in training

I had my first "long run" this morning. it wasn't very long. just four miles. but I'm going to ease back into things slowly in light of my recent (and recent being last spring) injury and lack of running as of late. so over the next few weeks I'll do some 4's, 6's, 8's before hitting up any double-digit runs.

my ankle/heal was hurting slightly in the beginning. I was running up a hill, which might be partly to blame for this whole mess anyway. (that's just a theory) my body felt tight and slow. my shoulders/arms wouldn't relax--they were sore from carrying a giant tube up along side a river all day.

I came home and stretched, rolled out the muscles, but no ice. I probably should've iced the ankle/heal. oh well.

4 miles

undone.

I feel like I haven't been exercising lately. which is untrue, because I did some hiking over the weekend. but the regular schedule has been left by the wayside. I can only blame the heat. or my laziness.

but something strange has happened. I've lost my love for the pool. and that was the main activity that was pulling me through these hot summer days. and to be honest, I don't think I've really lost my love, I've just lost my motivation. I go through these cycles with the PM masters swimteam. I love it, but I hate it. sometimes I just get home from work and want to eat dinner and have a normal night with my husband. so I skip masters. and once I've skipped it's easier to not go back. especially because going always makes me a little nervous each time--which is silly, because it's always fine; I can keep up. so I just need to get back in the water, I guess.

and running? I crave it. I think I am going to start ramping up the training again. a fall marathon is calling my name. this time no time-specific goals. I am just going to run and take what comes. no boston qualifyer. that will be saved for another year, another race. right now I just want to get out on the roads and run for me. to feel my body move.

I haven't been on my bike since the triathlon, I don't think. I keep meaning to, it just never seems to happen. I really need to get back out on that bike.

supposedly I'm doing another triathlon later this summer with a friend of mine. from the looks of my training, it seems like that might be crazy. {not that I trained all that much for the first one} maybe I'll just do a sprint and enjoy the day. pound it out as hard as I can and see how my body holds up to the stresses. it might be a fun experiment.

I'm dreaming of the days I can do my workouts when I want to. when I'm not held hostage by heat and time. come august 23rd it will be a lot easier to run in the mornings when I want to and not have to worry about being back by a certain time. that sounds like a dream to me now.

I want to get into a structured training program. have the time to do it. I want to see how far I can push myself. reach some of my athletic goals (i.e. boston + ironman) I want to become that endurance athlete deep down inside. but now is not the time. my training might seem like it has unravelled, but cutting back in these hot summer months is okay. I have time to build a base, a solid foundation. my goals will come to me all in due time.

on the roads

I'm back from my run. it felt pretty good. the early AM is the only way to go this time of year. I must remind myself of this those mornings I'm too sleepy to pull my sorry butt out of bed.

my ankle started bugging me just a little bit. but other than that I think my body held up.

3 miles

yes, I was at the pool again

I was going to wake up and run a quick two miles this morning. my bed won out. I hate that. tomorrow I'm running for sure! I need to get back into the routine.

the workout was good. I like it when I'm swimming behind faster people and I force myself to swim harder to keep up. it's a good feeling to work so hard. my left shoulder didn't hurt that much, which is good. I've been trying to be more aware of my stroke. I think it's been helping.

we swam hard but had plenty of recovery time after each set. so all in all it was a pretty good workout.

warmup
600
[250
200
150]
[200
150
100]
[150
100
50]
{the main set was on a 2:15 base per 100 meters}
cooldown

pool time

again, more swimming. I feel like I've abandoned running and biking. it's just so easy to go to the pool on these hot summer days. but I'm going to make a resolve to get back on the running bandwagon at least. next week. {I'm toying with the idea of a fall marathon}

I'm not really sure if I remember my swim workout. it had a 500 warmup. some kicking. some IM sets. all with fins. it was kind of fun. I'm sure there was more involved, but I can't really remember.


peter's workout:
warm up
6 50's kick
6 50's drill
100 easy
100 moderate
100 fast
100 easy
100 moderate
100 fast
200

more swimming

I opted out of masters last night {for a hot date to PC, of course} and instead did my own swim workout in the afternoon. now I remember why I don't swim there in the afternoon. it's always really annoying. you have to compete for lanes--especially with the kid swimteam, SYAC. I had dreamed up this workout revolving around 600's. a 600 of drill/kick, a 600 of descending, a 600 of IM and a 600 of breath control. I had to cut the IM/BC short because I had to run to catch a bus. which I barely missed, btw.

my shoulder felt ok. not 100 percent fantastic, but ok.

warmup
6 X 50 kick
6 X 50 drill
6 X 100 (descend 1-3, 4-6)
3 X 100 IM
3 X 100 breath control (3, 5, 7 per 50 meters)
cooldown

stroke analysis

I think my shoulder starts to hurt if my left stroke is off. if I dig too deep, pulling downward instead of the s then it strains the muscles. when I take time to think about my stroke and have better form, things seem to go better.

here is another workout where I actually remember the intervals. probably because this workout was so dependent upon the intervals. and they weren't hard; I always had plenty of rest in between.

warm up
2 X 200 (4:30)
4 X 100 (2:20)
3 X 100 (2:15)
2 X 100 (2:10)
100 (2:05)
100 (2:05)
2 X 100 (2:10)
3 X 100 (2:15)
cool down


pete's workout:
warm up
6 X 50 drill
100 slow
100 medium
100 fast
200
3 X 100 build
300
100 slow
100 medium
100 fast
cool down

bike, swim, bike, no run

wednesday afternoon I got a text from my friend tori saying she wasn't going to go to swimteam. normally she's my ride home from steiner, and pete was working late so I had to figure something else out. I decided to ride my bike. it's a climb to get there, so I guess it's a nice warmup. at least the cold water is inviting + refreshing at that point.

as I was walking me and my bike into steiner my friend/coworker was walking out with soaking wet hair. she had forgotten her towel. we had a good laugh over that and then said our goodbyes. as I was getting my cap + goggles out of my bag I realized I had forgotten my towel too. such is life.

I don't remember the workout.

I do remember that my left shoulder is still hurting.



post script: I finally got to meet a new bloggy friend, elizabeth. she was at the pool with mal and jer. I was also able to meet another slc tri blogger a couple of weeks ago up in cache valley. I am loving meeting and connecting with people that are dedicated to active living. so no, elizabeth, you are not a blog-stalker. you are a workout friend that lives five hours away.

summer evening run

tonight I had such a craving to run. it didn't matter that it was now nearly nine o'clock and still a little hot and that I had the dollar burgers from the post-work B&D extravaganza still sitting in my stomach. I had to run. I had to get out there.

I had been invited to go do a track workout with mal, jer and elizabeth but couldn't because I already had some obligations. it would've been fun. it's been so long since I've done speed work on a track with other people. I miss those days. but it also would have been pretty dang hot, which I'm not so sad to miss.

the run was the usual route. it was just starting to get a little dark. the temp was warm, but a slight breeze helped cool things down a bit. my body felt pretty good, but my throat was hurting a little. I couldn't tell if I was just dehydrated or it was the cold still lingering. oh, and I got a pretty good side cramp during the middle of the run, but just ran through it. eventually it went away. {I'm pretty sure it was the burgers}

3 miles