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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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Friday, April 10th, 2015
Well....ugh....or should I say, barf? I ended up in the hospital late in the day and into the evening hooked up to an IV and being treated for food poisoning. Barf. Whew. This was swift and brutal. Amazing stuff. But thank god for local hospitals who treat you like royalty and give you crushed ice and offer you warmed blankets (I got two of them, nice and toasty!) and have sweet male nurses who apologize for sticking you with needles, but won't allow you to leave until you can prove that you can pee. So, two bags of fluids later, there was success! Finally!
Needless to say, my plan for a swim and pool trot was scuppered. Boo hiss. But I did ask the doctor if I'd be permitted to go on a 2 hour bike ride the next day, and he said as long as I am keeping food down, staying hydrated and feeling up to it, then sure.
Yay, Dr. Allen!!! (He obviously had no idea who he was dealing with!)
Saturday, April 11th, 2015
Bike
Feeling like a well-worn and slightly crumpled million bucks when I arose in the morning (which, mind you, was a huge improvement from the death-warmed-over feeling I had the night/day/night before), I knew I'd be heading out for my planned bike ride. I had promised myself to keep things easy, and to back off at the first sign of fatigue.
Gorgeous, gorgeous day...but good god it was windy again! I did the same route as the week before, and I knew right away looking at my speed that this was going to be a bit faster than 7 days previous. Thank god. Still have quite a way to go, but I was glad to get this done. I was on the Mad One, and was totally comfy-cozy drinking on the go...and I made sure I drank plenty. I'm watching my cadence, and trying to keep my shoulders and body relaxed since I tend to tense up on the bike, so I'm working on the little things. I also thought about the single-leg pedaling that was discussed above, but I honesty didn't have quite the energy to REALLY think about that AND make an effort to pedal more efficiently. I did come to the conclusion, though, that doing that 5 minute "exercise" (in a 90 minute session, which is 5.5% of the total session) brought to my attention a weakness I have, plus it forced me to try and correct that weakness by isolating and simulating an efficient pedal stroke. Perhaps this can be equated/compared to doing drills in swimming. ?? At least it corroborates the Vector pedals L/R balance percentages, and tells me I've got some power to gain if I can work on this.
Actual bike: ~34 miles (I forgot to turn on my Garmin right away!) in 2:10:xx for an average pace of 15.4 mph and an elevation gain of 1,800 feet
Swim
I wasn't really feeling the love for this. I will admit, the 2 hour bike ride a mere 14 hours after being hooked up to fluids probably wasn't my smartest move, but then again, I do a lot of stupid things.
5 x 800 yards, done as: easy, moderate, pull, pull, cruise
Wave current paces: 1:24, 1:19, 1:20, 1:20, 1:21. I got this done, but that's about it. Hopped out of the pool, took my nausea meds, then hit the sack for 11 hours of sleep.
Actual swim: ~3,600 meters in the tub
Sunday, April 12th, 2015
Trainer
Still dragging a bit and feeling a little urpy....I did this easy in the morning on the Cat.
Need. To. Eat.
Actual trainer: an hour of spinning
Pool trot
I made an effort to eat things that would agree with me, and I also made an effort to consume things containing potassium since my blood work showed low potassium (which is apparently common with the amount of vomiting I was doing). And I had a bit of success because this little pool run wasn't half-bad. In fact, I'd say the second half of this little pool run was pretty good!
I did the entire 90 minutes late in the afternoon with both garage doors up, wave pace set to a slow 2:07, Gatorade and water at the ready, and music taking up all the space in between....and it was nice to be running in water and feeling the love come back. Whew!!
Actual run: 90 minutes of tub-mania0 -
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Wednesday, April 15th, 2015
Pool trot
When I woke up this morning feeling like a weight had been lifted off my body, I knew immediately my groove was coming back. Farewell lingering whispers of egg-induced food poisoning.....hello to a day that I didn't want to shut the shades and pull the covers back over my head. Whew. That was an ugly few days.
And so it was with a little skip in my step that I did this lunchtime aqua-jaunt trot-toria style with the soothing tones of Green Day, Plain White T's and Jack White as my musical accompaniment. I set the wave pace to 1:57/100 yards and took off for an hour of splashing and dashing, and these 60 minutes only got better/stronger as each one ticked by. Now, if I can only stay away from rancid food and keep myself from getting injured for the next 6 months I'll be grand!!
Actual run: 60 fabulous minutes in the tank0 -
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Thursday, April 17th
Trainer
Up early for this one as I had a lunchtime commitment I was obligated to....so, this was a 4 o'clock rise and shine spin-o-rama!
15 minutes easy
5 minutes of single legged spinning
5 x (1 min 90 rpm, 1 min 100 rpm, 1 min 110 rpm, 1 min easy)
10 minutes @ HIM effort, 95 rpm
5 x (1 min 90 rpm, 1 min 100 rpm, 1 min 110 rpm, 1 min easy)
10 minutes @ Olympic effort, 95 rpm
10 minutes easy
I had my orange juice, energy bar, water, tunes, and headphones all ready for me as I had organized them the night before. There's not too much to say about this session other than I did much better on the single legged spinning this week, but boy howdy is it tough! I was smarter this time around about watching the resistance on the 5 x 1 min cadence series (last week I pushed too much and barely held on for the 10 min HIM effort), and both 10 minute segments (HIM and Olympic) went pretty well, however I think I might have a little more fight in me later in the day rather than before the sun comes up.
Actual trainer: 90 minutes of ridiculously early quality time on the Cat
Swim
Just a simple progression swim, upping wave pace every 10 minutes - 1:24, 1:21, 1:20, 1:19, 1:17 and 1:16. I had a lot on my mind, including the fact that I have not finished packing for Boston yet. :eek: I leave in the morning. But don't anyone get their panties in a wad - I'm only going as 1/2 of the hoochie cheerleading contingent, and not as an official runner. Boo hiss!!! Ah, but it'll be grand. Warming up the pom-poms as we speak.
Actual swim: ~4,000 meters in the tub0 -
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Saturday, April 18th, 2015
Run
Omgomgomg! It is 9 weeks to the day today that I fractured my femur at Donadea, and this is the first run I have done in those 9 weeks. And boy oh boy have I been looking forward to this day since I was told by the sports ortho that I could start easing into a little light running/jogging this very week. So, after a day filled with massive expo shopping and an entertaining Boston Duck Tour, I headed out in my freshly purchased runners (omgomgomg) with our sexy-legged hoochie in tow for a trot in the park known as Boston Common.
Okay, I'd be lying to all of you if I didn't fully disclose that there were secret thoughts of maybe-sorta-kinda trying to still do the marathon. But this 20 minute run gave me great clarity...and that clarity was loud and clear - I'm not ready to run 26.2 miles, and it would be monumentally stupid and idiotic of me to even try. But Oryx and I managed to trot happily along for two and a quarter miles while we dodged the lawn-loafers and lollygaggers who were out for a Saturday stroll (an adventure race of sorts, tbh), and we managed to keep the pace relaxed and easy throughout.
I'm a bit mixed about this run, thinking about it. On one hand, this was my first run in over 2 months, and I'm totally delighted to be running on land again. Yay me. On the other hand, this run showed me how much running fitness I have lost in 9 weeks (and it's more than I had anticipated), and it also made clear to me that my femur (and femoral condyle) are not fully healed yet, and that is a little concerning to me. Yes, yes, yes....my sports medicine gal told me 12 weeks to be fully healed and it's only 9 weeks, but I just really thought my leg would feel like new by now. But it doesn't. Not yet. More time, I suppose. I'm getting there...and I'll be erring on the side of caution as I go.
Actual run: 2.26 miles in 20:14.43 at an average pace 8:57 min/mile
Swim
Just an easy 25 to 30 minute post-run swim in the hotel pool. Lots of flip turns for this one!!!
Actual swim: oh...gosh.....I don't know - maybe 1,600 meters??0 -
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Sunday, April 19th, 2015
Trainer
Just 60 minutes on a funky, cushy upright hotel bike with a big @ss seat on it.
It was sort of a strange experience....one that I'll be revisiting tomorrow morning while all the runners who don't have femur fractures are loading the buses to Hopkinton. 
Chin up, and all that. Bigger fish to fry.
Actual trainer: 23.5 miles* in 60 minutes at an average cadence of 95+
*So exciting to have distance on a "stationary bike" since I don't have that ability on my trainer the way it is setup.
Oh, and it was another exciting day in Boston with our ultra-iron-hoochie as my Beantown partner in crime. Gorgeous weather - we really have lucked out. Our credit cards got a bit of a rest today - we didn't even make any new purchases at the Expo nor at lululemon's!:) 0 -
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Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015
Trainer
15 minutes easy
30 x (1 min on, 30 sec off) - 90+ rpm, and building effort through each set of 10
15 minutes easy
This was done after work on the Black Cat with lots of noisy music as my backdrop. I may have started out a bit conservatively with the first few "ons", but I built nicely through each set of 10 while keeping my cadence 90-100 rpm, and I believe my power may have been higher than it's been to date. Yay me!! Of course I'm pretty well rested after living in the lap of luxury for four days in Boston , so perhaps that's why the power seems to be up at the moment. ?? Good session...and nice to be reunited with the Cat. Those hotel bikes just seem too "casual-recreation" for my liking with their soft, squishy, industrial sized seats for soft, squishy, industrial sized arses.
Actual trainer: 75 minutes of spinning at various increasing degrees of effort
Swim
I wore my Speedo on the bike to streamline the transition from bike to pool. The only thing I don't like about going from being hot and sweaty to a nice swim is the water always feels cold on my body due to the increased difference in temps. But that chilly feeling passes rather quickly once I get moving in the water, and so was the case tonight. I set the wave pace to 1:24, and almost slowed it further because I found the first 5 minutes were a struggle to keep up. Ugh. I suppose it was just the body adjusting to the swim after coming off the bike, and thank goodness effort got easier once I settled and got into a rhythm. This little splash was meant to be easy - just to shake out the body. Mission accomplished. Nice to be back in my big tub of water.
Actual swim: 30 minutes in the tub0 -
Thursday, April 23rd, 2015
Run
Back in the pool for this little sneaky lunchtime tub trot. I set the wave to 2:02/100 yards for the first 30 minutes, then upped it to 1:57 for the next 30 minutes. This felt pretty easy, to be honest, but I knew I had a serious swim session planned for the evening, so I didn't really want to push these 60 minutes but so much. It felt good to be running in water again!!!
Actual run: 60 minutes of splashing and dashing
Swim
1500 yards (or 20 minutes) pull
30 x 100s - done as 5 x (3 off 1:30, 2 off 1:25, 1 off 1:20)
500 yards cool down
This session is best done in a conventional pool, but I adapted it for the endless pool by setting the wave pace to a constant 1:15/100 yards, then by default the rest decreased from 15 seconds to 10 seconds to 5 seconds. Not a perfect fit, but good enough.
I'm not sure if I'm just still well rested from living the high life and being pampered in Boston, or if the wave pace is out of whack, but this really wasn't as hard as I had expected it to be. Sure, as the session went on the arms knew they were doing some work....and sure, as the session went on the 15 seconds rest felt like all the time in the world compared to the 5 seconds rest...but honestly the entire 30 x 100s was very manageable. Perhaps I should have challenged myself more by upping the pace to 1:14, but I didn't. The real test will come when I move out to my conventional lap pool which opens next week. It'll take a week or two to warm up the water to my minimum swimming standards, but real pool swimming is just around the corner!!!
Actual swim: ~4,500 meters in the tub0 -
Friday, April 24th, 2015
Big gear session on the trainer :eek:
20 minutes warmup
5 x (3 min big gear, 1 min easy, 2 min one gear harder, 1 min easy, 1 min one gear harder, 3 min easy)
6 x (30 sec all out, 2 min easy)
5 min cool down
Holy mackerel and sweet jesus!!! This was a piece of work!! I have never done a big gear session before, so this was new territory for me. It took a bit of trial and error the first time around doing the big gears to figure out what gears to use, and I think I did a pretty good job with them, however next time around I may need to be a little more aggressive. In a nutshell...average cadence was (give or take) 70 rpm for the 3 minute intervals, 60 rpm for the 2 minute intervals, and 50 rpm for the 1 minute intervals....and for the most part, the power increased as resistance increased. I assumed going into this session that the 1 minute intervals would be the hardest for me, but honestly it was the 3 minute intervals that about did me in each time due to the extended effort that was required.
(I'm adding this info in as an edit in case I want to easily refer to some data -
Per Garmin, "average cadence...normalized power" for the 3, 2, 1 minute intervals:
77...133
74...141
61...152
71...148
61...150
52...152
71...149
62...151
52...149
71...151
62...156
53...153
71...156
62...160
54...170
I threw the kitchen sink at the last set)
The 30 second bursts of speed were fun!! I loved putting my head down and giving it everything I had...but it's always amazing to me how long 30 seconds can feel when you're putting yourself through the wringer. Fantastic session all around! Whoop whoop!!
Actual trainer: 95 minutes of grinding
Run
I wore my speedo under my cycling shorts so I could do a little tub trot immediately off the bike. Wave pace was set to 1:57/100 yards. It took a few minutes to get my sea legs under me, but once I got going I felt really good and strong.....good and strong until I had about 10 minutes to go and I could tell I was getting low on fuel. I guess at that point I had been working for almost 2 hours with only water and some Gatorade in me and nothing much to eat since lunch. Perhaps I'll need to pay closer attention to nutrition while training. I'm pretty good about taking gels on long runs, but this back to back multi-sport training is a different beast, and I may need to look at it as one long training session rather than two independent sessions.
Actual run: 30 minutes of tub-trotting-mania0 -
Saturday, April 25th, 2015
Bike
Well, I totally screwed this up! I was supposed to do 45 miles, but for some stinkin' reason I processed this as 45 minutes. WTF?? I mean, really....it's a Saturday, why in the world would I read it as 45 minutes? But I did. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. Crap. :mad:
But, on a positive note, I felt super for these measly 19 miles on the Mad One. I sound like a broken record, but that little Beantown R&R must've done me a world of good. Listen up kids, do yourself a favor and take a break every now and then. This is proof to me that we all need to take a step back periodically. Rest is good. Recovery is necessary. And riding your bike in piercing sleet sucks. I knew it was going to spit rain today while I was out there, but I wasn't prepared for the pain of sharp, needle-like sleet on my face. :eek: And it was quite cold on the bike...but, thanks to our very own sexy legged ultra-iron hoochie Oryx, I had my brand new Wexford Triathlon Club long sleeved cycling jersey on to keep me warm and looking good.
Actual bike: 19.07 miles in 1:08:24 for an average speed of 16.7 mph and an elevation gain of 1,026 feet
Swim
This was a simple swim, so there was little chance I was going to f*ck this up. 5 x 800 yards done as easy, moderate, pull, pull, cruise. Wave paces were 1:24, 1:19, 1:20, 1:20, 1:21. All was quite manageable, but the work of this session was the two pull intervals. I'm really starting to look forward to my lap pool opening. This endless pool is brilliant and has been a real lifesaver for me (for SO many reasons), but it's time to transition to conventional methods in the pool.
Actual swim: ~3,600 meters in the tub0 -
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Sunday, April 26th, 2015
Trainer
Due to my bonehead move of accidentally cutting my ride short yesterday argh!!, this little trainer session was extended by 30 minutes. And because I had a million and one things to do today, I was perched on the Cat at 5:30am sipping on my orange juice and munching on my homemade energy bars (thank you, pointer, for inspiring me!!) while getting my legs all warmed up for some work.
45 minutes warmup, including 5 minutes of 30 sec single legged spinning
5 x 9 minute cadence pyramid (1 min each (rpm) 50, 65, 75, 85, 95, 85, 75, 65, 50) w/2 min easy in between - keeping effort even within the 9 minute set, and increasing effort with each set
10 minutes easy
10 x 15 sec all out, 45 sec spin easy
10 minutes cool down
Again, this sort of training is new to me, so it was a bit of trial and error to figure out what gears to use and how to "pace" my effort so I wasn't starting too easy, yet able to finish strong. This was hard. The first set of 9 minutes wasn't too bad, but each set built on the previous, and the legs had accumulated work in them, so I was all business and sweating like a big girl for these 45 minutes. I also found (starting with the 2nd or 3rd set of 9 minutes) that I was chasing the target cadence on the way up (and just about never hitting it), but then stayed ahead of the target cadence on the way back down. My power is abysmal, so if you have a weak stomach then look away...but power as "normalized power and max power" is as follows:
111...159
120...161
129...172
136...175
143...189
(and yes, I do understand my body weight has bearing on these numbers)
Another class trainer session that will hopefully help make me a better/stronger/faster cyclist. I am still kicking myself for missing all of yesterday's 45 mile proper ride, but no use crying over spilled milk.
Actual trainer: 2:08:00 of early morning sunrise spinning on the Black Cat
Run
Yep, my second proper run in 10 weeks!! Whoop whoop!! But it was more a slow trot than a run....and while it was better than last weekend's 2 mile jaunt around Boston Common, my leg is still not 100%. Boo. My mid-shaft femur fracture is actually in reasonable shape for 10 weeks of healing, but it's my knee - more specifically my femoral condyle (medial condyle) - that is still "painful". It wasn't painful enough to stop trotting, but it was painful enough to know that it needs more time, and perhaps it even warrants a call tomorrow (Monday) to my sports medicine people to answer questions and quell my concerns.
I did this in the late afternoon in the glorious sunshine, and as indicated above, I went slow for this, and I didn't bother to wear my Garmin. It's so discouraging, however, how much run-fitness I have lost. I sounded like a 2-pack-a-day-smoker huffing and puffing my way around the field, but I will trust in the encouraging words that some of you kind folks have shared with me ensuring me that the fitness will return. Fingers crossed, because having to rebuild twice in 12 months due to injury really blows.
Actual run: 2.8 miles of slow field trotting at an estimated 9-9:30 min/mile pace0 -
...I had my brand new Wexford Triathlon Club long sleeved cycling jersey on to keep me warm and looking good.
The mystery of your post-Boston superpowers is revealed. You're wearing the purple and gold. As for looking good, we're not called the Model County for no reason, you know. 0 -
Monday, April 27th, 2015
Rest day!!!!
Tuesday, April 28th, 2015
Trainer
30 minutes warm up, including 5 minutes of 30 sec right/leg spinning
25 x (1 min biggest gear, 1 minute easy)
10 x (15 sec spin up 110+ rpm, 45 sec easy)
5 minutes cool down
This was a 4 o'clock in the mornin' wake-me-@ss-up session. Big bottle of orange juice, check. Big bottle of Gatorade, check. Big bottle of water, check. Baggie of my yummy homemade energy bars, check. Headphones and rise-and-shine tunes (aka, wake-the-dead tunes), check.
My goal was to keep the big gear cadence around 50 rpm, and I was able to manage 51-53 throughout, however I was having to claw my way to north of 50 on the last 5 intervals or so. The 15 sec spin ups were interesting in that it basically took me the entire 15 seconds to get to 110 rpm, and it was quite a transition going from big gear 50 rpm to low resistance 110 rpm. My Garmin pooped out on me with 10 minutes to go in this session (so I had to estimate the last 5 spin ups), but I got the entire 95 minutes in!
Actual trainer: 95 minutes of early morning quality time on the Cat
Swim
12 minutes band only
4 minutes easy swim
9 minutes band only
4 minutes easy swim
6 minutes band only
4 minutes easy swim
3 minutes band only
4 minutes easy swim
Because I don't have a band, I scrounged up an old bike tube and converted it into a snazzy little number that worked like a charm around my ankles. There was no pull buoy for this session - only banded legs that tended to want to drag behind me and slow me down. Way down. !!! I initially set the wave pace to 1:27/100 yards for the 12 minute set, but I was losing serious ground and drifting to the back of the tank by 3 minutes in, so I slowed it to 1:30. Much better! I kept it there for the 9 minute set and started to notice I was keeping pace with no trouble, so I upped the pace to 1:27 for the 6 minute set...and then boldly upped it again to 1:24 for the 3 minute set. I decided then and there my goal would be to eventually do this entire session at 1:24.
The water in my little fish tank felt particularly lovely tonight...and the evening sun pouring into the garage only enhanced the entire experience. (You sort of had to be there, I think.) And it increased my excitement over the lap pool's opening on Thursday. YAY!!! Summer really is going to arrive this year! Beach balls and bikinis really will make an appearance!! Whoop whoop!
Actual swim: About 50ish minutes of bands and tubes and gritty swimming0 -
Monday, April 27th, 2015
This was a 4 o'clock in the mornin' wake-me-@ss-up session. Big bottle of orange juice, check. Big bottle of Gatorade, check. Big bottle of water, check. Baggie of my yummy homemade energy bars, check. Headphones and rise-and-shine tunes (aka, wake-the-dead tunes), check.
:eek: :eek: How do you motivate yourself to get up at 4am? and what time do you go to bed?
You're my superhero 0 -
:eek: :eek: How do you motivate yourself to get up at 4am? and what time do you go to bed?
You're my superhero
You're very sweet - thanks!
I try and go to bed around 9, but most nights it's closer to 10. As far as motivation to get up that early goes, there are just some days getting up early like that is the only way I'll get all the training in....and when I have a goal, focus, or target that I'm committed to, then not getting all the training in is just not an option for me, generally speaking (that mindset was ingrained in me as a young competitive swimmer). As Peter Kern noted on his log over the weekend, if you're not out there doing the training, then somebody else is. This is so true. I'm not willing to give somebody else that advantage. 0 -
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Wednesday, April 29th, 2015
Run
A sneaky lunchtime trot in the tub was on the agenda for today. I set the wave to 1:57 for the first 60 minutes, then was feeling frisky enough to up it to 1:52 for the last 15 minutes. Gorgeous day here, which made me wish I could wheel this fish tank out into the glorious sun and fresh air, but instead I opened both garage doors to let the sunshine in!
Actual run: 75 minutes of splashing and dashing in the tub0 -
Thursday, April 30th, 2015
Trainer
15 minutes easy
5 minutes single leg spinning
5 x (1 min 90 rpm, 1 min 100 rpm, 1 min 110 rpm, 1 min easy)
10 minutes @ 95+ rpm and 100-110 watts
5 x (1 min 90 rpm, 1 min 100 rpm, 1 min 110 rpm, 1 min easy)
10 minutes @ 95+ rpm and 110-125 watts
10 minutes easy
I did this immediately after work on my sleek and trusty Black Cat. Per the Garmin data, the first quality 10 minute segment had an average cadence of 98 rpm and a normalized power of 110, and the second quality 10 minute segment had an average cadence of 97 rpm and a normalized power of 124 - so I was bang on target - and both segments were of a decent effort, but really no trouble to me. The hardest bit of tonight's session, honestly, was the 1 minute intervals done at 110 rpm. !!! Good grief - I had a time getting to the 110 revolutions, but I managed to get there each time. I'm not going to say I stayed there for very long, but I hovered near it at least!
Actual trainer: 90 minutes of some good sweaty work!
Run
This was meant to be done as soon as I hopped off the bike, so I wore my Speedo under my bike shorts. I had toyed with the idea of trying this outside, but it was pouring down rain and I'm also really, REALLY minding the fracture, so to do this tub-trot style was a no-brainer.
The wave pace was still set to a 1:52/100 yards pace from yesterday's little run, so I just left it where it was and it felt fine. However, just like the last time I did this bike-to-run combo, I started to run out of gas 20 minutes in. As soon as I could feel myself fading I was kicking myself for not having consumed a bit of energy in between the bike and run. Note to self: eat something!!!!
Actual run: 30 minutes in the tub0 -
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