Training Log Archive: kissy

Went to my gym in the morning for some swimming. I did a few warm up laps and then swam the race distance. I was 3 minutes faster than when I did it on May 1. My time was 20:43 and I'm aiming for 20 minutes in the race, so almost there. I realized that one of my bad habits is that I don't use my legs as much as I should, so in today's workout, I focused on kicking. You have to breath a lot more when you're kicking.

C • Kicking 12

The tri team wasn't meeting this weekend since it's a holiday, so a bunch of us got together anyway and rode out to Golden. We had a little break at a coffee shop in Golden, where I found these two (with their friend in the middle), Charlotte and Simon who were there with their running buddies:



We began the ride with 6 of us, but 2 turned back without going into Golden, and one met her boyfriend there for breakfast. So, it was just me, Colleen, and Lisa for the ride back.



I'm so glad I met these two ladies, especially for riding. We are very evenly matched in speed, which works out great.

A loop around Wash Park. I was able to maintain a 4 min run/1 min walk cadence except for when my headphones died and I got a little discombobulated. I walked then to get adjusted and convince myself I could run without listening to my podcast or my metronome. And I was able to maintain that same pace without the metronome, which was really good because I can't wear headphones in the race.

This year's batch of goslings was hanging around the lake, getting yelled at by one of the parents.

Back in the pool, but it's our last indoor session. Next week, we begin open water training. Need to find my wetsuit!

Body Pump

At the gym since it was still raining outside and very cold.

Local event at Peaceful Valley. Not a stellar day for navigation and, after hurting my knee on the way to #10, not a stellar day for running, either.

I started after Brooke and after messing up on #1 and #2, I figured I wouldn't see her out there. I did see her after #5, but she was on her way to #6 and I was too far down the hill, still on my way to #5. Argh! I caught up to her again at #8...she had more issues than I did there, but then I took a stupid route choice to #9. Trying to make up time, I went a little too fast down a cliffy steep hillside and did that thing where I bent my knee way beyond where it likes to bend. I had that sweep of pain and then wave of nausea come over me. After that, I felt like Quasimodo limping along the rest of the course.

I saw Brooke across the field on the way to #10, but she had a much better line and beat me to it. After that, I was behind her the rest of the course. I was very glad for it to be over so I could stop moving and rest my knee. After I got home, I iced it for a bit...which I know some people say is bad, but it feels so good. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

C • But... 4

Red - Splits

The weekly ride with the tri team. Three of us who have been on bikes longer went out first so we wouldn't have to pass people. But, our coaches were strictly enforcing the 15 mph speed limit on the trail, so we had to be careful. We went about a mile past the turnaround point.

I have to work on my cadence and on pulling for the entire pedal stroke. I know that I don't pull up as much as should, and so lose some power. I'm going to work on that.

I worked from home today, so I took off a little early for a run. What a beautiful afternoon. This run felt pretty fine. I ran the first mile in 10:21, so that was good. Then I had to stop a couple of times during the rest of the run, but overall I felt good. I'm running a lot faster than I was before, which is a positive sign.

In this session, we did a 200 for a warm-up, 8x25 drill of choice, and then swim as long as you could for the rest of the session. I did 1150 meters, which I was happy about.

I also moved up a lane to get away from that other woman, which had a ancillary result...I had to swim faster to keep up with the ladies in this new lane.

C • Moving up 2

I worked from home today and kept trying to sneak out for a bike ride whenever it stopped raining and whenever I didn't have a meeting. Unfortunately, never the twain did meet. So, I ended up at the gym, going around the world again.

The Monday night tri team training. This was really a good night. We did a warm up, some drills (8 x 25), and then 500s. I felt kind of icky during the warm up, wondering how I was going to finish the workout, but by the time I hit the 500s, I felt so strong. I was powering through the laps, and it felt so good.

We are still divided into different lanes based on our speed, but now it's still based on our speed from when we first began in February. I've gotten faster but I've made friends with the women in my lane, so I haven't moved. And, they've gotten faster, too, so we're still around the same speed. But there is this one woman in our lane who is slow...yes...but she also just doesn't know swim lane etiquette. She just stops swimming and stands up, in the middle of the pool! So, when I'm into swimming my laps, lost in my thoughts, the last thing I expect is to run into someone in the middle of the pool! But, that's what happened tonight. Twice!

So, on Wednesday, I might just be switching lanes.

Our first group ride with the Tri team. It was pretty slow because some of the women have never been on a road bike! How can that be? By the end of the ride, though, they were doing much better. I have to say that, finally, I am one of the better ones!

RMOC local event at Bear Creek Lake Park. It was quite chilly, very rainy, and occasionally haily. I was the meet director, which meant standing around for 2+ hours, in the cold, stiffening up, and thinking more and more frequently that there was no way I was going to go out. People were coming back soaking wet and shivering. But, by the time registration closed, and I walked out to my car to get something, I realized that it was much colder under the pavilion. I think because the wind was just whipping through there. So, I decided to run at least the first of three sprints. Again, a little of that feeling compelled to do it. Like the day would not be complete if I just left without orienteering. Weird.

And, it was so much fun! I slid down a few mud embankments and stepped on some cacti, but overall quite fun. So, I decided to do the second sprint.

I felt better on my orienteering on the second sprint. And I was still moving pretty well.

The final sprint was also not bad. The first few controls were down by the creek, and it was very muddy. I almost fell a few times, but caught myself. I made a stupid route choice to #7, but otherwise, it was quite fine. I felt slower, which make sense on the last one. And, it finally stopped raining!!

Another attempt at cycling, and this one went much better. It was definitely painful to begin with, but I could tell that it was going to get better, and it did. I pretty much can never start cycling without some amount of knee pain before everything settles down and gets going.

The funny thing about this ride was that I was convinced it was not going to happen. I got off late from work and when I got home, I saw that it was too late for Annie, and she had peed in her crate. Yuck! But luckily, it's easier to clean up now. Just pull out the crate bottom and her bed. But that delayed me even more. And then I saw that Graham had left the kitchen in a whirlwind mess, which set me off again. By the time I was done cleaning, it was 7:00 and I was tired, but I didn't feel like I could just go directly into making dinner. I actually felt compelled to go for a ride. Like my evening wouldn't be complete without it. I haven't felt like that about exercise in a very long time! It felt good, and I felt great when I was done. It could be a one-time event, though. We'll see.

I decided to try some slow running during the tri team session. It didn't feel too bad, and I didn't do much at all. I could have done more, but just as we were getting started, I got a call from HR. I'm having a little bit of a Peyton Place issue with my team in Argentina, and we're trying to straighten it out. It's not pleasant.

It appears I hurt my left knee while doing those stupid intervals last Saturday. I thought it had gotten better enough to go for a bike ride today, but as soon as I started out, I realized I couldn't bend my leg enough to do a full revolution with my pedal. And that's a problem if you want to bicycle. So, after about a block, I tossed in the towel and turned back home, doing a one-legged sort of pedal. Not pretty. Waah!

Swim session with the team. We're now swimming sets of 250s.

An active recovery day. A short swim to give my legs a break. I swam the race distance just to see what it feels like.