Swim time

Why is it that in some pools you feel so much smoother swimming than in another? Thursday's I swim at a different pool that I normally do. Man I felt good last night. Even though I felt smooth and fast, I didnt swim any faster, well atleast I don't think I was. The pool I normally swim at isnt 25 yards. It is some where between 21 and 22. I haven't remembered to bring a tape measure to measure it, but I just counted tiles and estimated. So with that being said, I dont know how fast I normally swim 100 yards. I was able to swim 1200 yards straight in 22:30. Slow, I know. So that is alittle over 1:52/100 which converts to 1:18:51 for 2.4 miles. Slightly ahead of my time that I would like to finish the swim in: 1:30. I felt like I could easily swim that speed for the 2.4 miles. Granted I didnt have to sight so if I figure that in, I probably will be closer to 1:30, which is fine by me. It is under the 2:20 cuttoff :) I also got on the treadmill after to run for 1:05. My foot was a little stiff, but overall no major pain. I stretched out really good after and have very little pain if any walking this morning. Now I am debating whether or not to skip the run Saturday or not. Maybe I will venture out for 10 to 20 min instead of the full 40. Today is my day off, which I am super excited about and really need. Seems like that last few weeks I have had to skip atleast one day of working out because I am so exhausted. This week I was able to do all of my workouts which I am super excited about. I guess not going out or spending any time with friends and sleeping all weekend is what I need to do. Yippeee...I guess I will have to say goodbye to my friends for the next 6 months, lol. I am beginning to see why people say this is a big time commitment. I knew it was going to be a lot of time training, but I didn't think of the recovery/rest time that would be needed to be able to finish the workouts and have enough energy to make them a quality workout. They need to include that in training plans. 2 hours of sitting and doing nothing time. Well, I am going to try to make most of my free time to rest today for my 2:40 bike and 2:00 run Sunday. Maybe making time to read will help give me more rest time.

Ankle pain, go away

Well, my first "injury" of the year has arrived. I have this pain in my foot/ankle region. Right where my foot bends on the top at the ankle. All across there. It has bothered me a little bit before, but nothing that lasted for more than a couple hours, but on Sunday it acted up enough that made me cut my run short last night. I ran 1:20 on Sunday. When I started out, my ankles and calfs were a little tight but usually they loosen up once I get a couple miles in. Well it did, but the ankle stiffness never really went away. I got home and did a :40 bike and then stretched. I iced my ankle and tried to stay off it the rest of the day. Monday morning it was painful enough that my morning walk with the dog was cut short because I just didnt feel comfortable walking on it. I iced it again and stretched it. I only swam and biked Monday night and it didnt bother me at all. When I doriflex my foot is when the pain comes. So dont do that one might say, but how are you suppose to run with a mid foot strike or at all for that matter? Yesterday it wasnt enough pain for me to even notice it all day. So I got home and did my 1:15 bike and then off for my :45 run which ended up only being :10 because I decided that my ankle was still sore enough I didnt want to put it in jepordy for my 2 hour run on Sunday. I have 3 more runs this week. The big 2 hour run on Sunday, a :40 run off the bike Saturday and a 1:05 run Thursday. I am going to attempt the run Thursday since it is on the treadmil and kind of go from there. If there is even the slightest pain on Saturday I am going to skip that run so I can get in my entire run Sunday. I am hoping it will be better by then. I have also decided my shoes are a contributing factor. I have been holding off on replacing my shoes. I have another pair that I used for a couple races at the end of last year that I was going to use for my training this year, but didnt want to get them out quite yet. Well, this is the week I am going to do that. Hopefully that will be the problem. I have also found that stretching is going to be a huge thing for me to make sure I do everyday. It has helped me and my body not get sore. When I stretch, it seems to help my ankle feel a little better. Could be all in my head, but isn't this game 90% mental?

Bike Fit Results

After my bike fit Thursday, I finally got on the bike yesterday. Wow, I am going to kick some butt this year. Well at least I feel that way. I had a 1:45 bike that flew by. My shoulders never bothered me once. My neck did a little bit at the beginning just because of the big drop in my handle bars. That will take some getting use to, but if I didn't look up as far as I normally do, it didn't bother me at all. I didn't move around on the seat like I normally do looking for that "comfortable" spot. I have the cyclops fluid trainer and I actually was pushing one gear harder than I normally do because I had that much more power into my pedals. I actually had to back it off a gear so that I could keep my higher cadence without jacking my heart rate up. I am so excited to see how this plays out for my races this year. One thing I noticed today, day after my long bike, is that my shoulders do not bother me at all. Usually my left shoulder is tight and gives me a little bit of a headache. It feels so good today. Just for that simple nagging pain not do be here made it all worth it. Be sure you all wave at me when I am flying by you on the bike this year! ;)

Bike Fit

Thursday of this week I had a bike fit from Rassmussen's. I had read the Punk Rock Cycling blog that Kelli did about her bike fit and decided I needed to have one done. I bought my bike from there at the end of '07 and they did a quick fit on me, but I know that my bike isnt set up the best it could be for me. I want to have it the best it can be for my 6+ bike rides this summer. I got there and Adam aske me some questions about any pain I was having and tested my flexibility. My shoulders get stiff and I had a little bit of knee pain from last year that luckily has not returned this year. I am not flexible. Also my aerobars are to long, i cant reach the shifters without lifting my arm off the rest. He recorded me biking for about 10 seconds and then we looked at some angles of my hips and shoulders. He was really surprised I havent had any lower back or hamstring problems because my knee angle was at the bottom of the range. So we lowered my seat a little bit. I felt to squished. so we raised it up a little and put on a shorter stem. By shorted I mean I went from a 9.0 to a 6.5. Big difference. Also flipped the arm rests around so it brought the shifters closer to me. They still feel a little long, but I think I will test this out first before investing in a new set of bars. We also lowered my handle bars. I got back on and WOW, I felt so much faster already, lol. I felt like I was able to put more power into my stroke and my stroke was so much smoother. In the video we compared the 2 and the first one looked like I was just sitting on my bike and leaning over. The last one, I looked more like a sprinter coming out of the blocks. A much more aggressive position. Adam also put 1 shim in each shoe to get my knees to follow the same line and in my left shoe, added a couple risers because my right tibia is slightly longer than my left so my hips were rocking quite a bit, but are much better now. My seat ended up being 1/2 a centimeter lower and moved quite forward quite a bit more which helps me sit on my aero bars a lot better. I am excited to try it out this weekend.

Week 10 coming to an end

Training is progressing with a few set backs. Week ago Wednesday, I took the night off. I was so exhausted. Thursday I did get my third day of swimming in and a 55 min run. I did exchange my Zoot shoes for a 1/2 size larger. They seem like they are so long, but the width seems better. I did get a small blister inbetween my big toe and 2nd toe, but I think that was because my feet were slightly damp from swimming when I put my socks on. This last weekend was my birthday weekend. I did not go out and drink, but did have a busy weekend. Friday night I got my annual massage at The Spa at West Glen. I treat myself to a massage there every year because I feel like it is more relaxing than your typical $40 Y massage. You get to sit in the relaxation room and have a glass of wine and then you get a warm table and soft music and then after sit in the sauna. Who could ask for anything more. Well I could, I want someone to rub my feet while I sit in the sauna, lol. Saturday, I got up early to shovel. So after an hour of that, I was done and decided to come in and start cleaning. It has been awhile. It was taking me forever to clean. After 6 hours, I didnt have enough time to do my bike workout, but figured an hour of shoveling and 6 of cleaning was enough of a workout. I took a shower, watched 30 min of tv and then off to Hairball. That was great too. 3.5 hours of music right up front. I got redbull dumped on me from the band so I had really sticky hair, but it was all good. Sunday, I got my 1:50 run in. Just about got 13 miles in. It was such a nice day and it went by so fast. It was the first time of my legs not getting tired after 1:10. They were a little stiff on Monday, but some light stretching helped. After that, I had a birthday supper at my house where I invited some friends over. We had wine-a-ritas. They are awesome. Monday, I was completely drained of energy. I guess that run took more out of me than I thought. My hour swim ended at 35 min and I had to get a bike in too since I wasnt going to have time Tuesday night to do it because of the Motley Crue concert (which was awesome by the way). I spun for about 30 min. I just couldnt get my heart rate up because I couldnt get my legs moving fast enough. I went to bed. Tuesday morning I got up early to run. I ran 35 min of the 40. Still just so tired. Wednesday was another story. I felt great. I did my hour swim and then headed home to do the 1:10 bike from tuesday. Thursday was another good day. I got in a 30 min swim. I always feel really fast at the downtown pool, but in reality I am not. Then I got in a 60 min run with my new Zoots. I have come to the conclusion I am keeping them. I ran in them without socks which made a world of difference. Socks are over rated. I think I need to "break" in the beds a little bit. They just seemed a little sticky on my feet. I am sure it is just the coating on them. Today, I am a little stiff, but that is to be expected. This weekend I am staying home and reading and getting in my workouts and to finish up my "recovery" week. Next weekend is the big 2 hour run. Hope it is "warm" out for that.

Week 8 and 9

Training has been going great! Last Monday, I had my usual hour swim. Tuesday I had a good bike and run. I tried out my Zoots for the 2nd time. I came to the conclusion that I need to exchanged them for a larger size. I am going to see if that will help with the foot numbness. Wednesday I usually go to a spin class, but I decided that I am no longer going to go because it is just a little to high intensity and it just isnt long enough now. Also, I can get my full 45 min in the pool before my bike now since I am doing it at home. Thursday I had really nice run outside with my dog. Friday was a well deserved day off. I went to the botanical center. They had a wine festival there. I drank to much. Put me out of commission on Saturday. Not because I was hung over, it just zapped my energy. I played skywalk golf on Saturday morning with my sister and then we went shopping after. By this time it was 2pm and I only have 3 hour until I needed to get ready to go out so I had 2 choices: A- do my 1:45 bike and :30 run or B- nap. I took a nap. At 6 I was meeting a couple friends for dinner and a movie. We had Tai. It was so awesome. We went to see "He's just not that into you". Oh my gosh, it was such a good movie. Sunday I did get in my longest run of the year. I ran for 1:35. I just about got 11 miles in. My lungs werent tired, but man my legs did not want to do the last 2 miles. And surprisingly, my legs never got sore. I followed up that run with a 30 min bike. Last night I had my hour swim and an additional 35 min bike. I usually lift after my swim, but I was pretty tired yesterday so I went home right after the swim to get the bike in. Tonight I have an hour bike followed by a :40 min run. I am seriously considering biking outside tonight. I will have to see if I can find my lights. This Thursday I will be trying out the larger size of Zoots. I am hoping they work. I have a :55 min run to see. I am also adding in my 3rd swimming session this thursday. I am forced to swim at the Downtown Y since they are the only ones that have lap swim right after work that day. I will only get in :30, but it is better than nothing. Then I will do my run after. I was suppose to have this swim in oh about 9 weeks ago and I am finally adding it in. This Sunday I have 1:50 min run. I am thinking I will get just about 13 miles in. I have my route planned. I will make it all the way up to Ankeny and back. That is crazy. I should stop into the Tai resturant and get some more food on the way. I am hungry now for it.

Moving right along

This week was another good week of workouts. I did skip my workout on Wednesday to go to the Slipknot concert. I was to excited to go to focus on actually working out. Great concert and my neck is still sore from it and my voice is completely shot still from then and last nights super bowl party. Monday I had an hour swim and was going to take it easy after and do the yoga class, but there was no class so I ended up lifting anyway. Tuesday I ran the first time in my Zoots. My little toe fell asleep which I think is because they are to tight, but they dont feel like they are. I have that problem with the style of shoes that I have been wearing for 2 years now when i run on the treadmill so I am hoping that is the problem. I always feel horrible when I run on the treadmill. I cant wait to get out on the road with them. I did run outside on Thursday which was really nice. Since I skipped my wednesday workout I had to get in a bike on Friday so I actually got up early to make the bike class at 5:30. I get there and guess what, the instructor never showed up. I have about had it with the classes at the Grubb. 80% of the time, the class I am planning on going to never end up happening. If they know they arent going to have it, they need to publish it some place. So the only class I do now is the bike class on wednesday night, but in a couple weeks I am going to drop it because my bike time needs to be longer and I have to get in a longer swim so I will have to do my swim first and come home and bike on the trainer. I am glad because that class is pretty high intensity and keeps my heart rate pretty high. I might jump in that class once in a while just to get the higher intensity workout in, but probably not very often. I will probably be to tired. Today I ran 1:20 min outside. I was slow today. i only got 8.5 miles in and last week I got 9 miles in in the same time. Not that much different, but was hoping to get that long it again. My gut felt like it was trying to digest a rock. It was heavy and uncomfortable. I think it was all the crappy food I ate last night. Yesterdays bike ride really wore my legs out so that could be a contributer to the slower time too. This week will be my last week, I think, of running with the group I run with on Thursday. I need to get another swim in and the only time I can get in the pool is during the time the run is so it makes it difficult to do both. This weekend I have a couple busy workouts. Saturday I have an hour and fifty min bike followed by a 30 min run and sunday I have a 1:35 min run followed by a 40 min bike. In 4 weeks I have my first 2 hour run. I cant believe I have 7 months left until Louisville. This time is going to go by so fast. I am almost fearing that the summer is going to go by and I am going to miss most of it because of my training, but then i look at it as I will be outside training so I will be enjoying the sun, rain and wind and everything else mother nature throws at me. I cant wait for it to get warm enough to bike outside. I have my first 4 hour bike in 3 months and I am hoping to get outside in 2 months because it is starting to get hard to sit on the trainer for more than 2 hours. I cant imagine 3 hours on there. It will be tough to find a movie that is that long. :)