Today was supposed to be a 1:10 run, but I opted to the 1:30 cross training workout I missed on Friday, which I really think was a good choice. My 20 minutes on the rowing machine were significantly easier than the erg workouts I was doing over summer break, which was great to see. Then came 20 minutes on the stair stepping machine, which I actually really like, though I kept fearing I was going to trip and fall down and die. After that, I transitioned to the elliptical machine for 20 mins, then 30 mins of weights. All in all, an excellent workout.
I traveled back to Portland, OR early this morning in order to see my family and watch my sister, a very talented athlete in her own right, play volleyball. Happily, her team whupped up on the other guys, so I got to see her victory in addition to my mad frequent flyer miles.
Of course, when you’re seriously pursuing an endurance event and traveling, finding a location to work out becomes a top priority. After seeing my sister play on Saturday night, I promptly printed out a 7 day pass to 24-hour fitness and head on over there at 10 pm or so. I have to say that going to the gym at 10 pm felt a little strange – even for me – but I’m really realizing that this year is going to be all about breaking down mental barriers. That’s really the mantra for the year, and part of that means re-evaluating what I, or others, consider “normal” when it comes to time devoted to training, sacrifices made for training, and money spent on equipment. Going to the gym at 10 was just what needed to be done.
Anyways, I did a 34 mile ride. As I’m sure other cyclists can attest, riding on a gym bike is not anywhere close to riding on your own (fitted) bicycle. My knees were sore at the end of it, and I blame it on the machine. I consciously focused on lowering my intensity in order to keep my knees from hurting – my second goal for Lake Placid this year is to train without injury. I finished the workout in about two hours, and finished up with some stretches. I noticed significant increases in flexibility from the week of continuous exercise.
I was stymied in my efforts to get in a double today, however. Ideally my bike would have followed an hour swim, but I’ll accept the compromise in training, as I am home and need to take advantage of that opportunity. Next week will bring greater flexibility in scheduling and I should be able to take on the full training schedule.
Today was supposed to be a daily double, but I only got through one of the workouts. I did 1800 meters in the pool at 6:30 in the morning. It’s taking me about 45 minutes to get through it, thanks to the slow warm up and the drills – I’m looking to surpass my 30 minute mile from my last tri.
I’m really struggling to find a way to incorporate the cross training workouts that I’m supposed to do on Friday into my schedule. I would love to do them at a gym, but I don’t belong to a gym, and probably won’t – all the training and equipment is about as much expense as I can handle.
Today was a challenging day simply in terms of energy levels. I got up at 4:30 to ride to central park and practice with my team. We started at 5:30, and it was purely a drills workout. We did straight line riding, pack riding, riding in circles (literally, to practice leaning vs. steering with the handlebars) obstacle courses, and more. We finally did the pack riding at the end, but I had to peel off early in order to book it back to my apartment and get ready for a meeting with the rest of my Fellows class at 7:45. Fortunately, I got about 30 minutes of solid hard riding to and from the park. Of course, at this point, that matters much less than getting technique and form down.
I got up at 5:30 for an early swim. I logged 1800 meters, and felt great. My main set was 100 kicking and 100 freestyle. I had never done that much kicking before in a set, and although it irritated my left hip at first, I ended up feeling great. When I got out of the pool, I felt pumped, full of life and energy.
Today was a surprisingly difficult workout. I got up at 5:30, stretched and ate something, and was out the door right at 6. I did 4×10 min OAB, with 5 minutes of alternating squats and lunges – one minute squats, one minute lunges, etc. OAB means “out and back.” A ten minute OAB means you run out for five minutes, and then run back in for five minutes. The idea is to develop your sense of pacing, so that without mile markers, or any kind of monitor, you are able to judge how fast you are going, and your level of exertion. Clearly this is important when you are running long distances.
I did about 4 miles at a really slow pace, and it felt pretty good. I was very sore by the end of the day, however. Surprisingly so.
Later that night I did a thirty minute block of calisthenics: pushups, situps and pullups.
Well, today marks the official beginning of my workouts with TriLife, the NYC based triathlon training team. So far (one day) the experience has been regimented, clear, and promises to be extremely grueling and exciting. We have our first training camp in New Paltz at the end of October, which should be a lot of fun, but it looks like there will be no trick or treating this year.
Mondays are always active recovery days, which means 30 minutes of doing Yoga, Pilates, Core Strength or “weak link” drills. The latter refers to drilling things that you are particularly weak on, such as extension or trunk rotation in your swim stroke, running cadence, or weak leg spinning drills on your bike.
I’ve opted for thirty minutes of calisthenics: 100 pushups, 18 pullups, 100 situps, and 30 isometric single-leg squats.
This is a really fascinating article that was posted in the times about body types and athletics, which breaks down how physics and body mechanics factors into excellence in certain sports.
Did a bike ride before work this morning. Nothing, really, nothing beats getting outside when the day is young and the air is fresh, and the sun is rising.
Bike
Distance: 10 miles
Time: 45 minutes
They finally finished the bleeding reconstruction work at riverbank. So I went for a swim. It wasn’t too intense. I just swam for technique and time, not for speed. It’s going to take me some time to get back into full swim shape.
Time: 40 mins
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