A strange week. My training started off strongly but the lack of sleep in recent weeks has been catching up with me in recent days; I've had one day off work in the last 14 days :-(
Mon: 1.2km swim, as 3 x 400m. The first time since I got back in the pool I felt strong in the water & moving well :-)
Tue: the comeback continues: 10mins walk then 5 x 60sec run (with 90sec walk recovery) in a park by the water at Rhodes. A beautiful clear, warm autumn day. Nice!
Wed: strength + core session in the gym before work.
Thu: lunch today saw a 10mins walk then 5 x 2min run (with 2min walk recovery) on the beautiful Foreshore walk at Concord. So nice to be running again - yippee!
Saturday I was due to do a long ride but rolled over and went back to sleep when the alarm went off at 8am. I've had a 1hr afternoon sleep both days this weekend which is completely unheard of for me; I guess I needed it & that I am finally / slowly learning to listen to my body.
Tomorrow sees the start of a new month & the official start of my 'back to tri's' training program. It's going to be interesting to see how the training fits in my (already hectic) week. Hopefully I can also find my groove along the way.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Houston, we have lift-off (again)...
The program said that this would be an 'easier week'. But for the first time in about a month, I managed to do all of my sessions - meaning I've done more exercise this week than in any other recently. So much for that easy week ;-)
Mon: another 1k swim at lunch, this time as 2 x 500m. I feel much more comfortable in the water now though my technique is, I'm sure, pretty ordinary. Time to sort that out.
Tue:
(AM) easy 40min bike session including 3 x 30sec single leg drills which was a rather eye opening experience. There is a serious dead spot at the top of the stroke of my right leg which (also) needs sorting out.
PM: running drills
Wed: strength session before work. Unfortunately I ran out of time to do my core work :-( A good session despite far too much (sensational) gourmet pizza & too little sleep last night.
Thu: rest + running drills + WildEndurance awards night! It was a great night; catching up with team 'Happy Feet' and a few of my favourite CRs and Wild Women. Team 'Happy Feet' was awarded its bag of goodies for our 2nd placing in the 50k relay which we later divied up on the floor of the pub. Yes, we are a classy lot ;-) I was lucky enough to walk away with, amongst other things, a small torch, a $100 gift voucher for LineBreak gear and a $50 voucher for Mountain Equipment gear which is my fav brand for mountaineering stuff. Happy days :-)
Fri: rest
Sat: (AM): Provided I keep my ankle strapped, I am allowed to start running again :-) I was supposed to start on grass (before progressing to the tready and then to the road in future weeks). But all the rain in Sydney this week meant that my walk/run was more likely to turn into a swim. So I headed to the gym & did the session on the tready instead: 5min w/u on the bike, 10min walk then 5 x 30sec run (with a 1min walk recovery). Followed it up by my usual (superset) strength + core session before coming home to ice my foot as per the physio's instructions. There has been no complaints from my ankle so it looks like comeback no. 450,001 has begun ;-)
Sun: While R took himself off to run at SMC, laziness saw me do my 75min long ride on the trainer in the garage. Time passed very quickly as I listed to a podcast interview with Mark Allen on the iPod.
I hinted last week at a change in focus. I had previously mentioned here that I was intending to do Six Foot next year. But I am just so sick of breaking down & not competing in events that I have set my sights on. So I have decided to take my time, work towards my goal of perfect structural condition & build up to it slowly; a revolutionary idea for me I know ;-) So, as you may have guessed, the focus for the next 18 months or so will be on tris. Rather nervous about it; after my long ride last week, I got off the bike & thought 'my god, how on earth am I ever going to run 10km after that ride!'. But I know I can & will :-) Bring it on - do your best TA :-)
MTD:
Swim: 3k
Bike: 97.09k (excl indoor)
Mon: another 1k swim at lunch, this time as 2 x 500m. I feel much more comfortable in the water now though my technique is, I'm sure, pretty ordinary. Time to sort that out.
Tue:
(AM) easy 40min bike session including 3 x 30sec single leg drills which was a rather eye opening experience. There is a serious dead spot at the top of the stroke of my right leg which (also) needs sorting out.
PM: running drills
Wed: strength session before work. Unfortunately I ran out of time to do my core work :-( A good session despite far too much (sensational) gourmet pizza & too little sleep last night.
Thu: rest + running drills + WildEndurance awards night! It was a great night; catching up with team 'Happy Feet' and a few of my favourite CRs and Wild Women. Team 'Happy Feet' was awarded its bag of goodies for our 2nd placing in the 50k relay which we later divied up on the floor of the pub. Yes, we are a classy lot ;-) I was lucky enough to walk away with, amongst other things, a small torch, a $100 gift voucher for LineBreak gear and a $50 voucher for Mountain Equipment gear which is my fav brand for mountaineering stuff. Happy days :-)
Fri: rest
Sat: (AM): Provided I keep my ankle strapped, I am allowed to start running again :-) I was supposed to start on grass (before progressing to the tready and then to the road in future weeks). But all the rain in Sydney this week meant that my walk/run was more likely to turn into a swim. So I headed to the gym & did the session on the tready instead: 5min w/u on the bike, 10min walk then 5 x 30sec run (with a 1min walk recovery). Followed it up by my usual (superset) strength + core session before coming home to ice my foot as per the physio's instructions. There has been no complaints from my ankle so it looks like comeback no. 450,001 has begun ;-)
Sun: While R took himself off to run at SMC, laziness saw me do my 75min long ride on the trainer in the garage. Time passed very quickly as I listed to a podcast interview with Mark Allen on the iPod.
I hinted last week at a change in focus. I had previously mentioned here that I was intending to do Six Foot next year. But I am just so sick of breaking down & not competing in events that I have set my sights on. So I have decided to take my time, work towards my goal of perfect structural condition & build up to it slowly; a revolutionary idea for me I know ;-) So, as you may have guessed, the focus for the next 18 months or so will be on tris. Rather nervous about it; after my long ride last week, I got off the bike & thought 'my god, how on earth am I ever going to run 10km after that ride!'. But I know I can & will :-) Bring it on - do your best TA :-)
MTD:
Swim: 3k
Bike: 97.09k (excl indoor)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Lactic acid is my friend :-)
Getting a bit more consistency in my weeks now - yippee! Still missed a couple of sessions but I'm getting there - slowly.
Mon: 1km swim in about 24min (excl breaks). Interestingly, the improvement in the strength in my foot thanks to my running drills + physio-ordered exercises is very noticeable in the pool. Last week I could really feel the pressure of the water on my dodgy ankle when I was kicking. Not so much this week thankfully. The swim itself wasn't quite as ugly as last week's swim but there is still a long road ahead. Still, it's nice to be on it :-)
Tue: rest + running drills down in beautiful Brays Bay reserve by the water at Rhodes. Nice ;-)
Wed: strength + core session in the (free) gym at work :-)
Thu: rest. Was supposed to do my running drills again but was unable to escape from the office. I ran for the train though - surely that must count? ;-)
Fri: (superset) strength + core session
Sat: rest + running drills
Sun: 2:10 long ride. The plan had been to head along the Northern Road towards Camden but the road was closed at Bringelly due to an accident. So R & I decided to head out along Greendale Rd, which heads through Wallacia & then loops back onto the Northern Road. I was rather nervous about the degree of 'undulations' on this road, having heard about it from my (6 x IM) uncle. The undulations were testing but not nearly as testing as the dead road surface. I've never ridden on such a dead surface before. I thought my teeth were going to fall out at one stage from the vibrations.
On one particular sharp climb, I was reminded of a podcast about lactic acid that I listened to yesterday. It was talking about (new) research suggesting lactic acid is actually an alternate energy source & should be viewed by athletes as their friend, not foe. My quads are not yet convinced. Finished strongly with 48.96k (22.8k/h). This loop will be a great one to do regularly to test the improvements in my fitness & (particularly) strength.
Look forward to more consistency - and the awards night for Wild Endurance - in the coming week. BTW if anyone is handy in doing blog headers, would you mind leaving me a message or sending you an email. My blog needs an overall in light of my new focus... :-)
MTD:
Bike: 97.09k
RIP Jean
Mon: 1km swim in about 24min (excl breaks). Interestingly, the improvement in the strength in my foot thanks to my running drills + physio-ordered exercises is very noticeable in the pool. Last week I could really feel the pressure of the water on my dodgy ankle when I was kicking. Not so much this week thankfully. The swim itself wasn't quite as ugly as last week's swim but there is still a long road ahead. Still, it's nice to be on it :-)
Tue: rest + running drills down in beautiful Brays Bay reserve by the water at Rhodes. Nice ;-)
Wed: strength + core session in the (free) gym at work :-)
Thu: rest. Was supposed to do my running drills again but was unable to escape from the office. I ran for the train though - surely that must count? ;-)
Fri: (superset) strength + core session
Sat: rest + running drills
Sun: 2:10 long ride. The plan had been to head along the Northern Road towards Camden but the road was closed at Bringelly due to an accident. So R & I decided to head out along Greendale Rd, which heads through Wallacia & then loops back onto the Northern Road. I was rather nervous about the degree of 'undulations' on this road, having heard about it from my (6 x IM) uncle. The undulations were testing but not nearly as testing as the dead road surface. I've never ridden on such a dead surface before. I thought my teeth were going to fall out at one stage from the vibrations.
On one particular sharp climb, I was reminded of a podcast about lactic acid that I listened to yesterday. It was talking about (new) research suggesting lactic acid is actually an alternate energy source & should be viewed by athletes as their friend, not foe. My quads are not yet convinced. Finished strongly with 48.96k (22.8k/h). This loop will be a great one to do regularly to test the improvements in my fitness & (particularly) strength.
Look forward to more consistency - and the awards night for Wild Endurance - in the coming week. BTW if anyone is handy in doing blog headers, would you mind leaving me a message or sending you an email. My blog needs an overall in light of my new focus... :-)
MTD:
Bike: 97.09k
RIP Jean
Sunday, May 10, 2009
An uppercut delivered...
It's been a strange week. I'm slowly settling into a return to full time employment for the first time in about 8 months. I'm actually balancing 2 jobs at the moment; what can I say, I'm in demand ;-) But needless to say, it's taking some getting used to.
I delivered myself a swift uppercut this week for a couple of reasons including that I have been really hard on myself in the last few weeks in relation to the training that I have missed as I adjust to my 'new reality'. I also for some reason - rather stoopidly - was feeling like I had 'missed the boat' regarding my training for the next tri season. Only to realise of course that the off-season has only just started; the season doesn't actually start until September. Duh!
A few sessions missed this week but I did more than last week so at least I'm going in the right direction ;-)
Mon: swam 1km at lunch. My first swim in about 14 months (!). It was slow - about 25mins excluding a few rest stops - and very, very ugly. Let's just say I've got alot of work to do.
Tue / Thu: running drills
Sat: 2:12 long ride with R in Canberra. It turned into a coffee & lunch ride; after 105mins, we stopped to watch one of the Mango nieces play soccer & then had lunch with the extended Mango clan before riding home (48.13k). After a quick shower, I headed out (driving this time) to catch up with CJ, Strewth & Ewan for coffee & afternoon tea - was great to see you all!
Sun: rest + running drills while R was running the Mothers Day Classic in a gorgeous autumn morning in Canberra.
Looking forward to a bit more consistency in my training this week as the off-season continues :-)
I delivered myself a swift uppercut this week for a couple of reasons including that I have been really hard on myself in the last few weeks in relation to the training that I have missed as I adjust to my 'new reality'. I also for some reason - rather stoopidly - was feeling like I had 'missed the boat' regarding my training for the next tri season. Only to realise of course that the off-season has only just started; the season doesn't actually start until September. Duh!
A few sessions missed this week but I did more than last week so at least I'm going in the right direction ;-)
Mon: swam 1km at lunch. My first swim in about 14 months (!). It was slow - about 25mins excluding a few rest stops - and very, very ugly. Let's just say I've got alot of work to do.
Tue / Thu: running drills
Sat: 2:12 long ride with R in Canberra. It turned into a coffee & lunch ride; after 105mins, we stopped to watch one of the Mango nieces play soccer & then had lunch with the extended Mango clan before riding home (48.13k). After a quick shower, I headed out (driving this time) to catch up with CJ, Strewth & Ewan for coffee & afternoon tea - was great to see you all!
Sun: rest + running drills while R was running the Mothers Day Classic in a gorgeous autumn morning in Canberra.
Looking forward to a bit more consistency in my training this week as the off-season continues :-)
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Bling !
What a strange, incredible, stressful, tiring week which ended on such a high!
I actually have done no training in 9 days now. First it was due to my resting HR being a bit high then a crazy week saw me get little sleep & no training. Oh well. The good news for the week is that my foot is definitely improving & the estimate of my return to running has been brought closer :-)
The lack of sleep continued when I got up at 4am on Saturday morning to crew for my team (Happy Feet) in 50km relay at Wild Endurance 100km. We had started out with the goal of the defending the fastest women's team title which team member Helen of Troy won last year. My withdrawal and Rob (vStar) becoming a last minute replacement put an end to that goal. As we had 3 walkers & 3 runners, the goal was simply a sub-24 hour finish. To say that we were shocked with the result was an understatement. It seems we needed to set our goal a tad higher & go for fastest team, not fastest female team.
Our day squad, the daydreamers, did a sensational time of 9 hours for 48ksm, particularly given two members are not runners. Then our evening girls (and runners), the nightingales took off into the night & eventually crossed the line at 2.27am, stopping the clock at an amazing 17.21! Good enough for 2nd relay team home & 3rd place overall (out of 72 teams). We are all still in shock at the result!
Another sensational result was the Wild Women girls defending their win last year in the 100km womens catagory - congratulations ladies!
We bundled the girls into the car & headed for the warmth of the Katoomba YHA to celebrate our fantastic result with (pink) champagne and chocolate mud cake - both of which taste even better at 3am :-) I eventually made it home just before 6am, one tired but happy girl!
I was presented with this sign by the daydreamers to make my place in the team official-
The daydreamers enjoying a cuppa before the start-
The beautiful sunrise in the Megalong valley which quickly warmed the rather chilly mountain air-
The daydreamers ready to go-
Mary, our resident gymnast. I wonder how many teams can do this....
....or this after 50km!
Trailpudd' (L) and Koala1 (R) with Kat - aka Cheetah Girl who was, no doubt, the newest Australian citizen in the race. Cheetah Girl attended her citizenship ceremony in Sydney on Saturday morning before heading up to the race-
Mary with a bunch of the biggest grapes I had ever seen. It's amazing what becomes amusing with a lack of sleep-
Our nightingales crossing the line-
A happy team "Happy Feet"-
I actually have done no training in 9 days now. First it was due to my resting HR being a bit high then a crazy week saw me get little sleep & no training. Oh well. The good news for the week is that my foot is definitely improving & the estimate of my return to running has been brought closer :-)
The lack of sleep continued when I got up at 4am on Saturday morning to crew for my team (Happy Feet) in 50km relay at Wild Endurance 100km. We had started out with the goal of the defending the fastest women's team title which team member Helen of Troy won last year. My withdrawal and Rob (vStar) becoming a last minute replacement put an end to that goal. As we had 3 walkers & 3 runners, the goal was simply a sub-24 hour finish. To say that we were shocked with the result was an understatement. It seems we needed to set our goal a tad higher & go for fastest team, not fastest female team.
Our day squad, the daydreamers, did a sensational time of 9 hours for 48ksm, particularly given two members are not runners. Then our evening girls (and runners), the nightingales took off into the night & eventually crossed the line at 2.27am, stopping the clock at an amazing 17.21! Good enough for 2nd relay team home & 3rd place overall (out of 72 teams). We are all still in shock at the result!
Another sensational result was the Wild Women girls defending their win last year in the 100km womens catagory - congratulations ladies!
We bundled the girls into the car & headed for the warmth of the Katoomba YHA to celebrate our fantastic result with (pink) champagne and chocolate mud cake - both of which taste even better at 3am :-) I eventually made it home just before 6am, one tired but happy girl!
I was presented with this sign by the daydreamers to make my place in the team official-
The daydreamers enjoying a cuppa before the start-
The beautiful sunrise in the Megalong valley which quickly warmed the rather chilly mountain air-
The daydreamers ready to go-
Mary, our resident gymnast. I wonder how many teams can do this....
....or this after 50km!
Trailpudd' (L) and Koala1 (R) with Kat - aka Cheetah Girl who was, no doubt, the newest Australian citizen in the race. Cheetah Girl attended her citizenship ceremony in Sydney on Saturday morning before heading up to the race-
Mary with a bunch of the biggest grapes I had ever seen. It's amazing what becomes amusing with a lack of sleep-
Our nightingales crossing the line-
A happy team "Happy Feet"-
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