Please do not adjust your set. We have been having technical difficulties. The coffee drinkers were very disappointed once they realized the gurgles were *not* the sign coffee was ready, and got a little unruly. The car load of kleenex arrived in good time, as did the special garbage pickup.
My swim this morning was pretty pathetic, but I was happy to be in the pool again. It's like I've forgotten how to swim in 4 days, and my arm was thinking it was still broke. Only a half hour in the water.
Late morning I went out for a half hour, easy run. This went better than the swim, but my feet wanted to go far faster than my lungs or heart were ready for. I kept it nice and slow, experimenting with different gaits, just for fun. I was really happy to be outside again in the fresh air, able to breath again.
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Monday, February 9, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
What's your theme song?
Yes, I'm still sick. Better, but not better enough to do anything involving deep breathing. A slow walk is about all I'm good for at the moment. I'm a bit disappointed since I'd hoped to have a big week on the bike and in the pool. But the rest will do me good. If you listen to Cohen's "Everybody Knows" you have a good idea of what my voice sounds like now. I actually like that sound, but I hate everything else that goes along with it.
I've had lots of music from the infamous ipod playing recently. One of the ones I discovered, almost by accident, was Sarah Vaughan singing 'Whatever Lola wants'. It's a slow, sultry (with a capital S) rhumba. You could also Argentine Tango to it as well, and you girls are going to like what happens about the 2:53 mark. You can hear the original here. It isn't what you'd think of an inspirational, drive you to the finish kind of song. Yet I had it going through my mind during one bike session. It made me dig deep, reminding me of my goals. Plus I had a bit of fun playing with the lyrics. There's a bike in our group named Lola, after all, and some names scan very well in place of Lola.
If you look at the movies, any self respecting movie that is, the hero has a theme song. It plays when he or she rises over adversity, conquers all odds, and comes out on top for a triumphal finish. (Yes, I'm gagging a little as I wrote that.) The theme from Rocky is a well known one. (note to self, I suppose I should see the movie first before talking about it.) I'm a big fan of the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme song. (the trouble with writing about music is trying to hear a song in your head when you've got the ipod plugged in playing something else. k.d. lang singing Halleluhah, at the moment, if you must know.) I don't care for some of her music, but she has an incredible voice. James Bond probably has the coolest, best known theme song, but then I'm probably missing some really obvious ones.
But what about you? If you aren't the hero in the movie of your life, then who the heck is? What music is your sound track when the going gets tough? When you're feeling good and things are going your way? When you're worried about how something is going to come out? When you're dealing with bad news? What's the one song that other people probably don't know about that you wish you could see their faces when they listen to it?
At one spin session, my co-spinees were talking about music that got them going. I was lost. I didn't even know the names, let alone have any idea what the music sounded like. There's days I think I'm long down the geezer road, since I have no idea what music is happening now. Yet I keep finding great music, and then find out it's been around for a long time. Makes me wonder where I was then.
I've had lots of music from the infamous ipod playing recently. One of the ones I discovered, almost by accident, was Sarah Vaughan singing 'Whatever Lola wants'. It's a slow, sultry (with a capital S) rhumba. You could also Argentine Tango to it as well, and you girls are going to like what happens about the 2:53 mark. You can hear the original here. It isn't what you'd think of an inspirational, drive you to the finish kind of song. Yet I had it going through my mind during one bike session. It made me dig deep, reminding me of my goals. Plus I had a bit of fun playing with the lyrics. There's a bike in our group named Lola, after all, and some names scan very well in place of Lola.
If you look at the movies, any self respecting movie that is, the hero has a theme song. It plays when he or she rises over adversity, conquers all odds, and comes out on top for a triumphal finish. (Yes, I'm gagging a little as I wrote that.) The theme from Rocky is a well known one. (note to self, I suppose I should see the movie first before talking about it.) I'm a big fan of the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme song. (the trouble with writing about music is trying to hear a song in your head when you've got the ipod plugged in playing something else. k.d. lang singing Halleluhah, at the moment, if you must know.) I don't care for some of her music, but she has an incredible voice. James Bond probably has the coolest, best known theme song, but then I'm probably missing some really obvious ones.
But what about you? If you aren't the hero in the movie of your life, then who the heck is? What music is your sound track when the going gets tough? When you're feeling good and things are going your way? When you're worried about how something is going to come out? When you're dealing with bad news? What's the one song that other people probably don't know about that you wish you could see their faces when they listen to it?
At one spin session, my co-spinees were talking about music that got them going. I was lost. I didn't even know the names, let alone have any idea what the music sounded like. There's days I think I'm long down the geezer road, since I have no idea what music is happening now. Yet I keep finding great music, and then find out it's been around for a long time. Makes me wonder where I was then.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Home sick
No swim. Likely no bike tonight unless going back to bed brings about a remarkable improvement. It's a good thing there are no coffee fanatics hanging around me. The noises I'm producing would have them holding out their cups in a hopeful way, wandering around trying to find the fresh coffee. Bed is calling me.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Running outdoors in shorts and tech shirt
Which has been nothing but a dream here for months. First things first. This has been a big workout week so far. I was dragging my tail into the pool. Still I got a good swim in, once I pushed the really slow breastroker into another lane. Another busy day there today.
Don't know what it is, but I've got major chlorine face today. Throat has a tickle in it, and my face feels like it's still in the pool. And that's after a shower. And later, now that I've had the run and another real shower, I've still got it.
250 m warmup
two sets of drill, trying for better form and pushing a little harder. My arms were tired at the end of this.
Then some steady swim, moderately fast, trying for good form. 40 minutes overall. Then 20 minutes in the dive tank for more core. I actually went back into the pool and cranked out a few more lengths. 1 hr altogether.
Today is so nice out I ran in shorts and a tech shirt. Long sleeved, but still. It felt great. Stretched lightly, walked 5 minutes to warm up, then ran 60 minutes non-stop. This was up the pathway to Glenmore, and back again. Susi never would have made it. There was a ton of dogs. It was practically a doggy convention. Walked a little longer coming back to cool down, and was actually feeling a little cool coming back into the house. Stretched, ate lunch.
Don't know what it is, but I've got major chlorine face today. Throat has a tickle in it, and my face feels like it's still in the pool. And that's after a shower. And later, now that I've had the run and another real shower, I've still got it.
250 m warmup
two sets of drill, trying for better form and pushing a little harder. My arms were tired at the end of this.
Then some steady swim, moderately fast, trying for good form. 40 minutes overall. Then 20 minutes in the dive tank for more core. I actually went back into the pool and cranked out a few more lengths. 1 hr altogether.
Today is so nice out I ran in shorts and a tech shirt. Long sleeved, but still. It felt great. Stretched lightly, walked 5 minutes to warm up, then ran 60 minutes non-stop. This was up the pathway to Glenmore, and back again. Susi never would have made it. There was a ton of dogs. It was practically a doggy convention. Walked a little longer coming back to cool down, and was actually feeling a little cool coming back into the house. Stretched, ate lunch.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
semi-solid burps
The resolutionistas have arrived in force at FOMC. I don't hardly recognize anyone there. The lane I usually swim in had two fast people in it, and the rest of the pool was full of floaties. Just behind me I recognized a new person that I didn't want to share a lane in. I made an instant decision. I would join the fast swimmers and try to keep up. There's always another day for drills.
Brisk 500 m warm up to get dialed in. The guy in my lane swims slightly faster than me, and I swim slightly quicker than the girl. Settled into hard 100 m, on 2:30 start. Most of these are done in about 105 to 108 seconds, so I'm pretty consistent. Did 8 sets, trying to remember everything about a good stroke that I covered with Greg. By the end of the last one my arms are falling off and my time dropped to 1:10. I passed the girl a couple of times. The guy slowed down and was doing some drill. He was taking really long slow strokes, like about 12 to complete 25 m. 30 min swimming.
Then into the dive tank for 30 min of core. Abs are really feeling it. (no semi-solid burps yet, patience.)
It was nice today, so I put some chicken in a ginger chili marinade, then BBQ'd it this afternoon. My timing was perfect. Linda got off the bus just as i was about to put the buns on to toast. Yummy with spicy Havarti cheese! So we ate about 5:15. I was already packed up for spin class. (This is foreshadowing.)
What I didn't know, or had forgotten was that tonight was MAPs. I don't know what that stands for, other than Mad-Ass Pedaling. Or Mighty Abject Puking. Long warm up with Katie and Leslie. One leg drill with accelerations. Then I think something else, I forget what though. Then into the MAPs. It means pedal 100+rpm in a gear where your heart doesn't quite explode by the end of the set. We did 1 min on, 2 min easy, six times. Then some rest, and 1.5 min on, with 2 min rest, times 5. I wasn't quite regretting the chicken burger, but was pretty clear on the concept that waiting till Linda gets home to eat is just a little to late on MAP nights. The second last one, I sat up, and had to burp before getting some water in. Out happens before in. Let's just say I got a little more than I bargained for. I'm glad I had my water bottle in hand.
That was a very solid 2 hour workout. I had a long coold own, but I can still feel it in my legs, even after a little bit of stretching. Greg said that tonight was only 13 minutes of real work, and in a few weeks we'll up up to twice that. I'd better push dinner back at least an hour and a half.
Brisk 500 m warm up to get dialed in. The guy in my lane swims slightly faster than me, and I swim slightly quicker than the girl. Settled into hard 100 m, on 2:30 start. Most of these are done in about 105 to 108 seconds, so I'm pretty consistent. Did 8 sets, trying to remember everything about a good stroke that I covered with Greg. By the end of the last one my arms are falling off and my time dropped to 1:10. I passed the girl a couple of times. The guy slowed down and was doing some drill. He was taking really long slow strokes, like about 12 to complete 25 m. 30 min swimming.
Then into the dive tank for 30 min of core. Abs are really feeling it. (no semi-solid burps yet, patience.)
It was nice today, so I put some chicken in a ginger chili marinade, then BBQ'd it this afternoon. My timing was perfect. Linda got off the bus just as i was about to put the buns on to toast. Yummy with spicy Havarti cheese! So we ate about 5:15. I was already packed up for spin class. (This is foreshadowing.)
What I didn't know, or had forgotten was that tonight was MAPs. I don't know what that stands for, other than Mad-Ass Pedaling. Or Mighty Abject Puking. Long warm up with Katie and Leslie. One leg drill with accelerations. Then I think something else, I forget what though. Then into the MAPs. It means pedal 100+rpm in a gear where your heart doesn't quite explode by the end of the set. We did 1 min on, 2 min easy, six times. Then some rest, and 1.5 min on, with 2 min rest, times 5. I wasn't quite regretting the chicken burger, but was pretty clear on the concept that waiting till Linda gets home to eat is just a little to late on MAP nights. The second last one, I sat up, and had to burp before getting some water in. Out happens before in. Let's just say I got a little more than I bargained for. I'm glad I had my water bottle in hand.
That was a very solid 2 hour workout. I had a long coold own, but I can still feel it in my legs, even after a little bit of stretching. Greg said that tonight was only 13 minutes of real work, and in a few weeks we'll up up to twice that. I'd better push dinner back at least an hour and a half.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Da drill, Boss, da drill!
250 m warmup
Drill was 50 m each forward figure 8 scull, tricep scull push, kick, forward pull, one arm, fist. I don't know what anybody else calls these.
Did that 4 times, with an extra 50 fast front crawl tossed in to convince someone else they didn't belong in that lane.
3 x 100 m interval on 2:30, each done in under 2 min. Next time I'll shorten the time.
Total time was 45 min, for 1800 m, which seems fast for doing drills. Maybe I miscounted. Then another 15 minutes core work in the dive tank.
This evening hopped on Estela for an hour easy spin. Oddly enough, my butt hurt more after this than it did after the long ride on Sunday.
Oh, and Amelia does not like rice crackers.
Drill was 50 m each forward figure 8 scull, tricep scull push, kick, forward pull, one arm, fist. I don't know what anybody else calls these.
Did that 4 times, with an extra 50 fast front crawl tossed in to convince someone else they didn't belong in that lane.
3 x 100 m interval on 2:30, each done in under 2 min. Next time I'll shorten the time.
Total time was 45 min, for 1800 m, which seems fast for doing drills. Maybe I miscounted. Then another 15 minutes core work in the dive tank.
This evening hopped on Estela for an hour easy spin. Oddly enough, my butt hurt more after this than it did after the long ride on Sunday.
Oh, and Amelia does not like rice crackers.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The math and the aftermath
We had a party for Mel and Shannon last night. A good time was had by all. Photos were taken. I don't think anymore needs to be said. I was astonished to find some sushi left over in the fridge this morning. After that I had my real breakfast, using some of the left over fruit. Doesn't this look good? Even better, I made the glass bowl.
Once I got out of bed I shambled around getting ready for my workout. It took a while. I made my energy drink but didn't do it early enough so it was still a bit warm.
Warmed up 15 min. There was an interesting bit where I was pedaling madly trying to get the rpm up, and it's like it was stuck at 80. Turned out to be looking at the average cadence, not the actual cadence.
25 min of one leg and acceleration drill.
11 times 6/4. Found a gear on the big ring at 85 to 90 rpm, where my heart rate was at the top of zone two, nice and steady. The 4 min easy pedal was in the same gear on the small ring, at 90 rpm or so. Still working my arm in the rest periods, pretending I'm bouncing a ball. Total 2.5 hrs.
4 min transition to dry off, change, grab a cookie and head out. It was just a little below zero, but nice out. Chugged along the roads and bike path for 30 min. My wife was saying she saw a guy on a nice road bike, out on the roads. That's fine as long as the drivers are paying attention. If they aren't, there is nowhere to go. Nowhere at all.
Here's some photos from the run. This is what crossing the roads look like now. This is way, way better than it was.
This is what many of the sidewalks look like, and this is better than it has been.
Here's a side street that the City doesn't plow. This is pretty good now. People have been getting high centred on ruts like this.
Once you've made your way past the sidewalks and streets, and get out to the bike path, you are rewarded with this view. The mountains aren't particularly clear and sharp here, but you get the idea.
And when you didn't believe me about the bike paths being in good shape, here's the evidence.
Weekly totals
swim 1.5 hr
bike 4.25 hr
run 2 hr
Total 7.75 hr for a nice easy week. Next week will be bigger.
Once I got out of bed I shambled around getting ready for my workout. It took a while. I made my energy drink but didn't do it early enough so it was still a bit warm.
Warmed up 15 min. There was an interesting bit where I was pedaling madly trying to get the rpm up, and it's like it was stuck at 80. Turned out to be looking at the average cadence, not the actual cadence.
25 min of one leg and acceleration drill.
11 times 6/4. Found a gear on the big ring at 85 to 90 rpm, where my heart rate was at the top of zone two, nice and steady. The 4 min easy pedal was in the same gear on the small ring, at 90 rpm or so. Still working my arm in the rest periods, pretending I'm bouncing a ball. Total 2.5 hrs.
4 min transition to dry off, change, grab a cookie and head out. It was just a little below zero, but nice out. Chugged along the roads and bike path for 30 min. My wife was saying she saw a guy on a nice road bike, out on the roads. That's fine as long as the drivers are paying attention. If they aren't, there is nowhere to go. Nowhere at all.
Here's some photos from the run. This is what crossing the roads look like now. This is way, way better than it was.
This is what many of the sidewalks look like, and this is better than it has been.
Here's a side street that the City doesn't plow. This is pretty good now. People have been getting high centred on ruts like this.
Once you've made your way past the sidewalks and streets, and get out to the bike path, you are rewarded with this view. The mountains aren't particularly clear and sharp here, but you get the idea.
And when you didn't believe me about the bike paths being in good shape, here's the evidence.
Weekly totals
swim 1.5 hr
bike 4.25 hr
run 2 hr
Total 7.75 hr for a nice easy week. Next week will be bigger.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)