11-16-07 Friday

Didn't get to do ANYTHING tonight (poor planning/mistakes on my part). I had planned on swimming, but when I got to the pool, I had forgotten to pack my swimsuit. I had other clothes, so I was going to workout in the weight room. As I was changing, I realized I'd not brought any sweat socks to wear. I got some goggles while shopping Friday night, so I'll break those in on Saturday (gonna be another busy day.

11-15-07 Thursday Swim

I hit the pool Thursday. I did 20 laps (nonstop), and then did about 5 more laps as cool down (slowly, plus 1 sprint). Then I did push-ups and situps beside the pool. I had eaten at the sushi bar, and eaten a little too much, so I felt kind of sluggish (too much rice). I need to get some swim goggles, so I can focus on breathing and swimming with my head down.

11-14-07 Wednesday quick workout

I went to the Sportsplex after church to try and get a workout. I had skipped Tuesday because I had to work off-site late. I thought the gym closed @ 9:30, but in fact, it closes at 9:00. I left church later than expected, so I go to the gym about 8:30.

I changed quickly in the bathroom (didn't want to go through having my clothes locked up with the pool again), hit the weight room. Only one other person was there, and he was finishing up on the elliptical. I did hanging leg lifts (abs), and crunches, an push ups. Then I hit the weights (upper body only). I knew I was short on time, so I did 1 set of 20 on bench, lat pulls, tricep presses, curls and incline bench. I also used more weight than I normally workout with. By the time I finished, my arms and abs were pretty drained.

It's not the kind of workout I want to do habitually, but it was good in a pinch and kept me from missing 2 days in a row.

I'll swim on Thursday.

11-12-07 Monday - Tide, stride and ride

Monday night was a good long workout. It had been a hard day at work, and Steph and Tif were to be gone to the church for the evening....no rush, no plans - good night to take some time and enjoy the workout (even if I can't run right now). I've been getting myself kind of pumped up over the Triathlon next summer - the swimming routine is helping that mindset.

I started with a swim. I swam 20 laps non-stop - this is my 500m distance for raceday. Now I just need to continue to increase that distance up to 1km per day. I did not take beaks between laps and I made my turns without touching the bottom in the shallow end, or grabbing the wall to a respite. I tried to make it as close to open water distance as I could. I rested for a couple of minutes and decided to do 5 more laps - 4 slowly and the last one at a sprint.

I changed clothes and went to the weight room to do some push ups and hanging crunches, then I did 3o minutes on the elliptical (that should have equaled close to a 3 mile run), then I got on the stationary bike for about 20 minutes. I was going to do 30 minutes, but I could already feel my legs getting very tired, and I didn't want to over work just for the sake of over working. I'll have planned hard days as the race gets closer.

Tomorrow is weights - I'll just do upper body and floorwork again. No leg exercises until Dec 1.

11-10-07 Saturday swim

Swim day. I was pretty tired when I got to the pool, and after the first 10 lap set, I knew the 2nd would be rough - I was right. I rested about 2 minutes between sets. When I finished 20 laps, I decided to 5 more. I rested for a while, and took the next 4 laps slowly, then rested a bit and sprinted the last lap.

The swimming seems to be wearing my out pretty well, and I sleep pretty well at night.

25 laps x 25 meters = 625 meters. I think I'll wait a couple of more weeks and see if I can make a full 5oom nonstop.

11-9-07 Friday Weights - Quick

Fridays are always quick days - the people at the sportsplex are always in a hurry to get closed up by 6:30 (can't blame them). however, the crowd is almost always smaller (I guess most people don't like to hurry as the loiter).

I did a 5 minute warm up on the elliptical, and then only worked abs and upper body. I did no leg work. I'm just going to do elliptical on my legs until Dec 1 to make sure my leg is okay (the lone exception is the strength exercise that the doc told me to do). I worked my upper body pretty hard (doing sets of 12 on many of the exercises). I also did a lot of ab work, and then cooled down on the elliptical before I left.

However, in the hurry for a speedy exit, the sportsplex staff locked up the pool area, and I had to get someone to let me into the locker room to get my clothes.