Today was supposed to be a heavy-duty, serious brick. But life got in the way. I forgot to wear my watch to our 10 a.m. play date, and by the time it occurred to me to check the hosts' kitchen clock, it was quarter past 1! Here's hoping we get invited back. I had a whee of a time visiting with the parents, and the kids played without conflict the whole time.
So, I was able to start my brick around 3:15, and I had to be done by 4:30. I biked for only 30 minutes, but I knew I had a time limit, so I pedaled in a low gear, whipping the pedals around as quickly as I could manage for the time I had to ride. I threw the bike back on the car rack, locked it up tight, traded clippie shoes for running shoes and took off for my run. It went surprisingly well. It was hot and humid and I was tired, but it felt really good to run today. Slow but steady finishes the race, as they say. I do want to finish out the schedule as planned so I can actually enjoy race day.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Making lemonade
June 26th swim
Things are getting hectic with the schedule this summer! I went to a meeting at 7 a.m., and then scooted straight over to the high school pool, so I could swim. I swam for 45 minutes, which tracked the schedule for a change. It was just not fun, at least not as fun as swimming at the lake. I tried to focus on form, and I did try varying my speed. Again, I hesitate to call it sprinting, but I went slow and steady, then sped up, then back to slow and steady, to try to increase my speed. I am just glad to get in a workout per the plan. I'm hoping to do the same with tomorrow's brick.
June 25th activity
I was scheduled to do a bike-run brick which required me to get out to the lake, so my mom could watch the kid. I was late leaving work, and by the time I got into bike shorts, it was 20 after 6. Here is where I got lemons.
I did not want to have the kid up super late due to an eagerly anticipated birthday party on the 26th. So, I made lemonade. The kid has just learned to ride his bike without training wheels, and he loves practicing the skill. I rode with him over to a nearby park, and we rode around for about half an hour, until he got going so fast he popped the chain off his bike. I didn't have a phillips head screwdriver with me, which I needed to access the front gear on his little bike. So, he walked his bike back, while I practiced balancing and cruising very slowly, to save the clippie shoes. I really need to bring spare shoes when I ride with my clippie shoes. It always seems to come back to them.
Things are getting hectic with the schedule this summer! I went to a meeting at 7 a.m., and then scooted straight over to the high school pool, so I could swim. I swam for 45 minutes, which tracked the schedule for a change. It was just not fun, at least not as fun as swimming at the lake. I tried to focus on form, and I did try varying my speed. Again, I hesitate to call it sprinting, but I went slow and steady, then sped up, then back to slow and steady, to try to increase my speed. I am just glad to get in a workout per the plan. I'm hoping to do the same with tomorrow's brick.
June 25th activity
I was scheduled to do a bike-run brick which required me to get out to the lake, so my mom could watch the kid. I was late leaving work, and by the time I got into bike shorts, it was 20 after 6. Here is where I got lemons.
I did not want to have the kid up super late due to an eagerly anticipated birthday party on the 26th. So, I made lemonade. The kid has just learned to ride his bike without training wheels, and he loves practicing the skill. I rode with him over to a nearby park, and we rode around for about half an hour, until he got going so fast he popped the chain off his bike. I didn't have a phillips head screwdriver with me, which I needed to access the front gear on his little bike. So, he walked his bike back, while I practiced balancing and cruising very slowly, to save the clippie shoes. I really need to bring spare shoes when I ride with my clippie shoes. It always seems to come back to them.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Firefly running
I bagged the chalk talk about the swim last night in favor of a dinner celebrating the return of DH and the kid. I did go out for a late run tonight, after tuck-in. The team did a stair workout today, but tonight was our last family dinner until the local music festival (and DH's summer job) ends in 11 days, so I enjoyed dinner and put the workout off until a bit later.
It was hot and humid, and my joints were pretty achy. But, I persevered. I ran for a total of 39 minutes, and I spent about half the time running at an increased pace (it would be a stretch to call it sprinting, so I won't), from one tree to the next, jog, run, jog, repeat. I hope that the increased effort will pay off on the big day. I felt pretty tired at the end of it all. The best part of the run was all of the fireflies. Crazy numbers, glowing all over. They make me happy, and so in spite of a being a big, sweaty mess now, I feel pretty good.
It was hot and humid, and my joints were pretty achy. But, I persevered. I ran for a total of 39 minutes, and I spent about half the time running at an increased pace (it would be a stretch to call it sprinting, so I won't), from one tree to the next, jog, run, jog, repeat. I hope that the increased effort will pay off on the big day. I felt pretty tired at the end of it all. The best part of the run was all of the fireflies. Crazy numbers, glowing all over. They make me happy, and so in spite of a being a big, sweaty mess now, I feel pretty good.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Swimming before the sirens
Today was a weird one, weather wise. It was much warmer than predicted, and I was happy to get into the cold lake for my swim after work. There was a decent wind, which made just enough chop that I got a lungful of water any time I let my thoughts wander. I focused on my stroke, and kept an eye on the skies as well. The forecast had called for thunderstorms, but the clouds weren't really the right sort. The sky had that weird color it gets when a big storm is coming, but then the sun kept breaking through the clouds. I swam for about 3o minutes, and by that time I was back to the dock.
I did a quick transition, and then I headed off on the bike. I did not like how the skies were looking after about 20 minutes, so I turned around and rode back the way I had come. The rain held off, but I was really glad to be almost home within 40 minutes of starting the ride, because I got a flat in my rear tire. I walked the last little bit of my route, and got my bike to the shop just in time to get the tire replaced.
I drove home with the bike on the rack and pulled into the garage just as big, fat raindrops started plopping on my windshield. Within another hour, I was listening to tornado sirens and having my tv watching interrupted by constant weather reporting. It sounds like there may have been a touchdown about 15 miles south of where I was working out, and they are saying 20,000 people are without power!
I have to admit that I am a little bummed that I had to cut the workouts short, but in the grand scheme of things, I'll count today as a good, lucky day.
I did a quick transition, and then I headed off on the bike. I did not like how the skies were looking after about 20 minutes, so I turned around and rode back the way I had come. The rain held off, but I was really glad to be almost home within 40 minutes of starting the ride, because I got a flat in my rear tire. I walked the last little bit of my route, and got my bike to the shop just in time to get the tire replaced.
I drove home with the bike on the rack and pulled into the garage just as big, fat raindrops started plopping on my windshield. Within another hour, I was listening to tornado sirens and having my tv watching interrupted by constant weather reporting. It sounds like there may have been a touchdown about 15 miles south of where I was working out, and they are saying 20,000 people are without power!
I have to admit that I am a little bummed that I had to cut the workouts short, but in the grand scheme of things, I'll count today as a good, lucky day.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Swimming and biking
I got a bit of a later start than I had hoped on Saturday. My mid-morning workout turned into a late afternoon workout, thanks to super procrastination. Once I got started, it was a good workout out, though.
I swam for 40 minutes. It was a great day for a swim. It had been hot and humid all day, so it felt awesome to get into the cold lake water. I swam all breaststroke, and I was sighting fine. The water was pretty clear today, so I was watching fish again. I saw a perfect crawfish skeleton on the bottom of the lake, looking like it had been assembled from a kit. I got past two Canadian geese who were splashing around at each other, and just as I was turning around to swim back the way I came, I saw a family of swans - 2 adults and 4 or 5 little ones bobbing along behind.
I did a quick transition, and then hopped on the bike for a 50 minute ride. It was hillier than the other day, and the map my ride site says I went 8.89 miles today. I have a dickens of a time when I'm going uphill, and as soon as I get the gears right, I'm coasting downhill and I can't get my legs caught up to the pedals. I feel like I'm shifting all the time, and I'm not just pedaling and in a groove. But the good bike and my clippie shoes make it loads easier to ride than in past years, so I'm just going to keep practicing.
I swam for 40 minutes. It was a great day for a swim. It had been hot and humid all day, so it felt awesome to get into the cold lake water. I swam all breaststroke, and I was sighting fine. The water was pretty clear today, so I was watching fish again. I saw a perfect crawfish skeleton on the bottom of the lake, looking like it had been assembled from a kit. I got past two Canadian geese who were splashing around at each other, and just as I was turning around to swim back the way I came, I saw a family of swans - 2 adults and 4 or 5 little ones bobbing along behind.
I did a quick transition, and then hopped on the bike for a 50 minute ride. It was hillier than the other day, and the map my ride site says I went 8.89 miles today. I have a dickens of a time when I'm going uphill, and as soon as I get the gears right, I'm coasting downhill and I can't get my legs caught up to the pedals. I feel like I'm shifting all the time, and I'm not just pedaling and in a groove. But the good bike and my clippie shoes make it loads easier to ride than in past years, so I'm just going to keep practicing.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
More group running
I fully intended to do interval training at the squishy track I've heard so much about for my run workout tonight. Unfortunately, the field in the center of the track was full of lacrosse players, and I found that daunting on two counts: 1) I do not relish the thought of being conked in the head by an errant lacrosse ball, and 2) I do not like making a spectacle of myself, and the team(s?) were running drills. As I recall drills, they inevitably leave some number of players standing and waiting for their turn to go, and while the players wait, attention wanders, and the next thing you know, people are speculating about whether to offer emergency assistance to the purple faced 40-year-old woman who is dry heaving over on the track.
So I opted to go on the group run, which ironically had the potential to be a bit more private. I did not go the full three miles, but I did do some interval work, using lightposts as my visual cues. That worked about for about three intervals (sprint one, walk one, sprint two, walk two, sprint three, walk three), and then I started feeling pretty queasy. I jogged the normal pace then, and finally turned around and ran through some thicker grass just to change up how I was using my muscles during the jog. The group started filing past where I was, and then they were all past me. I felt good, and cooled down with a few minutes of walking at the end. We stretched for a bit after, and discussed the weekend's workouts.
I had been planning on doing two swim brick workouts this weekend, and I may still stick with that plan, since I won't be very likely to do any swimming during the week next week. The team is sticking with a brick of biking and running, starting early on Saturday morning. I don't think I'll be able to do the brick and get to my weight watchers meeting (I can choose 7, 8:30 or 10 for the meeting), and I don't want to skip that source of support and ideas. The start time and location of the team brick makes it impossible for me to do both.
To my chagrin, I have been gaining weight through all this training. It's not the muscle weighing more than fat thing. It's the "I worked out, so I am now entitled to eat an entire can of Pringles" thing. Ugh. Anyway, I can use all the help I can get with keeping my eating under control, so I think I'll have to stick with the meeting in the morning, and a workout of swimming around 10:30, followed by a bike. Then on Sunday I can swim and run, with any team members who care to join me. At least that's the plan tonight.
So I opted to go on the group run, which ironically had the potential to be a bit more private. I did not go the full three miles, but I did do some interval work, using lightposts as my visual cues. That worked about for about three intervals (sprint one, walk one, sprint two, walk two, sprint three, walk three), and then I started feeling pretty queasy. I jogged the normal pace then, and finally turned around and ran through some thicker grass just to change up how I was using my muscles during the jog. The group started filing past where I was, and then they were all past me. I felt good, and cooled down with a few minutes of walking at the end. We stretched for a bit after, and discussed the weekend's workouts.
I had been planning on doing two swim brick workouts this weekend, and I may still stick with that plan, since I won't be very likely to do any swimming during the week next week. The team is sticking with a brick of biking and running, starting early on Saturday morning. I don't think I'll be able to do the brick and get to my weight watchers meeting (I can choose 7, 8:30 or 10 for the meeting), and I don't want to skip that source of support and ideas. The start time and location of the team brick makes it impossible for me to do both.
To my chagrin, I have been gaining weight through all this training. It's not the muscle weighing more than fat thing. It's the "I worked out, so I am now entitled to eat an entire can of Pringles" thing. Ugh. Anyway, I can use all the help I can get with keeping my eating under control, so I think I'll have to stick with the meeting in the morning, and a workout of swimming around 10:30, followed by a bike. Then on Sunday I can swim and run, with any team members who care to join me. At least that's the plan tonight.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Impromptu group run
June 14th workout
My tri team added an impromptu run into our training schedule on Monday. About 8 of us ran for 3 miles on a route that was new to me. I was dead last in the group, but I ran the whole way. It took me almost an hour, which is what I was dreading. The 20 minute mile. I do believe that the average person can walk a mile in less time. I am happy that I can run the whole distance, but I want to improve my pace.
Our next scheduled group workout is Wednesday night, and it too is scheduled to be a run. We are meeting at a newly refurbished track, and I think I will try some interval work on the track, if it's available for public use, rather than holding the group up during their run. I suppose I could do time limited intervals, as opposed to distance intervals, but I picture myself doing ladders like we did in track in the late 80's. Now if I could just find my black and neon yellow Umbro shorts, I'd be good to go....
My tri team added an impromptu run into our training schedule on Monday. About 8 of us ran for 3 miles on a route that was new to me. I was dead last in the group, but I ran the whole way. It took me almost an hour, which is what I was dreading. The 20 minute mile. I do believe that the average person can walk a mile in less time. I am happy that I can run the whole distance, but I want to improve my pace.
Our next scheduled group workout is Wednesday night, and it too is scheduled to be a run. We are meeting at a newly refurbished track, and I think I will try some interval work on the track, if it's available for public use, rather than holding the group up during their run. I suppose I could do time limited intervals, as opposed to distance intervals, but I picture myself doing ladders like we did in track in the late 80's. Now if I could just find my black and neon yellow Umbro shorts, I'd be good to go....
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