status

monday: 3 miles

tuesday: 4 miles

wednesday: 30 minute elliptical

thursday: 3 miles

I've been feeling a cold coming on for the past couple of days. I'm happy to report I've been successful at staving it off so far. I think I might just take today as a rest day {though I thought that about wednesday and thursday as well. we'll see how much will power I actually have} and hopefully do something awesome tomorrow. you know, like a long run. or even a fun ride with the hubs.

the rest of the week

thursday: run. 4 mile loop.

friday: nothing. ran around getting birthday surprises ready.

saturday: went on a short ride (like 6.59 miles short) and then went horseback riding.

swim + run

pete and I woke up early and did a joint swimteam. the problem with joint swimteam is we kind of play around a little too much. it's a lot of fun, but not as great of a workout. we need more discipline. or seperate lanes.

after the swim I decided to run home from the pool. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this sooner. especially if I have a short/easy pool workout. it's probably only about 2.5 miles, which was perfect this morning.

a recap

tuesday (august 26): I went running in the morning. the same route as the day before. 3+ miles.

tuesday - sunday were meant to be a backpacking trip in the wind rivers, but our plans changed when we noticed the area we were headed for was on fire. so we tried to salvage the trip by car camping in grand teton national park. it wasn't quite the same, but we did go on a hike around jenny lake and happened upon a small black bear a few feet off the trail. yeah, we got out of there quick! we ended up driving home thursday afternoon. it was pretty sad.

saturday: went on a seven mile hike up big cottonwood canyon. kinda steep. very dry out there. but it was pretty fun and I didn't have to worry about seeing bears on the trail, which is always a relief. we came home tired + dirty. you can't ask for much more out of life.

monday: did the short 3 mile liberty park loop (as opposed to the longer three mile loop I usually do) with peter. it was kind of a struggle because we pounded some serious cafe rio earlier that day.

tuesday: did an hour of elliptical at steiner. it was kind of low key. I was more interested in the magazine I was reading than keeping my heart rate up, I guess.


and that's pretty much it.

the good life

ah, my job is over and life can begin again. I can run when I want to and have the time to do what I want creatively. it's a good feeling.

so this morning, at the time I would have had to have been at work, I went running. it was 7:30am and nearly 70 degrees. a little hotter than I would have liked, but definitely not bad. especially in the shade. the kids were all lined up at the bus stop waiting to go to their first day of school. I love this time of year.

I probably started out a bit too fast. I think I was just so excited to be out there, with the prospect of routine, daily runs. I could feel my right hamstring and near the end of the run my left IT band was starting to bug a bit too. when I got home I rolled out my legs before and after stretching. I may or may not ice. we'll see.

3 miles

the peter + anna duathlon

bike:
man, biking up 17th south can be hard. especially when you actually haven't biked in a very long time. and your legs are already feeling dead for some reason. my hamstrings were feeling it early on. but the ride wasn't too bad.

swim:
whoah. my first 50 meters was like a shock to the system. my shoulders felt very tight. my arms were dead. it felt like a long, slow, painful crawl to the other side of the pool. the return 50 was about the same. the next 100 meters felt considerably better. I still felt pretty slow out there for most of the workout, but it got better as I went. I did some kicking + pull buoy. I did some breast + back. and a lot of freestyle. pete and I did some 50 meter sprint races. I blew up in the freestyle race; halfway through I had nothing left in the tank. I paced myself much better in the breastroke race. afterward I helped pete work on his flipturn.

bike:
the bike home I had a few problems with my chain. but otherwise it was pretty uneventful. it was a fun ride down the hill to our casa.

voting for my sister is good karma

okay, no I have not exercised. this isn't even anything exercise related. it's about my sister. see, she's in this photo contest and is currently in second place (well, the last time I checked anyway) and would totally love some more votes thrown her way, I'm sure.

so if you have time, please check out the summer fun photo contest and vote for #15 mary elizabeth.




if it makes you feel any better, my sister just rocked a half marathon about a month ago. she even ran a marathon once with only, like, three training runs under her belt. she's cool like that. now go vote for her!

okay, now back to your regularly scheduled programming. {that is if I ever workout again}

sorry for the non-kenyan post.
I just wanted to hit my whole demographic.
it's for my sister, afterall.

saturday run

I went running last saturday morning. the temp was pretty cool and quite windy. I did five miles or so. I wish I would have written about it shortly after the run, because I'm having a hard time remembering much about it.

I still haven't gotten into a routine yet. next week, when camp is over, I'll finally have time to reclaim my workout self (along with my housewife self) and I can't wait.

5 miles

run + bike

I forgot to mention that I went running last tuesday. I took advantage of a storm that was trying to rear it's ugly head, so it was slightly cooler. (slightly.) it was while we were house sitting moxie, so I got to run in a new neighborhood. I think it was around three miles. and then later that evening I went and played in a pool with my mutual kids. that's not necessarily a workout per se, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway. we did play some killer marco polo. and we had a treading water contest. tough stuff.

yesterday pete and I went on a ride. I don't think I've really been on my bike since the triathlon (for an actual workout, that is). we were up in the oakley area at my grandpa's cabin and had some friends meet us up there. it was a fun 21'ish mile ride through the oakley/kamas valley. very scenic. I really do need to ride more often. it's just fun being in the saddle.

and I need to get back into the swimteam habit.

and the running.

{thank goodness for the olympics -- how inspiring and motivational!}

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

becoming

the cold is still lingering a little, but overall I am feeling much better. the swim was pretty good tonight and I even had the joy of leading the lane. my left shoulder has been bugging me a little bit lately when I swim. maybe I need to stretch it out more. maybe my stroke is a little wacky. who knows.

all I know is that I love being in the pool. I had the thought as I was doing my warmup today, that just being there is making me a better swimmer. a better athlete. even if I'm not becoming faster or even feeling good for that particular workout, I am becoming better. I am putting in the work. I think we all need a reminder every once in a while. just keep at it, even if you're not seeing significant gains right now. it's making you stronger. it's making you better.


warmup
8 X 50 kick
4 X 150 (3:30)
4 X 100 (2:20)
4 X 50 (1:20)
cooldown

the saturday afternoon swim a la mallory

mal called us up to go swimming today. it's probably a good thing she did, because I would have kept sitting on my butt if she hadn't. I'm still trying to get rid of this cold. I'm breathing better, but it's gotten a hold of my throat. I've been hacking up flem for the past two days. when I swam the backstroke it totally aggravated the throat and I started coughing uncontrollably. not to mention the headache. but despite all that I'm just glad I got out there and did something with myself. it's been far too long. {I think my last workout was tuesday's treadmill run} hopefully next week I can get back into the regular groove. though it's a weird holiday week--crap! anyway, here is what I remember of the worout:

warmup
4 X 75 (kick, drill, swim) (odds free, evens stroke)
300 (3, 5, 7 strokes per breath with each 50)
2 X 150 (each 25 IM order with freestyle thrown in between)
8 X 50 (1-4, 5-8 descending)