This week's workouts - Back on the horse!

This week's workouts look like they're going to be tough. I need to get full force back on the wagon, and this is the week to do it. Rock on.


Monday
Day off

Tuesday
Track/Speed workout - 
wu with drills - pose drill (#4), exaggerated lunge, lean with hips; 4 x 200 (1/2 track); 2 x 400 (1 x track); 1 x 800 (2 x track); cool down
TNT
Spin

Wednesday
Swim - wu - 400 swim and drills; 10-15  x 75 m all out with 25 m active rest recovery; 300 cool down - pull, kick, non free

Thursday
Bike - wu 20 min.; 10 x 1 mile effort, rest 1 min. easy spin btwn.; Run - 20-30 min. off the bike
TNT

Friday
Run - 10k time trial (85-90%) record time

Saturday
Swim - 1000m at 85% of your 800 effort from last week

Sunday
Brick - Hills, hills, hills; Great training for all the triathlons coming up in the next few weeks. Bring along anyone else who wants to bike!! Make sure to bring bike and running equipment!

Dog Days Sprint Tri: Ashburn, VA

Pictures to come

Dog Days Sprint Tri Race Report

• Race Name: Dog Days Sprint Tri
• Race Date: August 7, 2011
• Race Location: Ashburn, VA
• Race Distance: Sprint  (400m swim,12 mi bike, 5k run)
• Division: F 30-34
• Total Time: 1:27:03
• Time Breakdown: Swim – 9:02, T1 – 3:09, Bike – 41:29, T2 – 1:53, Run – 31:32
• Age Group Placing: 13/32
• Overall Placing: 48/148 (women only)

Pre-race

Race registration was online only and was fine. The race was $85 originally. I got a discount for doing both of their races. The course maps were available online and at packet pick-up. Packet pick-up for this race was pretty good, annoying because you had to bring your bike & helmet to pick-up to be checked, so everyone’s standing around with their bikes & helmets trying to walk through the line to get their packets, again. Also, the first table, where they checked your id and USAT membership, they had divided into 2 lines, alphabetically… except, none of us knew that, again! You only figured it out once you got to the table. The swag was ok, t-shirt, water bottle, a fizz tablet, and a lot of paper.

The race was pretty well organized. There were plenty of volunteers and officers on the course, which was great. The bathrooms at the start/transition/finish were in the pool house, which seemed to be fine. There weren’t really any pre-race activities, which was fine.

The race was at the Broadlands pool. The transitions were long again, but I was prepared for that this time. The bike course was local roads and the run was on a neighborhood trail.

Race morning, I got up around 5:00, got dressed, ate breakfast, put everything in the car, and headed out. We got to the parking area at around 5:45. We started the walk to the transition area, got my timing chip, did body marking, and went into transition. I got in, set up my bike and all of the other stuff, and had plenty of time to relax. The weather was ok, mid 70s with a LOT of humidity. It made the race really difficult. There were about 300 people there, which turned out to be a nice size.

Swim

Today’s swim was a 400m snake swim in a 50m pool. The pool water felt great, especially since the humidity was making it feel a lot warmer than it was. Obviously, no wetsuits for this swim. I didn’t do the warm-up for this race, mostly because by the time I started, the warm-up would’ve worn off. I wore clear goggles for this race. I got passed by one person. I felt better coming out of the water this time. It was a long run into transition and I got reoriented pretty quickly.

I feel like the work I’ve been doing on my swimming has been paying off. Now to keep at it!

Bike

The course was a double loop, some hills course. They had the right lane closed to traffic, which was great. In the June race on the same course, I had a car pull out in front of me despite police direction. In this race, I had a car pull out in front of me AGAIN! And again, it was despite police direction. Thankfully I was paying attention and anticipated her idiocy. I was going 23 mph, slightly downhill, and would’ve t-boned her and ended up worse for the wear than her car. At least she pulled into the correct lane. I still have some hill work to do, but I’m getting more confident in my bike handling. The longer I spend on it, the more comfortable I get.

Run

This run was awful. Even coming out of T2, I felt like hell. It was so humid out, I couldn’t get my breathing to slow at all. I ended up walking one minute of each mile just to get my breath. I also felt like I was going to puke for at least the last 2 miles of the run. It was not a good run at all. Still need to do more BRICKs, but apparently, I need to start running in the middle of the day or in the afternoon, even when it’s nasty humid out.

Transitions

The transitions went pretty well. I managed to cut some time off of T1 from June. T2 went well – I remembered to throw the watch on as I’m running out of T2 instead of waiting for it to do its thing while I’m in transition. I also had both GPS units get the satellites before the race, so I think that helped. Next race, I may just throw on the swim watch and wear it for the entire race.

Post-Race

I felt like crap after the race. My entire body felt drained, and not in a good way.

As soon as I was finished the race, I was handed a bottle of water and declined the smoothie. I found the table of bananas and assorted carbs, grabbed a banana and came back later for a bagel. They were posting the results every 15 minutes or so, so that was nice. We left before the awards ceremony. The distances were all accurate. The race officials were fair; two DQs because they only did one loop on the bike course.

Official race results were posted that night. No word of when the race photos will be posted.

Summary and Lessons Learned

I had a really bad week the week before the race. All of my workouts felt like I was putting in so much more effort than I probably was, and I was just dragging. With the humidity, it just made that feeling worse. This is the first time that I could’ve DNF’d and been ok with it. I’m getting more confident on my bike, but there’s work to be done there too. All in due time.

Thursday TNT

Today, I did TNT and not really any of my cardio. Life's a bit crazy for the next couple of days, so I'm taking the time to "rest" before my next tri. I might regret it later, but I've just got too much else that has to be done at certain times that really interfer with working out. ARGH! Gotta get back on the horse - next week for sure!

Dragging to the Pool Wednesday

This week has been horrid as far as my body is concerned. Maybe TMI, but I hate "ikky week". My body just doesn't want to do it's normal thing and I feel like I'm dragging the entire time. Today was no different. Just getting out of bed was a feat.

I made it to the pool about 10 minutes late, did my warm up and then chilled out when M and H got there. L got there not too much later, and we proceeded to chat for about 20 minutes. I guess I wasn't really feeling it.

Workout was:
wu - 400 swim and drills; 20 x 50 yds. (1st 25 sec. rest 2nd 20sec. rest 3rd 15 sec. rest 4th 10 sec. rest. 5th 5 sec rest. Repeat rest in this order until finished); 4 x 50 pull 50 kick; cool down

I did:
wu - 200 swim and drills; 15 x 50 yds. (1st 25 sec. rest 2nd 20sec. rest 3rd 15 sec. rest 4th 10 sec. rest. 5th 5 sec rest. Repeat rest in this order until finished); 2 x 50 pull 50 kick

So, basically, I did half the workout. Not anything to be proud of.

Tuesday's all screwed up

I went to bed last night around 9:30, set my alarm for the 4:10 wake up, drug myself out of bed, got ready for my run, and then checked my email. I was the only person, other than my coach, that was going to be at track. REALLY?! Needless to say, I emailed my coach back and said "go back to bed". If she could do the run with me, I'd say "let's meet up", but she can't, so it's not really worth it. So... back into pajamas and into bed with me.

Went to the gym a little early to get in some of the intervals. I did about 5 of the 30 sec on, 30 sec off repeats and then went to TNT. TNT was good - T decided I look too comfortable doing squats and lunges without weight, so I got a "friend" (a 25 lb weight). After a good beating to my legs, I went to spin class.

D's been out on vacation, so we had a sub again. She was just ok. I don't think I'd ever willingly take her class again, but whatever.  It was a rushed 2.5 hrs of working out, that's for sure!

Sunday Ride & New Shoes

So, I was ubber lazy (and totally uninspired) to do Friday and Saturday's workouts. I sooooo need to get better about the runs. After this sprint, I've got goals to work on.

Today, we rode the course for next week's sprint. We did 3 loops (17.7 miles because we did the first one wrong) in 1:11:xx. On June 5, I did the course in 42 minutes, so my goal is to break 40 on Sunday. Clipping in faster would be a good help! Hopefully that won't be as much of an issue this time.

I knew I needed new running shoes, so I didn't do the run after the bike (it helped that no one else did it either). After I got home, we went out to run errands and I got new shoes. I didn't get the same ones as last time because they no longer carry them. So, I'm in Saucony Progrid Ride 3's now. We'll see how they do! The best part is that they're originally $95 and were on sale for $76. Not only that, but we were close enough to earning our $20 coupon that they went ahead and gave it to me. That's right, I got my running shoes for $56. Seriously?! I've never gotten off so cheaply! Now, to run in them.

This week's workouts

Here's this week's workouts. I have a race next Sunday - and can't wait to crush it!

Monday
Day off

Tuesday
Track/Speed workout - wu with drills - pose drill (#4), exaggerated lunge, lean with hips. Here is a link to a video describing pose. Scroll down on page to find it.
http://www.crossfitimpavidus.com/events-community/endurance-blog/?bib_page_offset=10
10 x 30 sec . on 30 sec. off; 5 x 1 min. on 1 min. off

Wednesday
Swim - wu - 400 swim and drills; 20 x 50 yds. (1st 25 sec. rest 2nd 20sec. rest 3rd 15 sec. rest 4th 10 sec. rest. 5th  5 sec rest. Repeat rest in this order until finished); 4 x 50 pull  50 kick; cool down

Thursday
Bike - wu 20 min.; 2-5 x 5k Time Trial with 5 min. easy spin btwn. Try and find a good stretch on the trail that you can go hard for the distance or simulate on trainer or spin bike; cd 20 min.
Run - 20-30 min. off the bike

Friday
Swim - wu 300-500 with swim and drills; 800  yd. time trial; cool down
Run - 3-6 miles

Saturday
day off (pre-race)

Sunday
Dog Days Sprint - 7 am. Come out and cheer for Mary and Heather.
Bike - (for those not racing) 2-3 hours

TNT Thursday

I didn't bike today. I really should've, but with how the week has been going, I just didn't feel like it. So, I did just my TNT workout today. I'm glad that I got my butt to the gym for it - it was much needed. I stayed for a bit and rolled out some of the tension in my legs, which was also much needed. Hopefully next week will be a bit better.

Wednesday Swim

This morning's workout was:

Swim - wu - 300 swim and drills;1 mile timed continuous swim; cool down.

I did:

Swim - wu - 200 swim and drills;1 mile timed continuous swim; 100 cool down.
Total: 1950yds

I did my mile continuous swim in 32:51.35!!!! A few weeks ago, we had a 35 minute swim and I did 1600m in 35 minutes, today, I did 1650yds in 32:51. I was so pleased with my swim. I feel like I'm slowly getting stronger in my swim. I made sure to swim wide and push my head down - it definitely helps! It makes me feel better to know that I'm able to do the swim for the international/olympic distance and have now done it more than once.

Tuesday Track/Speed, TNT, and Spin

Today's workout was this:

Track/Speed workout - wu with drills - pose drill (#4), exaggerated lunge, lean with hips. Here is a link to a video describing pose. Scroll down on page to find it.
http://www.crossfitimpavidus.com/events-community/endurance-blog/?bib_page_offset=10

3 x 1 mile repeats hold within 1-3 sec. of each. Rest 1-3 min. btwn each repeat.


Any time that Coach L is out of town (like this week), it seems that no one wants to do the track workout. T & I were the only ones to show up, so we didn't do this workout. Oops?! Instead, we did a 5 mile run. It felt great! The only bad thing about the run was that T told me that she's leaving the team after this week. It makes me a bit sad, but I totally understand.

I need to figure out how many miles are on my shoes. I think it's time to replace them. My left hamstring and calf are in pain after the runs and my right IT band is bothering me again. Grrrr. Ah well, a good reason to get shiny new running shoes!

Tonight, I did my TNT class. It was just ok. The workout itself was good, but it was just quiet... weird quiet. Ah well.

After TNT, I drug myself up to spin class. I really didn't want to, but I did it. D wasn't there, and her sub C loves standing climbs... which I hate. It's all good, I got the workout in, but I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as normal.

Today was a good/bad day, in general, but definitely in my workouts. Hopefully tomorrow's better

Monday Rest Day & Yoga

Today was a rest day. My shoulder's been bothering me so much lately, that I finally broke down and decided to do some shoulder specific yoga. You know, I felt a lot better after. I always feel better after yoga, I'm not sure why I don't do it more often. I need to start working it into my regular routine. Before bed, I laid on the heating pad for a while too. The combination seems to really help it.

This week's workouts

Here's this week's workouts: (I won't lie, I'm not looking forward to Tuesday's run)

Monday
Day off

Tuesday
Track/Speed workout - wu with drills - pose drill (#4), exaggerated lunge, lean with hips. Here is a link to a video describing pose. Scroll down on page to find it.
http://www.crossfitimpavidus.com/events-community/endurance-blog/?bib_page_offset=10

3 x 1 mile repeats hold within 1-3 sec. of each. Rest 1-3 min. btwn each repeat.

Wednesday
Swim - wu - 300 swim and drills;1 mile timed continuous swim; cool down.

Thursday
Bike - wu 20 min.; 10 x 2 min. hard 1 min. easy; cd 20 min.

Friday
Swim - wu; 6 x 200 yd. (15 -20 sec. rest btwn); cool down

Saturday
Run - 3-6 mile run

Sunday
Brick:
Sprint - 1.5 hour ride / 30 min. run
Olympic - 2 hour ride / 45 min. run
Half Ironman - 2 hour recovery ride

Long Ride

We went for a 30 mile bike ride this morning on the country roads of Southern VA. It was absolutely wonderful! Not too many hills, only about 5 cars, and 1 almost run in with a deer. I did learn that I can do about 20 miles on my bike without food - but anything after that is a struggle. Oops. Other than that, it was a good ride. We averaged 17-19 mph overall. Good pace.

Thursday Run

Today was a 5k time trial and TNT.

Workout:
Run - 5k time trial. Record time. This is race pace!

It's been so hot here that I had to do this on the treadmill. I would've preferred to be outside, but with the heat index being over 100, I decided to be safe instead. I ran before TNT, so I was up against a hard time cutoff. I managed to get in 2.77 miles (I was running late to the gym) in 21:46. I was thrilled with that time! It's faster than I've ever run continuously before!

TNT was good. There were only 2 of us. J (the other girl) had never been in a class of 2 before and didn't know what she was in for. I knew exactly what I was in for, and was prepared for it. I did forget how much running before class takes out of me though!

Still feeling strong though! How could I not?!

Wednesday's Swim

Today's swim was:

Swim - wu - 300 swim and drills; Drills - 1 arm drill, heads up drill, front to back drill; 8-10 x 100 yd. on either 2 min. /2:10/2:20 depending on your pace. You want to have a 15-20 sec. rest btwn.
Cool down - 200 non free (kicking, breast, back)

I did:

Swim - wu - 300 swim and drills; Drills - 1 arm drill, heads up drill, breathing drill; 10 x 100 yd. on either 2 min. /2:10/2:20 depending on your pace. You want to have a 15-20 sec. rest btwn.
Cool down - 100 non free (kicking, breast, back)

This morning's swim was good! T and Coach L watched my swim when I did my first 100. They suggested I make my stroke wider - apparently I was crossing my center line when entering the water. I had no idea! As soon as I did though, I felt so much more powerful. Crazy how that works.

Coach L was asking what my time for my first 100 was, and I told her it was 1:43. She was like "oh, that's good" and then realized what I said and was like "Heather, that's great!". We chatted a bit about how much I slow down throughout the set. My slowest is usually about 1:50, so that's good. I'm pretty happy with the improvements since March and DEFINITELY since January!

I'm feeling very strong this week. I like this feeling!