Yeah Baby!

One thing I've learned over the years of running, cycling, sweating...is that some days are good and some days are, well, not so good. And I have yet to figure out why that is.

And every now and then I have a day where I feel like I can't go hard enough or fast enough. I love those days. I live for those days.  I want more of those days. Yes, I'm a total endurance junkie and I need to get my fix.

Well, today was one of those days. I got up at 5:30 so that I could do an hour of Spinervals before the kids got up for school. Two cups of coffee later, I was still lounging on the couch, soaking up the early morning silence. Gotta get going....

There's a lot to do to get ready for a workout on the trainer. Here is a partial list of what needs to happen:
Put on bike clothes (shorts with padding, singlet)
Drink water and apple juice, eat quick snack
Fill up water bottle with diluted Gatorade
Stretch hamstrings
Pump up back tire (so it rides smoothly on trainer)
Put on bike shoes
Find Spinerval DVD, put it on
Put foose ball table by bike so I can put the remote, water bottle, and telephone within arm's reach
Turn on fan and position it so that it blows on me
Stretch hamstrings again
Warm up on bike watching the news

So today I did the Spinervals Aerobuilder 28 again and aside from enduring a squeaky back wheel (that drove me nuts), I had a good workout. I did 8 x 1:00 reps at 80 rpm, then 12 x 45 second reps at 90 rpm. But for once, I didn't feel like it was hard enough. My kids were needing to get to school but I was in such a groove that I didn't want to stop and I desperately wanted to work harder.

So, I did something kinda weird but kinda cool: I got off my bike and jumped onto the treadmill. I needed my fix and I was gonna get it.

I cranked up the speed and ran hard for about 10 minutes, then raised the elevation knowing that I only had a few mins before having to take the kids to school so I might as well make it hurt. I ran hard uphill for 5 full mins but still felt like I needed more....all the while wondering where in the heck this energy was coming from.

I jumped off the bike, threw on some outdoor running clothes, grabbed my water bottle, Ipod, gloves, hat, etc, and oh yeah, my kids, and drove them across town to their school. It was 20 degrees outside, grey, and very foggy. A pretty miserable day outside.

By the time I got them to school I was started to get chilled so I quickly kissed them goodbye and took off running (my kids are used to this). It was so foggy that I could hardly see 20 feet in front of me but I didn't care, I ran like the wind!

It took a good 2 miles of all-out running before I started losing steam. I hadn't eaten much that morning so I literally was hitting the wall (can you say glycogen depletion). But I had so much fun that I literally laughed out loud. I'm sure the people in the cars that past me wondered why this crazy woman was running so fast and smiling the whole time.

Wish I had more days like this but I'll take even just one once in awhile. Coach Troy would be proud...

Movin' Right Along

Since I get a lot of questions re balancing family life with training, I thought I'd write about that today. Basically, it doesn't work.

Hold on, don't leave so soon!  What I mean is that you can never have everything in perfect balance. Work, family, training, cleaning, chillin'....all good stuff but its impossible to balance it all 100% of the time. I gave up trying to do that a long time ago.

Instead, I just prioritize tasks each day and let the rest go. I can't do it all and I don't even want to try.

So, today is a good example. I had to be in church by 9:15 and I wanted to get a good Spinerval workout in. My house needed cleaning and the kids were up and about.

Normally on Sundays, I don't have to be at the church until 10:30 but today there was an adult ed class I really wanted to go to, so I shortened my Spinerval workout and walked right past the dusting and vacuuming that needed to be done and got to church on time. To me, getting a good workout and going to this class were a higher priority than a clean house.

And btw, these Spinerval tapes are great!  I did the same one I did last week (see previous posts) but this time, I made it through the 16 sprints (45 seconds on with 15 seconds rest). I felt great afterwards!  There was another set of 20 sprints after this one but I didn't have time to do those and that was OK.

Like yesterday, I chose to do less today so that I could fit in other things I want to get done. It feels really good to do that.

I think a lot of women put everyone else ahead of them and then they don't have time to exercise. I understand that and its admirable in a way, but I think they would be setting a better example for the kids if they moved their fitness level a little higher on the priority list. I would go so far as to say this: do your exercise first and then let the chips fall where they may. You'll still get the important stuff done but you won't get EVERYTHING done and that's ok...because it feels soooo good to be fit that its worth it.

Switcheroo Workout

Today is Weds and that means Master's swim practice at 6:15 AM. And where was I???  On my trainer in my basement (at least I was out of bed!).

I had to switch my workouts around for a number of kid-related reasons. And that's what you do when you're a parent training for an IM....or when your alarm clock has mal-functioned for the SECOND TIME (see Monday's post).

So, I did Troy Jacobson's Aerobic Endurance DVD again (the one I mentioned last week). I think it's #28. This time I wasn't as pumped up as I was last week. I wasn't feel bad, just a little groggy. My mind couldn't stay focused on the workout and I kept forgetting which rep we were on (8 x 1 minute reps with 30 seconds rest, then 12 x 45-second reps with 15 seconds rest - too many numbers for my not-quite-awake brain). Its a good thing Troy tells you what to do or I'd probably still be on my bike spinning away.

But that's the beauty of these kind of workouts - they tell you EXACTLY what to do. No need to plan or think or...well, think. Just do it (haven't I heard that somewhere before?).

I like this DVD because the sprints are fairly short (1 minute, then 45 seconds, then 30 seconds). At first you think its too easy but after 12 of them you don't think they're so easy.

I did notice that after the 12th sprint, I was not as tired as I was last week. I could've done more but like last week, I needed to get the kids to school so had to abort the workout after 12 reps. But its nice to know that I could've actually done more (and I was tempted to go run after dropping the kids off but realized that was I should save that energy for tomorrow).

So tomorrow I'll be at the pool, all by my lonely self...

Spinervals

I HATE indoor cycling. I really hate it. But today the roads were slick and I had a strange urge to ride my bike so I got out my Troy Jacobson Spinerval 10.0 tape and did the whole thing for the first time.

This is one hard workout. It consists of 3 15-min "time trials" that build in intensity and until Tuesday, I was only able to do two of them. Today it was a slam-dunk: I did all 3 and felt pretty darn good.

I've never liked the cycling tapes that are long rides in the mountains or beautiful rides in the country....I just can't ride indoors that long. There's something that happens in my brain that says AAAAHHHH! Way too boring. But the hard-core, fast-paced tempo rides keep me going IF I have to ride indoors. If I have the luxury of riding outside, then of course, I want to ride in the mountains or down country roads...