Saturday, January 10, 2009

Lots of Snow Again!



I just finished clearing my driveway and removing snow from the lower north-facing roof (ice dams will form on the north roof if I don't get the snow off once it begins melting). It took me about an hour of shoveling plus snow raking, then another 40 minutes with the snowblower. The snow is really pretty, and the temperatures are really mild (near 30!), and it looks like it will keep falling until at least noon.

Since I effectively just did another strength workout, I'm going to dump some more calories in me, head to the grocery store before more snow falls, and then I'll get on the trainer for 2 hours. I'm supposed to run for 30 minutes afterwards, but the snow is too deep to run in safely on the roads, so I'll either head to the Y for a short treadmill/track run or just skip it.

I do plan on skiing some tomorrow--the snow is just too nice to not do something with!

If you didn't know already, Chicago had a record precipitation year in 2008--the most EVER recorded--and this winter is looking to set records for snowfall, just like we did last winter. Oh well, nothing to do but get out in it!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Um...this hurts?

So today I did my first track workout:

WU: 10' Easy, 8 x Strides, 3 x 1' (30") @ 5k pace
MS: 3 x (6' @ 10k pace, 2' @ 5k pace, 2' walking recovery)
CD: 5-10' Easy

I did these a few years ago as preparation for the indoor tris and also Triple T. Only 2 years ago in the prior fall/winter months I had done some serious running preparation for Goofy Challenge that included a lot of tempo work and progressive long runs.

What kind of running have I done so far this season? A lot of mostly easy stuff, with brief bursts (10-15') of tempo pace thrown in in just the last 3 weeks! The same has been true of my biking. So you can imagine the shock to my legs to have done this bike workout yesterday (after lifting for about an hour including legs):

WU: 15' wup, 3' spinups
MS: 3 x 1' (1') @ 105%, 2' Easy, 4 x 5' (2') as 4' @ FT then 1' @ 105-110%, 3' Easy, 10 x 30/30' CD: 3' Easy

and then show up for today's track workout. My legs were plenty toasted by the 3rd repetition, and when I look back at how I did in these workouts 2 years ago, I've got some work to do. BUT, I was happy that I got through it. AND I think I am well on my way to resolving my back injury (I give it 2 more weeks max).

The really good thing is that mentally I am SO ready to punish myself in training, because I know what dividends it will pay. Plus, I have no complaints about the rest of my life right now, so why wouldn't I put some real focus into my training again?

I suppose in some way or other it was good that I had a forced break from my usual Crackhead-style training this fall--replacing it with constant activity related to remodeling. It's cold and snowy here, and I don't fucking care because I have a plan, I have races, I have burning desire to train hard, and if all that happens in 2009 is that I am no slower than I was 2 years ago, I'm a happy camper!

On that note, I need some motivational music, so here we go:

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Pics!!!

...since I know that's the only reason most people look at my blog...

It's always fun to lift in a velvet, snow-leopard top and compression tights!







Do these tights make my butt look fat? No--my ass is fat!

Monday, January 05, 2009

Weekly Workout Totals 12/28/2008-01/04/2009

When you look at the numbers below (does anyone really look at them?), it's not a lot of hours, but it was a recovery from ZebraMan and the beginning of focused intensity work.

I nearly screwed up my recovery early in the week by deciding to run on Monday. Usually I take 2 days off from running after a 1/2 Ironman, but I was feeling OK so I went and ran anyway. That wasn't really a good idea as my legs were really sore afterwards, and I was concerned whether I'd be able to bike decently on Tuesday.

Tuesday rolled around, and I looked at the planned bike workout thinking I might not be able to do it and decided instead to pop in a Spinervals tape. Usually I don't think the Spinervals are that hard, but for some reason I was totally motivated to hit the % numbers displayed (they are using HR but I'm using % of FT watts) or better, and I ended up getting a really good workout in.

Wednesday I had a pretty good swim in the AM and run around noon. I wondered if I could nail another good bike workout on Thursday, and I did, even after 4 hours of intense cooking and lifting weights for about an hour beforehand! I was really putting the hurt to myself at this point, and luckily, I only needed to swim on Friday, which enabled me to finish up my strength routine for the week.

And then for Saturday, I had this bike workout to do:

WU: 30' @ 65-70%
MS: 2 x (20' @ 80-85%, 10' Easy), then 2 x 8' (5') @ FT; 6x30/30,
cd 3'

It was hard (after the warmup), but I was focused, and besides, it was only 2 hours, and it went by pretty quickly. I finished up, changed into running shorts and headed to the Y to run for :30. Even though my family room stays nice and cold which is great for trainer riding, I still get pretty hot and sweaty, and I think this was my first really focused long-ish ride on the trainer this winter. When I got on the treadmill, within minutes I was sweating buckets, despite having a fan right over my head, and about 15 minutes in I began feeling a little dizzy and just really overheated. I wondered if I was bonking, but figured I shouldn't be as this really wasn't that long of a workout and I had drank some Ultra Violence before I started and a decent amount of Gatorade on the bike. I decided I better go and run on the track because it's a lot cooler in there than in the cardio room.

I started running on the track and still felt a bit woozy, but after a few laps, the feeling went away and that's how I knew that I was just a bit hyperthermic, and it made me laugh! I mean I'm barely wearing any clothes, I'm sweating bullets, running in a cold gym and I'm overheated! And all I could think was this was a great way to start off 2009!

I was all finished working out and eating by about 1:30PM and so I went to a matinee of "Role Models" and laughed since I was feeling like I have all this time on my hands! It truly is a treat to be done with the remodeling and not be training very much where I have time to do other things like go to a movie, sew, cook, read--a few of my favorite things!

Sunday called for a 1:30 run and a :30 swim, and I thought easy peasy. Well, about :55 into the run (on the treadmill), the front of my right ankle is giving me fits to the point where I thought I might need to quit running for the day. I went to the indoor track to see if that made a difference and hobbled through another mile, and it was while doing that that I realized why it hurt--it was from the 4 hours of sewing in the morning! It's good to remember that a lot of the things we athletes experience as injury is not from the sports themselves but from other daily living activities! Well, once I realized the origin of the pain, I was quite content to finish up on the elliptical (which didn't hurt at all), and the swim felt good even though the water was HOT, and I was done for the day.

I took a shortie cat nap (at least I think I fell asleep) with a smile on my face under my pirates and zebras, finished making some gifts (secret!), boxed up things to mail off, roasted a chicken, ate dinner and went to a friend's place. Meanwhile, of course, my ankle is fine as it had just developed some trigger points that went away on their own.

This week begins the official pattern of training for the indoor sprint races which is basically just preparation for Triple T, which even though it's 20 weeks away, you basically want to be trained up as if you were doing an Ironman, so I am taking everything fairly seriously now.

Speaking of serious, I need to go swim. Have a great Monday!

Weekly Workout Totals 12/29/2008-01/04/2009
This week's totals are sponsored by a lack of snow. How did I make it stop snowing? I bought cross country skis!
Swim: 9400 yards (5.33 miles) in 3.38 hours; 26% of weekly workout time; approx. 1185 calories burned
Canadian: 8595.36 meters
Bike: Approx. 97.35 miles in 4.77 hours; 36% of weekly workout time; approx. 2625 calories burned; Total TSS=295
Canadian: 156.67 kilometers
Run: Approx. 24.23 miles in 3.77 hours; 29% of weekly workout time; approx. 1715 calories burned
Canadian: 38.99 kilometers
Strength: 1.27 hours; 10% of weekly workout time; approx. 318 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 126.91 miles in 13.19 hours; approx. 5843 calories burned
Canadian: 1.25 kilometers
Sleep: 7.64 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.03 hours. Massage: 1.25 hours

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Look What I Made This Weekend!

A new duvet cover for my bed...I decided I was tired of the previous one. I went online to search for pirate and zebra fabric a little over a week ago, and I scored big time! Bonus--I also got flames! Here's the finished product on the bed:

Here's a closeup of the pirate fabric. Yes, it says "Bad Bones" on it!


Closeup of the zebra fabric. I really like the fact that it's like embedded zebras instead of just stripes!


The entire thing took about 8 hours to complete, from buying the lining fabric locally (Friday evening) to measuring and cutting (yesterday morning before I worked out) and finally sewing (this morning). I'm really happy with the result, and now I think it's time I ditch the floral curtains and go with pleated shades...funny how I"m into this "decorating" thing after 8 years of total neglect!

The only reason I hurried up on this sewing project is that I only use the duvet cover in the winter, and there's maybe 2.5 months left of that (YEAH!), so I wanted to get some use out of it. Plus, I have another sewing project in the wings, and there aren't too many more weekends (7, maybe) where I won't be wasted from training and/or racing.

Had an awesome day yesterday--cut out the duvet cover, biked 2 hours pretty hard, ran :30 pretty hard (including my first episode of hyperthermia for 2009!!!), went and saw the movie "Role Models" (hilarious), watched a little TV, read a little and early to bed.

Now it's time to go run and swim and then all I have left today is to cook, which I am really getting into now.

Enjoy your Sunday!