Tuesday, August 31, 2010

It was hot!

I took yesterday off after doing the sprint on Sunday. I was weary, but not sore.

My workout for today was 100 squats 5k for time 100 squats. I did not have my plan with me and was going from memory and ended up doing 50 squats instead of 100. It was still a tough workout and I felt very close to passing out while doing the second set of 50 squats.

My 5k time was 26:13 or 8:26 pace. I believe I am fatigued from race plus the squats effected me somewhat. NOT TO MENTION THE HEAT! It was very hot, but I still ran as hard as I could. My average HR was 161 and my max was 171. I am very pleased with the effort I put forth on this run.

I did some running drills before getting started, but not as many as I should have. I will do the full complement on Friday.

I'm still in analyzing mode regarding the race - definately blew it on the swim - I checked a few more people's times and they all had better times than last year -I should have wore the wetsuit. Although my run was a little slower than last year my relative placing was good - I actually did better on the run than the swim - that never happens. The more I look at it the more pleased I am with the overall result. I could have done some things differently, but if I didn't try racing it the way I did I would always be wondering if I am better off without the wetsuit. Now I know.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Analysis of Chicopee results

O.k., so this race was somewhat of an experiment. I raced without a wetsuit and lost some time. Probably quite a bit since the swim seems a little shorter this year than last based on looking at some other repeat offender times. I could blame it on the traffic jam at the beginning of the swim, but quite honestly this is one of the straightest swims I have ever done and the least amount of sighting. There is no excuses here - I was slower.

My time increase in the swim was forty seconds. And my time savings in transition was 33 seconds (net 7 seconds loss). Plus, like I already pointed out, I think the swim was shorter this year meaning that the time loss for no wetsuit was even greater.

My bike was 48:43 compared to 50:48 last year. Two minute pickup. T2 was 1:26 vs. 1:00 last year - shocking!

The run was 30:24 vs. 29:47 last year.

(-7+2:05-:26-:27) = :56 seconds faster.

I will never know how much the wetsuit would have saved me, but I do know that for now on I will always wear it if allowed if the swim is over 500 yards.

Chicopee race results

I was a little sore from the previous week's workouts going into this race. It was not an A race, but I wanted to do well. I decided to ride easy yesterday (about 22 miles - much of it real easy as I had kids with me for 10 miles of this) and I skipped Fran in order to go into the race a little rested. I probably should have revised Thursday and Friday as well as like I already said, I was sore going into the race.

The official splits are not on the website yet, but my overall time was about 1:35:35 vs. 1:36:33 last year - about a minute improvement. I was expecting more than this. I will check the splits to see where my issues are.

I think a lot more people did the race this year as my overall placing was 69th compared to 42nd last year.

Had a real solid bike - I believe I beat last year's bike time by 3 minutes.

The swim - holy cow! The swim start at Lake Placid was more docile. It was crazy. A couple of minutes before the race was supposed to start there was an announcement saying that there would be a 15 minute delay because the state police were not all there yet. I decided that I would wait a few minutes before doing my swim warmup as it was a little cool (but starting to warm up). A few minutes later they said they were ready to go, played the National Anthem and then started us - nobody was ready. You just had to start from wherever you were - I generally start a little wide and feather my way into the group as it starts to settle down - I was right in the middle of the mess. Elbows, feet and bodies all over the place. I did not panic, as a matter of fact, I swam very aggressively. I kicked hard to ensure that no one swam over me (yes they were trying) and kept a very good line. By the time we got the first turn buoy it started to thin out. I just followed bodies and even found some feet to draft off of. I hardly sighted at all thoughout the entire swim. I'm not sure how my swim compares to last year - waiting for the results to get published. I swam without a wetsuit since the water was nice, it was only a half mile, and I wanted to speed up my first transition.

I did the run in 29:47 last year. My recollection from the results that were posted at the race site is that my time was around 30:30. I am certainly disappointed here as I was convinced that I was running real well. There is a steep hill which I ran agressively both times (two loops) and other than that I concentrated on good posture and quick feet.

This is the first sprint I did this year if you don't count the duathlons. Sprints are painful. You give it everything you have for about 90 minutes more or less depending on the distances. I biked real hard as some of my best runs in sprints have come after a good effort on the bike. I did some on bike stretches coming down the final stretch. I transitioned quickly and off I went - felt decent on the run - what went wrong?

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Friday's fun

First wod: Run 400m, 50 squats, 10 burpees, 4 times for time. Got to the track and there was a girls sports team working out - not sure what sport. Knew I had to go hard since I had an audience. This one hurt - now I know why it was not paired with any others. Total time 17:32. Using a new watch and don't know how to do splits so only have total time. Avg HR 154, Max 164.

Second workout - modified it. Was supposed to do 21, 15, 9 of thrusters and dips. Did 21, 15, 9 of thrusters (85#) and pushups. This was hard. It was hours after the first workout, but the thrusters were very hard. Total time 12:41.

Friday, August 27, 2010

I'm struggling

I'm really struggling to stay focused, motivated and disciplined. After a slow summer at the office things are finally picking up - this is a good thing, I was starting to get worried.



However, it begs the question - am I so one dimensional that I can only focus on one thing at a time? As I concentrate on staying focused and motivated at work, my workout motivation and discipline as far as my diet goes is waning.



I missed Wednesday's workout and did not blink an eye. I did get in the pool yesterday and did the workout, plus the bike workout. Plan to do two workouts today to get all the workouts in, but the me of two months ago would not have missed the workout - I would have found some way to get it in.


The diet thing - it's o.k. to be off for a little while, but I'm talking about a month now - yeah, I have some good days, but they seem to be outnumbered by the bad days lately.


Some would say that this all relates to accomplishing my major goal of the year and staying focused for so long to get there. I reject that - it is just plain 'ol weakness and I need to find the mental prowess to get back to where I need to be.


My workouts, when done, are going well. Some are even PRs. I still have a major goal around the corner - The Hartford Marathon. I would like to PR my marathon - actually don't even think that is a lofty goal considering how the past three have gone.

Do I sound like I'm whining? I feel like I am.

Yesterday's workouts went fine. Swim 1200 for time - 21:45. Not the greatest time and not surprised as I did not feel loose or powerful in the pool.

Second workout immediately following - Tabata bike 1 min on, 30 sec off, 20 times. What a leg burner this was. I did it on a spinning bike so I don't know the distance and that is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned - this was a hard, hard workout.

I was initially planning on doing three workouts to get back on schedule, but I was drained after the bike and thought it best to postpone one until today.

I'm hoping that writing my weaknesses down for all to see will be all the motivation that I need to get back on track.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Sometimes you just feel like you are going fast

To start I did not get my swim in yesterday. I was really looking forward to it after a long day at work. I worked in Hamden, but decided that I would stop at the LAF in SW rather than Hamden since the SW one is right on my way home. I walked in, looked to the left and saw that there was no water in the pool. That sucks!

I drove to the Y to check it out. It's a real nice facility, but I thought it was a little expensive - isn't it supposed to be a nonprofit? The family plan is nice if the rest of the family would actually take advantage of it, but that would be a waste of money in my household. I'm going to stick with LAF.

I ran 5k for time. I set my metronome for 96 and tried to hold that the whole time. I really felt like I was moving fast and keeping my form good. I did an out and back which was slightly uphill on the way back - total time was 25:23 and I'm a bit disappointed with that. I don't remember feeling this good on a run in a long time - maybe never. I really thought I smoked it. My second half was faster than my first which I am pleased with though - that never happens for me.

Second workout was 100 feet walking lunge, 10 burpees, 25 situps three times for time. I had to take it inside so I modified the walking lunges to 20 each leg. Total time 12:32.

Hopefully there's water in the pool tomorrow because I'm working in SW tomorrow. No water equals 500 pushups or something like that.

I signed up for Chicopee today - Sunday's fun.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Weekend Recap

I almost can't remember what I did since Thursday, but it's coming back to me.

Friday - Run 400, 50 squats, run 800, 50 squats, run 1600, 50 squats. 19:43

Saturday - 1 hour bike TT - computer quit at mile 19 (it got wet from my water bottle and sweat). I'm pretty sure that I did slightly over 20 miles. Not my fastest ride, but my legs felt like they have been beat with a meat tenderizer. Squats, squats and more squats seems to be the theme lately.

Sunday - was in Maine over the weekend and got home too late to get the swim in so I did Sunday's and Monday's crossfit workouts. First one was 50 stepups (each leg), 40 box jumps, 30 situps, 20 pushups and 10 burpees two times for time. 14:30.

Second workout done about five minutes later, 30 box jumps, 10 burpees, 30 box jumps, 10 pushups, 30 box jumps, 10 pullups. Box jumps really winded me especially after the preceding workout. 8:14.

I decided that I needed to work abs as well so I did 30 situps with 12 pounds of weight, 20 leg lifts, 30 leg throw downs (my daughter was more than happy to throw them) and 20 scizzor kicks.

Diet has been horrendous - can't wait until the weekend jaunts are done. Only one more coming up and then I should be able to get my mojo back.

Today is the first day in a while that my legs aren,t really sore - they are still a little tight, but nothing like they were over the weekend.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Still ticking

Wed - swim 300 yd time trial 4:50, 1:36 per 100.

Wed - run 800m, 15 burpees, 4 times for time: 20:46. 800 splits - 3:50, 4:04, 4:10, 4:12.

Thur morning - bike intervals - 1 min, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. rest equals work interval. I truly enyoy this workout - did not keep any splits.

300 squats on tap for later today.

Addendum:
300 squats done in 9:59. Last recorded time for 300 squats was 11:51 in March- almost 2 minute improvement - not too shabby especially since I did not think I did that well (it hurt!).

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Good swim, good run, still a workout behind

Yesterday was a swim day - I'm busy at work again and did not get to the pool until about 8:00. I was in the pool for about an hour which is unusual - my longest pool workouts usually only last about 45 minutes - this one went an hour. I did good considering the fact that this was one of my worst diet days ever - I totally skipped lunch and did not eat supper until after the swim. I did snack during the day, but was way behind on calories.

Workout was 1 x 100, 2 x 200, 3 x 300, and 1 x 400. warmed up and down with a 200. Times were 1:25, 3:20, 3:15, 5:10, 5:06, 5:09, 7:02.

I planned to do the squats tonight, but totally ran out of energy. This may turn out to be a totally missed workout.

Ran my 20 minute time trial today. I believe I covered 2.7 miles for 7:24 pace - I need to recheck the distance (used mapmyrun), but I think this is pretty accurate - I think the Adizeros are helping me fix my form.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

One workout behind

This was a busy weekend and I was concerned it would effect the workout schedule. It did. I was able to sneak away for a little while to do the 500m row, 10 pushups, 10 pullups, 4x for time workout (18:41), but I was not able to get away for the swim. I should be able to get that in tomorrow night along with the squats to get myself back on schedule.

Recap

Thursday- knew I was not going to be able to get both workouts in so I swapped Friday with Thursday. 3 x 800m run at 80%. Wore my new Adizero running shoes - they feel great. I did not have my metronome, but I concentrated on fast turnover. Rusults were better than I would have expected - 3:16, 3:21, 3:26. Must be the shoes.

Friday: I did not get both workouts in - had to get home as we were planning to go te the Visa Gymnastics championships. I squeezed the rowing workout in on the way home - 15 burpees, 250m row, 12 burpees, 250m row, 9 burpees, 250 row. I loved this workout - first time rowing 250s and realized during the last set that I could have pushed each row a little harder. Toteal time 6:21.

I did not get the ride in, so I doubled up on Saturday and did one hour instead of the 30 minutes that was prescribed (I was supposed to do 30 min on Thur and 30 minutes on Sat). Ride was supposed to be at 70%. I just rode how I felt - may have been closer to 80%, but I was just having fun, not really paying attention to HR - looked after the ride and average was 140. Completed 20 miles.

Didn't get the wall balls in until late. Picked up a 12 pound ball today so I do not have to go to gym for a quick workout like this - plus I don't like substituting, the substitutes (thusters or thrusters with a weight plate) just don't do it justice. 150 wall balls for time - 7:10. Almost a minute faster than my prior best time.

As an aside, I have been sore for most of the week, but still have been hitting the workouts hard - at least the ones I'm supposed to hit hard. My times have all been improvements over past times. I thinking I'm letting this Ironman thing get to my head - but that's o.k.

It's going to be another busy day today so it will be hard to get both workouts in, but I will endeavor to get it done!!

I hope everyone is doing well.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

WOD and swim

Workout 1: 10 box jumps, 10 squats, 10 lunges (5 each leg) AMRAP 15 minutes. Thought I was going to be able to squeeze out 15, but started to slow down after about five rounds. finished 13 full and 5 into the squats on number 14.

Workout 2: 700 yard easy swim. Since it was a easy swim I did not warm-up - just got right to it. Finished in 12:43, 1:48 per 100 and did mostly flip turns during swim - timing was off on three turns so did open turns. This is very good for me as I was recently doing 100% open turns - working towards 100% flip turns.

Ill fated bike ride

I started off on an easy bike ride yesterday that was supposed to last 30 minutes. I was 15 minutes into the bike ride and had a blow out. First flat of the year. I figured "no problem, I'm an expert at changing these things." Took the wheel off, got the tire and old tube off, put the tire halfway back on and put the new tube in, put the tire the rest of the way on, inflated (too much!) and blew my second tube of the day. No more tubes and left my phone on the charger at home - not that anyone was home to pick me up anyway. So I says to myself - am I a triathlete or what? So I take my bike shoes off and start running home pushing my bike barefoot (my second workout was supposed to be an easy 15 minute run anyway).

I ran a little over 20 minutes and had to stop because my feet were getting raw. I think I went a little over two miles. The good news is that I had my metronome with me and I was able to set the cadence for a little over 90 - held it the whole time.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

8/9/10 swim

20 x 50yd on 15 sec rest. 42, 44, 46, 49, 48, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 48, 48, 49, 48, 49, 49, 50, 49, 51, 48.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

I'm back!

Today was the first workout that appeared to be all out since IMLP. 50 step-ups (I did 50 each leg), 40 box jumps, 30 situps, 20 pushups, 10 burpees, 2 times for time. I finished in 15:14 - did it in 15:31 back in May.

I made the mistake of weighing myself today. According to my scale I gained five pounds over the week. That's impossible!! I know some of it is water weight as flying always makes me dehydrated - all the damn waiting around and not drinking enough fluids. I do believe that I put a couple of pounds on though - the resort was all inclusive and it's not that I ate a lot - I ate the wrong foods in the wrong proportions and drank lots of Mojitos and Capairinas - they go down real easy.

I immediately got myself back on the diet today and will be disciplined until I am happy with the way a look and feel.

Postponing today's swim (20 x 50 yd on 15 seconds rest @ 80%) until tomorrow. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I took yesterday off for the travel, so I don't feel I need the rest day, plus I just don't feel like driving all the way to the gym when I will be practically right next to it tomorrow.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Good thing I like to sweat

Did my final Cancun workout today. Three sets of 12-15 reps of bench press, pushups, swings, GHDs, hip extensions and pullups. Finished with 100 situps - why, because I'm an Ironman! It's real hot and humid down here so I was a soaking wet sweaty mess when I finished.

Ariel is already correcting my spanish which is a good thing.

Hasta luego!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Greetings from Cancun

Well, I'm enjoying my vacation with family and friends. I am doing a little working out but I honestly have not even looked at my plan - just doing what I feel like doing. Sunday I went for a run on the beach - wore running shoes as there was a lot of shells near our resort and I did not want to cut my feet up. I managed a 30 minute run - running in the sand is quite the calf workout - really felt it in my achilles.

I went for a short ocean swim later in the day.

Monday I swam in the pool - the pool is huge. Must be about 100 yards long. Went about 20 minutes - did two sets of two laps all out - other than that it was a fairly easy pace.

Went scuba diving Monday for the first time in my life. It was a blast!

Tuesday - went to the fitness center. Rode a spinning bike - did a tabata workout as I felt like pushing it a little. Then I did some lat pulls and tricep pulldowns.

Wed - ran on the beach again - this time barefoot. Managed 40 minutes and then did 100 pushups for time (3:38).

Went scuba diving again (two tank dive). I think I may have found a new love. I need to get certified!

Thur (today) - woke up feeling groggy - skipped a morning workout - will go later if I feel up to it.

Oh yeah, I need to work on my spanish - I took two years in High School and two years in college, but never really had a chance to practice it - funny how a lot of the words come flooding back to you when you are in a spanish speaking area. Unfortunately I forgot more than I remember.

Hasta Luega!