Today's Single Workout

6:00AM Run 60' as WU: 15' easy, 15' steady. MS: 20' mod-hard. CD: 10' steady.

I did this workout in lovely downtown Minneapolis (from where I just returned, thankfully, safe and sound!), in a hotel "spa/workout center." I got stiffed $10 to use this facility, and frankly, I was not impressed. The treadmills were at least 10 years old, there were no fans in the cardio room, and it was just plain ugly! I feel fortunate that I have a Y so close to home that at least keeps the equipment up to date and in good repair.

I don't normally run first thing in the morning, so of course I had to deal with a few minor stomach issues, but nothing major. The effort didn't feel too hard at all during the tempo work; in fact, I could probably up my speed for this now. See what 2 tempo sessions a week can do for you! This is the first time I've ever done that, and with smart training and recovery, it's paying off big time.

Need to close this post and start a new one at the request of a friend on behalf of a friend. Let's hope I can keep the fingers moving!

Today’s Workouts: Mental Toughness

Since I was smart enough to shell myself yesterday by doing 3 workouts, followed by 9.5 hours of sleep (I had a travel day today), all I had to do today was finish up my strength workout and do my bike workout.

When I woke up this morning (first at 3:30AM, then at 4:00AM, again at 5:30AM and finally at 6:00AM), I didn’t feel particularly bad; I just thought this might be a good day to take a rest day. So I gathered my things for my overnight (hopefully!) business trip, making sure to pack 2 days of running clothes in case I get stranded, did some work, and decided I should at least try and finish my strength workout.

8:25AM Lift 3x12, legs and finish up abs and core, 18’. No problems doing this, no particular fatigue from yesterday or anything.

I knew I needed to get my bike workout started no later than 10:15 since I was being picked up to go to the airport at 12:30. Again, I was trying to decide whether or not to do the workout—I felt fine physically, but I thought maybe mentally I need a break from this, but then I rationalized that on Thursday I will have to do my bike workout on a cheesy gym bike, so today would be my highest quality day. So I suited up and got ready to ride.

10:10AM Bike 1:30. WU: 10’ easy, 3’ spinups, 3x(2’ Z3, 1’ cd). MS: 10’, 12’, 15’, 20’ (2’) FT intervals. CD: 5’. Interval watts were 160, 160, 159 and 159 respectively. Not bad!

There is no getting around this being an incredibly monstrously hard workout when done on a trainer, or maybe I am just a wussy old lady who is too girly to suck it up more? I would really like to hear from some young bike stud that doing this is HARD. Add it up—there is 57’ total of FT time—so why doesn’t everyone just go and ride AS HARD AS POSSIBLE FOR 60’ STRAIGHT!!! Well, it does help to have those 2’ rest periods between each interval, but still, it is just hard to describe what this is like to do. I have the TV on mute with the TDF on, I have good dance music cranked, but I can barely focus on the TV, because what I’m focusing on is the number on the freaking Power Meter. I don’t care what my HR is because that is not the number that concerns me. FYI, I get my HR much higher than I do during my tempo run intervals.

Many times during these intervals I will find myself looking basically at the top tube when not staring at the Power Meter. When I was on the third interval (15’), I had convinced myself that I only needed to do one more 15’ interval—that it wasn’t that important to bump it up to 20’. But then I thought about why am I thinking that? These workouts aren’t just physically tough—they are mentally brutal, and in fact, it may be the mental aspect that is really what’s so hard. My coach and others (including me) have confirmed that if you do this stuff outdoors (let’s say on a nice 75-degree day), that it’s much easier, your HR is lower, and you actually have to watch it so you don’t kick out TOO MANY watts. So if I’m feeling like wussing out, it’s a mental thing, and every time I don’t give in to that crap, I get a tiny bit stronger. Sure maybe I would have only cut 5’ from the workout, but then you know where that can lead…I don’t even want to think about that.

It is very easy to say you are going to do something; it’s entirely another thing to actually DO it. I really have a problem (OK, pet peeve—jump on me right now!) with talk-talk. You are better off not saying it, not claiming to commit, not getting your own hopes up than talking about it and failing to execute. I like to be known to others as a person who says what she does, and does what she says. I guess that makes me ISO 9000 compliant, huh? Seems like a good life policy to me. This is right in line with what I was spewing forth about yesterday—how that when life throws you curveballs, you have choices—either change the outcome expectations or hit the damn ball out of the park! (I can’t believe I am using all these other sports analogies, including sports that I typically find VERY boring to watch.)

I’m not saying I’ve never succumbed to the demon voices—I certainly have—but I try to limit their power as best I can by doing a few things:

• Understanding where they are coming from. Am I stressed? Am I bored? Am I overtrained? Am I having emotional issues that I’m not facing?
• Asking myself will I feel worse or better if I give in. Usually the answer is WORSE, and that stops the demons dead in their tracks.

That’s usually about all it takes to just move on and GET IT DONE. This is part of my self-observation practice. If you can behave like a third party to yourself and just look and not be judgmental, you stand a much better chance of making the right decisions. And I’m not just talking sports here. I decided a few months ago that it was high time I stopped going through life half-unconscious. It’s time for me to step up, see myself for who I am (and make adjustments where warranted) and be more in every single moment.

I have to tell you that the elapsed time from where I thought about shortening my workout today to where I made the decision NOT to was about 5”. Once you learn to step back just a little bit, you can make much better decisions. This is also my approach to food cravings. I let myself indulge in the fantasy of having the food for maybe 10”, and then it just passes. But if I decide to give in, then I GIVE IN fully committed! But giving in once doesn’t need to lead to always giving in. Whenever someone asks me how long did it take for me to have the physique that I have, my answer is usually, “49 years.” Or however old I am. Wherever we are today is the result of countless, seemingly small, decisions that we’ve made moment to moment. I am finding the more I can seek to process a decision IN THAT MOMENT, the more likely I am to make a “good” decision for myself. For example, I am getting better at catching myself getting annoyed by someone else’s behavior and being able to stop momentarily and ask myself, “Is it worth it for me to react this way?” And mostly the answer is NO. Sometimes, though, my mouth gets the better of me and I say something out loud that perhaps in retrospect I shouldn’t have, but I also recognize sometimes that emotions are stronger than any rational thought process, and they also need to be honored.

The only downside to today is that I didn’t officially stretch. I am giving myself a “bye” on that, and will definitely get some in tomorrow, or even now as I relax before retiring for the evening.

Today's Workouts: Tunnel Vision

You know that sensation you get when you're training really hard and getting close to the target event and you have difficulty focusing on anything else? Welcome to my world! Today is the second time in the last 2.5 weeks where I feel totally, thoroughly, exhausted. I knew it was coming--it wasn't like this was a surprise--I've had my training schedule through next week in front of me. To not expect to feel tired would have been delusional; to think that I could show up and perform well for Goofy Challenge without doing the level of run training I'm doing would also be delusional, given my goals to get through both days running. Given my triathlon goals with my big A race in May, to not expect my bike training to be tough would also be delusional. Add to that my desire to get stronger, muscularly, and the cards have been stacked!

Don't get me wrong--I'm not complaining! I've known what I would be in for, and as difficult as this all is, I am enjoying it, especially knowing that in 2 weeks I get some sort of taper (that is still a surprise) and will get some sort of rest after the event.

It's interesting how all of these thoughts and feelings can be expected when approaching any major life event, yet I am continually amazed at how so many people get so overwhelmed by something they knew was coming, knew what sort of preparations were required, and yet they sabotage their own efforts by failing to execute proper preparations, set unreasonable goals, or succumb to stress that is of their own doing. Goals can be adjusted; events can sometimes be cancelled or postponed; stress management techniques can be cultivated to the point where they are a part of your everyday life. Right now I don't feel stressed; I am just tired--something I totally expect and almost welcome. But I also know that if I do truly feel stressed, that I have choices I can make--I can scale back my goals (especially if I know I need to scale back my preparations), I can postpone or cancel an event, or I can let go of something else in my life that is getting in my way.

If you are living truly aware, then your eyes are wide open. You know what you are doing, you control what you can and let go of what you can't, and you eliminate beliefs, actions, reactions and thoughts that restrict your view. It's so easy when you're in a car and it starts raining and you just turn on the wipers and presto, you can see well. EYES WIDE OPEN. Reminds me of the sign that you see at the end of some tunnels: ARE YOUR LIGHTS ON? So, are yours?

Oh yeah, was supposed to report today's workouts.

7:26AM Swim 3000 yards in 1:05. WU: 200 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick, 4 x 50 (10") Swim Golf MS: 12 x 100 (20"), Odds Mod-Hard, even's 5 sec slower. 100 easy swim. 4 x 200 (20"), Neg split. CD: 100 easy swim

The pool was COOL today! When I showed up on deck, I could feel the fatigue from last week's training, and I was not in the mood for warm water. So when I jumped in and it felt almost cold I was very happy! As I warmed up, though, boy were my arms and legs tired, and I wasn't swimming very fast at all. I remembered I had to do 12x100, but I hadn't looked closely at the workout. When I saw the odds/evens stuff, all I could think was, "This is such a GIFT." I was happy to know I didn't have to swim it all hard. And when I started on the main set, I was totally surprised at how fast I was able to swim the odds! I haven't seen those times in months--just goes to show you what cool water can do for you.

On one of the 100's, as I turned, it felt like I hit the lane rope, so no big deal, I kept swimming. But I was a little confused as to why my hand didn't hurt more. After I finished that one, I found out why. Apparently me and a woman in the adjacent lane had smacked hands, and she took the brunt of it. I apologized, although I'm sure my hand didn't go over the lane rope--I was actually trying to avoid her gangly side stroke earlier, and I'm very careful to stick within my space. Oh well, I knew she was hurt more than me, and I apologized as best I could.

As other swimmers entered the pool, it was nice to see all the faces light up as they got in and realized how nice and cool the water was. I ended up having a good workout, albeit with fatigued arms and legs.

9:30AM Strength, 3x12, 46'. I didn't do all of this at once--it was catch as catch can between meetings and calls and stuff, but I got in a good deal of work. Again, even while doing this I could feel the massive fatigue in my body. But I have to travel tomorrow, so I didn't want to leave the entire strength workout to tomorrow which would get stacked on top of a brutal bike workout.

2:47PM Run 55', including 15' strides. I was smart today, and kept it easy, as I was supposed to. Although the last 10' I ran on the track, and while I thought I was holding myself back, guess what, er, no, I was surprised I was holding that pace at such a low heart rate. But at least it was just 10' and not the entire workout!

I am going to sleep VERY well tonight.

Weekly Training Totals: Resistance is Futile

Freedom is irrelevant; self-determination is irrelevant; you must comply.
--The Borg

Swim: 10,050 yards in 3.58 hours
Bike: 4.75 hours
Run: 5.25 hours
Strength: 1.85 hours
Total Hours: 15.43
Average Daily Calorie Need: 3,467
Stretching: 2.25 hours <--met my goal of getting in at least 2 hours
Average Sleep per Night: 8.71 hours

Today's Workouts: Equipment Test Part 1

9:53AM Run 1:50 as 30' Easy, 40' Steady, 20' Upper Steady, 20' Mod Hard.
This run was 10' longer than last Sunday's run, and thankfully, the extra time went into the Steady block and not the ending tempo work. Today was the day to test out a new pair of running shorts that I plan to wear at the Disney marathon, complete with cell phone in a back pocket, and also I wore my Fuel Belt for the very first time. I told the guys at the desk in the cardio room at the Y to excuse me for looking like a dork with the Fuel Belt on, and that next week I'd have the Fuel Belt AND a tutu, because you know what they say--"nothing new on race day." They both said they had to be here to see THAT.

I had 2 of the bottles on the belt (I have a 4-bottle model; each bottle holds 8oz.) loaded with defizzed Ultra Violence, and the other 2 had Mango Gatorade. I brought the rest of the 32oz. bottle of Mango Gatorade. For Disney, all 4 Fuel Belt bottles will be loaded with Ultra Violence; my plan is to drink 1/2 bottle every 3 miles starting at mile 4.

The Fuel Belt felt fine, other than it making me sweat more. I was smart enough to Body Glide my waist. The only place I've ever chafed in a marathon is around my waist and under the HRM strap, and I've learned that lesson well. I am still not sure if the Fuel Belt bottle openings are to be twisted or popped up--I ended up popping out the center section whenever I took a drink. I guess I am a little too aggro with my teeth.

My legs felt pretty good throughout the entire run today, despite all the crazy ass training I'd done this week. I am now to the point where my warmup pace feels wrong to me--I am getting used to a higher leg turnover now. But I'm still not fast! That's OK--my goal for Disney is to finish both days RUNNING.

After I finished the run, I walked for 4' on the treadmill, and did some arm stretches while doing that, then I went to a mat and stretched about another 15'. I had done a little bit of stretching before I left just to loosen up, so my total stretching for today was 26'.

12:10PM Swim 1400 yards 28'. I just flopped around in the pool--I swam 1000 with my fins on real easy, did 200k, 50 back, and 150 pull. Just nice and easy to get the legs all cooled down.

All in all, a good day's workouts! One more hard week to go and then it's taper time!

Yin and Yang

I suppose it was natural for me to be drawn towards the whole self-awareness thing, sometimes as manifested by Buddhism, only because that's the only philosophy I've seen it enjoined to an entire way of life.

I was raised Catholic, and while I have some issues with it, I see it mostly as a way for people to feel they belong to a common belief system, which if that's what you need, go for it!

Mostly I'm just trying to know myself, be more aware of my self, and see what windows and doors that might open for me. I haven't taken up traditional meditation, and am not sure whether I want to. I do find that I achieve a meditation-like state during much of my training, and certainly I've experienced the "peaceful emptiness" during Ironman marathons. It's because of that that I decided I had better find a way to bring that out in the rest of my life.

Recently I began doing morning gentle warming up/stretching/yoga, and of course, it's beneficial if I practice with a clear, open receptive mind. I am now looking forward to this time (perhaps 20' at the most) as a way to begin my day more centered and calm. Again, I find myself one step away from meditation, as I've been having thoughts like, "What if I just sit quietly for 5 minutes?" Well, what if I do? For now, I seem to be able to achieve peace through quietly stretching and during my workouts, so my psyche favors a more active form of meditation. I think I'm able to do it this way only because I have sought to achieve an intense mind-body connection, and I no longer look at the effort of training or racing as "suffering."

When I describe part or all of a workout as having "sucked," it's just a term of endearment! If I didn't want to know where the intense, focused effort would take me, I wouldn't be able to execute the intensity, would I? If I was truly suffering, I wouldn't be making it through the last 3 weeks, this one included, and there's one more big build week next week, with such a feeling of calm.

On another level, I must admit that I've been more or less of a hermit for the past 2 months. I did let some of my friends know that this was a necessary process for me but that it is not an indication that my love for them is any less. It's just one of those times in my life where I need to get more deeply in touch with myself so that I can be that good friend, be that good athlete, be that good employee, be that good sister. I do not feel lonely at all. While I believe that my exterior can be difficult to understand at times, all I can say is trust that the interior is being slightly remodeled, but not with anything frivolous or "flashy." Isn't that funny? I have always been a person who likes to dress rather flashy, or at least attention-getting. But that is the yang part of my yin-yang. I'm just spending a little more time on my yin!

Today's Workout (I'm Tired)

This is going to be a short post.

9:30AM Brick, 2 hours on trainer and 30' run on treadmill.

What can I say--after the rest of this week's workouts, I was flippin' tired when I started and tired when I finished. But I got through it, and had a 1.5 hour massage soon after, which set me right.

I had big plans to do more stuff today, but it's snowing again, and I need to lay down. After all, Tomorrow IS another day.

Meow

This is the cat suit I wore in yesterday's swim. These photos were taken the day of the infamous "pool rage" incident of 9/7/2005. I was so tan then (sigh). The day started out well enough! You can purchase this suit at Splish. Just don't be caught wearing it on the same day, in the same pool as me! I have a friend who bought several of the same swimsuits that I own, only she does not look as good in them (I am such a bitch, aren't I?), and while imitation can be a form of flattery, she needs to pick her own suits!

Splish makes a whole bunch of cool patterns, and men's jammers can be ordered in them as well. Actually, I need to order 2 or 3 suits. I wear through them rather quickly, so now I only buy polyester suits. The lycra ones, while colorful and all, just stretch out too quickly.

Tips for swimsuit care (my version):

1. After wearing, rinse suit in clear water.
2. Wring excess water from suit using HANDS ONLY, i.e., do NOT use the "salad shooter" (my term for the suit spinners). Salad shooters destroy elastic and thin straps and will cause the suit unnecessary stretching.
3. When you get the suit home, drape it over a laundry tub or towel hanger to drip dry until you plan to wash it.
4. Wash suit on gentle cycle in a lingerie bag with your other delicates. Don't put the suit in the dryer--hang it over a plastic-coated coat hanger, or in my case, on a tie rack that's nailed to the back of a bathroom door, to air dry. Since I wear 3-5 suits per week, I like having an "organized" area where they can air dry.
5. Don't wear the same suit 2 days in a row unless it's been washed. I.e., don't wear a suit, rinse it and then wear it again before it's been washed. You can't get all the chlorine out just from rinsing, and wearing a suit while it's still chlorinated just invites trouble.

One of my pet peeves is men who wear the SAME EXACT SUIT DAY IN DAY OUT. I swim 3-5 times a week, and there are regulars, and I am just amazed that guys will wear the same suit all the time! I'm pretty sure they aren't washing the suit every 2 days (which would cause it to wear out all the more quickly), and most of these guys look like they could afford 3 suits at a time. Some of them have nearly see-through butts, which if it was a good butt, hey, I wouldn't mind, but they sure aren't on the Olympic team! Many online and brick and mortar swimsuit retailers have what's called "grab bag," where you can get suits cheap, but you don't get to choose the color or print or style; just the size. It's an economical way to support your swimming habit.

Another online e-tailer that makes good suits is EQ Swimwear. The women's suits are lined all the way down through the butt, so you don't get the "see through butt" thing going once the suit begins to stretch out a bit. The suits are a little pricey, but IMHO worth it. I have a blue metallic suit and also the black leather-look suit--I only bring them out for special occasions, like time trials and days when I'm feeling a little more aggro than normal.

I suppose I should state my preferences on Speedos on men. If you've got the goods, please let us see them! I don't care if you're married, single, straight or gay, a nice body should be on display in the pool (elsewhere, too, but that's a completely different discussion). I get a kick out of being in the same lane with a buff swimmer dude. It makes me smile underwater and also swim a little faster. Gotta look like you know what you're doing in there if you're going to impress a hottie, right?

On the other hand, if you're a guy currently nursing a bit of a gut, try and pick a suit that flatters you the best you can. I suppose the same should be said for women and their suit choices. Me--I'm a shameless hussy, and am perfectly OK being stared at by either the young dudes or the geriatric crowd (and believe me, it's men AND women doing the looking), so I tend to pick suits that, um, "stand out" a little. Some of the older guys will even ask me when I'm going to wear the leopard suit (alas, it's been destroyed and I can't find a replacement) next. As soon as people stop looking, I will know it's time to switch to something more conservative.

Today's Workouts: May The Force Be With You

I said yesterday that today's workouts would be relatively easy. OK, I lied about the swim workout:

7:54AM (I woke up late, what can I say and then had to shovel the driveway again) Swim 2700 yards 59'. Workout: Warmup: 200s, 2x(50s, 100k, 50s 20"RI) Main Set: 3x(2x200 pull 20"RI, 4x50 pull fast 1'SI, 1' bonus rest); 4x50 paddles best avg. 1'SI cd: 100. For those of you who are abbreviation-challenged, SI means "swim interval," meaning the total time for both swimming and resting. So 50 1'SI means you swim 50 yards and you rest until 1' has elapsed and then you start the next swim.

This is another one of those "force" workouts from "Swim Workouts in a Binder." I didn't have to swim today; but I'm so used to swimming M/W/F and then in season on Saturday as well, that I figured what the heck. Besides, a swim usually helps me get the crap out of my body from the previous day, and yesterday was a tough one. Whenever I'm about to do a force workout, I always think about Obi-wan Kenobi saying to Luke, "Use the Force, Luke." I corrupted that into "May The Force Be With You." It's kind of like a blessing. I say it to myself under my breath right before I get into the water to do one of these workouts.

Anyway, this is not the world's easiest workout, if you give it your all. The warmup was innocuous enough. Did you think I would do the workout EXACTLY AS WRITTEN? Hell no! On the 200 pulls I slapped the band around my ankles to work myself a little harder. I took it off for the 50's, and didn't use it on the last set of 50's with the paddles.

Would you like to know what I was thinking while doing all that pulling? See below:

BOY I'M GLAD I LIFT WEIGHTS OTHERWISE THIS WOULD SUCK (first 200)
BOY I'M GLAD I LIFT WEIGHTS OTHERWISE THIS WOULD SUCK (second 200)
THIS ISN'T SO BAD WITHOUT THE BAND AROUND MY ANKLES (first 50)
GOOD THING I LIFT WEIGHTS OTHERWISE I MIGHT BE TIRED (second 50)
THIS REALLY ISN'T THAT MUCH EASIER WITHOUT THE BAND (third 50)
THIS SUCKS (fourth 50)
THIS TIME IS GOING BY WAY TOO FAST (First 1' rest)

GOOD THING MY SHOULDERS ARE SO STRONG (first 200)
THIS IS STARTING TO FEEL HARD (second 200)
WOW, THIS IS NOT GETTING ANY EASIER (first 50)
UGH, I WONDER IF ANYONE ELSE WOULD LIKE THIS WORKOUT AS MUCH AS ME? (second 50)
PROBABLY NOT (third 50)
THIS PRETTY MUCH SUCKS (fourth 50)
I DON'T NORMALLY LIKE A LOT OF REST BUT IT SEEMS LIKE A GOOD THING TODAY (Second 1' rest)

OK, LAST ROUND THIS ISN'T SO BAD (first 200)
YES IT IS (second 200)
OH SHIT I GET TO USE THE PADDLES IN A LITTLE WHILE (first 50)
IF I PULL ANY HARDER I'M GOING TO HIT THE WALL IN ONE STROKE (second 50)
ALMOST DONE WITH THIS CRAP (third 50)
MAKE IT HURT (fourth 50)
HERE IT COMES UP MY BUTT WITH THE PADDLES ON (Third 1' rest)

OK, I LIKE PADDLES; THIS FEELS AWESOME I'M GOING SO FAST (1st 50)
MY ARMS ARE ABOUT TO FALL OFF (second 50)
HANG IN THERE ONLY ONE TO GO (third 50)
@#@*(%&#)($#_%(#)_%()_#*()* I LOVE THIS WORKOUT (fourth 50)

You should see the pump in my arms even now from all this!

1:57PM Run 60'. Finally, a truly EASY workout! Stayed nice and aerobic--only to the middle of my aerobic zone. No worries.

Tonight's dinner will be sirloin steak with spaghetti with homemade pesto. I have a big day tomorrow!

Today's Workouts (WARNING: ADULT CONTENT)

I got 9 hours of sleep last night, even though I awoke around 3AM again with my mind "scrolling." I checked in with another athlete who's doing the Goofy Challenge, and he said he's experiencing this as well. We're training hard, and our bodies and minds are all jacked up, in a GOOD way, though.

I did my stretching around 7AM, and once again it felt good. As you might have read in an earlier post, the stretching is paying off. Actually what I'm doing is a combination of dynamic warmup, some conventional static stretching and yoga. An important thing I've learned is that your body will get used to anything, including a stretching "routine," so you need to mix things up almost yearly to keep inducing the muscles, ligaments and tendons to respond. This year's discovery is that I need to include dynamic stretches. Keep in mind that the 3 triathlon sports, while considered cross training of one another, are repetitive motion exercises, and there are many directions our bodies can move that aren't expressed in the sports. So it's important to try and maintain full ROM (range of motion) by doing things like stretching and strength training.

10:40AM Strength, abs and core only, 33’. I felt just fine doing this workout.

3:22PM Bike 1:30 as WU: 10' warmup, 3 x SpinUps. Then 3 x 2' (1') Zone 3 MS: FT repeats: 10', 12', 15', 20' (2'). In aero bars, normal TT cadence. CD: 5' Easy (MS stands for Main Set)

FU-HUUUUUUUUCK!!! Not only was this workout 15’ longer than Tuesday’s interval workout (which was the same as last week’s Tuesday/Thursday workouts), the additional time was devoted to FT work! I knew this would be hard, and man, it was. I held 158, 160, 160, 160 watts for the 4 FT intervals. I could tell right off the bat that I was going to be able to work hard enough today (unlike Tuesday, where my legs were trashed from the earlier strength workout), but that it was going to require extreme focus.

I did some dry heavin’ when I finished. That’s always a sign that I worked pretty hard in a workout.

So this week so far: Monday was a harder and longer swim than last week. Tuesday was a harder and longer strength workout. Wednesday was a harder and longer swim AND a harder and longer run. Today was a harder and longer bike workout! Thank GOD tomorrow is not any harder or longer than last Friday! I need a LITTLE bit of a rest.

I just finished shoveling snow for 1.25 hours, too. I’m eating everything in sight right about now. Well, so far I've had a good size serving of pasta with my "Sheila's Wild Pasta Sauce" (recipe provided upon request, it's pretty good), and a big hunk of fruitcake, and a beer. I think I'm probably still down at least 500 calories, so there will be some snacking. I was supposed to get a massage today, but we cancelled because of the snowfall (at least 5” already), but luckily, we rescheduled for Saturday, and it will be after my 2 hour ride/30’ run brick, so that will feel really good.

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. Workouts should feel like a piece of cake, compared to the rest of this week. I am feeling the Goofy Challenge peak beginning to happen!

Stretching is Yielding Results

It's not even been 2 full weeks since I initiated my daily stretching commitment, but I'm so excited, as I can see tremendous results.

Today while getting dressed, I twisted just slightly both directions while standing, and a whole bunch of my vertebrae gently cracked! This hasn't happened in years--it used to be routine with me. It's like being able to adjust yourself without going to a chiropractor (no offense, but I don't go to them anymore).

When I did my lying hamstring stretches this morning, I was able to go beyond 90 degrees on each leg, with no sensation of forcing it.

I am under 2" away from being able to get my palms on the floor doing toe touches.

My calves had no tension in them yesterday while running.

Not bad for maybe 15' a day!

Training and Racing with Power

Andy Coggan pointed this article out on a forum I participate in. If you're considering giving yourself a Power Meter for Christmas or whatever holiday or just because you've heard they are good things, read on.

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/pdf/power_v1.pdf

Then for IM-racing, read this: http://cruciblefitness.com/etips/IMPower.htm

Thoughts on Open Water Swimming

Disclaimer: What do I know I've only been swimming 5 years. In my Ironman TT swims, I can go 1:10, but the fastest I've gone in a race is 1:15.

1. Learn how to tolerate getting banged around, even to the point of banging back.
Some people might not agree with this. I'm learning to "bang back." I'm pretty sure I could do 1:10, maybe a little less, in IM swim if I was willing to get a little more banged up. As it is, I start further back than my ability, and then get caught in the whole MOP of 1:15-1:25 swimmers. It's just as big of a mess in that group as it is further up, maybe even more so, because now you aren't just battling for position, you're trying to get AHEAD of them. If you fess up to the fact that you will get jostled and become OK with it, it's less of a big deal. It's good to practice this at shorter races. I even believe it's OK to hit (bang) back if the same swimmer persists in hitting you, and you've tried moving out of their way.

At a sprint I did this summer, I misread when my wave started, and when I got to the beach, they were counting down from 10. So it was into the fray with I don't know how many people, but there were lots of big guys in there. We were swimming in a small lake (Donut Lake!), so if you wanted to get ahead you had to fight for it. Sure, there was a little hyperventilation involved, and I got hit, but eventually I got to clear water.

2. You may be slightly built, but it's very possible to learn how to swim big in the water and give yourself some space around you.
This is a good part of the strategy of being able to withstand the washing machine. "Swimming big" is something you can practice. It basically involves making a wider reach than normal, and your elbow will remain slightly more bent than during a normal reach. What I've noticed when doing this is:

• you ride a little "higher" in the water. This is really good for open water swimming, navigating waves and such. It makes it less frightening, for example, when you reach and there is no water there! Riding higher can get to be like hydroplaning, in a way. This has a side benefit of helping you to sight easier.
• you automatically pull to the outside of your body. If you have difficulties with arm crossover either above or below your body, this is a good thing to practice.
• you can get some serious power going, because you are using more of your lats, which are much larger muscles than your triceps or deltoids.
• it, for me anyway, encourages my rotation. If you are pulling effectively, you HAVE to rotate in order to begin your arm recovery properly
• you might not completely finish your stroke, meaning your hand, after pulling, will begin exiting the water sooner. This is OK--it's a common technique for open water swimming anyway, according to my coach.

Some people call this "swimming like a gorilla." Whatever you want to think of it. I was told a few years ago to reach wider all the time, and while I don't always go as wide as "gorilla-style," it's helped me improve my technique and power a lot.

Now combine gorilla swimming with pulling strongly and imagining keeping your arms over a barrel, and you've got a powerful swim stroke.

Power to Weight Ratio

Bolder asked me if I knew what my LT watts were when I weighed more, and this spurred an email exchange, part of which is below. The reason I'm posting this is so that you can see what a DRAMATIC impact losing weight can have on your power to weight ratio in biking. In my case, though, over the past 2 years I've both lost weight AND gained power, so that's an even more potent improvement. Check out some math:

I didn't have the SRM when I weighed 128, but I know my power output was less, let's say even 15%, so let's do the math:

85% of 158 is 134.
134/(128/2.2) is 2.303 (power to weight, in kg)

I'm at 3.104 today (158/(112/2.2)), so that's an improvement of 35%????

Holy crap!

Now, let's do some more math. What if all I did was lose weight and yet not become more powerful?

134/(112/2.2) is 2.632, or improvement of 14%.

So, I must have improved my power to weight ratio at least 14%, probably more on the order of 20-25% in 2 years, as a result of getting smaller AND more powerful!

Neat!

I've put a link to the Power to Weight Chart in my Links area so when you get a Power Meter you can see where you fall. I am currently at the bottom of the "good" range. Keep in mind this chart represents values for pure cyclists. I've been told that "good" is VERY GOOD for a triathlete. My goal is to get my LT watts to 170 this season. If I stay at 112 lbs. I would have a power to weight ratio of 3.34, which puts me solidly in the upper "good" range.

Today's Workouts (Subtitle: Does it get any better than this?)

After really "working" myself yesterday, especially my legs, I had no expectations going into today's workouts. I got 10 big hours of sleep, though, and felt pretty refreshed upon waking this morning, and had a generally bright outlook on things.

As you may have read earlier, I got a little happy surprise when stepping on the scale this morning, and I have to say that had some impact on my overall great mood today. I'm not really trying to lose weight (for every lb. of fat I lose I lose basically 1% of my bodyfat, so at this point it's a difficult proposition as I'm already quite lean), but I have been training hard, and I know I haven't been keeping up with my calories. I can fluctuate 2-4 lbs. throughout the year, but I'm hoping to stay around 112 for the duration. We'll see. I'm not going to obsess about it!

Since I woke up late, I got to the pool kind of late, and my workout this week was longer than last week's Wednesday workout:

7:55AM Swim 2950 yards, 1:04. WU: 200 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick, 4 x 50 (10") Swim Golf MS: 8 x 150 (15") as 100 Hard, 50 Easy. 100 easy swim. 3 x 200 (15") pull, Steady with excellent stroke. 6 x 25 (15") as 25 Hard, 25 Easy CD: 100 easy swim

The pool was a little warm again, but I didn't care. For some reason, I felt really good in the pool today! Which surprised me after my increased strength workout yesterday. Oh well, I'll take it! I swam the 150's faster than last week, did 2 more of them than last week, I pulled well, it was all good. Went home and began my work day at 9:00AM, and had a few good conference calls; overall much less stress than yesterday.

11:55AM Lift 3x12, bis, delts and a few lat exercises; 14'. This was to finish up yesterday's workout. This was no big deal. I was going to go right into my run, but I putzed around; however, I did drink a can of Ultra Violence and eat a few Swedish Fish Aqua Life to get some calories in before running.

2:05PM Run 1:05 as WU: 15' Easy, 15' Steady MS: 25' Mod-Hard/z4 CD: 10' Steady.

All I can say is WOW. Did I ever feel GREAT doing this today! The main reason was that since I've been consistently stretching, my calves had absolutely ZERO strain in them, which translated into "floaty" pushoff on each stride, thus giving the rest of my legs nice cushioning. And bonus, I COULD HAVE run faster during the Mod-Hard segment (based on my heart rate), but I thought, nah, let's see if I can do that on Sunday during my long run when I get to do tempo work again.

So, so far this week's workouts are HARDER and LONGER than last week, and I'm feeling GREAT!!!!!! I'll take it. You never know when you'll have a "bad" day, but I think at least 50% of it is mental attitude, and I am feeling like I've made huge progress on that in the last few months. Make a few small changes like regular stretching and a little more sleep, and look what can happen!

Tonight I am going to eat good food. Even PASTA! FYI, one of my weight control secrets is that even though I train pretty high (ha ha) volume, I don't eat pasta very often. I do like it, but it can be heavy and I tend to eat too much of it (!). I eat brown rice almost daily, though, and my lunch always has some rice in it. I just don't eat huge volumes of it. But sometimes I can just tell when I need to kick up my calories and tonight is one of those. Since I'm feeling so good and training harder and longer this week, I'm going to put in some quality tonight to ensure I can nail my 2nd bike interval workout tomorrow.

Crackhead Snacks

I LOVE these. I need to go run soon, and I won't be able to eat lunch before I do, so it's a few of these and a can of Ultra Violence.

If you haven't tried these, they are great! My favorite is the yellow starfish. Some bags don't have any starfish; some bags you get the bounty. 3 starfish in the bag I just opened. I ate them all!

Yesterday's Workouts

I didn't post until this morning because I slept TEN BIG ONES after yesterday's festivities, I was so tired.

10:15AM (well really space out between then and 12PM, work allowing) Lift 1:04. This week I added a set, so I'm doing 3x12. I didn't finish the workout--I've got to finish up bis, delts and lats later this morning. No change in weights, which I dropped last week as part of my periodization and to prepare for adding another set this week. Absolutely no problems, energy-wise, adding the second set. Except a little bit in my legs, surprise, surprise! I guess that little track workout Monday night had a few after effects.

After the workout settled in a bit, I could tell this was a significant workout, as I felt that typical "uggghhhhh" that you get from a solid strength workout. Because of this, I felt it prudent to delay my bike interval workout until later in the day, or else I might risk injury or a sub-par performance. As it is, doing these two workouts on the same day is really not a good idea, but I can't always fit in a swim, run AND strength on Mondays, so the strength rolls into Tuesdays. It's all good. The way I look at it is that I'm building bullet-proof legs.

4:25PM Bike 1:15, 2x20'(2') FT intervals. Can you say lack of power? I did not use any Ultra Violence--too late in the day; the caffeine would keep me awake all night. Even looking at my power during warmup, I could tell this would be tough. But I stuck it out, not being able to hit the same watts as last week, but I still hit 150 and 154, average for the 2 intervals. Not bad given my legs were already toasted from the strength workout!

So you can see why I fell into a blissful, deep sleep last night. I initially awoke at 5:30AM, and thought, heck I can sleep another 30 minutes, but NOOOOOO, I dropped for another hour. I feel very refreshed now, and am heading to the pool shortly.

Bonus: For some reason I weighed myself this morning. I don't weigh myself too much, as I can tell about where I am by how cut I look in the mirror. I maybe weight myself every 2-3 weeks, if I remember or feel like it. But today, I don't know, I was getting dressed, and figured before I put clothes on, may as well head over to the scale. 112!!!! That's my "fighting weight," and I've always thought I'd be even better at 110, but it's tough for me to get there. Assuming I haven't lost any muscle (which I don't see how I could with all the strength, not only weights, but on the bike that I've been doing), I'm estimating that puts me at about 11% bodyfat, the lowest I've ever been, which is where I suspected I had been heading. I may add more weight once I drop my running back in January, but it's sure nice to be heading into a new year lean and mean!

In celebration of having gotten through yesterday's tough workouts (and today is no picnic either--I need to finish up strength, swim 2950 and run 1:05 including tempo work), I'm going to be in a fantastic mood, wear some *pink* things and maybe go to the fabric store to get stuff to make my tutu to wear at Disney.

Have a fantastic day!

Weekly Workout Pattern

Brett asked whether I do 2 workouts a day. Most days, yes.

Part of becoming a good athlete is consistency. Meaning you do the work, day in and day out.

It also helps if you are able (and this comes from my coach, amongst others) to keep to a consistent schedule, week in, week out. Meaning you have a pattern of workouts that you follow Monday through Sunday. What's good about this is that you can plan other stuff (life!) around knowing which days you need to be in the pool, etc., and your body can get used to a regular schedule, much like being used to working Monday-Friday, for example. It also makes it easier on a coach to write a training plan if he/she can count on you doing specific workouts on specific days.

Right now I have a weekly pattern that is a little off from my standard one, due to the fact that I'm training for a marathon that is going to be on a Sunday, and I'll be doing a 1/2 marathon the day before (yikes!), and also it's winter so I'm doing 2 quality bike interval workouts per week in an effort to raise my power.

Here's my current pattern:
Monday: AM Swim, PM Run Strides
Tuesday: AM Lift, PM Bike FT intervals
Wednesday: AM Swim, PM Run Tempo
Thursday: AM Lift, PM Bike FT intervals
Friday: AM Swim, PM Run Easy
Saturday: Bike Long, short Brick run
Sunday: Run Long, Recovery Swim

My normal pattern, which will commence in January or February, looks like this:
Monday: AM Swim, PM Run Strides
Tuesday: AM Lift, PM Bike FT intervals, possibly short brick run
Wednesday: AM Swim, PM Run Tempo or slightly easier
Thursday: AM Run Long, Recovery Swim if time, PM lift
Friday: AM Swim Long (meaning "most yards" or perhaps a 1.2 or 2.4 mile TT), PM Run Easy,
Saturday: Bike Long (2-4 hours) including quality work, Recovery Swim
Sunday: Bike Long (3-6 hours) endurance oriented, Transition Run up to 40'

My schedule is what would be considered "advanced," given I've done 7 Ironman races and train at a relatively high volume (700-800 hours per year).

When do I take days off? I can always take one whenever I think I need it, but by sticking to a consistent schedule and (for the most part!) doing only the intensity that I need to do (i.e., if I'm supposed to go easy, I GO EASY, ha ha not yesterday), getting plenty of sleep, eating nutritionally and getting a massage once a week, I recover pretty well. My coach only schedules rest days for me right before or right after a race or epic training weekend. If I feel I need a rest day or I become sick, I try and rearrange things the best I can so that I get in my long run, long swim (if I'm doing them) and a long ride.

Today's Workouts (I am Psycho)

6:30AM Swim 3000 yards. WU: 200 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick, 4 x 50 (10") Swim Golf MS: 12 x 100 (20"), Descend 1-3, 4-6, 6-9, 10-12 100 easy swim. 4 x 200 (20"), Neg split. CD: 100 easy swim. The pool was unusually warm for a Monday morning. Usually Monday is the coolest water. I guess I was a little sluggish from yesterday's long run, and I didn't sleep enough last night (only 7 hours--couldn't fall asleep, I was just hot and my metabolism was racing--sometimes that happens after really long rides, and sometimes runs, too). At any rate, it's hard for me to get going in warm water (anything over 83 degrees--it felt like 85 today), so as always, I concentrated on my form. When I got to the 200's, I finally felt warmed up and limber and produced some decent times. Oh well, I'm slow in the pool from all the strength work, too, and I'm STILL not worried about it! 6 months until my first 2006 Ironman, no worries!

I had to go into downtown Chicago into the actual office today, which is in Sears Tower. I call it the Tower of Power. I like making mundane things festive. There's an exit off one of the interstates about 15 miles from my house that's called Army Trail Road, but I call it the Ho Chi Minh Trail. When I combine a bunch of errands to save time (and gasoline), I call it an odyssey. Years ago I even made up a little song about going on an odyssey. It's to the tune of some show tune, but for the life of me I don't know the name of it!

Anyway, on those days when I go to the Tower of Power, I have to drive to a parking garage, and then walk to the train station (about 1.5 blocks) from there. And I pack my gym stuff for my second workout. I would join the club in the TOP, but it's way too expensive to justify for me using it maybe twice a month. And then I would have to drag my workout stuff PLUS my laptop bag and other crap onto the train. So I do my second workout after work on those days.

It only got up to about 10 degrees here in Chicago today, so when I opened my gym back for my post-work run, everything in it was cold. I was happy the Gatorade was cold, but my HRM not so much. I was emitting screams every time I put something cold to my body!

5:46PM Run about 50'. My second workout was supposed to be an easy 50' run, including 10' of strides. Strides are where you practice good running form, but more importantly, good CADENCE, which is about 85-95 foot strikes per minute. If I'm counting, I just count my right foot strikes for 30" and double it. Funny how 85-95 is the same as good cadence on the bike. If your run cadence is about the same as your bike cadence, it makes running off the bike easier, DUH. At any rate, I've been doing stride work once a week for 2 years, so I no longer count my foot strikes regularly, I just always run at about 95-98 per minute. I usually do strides on Monday, to give me an "easy" day, regardless of what kind of swim workout I have.

When I got to the row of about 20 treadmills, they were all occupied. Too many of them with walkers, if you ask me. Reading their books. BARELY sweating. I wanted to just scream, "GET OFF I NEED TO DO AN ACTUAL WORKOUT" but that wouldn't have made me look too good. I only needed to run 25-30' on the treadmill and then I would finish up on the indoor track.

But nobody was getting off. So I thought, OK, I'll do the entire workout on the track. The thing is, no matter how tired I am, put me on a track and I will naturally want to run fast. I held myself back for the first mile, but I was still way ahead of the speed I should have been running at. And then I picked it up for the next mile, and even faster for the third mile. Oh well, we've degenerated this into a track workout. After 3 miles, I did 15' of stride work, and then ran another 1.5 miles (at the fastest pace yet) and called it a workout. I couldn't believe I had that in me after yesterday's long run and swim, a decent workout this morning, full day of work and all.

It just goes to show you, you never know what you have in you until you give it a whirl. Will I pay for what I did today tomorrow? Maybe. If so, I'll just dial down my bike workout. But something tells me I won't need to. I feel strangely really great right now. Legs feel fine, I'm not overly tired. And this was 4 straight days of quality running! What is wrong with me? Guess I'm getting a little excited about the Goofy madness in 4 weeks.

I better go stretch now just to make sure my legs stay supple.

Shelley McKee is Awesomely Awesome

I didn't participate in the Secret Santa thing on the tri-drs LISTSERV, but Shelley Santa'ed me anyway, with a sketch she did from a race photograph of me. If you want to see a smaller version, it's on her blog, http://ironm4n.blogspot.com/.

I just returned home from the gym after working out much harder than I was supposed to, after having swam early in the morning and gone downtown to work at the "Tower of Power" (Sears Tower) today. Hectic day, with the usual customers and sales guys in my face. So I was ready to come home, have a recovery drink (still haven't had it), get some dinner, stretch, and relax. I've done none of that yet!

So what a nice thing to come home to in my mailbox! It's from my bike photo from IMWI 2005, and it's going to be framed and hung in my family room so I can see it while I'm on the trainer.

I'm hoping to be able to show up at IMCDA next year to cheer for Shelley (anyone out there have a couch/bed/floor I can sleep on for 3 days???--oh and space for my bike which will come with so I can get some riding in), and we are both going to whoop it up at IMFL (check the participants list under both our names and you can see a piece of the antics we are already up to).

How do you thank someone for giving you the gift of time? Try to give it back. So, Shelley, in this "public" thank you, trust me, I'll find a way. Maybe it will be kicking your ass (well, mine, too) on some killer epic training weekend this winter or spring--you never know.

Thanks from the bottom of my heart!