Back At It

The last week and a half have not been good for my training. I came back from vacation, and 12 hours after arriving home I was in the office. And I worked. And I worked. And I worked. And in the middle of this I felt a cold coming on and did everything I could (successfully!!!) to ward it off.

But the constant long hours of the week, plus working the entire weekend (8 hour days plus 3 hours of drive time both Saturday and Sunday) took its toll on my training...which, in effect, became nonexistent.

But this morning I did what I hate to do (get outside before the sun comes up) and got in a 40-minute run. This was, mind you, much shorter than what my coach had planned but given an early doctor appointment this morning, it was what I had time for. And not only did I start before the sun came up, I finished (seeing only one runner and one car the entire time) before the sun came up.

It feels good to be back at it.

Retirement? Permanent Vacation?

I took a week of vacation last week. While cruising around the Caribbean I thought to myself, “I could get used to doing this all of the time.”

And when I realized that I was nailing every training session my coach had planned for me last week I thought, “I need to be doing this all of the time.”

I wasn’t wild about the cruise ship’s outdoor track (dodging other passengers, hurdling deck chairs) so I did my running on the treadmill. My cycling was done on a LifeFitness RevMaster, which I’d never ridden before. While I like the StarTrac Spinner, the RevMaster was nice, with a bar that simulates aero bars and a computer that picked up my HR monitor and also displayed cadence.

Granted, my coach set this up as a recovery week, but I still had one session per day. He also knew that I wouldn’t have access to a lap pool, so it was all cycling and running.

And now that I’m back from vacation and back to work, I’m once again finding it difficult to hit those sessions with the same regularity and intensity as I did last week.

Guess I gotta keep on buying those lottery tickets.

Eureka! (again)

I haven't posted in about a week, mainly because I've felt a little derailed in my training.

I was talking about it this morning with my friend Heather, who is also a triathlete, and we got on the subject of the "Eureka!" workout. You know the kind. Everything falls into place and you just feel great about it. When training has been off-kilter for a while, the eureka workout can bring you right back to where you need to be.

Tonight I had a eureka workout. It was a 15-minute warm up, then 4 x 1 mile repeats in HR Zone 4 with 3 minutes recovery between each, then 20 minutes of cool down. Since the streets are still a mess from the recent snow, I did it all on a treadmill. My mile splits were right around 6:45. And my recovery was good. The only problem I had was going slow enough to get my HR back down for the cool down. I kept wanting to go faster.

So hallelujah! I feel like I'm back on track. I've got a short recovery run tomorrow morning and a swim session tomorrow night. And the coach is going to videotape me so we can begin to really work on whatever it is that's holding me back with the swimming. I have a feeling he's going to be surprised at what a disaster my form is, but at least he'll know exactly where I'm at with the swim. It isn't pretty, but at least it'll give us a jumping off point for improvement.

Eureka!

For the past few weeks I've been feeling like my training has been going nowhere. I'm still struggling with my swimming, my cycling and running has been alright but nothing to write home about. I've felt like I've been in a holding pattern.

Then it hit me.

My first race isn't for another six weeks, so on the surface it would appear that I'm just trudging along with nothing "exciting" going on. But I'm not keeping the big picture in mind. Everything I'm doing now is creating the foundation for future training. I'm working on swimming skills to make me more efficient for longer swims. I'm increasing my aerobic capacity on the bike and run to build endurance. I'm getting in the habit of using time on the bike to eat and refuel the body.

I just need to keep these things in mind as I train through the next month before the racing season actually begins.

Today is an "off" day to recharge the body. I'm using it to recharge the mind as well to keep the big picture in front of me.

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.

No Highs, No Lows

This week is a recovery week. It's built into the training schedule every four weeks to give my body a break. Notice I didn't write "rest" week. I still have nine workouts planned, but they are lower in intensity and duration.

I'm feeling alright about my progression. Not great, but not bad either. I feel like I'm sort of in a holding pattern, waiting to have a breakthrough workout when I can say "that was amazing!" It hasn't happened lately.

I was talking with a running friend yesterday who feels the same way and mentioned many people feel it now. Maybe it's the pre-spring doldrums. We're all just waiting for a little warmer weather.

Today is an off day - no training sessions scheduled. So, of course, it turns out that an instructor at the Y needs a sub (and couldn't find one) for three classes tonight -- and I'm available.

Looks like my recovery week just got a little more active.

My Friend Julie

My friend Julie (see last November's marathon postings) is awesome. For a number of years she's been running marathons and half-marathons through the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program to raise funds for people with blood cancers.

Now she's gotten herself a brand-spankin-new bike and is at it again. This June, she'll ride 100 miles around Lake Tahoe in "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride." And she's set a goal of raising $3,000 for LLS. If you'd like to help her reach her goal, go here: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/ambbr09/reedrides

A long time ago I worked for the Leukemia Society (before the name change) and know just how amazing the organization is. Not only does it award grant money for cutting-edge research, it provides programs that help people navigate things like insurance, support groups, etc. It's a great organization.

Video Time!

While the events are out of order on this one, and the ending leaves you saying, "that's it?" I was awestruck by the shot that begins about 40 seconds into this video. I could watch that over and over again.

Dear Mr. Road and Mrs. Trail, I've Missed You

Dear Mr. Road and Mrs. Trail,

I've missed you.

For a couple months I had to visit your distant cousins - the Treadmill twins and Ms. Stationary Bike. It was boring being inside every day with them.

But today I got to visit with you both. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the upper 50s. And for an hour and 45 minutes my bike and I sped along with you, Mr. Road, towards Georgetown and back. And right after that I spent an energizing 30 minutes with you, Mrs. Trail. You were a bit soggy in parts but overall your soft crushed limestone was a welcome feeling beneath my feet.

I can't wait to spend many more days with you like this.

P.S. Tell Grandpa Wind to take a hike. He made the first hour of my ride more difficult than it should have been. Please remind him I don't like wind!

Change of Scenery

I made a smart decision to not let life get in the way yesterday (see several January posts.) I had a meeting at the Dover Y and realized that if I came back to the office immediately after the meeting, I'd probably get sidetracked by a million other issues so I got my run workout in before I left Dover.

It was a good run and nice to have a change of scenery. As I was on the treadmill, I also thought how nice it was that no one knew me there so no one would be interrupting my session with wanting to talk to me about a class or piece of equipment or any other problem as so often happens when I train at my own Y. (Why don't people understand that when you're working out you're not "on the clock" or if they do understand that, why don't they respect it?)

Anyway, yay for me for making a good decision and working on that "life getting in the way" issue.

Bike HR Test Set

A month ago my coach performed a running heart rate test set to set my heart rate training zones. It involved running on a treadmill at progressively faster speeds an checking my heart rate at regular intervals.

Yesterday we did a bike test set with essentially the same concept. We set my bike up on a Computrainer, did a bunch of calibrations (which I didn't understand but I guess I didn't need to), and then went at it. We set the tension to a particular wattage and I rode at 18mph for three minutes, again checking my heart rate every minute. After two minutes rest, we upped the wattage. We did this about six times until we got up to 300 watts and I couldn't hold 18mph for more than a minute.

The best part about the session was that I got to ride my bike to and from my coach's house. It was only two miles each way, but it was the first time since last summer I'd been on my bike outside. Yes, it was chilly (windchill of 21) but it felt great!

New Phase

I received my second four weeks of training sessions from Kevin yesterday. I'm now past the "Pre-Base" phase and into the "Base" phase. It looks like I'm going to be training about 10-11 hours each week, with a six-hour recovery week.

This past week was a relatively good one. I was able to get in nine of the 11 workouts and had a pretty decent swim on Saturday. Meyer video taped my swimming so I can start pinpointing things to correct to make me more efficient (read: faster.)

My mental state is pretty good too. I'm healthy and feeling like this is not so overwhelming.

This is going to be a good month.

Define "Short"

This morning's run was a short one. At least that's how I viewed it. My training plan calls for two "recovery" workouts today - one run and one swim. So I got the run done early. I can remember a time when I considered going this distance a "long" run and as recently as last year I would have considered it a medium run at best.

Funny how our perceptions change as we get better at something.

Stopping Sucks, But...

Yesterday I had to stop in the middle of my run because of shin pain. I didn't want to but I did.

Now I just got home from a 60-minute run that felt really good. I mean REALLY good. I have to wonder what I'd be feeling like right now if I hadn't stopped yesterday.

Stopping still sucks, but right now I'm glad I did.

Stopping Sucks

Several times in the past few days, the notion of "it hurts but I'll just work through it" has come up. It came up twice in consultations I did and once in a general conversation with a member at the Y. All of these people who tended to ignore pain and work through it are or used to be runners.

So it was a little weird during my run on the treadmill today when I started having some shin pain. I haven't experienced this in a while and it was a little surprising. When my shins gave me trouble during my marathon training, I worked through it and it usually went away after a few minutes. About 10 minutes into my run today, that ol' familiar feeling hit - and hit quite hard. I decided to run through it since I was only doing 40 minutes total. By minute 17 the pain still had not subsided and actually had gotten worse. So I stopped.

I know I probably did the right thing and am avoiding potential injury, but there's no doubt about it...

Stopping sucks.