Friday, May 16, 2008

5-16-08 & 5-15-08 Miss and Swim (74 and 75 of 92)

My inner coach is very disappointed with me today. It rained..HARD, yesterday. As I left work, it was coming down hard, and I was questioning whether or not I'd get out into it. It's still a little cool around here when it rains (and I hate the idea of my new bike getting in the storm). Safety was also a factor - who wants to crash a bike in the rain. So I took the night off and spent some time off. I probably should have gone to the gym and lifted weights (need to get weight training into the routine again - but when??). So much for workout #74.

This morning, I arose again @ 5am to go swim. I had a good swim and did 66 laps which is 1650 meters - just over a mile. It took about 45 minutes again, and I think that 1 mile is the limit of how far I can swim in the morning. I could probably swim 2 miles if I had the time, but 1 mile gives me enough time to shower and get ready for work without being too rushed. When school is out, I'll have more time in the mornings and my undertake some 2 mile days (oohh 130 laps is gonna be a bear to keep up with). This morning I only took breaks to move the makers and keep up with lap count. I even made sure I swam on my back while I cleared my goggles.

Snorkel guy was there again today too, in the lane next to me again.

A cup of coffee would have been good after the swim (or before it), but I don't wanna start that habit.


I think next weekend I'll dedicate some time at the park to working on transitions.

BTW, the Florida Ironman 70.3 is Sunday - I wonder if I'll be able to find any coverage on the net.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

5-14-08 (73 of 92) Does chlorine count as cologne?

After this morning's swim, I think I may have mis-estimated my distance from Monday morning. There was no estimation today.

5:00am - The alarm goes of (no matter, I'd been awake - off an on- for the last 45 minutes. Guess I still don't quite trust either myself, or the alarm.

5:03am - I ask myself "THE" question, and I get a surprisingly quick and correct answer: "Why am I doing this at this hour, again?"..."Because someone out there isn't, and on June 6th, you'll get to meet them - briefly."

5:05am - empty bladder

5:07am - see 5:05am

5:09am - clean up, suit up, roll out!

I was at the pool before the swim coach this morning. When I pulled into the parking lot, the pool windows were dark. Promptly @ 5:30, the sodium bulbs fired up. I was one of the first in the pool this morning, but I'd forgot my watch, and decided to just count laps. I had decided on the drive over, that I'd do a mile swim. I swam without hurrying - didn't swim slow, but I didn't rush, and when i felt myself trying to race the person the next lane, I made myself back off. The only breaks were a moment to clean my lenses, and every 10 laps I'd pause to move a lane floater to keep count (like on an air hockey table). I really tried to focus on 'lengthening the vessel' and not rushing my strokes. I'm averaging about 10 or 11 strokes per 25 meters - we'll see if this comes down any over the coming year.

I swam 66 laps (1650 meters). I hit the water right @ 5:30 and was out at 6:15, so 45 minutes to swim a mile. This is why I think I over estimated my laps on Monday. No matter - I've got the merit badge now.


It's odd, as days go by, each day I seem to be confidant/worried about different parts of the race. One day I'm anxious about the swim, other days I don't worry about it. Some days I worry that I'll break out too fast on the run, sometimes I hope I break out too fast. The bike alternately worries me that I'll be dead at the end and flub the swim, or that I'll have no juice left after the run, but rock the swim. All just nerves I guess. I think if I can find and afford it, I'll look for another race before the end of the summer - hopefully an open water race.

On days that I swim early, I can smell the chlorine on my hands all day long.


Tuesday, May 13, 2008

5-13-08 (72 of 92) BRICK

"What doesn't kill me makes me stronger"...I must be turning into freaking Charles Atlas, then. The brick today was rough in the transition. I was scheduled to ride for 41 minutes and run for 20 minutes. The bike was good - I started at the West Point end of the park and headed for the Lanett side. Once I left the park, I headed away from the house and explored a couple of other 'parks' on the highway. I really pushed harder than I expected to push, but that was a good thing. I covered 12.17 miles in 44:19 (at an avg speed of 16.5 mph). After I got back to the jeep, I locked up the bike and changed into my running shoes as quickly as I could ( but didn't time myself), then took off on my 20 minute run.

Bike:
Mile 1 = 3:53
Mile 2 = 3:43
Mile 3 = 3:31
Mile 4 = 3:41
Mile 5 = 3:20
Mile 6 = 3:39
Mile 7 = 2:59 (Holy CRAP!)
Mile 8 = 3:32
Mile 9 = 3:36
Mile 10 = 4:11
Mile 11 = 2:58 (Holy CRAP! again)
Mile 12 = 3:37
final .17 mi = 1:32

Wow! I kept some pretty decent speeds and consistent times on that ride - - better than it felt on the bike! Only 1 leg over 4 minutes and I think that was crossing the dam (lots of speed bumps/ripples) and climbing the hill after it.

Then I ran:

OWWWWWW..my legs growled at me from the first step...so how did I respond to their growls? I sped up of course hahahahaah - sadistic? maybe. fun? eventually.

I didn't really have a pace in mind, I just wanted to run what felt quick for the 20 minutes. I ended up covering 2.53 miles in my 20 minutes (avg pace of 7:58/mi - -hoooahh!!). The miles broke down like this (on a very hilly route, doing the turnaround at about 11 minutes):

Mile 1 = 7:41 (this first split had me REALLY pumped up).
Mile 2 = 8:14 ( about a 33 second change in pace, but that latter part of the second mile, I was starting to push the speed again).
Mile 3 (partial) = 4:11 for .53 miles.

The first part of the run was rough....even painful. But I remembered a quote from an Ironman Winner: "It's about handling the pain, if you can't deal with the pain, you need to find another sport".

I was tired, but I was happy with the workout. I do wish I'd done a little quicker on the bike, and that I'd gone ahead and run to 3.1 miles, but it's probably best that I stuck to the planned workout.

I also carried a hydration pack on the full workout (add another 5-6 lbs of load). I still have mixed feelings about it, but I'm giving it a fair shot.

Monday, May 12, 2008

5-12-08 (71 of 92)

Got up very early this morning, and went to the pool. I've had really bad luck with getting a lane in the evenings, so I think it's time to officially adjust my training schedule. I'm going to try swimming 3 days a week in the morning (when the pool opens @ 5:30). Then on Tues, Thurs, and Sat, I'll do brick workouts. I'm hoping this will free up some time during the week as well (not having to workout on Monday, Wed, and Fri nights could give me more family or LS.net time. I may still run with Steph on some of those nights, too. I'll need to sit down and do some figuring on the days of the week for each activity.

I hate having modify this close to race day, but if I don't, then I may only get 1 swim a week until the race, and since the swim is going to be my weakest leg, I think that'd be a bad idea anyway.

I was out of the house by 5:15 this morning as was a little apprehensive about being at the gym @ 5:30 - I guess I didn't really trust them to be open and have the pool ready @ 5:30am. I was pleasantly surprised that when I got there, there were already people working out in the weight room and others already in the pool. There were lanes open, so I didn't have to waste time before I got wet. I wore my swim suit under my shorts, and I was in the water almost as soon as I got the the gym. After I'd been swimming for a while I sensed someone in the lane next to me, and we were on the same lap rotation, I figured that I needed to use him as some motivation and not let him pass or swim away from me (even though I was already about 12 laps into my swim). I struggled to keep up with him for several laps, then I saw it - A SNORKEL!!! He was cheating in our imaginary race - how dare he ;). Anyway, I still held him at bay, and eventually gained length on him and pulled away after he'd fatigued a little. But I did get a little chuckle out of the fact that I was concentrating on breathing at the right times and stroking and he could breath as he wanted.

I didn't count laps (besides the 1st 22), but I did time a few of them and I was doing about 30 sec per length. I swam for 30 minutes, so that should be about 60 laps, a few of the laps were definitely faster, so I figure a total of 65 laps ( 1625 meters).

WOW, I just googled the meter/mile conversion...I swam a full mile this morning.!!!!!

1 625 meters = 1.00972819 miles

That's a training first and a milestone. I swam a mile, and I didn't die when I got out of the pool - - Ironman - here I come (in a couple of years).