Sunday, June 21, 2009

End of Week 1 Training, including the workout from hell

Saturday – Mini Triathlon: Biking, I biked from my house to IM West. It took 30 minutes, but that included a sweet digger when I stopped at an intersection. I unclipped my left food, but for some reason lost my balance and leaned to the right. My right foot was still clipped and that = wipeout. Swimming, Went over TI drills from lesson 1 & 2 and then learned the new drills from lesson 3. Swam for about 45 minutes. I liked the new drills. I have to remember to not rely on kicking so much and use more of my hips and arms. Biking, Biked from IM West to Mark’s. 5 mile run, Most miserable run of my entire life. I was dead tired before the whole thing even got started. I’m chalking it up to not eating any carbs Friday night. I was tracking my nutrition on Gyminee and had already filled my carb quota for the day, however, I forgot to factor in that I was planning on doing a mini tri on Saturday. Needless to say, I had one gel during the run, about a quarter of the way though, and proceeded to actually need to stop running because I physically couldn’t make my legs move or breathe for that matter. I first stopped around mile 2 and stopped on and off til about mile 3 or 3.5. After that Mark suggested that we just run .25 mile segments, then rest and finish up the 5 miles that way. I was relieved at this suggestion since .25 miles was just a couple blocks, I would be able to do that much before needing to rest again. By the time we got to 4.5miles I was not feeling quite as miserable as I had, but I was still ridiculously tired and out of breath. In the end I did finish the 5 mile run and Mark was a trooper for running with me. I contemplated telling him to just go ahead and run on his own because I felt bad that he wasn’t really getting much of a workout jogging along with me while I was dying at an eleven minute pace, but I’m happy he stuck with me. His .25 mile suggestion was also a run-saver. So, lessons learned: 1) eat carbs before big workouts even if gyminee tells you that you’ve had enough. 2) I now know approximately what it feels like to ‘hit the wall’ and it isn’t enjoyable, but it is possible to get through it. I still felt crappy, but better at the end of the run, because the gel gave my muscles some easily accessible fuel, and/or my muscles had finally switched to using fat as a fuel source. 3) My gymbuddy rocks. FACT. More Biking, after the run I refueled with a PB&J sandwich and then Mark and I biked back to my house. Overall it was about 16 miles of biking. Pretty much the most tiring workout I’ve ever had.

Sunday – Since yesterday was so traumatic J I think I’m taking off for the bike ride today. I’ll take Lambeau for a walk later and cut the lawn. That’s enough of a workout for the day!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Week 1 (cont'd)

Friday – Swimming, 12:30pm IM West. Worked on the TI drills and played golf again. Was able to get down to 10-11 strokes and 22-24 seconds. Weights, got skipped tonight because Mark is lame, FACT. Maybe they'll get added in this weekend...The bike ride tomorrow may be cancelled due to the weather forcast - it's supposed to rain pretty much all day :(

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Marathon Training - Week One!

Week One (June 14-20):

Monday – Swimming, outdoor pool, after work. Repeated first set of Total Immersion (TI) drills and learned second set. Swam some laps after focusing on really swimming from side to side. Want to count strokes next time. Want 20 strokes for 25m and ?? for 50 (check TI book)

Tuesday – 3 mile run, Magnolia running route. Legs were still sore from beginning the new lifting workout on Saturday. Finished with 9:34 pace. Pushed harder the last 0.7 miles. I had a substantial side stitch for probably a full mile in the middle.

Wednesday 4 mile run, around Lake Lansing. 6:30am and pouring rain. Legs felt great for pretty much the whole run. Finished with 9:32 pace! Goal was 9:40 and it was even faster than the pace for the 3 mile run yesterday! Ate a ½ banana before the run and only had a hint of a side stitch for a brief amount of time. Might try doing that more often.

Thursday – 3 mile run, Magnolia route. 7:30am. Apparently started out the run pretty fast (8:20-8:45 pace) and Mark tried slowing us down. As good as my legs felt yesterday, they felt equally crappy today, heavy and slow! Ate a banana before the run and no side stitches at all! I seem to have found something that works. The last ½ mile was brutal. Tried sprinting the last 0.2 miles, but it was a pretty weak sprint. Ended up running at a 9:16 pace, goal was 9:20, and this was a better pace by 18 seconds than the same run on Tuesday!! Swimming, IM Circle, afternoon. Worked on TI drills then tried playing golf by counting strokes and timing laps. I averaged 11-12 strokes and 23-25 seconds for 25 yards.