Hills

MapMyRide.com | View 09/29/2010 Route in Mystic, Connecticut





This x 4

Rain, Rain go away....

It would appear that the rain and my it band do not go well together...Made it half way into my 9 mile run and was feeling really great...and then bam...my IT band started acting up...I was feeling really crummy about it...like if I can't run 9 miles how can I manage 26.2???? And then it started to rain and it all made sense...at least there was an explanation for it. Because I did 8.5 on a trail a few weeks ago and then 8 miles 2 weeks ago and all was good. I thought I was doing a good job of building gradually and backing off. 9 certainly wasn't overambitious. So I trudged back to my car..some run..mostly walk because I didn't want to push through and then lose months of hard work. Its incredibly frustrating though to be limited by something when my mind and the rest of my body can do it. I have to look at the positives though...I made it 4.5 miles without any pain and when the pain hit, I didn't crumble on to the side walk and give up. Not every workout is going to be fabulous. This quote comes to mind....

"If you can't run, then walk. And if you can't walk, then crawl. Do what you have to do. Just keep moving forward and never, ever give up."


I'll lay off of running for the week and then maybe I'll try the 9 miles again next week...if its raining though maybe I'll stick to the treadmill...although that may just be torture in and of itself. I swam on Monday...tomorrow I get to swim in the am and attack the hills on my bike in the afternoon! Thursday is long bike day and Friday is an easy 40 or so on the bike. Maybe some sprints if my legs still have it. =) Oh and if anyone has seen my appetite could you please return it??? The only reason I remembered to eat yesterday was because I kept getting a headache. Increased training load and not eating does not work out well for me. Lack of appetite has never been my problem, so not sure what the deal is.

Round and Round

I think this video about covers my feelings about training today. But I got my lazy butt out there and once I got out there I decided that instead of a 50 minute ride I would just do the 2 hour long ride I was supposed to do tomorrow am. Mind as well get it out of the way right. I've discovered two hours with nothing but my own thoughts is a complete mind f**k right now. Maybe I should take some more of those "no whining" pills because come next August its going to be just me and my own head for 12-17 hours. Took me about an hour to warm up my legs and after that I felt pretty good.

MapMyRide.com | View 09/22/2010 Route in Groton, Connecticut

Was feeling incredibly slow and then I mapped my ride and turns out I bike 34 miles in a little over two hours...am happy with that right now. Not quite up to par...but I'll take it!

Monday I did track work...warm up lap, followed by strides, butt kicks, high knees and all out sprints and then a cool down lap. On the bike I'm used to sprints, but I still need to get "comfortable" with sprints while running. That pukey, breathy feeling is not something I enjoy while running. My plan is to do a long run every other week and track work and tempo run on the in between weeks. That way I don't stress my IT Band too much. In addition, I also plan on doing legs twice during the week where I am not running long. Life got in the way on Tuesday and I had to miss my ride, but I did get in my leg and core workout.

Scissor Jumps
Wood Chops
Speed Skaters
Standing Broad Jump
Alternating Straddle hop
Hanging Leg Raises
Running Planks
Bridge

3 x 10 each exercise

Baby Brick'n it!

40 minutes bike followed by a 20 minute run

This workout wasn't really that structured, I just wanted to get in the time on the bike and throw in some sprints here and there. Did a ten minute warm up and then used the street signs on Pequot Avenue as my markers for sprinting and recovering. Transitioned from that straight into an easy tempo run down Pequot...10 minutes out and 10 minutes back. Was seriously tempted to pass on the 3rd part of my workout in favor of a Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Latte and Apple Pie thingy, but fortunately Bon Jovi's "Its My Life" came onto my ipod and I decided I'd better stick to the plan.

Light Legs Workout

1 minute on stair stepper, 1 minutes side ways on stair stepper (switch sides)
Single Legged Bridges using body ball 10, 12, 15
Hamstring Curls using body ball 10,12,15
Window Washers 10,12,15
Hamstring Dip thingies on stackers 10,12,15
Monster Walks with Squat in between across room and back

It's a cruel thing to do a legs workout following sprints on my bike and a transition run, even if it was a light legs workout. My legs are feeling pretty good right now, but that's a good thing considering its only day 2 of my workout week! Work was pretty amusing, my new boss thinks he's going to smoke me on the bike. I told him we should go out and test out that theory, but so far he's all talk and no action. You know what they say about short men, Napoleon Complex. =)

Round 2

Had an awesome weekend of recovery, good food and great company! Caught up on quality time with my son. Now its time for week 2 of training.

The Plan:
Monday- swim
Tuesday-bike 40, run 20min tempo run and then some light legs work in the gym
Wed-swim/bike 50
Thurs-120 minute bike
Fri-track work and legs workout at gym

Had an awesome swim this am. I've found its a great way to start off the training week, as I am usually stiff after a weekend of recovery. I love being in the water! I feel so powerful and smooth, like a shark.




Swam 500 yards continuously and then threw in a coupla yards of drills followed by 100 yard cool down. Finished this off by lying in the sauna for a bit after wards. Got in a light upper body workout teaching my boomers class. Looking forward to hitting the rest of the week hard!

I'm a rock star, hey baby, I'm a rock star!

Awesome ride this morning, started off on my own but ran into some riding buddies along the way. Stuck with them for a bit and then broke off on my own to finish up. I apologize to anyone who was witness to my personal rendition of "I'm the shit" as I was riding along by myself. Felt pretty good upon finishing as every time I looked down at my speedometer it was reading around 20-23 mph! Well with the exception of a few hills and one super sweet downhill where it got up to 30mph! I still got it baby! I don't feel too bad, considering this mornings 2 hour ride brings my total up to a little over 5 hours of training so far this week. A vast increase from past weeks of laziness! Am proud of myself that I did almost all of my workouts alone. I suppose its good mental training, if I can't train alone how can I expect to race alone?! Just a swim and a back and chest session at the gym tomorrow am and I get the entire weekend off! =)

Ish

Well for the most part I've stuck to my workout plan...started off the week with 20 minutes on my rollers. My weapon of choice for sticking out the boredom of rollers is a zombie movie. I have accumulated quite a collection now. I tried watching comedies but I kept falling off. =) Tuesday I attacked my long slow run of the week. Thanks to my IT Band issues I have to be really careful about adding miles...I'm at 8 right now. I was feeling a total lack of motivation when I started running. That's the great thing about Navy Housing...an abundance of fat chicks. Every time I passed a fat chick, I picked up my pace and thought I'll be damned if that's ever gonna be me again.

Signing up for this ironman which was always my ultimate goal, got me thinking back to the beginning. Back when signing up for that first sprint was a scary thought, because I didn't know if I could do it.




Anyways, I really need to start timing my runs as that is my weak spot and therefore the focus this year. This morning's workout was a swim. I was really stiff when I woke up and looking forward to the pool, but mostly the sauna after wards. Finished up feeling good. Managed to avoid the water aerobics crowd for once! Even had enough time to do bis and tris at the gym before teaching. After teaching, grocery shopping and a quick "refueling" session with a good friend I was off for my afternoon workout...a short ride to loosen me up for tomorrow's long ride. Now to enjoy a relaxing evening with my son!

Ironman Insanity

I really hadn't planned on doing an Ironman til 2012 at the earliest, but when I saw that Ironman Canada registration was still open online *gasp* days after it opened the possibility began to take root in my head. I actually opened up the page to register for it when my husband had the good sense to ask me 'where in Canada it was?'...good question...mapquested it...turns out it's so far north it may as well be Alaska...a mere 48 hour drive. Scratch that. I signed up for Eagleman Ironman 70.3 and tried to be satisfied. That really should be challenge enough right?! If I can't do an Ironman, I can do two half ironmans for the same price. I'll sign up for Providence again or maybe Timberman...maybe volunteer at Lake Placid. Much more sensible! And then of course a few days later (after my husband...my voice of reason departed) I had to notice registration was open for Ironman Louisville in Kentucky. Debated...texted a friend for a voice of reason...friend said go for it...I said no...next year...finally I did it...I signed up for it...an Ironman. I was grinning like the Chesire Cat and giggling like a lunatic. Fast forward to 3 am when I bolt upright in bed and think...AN IRONMAN...are you insane?! You've never biked 112 miles or run 26.2 miles...and the last time you swam 2 miles was probably swim practice in college and that was in a pool. WTF did you do?????!!! So here I am...training for an ironman. First workout of the week was 20 minutes on my rollers watching Mila Jovovich kick some zombie butt, as my son had the day off from school and I wasn't able to get outside. Tomorrow its an 8 mile run! =)

Training Plan for the week:

Monday: BIKE (20-30 minutes on rollers)
Tues: RUN (8 miles)
Wed: SWIM (15) / BIKE (120 minutes)
Thursday: Swim (30 minutes)
Fri: Run (20-30 minutes)
Sat: Bike (50-60 minutes)


Let the good times roll!