Also, on the trip into The Bike Lane, Tony asked if I had looked into Team Z for training. I may look into them again. We'll see.
I skipped my run today, so I may do it Monday.
Here's this week's schedule:
Monday – Yoga or maybe a run
Tuesday – TNT/Short hill climbs (bike) (or spin class)
Wednesday – 1500m swim
Thursday – TNT/8x30 sec: 40 min total (run)
Friday – 1550m swim
Saturday – 55 min run
Sunday – 1 hr, 15 min bike + 10 min transition run
We shall see what this week brings!
Triathlete, Personal Trainer, Hypothyroid - working towards a healthier me!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
To get or not to get?!
So... after yesterday's bike ride, I decided to start looking into power meters. Trainer Road is all about virtual power, but I'm thinking that power will be a good thing to have in general. The research began...
Garmin Vector:
Price - $1500.
Pros- pedal based system. Super easy to switch between bikes. Would be able to work with the Garmin Edge 500.
Cons - Different pedal set than I have now. No firm release date. Not proven.
SRAM Quarq:
Price - $1795+
Pros - Proven system. Crank based. Can use whatever wheelset I want. Works with Garmin Edge 500 bike computer.
Cons - Would have to replace components on my road bike. Cost more than my road bike!
PowerTap:
Price: $1000+
Pros - Proven system. Works with Garmin Edge 500 bike computer.
Cons - Hub based, can't switch out wheels. Seems to be becoming a bit less popular, potential for less support in the long run.
Note: I have a Garmin Edge 500, so that was something I wanted to be sure to be able to use.
The only problem... it's expensive. Not super crazy, but it's enough that I really need to think about it. If I get it, I'll replace the crank with the Quarq immediately and not ever ride on the original. The only reason I'll be getting the WSD over the regular gender-neutral bike is that I'll likely need the XS frame size. Silly being short!
I also looked at getting tri shoes for this season. I'll ride my road bike with my road shoes, but races will definitely be in the tri shoes. Love these shoes. They special ordered a 37 and 37.5 (bike shoes are in European sizes) since the 38 was a bit too big.
Garmin Vector:
Price - $1500.
Pros- pedal based system. Super easy to switch between bikes. Would be able to work with the Garmin Edge 500.
Cons - Different pedal set than I have now. No firm release date. Not proven.
SRAM Quarq:
Price - $1795+
Pros - Proven system. Crank based. Can use whatever wheelset I want. Works with Garmin Edge 500 bike computer.
Cons - Would have to replace components on my road bike. Cost more than my road bike!
PowerTap:
Price: $1000+
Pros - Proven system. Works with Garmin Edge 500 bike computer.
Cons - Hub based, can't switch out wheels. Seems to be becoming a bit less popular, potential for less support in the long run.
Note: I have a Garmin Edge 500, so that was something I wanted to be sure to be able to use.
We went into The Bike Lane (our wonderful local bike store) to be schooled in the ways of the power meter. Tony, one of our favorite sales guys, suggested going with the Quarq. Jon and I have been debating my getting a tri bike. I really do want one, especially doing the longer distance tris. I've fallen in L-O-V-E with the Trek Speed Concept 7.8 WSD.
The only problem... it's expensive. Not super crazy, but it's enough that I really need to think about it. If I get it, I'll replace the crank with the Quarq immediately and not ever ride on the original. The only reason I'll be getting the WSD over the regular gender-neutral bike is that I'll likely need the XS frame size. Silly being short!
I also looked at getting tri shoes for this season. I'll ride my road bike with my road shoes, but races will definitely be in the tri shoes. Love these shoes. They special ordered a 37 and 37.5 (bike shoes are in European sizes) since the 38 was a bit too big.
The great thing about The Bike Lane is that they'll spend a good hour or two talking with you about things... the bad thing is that I can easily drop a good bit of money every time I go in there!
Saturday Spin - Sunday Technology
On Saturday, I did this crazy spin (another TrainerRoad workout) while watching a movie called Ride the Divide. Ride the Divide is a movie about an underground mountain bike race bearing the same name. It's a 2712 mile ride from Canada to the border of Mexico/US along the continental divide. It was absolutely ridiculous! It was basically 3 weeks long. Only 6 of the 19 who started finished. CRAZINESS! Apparently, over the life of the race (as of 2010), about 100 people have started the race and only about 40 have finished. That's a HARD race! It made me work harder, for sure.
That being said... when I finished the workout, it didn't save to the database! It did save locally, but not to the TR website. Nate, one of the founders of TR, helped me get the files and was able to extract it. I wish it were as easy as it sounds like it was... I had such a hard time finding the files. Being a newbie to the Mac platform, it was rough! I spent about 2 hrs total searching the web for information on how to find hidden folders. But, I did it, and I learned a few things along the way.
That being said... when I finished the workout, it didn't save to the database! It did save locally, but not to the TR website. Nate, one of the founders of TR, helped me get the files and was able to extract it. I wish it were as easy as it sounds like it was... I had such a hard time finding the files. Being a newbie to the Mac platform, it was rough! I spent about 2 hrs total searching the web for information on how to find hidden folders. But, I did it, and I learned a few things along the way.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Thursday/Friday
Thursday night, I was supposed to go to TNT and have my body fat done and also do a run. Unfortunately, I got stuck at a meeting in DC. I didn't get home until 7 minutes before the 2nd to last class, had a headache, and knew I'd just be off my game. I should've at least tried to get the run in, but I didn't.
This afternoon, I headed to the pool and got to do my fartleks and sprints. YAY! Good swim. Pretty uneventful today. :)
This weekend, I was thinking about heading out to the local trail and going for a ride for a bit and then going for a run. Unfortunately, it's supposed to rain pretty bad, so I don't think that's going to be in the cards. Another trainer ride and potentially treadmill run. Boo!
This afternoon, I headed to the pool and got to do my fartleks and sprints. YAY! Good swim. Pretty uneventful today. :)
This weekend, I was thinking about heading out to the local trail and going for a ride for a bit and then going for a run. Unfortunately, it's supposed to rain pretty bad, so I don't think that's going to be in the cards. Another trainer ride and potentially treadmill run. Boo!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Swim
I got my butt to the pool today. Once I got there, I walked into the pool and the Chinese swim lesson kids were taking up all 3 lanes. Nutso. They did move into their one assigned lane. I got in and did my workout. When I was almost done, someone else jumped in my lane with me, which was a bit weird considering there was no one in the 1st lane. Ah well... It was a good swim overall.
Last week’s update and this week’s schedule
Oh goodness, I really slacked off last week. Both with the blog and with my workouts! Apparently, I needed the mental break. As April 9 gets closer, I feel more pumped about starting my 70.3 training, but I also feel a slight need to take a mental break. Once April 9 gets here, I have 20 weeks of craziness ahead of me. I can do it, one week, one day, at a time.
Last week, I did my TNT/Spin class on Tuesday, swim on Wednesday, TNT on Thursday, and TNT run on Sunday. Spin class on Tuesday was a harsh reminder that I really should’ve gone more often this winter instead of being on my bike. I know I need time on my bike too, but I just don’t push myself like Dawn pushes me. I’ll be heading back to spin class more often now. I need to get my butt back in gear with my first tri coming up in less than 2 months!
The run on Sunday was HORRIBLE. Ok, I shouldn’t say that without an explanation. We did fartleks. Now, when I’ve done fartleks before, they’re generally shorter ones. We did 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400m runs with varied amounts of rest in between. Now, 1600m is a mile. I ran an 8:40ish mile, but it wasn’t pretty. I was kind of dehydrated from not being home and not having enough water the day before. Both of my calves had cramped up in the middle of the night (sure sign of dehydration) and I just couldn’t get enough water into myself before the run. Even though I was keeping a good pace, it was just a bad run because of the dehydration. I knew immediately what was causing it and was able to talk with our coach about it, but it still sucked.
Now… this week.
Monday – off
Tuesday – TNT/Spin
Wednesday – Swim (1400m – base intervals)
Thursday – TNT/Run (weigh in & body fat checks at TNT)
Friday – Swim (1400m – fartlek intervals)
Saturday – Bike (1 hr 15 min – depending on how I’m feeling, I might go for a short 10-15 min transition run after)
Sunday – Run (50 min)
I took Monday off… even though I had taken Thursday – Saturday off from my cardio exercises. Tuesday’s TNT and Spin combination was hard. It was pretty warm in the gym and by the end of spin, I was running out of steam. It’ll get easier as I do it more and more again, but wow!
That gets me all caught up. I’ll be swimming tonight. Looking forward to being in the pool!
Last week, I did my TNT/Spin class on Tuesday, swim on Wednesday, TNT on Thursday, and TNT run on Sunday. Spin class on Tuesday was a harsh reminder that I really should’ve gone more often this winter instead of being on my bike. I know I need time on my bike too, but I just don’t push myself like Dawn pushes me. I’ll be heading back to spin class more often now. I need to get my butt back in gear with my first tri coming up in less than 2 months!
The run on Sunday was HORRIBLE. Ok, I shouldn’t say that without an explanation. We did fartleks. Now, when I’ve done fartleks before, they’re generally shorter ones. We did 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400m runs with varied amounts of rest in between. Now, 1600m is a mile. I ran an 8:40ish mile, but it wasn’t pretty. I was kind of dehydrated from not being home and not having enough water the day before. Both of my calves had cramped up in the middle of the night (sure sign of dehydration) and I just couldn’t get enough water into myself before the run. Even though I was keeping a good pace, it was just a bad run because of the dehydration. I knew immediately what was causing it and was able to talk with our coach about it, but it still sucked.
Now… this week.
Monday – off
Tuesday – TNT/Spin
Wednesday – Swim (1400m – base intervals)
Thursday – TNT/Run (weigh in & body fat checks at TNT)
Friday – Swim (1400m – fartlek intervals)
Saturday – Bike (1 hr 15 min – depending on how I’m feeling, I might go for a short 10-15 min transition run after)
Sunday – Run (50 min)
I took Monday off… even though I had taken Thursday – Saturday off from my cardio exercises. Tuesday’s TNT and Spin combination was hard. It was pretty warm in the gym and by the end of spin, I was running out of steam. It’ll get easier as I do it more and more again, but wow!
That gets me all caught up. I’ll be swimming tonight. Looking forward to being in the pool!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Week 4 - Olympic Distance Plan
This week’s a lighter week. Have to get in my first transition run – nothing huge, just 10 minutes off the bike. Easy peasy! I’ll have to do that in the morning so that we can do the other stuff we wanted to do Saturday. I’m debating switching Thursday and Sunday’s runs, given that Sunday will be a track workout and Thursday is basically supposed to be my track workout.
On a side note, the weather’s been getting nicer, which has been awesome because it means more play time outside! YAY!
Here’s this week’s schedule:
Monday – Yoga
Tuesday – TNT/Short hill climbs (bike)
Wednesday – 1050m swim
Thursday – TNT/6x30 sec: 40 min total (run)
Friday – 1250m swim
Saturday – 1 hr bike + 10 min transition run
Sunday – 40 min run (TNT running – so will likely be a track workout)
On a side note, the weather’s been getting nicer, which has been awesome because it means more play time outside! YAY!
Here’s this week’s schedule:
Monday – Yoga
Tuesday – TNT/Short hill climbs (bike)
Wednesday – 1050m swim
Thursday – TNT/6x30 sec: 40 min total (run)
Friday – 1250m swim
Saturday – 1 hr bike + 10 min transition run
Sunday – 40 min run (TNT running – so will likely be a track workout)
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Saturday circuit run
Today's TNT run was an interesting one. We did a circuit workout - one lap around the track, bosu ball, ladder, stairs, 1/4 lap high knee skips, 1/8 track shuffle right, 1/8 track shuffle left, 1/4 track butt kicks, 1/8 track shuffle back, 1/8 track sprint, repeat. My hip flexors are on FIRE. We did 3 of those, then a different circuit - 2 ladders, bosu ball, step down lunges, and starters. Crazy.
Just a bike ride to go this week :)
Just a bike ride to go this week :)
Friday, March 9, 2012
Tuesday - Friday
Wow... I'm horrible at this blog to log my workouts thing. OK, here it goes for this week.
Tuesday - went to TNT and lifted. It went well. We had 14 people in our class, a few too many for my liking. The next class had 1 person. I was supposed to do an hour and 15 min on my bike after class. I ended up chatting with our assistant trainer for a bit and kind of ate into that time. I wasn't really feeling it... I need to get my butt back into spin class.
Wednesday - did my swim. It was a pretty good one. Occasionally, I feel like I really have it down, other times not so much. My shoulder was bothering me a bit during the swim, but I rolled it out later that night.
Thursday - I did a 45 min run before TNT and made a total rookie mistake. It's pretty much uphill out of my community and then downhill into the next community. There's a slight uphill through their community, and it changes back into a downhill. It was pretty windy out, but I decided it was just too nice to not run outside. Soooo... I ran 22:30 out and then 22:30 back (and retrace my footsteps). ROOKIE MISTAKE: I forgot to take into account the headwind I encountered while going uphill. Seriously, ran 1 min/mile slower on the way back. Not a big deal, but I had to cut about .25 mile off my run to get back to the gym on time. TNT was good, T's pushing me pretty hard right now.
Friday - had a good swim today. Did fartleks again. They feel weird to do in the pool, but I'm having fun with it.
Tuesday - went to TNT and lifted. It went well. We had 14 people in our class, a few too many for my liking. The next class had 1 person. I was supposed to do an hour and 15 min on my bike after class. I ended up chatting with our assistant trainer for a bit and kind of ate into that time. I wasn't really feeling it... I need to get my butt back into spin class.
Wednesday - did my swim. It was a pretty good one. Occasionally, I feel like I really have it down, other times not so much. My shoulder was bothering me a bit during the swim, but I rolled it out later that night.
Thursday - I did a 45 min run before TNT and made a total rookie mistake. It's pretty much uphill out of my community and then downhill into the next community. There's a slight uphill through their community, and it changes back into a downhill. It was pretty windy out, but I decided it was just too nice to not run outside. Soooo... I ran 22:30 out and then 22:30 back (and retrace my footsteps). ROOKIE MISTAKE: I forgot to take into account the headwind I encountered while going uphill. Seriously, ran 1 min/mile slower on the way back. Not a big deal, but I had to cut about .25 mile off my run to get back to the gym on time. TNT was good, T's pushing me pretty hard right now.
Friday - had a good swim today. Did fartleks again. They feel weird to do in the pool, but I'm having fun with it.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Ahhhh Monday
Today was definitely a Monday. Sigh. It's ok, it'll get better as we get closer to Friday. One day, one moment, at a time.
After yesterday's hill workout (and the craptastic day I had), I decided some yoga was in order. I did the " Spinervals Flexible Warrior 5.0 - Foam Roll Stretch & Recover" DVD. It's a great combination of yoga and foam rolling. My back and legs always feel better after it. In fact, my back's been cracking since I did it! There was obviously some tension being held in there. I really need to make this part of my normal routine.
After yesterday's hill workout (and the craptastic day I had), I decided some yoga was in order. I did the " Spinervals Flexible Warrior 5.0 - Foam Roll Stretch & Recover" DVD. It's a great combination of yoga and foam rolling. My back and legs always feel better after it. In fact, my back's been cracking since I did it! There was obviously some tension being held in there. I really need to make this part of my normal routine.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Week 3 Olympic Distance Plan
I'm hoping to get through this week having completed all of the following workouts:
Tuesday - 1 hr 15 min cycle
Wednesday - 1300m swim (base intervals)
Thursday - 40 min run
Friday - 1550m swim (fartlek intervals)
Saturday - 1 hr 15 min cycle
Sunday - 45 min run
We don't have a TNT Running workout next weekend, so I'll be on my own - which is probably better so that I can actually get both foundation runs in. I really need to get my butt increasing that time if I have any prayer of getting to 10 miles by April 14.
Tuesday - 1 hr 15 min cycle
Wednesday - 1300m swim (base intervals)
Thursday - 40 min run
Friday - 1550m swim (fartlek intervals)
Saturday - 1 hr 15 min cycle
Sunday - 45 min run
We don't have a TNT Running workout next weekend, so I'll be on my own - which is probably better so that I can actually get both foundation runs in. I really need to get my butt increasing that time if I have any prayer of getting to 10 miles by April 14.
Saturday & Sunday
Saturday - I skipped today's cycle & transition run. Again, I know I shouldn't... but I did. I didn't even have an excuse to skip it other than "I don't wanna".
Sunday - I had a hill workout with the ladies of TNT Running today. It was great! It was a good 20 seconds up the hill, back down, then strides, then back up and repeat. There was some rest time built in too. It felt great to do hills again. It's been too long!
After my run, I decided to try my first green smoothie. I put in almond milk, spinach, strawberries, and bananas. It was really good. Tasted more like bananas than anything else. I think I'll use the pineapple, strawberry, mango mix in my next one.
Sunday - I had a hill workout with the ladies of TNT Running today. It was great! It was a good 20 seconds up the hill, back down, then strides, then back up and repeat. There was some rest time built in too. It felt great to do hills again. It's been too long!
After my run, I decided to try my first green smoothie. I put in almond milk, spinach, strawberries, and bananas. It was really good. Tasted more like bananas than anything else. I think I'll use the pineapple, strawberry, mango mix in my next one.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Thursday & Friday
Thursday - J came home from his work conference, so I decided not to run. I should've, and I know I should've. It was a beautiful (and perfect!) day out, but sometimes I just don't want to deal with sweat. Sometimes, it's nice to be a "normal" person.
Friday - I had another swim today. This one didn't go quite as smoothly as the one on Wednesday. I'm trying to make myself breathe every 4 strokes instead of every 2. It'll take some time. Also, I was doing farleks in the pool... which is HARD! It was the first time I've done that really. Good swim overall, but hard. The hot tub after was well earned!
Friday - I had another swim today. This one didn't go quite as smoothly as the one on Wednesday. I'm trying to make myself breathe every 4 strokes instead of every 2. It'll take some time. Also, I was doing farleks in the pool... which is HARD! It was the first time I've done that really. Good swim overall, but hard. The hot tub after was well earned!
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