Partly more lovely than yesterday's, I must confess, because I was much less principled about doing flip turns throughout the workout! I did 'em on the 400 free warmup and the 2 200s at the end only, but I will say that while functionally they were possibly (mostly) worse than yesterday's, they are in the essentials coming much closer to how they should be (i.e. really coming off wall properly on back), and I even had quite a few (though they were sometimes waywardly not at the 90-degree angle) where the breathing somehow worked as I am guessing it should and I did not feel as though my lungs were going to explode. I now have confidence (which I did not before!) that if I keep on working on it, it might be a month from now and I might actually be able to do them for real...
800 warmup: 400 free, 200 IM kick-drill by 25, 200 back
Set #1: 3 x (3 x 100 free as 75 long/25 build, 2 x 50 kick [dolphin, whip; flutter, flutter; dolphin, flutter]; 4 x 25 odds slow evens 85-90% [2 x fly, 2 x breast; 2 x fly, 2 x back; 2 x back, 2 x breast])
Set #2 (truncated): 2 x 200 smooth free, 3 x 75 85% IM no free, 25 easy free
The backstroke really benefits from being in the warmup like that, it was feeling great by the end--that is my most variable stroke, I would say. Breast just isn't that great yet, I feel I have only a tenuous grasp on the timing. Fly is rather lovely but there is one optimum speed at which the stroke really works and yet I do not quite feel like I am going to die/drown, at all other speeds it is either too slow to have the right rhythm and undulation or so hard that really I am on the verge of exploding! But back sometimes feels very clumsy and at other times feels absolutely lovely, today was one of the good ones...
That is a lot of yards, in my opinion! 2950...
(Hmmm, if I had counted at the time, I would have squeezed in the extra 50 and called it 3000! It was true, the last one I did should have been 75 rather than 25 easy, only it was over time already and the little kids were waiting to get in for their team practice. The full workout was 3500. Ah well, another time...)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Saturday trainer ride
I have to make it through one more week of school before spring break, at which point I have a week where I can collapse and also ponder my training schedule and do it properly for the next couple blocks of weeks. I have a clearer sense now of priorities, including the notion of having four or five long and/or double workouts between now and early May that are for building mental confidence as well as fitness for extended sessions of exercise...
Just did 90 minutes on the trainer, my favored 5.0 Mental Toughness workout. I did pop in the two-hour 9.0 "Have Mercy" video at first, but was daunted by the long and complicated list of different components (I think it's a patchwork creation of bits from lots of different workouts)--I made a hasty decision that it was too advanced for me and that I had better stick with the one I've done already, which I know suits my purposes very well. (Still got 90 minutes of swimming to do also this afternoon.) I am thinking that my longer rides should really just be done outside at a somewhat easier effort level--I will try that 9.0 one of these days, but not the day before a longish run...
85ish mins. (forgot to start monitor right away), avg HR 138, max HR 164
Cycling fitness is definitely improving. Of course these trainer rides give no benefits to speak of in terms of road confidence or bike handling skills, but it is noticeable to me how much my pedaling technique has improved, much smoother and stronger than at the beginning...
Just did 90 minutes on the trainer, my favored 5.0 Mental Toughness workout. I did pop in the two-hour 9.0 "Have Mercy" video at first, but was daunted by the long and complicated list of different components (I think it's a patchwork creation of bits from lots of different workouts)--I made a hasty decision that it was too advanced for me and that I had better stick with the one I've done already, which I know suits my purposes very well. (Still got 90 minutes of swimming to do also this afternoon.) I am thinking that my longer rides should really just be done outside at a somewhat easier effort level--I will try that 9.0 one of these days, but not the day before a longish run...
85ish mins. (forgot to start monitor right away), avg HR 138, max HR 164
Cycling fitness is definitely improving. Of course these trainer rides give no benefits to speak of in terms of road confidence or bike handling skills, but it is noticeable to me how much my pedaling technique has improved, much smoother and stronger than at the beginning...
Friday, March 7, 2008
Friday swim
I was feeling so dreary all day, I really almost skipped swimming this evening--I was standing on a rainy street corner at 5:50, swimming gear in bag, torn as to what to do, I could not decide whether the voice of reason was saying swim or not swim! But I felt I couldn't afford to miss the potential mood boost that almost invariably accompanies swimming, and I am very glad I did go, it was enjoyable and useful...
Main observation: I am determined to vanquish the evil flip turn!
I did a lot of 'em this evening, they are awful, I am not doing them right, but I get a glimmer of how they should be and I am never going to be able to do them properly if I do not do them badly first...
(I am going to have another session of musing on the flip turn instructional videos at Go Swim TV. I can see quite clearly what I'm doing wrong--as soon as I flip over, my body is wrestling to come upright, so instead of coming straight off the wall on my back in that chair position I am turning over much too soon and basically coming to a complete standstill and then very slowly popping up to the surface like a cork at which point my lungs feel like they are going to explode because it is so long since I had a breath of air! So I will take some time tomorrow at the end of practice to try coming straight off the wall on my back and really waiting to flip over, that is the next thing to concentrate on... However certainly as evil as I feel them to be, and as badly as I am doing them, I am doing them much more comfortably than a couple weeks ago, so there you go...)
Warmup: 250 free, 50 back, 100 IM drill, 200 build choice (I did 25 fly, 50 back, 50 breast, 75 free)
Set #1: 2 x (1 x 100 IM, with fly and breast drill; 2 x 50 free on 1:10, first one build up second one build down)
Set #2 (truncated, only had time for first five out of ten): 5 x 200
1, 2 free smooth on 4:20
3 2 x 100 solid on 2:00
4, 5 free build on 4:20
And I did all flip turns for all four of the straight two hundreds (cannot yet afford the oxygen debt when I am swimming harder for the solid 100s), so while it leads to less smoothness I think it was worth it, getting the wretched turns down is going to lead to me getting a lot more out of these swim sessions...
2000 yards, not bad...
Main observation: I am determined to vanquish the evil flip turn!
I did a lot of 'em this evening, they are awful, I am not doing them right, but I get a glimmer of how they should be and I am never going to be able to do them properly if I do not do them badly first...
(I am going to have another session of musing on the flip turn instructional videos at Go Swim TV. I can see quite clearly what I'm doing wrong--as soon as I flip over, my body is wrestling to come upright, so instead of coming straight off the wall on my back in that chair position I am turning over much too soon and basically coming to a complete standstill and then very slowly popping up to the surface like a cork at which point my lungs feel like they are going to explode because it is so long since I had a breath of air! So I will take some time tomorrow at the end of practice to try coming straight off the wall on my back and really waiting to flip over, that is the next thing to concentrate on... However certainly as evil as I feel them to be, and as badly as I am doing them, I am doing them much more comfortably than a couple weeks ago, so there you go...)
Warmup: 250 free, 50 back, 100 IM drill, 200 build choice (I did 25 fly, 50 back, 50 breast, 75 free)
Set #1: 2 x (1 x 100 IM, with fly and breast drill; 2 x 50 free on 1:10, first one build up second one build down)
Set #2 (truncated, only had time for first five out of ten): 5 x 200
1, 2 free smooth on 4:20
3 2 x 100 solid on 2:00
4, 5 free build on 4:20
And I did all flip turns for all four of the straight two hundreds (cannot yet afford the oxygen debt when I am swimming harder for the solid 100s), so while it leads to less smoothness I think it was worth it, getting the wretched turns down is going to lead to me getting a lot more out of these swim sessions...
2000 yards, not bad...
Short and sluggish Friday-morning run
Hmmm, I am annoyed with myself...
The trouble with a 3.5-mile run is that it really does sometimes take that long just to get properly warmed up. The last half-mile or so, I was feeling much more myself, but the first three were full of mental self-reproach.
1. Legs noticeably sore from that deceptively short bike workout yesterday! Those short sprint intervals really affected my muscles, my legs just didn't have it in 'em to do anything very energetic.
2. Mismanaged morning arrangements. I didn't get up as early as I imagined; neither did I head out for my run right away, although I meant to. Result: heading out at 10:30 on nothing but a mug of tea and a cup of juice is not sensible. I felt under-caffeinated and under-fueled (especially under-caffeinated!)--it is not surprising I was so sluggish.
Anyway, tired legs meant I did it as a seriously low-HR run, which is probably all for the best. I need to think through my training priorities and figure out what I can realistically expect for paces etc. for spring racing--I think the real mental challenge is that I cannot do everything, and it may be that the triathlon priorities preclude me making my more ambitious time goals for the Brooklyn half-marathon at the end of April.
The truth of the matter is that though I have been sleeping as much as possible for the last week, I am still in need of some serious further rest and recovery! This morning I have been feeling like probably what would suit me best would be medically induced coma for three weeks with no interruptions!
3.5 miles, avg HR 136, avg pace 11:01
The trouble with a 3.5-mile run is that it really does sometimes take that long just to get properly warmed up. The last half-mile or so, I was feeling much more myself, but the first three were full of mental self-reproach.
1. Legs noticeably sore from that deceptively short bike workout yesterday! Those short sprint intervals really affected my muscles, my legs just didn't have it in 'em to do anything very energetic.
2. Mismanaged morning arrangements. I didn't get up as early as I imagined; neither did I head out for my run right away, although I meant to. Result: heading out at 10:30 on nothing but a mug of tea and a cup of juice is not sensible. I felt under-caffeinated and under-fueled (especially under-caffeinated!)--it is not surprising I was so sluggish.
Anyway, tired legs meant I did it as a seriously low-HR run, which is probably all for the best. I need to think through my training priorities and figure out what I can realistically expect for paces etc. for spring racing--I think the real mental challenge is that I cannot do everything, and it may be that the triathlon priorities preclude me making my more ambitious time goals for the Brooklyn half-marathon at the end of April.
The truth of the matter is that though I have been sleeping as much as possible for the last week, I am still in need of some serious further rest and recovery! This morning I have been feeling like probably what would suit me best would be medically induced coma for three weeks with no interruptions!
3.5 miles, avg HR 136, avg pace 11:01
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Triaspirational bliss
Lungs still not at 100%, but much improved. Only major fit of coughing during swimming was instigated by a mouthful of water down the windpipe as I finished a fourth 25 of hard butterfly, so that is good, that is an honorable reason for coughing...
55 minutes bike. First, the short sprint/power workout on the time-saver Spinervals DVD (it's very simple, but I have forgotten it by now as swimming intervened--what, 2 x 6 10-seconds-at-100%-effort-50-seconds-light-spin?). And then I just stayed on the bike spinning for another 25 minutes or so while I watched the Bike Maintenance segment on the DVD.
Hmmm, good demonstration of tube-changing--only curiously it did not seem to occur to them to show how you get the wheels off the bike in the first place, which would seem more relevant than making these adjustments to the tension on various things which really most of us will leave to our local bike shops! I am going to have to have a horrible tube-changing session one of these days with Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance and a double dose of fortitude--I am sure I will be tempted to burst into tears when (a) I can't get the wheels off and (b) I can't get the wheels back on again and the bicycle lies in sundered pieces all over my living-room floor! But this is crucial for confidence for the race in May, I must know how to change a tube, it is actually quite likely that I will have to do so one of these days...
Then a very good swim. I felt really strong in the water, partly because of Wendy's good advice this week to think of swimming hard as pulling hard rather than having a faster stroke than usual--this is a good way of avoiding flailing...
(I continue to work on flip turns. I made a ridiculous deal with myself, I will do 'em at the far end on all warmup freestyle and wherever else I can stand to! So that for instance I flipped on the first turn on the 75s but not on the second, because it would have prevented me getting the really nice big ample lungsful of air I needed to do the last 25 with only two breaths...)
Warmup: 200 free, 100 back, 200 free, 2 x 50 kick (I did 50 dolphin, 50 whip)
Set #1 (x 4):
2 x 75 free, last 25 only 2 breaths (on 1:40)
4 x 25 build, 75%, build, 95% (on :45)
(I did one set of each stroke for the 25s: free, fly, breast, back. I do not really have gears, so much, on the other strokes, they just feel all pretty hard!)
Set #2 (abbreviated):
25 ez - 25 fast - 50 ez - 50 fast - 75 ez - 75 fast - 50 ez - 50 fast - 25 ez - 25 fast
Gosh, that felt great, I love doing that kind of a set--only sorry I did not have time for the full 800 with two pairs of hundreds in the middle...
And I had some useful experimentation with triathlon garb...
So, to sum up:
55 min. trainer bike (25 min. at avg HR 133, plus 30 min. at 120)
2050 yards swim (avg HR 128, max 152, 145 at end of last set)
55 minutes bike. First, the short sprint/power workout on the time-saver Spinervals DVD (it's very simple, but I have forgotten it by now as swimming intervened--what, 2 x 6 10-seconds-at-100%-effort-50-seconds-light-spin?). And then I just stayed on the bike spinning for another 25 minutes or so while I watched the Bike Maintenance segment on the DVD.
Hmmm, good demonstration of tube-changing--only curiously it did not seem to occur to them to show how you get the wheels off the bike in the first place, which would seem more relevant than making these adjustments to the tension on various things which really most of us will leave to our local bike shops! I am going to have to have a horrible tube-changing session one of these days with Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance and a double dose of fortitude--I am sure I will be tempted to burst into tears when (a) I can't get the wheels off and (b) I can't get the wheels back on again and the bicycle lies in sundered pieces all over my living-room floor! But this is crucial for confidence for the race in May, I must know how to change a tube, it is actually quite likely that I will have to do so one of these days...
Then a very good swim. I felt really strong in the water, partly because of Wendy's good advice this week to think of swimming hard as pulling hard rather than having a faster stroke than usual--this is a good way of avoiding flailing...
(I continue to work on flip turns. I made a ridiculous deal with myself, I will do 'em at the far end on all warmup freestyle and wherever else I can stand to! So that for instance I flipped on the first turn on the 75s but not on the second, because it would have prevented me getting the really nice big ample lungsful of air I needed to do the last 25 with only two breaths...)
Warmup: 200 free, 100 back, 200 free, 2 x 50 kick (I did 50 dolphin, 50 whip)
Set #1 (x 4):
2 x 75 free, last 25 only 2 breaths (on 1:40)
4 x 25 build, 75%, build, 95% (on :45)
(I did one set of each stroke for the 25s: free, fly, breast, back. I do not really have gears, so much, on the other strokes, they just feel all pretty hard!)
Set #2 (abbreviated):
25 ez - 25 fast - 50 ez - 50 fast - 75 ez - 75 fast - 50 ez - 50 fast - 25 ez - 25 fast
Gosh, that felt great, I love doing that kind of a set--only sorry I did not have time for the full 800 with two pairs of hundreds in the middle...
And I had some useful experimentation with triathlon garb...
So, to sum up:
55 min. trainer bike (25 min. at avg HR 133, plus 30 min. at 120)
2050 yards swim (avg HR 128, max 152, 145 at end of last set)
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Wednesday run/bike
The battle for this week is definitely between the huge mental appetite for training and the commonsensical awareness that this needs to be a light/recovery week--these cold symptoms just will not go away, it is annoying!
(It isn't just me, everyone round here seems to have had more or less the same thing--it is characterized by its lingering nature...)
So I was pondering the training priorities, and I realized I needed some mental readjustment. The bike remains very high priority, but I think I need to pay more attention to running again, to make up for having rather neglected it. It's fine to run only twice when running fitness is high, but I need to build back up with some easy miles if I really want to be in good shape for long runs. This is a question of preventing injury rather than worrying about speed--if I want a longer run at the weekend, it needs to be balanced by appropriate mid-week mileage.
So: priority for this week and next, on run and bike, is to build in frequency before going for long sessions. Especially for the run, I need to let the soft tissues ease back into absorbing stress! And this fits with general need for rest and recovery. Nothing speedy for another week and a half--if I make it through the end of next week, I've got a week of spring break where I can really sleep a lot and try and get things fully back in good train, in life and in training...
Even though I know it is both mentally and physiologically more useful to do bike-run than run-bike, it was not in human nature to resist the chance for a real actual outside run this afternoon, sunny and high 40s and really beautiful! I just did four very easy miles, and then the 30-minute recovery/technique bike workout afterwards. I am having pangs for not having had something more intense, but I know this is really more suitable for this week, I had to stop several times on the run to blow nose/clear out lungs, it is irksome!
4 miles/avg HR 148/10:42 pace
32 mins. bike (high-cadence and one-legged drills)/avg HR 127
I must take my bike in for a tune-up, it has gotten terribly creaky! And the computer hasn't worked for quite a while--annoying not to have cadence, and of course it is nice to have speeds also. Here's the adjusted schedule for the next week and a half (and yes, I know I am really spending more hours swimming than is sensible for my schedule, three times a week will be more suitable than four--I'm coming up on a season where there are a lot of evening work commitments, though, so I think I'll be missing some of those swims anyway, I'm going to keep 'em all on the schedule for now and just swim them easy as needed, or substitute a straight swim or sets of freestyle for pacing if I feel in need of something more relaxing).
(Will skip one or two of these workouts as needed for purpose of recuperation and/or work.)
Thurs. am: 90 min. bike; pm: swim
Fri. am: run 5; pm: swim
Sat. am: 90 min. bike; pm: swim (and take bike to the shop!)
Sun. pm: run 7-8
Mon. am: gym
Tues. am: run 5 (schedule conflict knocks out evening swimming)
Wed. pm: 90 min. bike
Thurs. pm: run 5, swim
And then I will do the next block of weeks as a real training schedule, with suitable run buildup for late March 10K and late April half-marathon and sensible integration of as much cycling as possible...
(It isn't just me, everyone round here seems to have had more or less the same thing--it is characterized by its lingering nature...)
So I was pondering the training priorities, and I realized I needed some mental readjustment. The bike remains very high priority, but I think I need to pay more attention to running again, to make up for having rather neglected it. It's fine to run only twice when running fitness is high, but I need to build back up with some easy miles if I really want to be in good shape for long runs. This is a question of preventing injury rather than worrying about speed--if I want a longer run at the weekend, it needs to be balanced by appropriate mid-week mileage.
So: priority for this week and next, on run and bike, is to build in frequency before going for long sessions. Especially for the run, I need to let the soft tissues ease back into absorbing stress! And this fits with general need for rest and recovery. Nothing speedy for another week and a half--if I make it through the end of next week, I've got a week of spring break where I can really sleep a lot and try and get things fully back in good train, in life and in training...
Even though I know it is both mentally and physiologically more useful to do bike-run than run-bike, it was not in human nature to resist the chance for a real actual outside run this afternoon, sunny and high 40s and really beautiful! I just did four very easy miles, and then the 30-minute recovery/technique bike workout afterwards. I am having pangs for not having had something more intense, but I know this is really more suitable for this week, I had to stop several times on the run to blow nose/clear out lungs, it is irksome!
4 miles/avg HR 148/10:42 pace
32 mins. bike (high-cadence and one-legged drills)/avg HR 127
I must take my bike in for a tune-up, it has gotten terribly creaky! And the computer hasn't worked for quite a while--annoying not to have cadence, and of course it is nice to have speeds also. Here's the adjusted schedule for the next week and a half (and yes, I know I am really spending more hours swimming than is sensible for my schedule, three times a week will be more suitable than four--I'm coming up on a season where there are a lot of evening work commitments, though, so I think I'll be missing some of those swims anyway, I'm going to keep 'em all on the schedule for now and just swim them easy as needed, or substitute a straight swim or sets of freestyle for pacing if I feel in need of something more relaxing).
(Will skip one or two of these workouts as needed for purpose of recuperation and/or work.)
Thurs. am: 90 min. bike; pm: swim
Fri. am: run 5; pm: swim
Sat. am: 90 min. bike; pm: swim (and take bike to the shop!)
Sun. pm: run 7-8
Mon. am: gym
Tues. am: run 5 (schedule conflict knocks out evening swimming)
Wed. pm: 90 min. bike
Thurs. pm: run 5, swim
And then I will do the next block of weeks as a real training schedule, with suitable run buildup for late March 10K and late April half-marathon and sensible integration of as much cycling as possible...
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Mental toughness vs. mental insanity!
As of this week, I am supremely calm!
Well, maybe not exactly, but for reasons that I cannot entirely go into here (more detail about work and life than needs to be confided to the whole of the internet!), I strongly feel that I am over the hump on what can be alternately thought of as three very stressful months--or six--or maybe nine--or actually maybe twelve--or really and actually maybe more like eighteen--or maybe more like my whole very stressful life right from the time I started graduate school in 1994!
Which is to say--I won't hear about tenure for another couple months, most likely, it's not that I have new information about any of this, but I have sorted out my own thinking on various matters, made some choices and some decisions about what to do based on different contingencies and I feel extremely much better than I did a couple weeks ago...
I had a good swim this evening, but before that I had a bit of a battle on the mental toughness vs. mental insanity front...
(Mental insanity is sort of redundant, only it's more evocative than plain old insanity!)
I am good on mental toughness, I think; I have not really been tested in an endurance sport capacity, but some of it is portable from other arenas of life, I've got good stamina and endurance on regular stuff. But there is a fine line between mental toughness and mental insanity!
Which is to say my main task, other than work, for this week and next is to calm down, finish recovering from the lung ailment, etc. etc. But somehow I found myself in the grip for some hours earlier today (it was a result of reading this over the weekend) of a strong conviction that as well as doing a short bike workout and an hour of swimming, I should really do the first speedwork session of aforementioned training plan on the track at the gym (namely 4 x 400m at 7:25 mile pace, with warmup and recovery jogs)...
Fortunately I saw reason--I am still sick! I can do a shortened/modified version of this plan if I like, I do not have enough weeks to do the full-on plan, but I should wait to start it next week. What I needed to do between my seminar and swimming was hold office hours, eat and digest a Clif bar and drink a lot of water, not somehow squeeze in a run workout when I have hardly run for weeks and already had very sore legs from doing a lot of lunges at the gym yesterday.
So no run today, that's as it should be, because my lungs are still full of junk! But I had a good solid swim.
Warmup: 2 x 250 (150 swim, 50 drill, 50 kick)
Set #1: 800 free (100 finger drag drill, 150 swim, 100 salute, 150 swim, 100 catch-up, 150 swim, 50 fist)
Set #2: 10 x 100 (on ten seconds rest):
1 = 25 back, 75 free
2 = 50 back, 50 free
3 = 75 back, 25 free
4 = 100 back
5 = 100 free
And repeat for fly, only I did fly down breast back, at the coach's suggestion, as a coughing control measure, that fly is a strain on the lungs even at the best of times!
So that really was good and solid, I didn't swim anything super-hard, I concentrated on technique, I got in a bit of stroke. 2300 total, not bad at all.
(Got some good though of course as always slightly mortifying tips from the coach, too. Hmmm, got to concentrate on keeping those legs in a straighter and stronger and steadier position, seems like they're just kind of waywardly rambling all over the place especially when I am doing drill rather than swim! Arghhhh....)
Well, maybe not exactly, but for reasons that I cannot entirely go into here (more detail about work and life than needs to be confided to the whole of the internet!), I strongly feel that I am over the hump on what can be alternately thought of as three very stressful months--or six--or maybe nine--or actually maybe twelve--or really and actually maybe more like eighteen--or maybe more like my whole very stressful life right from the time I started graduate school in 1994!
Which is to say--I won't hear about tenure for another couple months, most likely, it's not that I have new information about any of this, but I have sorted out my own thinking on various matters, made some choices and some decisions about what to do based on different contingencies and I feel extremely much better than I did a couple weeks ago...
I had a good swim this evening, but before that I had a bit of a battle on the mental toughness vs. mental insanity front...
(Mental insanity is sort of redundant, only it's more evocative than plain old insanity!)
I am good on mental toughness, I think; I have not really been tested in an endurance sport capacity, but some of it is portable from other arenas of life, I've got good stamina and endurance on regular stuff. But there is a fine line between mental toughness and mental insanity!
Which is to say my main task, other than work, for this week and next is to calm down, finish recovering from the lung ailment, etc. etc. But somehow I found myself in the grip for some hours earlier today (it was a result of reading this over the weekend) of a strong conviction that as well as doing a short bike workout and an hour of swimming, I should really do the first speedwork session of aforementioned training plan on the track at the gym (namely 4 x 400m at 7:25 mile pace, with warmup and recovery jogs)...
Fortunately I saw reason--I am still sick! I can do a shortened/modified version of this plan if I like, I do not have enough weeks to do the full-on plan, but I should wait to start it next week. What I needed to do between my seminar and swimming was hold office hours, eat and digest a Clif bar and drink a lot of water, not somehow squeeze in a run workout when I have hardly run for weeks and already had very sore legs from doing a lot of lunges at the gym yesterday.
So no run today, that's as it should be, because my lungs are still full of junk! But I had a good solid swim.
Warmup: 2 x 250 (150 swim, 50 drill, 50 kick)
Set #1: 800 free (100 finger drag drill, 150 swim, 100 salute, 150 swim, 100 catch-up, 150 swim, 50 fist)
Set #2: 10 x 100 (on ten seconds rest):
1 = 25 back, 75 free
2 = 50 back, 50 free
3 = 75 back, 25 free
4 = 100 back
5 = 100 free
And repeat for fly, only I did fly down breast back, at the coach's suggestion, as a coughing control measure, that fly is a strain on the lungs even at the best of times!
So that really was good and solid, I didn't swim anything super-hard, I concentrated on technique, I got in a bit of stroke. 2300 total, not bad at all.
(Got some good though of course as always slightly mortifying tips from the coach, too. Hmmm, got to concentrate on keeping those legs in a straighter and stronger and steadier position, seems like they're just kind of waywardly rambling all over the place especially when I am doing drill rather than swim! Arghhhh....)
Stolen workout
I pilfered half an hour to do one of the time-saver 30-minute Spinervals workouts. These are very good, how convenient--I have been well aware of really stinting on the bike as I get back into workout mode! Seven 90-second hard intervals, with rest between, then a round of a couple minutes at the end where you start in a high cadence and easy gear and shift to smaller cogs at the back. Now: eat, shower, teach...
Monday, March 3, 2008
Monday gym workout
A solid workout with M. Still not feeling great, but it's nice to be back in the gym--hopefully by next week I will be more energetic...
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Sunday run
Lungs still very gummed up, some mild GI distress (antibiotics?) and I could feel my hip muscles rather tight by the end of it--but the runners amongst you will be laughing as I say, fervently, it was utterly lovely!
(It is irrational, really I know I could not have lost all my running fitness in a little over two weeks, but the fact is I do not have very much experience with these things so as to know; I last ran on Feb. 14 and then had a week of insane work and a week of this awful chest cold/lung ailment plus business travel, and really it was slightly preying on me even before I got sick that it might be I would no longer be able to run at all!)
5.1 miles, 10:43 average pace, average HR 146.
(Pulled back whenever I came up on 150, want to keep the stress on the body low till I am one step--several steps?--more fully recovered.)
(It is irrational, really I know I could not have lost all my running fitness in a little over two weeks, but the fact is I do not have very much experience with these things so as to know; I last ran on Feb. 14 and then had a week of insane work and a week of this awful chest cold/lung ailment plus business travel, and really it was slightly preying on me even before I got sick that it might be I would no longer be able to run at all!)
5.1 miles, 10:43 average pace, average HR 146.
(Pulled back whenever I came up on 150, want to keep the stress on the body low till I am one step--several steps?--more fully recovered.)
Saturday, March 1, 2008
A cool two thousand...
My urgent priority for the next three weeks, other than meeting my obligations to my students and colleagues and doing a couple of extra work things I made commitments on a long time ago, is to get myself back into better health. I need to calm down, and I need to rest!
Training is part of that, but I must be very careful not to plunge into it in some way that will set me back on health...
With great regret, I've canceled the California trip that was coming up the week after next--there was no best-case scenario on health, it was quite simply going to be too much stress on the body. My lungs are still just, oh, it is too much information really--full of junk...
But I had a very lovely swim this afternoon...
I do not think I am someone who takes the ability to exercise for granted--I think I am always very grateful and appreciative that I am able to do it, I really enjoy all the stuff I do and I believe in sort of squeezing as much appreciation and enjoyment as possible out of even a fairly workaday workout. But there is no doubt that a week of workout deprivation will prime one for the most ardent and heartfelt gratitude!
I took it very easy because of the ongoing lung situation. (But I'm significantly better today, it's definitely the first day where it seemed at all sensible to try and exercise.) I decided in advance that I would swim only very easy and get out after an hour rather than trying to do an hour and a half. But it was wonderfully enjoyable--arms and legs felt very strong (well, that's because this enforced rest is like an evil week-long taper!), and it was a good chance to focus on technique. I did some flip turns, and in fact it was well-tailored for working on alternate-side breathing...
Warmup: 200 free, 200 IM kick-drill, 200 free, 200 IM kick-drill
Main set: 4 x 250 pull as 100 free (breathe every 3), 50 back, 100 free (breathe every 5)
And a cooldown of 200 mix free and back because I felt that would bring me to a very respectable total...
Training is part of that, but I must be very careful not to plunge into it in some way that will set me back on health...
With great regret, I've canceled the California trip that was coming up the week after next--there was no best-case scenario on health, it was quite simply going to be too much stress on the body. My lungs are still just, oh, it is too much information really--full of junk...
But I had a very lovely swim this afternoon...
I do not think I am someone who takes the ability to exercise for granted--I think I am always very grateful and appreciative that I am able to do it, I really enjoy all the stuff I do and I believe in sort of squeezing as much appreciation and enjoyment as possible out of even a fairly workaday workout. But there is no doubt that a week of workout deprivation will prime one for the most ardent and heartfelt gratitude!
I took it very easy because of the ongoing lung situation. (But I'm significantly better today, it's definitely the first day where it seemed at all sensible to try and exercise.) I decided in advance that I would swim only very easy and get out after an hour rather than trying to do an hour and a half. But it was wonderfully enjoyable--arms and legs felt very strong (well, that's because this enforced rest is like an evil week-long taper!), and it was a good chance to focus on technique. I did some flip turns, and in fact it was well-tailored for working on alternate-side breathing...
Warmup: 200 free, 200 IM kick-drill, 200 free, 200 IM kick-drill
Main set: 4 x 250 pull as 100 free (breathe every 3), 50 back, 100 free (breathe every 5)
And a cooldown of 200 mix free and back because I felt that would bring me to a very respectable total...
The silver lining
At the New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds on overtraining. It's a good article, but I liked the last item on the list of signs of overtraining at the end best:
Not many colds. True, it’s not normally a sign that you need to see a doctor, but athletes are more likely to overtrain if they manage to avoid viruses. A cold ruthlessly forces the body to slow down and thus prevents overtraining.So there--I can reconceptualize illness-related downtime as useful...
Friday, February 29, 2008
Laid low!
The lung ailment has laid me low this week, it is awful! I desperately miss training, and I am very tired of feeling sick--but just as of the last hour or so, I feel as though I can vaguely imagine that it might be appropriate to have a short run and/or swim tomorrow, I took some cough syrup and it actually seems to have cleared things up a bit, so that is very good...
I have missed being Triaspirational as well as lower-case triaspirational, so I thought it might be a good evening to post some of those photos from my usual Riverside run--took 'em a couple weeks ago.
The view from Riverside Drive
South along the avenue (at this time of year, it's not so beautiful, but in the summer when it's all leafy and green I feel as I run here--and at several other points on the regular run also--that if I just kind of blur my eyes a little bit and concentrate that it might be like a young-adult fantasy novel where I could actually run straight into another universe...)
The lower park - along the Hudson
New Jersey!
Under construction (here is a description from one of the very first times I went running in the park a year and a half ago, having not really properly run outside for many a year--I ignored the detour sign and found myself in fear of death!)
Pretty nice, eh?!?
The 79th St. Boat Basin
Vaguely Hitchcockian birds
Manmade landscapes... (facing south to the sanitation pier at 59th St.)
Pilings
I can go no further...
Dog run!
I have missed being Triaspirational as well as lower-case triaspirational, so I thought it might be a good evening to post some of those photos from my usual Riverside run--took 'em a couple weeks ago.
The view from Riverside Drive
South along the avenue (at this time of year, it's not so beautiful, but in the summer when it's all leafy and green I feel as I run here--and at several other points on the regular run also--that if I just kind of blur my eyes a little bit and concentrate that it might be like a young-adult fantasy novel where I could actually run straight into another universe...)
The lower park - along the Hudson
New Jersey!
Under construction (here is a description from one of the very first times I went running in the park a year and a half ago, having not really properly run outside for many a year--I ignored the detour sign and found myself in fear of death!)
Pretty nice, eh?!?
The 79th St. Boat Basin
Vaguely Hitchcockian birds
Manmade landscapes... (facing south to the sanitation pier at 59th St.)
Pilings
I can go no further...
Dog run!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Hmmm....
Triaspirational health catastrophe! Lung ailment came on very strong over last few days--must claw my way back to some semblance of health before real exercise resumes. Work trip over next couple days, will try and take a soothing twenty-minute dip in the hotel pool tomorrow evening, that will be about all I'm up for I suspect.
Will hope to return to regular programming on Friday or Saturday, with some rueful thoughts on health, stress and making sensible choices...
Will hope to return to regular programming on Friday or Saturday, with some rueful thoughts on health, stress and making sensible choices...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Sea swim!
The swimming-minded Sherlock-Holmes-type reader who was following along here in January may already have noted the similarity between the swim workout I posted yesterday and these old ones from then--and made the deduction that I am in the Cayman Islands!
(It is probably the wrong era, but I wish someone would write a Golden Era of Crime Fiction-type novel in which the crucial clue hinges on the design of a swim workout--i.e. someone's alibi involves them quoting a swim workout that could not have been designed by the [murder victim/]coach they attribute it to because it bears mental imaginative hallmark of some other swim coach...--the detective would have to have an unexpected knowledge of swimming culture and reveal all in the final chapter...)
The sea swim would be the clincher, though, on the location issue. Obviously I am not at home...
I hoped to make it to the gym for a core workout and a bit of a run this afternoon, but I was stymied by two small blots on an otherwise blissful visit--minor respiratory ailment causing mild lung pain, caused me to think my body is telling me to take it easier than I quite like--and also I am sorry to say that somehow my main bag never made it on the plane! I've got the one with the equipment end of training stuff (running shoes, goggles, bathing cap), but no bathing suit, no clothes (no sports bras, more to the point!), no toiletries...
I did not mean to give in to it, I am always wishfully and unrealistically thinking I am above such things (monastic bliss, no attachment to worldly things), but I did find myself rather tied to the telephone all day trying to sort out where the bag was--provisional early-evening verdict, Mexico?!?--a post-dinner trip to the airport has not really clarified matters!
However I did make the purchase yesterday afternoon (obviously!) of a rather too-small but perfectly wearable emergency replacement bathing suit that will serve as all-purpose athletic undergarment, certainly adequate for spinning if not perhaps for running...
The sea swim this afternoon was utter bliss, how lovely. You are looking down and there are interesting little domestic interactions going on among lovely aquatic creatures! Also I continue to experiment with the swimming check-points of Dr. Rod Havriluk...
(Which reminds me--check out Leah's great post about swimming with dolphins at Sea World.)
(It is probably the wrong era, but I wish someone would write a Golden Era of Crime Fiction-type novel in which the crucial clue hinges on the design of a swim workout--i.e. someone's alibi involves them quoting a swim workout that could not have been designed by the [murder victim/]coach they attribute it to because it bears mental imaginative hallmark of some other swim coach...--the detective would have to have an unexpected knowledge of swimming culture and reveal all in the final chapter...)
The sea swim would be the clincher, though, on the location issue. Obviously I am not at home...
I hoped to make it to the gym for a core workout and a bit of a run this afternoon, but I was stymied by two small blots on an otherwise blissful visit--minor respiratory ailment causing mild lung pain, caused me to think my body is telling me to take it easier than I quite like--and also I am sorry to say that somehow my main bag never made it on the plane! I've got the one with the equipment end of training stuff (running shoes, goggles, bathing cap), but no bathing suit, no clothes (no sports bras, more to the point!), no toiletries...
I did not mean to give in to it, I am always wishfully and unrealistically thinking I am above such things (monastic bliss, no attachment to worldly things), but I did find myself rather tied to the telephone all day trying to sort out where the bag was--provisional early-evening verdict, Mexico?!?--a post-dinner trip to the airport has not really clarified matters!
However I did make the purchase yesterday afternoon (obviously!) of a rather too-small but perfectly wearable emergency replacement bathing suit that will serve as all-purpose athletic undergarment, certainly adequate for spinning if not perhaps for running...
The sea swim this afternoon was utter bliss, how lovely. You are looking down and there are interesting little domestic interactions going on among lovely aquatic creatures! Also I continue to experiment with the swimming check-points of Dr. Rod Havriluk...
(Which reminds me--check out Leah's great post about swimming with dolphins at Sea World.)
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