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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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Proper Bike
Gorgeous day.....the usual planned....up to Skyline Drive.....
Gosh, just on my way up the mountain I passed a few groups of cyclists, so I knew I'd have tons of company up there, and I did. I didn't pass anyone today, nor did I get passed, so I guess I can't complain about that.
Overall this was a pretty good ride. I had moments of strong bursts where I'd be muscling my way forward at a decent clip (for me), which would then be followed by exhausted legs that forced me to ease off the gas to recover. I repeated this pattern several times and told myself that relaxing it up a little periodically was allowed.
The other thing I noticed during this ride was the strong wind on the descent at the end. Usually I'm going like a wild woman through this particular section, but today my torso acted like a sail and the wind it was catching was holding me back, and that fact is reflected in my lower-than-last-weekend's top speed. I did hunker down close to my handlebars, but the wind was pretty stubborn.
And one last disclaimer, I did draft some off hubby.
I know, he never should have shown me how. I absolutely agree that this is "cheating" to some degree, but it does give me time in the saddle, and I am still having to push it....plus, it wasn't all that much that I drafted. Probably a few miles. Maybe 4? Well, next weekend I think I'm on my own in the cycling department so all my drafting sins will be revealed in my solo ride.
Stats per Garmin:
25.4 miles in 1:22:08 for an average 18.6 mph* with top speed of 29.9 mph.
*includes some drafting.0 -
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Field Run
What a difference a day makes! Today's run was a million times better than yesterday's attempt at a paltry 4 miles post 25 mile bike ride, so I am pleased and relieved that I can still put together a long-ish run at a respectable pace.
I was out the door and in the field with my cooler of water and jelly beans by 11:15 this morning, trying to beat the peak heat of the day. I had hoped to go 4 miles between needed water breaks (for 2 stops total), but after the first four miles the sun was intense enough that I was needing to stop every 2 miles from that point on. I respect the sun and heat and am always very careful to keep hydrated. The temp was only 77, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so it got quite toasty out there. In fact, it was so hot that I only saw one little bunny rabbit the entire time I was out there, and I ended up playing chicken with that bold little rabbit on my path. The rabbit eventually conceded and veered off while I continued on. Rabbit - 0, Dory - 1.
Long story short: I had checked my marathon training plan (that I officially start tomorrow) to see what kind of pace would be reasonable for a 12 mile LSR, and I settled on PMP + 30 seconds. From the first mile, my legs and body felt good, and keeping to an 8:30 (or slightly faster) pace was not too difficult. I did feel I had to put out more effort to keep pace on my last 4 miles, but it wasn't unmanageable. Today's run was definitely a boost I needed.
12.3 miles in 1:43:02 for an average pace of 8:21 min/mile
Splits: 8:28, 8:18, 8:13, 8:20, 8:19, 8:16, 8:23, 8:15, 8:26, 8:24, 8:16, 8:15, 3:04 (cool down 9:06)0 -
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Intervals
And so it begins....round two of marathon training. Woo! (please note, that was only a "woo" and not a "woo hoo" ) To get all my sessions in (except I will miss one interval and two tempo sessions while I am away in Ireland), I am going to try to do my intervals and tempos during an extended lunch break on Mondays and Wednesdays. If this works, then I should be in good shape all the way around with regards to triathlon and marathon training. Fingers crossed that nothing fecks this up for me.
Intervals...oh, how I hate intervals. Short drive home, dash into the house, quick change, and down the stairs I went to do this on the treadmill. My orders were all written down by me in advance and taped to the treadie....so on with the tv, on with the Ipod, and away I went into the land of nausea and sweat. Blech.
Any way....legs and glutes were feeling Saturday's bike ride that I pushed, and they were also feeling Sunday's 12 mile run in the sun (I probably should have waited a day to do this interval, but logistically it had to be today), but I hit the targets with some serious effort.
Session total of 5 miles in 42:15 for an average pace of 8:27 min/mile as follows:
1 mile warmup at 10 min/mile
1 mile at 7:14 min/mile
90 second recovery
1 mile at 7:09 min/mile
90 second recovery
1 mile at 7:04 min/mile
.8 miles cool down at 10 min/mile
Tonight will either be a swim or spin, depending on the weather.0 -
Intervals
And so it begins....round two of marathon training. Woo! (please note, that was only a "woo" and not a "woo hoo" ) To get all my sessions in (except I will miss one interval and two tempo sessions while I am away in Ireland), I am going to try to do my intervals and tempos during an extended lunch break on Mondays and Wednesdays. If this works, then I should be in good shape all the way around with regards to triathlon and marathon training. Fingers crossed that nothing fecks this up for me.
Intervals...oh, how I hate intervals. Short drive home, dash into the house, quick change, and down the stairs I went to do this on the treadmill. My orders were all written down by me in advance and taped to the treadie....so on with the tv, on with the Ipod, and away I went into the land of nausea and sweat. Blech.
Any way....legs and glutes were feeling Saturday's bike ride that I pushed, and they were also feeling Sunday's 12 mile run in the sun (I probably should have waited a day to do this interval, but logistically it had to be today), but I hit the targets with some serious effort.
Session total of 5 miles in 42:15 for an average pace of 8:27 min/mile as follows:
1 mile warmup at 10 min/mile
1 mile at 7:14 min/mile
90 second recovery
1 mile at 7:09 min/mile
90 second recovery
1 mile at 7:04 min/mile
.8 miles cool down at 10 min/mile
Tonight will either be a swim or spin, depending on the weather.
Hmmm. What's the marathon? Best of luck with the program!0 -
Kurt Godel wrote: »Hmmm. What's the marathon? Best of luck with the program!
This one - Scranton, PA on October 7th.
http://www.steamtownmarathon.com/
Its elevation is similar to Boston's, so I really want to give this a go and see what going downhill is like, then ending with an uphill. I actually printed the elevation map out and have it pasted to my wall here at work so I can drive myself mad with it. I have a few crazy ideas about how I want to approach my LSRs to get in proper mileage - and these crazy ideas involve some serious downhills followed by god awful uphills, but I need to work out the logistics to make this happen. I don't know how well I'll hit my PMP training targets with these crazy ideas, but as Krusty once said, it's about the training and not the times. 0 -
Swimming In The Rain
A bit of a dreary evening, but there is something dynamic about swimming in the rain. Way back in my lifeguarding days rain like this would have closed the pool to swimmers due to the rain-drop-choppy surface prohibiting the guards perched in their chairs from seeing the bottom of the pool, but I guess that rule doesn't exactly apply when the lifeguard is the swimmer in her own pool with her face below the rain-drop-choppy surface having a clear view of the bottom of the pool.
3,000 yards in dull yet rain-dynamo style:
400 each swim, pull, kick, pull, swim
200 each swim, pull, kick, pull, swim0 -
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I hate you with your warm water swims.
Someone's got to swim in that warm water....and it might as well be me!!!
BUT, starting today the weatherman says it's supposed to be over 100 degrees with the heat index. It's really hot outside right now - dangerously hot and humid and hazy - which makes me ponder how to approach my LSR this weekend. Hello summer!!
Tempo
Just about didn't get this sneaky lunchtime session in due to work being insane and me getting hung up making nice to all the clients and their pets. Because I left the clinic 15-20 minutes later than I had planned, it was either do this session tonight and skip my swim or spin that I had planned for this evening, or cram this tempo in now with what time I had to work with....and that's exactly what I did.
Plan was 2 easy miles, 2 at ST, 2 easy miles....and to make this work in the time I had, I decided to skip one of the 2 easy miles at the end. I will try to not make a habit of this, but I felt it was the smartest option today. Since this is the first week of the 16 week training program, this tempo seemed relatively easy in the sense that the mileage was low (only 2 hard miles), but those two hard miles were just that for me - hard. I think it's safe to say that I have indeed lost a little of what I had gained a few months ago, but I hope I can get it back.
Session total 5 miles in 44:14 for an average pace of 8:51 min/mile as follows:
2 miles easy (between 9 and 10 min/mile pace)
2 miles at 7:30 min/mile
1 mile at 10 min/mile
As much as I hate the treadmill, I really would have been miserable doing this out in the heat. I bet over the next few days, my pool will reach the 90s. :eek:0 -
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Yup, facing the same problem. The only way to go if you want to stay off the threadmill is to run before the sun comes up - start at 5.30, 6am :eek:. Need to find somewhere well lit and secure and an even surface - forget your field ! It's still humid but after a few weeks you can live with that. There is the table here http://www.over40runner.com/info/RunningInTheHeat.html (this is a bit overstated. Taken literally we'd never run outside in summer ) and another at the elite level here http://www.elitemarathoning.com/training_paces.html (bottom of the page).
Long runs on a tm are tough. I've done it but I've also lost focus and had several near accidents (dignity was serverly wounded) when my mind wandered. I'm convinced people at the gym were betting on how soon I would fall off.
I'd still do long run and track sessions outside. Tempo - I'd head to the tm - no sure there is any sensible way to adjust the pace for this.
Thanks for all if this, especially the two heat/pace chart links - good info in all of it, and now I understand why my muscles get sore after a long field run in the awful heat and humidity - like I've just run a marathon.
From my very-inexperienced-in-the-heat-pace-conversion-department point of view, the one chart that employs percentages of pace to determine the heat adjusted pace seems most reasonable to me. If you (or anyone out there) have any gut feeling about pace adjustment, I'd love to hear what your gut feeling is. 0 -
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Swim
Wasn't even sure I'd get this one in as we were wrapping up at work due to the storm that appeared to be brewing, but all we got was wind and rain that was short lived, so by the time I got home the weather drama had come and gone and all I was left with was a waning gloomy sky as my backdrop for tonight's session.
What started out as a ho-hum session ended up being one of my faves in a good while. Highlights as follows:
- I proved that I could indeed sweat while swimming in a 92 degree pool. :eek:
- I was concentrating on making my stroke "big" while using the pull buoy and out of the blue decided to count my strokes (I never count my strokes - can't be bothered)....and discovered that I ALWAYS lead with my left arm coming off the wall and I take 15 stokes per length thus resulting in my left arm stroking one more stroke each length than my right arm which explains why I have always felt my left arm was stronger than my right arm even though I am right handed. Tried leading with my right arm off the wall but that was a total disaster....couldn't even do a flip turn because I was totally out of synch.
- Ended the guts of the session with 5 x (one length no breath, one length easy) set...and the no breath length was WAY easier this time than the last time I did this....in fact, because it was no trouble at all for me I decided on my last no breath length to flip and see how far I could go on a second lap with no breath and I made it about a half of a lap. Making progress.
- Interested helped to inspire this session.
- Oh, and I loved being high and fast in the water on the no-breath laps.
4,000 yards as follows:
1,000 free
6 x (120 pull, 80 kick)
1 x 200 free
2 x 160 modified IM
3 x 120 free
4 x 80 modified IM
5 x (20 no breath, 20 easy)
400 easy cool down (sort of.....between wiping sweat from my brow...;))0 -
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Long Slow Field Run
Temperature: 83 degrees
Humidity: 50%
Sun: full and shining
Wind: nothing to speak of
iPod: on and rocking
Wildlife: one adult and two baby rabbits whose relaxing morning I ruined by trudging past them every 6 minutes or so
Water breaks: many
I tried to get this one started early since I knew it was going to be a hot one today, plus I wanted to get my proper bike ride in. The plan was to do 13 miles at PMP plus 30 seconds so that meant I was targeting 8:30 min/mile. I had my cooler filled with water and jelly beans, it was about 9:45 in the morning, and off I went.
The first two miles were a delight. I knew I was faster than I should've been, but they were effortless and I knew I'd be slowing down as the temperature started to rise and the shade started to wane, so I figured what was the harm. I tried to make it 4 miles without having to take my first water break, but shortly into mile 4 I knew it was time to stop. I take hydration very seriously when running in heat and sun and I stop as often as I need to.
The rest of the run was pretty much unremarkable. I concentrated on form and tried not to get sloppy.....and sloppy is easy to do when I get tired. Slight forward lean....watch my foot strike.....pay attention to my push/kick.....and keep my body moving forward and not up and down. A tall order for me since it does not come naturally and I like to daydream.
All and all I'm very happy with this run. For as warm as it was, and for running in the field, the pace was not too hard to keep. The pace was slightly faster than what the plan called for, and I kept hearing Raccoon Queen's words ringing in my head too many runners run their fast runs too slow and their slow runs too fast, and she is right.....so I will try to keep better to the plan's pace in the future.
13 miles in 1:48:26 for an average pace of 8.20 min/mile
Splits as follows:
8:02, 8:03, 8:15, 8:18, 8:33, 8:23, 8:23, 8:26, 8:27, 8:27, 8:26, 8:20, 8:19
The cool down was my walk back up to the house. Once inside, it was a quick change into the bike gear and a bite to eat (chocolate brownie Clif bar)....then off to meet hubby on the bike......0 -
Proper Bike Ride
So up to the mountain I went, still sweaty from my run, hair looking nasty, face flushed, and I'm sure I smelled to high heaven.....but, oh well. I knew I'd be cutting this ride a little short because of the 13 miles I just put down, and that pre-ride decision to cut this ride short was more than confirmed on the first hill I encountered. I basically died a slow death as I watched the speedometer go from 19 mph to 14 mph to 11 mph, and I was totally hating life, and I was only 1 mile into this ride.
But, I kept going...and I kept slogging through the miles.
The three highlights of the ride were:
I nearly ran over a huge rattlesnake in the road, but fortunately a vehicle had already done the honors. It was really huge!! :eek:
Saw a car get pulled over by two park rangers - looked serious as the rangers were not very happy in their conversation with the people.
I am having gearing/ring issues and at one point in the ride my chain was jumping all over the place. Hubby got way ahead of me BUT, I reeled him in with some serious big-girl effort. Need to get bike looked at.
Good ride overall. I thought thighs were going to explode once or twice on this ride, but they didn't, so that's a relief. Did a little of my sneaky drafting, but not as much as I would have liked.
Per Garmin:
15 miles in 50:15.37 for an average pace of 17.9 mph with a top speed of 29.1 mph0 -
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Kurt Godel wrote: »Awesome. What a great place to be at the start of a marathon program. So- what is the fingers crossed goal for this (hopefully flat) marathon? I hope it rhymes with Free- Frifteen. (Swoon;))
The elevation of this marathon is actually a net loss and it mimics Boston - downhill for most of the run, then the last 5k is uphill. I really need to start running some downhills and then ending my session with an uphill, and the Skyline Drive can fill that order in pretty ugly fashion. I am definitely targeting 3:30....but we'll see how my half marathon goes in two weeks, plus how I do with downhill training, then goals can be adjusted one way or another as needed. Free-Frifteen would be amazing. (definitely swoon.) 0 -
The elevation of this marathon is actually a net loss and it mimics Boston - downhill for most of the run, then the last 5k is uphill. I really need to start running some downhills and then ending my session with an uphill, and the Skyline Drive can fill that order in pretty ugly fashion. I am definitely targeting 3:30....but we'll see how my half marathon goes in two weeks, plus how I do with downhill training, then goals can be adjusted one way or another as needed. Free-Frifteen would be amazing. (definitely swoon.)
Lets settle on free frenty. Frourtune fravours the frave.:)0 -
Dory, my swim guru, I need some advice if you please
Practicing this breast stroke head under and it's driving me nuts. Just can't get my breathing and stroke in sync. Any tips for me? I can get to about 3/4 of a length ok-ish but then it's like I run out of air if that makes sense!! I am breathing on every stroke (if you could call it that...more like gulping air). If this doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to expand.
Cheers 0 -
Dory, my swim guru, I need some advice if you please
Practicing this breast stroke head under and it's driving me nuts. Just can't get my breathing and stroke in sync. Any tips for me? I can get to about 3/4 of a length ok-ish but then it's like I run out of air if that makes sense!! I am breathing on every stroke (if you could call it that...more like gulping air). If this doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to expand.
Cheers
Hmmm....well, breast stroke is a very difficult stroke....
Are you okay with the timing of the kick and arms?
With regards to breathing.....it's the power of your stroke that will help you to get your upper body high enough for your head to come out of the water to breathe. In breast stroke, you don't lift your head out of the water, but rather you lift your upper body out of the water. As your arms start to sweep toward your body moving water behind you, that propulsion creates leverage at the hips to elevate your chest, shoulders and head out of the water. Your head moves WITH your upper body. Your upper body should start its lift as soon as your arms start their sweep....breathe in as your head is out of the water, then as your arms start their recovery to extension your legs should be kicking you forward and your upper body will lower and you breathe out. And now glide. In breast stroke, you have these bursts of power (big pull, big kick) then a glide....and those bursts are what move you up and forward.
One thing that might help is to exaggerate your glide (when both your arms and legs are fully extended out) to give yourself a break from movement. So glide.....pull/breathe/kick......glide....repeat. Sometimes this exaggeration (pause) allows you to not tire which will result in practicing better technique on fresher arms and legs.
I hope this helps some. If not, let me know and I'll try again.
Edit: and what I mean by exaggerating the glide is to give yourself a few extra seconds gliding....relax and enjoy your body being fully extended and riding the wave of your powerful stroke and kick.
And one more edit: when I say that your upper body should lift out of the water, it should be moving forward and up - not just up. It's like your arms/hands are pulling you at perhaps a 45% angel forward - chest expands as you breathe in.0 -
Swimmingly....
Today was all about the pool and swimming. No running or cycling, I had decided after yesterday's workouts......just backwashing, checking chlorine and ph levels, adding necessary chemicals, cleaning out the scuppers, and swimming a few laps. Ah, a nice and relaxing Sunday.
When I finally got around to the swim, the sun was contemplating setting behind the mountains to my west and the wind had picked up ever so much. Lovely. I didn't really have a plan for the swim, but I knew I would go 5k and mainly do big chunks with a sprinkling of short stuff towards the end. I must admit, between the amazing visual appeal of the environment around me and the heavenly feel of the 88 degree water encompassing me, I was way too relaxed on the first 3k. It's funny, when I am swimming at a steady, comfortable, efficient rhythm, it takes more effort for me to stop than for me to keep going.
Any way....this swim was too enjoyable to be considered a workout.
5,000 yards as follows:
2,000 swim
1,000 pull
1 x 200 free
2 x 160 modified IM
3 x 120 free
4 x 80 modified IM
5 x 40 free (one lap no breath/high/fast, one lap easy)
600 swimmer's choice, which was a sampling of various strokes and underwater swimming0 -
Hmmm....well, breast stroke is a very difficult stroke....
Are you okay with the timing of the kick and arms?
With regards to breathing.....it's the power of your stroke that will help you to get your upper body high enough for your head to come out of the water to breathe. In breast stroke, you don't lift your head out of the water, but rather you lift your upper body out of the water. As your arms start to sweep toward your body moving water behind you, that propulsion creates leverage at the hips to elevate your chest, shoulders and head out of the water. Your head moves WITH your upper body. Your upper body should start its lift as soon as your arms start their sweep....breathe in as your head is out of the water, then as your arms start their recovery to extension your legs should be kicking you forward and your upper body will lower and you breathe out. And now glide. In breast stroke, you have these bursts of power (big pull, big kick) then a glide....and those bursts are what move you up and forward.
One thing that might help is to exaggerate your glide (when both your arms and legs are fully extended out) to give yourself a break from movement. So glide.....pull/breathe/kick......glide....repeat. Sometimes this exaggeration (pause) allows you to not tire which will result in practicing better technique on fresher arms and legs.
I hope this helps some. If not, let me know and I'll try again.
Edit: and what I mean by exaggerating the glide is to give yourself a few extra seconds gliding....relax and enjoy your body being fully extended and riding the wave of your powerful stroke and kick.
And one more edit: when I say that your upper body should lift out of the water, it should be moving forward and up - not just up. It's like your arms/hands are pulling you at perhaps a 45% angel forward - chest expands as you breathe in.
Makes perfect sense, thanks a million for the detail. Legs and arm co-ordination is fine, it's the timing of my breathing. I think you've hit the nail on the head with the gliding. I'm not used to exhaling under water so I'm not expelling all my air out fully with the result obviously that I can't get enough in when I am back out. I think by exaggerating the glide, this will allow more time under water. I will try it out tomorrow evening when I'm in the pool again.
Cheers swim guru 0 -
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RacoonQueen wrote: »I heard a rumour that you are bringing us all from a mass swimming lesson when you're in Ireland. Is this true?
We could arrange that!
@shaz - keep me posted. 0 -
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