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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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Sunday, November 1st, 2015
Bike
Finally. FINALLY!!! Finally, I'm starting to feel "whole" again. Maybe it was the 10 hours of sleep I got last night...or maybe it was the huge pot of homemade vegetable beef soup I made last evening...or maybe the body is starting to fully recover...or maybe this was just a welcome aberration today and tomorrow I'll go back to feeling like a slug...but this ride was actually pretty okay and contained some respectable brief pockets of effort. Yay me!!!
The plan was 2 to 3 hours of pedaling on the Mad One, and because it was a cloudy-chilly-drizzly day, I donned my very high-vis pink rain jacket that, when coupled with my very bright pink Rudy helmet, could probably be seen from waaaayyy across the mountain.
Safety first!! 
I mixed it up a little bit and ventured out of my normal "comfort-zone" by adding bits and pieces of the triathlon course, some of it done backwards. I enjoyed the diversion - I typically prefer repetition and a close-knit course, but this was good today.
I had two bottles of fluids with me - one water and one nuun - but I probably didn't even consume an entire bottle today. I just didn't need it, I imagine primarily due to the weather. And as far as any nutrition goes, I had an energy bar that I didn't touch, but I consumed probably 5 of the Quick Discs. I'm gonna give these Quick Discs a proper try. I'm not convinced yet - but I did feel good throughout this ride - however, the weather was incredibly mild and the ride was relatively short. I took my first disc ~45 minutes into the ride, then took another disc about every 30 minutes after that. The flavor is okay - it's not as good as a real SweetTart, but it's not bad...and you can either suck on it like a hard candy, placing it between your cheek and gum, or you can chew it up immediately. I'm keeping an open mind, but I suspect they might be best used as an addition to the normal gels and bars and not as a replacement of them.
Not much else to note about this ride...but here's my Garmin link.
https://connect.garmin.com/activity/944500642
Actual bike: 35.42 miles in 2:18:45 for an average speed of 15.3 mph and an elevation gain of 1,981 feet
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And....because I am momentarily being sucked into the Movember run streak thingy (we'll see how long this lasts!), I did a very enjoyable 30 minute trot in the tub with some mild (think Maroon 5
) tunes filling the space around me. This was nice. Really, really nice!!! 
Actual run: 30 minutes in the tub with a wave pace of 2:020 -
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Wow there's a positive vibe oozing out of your log...and to think I nearly missed it with the funky new log title (please tell me I didn't not notice that weeks ago).+++++++1
LOVE the new log title
...... also loving the recovery
Thanks, you two! And no, you didn't miss the change in log title - that occurred just today, thanks to pgibbo.
And...yeah...I just felt it was time for a change. Two IronMan events later, and I no longer feel like a fish flopping around out of water where triathlon is concerned. Not to say I don't have oodles more to learn, because I most definitely do...but I've had my fanny peeled*, peed on the bike, consumed both flat coke and cold soup on the run, and had total strangers help dress and undress me in tents occupied by even more strangers having the same thing done to them...so I think I've earned this rite of passage.
These will be the days of surf and turf. Line drawn.
*wetsuit stripper reference for those unsure0 -
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RacoonQueen wrote: »Awww I liked your old log title :P
Thanks! I thought it was cute and clever too, but I think I want to try this out for a while.Ehhhh I'm trying to remain gentlemanly but you do realise that your Yankee terminology means something a little different over here, don't you? Help me out here girls....please....
I'm not sure if they do this over in Europe, but here in the States IronMan has <cough, cough> highly trained individuals waiting for the athletes to pop out of the water so they can strip that wetsuit right off of the athlete's body. One yank while on your back with feet up in the air, and it's off! If you're wearing a two piece tri suit, you better make sure the bottoms are on tight! 0 -
Thanks! I thought it was cute and clever too, but I think I want to try this out for a while.
I'm not sure if they do this over in Europe, but here in the States IronMan has <cough, cough> highly trained individuals waiting for the athletes to pop out of the water so they can strip that wetsuit right off of the athlete's body. One yank while on your back with feet up in the air, and it's off! If you're wearing a two piece tri suit, you better make sure the bottoms are on tight!
So I assume there exists "stripper training" ... Maybe training plans ...the mind boggles !0 -
Monday, November 2nd, 2015
Move-ember run streak run
With only 3 (including me) remaining participants in this run streak thingy, I'm uncertain of it's longevity. But, I have to say, I have thoroughly enjoyed these two back to back days of 30 minute hydro treadmill trotting...hydro trotting that I would not have done without this streaky thing...so, no matter how many peeps continue for the next 28 days, this has been a positive for me. And because I refer to this run streak thingy as "Move-ember" (and not Movember, as intended on the thread), this is what plays over and over and over in my mind, causing me both great amusement and sheer exhaustion :
Actual run: 30 minutes in the tub at a wave current of 2:020 -
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015
Run
This was a sneaky lunchtime field trot - 30 minutes easy on a stunning autumn day. In addition to my carefully selected "sunny-day" running ensemble, I decided to wear my Garmin for sh*ts and giggles (curious to see where I am pace-wise)...and I decided to wear my new-ish 920xt instead of my 620 Forerunner. Hahahaha. :eek: Okayokayokay...I've never hidden my belief that my 620 makes me look faster than I really am, and today confirmed it without a doubt. Oh well. From this day forth, I wear the 920xt. Bring it, 920!
The run itself was fine. Had Audioslave as my company, and the effort was, unfortunately, a bit more than easy. I wish that wasn't true, based on the slow paces my Garmin was boldly displaying, but this is where I am. Honestly. Soooo....bring it, 920!!!!
Actual run: 3.07 field miles in 31:12 for an average pace of 10:10 min/mile
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I dragged my yoga mat onto the deck outside in the sunshine immediately after the run and dabbled in some stretching and core work. In a word: shocking. :eek: Seriously. This is an area I must work on. Flexibility and strength are both in the toilet. The sad thing is, I'm better than this. I spent about 15 minutes today doing my best Gumby impersonation (not pretty), and I'll continue to try and claw this back a little each week.
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Swim
10 minutes warmup
10 minutes buoy band
10 minutes swim
10 minutes buoy band
10 minutes cool down
Not too much to say about this swim other than it was fine. Wave paces were 1:30, 1:27, 1:27, 1:27, 1:30...the three middle intervals being slightly faster than what I did in this same session last week. Good upper body work....good continuous swimming. No swim cap...big ROKA goggles. And that's about it, folks!
Actual swim: 50 minutes in the tank0 -
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http://h2openmagazine.com/news/michael-ventres-plan-swim-new-york-london/
Of possible interest to some on this forum, I thought, but where best to post it, I thought... 0 -
Kurt_Godel wrote: »http://h2openmagazine.com/news/michael-ventres-plan-swim-new-york-london/
Of possible interest to some on this forum, I thought, but where best to post it, I thought... They quoted me!!!
Interesting article. I have zero interest ever doing that sort of thing, but hats off to him! April 2017 - we'll have to follow him!0 -
Wednesday, November 4th, 2015
Move-ember run
30 minutes of sneaky lunchtime trotting in the tank with both garage doors up to let in the fresh air and sunshine!!! No complaints here.
Actual run: 30 minutes done Move-ember style in the tank
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Dabbled yet again in some core and stretching out in the sunny-sunshine immediately after the tank trot. Seems crazy to be outside on my yoga mat in my bathing suit in November, but I'm not complaining!! And this felt better than yesterday's 15 minute session. Clawing it back...s-l-o-w-l-y.
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Bike
Here we go again...a repeat of last week's killer session!!!
trainer:
15 mins warm up
Cadence set - 18 min total:
3 x [easy gear, start cadence at 75 rpms, increase 5 rpms every 30 seconds until you reach 120 rpms (5 mins) + 1 min rest]
Leg Drills - 9 min total:
1 min each leg 60 rpm - hard gear. 1 min easy
1 min each leg 80 rpm - easy gear. 1 min easy
1 min each leg 60 rpm - hard gear. 1 min easy
Standing big gear set -21 min total:
3 x [5 mins standing biggest gear possible- surging the final 10 secs of each min + 2 mins easy]
Leg Drills - 9 min total:
1 min each leg 60 rpm - hard gear. 1 min easy
1 min each leg 80 rpm - easy gear. 1 min easy
1 min each leg 60 rpm - hard gear. 1 min easy
Cadence set - 7 min total:
1 x [easy gear, start cadence at 70 rpms, increase 5 rpms every 30 seconds until you reach 105rpms then hold 3.5 mins]
easy til 85 min
This is one decent little session here, and I think tonight's session went better than last week's session. Yay! It's surprising to me how hard it is to hold a high cadence for any length of time - because it's hard, even employing a super easy gear. But the granddaddy of all is the standing BG intervals. :eek: Good god, I don't even get out of the saddle when I'm climbing on the road...and I was pushing so hard on the final 5 minute interval tonight that I think I saw stars!! :eek: Average cadence and average power for the BG was as follows:
53 rpm...153w
53 rpm...158w
54 rpm...168w
Freakin' good session!!!
Actual bike: 85 super duper minutes on the Cat0 -
Thursday, November 5th, 2015
Swim
It was too damn gorgeous (again!!!) today to be stuck inside and not get any training done out in the sunshine, so I snuck out a little early for lunch to start my swim-run combo to get this done in the fresh air.
10 minutes warmup @ 1:33
5 minutes buoy band @ 1:33
5 minutes swim @ 1:30
5 minutes swim @ 1:27
5 minutes swim @ 1:24
5 minutes swim @ 1:21
10 minutes cool down @ 1:33
Garage doors up....and this was perfect. Paces were fine, in fact I had smooth sailing with the slower paces (no turbulence), and could acclimate to getting a bit tossed around with the faster paces. Love. My. Pool.
Swim: 45 lunchtime minutes in the tank
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Run
I hopped out of the pool and tossed on a pair of running shorts over my speedo - seems absolutely crazy to be running in shorts and a bathing suit in November!!! And the crazier thing is I was roasting out there in the field!! :eek:
But, I love the sunshine so I was happy as a clam, even if the run took some effort, which it did. In a word, this was work. I wore my 920xt, and I feel pretty confident the recorded paces are fairly accurate - they're nothing to write home about, but at least they are an improvement over two days ago, so all is not lost.
9:10, 8:41, 9:08, 8:41, 8:39
(the interesting thing about my paces is how even they were - miles 1 and 3 were in my "harder" field section, while miles 2, 4 and 5 were in my "easier" field section)
I did a bit of stretching immediately after the run, but I had to get back to work so there was no love given to the core today.
Actual run: 5.09 hair-dripping-wet field miles in 45:07 for an average pace of 8:52 min/mile0 -
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Friday, November 6th, 2015
Bike
20 min warmup with 5 min single legs
10 x (20 sec at 110 rpm + 40 sec easy)
5 x (7 min as 1 min each at 55, 65, 75, 85, 75, 65, 55 + 2 min easy)
5 x (20 sec at 110 rpm + 40 sec easy)
10 min cool down
There wasn't enough time over lunch for me to get today's bike-run combo done midday, so I busted a gut to get out of work tonight to get this done before too late in the evening. There's not too much to say about this session - probably the most exciting aspect of it was that I had on a brand-spanking new pair of Castelli tri shorts I bought on sale just recently. Let's call that purchase part of my post-IronMan recovery retail therapy. First piece of Castelli I've ever owned. In a word: nice!!!
The guts of this session went pretty well. I found if I pushed a harder gear yet didn't quite make my target rpm, then my power was higher. Totally logical. Average power for those 5 x 7 minute sets was: 124, 124, 133, 134, 142.
Actual bike: 90 minutes on the Cat while looking pretty sporty in my Castellis!!
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Run
After a quick transition into my speedo, this was 30 minutes in the tank with the boys from Green Day to keep me company. Loved this. Loved going from the bike to the pool for an aqua jog. I set the wave to 2:02, and that was just the right amount of resistance to keep me on my toes and make me work a bit. I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of trainer-to-tank sessions this winter!!
Actual run: 30 minutes in the tub with the garage doors up!!0 -
Saturday, November 7th, 2015
Run
This was 75 minutes in the field on a misty, rainy, cloudy, chilly kinda day...and my training-fuel du jour was a few homemade chocolate chip cookies I baked this morning after work. I'm not going to knock my choice in nutrition because I felt pretty darned good out there this afternoon. In fact, this is the best I've felt since the IronMan. My paces were still miserably slow, but I didn't feel like I was dragging myself through molasses, and that is serious progress!
Speaking of paces, I ran in the slower part of the field on the odd miles, and the faster part of the field on the even miles. The progressive nature of this run was purely spontaneous, and I kept things pretty relaxed and easy until the final two miles, at which point I opened it up and was glad when the watch alerted me that the 8th mile was in the books.
Miles 1, 3, 5, 7:
9:53, 9:35, 9:25, 9:02
Miles 2, 4, 6, 8:
9:27, 9:12, 8:49, 8:38
Actual run: 8.11 chocolatey chip field miles in 1:15:12 for an average pace of 9:16 min/mile
This was followed by some stretching (shocking, I say!!! :eek:) and specific core and strength exercises, including: planks, hip abduction and extensions, superman, single leg V ups, medicine ball squats, and single leg bridges. I went gently and treaded lightly since this is new territory for me. I also minded my right shoulder that is a chronic issue for me.
Post-session recovery fuel: yet another homemade chocolate chip cookie. 0 -
Sunday, November 8th, 2015
Bike
Brrrrr.....it got a little chilly 'round here this morning, but the sun was shining so today still qualifies for a "gorgeous" status on the weather-o-meter. The drop in temp had the benefit of me donning a new cycling jacket given to me by my brother last month, and what a fabulous cycling jacket it is! Made by Gore, a few of the details I love are: the 3 deep pockets on the back, the ability to remove the sleeves, and the comfortable (and flattering!) fit.
I did the same route as last Sunday, and my pace/speed/time-in-the-saddle were nearly identical! It always amazes me when that happens - sort of like when you get up out of bed in the morning and your morning routine takes exactly the same amount of time to get you out the door for work day after day after day!
But today's ride felt really good. I pushed it in a few places, however I mainly kept the effort even and enjoyable. I took a total of 4 Quick Discs, and I had plenty of pep in my pedal. I think my recovery has gone really well to get me feeling this good 4 weeks after the IM. A few peeps have commented on my recovery - that I've gotten back to training rather quickly - but, with most of my sessions being done "as I feel", the intensity of my current training is like an episode of Fantasy Island. Recovery after an IM is an interesting thing...and I'm honestly glad I'm nearly on the other side of it!
Actual bike: per my 920xt, 35.57 Mad One miles in 2:16:51 for an average speed of 15.6 mph and an elevation gain of 2,142 feet
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Move-ember run
After a bit of an extended t2, I hopped in the tub and got 30 minutes done Green Day style. This felt pretty wonderful. The wave current was set to 2:02, the garage doors were up, and the acoustics were giving me some rock-status love.
Actual run: 30 minutes in da tub0 -
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Tuesday, November 10th, 2015
Bike
Aaaaaannd.....here we go again with my favorite gut-wrenching, thigh-burning, star-dazing, chest-heaving trainer session in my current trainer-session oeuvre:
trainer:
15 mins warm up
Cadence set - 18 min total:
3 x [easy gear, start cadence at 75 rpms, increase 5 rpms every 30 seconds until you reach 120 rpms (5 mins) + 1 min rest]
Leg Drills - 9 min total:
1 min each leg 60 rpm - hard gear. 1 min easy
1 min each leg 80 rpm - easy gear. 1 min easy
1 min each leg 60 rpm - hard gear. 1 min easy
Standing big gear set -21 min total:
3 x [5 mins standing biggest gear possible- surging the final 10 secs of each min + 2 mins easy]
Leg Drills - 9 min total:
1 min each leg 60 rpm - hard gear. 1 min easy
1 min each leg 80 rpm - easy gear. 1 min easy
1 min each leg 60 rpm - hard gear. 1 min easy
Cadence set - 7 min total:
1 x [easy gear, start cadence at 70 rpms, increase 5 rpms every 30 seconds until you reach 105rpms then hold 3.5 mins]
easy til 85 min
I did this over lunch. Not too, too much to say....other than this is a tough little gem of a session...and after doing this session 3 times now, I've kind of grown quite fond of it! The fast spinning may actually be the hardest part of these 85 minutes for me - but the standing BG work will grow hair on your chest! :eek:
I felt good throughout this - it's sort of shocking and surprising how good I'm feeling these days. The Garmin data for the 3 x 5 minute BG intervals stated as average cadence...average power was as follows:
53 rpm...158w
54 rpm...168w
55 rpm...178w
Two things of note: 1) I forgot to hit the lap button at the start of the second 5 minute interval, but trust me, I did all 5 minutes standing....and, 2) today's numbers are slightly better than last week's numbers. Yay me!!
Actual bike: 85 lunchtime minutes on the Cat
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Swim
8 x 6 minutes w/20 seconds rest between intervals done as:
1 - @ 1:33
2, 3, 4 - @ 1:27
5, 6 - @ 1:24
7 - @ 1:21
8 - @ 1:33
This went well. I don't know if the additional water I added to the tank over the weekend had any impact on this, but the paces in general seemed a bit easier tonight. If the additional water was a factor, my guess would be it possibly reduced the wave that rolls over my body and has a slight tendency to try and lower my legs/kick. ??? Moral of the story might be: keep the water level up!
Actual swim: 50-ish minutes in the tank
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Move-ember run
Why not, right? I hopped out of the pool, turned on some tunes, hopped back in the pool, then tub-trotted for 30 minutes. I accidentally set the wave pace to 1:57 at the start but thought what the heck! However, 10 minutes in I was falling behind so said feck this and bumped the pace to it's intended 2:02. Long day, and I had no interest at that point to fight or struggle with anything!
Actual run: 30 minutes in the tub
And the Finding Dory trailer came out today. Okay, so I've seen trailers more exciting than this, but you gotta admit, that Dory is a pretty a-dory-ble little fish!
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Did you read how various accountants across the globe celebrated?? Good lord - the highlights were: stuffy seminars; a friendly accounting firm tug of war; and a software company that posted a heartwarming message on their website, then showed their love and appreciation by offering accountants a minute break to participate in a fun survey called “Favorite Character Accountants”. (wtf???) Total snooze-fest. No wonder we have an image problem. (I'll be looking for any mention of "tug of war" in your log!!!) 0 -
Wednesday, November 11th, 2015
Run
:eek: First treadmill session since the IM, and the body revolted big time!
15 minutes at 6.6
15 minutes at 6.9
15 minutes at 7.2
15 minutes at 7.5
I did this over lunch, and as stated above, the body was protesting this from the start. The first 15 minutes were awful. I hated it, and I got that flooded-feeling you get just before you think you might throw up when you're sprinting at lightening speed....but the problem was, my lightening speed pace was a mere 9 minute/mile pace. :eek: However, it did get progressively better, so all was not lost. And to be honest, by the time I got to the final 10 minutes, I was feeling almost like I knew my way around a lululemon store!
Actual run: 7.06 miles in 60 minutes doin' it lunchtime-treadie style
I snuck in 20 minutes of core and flexibility immediately after the run.
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Swim
15 minute warmup
10 minute buoy band
10 minute swim
5 minute buoy band
5 minute swim
5 minute buoy band
I was instructed to swim as I felt, and to not make this hard. I started out at a wave pace of 1:30, but upped it to 1:27 on the 10 minute swim and kept it there for the remainder of the session. Seeing as how I found myself swimming into the wave blaster from time to time, I probably could have increased the pace yet again to 1:24 without making my effort creep into the "hard" zone, however, I was just too happy at 1:27 to bother with 1:24. :D
Actual swim: 50 minutes in the tank0 -
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Did you read how various accountants across the globe celebrated?? Good lord - the highlights were: stuffy seminars; a friendly accounting firm tug of war; and a software company that posted a heartwarming message on their website, then showed their love and appreciation by offering accountants a minute break to participate in a fun survey called “Favorite Character Accountants”. (wtf???) Total snooze-fest. No wonder we have an image problem. (I'll be looking for any mention of "tug of war" in your log!!!)
Oh we're a fun bunch alright. The head of HR in our place actually organised balloons and stuff, but I think that was just to wind up the accountants...... a friendly accounting firm tug of war; ....(I'll be looking for any mention of "tug of war" in your log!!!)
Thankfully I dont work for an accounting firm, I'm in a medical devices company.0
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