Today was weird, but entertaining, or if you prefer, entertaining, but weird. I ended up being home shortly after lunch to check on the rest of the siding in the daylight. There's one other little bit that doesn't stay quite tucked in so I did that. Went up the ladder to take another look at what I worked on Tuesday, and it still seems to be together. We have to clean house on Saturday in prep for the party, so I might end up doing the fixing on Sunday.
The afternoon was a rush of getting some paperwork done, trying to get my internet connection back, doing dishes, bbq some chicken, chip some ice at the bottom of the driveway (I love making little channels to help drain the roadside lakes in spring), looking at the siding, and most importantly according to Amelia, animate her favourite bit of string for a while.
I'm not sure what the story was, but we each got a 2 minute slice of the session tonight to tell the others what to do. Traffic was horrible so I got there too late to join the hard core crowd on the stage. But now that I know it's cooler down on the other floor, maybe, just maybe, I'll be 'late' all the time. The only stipulation about our 2 minutes is that we couldn't choose a downhill coast.
The workout was a mix of a bunch of different stuff, including some sssssllllllloooooooooowwwwwww squats. Ouch. I think we worked ourselves harder than Greg does. I'd like to say that all the water on the floor was sweat, but no, there was a water bottle attack at one point. I was on the bike 1.75 hrs.
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The siding is still on
It was another windy day in Calgary. Not as bad as yesterday. Julie would think it a dead calm practically. But by Calgary standards it was still windy.
More swim drill stuff, but a bit better organized this time.
warm up, 250 m, under 5 min, nice and relaxed
50 m each one arm, scull, push, fist, times 3 (600 m altogether)
4 x 50 m interval on 1:15, most of these were right on 50 seconds each.
50 m cool down, nice and easy.
Shared the lane with woman with a good stroke, except she lifts her head straight up to breath, which of course stops her dead in the water. Once I figured out I swam faster than her no matter what I was doing, I just ignored her and carried on. Next time I'll add some kick to the drill mix. This pool keeps the boards way off in an awkward corner, and I will have to get in the habit.
It feels interesting doing the different drills, using different muscles. You get a different feel for the water. I suspect I could have done another round of them, but I didn't want to push it too much. The intervals were solid, but not all out fast. I was trying to put together stroke elements, not necessarily go faster. A little over 30 min swimming, and another 15 in the dive tank doing core work.
Boring day at work. I was hoping I could escape early enough to go for a run during the afternoon, but it didn't work out that way. Picked up Linda and we went to a house showing for this super duper energy efficient, eco-friendly house. Very nice, if you happen to have 1.5 million to spare.
Once home I got ready and headed out. This time I looked at what I was supposed to do.
Walked to warm up, and started off run slowly. Almost instantly settled into a nice pace, with heart rate right where I was aiming for. Ran 6 x 12/1 up the 37 St path to where the path forks at South Glenmore park, and back. I didn't get quite back to my starting place. I was almost startled when I got back. The whole run passed really quickly. I didn't have to think about my legs at all. Average heart rate was right on 130. Walked to cool down. Total 1.5 hrs.
What was interesting was the HERDS of runners heading in the opposite direction. Both coming and going. Many small bunches of them, each with at least one person wearing a really bright head lamp. I was a bit choked at the one guy who kept looking right at me, and destroying my night vision. Don't understand why they need lights. There's all kinds of light from street lamps and city light reflected off the clouds.
More swim drill stuff, but a bit better organized this time.
warm up, 250 m, under 5 min, nice and relaxed
50 m each one arm, scull, push, fist, times 3 (600 m altogether)
4 x 50 m interval on 1:15, most of these were right on 50 seconds each.
50 m cool down, nice and easy.
Shared the lane with woman with a good stroke, except she lifts her head straight up to breath, which of course stops her dead in the water. Once I figured out I swam faster than her no matter what I was doing, I just ignored her and carried on. Next time I'll add some kick to the drill mix. This pool keeps the boards way off in an awkward corner, and I will have to get in the habit.
It feels interesting doing the different drills, using different muscles. You get a different feel for the water. I suspect I could have done another round of them, but I didn't want to push it too much. The intervals were solid, but not all out fast. I was trying to put together stroke elements, not necessarily go faster. A little over 30 min swimming, and another 15 in the dive tank doing core work.
Boring day at work. I was hoping I could escape early enough to go for a run during the afternoon, but it didn't work out that way. Picked up Linda and we went to a house showing for this super duper energy efficient, eco-friendly house. Very nice, if you happen to have 1.5 million to spare.
Once home I got ready and headed out. This time I looked at what I was supposed to do.
Walked to warm up, and started off run slowly. Almost instantly settled into a nice pace, with heart rate right where I was aiming for. Ran 6 x 12/1 up the 37 St path to where the path forks at South Glenmore park, and back. I didn't get quite back to my starting place. I was almost startled when I got back. The whole run passed really quickly. I didn't have to think about my legs at all. Average heart rate was right on 130. Walked to cool down. Total 1.5 hrs.
What was interesting was the HERDS of runners heading in the opposite direction. Both coming and going. Many small bunches of them, each with at least one person wearing a really bright head lamp. I was a bit choked at the one guy who kept looking right at me, and destroying my night vision. Don't understand why they need lights. There's all kinds of light from street lamps and city light reflected off the clouds.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Supposed to be spinning. Supposed.
Today was a tough day at work. Then I'm just winding down, and beginning to think about spin class, when Linda calls to tell me the wind has just about blown some of the siding off our house. The front this time, where I'd have thought would be the last place to be affected by wind.
Head home. Climb up onto the garage in the twilight, hammer in hand. Dodging the ice and snow still on the roof. Poke, prod, push, pull, pound, twist, encourage, and force. Not my idea of a fun time. Then down off the roof, which is always the tricky part of the whole operation. Did I mention the wind is still gusting 30 to 50 kph according to the weather channel? And that it's coming straight across, trying to blow me off the roof the entire time? Like I said, not fun. It's still not right, but I'm hoping it will stay put till Saturday, where I can at least go up in daylight. Some of the trim right up underneath the wainscotting doesn't seem to be fastened properly. Hmmmm, anyone know about siding that wants to show up to the party early?
The good news of the day is that my physio visit went really well. Aside from her trying to twist my arm off to prove to me it will still go straighter. Some of my newer readers have clued in that something happened to it. To recap, I fell off my bike last September, and cracked a bone in my elbow. Things have been coming along. For most things it's essentially business as usual. It's only painful when trying to go to the edge of the range of motion, or trying to do something too quickly. She measured, and my range of motion is almost back to normal. She also says that doing plank, and starting pushups is probably a good thing. Not the full military ones right away, but just doing what the arm will let me, and gradually pushing it. What fun.
So why didn't I take Estela out of the car, get set up, and do a spin? Good question. It's 7:30, and what with one thing and another, I'm ready for bed. I'm thinking about the swim tomorrow, and the long runzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzdrool.
Head home. Climb up onto the garage in the twilight, hammer in hand. Dodging the ice and snow still on the roof. Poke, prod, push, pull, pound, twist, encourage, and force. Not my idea of a fun time. Then down off the roof, which is always the tricky part of the whole operation. Did I mention the wind is still gusting 30 to 50 kph according to the weather channel? And that it's coming straight across, trying to blow me off the roof the entire time? Like I said, not fun. It's still not right, but I'm hoping it will stay put till Saturday, where I can at least go up in daylight. Some of the trim right up underneath the wainscotting doesn't seem to be fastened properly. Hmmmm, anyone know about siding that wants to show up to the party early?
The good news of the day is that my physio visit went really well. Aside from her trying to twist my arm off to prove to me it will still go straighter. Some of my newer readers have clued in that something happened to it. To recap, I fell off my bike last September, and cracked a bone in my elbow. Things have been coming along. For most things it's essentially business as usual. It's only painful when trying to go to the edge of the range of motion, or trying to do something too quickly. She measured, and my range of motion is almost back to normal. She also says that doing plank, and starting pushups is probably a good thing. Not the full military ones right away, but just doing what the arm will let me, and gradually pushing it. What fun.
So why didn't I take Estela out of the car, get set up, and do a spin? Good question. It's 7:30, and what with one thing and another, I'm ready for bed. I'm thinking about the swim tomorrow, and the long runzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzdrool.
Monday, January 26, 2009
First Drill bits
For a few strokes, I thought I'd forgotten how to swim. I've been thinking about stroke mechanics since the session with Greg. Strokes in the mind are much easier than strokes in the pool.
Warmed up a bit, maybe 200 m. Arms feeling weird, but settled in. Then a bunch of kick, fist, sculling drills, each several times. Did some short bits trying to put it all together concentrating on form. Counted strokes for some lengths, trying to minimize them. Did some short bits trying for speed and stroke. cool down. Didn't plan them, didn't write them down, just did each drill in turn.
Then into the dive tank for a core workout. 30 min swim, 15 core, .75 hr altogether.
For sure, my left arm is back to being the weak one again, for swimming anyway. What a weird feeling that is.
I belong to two book clubs. One meets once a month, usually in a coffee shop or restaurant, and it a bit stricter about being a book club. The other is on a somewhat more irregular schedule, and it depends on the book, but is more about social stuff than just the book. This one meets in a pub.
Warmed up a bit, maybe 200 m. Arms feeling weird, but settled in. Then a bunch of kick, fist, sculling drills, each several times. Did some short bits trying to put it all together concentrating on form. Counted strokes for some lengths, trying to minimize them. Did some short bits trying for speed and stroke. cool down. Didn't plan them, didn't write them down, just did each drill in turn.
Then into the dive tank for a core workout. 30 min swim, 15 core, .75 hr altogether.
For sure, my left arm is back to being the weak one again, for swimming anyway. What a weird feeling that is.
I belong to two book clubs. One meets once a month, usually in a coffee shop or restaurant, and it a bit stricter about being a book club. The other is on a somewhat more irregular schedule, and it depends on the book, but is more about social stuff than just the book. This one meets in a pub.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Spinning quietly
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
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
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.
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