BRICK!

The week is going pretty well for training. Last week's breakfast ride wasn't too good, and after some days off around it and pondering why I was having such a rough go at all workouts, I figured I'm low on iron again. It happens now and then, and it makes sense that since I've ramped up training I may need some supplements. So I'm taking some iron pills I've had from before and am also tracking my food nutrition carefully to see that I'm getting a good balance of everything.

I do think I'm feeling better already. Restless legs have gone away, heart flutters have gone away, and I feel I have more energy. So that's a good sign!

Monday I swam easy at lunch and ran in the evening. It was on this icky run where I figured out maybe I'm having iron issues again. Tuesday I biked on the trainer, mostly just keeping a steady pace. Wednesday I swam. Instead of running that evening, I decided I'd do a brick Thursday. So yesterday after work I set my bike up on the trainer and did my first brick exercise of this training season.

I had read on Steve In A Speedo's site about a pretty killer workout he learned about at a duathlon clinic. He said it was great for sprint tri preparation as well as for duathlons, and believed it was great for getting your legs used to pushing when tired. Here's how it flows:
- 10 minute warmup on the bike with a couple pickups
- Run a mile, pushing
- 9:30 on the bike, alternating 30 seconds hard with 30 seconds easy
- Run a mile, pushing
- 9:30 on the bike, alternating 30 seconds hard with 30 seconds easy
- Run a mile, pushing
- 9:30 on the bike, alternating 30 seconds hard with 30 seconds easy

So I put some music on, hopped on my bike and warmed up.

The first running mile was all eager beaver and I did it in 8:56. For the bike, it was hard to know how much I should push at first. What gear, speedy legs, etc. I tried to find something that got my heart rate to spike and legs to burn, so I was ready for the 30 seconds of easy spinning. I rode each bike session for 10 minutes.

Second mile was 9:25, but I stopped half way. I went out too fast and would have slogged back, so I caught my breath. More biking...I learned that I needed about a minute to get my legs ready to spin again. The first 30 I took easy and on that first 30 of pushing, it was pretty slow :)  But by the next one I was back on it.

Last mile I tried to be more realistic and pace myself better. I pushed as best as I could and managed a 9:47. My legs were screaming! I decided I was done. It had been an hour and I was happy with the effort. It was a great workout. And I can see how it will get better for sure. Next time I'll do the last bike part as well. And I can up the pushing for sure. I didn't want to go crazy, not knowing what the workout would actually feel like later.

We'll see how I recover, but I think I will do this workout each week leading up to the race. I'm feeling good so far!

Breakfast Ride Take 2

Saturday Casey and I rode the breakfast ride for only the 2nd time this season. I looked up when we started riding it last year, and July 20th was our first ride. So...still slightly ahead of last year ;) but I really thought I'd have been out there every weekend so far. Weekends have just been full I guess.

The first time out this year, back on June 14, I had only been riding a bit by myself on the trail or around the 'hood. And by a bit I mean like 3 rides of 15-20 miles. I hadn't been spinning, running or really doing much else because of the crazy work stuff. But knowing I wanted to do these rides again when it wasn't too chilly in the morning anymore, I tried to get in some biking. However, I wasn't too surprised that the ride went pretty terribly. I got dropped on the first hill and the group never waited to re-group. So then we were so far back we didn't know what route people were taking to avoid a construction detour. Quite a few miles ended up being cut off the ride and we arrived earlier than the main group. Coming back, I fought nausea as I worked hard to stick to whatever wheel was in front of me so I didn't get dropped again. Comments from the sag person and experiencing the reality of my physical fitness sat pretty poorly with me.

But it was also motivational. I love the breakfast ride and didn't want to have such a bad time on it next time. So I have really begun to work on my biking. I have sought out hills (still am trying to find a good area of hills for repeats) and have been working on my cadence. Plus, now that crazy work time is over I am back to working out – running and swimming and strength. Hurray!

So, this past Saturday when we went on the ride for the second time this year, it went SO much better. I managed the first hill without losing the group. I may have even been ahead of someone. And all of the other little rollers that can sap it out of me – I managed those better too. I attacked and kept my cadence high so that my breathing didn't spike so quickly. I thought about quick, full circles. Then I used my gears to pull out of the hill at the top and stay the pace with the group. I may still be working harder than the others, but I think this is a huge improvement for me. I feel like this ride was nearly as good as my first ride after the tri last year.

Coming back we had to take a detour due to a bridge that was out. There was a steep climb and I was really done. I almost fell over I was going so slow. I just had nothing left due to a short climb minutes before where I felt my quads burning and shuddering, and mentally I was really done. So for the first time ever, I maxed out my legs before I maxed out my breathing ability. A weird win! I'm pretty encouraged to see direct improvement from how I've been working at it. And I can work harder, so I think things will get even more fun.

Some running, some disc golf and a one mile swim.

July is off to a good start with training. On Tuesday the 1st, I ran 2.5 miles in the morning, trying to loosen up my very very tight hamstrings. I weeded a couple days and that always gets them. Then later I swam what has become my usual 800-1000 yards at the Community Center. It was fine, nothing spectacular. Oh swimming.

On the 2nd, Wednesday, I walked the 2.5 mile loop in the morning. The temperatures had cooled and it was pretty nice out. Again I was trying to loosen up the legs because later that evening I wanted to run the free 5K that Roncker's holds in Loveland on the south side of the trail. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to really run, or just jog and just elevate my heart rate for a bit. Turns out, I ran faster than I've ran in months, and completely blew my mind. I ran a 9:30 pace. I don't know how it happened, having been struggling with 10:30 10:45...even 11 pace some days. I guess my only explanation is that I just got past the break in phase with getting back into training. Whoopee!

Thursday I took the day off. With friends coming into town, I was very ready to have some fun and do some triathlon workouts with Erika. Those of us who weren't working went disc golfing at a newer local course. It was fun. However, I got suddenly sick, and after 3 holes of chills, cramps and sweating, my body finally gave me no choice in the matter and I had to poo in the woods. Like a bear. It was pretty funny, gross and unbelievable all at the same time. And yay for carrying disc golf towels, but I'm going to pack some bio-degradable tp in my disc golf bag for the future. Oy.

Friday the 4th was another breakthrough workout day. In the morning, I just went on an easy run, not quite knowing what we'd do the rest of the day. Erika wanted to go swimming, and belongs to the Y, so we went to the Blue Ash Y (me as a guest) where they have an outdoor pool. I swam laps outside and it was fantastic! I also swam a mile!! Erika wanted to do a mile, and I said "sure" thinking I'd just kill time floating or something after I was exhausted with however far I could go...but I just kept going. I can't believe I swam that far! I have been doing 800s and feeling like, yep that's all I got today, folks. I don't know if it was the sun or maybe having someone to work out with. Whatever it was, it was terrific and I'm so happy and relieved about my swimming abilities right now. 

 

Saturday we went canoeing down the Little Miami for 9 miles with some friends, though probably 6 of those 9 were just floating. It was a little strange. I get the leisurely canoe trip thing, but it felt strange to be so inefficient. I was kind of bored almost. 

Sunday I didn't do anything too physical, but did go on a 72 mile motorcycle ride which was pretty fun. And it was with my old motorcycle! The guy I sold it too is a new rider, so we did a ride that I think is pretty fun from this area, and has some good things to practice. G followed in his miata, though I'm sure at the cautious new rider speeds we were going, it wasn't too fun for him. We stopped for brunch in Waynesville. It was great to finally get out on the motorcycle again...the weekend was so nice. I was itching to go and could have gone another 72 miles no problem. 

So that was the long weekend! Very fun-filled!

I'm in the process of getting a membership to the Y. The swim with Erika couldn't have come at a better time. I'm losing my free membership at the Community Center because G's company changed insurance providers again. So that benefit is gone. While waiting for her to finish getting ready after we swam, I saw a "member referral" process sign in the lobby. So, price-wise, the Y is going to be the cheapest place with some friends giving me a referral. Plus, I can't believe how awesome that outdoor pool experience was. I'm going to sign up tomorrow after an appointment at the Apple store to fix my phone and hopefully fonts on my computer. 

Sooooooo, that was a long winded update for a very full week... And now on to this week.

Tonight, I biked after work for an hour. I wanted to try to find some decent hills around the house that I could maybe do hill repeats on, but no luck. However, it was crazy windy. A storm was blowing over the entire time and pedaling down hill was still kinda rough. So even though I found no hills, pushing through the wind certainly made for a good workout. I forgot my water bottle though, which was annoying. Today I also started doing planks. Erika was talking about how they've benefited her training, and I've known for a long time now that I should start doing some strength stuff. So here's my weak starting point: 30 sec. I am doing the kind where you're on your hands and the kind where you're on your elbows/forearms. I don't know which is better, so I'm just going to do both. Seems like the elbow version is a bit harder. I did 4 sets today, each 30 sec. WEAK!!!

Tomorrow I plan to run a little in the morning and then swim around lunch. It probably won't be outside if the rain is all rainy.

Whooo this was a book. I need to update more often...and start drawing again!

Winter. Go Away.

It's been a while... My March is not looking so full...Bleh.

Last weekend, I had a project derail my chance to run 8 miles again. This week has been better, and I'm focusing on running and biking more. Swimming will come around again. I'm just not that worried about it right now.

I've done a couple rides on my bike on the trainer recently. I want to be able to hit the roads feeling pretty good whenever this stupid weather decides to be better. Spinning classes are great, but it's quite different from the bike.

Tonight I did a ride to music and it was pretty great. I pushed and it was rough, but it felt good. My heart rate was up and never really came down, which I have a hard time preventing in spinning classes. Too much fly wheel nonsense–I look at my watch and I'm all the way back to 134 or something. Anyway, good quality 45 minutes. Short and purposeful.

This morning I ran 3.5 miles. I tried to just run strong. I managed a 9:44 pace, which I suppose isn't too shabby (for me) given how little I've been running. So that's encouraging.

I registered for the Heart Mini and have decided it's just going to be an awesome training day. No pressure, no goals. Just run and enjoy it. I haven't had the best month, so there's no sense in keeping the same goals. It's all about having fun anyway, so that's what I'll do.

Friday it's going to be 54º.  I WANT TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.

It's Been Cold

Alright. Back to things. January has been cold. I am always cold except when I'm 1) in the shower, 2) sleeping, or (godforbid) 3) running on the indoor track at the Community Center.

I've been getting back to swimming pretty well, except for this week because I hurt my back. Some time in the middle of the night on Sunday, I moved and tweaked a muscle. It got worse and worse and eventually started to spasm. Luckily, having been through this before, I called a massage center and got a quick deep tissue massage that helped. It's still sore in certain positions, but no spasming. Maybe I'm chronically dehydrated and that's why this keeps happening.

Anyway, biking has been rough. Three spinning classes have been cancelled now because of the weather. And running has been not often enough. But I'm working on changing all of this.

This Sunday I'm doing a mini indoor triathlon. I'll swim for 10 minutes as far as I can, bike for 20 minutes as far as I can and run for 15 minutes as far as I can. Not sure about the details of it all yet. I am not expecting anything stellar from a performance outlook. I'm playing two broomball games on Saturday and I still have the hurt back and haven't swam this week at all. Buuuuuut it will at least be a good workout! Maybe I'll look at it as a short suffer fest to start off some great training.

I am so tired of being inside, so today I got out. I'm sure it's not healthy for me to run when it's 1 or -5 outside, but today it got to a balmy 22º and it was sunny. So I found my balaclava and went for 4.5 blissful cold miles. The sky was really blue.

Here's to a warmer February.

Thanksgiving Week

The week was, as I expected, hit and miss with workouts and chock full of eating :)  But it's ok. The previous week wasn't much of a recovery week thanks to my hilly long run with the Dav-Huffs. I'm actually fine with how it's gone this week. I feel like I've learned a bunch these past 5 weeks and am excited for December.

Some things I've learned:
1. Eating and Hunger. My appetite has been through the roof. This week I finally felt like I wasn't hungry a lot...but I also only did a few workouts, so I guess that's why. I'm not gaining weight, but I'm not losing anymore either. I guess I'll need to cut back some more calories.

2. Swimming. It continues to be a struggle. However, I know where I need to get stronger before I start worrying about never getting better at swimming. My core and upper body is so very weak.

3. Biking. I am cruising through biking ok right now. Nothing is changing here at the moment and that's ok. I've settled into the Tuesday spinning class and alternating Saturdays with spinning or riding at home with a run afterwords when I feel like it.

4. Running. It was rough running with E and R through the hilly neighborhoods. I got pretty down about my fitness, but realized I had no business thinking I'd be suddenly good out of nowhere when I haven't been working on running all that much. I think that's going to come in December.

5. Overall Strength. I am so weak. I have endurance, but I don't have strength or power. I've decided in December I'm going to work on weights and building some power. I think it will be fun!


So...December is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to seeing some improvements and feeling good! When it gets crazy around the holidays, so be it. I'll do what I can. But first is the Jingle Bell run on my birthday! It's hard to say how it will go. I would be elated with 9s. We'll see, it will be fun to run no matter what.

Last Week's Summary

Three weeks in to new training, I (finally) made ALL my workouts. I have been having a hard time with Thursdays and Fridays. I still didn't do everything quite exactly to plan, but I think by listening to how I felt, I actually did a better choice of workouts at the end of the week.

Last week:
- Monday I swam 1400 yds and ran about 4 miles.
- Tuesday I did a one hour spinning class.
- Wednesday I swam 1850 yds and ran about 4 miles. I was pooped from the swim.
- Thursday I rode on the trainer for 1:30:00...the longest I believe I've ridden inside. At least in a long time. Also the longest I've ridden since not doing Saturday morning breakfast rides (since I don't want to ride in the cold).
- Friday I swam 1500 yards and was supposed to run my 2.5 loop. But the swim was pretty rough, and I was so tired. So I decided I'd add that run to my ride the next day and make a little brick out of it
- Saturday I rode on the trainer for an hour to music and then, somewhat quickly, changed into my running stuff and ran as steady as I could for the 2.5 mile loop.


Stuff I Learned:

1. While on the 1:30:00 trainer ride, I watched an episode of Breaking Bad and two episodes of the Colbert Report. This was nice to pass the time. But I've realized I have a hard time keeping a steady pace while watching things. So it was a pretty slow hour and thirty minutes, but hopefully my heart rate was in a decent zone (didn't wear it). When I ride to music it's a much better workout.

2. I needed a new saddle. So I bought one Saturday afternoon! I'm excited to try it this week.

3. The brick...I think I'll do one of these every 3 weeks, timed before my recovery week. Such a good way to get a real idea of how strong you are. It is amazing how terrible I run after riding. And I don't run well to begin with, so...extra terribleness.

4. I miss running. I feel like I don't run much anymore. I'm learning about balancing these three sports. It's very interesting trying to think about which sport's mindset I'm in. Mostly, I think I need to think about putting them all together. That is the big difference from just running.


This week is a recovery week. This morning I only swam 1150 and it felt crazy quick (as in the time I was there, not me moving through the water). After this week, I think I might repeat these past 3 weeks since I now finally feel like I handled the training ok in the last week. Maybe I can aim to do them better, especially the running. I must must must add some core also.