....and I almost passed out! Rest? Really? Fantastic! I didn't want to work out today anyway! Actually I decided to pass on working out the past couple of days. My foot has been worse than ever and now it is time to figure it out before it takes me out of the game. In terms of this weekend, I attempted a freezing cold Saturday 50 miler, but once the pain started, I turned around and headed to the gym instead. I was actually able to complete some bike drills that I was supposed to do on Sunday and get in a short run before it started to hurt again. I took Sunday as a day of rest and headed out for a massage on Monday. Monday was the first day in 2 years that I had to cancel my spin class, kind of made me upset but I got over it and scheduled for someone to cover my pm class so I could continue to rest and get a massage.
So now I am rubbed down and ordered a day of rest. What a life! I am going to take that to heart and just sit on the couch tonight, all night, and watch some TV. Then it is back to the grindstone. I am trying to get an appointment with my orthopedic dude this week because I am racing a 10k on Saturday and hope to do a quick 40 miler on Sunday on the bike before I bring half the world home with me for Easter at my parents house.
I am hoping for some good news this week, so I will keep you all posted. In the mean time, if you live anywhere in the New York/New Jersey area, try to stay dry and enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. And if you are located anywhere where it is Sunny right now, I don't want to hear it!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This….
But she didn’t mention anything about weeks like this to be honest! Sorry I have been MIA, this week has been incredibly stressful. In every part of my life there has been at least a little bit of stress. I know, I know, pity party for one please. But I need to vent.
So that pain in my foot has now become a pain in my foot and a dull shooting pain up the side of my calf. (Can you have a dull shooting pain? Doesn’t sound right, but you get what I am saying!) I had to wear heels the other day, and much like everything in life I also take heels to the extreme. So when I say I wore heels I wore, 4 inch stilettos. Apparently having my foot at that angle, irritated whatever is going on in my foot and made it move up my leg. So coach is saying get a massage to fix it and hopefully that will work. Don’t mind if I do!
Then there is all the other things, going on, which I don’t want to mention quite yet, but just keep your fingers crossed for me and send me some good vibes for a few days!
So with the foot and the other business, working out has been pushed to the wayside. The good thing is though that I have only missed 1 swim, 1 ride and 1 run, which I am going to try to make up today. Then I will be all set for the weekend. Speaking of the weekend, we are supposed to get a little bit of sun on Saturday, which will be a nice break from the clouds and possible snow (WTF?) today. So the plan is to have a few people over in the morning for the pre-ride pancakes, this weekend will be whole wheat banana walnut, and then head out around 8am for Piermont. I am hoping this time the hills won’t make me want to lie down in the center of the road to catch my breath. But it should be fun regardless. I enjoyed it so much last week it has been all I have been looking forward to this week.
On another note, I think I decided this morning, that I am going to do a two week detox. I feel like I haven’t done one in a long time, so it can’t hurt to do it. It would just mean cutting out the wine and weekend drinking. And I figure since it is not that nice out, I won’t feel like I am missing out on too much. I would love to do a cleanse in addition to that but my nutritionist informed me that I can’t do one because I can’t cut my workouts down enough for it not to be disastrous on my stomach. So I will just go for the alcohol detox. C'est la vie!
Welp, I think that is all for me for today. Have a wonderful Friday everyone and I will try to check in, maybe even with some good news, this weekend!
So that pain in my foot has now become a pain in my foot and a dull shooting pain up the side of my calf. (Can you have a dull shooting pain? Doesn’t sound right, but you get what I am saying!) I had to wear heels the other day, and much like everything in life I also take heels to the extreme. So when I say I wore heels I wore, 4 inch stilettos. Apparently having my foot at that angle, irritated whatever is going on in my foot and made it move up my leg. So coach is saying get a massage to fix it and hopefully that will work. Don’t mind if I do!
Then there is all the other things, going on, which I don’t want to mention quite yet, but just keep your fingers crossed for me and send me some good vibes for a few days!
So with the foot and the other business, working out has been pushed to the wayside. The good thing is though that I have only missed 1 swim, 1 ride and 1 run, which I am going to try to make up today. Then I will be all set for the weekend. Speaking of the weekend, we are supposed to get a little bit of sun on Saturday, which will be a nice break from the clouds and possible snow (WTF?) today. So the plan is to have a few people over in the morning for the pre-ride pancakes, this weekend will be whole wheat banana walnut, and then head out around 8am for Piermont. I am hoping this time the hills won’t make me want to lie down in the center of the road to catch my breath. But it should be fun regardless. I enjoyed it so much last week it has been all I have been looking forward to this week.
On another note, I think I decided this morning, that I am going to do a two week detox. I feel like I haven’t done one in a long time, so it can’t hurt to do it. It would just mean cutting out the wine and weekend drinking. And I figure since it is not that nice out, I won’t feel like I am missing out on too much. I would love to do a cleanse in addition to that but my nutritionist informed me that I can’t do one because I can’t cut my workouts down enough for it not to be disastrous on my stomach. So I will just go for the alcohol detox. C'est la vie!
Welp, I think that is all for me for today. Have a wonderful Friday everyone and I will try to check in, maybe even with some good news, this weekend!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
I can’t stand the Rain….
The famous words of Missy Elliot can pretty much sum up the past 2 days for me! I knew it was inevitable with all that nice weather this weekend, but I still get disappointed! It is just the idea of having to walk to work in the rain that gets me. Wet pants and shoes are enough to set me off in a bad way before I even turn on my computer! I am lucky that I can take off my socks and shoes and walk around barefoot in my office to let them dry but no such luck with the pants. Maybe someday….Watch world, you may come into my office to talk to me one day and find me sitting there in my button down and underwear al la Risky Business typing away at my desk! But I digress.
Training this week is basically the same as last. Yesterday I taught my two spin classes and threw in a 40 min run and a 1 hour swim. Needless to say by 9pm, I was juuuuust about unconscious. But lucky me, there was a thunderstorm on its way. And a thunderstorm in my house = no sleep. The pooch paces around our bedroom whining and barking and therefore no one sleeps and the best part is that there seems to be no way to calm her down. She thinks the thunder and lightening and here to get us and the only way to stop it and keep us safe is to bark ferociously for hours upon end. . If anyone has any suggestions on how to calm her, please pass them along because at this point, I will try anything.
So without any sleep, me and my tired legs got up and trekked it to work hoping off the rain, which seemed to work. But upon grabbing my salad at lunch, it doesn’t look like it is going to stay that way for long. Oh well!
Tonight I have a 2 hour speed set on the bike, along with a 25 minute T run, with the first mile in Zone 2. This will be completed only if my afternoon meetings don’t last too long. I got a few good things in the hopper regarding work, so sometimes giving up the evening work out is allowed. Then tomorrow it is off to the pool for some sort of treacherously named drill set.
Have a great rest of the day and hopefully tomorrow we will be singing a sunnier tune!
Training this week is basically the same as last. Yesterday I taught my two spin classes and threw in a 40 min run and a 1 hour swim. Needless to say by 9pm, I was juuuuust about unconscious. But lucky me, there was a thunderstorm on its way. And a thunderstorm in my house = no sleep. The pooch paces around our bedroom whining and barking and therefore no one sleeps and the best part is that there seems to be no way to calm her down. She thinks the thunder and lightening and here to get us and the only way to stop it and keep us safe is to bark ferociously for hours upon end. . If anyone has any suggestions on how to calm her, please pass them along because at this point, I will try anything.
So without any sleep, me and my tired legs got up and trekked it to work hoping off the rain, which seemed to work. But upon grabbing my salad at lunch, it doesn’t look like it is going to stay that way for long. Oh well!
Tonight I have a 2 hour speed set on the bike, along with a 25 minute T run, with the first mile in Zone 2. This will be completed only if my afternoon meetings don’t last too long. I got a few good things in the hopper regarding work, so sometimes giving up the evening work out is allowed. Then tomorrow it is off to the pool for some sort of treacherously named drill set.
Have a great rest of the day and hopefully tomorrow we will be singing a sunnier tune!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Outdoor Rides and BBQs
What a beautiful weekend! And a totally productive one as well. Saturday morning came quick and with it came the 70 degree weather. I got up made some whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes, some eggs and headed out on my first outdoor ride of the season. I had never done this route before so I had a friend join to show me the way. The ride was a 50 mile (there and back) trek Piermont, NY. There is nothing like your first big climb of the season to make you feel totally out of shape. We actually had to stop at the top to catch our breath! Is that bad? Well maybe, but it will be easier next time, I hope.
The best part was being outside in shorts and a tank top. The route is a commonly traveled bike route and we were in the company of others who were out to enjoy the weather. Once in Piermont, which I must say is like a biker mecca, we stopped for a cliff bar and some more gatorade and then got back on the road. All in all, the trip took us about 4 hours with a few stops on the way. Once back we headed out on a 35 min T run, then it was time to BBQ. It transitioned into quite a long night but it was fun and a nice reward after working so hard.
Today I have to get back on the bike for some drills for 45 min and get in two runs. The getting back on the bike part is the part I am dreading, well actually it is more that my ass is dreading it. I would love to go outside again, but I am not sure my skin can take that much sun again! I think I might also head to the pool for a bit, so I can swim and get in a steam. Then food shopping and planning for the week. Let's hope this week is a fast one!
The best part was being outside in shorts and a tank top. The route is a commonly traveled bike route and we were in the company of others who were out to enjoy the weather. Once in Piermont, which I must say is like a biker mecca, we stopped for a cliff bar and some more gatorade and then got back on the road. All in all, the trip took us about 4 hours with a few stops on the way. Once back we headed out on a 35 min T run, then it was time to BBQ. It transitioned into quite a long night but it was fun and a nice reward after working so hard.
Today I have to get back on the bike for some drills for 45 min and get in two runs. The getting back on the bike part is the part I am dreading, well actually it is more that my ass is dreading it. I would love to go outside again, but I am not sure my skin can take that much sun again! I think I might also head to the pool for a bit, so I can swim and get in a steam. Then food shopping and planning for the week. Let's hope this week is a fast one!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Oh Friday...how do I love thee....
First things first, thank god it is Friday!! I mean come on! Whoever came up with this 5 day work week was insane. I am not sure if it is just my current situation or what, but this is torture! But at least it is almost over and I have a nice long ride to look forward to tomorrow. No sarcasm there, it is going to be a high of 71 degrees! I mean for fucks sake, that is tropical compared to the past few months, so I will take it!
Well this week came to an end with a few great workouts. Yesterday was a 1:30 tempo ride, which as I explained earlier this week is just downright painful for me! But I am now forcing myself just to stick to it. I mean it has gotten to the point where if I am on my bike for more than 30 minutes, I physically feel uncomfy. But since I know it is all in my head I am just ignoring it. I think the outside ride this weekend will help.
I had to miss my hill bounding due to some work stuff, but I plan on making that up at lunch today. But this morning, I got up at 5:20 to meet a friend for a quick swim. What is crazy is the person I was meeting NEVER gets up this early, nor does she swim and she decided she was going to try it today. And let me tell you, she is a really good swimmer! I am trying to encourage her to stick to it, because of all the obvious benefits and also because she has an aversion towards cardio but seemed to like swimming. So maybe I have a new swim partner, we will see.
Now as for me, I had to do a :58 resistance set, and I would like to proudly announce for the first time ever, it took me the exact amount of time prescribed for the set. Am I getting faster? Did I just have a good day? Was the clock wrong? I don't have the answers to any of those questions, so any which way it goes, I will take it!
Hopefully today will move quickly, then a nice dinner tonight and a 3:30 ride to Piermont, NY tomorrow followed by a T run. Now it is off to work!
Enjoy your Friday!
Well this week came to an end with a few great workouts. Yesterday was a 1:30 tempo ride, which as I explained earlier this week is just downright painful for me! But I am now forcing myself just to stick to it. I mean it has gotten to the point where if I am on my bike for more than 30 minutes, I physically feel uncomfy. But since I know it is all in my head I am just ignoring it. I think the outside ride this weekend will help.
I had to miss my hill bounding due to some work stuff, but I plan on making that up at lunch today. But this morning, I got up at 5:20 to meet a friend for a quick swim. What is crazy is the person I was meeting NEVER gets up this early, nor does she swim and she decided she was going to try it today. And let me tell you, she is a really good swimmer! I am trying to encourage her to stick to it, because of all the obvious benefits and also because she has an aversion towards cardio but seemed to like swimming. So maybe I have a new swim partner, we will see.
Now as for me, I had to do a :58 resistance set, and I would like to proudly announce for the first time ever, it took me the exact amount of time prescribed for the set. Am I getting faster? Did I just have a good day? Was the clock wrong? I don't have the answers to any of those questions, so any which way it goes, I will take it!
Hopefully today will move quickly, then a nice dinner tonight and a 3:30 ride to Piermont, NY tomorrow followed by a T run. Now it is off to work!
Enjoy your Friday!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Ok so I know the title of this post isn't original, but so be it! This week is proving to be quite interesting. I have been strictly sticking to my diet and also not allowing any adult beverages, which with this great weather is kinda hard!
So Monday night I did my recovery swim and another spin class, then it was home to crash by 9pm. Tuesday was a full day of work followed by 2:00 of BST's:
Warmup:
30 min @ ZR/Z1
Main Set:
3 X (10 min interval @ 55-60 RPM, 4 min easy recovery @ 90 rpm, 3 X (1 min @ 105+ RPM, 1 min @ 90 RPM easy recovery for both)
Cooldown:
30 min @ ZR
For some reason throughout my training I always have a workout that I can't stand. Right now it is the bike. I can swim and run forever, but ask me to get on that bike and I would rather die! I think it is that I ride in my guest room. Just me and a book. Sometimes I will watch a movie on the computer but most of the time it is just me and a book. So it is booooooring! I am hoping that with this nice weather this weekend I can get outside and fall back in love with my bike. Either way it was 2 hours on the bike.
Once off the bike I threw on a technical shirt, changed into my sneakers, grabbed the boyfriend and headed out for a 25 min T run with the first mile in Z2. Well it is interesting that I decide to share that fact with you, because the Z2 detail was the one detail I left out of the run description when I shared it with my boyfriend. So once out the door, I started up the Garmin and took off like a bat out of hell. And I then had to listen to about 8:30 of "Why are you sprinting?, What is the deal? I thought we were going for a jog?" Now it is hard to explain the need to be in Z2 with someone when all you want to do is run as fast as you can and hit a mile. So I just dealt with the complaints until that mile was up.
Now back to the mile time 8:30???? What the hell is that? Last year around this time I was at 7:50 for the first mile out! Sometimes this heart rate stuff is just a little too frustrating for me! Let's see what happens next week!
Today was supposed to be a swim day but needed to be moved due to some work commitments, but I possibly have some good changes on the horizon for me, so fingers crossed!
Well everyone enjoy your green beers and green bagels today because lord knows I can't! Have a wonderful St. Patty's Day!
So Monday night I did my recovery swim and another spin class, then it was home to crash by 9pm. Tuesday was a full day of work followed by 2:00 of BST's:
Warmup:
30 min @ ZR/Z1
Main Set:
3 X (10 min interval @ 55-60 RPM, 4 min easy recovery @ 90 rpm, 3 X (1 min @ 105+ RPM, 1 min @ 90 RPM easy recovery for both)
Cooldown:
30 min @ ZR
For some reason throughout my training I always have a workout that I can't stand. Right now it is the bike. I can swim and run forever, but ask me to get on that bike and I would rather die! I think it is that I ride in my guest room. Just me and a book. Sometimes I will watch a movie on the computer but most of the time it is just me and a book. So it is booooooring! I am hoping that with this nice weather this weekend I can get outside and fall back in love with my bike. Either way it was 2 hours on the bike.
Once off the bike I threw on a technical shirt, changed into my sneakers, grabbed the boyfriend and headed out for a 25 min T run with the first mile in Z2. Well it is interesting that I decide to share that fact with you, because the Z2 detail was the one detail I left out of the run description when I shared it with my boyfriend. So once out the door, I started up the Garmin and took off like a bat out of hell. And I then had to listen to about 8:30 of "Why are you sprinting?, What is the deal? I thought we were going for a jog?" Now it is hard to explain the need to be in Z2 with someone when all you want to do is run as fast as you can and hit a mile. So I just dealt with the complaints until that mile was up.
Now back to the mile time 8:30???? What the hell is that? Last year around this time I was at 7:50 for the first mile out! Sometimes this heart rate stuff is just a little too frustrating for me! Let's see what happens next week!
Today was supposed to be a swim day but needed to be moved due to some work commitments, but I possibly have some good changes on the horizon for me, so fingers crossed!
Well everyone enjoy your green beers and green bagels today because lord knows I can't! Have a wonderful St. Patty's Day!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Daylight Savings....Please be Gentle!
Happy Monday, everyone! And you can take that anyway you want depending on how you feel about your Monday! So the rest of the weekend was uneventful. I wasn’t feeling 100% on Sunday so I pushed the long brick until later this week. I hate doing that, but I just really felt like if I got on the bike for that long and ran in the cold rain, that I would feel even worse today! So instead I bonded with my couch all day, then headed over to my parent’s house for an early St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
This morning, I got up and was actually hoping that somehow my time on my phone was off by and hour and that I got to sleep a little longer. Yup, that was not the case, so I got up, walked the pup, grabbed the car and headed to teach spin. I had a decent size class so that was nice and then I realized that I had forgotten my suit, so now I have to go to class extra early tonight to get some pool time in. Then I have a feeling I am going to come home and crash big time.
Since I have an event on Wednesday, I get to do my killer swim set tomorrow morning followed by some BST’s that night, so by tomorrow night I may not even be able to walk let alone type!
Oh and lastly, notice my new picture? Yup I am famous, in a nerdy kinda way! I was poking around my friend’s photo blog, when I saw that picture and thought, “that big yellow swim capped head kind of looks like me!”, so I shot her and text and she let me know that one day when she was taking pics at the pool she took mine and decided to blog about me, and poof! I am famous! Ok, maybe not totally famous, but let me have my moment here!
On that note, enjoy your Monday and here’s hoping for some nice weather so I can get outside and ride!
This morning, I got up and was actually hoping that somehow my time on my phone was off by and hour and that I got to sleep a little longer. Yup, that was not the case, so I got up, walked the pup, grabbed the car and headed to teach spin. I had a decent size class so that was nice and then I realized that I had forgotten my suit, so now I have to go to class extra early tonight to get some pool time in. Then I have a feeling I am going to come home and crash big time.
Since I have an event on Wednesday, I get to do my killer swim set tomorrow morning followed by some BST’s that night, so by tomorrow night I may not even be able to walk let alone type!
Oh and lastly, notice my new picture? Yup I am famous, in a nerdy kinda way! I was poking around my friend’s photo blog, when I saw that picture and thought, “that big yellow swim capped head kind of looks like me!”, so I shot her and text and she let me know that one day when she was taking pics at the pool she took mine and decided to blog about me, and poof! I am famous! Ok, maybe not totally famous, but let me have my moment here!
On that note, enjoy your Monday and here’s hoping for some nice weather so I can get outside and ride!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Holy crap it is freezing out!
So it is Saturday and I should sleep in right? WRONG!!! Not according to my dog's standards. So I got up at 7am. That is earlier than I get up for work some days! But who can argue with a little orange pitbull that literally rules your life? Not I! I need a Dog Whisperer intervention in this house. Regardless I got up, walked and fed the dog and guess what? That little bitch went right back to sleep!
So with everyone all snuggled up and sleep I decide that I should just get started on the workouts. So I put on my suit, grabbed my bag and headed to the pool. Only, who knew it was freezing out? I was wearing capri running pants and hoodie and freezing. It is a damn good thing I didn't get all crazy and motivated last night and shave my legs, or my calves would have gotten frost bite! But enough of that it was to the pool for a Resistance work out. Oh how I hate my paddles, but I just had to ignore the pain and go for it. Today's pool workout looked like this:
Warmup:
500 continuous @ TT+10
Main Set:
4 X ((3 X 100 all out with paddles (no buoy) on TT + 10 sec), 200 easy pull (buoy, no paddles))
2 X 200 Pull on TT+10 swam at TT+5
I love that the main set looks like some hideous algebraic equation! I actually had to write it out and add up the meters to make sure I did it right. Give me a little break on that it was 7am.
Then I booked it back to my house for a bowl of cereal and some tabata Intervals on the bike. After 45 minutes of that, I am carb loading with some low fat cheez-its and then it is back to the gym for my 1:15 Z1/Z2 run.
I think after that I may have to do something non workout related. Sounds crazy right?
Tomorrow is a 3:45 brick and then off to the parents house for some corned beef and cabbage to celebrate that 25% of Irish we all have in us. (Go ahead I left that one open for a few jokes, take it and run!)
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and stay warm!
So with everyone all snuggled up and sleep I decide that I should just get started on the workouts. So I put on my suit, grabbed my bag and headed to the pool. Only, who knew it was freezing out? I was wearing capri running pants and hoodie and freezing. It is a damn good thing I didn't get all crazy and motivated last night and shave my legs, or my calves would have gotten frost bite! But enough of that it was to the pool for a Resistance work out. Oh how I hate my paddles, but I just had to ignore the pain and go for it. Today's pool workout looked like this:
Warmup:
500 continuous @ TT+10
Main Set:
4 X ((3 X 100 all out with paddles (no buoy) on TT + 10 sec), 200 easy pull (buoy, no paddles))
2 X 200 Pull on TT+10 swam at TT+5
I love that the main set looks like some hideous algebraic equation! I actually had to write it out and add up the meters to make sure I did it right. Give me a little break on that it was 7am.
Then I booked it back to my house for a bowl of cereal and some tabata Intervals on the bike. After 45 minutes of that, I am carb loading with some low fat cheez-its and then it is back to the gym for my 1:15 Z1/Z2 run.
I think after that I may have to do something non workout related. Sounds crazy right?
Tomorrow is a 3:45 brick and then off to the parents house for some corned beef and cabbage to celebrate that 25% of Irish we all have in us. (Go ahead I left that one open for a few jokes, take it and run!)
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and stay warm!
Friday, March 12, 2010
A Weekend With No Plans?!?! Unheard of!
Ok so the title is a bit of a lie, considering I have a 4 hour brick on Saturday followed by another 2 hours of biking and running on Sunday. But in terms of my social life, I have no plans! I wonder what I will do to fill the time? Maybe clean the house, wash my mountain of dirty clothes, or maybe even take some time out to shave my legs? Let the excitement begin!
Well before I make you all overly jealous of my fun and exciting weekend. Let's talk about today. First of all, thank god it's Friday. I am not sure I could take much more to be honest. So tonight I can go to sleep and hopefully keep the anxiety dreams to a minimum.
As for workouts, I made up some hill bounding that missed yesterday. I am actually beginning to feel a lot stronger during the bounding portion which is nice and my face is no longer the darkest shade of crimson when I am done. Both positive changes! But here is the problem, all this week I have been feeling almost an aching pain on the top of my right foot. It is almost as if I am tying my shoes too tight, but unlike that pain that goes away, this one is persistent. I feel like this may have happened last year when I got into training a bit more, but dang does it hurt! To give you an idea of the pain, right now I am wearing flip flops and the band on the flip flops is irritating it. So anyone with any healing suggestions let me know.
I hope everyone has a wonderful fun-filled weekend! I will think of you all, as I lay on my couch dreaming of exciting plans that I don't have.
Well before I make you all overly jealous of my fun and exciting weekend. Let's talk about today. First of all, thank god it's Friday. I am not sure I could take much more to be honest. So tonight I can go to sleep and hopefully keep the anxiety dreams to a minimum.
As for workouts, I made up some hill bounding that missed yesterday. I am actually beginning to feel a lot stronger during the bounding portion which is nice and my face is no longer the darkest shade of crimson when I am done. Both positive changes! But here is the problem, all this week I have been feeling almost an aching pain on the top of my right foot. It is almost as if I am tying my shoes too tight, but unlike that pain that goes away, this one is persistent. I feel like this may have happened last year when I got into training a bit more, but dang does it hurt! To give you an idea of the pain, right now I am wearing flip flops and the band on the flip flops is irritating it. So anyone with any healing suggestions let me know.
I hope everyone has a wonderful fun-filled weekend! I will think of you all, as I lay on my couch dreaming of exciting plans that I don't have.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Who the hell names these workouts?
Miles of Misery, need I say more? I woke up at 5:20am on Wednesday morning to complete the Miles of Misery work out. Nothing like getting yourself motivated, right? But there is no lie in the title, they are miles upon miles of total misery. So my 1st wrong move, only eating 2 fig newtons before I left for the pool, low blood sugar and swimming, not a nice combo. My 2nd wrong move, drinking too much coffee before the swim and having to take a few potty breaks during my swim. My 3rd and final wrong move, getting so tired during the first mile that I tried to breathe underwater! HUH? Right, I opened my mouth and took a nice big gulp of water into my lungs! So maybe I didn't have enough coffee and my 2nd wrong move should have been to drink even more coffee. Who knows!?
So here is what it looked like:
Warmup:
2 X (50 kick/50 fist/50 free/50 pull/50 no kick)
4 X 50 no kick (speed dictated by need to stay afloat), 10 seconds between sets.
Main Set:
2 x 1600 at sustainable best effort (2 minutes between sets). **Record time for each....combine time for score, make sure the second one is NOT slower than the first**
Cooldown:
2 X 100 easy as 50 fist, 50 free. 5 breaths rest in between sets
1 X 100 easy kick
Fun huh? I got home, was wired and by the time it hit 5:30 I could hardly keep my eyes open!
So this morning, I slept in! I decided I would work out during lunch and tonight. So at lunch I set in for a tempo ride, 20 min Z1, 2x(20 min Z2, 5 min Z1), 20 min Z1. It wasn't too bad and I think I should be ok to get in another ride tonight.
But to be honest I am a bit bummed. I am trying so hard to stay on track and I am not losing a pound! Then I get all down on that and perk myself up with some wine! FAIL! So it is a lose/lose, or actually more appropriately a gain/gain! What to do, what to do? I guess just keep on truckin' right? Something has to happen at some point!
Now to just finish up the day and head home for a quick brick!
So here is what it looked like:
Warmup:
2 X (50 kick/50 fist/50 free/50 pull/50 no kick)
4 X 50 no kick (speed dictated by need to stay afloat), 10 seconds between sets.
Main Set:
2 x 1600 at sustainable best effort (2 minutes between sets). **Record time for each....combine time for score, make sure the second one is NOT slower than the first**
Cooldown:
2 X 100 easy as 50 fist, 50 free. 5 breaths rest in between sets
1 X 100 easy kick
Fun huh? I got home, was wired and by the time it hit 5:30 I could hardly keep my eyes open!
So this morning, I slept in! I decided I would work out during lunch and tonight. So at lunch I set in for a tempo ride, 20 min Z1, 2x(20 min Z2, 5 min Z1), 20 min Z1. It wasn't too bad and I think I should be ok to get in another ride tonight.
But to be honest I am a bit bummed. I am trying so hard to stay on track and I am not losing a pound! Then I get all down on that and perk myself up with some wine! FAIL! So it is a lose/lose, or actually more appropriately a gain/gain! What to do, what to do? I guess just keep on truckin' right? Something has to happen at some point!
Now to just finish up the day and head home for a quick brick!
Monday, March 8, 2010
What a Fantastic Weekend!
This past weekend, I took off Friday from work and headed to Bloomington, Indiana to meet up with 10 of the most fantastic people. It is not often that we are able to get everyone in one place but this weekend, we did it. We spent 3 days having fun and bonding and although I feel it today, it was worth it. It is amazing to be around that many successful and fantastic people in one group and I am very thankful to know each one of them.
As for working out, well that was a different story, but I am taking a pass on that since I only do this once a year. Although a group of three of us did get in a nice 8mile run around campus on Saturday morning. It was so fun to run all the places that you walked 9 years ago. The funniest part was remembering how we really thought everything was so far away and dreaded certain hilly parts of campus. To go back years later and feel like I could have stayed out for another hour or so just running around was like returning as a totally different person.
But the weekend had to come to an end and now it is back to the grindstone. I returned home on Sunday afternoon and heading right to Sam's club to pick up my protein bars, muscle milk and like ten pounds of chicken and chicken sausage for the month. Then it was back to sit on the couch for the rest of the night.
This morning I got up with a still scratchy voice and taught class #1 for today. Tonight I will return to the gym for an hour recovery swim and another class, and I should be back on track in no time.
Short term goals for March: Get in every single work out
Long term goal for the next 2 months: Lose 7 pounds
Baby steps......
As for working out, well that was a different story, but I am taking a pass on that since I only do this once a year. Although a group of three of us did get in a nice 8mile run around campus on Saturday morning. It was so fun to run all the places that you walked 9 years ago. The funniest part was remembering how we really thought everything was so far away and dreaded certain hilly parts of campus. To go back years later and feel like I could have stayed out for another hour or so just running around was like returning as a totally different person.
But the weekend had to come to an end and now it is back to the grindstone. I returned home on Sunday afternoon and heading right to Sam's club to pick up my protein bars, muscle milk and like ten pounds of chicken and chicken sausage for the month. Then it was back to sit on the couch for the rest of the night.
This morning I got up with a still scratchy voice and taught class #1 for today. Tonight I will return to the gym for an hour recovery swim and another class, and I should be back on track in no time.
Short term goals for March: Get in every single work out
Long term goal for the next 2 months: Lose 7 pounds
Baby steps......
Thursday, March 4, 2010
What's worse than the Monster Swim, you ask?
Well it actually doesn't have a name but it is the Monster set plus 45 min! Leaving me in the water for about 2 hours. Yup two hours! That is four episodes of Americas Funniest Home Videos or 2 episodes of Lost! Ok, let's take a few steps back first and talk about Tuesday.
Tuesday I decided to be a team player and sub a spin class at 7:30pm. Since it is my recovery week and I didn't have a huge workout planned I figured why not. So I got there about 40 min early to get in my 20 min recovery swim. And for the first time ever at this gym I had to circle! Now honestly, I don't mind circling only because it gives me a reason to swim faster, ultimately because I am being chased, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was the speed of my partner. Now I got in the fast lane when I got there, only because, the medium lane was moving slow and the person is the slow lane might as well have been doing dead man's float, so I thought I am going to definitely go faster then these people so fast lane it is. So when I was joined by another swimmer I figured he too would be like me, not super fast, but at least alive enough to move. Little did I know, that he should have asked the dead man's float lady if he could draft off of her for his swim.
Within three laps I was on his tail and then he would wait and let me go and then it would be the same thing again. Now I don't mind if a person is a slow swimmer, because when I started swimming 3 years ago, I was that guy, but I didn't ever venture into the fast lane and ask someone to circle! UGH!
But I digress, so after my recovery swim it was off to spin, then dinner and straight to bed. Wednesday morning came with a 5:20am wake up call and the Monster set of your nightmares. So I grabbed my suit, walked the pooch and headed to the pool. So the set looked like this:
o Pull 1000,
o 9 X 100
o 4 X 200 Paddles,
o 7 X 100 <== right around here I thought I was going to die.
o Pull 600
o 5 X 100
o 2 X 200 Paddles <==== right around here I thought my right arm might fall off
I was supposed to do this on TT pace + 10 seconds. So that worked out ok up until the last set of 100's and 200's. That is around the time I contemplated getting out of the pool then guilted myself out of it. But, I actually improved on my average for both by 3-4 seconds from last week which was good, but boy did I feel like dying afterwards.
So today, I am flying out to Indiana for an all girls college reunion. I was supposed to hill bound and tempo ride today but I am going to have to push it until tomorrow because I will be on a plane tonight when I would normally work out. But I am looking forward to running the hills on campus in Bloomington tomorrow. I will be there all weekend and since I do not have a bike there I will spend most of my workout time running, but I think I may leave the HR monitor behind for a weekend and just have fun! And maybe on Sunday I will have some good pics to post. Have a great weekend and happy training!
Tuesday I decided to be a team player and sub a spin class at 7:30pm. Since it is my recovery week and I didn't have a huge workout planned I figured why not. So I got there about 40 min early to get in my 20 min recovery swim. And for the first time ever at this gym I had to circle! Now honestly, I don't mind circling only because it gives me a reason to swim faster, ultimately because I am being chased, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was the speed of my partner. Now I got in the fast lane when I got there, only because, the medium lane was moving slow and the person is the slow lane might as well have been doing dead man's float, so I thought I am going to definitely go faster then these people so fast lane it is. So when I was joined by another swimmer I figured he too would be like me, not super fast, but at least alive enough to move. Little did I know, that he should have asked the dead man's float lady if he could draft off of her for his swim.
Within three laps I was on his tail and then he would wait and let me go and then it would be the same thing again. Now I don't mind if a person is a slow swimmer, because when I started swimming 3 years ago, I was that guy, but I didn't ever venture into the fast lane and ask someone to circle! UGH!
But I digress, so after my recovery swim it was off to spin, then dinner and straight to bed. Wednesday morning came with a 5:20am wake up call and the Monster set of your nightmares. So I grabbed my suit, walked the pooch and headed to the pool. So the set looked like this:
o Pull 1000,
o 9 X 100
o 4 X 200 Paddles,
o 7 X 100 <== right around here I thought I was going to die.
o Pull 600
o 5 X 100
o 2 X 200 Paddles <==== right around here I thought my right arm might fall off
I was supposed to do this on TT pace + 10 seconds. So that worked out ok up until the last set of 100's and 200's. That is around the time I contemplated getting out of the pool then guilted myself out of it. But, I actually improved on my average for both by 3-4 seconds from last week which was good, but boy did I feel like dying afterwards.
So today, I am flying out to Indiana for an all girls college reunion. I was supposed to hill bound and tempo ride today but I am going to have to push it until tomorrow because I will be on a plane tonight when I would normally work out. But I am looking forward to running the hills on campus in Bloomington tomorrow. I will be there all weekend and since I do not have a bike there I will spend most of my workout time running, but I think I may leave the HR monitor behind for a weekend and just have fun! And maybe on Sunday I will have some good pics to post. Have a great weekend and happy training!
Monday, March 1, 2010
No Sleep til' Tuesday!!
So today I got up at 3am, yup you read that correctly, 3am! I opened my eyes, thought it was almost time to go teach spin, checked my phone, and there you have it! 3am! WHAT? And that was it, I couldn't go back to sleep. So the day started then, with me laying in bed for 2.5 hours until I finally got up to teach spin.
Then it was a full day of work, some doctors appointments and now I am getting ready to go do a recovery swim and teach another spin class. So basically a totally uneventful Monday, but I am definitely looking forward to my bed tonight!
And now off to spin....
Then it was a full day of work, some doctors appointments and now I am getting ready to go do a recovery swim and teach another spin class. So basically a totally uneventful Monday, but I am definitely looking forward to my bed tonight!
And now off to spin....
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