Training 11/30

Swim: 1:30
Bike: 1:30
Strength: 45
Run: 20
TKD: 60

Training 11/29/06

I'm going to try to record my workouts for at least a week. It's not very interesting but is an indicator of the training I am doing and whether it is effective or if I'm just burning calories.

AM: Run 7 miles
Afternoon: Swim lesson with Laurie Kilbourn
PM: Run/Swim Clinic with Eric Roche

The Importance of Rest

Today it hit me how important rest is when training. I am well rested today for the first time in probably many weeks as I have averaged about 17 - 21 hours of training for the past two or so months. It has become such a routine for me that it is hard to not train sometimes. When I take a day off I feel like I'm being lazy.

Because my family was in town for Thanksgiving I didn't have my usual routine to fall back on because my schedule was interupted with other priorities (like spending time with my niece and nephew!) :) So Thursday I did a longer run (75 minutes) and Saturday I did a "run" with my niece and nephew on their bikes and then pulled them to OMSI in the buggie. Friday and Sunday were busy but no "training". Monday it was icy so I did ride and I was too tired from not being able to sleep that I couldn't motivate myself to get to the gym to run. (Plus I didn't want to walk in the cold.)

Today I swam, ran and lifted. Tonight I go to TKD. I felt great swimming. I felt like the quality was much higher than it usually is. Same with my run and strength training session. I ran faster than I have in awhile with little effort. My swim this morning felt good. I felt smooth and it wasn't a struggle to maintain form.

So maybe I need to rest more and train less.... I don't think I put myself into a peaking scenario I just think that I typically go into a training session tired. That is the norm for me. I rarely feel like I have fresh legs. I rarely go out and don't have something that hurts me from the previous days workouts.

I think I need to find a balance. Not sure what that looks like at this point but I have time right now to experiment with it. The focus is to build fitness not maintain fitness and that is what I feel like I'm doing right now and that I am on the verge of potential injury.

Swimming

Last night I swam and worked on the drills Laurie gave me. I was a bit frustrated because I wasn't feeling that feeling that I was doing it right.... the whoosh!

But this morning during workout I definitely felt it. I focused on extending my arm straight out in front and not over extending. I am definitely stronger on one side than the other. I breathe much more smoothly on my left side than my right which I think is ironic.

I was able to cut my strokes down to 15 strokes per length with this technique while keeping a good rhythm. This definitely keeps me on my side more whereas over-extending keeps me more on my stomach.

Power Cranks

I saw this today while riding in this morning. Very interesting concept. The guy I talked to certainly seemed to have mastered the pedal stroke.

He was using something called power cranks. I noticed it at a stop light where he had both feet on the pedals but they were both at the bottom of the stroke. So I pulled up along side him and talked to him about it.

He said the first time he used them he was exhausted after 30 minutes of riding.

The concept is that each legs works inpendently of the other. They can work at whatever angle you want so you are always doing single legged drills.

Power Cranks

Swimming Lessons

Yesterday I had my first swimming lesson with Laurie. It was great. I really think that the best training device in swimming is a coach and I have swam without a coach for SO long that I am sure I could use a trained set of eyes watching me.

So Cate and I went for our swimming lesson. It was interesting because Cate and I are definitely in two different places in regards to swimming but no worries Laurie handled it beautifully.

I got several drills that I will try to explain accurately to work on my body position. The biggest thing for me to get my hips up more, which means looking down more and not bob my head all over the place. The other thing that really helped is she kept focusing on a "solid core" and engaging my abdominal muscles.

Drills:
Kicking on side in sweet spot with abs engaged
1 stroke switch alternating sides in sweet spot keeping eyes focused downward and not lifting head. Focus on keeping head in alignment with rest of body.
3 stroke switch alternating sides in sweet spot. Keep eyes focused downward and not lifting head. Keep head in alignment with rest of body.
Hand position: Keep lead hand out front until you engaged your abs to roll to the other side. It is a whoosh, whoosh feeling.

Then today at practice I did these drills alot. They are exhausting. It was not an easy workout. But by the end of the workout I felt like my hips were lifted up higher (except when I got tired) and that I was extending well but not over extending my front hand and that I wasn't pulling too soon and pressing down in order to lift my head. I didn't count my strokes but I would guess that they were way down.

I could definitely feel how much less drag this caused but it was tiring. I am guessing my endurance will increase over time.

Aqua Bike

Today was truly and Aqua-Bike day! I needed a paddle occasionally to get through some of the puddles! I should have just slapped some Chami-Butter on my tush and called it good! Clothes were optional today.

I went to the Indigo Girls concert last night. Boy! They sure make me feel good. There's something about the fact that Cate and I got together at the same time we discovered the Indigo Girls. It's as if we have grown up with them.

It's interesting looking back at that time and seeing the path I took to get to where I am today. It's kind of nice to look back and not feel regret about the choices I have made in my life.

So here's the thought for today.... Does commuting count toward training?

Too much sugar or PMS???

Geez!!!! Yesterday was rough! I don't know if I had too much refined sugar or if I am just PMSing!

By the end of yesterday everything was a personal attack. The fact that TKD was cancelled had me in tears.

I did eat more sugar than usual yesterday as it was Halloween and it was around me all day long. That may have had something to do with it. Or maybe I'm just getting around my period. Who knows! But crying out loud. Give me a break.

So today I have armored myself with a different attitude. At least I'm trying. I'm putting a positive spin on everything. So we'll see how that works. Change your mindset and you'll change your mood right?