Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Swim 400

Swam 400 yard TT
Total time: 7:38

Additionally, I did 300 WU, 4x50 Catch drill and 100 CD breastroke

Initially, I finished— or so I thought— in 6:45. This would have been a 1:41 per 100 pace which seems unlikely so I must have miscounted. So I quickly did another 50 which puts me at a more likely 7:38.

I also bike commuted today for a total of about 14.5 miles on my road bike. Totally bent when I got to the State House Square building this morning and entered into the lobby with my bike to get to the gym— as I have on many a morning. Was immediately accosted by the security guard and some other big thug and told "no bikes in the lobby". "Well, umm... 'scuse me big fellers, but I've been bringing my bike into the lobby and down to the gym for a year now so what gives?" No explanation. Just "No bikes in the lobby". "Ummm... yeah... look man... I need to bring my bike down to the gym and get showered for  a 9:00 am meeting so how 'bout you just let it slide one more day because I didn't get your freakin' memo or see any sign or read it in the newspaper that all of sudden I am not allowed to do what I've been doin' for a year now!!" And, quite frankly, I and the 6 or 8 other folks who do this regularly aren't hurting anyone or anything so really REALLY, do we need another GD rule!!

So, I'm really tired of the unfriendliness everywhere in this state toward bikes and cyclists. You'd think that the city of Hartford and the State of CT would want to encourage people to ride their bikes if possible rather than drive their cars into this tiny little "city" every day. Not to mention the number of people who could clearly benefit from a little exercise... just sayin'.. with oil spilling uncontrollably into the Gulf of Mexico and the ever expanding girth of the American population, we really should make it easier for people to ride their dang it all bikes.

Okay, I'm done now. Deep breath.... ommmmmm.

I'm gonna try and race Lake T tomorrow. Hoping the work day doesn't suck the life out of me...

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 dead lifts

158 - 178 - 178 - 188 - 188 - 188 - 198

198 is where I maxed out last time I did the 5 sets of 3 so happy I was able to get there tonight. It does get very challenging to keep my hands around the bar at this weight. 158 felt easy.

Additionally, I did 50 squats really fast and without stopping — just to see if I could :)

And... 4 pull ups.

Our dog ate an entire, just cooked flank steak off the counter this evening. She actually jumped up on to the counter and must have just stood there and ate the entire thing... rather neatly... so, ummm... yeah... I guess I'll have a Chobani and call it a night...

Yeah, she looks innocent enough...

Monday, June 28, 2010

21, 15, 9 / kettle bell, sit ups, squats for time

CF WOD: 21, 15, 9 / kettle bell, sit ups, squats for time
total time: 4:35

I could not have been sweatier after this short, but intense effort.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

21 backsquats, row500m, 15 back squats, row 500m, 9 back squats, row 500m

CF WOD: 21 backsquats, row500m, 15 back squats, row 500m, 9 back squats, row 500m
Total time: 9:48 (78#)

Instead of rowing, I ran .3 miles on my tready at home. Almost a full minute faster than last time.

40 Minute open water swim @ Lake T.

Was supposed to do 4x400, but really wanted to go kayaking today so hit Lake T on the way down to Old Lyme. Got both the swim and some quality time with my husband all in the same trip. We had a great day!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

40K TT and 600 yard TT

40K TT
Total time: 1:15:19 (19.9mph)
AHR: 141

PR'd this course by almost 2 minutes. Legs are toast. Last time I did 1:17:07.

5 pullups! post ride.

Swim 600 yard TT
11:41 1:57/100

Really thought this would be faster... gotta start working those drills harder.

Thinking about doing the Lake T race this Thursday night...

Friday, June 25, 2010

5 burpees, 10 pushups, 500M Row AMRAP and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 bike

CF WOD in the  a.m.
5 burpees, 10 pushups, 500M Row AMRAP
Completed 6 full rounds plus 1 burpee in 20 minutes


In the evening after work:
Bike intervals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 miles, rest same number of minutes in between each

Did this outside on the tri bike. I wasn't properly fueled I think, but I pushed through it anyway. You can see in the 2nd 2 miler I kinda fell off a bit, but I dug deep for that last mile knowing that dinner would be next :)


1 mile    3:09   19.0    AHR 127
2 mile    6:10   19.46  AHR 140
3 mile    8:30   21.18  AHR 140
4 mile  12:04   19.89  AHR 139
5 mile  14:49   20.25  AHR 135
4 mile  12:21   19.43  AHR 132
3 mile    9:12   19.57  AHR 128
2 mile    6:23   18.8    AHR 128
1 mile    2:52   21.0    AHR 132


oh... and 4 pullups! post ride — because I could...

Thursday, June 24, 2010

(500M Row, 400M Run (.25mile)) x 5

Total time: 23:47

Was tough getting the treadmill up to speed each time. Truly thought I might puke during the second to last run through to the end. Good stuff!

Warmed up with a 1 mile run.

Very entertaining for the other folks at the gym tonight.

4 pullups — jus' cuz' — yeah, that's right!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

800M TT Swim & 5K Row

800 meter TT swim = (15:52 / 1:58/100)

4x50 DR (catch up) to get started and 100 breast stroke to cool down.

Haven't been in the pool for a while so knew this wouldn't be spectacular. However, I did feel quite strong. Swam at Taking Care Center instead of schlepping out to Westminster so different venue too. Shared a lane with a gal who was doing drills so felt I had to be careful. May have taken the edge off my effort a little...

Row 5K for time = I did 5129 meters (a little more than 5k)
Total time was 24:49

Did this right after the swim which made it a little tough. I was hell-bent on getting both of these workouts done tonight right after work at the gym.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

20k TT and pushups

20k TT (was supposed to be 70% effort, but since I slacked off all weekend I went at this hard)

12.5 miles / 36:55 / 20.35 mph

Finally broke 20 miles per hour on this ride!

100 pushups for time: 6:19 (last time was April 27 - time was 6:28 so slight improvement)
First 10 pushups were regular, the rest were on the knees so that's an improvement too.

Before the pushups I did 4 full, unassisted pullups.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Slacker!

Okay, not entirely...

Away for a long weekend, but I got a couple of things in:

Thursday, June 17
Bike 30 minutes 
Did 10:56 miles in 32:30 / 19.5 mph

Friday, June 18
Ran 5 miles in Bucks County, PA with my older brother. Felt really good. There were some nice rolling hills and one particularly nasty hill that we kind of trotted/walked up.
Total time: 45:56 / 9:11 mp

M1    8:28
M2    9:30
M3  10:19  (biiiiig hill!)
M4    8:34
M5    9:01

Then I did 50 burpees for time: 4:42

Later on Friday we flew to Charlotte and then New Bern, North Carolina to visit my Dad. Traveled back to PA on Sunday and then home to CT on Monday. Crazy weekend...

Tomorrow I need to get back on track...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

WOD: beer bottle curls

Yup! home from work late and in need of a beer -- unplanned rest day. Sometimes you just need one... Its hard, but I'm letting myself off the hook today.


I plan to ride and swim tomorrow before I head south. I'll have to see what workouts I can squeeze in over the weekend. I'm tired just thinking about the trip...

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

10, 20, 30 box jumps, squats, push ups, burpees and 3, 6, 9, 12 bike intervals

This morning: CF WOD:
10, 20, 30 box jumps, squats, push ups, burpees
Total time: 12:22

I also did 2 sets of real pull ups. 4 consecutive before CF WOD and 3 consecutive after.

This evening after work, I did 3, 6, 9 and 12 mile bike intervals with 1, 2 and 3 minutes rest respectively between each interval. Legs initially felt fatiqued - no doubt the result of all the box jumping, squatting and back squatting. I got out on some of my old LP training routes this time so the ride was more challenging with some good hills and rolling terrain. I got stronger as I went and finished with a very nice 12 mile split. Finished up as it was getting dark so there was increasing motivation to git 'r done. Zoom, zoom!

3 miles     10:25    17.3 mph
6 miles     19:58    18 mph
9 miles     28:45    18.8 mph
12 miles   36.25    19.77 mph

Monday, June 14, 2010

20k TT and 3-3-3-3-3 back squats

20k TT @ 80% effort — after work
Total time: 38:21/19.6 MPH
AHR = 129

Not an all out effort so pretty pleased with this pace. Just went out and enjoyed the zoom on my bike. Sooo needed it today after a stuffy day inside the office and a smelly, stuffy ride home on the bus.

After, I did the 5 sets of 3 back squats. Did 128# for all sets — each set was challenging and wasn't sure I could go up another 20 so held at 128.

Additionally, I did 3 consecutive unassisted pull ups pre-ride, then 4 consecutive unassisted pre-back squats and another 3 same to wrap up my workout. So, total of 10 unassisted pullups! 3-4 months ago, I struggled to do just one so this is a real indicator of progress in terms of being physically stronger.  It makes me feel pretty bad azz :)

I am trying to front load my workouts this week as I'll be flying to NC this weekend to visit my Dad. Don't want to pack workout gear for the couple days so going to try and get as many workouts done by Friday morning as possible and use Monday (which is scheduled rest day) for any overflow.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

back squats and swimmin' 100s

CF WOD: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 back squats

I did  108 - 108 - 108 - 108 - 128 - 128 - 128 - 138 - 138 - 148 - 148 - 3x(108

Okay, a bit more than was prescribed. Pushed my max weight up to 148 today — which was plenty. Felt like I started off too easily so did a couple more and then back down to 108 just to revisit form.

Additionally, I did 2 consecutive real unassisted pull ups before the squats and then 3 consecutive pull ups post squats. This is a personal persuit of mine. Would love to string together 5 of these and then some. Learning to engage my core to get my chin up over the bar. Wheeeee!

WOD #2: Swim 6x100 @4min. rest
Later, out to the pool to do some 100s. Started with 300 WU and felt really good in the water. Then 4 x 50 catch up drill. Then right into the 100s. Four minutes rest in between each one. I did 50 catch up drill during the rest intervals. Was happy with the consistency of these efforts. Not sure what happened with the last one.

1:41
1:42
1:42
1:42
1:43
1:46

Saturday, June 12, 2010

50 thrusters and 30 minute bike

50 thrusters @ 25# for time: 3:23

30 minute bike @70% effort: outside on the tri bike. Total distance 10.5 miles in 32 minutes. 19.5 MPH

Also did 2 sets of 12 back extensions and 3 real pull ups. 

Friday, June 11, 2010

Row 500M, Run 400M x 3

At the gym. I ran .3 miles instead of 400M even though I could have done .25 miles. This is what I'm used to when I use my treadmill at home so I just stuck with it.

Total time: 15:30

First time actually doing this particular workout. All the muscle heads at the gym were quite amused... and, perhaps a little intimidated :).

I probably went a little harder than 70%. Felt good.

I need a new more immediate goal. One that involves running... I need to get my run on.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

bike 5k x 2 and 3 rounds of 15 reps

Took a rest day yesterday as I came down with a sore throat and general ickiness at work yesterday and just wanted to go to bed early and get some rest. I never get stuff like this so was annoying.

Felt a bit better after work today, so made up the strength workout and got outside to do the 2 x 5k bike.

Times on the bike were 10:19 and 9:49 at 80% effort.

For strength, I did 3 sets of 15 reps:

bench press (40#)
push ups
KB Swing (20#)
pull ups
sit ups
back extensions

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

15K Bike and recovering nicely...

Rode about 10.5 miles on my tri bike at 60% effort. Just kept the pedals fairly light and enjoyed the fresh evening air. Left glute, lower back still pretty tight and sore. Did a few back extensions after the ride and then went after the knots in my butt and lower back with a trigger point ball. Hurt soooo good. Some stretching to round out the session.

Feeling a bit more energetic today than yesterday and ready to get back at it.

My head wants to run. Hoping my body will get on board at some point...

Oddly enough, I want to race...

Monday, June 07, 2010

REV3...Nasty!

Total Time: 07:00:42

Swim:   00:44:58    age group:  15/27
Bike:     03:35:39    age group:  13/27
Run:      02:32:32    age group:  14/27


Okay, let me just start by telling you guys who are about to do Lake Placid that Rev3 was a lot more difficult than what you'll encounter in the Adirondacks. This race was just plain nasty!

Here's how it went for me.

I was awakened by our dog a bit earlier than I wanted. Boys forgot to put her in the crate before they went to bed so she was up at 3:00 a.m. barking and wondering why no one had taken care of her. Once my brain was awakened, the butterflies began to do their work on my stomach and my nerves. Got out of bed at 4:00 a.m., dressed immediately, drank coffee, ate oatmeal, couple of nuts, a Chobani and a string cheese I think — don't remember exactly... We got to the race site a little later than I wanted. The sky looked threatening which added to my nerves. We had a kayak atop the car and it was making this irritating buzzing noise. Dave had volunteered to be out on the water for the swim — which was great — but I needed him to help me with my gear and get stuff I didn't need back to the car. I just wasn't that organized so I needed more assistance than usual. I like to keep things simple and, in order to do simple, you have to be organized — and I wasn't.

First order of business — pump the tires up. Next, secure the aerodrink, attach the bento box and load up 11 GUs, attach the salt stick dispenser, water bottle on the down tube, one in the rear rack, fill the aero bottle with water. Helmet. Check. Glasses for bike. Check. Bike shoes. Check. Running Shoes. Check. Sunglasses for the run. Check. Race belt and number. Check. Goggles. Check. Wetsuit. Check. Cap. Check. Okay, I'm quite near-sighted so at some point I have to leave my glasses behind and leave all other eyewear in place in transition before I head to the loo and down to the water. I have prescription goggles that are awesome, but I have to wear them to walk around before the swim which makes me look like a total dork. My worst nightmare is to arrive at transition after the swim to find that someone has stomped all over my prescription cycling glasses! It hasn't happened yet, so all good.

Meet some team mates for the first time. Check. Team picture. Check. Really great to meet everyone and say hi!

Down to the water to put on the wetsuit and await my wave start. Dave is out there somewhere in a kayak. I miss seeing him right before the start, but I know I'll see him later — or sooner.

It got hot standing on the beach in a full sleeve wetsuit. First mistake was to not have water to sip on while waiting for our wave -- the last one -- to go. The wait seemed longer than usual and this made me nervous which, in turn, made me thirsty.

Finally, the oldsters were called into the corral. This after being scolded by the race director for not being quiet and following directions about how to properly enter the corral. Some of us giggled a little, but this was indeed serious business. Everyone that goes in must be accounted for so that they know that everyone comes out. Come on people, grow up!

I hung to the back a little. The horn sounded and we were off. I felt good in the water. Got my breathing under control pretty much right away. Found space to swim in pretty quickly and probably because the pack pretty quickly left me behind. Sighted well as the buoys were to our right and we swam counter-clockwise. Good, steady effort. I'd have liked to have done about 40 minutes, but I'm okay with the 44 and change.

Top half of the wetsuit off on the way to transition. Plopped myself down on the ground at my bike to get the bottom half off. Last foot wouldn't come out. Sat there and struggle with it for like 90 seconds. Nice guy on the other side of the fence tried to talk me through it. "Just relax," he said. "It'll come right off if you just take it easy" Umm. Yah, its a freakin' race!! Finally, he grabbed hold of it and yanked it off! My new BFF!! Pretty much exhausted after that, but figured I should press on.

Got the bike together and trotted out of transition. There were not too many other bikes hanging around. I knew I had to giddy-up to regain at least a small shread of respect. Saw Max and posed for a close up before mounting my bike and heading out. I do love riding my bike! My plan was to do a GU every 20 minutes with water and 1 saltstick capsule every 30 minutes. It was hot and steamy getting on the bike so I started with the salt at 10 minutes in and did those at :10 and :50 on every hour. GUs were at :20, :40, 1:00. I drained my aerodrink just before the first aid station. They were out of water!! No problem. I emptied the bottle on the down tube into the aerodrink and that got me through to the next. At aid station 2, I refilled the aerodrink. I believe I did this at least one more time. So I drank about 4 aerodrink bottles of water. I did not touch the bottle in rear rack. I got a nasty cramp on my right side under my ribcage that lasted for about 40 minutes. This happens a lot. Like Christina, I may have drank too much water. I executed the GU and salt very well.

I can't say I didn't enjoy this bike course. It was very challenging. Had some awesome downhills and great scenery. It was tough though. Very unrelenting. No easy parts. Just 56 miles of hard work. I had hoped for about 3:20. I'm not unhappy with my bike split. I would have liked to have averaged at least 16 mph though. I've got better bike dangit!!

On to the run. Oy. Really...? Screaming into transition. There was Dave as I biked in. Always motivating. Just took too long getting into the shoes, hat on, race belt and number. Should have put more sunscreen on — I got burnt.  On the way out, I had to hit the can. Peed heartily so clearly I drank enough, if not too much water. Ran by Max and then Dave. I felt good for about 5 minutes and then I was feeling the heat and humidity and wondering how quickly there'd be an aid station. The only nutrition I had on me was a couple of GUs and the saltsick loaded with 6 capsules. I tried to stay on them, but they eventually got wet and the device was useless. I pretty much struggled through the entire run. Started immediately with Coke (it was Pepsi actually) and water at the stations. This may have been a mistake. Might have been better off with GU and water and then Coke and water every other and not sure why I didn't do this. 

The run was just plain difficult. The course is just ridiculously difficult. It just went up and up and up. Made it difficult to get into any kind of sustainable running rhythm. I had a nasty spasm happening in my lower back that developed at some point during the run. Been struggling with a tweaked muscle or tendon in my lower back or glute or something that connects my butt to my leg on the left side and it was really talking to me on the run. It felt better when I ran and hurt quite a bit when I walked.  When I swing my left leg out in front of me, its tight and a bit painful so its limiting my stride in an uncomfortable way. I basically did a walk run the entire way. I bonded with a guy who was having an equally rough time and we leap frogged each other for several miles. He was quite entertaining. Finally came down off the freaking mountain around mile 10 and onto the bike path to finish the last 5K. Dave was there and that was a huge lift to my waning enthusiasm. I ran here. Like I was an actual runner. It felt good. It didn't last long... 

The last 3 miles... oh boy. I pretty much hit the wall. Was starting to feel dizzy and out of sorts. Just survival at this point. Once we came up out of that dark cave of a road at the end and I could hear the finish, I did manage a nice little kick to run down the chute and across the finish line. Almost fell into the guy taking off my timing chip.

I'm not unhappy with the results of this race. It was the most difficult course I have yet encountered. I may have to do it again next year... my biggest regret is that I couldn't shave off a minute or two so that that first number in my finish time could be a six rather than a seven... by far the worst HIM time I've posted yet. However, given that I was 14 of 27 in my age group — this is fairly decent relative result...

WOD: 3 sets of 12 each: bench press (30#), push ups, KB swings (20#), pull ups, hip extensions, sit ups

I also rode my road bike for about 45 minutes super easy and light on the pedals just to loosen things up before the strength training.

NOTE: Hip Extensions actually helped the back/glute thing feel better.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

Rev3 — Ready or not...

Okay, so I did the 20 minutes of each discipline. A ride followed by a run this morning around 10 a.m. It was steamy! Planned to make the practice swim at Quassy.

I had made a big stack of pancakes before I went out to do these workouts. Planned to eat them when I was done. When I came back only three were left! My husband and 20 year old son had gone to town on them! Okay, we'll make more... the beginning of the chaos. Waaay too much going on while I should have been focused on getting my gear together.

Finally got the bike in the car and ready (or not) to drive to Quassy. There was a bunch of stuff I needed to do to my bike but hadn't done yet so I threw it all in the car and figured I could do it as the race site. By the time we got going I had already missed the appointed swim time.

Got to Quassy to find I had forgotten my transition bag with wetsuit and goggles. Nice.

So long story short, the whole day felt off kilter. Running late and feeling unprepared for all of it. I did get a swim in the lake. Wasn't sure I'd be allowed to, but no one seemed to care so I went sans wetsuit with Michelle who I ran into while getting my packet. The water was awesome!

I saw the rest of the team as my husband and I were driving out of the park. All I could do was wave as there was no place to pull over.

I feel better now. I've gotten all my stuff together and I think I have the right attitude for tomorrow's race. This is probably a bigger race than I am prepared for at this point in my training so I plan to take it easy and just get to the finish line. The weather is going to be what its going to be. I've been there and done that. LP 2008 was epic with rain. In fact, every race I did in 2008 was epic with rain... I would be more worried about the temps and the humidity and how it'll be if/when the sun comes out.

For those of you preparing for LP, you guys are gonna rock!

Thursday, June 03, 2010

8 x 200 @ 75% effort

8 x 200M @ 1:00 minute rest
75% effort

51.29 AHR143
55.06 AHR132
56.21 AHR133
1:04.79 AHR132
57.32 AHR130
56.29 AHR129
52.17 AHR128
55.72 AHR131

Must have really lost focus on number 4...

Ran for 5 minutes to warm up and another 5 to cool down - both at easy pace.
Felt good.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Helen

Total time: 11:47

1 mile warm up on treadmill too.

Took my bike to the shop for a tune up. Find out that my Zipps are trashed and need to be rebuilt. Will be riding with the Mavic Cosmic Elites on Sunday. I guess that's okay and I guess its good I took the bike to the shop. Would have been really bad to blow a spoke out on the bike course.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

back squats 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 @ 70% of normal weight

I did 88 lbs. which is 70%ish of 128 lbs.

Ran one easy 9 minute mile on the tready to get warmed up.

That's it people!

In other news, had a great chat about my nutrition plan for the race with the master. I like simple and thought that what I was doing WAS simple. However, turns out what I have been doing is simple like stupid ;). So now I have a plan that is simple like smart — as in straight forward and effective — as in scalable and modifiable to whatever the conditions are on race day. I like this — in spite of the fact that its yet to be executed, and therefore proven (by/to me) — I like simple. And the plan is simple and I'm kinda excited about that. I know. Weird.

Additionally, I am told its okay to pee whenever and wherever I need to during the race. Thanks Max!