Today was a sad day in one sense. Janice, my massage therapist, moving back East in a week or so. Janice started with me just after IMC when Kate, my previous therapist moved to Canmore. I've still got her contact info if anyone is looking for a fabulous massage therapist in the Canmore area.
Janice and I got on well from the start, and I really like her style. She is really, really good at finding the places that need to be worked on, and did so. She has a couple therapists interested in taking over her clientele, so I hope one of those works out well. If anyone in South Calgary has a mobile therapist that's looking for more clients, please send me their name.
The only workout since Friday has been trying to stay on top of the lawn. We've had a lot of rain lately, which makes it tough. Plus it's just the start of the year so there is all kinds of crap to clean up, which means lots of bending over. The grassy parts of the lawn are about as civilized as they're going to get. Now it's time to work on the raised beds. The lilies I moved last year are coming up, so that much is good. I don't have much of a green thumb.
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Workout habit
It's monsoon season up here. Lots of rain. Rivers are flooding. Some places have warm rain, which sort of boggles my mind. Here, if it's raining, it's cold. But I ran anyway on Friday.
About 20 minutes of core, and choked because a podcast of a CBC show I wanted to listen to wasn't working. The run was so-so, which is to be expected when you haven't run for a while. It took about 20 minutes to feel half way decent. My heart rate and breathing were way up, for a slow pace. Later they settled down again. Only 5 K, 35 minutes.
I simply have to get more regular about the running. And back into the pool at least once a week. Onto the bike once in a while would be good. Sad how easy it is to get out of the habit, and how hard the life balance thing really is. I find it more and more amazing that people with small children manage to get their workouts done, along with everything else.
My latest distraction is the TED talks app on the iPad. I thought I was sort of keeping up with what was going on in the world, and I'm not. Not even close. There is amazing stuff happening. All of the speakers are good, and some are incredible. Google Hans Rosling. He does some of the best presentations I've ever seen.
Sad to say, I'm back in the market for a massage therapist. JL is moving back to New Brunswick to be closer to her family. Sigh. I'm happy for her, but it means trying to find another mobile therapist. Or going to a clinic, which means there you are on the table all relaxed (hopefully), and the next thing you have to do is drive home, which builds the stress again.
For a while this morning I thought it was going to be nice. The sun was starting to come out. The roads are almost dry. But when I walked over to get the morning papers I realized that it's still raining, very lightly. Yes, here in Calgary it's possible for the sun to be shining, and rain to be coming down. Often. Who knows when the jungle will be mowed?
About 20 minutes of core, and choked because a podcast of a CBC show I wanted to listen to wasn't working. The run was so-so, which is to be expected when you haven't run for a while. It took about 20 minutes to feel half way decent. My heart rate and breathing were way up, for a slow pace. Later they settled down again. Only 5 K, 35 minutes.
I simply have to get more regular about the running. And back into the pool at least once a week. Onto the bike once in a while would be good. Sad how easy it is to get out of the habit, and how hard the life balance thing really is. I find it more and more amazing that people with small children manage to get their workouts done, along with everything else.
My latest distraction is the TED talks app on the iPad. I thought I was sort of keeping up with what was going on in the world, and I'm not. Not even close. There is amazing stuff happening. All of the speakers are good, and some are incredible. Google Hans Rosling. He does some of the best presentations I've ever seen.
Sad to say, I'm back in the market for a massage therapist. JL is moving back to New Brunswick to be closer to her family. Sigh. I'm happy for her, but it means trying to find another mobile therapist. Or going to a clinic, which means there you are on the table all relaxed (hopefully), and the next thing you have to do is drive home, which builds the stress again.
For a while this morning I thought it was going to be nice. The sun was starting to come out. The roads are almost dry. But when I walked over to get the morning papers I realized that it's still raining, very lightly. Yes, here in Calgary it's possible for the sun to be shining, and rain to be coming down. Often. Who knows when the jungle will be mowed?
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Silence
My left calf has calmed down from cramping it trying to get my wetsuit off during the weekend. For a while it was painful just to touch it, but now even firm massage doesn't hurt. There's still a bit of tenderness there, but I'm thinking of it as essentially back to normal. However, during yoga this evening I found out that my left hip flexors weren't as happy with me as I had thought. There were some nice stretches that were good for what ailed me.
Best of all, goober boy was not there. Savasana was silence, or silence was savasana, however you want to think about it.
If it wasn't yoga class I'd have run tonight. Maybe tomorrow night, if it isn't raining too hard. We're in the middle of monsoon season here. Considering the alternatives that have happened to places like Slave Lake or Joplin, I'll take a bit of rain.
Best of all, goober boy was not there. Savasana was silence, or silence was savasana, however you want to think about it.
If it wasn't yoga class I'd have run tonight. Maybe tomorrow night, if it isn't raining too hard. We're in the middle of monsoon season here. Considering the alternatives that have happened to places like Slave Lake or Joplin, I'll take a bit of rain.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Cold open water
My buddy Cath talked me into joining them for a little pre-season tuneup "race" this long weekend. Not that it took much convincing, since I'd heard about the proposed lake, and they're such fun people anyway.
The best thing about it was the civilized start time. She told everyone 10:30, and planned for an 11 am start, and we actually got off about 11:10 am. Nice. There were about a dozen of us, and the idea was to do what you wanted to do. I think in the end each of us did something different. I'd sort of thought about doing an Oly. Here's where we started the swim.
There was a ~ 500 m swim loop planned out in the shallow waters of the lake. The water was crystal clear, and I saw some fish before we started. No turtles though. At one point I was side tracked looking at the sunken trees. When we were talking about it afterward, given our times, we thought the course a bit long. On checking Google Earth it turned out to be a 600 m loop. For what it's worth I did three of them in 35 minutes. By the end of it my hands were starting to feel warm in the water, meaning they were going numb.
Getting my wetsuit off wasn't fun at all. I managed to give myself a major cramp in my left calf doing it, one of the worst I've ever had. I still hurts now, a day and a half later, so now I'm suspecting it's worse than just a cramp. Maybe I actually pulled or strained something. If Jason hadn't come along to pull the suit off I'd probably still be there tugging ineffectually.
Even so the transition was less than 6 minutes, which is fast for me. It helps that from the beach to my bike was about 10 steps, and from the bike to the road was maybe 20 steps. The bike was a fairly flat out and back course with some loops marked with balloons on a stake. It took a while to get into the groove. What was nice is that my average speed went up and up throughout the race. My calf was bugging me, but what makes me really happy is that my knee didn't twinge at all. It felt solid, even standing up and sprinting fairly hard from the turnarounds.
The bike course turned out to be almost exactly 40 Km, and I did it in about 1:28, or just over 27 Kph. I'm pleased by this, as I wasn't expecting to do so well. There was a huge burp brewing throughout the ride that never came out until much later. I think I swallowed some lake water.
After getting out of the bathroom and chugging up the hill out of our transition spot, I knew I wasn't going to run the whole 10 K for an Oly. My run felt slow, and my breathing and heart rate were way too fast for the effort involved. My hydration and nutrition were not in place to do an unsupported 10K run, since my tummy had been a little off during the bike. I decided to turn it into a good brick workout and run easy for 20 to 30 minutes. My run gradually felt better, and oddly enough, the cramped calf didn't seem to mind the running.
In the end I'm very pleased with the workout. I'm not going to say my knee if fully healed, and I'm going to sign up for the half I'd been thinking about for mid June. There's just no way. But it was still a good workout, and a fun weekend. You can see some pics here. Mostly they are of Cath, mainly because her hubby is taking them, and he's besotted, not that anyone will hold that against him. Oh, except for the photo of me and Jason and the axe. Linda took that one.
The best thing about it was the civilized start time. She told everyone 10:30, and planned for an 11 am start, and we actually got off about 11:10 am. Nice. There were about a dozen of us, and the idea was to do what you wanted to do. I think in the end each of us did something different. I'd sort of thought about doing an Oly. Here's where we started the swim.
There was a ~ 500 m swim loop planned out in the shallow waters of the lake. The water was crystal clear, and I saw some fish before we started. No turtles though. At one point I was side tracked looking at the sunken trees. When we were talking about it afterward, given our times, we thought the course a bit long. On checking Google Earth it turned out to be a 600 m loop. For what it's worth I did three of them in 35 minutes. By the end of it my hands were starting to feel warm in the water, meaning they were going numb.
Getting my wetsuit off wasn't fun at all. I managed to give myself a major cramp in my left calf doing it, one of the worst I've ever had. I still hurts now, a day and a half later, so now I'm suspecting it's worse than just a cramp. Maybe I actually pulled or strained something. If Jason hadn't come along to pull the suit off I'd probably still be there tugging ineffectually.
Even so the transition was less than 6 minutes, which is fast for me. It helps that from the beach to my bike was about 10 steps, and from the bike to the road was maybe 20 steps. The bike was a fairly flat out and back course with some loops marked with balloons on a stake. It took a while to get into the groove. What was nice is that my average speed went up and up throughout the race. My calf was bugging me, but what makes me really happy is that my knee didn't twinge at all. It felt solid, even standing up and sprinting fairly hard from the turnarounds.
The bike course turned out to be almost exactly 40 Km, and I did it in about 1:28, or just over 27 Kph. I'm pleased by this, as I wasn't expecting to do so well. There was a huge burp brewing throughout the ride that never came out until much later. I think I swallowed some lake water.
After getting out of the bathroom and chugging up the hill out of our transition spot, I knew I wasn't going to run the whole 10 K for an Oly. My run felt slow, and my breathing and heart rate were way too fast for the effort involved. My hydration and nutrition were not in place to do an unsupported 10K run, since my tummy had been a little off during the bike. I decided to turn it into a good brick workout and run easy for 20 to 30 minutes. My run gradually felt better, and oddly enough, the cramped calf didn't seem to mind the running.
In the end I'm very pleased with the workout. I'm not going to say my knee if fully healed, and I'm going to sign up for the half I'd been thinking about for mid June. There's just no way. But it was still a good workout, and a fun weekend. You can see some pics here. Mostly they are of Cath, mainly because her hubby is taking them, and he's besotted, not that anyone will hold that against him. Oh, except for the photo of me and Jason and the axe. Linda took that one.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The elbow and goober boy
There I am innocently standing in line for coffee this morning. The guy in front of me is on his cell phone, oblivious to the world, left elbow straight out to get the phone to his ear. Suddenly he realizes it's his turn, and twists sharply to his left to point with his right hand at the muffin he wanted. I'm glad I was paying attention because he'd have got me in the face.
Yoga tonight had goober breath show up again. At least he was on time. But today I moved over one space to get further away from him, and what does he? Moves over one space himself. Bastard. Even worse was the full on snoring starting about 3 breaths into savasana. The snoring kept on even after the bell was tingled. I think his wife poked him.
No run yesterday. I think the dolphin kick was a bit more stressful on my knees than I thought, since both were cranky. I'd have run tonight if we hadn't had yoga.
Yoga tonight had goober breath show up again. At least he was on time. But today I moved over one space to get further away from him, and what does he? Moves over one space himself. Bastard. Even worse was the full on snoring starting about 3 breaths into savasana. The snoring kept on even after the bell was tingled. I think his wife poked him.
No run yesterday. I think the dolphin kick was a bit more stressful on my knees than I thought, since both were cranky. I'd have run tonight if we hadn't had yoga.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Surprised a dust bunny in my swim bag
This morning I was scurrying around shoving stuff into my swim bag. Normally I pack it the night before, but I wasn't that organized. My eyes weren't totally open, but that's ok. I'm used to it.
Imagine my surprise when a dust bunny made a break for freedom while I'm taking stuff out to change at the pool. It's been a little while since my last swim, but I hadn't thought it was THAT long. Either that or the dust bunnies in our house breed quicker than expected. It drowned in a puddle on the change room floor.
Chatted briefly with my lifeguard buddy L, and more with my buddy Deb at the pool. One of these days after a swim we're going to have to play hooky from work for a while so she can give me a ride on her awesome motorbike and I can buy her breakfast after.
I only swam a half hour, very easy today. My left shoulder was feeling a bit floppy during the recovery, and not especially strong during the stroke. My dolphin kick, such as it is, was pathetic. No core left, it would appear. Still, it was nice to be in the pool again, and stretch out. Much better than the painful last swim.
Monday was a rest day, with just some light stretching. I'd been thinking about a run, but both knees are feeling a bit cranky so I'll work on the lawn and rack some wine. If I get ambitious maybe some core.
Oh, and SUAR has a great giveaway on her blog. If you go there, and if you enter, be sure to tell her that you heard about her blog, and the great giveaway, (to say nothing of her fantastic biological exploits), from me. That OUGHT to be good for another entry.
Imagine my surprise when a dust bunny made a break for freedom while I'm taking stuff out to change at the pool. It's been a little while since my last swim, but I hadn't thought it was THAT long. Either that or the dust bunnies in our house breed quicker than expected. It drowned in a puddle on the change room floor.
Chatted briefly with my lifeguard buddy L, and more with my buddy Deb at the pool. One of these days after a swim we're going to have to play hooky from work for a while so she can give me a ride on her awesome motorbike and I can buy her breakfast after.
I only swam a half hour, very easy today. My left shoulder was feeling a bit floppy during the recovery, and not especially strong during the stroke. My dolphin kick, such as it is, was pathetic. No core left, it would appear. Still, it was nice to be in the pool again, and stretch out. Much better than the painful last swim.
Monday was a rest day, with just some light stretching. I'd been thinking about a run, but both knees are feeling a bit cranky so I'll work on the lawn and rack some wine. If I get ambitious maybe some core.
Oh, and SUAR has a great giveaway on her blog. If you go there, and if you enter, be sure to tell her that you heard about her blog, and the great giveaway, (to say nothing of her fantastic biological exploits), from me. That OUGHT to be good for another entry.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Not going to bike in this wind
Friday and Saturday I was locked up in a small room for most of the day. The chairs weren't particularly comfortable, so I sat in the back row and stretched a bit a few times to keep from locking up altogether.
Stretched 30 minutes today, after a leisurely coffee and paper read. I find that listening to the CBC podcasts of The Current is a good way to ensure I keep at it, without having to worry about the time. Some interesting stuff there.
My back has been continuing to improve, which makes me very happy. Today's run was 1 hour, nice and easy, concentrating on good posture and running easily. I think I'm finally getting used to these shoes. My legs wanted to run faster than my lungs and heart were willing to work. I was trying to stay at the top of zone 2, but my heart rate was consistently into zone 3 by about 5 bpm. My breathing was relaxed and no back pain involved at all! You have no idea how good that feels! When I tried to slow down to get my heart rate down, my run stride went all to crap. My heart and lungs need to start getting back on the cardio build program.
It was a cool and windy day for a run, and it would have miserable on the bike.
Weekly Summary
Run 2 hrs.
Core/stretching 2.5 hrs
Stretched 30 minutes today, after a leisurely coffee and paper read. I find that listening to the CBC podcasts of The Current is a good way to ensure I keep at it, without having to worry about the time. Some interesting stuff there.
My back has been continuing to improve, which makes me very happy. Today's run was 1 hour, nice and easy, concentrating on good posture and running easily. I think I'm finally getting used to these shoes. My legs wanted to run faster than my lungs and heart were willing to work. I was trying to stay at the top of zone 2, but my heart rate was consistently into zone 3 by about 5 bpm. My breathing was relaxed and no back pain involved at all! You have no idea how good that feels! When I tried to slow down to get my heart rate down, my run stride went all to crap. My heart and lungs need to start getting back on the cardio build program.
It was a cool and windy day for a run, and it would have miserable on the bike.
Weekly Summary
Run 2 hrs.
Core/stretching 2.5 hrs
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