Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
Options
Comments
-
Monday, August 4th, 2014
Run plan: 6 miles easy, am....6 miles easy, pm
The first 6 were done in my usual sneaky lunchtime style....and the second 6 were done immediately after work. Both done field style...and both done counterclockwise around the field. I actually meant to do the evening run clockwise around the field, but I didn't remember this intention until I was already on the second lap and I honestly didn't feel like changing the direction of my motion at that point so I just kept moving forward.
Both runs felt pretty good. I can tell I'm not 100% well yet and that I've lost some strength, but I just kept this easy breezy and was totally fine going the distance. It was pretty steamy on the lunchtime run, but the evening turned out to be fairly nice (other than nearly being eaten alive by the gnats!), making the second run quite comfortable. No complaints from me today!
Actual runs: 6.3 miles twice equals 12.6 miles for the day
Swim
Just a short easy swim in the late evening to soothe the body and the mind, and to get the head back in the game.
Bonus alert: As I was hopping in the pool, I spied my familiar herd of deer making their way through the field, including the two very spirited twin fawns I've been keeping tabs on. Good grief they are lovely creatures. And what fun to watch them romp and play in such uninhibited fashion. They reminded of that poem by William W. Purkey -
"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth"
Actual swim: 1,000 yards swum like there's nobody watching0 -
Tuesday, August 5th, 2014
Bike
This was done Black Cat style at high noon. I wasn't sure how I'd feel on this ride, but I felt pretty good. In fact, I felt good enough that I sort of started to "race" a bit in my head by trying to put up a nice average speed for this ride. I knew that my fastest average was ~18.4mph, and about a third of the way into today's ride I started to believe that I could beat that speed. I was working, but not too hard (gee, if only her power numbers were up, then she might be a good cyclist! :rolleyes:)....but I felt like I was going fast - especially the few times I got down in the bars (terminology?) - and by the time I was two-thirds of the way through the ride I had totally convinced myself that this was my fastest damn ride ever (yay me!!), and that for sure my Garmin was going to tell me that I had gone in excess of 19mph today. Woo-hoo-wee!!! But the only thing is, I didn't get any where near 19mph. Oh well. It was grand while I was dreaming it! Still a good ride though.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/558200837
Actual bike: 16.33 miles in 53:45 for an average speed of 18.2 mph and an elevation gain of 840 feet
Swim
1,000 yards warmup, increasing PE to 80% on the last 200 yards
5 x 80 yards on 1:10
200 yards easy
25 x 40 yards on 45 seconds, holding 32 seconds
25 x 40 yards on 40 seconds, holding 32 seconds
200 yards easy
5 x 80 yards on 1:10
200 yards easy
Notes and nods....
5 x 80 on 1:10, the first time around -
Because I knew this session was all about pace control, I was pretty savvy with this set, coming in a relaxed 60 to 64 seconds on all five of these.
25 x 40 yards on 45 seconds -
I took off way too fast on the first two (23 seconds, 26 seconds) but then settled nicely into a very even 30 seconds for the remainder of this set. What a luxury having 15 seconds of rest is! Oh, and I was relaxed enough that my breathing was on every three for the entire set.
25 x 40 yards on 40 seconds -
Steady as she goes....all of these were nice and controlled coming in bang on 30 seconds for all 25 of them, and deliberately breathing every 2 stokes from the beginning. There is honestly a huge difference in 15 seconds versus 10 seconds of rest, but it was not an issue. However, it did cross my mind as I was watching the clock and waiting to be set off on my next 40 that having such a short amount of rest basically only gives you enough time to catch your breath by breathing in and out a little deeper a few times...which then made me realize that I could just do that while I was swimming!
5 x 80 on 1:10, the second time around -
This was good. Sure, I knew I had 3,800 yards in me at that point, but this set was manageable with some effort....and came in on 58, 60, 60, 63, 61. Times in this set were slightly faster than the first set of 5 x 80s, but I also upped the effort, was breathing every 2 strokes, and worked my upper body as much as I had worked it all night. But I've no complaints.
Actual swim: 4,400 steady paced yards0 -
-
Wednesday, August 6th, 2014
Swim
Just a leisurely sneaky lunchtime swim (with some seriously scary thunder heard off in the distance :eek:) to break up the day.
Actual swim: 2,000 midday yards
Run plan: 17 miles (easy? actually the plan did not say, but I went with easy)
If it's a long-run-in-the-field kind of evening, then it must be a massive-rain-storm kind of evening. Good grief, does it ever not pour down rain when I've a long run to do? Oh, yeah...that's right - last Wednesday when I was sick in bed it was beautiful out! :rolleyes: Any way....
Good run....and I'm really learning to listen to the body and letting it dictate the easy. My mantra for the evening was "respect the distance and pace smart." I wore my Garmin, but I never once looked at the paces between miles, but rather limited my pace knowledge to when the watch would indicate the completion of a mile. I sort of had in my head that I wanted to keep the pace between 9 and 9:30, but then once I got going I was happy with 9-ish. I took a gel with some Gatorade and water on miles 7, 11 and 14....and was given the green light to up the pace on the last 3 miles if I was feeling the love. I was definitely feeling the love, but I will confess that I moved those last 3 miles to the kindest path in the field - one that is flat, straight, fairly even, and has the least amount of grassy drag.
9:03, 9:10, 9:12, 9:02, 8:57, 8:47
8:46, 8:50, 8:59, 8:59
8:51, 9:03, 8:54, 8:28
7:48, 7:38, 7:14
Actual run: 17 miles in 2:27:52 for an average pace of 8:42 min/mile0 -
-
Advertisement
-
-
Thursday, August 7th, 2014
Swim #1
A little bit of a change up today - instead of my usual sneaky lunchtime bike ride, this was a sneaky lunchtime short recovery swim with a side order of quickie sunbathing on the deck.
Actual swim: 1,000 yards in the high-noon sun
Swim #2
Eh....tonight reminded me how important it is to be open to making adjustments, and that you can still have a quality session without hitting your original targets.
800 yards easy
8 x (400 yards with pull buoy on 5:30)
200 yards easy
Well, the 800 easy went really well :rolleyes:....but immediately after that I started to have some trouble.
Here's how it went...
400 #1 - in on 5:30, so hit the wall and kept going.
400 #2 - in on 5:30, so hit the wall and kept going.
400 #3 - in on 5:40, noticed legs were shaky pushing of the wall after flip turns, was getting frantic with my stroke by trying too hard, and felt I was letting any quality in this session slip away.
For whatever reason, I decided to run in the house and grab a gel, then got going again, but with a slightly different focus. I decided to forget the clock, it was a distraction that was making me sloppy and stressed trying to hit a target that was not in me tonight. Instead, I concentrated on the upper body - getting a full, strong stroke while keeping a spirited and sustainable rhythm for the distance I had in front of me. This was much better. I still didn't hit the target (was hoping to come in on 5:20), but I salvaged the session. Oh, and I allowed myself a simple 10 seconds rest between 400s.
Remaining 400s: 5:25, 5:30, 5:30, 5:35, 5:25
I'm honestly not sure if this session as originally planned was just too big an ask for me (maybe I'm just not that fast/strong?), or if I'm seeing some repercussions of last week's illness coupled with last night's big run. I guess time will tell which one it is.
Actual swim: 4,200 tough yards0 -
-
Friday, August 8th, 2014
I decided I'd benefit from a little lunchtime yoga more than I would a lunchtime recovery swim, so Norris, Butler (my two house kitties) and I took to the mat and made like Gumby, stretching and contorting. Twas good. I've neglected this part of my training recently, but as specific training mileage increases, time for other things unfortunately decreases. I followed up the yoga with some additional stretching, then some very painful foam rolling. :eek: Oh god, Wednesday's long run was no doubt in these legs of mine, and the foam roller showed no mercy.
Run plan: 4 x (2.5 miles steady, 1 minute recovery)
Nice evening for a run in the field...not too hot nor humid, and there was no rain! Yay!! I always try and give some thought to what pace(s) I should run for the session at hand, and this one was no different. If I go by the rule that steady pace should be ~30 seconds slower than MP, and if you use my MP PB of 7:40 min/mile, then my target should've been ~8:10 min/mile. But here's the thing.....it's Friday, this is Dory, and I didn't bother to look at my Garmin for the first 2.5 mile set (I am trying to learn to run by PE) so my pace for that first set was wayyyy off. And that only feeds on itself....meaning, I force myself to hold that pace so as to not look weak or like I screwed up or couldn't handle the marker I threw down. Good god!
Any way...the first two 2.5 mile sets were done in the upper half of the field, and then I moved the second two 2.5 mile sets to the kinder part of the field as I find the field can be a bit "dangerous" to run in when running with any kind of speed due to the unevenness and unpredictability in the surface. This session was done with effort. Controlled, but with effort. And the pace was more somewhere between HMP and MP, so it was a failed session in that sense (unless my Garmin is measuring wrong, as I am always suspicious it is puffing up my pace by 10, 20, even 30 seconds, thus making me look way better on paper than I really am!)....but I hung on and never died, so there must be something positive in that. ???
Average paces as stated in 2.5 mile distances (because that's how my Garmin recorded them):
7:26, 7:26, 7:18, 7:06
Actual run: 10.3 miles in 1:16:10 for an average pace of 7:24 min/mile0 -
Saturday, August 9th, 2014
Swim
Finally, a session in the water that I can feel good about!
800 yards easy
3 x 200 yards on 2:50
120 yards easy
3 x 200 yards on 2:45
120 yards easy
3 x 200 yards on 2:40
120 yards easy
3 x 200 yards on 2:35
400 yards easy
5 x 40 yards on 1:15 (building, holding, and ending faster)
100 yards easy
Da stats:
Basically the first three sets of 3 x 200s all came in like this: 2:30, 2:32, 2:33. The diminishing rest period of the first three sets was noticed, but it wasn't bad...however, I figured the last set was going to be a bit of a stretch. Fun times!! A few deep breaths, then away I went on my quest. The first 200 of the fourth and final set was the usual 2:30, and for some reason right away I felt success. (yay me!) The second 200 was bang on 2:35, so I didn't even stop at the wall, other than to do an open turn, and then I kept going. The final 200 came in on 2:37, but I was honestly okay with that. I felt a weight was lifted, and maybe I'm not such a crap swimmer after all.
The 40s came in 25, 25, 25, 23, 22 seconds. All good. These felt fine....got quite high in the water (love that feeling!) and got to show off my best swimming asset, my kick.
Actual swim: 4,260 honest yards0 -
Advertisement
-
Sunday, August 10th, 2014
Bike
Ohmygodsweetmotherofjesus....tri bikes are not meant to climb. Furthermore, tri bikes that are carrying an extra two full bottles of fluids and a day's worth of gels and bloks (and keys and phone (which is more like a mini iPad)) are REALLY not meant to climb. @#$%&^%##^#!!!!! Crap, that was hard. My poor thighs. I swear, they nearly exploded more than once on this ride. And my poor lower back was in a bad way - I've never been on my tri bike for longer than 20 miles at one time, so this was a baptism by fire. @#%^#&$$#%^^@!!!! But the good news is, I was so exhausted and didn't give a flying f*ck that I ate, drank and got into every position imaginable on that bike just to relieve the boredom and misery. Yay me!!
Because I had to be at the clinic early this morning to tend to the animals and herd the kids, I did 20 miles before work, and the remaining after work. Funny, if you look at my power you'll see a little spike around the 49/50 mile mark. Well, that just so happens to be when one of my local rivals caught up with me and we rode together for a short bit....and I wasn't about to let him think he could take me. Heck no! So I pushed it a little harder, smiled a little bigger, and was so happy when he turned right and I turned left at the T-insterection.
I was supposed to do 80 miles today, but I fell short by less than 3 miles....and believe you me, I wasn't worried one bit about those extra few miles by the time I turned for home. I am so over that! Today obviously was not about speed (which was in the toilet, but pleasantly surprised it was above 16 mph!), but rather it was about spending time on the Black Cat, getting comfortable eating and drinking, and positioning my body on the aero bars as much as possible. All boxes ticked. Tough session, but good in many ways.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/561955959
Actual bike: 77.06 miles in 4:42:27 for an average speed of 16.4 mph and an elevation gain of 4,386 feet0 -
Sunday, August 10th, Part II
Swim
Oh boy the body knew it had 77 horribly abusive tri bike hilly miles in them this evening. Soooo....the executive decision was made to foam roll, do a recovery swim, then foam roll again to achieve that happy place once again. Sort of like an Oreo cookie....the sandwich thing....the foam roll/swim/foam roll sandwich thingy thing. Sort of. Any way....
Actual swim: 2,000 recovery yards done like the cream filling in an Oreo cookie (which is my favorite part, of course!) 0 -
-
Monday, August 11th, 2014
A rare Monday in that I only had one run to do - usually Mondays mean a double run. So, I took the opportunity over lunch to do a little sneaky yoga with the boys hogging the mat.
Run plan: 7 miles easy
Ten laps around the field in the early evening and spitting rain. And because it was Monday, I did not use my Garmin as it is my Garmin-free day! Whether it be an easy swim or an easy run, I take these sessions as an opportunity to think about proper form and ways to make myself as efficient as possible. And I always carry with me the words given to me by Pos/Neg - make every step count. I miss that guy.
Actual run: 7 field miles that counted for something0 -
-
-
Kurt Godel wrote: »Two questions if you don't mind Ms. Dory:
1. Now that you are training on a tired body, with a huge amount of volume; how is your stroke holding up (I know you don't do any technique work)?
2. Do you notice any knock-on effects from asymmetric breathing?
I never mind questions, Mr. Godel.
1. As long as I stay relaxed, minimize my kick, and make it all about my upper body when doing sets designed for distance/endurance swimming (as opposed to all out short sprints), my stroke is fine. However, I am finding I am not enjoying my swimming at the moment because I feel it is a chore and a struggle....and last night I was even questioning the worth/wisdom in what I was doing. Training is not just about physical improvement and well being, but emotional improvement and well being too.
2. I am mindful of asymmetric breathing as I've never done so much of it in my life. !!! I try and mix up the sides that I breathe to - up breathing to the left, back breathing to the right - however, I tend to mainly breathe to my side of choice, my left. I still do a fair amount of recovery swimming throughout the week, and that is done 100% bilateral breathing. But to answer your question, I have not as of yet noticed any knock-on effects.0 -
-
I'm not trying to be a smart ar$e but would you notice? Maybe for real swimmers like yourself you would, but I find most people I talk to or see don't know what they are doing with what in the water. They think they're doing something but then when they get feedback or see a video they realise it's nothing like what they think. Does that make sense?
Keep the head down everyone and don't make eye contact - taper madness alert 0 -
-
Advertisement
-
-
Keep the head down everyone and don't make eye contact - taper madness alert
Ah now...he was quite the gentleman with his question. I, on the other hand, am in full cummulative-effect-of-crazy-arsed-training-at-a-high-volume-and-intensity-to-the-point-that-I-am-in-full-on-b*tch-and-everyone-can-go-to-hell-mode. This too shall pass. 0 -
Kurt Godel wrote: »Thank you for the answers!
I know just the person to help you with this! She's super-positive, gives great swim advice, and knows how the balance the work/fun parts of training. She'd probably tell you that you're feeling the effects of a massively increased training volume, that you need to take a mini-step back and do something sporty or swimmy this weekend, but most of all that it should be about enjoyment and fun rather than hard-assed competition. Plenty of time for that at the IM. Carol something-or-other, I'll dig out her contact details...;)
Have some fun, ya nut!:D
That's good to know, and a reminder to myself to balance breathing-on-2 by changing sides every so often. I've been racing a lot recently and have got into the habit of breathe-every-2 in training too. I've noticed a growing tendancy to pull more on my stronger side because of it, and I'll veer slightly to the right because of this in OW swims. I'll try and balance with a loose sort of 2-2-2-3-2-2-2... Cheers, you gave me the perfect advice I was looking for!
Thanks. I'm just tired...cumulative effect and all that, so you've hit the nail on the head....and my swimming seems to be taking the biggest hit (physically and emotionally) here for various and assorted reasons. But chin up and all that. And yes, I do have a little Sprint Distance race lined up for this Sunday. The local triathlon. No expectations other than to get my first OW swim in for the summer :eek:, practice my transitions :eek:, and enjoy some fun. I have absolutely no idea how I will do as I am training through this event - it could be a nice surprise, or it could get a little ugly. Yay me!!
And so glad my advice can be of some use to you regarding breathing. 0 -
Okay...so while I'm sort of having a quasi b*tch-fest kind of day, let me share this little jewel with you fine folks. I just received my wave assignment for the triathlon on Sunday....and once again, I am penalized due to my gender and age. Year after year after year I am climbing over, weaving between, and being forced to slow down (mainly at the congestion at the buoys) on the swim due to this simplistic way of assigning waves. I am in wave 6 out of 8....each wave goes off at 2 minute intervals....and I'll have basically all men off ahead of me (including the Clydesdales), all physically challenged athletes, all women except for those in my age group, and all Athenas. The only participants left in the final two waves are the relays, aquabikes, and novices. I'm not sure what the answer here is as I know there is no perfect solution, however at the very least you'd think they'd rotate the groups and waves year after year to give them all a fair shake and not consistently penalize the same one(s) over and over again.
(now that I've got that off my chest....;):))0 -
-
-
-
-
Wednesday, August 13th, 2014
Swim
An easy lunchtime swim wearing my 2 piece tri suit under my speed suit to see how that feels in anticipation of this weekend's race (and IM Maryland). It felt okay...but a bit heavier than just the speed suit alone (which is totally logical), however this is how it's done by many in the "know" (so I'm told and have read). There is an outside chance this weekend's race will be wetsuit legal, so I'll try this again on Friday with the wetsuit over the tri suit.
Actual swim: 2,000 recovery yards at high noon with too many clothes on
Run plan: 15 miles done as 5 x (1 mile very easy, 1 mile easy, 1 mile steady)
Gorgeous evening....slightly tired legs.....but I had a good attitude and was looking forward to cleansing the body and mind of all things problematic. I also had read the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling earlier in the day, so I had some of that with me on this run.
I liked this session....I liked the variation in effort....and I love all things "3". I don't think I've ever done a session quite like this where there is a revolving effort, but it sort of worked in that you build-build-build, and then you get to reset. I even wondered as I was running if this method is ever used in races. ?? Any way...I took a gel/Gatorade/water on mile 8 and mile 12...ran into deer on mile 13....ignored my tired legs and pretended to be a well oiled machine.....treated the very last mile as if I were finishing a race....and my paces were as follows:
9:15, 8:53, 8:26
9:03, 8:27, 8:07
9:03, 8:32, 8:10
8:59, 8:02, 7:24
8:46, 7:48, 7:16
Actual run: 15 miles in 2:06:21 for an average pace of 8:25 min/mile0 -
Advertisement
-
Thursday, August 14th, 2014
Bike
Sneaky lunchtime bike ride on the Black Cat in the 2 piece tri suit to make sure it's not obscene or uncomfortable for Sunday's race. All good.
I was a bit distracted at the beginning of this ride and I forgot to start my Garmin right away.....but I did the same route I did a few weeks ago so I know the mileage and elevation...and have an idea of today's speed based on what the Garmin recorded. Decent ride...went easy-ish overall....I'm learning to stay off the brakes on the curvy downhills, and I'm relaxing more.
Actual estimated bike: 18.91 miles at an average estimated speed of 16.4 mph and an elevation gain of over 1,000 feet
Swim
Okay...this went pretty well. Whew!
1,000 yards easy
6 x 400 yards easy w/pull buoy, descending 1-3, 4-6, on 5:45
800 yards easy
The 400s were actually okay! Surprise and happy shock. I just kept things low-key....breathed mainly on 3, except for the 6th 400 which was mainly on 2....and just worked the upper body. I could really feel it in my arms (been feeling these sessions in my arms!)...my poor arms that are probably even weaker than BTH's arms. But....other than a pull buoy malfunction on the 2nd 400 (popped out from between my legs at the flip turn!), things were controlled and without incident. Dug deeper on the 6th 400, and I was happy enough with the result.
In on:
5:32, 5:35 (pull buoy popping!), 5:25
5:35, 5:28, 5:22
Actual swim: 4,200 happy-ish yards0
Advertisement