Sarah Adams and I snuck in a fast 20-miler this morning. Its Weds and I teach at 1:25 so I didn't have much time but we got 'er done. I normally work on my class all morning and would never even consider going for a ride on a day like today but I did anyway - felt like I was playing hookie!
Didn't make it to master's swim this morning (and I'm really bummed about it) for reasons I can't mention here. May have to swim and run tomorrow. Really missed swimming today!
I think I'll lift weights after class...run/swim tomorrow, swim again on Friday, run long on Sat, and ride very long on sunday (have to ride 4.5 hrs!). I'm lovin' it!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Good swim!
Met the gang at the lake yesterday for the 4:30 lake swim. Everyone swam the perimeter and I made a smaller circle around the perimeter (but bigger than I usually do). Every time I stopped to site myself I could hear the faint sound of the water splashing as the group quietly swam by the shore. It sounded really neat. I felt lucky to be a part of this group.
Got back to the gazebo and felt like swimming some more so I headed back out to the island. Even though my shoulders hurt like they normally do when I did the first loop, they didn't hurt at all when I went for the 2nd bout and I swam really fast.
Got a nice compliment from Jim on how much I have improved which was nice. Hope to have more swims like that!
Got back to the gazebo and felt like swimming some more so I headed back out to the island. Even though my shoulders hurt like they normally do when I did the first loop, they didn't hurt at all when I went for the 2nd bout and I swam really fast.
Got a nice compliment from Jim on how much I have improved which was nice. Hope to have more swims like that!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Brick #1
Today I did my first "brick" workout: 2 hr ride and a 1 hr run. I was actually looking forward to it and the fact that I was doing it alone didn't phase me one bit. It went fairly well - the bike seemed almost too easy. I should've gone harder, probably.
Started the bike at 8:15 and it was foggy and cloudy. I didn't think much about it, thinking it would burn off quickly and get hot. Nooooo! I was cold almost the entire way!
Then, out on O Street, I saw some dark figures in the fog coming toward me. At first I thought it was more cyclists, which would make sense since O street is a popular place to ride, but then I could see that it was a group of runners. It was Todd, Jim, Duane, and Dale! They were coming back from a training run with Jim (who's doing Kona in a few weeks). I've never seen anyone run on O street. I chatted with Todd a bit and then forged on.
Rode to Windsor and turned around. I felt like I had hardly gotten my heartrate up so I pushed the pace on the way back. That was nice. I didn't take my arm warmers off until I was almost home!
And the run wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. I ran a full hour and kept a good pace. Felt good, actually.
Now it's 4:00 in the afternoon and I do not feel the need for a nap (which is unusual after a long workout). I guess that means I'm improving - cool!
Started the bike at 8:15 and it was foggy and cloudy. I didn't think much about it, thinking it would burn off quickly and get hot. Nooooo! I was cold almost the entire way!
Then, out on O Street, I saw some dark figures in the fog coming toward me. At first I thought it was more cyclists, which would make sense since O street is a popular place to ride, but then I could see that it was a group of runners. It was Todd, Jim, Duane, and Dale! They were coming back from a training run with Jim (who's doing Kona in a few weeks). I've never seen anyone run on O street. I chatted with Todd a bit and then forged on.
Rode to Windsor and turned around. I felt like I had hardly gotten my heartrate up so I pushed the pace on the way back. That was nice. I didn't take my arm warmers off until I was almost home!
And the run wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. I ran a full hour and kept a good pace. Felt good, actually.
Now it's 4:00 in the afternoon and I do not feel the need for a nap (which is unusual after a long workout). I guess that means I'm improving - cool!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Good start to the weekend
Kurt and I swam in the Windsor Lake today - brrrr! It was much colder than a few weeks ago. We warmed up eventually but it took several strokes before I could put my face in the water.
Wore my long-sleeve wetsuit with the broken zipper. At least, it was broken....Kurt seemed to finagle it to work and it did work fine. But after wearing a sleeveless for two races i could really tell the difference in how they feel. This one is much tighter across the chest! No wonder I couldn't breathe before!
I also wore my fins to reduce the stress on my left shoulder and that helped so much. We didn't swim the entire perimeter but I felt fine the whole way. Got out and felt like diving back in again and swimming some more.
The funny thing is that I came home and saw a story on Triathlon News about a triathlete being attacked by an otter in Boston! OMG, that would be so scary. I can't imagine. The article said that the triathlete was attacked several times by the animal - wow, how unusual!
Need to lift today but may not have time but at least I got my swim in. Run tomorrow, brick on Sunday.
Wore my long-sleeve wetsuit with the broken zipper. At least, it was broken....Kurt seemed to finagle it to work and it did work fine. But after wearing a sleeveless for two races i could really tell the difference in how they feel. This one is much tighter across the chest! No wonder I couldn't breathe before!
I also wore my fins to reduce the stress on my left shoulder and that helped so much. We didn't swim the entire perimeter but I felt fine the whole way. Got out and felt like diving back in again and swimming some more.
The funny thing is that I came home and saw a story on Triathlon News about a triathlete being attacked by an otter in Boston! OMG, that would be so scary. I can't imagine. The article said that the triathlete was attacked several times by the animal - wow, how unusual!
Need to lift today but may not have time but at least I got my swim in. Run tomorrow, brick on Sunday.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Doggy run of another kind
Got an hour run in today but probably should've kept it at 30 - 45 minutes. My legs were toast at the end. Have a bit of a sore throat and feel kind of "draggy" so that may be part of it. But still glad to get it done.
Had a short break in the middle of the run when I saw a very cute scruffy little dog heading toward 23rd Avenue. I stopped and whistled at him...he turned right around and came back, wagging his tail. A man working on a sprinkler system saw this and asked me if it was my dog (all the while the dog is squiggling around in my arms). I told him no and by that time, he had jumped out of my arms and headed again toward 23rd Avenue.
Time for a little speedwork...I sprinted ahead and he looked back and slowed down. I basically dove on him and got a good grip around him, holding him tight. He didn't have a collar so I couldn't hold onto him very well. What to do? I couldn't set him down and run off, he'd get nailed on 23rd Avenue. He was way too cute (and clean) to be a stray so i asked the sprinkler guy if he'd take me and the dog back to my house to put in my yard. He looked at me like I was from another planet and just when I started to say something else, I looked over his shoulder and saw an open gate in a fence near the house where I originally saw him. Ah ha!
I quickly went over there and put him in the backyard and shut the gate. I'm 99% sure that was the house he was from and somehow the gate didn't stay latched and he got out (there was a mower nearby that could've been mowing that yard and he might have left the gate open). If not, the person who lives there will get a pleasant surprise!
In my 25 yrs of running, I bet I have caught 9-10 loose dogs. Most of them were pets but many did not have collars. One of them I found on 35th Avenue and I drug him all the way to Belair Animal hospital by Bear's Car Wash. He was one of the few that had a collar on and I could pull him the whole way.
Why people don't put collars on their dogs I'll never know. I suppose they think that if they are micro-chipped that they don't need a collar. But a collar-less dog is VERY hard to catch and VERY hard to hold onto once they are caught. Believe me, I know!
Had a short break in the middle of the run when I saw a very cute scruffy little dog heading toward 23rd Avenue. I stopped and whistled at him...he turned right around and came back, wagging his tail. A man working on a sprinkler system saw this and asked me if it was my dog (all the while the dog is squiggling around in my arms). I told him no and by that time, he had jumped out of my arms and headed again toward 23rd Avenue.
Time for a little speedwork...I sprinted ahead and he looked back and slowed down. I basically dove on him and got a good grip around him, holding him tight. He didn't have a collar so I couldn't hold onto him very well. What to do? I couldn't set him down and run off, he'd get nailed on 23rd Avenue. He was way too cute (and clean) to be a stray so i asked the sprinkler guy if he'd take me and the dog back to my house to put in my yard. He looked at me like I was from another planet and just when I started to say something else, I looked over his shoulder and saw an open gate in a fence near the house where I originally saw him. Ah ha!
I quickly went over there and put him in the backyard and shut the gate. I'm 99% sure that was the house he was from and somehow the gate didn't stay latched and he got out (there was a mower nearby that could've been mowing that yard and he might have left the gate open). If not, the person who lives there will get a pleasant surprise!
In my 25 yrs of running, I bet I have caught 9-10 loose dogs. Most of them were pets but many did not have collars. One of them I found on 35th Avenue and I drug him all the way to Belair Animal hospital by Bear's Car Wash. He was one of the few that had a collar on and I could pull him the whole way.
Why people don't put collars on their dogs I'll never know. I suppose they think that if they are micro-chipped that they don't need a collar. But a collar-less dog is VERY hard to catch and VERY hard to hold onto once they are caught. Believe me, I know!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Just me and the sunflowers....
OK, so I swam this morning (see previous post) and I rode this afternoon. Kurt picked up the kids so I didn't have to hurry back and I learned that that IS the key to a relaxing ride....when I don't have to hurry, hurry, hurry...
Rode for almost 2 hrs and it was just heaven. Took O street out to Windsor and rode at a moderate pace. The mountains were in plain view and I just rode along effortlessly, enjoying the peace and quiet. I love rides like that!
Its amazing how a 2 hr ride seems like nothing now. I could've easily rode a few more hours.
Tomorrow I run, Friday I swim, Saturday I run again, and Sunday is a brick: 2 hr ride and 1 hr run. Not too bad at all.
Rode for almost 2 hrs and it was just heaven. Took O street out to Windsor and rode at a moderate pace. The mountains were in plain view and I just rode along effortlessly, enjoying the peace and quiet. I love rides like that!
Its amazing how a 2 hr ride seems like nothing now. I could've easily rode a few more hours.
Tomorrow I run, Friday I swim, Saturday I run again, and Sunday is a brick: 2 hr ride and 1 hr run. Not too bad at all.
I'm swimmin'
Monday was the first day of the new session of Master's swim and I was there at 0-dark-30. That was, of course, the day after WOW in which I swam a relatively fast mile in the lake (and my shoulders were killing me!). So, I thought I would take Monday off and start Master's on Weds.
But I actually woke up early on Monday and as I sipped coffee watching Kurt get ready to go, I thought "what the heck" and I threw my stuff in the car and went with him. And guess what? I swam 1600 yards! That's way more than I've ever done the day after a triathlon and I'm pretty darn proud of it!
I took yesterday off only because I literally had no time to train. I felt like I could run in the AM but too much to do - just couldn't squeeze it in.
So, today I woke up at 4:45 (seriously) and since Kurt had to start Master's earlier today because he had a 7:00 AM meeting, I went early with him too. We got to the Rec Center before they opened their doors! And I was itchin' to swim! Can't believe I'm typing those words.
We were in the pool by 6:00 AM and I swam continuously for 15-20 mins. Then did a modified version of the workout until 6:45. My left shoulder started aching about 30 mins into the workout so it's a good thing I had to cut it short. But so glad I got it in.
Planning to bike later today and run tomorrow - woo hoo!
But I actually woke up early on Monday and as I sipped coffee watching Kurt get ready to go, I thought "what the heck" and I threw my stuff in the car and went with him. And guess what? I swam 1600 yards! That's way more than I've ever done the day after a triathlon and I'm pretty darn proud of it!
I took yesterday off only because I literally had no time to train. I felt like I could run in the AM but too much to do - just couldn't squeeze it in.
So, today I woke up at 4:45 (seriously) and since Kurt had to start Master's earlier today because he had a 7:00 AM meeting, I went early with him too. We got to the Rec Center before they opened their doors! And I was itchin' to swim! Can't believe I'm typing those words.
We were in the pool by 6:00 AM and I swam continuously for 15-20 mins. Then did a modified version of the workout until 6:45. My left shoulder started aching about 30 mins into the workout so it's a good thing I had to cut it short. But so glad I got it in.
Planning to bike later today and run tomorrow - woo hoo!
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