often! But, at least I noticed before it became a problem again, and I still have my exercise cards from the physical therapist so I can get fix the problem on my own this time.
Thursdays are my day off, but I still plan to do a little yoga before bed - since I didn't have time to do it this morning before work. Mornings are getting easier, but I still wouldn't call myself a "Morning Person." There's some early morning short runs in my training schedule about two weeks from now. I anticipate the first half dozen of those workouts are going to STINK.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
On Again. Off Again. On Again...
My goal for this blog is to get in the habit of logging my workouts and how it went, and make it my exercise diary for this training season.
Got a little burnt out there after 2 marathons in 4 months. I prefer to make winter my running season because I'm miserable in the heat. But as a result I have a bad habit of leaping straight into the summer triathlon season without giving my body a decent rest. But this time I actually managed to take about 6 weeks off to myself, and simply putzed around the gym instead of "training," and no races.
Getting back on track with a good training program and slow/long build-up to my next event: Half Ironman.
Going into this training season, my biggest hurdle is going to be reigning in my swimming and balancing my workouts. With a swimming background I tend to practice swimming for triathlons the same way I used to practice swimming for competition = hard and fast. This is the primary reason I didn't do well at the Rocketman (olympic distance) Triathlon last fall. I came blazing out of the water, with a time comparable to the top 20 competitors, then my bike was barely par for my age group, and I had no energy left for the run and totally bonked, with one of my worst 10K times ever.
http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_swim/tno_swimarticle_01.asp
So, this week is all about getting back into a regular Gym habit. Simply going when I said I would go, and sticking to shorter, core workouts to build my base back up.
Monday I went to Spin Class, and my rump feels like I have a bruise the exact size/shape of a bike saddle. Even my cushy bike shorts with the extra padding didn't feel like they helped much. My posterior has a ways to go before I'm comfortable riding with only a chamois for padding. But - as I frequently need to remind myself - no judging yet. It's just about going to the gym and doing it. Well, I went, and I did it. So - Yay!
Tuesday/Yesterday was spent in the Pool. I did my favorite 1500 easy workout: 200 SKPS as warm up, timed 500 swim, then 200 freestyle drill as cool down. The timed 500 was 09:24. I'm not sure how to feel about that, because I was pushing my self to about 80% perceived exertion, and compared to my 500 race times "back in the day," a 09:20 is miserable. HOWEVER, I know that the 1500m swim at Rocketman I came out of the water approx 32min. Which is a hair under 11min 500's. And that was too fast. So I need to play with the numbers and figure out how much I need to slow that down if I'm going to have any energy left for the rest of the race.
And tonight's plan was to go to a 'Body Works' class at the gym, but I have to take the kitten to the vet first and don't think we'll be done in time. I'll do a P90 DVD instead.
Also, I am trying a new crock pot recipe, "Easy Chili" from my "5 ingredients or less" crock pot cook book. If it turns out okay I'll have to start tweaking it - like I'm doing with my other favorite recipes - to make it as healthy as possible. (and "healthy" does not equal "low fat" or "low calorie" or any of that other nonsense. "healthy" simply means Healthy... balanced... ingredients I can actually pronounce and good for my digestion!)
Got a little burnt out there after 2 marathons in 4 months. I prefer to make winter my running season because I'm miserable in the heat. But as a result I have a bad habit of leaping straight into the summer triathlon season without giving my body a decent rest. But this time I actually managed to take about 6 weeks off to myself, and simply putzed around the gym instead of "training," and no races.
Getting back on track with a good training program and slow/long build-up to my next event: Half Ironman.
Going into this training season, my biggest hurdle is going to be reigning in my swimming and balancing my workouts. With a swimming background I tend to practice swimming for triathlons the same way I used to practice swimming for competition = hard and fast. This is the primary reason I didn't do well at the Rocketman (olympic distance) Triathlon last fall. I came blazing out of the water, with a time comparable to the top 20 competitors, then my bike was barely par for my age group, and I had no energy left for the run and totally bonked, with one of my worst 10K times ever.
http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_swim/tno_swimarticle_01.asp
So, this week is all about getting back into a regular Gym habit. Simply going when I said I would go, and sticking to shorter, core workouts to build my base back up.
Monday I went to Spin Class, and my rump feels like I have a bruise the exact size/shape of a bike saddle. Even my cushy bike shorts with the extra padding didn't feel like they helped much. My posterior has a ways to go before I'm comfortable riding with only a chamois for padding. But - as I frequently need to remind myself - no judging yet. It's just about going to the gym and doing it. Well, I went, and I did it. So - Yay!
Tuesday/Yesterday was spent in the Pool. I did my favorite 1500 easy workout: 200 SKPS as warm up, timed 500 swim, then 200 freestyle drill as cool down. The timed 500 was 09:24. I'm not sure how to feel about that, because I was pushing my self to about 80% perceived exertion, and compared to my 500 race times "back in the day," a 09:20 is miserable. HOWEVER, I know that the 1500m swim at Rocketman I came out of the water approx 32min. Which is a hair under 11min 500's. And that was too fast. So I need to play with the numbers and figure out how much I need to slow that down if I'm going to have any energy left for the rest of the race.
And tonight's plan was to go to a 'Body Works' class at the gym, but I have to take the kitten to the vet first and don't think we'll be done in time. I'll do a P90 DVD instead.
Also, I am trying a new crock pot recipe, "Easy Chili" from my "5 ingredients or less" crock pot cook book. If it turns out okay I'll have to start tweaking it - like I'm doing with my other favorite recipes - to make it as healthy as possible. (and "healthy" does not equal "low fat" or "low calorie" or any of that other nonsense. "healthy" simply means Healthy... balanced... ingredients I can actually pronounce and good for my digestion!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)