Double dose

So, today was unusual because I worked out twice. My running partner is moving away so today was our last run together. It was a slow easy run. But the pool is open on Friday and I felt the impulse to swim too. Then I realized that I've accumulated like 10 days of leave time that I'll lose when I stop working at the university so I figured I'd use an hour or two of it today. So, I went to the pool!

Here's the rundown:

10:00 am - 3.00 mile run (nice and easy)
12:20 pm - 1,200 yd pool workout

800 yd freestyle (medium pace - comfortable but not slow)
4 x 50 with like 45 secs rest in between.
-I wanted to see if I could do them in 45 secs or better, so I did them as fast as I could possibly go and gave myself a lot of rest in between. Here are my splits for the four: 0:42, 0:43, 0:44, 0:45.
200 yd cool down

Long time no see

Hello!

I decided to post a quick report today, to let you guys know how we're doing south of the border. So we've been running every week, but we've been a bit more sporadic -- some days we just decide to sleep in (that's what cold mornings do for you). Also, because Kip has been working later and we go to bed later too... anyway, we try to make it there at least 3 times a week and I think we have succeded. These days our default running distance is 2 miles, which we tend to run in a bit less than 18 minutes (except for today which for some reason was particularly hard and we ran 2 miles in 18:30 aproximately) -- days like today I focus more on finishing the run than going faster, since in the past I've had the tendency to stop before completing the distance. I was happy I succeeded, yay!

On Sunday we ran 1 mile, since we slept in and got lazy. It wasn't too bad, I think we ran it in 8:15. Not my best mark, but still quite good.

And that's pretty much it for now. We'll try to go for 3-miles runs in the near future and make that the default distance. Let's see how that goes... today wasn't too nice while trying to finish a 2 mile run...

I'll keep you guys posted.

The Lost Week(end)

So, I haven't done diddly-squat this week in regards to training. I have a valid excuse though! I really have been feeling unwell the past few days with something that I think I passed on to the husband. It's always nice to share! I have high hopes for the weekend-I plan to go do a nice long run on Saturday and perhaps some intervals on Sunday. Then, it's back to the pool next week. As I mentioned in a previous post, I signed up for swimming lessons at the Y so I can actually create some structured workouts. Lessons start on 11/03. That's about it for now- kudos to Pats for being a badass! Hills--woohoooo! I bow to thee, oh speedy one!

Hills hills hills

So, this wasn't much of a week in terms of training.

10/19/10 didn't workout because I'm a lame loser.

10/20/10 couldn't workout because kiddo was home sick. I did take a brisk one mile walk after husband came home from work. Carried 23 pound kiddo around which turned what had been a little twinge in my right shoulder into a full on ache. Not sure what to do about that. Oh, yeah, I'm going to ignore it!

10/21/10 kicked my butt on some hills.
.25 warm up
10 hills (with down hill as rest)
1 mile run/cool down
Apx. 3 miles total

And now I'm waiting for my appetite to come back so I can EAT!!!

Pool pool pool

So, I got into the pool yesterday and did the following:

600 yd warm up (tried to focus on form)
5 x 100 yds (with 30-40 sec rests, probably too long)
-My times were 1:40, 1:42, 1:45, 1:45, 1:44. I really had to push on the last one. This tells me my 50 times should be faster - if I can do two consecutive laps at basically the same speed. Augh.
300 yd cool down (gasping for air and all)
Total: 1,400 yds.
-I decided to make the swim a full 30 minutes. I made 1,200 yds at about 27 so I did a few more (and ended up swimming for like 31 minutes or something).

Today I run!!!

North Branch Tri- Wyalusing,PA

Now the race report (feel free to chime in Pats and include anything I forgot!). Pats and I signed up for the North Branch Tri in lovely Wyalusing, PA. We entered as a relay team (appropriately dubbed the Sweaty Darlings) and divvied up the racing like this : Pats-running, Pats and I-kayaking (!), me-cycling. Yes, I said kayaking-more on that in a moment. We left Patsy's flat bright and early last Saturday AM- and it was a good thing she's compulsively early because on our way to the race we got detoured on some empty country roads with absolutely no cell service. We drove around for a while until, finally, something opened and we were able to get a cheesy map and some vague directions from a well-intentioned but not very helpful young lady at a convenience store. We got to the start much later than we had planned so we picked up our timing chip and dropped Pats off at the race start. We then headed over to the bike transition area to set up my bike with the hope that we could make it back to the start of the race in time. We quickly got everything set up and rocketed back to the start. Pats took off like the greyhound that she is while I made my way to the boat launch. I must have lingered too long in the start area because no sooner had I arrived at the boat launch did I hear someone yelling "runners coming!!" A moment of panic ensued because I hadn't even found our kayak yet! After some senseless running around and questioning of people who looked like they had a clue, I found the boat and stuffed myself into my life preserver. I saw Pats come charging into the transition area (first female to get there, by the way!) and I started waving her over. She ran over and said "here's the chip!" and flung the timing chip at me in exchange for a life preserver. All the while I was yelling "wait until we get in the boat!" which caused some confusion because the next thing I see is Pats jumping into the kayak. Unfortunately, we were nowhere near the boat ramp and I had to say "Uh, Pats, I think we need to get this thing into the water!" After some nervous giggling we dragged the kayak to the launch and suddenly found ourselves afloat in the Susquehanna River. It didn't take long for the lead that Pats had gotten us to be completely squandered because of our inability to steer the kayak-I watched other, more skilled people passing us and thought "damn! I wish we knew what we were doing!" We sort of zig-zagged our way down the river, occasionally wreaking havoc by ramming the competition. By some miracle we did not tip the boat and I even managed to get a little birding in. Our river sojourn was quickly over and the next thing I knew we were scrambling up an incredibly muddy river bank into the bike transition area. I took too long pulling off my wet stuff and getting into my bike shoes, etc and managed to waste more time. Finally, after the longest transition on record I jumped aboard my bike and started off. I had done some homework on the route and the GPS said that the ride would be a long, steady climb out and mostly downhill on the way back. Well, it was. Sort of. It was evil and I felt like crap most of the way. I had been getting over a cold and felt dehydrated from the outset. I hit a nasty hill about five miles out and thought that I would either die or throw up (whichever came first) but before I knew it I was at the turnaround point. Psychologically, this was all the motivation I needed to stand up and start hammering my way back to the finish. I had passed a few people on the way to the turnaround but was essentially by myself on the whole ride back. I even managed to do some more birding (saw turkey vultures riding the thermals probably waiting for dead cyclists to snack on). I came around the final bend and saw Pats enthusiastically jumping up and down. I made for the line, dismounted and ran for the groovy blue pads that beep when you run across them. Woohoooo! I survived my first multi-sport event! The cherry on top was the fact that we actually placed! We came in second in our team division- go Sweaty Darlings! Pic here. All in all a fun experience that I hope to repeat in the very near future! The hubby deserves a big shout out for his help with the transitions and for ferrying us back and forth. Thank you Phil! He was also the official SD photog for the day and he got some amusing pics of our river antics.

I feel like a bum- no posting, minimal training. I'm trying to get back on track but have been distracted lately. Pats and I just did a relay tri last week so I'm feeling refreshed and re-inspired. I'll include the race report in the next post.

First for the workouts: I've been doing some swimming at the Y. I signed up for a full year membership and will start taking intermediate lessons in a few weeks. I've been trying to go 2-3 times a week but it's so dark outside when I get up in the mornings that sometimes I just wuss out. Same with the running--I've been going later and later in the AM (which means shorter runs) because of the gloom outside. I'm so lame. Tried doing some intervals this morning a la Patsy.

Here's what I did:

1km warm up

400 meters x 3 w/200 meter rest in between

.75km cool down

I must have been doing them right because I felt like throwing up when I was done. They kicked my ass and will hopefully (in time) kick my ass into shape!

Log entry

10/14/10 - Track workout!

.75 mile warm-up
4 x 400 yd (with 200 yd rest)
2 x 200 yd (with 200 yd rest)
.25 cool down
= 3 miles

I pushed the 400s. I don't time them but they hurt a lot so I may have been going faster than usual.

10/15/10 - Swim workout
100 yds freestyle
2 x (25 fly followed by 25 limping freestyle)
50 brisk breast stroke (both the fly and breast stroke are intended to build muscle mass)
150 freestyle
3 x 200 yds (with 30 second rests). The first two were like 3:45-3:50. I tried to push on the last one and it was 3:37. I'm not used to that interval length so I don't know how to pace myself. It's a learning process.
100 yds cool down. Thought about doing more, but then I got out of the pool.

Workout Log

I'm really going to make an effort to workout and log the workouts. So, here's the run-down for this week:

Monday 10/10/10 1,200 yd swim
600 yd warm-up
10 x 50 yd sprints (median time 50 seconds. I was very pleased - that's down 2-4 seconds from the last time I did this. I did them all with 20 seconds of rest in between).
100 yd cool down (once I'd caught my breath)

Tuesday 10/11/10 - forgot my running sneakers and shirt so I didn't run. Did some crunches in the living room while watching Dexter. Tried to do a few yoga poses but my hands are just saying "no".

Wednesday 10/12/10 - 4.1 mile run.
Inspired by an e-mail from Saff and the desire not to die in the tough mudder race in April, I went out and did a pretty hilly run. I actually ran up (endless) Murray Hill Road which used to be part of my bike route and it is as horrible on foot as it was on a bike. The run was a little longer than I'm used to so I was glad. I can't increase length too much more because of time constraints so I will have to focus in increasing difficulty. I'm inspired.

Me too, I'm back (or at least trying)

Hello girls

Like P, I've been absent for a while. Not completely absent from training, although I haven't posted because, as far as I am concerned, I don't recall making any big accomplishment (in the sense of doing a very cool mark) -- or maybe I got depressed after Patsy's incredible running marks, hehe... (and this also counts for Kip, hehe). Anyway, I'm back reporting. Still feeling jealous of people of those hanging out at the swimming pool... the good news is I'm waiting for my health card and I'll be able to go to the doctor very soon, get a check-up and sign up for the swimming pool!

Now I'm going to report our work (lately). So September has been erratic because I was in Guadalajara for about a week (and I didn't work out while there), then we spent a week here and then we traveled to Tucson (we stayed about 3 days there). So we've been going running twice a week sometimes... probably an average of 3 times a week. We've done 1-mile runs most of the time, basically because we got there latish and we found it was too hot (also because we didn't feel prepared to run more because of feeling out of shape). Out average mile has been 8:30 minutes approximately. Last week we did one two-mile run which was nice. I don't remember the times. On Sunday we went for 1 mile and it was again about 8:30. Today we went for 3 miles but I didn't feel in a very good shape and I stopped up when there were about 700 meters left to finish. I felt disappointed and so did Kip, but oh well... he said that maybe we shouldn't try for 3 miles yet but I think I want to keep trying. I have run 3 miles in the past. I know I am able to do it. I'll try again tomorrow :)

Laziness

Well, I haven't been very disciplined about posting. Or about working out lately. So, here is the rundown, as well as I remember:

Tuesday 9/28/10 - Ran 5K with Stacie
Friday 10/1/10 - 3 mile workout, including 4 x 400 on the track.
Tuesday 10/5/10 - 2.5 mile workout, including 5 hills

I'm hoping to go swimming tomorrow. The weather is starting to turn crappy so I'm going to have to get serious and really push myself in order to keep my training up.