Another beautiful day in paradise.
I have long envied other bike riders. Their feet go round and round and they go forward. Some of them fast, some of them very fast. *MY* feet go round and round, and I sort of go forward. Slowly. I've been working on the round and round for several years now. Some times are better than others. I get passed a lot, today included.
I've had the swimming groove. Often. It's easier to keep going than stop. The bottom slides by without apparent effort. The ends of the pool appear suddenly and it's time for another flip turn. There is no thinking about stroke, breathing, pace, or anything. The water is friendly, sliding past your body easily, gripping your hands, supporting you evenly. There is real regret to getting out of the pool to do whatever is next for the day. Swims like this make me want to go to the exorbitant expense of owning a house with a 25 m pool in the basement, where part of it is open to the outdoors via a sliding roof, surrounded by a nice patio. I would probably swim 3 or 4 K every day. I would let my friends swim there.
I've had it running. A few times, even, which never ceases to astonish me because I've never really thought of myself as a runner. I hadn't run since high school, which for many of you was back in the dark ages. Let's just put it this way. 8 track tapes were not only viable, but popular. Cassette tape was viewed with suspicion. CB radios were huge. When I started running I was very very big. I worried about my knees and took it carefully. It was slow, but I expected that. I'd heard about runners high and didn't believe it. I still don't.
But what has happened several times is that I found a groove. I'd be "running" (long time readers know why I use that phrase cautiously) and suddenly I wasn't thinking about it. My body was doing it's thing. I could feel everything working together, and all of it going together. It's not that the running felt effortless, but it felt in tune. My stride length, stride cadence, pace, arm movements, my core, my posture, my heart rate, my breathing, all of it was working together naturally. It doesn't last long. The problem is that I start to think about it, or something changes, and the spell is broken. Don't mistake me, there aren't many people that would think I was running fast during that time. But for a few moments I found a sweet spot, and it was great. This has even happened, very briefly, since changing my stride turnover a little while ago.
Before today I had never, ever had it on my bike. I've had lots of fun, and many great rides on my bike. I get some astonishing scenery during my rides, and it's always different as the weather changes. But I'm always working, always thinking about something, mainly trying to spin. I'm dealing with eating or drinking, or shifting around trying to keep my fingers and hands from going numb. I seem to notice every sore or tired muscle in my legs, on almost every ride. Lots of rides I'm never quite comfortable, shifting around on the saddle. I had a bike fit, and have been meaning to go in again. I'm thinking about my pace. It's been hot, or cold, or windy, or worse. I'm always thinking about traffic and road conditions, even when I'm on 22X and 22 where there is essentially a full lane for us cyclists. (Which is a good thing today, more about that later.)
But today, on highway 22, just south of 22X, I suddenly realized I'd been in the groove. I was a smooth 87 rpm, and my effort was just right for the speed I was going. I wasn't thinking about spinning or anything else. I felt comfortable. Of course, as soon as I realized it, the spell was over. But it will happen again, I'm sure of it. I hope.
Friday was another huge thunderstorm. There was no way I was going out. If I'd been ambitious I'd have got out of bed when I woke up and gone for a swim. But I didn't. I didn't even go downstairs for a core session. I'm pretty sure wine was involved. I'm reading a new series that a buddy recommended, What Angels Fear, by C. S. Harris. Sort of a Regency murder mystery. Pretty good!
Saturday the major effort was cleaning the BBQ. We use it quite a bit. Normally I give it a cleaning every time I refill the tank, but I missed last time. I'm sure it was something to do with that day being frigging cold! But it's filthy now. Linda found these great e-cloths. There's different kinds of them for different purposes, and one of them is for cleaning BBQs. I was dubious, but willing to have a go. If I'd been on the ball I'd have made a video of it. Usually this task takes much scraping, lots of windex or something similar, a mile of paper towel, and the better part of forever. Get the cloth wet, swab, and a shiny outside happens. Fast. Rinse and swab. Scrap out the bottom using a putty blade, and scrape the guck off the bottom of the grill and it was all over. Well, some cloth rinsing with dishsoap, and washing my own hands after. But it's clean and in record time. BBQ rack of lamb tonight. Every athlete should have this, since all that extra time can go to training!
I was up and getting ready fairly early today. It's perfect out. I started easy, and still made it to 22x and 22 in 20 and 42 minutes respectively. I'd been thinking about distance and time, since I still have my suspicions about what biking does to my knee. After I turned south on 22, I found my groove for a while. I saw only a few other people on bikes. I guess they're all up in Sylvan getting their tails kicked by Jenn.
On the way back paying attention to traffic paid off. Geez Alberta drivers can be dicks! One guy pulling a trailer heading south moves over to the right a little bit. A small car goes to pass, and a big pickup right on his ass hits the horn, and then pulls over yet another lane to pass him! Which puts him partly into my bike lane on the opposite shoulder of the road. One a one lane each way road, you don't often see 3 vehicles coming at you at once. I nearly crapped and started looking at the ditch to see how bad bailing out was going to be. Then Mr Aggressive backed down and tucked in behind the car. I guess oncoming traffic appeared, because he sure didn't care about me. Just another reminder to everyone to ride carefully, and wear your Road ID.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. I turned around at 1:15, and 32 and a bit K, and was home again in 2:27 or so. I wasn't trying for a fast ride. Normally I'd do a long run today, so I was trying to keep my effort under control, but being strong(er) up the hills. This seems to be working. Right off the bike I went out for a run.
Now I noticed the heat. It had been about 15 C (59 F) with a light breeze when I started the bike, which is perfect. By the end of the ride it was 22 C or so (72 F) which is still nice, especially with the breeze. But during the run I sure felt the heat more. I hadn't been able to drink or eat a lot on the bike. My normally reliable energy drink was gack today, making me feel more thirsty, not less. I'm not sure why. During the run I took a bottle with some Nuun in it, and that really seemed to help.
This is my first brick in a while, and my legs were kind of tottery at first, then settled down to ok. What wasn't so ok was my heart rate. Even a slower than normal run was putting my heart rate up to 140 bpm, and I could feel my lungs tightening up. I could have kept running, but I wasn't out to suffer. I walked, and within a minute my heart rate was back down to about 125, so I started running again. I did this a couple more times and called it about the 30 minute mark. I walked to cool down.
I've stretched a bit, and will stretch more. I can really feel my quads, IT bands, hams, and glutes. Everything feels tight, so I'll do what I can to loosen things up. I miss my massage therapist.
Weekly Summary
Bike 3.25 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Total 4.25 hrs.
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Showing posts with label weekly summary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekly summary. Show all posts
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The new recruits
Here they are. It was a bit tricky taking the picture, since the label for the red is a bright copper, and the camera insisted on brightening up the white. I had to play with the settings a bit. They are an Italian Primitivo and an Italian Piazza. They are both yummy right out of the carboy, so I anticipate they will be superb in a year. This is why I like to have lots of wine on hand, to let things sit and gradually age to perfection. Technically, I could have bottled these a month ago, but I'm glad I waited.
We had a book club meeting for lunchtime so I was up early to run. I've been at 90 minutes for my long slow run of the week for a few weeks now. I want to get comfortable with my new, quicker stride for that time before I push it longer. I'm still feeling the effects of that hard run earlier in the week, so I did a really good warm up of stretching and walking up to the berm.
My knee has been just the littlest bit cranky about the whole thing, so I've babied it a bit this week. But that's a measure of how much stronger it is, that running as fast as I possibly can didn't bother it too much. I think I was trying to stretch out my stride too much, and was running on my heels a little bit. Since biking annoyed my knees before, I figure that not biking will help them recover.
From there I ran around Woodbine. It's a little over 8K, and it took almost exactly an hour, nice and easy, in control of my breathing, and running so as to let my heart rate drop after the hills. It was pretty clear I wasn't up to another lap so I ran through the neighbourhood to get to 90 minutes. About 11.5 K altogether. It started off warm, and was getting into hot by the time I was done.
It took a long time to get comfortable, and there was some really clunky running from about 50 minutes to 1:05, and from about 80 minutes to the end was all about not tripping over my feet. Part of the problem is that running to keep my heart rate down feels really slow, and it's hard when you're trying to keep the cadence up. Of course, when I was counting I was running better, up around 88 to 90 steps per minute, but I suspect I was a bit slower some of the time.
I've been thinking of checking one of those cadence timers, where you set a cadence, and it ticks in your ear to help you keep in time. Has anyone used one of those? Any feedback about it?
Weekly Summary
Run 2.75 hrs
No bike or swim.
We had a book club meeting for lunchtime so I was up early to run. I've been at 90 minutes for my long slow run of the week for a few weeks now. I want to get comfortable with my new, quicker stride for that time before I push it longer. I'm still feeling the effects of that hard run earlier in the week, so I did a really good warm up of stretching and walking up to the berm.
My knee has been just the littlest bit cranky about the whole thing, so I've babied it a bit this week. But that's a measure of how much stronger it is, that running as fast as I possibly can didn't bother it too much. I think I was trying to stretch out my stride too much, and was running on my heels a little bit. Since biking annoyed my knees before, I figure that not biking will help them recover.
From there I ran around Woodbine. It's a little over 8K, and it took almost exactly an hour, nice and easy, in control of my breathing, and running so as to let my heart rate drop after the hills. It was pretty clear I wasn't up to another lap so I ran through the neighbourhood to get to 90 minutes. About 11.5 K altogether. It started off warm, and was getting into hot by the time I was done.
It took a long time to get comfortable, and there was some really clunky running from about 50 minutes to 1:05, and from about 80 minutes to the end was all about not tripping over my feet. Part of the problem is that running to keep my heart rate down feels really slow, and it's hard when you're trying to keep the cadence up. Of course, when I was counting I was running better, up around 88 to 90 steps per minute, but I suspect I was a bit slower some of the time.
I've been thinking of checking one of those cadence timers, where you set a cadence, and it ticks in your ear to help you keep in time. Has anyone used one of those? Any feedback about it?
Weekly Summary
Run 2.75 hrs
No bike or swim.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
I missed the rain by THAT much
We've had great weather here, and it's wonderful to be outside in it. I didn't use to deal well with the heat, and I still struggle with it. Now, I suppose I need to clarify "heat". To me, somewhere around 15 to 20 C (59 to 68 F)is the perfect temperature for summer outdoor activities. Warm enough, but not too hot. I used to think that over 20 was hot for strenuous outdoor activity. My run especially suffered. It's like my head was in an oven and I couldn't get air in or out of my lungs.
Since I started being more active I've been cautiously trying to get better at dealing with heat. I have no problem at all going out in -30 C (-22 F) to run, but for some strange reason nobody does triathlon then. So running in somewhat cold weather maintains fitness, but doesn't particularly help to learn to run when it's hot out.
Humidity is an issue as well for me, since Calgary has essentially no humidity. A buddy of mine from Phoenix thought Calgary was hot and dry. It wasn't particularly, it just felt that way because of the dryness. So running in humidity gets to me as well.
The only thing to be done, aside from setting up a treadmill in a sauna, is to run during the hottest part of the day here, on the few days when it's hot. Which I did today. Another beautiful day, sunny and clear, about 23 C (73 F). By Calgary standards that's verging on hot, but I know several of my readers would think I'm a wimp for saying so.
After spraying on a good layer of sunscreen I set out down into Fish Creek. The plan was to try to maintain the higher run cadence, and run for 1.5 hours. After about 30 minutes I started feeling the heat. About 40 minutes my cadence was starting to fade a bit. I walked for a minute and a half at the 49 minute turnaround mark to inhale a Gu and get a bit of water into me. There was no need to juggle those things while trying to maintain a new stride. This was just by the ponds south of the golf course, just east of bridge 7. I guess that Jarrett, Nicole, Neil, and Darryl are the only people that know where I mean, but that's ok.
I got another 10 good minutes in, then it became a bit of a struggle. I was still trying to move my feet but it was feeling more like a shuffle. The 24 St hill out of the park was a bit of an ordeal. The only amusement was watching a driver abort, retry, and panic while driving into the park. He drove in, started to do a 3 point turn, then backed up out of the park, drove in a circle in the little turnaround area, and headed back into the park, then stopped again just after he passed me. I have no idea why.
My heart rate peaked at 151 bpm coming out of the park, and only settled back to the mid 140's afterward, even though I was trying to run slowly, but keep the cadence up. At least it came down a bit. Last hot weather run, during Calgary 70.3 it didn't come down until I walked. The average over the whole run was 135 bpm.
Toward the end of the run it had clouded over and the breeze picked up. That felt very nice. Then the wind really picked up and started blowing dust around. Here I went from being all sweaty, to having the sweat absorbed by dust in a few minutes. I looked gross. I got back to the house and walked for 5 minutes nice and easy. My heart rate came down 31 bpm in the minute after stopping running.
I stretched a bit outside, then by the time I got downstairs to get my feet up, it started raining fairly hard. Now, a few hours later, the clouds have blown away, and it's a beautiful sunny day again.
I feel great about the run! My cadence wasn't quite where I'd have liked it to be, but I'm still a bit tired from the last few days of bike and run. Plus I'm happy that I wasn't forced to walk in the heat. I think even last year I'd have walked. I had a few knee twinges, but nothing serious.
Weekly Summary
Bike 3.5 hrs
Run 3.25 hrs
Taming the Jungle 1.0 hrs
Total Cardio 7.75 hrs.
Plus there is some core and stretching and stuff, but I'm not really keeping track of that.
Since I started being more active I've been cautiously trying to get better at dealing with heat. I have no problem at all going out in -30 C (-22 F) to run, but for some strange reason nobody does triathlon then. So running in somewhat cold weather maintains fitness, but doesn't particularly help to learn to run when it's hot out.
Humidity is an issue as well for me, since Calgary has essentially no humidity. A buddy of mine from Phoenix thought Calgary was hot and dry. It wasn't particularly, it just felt that way because of the dryness. So running in humidity gets to me as well.
The only thing to be done, aside from setting up a treadmill in a sauna, is to run during the hottest part of the day here, on the few days when it's hot. Which I did today. Another beautiful day, sunny and clear, about 23 C (73 F). By Calgary standards that's verging on hot, but I know several of my readers would think I'm a wimp for saying so.
After spraying on a good layer of sunscreen I set out down into Fish Creek. The plan was to try to maintain the higher run cadence, and run for 1.5 hours. After about 30 minutes I started feeling the heat. About 40 minutes my cadence was starting to fade a bit. I walked for a minute and a half at the 49 minute turnaround mark to inhale a Gu and get a bit of water into me. There was no need to juggle those things while trying to maintain a new stride. This was just by the ponds south of the golf course, just east of bridge 7. I guess that Jarrett, Nicole, Neil, and Darryl are the only people that know where I mean, but that's ok.
I got another 10 good minutes in, then it became a bit of a struggle. I was still trying to move my feet but it was feeling more like a shuffle. The 24 St hill out of the park was a bit of an ordeal. The only amusement was watching a driver abort, retry, and panic while driving into the park. He drove in, started to do a 3 point turn, then backed up out of the park, drove in a circle in the little turnaround area, and headed back into the park, then stopped again just after he passed me. I have no idea why.
My heart rate peaked at 151 bpm coming out of the park, and only settled back to the mid 140's afterward, even though I was trying to run slowly, but keep the cadence up. At least it came down a bit. Last hot weather run, during Calgary 70.3 it didn't come down until I walked. The average over the whole run was 135 bpm.
Toward the end of the run it had clouded over and the breeze picked up. That felt very nice. Then the wind really picked up and started blowing dust around. Here I went from being all sweaty, to having the sweat absorbed by dust in a few minutes. I looked gross. I got back to the house and walked for 5 minutes nice and easy. My heart rate came down 31 bpm in the minute after stopping running.
I stretched a bit outside, then by the time I got downstairs to get my feet up, it started raining fairly hard. Now, a few hours later, the clouds have blown away, and it's a beautiful sunny day again.
I feel great about the run! My cadence wasn't quite where I'd have liked it to be, but I'm still a bit tired from the last few days of bike and run. Plus I'm happy that I wasn't forced to walk in the heat. I think even last year I'd have walked. I had a few knee twinges, but nothing serious.
Weekly Summary
Bike 3.5 hrs
Run 3.25 hrs
Taming the Jungle 1.0 hrs
Total Cardio 7.75 hrs.
Plus there is some core and stretching and stuff, but I'm not really keeping track of that.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Not going to bike in this wind
Friday and Saturday I was locked up in a small room for most of the day. The chairs weren't particularly comfortable, so I sat in the back row and stretched a bit a few times to keep from locking up altogether.
Stretched 30 minutes today, after a leisurely coffee and paper read. I find that listening to the CBC podcasts of The Current is a good way to ensure I keep at it, without having to worry about the time. Some interesting stuff there.
My back has been continuing to improve, which makes me very happy. Today's run was 1 hour, nice and easy, concentrating on good posture and running easily. I think I'm finally getting used to these shoes. My legs wanted to run faster than my lungs and heart were willing to work. I was trying to stay at the top of zone 2, but my heart rate was consistently into zone 3 by about 5 bpm. My breathing was relaxed and no back pain involved at all! You have no idea how good that feels! When I tried to slow down to get my heart rate down, my run stride went all to crap. My heart and lungs need to start getting back on the cardio build program.
It was a cool and windy day for a run, and it would have miserable on the bike.
Weekly Summary
Run 2 hrs.
Core/stretching 2.5 hrs
Stretched 30 minutes today, after a leisurely coffee and paper read. I find that listening to the CBC podcasts of The Current is a good way to ensure I keep at it, without having to worry about the time. Some interesting stuff there.
My back has been continuing to improve, which makes me very happy. Today's run was 1 hour, nice and easy, concentrating on good posture and running easily. I think I'm finally getting used to these shoes. My legs wanted to run faster than my lungs and heart were willing to work. I was trying to stay at the top of zone 2, but my heart rate was consistently into zone 3 by about 5 bpm. My breathing was relaxed and no back pain involved at all! You have no idea how good that feels! When I tried to slow down to get my heart rate down, my run stride went all to crap. My heart and lungs need to start getting back on the cardio build program.
It was a cool and windy day for a run, and it would have miserable on the bike.
Weekly Summary
Run 2 hrs.
Core/stretching 2.5 hrs
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Linda's tennis "ball"
It looks like a tennis ball, doesn't it?
Well, when you look closely the seams are poorly done so I just assumed it was a made in China cheap knock off. It even feels like a tennis ball, unless you try to squeeze it. It's as hard as a rock. Nobody could squeeze it at all, not even a little bit. Worst of all, it doesn't bounce like a tennis ball.
Weekly Summary
Swim .5 (painful) hrs
Bike 0 hrs. Nope, none at all.
Run 2.0 hrs
Core 2 hours.
Well, when you look closely the seams are poorly done so I just assumed it was a made in China cheap knock off. It even feels like a tennis ball, unless you try to squeeze it. It's as hard as a rock. Nobody could squeeze it at all, not even a little bit. Worst of all, it doesn't bounce like a tennis ball.
Still, it works perfectly for the intended purpose, which is to roll against sore muscles. There are lots of sore muscles around. I won't get into it, but they do seem to be getting better.
Only a few of my readers will recognize our guests, but they are famous, in some ways. We had a great time with them visiting. Lots and lots of wine! To say nothing of amazing meals. We got in a very nice run Sunday morning, up to the reservoir and back, just over 1 hour running nice and easy, chatting all the way. Beautiful weather. If I'd been ambitious, I should have gone for a bike ride after they left. Running felt good, and helped relax the tight muscles in my back.
I've got a new wine kit started, an Italian Primitivo.
Weekly Summary
Swim .5 (painful) hrs
Bike 0 hrs. Nope, none at all.
Run 2.0 hrs
Core 2 hours.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
First ride of 2011 outside
It's so nice today! I think it's the first really nice day of the year. Which makes going for the first ride of the year the perfect thing to do.
I got the orange trainer tire off no problem and was careful about getting a road tire on. All the other preparations went well, making my energy drink, fixing the brakes, getting the other bottle cages on the bike again, finding the saddlebag with the spare tubes, finding the sunscreen (yes it's that sunny) and a few other things. By ten am I was ready to go and didn't really want to wait anymore. I'd been waiting long enough. I suppose I should have worn the arm warmers I dig out of the pack of triathlon stuff. I was just a bit cool during most of the ride.
Even after I started I didn't have any idea which ride I was going to do or how long I'd be out for. There was a stiff breeze on 22x so I decided to go down Road to Nepal. While I love that ride I wasn't sure it's a good one for a first ride. Most of my readers will know it's a tough hilly ride and one never knows how trainer fitness will translate to the road. I was thinking it might be a bit much for my knee. In the end I figured I could always dial back on the effort and in the worst case call Linda to come and get me.
The first couple hills were ok, but while going up that really long one just after the road turns south my knee started to complain. It wasn't painful, more like a strong ache at one point just when my foot starts descending. I'd been trying to keep the cadence up, but it felt like this was just a bit too much effort, or would be if I pushed for too long.
I turned around and took a bit of a scenic ride home. I didn't push so much on the hills and my knee felt ok, but not so much better that I wanted to extend the ride any great amount. I ended up riding 1.75 hrs for 38Km. Ok for a first ride of the year, I suppose, especially considering how little time I spent on the bike over the winter. But it's not an encouraging start for a half IM in 8 weeks. I'm seriously considering not doing any tri races this year to avoid stressing my knee. Maybe I'll see if I can find a team that's looking for a swimmer.
After a short transition I ran 15 minutes, mainly to see what my legs would think. It wasn't bad, but not good either. I was feeling a bit heavy footed.
Weekly Summary
Swim 3.75 hrs
Bike 3.0 hrs
Run .75
Total 7.0 hrs
Cor 2.5 hrs
I got the orange trainer tire off no problem and was careful about getting a road tire on. All the other preparations went well, making my energy drink, fixing the brakes, getting the other bottle cages on the bike again, finding the saddlebag with the spare tubes, finding the sunscreen (yes it's that sunny) and a few other things. By ten am I was ready to go and didn't really want to wait anymore. I'd been waiting long enough. I suppose I should have worn the arm warmers I dig out of the pack of triathlon stuff. I was just a bit cool during most of the ride.
Even after I started I didn't have any idea which ride I was going to do or how long I'd be out for. There was a stiff breeze on 22x so I decided to go down Road to Nepal. While I love that ride I wasn't sure it's a good one for a first ride. Most of my readers will know it's a tough hilly ride and one never knows how trainer fitness will translate to the road. I was thinking it might be a bit much for my knee. In the end I figured I could always dial back on the effort and in the worst case call Linda to come and get me.
The first couple hills were ok, but while going up that really long one just after the road turns south my knee started to complain. It wasn't painful, more like a strong ache at one point just when my foot starts descending. I'd been trying to keep the cadence up, but it felt like this was just a bit too much effort, or would be if I pushed for too long.
I turned around and took a bit of a scenic ride home. I didn't push so much on the hills and my knee felt ok, but not so much better that I wanted to extend the ride any great amount. I ended up riding 1.75 hrs for 38Km. Ok for a first ride of the year, I suppose, especially considering how little time I spent on the bike over the winter. But it's not an encouraging start for a half IM in 8 weeks. I'm seriously considering not doing any tri races this year to avoid stressing my knee. Maybe I'll see if I can find a team that's looking for a swimmer.
After a short transition I ran 15 minutes, mainly to see what my legs would think. It wasn't bad, but not good either. I was feeling a bit heavy footed.
Weekly Summary
Swim 3.75 hrs
Bike 3.0 hrs
Run .75
Total 7.0 hrs
Cor 2.5 hrs
Sunday, March 27, 2011
I was bad last night
Very bad. We got the complete second season of Leverage out of the library. It's a delightful show about a group of 5 con artists who try to correct the wrongs done by the rich and powerful. The interaction between the characters is great, the stories are mostly pretty good, and it's all quite well done.
The being bad part was watching the first two discs last night, while drinking a bottle of wine, while eating a whole sleeve of stone wheat crackers with Jalepeno Havarti cheese. All of those go together really well, as long as Amelia the cat can be kept out of the crackers. I went to bed about 2:30, which is very, very late for me.
It was snowing hard when I went to bed, and by the time I got up there was more than a cm of snow. And foggy. The roads did not look like any fun at all.
Eventually I got on my bike. Even though I think yesterday's run was the furthest I've run at once since IMC last fall, my legs felt pretty good. They weren't even unhappy about getting on the bike. It only took about 15 minutes to warm up. From there I settled into 90 rpm in the second biggest gear on the big ring for 25 minutes. My breathing was good, heart rate was mid 120's, but I was sweating like a stuck pig. It felt good. My knee felt good. Then a few minutes easy, then 5 in the next harder gear. Then a few minutes easy, and 5 in the next harder gear, done 2 sit, 1 stand, 2 sit. The rpm's were dropping a bit, but my knee felt strong. After that I did a bit of easy spin, and some drill spin where I focussed on one leg at a time, and some spin ups. I did a bit more of a cool down than I normally would if I were going for a run.
The sidewalks and streets weren't terribly good so I ran very carefully, and essentially stopped as soon as my legs had come around. Which didn't take very long, 15 minutes tops. They feel really good now.
Weekly Summary
Swim 2.0 hrs
Bike 2.0 hrs
Run 1.5 hrs
Total Cardio 5.5 hrs
Core 2.5 hrs
The being bad part was watching the first two discs last night, while drinking a bottle of wine, while eating a whole sleeve of stone wheat crackers with Jalepeno Havarti cheese. All of those go together really well, as long as Amelia the cat can be kept out of the crackers. I went to bed about 2:30, which is very, very late for me.
It was snowing hard when I went to bed, and by the time I got up there was more than a cm of snow. And foggy. The roads did not look like any fun at all.
Eventually I got on my bike. Even though I think yesterday's run was the furthest I've run at once since IMC last fall, my legs felt pretty good. They weren't even unhappy about getting on the bike. It only took about 15 minutes to warm up. From there I settled into 90 rpm in the second biggest gear on the big ring for 25 minutes. My breathing was good, heart rate was mid 120's, but I was sweating like a stuck pig. It felt good. My knee felt good. Then a few minutes easy, then 5 in the next harder gear. Then a few minutes easy, and 5 in the next harder gear, done 2 sit, 1 stand, 2 sit. The rpm's were dropping a bit, but my knee felt strong. After that I did a bit of easy spin, and some drill spin where I focussed on one leg at a time, and some spin ups. I did a bit more of a cool down than I normally would if I were going for a run.
The sidewalks and streets weren't terribly good so I ran very carefully, and essentially stopped as soon as my legs had come around. Which didn't take very long, 15 minutes tops. They feel really good now.
Weekly Summary
Swim 2.0 hrs
Bike 2.0 hrs
Run 1.5 hrs
Total Cardio 5.5 hrs
Core 2.5 hrs
Sunday, March 20, 2011
No KBRCC today, but it's not what you think
We were supposed to get some snow but it never happened. Only a cm or so, which is trivial. Not even worth noticing. Except that is just enough to hide the ice, as opposed to any other flat spot, which makes for nervous running.
Bike was good. Maxed out at about 110 rpm, but felt stronger when going slower than that. Spent lots of time around 90 rpm, trying to spin smooth. Pushed some harder gears as well, especially from the one hour to 1.5 hour mark. I was even standing for a bit. I had a really good sweat going for that portion. After that I started getting some twinges in my knee so I backed off a bit. Ended up being on the bike 2.25 hrs, most of it feeling pretty strong. Stretched after.
No run for me. Only about half the people ran. Not sure if it's prudence or just part of their plan.
No core either, since the Tri-It people were going to be doing inventory and needed us out early. That just completely and totally broke my heart.
No cupcakes either, but we had brownies instead. Not quite like other brownies you've had. Very, very moist, very fudgey.
It's really nice out now, warm and sunny. If I was ambitious I'd run now, except I have other stuff to do. Yeah, that's it, other stuff to do.
Weekly Summary
Swim 1.0 hrs
Bike 3.0 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Total Cardio 5.0 hrs
Core 2.5 hrs
Bike was good. Maxed out at about 110 rpm, but felt stronger when going slower than that. Spent lots of time around 90 rpm, trying to spin smooth. Pushed some harder gears as well, especially from the one hour to 1.5 hour mark. I was even standing for a bit. I had a really good sweat going for that portion. After that I started getting some twinges in my knee so I backed off a bit. Ended up being on the bike 2.25 hrs, most of it feeling pretty strong. Stretched after.
No run for me. Only about half the people ran. Not sure if it's prudence or just part of their plan.
No core either, since the Tri-It people were going to be doing inventory and needed us out early. That just completely and totally broke my heart.
No cupcakes either, but we had brownies instead. Not quite like other brownies you've had. Very, very moist, very fudgey.
It's really nice out now, warm and sunny. If I was ambitious I'd run now, except I have other stuff to do. Yeah, that's it, other stuff to do.
Weekly Summary
Swim 1.0 hrs
Bike 3.0 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Total Cardio 5.0 hrs
Core 2.5 hrs
Sunday, March 13, 2011
First KBRCC in a while
I fear Katie thinks I'm going soft or that I don't love her anymore. I haven't been to one of her classes since late last year. But it's not her, it's me, or rather, my knee. Until very, very recently going to her class would just be a waste of money and time since I wouldn't be doing any of it. Well, except for eating the cupcakes after, if I lived through it.
But my knee has been slowly getting better in a two steps forward, half step back, one step sideways sort of way. It was cranky yesterday walking around getting in and out of cars but good when I got up this am. I'm still limited how fast I can spin. The muscles just above the kneecap will cry uncle sooner or later. Today it was about 110 rpm, other days it's been as high as 140 (very briefly). I'm gradually getting stronger and pushing bigger gears but I'm being very, very cautious here. I have a feeling that it would be really easy to push just a hair too hard and undo months of work. So in the meantime I've done what I could at home.
But today was the day! My buddy Lori D wanted to check it out but pretty well only if I was going to be there, and I wanted to go, but it's really easy to back out. But once I make a date or the mental commitment to go, I'll do it.
As we got into the cadence pyramids I realized I'd not be able to do the fastest ones, so I settled in at what I could do. Later we did some hill work. I got through the first two of them, then realized my knee was getting unhappy about that. Standing was ok, which was a bit of a surprise. I went through the rest of the workout mostly doing the same stuff as the others, but just limiting the rpm a bit, and typically going one gear less hard than the rest of the class. On the bike 2 hrs, chatting with Lori made the time go fast.
Then I found out I goofed on shoes and didn't bring the right running shoes. Oh well. Plodded along for about 25 minutes or so. Tried to keep up with Lori at one point near the end, briefly.
The core was three sets, BRUTAL, Brutal, and brutal. I did better than I thought but still struggled. It's all good though. I need to work on the core more.
It's been a bit of a struggle getting the workouts in but I'm not fussed about it. I've worked less, rather than more over the last couple of years, which makes getting workouts done very easy. This year I want to work more, rather than less, and make sure I'm not shorting Linda on time together. If that means a workout level that barely maintains skills and fitness, well, that's the way it will have to be. I already know this is going to be a low key race year. Certainly no travel races. I'm getting closer to signing up for Chinook Half IM, and that might be the only formal race. My buddy Cath is talking about something for the May long weekend, and those two might be it for the year. Oh, and there are people trying to talk me into the Las Vegas marathon. Hmmmmm.
Weekly Summary
Swim .5 hr
Bike 2.0 hrs
Run 1.0 hr
Total cardio 3.5 hrs
Core 2.0 hrs.
But my knee has been slowly getting better in a two steps forward, half step back, one step sideways sort of way. It was cranky yesterday walking around getting in and out of cars but good when I got up this am. I'm still limited how fast I can spin. The muscles just above the kneecap will cry uncle sooner or later. Today it was about 110 rpm, other days it's been as high as 140 (very briefly). I'm gradually getting stronger and pushing bigger gears but I'm being very, very cautious here. I have a feeling that it would be really easy to push just a hair too hard and undo months of work. So in the meantime I've done what I could at home.
But today was the day! My buddy Lori D wanted to check it out but pretty well only if I was going to be there, and I wanted to go, but it's really easy to back out. But once I make a date or the mental commitment to go, I'll do it.
As we got into the cadence pyramids I realized I'd not be able to do the fastest ones, so I settled in at what I could do. Later we did some hill work. I got through the first two of them, then realized my knee was getting unhappy about that. Standing was ok, which was a bit of a surprise. I went through the rest of the workout mostly doing the same stuff as the others, but just limiting the rpm a bit, and typically going one gear less hard than the rest of the class. On the bike 2 hrs, chatting with Lori made the time go fast.
Then I found out I goofed on shoes and didn't bring the right running shoes. Oh well. Plodded along for about 25 minutes or so. Tried to keep up with Lori at one point near the end, briefly.
The core was three sets, BRUTAL, Brutal, and brutal. I did better than I thought but still struggled. It's all good though. I need to work on the core more.
It's been a bit of a struggle getting the workouts in but I'm not fussed about it. I've worked less, rather than more over the last couple of years, which makes getting workouts done very easy. This year I want to work more, rather than less, and make sure I'm not shorting Linda on time together. If that means a workout level that barely maintains skills and fitness, well, that's the way it will have to be. I already know this is going to be a low key race year. Certainly no travel races. I'm getting closer to signing up for Chinook Half IM, and that might be the only formal race. My buddy Cath is talking about something for the May long weekend, and those two might be it for the year. Oh, and there are people trying to talk me into the Las Vegas marathon. Hmmmmm.
Weekly Summary
Swim .5 hr
Bike 2.0 hrs
Run 1.0 hr
Total cardio 3.5 hrs
Core 2.0 hrs.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
A political rant
Here we go again. Another election is in the wind. The Conservatives will present a budget on March 22. So far the Liberals and Bloc have said they will vote against it, leaving the NDP holding the hidden cards. Just what we need, the fruit loop party attempting to restrain the Conservatives. The worst of it is that we're likely to get results very much like what we have now. Each election costs about $300 million.
I'm one of the few Canadians that can actually vote against Prime Minister Harper, since he is my Member of Parliament. Everybody else can only vote against his party. But that leads to several problems for me.
Harper isn't quite the right wing zealot he used to be. He's recognized that some of his more neanderthal opinions do not play well outside of a small group of the unwashed. There is a debate as to whether he has actually and truly changed his mind (ie, that he essentially grew up), or is just hiding his true feelings during his quest for majority government. A great many Canadians believe the latter.
Still, in between his generally pragmatic approach to governance, there are some very disturbing behavioural examples that I think render him unfit for re-election. There was the example of cutting funding to the other parties for partisan reasons. There is his paranoia about communications that has led him to gag all his ministers. All public communication has to go through his office. Some of his decisions are ideological based, such as cutting the GST tax rate, and cutting tax rates for corporations, regardless if it's good public policy or not. Prorouging Parliament to escape a vote that would have almost certainly brought down the government. Then there are all the games played in committee to avoid having work done where they wouldn't like the results. They flat out broke the law during the 2006 election with regard to spending limits. This is the so called "in and out" scandal. The Conservatives call it an accounting dispute, various auditors call it illegal. The Conservatives have a fetish about getting "tough on crime", taking a page out of the Republican playbook. They don't grasp that crime rates are dropping, they don't care that putting people in jail is a counterproductive exercise for many offenses, and they don't admit that jail is much more expensive than just about any alternative. After all, jails are a provincial responsibility so the federal government doesn't have to pay for it.
One thing in the budget is that the Conservatives want to cut corporate taxes. The other parties oppose such cuts. So the Conservative attack adds say that Liberals want to raise taxes. It's this sort of lie that makes me mad, and makes most people regard politicians as lying, scheming, sleazy, no good varmints. And that's defaming varmints.
I'm one of the few Canadians that can actually vote against Prime Minister Harper, since he is my Member of Parliament. Everybody else can only vote against his party. But that leads to several problems for me.
Harper isn't quite the right wing zealot he used to be. He's recognized that some of his more neanderthal opinions do not play well outside of a small group of the unwashed. There is a debate as to whether he has actually and truly changed his mind (ie, that he essentially grew up), or is just hiding his true feelings during his quest for majority government. A great many Canadians believe the latter.
Still, in between his generally pragmatic approach to governance, there are some very disturbing behavioural examples that I think render him unfit for re-election. There was the example of cutting funding to the other parties for partisan reasons. There is his paranoia about communications that has led him to gag all his ministers. All public communication has to go through his office. Some of his decisions are ideological based, such as cutting the GST tax rate, and cutting tax rates for corporations, regardless if it's good public policy or not. Prorouging Parliament to escape a vote that would have almost certainly brought down the government. Then there are all the games played in committee to avoid having work done where they wouldn't like the results. They flat out broke the law during the 2006 election with regard to spending limits. This is the so called "in and out" scandal. The Conservatives call it an accounting dispute, various auditors call it illegal. The Conservatives have a fetish about getting "tough on crime", taking a page out of the Republican playbook. They don't grasp that crime rates are dropping, they don't care that putting people in jail is a counterproductive exercise for many offenses, and they don't admit that jail is much more expensive than just about any alternative. After all, jails are a provincial responsibility so the federal government doesn't have to pay for it.
One thing in the budget is that the Conservatives want to cut corporate taxes. The other parties oppose such cuts. So the Conservative attack adds say that Liberals want to raise taxes. It's this sort of lie that makes me mad, and makes most people regard politicians as lying, scheming, sleazy, no good varmints. And that's defaming varmints.
My problem is that none of the other parties will run a strong candidate against Harper. He is seen as unbeatable in this riding, which is probably true. Many of my neighbours are the perfect demographic for the Conservative party. White, well off if not actually wealthy, well educated professionals, lots retired or semi-retired, and generally suspicious of change. Still, many of them voted for Mayor Nenshi, so there is hope.
My choices are likely to be a party hack Liberal and NDP, and some kid running for the Greens. I've voted Green the last couple Federal elections even though I didn't think the kid would be better than Harper in the House of Commons. My vote meant $1.75 per vote per year in federal funding going to the party. I'm not sure if that funding will still happen now. There might be an independent. I like to encourage independent candidates, unless they are a one issue nutbar, and usually that's what they are.
What I really want to see on the ballot, down at the bottom, is a choice called "none of the above". If none "wins", the parties have to propose new candidates. The ones that were refused can't run again for a couple of elections. This cycle continues till a candidate is acceptable to the voters.
A bigger change that I'd like to see is some form of proportional representation. Canda's "first past the post" electoral system leads to perverse results. A strong majority government can result from as few as 37% of the votes, and even less if you count just English Canada. Part of the problem is that Quebec sends a large contingent of separatists to Ottawa. They are a one-trick, one province party, and yet are accorded federal party status, unlike the Greens who ran candidates in every riding. They make it that much more difficult for another party to form a majority government. Last election, in 2008, the Greens got nearly a million votes, making up almost 7% of the popular vote, and yet did not receive a single seat. Fewer voters in Alberta elected 27 Conservatives.
There's more. In the prairie provinces, Conservatives received roughly twice the votes of the Liberals and NDP combined, but took seven times as many seats. Similar to the previous election, a quarter-million Conservative voters in Toronto elected no one and neither did Conservative voters in Montreal. The NDP attracted 1.1 million more votes than the Bloc, but the voting system gave the Bloc 49 seats, the NDP 37. Something is not right.
Several parties have talked about changes to the system, till they win. The system gives a seat bonus to the winners, so they have an incentive to keep the system. There are lots of varieties of proportional representation, but there are two problems. One is that none of them produces "perfect" results either, and this is held up as a flaw that should prevent them from being enacted. In fact, there *IS NO* system that perfectly represents the voter's wishes. There are always circumstances that can give perverse results. The other is that proportional representation can be complicated to explain, and frankly, lots of people don't take the time to understand. They are afraid of change, and afraid that people representing values they don't agree with will get more say.
This is partly a product of Canada's demographic makeup. I've talked about this in the past. Canada used to be a white Christian country where most people had come from UK or France, or other European countries. It was run by old, mainly Scottish, white men. I'm old enough to remember people of my parent's generation talking about post-war Italian and German immigrants taking jobs. Then people with varying shades of brown skin, and different religions started arriving in larger numbers, to a predictable response. Now, Canada is probably the most ethnically diverse country in the world. Any random small town will have restaurants serving varying kinds of Chinese food, and probably Vietnamese or Thai, and no surprise to find Indian food.
By and large, people are accepting of the immigration, though we get grumpy about people jumping the queue by boat, or cheating the system. We recognize most of these people want exactly the same things we do, a chance to live a peaceful life and raise children that have all the choices in the world for education and jobs. The vast majority of immigrants are honest hard working people that are a credit to our country.
Most of us love the diversity that immigration brings. In Calgary, a city of about 1 million, which is a small city by world standards, one can get restaurant food from anywhere in the world, or buy the products to make that food for yourself. Someone will be running an import business selling products from all around the world, or they will be applying those skills to make the products here. There are endless opportunities to explore other cultures through film, arts events, and cultural festivals. Talking to people coming from war-torn countries helps us appreciate how good we have it here. Immigrants bring new perspectives on how society should work.
Most of us love the diversity that immigration brings. In Calgary, a city of about 1 million, which is a small city by world standards, one can get restaurant food from anywhere in the world, or buy the products to make that food for yourself. Someone will be running an import business selling products from all around the world, or they will be applying those skills to make the products here. There are endless opportunities to explore other cultures through film, arts events, and cultural festivals. Talking to people coming from war-torn countries helps us appreciate how good we have it here. Immigrants bring new perspectives on how society should work.
I admit, not everybody accepts these changes. We were on vacation once in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The only reason you can find it on a map is that there's nothing else around it. The main attraction is hot springs, believe it or not. There is an old (by Canadian standards) hotel and spa to take advantage of them. The spa is on the top floor, 5 or 6 stories up, and part of it is open to the outside. Very nice! There I was, relaxing in the hot water, listening to a group of older people, maybe mid to late 60's. The shit that was coming out of their mouths! Immigrants. Gays. Jobs. Religion. Crime. I was disgusted, and was thinking about speaking up, but didn't. Nothing I could say would change their minds. These are the people that the Conservative party is pandering to. Fortunately, this is a small group, and they are quite literally dying off.
All politicians lie as naturally as breathing, but some are more subtle than others. There does have to be some recognition that the world keeps on changing, and people, even politicians, mature and develop new viewpoints. It's trivially easy now to dig up something that someone said years ago and fling it in their face. Harper's comments on building a "firewall" around Alberta, for example. Does he still hold those views? Who knows? It was a decade ago and he wasn't an elected politician then. Is there a statute of limitations on saying ill considered things?
But I remember hearing tape of a press conference with Paul Martin, then Prime Minister, saying that Belinda Stronach getting a plum cabinet post had nothing to do with her changing parties. The tape ran long enough to hear the laughter of the press corp. That sort of stuff response needs to happen more often.
One of the things that I would like to see is some real teeth put into the Auditor General's office. Right now the government can hide behind Cabinet secrecy. And there are some things that are legitimately confidential and to be kept from the public. Yet there needs to be a check on government. I think the Auditor should be able to look at any government produced paper or electronic files and review them for accuracy. Elected member's expense accounts should certainly be included. I want someone with an impeachable reputation be able to look at government stuff and say that even though can't share the details, it's all on the up and up. There should be a whole group of people looking to ensure that partisan party activities are separate from paid political actions.
I'm sick of federal and provincial politicians squabbling about how something is going to be paid for, which is a legacy of colonial era government structure. There's only one taxpayer, so figure out what needs to be done and get on with it! I'm sick of elected officials sitting in parliament and behaving like unruly school children, lying their faces off, faces that are bloated by years at the trough, posturing their fake outrage. I want to see someone drag the offenders by the ear out of the building and throw them in the nearby river. I'll settle for a long hook coming from off stage, reaching out slowly.
In fitness news, did a half hour of core, 1.5 hr of bike, and some stretching after. The bike was good. 0 minutes warm up, 20 minute time trial in second largest cog. Some spin up. 5 minutes in one gear harder, then some spin ups, then another 5 minutes. Some spin ups, and back to the second cog for another 10 minutes, all trying to spin smooth. I'm pretty pleased with the workout. My legs felt good. I even stood briefly in a moderately hard gear.
Still WTF cold here.
Weekly summary
Swim 1.25 hrs
Bike 1.75 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Total Cardio 4.0 hrs
Core 2.75 hrs.
But I remember hearing tape of a press conference with Paul Martin, then Prime Minister, saying that Belinda Stronach getting a plum cabinet post had nothing to do with her changing parties. The tape ran long enough to hear the laughter of the press corp. That sort of stuff response needs to happen more often.
One of the things that I would like to see is some real teeth put into the Auditor General's office. Right now the government can hide behind Cabinet secrecy. And there are some things that are legitimately confidential and to be kept from the public. Yet there needs to be a check on government. I think the Auditor should be able to look at any government produced paper or electronic files and review them for accuracy. Elected member's expense accounts should certainly be included. I want someone with an impeachable reputation be able to look at government stuff and say that even though can't share the details, it's all on the up and up. There should be a whole group of people looking to ensure that partisan party activities are separate from paid political actions.
I'm sick of federal and provincial politicians squabbling about how something is going to be paid for, which is a legacy of colonial era government structure. There's only one taxpayer, so figure out what needs to be done and get on with it! I'm sick of elected officials sitting in parliament and behaving like unruly school children, lying their faces off, faces that are bloated by years at the trough, posturing their fake outrage. I want to see someone drag the offenders by the ear out of the building and throw them in the nearby river. I'll settle for a long hook coming from off stage, reaching out slowly.
In fitness news, did a half hour of core, 1.5 hr of bike, and some stretching after. The bike was good. 0 minutes warm up, 20 minute time trial in second largest cog. Some spin up. 5 minutes in one gear harder, then some spin ups, then another 5 minutes. Some spin ups, and back to the second cog for another 10 minutes, all trying to spin smooth. I'm pretty pleased with the workout. My legs felt good. I even stood briefly in a moderately hard gear.
Still WTF cold here.
Weekly summary
Swim 1.25 hrs
Bike 1.75 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Total Cardio 4.0 hrs
Core 2.75 hrs.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
I had a title, but it's gone now
Normally during my workout I'm writing my blog in my mind. Normally I can remember it enough to get it into the computer. Normally, but not today.
My legs felt pretty good after the run yesterday. I specifically stretched my back and it seemed to be ok too. This morning was a little bit of a creaky affair till I got going. After some stretches I got onto my bike. I'd been cleaning up an old box filled with stuff from old race packages. One of them was some Ultima replenisher electrolyte drink, wild raspberry flavour. I'm out of Nuun, and figured powder can't have gone bad so I made it up. Well, it nearly made me throw up. It was gross. I washed out that container with really hot water.
Started easy and was surprised how quickly my legs got going. 20 minutes at 90 rpm, a short break with some spin ups, then another 10 minutes, a short break with spin ups, then 5 minutes at 90 in the third biggest gear. Cool down, for 1.5 hrs altogether. It felt good, and I'd hoped for 2 hours, but some twinges made me think that a good 1.5 hr spin was better than a 2 hr spin that left me hurting. Even though it's nice out I didn't go for a run after.
I'm trying to be cautious, and patient with my knee. It would be really easy to overdo it since my cardio system is feeling strong, and the rest of my leg muscle seem to be doing well. But if I go too long, or to hard, I'm going to pay for it. That means staying in control and in touch. I feel a bit of something, I'm not sure what, that I should be training harder, longer, whatever, and that I should be following a coached plan to build to peak fitness. But I was reading that we're real people and we can't train like pros, mainly because we're not pros. And we can't train like the other athletes that have been doing it longer. All we can do is train the best we can given the constraints of our life. Right now that means being careful and patient.
Weekly Summary
Swim 2.0 hrs
Bike 1.8 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Water run 1.5 hrs ( I never know if I should count this as run, or core or what)
Total cardio 6.3 hrs
Core 3.5 hrs.
My legs felt pretty good after the run yesterday. I specifically stretched my back and it seemed to be ok too. This morning was a little bit of a creaky affair till I got going. After some stretches I got onto my bike. I'd been cleaning up an old box filled with stuff from old race packages. One of them was some Ultima replenisher electrolyte drink, wild raspberry flavour. I'm out of Nuun, and figured powder can't have gone bad so I made it up. Well, it nearly made me throw up. It was gross. I washed out that container with really hot water.
Started easy and was surprised how quickly my legs got going. 20 minutes at 90 rpm, a short break with some spin ups, then another 10 minutes, a short break with spin ups, then 5 minutes at 90 in the third biggest gear. Cool down, for 1.5 hrs altogether. It felt good, and I'd hoped for 2 hours, but some twinges made me think that a good 1.5 hr spin was better than a 2 hr spin that left me hurting. Even though it's nice out I didn't go for a run after.
I'm trying to be cautious, and patient with my knee. It would be really easy to overdo it since my cardio system is feeling strong, and the rest of my leg muscle seem to be doing well. But if I go too long, or to hard, I'm going to pay for it. That means staying in control and in touch. I feel a bit of something, I'm not sure what, that I should be training harder, longer, whatever, and that I should be following a coached plan to build to peak fitness. But I was reading that we're real people and we can't train like pros, mainly because we're not pros. And we can't train like the other athletes that have been doing it longer. All we can do is train the best we can given the constraints of our life. Right now that means being careful and patient.
Weekly Summary
Swim 2.0 hrs
Bike 1.8 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Water run 1.5 hrs ( I never know if I should count this as run, or core or what)
Total cardio 6.3 hrs
Core 3.5 hrs.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Nothing, nothing, and a bike
Friday was the work thing again. Tired legs. Saturday was my normal rest day, legs still tired, but my back is gradually feeling better.
I was thinking about doing a brick, but my running choices are this. Go early and run on thin, very slippery ice everywhere. Go later and run in meltwater that still might have ice underneath it. My non running choices involved dry feet and no slips. It's been warm the last couple days so the water is running. It would be nice to run outside, if the footing wasn't so treacherous.
Biked 2 hours, feeling fairly strong. Started with leg exercises and some stretching for a half hour. Easy warrmup. Some 90 rpm steady ride, with easy pedal in between. 6 minutes in the next harder gear at 90, or almost, so there's some improvement. Added in some hill gears for a minute at a time. Even stood up for a little bit and that all felt pretty good. Easy cooldown with some spin ups. Stretched after.
Oh, and I almost forgot. Someone was sure interested in my blog the other day. Now I'm curious. Again. I'm just guessing some insomniac decided that my blog would put them to sleep, and it took 34 posts to do it. I'm not sure if I should be pleased or insulted.
Weekly Summary
Swim 5.25 hrs
Bike 4.0 hrs
Run 1.75 hrs
Total cardio 11 hrs, which I think is the most I've done since IMC. Yay me!
Core 2.25 but no yoga this week.
Next week will be shorter as I ease into my new job.
I was thinking about doing a brick, but my running choices are this. Go early and run on thin, very slippery ice everywhere. Go later and run in meltwater that still might have ice underneath it. My non running choices involved dry feet and no slips. It's been warm the last couple days so the water is running. It would be nice to run outside, if the footing wasn't so treacherous.
Biked 2 hours, feeling fairly strong. Started with leg exercises and some stretching for a half hour. Easy warrmup. Some 90 rpm steady ride, with easy pedal in between. 6 minutes in the next harder gear at 90, or almost, so there's some improvement. Added in some hill gears for a minute at a time. Even stood up for a little bit and that all felt pretty good. Easy cooldown with some spin ups. Stretched after.
Oh, and I almost forgot. Someone was sure interested in my blog the other day. Now I'm curious. Again. I'm just guessing some insomniac decided that my blog would put them to sleep, and it took 34 posts to do it. I'm not sure if I should be pleased or insulted.
Weekly Summary
Swim 5.25 hrs
Bike 4.0 hrs
Run 1.75 hrs
Total cardio 11 hrs, which I think is the most I've done since IMC. Yay me!
Core 2.25 but no yoga this week.
Next week will be shorter as I ease into my new job.
Monday, February 7, 2011
A blah weekend.
Friday was a big day for me, but it didn't involve a workout. I should find out next week how it turns out. (And it turned out excellent!) I did get a good core workout though, an hour's worth of stretching, my leg exercises, and core stuff. My legs were a bit sore Thursday evening and Friday, so the stretching and stuff was good. Mostly they were ok for the weekend, but weren't feeling strong and wanting a workout. Maybe I'm being a slacker, but at the moment I don't HAVE to do the workouts. If I'd been on a plan I'd have probably forced myself into it, but I'm still in a mind place where I'm doing workouts because they feel good and are fun. I do not want to drive myself back into the pit of tired workouts.
I admit I'm still finding the balance, though it's a bit better this week. If there'd been one more run I think it would have been just about right. A goal for next week.
Saturday and Sunday were blah has far as workouts went. My sleep patterns were weird, getting up really early, not feeling rested, and yet not being able to sleep. It reminded me a bit of what I was like doing shift work, which is not good at all.
The big output on Saturday was my rant about overpaid CEO's. Sunday I was up early again, really early. I thought about getting onto the bike and spinning then doing a short run. I thought about it a lot, but I didn't do it. It's really icy out there anyway. I felt really full and bloated most of the day, which is very unusual for me.
When you make your own wine you end up dealing with a lot of bottles. If you're really good about rinsing them out right after pouring the glasses, they aren't hard to keep clean. But some wines leave a bit of film, and the water spots gradually build up, as does label goo and sometimes a tiny bit of cork residue. I'm fussy about my glass, and like to make sure it's clean. When I bottled the red last week I found a bunch more bottles that didn't meet my standards so they go into the bleach box. By the end of the bottling I had more than 2 dozen. That's about the right number to bleach.
Bleaching involves putting 8 bottles at a time into a bleach solution in a 20 L pail. I let them sit a while to let the bleach eat anything that's on the glass. A bit of scrubbing in the neck with a brush, and swooshing with a bunch of tiny ball bearings usually removes anything that doesn't belong. Occasionally there is a bottle with a really tough film. I put a bit of straight bleach in and let it soak. That deals with it.
From the bleach solution they are rinsed and got into another pail filled with a pink stuff solution. The pink stuff is a cleanser. I use it to make sure there is no bleach residue. Then they get rinsed again, and left to dry.
I've now got lots of clean bottles and a white wine kit to bottle, probably tomorrow. After all of that, I did about a half hour of core, mostly leg stuff, but including push ups. I was wondering if I should count all the time shaking the bottles with the ball bearings in them as core, but didn't.
Weekly Summary
Swim 4.75 hrs
Bike 2.75 hrs
Run 1.0
Total cardio 8.5 hrs
Core 3.75 hrs
I admit I'm still finding the balance, though it's a bit better this week. If there'd been one more run I think it would have been just about right. A goal for next week.
Saturday and Sunday were blah has far as workouts went. My sleep patterns were weird, getting up really early, not feeling rested, and yet not being able to sleep. It reminded me a bit of what I was like doing shift work, which is not good at all.
The big output on Saturday was my rant about overpaid CEO's. Sunday I was up early again, really early. I thought about getting onto the bike and spinning then doing a short run. I thought about it a lot, but I didn't do it. It's really icy out there anyway. I felt really full and bloated most of the day, which is very unusual for me.
When you make your own wine you end up dealing with a lot of bottles. If you're really good about rinsing them out right after pouring the glasses, they aren't hard to keep clean. But some wines leave a bit of film, and the water spots gradually build up, as does label goo and sometimes a tiny bit of cork residue. I'm fussy about my glass, and like to make sure it's clean. When I bottled the red last week I found a bunch more bottles that didn't meet my standards so they go into the bleach box. By the end of the bottling I had more than 2 dozen. That's about the right number to bleach.
Bleaching involves putting 8 bottles at a time into a bleach solution in a 20 L pail. I let them sit a while to let the bleach eat anything that's on the glass. A bit of scrubbing in the neck with a brush, and swooshing with a bunch of tiny ball bearings usually removes anything that doesn't belong. Occasionally there is a bottle with a really tough film. I put a bit of straight bleach in and let it soak. That deals with it.
From the bleach solution they are rinsed and got into another pail filled with a pink stuff solution. The pink stuff is a cleanser. I use it to make sure there is no bleach residue. Then they get rinsed again, and left to dry.
I've now got lots of clean bottles and a white wine kit to bottle, probably tomorrow. After all of that, I did about a half hour of core, mostly leg stuff, but including push ups. I was wondering if I should count all the time shaking the bottles with the ball bearings in them as core, but didn't.
Weekly Summary
Swim 4.75 hrs
Bike 2.75 hrs
Run 1.0
Total cardio 8.5 hrs
Core 3.75 hrs
Sunday, January 30, 2011
odd workout combo today
Saturday I was in a course all day. It snowed. I watched My Fair Lady and drank wine, feeling very sophisticated. I don't want to turn this into a rant about the crap that Hollywood turns out these days, but I so much enjoyed listening to the witty dialogue, the brilliant songs, and the wicked satire.
Sunday I slept in a bit, which means out of bed at 7am or so to feed the meowing mammal. Then after some browsing I napped more. Then came the workout. It's been snowing here. I've already shoveled the driveway and front sidewalk twice. This morning I powered through the driveway and front sidewalk, which only had maybe an inch or so, then tackled the side. It's longer, and was more than a foot deep in places. Even though it's light snow it still takes a lot of doing when it's that deep. I was out there about 45 minutes, and I should probably count it as core and cardio. Started off being cold, then working hard enough to be sweating enough to fog up my glasses.
Then it was off to our book club meeting. Regular blog readers will know this is usually held in a pub, preferably one that serves Guinness. The odd thing about it is that we talked about the book first, and for quite a while, which was a bit of a surprise. First coffee, then hanging out and chatting, and sipping Guinness. Lifting that was the other workout.
We hit the library on the way home so I'm now listening to Delicate Sound of Thunder, and we've got Beat the Devil cued up for our evening movie. Now I'm much too late to get onto the bike today, unless I don't want to sleep tonight. However, I don't think my knee minds the rest.
Weekly Summary
Swim 3.5 hrs
Bike 2.0 hrs
Run 1.25 hrs
Total Cardio 6.75 hrs
Core 2.25 hrs.
This is getting back to a more balanced cardio workout. The last while has been very heavy swim. I'd like to increase bike and run a bit more next week.
Sunday I slept in a bit, which means out of bed at 7am or so to feed the meowing mammal. Then after some browsing I napped more. Then came the workout. It's been snowing here. I've already shoveled the driveway and front sidewalk twice. This morning I powered through the driveway and front sidewalk, which only had maybe an inch or so, then tackled the side. It's longer, and was more than a foot deep in places. Even though it's light snow it still takes a lot of doing when it's that deep. I was out there about 45 minutes, and I should probably count it as core and cardio. Started off being cold, then working hard enough to be sweating enough to fog up my glasses.
Then it was off to our book club meeting. Regular blog readers will know this is usually held in a pub, preferably one that serves Guinness. The odd thing about it is that we talked about the book first, and for quite a while, which was a bit of a surprise. First coffee, then hanging out and chatting, and sipping Guinness. Lifting that was the other workout.
We hit the library on the way home so I'm now listening to Delicate Sound of Thunder, and we've got Beat the Devil cued up for our evening movie. Now I'm much too late to get onto the bike today, unless I don't want to sleep tonight. However, I don't think my knee minds the rest.
Weekly Summary
Swim 3.5 hrs
Bike 2.0 hrs
Run 1.25 hrs
Total Cardio 6.75 hrs
Core 2.25 hrs.
This is getting back to a more balanced cardio workout. The last while has been very heavy swim. I'd like to increase bike and run a bit more next week.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A doggy run
Just as well my buddy Susi wasn't running with me today. We'd still be out there. Seemed like I hit the peak of dog walking time today. That wasn't my intent. What I wanted to do was run while the ice and snow were still firm, and not all squishy. It's getting warm here, which means the roads and sidewalks are a sloppy enchilada during the day. A mess. There are some days I wished I lived in a place where once it got cold, it stayed that way till spring. Then I realized that means living in Edmonton, and thought better of it.
My leg has been feeling pretty good so I thought I'd go for a bit of a longer run today and not worry about pace so much. I picked this route, about 7.7 K. Started with some core and leg exercises for half an hour to warm up. It took a little while to settle in, then I was really pleased how it felt. There were a few niggles about 30 minute mark so I stopped very briefly to massage the knee and stretch a bit, then carried on. I got back to the house just under 58 minutes, then kept going to fill out the hour. Walked and chatted to a neighbour. Stretched.
Most of the run was low zone 3, and my leg felt pretty good throughout. Tried for an even, relaxed pace, mainly working with what made my legs happy. It was nice and sunny, and running through Fish Creek is always beautiful. It's almost warm, so I only wore tights, short sleeved tech shirt, and a bike jacket. No gloves or toque. After all, it was 2 C (36 F). If this keeps up we'll be in shorts and T shirts soon.
Then my fave massage therapist came over. For once no one thing was demanding attention, though there are a few sore spots in shoulders, mid back, hips, ITB, calves, and one foot. Pretty good, in other words. I credit being a lot more zealous about stretching after swimming. I use to just hop out of the water after my main set and hit the showers. Then I started doing some cool down afterward. Then I'd periodically stretch. Now I add in stretch time for every swim. There's one that is really good. Breath in and scrunch your shoulders up trying to tickle your ears. Then breathe out, relaxing your shoulders then pushing them down, and back and out all at the same time. Repeat.
Weekly Summary
Swim 5.0 hrs.
Bike 1.0 hrs
Run 1.5 hrs
Total cardio 7.5 hrs
Core 2.75 hrs.
I've let the core slip a bit last couple weeks and need to get back on that. I think my knee will let me do several bike and runs throughout the week, so I'll start trying that and see what happens. I think this is going to be a bit of a balancing act for a while, to work the knee and build it up while not re-injuring it.
My leg has been feeling pretty good so I thought I'd go for a bit of a longer run today and not worry about pace so much. I picked this route, about 7.7 K. Started with some core and leg exercises for half an hour to warm up. It took a little while to settle in, then I was really pleased how it felt. There were a few niggles about 30 minute mark so I stopped very briefly to massage the knee and stretch a bit, then carried on. I got back to the house just under 58 minutes, then kept going to fill out the hour. Walked and chatted to a neighbour. Stretched.
Most of the run was low zone 3, and my leg felt pretty good throughout. Tried for an even, relaxed pace, mainly working with what made my legs happy. It was nice and sunny, and running through Fish Creek is always beautiful. It's almost warm, so I only wore tights, short sleeved tech shirt, and a bike jacket. No gloves or toque. After all, it was 2 C (36 F). If this keeps up we'll be in shorts and T shirts soon.
Then my fave massage therapist came over. For once no one thing was demanding attention, though there are a few sore spots in shoulders, mid back, hips, ITB, calves, and one foot. Pretty good, in other words. I credit being a lot more zealous about stretching after swimming. I use to just hop out of the water after my main set and hit the showers. Then I started doing some cool down afterward. Then I'd periodically stretch. Now I add in stretch time for every swim. There's one that is really good. Breath in and scrunch your shoulders up trying to tickle your ears. Then breathe out, relaxing your shoulders then pushing them down, and back and out all at the same time. Repeat.
Weekly Summary
Swim 5.0 hrs.
Bike 1.0 hrs
Run 1.5 hrs
Total cardio 7.5 hrs
Core 2.75 hrs.
I've let the core slip a bit last couple weeks and need to get back on that. I think my knee will let me do several bike and runs throughout the week, so I'll start trying that and see what happens. I think this is going to be a bit of a balancing act for a while, to work the knee and build it up while not re-injuring it.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The swim camp weekend
Mercury Rising put on a super swim/bike camp this weekend. Super! We started Friday night with a bit of a meet and greet and intro at Tri It, then up to the SAIT pool for a swim. Warm up, and Clint likes to see lots of kick in a warm up. Ugh. We got video taken from the front, and from both sides. No review of it right away. Then a 100 time trial to figure out who should swim together during the big sets the next day. It was my good fortune to be swimming in the lane beside LC. Holy crap can she swim! I'm going for all I'm worth and she's slowly pulling away from me. That's the fastest I've ever swum 100 m. Ever in my life, even back when I was a reasonably fit. Oh, all right, since you ask so nice, 83 seconds.
Home again. Swimming for me is a wake up activity so I find it hard to go to sleep after an evening swim. This was no exception, and we had to be back at the SAIT checkin desk at 5:45 to meet the lifeguard. In the water at 6 am for a 2 hour swim.
Warmup of course, sharing a lane with LC and MK. LC and I had met at Chinook a couple years ago, but I was bonked and didn't remember her. I'd met MK before at the spinathon but didn't remember him, and he knows people I know. Lots of drill, feedback from Clint. By now I was getting used to the weirdness at the bulkhead end of the SAIT pool. It goes down to the deep end just before the bulkhead, and there aren't many references to set up your flip turn. I blew a few of them. At this point I don't even remember all that we did. Some of it was fast, me mostly chasing LC, and MK chasing me. At one point we discussed going down the lane as a three person drafting machine, and wondered how far we'd get before Clint put a stop to it.
After the swim we wandered through the maze to our meeting room. Clint went through some swim basics that are valid for everybody. Then we got into the video. There is so much detail! I thought I'd done really well on improving my stroke over the last few months. And so I did, since I'm going faster. That turns out to be because my body position in the water is so much better than last year. There has been some stroke improvement, but the video clearly showed some stuff to fix. Clearly. There is work to be done here.
I can't stress enough what a great training tool this is. Seeing your stroke opens the door for improvement. When you see a bunch of people in a row you start seeing the same issues over and over again, such a poor catch, dropped elbows, wide kick, or kick with bent knees, poor body position in the water, poor rotation, and on it goes. Oddly enough, swimming faster didn't guarantee a better stroke. I would strongly recommend that if you want to improve your swim, get a video done.
Julie, Sarah, and I hung out during the break. We didn't feel like doubling our parking fees by going somewhere. Lots of great chat. Turns out I used to live not far from where Sarah lives. It was so much fun watching her face when she realized the bike she is buying back home is on display at Try It.
After lunch we had a lecture by one of the doctors from Panther Sports Medicine. Holy medical terminology overload Batman! But once he had one of the campers go up to be a model it started making a lot more sense. He essentially walked through an evaluation of her shoulder and neck issues. Very interesting. Julie stood in front of him in bare feet. He picked out the broken foot no problem, and showed how lifting a bit of her arch would change the entire orientation of her leg. He really seems to know his stuff. Great handout on stretches.
Then what? I think there was something in the classroom. Or maybe we went back to the pool. More practice, trying to apply what we've been told. Another round of video. Sara was in the water showing how it's done. Swoosh. Some of us went over for flip turn lessons, but it turns out there wasn't much Clint could tell me in those circumstances. I'm sure there's lots I could do better; it would just take more time and perhaps looking at it on slo-mo video to see the details. It took a year of practice to go from not doing flip turns to where I am today. I'm not sure how long it took to get the turn reliable.
Although we had the pool for 2 hours, most of us pooped out at the 1.5 hr mark and hit the hot tub. All we were missing was a bottle of wine or two, and maybe it would have got rowdy, but we were a pretty tired bunch.
I did not sleep well. I'm not sure why, but I was up early. The first thing was a talk by brain cancer surviver (so far) Alyson Woloshyn. One of the things that struck me was how long she put up with brutal pain, and how her doctor fobbed her off. It just reinforces the message that pain means something, and the earlier it's dealt with the better. If you should want to donate money to brain cancer research you can do so through her page.
Then to the spin session. I've never seen so many bikes in Tri It. Michelle led a really tough session with lots of hill work. For me this session was about not blowing up my knee. Pushing big gears is not a good idea, so I tried to keep the rpm's up, work on form, and varied the gears a bit as I went along. I made my goal of 3 hours pedaling, though I was on the bike 3.25 hrs with three short breaks for water refill and some stretches. You can bet I iced the knee when I got home. It doesn't hurt, but it is talking to me a bit.
Here's a short video from the spin session.
Weekly Summary
Swim 7.5 hrs
Bike 4.25 hrs
Run .5 hrs
Total Cardio 12.25 hrs
Core 2.75
Home again. Swimming for me is a wake up activity so I find it hard to go to sleep after an evening swim. This was no exception, and we had to be back at the SAIT checkin desk at 5:45 to meet the lifeguard. In the water at 6 am for a 2 hour swim.
Warmup of course, sharing a lane with LC and MK. LC and I had met at Chinook a couple years ago, but I was bonked and didn't remember her. I'd met MK before at the spinathon but didn't remember him, and he knows people I know. Lots of drill, feedback from Clint. By now I was getting used to the weirdness at the bulkhead end of the SAIT pool. It goes down to the deep end just before the bulkhead, and there aren't many references to set up your flip turn. I blew a few of them. At this point I don't even remember all that we did. Some of it was fast, me mostly chasing LC, and MK chasing me. At one point we discussed going down the lane as a three person drafting machine, and wondered how far we'd get before Clint put a stop to it.
After the swim we wandered through the maze to our meeting room. Clint went through some swim basics that are valid for everybody. Then we got into the video. There is so much detail! I thought I'd done really well on improving my stroke over the last few months. And so I did, since I'm going faster. That turns out to be because my body position in the water is so much better than last year. There has been some stroke improvement, but the video clearly showed some stuff to fix. Clearly. There is work to be done here.
I can't stress enough what a great training tool this is. Seeing your stroke opens the door for improvement. When you see a bunch of people in a row you start seeing the same issues over and over again, such a poor catch, dropped elbows, wide kick, or kick with bent knees, poor body position in the water, poor rotation, and on it goes. Oddly enough, swimming faster didn't guarantee a better stroke. I would strongly recommend that if you want to improve your swim, get a video done.
Julie, Sarah, and I hung out during the break. We didn't feel like doubling our parking fees by going somewhere. Lots of great chat. Turns out I used to live not far from where Sarah lives. It was so much fun watching her face when she realized the bike she is buying back home is on display at Try It.
After lunch we had a lecture by one of the doctors from Panther Sports Medicine. Holy medical terminology overload Batman! But once he had one of the campers go up to be a model it started making a lot more sense. He essentially walked through an evaluation of her shoulder and neck issues. Very interesting. Julie stood in front of him in bare feet. He picked out the broken foot no problem, and showed how lifting a bit of her arch would change the entire orientation of her leg. He really seems to know his stuff. Great handout on stretches.
Then what? I think there was something in the classroom. Or maybe we went back to the pool. More practice, trying to apply what we've been told. Another round of video. Sara was in the water showing how it's done. Swoosh. Some of us went over for flip turn lessons, but it turns out there wasn't much Clint could tell me in those circumstances. I'm sure there's lots I could do better; it would just take more time and perhaps looking at it on slo-mo video to see the details. It took a year of practice to go from not doing flip turns to where I am today. I'm not sure how long it took to get the turn reliable.
Although we had the pool for 2 hours, most of us pooped out at the 1.5 hr mark and hit the hot tub. All we were missing was a bottle of wine or two, and maybe it would have got rowdy, but we were a pretty tired bunch.
I did not sleep well. I'm not sure why, but I was up early. The first thing was a talk by brain cancer surviver (so far) Alyson Woloshyn. One of the things that struck me was how long she put up with brutal pain, and how her doctor fobbed her off. It just reinforces the message that pain means something, and the earlier it's dealt with the better. If you should want to donate money to brain cancer research you can do so through her page.
Then to the spin session. I've never seen so many bikes in Tri It. Michelle led a really tough session with lots of hill work. For me this session was about not blowing up my knee. Pushing big gears is not a good idea, so I tried to keep the rpm's up, work on form, and varied the gears a bit as I went along. I made my goal of 3 hours pedaling, though I was on the bike 3.25 hrs with three short breaks for water refill and some stretches. You can bet I iced the knee when I got home. It doesn't hurt, but it is talking to me a bit.
Here's a short video from the spin session.
Weekly Summary
Swim 7.5 hrs
Bike 4.25 hrs
Run .5 hrs
Total Cardio 12.25 hrs
Core 2.75
Sunday, January 9, 2011
My knee is Yay!
We stayed up really late last night visiting friends. Really late. Way past my bedtime. So at 8 am when KBRCC started I was just barely getting out of bed. It took a long time to get going. We had other friends drop into during the day for a wonderful chat.
Then I headed downstairs for 30 minutes of core, including 100 crunches, and 2x10 pushups with a very short break in between. My leg was feeling pretty good so I was looking forward to the bike.
As soon as I got started I knew it would be a good ride. My knee felt strong and stable. I was into time trial gear -1, and it wasn't so long ago that that one was time trial gear. I could also get above 100 rpm and that felt good. No standing though or big gears, I wanted to get my legs used to a stronger and faster spin. I'm super pleased, and could have gone on longer. However supper called, so it was 1.5 hrs. After dinner I iced my leg, as it was feeling a bit tired and sore.
Weekly Summary
Swim 4.5 hrs
Bike 2.75 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Total cardio 8.25 hrs
Core 2.75 hrs.
Then I headed downstairs for 30 minutes of core, including 100 crunches, and 2x10 pushups with a very short break in between. My leg was feeling pretty good so I was looking forward to the bike.
As soon as I got started I knew it would be a good ride. My knee felt strong and stable. I was into time trial gear -1, and it wasn't so long ago that that one was time trial gear. I could also get above 100 rpm and that felt good. No standing though or big gears, I wanted to get my legs used to a stronger and faster spin. I'm super pleased, and could have gone on longer. However supper called, so it was 1.5 hrs. After dinner I iced my leg, as it was feeling a bit tired and sore.
Weekly Summary
Swim 4.5 hrs
Bike 2.75 hrs
Run 1.0 hrs
Total cardio 8.25 hrs
Core 2.75 hrs.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Feeling better
Monday was total blah. Or maybe it's bleh. I did not feel like doing anything. My nose was running like a tap. The high point of the day was a chicken wrap that Linda made up, with chicken (naturally) jalepeno peppers, refried beans, tomatoes, lettuce, gaucemole, and lots of other goodies. That and watching a bunch of season one SG1 waiting for the eclipse. Which was a disappointment since it clouded over during totality, but before and after was clear. No core, no swimming, no nothing. Just nose blowing. I think the people that were in the pool appreciated my not showing up.
Weekly Summary, which in the eagerness to get the Chocolate Box video up, I forgot to do on Sunday.
Swim 5.0 hrs
Bike .33 hrs (though I didn't even break a sweat, so the aerobic impact is marginal at best.)
Run 0.0 hrs
Walk .75 hrs (this was brisk enough to break a sweat, a little bit)
Water Run .5 hrs
Total Cardio 6.5 hrs
Core 5.0 hrs
Tuesday I'm feeling better, almost back to normal.
I know you all want to know how that chocolate box is working out. All the individual chocolates have been eaten, and now we're starting in on the box. It is surprisingly sturdy. The lid will be last, and the moose antlers the very very last. Though we have been informed that it is actually an elk. As if that makes any difference.
The big question I have for today, and it's still unresolved as I write this, is if I should do 600 crunches today to make up for the 300 I didn't do yesterday. So far today there is the 3x100=300 crunches. 12 pushups, which I think is a record for all at once, or getting close to it. 50 squats. 75 seconds of plank. And other stuff to fill out the 45 minutes. But the afternoon is still early, or sort of early. It is possible for me to go downstairs again later, and power out another 300 crunches. Decisions, decisions.
Weekly Summary, which in the eagerness to get the Chocolate Box video up, I forgot to do on Sunday.
Swim 5.0 hrs
Bike .33 hrs (though I didn't even break a sweat, so the aerobic impact is marginal at best.)
Run 0.0 hrs
Walk .75 hrs (this was brisk enough to break a sweat, a little bit)
Water Run .5 hrs
Total Cardio 6.5 hrs
Core 5.0 hrs
Tuesday I'm feeling better, almost back to normal.
I know you all want to know how that chocolate box is working out. All the individual chocolates have been eaten, and now we're starting in on the box. It is surprisingly sturdy. The lid will be last, and the moose antlers the very very last. Though we have been informed that it is actually an elk. As if that makes any difference.
The big question I have for today, and it's still unresolved as I write this, is if I should do 600 crunches today to make up for the 300 I didn't do yesterday. So far today there is the 3x100=300 crunches. 12 pushups, which I think is a record for all at once, or getting close to it. 50 squats. 75 seconds of plank. And other stuff to fill out the 45 minutes. But the afternoon is still early, or sort of early. It is possible for me to go downstairs again later, and power out another 300 crunches. Decisions, decisions.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
200+ rpm. (not me!)
Volunteering at the spinathon was lots of fun! Here's a video from early on in the day. They raised a ton of money for Janelle.
It was great to see lots of people I know, but my knee actually got a bit cranky with me towards the end. I've often noted that just standing around or walking slowly is hard on me. I stretched it out a bit when I got home.
Sunday was our regular spin session, though I didn't run. The snow was melting yesterday and then it snowed last night and today; perfect for creating slippery conditions. My knee was still feeling cranky and I didn't want to stress it. It kind of sucked as far as a workout session goes. I was getting weird shooting pains in my calf, knee, and thigh. Not really painful, but sharp. No real strength in my leg today. It took FOREVER to warm up! The store was cold, and I was colder. For a long time I was wearing a hoody, then took that off. That left an extra T shirt on. I was almost an hour into the workout before I felt warm enough to take that off. 1.75 hr spin.
One of the cadence sets had an all out portion. Normally I like these and can get going pretty fast, but not now. Here's Todd going all out during spin class, because he wondered what he looked like. You can see all sorts of stuff happening.
Home to spaghetti with bison sauce for lunch, and Linda made more cookies! Shoveled the driveway again, maybe another cm of snow.
Weekly Summary
Swim 3.0 hrs
Bike 3.25 hrs
Run .5 hrs
Total Cardio 6.75 hrs
Core 4.0 hrs
It was great to see lots of people I know, but my knee actually got a bit cranky with me towards the end. I've often noted that just standing around or walking slowly is hard on me. I stretched it out a bit when I got home.
Sunday was our regular spin session, though I didn't run. The snow was melting yesterday and then it snowed last night and today; perfect for creating slippery conditions. My knee was still feeling cranky and I didn't want to stress it. It kind of sucked as far as a workout session goes. I was getting weird shooting pains in my calf, knee, and thigh. Not really painful, but sharp. No real strength in my leg today. It took FOREVER to warm up! The store was cold, and I was colder. For a long time I was wearing a hoody, then took that off. That left an extra T shirt on. I was almost an hour into the workout before I felt warm enough to take that off. 1.75 hr spin.
One of the cadence sets had an all out portion. Normally I like these and can get going pretty fast, but not now. Here's Todd going all out during spin class, because he wondered what he looked like. You can see all sorts of stuff happening.
Home to spaghetti with bison sauce for lunch, and Linda made more cookies! Shoveled the driveway again, maybe another cm of snow.
Weekly Summary
Swim 3.0 hrs
Bike 3.25 hrs
Run .5 hrs
Total Cardio 6.75 hrs
Core 4.0 hrs
Sunday, November 21, 2010
A happy bike
Yesterday was a quiet day on the workout front. An easy driveway shovel and some leg exercises was about it. Most of the effort went into the rant on zero tolerance. You can find it either by scrolling down, or going into labels section on the left, down there below the blog roll, and clicking on Rant.
I wasn't sure how the bike would go today. My left leg is cranky from the shoveling, and both hams are tired. Plus the knee. It doesn't hurt most of the time, but I'm not going to forget about it on the bike.
So today I grooved to the tunes, stayed below 110 rpm and picked gearing and effort to keep my heart rate in the mid 120's. It all went very well, and I ended up feeling surprisingly strong. This has happened on some outdoor rides as well, starting with tired legs and ending up with a good ride.
No run. I don't mind running in these temperatures, but I'd really rather not go from being totally wet in a warm humid room into -25 C windchill, and likely colder since we run beside the river and it's always windy. I just didn't want the challenge today. Tomorrow and Tues are supposed to be just as cold, or colder, but I'll probably run then.
Except for the pushups and the side plank I did all the core stuff, even lots of front plank! I'm really pleased.
My massage therapist will be here soon. Life is good. Pleased at how the increased focus on core is going. My abs are talking to me.
Weekly Summary
Swim 2.75 hrs
Bike 2.25 hrs
Run .75 hrs
Total cardio 5.75 hrs
Core 4.75 hrs
Oh and I put up some ratings for you guys to click on down at the bottom of each post. Feel free!
I wasn't sure how the bike would go today. My left leg is cranky from the shoveling, and both hams are tired. Plus the knee. It doesn't hurt most of the time, but I'm not going to forget about it on the bike.
So today I grooved to the tunes, stayed below 110 rpm and picked gearing and effort to keep my heart rate in the mid 120's. It all went very well, and I ended up feeling surprisingly strong. This has happened on some outdoor rides as well, starting with tired legs and ending up with a good ride.
No run. I don't mind running in these temperatures, but I'd really rather not go from being totally wet in a warm humid room into -25 C windchill, and likely colder since we run beside the river and it's always windy. I just didn't want the challenge today. Tomorrow and Tues are supposed to be just as cold, or colder, but I'll probably run then.
Except for the pushups and the side plank I did all the core stuff, even lots of front plank! I'm really pleased.
My massage therapist will be here soon. Life is good. Pleased at how the increased focus on core is going. My abs are talking to me.
Weekly Summary
Swim 2.75 hrs
Bike 2.25 hrs
Run .75 hrs
Total cardio 5.75 hrs
Core 4.75 hrs
Oh and I put up some ratings for you guys to click on down at the bottom of each post. Feel free!
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