LT run and swimming lessons

I did an easy 30 minutes on the exercise bike yesterday at lunch and then 30 minutes of back strength training. After I got home from work I attempted to ride the rollers again. My goal is to be able to ride them for 30 minutes with clip pedals by the end of the month - 13resolutions.

Today was a LT run on the treadmill. I warmed up for 0.5 miles and then increased the pace. I did not want my heart rate to go above 175 beats per minute. This is at the upper end of my aerobic zone. It is hard to maintain. I started at about 7:03 minutes / mile and increased every 0.5 mile or so by 2 tenths of a MPH. My heart rate hit 175 beats per minute at around 6:30 minutes / mile. I did not want to but I had to back off the pace for the last mile to maintain my heart rate below 175 beats. The results are as follows:

WU 0.5 miles 4:21- 126 HR AVE
1.0 mile - 6:46 - 158 HR AVE
2.0 mile - 6:31 - 170 HR AVE
3.0 mile - 6:50 - 173 HR AVE
CD 0.5 miles 4:14- 161 HR AVE

The total was 4 miles in 28:44 for a combined pace of 7:11 minute / mile.

I have my furst swimming lesson in about half an hour!

Spring is in the air -

The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine. - John Howard

*** New resolution at 13resolutions ***

I had some bicycle seat time to make up from last week so I got on the trainer yesterday morning. I churned out 20 miles in right around an hour. It was nice to get it out of the way early. I was going to ride the bike outdoors when the weather warmed up a little but I did not want to just mill around the house waiting for the sun.

I did meet up with Chris and Sam for an afternoon ride. There was a little confusion of where we were going to meet so we ended up crossing paths about half way through the ride. So I was on my road bike on and off the trace hitting the hills. These are the hills that I found just last week with the group ride. I was able to power up them and it felt good. The air was brisk but the sun was out. The heat of the sun felt good on my black arm warmers.

I started to head back after about 16 miles and that is when I crossed Chris and Sam. They were both on their race bikes (Sam even had his race wheels on his bike - I don't think they ever come off of the race bike). These guys are fast. I was having to draft off of Sam just to stay up with them. There were stretches of road where he was maintaining 27 MPH. Sure he was on his tricked out race bike with tricked out race wheels - but still, maintaining 27 MPH. This is an area of the trace that is relatively flat (maybe a very slight down hill) that I can, if I push it, maintain 22 - 23 MPH. Sam was flying. Sam is the local fast guy (that just happens to be the same age as me). If he shows up at the 5k's or any other race that just means I am racing for second in my age group. Sam is also a great coach and is quick to help you out in your training. He helped me out a lot last year. He was sizing me up for the race season and asking me what I averaged on the bike last year in my races. I told him that it was 21 - 22 MPH. Being that this is only my second full season of triathlon he believes that I will make great strides.

I had to go back and double check my bike splits for a few races to make sure that I was not exaggerating. I had four races last year and the last two I averaged more than 22 MPH (Sunfish - 18 miles in 47:41 for 22.65 MPH and the Heart of Dixie - 27.5 miles in 1:13:50 for 22.35 MPH). FYI - I love athlinks! I ended up getting about 53 miles for the day.

Today I am anxious to get out my race bike and get some seat time. Time Trial / triathlon bikes feel much different than road bikes.

13resolutions - 1 month update

Albert Einstein, who discovered that a tiny amount of mass is equal to a huge amount of energy, which explains why, as Einstein himself so eloquently put it in a famous 1939 speech to the Physics Department at Princeton, "You have to exercise for a week to work off the thigh fat from a single Snickers." ~Dave Barry, Dave Barry Turns 50

The NO-S DIET did not have the results that I had hoped for. I do not blame the diet. - 13resolutions. I will keep at it but I also get to start a new resolution tomorrow!

Time Trial - running

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!

- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass"

I followed the diet yesterday even though it was a holiday - I did not get the results that I wanted 13resolutions.

I took yesterday off as a complete rest day - I never do this. The training plan called for a 75 minute easy spin on the bike. I hate days like that - it is hard for me to do the easy stuff and I almost always go harder that I should. So I skipped it by justifying that the training plan did not call for a 4000 yard swim on Saturday and only an hour run (not the 1 1/2 hour run that I did) and only a 2 hour bike ride (not the 2 1/2 hour bike ride I did) on Sunday. So I took the holiday off and did some yard work. I put pine straw out in the flower beds and chopped on some stumps with the axe - and practiced axe throwing for fun - I was better in the fall. I also followed the diet pretty close.

This morning I did a 30 minute running time trial (TT). These are hard. They are mentally hard. They are physically hard. I woke up early and got to the gym by 6:30AM - no breakfast - just running on empty. I jumped on my treadmill - I always use the same one - and did an easy 10 minute warm up (real easy 10:00 minute / mile pace). At ten minutes I pushed up to a 7:00 minute / mile pace and held this for another ten minutes. This is were it gets hard. You take your average heart rate for the next 20 minutes. At the end you should feel like you have given everything. Not easy to do on a treadmill when you are not chasing someone or there are not wolves or bears chasing you. So twenty minutes into the run (10 warm up and 10 harder warm up) I pushed the pace to about a 6:27 minute / mile pace. I was able to carry this for about ten more minutes and then I had to back off just a little. I was, however, able to finish strong for the last five minutes and slowly, incrementally, increase the speed - by a tenth or two at a time. I finished running the last minute at a 6:00 minute / mile pace.

This was not my best time trial - my best was outside running to work last spring. The distances do not matter only the heart rates (but the working set of 30 minutes I covered 4.5 miles and 7.7 miles for the hour.) The last twenty minutes of the Time Trial I averaged 174 beats per minute (that is just about were I was last spring). Theoretically this should mean that I can carry that heart rate for about an hour without blowing up. Easier said than done. I will try this heart rate out in a tempo run some time in the near future.

Swimming at lunch.

Working the plan in hopes for some speed in the spring.

11 mile run in 1:32:07 (8:37 min / mile pace - I did stop and talk with someone briefly) - My volume has been high but I feel slow. I have a 30 minute run time trial on Tuesday.

The sun came out in the afternoon and I met up with the Sunday group ride. It was the biggest turn out that I have seen in a couple of months. We, including me, Mississippians are fair weather riders. I hear people talk of the unbearable cold - 40 degrees - and how it is impossible to get outside. It was not that long ago, when I lived in Indiana, that 40 degrees would be a heat wave. I remember weeks on end of sub-freezing temperatures. You would see people out and about in short sleeves and shorts if the temperature got above freezing.

But I digress - the group ride was a lot of fun even though there was one heck of a head wind going out. We made it to Sumrall in no where near record time. Even going down the hill to Sumrall was slow - probably about 4 - 5 MPH slower because of the wind in your face. This just meant that getting back to town would be fast.

I usually do not do long pulls but prefer short intense sessions. On one such pull I was easily (I say easily but I was pedaling my heart out) hitting 29 - 30 MPH. This is fast and furious and is so much fun. Taking the back roads back from Sumrall throws in a few hills and the day was perfect. Bright, sunny and the temperature with arm warmers was just right.

Cookies and beer for dinner - 13resolutions

Swimming - 2 a days

I am down 5 pounds year to date: 13resolutions

I did get that trainer bike ride Time Trial in last night. Not the best workout but I am glad I did it. I warmed up for 3 miles (a little less than 10 minutes) and then did a 5 mile time trial. I tried to maintain my heart rate between 160 and 165 beats per minute. This is challenging but not too hard. I was dripping sweat by the time that I finished. I wrapped up with a 2 mile cool down. Nothing ground breaking but it was completed.

I had a 1 hour swimming session scheduled for today. An hour in the pool is difficult for me to complete. Not the the actually swimming but just the block of time. I was not successful in climbing out of bed early enough to get the hour swim. However, I am please that I decided to get up and do what I could. I put in 1500 yards this morning - 250 warm up, 10 x 100 work set and 250 cool down.

To complete the hour I got back in the pool at lunch. I just did 6 x 250 yards (with 30 seconds rest). I'm not fast but I am making progress. The times are noted below.

1. 4:15
2. 4:21
3. 4:19
4. 4:23
5. 4:23
6. 4:21

I also did strength training. ** Note to self - bench press after swimming is not the best idea. ** I'll be smarter next week. The training plan for tonight calls for an easy 45 minute bike.

Not quite jumping...

FYI - I was down 2.8 pounds since yesterday - the diet is getting back on track (13resolutions).

I went to the gym again last night to make up my cycling that I missed due to the (surprise) pool being back open. I got to the gym just after 5 PM. School started back up yesterday and the gym was packed. This is typical - all the students trying to lose the holiday weight or the freshmen 15 (I actually think it is more like 20 now a days).

The only exercise bike that was available was a recumbent that did not have all of the foot straps. I was in my cycling shorts so I was committed. Besides, I had brought a book with me and the session only called for 1 hour at low intensity.

Even reading the book and listening to fast techno music (podrunner) I was bored by about 30 minutes. I lasted until 45 minutes and then decided to mix it up. I jumped on a just available treadmill (the good thing about the new students at the gym is that they do not last long) to do a BRICK workout. I have not done a BRICK since, I'm guessing, before Thanksgiving. A BRICK is moving from one exercise to another with very little time in between - usually from biking to running. Your legs feel funny - like bricks.

It must have been the change of pace or the easy riding but the BRICK felt good. I started out at 8:30 min / miles for 2 minutes. Felt good. I went up to 8:00 min / miles for a couple of more minutes. I cranked up the music and I settled into a 7:03 / 6:53 min / mile pace for the rest of the 2 miles.

For an impromptu BRICK I was pleased with the sub-14 2 mile endeavor. It sure made the last 15 minutes pass quickly.

This morning I did not exactly jump out of bed but I did get going early. I was able to complete a slow 6 mile run at the gym in just under 48:00 minutes (about 8:00 min / mile). Getting the run out of the way will allow for me to get the swim in at lunch.

Ballroom dance class this evening.

Long Slow Distance and SORE

I have really enjoyed the holidays (I work at a university so I have been off for about 2 weeks) but I am ready to get back into my routine. With family visiting and travelling myself my training plan has really suffered. I went for two 3 mile runs earlier in the week and then jumped back on my training plan. Yesterday it called for a 2 1/2 hour run. This should not have been much of a problem. Trying to be smart I decided to do the run slow. I kept my heart rate in zone 1 and just trudged along. About 1 1/2 hours into the run it started to rain. Then thunder. Then lightening. I would normally not mind running in the rain - in fact some of my best runs have been in the rain. But at about the 2 hour mark the run got really hard. My right hamstring started to tighten up and my feet and ankles did not feel great. Soaking wet I must have weighed a couple of pounds more than normal. My shoes were heavy with water. Luckily no blisters or hot spots developed. I took some nutrition with me on this run - a power bar type thing and a gel. I consumed the bar at 1 hour and the gel 30 minutes later. I thought this might help and I did not bonk or anything.

I allowed myself to recover the entire rest of the day and I needed it. I took an ice bath (well cold water bath) in the jacuzzi bath tub to try and reduce the recovery time. There was no immediate relief. I was so sore. My legs were aching most of the evening. After a good nights sleep my body feels much better.

I would guess that I was sore because of the time off and jumping right back into a long run. Today calls for a 4 hour bike ride. My legs will be tired after this ride but they are never sore like after running long.

On a positive note - I am down 3.8 pounds and 2 body fat percentage for the new year - 13resolutions

Holiday is over - back to the plan.

I can not wait for the gym to open back up after this long holiday break. Even though it is tough and I generally dread it - I have missed the swimming. I am excited about getting back into the pool. My training plan is only calling for swimming on Tuesday and Friday of the coming week but I think that I will have to supplement that with a few extra days. It might take a little time anyway to just work back up to the prior volume. I am sure that my upper body has atrophied some during the past couple of weeks.

The training plan calls for a 2 1/2 hour easy hill run for today. I will run in Heart Rate zones 1-2 - just long and steady. There are not many hills here in Southern Mississippi so it will just be along the rails-to-trails. I might be able to venture off the trace for a little hill work but it has been raining. The horse and mountain bike trails will be muddy - (read slippery, standing water, the fall down and get hurt slick kind of slick). There is a chance of more thunderstorms later in the day. This will be wet, hard day. I am actually looking forward to it!

Starting the third day and still doing well on the NO-S Diet: 13resolutions

Rough start to New Year

I went to bed last night with a sore throat and woke up with an even worse one this morning. I was not able to make the Steam Whistle 12k race. It was a cold 35 degrees and the sore throat combined with a feverish headache and the race was just not meant to be.

In addition, I was just looking for an excuse to not perform well. Little to no exercise this holiday week. I have enjoy my sister and her family visiting but my schedule has been off.

We went to the zoo one morning. Also, exercise wise we did go kayaking the last two days as well as climbing the ROTC tower and ropes on campus.

I have started a new diet that I am chronicling on 13resolutions.

New Year's Resolutions - how about 13

I am constantly reading self-help books. I read nearly every diet book at the new release section at the library. All of the exercise books - running, swimming, cycling, triathlon, juggling - I mean everything. I can not get enough of these, however, I rarely implement the plans that the books call for. I do incorporate small parts of each book into my specific philosophy. I'm not sure if this is really working out.

I even read self-help books about self-help books. I read the book Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus, and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort Zone last year by Beth Lisick. It was a fun read. I am in the process of reading a similar book - Practically Perfect in Every Way: My Misadventures Through the World of Self-Help--and Back by Jennifer Niesslein. I'll let you know how I like them.

So I have decided to track my resolutions. I have had a lot of success in the past. Blogging about them will 'up' the accountability factor even higher. Not all of my resolutions will be fitness / athletic related but obviously this will be a major theme - It's what I do. I am going to pick a new resolution every 4 weeks for the next year and document them here - 13resolutions.