Gainesville
New training day, new attitiude. Every non-pool session I'd had this week had been terrible. So today I went out with the mentality that this workout needed to be crushed. I had done this before, and with good results. To make it better, the sun was out, it was hot but not brutal, and I was well-rested. All the makings of a good training day. Which is why today's workout was a little disconcerting.
Bike - 90 Minutes
2 Lipodrene
Bike started out feeling good, cruising fast down Waldo to Hawthorne at my usual cilp of 22-24. But once I hit the trail, something was wrong. I tried to drop into aero at the first straighaway, but still couldn't because of my right forearm. Like I'd manage to do it for a minute or so, but the muscle strain of keeping my weight off my right arm made me tired faster than I wanted to be. So I had to stay upright for the whole ride. The ride down was not impressive, nigbridge in 27, and the Pfifer Woods turnaround, which is where I'd turn on a bad 90 minute ride, I made in 43. Made it to the 30 minute turnaround at 32. So bascially, I was running a couple minutes slower than usual, but faster than a bad ride.
This would have actually been a pretty acceptable ride 6 months ago. Like the times I made it places was about what I was doing then. But I haven't improved this much, and worked this hard, to average 17.5 for a 45-minute bike out. I turned around with this mentailty, and managed to get back to my usual form for most of the trail before getting to the hammock.
I even did the hammock at my usual new speed, which isn't great but it was not a regression. I was averaging about 18.2 at this point, which, while not great, was at least enough to say "ok, that wasn't AWFUL." But when I got to the final incline, I realized I'd pushed it. Like going what had been my normal speed was pushing it, and I had nothing left. I couldn't get much past 16 on the final incline, couldn't get into aero, and even heading back up Waldo couldn't get over 18, even when I pushed it.
I have no idea why, my legs just weren't responding like they had been. I was well rested. My diet had been a bit off, but not awful. I am out of gels (and, more importantly, out of money to buy more until Friday) and had to have some Sharkeez at the turnaround, but does 120 calories really make THAT much difference? Once I realized I wasn't going to average 18, I just kinda dogged it down 2nd Ave until I got home. Ended up averaging 17.8. Again, might have been ok the last cycle, or even the one before. But not today. I was pissed, and wondered how to get out of this funk.
Run - 45 Minutes
1 Lipodrene
I didn't brick these in the hopes of being able to go strong into both. That and the training card didn't call for it, so I felt no need to do it. Anyway, I decided I needed to do whatever it took to have at least one good workout in the short sessions this week, so I took along the iPod. Which did a nice job up to about the 1.5 mile mark. I had a good stride going and gould feel myself pushing myself along. I hit the turnaound by the law school, and already I was feeling a little sluggish.
After the short climb back up to University, I was chopping steps. Just did not want to move fast like I had been. And it was a 45 MINUTE FUCKING RUN! I get like this sometimes an hour and a half into a 2 hour run on a hot day. But a 45 miunte run?! At night?! WTF?! I managed to get back to stride, but I pretty much just lumbered the rest of the way home. I had to stop for the light on 13th, and I felt so tired when I stopped I briefly considered walking home. I didn't, obviously, but still this was another disappointing effort.
I wouldn't characterize either workout today as bad. But definitely sub-par. I've been resting well, although my schedule of having to get up early twice a week may be fucking things up. Also, living off of pizza and chop chop all week may not be helping. Or maybe my body is using more energy than I thought to recover from the crash. I don't know. I IMed Trevor last night and he told me to take a couple of recovery days and get some good rest. This is my plan for the weekend, as I aim to be done with Week 6 with 6 weeks to go. My next two workouts are both super long, and need to be effective training. This trend cannot continue.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
T84 - IDGAF Day - Bike/Run Brick, Swim
Gainesville
This is becoming a disturbing trend. IDGAF, for the unaware, stand for "I Don't Give a Fuck," which was completely my attitude today. Again, this felt like one of those workouts I was squeezing in, even though I had all of Sunday free to do it. I just didn't much feel like getting off the couch.
Bike - 60 minutes
2 Lipodrene
I took my bike into the shop Sunday morning at the crack of 2 p.m. and had it back in an hour, realigned and retaped and ready to roll. So when I got home I was actually pretty motivated for the workout. So much so that I decided half an hour down Waldo-Williston would be a good trip. It's a little more hilly than Hawthorne, but not too bad. It was also the site of my worst ride ever last cycle, the one where I couldn't sleep so I decided to ride early, found it freezing cold, and ended up averaging about 15. But that was in February. It was cold. I was perpetually stressing out about my girlfriend leaving. And I wasn't sleeping. And oh yeah, I'm a little better of a cyclist now. So I figured no big deal.
One again, I figured wrong. I knew something was wrong when I was going 24-26 the whole way down Waldo. As I said before, you really don't notice when you have the wind at your back, and I looked for flags or trees or something and everything looked still. But whatever, I just figured this showed how much I'd improved. Notsomuch. I turned around and for some reason just lost all motivation. The trip back is all uphill, into the wind. Not something I'm a fan of. It didn't help that I couldn't drop down into Aero because of the massive wound on my right forarm, and my shoulders were jamming up, still residual from the accident.
Basically, I was pissed, felt like shit, and didn't want to be there. So even though I averaged about 20 on the way down, I was going a steady 13 a lot of the trip back and ended up averaging 17 for the ride. That's 1 mph slower than I did on my 5 hour ride, which included the crash. Not only that, I turned around at 28 minutes, and made it back in 1:05. Meaning the return trip, of about 9 miles, took 7 minutes longer than the trip down. So maybe that road really is that bad, and it wasn't just my poorer conditioning and stress that led to that awful, awful ride back in February. But who knows. Maybe the run would go better.
Run - 30 minutes
Alright, so get off the bike, have another spoiled yogurt PowerGel and do a nice run to the stadium and back. Can't fuck that up, right? Well, again, I started out strong, but by the time I got to the stadium I was fucking starving and didn't really want to run back. Again, just started chopping my steps, and by the time I got to about 11th St., I decided to say fuck it and walk the rest. Just didn't want to finish. I really don't know why. I'm not sure if the accident took a lot out of me, or I just had a shitty attitude today, but workouts like this need to be few and far between
Swim - 12x100. Practice bi-lateral breathing every other set. Do much later or earlier, but not within a few hours of the brick session
1 Lipodrene
I got back around 5 from the wasted Bike/Run and followed the advice on the card. Headed over to the pool about 9 p.m., which was nice because nobody was there. I was supposed to practice breathing every other set of strokes, but after about one lap (50 meters) of doing this, I said "Fuck this." Lung capacity is one thing I really haven't worked on, and since I was in a shitty training mood I wasn't about to push it. No excuse, I just didn't give a fuck. So I went back to normal breathing as I went through the motions to get this done. I didn't even time myself. I didn't care.
I think around set 8 I actually started pushing it, either because I was warmed up, or the Lipodrene kicked in, or because I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, but the last four sets actually felt really good. So at least I ended a shitty day on a high note.
But I can't afford many more bad workouts during training weeks. I got a month of balls-out training to go before I taper, and I need to make the most of it. Sometimes a couple of bad workouts in a row motivates you to crush the next one, and I hope that's the case here. This trend cannot continue.
This is becoming a disturbing trend. IDGAF, for the unaware, stand for "I Don't Give a Fuck," which was completely my attitude today. Again, this felt like one of those workouts I was squeezing in, even though I had all of Sunday free to do it. I just didn't much feel like getting off the couch.
Bike - 60 minutes
2 Lipodrene
I took my bike into the shop Sunday morning at the crack of 2 p.m. and had it back in an hour, realigned and retaped and ready to roll. So when I got home I was actually pretty motivated for the workout. So much so that I decided half an hour down Waldo-Williston would be a good trip. It's a little more hilly than Hawthorne, but not too bad. It was also the site of my worst ride ever last cycle, the one where I couldn't sleep so I decided to ride early, found it freezing cold, and ended up averaging about 15. But that was in February. It was cold. I was perpetually stressing out about my girlfriend leaving. And I wasn't sleeping. And oh yeah, I'm a little better of a cyclist now. So I figured no big deal.
One again, I figured wrong. I knew something was wrong when I was going 24-26 the whole way down Waldo. As I said before, you really don't notice when you have the wind at your back, and I looked for flags or trees or something and everything looked still. But whatever, I just figured this showed how much I'd improved. Notsomuch. I turned around and for some reason just lost all motivation. The trip back is all uphill, into the wind. Not something I'm a fan of. It didn't help that I couldn't drop down into Aero because of the massive wound on my right forarm, and my shoulders were jamming up, still residual from the accident.
Basically, I was pissed, felt like shit, and didn't want to be there. So even though I averaged about 20 on the way down, I was going a steady 13 a lot of the trip back and ended up averaging 17 for the ride. That's 1 mph slower than I did on my 5 hour ride, which included the crash. Not only that, I turned around at 28 minutes, and made it back in 1:05. Meaning the return trip, of about 9 miles, took 7 minutes longer than the trip down. So maybe that road really is that bad, and it wasn't just my poorer conditioning and stress that led to that awful, awful ride back in February. But who knows. Maybe the run would go better.
Run - 30 minutes
Alright, so get off the bike, have another spoiled yogurt PowerGel and do a nice run to the stadium and back. Can't fuck that up, right? Well, again, I started out strong, but by the time I got to the stadium I was fucking starving and didn't really want to run back. Again, just started chopping my steps, and by the time I got to about 11th St., I decided to say fuck it and walk the rest. Just didn't want to finish. I really don't know why. I'm not sure if the accident took a lot out of me, or I just had a shitty attitude today, but workouts like this need to be few and far between
Swim - 12x100. Practice bi-lateral breathing every other set. Do much later or earlier, but not within a few hours of the brick session
1 Lipodrene
I got back around 5 from the wasted Bike/Run and followed the advice on the card. Headed over to the pool about 9 p.m., which was nice because nobody was there. I was supposed to practice breathing every other set of strokes, but after about one lap (50 meters) of doing this, I said "Fuck this." Lung capacity is one thing I really haven't worked on, and since I was in a shitty training mood I wasn't about to push it. No excuse, I just didn't give a fuck. So I went back to normal breathing as I went through the motions to get this done. I didn't even time myself. I didn't care.
I think around set 8 I actually started pushing it, either because I was warmed up, or the Lipodrene kicked in, or because I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, but the last four sets actually felt really good. So at least I ended a shitty day on a high note.
But I can't afford many more bad workouts during training weeks. I got a month of balls-out training to go before I taper, and I need to make the most of it. Sometimes a couple of bad workouts in a row motivates you to crush the next one, and I hope that's the case here. This trend cannot continue.
Monday, September 21, 2009
T83 - Ironman Swim, Interrupted - Swim
Gainesville
S: long day-mental toughness day!
8 x 500, odds are RPE3, evens RPE 5
2 Lipodrene
Do the math here and you see today's swim is actually a little longer than the Ironman swim. Of course, you don't get to take a nice little breather after every 500 yards there, nor do you have an entire swimming pool to yourself. But it was good to get the distance in anyway.
My first set I did in under 10 minutes, closer to 9 actually. I kept up a solid stroke despite the perpetual soreness in my shoulder from the accident (really feels more jammed than anything else) and the fluid buildup in my right forward. Like it feels significantly heavier than it used to. I kept up this sub-10 pace for the first three, then hit about 10 even on the fourth set. I then took a quick bathroom break (why does swimming always make me have to piss?) has a Vanilla PowerGel (tastes vaguely like spoiled yogurt) and did my second four sets.
The second four were, predictably not as fast. I tried to keep up the intensity of the strokes, but I think my frequency started to die down as I got more tired. My last set ended up being about 12 minutes. The card has this workout listed at 2 hours, and I did it in 85, including the piss break and about 45 seconds between sets. I'm not sure why exactly the guy who wrote this though 4000 meters would take 2 hours, but the timing on swims always confuses me anyway.
At any rate, I felt pretty good after the swim. not terribly tired, but like I'd had a solid workout. I know this is in a totally controlled environment (swimming on Saturday night at an indoor pool means that there are zero other people to deal with) and I had breaks. But it was good to see that my body can handle this muhc swimming this far out. Very encouraging workout.
S: long day-mental toughness day!
8 x 500, odds are RPE3, evens RPE 5
2 Lipodrene
Do the math here and you see today's swim is actually a little longer than the Ironman swim. Of course, you don't get to take a nice little breather after every 500 yards there, nor do you have an entire swimming pool to yourself. But it was good to get the distance in anyway.
My first set I did in under 10 minutes, closer to 9 actually. I kept up a solid stroke despite the perpetual soreness in my shoulder from the accident (really feels more jammed than anything else) and the fluid buildup in my right forward. Like it feels significantly heavier than it used to. I kept up this sub-10 pace for the first three, then hit about 10 even on the fourth set. I then took a quick bathroom break (why does swimming always make me have to piss?) has a Vanilla PowerGel (tastes vaguely like spoiled yogurt) and did my second four sets.
The second four were, predictably not as fast. I tried to keep up the intensity of the strokes, but I think my frequency started to die down as I got more tired. My last set ended up being about 12 minutes. The card has this workout listed at 2 hours, and I did it in 85, including the piss break and about 45 seconds between sets. I'm not sure why exactly the guy who wrote this though 4000 meters would take 2 hours, but the timing on swims always confuses me anyway.
At any rate, I felt pretty good after the swim. not terribly tired, but like I'd had a solid workout. I know this is in a totally controlled environment (swimming on Saturday night at an indoor pool means that there are zero other people to deal with) and I had breaks. But it was good to see that my body can handle this muhc swimming this far out. Very encouraging workout.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
T82 - The Problem With Miami Workouts- Swim, Run
Miami
I went down to Miami for the UM - Georgia Tech football game which was, hands down, he most fun I've had a sporting event in a long time. Definitely an experience worth the five hour drive. That being said, the 3-hour tailgate followed by the 3 hour game followed by a night out at the Tavern led me to feeling a little on the dehydrated and awful side when I woke up Friday morning. I took some Advil and drank some Vitamin Water, and by the time I decided to hit the beach at 2:30 I thought I felt alright. But Miami workouts, they're rarely that good.
Swim - 40 minutes (out of 75 assigned) Open Water
2 Lipodrene
Since I was going to be a place with ample opportunity for open water swimming, I decided to switch around the workout order this week and do this open water swim first. Made sense. So I went over to Key Biscayne with Lindsay, Lauren and Nat, who were nice enough to watch my stuff while I went to train in Biscayne Bay. It was a pleasant Friday, so they got a nice beach day, while I got in my open water swimming.
The problem with swimming off Crandon Park is that the water is so damn shallow. It's great for going to the beach with your family, shitty for open water training. Like I'd go for about 100 years or so, and then all of a sudden I'm grabbing sand on every downstroke, It didn't help that the scab on my right forarm was burning or that my shoulders were still feeling jammed from the accident three days prior. So the strokes were tough, I was constantly having to get up and walk to deeper water, and the water was fucking hot.
Eventually, I got out to water that was deep enough to swim pretty far. The training card called for me to practice sighting, which I did none of, constantly ending up swimming in towards shore because that is where the current was going. I fought the current pretty well for most of the swim, until I hit the end of the park. The end of the park was about a mile from where we set up on the beach, and I thought it would make a good turnaround. But as soon as I decided to turn it around, I started to feel like yacking. Not like on the bike, where it lasts a few minutes and goes away. I mean I seriously felt like sitting down and ralphing for a while.
Sadly, I was out way too deep to do so, so I swam in towards shore to a spot that was shallow and tried to puke. Almost did it, but not quite, so I just sat there hoping it was just the Lipodrene hitting my stomach and that it would wear off. I started feeling better, but as soon as I started swimming again, I wanted to yack. I'm not sure if it was the saltwater or the motion of the waves (the current wasn't bad, but it was definitely knocking me around)or the hangover or the fact that the water was hotter than the air, but I was not feeling up for the rest of the swim. So after a few more attempts, I decided this was now officially counterproductive and swam in to shore and walked the just-under-a-mile back to the towels.
As it was I ended up doing about 1.2 miles, I think. Which isn't bad. but was just over half what the workout called for. I ended up swimming for about 40 minutes, which again is a decent training value, but I wish I'd have done more. Really, the alcohol and lack of sleep in Miami make for some shitty workouts here. Like I'm just trying to get them in instead of focusing on the training value.
Run - 60 Minutes
I was out of gels, and didn't really feel like having a Cliff bar before running, so all I was working off was the Tropi Chop Max I'd had for lunch. Which was enough. Lindsay was nice enough to give me her 3 mile run route in Coral Gables. Which of course completely confused me. I had done a run by their house last time I was down in August, just for fun, and remember not being able to see which street was which because of the fucked up Gables street signs on the ground. I also remember them living in a numbered section where the numbers turned to names, making it doubly confusing.
So I hit the road with no iPod and no nutrition or supplementation, and spent most of my time trying to figure out which street was which so I didn't get lost. In other words, I couldn't really focus on going fast, just on knowing where I was going. And I hate doing runs where I don't really know how far I have to go or have any landmarks, because all you can think is "Where am I? How far have I gone? How much time have I been out here?" And, honestly, I wasn't feeling my best anyway.
The first lap of this course I felt like I ran ok, aside from having to stop a lot to look at street signs and figure out where I was. The second lap was pure apathy. Just getting it over with so I could hurry up and get to Happy Hour. Yeah, I know i said I had to prioritize training. And it's easy to do in Gainesville because I'm not seeing people I don't see every day. And it wasn't so hard in New York because I scheduled it in, and visited people around that schedule. But in Miami, I guess it's tough. I not only have a lot of people I want to see there, but a lot of old habits that I'm used to insofar as going out.
So that all being said, I think I'm going to only have one more Miami trip before the Ironman. Probably for a half-marathon in October. I just can't stay disciplined enough when I'm down there, are I also end up spending too much money, even when I barely go out. Sad, but then again I'm moving back in December. After the Ironman, and plenty of time to slip back into old habits then.
I went down to Miami for the UM - Georgia Tech football game which was, hands down, he most fun I've had a sporting event in a long time. Definitely an experience worth the five hour drive. That being said, the 3-hour tailgate followed by the 3 hour game followed by a night out at the Tavern led me to feeling a little on the dehydrated and awful side when I woke up Friday morning. I took some Advil and drank some Vitamin Water, and by the time I decided to hit the beach at 2:30 I thought I felt alright. But Miami workouts, they're rarely that good.
Swim - 40 minutes (out of 75 assigned) Open Water
2 Lipodrene
Since I was going to be a place with ample opportunity for open water swimming, I decided to switch around the workout order this week and do this open water swim first. Made sense. So I went over to Key Biscayne with Lindsay, Lauren and Nat, who were nice enough to watch my stuff while I went to train in Biscayne Bay. It was a pleasant Friday, so they got a nice beach day, while I got in my open water swimming.
The problem with swimming off Crandon Park is that the water is so damn shallow. It's great for going to the beach with your family, shitty for open water training. Like I'd go for about 100 years or so, and then all of a sudden I'm grabbing sand on every downstroke, It didn't help that the scab on my right forarm was burning or that my shoulders were still feeling jammed from the accident three days prior. So the strokes were tough, I was constantly having to get up and walk to deeper water, and the water was fucking hot.
Eventually, I got out to water that was deep enough to swim pretty far. The training card called for me to practice sighting, which I did none of, constantly ending up swimming in towards shore because that is where the current was going. I fought the current pretty well for most of the swim, until I hit the end of the park. The end of the park was about a mile from where we set up on the beach, and I thought it would make a good turnaround. But as soon as I decided to turn it around, I started to feel like yacking. Not like on the bike, where it lasts a few minutes and goes away. I mean I seriously felt like sitting down and ralphing for a while.
Sadly, I was out way too deep to do so, so I swam in towards shore to a spot that was shallow and tried to puke. Almost did it, but not quite, so I just sat there hoping it was just the Lipodrene hitting my stomach and that it would wear off. I started feeling better, but as soon as I started swimming again, I wanted to yack. I'm not sure if it was the saltwater or the motion of the waves (the current wasn't bad, but it was definitely knocking me around)or the hangover or the fact that the water was hotter than the air, but I was not feeling up for the rest of the swim. So after a few more attempts, I decided this was now officially counterproductive and swam in to shore and walked the just-under-a-mile back to the towels.
As it was I ended up doing about 1.2 miles, I think. Which isn't bad. but was just over half what the workout called for. I ended up swimming for about 40 minutes, which again is a decent training value, but I wish I'd have done more. Really, the alcohol and lack of sleep in Miami make for some shitty workouts here. Like I'm just trying to get them in instead of focusing on the training value.
Run - 60 Minutes
I was out of gels, and didn't really feel like having a Cliff bar before running, so all I was working off was the Tropi Chop Max I'd had for lunch. Which was enough. Lindsay was nice enough to give me her 3 mile run route in Coral Gables. Which of course completely confused me. I had done a run by their house last time I was down in August, just for fun, and remember not being able to see which street was which because of the fucked up Gables street signs on the ground. I also remember them living in a numbered section where the numbers turned to names, making it doubly confusing.
So I hit the road with no iPod and no nutrition or supplementation, and spent most of my time trying to figure out which street was which so I didn't get lost. In other words, I couldn't really focus on going fast, just on knowing where I was going. And I hate doing runs where I don't really know how far I have to go or have any landmarks, because all you can think is "Where am I? How far have I gone? How much time have I been out here?" And, honestly, I wasn't feeling my best anyway.
The first lap of this course I felt like I ran ok, aside from having to stop a lot to look at street signs and figure out where I was. The second lap was pure apathy. Just getting it over with so I could hurry up and get to Happy Hour. Yeah, I know i said I had to prioritize training. And it's easy to do in Gainesville because I'm not seeing people I don't see every day. And it wasn't so hard in New York because I scheduled it in, and visited people around that schedule. But in Miami, I guess it's tough. I not only have a lot of people I want to see there, but a lot of old habits that I'm used to insofar as going out.
So that all being said, I think I'm going to only have one more Miami trip before the Ironman. Probably for a half-marathon in October. I just can't stay disciplined enough when I'm down there, are I also end up spending too much money, even when I barely go out. Sad, but then again I'm moving back in December. After the Ironman, and plenty of time to slip back into old habits then.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
T81 - CRASH - Bike/Run Brick
Gainesville
I'm not liking these shorter days. I woke up at about noon on Tuesday and realized that in order to get in this 5 hour bike ride before it got dark, I had to leave by 2. Which was cool. Gave me a chance to watch Maury before I left. But still, I would have liked another hour or so to get mentally prepared.
Bike - 5 Hours
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
Today was to be a ride that went almost 3 times down Hawthorne and back. I am very encouraged by the fact that every time I do this trail, I am setting a new record in the time it takes me to get to the end. Today it was 56:10 for the first trip down, averaging almost 19. And I wasn't even that tired. I was low on gels, so I took a gel at 45 minutes and 90 minutes, then a bar at 2:15, which I think worked well. I seem to lose about .2 of a mile per hour off my average each trip, which I'm not thrilled about but I figure it's better to go hard that first 2 hours, because I think I'd end up doing 18 or so either way by the last trip down. Point is, I had a record first trip today and that was good. Took a salt tab at the turn around, then another 2 Advil at the end of trip 1.
Trip 2 also went nicely. Made it down in under an hour still, would have been 58 if you factored in the extra time from my house to the trailhead. Took a 3rd Lipodrene at the 2:30 mark, figuring that was about all the booster I'd need for the remainder of the ride. Finished the second trip at about 3:40, which I felt was a pretty solid time for 71 miles. Turned around for trip 3 and popped my last 2 Advil and a salt tab. Gels were working well. Body was feeling ok. my low back went in and out of pain, which I'll chalk up to Advil wearing off and kicking in. My shoulders also started to feel a little sore from all the time in Aero.
Anyway, I turned it around at the 4:17 mark, and wouldn't you know it it started to rain. Which I'm usually ok with, save for the filth it adds to my bike. Well I was trying to push the fast spots so I could end up averaging over 18 (my goal was 18 average, 90 miles for the ride)and this may not have been the best idea. I hit the final big curve (marked by a sign that reads "Big Curve") at about 22-23, and began to apply my brakes where I usually do. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten that brakes do not work as well in the rain as they do when it's dry. Next thing I know I'm skidding around the curve at about 18, slamming my right side into the ground, and watching my bike fly over my head. I just said there thinking "Fuck, this hurts," and looking at my various new body parts that lacked skin. My right forearm got the worst of it, pretty much skinning the entire thing from my elbow half way down.
I did make a point to keep my head up to avoid another concussion. So I got up pretty quickly, dusted myself off, and re-did the chain to get ready to move. Then I noticed my handlebars were pretty much at a 45 degree angle to the frame. Yeah, definitely fucked my shit up. I bent them back to about a 10 degree angle, and biked the final 4 miles home like that. Which put a lot of stress on my left shoulder, which was already sore since it never leaves the handlebars. Sadly, I was not able to get into aero for any of the last part of the ride, and ended up averaging 18 and doing 91 miles in just over 5 hours. Would have been 18.1 or 18.2, but the last 4 miles were a lot slower than I would have liked. A lopsided, fucked up bike doesn't help. I got home covered in filth and blood, leaving a nice blood stain on my door, and necessitating a shower before I hit the treadmill.
Run - 30 minutes (treadmill)
I showered off, had my last gel, and hit the treadmill. The exposed flesh burned like a motherfucker in the shower, and I knew the sweat wasn't going to be any better. So I put a wristband over as much of my raw right forearm as I could, and hit the Jefferson 2nd Treadmill (thought some of the sorority girls down there might have been a little grossed out by a giant bleeding arm running next to them too). After the 91 mile ride, I felt a speed of 6 would suffice for today. And it was hard. Not brutally hard, but it was definitely a strain to keep that speed up for the whole half hour. I did it. Didn't like it, but I did it. I seriously hope I can at least start at this speed for a while during the Ironman. I know I'm not setting any records in my marathon, but I'd like to finish in a respectable time.
I'm relatively certain I'm not injured from the crash, and it wouldn't be a training cycle without at least one accident. Hopefully this is the only one, but you never know. Maybe the fatigue had something to do with it. but for now, I'm going to blame it on the rain.
I'm not liking these shorter days. I woke up at about noon on Tuesday and realized that in order to get in this 5 hour bike ride before it got dark, I had to leave by 2. Which was cool. Gave me a chance to watch Maury before I left. But still, I would have liked another hour or so to get mentally prepared.
Bike - 5 Hours
2 Lipodrene
3 Advil
1 Salt Tab
Today was to be a ride that went almost 3 times down Hawthorne and back. I am very encouraged by the fact that every time I do this trail, I am setting a new record in the time it takes me to get to the end. Today it was 56:10 for the first trip down, averaging almost 19. And I wasn't even that tired. I was low on gels, so I took a gel at 45 minutes and 90 minutes, then a bar at 2:15, which I think worked well. I seem to lose about .2 of a mile per hour off my average each trip, which I'm not thrilled about but I figure it's better to go hard that first 2 hours, because I think I'd end up doing 18 or so either way by the last trip down. Point is, I had a record first trip today and that was good. Took a salt tab at the turn around, then another 2 Advil at the end of trip 1.
Trip 2 also went nicely. Made it down in under an hour still, would have been 58 if you factored in the extra time from my house to the trailhead. Took a 3rd Lipodrene at the 2:30 mark, figuring that was about all the booster I'd need for the remainder of the ride. Finished the second trip at about 3:40, which I felt was a pretty solid time for 71 miles. Turned around for trip 3 and popped my last 2 Advil and a salt tab. Gels were working well. Body was feeling ok. my low back went in and out of pain, which I'll chalk up to Advil wearing off and kicking in. My shoulders also started to feel a little sore from all the time in Aero.
Anyway, I turned it around at the 4:17 mark, and wouldn't you know it it started to rain. Which I'm usually ok with, save for the filth it adds to my bike. Well I was trying to push the fast spots so I could end up averaging over 18 (my goal was 18 average, 90 miles for the ride)and this may not have been the best idea. I hit the final big curve (marked by a sign that reads "Big Curve") at about 22-23, and began to apply my brakes where I usually do. Unfortunately I seem to have forgotten that brakes do not work as well in the rain as they do when it's dry. Next thing I know I'm skidding around the curve at about 18, slamming my right side into the ground, and watching my bike fly over my head. I just said there thinking "Fuck, this hurts," and looking at my various new body parts that lacked skin. My right forearm got the worst of it, pretty much skinning the entire thing from my elbow half way down.
I did make a point to keep my head up to avoid another concussion. So I got up pretty quickly, dusted myself off, and re-did the chain to get ready to move. Then I noticed my handlebars were pretty much at a 45 degree angle to the frame. Yeah, definitely fucked my shit up. I bent them back to about a 10 degree angle, and biked the final 4 miles home like that. Which put a lot of stress on my left shoulder, which was already sore since it never leaves the handlebars. Sadly, I was not able to get into aero for any of the last part of the ride, and ended up averaging 18 and doing 91 miles in just over 5 hours. Would have been 18.1 or 18.2, but the last 4 miles were a lot slower than I would have liked. A lopsided, fucked up bike doesn't help. I got home covered in filth and blood, leaving a nice blood stain on my door, and necessitating a shower before I hit the treadmill.
Run - 30 minutes (treadmill)
I showered off, had my last gel, and hit the treadmill. The exposed flesh burned like a motherfucker in the shower, and I knew the sweat wasn't going to be any better. So I put a wristband over as much of my raw right forearm as I could, and hit the Jefferson 2nd Treadmill (thought some of the sorority girls down there might have been a little grossed out by a giant bleeding arm running next to them too). After the 91 mile ride, I felt a speed of 6 would suffice for today. And it was hard. Not brutally hard, but it was definitely a strain to keep that speed up for the whole half hour. I did it. Didn't like it, but I did it. I seriously hope I can at least start at this speed for a while during the Ironman. I know I'm not setting any records in my marathon, but I'd like to finish in a respectable time.
I'm relatively certain I'm not injured from the crash, and it wouldn't be a training cycle without at least one accident. Hopefully this is the only one, but you never know. Maybe the fatigue had something to do with it. but for now, I'm going to blame it on the rain.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
T80 - Race for The Cure, And My Bag - Run
Central Park, New York
Maureen and her friend Ally have decided to train for a half-marathon together. Very inspiring. And the first step on this road to semi-endurance racing was New York City's Race for the Cure in Central Park. I almost feel bad doing these, because I know to some of the people running it it is a really big deal to run 3.2 miles. For me, it could have basically been a day off, and I didn't feel much of a sense of accomplishment after finishing. But it really puts things in perspective, insofar as what level of fitness you are at when training for an Ironman. I guess the whole thing would have been inspirational if you're the sort of person who has never walked further than from the TV to the fridge, and you felt like you were pushing yourself for a good cause. I, however did not. It was just a fun thing to do on a Sunday morning, and a souvenir T-Shirt. Nonetheless, I joined Team Turtle Power, and found myself waking up at 7 a.m. on a Sunday and taking the subway to Central Park.
To say this was a big race would be an understatement. I believe roughly one-third of New York City was there. I got off the subway and met up with the rest of the team, consisting of Maureen's coworkers Ally and Jordan,, and was almost immediately lost in the throng of people wearing the pink and white race shirts. Then came time to check my bag.
You know, you always have some extra shit at any kind of race, like a wallet, cell phone, shirt to wear home so you dont gross out everyone on the subway. That kinda shit. But so did the other 25,000 people doing this race (not an exaggeration). And there was exactly one bag check, which consisted of some clueless volunteers tossing them all on a pile with some excuse for a claim check attached to it. I felt very secure leaving my wallet, phone, iPod and Lipodrene under the watchful eyes of some kids who couldn't even figure out an organization system. So as I stood behind about 20,000 people, four city blocks from the starting line, I realized the line to get bags might also be four blocks long. And I hate lines.
Run - 60 minutes
2 Lipodrene
No, it did not take me 60 minutes to do a 5K. Christ, I'm not THAT slow. But here's what happened:
As Uma Thurman, Michael Bloomberg, Judge Judy and Stephen Colbert all gave inspirational speeches to kick off the race, I realized that this bag check thing would serve as extra motivation for me to run faster. Every person i pass, after all, is another person I don't have to wait for to find their bag in the endless pile of shit that was the bag check. What I did not know is that the runners were supposed to start before the walkers (which comprised probably 75 percent of the race) and got stuck behind all of them, not moving, looking at the starting line. I finally decided to say to Hell with teamwork and running with the girls, and strided it out on the sidewalk to the starting line.
Took me twelve minutes. Twelve minutes just to START. I jogged past the celebrity-filled starting line to get to the course, whereI just took off. Now again, I do not run fast, but I run faster than most of the people in this race. So I was just straight dodging people through all of Central Park, running in and out of the pink-ribbon marked course. It was kinda like Voodoo People, but I wasn't blindfolded. And every person I passed I tohught "Well, motherfucker, looks lik you'll have to wait for ME to get my bag!" Every person who passed me (like maybe 4), I made a point to pass again because I knew that could be ten minutes of bag-findgin I could save. Impatience works well as motviation.
Despite pushing it, I still only finished in 26 minutes, which is not stellar. I'm going to go ahead and blame al lthe hills in Central Park. But as soon as I was done, all I could think was 'Ok, where's the fucking bag check?" So I jsut kept running. I ran and asked about 5 volunteers, none of whom had any idea. I ran some more until I ended up back on the course with all the walkers, where I ran about another mile until I found one volunteer who told me the bag check was on 72nd street, and gave me directions.
I ran the 3/4 of a mile to the bag check, and the volunteers basically told me to go dig through the pile myseld. I briefly considered trying to find a bag with some good shit in it, but ultimately I was able to find mine in under 5 minutes, at which point I put on my iPod, got back on the course at the 1.5 mile mark, and ran half the damn thing again. Not nearly as motivated this time, and having to run over walkers on the way back. I felt kinda bad, since they were sjut out for a morning constitutional for breast cancer, and I was blowing by them like that guy goign 110 on the freeway. btu whatever. I had some good music on and didn't want to slow down.
Eventually, I made it back to the finish line for a second time, a full hour after I started the race. The training card called for a 70 minute run, but given that I ran faster and with hills (hills covered in horseshit from those fucking handsome carraige things, I might add) I figured this should suffice. I met up with my teammates, who were thrilled they ran the entire length of the course, took some pictures, and got on the subway home.
I wouldn't exactly call this a tuneup race, but it was certainly worth doing. There won't be near than number of celebrities at my Ironaman, nor will it go through a world famous park, nor will I have to dodge 20,000 walkers. But hey, I did somethign for charity and not myself. I almost feel a little bit dirty.
Maureen and her friend Ally have decided to train for a half-marathon together. Very inspiring. And the first step on this road to semi-endurance racing was New York City's Race for the Cure in Central Park. I almost feel bad doing these, because I know to some of the people running it it is a really big deal to run 3.2 miles. For me, it could have basically been a day off, and I didn't feel much of a sense of accomplishment after finishing. But it really puts things in perspective, insofar as what level of fitness you are at when training for an Ironman. I guess the whole thing would have been inspirational if you're the sort of person who has never walked further than from the TV to the fridge, and you felt like you were pushing yourself for a good cause. I, however did not. It was just a fun thing to do on a Sunday morning, and a souvenir T-Shirt. Nonetheless, I joined Team Turtle Power, and found myself waking up at 7 a.m. on a Sunday and taking the subway to Central Park.
To say this was a big race would be an understatement. I believe roughly one-third of New York City was there. I got off the subway and met up with the rest of the team, consisting of Maureen's coworkers Ally and Jordan,, and was almost immediately lost in the throng of people wearing the pink and white race shirts. Then came time to check my bag.
You know, you always have some extra shit at any kind of race, like a wallet, cell phone, shirt to wear home so you dont gross out everyone on the subway. That kinda shit. But so did the other 25,000 people doing this race (not an exaggeration). And there was exactly one bag check, which consisted of some clueless volunteers tossing them all on a pile with some excuse for a claim check attached to it. I felt very secure leaving my wallet, phone, iPod and Lipodrene under the watchful eyes of some kids who couldn't even figure out an organization system. So as I stood behind about 20,000 people, four city blocks from the starting line, I realized the line to get bags might also be four blocks long. And I hate lines.
Run - 60 minutes
2 Lipodrene
No, it did not take me 60 minutes to do a 5K. Christ, I'm not THAT slow. But here's what happened:
As Uma Thurman, Michael Bloomberg, Judge Judy and Stephen Colbert all gave inspirational speeches to kick off the race, I realized that this bag check thing would serve as extra motivation for me to run faster. Every person i pass, after all, is another person I don't have to wait for to find their bag in the endless pile of shit that was the bag check. What I did not know is that the runners were supposed to start before the walkers (which comprised probably 75 percent of the race) and got stuck behind all of them, not moving, looking at the starting line. I finally decided to say to Hell with teamwork and running with the girls, and strided it out on the sidewalk to the starting line.
Took me twelve minutes. Twelve minutes just to START. I jogged past the celebrity-filled starting line to get to the course, whereI just took off. Now again, I do not run fast, but I run faster than most of the people in this race. So I was just straight dodging people through all of Central Park, running in and out of the pink-ribbon marked course. It was kinda like Voodoo People, but I wasn't blindfolded. And every person I passed I tohught "Well, motherfucker, looks lik you'll have to wait for ME to get my bag!" Every person who passed me (like maybe 4), I made a point to pass again because I knew that could be ten minutes of bag-findgin I could save. Impatience works well as motviation.
Despite pushing it, I still only finished in 26 minutes, which is not stellar. I'm going to go ahead and blame al lthe hills in Central Park. But as soon as I was done, all I could think was 'Ok, where's the fucking bag check?" So I jsut kept running. I ran and asked about 5 volunteers, none of whom had any idea. I ran some more until I ended up back on the course with all the walkers, where I ran about another mile until I found one volunteer who told me the bag check was on 72nd street, and gave me directions.
I ran the 3/4 of a mile to the bag check, and the volunteers basically told me to go dig through the pile myseld. I briefly considered trying to find a bag with some good shit in it, but ultimately I was able to find mine in under 5 minutes, at which point I put on my iPod, got back on the course at the 1.5 mile mark, and ran half the damn thing again. Not nearly as motivated this time, and having to run over walkers on the way back. I felt kinda bad, since they were sjut out for a morning constitutional for breast cancer, and I was blowing by them like that guy goign 110 on the freeway. btu whatever. I had some good music on and didn't want to slow down.
Eventually, I made it back to the finish line for a second time, a full hour after I started the race. The training card called for a 70 minute run, but given that I ran faster and with hills (hills covered in horseshit from those fucking handsome carraige things, I might add) I figured this should suffice. I met up with my teammates, who were thrilled they ran the entire length of the course, took some pictures, and got on the subway home.
I wouldn't exactly call this a tuneup race, but it was certainly worth doing. There won't be near than number of celebrities at my Ironaman, nor will it go through a world famous park, nor will I have to dodge 20,000 walkers. But hey, I did somethign for charity and not myself. I almost feel a little bit dirty.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
T79 - Swimming, Manhattan Style - Swim
New York
The highlight of this workout may have come before it even started. Maureen was nice enough to bring me as a guest to 24 Hour Fitness - Derek Jeter somewhere in midtown. Sadly, no Derek Jeter inspirational comments ala 24 Hour-Shaq in Miami.But the gym was nice enough, and when we went in she scanned her card and told the guy at the desk I was coming in as a guest. And he just told us to go ahead. As in no guest fee, which is unheard of at a 24 Hour Fitness unless you have guest prvilages. Which Maureen does not. Anyway, I saved myself the $20 guest fee. And really, it was that kind of weekend.
It was funny though, people asked me what I wanted to do while I was in New York, and "swim" was my first answer (after the Maruy Show, the Mets Game and the Race for the Cure). Like I had a free Saturday in Manhattan, and despite not getting out of bed until noon, the pool at the Derek Jeter Sport was my #1 destination. Training is awesome!
S: long day
wu: 200swim, 200kick, 200pull, 200swim
main: 1900 ladder. Do a set of 300, then 275, 250, etc…until 25
10 x 100 (descend 1-5, 6-10)
2 Lipodrene
I was excited about this free swim, until I saw the pool. Like so many things in New York, it was about a tenth the size of what a normal person would expect. There was exactly one full lane, with some floaty lane next to it that wasn't more than ten yards long, and a jacuzzi. The whole room would have fit in about half the pool at GHFC. Fucking Manhattan, there's just no fucking space.
So I did the warmup, thinking by eyeing the one lap lane was a half-lane. Like 12.5 yards. So I did 8 laps instead of the usual 4 for each set, and the fucking thing took half an hour. I felt like I was swimming pretty strong, so I asked the lifeguard how long the pool was. 20 yards. I thought for a minute about just saying "Fuck it" and waiting for Maureen to finish her wokrout while I watch college football while walking on a treadmill, but I then realized I had to get this swim in. It was a long day and not something I could skip. So this would require some math.
What I essentially did was calculate the distances before each set and figure out how many 40-yard laps it would be. Obviously, they did not all divide envenly. So I rounded up 2 laps, and rounded down one. Like the 250 set would have been 6 and a quarter laps, so I just did 6.5, Then the 225 set would have been Five and a three quarters laps, and I just did 5 and a half. It all worked out in the end, and actually the shorter laps made this easier, believe it or not. I wasn't able to get up as much speed, but because the turnaround was shorter, I swam harder each length.
Now, I'm not going to go out and to and find a mini-pool anywhere. The Olympic-sized pools are good by me. But this swim went surprisingly well, despite the Manhattan-sized swim area. Yet another reason I really don't understand how anyone in a city like this ever trains for Ironmans. Like where the fuck are you supposed to bike? You can only do that Central Park loop so many times before you go nuts, and the idea of taking my bike downstairs to a subway is just not appealing. This was a thought that came to my mind when I was vaguely considering spending the summer in Chicago last March, actually. And I won't lie when I say that the logistical difficulty of training (and vicious wind) was one of the many factors that made me realize Chicago was a dumb idea.
So I now have a newfound respect for triathletes from super-urban cities like New York. It's a whole different level of dedication when you can't just bike out your door to a nice bike trail, or find an empty, olympic sized pool.
The highlight of this workout may have come before it even started. Maureen was nice enough to bring me as a guest to 24 Hour Fitness - Derek Jeter somewhere in midtown. Sadly, no Derek Jeter inspirational comments ala 24 Hour-Shaq in Miami.But the gym was nice enough, and when we went in she scanned her card and told the guy at the desk I was coming in as a guest. And he just told us to go ahead. As in no guest fee, which is unheard of at a 24 Hour Fitness unless you have guest prvilages. Which Maureen does not. Anyway, I saved myself the $20 guest fee. And really, it was that kind of weekend.
It was funny though, people asked me what I wanted to do while I was in New York, and "swim" was my first answer (after the Maruy Show, the Mets Game and the Race for the Cure). Like I had a free Saturday in Manhattan, and despite not getting out of bed until noon, the pool at the Derek Jeter Sport was my #1 destination. Training is awesome!
S: long day
wu: 200swim, 200kick, 200pull, 200swim
main: 1900 ladder. Do a set of 300, then 275, 250, etc…until 25
10 x 100 (descend 1-5, 6-10)
2 Lipodrene
I was excited about this free swim, until I saw the pool. Like so many things in New York, it was about a tenth the size of what a normal person would expect. There was exactly one full lane, with some floaty lane next to it that wasn't more than ten yards long, and a jacuzzi. The whole room would have fit in about half the pool at GHFC. Fucking Manhattan, there's just no fucking space.
So I did the warmup, thinking by eyeing the one lap lane was a half-lane. Like 12.5 yards. So I did 8 laps instead of the usual 4 for each set, and the fucking thing took half an hour. I felt like I was swimming pretty strong, so I asked the lifeguard how long the pool was. 20 yards. I thought for a minute about just saying "Fuck it" and waiting for Maureen to finish her wokrout while I watch college football while walking on a treadmill, but I then realized I had to get this swim in. It was a long day and not something I could skip. So this would require some math.
What I essentially did was calculate the distances before each set and figure out how many 40-yard laps it would be. Obviously, they did not all divide envenly. So I rounded up 2 laps, and rounded down one. Like the 250 set would have been 6 and a quarter laps, so I just did 6.5, Then the 225 set would have been Five and a three quarters laps, and I just did 5 and a half. It all worked out in the end, and actually the shorter laps made this easier, believe it or not. I wasn't able to get up as much speed, but because the turnaround was shorter, I swam harder each length.
Now, I'm not going to go out and to and find a mini-pool anywhere. The Olympic-sized pools are good by me. But this swim went surprisingly well, despite the Manhattan-sized swim area. Yet another reason I really don't understand how anyone in a city like this ever trains for Ironmans. Like where the fuck are you supposed to bike? You can only do that Central Park loop so many times before you go nuts, and the idea of taking my bike downstairs to a subway is just not appealing. This was a thought that came to my mind when I was vaguely considering spending the summer in Chicago last March, actually. And I won't lie when I say that the logistical difficulty of training (and vicious wind) was one of the many factors that made me realize Chicago was a dumb idea.
So I now have a newfound respect for triathletes from super-urban cities like New York. It's a whole different level of dedication when you can't just bike out your door to a nice bike trail, or find an empty, olympic sized pool.
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