Thursday workouts

Very busy in the middle of the day, I did have time to run but not to log it!

:35 as 2 x 4:1 for warmup, then 5 x (3:30 run easy, :30 run hard, 1:00 walking recovery)

Nice quiet workout at Chelsea Piers - don't like the taper much! - but it was just me and Josh for the most of the hour as people were otherwise delayed, elsewhere or in H.'s case trying to sweat out some pounds in the sauna!

3 x 8

@ 60 (squat)
@ 50 (bench)
@135 (dead)

It is amazing how much my squat form has improved since I first tried to get it right earlier this year.

Cyclephobia!

Hahahahaha, I am such an idiot, I was DREADING riding my road bike down to the gym in the dark - of course really it was fine - but I thought I'd booked a spot in this Wednesday 6:15-7:45 Computrainer class, I didn't get confirmation but didn't think twice about it but when I got there nobody was there and it seemed nobody knew anything much about it! Had then a very nice ride home, I built that up into something needlessly anxiety provoking - so we will call it 10mi easy and with anxiety management benefits, which is probably just fine in any case....

Bench!

I am not temperamentally suited to taper/deload week - yesterday was just about OK as I'd had a demanding day and didn't need to work too hard, but today felt very strange! We are focusing on trying to get good numbers next week - ballpark 135 bench, 200 squat, 275 deadlift - and the taper is essential....

3 x 1 x 95

1 board press at 125 (easy-peasy!)

100 shrugs with 52.5s

100 triceps rope pulldown

:40 only upper body

Run!

That was good - weather still very mild (upper 50s) though rainy. Need to get these soaking clothes off and myself into the shower!

:55 with work as 15 x (:30 hard, 1:30 easy jog)

Lifts!

I wasn't feeling enthusiasm for lifting heavy, so it was rather delightful to get to the gym and find that our agenda for the day (in preparation for testing all three lifts next week) was to lift very light on all three, to get the feel of doing them all in succession on the same day and to pursue a decent deload!

3 x 8 for each lift (I had to laugh seeing the bar with the cookie-sized 2.5lb weights on either end for the bench!):

squats @ 65
bench @ 50
deadlift @ 111

1hr weights

Indoor ride

I'm having some sessions at Joanna's - I haven't found a good substitute for her class at Chelsea Piers, and since I'm planning on doing the aquabike option at the Mercuryman in January I want to make sure I start building cycling fitness NOW. Have also signed up for a Wednesday evening Computrainer session at Chelsea Piers, will try and add one other spin class or similar.

(Getting myself and bike to Brooklyn on a Sunday via subway nearly killed me, or at least caused me to question whether I am really suited to life in NYC - construction disrupted everything, the 1 train grew grotesquely crowded in a way which is awful enough even when you do NOT have a bicycle - but - I survived....)

1.5hr with climbing intervals

Beautiful long run!

I slept for maybe thirteen hours and the only things I have to do today are this run and one report (third of three) that I couldn't finish yesterday afternoon - am going to eat something, read a novel for a bit and then buckle down to it mid-evening. Very mild still, although it was getting cooler as I ran (possibly just wind). Finally got myself over to Central Park and did the upper 5 - really I should have done the whole loop and then walked home as I dislike slogging back up 110th St. at a slow jog, but I will know better next time!

1.5hr - Central Park upper 5 and to-from park

Squats!

Hmmmm, long day in which I got mysteriously little done (too many bits and bobs like the 1 train not running due to a police investigation as I tried to get to my allergy shots on 14th St.). Good squats workout, though really as an endurance athlete I find these weeks at the end of our build perverse, the work set is so tiny! A bit wobbly on technique but I have come a long way. There is much room for further improvement!

Anyway, work set as follows:

1 x 2 @ 160
2 x 1 @ 170, 185

Then set off to do narrow-stance squat x 20 @ 95 but was clearly fatigued enough that I stopped after 5.

130 abs with band

Stretch!

About :50 total. Watched H. do his work set with ease and grace - 1 x 2 x 360, 2 x 1 @ 370, 380!

Run!

It was an extremely nice one, but given that I cannot get a total personality transplant, I really need to have a devout effort to overhaul my morning routine. I snooze the alarm for too long, I then waste a lot of time on the internet and drag my heels at getting out the door, then the run itself takes a while - I am going to have a serious go, starting next week, at eliminating the middle stages. The alarm snoozing is beyond human correction, but I need to just have a quick email check on iPad in bed with a couple asthma inhaler puffs, have written workout on a post-it so that I don't justify going to my "real" computer and get out the door 20 minutes after having finally accepted wakefulness....

Anyway, :50 as follows:

10min warmup

6 x 5:00 as (1:00 easy, :30 moderate, :30 hard, 2:00 easy, 1:00 walk)

10min cooldown

Run!

Still have minor sinus infection, but felt much more capable of getting out the door this morning (yesterday was a pretty quiet day).

:50 as :10 warmup, then 10 x (1:00 run hard, 2:00 run easy) (did #5 and #10 rest intervals as walking rather than jogging)

:10 cooldown

Weather is ridiculously mild - mid-60s, sunny - if anything I was rather too warm while running in the sun!

Bench!

Ah, this powerlifting makes me so happy! Coach and team are pretty much ideal - I cannot imagine a better setup (I am already fretting about being away from NYC for some sabbatical time next year and what I will miss at home!). Josh had a good strategy for today that involved building confidence on "openers" (you get 3 attempts at a powerlifting meet on each lift, and it's important to set the first of the three at a realistic number as to fail at the opening attempt is NOT DONE - second only to using the 35-pound plates as a rookie error!)...

initial work set: 5 x 2 x 100

1 x 1 @ "opener" - 125 for me (and it went up easy, as did T.'s 155)

4 x 20 shrugs with 52.5lbs

100 rope triceps

1hr upper body

(Didn't have vim to run this morning, though weather was beautiful - the day after traveling I am always good for very little.)

Sunday triathlon/Monday recovery

Hmmmm, somehow I never got around to writing a race report yesterday - not sure what I was waiting for. In sum - not really a race for me as such, but a lovely day out - warm but very enjoyable - rode my bike to the start, which was a good idea as it took the edge off the anxiety I always feel about cycling (had tediously changed out tube on rear wheel the afternoon before, with sweat pouring copiously down my brow!). Beautiful swim, very good safe bike course. Got onto the run course and realized immediately that it was much too hot for jog or walk-run to be a good idea for me, I powerwalked it all except for some jogging in the few spots of shade on the return leg of the final loop. Glorious day out!

c. 2hr (?) misc. swim-bike-powerwalk

Got a workout from Josh to do this morning, but could tell as I warmed up that I am really in need of recovery rather than work post-race. So modified the assigned deadlift work set from 3 x 3-5 x 225 to a much more moderate 5 x 3 x 185, which seemed more in order.

5 x 3 x 185

single-arm rows: 3 x 8 x 45

walking lunges 3 x 8 x 10s

100 abs

:40 lower body

Run/spin!

I like this very much, I need to get back on some form of Saturday morning group exercise (masters swim I think in this case rather than spinning) - however it is easier when I am "on vacation," in the sense that I've had three nights to catch up properly on sleep....

Anyway, did some good treadmill intervals first, then spin class.

Run: :31 with 10 x (1:00 @ 6.5mph, 1:30 walking recovery). Did first two too fast (7.0mph, 6.8mph) - it's supposed to be hard work but not overwhelming.

1hr spin

Need to change tube on back tire of bike for the triathlon, not looking forward to that but it must be done!.... (And will ride it around in the parking lot to make sure everything's functioning OK.)

Bench!

Just a short one, and I decreased weight on the work set as I didn't have a spotter and didn't want to take any chances (would have tried for 115 otherwise). World Gym is a really nice place to do this sort of lifting - and I heard the jingle-jangle behind me as I came upstairs and took out my key of Miss Roxy, keen for a visit (she is nuzzling in my ear as I type).

4 x 4 x 105
xclose grip: 2 x 10 x 85 (did one set of 6 at 95, it is too heavy for this sort of work still!)

double-handle horizontal lat pulldown 3 x 12 x ?

incline row: 3 x 8 x 40

3 x 10 front raise, lateral raise with 5lb

:30 upper body

Sea swim!

Just a short one (I wasn't wearing a watch - salt water kills my regular digital one, and the battery's dead in my diving watch), maybe 15 minutes. Then a quick dip in the pool, which was looking especially beautiful. Too hot to stay out longer!

:20 swim