I'm sad to admit that on Tuesday my Inner Lazy won the battle.
I was sitting at home with my parents after having eaten a ridiculous amount of junk food over the weekend. My stomach was bloated out in front of me and I had the fatigue that comes from eating lots of high-fat food (maybe that's why "fatigue" is full of "fat"?...)
I looked at the clock in dread as it ticked on. My coach wasn't there this week - she'd given us the workout ahead of time. I convinced myself that I was too [lazy/tired/bloated/insert word here] to possibly exercise tonight, and sank my butt deeper into the couch. I promised myself that I would do the exercise another day.
As it happened, that day was today.
And no, I didn't do the exercise. I looked at the program prescribed and decided to do something...something different.
I am surprised to say that I actually miss the 1k+ reps I used to do on Tuesday mornings. Around the track our reps are mostly ~400-600m.
And I didn't really want to do all the pool drills on the list. I wanted to see exactly what it would mean for me to swim the 750m distance that I'll be swimming in the sprint tri.
So I started on the track with 5x 1k reps, which is 5 laps around the track. I allowed myself about a 6min recovery between reps, which I walked.
Rep 1: 4.55
Rep 2: 5.08
Rep 3: 5.18
Rep 4: 5.14
Rep 5: 5.12
Geez, I was all over the place! And I'm sad I couldn't keep to my sub-5min 1k reps that I have been doing the last 1-2 years. My mind said yes, but my body reminded me of all the garbage I'd been eating and warned me to slow down before my half-digested pre-exercise cookies came back up. I can't imagine the gym people would have been thrilled to see that happen, either.
Off to the pool, where I expected it would take me about 45min to complete 750m. Seriously, that's what I thought it would take. Maybe an hour, although I hoped it wouldn't be much more than that. I wanted to get a baseline feel for how long it took me to swim that distance, so I could mark improvement leading up to the race.
I was so exhausted after the track workout I very nearly skipped the pool. But my wonderful Dad who was doing his own training at the same time sweet-talked me into it. So into the pool I jumped, telling myself that if I felt terrible I would cut the workout short.
I didn't go very fast or very hard, and I took lots of breaks at each end of the pool, including breaks to chat with my Dad and exchange grimaces of exhaustion with the guy in the next lane.
Total time for 750m: 21.30min
Hmmm. It appears I'm a much faster swimmer in reality than I am in my mind. Now if only I could say that about my running!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Odd Ducks
In a theoretical world, I always thought a triathlon was in the wrong order. Why not start with the bike, then jump in the water to cool off, and end off with a nice run?
Now I understand why they start with the swim: there is a risk of drowning when exhaustion is reached!
I decided that I had babied myself enough, and it was time to crack down and get in a proper work-out! We were doing 2 laps (~400m+) of a hard run, followed by a 1 lap walk and then 2 laps at a moderate pace.
Previously my focus had been on form. This week I decided I could still focus on form...but I didn't have to take it easy on myself!
My primary focus was on my shoulders. I'm happy to say that my coach noticed a large improvement on my shoulders from last week. And when I periodically checked in on my cadence, I was still right on target. I think I'm getting more used to the shorter stride.
I went through about 5 sets of the work-out and maintained a steady 2.00min time for each of my "hard" 400m sprints. In fact, I was bang on 2.00 every time. Well, with the exception of the first time when I was 2.05.
Not having run lots of 400m in my life, I'm not sure if that would be a top speed for me, but it was a top speed for me on the night and I didn't fade, so it was satisfying.
Then I jumped into the pool.
Surprisingly, it wasn't a complete disaster. But I could definitely appreciate the importance of getting the swim finished with first. In the pool, we are divided into 3 lanes according to our levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced. I was rather surprised (and a little proud and a little skeptical) when I was moved into the "intermediate" lane. For whatever reason, I seem to be a natural at the odd little swimming drills we do. I guess it makes sense, since I'm good at odd little swimming.
Now I understand why they start with the swim: there is a risk of drowning when exhaustion is reached!
I decided that I had babied myself enough, and it was time to crack down and get in a proper work-out! We were doing 2 laps (~400m+) of a hard run, followed by a 1 lap walk and then 2 laps at a moderate pace.
Previously my focus had been on form. This week I decided I could still focus on form...but I didn't have to take it easy on myself!
My primary focus was on my shoulders. I'm happy to say that my coach noticed a large improvement on my shoulders from last week. And when I periodically checked in on my cadence, I was still right on target. I think I'm getting more used to the shorter stride.
I went through about 5 sets of the work-out and maintained a steady 2.00min time for each of my "hard" 400m sprints. In fact, I was bang on 2.00 every time. Well, with the exception of the first time when I was 2.05.
Not having run lots of 400m in my life, I'm not sure if that would be a top speed for me, but it was a top speed for me on the night and I didn't fade, so it was satisfying.
Then I jumped into the pool.
Surprisingly, it wasn't a complete disaster. But I could definitely appreciate the importance of getting the swim finished with first. In the pool, we are divided into 3 lanes according to our levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced. I was rather surprised (and a little proud and a little skeptical) when I was moved into the "intermediate" lane. For whatever reason, I seem to be a natural at the odd little swimming drills we do. I guess it makes sense, since I'm good at odd little swimming.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Smaller Stride but Still Swinging
Week 2 of tri training. I'm not used to training so late at night (8-10pm). Normally I'm training from 5.30-6.30am and my body has adapted appropriately. As such, I now have insomnia the night I train, since I'm so wired from the work-out. Great. I'm hoping I can readjust soon!
Last night I continued the focus of last week: cadence. As we did our pyramid reps (30sec, 1min, 2min, 3min and back down with a 1min recovery in between), I focussed on shortening my stride, landing mid-foot, and keeping my cadence nice and short.
Towards the end of the session, Coach Mary pointed out to me that my shoulders were swinging, I wasn't leaning forward enough, and a few other problems with my form...but hey, at least I had good cadence!
In my oh-so-short days as a ski racer, I had a fantastic coach who taught me something important: break down technique and focus individually on each area before looking at it as a whole. Therefore, every week he set me a goal in training and that would be my sole focus for that week. If my focus was on my hand position, everything else (e.g.: knees, hips, head, angles, etc) was all but ignored.
I have applied this idea to my running. So while I still don't have perfect form, I am happy that my cadence and foot stride is much improved.
Next time I'll focus on my shoulders, and with any luck it won't be long before my fitness and speed have built their way back up to where I'd like it to be.
...And as for the swimming part. Yikes! On the positive side, my swimming form is not as disastrous in reality as it is in my mind (the polar opposite to my running form!). On the negative side, while I now know I can swim 50m without stopping, I still can't fathom building that distance up to 750m without stopping. And don't even get me started on what I think of bicycling 20km, either.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Step 1: Cadence
I have no idea how to train for a triathlon. In the past 5 years I think I've swum about 10 laps in a pool, out of which maybe 4 of them were freestyle.
But I have a 750m swim coming up, and that terrifies me! The prospect of dog-paddling 750m in a triathlon is not appealing, so I guess I'd better learn how to swim properly.
I signed up for a triathlon group training on Tuesday nights. It was challenging to know where to start looking but I found one place that didn't seem so bad. They don't do cycling (yet), but I'll be doing a double hitter on Tuesday night of 1hour on the track followed by 1hour in the pool.
After so many weeks off, I was feeling weak and sluggish. I can't even blame it on the red blood cell count any more, no matter how much I'd like to!
Our group is small and intimate, and incredibly friendly. I like them already, even if they're all so much faster than me. We do a 1 hour indoor track workout followed by a 1 hour swim. There's no cycling work-out, so I guess that's one thing I'll have to figure out on my own. Maybe.
I know I can't run outside in winter in Calgary, but the track is barely a step above the hamster wheel. It's like a dog run. The only good thing is being able to people-watch.
After a few laps where I reacquainted myself with being unfit, I had An Idea.
There is just under 5 months until my first planned race of the year - a half marathon in June. What if, instead of focussing on getting speed and fitness back, I allowed myself to work solely on getting my running form perfect, and let the speed/fitness come as a result of that? As an added bonus, it gave me the excuse to take the session easy. Win-win!
So I spoke with Coach Mary, and she was all for it.
Focus of the day: cadence. My goal was to get my footsteps to 180 steps/minute. That's 90 steps/30sec. For ease of counting, I counted only one leg and multiplied by two.
Initially I started with a cadence of about 84 steps/30sec. That seems pretty close to 90 steps, sure. But if you add it to a minute I'm 12 steps slower, and then multiply that into a 5k race, that's a lot of difference!
Coach Mary suggested that to get my cadence up I would need to take shorter steps. "So short," she told me, "that it should feel almost ridiculous."
I'm good at ridiculous, so that's exactly what I did. I achieved a cadence of 180 steps/min, now it's just about maintaining that rhythm until my body memorizes how to do it all the time.
After the track I was off to the pool for a swim. The good news is, I'm not as awkward a swimmer as I thought I would be.
But I have a 750m swim coming up, and that terrifies me! The prospect of dog-paddling 750m in a triathlon is not appealing, so I guess I'd better learn how to swim properly.
I signed up for a triathlon group training on Tuesday nights. It was challenging to know where to start looking but I found one place that didn't seem so bad. They don't do cycling (yet), but I'll be doing a double hitter on Tuesday night of 1hour on the track followed by 1hour in the pool.
After so many weeks off, I was feeling weak and sluggish. I can't even blame it on the red blood cell count any more, no matter how much I'd like to!
Our group is small and intimate, and incredibly friendly. I like them already, even if they're all so much faster than me. We do a 1 hour indoor track workout followed by a 1 hour swim. There's no cycling work-out, so I guess that's one thing I'll have to figure out on my own. Maybe.
I know I can't run outside in winter in Calgary, but the track is barely a step above the hamster wheel. It's like a dog run. The only good thing is being able to people-watch.
I don't know about you, but I'm already bored just looking at this picture.
So I spoke with Coach Mary, and she was all for it.
Focus of the day: cadence. My goal was to get my footsteps to 180 steps/minute. That's 90 steps/30sec. For ease of counting, I counted only one leg and multiplied by two.
Initially I started with a cadence of about 84 steps/30sec. That seems pretty close to 90 steps, sure. But if you add it to a minute I'm 12 steps slower, and then multiply that into a 5k race, that's a lot of difference!
Coach Mary suggested that to get my cadence up I would need to take shorter steps. "So short," she told me, "that it should feel almost ridiculous."
I'm good at ridiculous, so that's exactly what I did. I achieved a cadence of 180 steps/min, now it's just about maintaining that rhythm until my body memorizes how to do it all the time.
After the track I was off to the pool for a swim. The good news is, I'm not as awkward a swimmer as I thought I would be.
Never Say Never
In High School I was not a runner. Friends have reminded me of conversations I had discussing the ridiculousness of running and how you would never catch me doing such a stupid sport.
I did join the cross-country team to get extra credit. Our coaches would have us do a 1k warm-up jog to a park near the school where we'd re-gather and stretch while they discussed the day's training plan.
I didn't run to the park; I staggered, hating it every step of the way. In the park, I would collapse on the ground in the starfish position and gasp for air like a dying fish, letting the coaches' talk wash over me like I was in a Charlie Brown tv show. Well after the talk was over and everyone else was off doing whatever the coach had told us to do, I would make up some excuse why I couldn't run that day, and slowly drag my beaten carcass back to school so I could grab my bag and go home.
About 6 years after that, I started running. Surprisingly, I kept running, and kept pushing myself to run more.
But unlike many of my other running friends, I resisted the urge to turn running into triathlons. Even after running for 5 years, the lure of triathlons never appealed to me.
"Ha!" I would tell my runner-turned-triathlete friend, "You'll never catch me doing a triathlon...unless it's for a relay, and then I'll only do the running part. I'm not a triathlete. I'm a runner."
My sister, however, does do triathlons. And she has succeeded where all others before her have failed: she's convinced me to sign up for a triathlon. Okay, a triathlon sprint. For those who know nothing about tri's, that equates to a 750m swim, 20k bike ride, and 5k run. All that effort, and I'm only running 5k? Oh, boy.
But on the brightside, we've made a deal. I'll let her drag me around my first triathlon course, and in return I'll be dragging her along for her first half marathon.
So I guess "never" doesn't mean "never" for me. Give me a good 5-6 years and I could very well come around to the idea. I've recently told an Ironman friend of mine (you know who you are!), "No, it doesn't appeal to me. Sure I'd like to do a marathon one day, but I'll never do an Ironman."
Ask me again in 5 years. You never know.
But for now, goodbye, off-season. Let the training begin!
I did join the cross-country team to get extra credit. Our coaches would have us do a 1k warm-up jog to a park near the school where we'd re-gather and stretch while they discussed the day's training plan.
I didn't run to the park; I staggered, hating it every step of the way. In the park, I would collapse on the ground in the starfish position and gasp for air like a dying fish, letting the coaches' talk wash over me like I was in a Charlie Brown tv show. Well after the talk was over and everyone else was off doing whatever the coach had told us to do, I would make up some excuse why I couldn't run that day, and slowly drag my beaten carcass back to school so I could grab my bag and go home.
About 6 years after that, I started running. Surprisingly, I kept running, and kept pushing myself to run more.
But unlike many of my other running friends, I resisted the urge to turn running into triathlons. Even after running for 5 years, the lure of triathlons never appealed to me.
"Ha!" I would tell my runner-turned-triathlete friend, "You'll never catch me doing a triathlon...unless it's for a relay, and then I'll only do the running part. I'm not a triathlete. I'm a runner."
My sister, however, does do triathlons. And she has succeeded where all others before her have failed: she's convinced me to sign up for a triathlon. Okay, a triathlon sprint. For those who know nothing about tri's, that equates to a 750m swim, 20k bike ride, and 5k run. All that effort, and I'm only running 5k? Oh, boy.
But on the brightside, we've made a deal. I'll let her drag me around my first triathlon course, and in return I'll be dragging her along for her first half marathon.
So I guess "never" doesn't mean "never" for me. Give me a good 5-6 years and I could very well come around to the idea. I've recently told an Ironman friend of mine (you know who you are!), "No, it doesn't appeal to me. Sure I'd like to do a marathon one day, but I'll never do an Ironman."
Ask me again in 5 years. You never know.
But for now, goodbye, off-season. Let the training begin!
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