2/11/16

Bike Speedwork

I found out that I’ve been using the wrong gear so I’ve been doing this one gear more difficult than I needed to. I tried it one gear easier and I was able to do the RPMs at the highest part of the range. Now that I’m doing longer rides I was able to visualize how the trainer work would help me on the actual ride which helped it go by a little faster. The last five minutes are just regular road pacing – the interval work is all over and I really had to talk myself into not quitting and finishing out those last five minutes and, as usual, once it was done I was glad that I pushed all the way to the end.

2/12/16

Glorious Day Off

2/13/16

Long Walk/Run

I wasn’t as fast as I wanted to be but I am happy with our strategy of walking more than running and I feel like it’s something I can really work on now. I had a little left in the tank at the end, mostly I had trouble breathing, the fog was so thick that you couldn’t see the ocean from the sand and the more I walked the more my lungs felt really…heavy, but it was so beautiful it was worth it. Focus is also a major struggle, if my mind wanders from its constant chatter of “go, go faster, keep going faster” I can slow way down before I even realize it – at one point I looked at my watch and slowed down and I thought that I said “NO!” in my head but apparently I said it out loud and the dude beside said “Missed your time goal? I’ve been there!” It was pretty adorable. Focus is going to be an even bigger challenge during the IM when I’m exhausted and there is no music (WTF is that rule? It’s the worst!) I’me xpecting that this faster walking speed will become more natural, at which point I’ll push for an even faster speed!

2/14/16

Mixed Swim

This was an interesting workout, it included technique drills, a few laps of kickboard (not an efficient way to get around the pool, but since Total Immersion swimming does really utilize a flutter kick it was kind of fun to be able to kick with wild abandon,) and then a series of mid distance swims which were good. We’ve been really focusing on speedwork so it was nice to be able to get into a grove and do a bit longer distance.

2/15/16

Long Swim

It was really nice to do a sustained long swim and, heaven help me, I’m actually kind of looking forward to getting back into open water (except that – apparently because of El Nino – a super poisonous sea snake that’s not even supposed to live here washed up not that far from here, so every time I touch a piece of seaweed I’m going to be jumping out of my skin.) I had to take a couple quick breaks because my swim cap was falling off my head which is really irritating. So it’s time for a new swim cap and the search for a swim cap that will work for my head continues – it seems the problem is that my head is slightly too big for a junior sized cap, but too small for an adult sized cap. The swim went well though, and all that speed work seems to be paying off, I’m getting faster. I need all the extra time I can get for the marathon at the end!

2/16/15

Long Bike

Here’s what I posted to my Facebook when I got home: “Another long bike ride day – I’ve been up since before dawn, I’m soaked in sweat, I just found dead gnats dried to my face, and I want someone to sit me down and explain bike gears to me like I’m five years old, because the system makes no sense. (I’ve been listening to Andy Holgate’s “Can’t Swim, Can’t Bike, Can’t Run” and I heart him so hard for talking about how he never really understands gears.) But the month of momentum continues!!!!”

Annoyingly, my Garmin report is missing 8 minutes because I stopped my watched when I turned around and grabbed a drink at end of the first trail (it was a time-based ride and I wanted to make sure that I spent every minute in the saddle that I was supposed to) and then I forgot to turn it back on. Of course it was during the fastest part of the course (downhill + tailwind = my jam!) and the part where I decided not to check my watch and just go.

At some point I thought “hey, this thing hasn’t annoyed me by beeping in awhile” (it’s set to beep for time intervals, distance intervals, and I think sometimes just to irritate me) and then when I realized what was happening there was a bunch of swearing. There was one mile that took two full minutes longer than my goal time, and that was due to my coasting while trying to cough up the bits of endurance chew that I had just breathed in because it seemed safer than trying to stop. So eating on the bike is…still a challenge.

2/17/16

Short walk/run

This went really well. I decided to just go out as hard as I possibly could and… wherever she falls, there shall she be buried. I feel like I finally got my mojo back and I’m gaining speed and feeling more confident. Unfortunately I’m starting to have issues with blisters again. I got a couple of blisters during the long run/walk on Saturday and I tried the Compeed blister plasters during this walk and they were amazing – I’m wondering if I could just get them custom designed to cover my entire foot! I’m getting faster, slowly but surely.

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