Monday, September 26, 2011

19,600 meters

I did not ride my bike at all last week. I hope the week off will get the glute back on track. I did get a little swimming done. Mon - 4400m, Tue - 3700m, Thu 3000m, Fri - 4100m, Sun - 4400m = 19,600 meters for the week. When you have to cut out a sport, sometimes you have to compensate in the other 2.

I got a little running in too. I felt great on my second run yesterday, after I dropped Kona off. My pace sped up 30+ seconds. Nothing like having a dog slow you down.

Today I swam 4400m. I felt better than last week. I felt awesome during the warm-up. I swam 1800 straight and felt the piano on back as my pace slowed down 1 second per 100 every 400. After the long swim, I tried to pull a set 400s. My upper body was worthless. The muscles were smoked.

After work, I went out for an easy run. It is definitely fall. The winds were strong. I didn't discover that until I turned around. I thought I was running in place several times throughout the run.

Monday, September 19, 2011

The rain is back...

It has been nice the last couple month of no rain. It seems like the last workout I completed in the rain was back in May.

I swam 3.6k Friday morning. I felt great in the pool. The main set was lots of 25s and some longer pulling at the end. After work, I took the dogs out for an easy 35minute run. Later that evening I caught up a few shows I recorded during the week. I wonder if I have what it takes to play the game of Survivor.

I took the dogs for a walk Saturday morning before starting my ride. I felt a few drops of rain. I thought it was going to be a light sprinkle. It started to pour. I sat in my house and debated with myself to sit on the trainer or ride in the downpour. It was a hard decision. The rain started to let up, but previous experience told me it was only a teaser. Sure enough the downpour came back. I set up the trainer for 2.5 hour ride. I threw in a couple of intervals of Olympic/70.3 effort. The goal was 3. I felt a twinge in the hamstring halfway through the second, so I spun easy after completing the second interval. I quickly jumped out for a very short brick run. Of course the rain stopped and the roads dried halfway into the workout. It actually stopped raining for the next several hours.

Sunday morning I heard the rain making puddles outside. I don't mind running in the rain as much as cycling. I took the dogs out for an easy 40 minute run. I felt good. My glute area was tight at the start, but loosened after a few minutes. I averaged 7:38s. After a few hours of chilling, I went to the pool to knock out 4.4k. I felt great in the pool. My average speed was better and more consistent than last time. I scarfed down a chocolate milk and bagel with cream cheese. I took Kona for the last workout of the day. It was very humid at 4:30PM. I dropped Kona off after 30 minutes. She was slowing me down. I chose a hilly route and averaged 7:47s.

This morning I swam another 4.4k. It has been 10+ years since I have put in 8800 meters in 2 days. I didn't have anything today from the start to the end. I ended up pulling an 1800 straight and 3x400s. After work and a nap, I took the dogs out for a very easy 30 minute run. It was nice to have the sun back. Fina wasn't as happy. She kept the pace down. We finished with 8:29s.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

10 minute...

Yesterday my glute felt great. I ran 6.6 miles after work. I had two 5 minute builds. I decided to do it as 2', 1.5', 1', .5'. My pacing ended up as 6:55, 6:25, 5:55, 5:30 respectively. I was surprised because I went off of perceived effort. I didn't use my watch.

My glute was feeling okay today. I swam an easy 1.8k this morning. After work I headed out for a tough workout. It started with several hard 30" efforts with 1 minute rest between. My average was 5% higher than Tuesday. I spun easy for 8 minutes then rode 10 minutes hard. I might have started a little too aggressive. It did not help starting at the bottom of a hill. It was my highest 10 minute power output of the season. I was going to another one, but my hamstring started to feel weird after 1 minute. I cruised the rest of the ride. I averaged 21.5mph for the ride.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

joys of training

Saturday I went out for a 4 hour ride. I was supposed to do 5 repeats with Olympic and 70.3 efforts. I fell short on the first 3. I decided to cruise the rest of the workout because my glute was bothering me. The last hour of riding was hard and slow. I was zapped at the end of the workout.

I went out early for a short 40 minute run Sunday morning. I ran with Chip and his dog, Forest. After a few hours of relaxing, I headed to the lake for 2 miles of open water swimming. No stops, all continuous. I was glad to have a wetsuit on. My face was warm when out of the water, but nice and cool in the water. After a nap, I went out for another 40 minute run. I felt much better even though it was much warmer.

Monday's swim was tough. I didn't feel great. The main set was 2x (3x400 on 6:00 + 4x50 easy on 1:00). It was a struggle. I swam the first one then pulled the next 2. I finished with 3.8k. After work I took the dogs out for an easy 30 minute run. Fina did not want to run. At about the halfway point, she stopped and waited for Kona and me to run 2 minutes out and back.

I swam 3.4k this morning. I wasn't sure how the workout would feel based on the last couple days. It was the best set I have done. The main set was 10x100 on 1:25. I averaged 1:17/1:18. My previous best was earlier this year back in January. I did them on 1:30 and averaged 1:18.5. I felt strong on the entire set. I improved my speed and dropped 5 seconds of rest. After work I headed out for lots of 30" hard intervals. I felt so much better today. I still had a few twinges in my glute. SO FRUSTRATING. I ended up averaging 21.3mph for the workout.

The weekend was filled with lows. Then out of no where I kill a swim set. It seems like the carrot is always dangling out in front and every once in awhile you catch it. The joys of training.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Manual labor sucks

The last few days I have been moving big items around at work. This morning I woke up to sore hamstrings and lower back. It did not affect my swim at all. I managed 3.6k in the pool. I felt great on the first round of fast 25s. The second was a little more difficult. The last six my strokes shortened due to muscle failure. After some more manual labor I took a short nap. I headed out for an easy 35 minute run with several accelerations in low to mid 80s. No glute issues what so ever. It is kind of weird that I felt this way last Friday as well. I am hoping to be 100% very soon.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Legs have been tired

My legs were tired Tuesday. I got up early and ran before work. By the time I warmed up the run was over. I snuck in 3.2k of swimming in a 69.5 degree pool. BRRR!!! I was supposed to do 10x100 on short rest. I tried to do them on 1:25. I made 4 and just missed #5. I decided to pull 3x500 with short rest. Sometimes the pull buoy is a life saver. I descended them down to under 7 minutes. It took me the next few hours to warm up. I usually run the A/C all day when home. I didn't turn it on until after 2 hours. I went out for another run before dinner. I felt much better, even in the 80ish degree heat.

My longest swim of the year was Wednesday, 4.4k. The main set was 250s broken on short rest and descending the effort. I felt much better in the water compared to Tuesday and was able to maintain speed for the set. I took the dogs for an easy 35 minute run around 6PM. I felt pretty good except for a few twangs in my glute.

This morning I hopped in the pool for an easy 2k. I felt strong. After work I went out for a 34 mile ride. I started with several hard 30 second efforts with 1 minute between. I felt okay during that set. My glute wasn't bothering me much. I tried to do a couple of 10 minute efforts at threshold. I didn't even come close on my first one. Since my glute was acting up, I decided to call the workout and ride back easy. I just didn't have it today.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Labor Day Weekend

It was sunny and 65 at the start of the ride on Saturday. Several people showed up for the morning ride. It was the first time I rode with Chip all summer. We decided to push the pace and test each other for the sprint line. I had pulled 70% of the 6.5 miles. I was stuck out in front with 0.5 mile to the line. I knew the only way I would get him at this point was to slowly increase the speed. He came around with 200m to go and we were both at max speed. He edged me by a nose. I would get my revenge later at the next sprint line. He was pulling the last mile. I came around with 100m to go and went by him. After riding the 50 mile loop, we decided to ride to Chambers creek and back to finish up the day. I finished with 74miles at 21.1mph.

Yesterday morning I went out for an easy 25 minute run in the morning. Ninety minutes later I was at the pool swimming an easy 2k. After a few errands and a nap, I ran an easy 35 minutes.

I was up early this morning to ride with Chip and Elizabeth. I had to wear arm warmers and gloves because it was in the upper 40s. It was a chill ride. I made a deal with Elizabeth to ride Pot Hill road. It was the first time I have been on that strip in 2 years. The road has deteriorated significantly. I was cruising downhill and saw a pot hole at the last minute. I hit the brakes and tried to avoid it. My rear wheel locked. I started skidding. I tried to get the bike under control, but ended up going down in some soft brush. I checked out me bike and saw the rear wheel had come off. I was lucky to figure this out and have a soft crash. On the downhill decent back home, I accidentally ran over a twig. It hit Elizabeth in the ankle. The rest of the ride was injury free.

After ninety minutes of chilling at home, I went out for another ride. I kept it very very easy. I ended the day with over 4 hours of riding. It was a beautiful day in the northwest.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

testing the glute

Tuesday - I went out on the bike to test the glute. It was feeling good. I mentally prepared to do a 20 minute hard effort near the ranges. I was feeling strong. That is until my sunglasses fell off my helmet. I stopped the interval to turn around and pick up them up. I was averaging 25.6mph. I rode easy for several minutes and tried again. I did not feel as good on the second attempt. It was my best 20' for the year so far, averaging 24mph. I grabbed the dogs for an easy 30 minute run immediately after.

I swam 4.2k Wednesday morning. The main set was tough 10x (75 on 1:05 + 50 on :45 + 25 on :35). The goal was to descend effort on each distance. I averaged 1:00, 39.5, 18.5. I finished up with 3x500 pull descend. I lost count on #2, so I took a 50 off the last one. After work, I headed to the track with my athletes. I wanted to try and test the glute with a little bit of speed. The glute felt okay, not great. The workout totaled 4 miles.

Thursday, I swam an easy 2k before lunch. After a busy day at work and a 90 minute nap, I went out for a ride. I started the workout with 10x30 second build-ups then into 10 minute efforts at threshold. The first one did not feel as good as the ride on Tuesday. I averaged 25.6mph. My glute wasn't hurting. I had a few weird twangs, so I decided not to do another effort and rode home. I averaged 21.3mph for the ride.

Yesterday I headed to the pool at lunch. I felt strong on the 25s. The main set was lots of 25s followed by even more 25s. They were all fast. The first set felt much easier than the second set. You think that swimming 25s with almost double the rest to work would be enough. Not on the last half of the workout. I was breathing hard. I kept all the 25s at 16 seconds. I finished with 2.6k in just under an hour. After work, I grabbed the dogs for an easy 35minute run. It was sunny and mid to upper 70s. The dogs had their tongues hanging out and dragging on the ground after a few minutes of running. I let them run off leash for 20 minutes. I put them back on for the last bit home. Fina was tired. My pace slowed down considerably in the last mile home. Finally a workout without any kind of twinges or twangs. I showered up and headed to physical therapy. My flexibility has improved dramatically from the previous week.