Good Day Sunshine

[The Beatles]

Taking a phrase from my mother-in-law, "I prayed to my angels." So I didn't really. But, I did send my wishes somewhere. I imagine they just floated around in the air (or the web) and luck grabbed them. But, whatever happened to them...they came true. And today I got:

SUNSHINE

I'd say it was just in the knick of time. As I described yesterday, I was due for some swim training the next few days and I really enjoy it so much more outside. It makes me feel like I am enjoying summer rather than just putting my face in the water and grinding out some exercise.

I soaked up some rays. Yes.  But, I also got in a hard workout today. I searched the web for some freestyle-centric swim workouts and found the following (with a few edits):

4x	300 - Warm Up
	100 - Pull Easy 4x25 on 15 sec. 100 - Pull Easy  4x25 on 15 sec. 100 - Pull Easy  4x25 on 15 sec. 100 - Pull Easy  2x50 - All Out
3x	25 - Sidekicks 25 - Fists 25 - Fast Kicks
	200 - Kicks
4x	100 - Swim
	200 - Cool Down

I was worried taking a week off from swimming was going to be damaging, but I was strong and loved every minute of the hour and twenty in the water. This was a fun workout, still it pushed me into some uncomfortable zones. The only downfall was for some reason I think I drank half the pool. I am feeling sloshy. It happens.  Or so I am telling myself.

OH...can someone answer me this...Why does water up the nose sting so bad? 

*Made a couple adjustments, but most of the workout is credited to: http://ruthkazez.com/SwimWorkouts/SwimWorkout49.html

Flipside

[The Breeders]

It hit me this morning that I left my shampoo and conditioner in the locker room at the gym last night. Blasted!

OH. Well.

How can I be upset [really] when we had such a good workout.

I mean, I swam 75m consecutively. 6 times!

Okay, swimmers, I give you permission to get in a good laugh.

Let us know when you get back to us...waiting...waiting...

I know it's not a great feat, but for me, it's a big, BIG improvement. In the words of Bob [aka- Bill Murray], "Baby steps."

Since we had to skip Master's swim this week to attend a nutrition clinic tonight we had to come up with our own swim workout.

As I looked online for recommendations, it occurred to me that I need to approach this in the same fashion that I approached running.

When I first set out to run a 5k back in 2002, I was completely clueless on how to get to running a 3.1 mile distance. To get there, I started to play games with myself. I'd tell myself that I had to run 1 mile this week, then 1.25 miles next week, and build up from there.

Swimming is the same way. But, why do I feel like I need to go 1500m consecutively today? I don't. I just need to get there by July 28th.

With that in mind, we decided to do ladders; which would help us keep up with our increase to 50m swim and push to a 75m swim. Baby steps.

Here's how it went:

6x	25 50 75 }all slow 50 25
	In between each of the above sets,  do one of the following drills: 1x25: side kick drill 1x25: freestyle with a float* 1x25: underwater 1x25: kicks

After the first 75m lap, I felt incredible. I did it! Of course, of the 6 sets, I had some rounds that were better than others, but overall, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. And in the end, I built up more confidence that I will get to race day prepared and ready to compete.

Now if only this half-marathon would be over so I can hit the pool more and improve faster.

*We made up the drill "freestyle with a float". This is how sad we are....this drill is to help train a resting period into an open water swim. You start with a freestyle swim and then half way through the pool you'd turn onto your back to float. During the float you would gather your breath and relax your muscles. Then once you felt recovered enough to continue then you'd turn back around to finish out the lap in freestyle. We figured this is a good talent drill stroke move trick maneuver gimmick to have in our back pocket in the case we run out of energy during the swim and need to take a break. Sad, right? But, the goal of this race, "Don't die". And I am ---not joking--- that really is my goal. If I need to float, I'll float, okay?

What tricks/games do you play to reach your goals?

Rolling in the Deep

[Adele]

1x	100 - Warm-up
10x's	50 - Easy 50 - Drill
4x's	50 - Kicks 50 - Slow 50 - Build
4x's	25 - Underwater 25 - Easy 25 - Overkicks 25 - Easy

This was the Master's Class workout last night. And we killed it!

Okay, that might be an exaggeration...

We did well.

1600m again this week. This time in 1 hour 5 min, rather than 1 hour 10 min. [Cheers!]

We tried to move up from taking breaks every 25m to every 50m. It was tough and I was exhausted by the  end. Yet, SOOOoooo rewarding to know that I did it.

You've got to get uncomfortable. That's when you improve. And I am spending a lot of time being uncomfortable right now.

----------

PS - Got a great swim tutorial site for you to check out...Goswim.tv. Check it out here. This tutorial is similar to the drills we did last night. Still learning how to roll into a swim. I'll get there.



Where do you go online to learn new fitness routines? techniques?

Week #12 in Review

This last week was pretty sweet. 

I fit in 7 workouts, which is 1 workout more than I typically do in a week. I was able to do a X-stretch session on Monday, which is what I believe to be one of the factors that has prevented injury in the past. It felt great to give some time to this.

During my swim class, we had a sub (Coach A's lil' bro) who gave me a sweet tip about how to improve my kick "in stretch" (on the back). Previously, I was tucking my chin, creating drag. As soon as I lengthened my neck I found myself CRUISING along the pool. It was awesome. [I'm almost ready to learn the backstroke...gulp!]

Also, did you know that washing your goggles in baby shampoo prevents fogging? I didn't. But I do now. Master's Swim = the best thing! Learned that from a fellow Master swimmer after complaining about my goggles being fogged up. She loaned me some baby shampoo and my goggles were crystal clear for the remainder of the swim.

Plus, I logged 1600m, surpassing my race distance. Now I just need to reduce my breaks to zero.

I had a really difficult cycling class. At one point, I totally had to give myself a cheesy self pep-talk in my head. But I got through that final push and felt awesome for giving it my all and completing the interval. It's times like that which help you get stronger and help you remember you can do more than you think you can.

On Saturday, we put in our 10 mile run [for which I paused my watch at a street light and forgot to restart for 3/4 of a mile...bummer]. But the run was great and I tried out some new fuel. I am so sick of GU blocks and sports beans. So I tried a Stinger Bee Waffle. Kind of nuts to be eating a waffle during a run, but it was such a nice change and actually yummy.

Then post long-run, Krick and I attended a Triathlon fair at the local Rec Center. The main purpose of attending was to join the triathlon training club, Triology.

 

We got tons of swag and some awesome suggestions. It was so worth it. Plus, I am excited to have a group of people to train with [and learn from].

Then when I was logging my runs for the week, I saw that I surprisingly beat my 10k Nike+ time by a whole minute! 

Previous records

New records

So here it is, the weekly log:

Monday
3 m run with hill intervals
Weight training: Tri Circuit
1 hour P90X X-Stretch Session

Tuesday
1 Hour Cycling Class

Wednesday
5.5 mile pace run outside

Thursday
1 Hour Master Swim Class

Saturday
10 mile run outside

Sunday
3 mile recovery run
Weight training: Arms

And a million words later....

This is what happens when I don't post for a week.

So my question for today: What is your favorite endurance fuel?

Hold It In

[Jukebox the Ghost]

Did you see this?

Seriously, did you catch that?

Yep, Krick and I donned our swimcaps, googles, and athletic swimwear on Thursday night for a Master's swim class.

Let me tell you...we looked SEXY! Krick wanted to take a pic. I told her no way in hell.

This is going to be an adventure.

First off, I've NEVER worn a swim cap. EVER.

The directions were to wet your hair prior to putting on the swim cap. I did. Krick did not. She had a much easier time putting on the cap. It took me twice as long. Dork [pointing to myself].

And to add to things, I've never been this nervous for a class. I was sick about it all day.

7 o'clock came. We were in the pool, anxiously ready to get this behind us. [Note: we weren't warming up like the other, we just stood in the shallow end...afraid to waste ANY energy before the actual workout]

This cute 20 something that plays polo at the U was our instructor. We seriously put her to work. I hope she doesn't quit her job.

She drew up on a white board our workout:

1x	10x50's - Odd: Slow; Even: Drills
2x's	1x100 - Build 3x75 - Kicks 2x50 - Drills 1x25 - Fast
2x's	1x50 - Slow 1x50 - Build 1x50 - Fast

1st question:

What does that stuff mean?

2nd question:

Huh?

Ya....not off to a good start.

But, nonetheless we swam. And swam. And swam. But never continuously. It was a 'always a stop and p-a-n-t at each side of the pool' kind of swim.

We have totally have our work cut out for us.

I learned a ton, not so much about swimming, but about MY swimming form. It was THE benefit of this class. To have someone looking after you, giving you instruction on what you need to correct. Which was...for me...a ton!

But I felt by the end of the class I had already made improvements.

For my notes, these are the things I am working on:

• Keep my head down looking at the bottom of the pool, so that the water is hitting the top of my head, not my forehead.
• Use my knees less. I guess this a typical runner's flaw. I need to point my toes and use my hips to kick. (Think of my legs as a stiff, but fluid plank of wood...weird analogy, but works)
• Keep my shoulders and hips aligned; twisting my hips and shoulders at the time.
• Have one ear in the water when I take a breath.
• Breathe only on the third stroke. This prevents shorting your stroke on one side.
• Take my hips up to level with the surface of the water. To do this, kick more.

My biggest struggle is getting in enough air [without a mouth full of water] with every breath. My muscles could have kept going.

But, the best worst part of the class. The instructor asking (in fear) if our triathlon was in open water.

We ended up swimming 1300 meters (52 laps of a 25 meter pool). Our race is 1500 meters.

Should I be concerned?

Nah. [Not yet]

You have to start somewhere...and I've now got the first class behind me.

Burnin' Up

[Jonas Brothers]

I am a treadmill runner 3 out of 4 runs a week. I enjoy running outside, but the treadmill has a lot of perks I usually can't pass up:

1. It is more convenient for me.
2. You can keep your exercise routine even on snowy days.
3. You don't get honked at, whistled at, or cat-called.
4. Or have run ins with ferocious dogs [but, then again, EVERY dog is ferocious in my eyes].
5. You can track your stats more accurately.
6. You can work on your form.
7. You can control the speed and incline.
  
As I've been reading this book, I've been made more aware of making every minute of my workouts count towards my goals and not wasting energy on just getting in the 'time spent at the gym'.

Sometimes the treadmill can be an easy place to throw out a consistent, droning workout. But, let's not get into these ruts.

I've mentioned this before, but running on a treadmill at 0% is like running down hill. So, the first change you need to make, if you haven't already done so, is to increase your incline to 1-1.5% grade to simulate the experience you get running outside. (For more information on why this is necessary read this awesome article.)

Beyond this, keep your intensity up by changing up your running routine. You can do this by doing speed work, such as interval training and fartleks, hill repeats, changing volume and speed, or mimicking an outside run with rolling hills...Try to change up your routine at a minimum every two weeks.

This week, I've been working on my hill training. My next race has pretty much ZERO incline. So why am I training hills? Because hill work can actually build your muscles more than any strength training exercise.

I did this workout last night and it kicked my butt, but I felt awesome afterwards.  I'd like to challenge you to give it a try.

Workout: The Pyramid
Warm-Up

Set 1: steady pace 1 minute each @ 4, 5 and 6 percent incline
2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog

Set 2: steady pace 1 minute each @ 5, 6 and 7 percent incline
2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog

Set 3: steady pace 1 minute each @ 6, 7 and 8 percent incline
2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog

Set 4: steady pace 1 minute each @ 7, 6 and 5 percent incline
2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog

Set 5: steady pace 1 minute each @ 6, 5 and 4 percent incline
2-3 minutes recovery @ flat jog

Cool-down
(Source for 'The Pyramid' workout was found here.)

Are you crazy like me and like running on a treadmill? Or do you dread it?