Training Log Archive: expresso

Nice birthday up here in Madison. It's fun to have so much family here now and more occasions to be in the area. Lots of great gifts. Polly's was a simple but inspiring map of Dane County with the IM course on it. I look forward to riding many practice loops around it as soon as the spring thaw. Now that it's officially winter I can start looking forward to spring.

I feel a cold coming on... =(
I suppose it would be worse to get it a week from now.

C • Too bad 2

Watching recording of Survivor finale. Too bad James was foolish and got eliminated with two immunity idols. Todd was my second choice behind him.

Recovery swim 'cuz I was a bit sore from the weekend.
wu, 3 * ( 200^, 50b, 150pwp)
I am liking the addition of backstroke so I'll probably do more to change things up. It was my most competitive stroke but I still do my 1970s-vintage swivel turns.

Hoping on and off bike while trying to get the kids equipped for sledding. There was a bunch of new snow and the OS hill was covered in snow and kids.

Typical circuit interleaving some lower and core work.

Floor and machine exercises.

Yay!! New shoes, exactly the same model & size as my 610s (<- start month). Actually they don't feel anywhere close to as good as my old pair. Plus we have no history together. My 610s carried me through a 12 hour rogaine, countless winter runs, my two long running races as well as the woods and marshes of Finland. They were just great. *snif* Hmmm, I didn't mean to eulogize them but I guess they deserve it and they really are dead.
Run was slow and GREAT !! I love running in the snow and the accompanying temps.

Got started with this and my bike kept making a clicking sound on my right down stroke. It goes away if I lighten the force or even move my knee or foot position slightly. I kept hopping off and adjusting the dérailleur thinking it was hitting it somewhere. No luck, I think the bottom bracket / crank connection is torquing funny. Man, running is sooooo much easier without all the fickle equipment. Check that, this running chassis has been known to break down too and those repairs are MUCH worse.

Wanted to get a long swim in. I didn't put a lot of thought into the workout but decided to break up the long sets with a bit of pulling and even backstroke.
wu, 200s, 50b, 150pwp, 400s, 50b, 250pwp, 600s, 350pwp, 800s
Not bad, kept stretching at the end of the rotation. Trying to decide what to do about getting back in with the master's swim team. I was looking forward to Sundays again in 2008 but am having trouble fitting it in. I guess I'll probably just sign-up and take it week to week.

While watching "The Incredibles." I also upgraded to an unlimited Blockbuster membership so I could watch the "Rome" series and other stuff while on the basement trainer & mill.

While watching Bourne Ultimatum with J & K. They ate pizza & then popcorn and I just couldn't take it any longer and caved in to my hunger.

Typical machines interleaved with core stuff.

Not too intense or exciting.

Nice, easy swim. Stroke was smooth.
200s, 200pwp, 300s, 300pwp, 400s, 400pwp, 500s, 500pwp
Not very exciting but I enjoyed it and got a good aerobic workout.

While watching the middle of "Letters from Iwo Jima." Oooofff.

While watching the end of "Letters from Iwo Jima."
Felt better than Saturday. Higher pace and added mini-incline at the end.

Man it is good to see some yellow (running) in my training log.

C • Yes, I saw.. 5

Watching SV.

Decided to see how my knee would take running. Not bad, a little sore later.

Not nothing.

Motivated to get up early for ride but it ebbed a bit into the workout. I think I was annoyed that my handlebars were not straight with the wheel after the new stem was installed. Even though I was on a trainer and my handlebars were straight out from my bike, the crooked wheel finally got to me and I had to get off and fix it. I couldn't get myself back on the bike after that.

Got my bike back with its new stem. My position is much better now. I hoped on it for a very brief spin.

Absolutely gorgeous foot of snow arrived last night. After downing some blueberry pancakes I opened the garage door and a drift spilled into the garage. Whew! I had some work in front of me. As a former professional snow shoveler, I have the right tools for the job with both "pushing" and a "tossing" shovels. It took a while but I finally got the load pushed to the edge and then used the funky curved one (saves my back) to toss it into the yard. I tired a bit by the time I got to the snowplow's contribution at the end of the driveway. This is always the worst because it is mixed with salt and thus very slushy. I got well into this part and my retired neighbors (from BOTH sides of me!!) came to my rescue with their snowblowers. I tried to communicate my appreciation over the din of their motors and finally resorted to trying a "high five" but I don't think this translated well across the generation gap. But I still had to work to clear the front walk and was ready for "second breakfast" by the time I finished this 80 minute long effort.

Pulling workout to give my tweaked muscle a rest. Did a harder 50 every 200. (200p, 300pwp, 400p, 500pwp, 400p, 300pwp, 200).
Arms not as tired as expected. Maybe I will do more of these pulling workouts but was thinking about how to add T level workouts... maybe a medium intensity 1500m.

Badger Meet @ Kellings Lake
Oh yeah!! it was great to back on a map and the 6" of slush that I ran through didn't dampen my spirits a bit. Charlie and I got up there a bit early knowing that (as always) first tracks are paramount or it's just a tracking exercise. I headed out first and saw only deer and coyote tracks the whole time. My running felt pretty good considering that I haven't run for a month. I thinks it's something about snow running that gets me going. My orienteering was decent through fairly difficult (albeit open) terrain.
The highlight was running by the turnaround point for the GT50 race. I remembered how I felt those 2 months ago and it gave me a surge of energy for the rest of my run. A good day. =)

Charlie and I stopped for some some tasty pot roast on the drive back. It was yummy and after a DQ milkshake I was pretty stuffed. We also went to a huge bike store outside Milwaukee. OMG, what a bunch of great off-season deals on tri bikes. I thought hard about them on the drive home and almost had myself conviced to get one and then tabled the idea and promised myself that I would ride Seattle Blue next September with my round spokes. If I finish and somehow delude myself into wanting to do another, I will reward myself with ANY bike and wheels that I want. Fair enough ??

Decided to go to the gym and burn-off my residual motivation and calorie intake from lunch.
Fairly hard circuit interleaving some core work.

Some new stuff.

Morning SV workout before the day's chores.

Had to scrape the driveway, sidewalk and front walk before all the slushy junk froze.