Felt pretty lethargic & flat during my training earlier in the week. I've had no less sleep than normal. I just think that the madness of the last 2 months has caught up with me. In that time aside from work & training, I have done my Senior First Aid certificate, trained with Emazon for 6 hours over 2 days, travelled to Qld for the Worlds, completed by pracs for my Cert III plus the written assignments and finalised the wedding. Far. Out. No wonder I'm tired! Very much looking forward to kicking back & drinking cocktails on a tropical island in a couple of weeks :-))
Mon: about 2.7km swim at squad tonight. Tonight was all about distance & pacing; very few drills. I must have been more tired than I felt because my stroke seemed to fall apart a bit more than normal.
Tue: still tired & up early for a 45min ride on the trainer. Again, I wasn't organised enough to get outside & do this. I also didn't drink enough during & after swim squad last night so I was really dehydrated during this ride & it showed. Yet another lesson learnt! 18.5k. AvC89. AvHR55% (!!)
Wed: another strength session before work, this time using a few tricks I've used as part of my Cert III. Good fun.
Thu: up @ 5am again this time for a 58mims bike session on the trainer including 3 x 8mins @ race pace. Still felt a bit lethargic but much better than on Tuesday. Yes I am trying to look after myself TA :-)) Finished with 28.5k. AvC87. No HR number as I had forgotten to recharge Garmin Electra.
Fri: rest. Was supposed to swim but instead (for the first time in about 7 weeks) I skipped my session. A combination of "couldn't be a*sed", too much work to do ahead of our holiday & I figured the rest would probably be better given my less than stellar training earlier in the week.
Sat: yesterday's rest seemed to make the difference. Had a great & really enjoyable 2.10 ride (inc 15mins @ race pace) along the Northern Road on a beautiful warm spring morning. After a bit of a sleep-in, I started my ride about 9am. I was joined briefly by R but otherwise just enjoyed the beautiful sunshine & easy ride. Throw in a facial in the afternoon & finishing my final written assessment for my Certificate III course late on Friday night & it was a great start to the weekend. 52.19k. Av.23.8k/h. AvC85. Av135HR
Sun: rest day but no sleep in. Headed to the airport to pick up my 'baby' brother & his g/f who have arrived from Canada for the wedding & to introduce them to R for the first time! Exciting times!
11 sleeps to go now!
MTD:
Swim - 11.2k
Bike - 308.6k
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
One (baby) step closer...
Back into the training this week. It turned out to be an interesting (and exhausting) week which started with absolutely trashed legs after my prac day last Sunday for my Cert III course. 125+ squats in 4 mins doesn't make for happy legs...
Mon: 2.5km swim at squad which thankfully didn't involve too many kicking drills. Smashed myself to relieve some frustration / injury-related tears which made an appearance earlier in the evening.
Tue: 45min bike before work on the trainer. I'm supposed to do this session on the road but I haven't quite been able to get my act together enough to do that yet. Legs are still trashed from Sunday. 18.4k. AvC88. Av.HRR 126
Wed: legs are still recovering after Sunday (!) so today it was an upper body strength session in the gym before work, during which I realised that I haven't missed my weekly strength session now in 6 months. Yeah me.
Thur: after work, it was into the garage for a 55min bike session including single leg drills and 2 x 10min @ 80-85%HRR. Tough but good :-) 22.5k. AvC88. Av.141HR
Fri: I took the day off work to get some study done ahead of my Cert III prac assessment on Sunday. So after a much needed sleep-in & lots of study, I headed off to the pool about 2pm for a 1.9k swim. A great session which included an easy 400m and 600m. My 'easy' pace produced surprising times so I was pretty pleased. Afterwards I went out for my 5min 'funeral march' pace walk. More about that later.
Sat: dragged myself out of bed about 7.30am to head out along the Northern Road for the programmed 2hr easy ride (60-65%HR) (incl 10min @ race pace). Absolutely beautiful morning for a ride - a slight breeze otherwise clear & still. Thanks to my recent acquisition of a new HR monitor strap as my old one had died, I was finally able to do this ride as per the program; ie at 60-65% HR. Holy moly. That's slow. It's nice to know that I can ride at 25k/h+ otherwise I think this morning's ride would have been demoralising. As it was (I must admit) that I had a tendency to speed up if there were any other cyclists coming in the opposite direction because I didn't want anyone to see me riding so slowly (haha). Finished with 46.8k in 1.58.46 - av.23.64k/h - avC.85 - av.65%HRR (138) - and only one attempted magpie strike. I was riding too fast for him to catch me ;-)
Sun: rest and another prac day for my Cert III - including my practical assessment which I am happy to report I passed :-)
My physio visit on Friday was pretty promising. With the ultrasound, we are starting to see signs of neural activation of my TA and other small stabilizers that wasn't there a few months ago. I'm allowed out of my 'preggy' belt to walk for 5-10min per day at 'funeral march' pace to focus on my pelvic floor & stabilisers. Baby steps but at least they are steps I suppose...
MTD:
Swim - 8.5k
Bike - 209.5
Mon: 2.5km swim at squad which thankfully didn't involve too many kicking drills. Smashed myself to relieve some frustration / injury-related tears which made an appearance earlier in the evening.
Tue: 45min bike before work on the trainer. I'm supposed to do this session on the road but I haven't quite been able to get my act together enough to do that yet. Legs are still trashed from Sunday. 18.4k. AvC88. Av.HRR 126
Wed: legs are still recovering after Sunday (!) so today it was an upper body strength session in the gym before work, during which I realised that I haven't missed my weekly strength session now in 6 months. Yeah me.
Thur: after work, it was into the garage for a 55min bike session including single leg drills and 2 x 10min @ 80-85%HRR. Tough but good :-) 22.5k. AvC88. Av.141HR
Fri: I took the day off work to get some study done ahead of my Cert III prac assessment on Sunday. So after a much needed sleep-in & lots of study, I headed off to the pool about 2pm for a 1.9k swim. A great session which included an easy 400m and 600m. My 'easy' pace produced surprising times so I was pretty pleased. Afterwards I went out for my 5min 'funeral march' pace walk. More about that later.
Sat: dragged myself out of bed about 7.30am to head out along the Northern Road for the programmed 2hr easy ride (60-65%HR) (incl 10min @ race pace). Absolutely beautiful morning for a ride - a slight breeze otherwise clear & still. Thanks to my recent acquisition of a new HR monitor strap as my old one had died, I was finally able to do this ride as per the program; ie at 60-65% HR. Holy moly. That's slow. It's nice to know that I can ride at 25k/h+ otherwise I think this morning's ride would have been demoralising. As it was (I must admit) that I had a tendency to speed up if there were any other cyclists coming in the opposite direction because I didn't want anyone to see me riding so slowly (haha). Finished with 46.8k in 1.58.46 - av.23.64k/h - avC.85 - av.65%HRR (138) - and only one attempted magpie strike. I was riding too fast for him to catch me ;-)
Sun: rest and another prac day for my Cert III - including my practical assessment which I am happy to report I passed :-)
My physio visit on Friday was pretty promising. With the ultrasound, we are starting to see signs of neural activation of my TA and other small stabilizers that wasn't there a few months ago. I'm allowed out of my 'preggy' belt to walk for 5-10min per day at 'funeral march' pace to focus on my pelvic floor & stabilisers. Baby steps but at least they are steps I suppose...
MTD:
Swim - 8.5k
Bike - 209.5
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Onwards & upwards
First and most importantly I want to congratulate TigerAngel - my brilliant coach - on her fantastic result in her HIM debut at the Gold Coast last weekend. TA has got to be the most determined people I have ever met who continually inspires me to keep on 'keeping on' through all the injuries.
This has been a recovery week for me - thankfully. I lurve recovery weeks. I get a chance to get other 'stuff' done. In the case of this week, it was lots of sleep & lots of study for my Cert III, the assessment for which is in 2 weeks time!
Mon: easy 1.2k swim (consisting mainly of drills) about lunchtime on a public holiday after a sleep-in & lazy morning. Nice.
Tue: rest :-)
Wed: thanks to a cr*p nights sleep & a very unhappy hamstring (still), an easy-ish upper body + core strength session in the gym at work first thing this morning & a wedding dress fitting later in the day.
Thur: 45min bike session on the trainer this morning including 6 x 2min efforts & some single leg drills. 17.9k. Av.C88. Av.HR 124
Fri: another 1.2k swim after work & before Mum's baked dinner :-) I must be slightly mad - I lurve swimming with paddles :-)
Sat: due to a bit of a sleep-in & my folks coming over for morning tea, I had to do this session on the trainer in the garage rather than out on the road. 3rd week in a row I have done that. Over. It. Looking forward to getting out on the road next weekend. Anyhoo an easy 80mins ride past quickly thanks to lots of Kona-related podcasts. 34.2k. AvC90. 130HR
Sun: rest & full day prac session in a gym in the city for my Certificate III in Fitness course. Edit: so much for this being a rest day. As part of my prac course, and in a demonstration of exercising to target your lactic energy system, we did a 'Tabata' session of squats - 20sec on / 10sec off - for 4 mins with the goal of doing the maximum number of squats with perfect form in that time. Far. Out. Talk about jelly legs. Tomorrow nights swim squad could be interesting if we have lots of kick sets....
Less than 4 weeks to go now until the wedding. I had a dress fitting on Wed. Thankfully my dress fits over / around the lats I have developed thanks to all the swimming & weight training I've been doing in recent months. Phew! It's pretty much all organised now so nothing to do except relax & enjoy the build-up & associated excitement (particularly the arrival of my (baby) brother - who has never met R - from Canada in 2 weeks!).
MTD:
Swim - 4.1k
Bike - 121.8k
This has been a recovery week for me - thankfully. I lurve recovery weeks. I get a chance to get other 'stuff' done. In the case of this week, it was lots of sleep & lots of study for my Cert III, the assessment for which is in 2 weeks time!
Mon: easy 1.2k swim (consisting mainly of drills) about lunchtime on a public holiday after a sleep-in & lazy morning. Nice.
Tue: rest :-)
Wed: thanks to a cr*p nights sleep & a very unhappy hamstring (still), an easy-ish upper body + core strength session in the gym at work first thing this morning & a wedding dress fitting later in the day.
Thur: 45min bike session on the trainer this morning including 6 x 2min efforts & some single leg drills. 17.9k. Av.C88. Av.HR 124
Fri: another 1.2k swim after work & before Mum's baked dinner :-) I must be slightly mad - I lurve swimming with paddles :-)
Sat: due to a bit of a sleep-in & my folks coming over for morning tea, I had to do this session on the trainer in the garage rather than out on the road. 3rd week in a row I have done that. Over. It. Looking forward to getting out on the road next weekend. Anyhoo an easy 80mins ride past quickly thanks to lots of Kona-related podcasts. 34.2k. AvC90. 130HR
Sun: rest & full day prac session in a gym in the city for my Certificate III in Fitness course. Edit: so much for this being a rest day. As part of my prac course, and in a demonstration of exercising to target your lactic energy system, we did a 'Tabata' session of squats - 20sec on / 10sec off - for 4 mins with the goal of doing the maximum number of squats with perfect form in that time. Far. Out. Talk about jelly legs. Tomorrow nights swim squad could be interesting if we have lots of kick sets....
Less than 4 weeks to go now until the wedding. I had a dress fitting on Wed. Thankfully my dress fits over / around the lats I have developed thanks to all the swimming & weight training I've been doing in recent months. Phew! It's pretty much all organised now so nothing to do except relax & enjoy the build-up & associated excitement (particularly the arrival of my (baby) brother - who has never met R - from Canada in 2 weeks!).
MTD:
Swim - 4.1k
Bike - 121.8k
Saturday, October 03, 2009
LG
Mon: 3km swim at squad tonight. I felt really strong in the water tonight; my stroke is coming together really well. I just need to work on increasing my stroke rate to increase my speed. Now where did I put those fast twitch fibres.....
Tue: always a hard session at 5am after only getting home from swim squad at 10pm. Anyhoo, I did it. 45mins bike (steady state) on the trainer because I wasn't quite organised enough to do it on the road. 16.8k. Av.C90
Wed: hard weights session this morning. I have absolutely fried my legs thanks to about 150 reps on various exercises. Tomorrow's bike session is going to be fun. Not.
Thur: 58min bike session on the trainer (including single leg drills and 6 x 4mins @ 30k/h). Very tired thanks to working at the gym last night & about a week of not sleeping well. Bring on the long weekend. 23.9k. Av.C88
Fri: nice start to the weekend. Left the office at 4.30pm (I am a public servant after all) & then headed to the pool for a 1.7km swim before later meeting with the wedding co-ordinator at Loxley to finalise the details :-))
Sat: rain this morning meant I resorted to the trainer in the garage (again) for my long ride this week. 2hr ride @ 65%HR (av.123) with 5mins at race pace (av.147). 45.8k. Av.C87.
Enjoyed the rest of the start of the long weekend with some time reading the papers (bliss!) before going to the movies (for the first time ever) to watch Mao's Last Dancer which was brilliant. Nice
Sun: rest day tomorrow (yippee!) which will start with a walk-through at our wedding & reception venue with our celebrant & photographer. It's all happening - can't believe that the wedding is next month!
Wednesday saw the end of September. My overall bike total was a bit low due to 2 weekends without long rides (thank to Emazon & our visit to Qld). But having said that, the last 2 weeks have been my biggest on the bike to date -
Swim: 12.4k
Bike: 254k
Bring on the recovery week !!
MTD:
Swim: 1.7k
Bike: 69.7k
Tue: always a hard session at 5am after only getting home from swim squad at 10pm. Anyhoo, I did it. 45mins bike (steady state) on the trainer because I wasn't quite organised enough to do it on the road. 16.8k. Av.C90
Wed: hard weights session this morning. I have absolutely fried my legs thanks to about 150 reps on various exercises. Tomorrow's bike session is going to be fun. Not.
Thur: 58min bike session on the trainer (including single leg drills and 6 x 4mins @ 30k/h). Very tired thanks to working at the gym last night & about a week of not sleeping well. Bring on the long weekend. 23.9k. Av.C88
Fri: nice start to the weekend. Left the office at 4.30pm (I am a public servant after all) & then headed to the pool for a 1.7km swim before later meeting with the wedding co-ordinator at Loxley to finalise the details :-))
Sat: rain this morning meant I resorted to the trainer in the garage (again) for my long ride this week. 2hr ride @ 65%HR (av.123) with 5mins at race pace (av.147). 45.8k. Av.C87.
Enjoyed the rest of the start of the long weekend with some time reading the papers (bliss!) before going to the movies (for the first time ever) to watch Mao's Last Dancer which was brilliant. Nice
Sun: rest day tomorrow (yippee!) which will start with a walk-through at our wedding & reception venue with our celebrant & photographer. It's all happening - can't believe that the wedding is next month!
Wednesday saw the end of September. My overall bike total was a bit low due to 2 weekends without long rides (thank to Emazon & our visit to Qld). But having said that, the last 2 weeks have been my biggest on the bike to date -
Swim: 12.4k
Bike: 254k
Bring on the recovery week !!
MTD:
Swim: 1.7k
Bike: 69.7k
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