Friday was a pretty terrible day in general, where basically everything that could go wrong did, including much frustration at work. But it started in the morning, with a miserable bike workout. I am still extremely frustrated that I am so much slower than everyone else, and the hilly ride didn't help. I was struggling to get up hills that my fellow bikers had long since passed. While I am maintaining my ftp for the majority of the ride, my wattage is still so much lower than everyone else's. I feel like I am pushing hard, but my legs won't cooperate to go any harder, and I'm not sure how to improve them. I started to wonder if my leg muscles are super weak because I haven't done any lunges or squats or other leg strengthening exercises while I have been nursing my ankle. Hopefully once I get back to that, I'll see some changes in cycling. But it also doesn't seem fun anymore. I feel bad about myself at each bike workout, no matter how hard I work, because I feel like I am a disappointment. I complain to my friends about how bad I am at biking, and I am pretty sure they are sick of hearing about it. This is making me have a lot of doubts- is half ironman really a good idea? I was on a high from my olympic triathlon and fastest half marathon last fall, and felt like I could do anything. But, now, 6 months later, I am in a rut, and extremely worried about managing 56 miles followed by a half marathon. I hope when we start biking outside, I'll be rejuvenated and remember how much fun I had last summer, biking long distances and just being excited about how far I could go and how much fun it was to be cruising along the different roads and paths in the area.
I know that last summer, I was working on building up my endurance, but that times and efficiency weren't a top priority. I just had to get up to the distances to make sure I could finish the olympic tri. This year, as the coach put it while we were working on swimming drills on Tuesday night, after the 1.2 mile swim, you still have to do 56 miles of bike and a half marathon- you need to be efficient at swimming. This year it's about efficiency and form, as well as about working up to the distances. I just really hope I can do something to improve my biking ability so that I can enjoy the run, my favorite part, in the big race.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Happiness = half mile repeats!
After my poor swim sessions from last week, I tried altering some stuff during my workout Monday morning. I'm fairly sure I did things even more wrong, and the entire workout was a struggle. And, it was a workout I had done before, and it felt easier the first time! Frustrated, I spent some time when I was babysitting an experiment at work researching swimming techniques, and found something that has entirely changed my attitude: http://www.swimsmooth.com/ . The front page has an animation of the proper way to swim, and I read about tons of problems and fixes for swimming stroke! I was anxious to put these into action, but I was also nervous about swimming in front of the coach again. In fact, I had dreaded Tuesday night's swim for basically the entire day.
Eventually Tuesday night came, and I was relieved. Due to a "maintenance issue" (which I will spare the gory details that I know, but someone did something gross in the pool and it needed over 24 hours of chlorine shock and closure) the pool was closed. So, instead, my fears of swimming in front of the coach were postponed, and I was granted the opportunity to do... a speed workout!!
After a long arduous couple months of pool running and only slow easy running, being allowed to do a speed workout was like a dream. Oh, how I have missed the exhiliration of speeding around the track! We had 4 half mile repeats, and she told me to aim for 4-4:15, because we weren't sure how my speed has suffered over the course of the last few months. My comrades were doing 3:40s, I think, so I just figured I'd stay some distance behind them and see how I felt. Well, I didn't actually stay that far behind them, and finished my four half mile repeats in 3:48, 3:50, 3:46 and 3:45! So exciting! I was less than 5 sec on average behind them (and very consistent!), after not having done any speed work in the past 3 months! Not only did it feel great to be running fast, but perhaps the pool intervals helped me maintain some of the speed I had worked so hard to develop over the summer and fall. So happy!
After the run workout, we hit the (open) warm pool (mostly for kids) and did a little drill work to work on form. I still am terrible at doing a one armed drill, but I got to practice more of my stroke, learn what I did completely wrong Monday, and now have even more stuff to improve on. I went home happy, and couldn't fall asleep because I was so energized from the fast run!!
Biking today brought up some more questions in my mind, however. Our main section of the workout today was 20 min hold at ftp, cadence of 85-100. I tried so hard to stay within the cadence range, and my power was slightly above the ftp for the entire time. I also stayed fairly close to the pack- I wasn't one of the last bikers as I often am. However, my wattage is still too low, which I guess makes sense because my ftp is so much lower than everyone else's. I still don't really understand why two cyclers can be going at the same rpm and the same gear, but have different speeds and power. I am still having trouble figuring out when an easier gear, at which I can maintain a high rpm, is desirable as opposed to trudging along in a high gear at a lower cadence. I have been reading up on some cycling information, which all says you find the 'optimal' cadence in an 'optimal' gear for you- which comes with practice... hopefully some of this becomes more clear when we actually go out to the road...
For now, the pool is thankfully cleaned and back open, though I am still a little nervous about heading in for an early morning pool run...then I will worry more about the bike on Friday.
Eventually Tuesday night came, and I was relieved. Due to a "maintenance issue" (which I will spare the gory details that I know, but someone did something gross in the pool and it needed over 24 hours of chlorine shock and closure) the pool was closed. So, instead, my fears of swimming in front of the coach were postponed, and I was granted the opportunity to do... a speed workout!!
After a long arduous couple months of pool running and only slow easy running, being allowed to do a speed workout was like a dream. Oh, how I have missed the exhiliration of speeding around the track! We had 4 half mile repeats, and she told me to aim for 4-4:15, because we weren't sure how my speed has suffered over the course of the last few months. My comrades were doing 3:40s, I think, so I just figured I'd stay some distance behind them and see how I felt. Well, I didn't actually stay that far behind them, and finished my four half mile repeats in 3:48, 3:50, 3:46 and 3:45! So exciting! I was less than 5 sec on average behind them (and very consistent!), after not having done any speed work in the past 3 months! Not only did it feel great to be running fast, but perhaps the pool intervals helped me maintain some of the speed I had worked so hard to develop over the summer and fall. So happy!
After the run workout, we hit the (open) warm pool (mostly for kids) and did a little drill work to work on form. I still am terrible at doing a one armed drill, but I got to practice more of my stroke, learn what I did completely wrong Monday, and now have even more stuff to improve on. I went home happy, and couldn't fall asleep because I was so energized from the fast run!!
Biking today brought up some more questions in my mind, however. Our main section of the workout today was 20 min hold at ftp, cadence of 85-100. I tried so hard to stay within the cadence range, and my power was slightly above the ftp for the entire time. I also stayed fairly close to the pack- I wasn't one of the last bikers as I often am. However, my wattage is still too low, which I guess makes sense because my ftp is so much lower than everyone else's. I still don't really understand why two cyclers can be going at the same rpm and the same gear, but have different speeds and power. I am still having trouble figuring out when an easier gear, at which I can maintain a high rpm, is desirable as opposed to trudging along in a high gear at a lower cadence. I have been reading up on some cycling information, which all says you find the 'optimal' cadence in an 'optimal' gear for you- which comes with practice... hopefully some of this becomes more clear when we actually go out to the road...
For now, the pool is thankfully cleaned and back open, though I am still a little nervous about heading in for an early morning pool run...then I will worry more about the bike on Friday.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Run Run Run Pool Run!
All week I have been breaking in my new shoes- so springy, so bouncy! I couldn't wait to get a run in today! I almost wanted to run up and down the stairs at work (but I refrained myself- still not allowed to do stairs, plus I'd look reallllly weird!)
Since Mo had to be at work at 8 (on a saturday - gross!) I met her at 6 AM to do our run...she only had 60 min, but I had 70+60 in the pool, so I figured doing at least half with her would make it more bearable. Plus, transitioning to pool running takes time, so it all adds up. It was nice to be back home by 9:30, though getting up at 5:30 on a Saturday was less than desirable...
We started out a little too fast for a slow long run, but finally settled into a good pace and I did 7.4 miles. Not bad! After the run, I rolled out my calves, hoping to avoid pool charley horses...my right calf was pretty tight so I focused on it more.
Pool run for 60 min today-- 'go with the music' was my instruction. So, I alternated fast pace, slow pace, and I have to say it actually went by pretty fast. I watched people swim, trying to see if I could use them to improve my own stroke. I kept some jelly beans on the pool deck because I was super hungry as well, so I rewarded myself with one every 25 min. When I first got in the water, my legs were aching from the run, but as the time went by they started feeling better and better... I got a few charley horses in my left leg, but not until at least 40 min had past. So, I made sure to roll both calves really well when I was done. I think the rolling in between has helped- I'll definitely make sure to budget time in to do that next weekend!
As replying to a comment I got on pool running on my last post, I did a google search looking for a specific article I had previously read (but didn't find) and found this other post that talks about pool running as a recovery after a marathon or hard races, which I didn't really think about before. After my experience today, that makes a lot of sense. My legs always FEEL good after the pool run (charley horses aside). I also read that speed workouts in the pool do not directly translate to speedy running, but at least help with endurance (and help the workouts to go faster!).
I have my first actual running "speed" workout since my tendinitis diagnosis on Tuesday. I am looking forward to running fast, but I am also nervous about how my speed has waned during this time...
Since Mo had to be at work at 8 (on a saturday - gross!) I met her at 6 AM to do our run...she only had 60 min, but I had 70+60 in the pool, so I figured doing at least half with her would make it more bearable. Plus, transitioning to pool running takes time, so it all adds up. It was nice to be back home by 9:30, though getting up at 5:30 on a Saturday was less than desirable...
We started out a little too fast for a slow long run, but finally settled into a good pace and I did 7.4 miles. Not bad! After the run, I rolled out my calves, hoping to avoid pool charley horses...my right calf was pretty tight so I focused on it more.
Pool run for 60 min today-- 'go with the music' was my instruction. So, I alternated fast pace, slow pace, and I have to say it actually went by pretty fast. I watched people swim, trying to see if I could use them to improve my own stroke. I kept some jelly beans on the pool deck because I was super hungry as well, so I rewarded myself with one every 25 min. When I first got in the water, my legs were aching from the run, but as the time went by they started feeling better and better... I got a few charley horses in my left leg, but not until at least 40 min had past. So, I made sure to roll both calves really well when I was done. I think the rolling in between has helped- I'll definitely make sure to budget time in to do that next weekend!
As replying to a comment I got on pool running on my last post, I did a google search looking for a specific article I had previously read (but didn't find) and found this other post that talks about pool running as a recovery after a marathon or hard races, which I didn't really think about before. After my experience today, that makes a lot of sense. My legs always FEEL good after the pool run (charley horses aside). I also read that speed workouts in the pool do not directly translate to speedy running, but at least help with endurance (and help the workouts to go faster!).
I have my first actual running "speed" workout since my tendinitis diagnosis on Tuesday. I am looking forward to running fast, but I am also nervous about how my speed has waned during this time...
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Speedy Pool Running
Wow, 2 posts in 2 days. It's a new record. I realized today when I continually clicked on google reader, that I was all caught up, and could not wait for someone to post something. Then I thought about my own delinquent posting (though to be fair, I have a lot less readers than they do, and I think I see most of you regularly), and thought, maybe I should post more frequently. Let's see how that goes!
So, I had a mostly charley horse-free pool run today! I got a little one after an hour, but compared to what I had last weekend and the weekend before, I'll take it! It must have to do with real running first...
I'll admit, when I looked at my pool run for today, I got really nervous. The main section, after a 25 min warm up with HARD/EASYs, I had to do 40 min with rpm 90-100. Because I didn't write this down, I forgot until re-looking at it later, and thought it was maintain 90 rpm, but either way, hard. Kind of like a tempo pool run, I guess! Anyway, because pool running is fairly monotonous, I checked my cadence every other minute (that's 20x in the 40 min. whoa.) And, I was happy- except for the first two on the low end (89), I was at least 92-93 for the majority, with a few 95s! I had a sense of accomplishment that I was able to sustain that high cadence for that long. Gives me a little hope that I can give the last 5k of the half marathon a good swift speed! (Apparently I am forbidden to do faster than a 9:30 for the first 10 mi).
When I got home I was ravenously hungry, and ate matzoh with cream cheese, crackers and sweet swiss cheese, and a few random sweets I had lying around. I think I am finally satiated, and it may be time to get myself ready for tomorrow's computrainer ride...Can't believe it's almost Friday! (and no, I have not yet listened to that stupid Friday song all the way through, and I am avoiding it like the plague!).
So, I had a mostly charley horse-free pool run today! I got a little one after an hour, but compared to what I had last weekend and the weekend before, I'll take it! It must have to do with real running first...
I'll admit, when I looked at my pool run for today, I got really nervous. The main section, after a 25 min warm up with HARD/EASYs, I had to do 40 min with rpm 90-100. Because I didn't write this down, I forgot until re-looking at it later, and thought it was maintain 90 rpm, but either way, hard. Kind of like a tempo pool run, I guess! Anyway, because pool running is fairly monotonous, I checked my cadence every other minute (that's 20x in the 40 min. whoa.) And, I was happy- except for the first two on the low end (89), I was at least 92-93 for the majority, with a few 95s! I had a sense of accomplishment that I was able to sustain that high cadence for that long. Gives me a little hope that I can give the last 5k of the half marathon a good swift speed! (Apparently I am forbidden to do faster than a 9:30 for the first 10 mi).
When I got home I was ravenously hungry, and ate matzoh with cream cheese, crackers and sweet swiss cheese, and a few random sweets I had lying around. I think I am finally satiated, and it may be time to get myself ready for tomorrow's computrainer ride...Can't believe it's almost Friday! (and no, I have not yet listened to that stupid Friday song all the way through, and I am avoiding it like the plague!).
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Gummy Food
Recently I discovered the Clif Shot Bloks, which are phenomenal. Not only do they taste great, but I like to give them some credit for making me have less of a headache after the weds/fri morning computrainer rides. Well, that and ensuring that I drink 2 full bottles of water during the workout. I have a serious problem with dehydration headaches, so I have my superstitions for each session. For the summer runs, I would start with a banana, and drink smart water en route, a jelly bean or two if I was hungry, and finish off with gatorade and breakfast. After I adopted this routine, I had much better running experiences, and didn't end up with midafternoon splitting headaches. For some reason, this had been an exclusively running problem- I never had a serious headache after a bike workout. But enter computrainer classes: warm stuffy room, working our butts off for an hour- harder than I ever pushed myself on my own, no wind to blow us any cool air save for some fans on the floor. After a few sessions of headaches and miserable days at work, I started forcing myself to drink 2 bottles of water, eat a jelly bean or two and drink gatorade immediately afterwards, and a protein bar on the way to work. Now, I can rely on a shot blok to get me through the beginning of my drive, so that if I forgot my protein bar, I can survive the almost an hour long car ride without fear of headaches. With this new routine, I have not yet had a deydration bike headache. I just now bought an 18 pack of shot bloks on amazon with a savings of 50 cents per package! woo! In the meantime, I also chew gummy vitamins, and sometimes you just can't get enough (but it is unwise to have too many gummy vitamins in one sitting!). So I also bought myself some Target gummy bears to satisfy my sweet gummy non workout cravings.
In other news, besides that of gummy foods, I have had another week or so of ups and downs on the workout front. Last weekend, I ran for 75 min straight!! No pain, but it was a struggle of a run. I have learned, I think, that based on this run, being stressed out doesn't always make for the best workout! We ran just over 7.5 miles around the track, and I followed that up by a half hour pool run, where I got bad charley horses in both calves. For some reason, this only occurs when I pool run after real r unning- I have not had this problem (at least not as painfully) in any of my other solo pool runs. I was also in a huge hurry to get on the train and meet people for the cubs game, so I think that, among other things, contributed to my stressball workout. This weekend coming up I have a 70 min run followed by an hour pool run. I hope my poor calves can handle it, and that if I don't make myself have anywhere to be, I can be a little more relaxed!
Monday morning's swim was not bad, I thought. At some point during the swim, I started pushing my hands harder through the water, feeling resistance and efficiency, and I had a feeling of understanding. I think I finally got what they mean by pulling yourself through the water! After this excitement, I was looking forward to Tuesday night's tri practice, where we would be doing some more swimming. However, my excitement quickly waned when I had a terrible time with the paddles, despite my newfound understanding of their purpose, and got a one-on-one tutorial on how I *should* be using them. I never got a chance to really try though, because my rigid, non-fluid form was also criticized. I was resigned to practice floating on my stomach, with slow breathing. Unfortunately, relaxing is not my strong point, particularly after pointed failures. I was unable to stay afloat- my legs kept on sinking. I got more and more frustrated until I realized the masses had left and it was time to run. Discouraged, I headed up to the track, with the coach's words of wisdom "you just have to work on relaxing and slow breathing." I know that this is the truth, I just wish that swimming and relaxing came a little easier to me. I have been working so hard at swimming over the last year, and I am disappointed that my technical skills are still so low. But, after being upset, I have realized that I can only improve by focusing and trying, so I am going to suck it up and concentrate on floating and breathing and relaxing at next Monday's swim...
Running after swimming felt amazing. I don't know if I was energized by my inability to swim and wanted to make up for it in the run, or if I was just more awake/with it than I was the previous saturday. Mo and I were maintaining around 9:30 miles (instead of 9:40 from Saturday) and it felt easy, relaxed, and fun. The 60 minutes went by fairly quickly, and we almost hit 6.5 miles. It felt so good- best run I've had in a while. Nice and easy, and successful. No pain. Looking forward to running again on Saturday!
At the computrainer ride today, we had to maintain a lot of zone 4. I was struggling towards the end. My quads feel like they are permanently sore and achy from all of this hard work! I guess also that I swam and ran the night before. Thankfully I have my pool run slotted for tomorrow evening, so hopefully I can cut my legs a little break...
Here's hoping for a charley-horse free pool run tomorrow!
In other news, besides that of gummy foods, I have had another week or so of ups and downs on the workout front. Last weekend, I ran for 75 min straight!! No pain, but it was a struggle of a run. I have learned, I think, that based on this run, being stressed out doesn't always make for the best workout! We ran just over 7.5 miles around the track, and I followed that up by a half hour pool run, where I got bad charley horses in both calves. For some reason, this only occurs when I pool run after real r unning- I have not had this problem (at least not as painfully) in any of my other solo pool runs. I was also in a huge hurry to get on the train and meet people for the cubs game, so I think that, among other things, contributed to my stressball workout. This weekend coming up I have a 70 min run followed by an hour pool run. I hope my poor calves can handle it, and that if I don't make myself have anywhere to be, I can be a little more relaxed!
Monday morning's swim was not bad, I thought. At some point during the swim, I started pushing my hands harder through the water, feeling resistance and efficiency, and I had a feeling of understanding. I think I finally got what they mean by pulling yourself through the water! After this excitement, I was looking forward to Tuesday night's tri practice, where we would be doing some more swimming. However, my excitement quickly waned when I had a terrible time with the paddles, despite my newfound understanding of their purpose, and got a one-on-one tutorial on how I *should* be using them. I never got a chance to really try though, because my rigid, non-fluid form was also criticized. I was resigned to practice floating on my stomach, with slow breathing. Unfortunately, relaxing is not my strong point, particularly after pointed failures. I was unable to stay afloat- my legs kept on sinking. I got more and more frustrated until I realized the masses had left and it was time to run. Discouraged, I headed up to the track, with the coach's words of wisdom "you just have to work on relaxing and slow breathing." I know that this is the truth, I just wish that swimming and relaxing came a little easier to me. I have been working so hard at swimming over the last year, and I am disappointed that my technical skills are still so low. But, after being upset, I have realized that I can only improve by focusing and trying, so I am going to suck it up and concentrate on floating and breathing and relaxing at next Monday's swim...
Running after swimming felt amazing. I don't know if I was energized by my inability to swim and wanted to make up for it in the run, or if I was just more awake/with it than I was the previous saturday. Mo and I were maintaining around 9:30 miles (instead of 9:40 from Saturday) and it felt easy, relaxed, and fun. The 60 minutes went by fairly quickly, and we almost hit 6.5 miles. It felt so good- best run I've had in a while. Nice and easy, and successful. No pain. Looking forward to running again on Saturday!
At the computrainer ride today, we had to maintain a lot of zone 4. I was struggling towards the end. My quads feel like they are permanently sore and achy from all of this hard work! I guess also that I swam and ran the night before. Thankfully I have my pool run slotted for tomorrow evening, so hopefully I can cut my legs a little break...
Here's hoping for a charley-horse free pool run tomorrow!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Happy to run!
After 2 months of healing my Achilles' tendon, I finally got the go ahead from the dr to run the upcoming half marathon with my friends in Wisconsin! Yay! I will probably not have a personal record time, but I will be happy just to run it. For the first time in 2 months, I met Mo to run circles at the Y for 60 min, supplementing with a 40 min pool run. In the next few weeks I hope to keep upping the real running and lowering the pool running until I no longer have to look like a weirdo upright in the pool. I hope all of this pool running has actually helped...I guess I'll find out in about 5 weeks...though it was hard for me to have to scale back running and spend so much extra time in the pool, I am so glad that I didn't over stress it. In the next few months, I will be super careful adding stairs, lunges, and hills back into my workouts so as not to re injure it.
In other news, London was amazing! It was so wonderful to see Lesley and Tommy, and we did so much touristy stuff and a lot of quality hanging out. Once we sort through the pictures I will have to share them... But because we were so busy, I only got one run in - but I ran through the streets of their neighborhood and saw some sights. It was fun, but chilly.
I was nervous about hopping back into a full workout week after being such a slacker, but it went pretty well- was just slightly more sore than in a usual week. I finally got some feedback on my swimming so I have some things to work on in the pool tomorrow. We did some new drills that I will have to incorporate to help with my form. The bike workouts were tough but felt great, and my pool runs were fine- except I got an awful charley horse during my long pool run, which has left behind a tight knot just below my knee. Oh well, I'll take that compared to my Achilles! Now if only it would warm up enough to run comfortably outside...
In other news, London was amazing! It was so wonderful to see Lesley and Tommy, and we did so much touristy stuff and a lot of quality hanging out. Once we sort through the pictures I will have to share them... But because we were so busy, I only got one run in - but I ran through the streets of their neighborhood and saw some sights. It was fun, but chilly.
I was nervous about hopping back into a full workout week after being such a slacker, but it went pretty well- was just slightly more sore than in a usual week. I finally got some feedback on my swimming so I have some things to work on in the pool tomorrow. We did some new drills that I will have to incorporate to help with my form. The bike workouts were tough but felt great, and my pool runs were fine- except I got an awful charley horse during my long pool run, which has left behind a tight knot just below my knee. Oh well, I'll take that compared to my Achilles! Now if only it would warm up enough to run comfortably outside...
Saturday, March 12, 2011
March update, and burning thighs
Now that March is almost half way over (where did the time go!) and I have yet to post, I figured it was about time. Maybe one day I'll be able to blog daily like so many of the people I follow do!
March has so far has been a fairly good month. Despite turning 30 (yikes) it hasn't been so bad and I still feel like I'm in my 20s! My sister visited, which was absolutely fantastic. We had a great time baking, cleaning, shopping, and eating tons of good food. I wish she lived closer so that we could hang out more often!
Workout wise, it has only been on the upswing.
Swimming: I have been dropping my times down to closer to where they were in the fall- not fast by any means, but I am feeling a lot less sluggish than I had been in Jan/early Feb, and I am feeling a lot better about it. I have been assigned a few scary drills lately though, that have been pretty difficult- partly because they are just hard, which I know will help me in the long run, but partly because I have no idea how to do them correctly. I had to swim one-armed a few weeks ago, and nearly drowned, and this past week I had to scull, which, despite watching youtube videos, I still couldn't figure out how to actually enact in the pool. So, my training buddies and I were hoping to get together with the coach and just have a drills session. I think that will be super helpful both so that we don't drown and so that we can use these drills to improve our strokes. Here's hoping!
Biking has gotten a lot better- mostly just this week. Mo said to me last weekend something along the lines of "I didn't think I was competitive, but I just didn't want to let Len get in front of me on the bike"...Len is some other dude we do computrainer classes with. This really made me think. So often the last few weeks on the bike, I have been struggling enough on my own to keep my wattages up and work hard on the hard sets, and to focus on keeping the recovery sections easy, that I have been pretty lazy and indifferent about people passing me. Sure, I don't want to be in last place EVERY time I do a bike workout, but I mean, truth be told, its only me I should be competing with- a sentiment that I discussed in my previous post. But I thought harder about what she said and how that could help me. I have resigned myself to not being one of the stronger bikers, but that doesn't mean I have to be in last place. My thighs hadn't been burning for the rest of the day or aching when I walked up and down stairs. Was I not working hard enough? Was I using my low FTP score as an excuse to just slack off? So this week, I was determined to make my thighs ache and give it my best shot. On Wednesday, I succeeded in pushing myself harder than I had ever done on the bike, and really felt like I got a super workout in. Friday, we just did a "fun" ride (simulating the Kona bike route), and I made it through 46 minutes (yes I kept track) in 3rd place (behind the speedy Mo and Len) and only at that point, waffled back and forth between 3-4 place with another guy. I pushed hard and kept within drafting distance of him until the end of the session. My average wattage was higher than I had seen it, and I had kept it up in a good zone 4 for the majority of the ride. I felt so good about it, and for the rest of the day, my thighs were in pain. Success!
Running has also seen some improvement. A few weeks ago I felt my ankle with 30 min of running, but the last two weeks I have progressed to 35 and 40 min runs without pain! I hope to hit up to an hour by the end of the month...keep fingers crossed! I may not get my fastest half marathon in, but I'm hoping when I see the doctor again at the end of the month, that he says I can at least run or run/walk it! It feels so good to be running and I cannot wait for when I can do my long runs outside with Mo again like last summer- we had a lot of fun, and I cannot wait to see scenery other than the pool and the track!
Pool running is getting boring. I have a 90 minute pool run today. Sigh. I am seriously hoping that I can graduate out of pool running soon. I love having social workouts, and I don't really love being upright in the pool and having people look at me like I have six heads or that I belong in the aqua-aerobics class (though I've found that if I pool run on Saturday mornings around the time of the class, the open lanes are a little less crowded and I feel a little less retarded!). I'm hoping after London, I have only 1-2 more of them before I can transition to only real running (or coach said maybe a combination of run/bike for my 'long' run time).
So, workout wise, I feel like things are getting back to normal! Mat and I are heading to London on Tuesday to visit some close friends, so I am really looking forward to seeing and catching up with them and doing a lot of sightseeing! Hopefully even if I don't hit the gym much while I am there, I can keep up the momentum that I've had the last couple of weeks!
March has so far has been a fairly good month. Despite turning 30 (yikes) it hasn't been so bad and I still feel like I'm in my 20s! My sister visited, which was absolutely fantastic. We had a great time baking, cleaning, shopping, and eating tons of good food. I wish she lived closer so that we could hang out more often!
Workout wise, it has only been on the upswing.
Swimming: I have been dropping my times down to closer to where they were in the fall- not fast by any means, but I am feeling a lot less sluggish than I had been in Jan/early Feb, and I am feeling a lot better about it. I have been assigned a few scary drills lately though, that have been pretty difficult- partly because they are just hard, which I know will help me in the long run, but partly because I have no idea how to do them correctly. I had to swim one-armed a few weeks ago, and nearly drowned, and this past week I had to scull, which, despite watching youtube videos, I still couldn't figure out how to actually enact in the pool. So, my training buddies and I were hoping to get together with the coach and just have a drills session. I think that will be super helpful both so that we don't drown and so that we can use these drills to improve our strokes. Here's hoping!
Biking has gotten a lot better- mostly just this week. Mo said to me last weekend something along the lines of "I didn't think I was competitive, but I just didn't want to let Len get in front of me on the bike"...Len is some other dude we do computrainer classes with. This really made me think. So often the last few weeks on the bike, I have been struggling enough on my own to keep my wattages up and work hard on the hard sets, and to focus on keeping the recovery sections easy, that I have been pretty lazy and indifferent about people passing me. Sure, I don't want to be in last place EVERY time I do a bike workout, but I mean, truth be told, its only me I should be competing with- a sentiment that I discussed in my previous post. But I thought harder about what she said and how that could help me. I have resigned myself to not being one of the stronger bikers, but that doesn't mean I have to be in last place. My thighs hadn't been burning for the rest of the day or aching when I walked up and down stairs. Was I not working hard enough? Was I using my low FTP score as an excuse to just slack off? So this week, I was determined to make my thighs ache and give it my best shot. On Wednesday, I succeeded in pushing myself harder than I had ever done on the bike, and really felt like I got a super workout in. Friday, we just did a "fun" ride (simulating the Kona bike route), and I made it through 46 minutes (yes I kept track) in 3rd place (behind the speedy Mo and Len) and only at that point, waffled back and forth between 3-4 place with another guy. I pushed hard and kept within drafting distance of him until the end of the session. My average wattage was higher than I had seen it, and I had kept it up in a good zone 4 for the majority of the ride. I felt so good about it, and for the rest of the day, my thighs were in pain. Success!
Running has also seen some improvement. A few weeks ago I felt my ankle with 30 min of running, but the last two weeks I have progressed to 35 and 40 min runs without pain! I hope to hit up to an hour by the end of the month...keep fingers crossed! I may not get my fastest half marathon in, but I'm hoping when I see the doctor again at the end of the month, that he says I can at least run or run/walk it! It feels so good to be running and I cannot wait for when I can do my long runs outside with Mo again like last summer- we had a lot of fun, and I cannot wait to see scenery other than the pool and the track!
Pool running is getting boring. I have a 90 minute pool run today. Sigh. I am seriously hoping that I can graduate out of pool running soon. I love having social workouts, and I don't really love being upright in the pool and having people look at me like I have six heads or that I belong in the aqua-aerobics class (though I've found that if I pool run on Saturday mornings around the time of the class, the open lanes are a little less crowded and I feel a little less retarded!). I'm hoping after London, I have only 1-2 more of them before I can transition to only real running (or coach said maybe a combination of run/bike for my 'long' run time).
So, workout wise, I feel like things are getting back to normal! Mat and I are heading to London on Tuesday to visit some close friends, so I am really looking forward to seeing and catching up with them and doing a lot of sightseeing! Hopefully even if I don't hit the gym much while I am there, I can keep up the momentum that I've had the last couple of weeks!
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