Glorious Chelsea Piers Saturday morning!

Saturday mornings at Chelsea Piers are one of my favorite things EVER. Got down there pretty early, swam 2000 yards and then did Joanna's wonderfully demanding double spin class! Happy to be back in the saddle - life re-entry is always extremely challenging, I have been too tired and too busy to do any exercise the last couple days (must get a TON of work done this weekend before school starts on Tuesday)....

Swim: 200 free, 200 kick, 200 pull, 400 drill as 2 x 100 RaLaCuBa, 2 x drill-swim by 25 (front scull, fists); 6 x 100 free on 2:10; 2 x 75 fly as kick-drill-swim; 100 easy swim = 2000 yards

2hr spin (LOTS of climbs and sprints!)

Swim!

B. got us over to Sunset House and I had one really nice last swim there before traveling tomorrow. 2K approximately - current v strong on way back, I was working hard!

:55ish, 2Kish

Spin!

This is a style of workout I particularly like - Marz is back in town, she always teaches a very good class, but today's was as follows:

4 x (5min moderately hard climb, recovery, 3min very hard climb)
1hr total

Recovery run!

That was actually very nice. My legs felt tight to begin with and I was not sorry to be doing 3:1 instead of the 4:1 I have often been doing this month.

:52 (3:1 jog-walk)

Long ride!

That was very good - first half genuinely and unequivocally enjoyable, second half with patches that I didn't enjoy (painful feet from riding into wind, aforementioned WIND also just in itself not enjoyable, general feeling of being too hot and ready to stop) but mostly fine. Wore my long-sleeved sun-protective white cycling top, don't know why I didn't wear it last week - it is much, much better than wearing a short-sleeved jersey. Used short breaks to manage foot pain - it makes a big difference, then I can do a better job with pedal stroke and prevent the situation from painfully escalating.

4:54, 74.5mi

(I was already a few minutes late for my meet-up with B., otherwise I would have taken the time to make up the numbers!)

Spin!

Not an especially inspiring one, but that was all I really needed anyway. Leaves me hungry for LONG RIDE tomorrow...

1hr spin

Run!

Enjoyed every minute of that. Took yesterday as a rest day - I was supposed to get up early and run, but it was very clear to me that I needed more sleep (not just laziness, genuine need for more sleep!). Had a massive long late extra 3.5hr of sleep and only got up at 9am, it was glorious. First day for ages that I have not felt the need to take a nap.

Fell asleep easily at 9:30 or so last night which really tells me I needed the sleep, and meant that getting up at 5:10 this morning was not as gruesome as it sometimes is. 1.25hr run, 4:1 run-walk, with :30 hard at end of each run segment between .5hr and 1hr.

Spin!

OK, that was pretty good - I didn't feel motivated beforehand, but it is certainly a gentler start to the day spinning in a dim air-conditioned room at the gym than having a strangulatingly warm outdoor room! 90min spin, with 1min @ time-trial effort on the 5 starting at 15. (Did a pre-minute of work for each of these to warm up to it - HR is just lower indoors than it would be at same perceived effort outside.)

Tonight is the final stroke & stride!

Spin and wheeze!

Took yesterday off as per schedule - those hot long rides really take it out of you! Had a 40-minute run on the schedule for today, but rather naughtily went to 6am spin class first. It was very enjoyable, and I felt strong and energetic as I started on my treadmill workout, only it soon emerged that I was EXTREMELY wheezy - cut it short at 10 minutes as a precaution; I really don't need to get sick! Will hope to have another go at it later - I think that albuterol inhaler is out of juice, the meter says it still has a few doses but I think I was very wheezy at the stroke & stride last week too....

:50 spin, 10min treadmill

LONG RIDE!

Even a good one is slightly gruesome in parts, but really it was mostly enjoyable. I had the wind more at my back than when I rode two weeks ago; rode almost two counter-clockwise East End loops, but turned back at the last (if I had realized how hard it was then going to be riding clockwise for a long time into a brutal headwind, I would not have done it that way!) so that I wouldn't be tempted to stop when I reached the rendezvous early.

(B. was due to pick me up at 11:15 - I left the condo at 6am - it is a LONG TIME!)

Managed foot discomfort better (it's the mashing you do when you're riding into the wind - but I concentrated as much as I could on smooth pedal stroke, pulling up, etc., and there were only a couple stretches where it was really agonizing).

2 rest stops - could have used a third, will ponder that for next week.

(Forgot to turn off Garmin at second stop so total time is approximate.)

Wore B.'s helmet instead of my old red one, which gives me painful Maleficent-style horns on my forehead (horns a-la Joe Hill!). Much better. Can't do much about wind and excessive heat, but of course riding into the wind is a very good workout....

c. 4.5hr, 67.3mi

Run/swim!

OK, I feel good about getting that done. Grumpy to get up so early but happy as soon as I am actually running. Did 1hr (4:1), ending up at Sunset House, then swam 2K in about an hour. Felt very queasy during the whole of the swim - I think the heat buildup from the run basically just makes the combination of bouncy and salty a little intolerable - but it is beautiful out there - best sighting: sting ray with attendant fish....

1hr run (4:1), 1hr swim (2K)

Very short sea swim

Complete willpower failure this morning as concerned ambitious run-swim workout - got up, but could not get out the door; did get out the door, turned back at the end of the driveway, just couldn't make myself do it! Short swim this afternoon, more as a gesture of good faith than an actual workout. Will have another go at it tomorrow....

:15 swim

Spin!

Stroke and stride yesterday evening was very fun - that is a HOT 2mi run, though! Latish getting home, I didn't really get enough sleep - but did make it to 6am spin. Thunder & heavy rain may or may not pass off to an extent sufficient to permit a swim later....

1hr spin

Run!

Felt much less knackered this morning than yesterday and was glad I'd switched the order of the two workouts. Run was great! 75 minutes as 4:1 run-walk; after first 30 minutes, last :20 of every run segment FAST.

1.25hr run (4:1 with bursts of :20)

Long indoor ride!

I ate something Friday night that led to minor but nevertheless very unpleasant food poisoning - Saturday I was still just feeling pretty feeble and reclined on the couch, Sunday mostly better but still with a stomachache that persuaded me riding outside would be a terrible idea and riding indoors perhaps not much better. However today I think I am back to normal and I got over to World Gym, not very expeditiously, for a nice long session on my own in the spin studio. Air-conditioning was particularly good today - that plus no traffic makes it really more enjoyable than riding outdoors here!

Work as follows (mostly Friel z2-3):

(1) 6 x 2min cadence seated 100-105, 1min recovery; 6 x 3min standing medium gear, 1min recovery.
(2) 2 x 15min alternating 1min seated, 1min standing.
(3) 2 x (3 x :30 sprint, :30 recovery), 2 x (6 x 1min sprint, 1min recovery).

Really I should do an additional set for parts 2 and 3; as it was, I was kind of just DONE at the 2.5hr mark. Wanted to get in the full three hours, so spent 20min clinging to bottom of zone 2 (legs wanted to slow down - switched between some standing bits to raise HR in higher gear and seated high-cadence), 10min zone 1 cooldown.

3hr total!

Hot yoga!

I am laughing as I write this, usually I think of the standing sequence as a fairly punishing precursor to a second half of class that is pretty thoroughly enjoyable, but today I was just almost intolerably hot throughout, right to the very end! The room seemed hotter than usual, some teachers do blast the heat more pervasively but really it was probably more to do with the humidity. Fairly gruesome! Sufficiently discombobulated that I left my keys at the studio - fortunately B. drove me to retrieve them (I walked home through torrential rain). Now, however, I feel great - that is the strange thing about hot yoga - but I was very, very glad it was only an hour-long class!

1hr hot yoga

Run!

The good thing about doing these short ones with walk-run is that it mitigates the psychological effects of the heat and humidity - instead of feeling grumpy about conditions, I cherish every segment and feel hungry for more!

:30 as 4:1 run-walk (2.28mi)

Spin!

OK, that was good. Work intervals as 3 x 5min climb, 2min recovery; 3 x 2min hard, 2min recovery; 3 x 1min standing sprint, :30 recovery.

Stroke and stride #1 last night was very enjoyable - that is a HOT 2-mile run!

1hr spin

Long run!

I was super-grumpy heading out for this one, but bad mood cannot survive in face of a run that was 75% pretty enjoyable and only about 25% gruesome towards the end!

Sun comes up around 6 and by 6:30 it's MARKEDLY hotter, so I gritted my teeth and set alarm for 4:30, much better to do it 4:45-6:45 than any later and really I cannot do it on the treadmill, that's hot too and just pure horrible! I went to bed around 11, fell asleep easily but unfortunately woke up hard around 3 and could not go back to sleep. In retrospect should have just got up and run then instead of tossing and turning. Got up shortly before alarm was due to go off. Grumpily read on my phone that it was 85F and 95% relative humidity. ARGHHHHH!

However really it was nice once I got going. I did 4:1 up until about the 1.5hr mark, at which point I switched to 3:1 to try and keep myself in the game. Had 2L of water in hydration pack, it was gone by 1:20 - I need a better strategy for replenishing, that had a lot to do with why the last part became such a slog. Also and relatedly around the time water runs out my pants are so waterlogged with sweat that they're starting to fall down! (It is really gruesome - not just forearms but upper arms are beaded with sweat even at a slow jog, there is virtually no evaporation whatsoever!)

c. 2hr, c. nearly 9mi: 4:1 walk-run for first 1.5hr, then 3:1

Spin!

One of the stalwarts of the local triathlon scene covered class today; it was a very good workout, with good stretching afterwards as well.

I had a treadmill workout on the schedule after that, I was keen for it (though I may need calories at some point for the two-hour interval morning workout) but my right knee is still not quite right, not painful but with something going on, and I decided to err on the side of caution and skip the workout. I have a 2hr easy long run scheduled for tomorrow morning, that's more important and I didn't want to jeopardize it.

Should be able to swim later on at Sunset House when we go there for last-minute registration and the triathlon association meeting this evening. I am registered for all three Stroke and Stride races - looking forward to racing!

1hr spin

Hot yoga!

That was good. It is really overwhelmingly hot, even for the one-hour class! I was sufficiently depleted afterwards (of fluids and calories) that I stopped in at the Smoothie Factory and sat in air-conditioning and applied smoothie internally to try and let core temperature return to something approaching normal - it is a hot fifteen-minute walk home, and though walking in this state isn't as alarming to me as bicycling, there are still times it's wise to do a bit of refueling before hitting the road...

1hr hot yoga

Minor swim

Hmmm, that wasn't really a success - in retrospect, I handled yesterday badly, it is clear to me now that I didn't sufficiently hydrate over the latter part of the day, and also that though it seemed fine at the time, skipping dinner (we had a feast of a brunch) doesn't make the next morning's exercise go well! Swam about 20 minutes to warm up and then 10 minutes harder, but was feeling increasingly queasy, and called it around the 35-minute mark. Will try and have additional short swims in coming days!

:35 sea swim

Long ride

It is not very enjoyable while I am doing it - hot, windy, numb/sore hands and agonizingly sore feet as the ride progresses! - but it feels very good to be done with it. Three more long ones in Cayman - wouldn't have minded doing 4hr today but really I was at my limit - will shoot to do 4, 4.5, 5 I think in the three coming weeks.

3:35, 50mi

Run!

Amazingly I got out the door at 5:50am - it was simple self-interest, I was reminded yesterday morning how very much hotter it gets around 6:45 once the sun is fully up and was determined to have my run before that happened!

:50 as 4:1 run, walk: first two five-minute bits for warmup, after that 8 x (3min jog, 1min hard, 1min walking recovery)

Now I will lie down for a short nap, then 10am spin class at World Gym....

Hot yoga!

Very good to be back on that. I really like it, but in my NYC life it's more of a winter thing than a summer thing, for various reasons - here, since there is no Chelsea Piers equivalent, the yoga studio is my good way of staying connected to the rest of humanity. It was extremely hot today, to the point where I felt rather queasy a few times, but it's nice to have the 1hr class as an option (proper Bikram is 1.5hr, but this isn't a Bikram studio, though they mostly follow the sequence - this one is conveniently truncated so that the standing series is over significantly more quickly!).

1hr hot yoga

Run!

OK, that was very good. It is warm and humid here, and it was just a short one, but it was lovely to be out there and my knees seem fine. Woo-hoo!

:30 jog as 4:1 jog-walk with 4 x :30 strides