Wednesday, March 31, 2010

still... i'm weak

CF WOD: 50 feet of walking lunges with 25# overhead, 21 burpees 4x for time
Total time: 16:19

I had to downgrade the overhead weight to 15# bar overhead for the last two sets of walking lunges. Got through the burpees okay, but this was a tough workout! I can definitely feel it making me stronger.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

my quads are jacked...

10K TT tonight
53:12 (8:35 MPM)

Always tough to start a workout like this at 7:30 after a long day at work, but I'm committed to following the plan. I was hoping to manage more like 8 minute miles, but struggled to maintain the effort on the treadmill. Sooooo boring compared to running outside. My quads were a little tight after the 300 squats last night and it actually felt good to run. Did anywhere from 10 minute mile to 6:57 minute miles.

In other news, my quads are so jacked that I'm having a hard time getting them into a pair of dress pants. I don't mind this at all ;).

Monday, March 29, 2010

300 squats for time

12:37

Did one mile warm up run on the tready. Legs felt fatigued. No doubt caused by the weekend workouts.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

better than last time!

CF WOD: AMRAP in 20 minutes: 2 pull ups, 4 dead lifts (138 lbs.), 6 burpees, 8 sit ups

Completed 10 full rounds plus 2 pullups and 4 dead lifts in 20:02

Last Wednesday I did 9 full rounds plus 2 pullups, 4 dead lifts, 6 burpees

Okay I could learn to like this workout. Its very challenging and really gets my HR up! This morning I really wanted to know exactly how much weight I was dead lifting as the Oly bar is pretty heavy. Brought the scale downstairs and weighed myself with and without the bar to determine it weighs 38 lbs! Sooo, given I am supposed to dead lift @ bodyweight, I'm actually a little closer to that number than I thought. So I am loading 100lbs onto the bar and the bar is an additional 38 lbs.! Excellent!

Gonna attribute the improved outcome to knowing the routine and prob feeling a little better than I did last Wednesday. Had a couple days last week where I just wasn't feeling well for whatever reason...

I've got four 5K bike intervals on tap today as well. Will get out and do these on the "bat mobile" (a.k.a. tri bike)

Thinking about Christina today and wondering how her first marathon is going down in Jersey! :)

2nd WOD: 5K x 4 bike intervals.
(11:55 or 15.6 MPH)
(9:17 or 20 MPH)
(11:08 or 16.7 MPH)
(9:23 19.8 MPH)

The slower two intervals were into a nasty headwind. Faster two had the wind at my back.
I did do these outside in spite of the chilly temps and blustering wind. You can prob figure out which ones i did with the wind at my back and which ones I did heading straight into it. These were tough after this mornings workout!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

zoom zoom

25K Bike TT  = 51:47 (18 MPH)

Rode the tri bike outside. Waited until it got a bit warmer later in the day, but it was still pretty chilly. Bit of a head wind too.

I can go faster. Need to lose the winter/holiday gut so I can stay down in the aerobars 100% of the time.

Friday, March 26, 2010

March is out like a lion...

CF: Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3
I did 70 - 80 - 85 - 90 - 100 lbs.

Have a 25K TT on tap for today. Hoping to do this outside on the tri bike after work, but forcast calls for windy and cold. We'll see...

Thursday, March 25, 2010

push ups & lunges

CF Workout: 40/40, 30/30, 20/20, 10/10 push ups/squats for time
Completed in 10:30

Getting stronger with the push ups, but still have a lot of work to do there.

Rode my bike to and from work today :).

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

outta gas

I wanted to get the 800M, 1600M, 800M run workout done today. It was on my schedule for Monday, but I wasn't able to fit it in.

Had nothin' in the tank this morning. Not sure why. Just felt tired and fatiqued. Forced myself to get this done anyway. Ran outside.

800M   TT 3:58
1600M TT 7:45
800M   TT 3:54

WOD: AMRAP = 2 pullups, 4 dead lifts @bodyweight (I only did 100 lbs.), 6 burpees, 8 situps
Completed 9 full reps + 2 pull ups, 4 dead lifts, 6 burpees

Workout called for me to do the dead lifts @my body weight. Initially, I had 120 (still much less than my body weight) on the bar plus the bar probably weighs 10+ lbs. This was too much so I downloaded to 100. Need to build on this. Didn't want to hurt myself. I did feel like I was able to get into a good rhythm with the dead lifts tho. Happy with this workout. Felt better this evening than I did this morning.

Monday, March 22, 2010

I'm an idiot...

Okay so every little thing counts. Right? My big accomplishment today was to actually get on an earlier bus into work, go to the gym, figure out how to use a rowing machine. I did all of this before work this morning. Yeah me. They had two kinds of rowing machines at the gym. The Concept II (will def use this one next time) and another called a Fluid something or other piece of shite. So I am clueless about how to use these as I've never done it. I don't have alot of time to waste so I ask the desk chick to help me out with a quick how to. Well she didn't know so I showed HER how to use it. I ended up on the Fluid whoseywhatsey machine because I couldn't see that the Concept was gonna give me distance and the gym chick didn't have a clue either. The fluid one actually had water in the fulcrum thingywhatsy so yeah cool.

Umm, okay... so how many meters in a 5K. DUH! IDK! OMG! Gym chick doesn't know either. Together we are sharing one half of a brain. Is there any coffee here? Anyhoo times awasting so I dig in. Trying to do the math in my head. Okay, I'm a creative person. Math is not my strong suit. Draw me a picture will ya. So I do 6000 Meters thinking that will surely cover it...

Got a blister on my hand, but hey got a good row in and will know better to do 5000 meters next time I see a 5K for time on my schedule :). Took me about 24:30. I may do another row this week just to get an actual bench mark for next time.

Second workout was 800M, 1600M, 800M TT run. I got on the T-Mill in my basement to do this around 8 p.m. and pretty quickly aborted. I could feel it was gonna be a disaster. I'll do this first thing tomorrow morning when I can offer a quality effort.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

jump on it, jump on it

CF workout = 5 pullups, 10 box jumps 15x for time
Completed in 11:22

This was my set up for this gig. The step into the basement addition is 13.5 inches high so worked perfect for the box jumps. No way was I gonna miss because that concrete would have torn me up good. I do the pullups on the bar with the weights on it and use a stretch band to off load some of my body weight — not quite enough of it I'm afraid.

This workout was challenging. I could only get about 3 decent pull ups after about the 5th set. I still did the 5 each time, its just that the last 2 were kinda pathetic. I just kept at. The box jumps got hard too but not nearly as hard as the pull ups. Was fun. Felt like I'd run a 5k when I finished. Did a 1 mile warm up on the tready and a 1 mile cool down as well. Felt the box jumps in my hips during that run.

Rode my tri bike outside today too — after. Legs were dead and there was a nasty northerly headwind! Got about 20 miles in tho :)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Spring!

30 Squats, 65#, for time  = 2:26
Ran 10 minutes on the dreadmill to warm up and another 10 minutes post CF workout.

Swim: Prescribed was swim 1 minute, rest 1 min., swim 2 min. rest 2 min. etc up to 5 minutes and back down.

What I did. Since the swim times kind of synced up with what I do for 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 I did that with a :30 second, 1:00 min., or 1min. 30 second rest. No way was I gonna hang in the pool doing nothing for 5 minutes... Maybe I misinterpreted the workout, but this worked out fine for me.
300 WU
8x25 DR Catch up w/PB
4x50 DR Catch up

Main Set:
50   (:53)
100  (1:51)
150  (2:55)
200  (3:56)
250  (5:03)
200  (4:05)
150  (3:04)
100  (2:00)
50   (:58)

CD 100 Breast stroke and stretching.

Made up the swim workout today too and might do the bike tabata that i couldn't fit in earlier in the week as well.

Friday, March 19, 2010

not a quitter...

WOD: AMRAP - 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats  (As many reps as possible in 20 minutes)
I did 10 reps in 20:39 —went over the 20 minutes just to complete the last set)

Happy I was able to get this particular workout done this morning. It took me a long time to recover from the last AMRAP that included push ups and burpees and I was feeling like I might not be able to do a push up ever again. So this renewed my faith in this particular ability. However, the pushups were still incredibly difficult and I had to set myself just right to avoid the painful scabs on my kneecaps from last time... I feel encouraged though that I'll be able to build on this! The squats were effortless :)

Did this workout and then hammered the 6.5 miles to work on my road bike.

Took a rest day yesterday because life was just too overwhelming. Too much to do at work and lots of swirl, son missed the bus to school, other son heading back to college early this morning —2 days earlier than I expected, puppy playing hard-to-get in the yard, no clean clothes, no matching socks, etc., etc.

Wanted to have dinner with Ian before he left so he came in Hartford and we walked over to FENG where they have unbelievably delicious sushi and hot lava chocolate cake. Had a glass of wine and got caught up with my son :).

I will NOT take a rest day tomorrow as I've had two already this week and really want to get on top of my plan.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

you want me to do what?

So yah, 50 thrusters with 75 lbs...? yah, no...

I did 50 with 15 lbs. and then another 20 with 20 lbs. and another 30 with 15 again. So total of 100 thrusters. Total time around 7 minutes.

Gotta say that after a really frustrating day at work, this was the worst possible workout for me. I needed something more fluid that I could just pound away at. Should have gone to the pool or just gone for a run. Trying to address form and set the bar up with appropriate weight was just too tedious. And then to not really be able to do these given the annoying hitch in my left shoulder just left me feeling totally defeated.

Tomorrow's another day... hopefully a better one.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Spring has sprung!

CF WOD: Front Squat 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5
5@25lbs. 5@30lbs. 5@40lbs. 5@50lbs. 5@60lbs.

Supposed to do a swim today too but its not gonna happen.

Decided to commute to work by bike this morning as it was so beautiful out and soooo much more fun than the bus. Did the front squats this morning around 7 a.m. then packed it up for work. The ride is 6.5 miles, but its not a bike friendly route so it kinda gets my adrenaline going. Its a trip that's not for the faint of heart... Felt the workout in my legs a little but pretty sure I can work these a little harder next time. The 60 lbs was pretty tough tho. Proceeding with caution on these first time workouts so as not to hurt myself... go figure. Then I get on my bike and ride through East Hartford in the morning rush hour...

I had a swim on my schedule today too, but no way I'm gonna fit that in so will do that on another day this week.

Work sucked the life out of me today and the time change caught me off guard too. Gonna try and get to bed early!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Feelin' groovy...

Woke up this morning feeling really good. Well... til I got on the bus and there was an ungodly horrible smell wafting from somewhere... or someone... thought I might lose my breakfast!

But really, I remember this about the short intense swim workouts I was doing last year and how good I felt getting out of the pool after having really killed the intervals.

I packed my zone meals for the workday last night while my husband made fun of all my little containers and measuring cups. Well, we'll see who has the last laugh there Sully...Seriously, I'd love to get him to think about what he eats and how it makes him feel. I think everyone in my household is walking around in a sugar coma.

So reflecting on last weeks workouts — I feel like I did pretty well. My arms are only just starting to feel normal again after the Tuesday WOD of AMRAP burpees, pushups, squats. However, my kneecaps will need a lot more time to heal completely. I may not have mentioned this, but I chafed them pretty bad doing that workout. They didn't really hurt during, its just that I was using a yoga mat on the basement floor and the stickiness of that surface caused chafing that then got worse as I wore pants. They are now bloody red scabs and painful! Hoping they will heal enough for my next CF workout involving pushups!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

I left my heart on Main Street

1st WOD: Run 5K for time
Result: 26:18  M1 9:09, M2 8:00, M3 8:16 M4 :52
AHR 161, MHR 179

2nd WOD Run 400M x 6 @1:30
Actual was .3 miles x 6 @ 2:00 (my treadmill only displays 0.0 digits so had to round up and also wait for number to change causing my rest time between intervals to be more like 2:00 minutes
2:18, 2:14 ,2:16, 2:14, 2:14, 2:15
AHR 143, MHR 185


Ran this outside around noon time. Temp was perfect, but it was windy.  My plan was to run the first mile as warm up before hammering the 5K distance (I'm old so this is a prudent thought...) However, I realized I probably ran that first mile a little faster than I should have and to hammer out 3 more on top of it was not going to be a good result so I just rolled that first mile into the total 5K distance. Legs were feeling a little heavy and my lower back a bit stiff from yesterday's heavy metal session. So I hit the second mile pretty hard and just tried to hold on for the third. Thought my heart might explode!

I was actually looking forward to this workout as its the first run (therefore the most familiar) workout in my plan. Thought I'd be good and ready for it, but — as I mentioned, the legs were a little heavy.

I started zoning yesterday and am excited to stick with the plan of eating to train. It was a real challenge yesterday afternoon though as we were expected at the inlaw's house for the traditional corned beef and cabbage meal. Table was full of high carb stuff, but I managed to cobble together the closest thing to a zone meal as I could— one slice rye bread, couple slabs corned beef, dab of mustard, lettuce and tomato. Had some steamed cabbage and carrots too. Couldn't find decent fat source so the meal was lacking there. Had a couple of Guinness as well — just two :). Hard not to when you in a house full o' Sullivans...So that was lunch. Managed a much better dinner that was zone to the letter and am on track for today as well.

Can't wait to run the 400s later!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

heavy metal

This was the workout: CrossFit Total, 1 rep max of shoulder press, back squat, deadlift, add total weight

Here's what I did:

Shoulder Press:
1@22 lbs.
3@26 lbs.
3@31 lbs.

Back Squat:
1@31 lbs.
3@40 lbs.
3@60 lbs.
3@80 lbs.

Deadlift:
1@70 lbs.
2@100 lbs.
1@120 lbs.

Additionally, I ran a 1 mile warm up and a 1 mile cool down on the treadmill.

I know I was only supposed to do 3 tries at each exercise above, but I needed to feel these out a little to see what I could do.

Friday, March 12, 2010

hold please...

So I thought I might get to swim today or go for an easy row, but there was just too much on my to-do list. Also, my arms are still screaming!

Took a much needed afternoon off from work to get my hair did and to meet with Max about my nutrition. Its amazing how simple it is to eat well, but how difficult the world makes it to do so...

Hoping to jump back into the prescribed workouts tomorrow or, at the very least — get an easy swim or run in.

I'm off to have a well earned beer or two with my husband.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Swimming didn't hurt too much...

600 yd swim TT
11:44 (1:58/100)

Feeling a little under the weather today, but hate to miss a workout so I trekked out to Westminster cuz its the only pool I care to swim in. My expectation was low for this as its been several weeks since i've done a swim workout of any kind. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be tho. Felt good to move the arms in the water. They're pretty beat up still since Tuesday's workout. Can barely get a glass to my lips with my left arm, but the water made it a little easier to move them around and hopefully help 'em recover a bit.

I still have a set of 7 dead lifts. Got my hubby to run out and get the Olympic size converters for the bars we have in the basement so I could put plates on them. This'll be my first set of these ever so gonna proceed carefully and be attentive to getting the right form down.

Okay those are done: 50 - 50 - 70 - 70 - 70 - 70 - 70 lbs.    (plus the weight of the bar)
(bar weighs 38 lbs. so 88 - 88 - 108 - 108 -108 - 108 lbs.)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

owww!

Today's a rest day. Which is good... because I feel like I got run over by a truck :).

I may try a gentle swim later as I have a TT tomorrow and hope I remember how to swim. At the very least, I will spend some quality time with my foam roller.

Now where's that bottle of motrin?

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

I'm weak...

AMRAP: 5 burpees, 7 push-ups, 9 squats  20 minutes

Honestly, I thought this would be easier. Ran one easy mile for warm up on the treadmill. Got 5 reps of the AMRAP done and then started to really struggle with the push ups. Got eight full reps in, but in the 9th rep, I simply could not lift myself up off the ground to complete a push-up. Had to take them one at a time. Could only do two really badly formed pushups so got the 9 squats in before the 20 minutes was up. The squats seemed easy!

Clearly, my upper body is weak. Which probably explains why I'm having problems with my shoulders after two years of IM training and not really focusing at all on muscular strength and endurance. All the miles in the aerobars and swimming hard intervals would certainly takes its toll.

I'm hoping to see this workout again in a month or two and crush it! The whole experience kinda pissed me off...

Monday, March 08, 2010

Humbling...

500 squats for time - 00:22:03

Holy Carp! This was tough. It was all I could do to get to the end of this. Legs were like rubber in by 300 and wasn't sure I'd be able to make them continue to do the work. Did the last 200 in sets of 20 and had to make tics on paper to keep count. Ten more 20s, nine more 20s, eight more 20s... so on and so forth.

Running a marathon would have seemed easier... :)

Sunday, March 07, 2010

A different approach...

As I build this season toward my third IM, I'll be taking a different approach to my training — one that I hope will lead to achieving a better relative result at IM Arizona. I expect that the course itself will be easier than Lake Placid as its quite flat, but there's lots of other variables that could make it more difficult — like the trip out there, the dry air, the sunshine and lack of relief from it and the possibility of a windy day out on the bike course. I could end up with a best time for the distance but I'd like to achieve a better time relative to what I was able to do at LP - if that makes sense...?

At any rate, I'm excited to work with a coach this year who advocates functional strength training and high intensity to build muscular endurance. Rather than putting in lots of mediocre miles, I'll be pushing my limits in shorter, more intense bursts — building strength and power.

This morning I had a session to go over the various movements I'll use in my training. I have to admit, I had a tiny little hangover for this first session—but hey, girl gotta have fun too. There'll be a lot of squatting and pull-ups and tossing of heavy metal object over my head in addition to swim, bike, run. It should be fun!

Today also included a 40K ride on my road bike. I pushed the pace and was able to average 17.2 MPH — which for me on my road bike is pretty good. I look forward to doing a similar workout on my tri bike in the very near future!

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Why?

People are always asking... why? Well... why not! Mostly, I don't know how to answer the question. Why wouldn't you if you could and you had the desire. Why does anyone do anything? Why do people climb Mt. Everest or become CEOs of a big corporation? Or run for public office? I guess they do it because they feel compelled by something that lives within them— an inherent part of their nature that that drives them to a particular thing. Its their reason for being. It's the actualization of their self. Some people are more self aware than others. Some people never find that doorway into themselves...

For me, training for and completing Ironman HAS been a process of self actualization. Once I discovered it, it was something I HAD to do. It became the path back to my true self. A way for me to express my inherent nature — which includes a desire to find perfection and the inability to ever really be satisfied.

But, wasn't once enough Pam?

Nope! It wasn't. Its not enough until you know that you've done it to your full potential. So, that's what this season of triathlon will be about for me. At age 46-47, I may be fooling myself that I can achieve better times in the sport, but its now or never so I'm going for it!