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Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf
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Friday, November 13th, 2015
Swim
10 minutes swim
10 minutes buoy-band
10 minutes swim
10 minutes buoy-band
10 minutes swim
Today was a swim-run combo, and it was ridiculously gorgeous here today so I snuck out a bit early for lunch when nobody was looking so I could get the run in under the sunny-sunshine.
I did the swim at the following wave paces: 1:30, 1:27, 1:24, 1:27, 1:30....and to be honest, at times this was easier than it probably needed to be. In fact, the tips of 3 of my nails were severed off due to me running into the wave machine grill. :mad::o
Actual swim: 50 manicuring minutes in the tub
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Run
Still dripping wet from the swim, I headed out to the field not very confident that my legs would cooperate with my desire to put in a respectable little run. In fact, I came very close to not wearing my watch for fear my expected dismal pace would frustrate me and leave me feeling empty....but I sucked it up and cinched my Garmin to my wrist; however, I made a deal with myself - I promised to not look at my watch other than when each mile beeped at me, and in return I agreed to run totally by feel and be happy with whatever pace resulted. Well, it worked pretty well. Paces as follows:
9:12, 8:25, 8:33, 8:18, 8:13
This honestly went better than expected, and better than it felt - I was pleasantly surprised each time the watch beeped. The sun might have been out in full force, but the wind was awful and I had to just accept it and not fight it. I never felt fast, but I tried to stay relaxed....and I definitely upped the effort on the last 2 miles. My reward for my work was a nice, slow cool down for the final quarter of a mile to bring me to my targeted 45 minutes of running.
Actual run: 5.25 miles in 45:10 for an average pace of 8:37 min/mile0 -
Saturday, November 14th, 2015
Run
This was 1.5 hours in the field, and I had no earthly idea how this was going to go with yesterday's little jaunt still in the legs. In fact, I knew yesterday that I'd have to give in to this run being easy, and I had been talking myself into embracing the fact that it was okay if this was slow since last night. So I parked my ego at the curb, and just started trotting all bundled up in hat, gloves, and down vest as if winter had arrived. :eek:
Overall, this went okay. It turned into an unplanned progression run with the final partial mile being a much needed (and ready for!) cool down. I'd say the run was easy definitely for the first 5 miles...still relatively easy for the next two...but taking some good effort on the last two. I decided I'd try my Quick Discs on the run, and I liked them! I took one on miles 3, 4, 6, and 8. I tucked them between my cheek and gum and just let them dissolve slowly - and if you do it right, they can take over a mile to dissolve...over 2 or 3 miles if you're fast like zico!
One thing I really like about them is there is no need to take water with them. I had water with me, stashed by a tree, but I never stopped because I never got thirsty - so no stops for me!
10:09, 9:37, 9:36, 9:28, 9:21
9:04, 8:57, 8:42, 8:32, 6:38 (9:54)
Happy enough with this run!
Actual run: 9.67 miles in 1:30:02 for an average pace of 9:18 min/mile0 -
Sunday, November 15th, 2015
Bike
Brrrrrr!!! :eek: When I headed out on this little spin this morning, the mercury on the thermometer was just inching up to the freezing point. :eek: But the sun was shining and the weatherman was promising it to hit in the 60s today, so I tossed on a few layers and headed out in the brisk air wondering where I was going to stuff all these layers if it got too warm for me.
Aaaaand, as luck would have it, I was roasting within the first 30 minutes when I reached the top of the first hill. 
Good god, but I honestly had no choice - my long pants had to go!!! Besides being way too hot, I hated the restricted feeling of having something covering my entire legs! Sort of like little kids who like to run around naked, these legs like to breathe! Good thing I had the foresight to put on a pair of knickers under my long pants! And as far as what I did with my long pants - they got cinched around my waist. 
With my legs now free, I pedaled happily down the hill...then up a different hill...then down that different hill...then up the first hill again...then down...then up and down that first hill 4 more times....then up and down the second hill one more time before I headed home. There was one little moment of terror for me during all this up and down - as I was zooming down the first hill (probably for the 3rd time) I saw two pitbulls chasing a vehicle that was heading my way. Yikes!! The dogs were quite whipped up and moving very fast in my direction. F*ck. And as soon as they saw me, they totally forgot all about that SUV they were keeping pace with and made a beeline for me. Double f*ck. I honestly wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I was no match for these bruisers - being double teamed by two pitbulls didn't sound very encouraging for yours truly - so I decided my best chance was to come to a complete halt. So I did....but it wasn't pretty..falling off the bike and into the gully by the road.
And the two pitbulls? Well, they just stared down at me lying in the gully as if to say, "well this is no fun!" and trotted back over to that SUV they had been chasing with the very sweet older gentleman who was now stopped to make sure I was okay. I was. And fortunately for all parties involved, the owner of the two awol mutts pulled up behind the SUV to collect her dynamic doggie-duo. !!!
But back to the ride....the guts of which was 5 x 5 minute big gear hill intervals....thus the reason for going up and down that first hill 5 times in a row. And....I lovedlovedloved this!!! I loved everything about these 5 x 5 minute intervals. Loved the hill...loved it being only 5 minutes...loved experimenting with the gear and cadence. But most of all.....I loved it because I was....wait for it....MASHING!!!! Whoop whoop!! Ohhhhh how I am a masher at heart. Yes, I've been taught the ways of the spin, and I respect the spin, and I have embraced the spin, and I have spinned the spin while spinning...but good god, when it's all said and done, I am a red-blooded masher who loves to mash the mash. Talk about a kid in a candy store. I. Loved. These. Intervals. Okayokayokay...some data per the Garmin....I started each interval at a particular mailbox, and ended the interval at the top of the hill at the dead end at the Shenandoah National Park boundary....and data stated as "time...elevation gain (should all be the same, but inherent errors I suppose)...average speed...average cadence":
5:03...190 ft...11.8 mph...51 rpm
5:07...195 ft...11.6 mph...51 rpm
5:06...174 ft...11.7 mph...51 rpm
I upped it one gear for shi*ts and giggles.
5:04...184 ft...11.5 mph...44 rpm
And, because upping it a gear was so much fun, I had to up it again! (at least I think I upped it again, that was my intention, but looking at the data now I am not sure)
5:07...191 ft...11.6 mph...42 rpm
As far as nutrition, I'm still testing out these Quick Discs. I consumed one approximately every 30 minutes.
Actual bike : 36.82 miles in (moving time) 2:29:28 for an average pace of 14.8 mph (but this is artificially slow due to several factors) and an elevation gain of 2,678 feet
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Run
After a rather long t2 (I grabbed a chocolate milk and a quick bite to eat), I hopped in the tub and put down 30 minutes of movin' and groovin' aqua-trotting!!! Felt great. Not saying it was easy, I'm saying it felt great being in the water. Love. Being. In. Water.
Actual run: 30 minutes in the tub with a wave pace of 2:020 -
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Kurt_Godel wrote: »
Too-hot girl on bike strips down to knickers, gets chased by dogs, falls off, elderly gentleman comes to her rescue... straight out of the Benny Hill show!
Great summary!0 -
Good god, but I honestly had no choice - my long pants had to go!!! Besides being way too hot, I hated the restricted feeling of having something covering my entire legs! Sort of like little kids who like to run around naked, these legs like to breathe! Good thing I had the foresight to put on a pair of knickers under my long pants!
Are we talking about something like this here :eek:
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65 rpm...136w
65 rpm...137w
65 rpm...136w
65 rpm...137w
65 rpm...136w
61 rpm...139w
61 rpm...142w
62 rpm...149w
62 rpm...151w
56 rpm...181w
When I decided to do that last set in the biggest gear the Cat's got, I had the concept that failing while training was not only acceptable, but sometimes desired. I didn't fail on that final set. It was a hard set and I was barely hanging on, but I didn't fail. However, it's very obvious looking at the numbers above that I only risked failing on that final set...which makes me wonder if I need to be a bit more of a risk taker while training. ??? Something to seriously consider.
Nothing beats the slow countdown during a tough turbo session
Big difference in those numbers alright... what do you base the target wattages on for the prescribed set? Have you done an FTP test or similar recently?0 -
Fear of failure holds a lot of people back in all aspects of life. In reality it's only when we push to the point of failure that we really know where our limits are and occasionally doing this in training is probably good practice. Otherwise how do we know if we've progressed?
I honestly could not have said it any better. Thank you Dilbert!!!Kurt_Godel wrote: »Nothing beats the slow countdown during a tough turbo session
Big difference in those numbers alright... what do you base the target wattages on for the prescribed set? Have you done an FTP test or similar recently?
I was just told to go over 125w, so that's what I did. (I did one FTP test months back, but I suspect the 125w was more based on my training/racing history) I tend not to pre-meditate too much, so if you are asking what I based the 10 individual intervals' target wattages on, then it was merely a function of how I felt after the first interval and what I thought I could sustain. Then after the first 5, I knew I could up it. I had toyed with the idea of upping it again after 8, but worried I wouldn't make it thru in one piece for the final 2, so I only upped it one last time after 9. I hope this makes sense.
Btw, I was told last night that it appears I am fully recovered.:) 0 -
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Wednesday, November 18th, 2015
Run
Treadmill over lunch....
20 min @ 6.6
30 x (30 sec on, 30 sec off) - starting at 9.5, then by feel after that
10 min @ 6.6
I was a little worried when I found myself huffing and puffing during the 20 minute warmup, but once the 30 sec on/off started, the body seemed to get with the program. I did the first 15 @ 9.5, the next 10 @ 9.8, and the last 5 @ 10. And the 10 minute cool down felt easy and slow.
Actual run: 60 lunchtime minutes on the treadmill
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Recovery swim
15 min swim
10 min buoy band
10 min swim
5 min buoy band
5 min swim
5 min buoy band
This was to be as I felt, and it was also to be of recovery quality....so, a wave pace of 1:30 it was!
Actual recovery swim: 50 minutes in the tank0 -
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Saturday, November 21st, 2015
Run
Track session!!!:eek:
20 minute warmup
8 x (800 holding 4:15, 200 easy)
10 minute cool down
Good god, I haven't been on the track in probably a good 9 or 10 months - definitely not since I fractured my femur in February so this was a bit unnerving going into it, and the trepidation was compounded by the stresses of the last few days and my really poor diet of late. The day was clear and crisp with a slight breeze to it, and honestly the conditions were quite good for a run on the track. So on with the leggings, on with the luluemon, on with the iPod, and on with it I went!!!
I basically dragged myself around the oval during the warmup, keeping my eye on the ragged fellow in the outside lane who looked like he was dressed for street dancing and not track running, and making sure I never lost any ground to him. Obviously I realized he was in the outside lane while I was in the inside lane, but seriously, his form and attire were not real inspiring in a Usain Bolt kind of way. I got a stitch on the 6th lap around, forcing me to stop and stretch and have a little chat with myself, but I got going again and had no further issues in that regard.
I am ignorant to all things track, so I have no idea how to read all the lines and numbers and diamonds and pointy things here and there, which means I am not exactly sure the distance of our local high school track. I've been told that one time around is longer than 400 meters (in fact, I just found on the internet that the track measures 450 meters, but is that internet post an accurate accounting?) - my old Garmin would agree that the track measures long, but curiously my new Garmin might disagree. ??? Perhaps it's because this is the first time I've ever used the new Garmin on the track, or perhaps the new Garmin's oval errors are upside down to the old Garmin's - ??? Who knows?? But my starting location was also my finishing location for the 800s, meaning I went around the track exactly 2 times for each timed interval, so the distance was static throughout. My times appear to be a bit faster than intended, however I stayed pretty consistent for all 8 of them.
Times for the 800 (plus Garmin pace/mile) and times for the 200 (for sh*ts and giggles) as follows:
3:43 (7:38)
1:16
3:52 (8:03)
1:13
3:50 (8:00)
1:15
3:53 (8:06)
1:19
3:53 (7:55)
1:18
3:51 (8:01)
1:19
3:49 (7:58)
1:22
3:51 (7:53)
I was pleased this wasn't awful. The effort wasn't a walk in the park, but it wasn't blowing chunks either. I'm glad I got through this in one piece. Yay!
Actual track run: 7.94 miles in 1:09:37 for an average pace of 8:46 min/mile
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Recovery spin
20 minutes on the Cat immediately post run to spin the legs out. Done and dusted!!! Whoop whoop!!!
Actual recovery spin: 20 minutes on da Cat0 -
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Sunday, November 22nd, 2015
Bike
Oh how I was delighted when I saw that today's session was a repeat of last Sunday's mash-o-mania!! Whoop whoop!! Now that's how you want to end a crappy week!
But crumbs, I had forgotten to charge my Garmin last night and I knew it'd never make it thru the entire ride without dying on me, so I didn't start it ticking until I got to the guts of the ride - the 5 x 5 minute big gear work. I was all layered up again today, but there was no removal of my pants this time around. However, it was CHILL-EEEE!!! Yikes! Colder than last week, and at times my fingers were freezing and my toes were numb. :eek: I need to get better socks - I have covers for my shoes, but they're sort of a pain in the @ss to put on, however I'll break them out when it really gets bitter.
The big gear work went well - I love me some big gear work - it's the meat and potatoes of cycling - none of that sissy spinning that saves the leg. Mashing is like throwing caution to the wind...shooting your wad...just giving it everything...no holding back. It's like telling someone that you love them and not giving a damn if they feel the same way. It is such a release!!! And 5 minutes??? PURRRRR-FECT!!!! The plan was to do the same hill with the same start and stop location as last Sunday since it worked so well a week ago. I honestly didn't notice the wind when I started these intervals, but I'm guessing I must've had a tail wind early on because I reached the top of the hill a good bit faster right off the bat than I did last week...so, after the second interval, I moved the start line down the hill a bit. The wind became progressively more noticeable as the intervals passed, but it was swirling and crossing rather than fully assisting me.
Data per the Garmin, stated as "distance...time...elevation gain...average mph...average cadence":
.98 mile...4:37...187 ft...12.7 mph...55 rpm
up one gear...
.98 mile...4:48...194 ft...12.3 mph...44 rpm
1.07 mile...4:59...194 ft...12.9 mph...46 rpm
1.06 mile...5:01...201 ft...12.7 mph...42 rpm
maxed out the gears :eek:...
1.07 mile...5:32...201 ft...11.6 mph...34 rpm
I decided to have some fun on the final interval and push the gears to the max. I figured what the heck! I had to laugh to myself when I looked down at one point and saw I was only turning those pedals over at a rate of 19 rpm. Oh, the fun we have! And this little big gear exercise taught me one thing - bigger isn't always faster!
My Garmin died at some point before I made it back home, but because I did the exact same route as last Sunday, I'll use the basic data from last week's ride for my summary purposes.
Actual bike: 36.82 miles in ~2:30:00 and an elevation gain of 2,678 feet
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Move-ember run
This was done 2 hours after the bike ride - 30 minutes in the tub with Maroon 5!!!
Actual run: 30 minutes in the tub0 -
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^^^ Thanks guys!!!
And breaking news!!! I called the athletic director of our local high school (he's a friend) and asked him what distance one time around the newly resurfaced track in the inside lane is....and he said they corrected the distance with the resurfacing, and that it is now exactly a quarter of a mile around (so essentially 400 meters). Yay!! Now we know...and now I can time myself with accuracy. And that means I went too fast on Saturday. (old habits!!!)
Monday, November 23rd, 2015
Move-ember run
30 minutes in the tub with a wave pace of 2:02. Green Day was in attendance.
Actual Move-ember run: 30 minutes in the tub0 -
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Tuesday, November 24th, 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
This was done sneaky lunchtime style, and this went okay. I had a medical phone call during my warmup about one of my cats who is going through a bit of tough time (emergency surgery, two masses removed from his intestines, biopsies indicate lymphoma, and now he is facing chemo), so there was a bit of a break in that first 20 minutes.
For the 5 x 7 minute BG work, all five sets had an average cadence of 70. !!!! Sort of funny how consistent they were. And the average power for those 5 intervals were:
129w, 130w, 127w, 131w, 132w
It always seems I am chasing the target cadence on the way up, but not so much on the way down.....and I guess it might be due to my gearing, but hitting 65 tends to be the hardest one for me!
Actual bike: 90 minutes on the Cat while thinking about my cat
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Swim
10 min warmup pace
Then 3 x : 4 x 30 sec @ Max Pace (1:04?) with 60 sec rest
6 min @ 1:24 pace
3 min @ 1:33 Pace
5 min warm down easy
Hahahahaha!!! 1:04??? :eek: Not. Even. Close.
You have to take the wave pace clock with a grain of salt....add to that the turbulence of the wave machine in the confinement of the tub, and then you've got some crazy stuff going on!!! Think: large, agitated washing machine. So....I tried 1:10. Ha! I basically had to peel myself off the back wall. 1:11? Still way to hot. 1:12, 1:13? Nope. So I settled on 1:15 and barely hung on....but hung on I did with a fast, choppy stroke and a hard kick. This was intense and insane. And in the frenzy I totally lost count of my intervals, but I erred on the side of caution so it is more than likely that I did a few extra intervals in my swimming stupor.
Actual swim: there was a tub and some waves, but who the hell knows??!!!0 -
Wednesday, November 25th, 2015 (Hump day AND one month until Christmas! I can just about hear those jingle bells now!)
Run
On the treadmill...
20 minute warmup @ 6.6
30 x (30 sec on/30 sec off) - start at 9.5 and work up as I feel
10 minute cool down @ 6.6
I love this session! I love the sinfully delicious bursts of speed that seem to nearly cheat the lactic acid, or rather perhaps they merely confuse the lactic acid since it is during those 30 seconds off that the body goes through some funky stuff. Whatever it is, I love it. And today's enjoyment was amped up by the raw and loud music I was listening to, which put me in one of my f-you moods that means war to anyone who dares to take me on. And I thought to myself, as I was blowing steam on my treadmill, how I need some of this f-you mood mentality on the soul destroying run leg of an IronMan. I reminded myself how important conditioning the body AND the mind is when facing the 140.6 mile battle on race day. The importance of mental toughness cannot be understated.
Oh, and the 30 intervals went like this:
15 @ 9.5
10 @ 9.8
5 @ 10.0
Actual run: 8.15 lovely miles in an hour over lunch0 -
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