I was up early today, and had to do some complicated math to figure out what time to start my workout, so I could end with time to shower and get to a book club meeting. Plus, Linda was still asleep, so there was no chance of firing up Montevani's Thousand String Orchestra to keep me going. (At least that's what Susi thinks is on my ipod.) No music at all.
Warmed up, did some one leg drill and slow accelerations.
6 x 7/3 aeroboic (found out later it was supposed to be 6/4, oh well) Found a gear where I could dial into 90 rpm and try to keep the heart rate at 130 bpm, which is about top of zone 2.
more one leg drill and slow accelerations
Cool down
2 hours exactly, then 4 min transition.
Hopped off the bike, dried off, dressed for -20 C or so, with a stiff wind and went 3K around the block in 20 min. Did a little bit of stretching, shower, and headed out again. It was only cold going into the wind. I was actually overdressed a bit.
Throughout the bike I focussed on my core, and by the end of it I was knackered. When I was pedaling smoothly, I could keep the heart rate good. When I started thinking about other stuff, and let my legs away from me, my heart rate went up. Very interesting. Pretty pleased with the workout. Tried the orangy flavoured GuO2 and it wasn't bad, but preferred my own mix.
Do people care about book clubs? We're now going to read The Path by Picoult, and The Shack, by William Young. I am not impressed so far with the treacle that has oozed out between the covers of the first. But that's what being in a book club is all about, reading things that you'd never pick out on your own. I've been surprised before.
I really have to get out more. We watched George Carlin's "It's bad for you" last night on DVD and we were chatting about it at the book club, then found out George Carlin died almost a year ago. Sigh. Just started reading The Rick Mercer Report, and am killing myself laughing. I don't watch television much, only when I'm on the road, and I've only see a few episodes of this, so it's all new to me.
Weekly totals
Swim 1.75 hrs
Bike 5.5 hrs
Run 2.5 hrs
Total 9.75
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Coach Greg, in the pool
Rather than a regular swim, I met Greg at Glenmore pool. Nice facility, maybe I'm going to need to come up with a nickname for it if I'm going to swim there more often. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Friday was a rest day, and a good thing too. My legs were still tired, and during dinner with friends my calves where really feeling grumpy. They are still sore this morning. My work life is going through some changes that I'll talk about once I get some more details, but I ended up working at home on the computer for a bunch of hours Friday afternoon. This room is cool at the best of times. I let myself get chilled, and that's never good for helping muscles relax. Have I mentioned Calgary is back in the deep freeze and it's somewhere between -20 and -30 C?
Greg suggested we get together to look at my swim stroke. He sees me on the bike twice a week at spin class. We ran together last year to make sure there wasn't anything horrible about my stride, and we'll do it again, but the main goal is simply to build my running conditioning. There's a long way to go. I've swum a lot over the years, long before I thought about triathlon. We knew from my swim times that I didn't need to do anything for the water last year; I could coast on existing skills. Now the time has come to examine and improve the swimming skills to get a little bit faster, but more importantly, spend less energy per distance, so I'm fresher for the bike.
Glenmore is between us, and I haven't been there for many years. The facility is nice, although the pool water is a little on the warm side. The biggest downside is that they only have the half lockers and only a few of them let you put on your own lock. On Saturday the lane swim only lasts 1.5 hours, so I'd need to get their promptly. Other things being equal, I'd rather swim there than at Canyon Meadows.
We took over one of the fast lanes. I swam. He looked, and didn't laugh. "Not baaaad" he says. Still, there are some things to fix. There always is. The major thing is that my reach crosses the centre line of my body, my left arm does a bit of an S stroke, and I need to roll a bit more on my non breathing strokes. It could have been much worse. We worked through some sculling drills, and he showed me how the one arm drill is supposed to look. Spent lots of time on the technicality of the stroke, tweaking little things. He gave me a great idea on tracking stroke efficiency. I need to work on drills more, and intervals with perfect stroke, and forget about swim times. Maybe once a month do a straight out swim and record the time for 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 m. Lots for me to think about.
We were in the pool for 1.25 hrs, but a good chunk of that was talking, and waving our arms about. I wonder what the other pool patrons thought? A couple times people looked like they were going to join us, but then saw us swooshing up and down, and they went elsewhere. I probably swam 1000 m at most, but was working harder because I was thinking about my stroke, and trying different things. I'm going to say .75 hr workout, and didn't do any core work in the dive tank. Maybe I'll do some yoga later today.
Their scale is in the reception area. It said 230, though I was carrying lots of fluid I should have got rid of first. Then again, I have no idea how that scale is calibrated compared to the one I usually use. So I have no idea if I'm really, actually the same weight or what. But I think my waist is getting smaller, since I'm pulling my belt past the first hole, but not quite to the second. All in all, I'm pretty pleased.
Friday was a rest day, and a good thing too. My legs were still tired, and during dinner with friends my calves where really feeling grumpy. They are still sore this morning. My work life is going through some changes that I'll talk about once I get some more details, but I ended up working at home on the computer for a bunch of hours Friday afternoon. This room is cool at the best of times. I let myself get chilled, and that's never good for helping muscles relax. Have I mentioned Calgary is back in the deep freeze and it's somewhere between -20 and -30 C?
Greg suggested we get together to look at my swim stroke. He sees me on the bike twice a week at spin class. We ran together last year to make sure there wasn't anything horrible about my stride, and we'll do it again, but the main goal is simply to build my running conditioning. There's a long way to go. I've swum a lot over the years, long before I thought about triathlon. We knew from my swim times that I didn't need to do anything for the water last year; I could coast on existing skills. Now the time has come to examine and improve the swimming skills to get a little bit faster, but more importantly, spend less energy per distance, so I'm fresher for the bike.
Glenmore is between us, and I haven't been there for many years. The facility is nice, although the pool water is a little on the warm side. The biggest downside is that they only have the half lockers and only a few of them let you put on your own lock. On Saturday the lane swim only lasts 1.5 hours, so I'd need to get their promptly. Other things being equal, I'd rather swim there than at Canyon Meadows.
We took over one of the fast lanes. I swam. He looked, and didn't laugh. "Not baaaad" he says. Still, there are some things to fix. There always is. The major thing is that my reach crosses the centre line of my body, my left arm does a bit of an S stroke, and I need to roll a bit more on my non breathing strokes. It could have been much worse. We worked through some sculling drills, and he showed me how the one arm drill is supposed to look. Spent lots of time on the technicality of the stroke, tweaking little things. He gave me a great idea on tracking stroke efficiency. I need to work on drills more, and intervals with perfect stroke, and forget about swim times. Maybe once a month do a straight out swim and record the time for 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 m. Lots for me to think about.
We were in the pool for 1.25 hrs, but a good chunk of that was talking, and waving our arms about. I wonder what the other pool patrons thought? A couple times people looked like they were going to join us, but then saw us swooshing up and down, and they went elsewhere. I probably swam 1000 m at most, but was working harder because I was thinking about my stroke, and trying different things. I'm going to say .75 hr workout, and didn't do any core work in the dive tank. Maybe I'll do some yoga later today.
Their scale is in the reception area. It said 230, though I was carrying lots of fluid I should have got rid of first. Then again, I have no idea how that scale is calibrated compared to the one I usually use. So I have no idea if I'm really, actually the same weight or what. But I think my waist is getting smaller, since I'm pulling my belt past the first hole, but not quite to the second. All in all, I'm pretty pleased.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
IG's war on sloth and gluttony, continued
I got my swim in today. There was hardly anyone at all in the pool. Life is good. After the run last night I was feeling a little creaky, and decided to have an easy swim today. I did mostly really slow laps, at least they felt slow because I was trying to get my stroke hand down to my thigh, then out in front to touch the other hand, before letting it start the next stroke. Cruised along in a very lazy way, taking the time to feel the water flowing past my hands and arms. Did some breath every 5 and every 7 strokes. Did some one arm drill. Did some backstroke. Even tried some flip turns. Did some core work in the dive tank. 30 minutes.
Then spin class. Nice warm up. One leg drill 60, 75, and 90 seconds each leg. My left leg crapped out with 15 seconds or so to go on the last one. Then some 15/15's. That was the formal warm up. Then some hard hill climbing sets. Greg has been to coachland, where all the courses are uphill. Then he sprang a surprise on us between the sets. Squats! I've never done squats in my life. Holy Hannah!!! Then a nice long cool down.
1 hr 50 minutes. Legs are very tired. It was really hot up on the stage tonight, and I sweated a bucket. I really must remember to bring a banana or a snack in my bag for right after class. Tomorrow is a rest day. Swim with Greg on Sat.
It is officially cold and crappy out again, and it's started to snow. Roads are greasy. Saw a barely avoided major collision caused by someone running a red light. Scary stuff, since I was very close to the potential splatter zone.
The goodie list for Shannon and Mel's party is coming together. I will give tours of the wine cellar. I am seriously considering making the triple chocolate mousse cake, if I can find the recipe for it again. As I recall, you take ground up oreo cookie crusts with just enough chocolate sauce to hold them together and form the crust. Then comes a baked chocolate mousse layer. Then comes a different chocolate mousse layer that is refrigerated. Then a chocolate glaze. If you are a choco lover, it is to die for. One narrow slice is enough calories to fuel you through a 70.3 no problem at all.
Then spin class. Nice warm up. One leg drill 60, 75, and 90 seconds each leg. My left leg crapped out with 15 seconds or so to go on the last one. Then some 15/15's. That was the formal warm up. Then some hard hill climbing sets. Greg has been to coachland, where all the courses are uphill. Then he sprang a surprise on us between the sets. Squats! I've never done squats in my life. Holy Hannah!!! Then a nice long cool down.
1 hr 50 minutes. Legs are very tired. It was really hot up on the stage tonight, and I sweated a bucket. I really must remember to bring a banana or a snack in my bag for right after class. Tomorrow is a rest day. Swim with Greg on Sat.
It is officially cold and crappy out again, and it's started to snow. Roads are greasy. Saw a barely avoided major collision caused by someone running a red light. Scary stuff, since I was very close to the potential splatter zone.
The goodie list for Shannon and Mel's party is coming together. I will give tours of the wine cellar. I am seriously considering making the triple chocolate mousse cake, if I can find the recipe for it again. As I recall, you take ground up oreo cookie crusts with just enough chocolate sauce to hold them together and form the crust. Then comes a baked chocolate mousse layer. Then comes a different chocolate mousse layer that is refrigerated. Then a chocolate glaze. If you are a choco lover, it is to die for. One narrow slice is enough calories to fuel you through a 70.3 no problem at all.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
I ran from afternoon to dusk
After a long day at work coping with servers going MIA, I was looking forward to a nice long run. My rules were:
1- run safely, the sidewalks are mostly ice, and the bike path is mostly packed snow, with some bare pavement and a bit of ice.
2- Run at an even heart rate, varying my pace as required for hills. I was aiming for an aerobic pace, which for me is about 130 bpm.
3 - Run 10 walk 1.
It was brilliant afternoon when I started, and just above zero C, with little or no wind. Walked most of the way to 37th street with the last bit a very gentle run. Headed north along the path, and got almost to the boat launches at South Glenmore Park. Along the way the temperature dropped a bit, and on the way back a bit of a wind picked up. With the wind I'd guess it was -10 C or so, given the way my moustashe was freeezing up.
Didn't get back to my starting point at the end of the planned time, but I hadn't really expected to. It's mostly downhill going toward South Glenmore Park. I resisted the temptation to run faster to get there. Along the way the sky gradually darkened. The sunset wasn't as spectacular as yesterday's, but it was still pretty nice in that winter pastel Alberta sort of way.
My watch says my average heart rate was 126, and the peak was 135 bpm! During the one min walks it dropped from high 120's or low 130's to about 110 or so. This was exactly what I was hoping for.
My legs didn't quite live up to my hopes. I'm pleased they got me there and back, that's always good. But they never relaxed into the run pace. They wanted to go a little faster, or walk. The little bit faster would start driving my heart rate up, so I'd slow down again.
Walked and easy run for 10 min warmup
6 x 10/1
walk 20 min to cool down and stretch out my legs. The calves submitted a stiff note of protest right after the last run segment, and it took a few minutes to calm them down again. Once back to the house I ate something while browsing blogs, then went and stretched more. 1.5 hr.
Some of you are going to laugh. I was supposed to swim this morning. My autopilot got me up, dressed, fed, packed the swim bag, and out the door. It was only when I was nearly at the pool that I realized I didn't have a bathing suit. Sigh. That's the second time. Showered, and that's how I got an early start and early departure from work today.
1- run safely, the sidewalks are mostly ice, and the bike path is mostly packed snow, with some bare pavement and a bit of ice.
2- Run at an even heart rate, varying my pace as required for hills. I was aiming for an aerobic pace, which for me is about 130 bpm.
3 - Run 10 walk 1.
It was brilliant afternoon when I started, and just above zero C, with little or no wind. Walked most of the way to 37th street with the last bit a very gentle run. Headed north along the path, and got almost to the boat launches at South Glenmore Park. Along the way the temperature dropped a bit, and on the way back a bit of a wind picked up. With the wind I'd guess it was -10 C or so, given the way my moustashe was freeezing up.
Didn't get back to my starting point at the end of the planned time, but I hadn't really expected to. It's mostly downhill going toward South Glenmore Park. I resisted the temptation to run faster to get there. Along the way the sky gradually darkened. The sunset wasn't as spectacular as yesterday's, but it was still pretty nice in that winter pastel Alberta sort of way.
My watch says my average heart rate was 126, and the peak was 135 bpm! During the one min walks it dropped from high 120's or low 130's to about 110 or so. This was exactly what I was hoping for.
My legs didn't quite live up to my hopes. I'm pleased they got me there and back, that's always good. But they never relaxed into the run pace. They wanted to go a little faster, or walk. The little bit faster would start driving my heart rate up, so I'd slow down again.
Walked and easy run for 10 min warmup
6 x 10/1
walk 20 min to cool down and stretch out my legs. The calves submitted a stiff note of protest right after the last run segment, and it took a few minutes to calm them down again. Once back to the house I ate something while browsing blogs, then went and stretched more. 1.5 hr.
Some of you are going to laugh. I was supposed to swim this morning. My autopilot got me up, dressed, fed, packed the swim bag, and out the door. It was only when I was nearly at the pool that I realized I didn't have a bathing suit. Sigh. That's the second time. Showered, and that's how I got an early start and early departure from work today.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Only a spin today
Full class tonight, and Greg had a big one teed up for us. I was on the bike a bit early and got in a good warmup. Then some one leg drill. Then some cadence work, alternating fast and slow. Then he sprang more one leg drill on us. Then did all again. Then a bit more stuff. Head down and push through, then cool down.
Now here's the odd thing, and I admit it doesn't make much sense to me. I was warming up in a gear harder than I normally do, at a higher rpm than I normally do, and could barely get my heart rate over 100. Throughout the workout I thought I was typically in a harder gear than normal and was maintaining cadence, yet I was having trouble getting my heart rate up to the top of zone 2. As soon as we went back to easy pedal, it plummeted back to under 100. Yet I don't think I was spinning any particularly more smoothly, and I didn't feel strong, and I certainly couldn't pedal fast tonight. Trying to get over 120 was brutal, and even maintaining that was tough. Yet my heart rate wasn't up. I guess my legs were tired.
The irritating thing was my shorts. I could not get comfey on the bike tonight. Squirmed around but couldn't make it better. It wasn't the normal sit bones thing. This was like the bike shorts chafing, which they've never done. The padding is a bit different than the other shorts that I wear more often. Maybe my butt has got used to them, and doesn't like these ones anymore. Pity, because the other ones have a couple small holes from the bike crash last year. Sigh. Maybe it's time to go shopping.
This was 1.75 hrs, a good solid workout.
A political note here, you can stop reading if that doesn't interest you.
I watched the inauguration today. I've spent most of the last 20 years building up a deep distaste for the American government, and the fascist (and yes, I know exactly what that word means) direction it's been taking. I believe that recent presidents and Bush in particular have betrayed their oaths of office, and betrayed the ideals of the country they were supposed to be leading. In fact, at the moment of the transition of power, America is not a free country. It is not governed by the rule of law, though there are still vestiges of it. Fundamental freedoms have been removed or restricted so strongly they aren't even a shadow of their former self. Americans have every reason to be ashamed of what their country has become. The difference between what America says, and what America does is making the rest of the world crazy.
And now we have this young man taking office and he has inspired the country like no president since JFK. I thought his inauguration speech was wonderful. I took a few minutes off work to watch the internet feed. Bush and Cheney should have been squirming in their chairs. The only way it could have been better is if he had snapped his fingers at a platoon of marines, and they dragged Bush and Cheney off to be waterboarded and put on trial. Well, maybe that's a little excessive, but the trial part isn't. But still, he hit that one out of the park. He has a night to celebrate something that so many people thought they would never see. And then tomorrow, I hope he starts kicking ass. Big time.
Canadian federal politicians, and doubly so for Prime Ministers are almost without exception, boring. Even by Canadian standards. Trudeau, and Diefenbaker are the only ones in recent memory that weren't. Well, Chretien was interesting only in the sense of watching a train wreck, and wondering when it would finally come off the rails. There was a certain fascination watching a man who couldn't really speak either of the official languages trying to communicate. The current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has been generally pragmatic and steady, with one monstrous exception, but nobody would call him charismatic. Just the opposite. So it will be interesting to see Harper and Obama meet. I hope they don't cancel each other out in a blinding flash.
Now here's the odd thing, and I admit it doesn't make much sense to me. I was warming up in a gear harder than I normally do, at a higher rpm than I normally do, and could barely get my heart rate over 100. Throughout the workout I thought I was typically in a harder gear than normal and was maintaining cadence, yet I was having trouble getting my heart rate up to the top of zone 2. As soon as we went back to easy pedal, it plummeted back to under 100. Yet I don't think I was spinning any particularly more smoothly, and I didn't feel strong, and I certainly couldn't pedal fast tonight. Trying to get over 120 was brutal, and even maintaining that was tough. Yet my heart rate wasn't up. I guess my legs were tired.
The irritating thing was my shorts. I could not get comfey on the bike tonight. Squirmed around but couldn't make it better. It wasn't the normal sit bones thing. This was like the bike shorts chafing, which they've never done. The padding is a bit different than the other shorts that I wear more often. Maybe my butt has got used to them, and doesn't like these ones anymore. Pity, because the other ones have a couple small holes from the bike crash last year. Sigh. Maybe it's time to go shopping.
This was 1.75 hrs, a good solid workout.
A political note here, you can stop reading if that doesn't interest you.
I watched the inauguration today. I've spent most of the last 20 years building up a deep distaste for the American government, and the fascist (and yes, I know exactly what that word means) direction it's been taking. I believe that recent presidents and Bush in particular have betrayed their oaths of office, and betrayed the ideals of the country they were supposed to be leading. In fact, at the moment of the transition of power, America is not a free country. It is not governed by the rule of law, though there are still vestiges of it. Fundamental freedoms have been removed or restricted so strongly they aren't even a shadow of their former self. Americans have every reason to be ashamed of what their country has become. The difference between what America says, and what America does is making the rest of the world crazy.
And now we have this young man taking office and he has inspired the country like no president since JFK. I thought his inauguration speech was wonderful. I took a few minutes off work to watch the internet feed. Bush and Cheney should have been squirming in their chairs. The only way it could have been better is if he had snapped his fingers at a platoon of marines, and they dragged Bush and Cheney off to be waterboarded and put on trial. Well, maybe that's a little excessive, but the trial part isn't. But still, he hit that one out of the park. He has a night to celebrate something that so many people thought they would never see. And then tomorrow, I hope he starts kicking ass. Big time.
Canadian federal politicians, and doubly so for Prime Ministers are almost without exception, boring. Even by Canadian standards. Trudeau, and Diefenbaker are the only ones in recent memory that weren't. Well, Chretien was interesting only in the sense of watching a train wreck, and wondering when it would finally come off the rails. There was a certain fascination watching a man who couldn't really speak either of the official languages trying to communicate. The current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has been generally pragmatic and steady, with one monstrous exception, but nobody would call him charismatic. Just the opposite. So it will be interesting to see Harper and Obama meet. I hope they don't cancel each other out in a blinding flash.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Progress
This morning was the best swim since last summer. Started off like I normally do, and within a length I knew I was going to have a good swim. I had the feel of the water, that's all I can say. Then I stayed strong much longer than I thought I would, and it turned into a great swim!
500 m 9:50
1000 m 19:57 (with no sprint needed, this was a steady pace)
1500 m 30:10
I am really happy about this, since this gets me back to where I was before my arm issue. If anything, I'm a steadier swimmer now than I was, with more consistent lap times. I happened to note my 1250 time was right on 25 minutes, and it's only in the last 250 m that my stroke fell apart. Not just my arm, but my turn was getting sloppy, and my kick too. But this is major progress for me, getting back into the ballpark of where I was. Now lets see where I can go.
It's also a run night, with sidewalk nightmare icing from the warm day today. Even people that have been good about shoveling have the melt from their lawns running onto the sidewalk, and of course, freezing. I very carefully walked out to the bike path, with the last bit at a slow careful run. My theory was that the bike path, being in the sun for the warmest part of the day might have cleared off. No such luck. It was still pretty slippery.
So I ran very carefully. Inevitably that tightened up my legs, which were already tight to begin with. They were heavy and slow. Maybe they were still in the pool celebrating the great swim this morning. I did a few strides, trying for quick light steps. Don't read more into that than there is. You almost can't do anything else given the surface conditions. I'll call this 45 minutes, even though the warm up and cool down extended beyond the 35 minute run by more than 10 minutes. What was odd is that my heart rate monitor gave me numbers all over the map at first, and even when it settled down I didn't really believe them. At first, way too high, and then somewhat low given my breathing. Then again, I wasn't going that fast, maybe my breathing is what was out of whack.
500 m 9:50
1000 m 19:57 (with no sprint needed, this was a steady pace)
1500 m 30:10
I am really happy about this, since this gets me back to where I was before my arm issue. If anything, I'm a steadier swimmer now than I was, with more consistent lap times. I happened to note my 1250 time was right on 25 minutes, and it's only in the last 250 m that my stroke fell apart. Not just my arm, but my turn was getting sloppy, and my kick too. But this is major progress for me, getting back into the ballpark of where I was. Now lets see where I can go.
It's also a run night, with sidewalk nightmare icing from the warm day today. Even people that have been good about shoveling have the melt from their lawns running onto the sidewalk, and of course, freezing. I very carefully walked out to the bike path, with the last bit at a slow careful run. My theory was that the bike path, being in the sun for the warmest part of the day might have cleared off. No such luck. It was still pretty slippery.
So I ran very carefully. Inevitably that tightened up my legs, which were already tight to begin with. They were heavy and slow. Maybe they were still in the pool celebrating the great swim this morning. I did a few strides, trying for quick light steps. Don't read more into that than there is. You almost can't do anything else given the surface conditions. I'll call this 45 minutes, even though the warm up and cool down extended beyond the 35 minute run by more than 10 minutes. What was odd is that my heart rate monitor gave me numbers all over the map at first, and even when it settled down I didn't really believe them. At first, way too high, and then somewhat low given my breathing. Then again, I wasn't going that fast, maybe my breathing is what was out of whack.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Something new
Katie and Chris are hosting a spin, bike, and core class on Sundays. This is my usual long workout day, so I thought I'd give it a try. The spin was 1.5 hrs, with lots of short bits in it so the time went by really quick. The fun part was wondering what time we should call Shannon, and ask where he was. And Katie's friend T falling for me, almost head over heels, can't forget that.
Then onto the run. All I can say is that Katie's idea of an easy warm up run, nice and aerobic, is practically at my limits. Chris very graciously took it easy and stayed with me as I chugged along at the back of the pack. At one point we could see Katie in the lead, long legs stretched out, picking up and whirling the snow around in the wind of her passage. It was a beautiful day for a run, with lots of people out on the pathway. Which is a bit odd for me. Since I started running, during my outside runs if I see 2 or 3 serious runners, that's crowded. Today I saw that in in the first few minutes.
Then onto something I don't do enough of, core work. Katie set up some work out stations with various exercises. I broke into a cold sweat (everything up till now had been a hot sweat, which is something else entirely.) when I saw her put a sketch with the words 'Push ups' onto one of the mats. Oh dear. The other ones weren't too bad, though planking for 30 seconds just about did me in. I wimped out on the push ups and did the weenie ones from the knees, not toes. Even so, my elbow made some protesting noises. They all thought it was one of the fans rattling which was very nice of them, I must say. I did 3, very slowly. Then some stretching after.
It was an excellent workout, even if the run pushed me a little harder than I really should go just yet. I'll join them periodically, depending on how my schedule goes.
Kelly and other coffee fans might want to skip this para. My dental hygienist is wonderful, but always gives me shit about stain buildup, and says coffee and tea are just about the worst. (Let's not hear anything about red wine, that's crazy talk!) Plus, I just read an article that talks about the impact of caffeine and sleep. Well, I get crappy enough sleep all too often as it is. Lastly, work ran out of the good stuff and we're down to (shudder) Maxwell House, or something like. So starting tomorrow and for the rest of the week, ONE cup a day. Then the week after, no coffee during the work week, and one cup on the weekend. See how that feels.
Weekly totals
Swim 2.0 hrs
Bike 4.5 hrs
Run 2.0 hrs
Total 8.5 hrs.
Then onto the run. All I can say is that Katie's idea of an easy warm up run, nice and aerobic, is practically at my limits. Chris very graciously took it easy and stayed with me as I chugged along at the back of the pack. At one point we could see Katie in the lead, long legs stretched out, picking up and whirling the snow around in the wind of her passage. It was a beautiful day for a run, with lots of people out on the pathway. Which is a bit odd for me. Since I started running, during my outside runs if I see 2 or 3 serious runners, that's crowded. Today I saw that in in the first few minutes.
Then onto something I don't do enough of, core work. Katie set up some work out stations with various exercises. I broke into a cold sweat (everything up till now had been a hot sweat, which is something else entirely.) when I saw her put a sketch with the words 'Push ups' onto one of the mats. Oh dear. The other ones weren't too bad, though planking for 30 seconds just about did me in. I wimped out on the push ups and did the weenie ones from the knees, not toes. Even so, my elbow made some protesting noises. They all thought it was one of the fans rattling which was very nice of them, I must say. I did 3, very slowly. Then some stretching after.
It was an excellent workout, even if the run pushed me a little harder than I really should go just yet. I'll join them periodically, depending on how my schedule goes.
Kelly and other coffee fans might want to skip this para. My dental hygienist is wonderful, but always gives me shit about stain buildup, and says coffee and tea are just about the worst. (Let's not hear anything about red wine, that's crazy talk!) Plus, I just read an article that talks about the impact of caffeine and sleep. Well, I get crappy enough sleep all too often as it is. Lastly, work ran out of the good stuff and we're down to (shudder) Maxwell House, or something like. So starting tomorrow and for the rest of the week, ONE cup a day. Then the week after, no coffee during the work week, and one cup on the weekend. See how that feels.
Weekly totals
Swim 2.0 hrs
Bike 4.5 hrs
Run 2.0 hrs
Total 8.5 hrs.
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