Rockin' It

I'm in the final push week of training, and this one's a doozy!

But the past couple days I'm feeling like I'm really rockin'. Yesterday, I didn't have time for an open-water swim, but I snuck 40 minutes in the pool mid-day. And it felt good! Then last night after work I pounded out a good 50 miles. My average speed was 17.8 mph but it would've been higher (at least 18) if I hadn't been riding the last hour in the dark! My headlight seems to function more for others to see me rather than for me to see what's in front of me. So I relied on the headlights from cars on Route 9 and Plantations Road and finished fine.

Tonight after work I hit the trail for my last long run before the race. (Wow, what an eye opener to know this is the last big one.) I nailed 15 miles in just over 2 hours. I was supposed to go for 130 minutes, but I had to cut it short by 7 minutes because once again the sun went down and I couldn't see where I was going.

Note to self: Do your workouts earlier!

Towards the beginning of tonight's run, I passed by my coach and a friend who were doing the regular Wednesday night speed workout. I told him that I was feeling great and that everything is really starting to come together. He seemed pleased.

I am too!

Awesome Weekend

My coach has been working with me on visualization - most importantly, picturing a fantastic workout in my mind when conditions get bad. Keeping things positive when it would be easy to let them get negative. I've had a few workouts to keep in mind, but this weekend took the cake!

Friday evening I cranked out a good 60 miles on the bike. I rode to Ocean City and back, and then to the Indian River bridge and back. Headwinds were at a minimum and my cadence was good. I hit my nutrition (about 900 calories in 3.5 hours) and I got off the bike feeling great.

Saturday morning, I decided to alter the morning workout(which was to be a 55-minute aerobic run) and did the Dam Mill 5k race instead. Of course, I added mileage before and after the race to get in my time. The good thing is I won my age group in 19:47 (5 seconds off my PR) and held my place in the top 5 for the Seashore Strider summer series. Some friends also did very well - Doris won her age group, Mary Beth and Mary Ann took 2nd and 3rd respectively in their age group, and Erik hit sub-20 for the first time this year.

Saturday afternoon was an ocean swim session with my coach and another guy he is training. It was one of my better ocean swims, although I know I still have a way to go before I'm ready.

Sunday morning, I got up early to beat the heat. I had a good 50-mile ride, with some hard headwinds on the first 25, which made for a great 21-22 mph pace on the second 25. I nailed my nutrition again with about 825 calories in 3 hours. Immediately after getting off the bike, I did a 4-mile trail run and paced sub 7:30s.

By mid-afternoon I was napping, and missed my Sunday afternoon ocean swim, but I obviously needed the rest, so all is good.

Even after all of that, I'm still feeling really good today. After work I'm getting out for a 100-min. run, which will probably be about 12 or 13 miles. This week really begins the hard push - 2 sessions each day until my next day off, which is Sunday.

Only 34 days left!

Case of the Blecchhies

This weekend I got a case of the blecchhies. Yeah, it's pronounced like it looks. It isn't good.

I went to my coach's open water swim camp yesterday morning. We started out at the Glade pool - a surprisingly nice "community" pool, with lap lanes and all. We went through a lot of drills that Kevin and I had already gone through. We got our swim stroke videtaped. And mine showed that my body position still sucks.

After the first session, we all planned to meet at the Beach Patrol Station on the beach at 2:00 for the second part of the camp.

That gave me time to go join Meyer at Seaside Jewish Community Center, where we were sponsoring the Kiddush. I'm not sure if I had a reaction to the food or what, but around 1:00 I felt like crap - upset stomach, tired, achy...the works.

So no second part of camp for me. Kevin and I agreed to meet this morning at 7:30 for a little one-on-one session before the next group session. But I woke up feeling just as bad as I did yesterday.

Ugh!

I NEED to get time in the water, especially the open water. I'm frustrated as hell and I'm starting to really worry about the swim. 2.4 miles is so long for me.

I just have to keep plugging away at it.

Pool Time

I got in the pool twice so far this week...which is more than any week of the past month or so.

My coach had been wanting to do another session with me in the pool, so we scheduled it for this afternoon. I got in for 30 minutes or so yesterday just to make sure I wouldn't completely embarrass myself today.

Much to my surprise, my form has improved since our last session two months ago. How'd that happen? Honestly, I don't think I've been in the water enough to make any improvements, but it felt better and Kevin said it looked better too.

He gave me more drills to do and stressed the importance of hitting the pool as often as possible, stetching, and reducing tension in my shoulders and my neck. Guess it's time to start getting regular massages again. Yipee!

So I'll be in the pool again tomorrow, along with doing a 90-minute bike ride and teaching a cardio/core circuit class at the Y. Looks like it'll be another full day!

Great Run, No Swim

Yesterday was a full day for me, but I got up early enough to get a great run in. It was only 50 minutes, but a good one nonetheless - first half in HR Zone 2 and second half in HR Zone 3. And once again it felt great to be running outside and not on a treadmill.

After running all over the place doing errands, I got back home with just enough time to get in a recovery swim before the Y closed. I packed my bag, headed over, checked in...and stopped. All lanes were full, which presented a problem. Either I get two people in one lane to allow me in and we swim circles or I wait. Knowing how much lap swimmers here love (he said dripping with sarcasm) to swim circles and knowing how much I really do hate it since I'm not a strong swimmer, I decided to wait. And wait. And wait. And I never got in the water.

There's always been a tug o' war between the lap swimmers and the classes/rec swimmers at the Y pool. Lap swimmers feel there aren't enough lanes and the pool is too hot. I don't care about the temperature, but now that I'm swimming more often I have to agree that there aren't enough lap lanes. Or I feel that the lifeguards should be able to add/subtract lanes when the situation presents itself.

Anyway, I beat myself up a bit because I didn't get the swim in and I really need to be working on my swimming. And looking at the week ahead, there are going to be more swimming/scheduling conflicts. But I guess I should be happy that I at least got the run in. Ugh! This is frustrating.

Cooking vs. Baking

Cooks take a recipe, add a little more of this, subtract a little of that, and change it to suit their tastes.

Bakers take a recipe and do it exactly as it is stated. Change one minor thing, and you can create a disaster.

Cooking is art. Baking is science.

I'm a baker.

And that's why I like the approach my coach is taking to my training. My run this morning was so much more enjoyable for me because it was an "exact" thing. After doing a heart rate test set yesterday, the coach was able to provide me with my training zones based on my estimated maximum heart rate (which we figured out was about 199bpm.) So today I got on the treadmill to warm up for a few minutes in Zone 1, followed by about 25 minutes in Zone 2, and 20 minutes in Zone 3 (essentially increasing my heart rate over the course of the workout.)

It was great! I simply set a pace and monitored my heart rate. When it wasn't high enough, I increased the speed. When it got too high, I decreased the speed. It felt good to complete a workout, exactly as the coach had prescribed, and still feel good afterwards.

I'm heading back to the gym in a couple hours to do a swim workout, which, after a discussion with the coach yesterday, is more realistic than originally planned. He graciously altered all of my swim workouts for the next 3 weeks to be challenging yet match my current swimming level.

Things are looking up for this baker!

Dealing with Reality

I'm gathering my stuff together to head back to work to get a good swim workout in before finishing the rest of the afternoon.

After my no-swim workout debacle on Tuesday, I had to come to grips that I'm not - at least for now - going to be able to do what my coach wants me to do in the water. It's ok - at least for now.

Today I'm going to get in the water, try my best, and work on my technique. My workout probably will be nothing like the 2,400 yards I'm supposed to be doing, but that doesn't matter - at least for now.

The important thing is that I'm getting in the water, I'm working what I need to, and I'm not letting my own self-doubts get in the way.

I had a good bike workout yesterday morning (I hadn't moved quite so quickly at 6am in a long time) and I'm going to have a good swim workout today.

I'm going to fix the things that I suck at - at least for now.

In the Pool

It's been a couple weeks since my last post -- primarily because I haven't had much to talk about. I've been, as was recommended, keeping ative and in shape without doing any real training.

I've gotten back in the weight room a couple times and kept up with teaching my regular BodyFlex class and Spinning class. I've also spent more time in the pool at the Y.

Boy, am I going to need help there! I'm working on increasing my endurance in the water, but I've got a long way to go. Brett, the Y's aquatics director, and I couldn't get our schedules to mesh for her to help me with my technique as we had planned. This is something we've got to do right after the first of the year.

For now, I'm just plodding along. This morning I plan on taking my first yoga class and tonight I'm teaching a "Christmas Carol" Spinning class (the remixed Bing Crosby First Noel is a killer.) I'll get one more time in the pool before heading to sunny, warm Wisconsin (he said, dripping with sarcasm) for Christmas. But I've already located a YMCA to get a workout in on the day after Christmas - something I never would have done a year ago!

Back At It...and Exhausted

Having fully recovered from the marathon, I figured this week I'd get back in the swing of things, and stay active. I'd been advised to keep in shape through December but not do any real "training."

Well, I was a slacker for the first half of the week, but made up for it the past two days.

Yesterday I taught my usual 8:00am BodyFlex class at the Y. I hadn't taught in a few weeks so I stayed light on my own weights but leading 4 minutes of squats right off the bat did a number on my legs later in the day. Then I was looking forward to teaching my usual Spinning class, but because (a) it has gotten cold out and all the cyclists wanted to ride indoors or (b) my class is so darn popular (I prefer to believe the latter) there were so many people in class I gave up my bike and taught from the floor.

Yesterday afternoon I finally hit the weights after a far-too-long absence. I pretty much did a full-body minus legs workout and, of course, am paying the price today.

Not content to leave any part of my body less than exhausted, Meyer and I went swimming this morning. It was my first time in the pool since I can't remember when. I'm pooped and am ready for a long nap!

But it sure feels good!

Video Time!

Anyone who has done a mass start in a triathlon knows how much you get kicked and hit by other racers. It isn't (for the most part) intentional. It just happens when you have dozens, or hundreds, or more people running into the water and trying to swim together.

This is quite possibly one of the funniest comercials I have ever seen. I've watched it over and over and I still laugh every time.