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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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@ everyone above - thanks for all of that. I knew in my heart about a month ago I was going to have to let Eagleman go, but after over 6 months of living, breathing, and purchasing a shiny new bike for Eagleman, I couldn't actually bring myself to letting it go until yesterday.....and that was only after having dreamy thoughts of going ahead with it after Monday's super wonderful bike ride, but brought down to earth by the voice of reason and reminded of the bigger picture. Thank you all for corroborating the decision. And, 2015 the year of the hoochie?? Damn straight!!!
May 29th, 2014
Run plan: the same as the last time I ran....no more than 3 miles at a pace north of 10 min/mile
This was a soggy-wet-misty field run with my Garmin secured to my wrist to keep me honest. Well, as honest as I could be kept. Do you know how hard it can be to go 10 min/mile?? Sheesh! I did the best I could...and if I was allowed to use my excuse of "adjusted for Garmin inaccuracies" I'd probably be bang on target, but as it goes I was a smidge fast, but not horribly so.
The injury area is still a little sore, but just muscle achey-ness that felt better by the end of the run. In fact, there is no soreness at this moment, but we'll see how things are in the morning as I spring out of bed.
Actual run: 3 miles at an average pace of 9:48 min/mile
Hopped into the pool immediately after tossing off my running shoes. Chilly evening but the pool felt wonderful at 82 degrees.
I did a nice straight 2,000 yards while minding my pace. I didn't have my pool clock going, but I kept in mind effort and sustainability - gently pushing the envelope while keeping things controlled and enjoyable. It was an easy swim, but it was quality.
Actual swim: 2,000 chilly yards0 -
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Saturday, May 31st, 2014
Today was a good day training-wise. Nice way to finish off the month.
Run plan: well, short and slow come to mind
Okay, so with ecoli away in New York, I'm sort of filling in for him as leader-extraordinaire. The one thing run plan-wise that was crystal clear in his instructions before he left was that I should run easy every other day. What is a little fuzzy to me at this moment was all the other stuff. So, on today's run I went easy, listened to the body, enjoyed the jaunt, and added one lap around the field to what I have been doing. The injury is still vaguely there, but this was by far the best "run" I've had during this period of recovery. The pace was a little faster than what I've been going, but I kept effort easy and minded the body. Hopefully I'll slowly, ever-so-slowly, be able to add mileage...and gently, ever-so-gently, up the pace over the next week or two. Progress.
Actual run: 3.5 field miles at an average pace of 9:14 min/miles
Immediately after the field run I did 20 minutes of Post-Run Yoga, some extra stretching, and lovely foam rolling.
Then it was into the pool for a body-loosening easy 3,000 yards as the sun warmed and tanned my backside. This was done with every x5 and x6 lap being breast stroke. Funny, breast stroke was always my worst and least desirable stroke to do when I was swimming competitively, but it's actually nice to stretch some of the leg muscles out and give the shoulders a rest.....and that's why I incorporate it in current sessions.
I got a second swim session in this evening after I was done with my late clinic duties - and this was a really good little session. Nothing fancy, and it was short, but I'm trying to learn sustainable pace for endurance swimming - a new concept for me since I come from a sprinting background in the pool. I came up with this session by combining a few things I'm learning from interested with the "concept" of a swim set I may be doing in the not too distant future - 100 x 100s.
25 x 80 yards off 1:15 (all in between 60 and 65 seconds)
200 yard swim down
Like I said, this was a short session (2,200 yards), but it was nice.....and I felt it was quality. I allowed myself an extra minute recovery after the 10th and 20th sets, but other than that this was a very steadily paced and manageable session.
Actual swim for the day: 5,200 yards
So, with today's two swim sessions, that brings my final May swim talley to 132,200 yards...aka, 120,880 meters....aka, 120.88 km.....aka, 75+ miles. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't targeting a 100+ km month 31 days ago....and I'd by lying if I said I wasn't targeting a 120+ km month 16 days ago. Funny what an injury can do to you. Job done. Now it's time to move onto other targets. 0 -
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Kurt Godel wrote: »120K in a month! Amazing what you can do when you're off the leash.
Lake Arrowhead Tri is in 6 weeks- has the winning relay team signed you up for the swim yet?
Thanks Kurt! I'm hoping I've set some sort of boardsie record for most swimming mileage in a month, but I would not be surprised if interested holds that record.
The Luray Triathlon is not until August 16th and 17th, and I plan on rocking up to the start line and doing this one fully healed and all by my lonesome. They're offering a prize purse this year of $600, $400 and $250 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall male and female each day - meaning an athlete could actually walk away with $1,200 if he or she wins both days! Holy crap! Pity they are not offering a masters money division, but this should really draw some impressive athletes.0 -
Sunday, June 1st, 2014
Bike
Second bike ride since my injury knocked me out of the game. !! Slowly but surely I'm coming back.....but today was another reminder of the bike fitness I have lost, and how the body forgets how to "adapt" in the bent over position while sitting on a hard surface for very long. :eek: Must. Re-. Acclimate. :eek:
Gorgeous day, however, and the Mad One and I took this easy enough - we added an hour to last week's ride and added some hills that reminded me "oh yeah, my hip flexor was pretty f-ed up and it's still a little tender." But I don't feel I did any damage to the hip flexor, but it is tender. Slowly...gently....I have to ease into this. And dammit, I will.
Highlights of the ride include: stayed in the small ring up front but was lazy about shifting so my cadence was a little lower than it probably should have been.....only saw one road kill (an opossum) that nearly had me running over it, adding insult to injury.....had a lovely downhill that I was enjoying almost too much slowed down by a cattle truck that was blocking the road trying to back into a driveway (there went my fantasy bike race I was pretending to be winning!)....I drank, ate, drank and drank some more - in fact I had a veritable picnic on two wheels happenin'.....my tush was tender 1 hour and 15 minutes into the ride....my back was in bits 1 hour and 45 minutes into the ride.....and I was squirming and standing for the last 20 minutes. Obviously some work to do. Slowly....gently.
Actual bike per Garmin: 35.1 miles (actually it's probably closer to 35.5 miles but I accidently hit the stop button at one point) in 2:09:42 for an average pace of 16.2 mph, an average cadence of 77 rpm, an average HR of 135 bpm, and an elevation gain of 1,796 feet<==><==><==><==><==>
Swim
Just a 3,000 yard body loosener post bike ride. Nothing more, nothing less.
Actual swim: 3,000 heavenly yards0 -
Monday, June 2nd, 2014
I am shorthanded at work this week so there will be no sneaky lunchtime anything other than perhaps yoga, stretching and foam rolling....so that's exactly what I did today - a wonderful sneaky lunchtime Injury Prevention Yoga session, some extra stretching, and slightly painful (in a good way) foam rolling.(+)(+)(+)(+)(+)
Run
I'm still steering the ship while the boss is on holiday - rumor has it he's been getting in some quality "training" sessions for the upcoming Beer Mile. So, left to my own devices, I did this nice and easy in the field with all sorts of bunny rabbits leaping about....and because I was feeling really good and minding my injury, I added one additional lap to what I did on my last run. I kept things relaxed and made the run all about comfort and strength. It was a really good run for me - the longest and "fastest" run I've had since Boston. (I promise I did not try and go fast.....and it wasn't fast, it was just the "fastest" in a very long time.)
As I've said before, I can honestly tell I've lost some running fitness - and tonight I could tell I've lost some running endurance. (good god, I'm somehow relating a mere 4.2 mile run to endurance :eek:) The good news is I was super controlled on this run, and I did this deliberately as a slight progression run. Splits were 9:14, 9:11, 9:06, 8:54.
Actual run: 4.2 field miles in 38:21.07 for an average pace of 9:08 min/mile(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)
Swim
Just a sunset swim to shake the legs out from yesterday's bike and this evening's run. I actually ran in my Speedo (with running clothes over it!), so my run to swim "transition" was lickety split. I was surprised how much the legs could feel the bike and run in them - which made this recovery swim all the more important I suppose.
Actual swim: 2,000 sunset recovery yards0 -
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014
Swim
This was an interesting session....
400 yards easy
3 x 400 yards with pull buoy off 6 minutes (5:30, 5:35, 5:35)
1 minute rest
3 x 400 yards (without pull buoy) off 6 minutes (5:35, 5:30. 5:32)
1 minute rest
6 x 200 yards off 3 minutes (2:40, 2:40, 2:43, 2:45, 2:48, 2:48)
400 yards easy
......and this brought some unexpected results. Highlights and surprises as follows:
3 x 400 yards w/pull buoy:
Having absolutely no idea what pace I could keep with a pull buoy for 400 yards, I was actually concerned I'd not be able to make the 6 minute cutoff. You cannot imagine my shock when I saw the first one came in right at 5:30 - way, way faster than I anticipated, and all three of them were way, way more comfortable than I could have predicted. :cool:
3 x 400 yards w/o pull buoy:
Immediately this felt horrible. Legs tight, arms a mess, and wanting/needing more oxygen than I had wanted/needed in the previous set.....and I was expending comparatively more effort without the additional dividends. :eek: I forced myself to settle and relax (and that did improve things some), but my times without the pull buoy were basically identical to my times with the pull buoy, and this was both perplexing and disturbing to me, especially since I have always considered my kick the strong element of my swim. So, what happened? Was it: a) the cumulative effect/fatigue from the previous set?...b) the fact that for the better of the previous 4 months I have almost exclusively been using my upper body to swim due to my hip flexor/IT band injuries?....c) the natural decreasing contribution the kick makes to swimming as the distance increases and the beat of the kick slows?....or, d) a combination of all the above?? I honestly haven't a clue at this moment.
6 x 200 yards:
All I cared about at this point was sustainable pace for these 6 x 200s. It didn't mean a flip to me if I came in at 2:35 or 2:50...I just wanted it to be "comfortable"....and that "comfort" became a bit of a sliding scale as the 200s ticked by. Funny how you learn to let go of things through endurance training. Survival, I suppose.
Actual swim: 4,400 high quality yards0 -
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Kurt Godel wrote: »I couldn't sleep last night so was up late, and going over your log from the start. Some real quality posts in there! But this training session... hitting 5:30's without your kick... is a timely reminder of what you do best. Do you have any short-term swim goals or swim races over the next few months?
So, browsing through my log late last night didn't put you to sleep??!!:eek:;):D
Short-term swim goals would be to understand, practice, then implement proper endurance swimming based on the event at hand. I actually was looking at doing this Chris Greene Lake 2 mile OW cable swim - http://www.vaswim.org/chris-greene-lake-cable-swim/ - but I've signed up for a triathlon training camp the week before this event, and because of the dynamics at my work it might be hard for me to do both activities. Funny about this cable swim as it attracts a fair number of pure swimmers - some with impressive credentials - so as I was pondering this event I was also wondering if, at the start line, I'd feel that "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" feeling. 0 -
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Kurt Godel wrote: »Perfect, we may as well open a book on it. One thing I got from rereading your log last night, it's never too hard for you to do both activities:)
If I can work it out I will....but it will depend on employee clinic coverage that Saturday morning, and my guilt associated with taking that day off after taking 4 days off for the tri clinic. We'll see though....would be a pretty neat experience to do the 2 mile swim. 0 -
Wednesday, June 4th, 2014
This is my crazy week at work with no extra time for me to do anything of significance over lunch....but I got my sneaky lunchtime Injury Prevention Yoga session in with a side order of stretching and foam rolling with two pesky (yet very adorable!) kitties assisting me on the yoga mat. Norris and Butler, they're such showoffs!!
Run
This was done in a full blown thunder-boomer. :eek: I had to channel my inner Achill Island blood for this one as it was coming down in buckets, but by golly I was a sloshing through the field like a happy idiot. I'm always a bit squirmy when my clothes and shoes initially get wet, but once I'm drenched from head to toe and down to the bone, it's sort of transforming in a bad @ss kind of way.
I did not wear my Garmin so I have no idea of my pace, but it was a wonderful, wonderful squishy trot...and I added yet another lap around the field, and it was a perfect distance to go this evening for many reasons. I've still got some "tugging" from the injury, but it's getting to the point that it's hardly worth talking about (however I am still respectful of it), and the body felt really good for this one. A little more progress was made tonight!
Actual run: 4.9 wet and soggy field miles with thunder and lightning in the backdrop
It was just too nasty to go for a swim tonight, so instead I did another yoga session - Post Run Yoga.....and once again I found myself sharing the mat with my two furry yogis putting me to shame with their freakish flexibility. Then more stretching and even more foam rolling rounded out the day.0 -
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Thursday, June 5th, 2014
Swim
Okay, so whose idea was it to make swimming work?? Sheesh!! Instead of enjoying a slow, comfortable swim this lovely evening, I was working my butt off trying to keep a steady pace while meeting my cut off times. I did okay with this, but it wasn't all Sloe Gin and Southern Comfort Peach Liqueur.
Swim plan...
400 yards easy
3 sets of: 3 x 200 off 2:50, 400 off 6:00, 2 minutes recovery between sets
400 yards easy
Highlights:
1st set - Kept the results of Tuesday's session in mind with regards to the pull buoy and focused on my upper body. Felt good and controlled. (2:40, 2:45, 2:45, 5:30)
2nd set- I channelled my best Sun Yang by trying to remember his relaxed stroke, his slow kick, and his frequent breathing. This set was my best set of the three. (2:40, 2:40, 2:40, 5:32)
3rd set - I was definitely starting to flag a little, and my upper arms were letting me know that they had been doing some serious work. The 3 x 200s in this set were by far the toughest...but for some strange reason I found another gear on the 400 and enjoyed pushing it - in particular, pushing it on the final 60 yards. I hit the wall with flashbacks of the good old days. (2:45, 2:45, 2:48, 5:30)
Actual swim: 3,800 screaming arms yards0 -
Thursday, June 5th, 2014
Swim
Okay, so whose idea was it to make swimming work?? Sheesh!! Instead of enjoying a slow, comfortable swim this lovely evening, I was working my butt off trying to keep a steady pace while meeting my cut off times. I did okay with this, but it wasn't all Sloe Gin and Southern Comfort Peach Liqueur.
Swim plan...
400 yards easy
3 sets of: 3 x 200 off 2:50, 400 off 6:00, 2 minutes recovery between sets
400 yards easy
Highlights:
1st set - Kept the results of Tuesday's session in mind with regards to the pull buoy and focused on my upper body. Felt good and controlled. (2:40, 2:45, 2:45, 5:30)
2nd set- I channelled my best Sun Yang by trying to remember his relaxed stroke, his slow kick, and his frequent breathing. This set was my best set of the three. (2:40, 2:40, 2:40, 5:32)
3rd set - I was definitely starting to flag a little, and my upper arms were letting me know that they had been doing some serious work. The 3 x 200s in this set were by far the toughest...but for some strange reason I found another gear on the 400 and enjoyed pushing it - in particular, pushing it on the final 60 yards. I hit the wall with flashbacks of the good old days. (2:45, 2:45, 2:48, 5:30)
Actual swim: 3,800 screaming arms yards
And did you whine about it as much in the good old days ??? pace is there, just need to get your head around it. Theres alot of rest in your 400's imho but then they were probably the active recovery section of that with focus being on 200's on 2.50 as the target. 0 -
interested wrote: »And did you whine about it as much in the good old days ??? pace is there, just need to get your head around it. Theres alot of rest in your 400's imho but then they were probably the active recovery section of that with focus being on 200's on 2.50 as the target.
Good god no I didn't whine about it back in the good old days - I was always too focused on hitting the targets and pleasing the coach!
And the 400s had just the right amount of rest for this session, thank you very much......!!!!!!0 -
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Kurt Godel wrote: »You tell her, interested. This log has become too much of a Zen-swimming hippy-distance chill zone. More suffering needed. Dory, those recovery times are disgraceful. You may as well build a sauna beside your pool, to relax between sets;)
Now you're talking!!! 0 -
Friday, June 6th, 2014
Run
A lovely evening field run with a belly full of French fried grits with chili, sour cream and spring onions.
No time to wait for it to digest, I had 8 laps to lay down tonight.
Basically no issues with the injury while I was running (it felt ever so slightly sore (and I mean ever so slightly!) when I was finished), and I kept this very disciplined. (Was tempted to add 2 laps tonight, but thought better of it and stuck to the plan of adding only 1 lap at a time.)
Actual run: 5.6 gritty field miles
Swim
Hopped in the pool immediately after the run and did a nice recovery swim. The water felt grand. Really, really grand.
Actual swim: 2,000 grand recovery yards0 -
Saturday, June 7th, 2014
Run
:eek: Two days in a row of running!!! :eek:
This was a yoga-run-yoga morning....and oh what a gorgeous morning it was! And today's field run marked the longest and best quality run I've had since Boston. In fact, as I was happily galloping cantering trotting around the field feeling so incredibly lucky to be running, my thoughts turned to Oryx....and because I know some days can be harder than others when you're nursing a serious injury, her day will come in the not too distant future when she's running her first 10k training run and feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.
Long story short, this run was fab. No real issues....I kept things super duper easy and relaxed at the start, and just sort of decided to make this a progression run. I'm kind of enjoying these easier, slower field runs. I suppose if I can't have my slow, comfortable swims, I'll have to enjoy these slow, comfortable runs until they're taken away from me.:)
Paces: 9:30, 9:12, 9:08, 9:00, 8:47, 8:29
Actual run: 6.4 field miles in 58:07.3 for an average pace of 9:05 min/mile
Swim
I did this late in the day - actually, it was early evening...~7pm.
1,000 yard warm up easy
10 x 80 yards off 1:15 (all in on 60 - 65)
120 yard active recovery (did a mix of breast and free)
10 x 80 yards off 1:15 (all in on 60 - 65)
400 yard cool down easy
This was a bit of a push as I was tired from a busy day that included a good field run, work, outdoor chores, and this. And when I say "a bit of a push", I mean this seemed to take slightly more effort than the last time I did 80s off 1:15 to hit the wall in 60 to 65 seconds. Manageable, but it got the old heart rate and respiration up.
Actual swim: 3,120 yards in a pool that had the most perfect water temperature0 -
IronMan Eagleman 70.3
Cambridge, Maryland
June 8th, 2014
(Yes, I really must do this....)
Pre-race:
I signed up for this race last October with huge aspirations and expectations for myself, and I set off on a mission to achieve as much as I could through the most disciplined of training and dedication. I had goals, and I wagered Eagleman could be my kind of course to possibly achieve (or come very close to achieving) those goals. But in my zest and zeal, I both over trained and improperly trained...became injured...continued training with my injury...was not honest about my injury to those around me who were trying to help me...was delusional to think I could "manage" the injury through uninterrupted training...and finally waved the white flag that Sunday two weeks prior to the Boston marathon when the body finally quit on me. The end result was a horrid performance at Boston, and a scratch at Eagleman - today's Eagleman...my "A" race.
Race day:
I was up early this morning to start tracking two of my friends who were in Cambridge, and also the pro-triathlete who will be heading up the triathlon camp I'll be attending in four weeks. Obviously hitting the refresh button is not quite the same as being there, but I found great enjoyment cheering them on and wishing them speed and strength. And of course when the race was seeing its athletes cross the finish line, I started eyeing up the times and trying to figure out where I might have fit in. From my perspective (and without chatting with anyone who did the race), it looks like the swim may have been a bit tough (river current?), the bike was lightening fast (top guy 2:05, top gal 2:15), and the run looked honest. Where would I have fit in on my best day? Not sure. Stricktly speaking within my own age group (and again, on my best day), I do believe I would have held my own on the swim, and I think I would have finished respectably on the run....but the bike was crazy fast and that could have been the deal breaker for me. But the reality is I wasn't there, so for all I know I might have crashed and burned on this day and limped miserably home. :rolleyes:;) However, I plan on being there next year with bells on, so while this race day is filled only with speculation and what ifs, next year will be a different story entirely.
Post-race:
Well, I guess there is one silver lining to not having raced today - I don't have to fight the traffic on the way home. Yay! And instead of telling you how sore my arse is or how much I ate in the cake tent or how much drafting went unnoticed or how delicious some of the gents' quads looked while pounding the sticky pavement, I'll share a few simple thoughts that popped in my mind while I was on the bike earlier today about the last few months and about what I've learned....
- being injured sucks, but it's not the end of the world
- if your body is in pain, then you need to listen to what it's trying to tell you
- Advil does not solve all our problems
- sometimes our body (and mind) need to rest
- downtime from normal training is an opportunity to train in different ways
- swimming saved my soul and kept me sane
- yoga is amazing, and I will enjoy the dividends I derive from it
- foam rolling is an evil necessity
- ambition can equal greed
- patience is a virtue
- the mind can be stronger than the body, and that's a double-edged sword so use it wisely
- good poker players go double or nothing when the chips are down
- and finally...you truly can climb as you fall
Long story short...that was then, this is now....I'm essentially healed....and let's see how far I've climbed and how well I play poker.
(thank god that's out of my system now.....)0 -
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