I actually ran into my dentists office, as he held the door. No, I'm not kidding.
But that was after a nice relaxing swim.
2K 39:57 Nice and easy sharing a lane with M. She's a long and steady swimmer that swims just a little slower than me, so I'll pass her every 15 laps or so. But she stops to put on, or take off swim toys, so I hardly ever have to pass her. Our lane was calm. Big time shit happening in other lanes though. Lots of people with fins. A super fast dude (his breast stroke is a bit faster than my usual front crawl) trying to share the lane with a couple of other idiots. People in another lane, one with fins thrashing and churning but going nowhere. You know it's slow when they're doing front crawl, with fins, and I blow past them. One guy that seemed unable to complete a length without standing up. A big discussion in one lane that didn't sound fun. Busy day, but all is good.
Then 15 min core in the dive tank. Thinking about the plank muscles. They're still a bit sore this am!
On to the dentist. Turns out he's going into the Chinook Tri as the bike leg as part of a team. He lives not far from me and told me about several great rides south and west of Calgary. I'll have to try "The Road to Nepal". I've driven it, major roller coaster hills, and it has new pavement! Suggested we go riding sometime. How cool is that?
Oh, and the number. I forgot, even though it's good news. A slightly light 237, and that's in spite of 6 chocolate chip cookies I had to celebrate surviving the plank ordeal.
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Friday, March 7, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Spin, and (gack) plank news
I got my copy of the IGP™ late last night. It all looks do-able, which I suppose is good. But that's not how I was going to start this blog. It was going to start "This is Keith's wife Linda, and I've got a bone to pick with Susi and you other girls that egged him on. He tried doing this plank thingie, and he just broke in the middle. He let out a pitiful squeak and spilled his guts all over a nice carpet in the basement. Good thing it didn't get on the books. I always feared he'd come to a bad end over a girl, but I always thought sex would be involved. There was enough grunting, though. You girls ought to be ashamed of yourselves, talking a poor innocent geezer into such things!"
However, even I can't keep a straight face through that. So, spin news.
10 min warm up.
5 x 30 seconds smooth acceleration to about max smooth rpm, about 115 to 120, then 90 seconds easy.
2 sets, 3 minutes hard, 2 easy. The hard started off on the big chainring easy cog, then into a harder gear every 30 seconds while maintaining 90 rpm. (spin trainer going WHIRRRRR)
5 x 2 hard 2 easy. This was in a medium cog, hard on big chainring, easy on small, all at 90 rpm.
10 min cooldown.
Total 60 minutes. I was thinking I'd try some shorter more intense sets to see if I could get my heartate up into the 140's, zone 4 for a brief period. I didn't really work at it, but it's clear my lungs and heart are stronger than my legs right now.
Then on to those planks. I had Linda watch me to make sure I was nice and straight, and not drooping. Linda really liked the abs on the guy in that video. She watched the video several times so that she could make sure I was doing it right!
30 seconds front plank
21 seconds left side
23 seconds right side
73 seconds wondering if I was gonna hurl.
Oh, and just for Julie, I tried a chinup. I can't do one either. This felt like a nice solid workout, but not overdoing it, sweating a bucket. Then leftover Indian food from the Clay Oven last night, and sweat some more. They do the best food, and their Naan bread is to die for.
However, even I can't keep a straight face through that. So, spin news.
10 min warm up.
5 x 30 seconds smooth acceleration to about max smooth rpm, about 115 to 120, then 90 seconds easy.
2 sets, 3 minutes hard, 2 easy. The hard started off on the big chainring easy cog, then into a harder gear every 30 seconds while maintaining 90 rpm. (spin trainer going WHIRRRRR)
5 x 2 hard 2 easy. This was in a medium cog, hard on big chainring, easy on small, all at 90 rpm.
10 min cooldown.
Total 60 minutes. I was thinking I'd try some shorter more intense sets to see if I could get my heartate up into the 140's, zone 4 for a brief period. I didn't really work at it, but it's clear my lungs and heart are stronger than my legs right now.
Then on to those planks. I had Linda watch me to make sure I was nice and straight, and not drooping. Linda really liked the abs on the guy in that video. She watched the video several times so that she could make sure I was doing it right!
30 seconds front plank
21 seconds left side
23 seconds right side
73 seconds wondering if I was gonna hurl.
Oh, and just for Julie, I tried a chinup. I can't do one either. This felt like a nice solid workout, but not overdoing it, sweating a bucket. Then leftover Indian food from the Clay Oven last night, and sweat some more. They do the best food, and their Naan bread is to die for.
Cautious run
After the Monday night adventures with voting and trying to run after, I was a bit cautious about it this morning. The IGP called for 45 minutes 6/2. I really wasn't sure how it would work out, but I had faith.
5 min walk, gradually picking up speed.
4 x R6 W2
a couple more minutes walk to get back to the car, then a few minutes of stretching.
Total 40 minutes
The runs started slow. It felt like someone had taped a weight on the back of my leg just above the knee. But all went well as I gradually increased speed. My thought was to run at what my legs felt comfortable with, which soon worked out to a heart rate in the mid 120's. I went from 8th Ave north along Nose Creek Path to the Golf Dome and back.
I paid a lot of attention to how my legs felt, thinking about where I was carrying tension and trying to get rid of it. Thinking about balance and keeping stride even and light. For a while I tried the breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, but that felt stupid so I stopped.
Afterward, my legs felt sort of weird. There was a simultaneous "what, are we done already?" and "That was ok but we're glad it's done." I sort of suspect I could have gone further, but I'd really rather not find out the hard way. The last couple weekends I've pushed the running beyond what was called for the in the IGP, and that might be why they're feeling somewhere between tired and sore. So I'll dial the runs back and behave myself.
5 min walk, gradually picking up speed.
4 x R6 W2
a couple more minutes walk to get back to the car, then a few minutes of stretching.
Total 40 minutes
The runs started slow. It felt like someone had taped a weight on the back of my leg just above the knee. But all went well as I gradually increased speed. My thought was to run at what my legs felt comfortable with, which soon worked out to a heart rate in the mid 120's. I went from 8th Ave north along Nose Creek Path to the Golf Dome and back.
I paid a lot of attention to how my legs felt, thinking about where I was carrying tension and trying to get rid of it. Thinking about balance and keeping stride even and light. For a while I tried the breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, but that felt stupid so I stopped.
Afterward, my legs felt sort of weird. There was a simultaneous "what, are we done already?" and "That was ok but we're glad it's done." I sort of suspect I could have gone further, but I'd really rather not find out the hard way. The last couple weekends I've pushed the running beyond what was called for the in the IGP, and that might be why they're feeling somewhere between tired and sore. So I'll dial the runs back and behave myself.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Happy swim
Sorry Jenna, in order to tell the story of this mornings swim, I have to start with a dentist appt. I have one on Friday, you see. This is all routine, my teeth are pretty good, and my hygienist is wonderful, even if she does give me shit about staining from coffee and wine. Anyway, they had left a couple of messages on the phone reminding me, which is nice. And did I say they have a really cool office not far from where I live? My wife reminded me this morning about going, and getting the teeth polished up, and mentioned it's a good thing I don't smile when I swim, cause I'd frighten the other swimmers with my shark impression. That put me in a good mood.
So I got in the pool this am ready for a nice workout. Pardon me if I go on a bit about the stroke and stuff. I'm in the mood to write, and I'm staying late at the office tonight, so I can start a little late this morning.
Firstly:
2000 m in 38:49. Not a personal best, but a time I'me very happy with because my stroke was good, and my heartrate at the end was a nice low 135 or so.
A few minutes of core work in the dive tank, but we'll call it 45 min overall to keep the math simple.
I've decided that blueberry pomegranite yogurt on my granola doesn't go with this coffee very well. If that's the worst part of my day, that will be good. Today the water was slippery on my body, and yet I could get a grip on it with my hands and arms. I was working on reaching forward, catching the water, then sliding my forearm to the vertical, thinking about it almost as a lever to pry myself forward, and my body just sliding along. Then a nice long steady pull, but not cupping the water and swooshing through, but rather using it as an anchor to move myself forward. I was getting some good roll too at least some of the time. I only wish there had been someone to video it. I'd love to see a video of me swimming.
It was nice that there was a couple of girls in the next lane swimming just about the same speed. So I could chase one (yeah, I know how that sounds, but we're in a public pool here,suppress your imagination, and you know who I'm talkin'bout! :-) ) and over several laps catch up, then set my sights on the next one. They're strong swimmers, with nice strokes and a good pace.
I also had a request to explain how a pace clock and a stopwatch can tell you how many laps you've gone. Easy, for my poor men brain. All I have to do is remember if I'm swimming faster than 1 min per 50 m, or slower. Lets start by assuming that is exactly the pace you swim. Then the number of minutes you swim will be exactly equal to the number of laps.
Now lets assume you're just a little bit slower. Start with the hand you can see easiest and remember where it is. The bottom of the clock works for me. Start your watch, and start your swim. At the end of the first lap, the clock will be slightly past the bottom, and you're watch will read 1:02, for example, and you've swum 1 lap or 50 m. So you continue at that pace for a while. At 500 m your watch will read 10:20, and the pace clock will be a third of the way around. At 1000 m, your watch will read 20:40, and the clock will be 2/3rds of the way around. The only trick to this is to remember than when the clock arm you've been watching passes the bottom of the clock again, as it will at about 1500 m, your time on the watch is now 31:00, and the laps you've swum is the number of minutes MINUS one.
If, like me, you can swim about that much faster than a minute, the same logic works, only right from the beginning, you've swum one MORE lap than the number of minutes on your watch. So if you're swimming 50 m in 58 seconds on average, your 1000 m time will be 19:20. At some point, the clock arm will pass the bottom of the clock again, and all you have to remember is that you've swum 2 MORE laps than minutes on your stopwatch. But that doesn't happen all that often yet. Simple, yes? Much better than trying to remember a number for a long time, then the next one, in the face of all the competing thoughts there are to be thunk.
Legs are feeling good, though throughout the spin last night it felt like someone had taped some fishing weights to the back of my legs. They were in a sort of pre-cramp stage, which is sort of odd.
So I got in the pool this am ready for a nice workout. Pardon me if I go on a bit about the stroke and stuff. I'm in the mood to write, and I'm staying late at the office tonight, so I can start a little late this morning.
Firstly:
2000 m in 38:49. Not a personal best, but a time I'me very happy with because my stroke was good, and my heartrate at the end was a nice low 135 or so.
A few minutes of core work in the dive tank, but we'll call it 45 min overall to keep the math simple.
I've decided that blueberry pomegranite yogurt on my granola doesn't go with this coffee very well. If that's the worst part of my day, that will be good. Today the water was slippery on my body, and yet I could get a grip on it with my hands and arms. I was working on reaching forward, catching the water, then sliding my forearm to the vertical, thinking about it almost as a lever to pry myself forward, and my body just sliding along. Then a nice long steady pull, but not cupping the water and swooshing through, but rather using it as an anchor to move myself forward. I was getting some good roll too at least some of the time. I only wish there had been someone to video it. I'd love to see a video of me swimming.
It was nice that there was a couple of girls in the next lane swimming just about the same speed. So I could chase one (yeah, I know how that sounds, but we're in a public pool here,suppress your imagination, and you know who I'm talkin'bout! :-) ) and over several laps catch up, then set my sights on the next one. They're strong swimmers, with nice strokes and a good pace.
I also had a request to explain how a pace clock and a stopwatch can tell you how many laps you've gone. Easy, for my poor men brain. All I have to do is remember if I'm swimming faster than 1 min per 50 m, or slower. Lets start by assuming that is exactly the pace you swim. Then the number of minutes you swim will be exactly equal to the number of laps.
Now lets assume you're just a little bit slower. Start with the hand you can see easiest and remember where it is. The bottom of the clock works for me. Start your watch, and start your swim. At the end of the first lap, the clock will be slightly past the bottom, and you're watch will read 1:02, for example, and you've swum 1 lap or 50 m. So you continue at that pace for a while. At 500 m your watch will read 10:20, and the pace clock will be a third of the way around. At 1000 m, your watch will read 20:40, and the clock will be 2/3rds of the way around. The only trick to this is to remember than when the clock arm you've been watching passes the bottom of the clock again, as it will at about 1500 m, your time on the watch is now 31:00, and the laps you've swum is the number of minutes MINUS one.
If, like me, you can swim about that much faster than a minute, the same logic works, only right from the beginning, you've swum one MORE lap than the number of minutes on your watch. So if you're swimming 50 m in 58 seconds on average, your 1000 m time will be 19:20. At some point, the clock arm will pass the bottom of the clock again, and all you have to remember is that you've swum 2 MORE laps than minutes on your stopwatch. But that doesn't happen all that often yet. Simple, yes? Much better than trying to remember a number for a long time, then the next one, in the face of all the competing thoughts there are to be thunk.
Legs are feeling good, though throughout the spin last night it felt like someone had taped some fishing weights to the back of my legs. They were in a sort of pre-cramp stage, which is sort of odd.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Good solid bike on tired legs
Greg is back! Time trial night, but a short workout. We did a few one leg drills, a couple 3 minute warm ups for time trial, then settled in for a 20 minute ride. I was a gear harder than the last time we did this, kept the cadence about the same, 90 rpm. Last time my heart rate was up between 135 and 140. Now, in a harder gear, remember, it was between 115 and 120. I guess this training is having an effect after all. I had just one spot where I was figetty on the bike, and once that passed I was good.
I have to admit I was a bit worried about my legs. The hams and calves have that pre-cramp feel, so I wanted to stay smooth. I might have been able to get through the trial in a tougher gear or two, but then again, maybe not.
1:40 ride.
I have to admit I was a bit worried about my legs. The hams and calves have that pre-cramp feel, so I wanted to stay smooth. I might have been able to get through the trial in a tougher gear or two, but then again, maybe not.
1:40 ride.
Monday, March 3, 2008
So-so swim
Don't think I'm blaming the goggles, but I could not get the right one to stay sealed. I spent most of the swim with water sloshing around, getting into my right eye. It's amazing how distracting that is.
My massage therapist found this massive lump of tightness in my left mid back. That's always a "crunchy" spot, as she puts it, but this was way worse than normal. Maybe that's why things hurt so much last week. Out of desperation I've started mousing with my right hand again.
1000 m in 20:11. Icky-poo. Sloppy, uncoordinated, weak, feeble, and decrepit.
25 minutes of core and flexibility in the dive tank.
Total 45 minutes.
My massage therapist found this massive lump of tightness in my left mid back. That's always a "crunchy" spot, as she puts it, but this was way worse than normal. Maybe that's why things hurt so much last week. Out of desperation I've started mousing with my right hand again.
1000 m in 20:11. Icky-poo. Sloppy, uncoordinated, weak, feeble, and decrepit.
25 minutes of core and flexibility in the dive tank.
Total 45 minutes.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Tingly butt
There, I knew that would get your attention. Technically, at the moment I'm free of the IGP™. So I could do anything I wanted!! But I'm sure IG will have been thinking about our plans, and will get them sent out to all of us as soon as he's home
10 min warmup, feeling the tingly butt as I got comfey on the bike. For a while I thought it might be bad, but then it got ok. Wrists were a bit sore, but overall it was ok.
5 x 30 seconds smooth and fast, 90 seconds recovery. Concentrating on smooth, I ended up at not quite 120 or so with no bouncing. I guess that core work is paying off.
6 x 5 hard at top zone 2, 5 easy bottom of zone 2, alternating between easy gear high rpm, and harder gear slow rpm.
10 min cool down with a couple of high speed smooth spins tossed in for good measure.
Only odd thing is that every now and this I got this odd noise like my rear gears changed by half a gear or so. Nothing appeared to be moving, just some funny clicks, and I could feel it on the pedals. But that's balanced by a good thing! I got onto the drops for some reason, which I normally don't. The reason I don't is the feeling of thighs thwhaping the molson's muscle isn't very nice. I can still feel it happening, but it's not like my tummy is being pummeled.
short transition (didn't time it today.)
Nice and easy run. I tried to keep my heart rate under 120, but it seemed to settle in at the mid-120's.
About 4 Km in 35 minutes.
5 minutes walking cooldown
The weather out is beautiful! Such a nice day for a run. I had to dial it back for fear of getting carried away and going much too hard. I suppose if I was really on the ball I could dig out the hybrid and go for a fun ride.
Then about a half hour of yoga, write the blog, nice shower, and hang around waiting for my massage therapist to show up.
2 hours workout.
Weekly total
Swim 1.75 hr
Bike 3 hr
Run 1.25 hr
Total 6 hr
10 min warmup, feeling the tingly butt as I got comfey on the bike. For a while I thought it might be bad, but then it got ok. Wrists were a bit sore, but overall it was ok.
5 x 30 seconds smooth and fast, 90 seconds recovery. Concentrating on smooth, I ended up at not quite 120 or so with no bouncing. I guess that core work is paying off.
6 x 5 hard at top zone 2, 5 easy bottom of zone 2, alternating between easy gear high rpm, and harder gear slow rpm.
10 min cool down with a couple of high speed smooth spins tossed in for good measure.
Only odd thing is that every now and this I got this odd noise like my rear gears changed by half a gear or so. Nothing appeared to be moving, just some funny clicks, and I could feel it on the pedals. But that's balanced by a good thing! I got onto the drops for some reason, which I normally don't. The reason I don't is the feeling of thighs thwhaping the molson's muscle isn't very nice. I can still feel it happening, but it's not like my tummy is being pummeled.
short transition (didn't time it today.)
Nice and easy run. I tried to keep my heart rate under 120, but it seemed to settle in at the mid-120's.
About 4 Km in 35 minutes.
5 minutes walking cooldown
The weather out is beautiful! Such a nice day for a run. I had to dial it back for fear of getting carried away and going much too hard. I suppose if I was really on the ball I could dig out the hybrid and go for a fun ride.
Then about a half hour of yoga, write the blog, nice shower, and hang around waiting for my massage therapist to show up.
2 hours workout.
Weekly total
Swim 1.75 hr
Bike 3 hr
Run 1.25 hr
Total 6 hr
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