Lift/1 mile run/1/4 swim

Went to the gym. Did a ten minute warmup on the bike, and then my strength training workout, which is as follows:

2 sets of squats
1 set dumbell incline presses
2 sets leg extensions
1 set lat pulldowns
1 set curl to should press
1 set upright rows
1 set leg curls
2 sets lower back extensions
1 set hip flexor leg lifts
1 set abdominal twists
1 set tricept extensions
1 set lat flys
1 set ab crunches

10-12 reps in each set. Not lifting particularly heavy.


I've been doing pretty much the same exercises at the same weight lately. I need to revitalize this workout.

Then I ran 1 mile in under 10:00.

Started the workout feeling tired. Felt good after.

In the evening I took the girls to the pool and then swam a 1/4 mile afterwards, practicing more of the total immersion style. I am definately seeing an improvement. I really feel like I am gliding, although occasionally my breathing gets off when I try to put my head basically underwater which is what the style calls for.

I may try to swim tomorrow morning before work -- either than or I will do a run.

Day of Rest

Worked 16 hours today. I surfed the internet checking out things I could buy like a heart rate monitor or triathlong pants. I should probably get them at some point, but right now I just have to pound out some mileage.

Run 2 miles, plus a quarter

Went to the gym after work, walked a quarter mile, ran two miles, walked a quarter, ran a quarter, walked a quarter for 3 miles in 34:46. Walked another half mile to cool down.

Legs feel good.

Cycling: Working the gears/Swim

Rode the bike some more at work and practiced shifting gears.

It was too cold to ride long and also the bike is way to small for me, I get almost no extension of my legs.

I bought a book the other day for new cyclists.



I was less than thrilled to read about having the boils on your but (caused by riding) lanced or that you should shave your legs because it makes it easier to care for the abrasions you will sustain when you fall. I am not planning on falling, thank you.

**

Swam a half mile after work. I did the first quarter using fist gloves. I found they really helped my stroke during the next quarter mile. I am finding it interesting watching other swimmers. The person in the lane next to me will be faster than me and I'll watch them and think they don't look like they are swimming very fast. When I try to go faster I get tired and it also throws off my breathing. I guess I just have to keep working on technique. Today I was also working on the slashing arm movements where I enter the water closer to my head and drive ahead with the arm. I did notice I did a couple laps with only 15 stokes when i did it that way.

**

Tomorrow I hope to go to the gym after work and run after a short bike.

Run - I Love to Boogie

Sitting here with a bag of frozen black eyed peas on my right knee and a bag of frozen roasted corn on my left. Just preventative medicine along with the ibuprofen.

I walked ran 3.5 miles on the tread mill. I did 3 miles in 36.56. I walked a quarter mile, ran a mile and a quarter, walked for five minutes, ran a half mile, walked some more and then ran a quarter. Total run 2 miles. Legs feel fine along with the feet. I was getting tired and borderline winded during the run.

Thank goodness for my walkman.

Here's what I have on my player:

Guitar Town - Steve Earle
Street Fighting Man/Like a Rolling Stone - Rolling Stones
Mississippi - Bob Dylan
It's Been a Long Time- Southside Johnny
Walk On - U2
I Love to Boogie - TREX
Powderfinger/Helpless - Neil Young
LaTortura-Shakira
Check on it - Beyonce
Who Knows - Marion Black
One - Mary J. Blidge
Piece of My Heart - Mellisa Etheridge
Looking for a Leader - Neil Young
Dame un Otra Tequila - Paula Rubino
These Streets/Welcome to the Rebelution-Tanya Stevens

I Love to Boogie got me through my last quarter mile of running.

Bike/Light swim

Forty minutes on the stationary bike. My plan was to go 84 minutes, which was the length of the movie I was watching, but I got tired and my butt got sore.

This evening I swam 10 laps which was all I could get in because of the swimming with the girls and the pool closing. I tried to work on technique.

My foot feels fine. Tomorrow I will try to run two miles on the tread mill.

Bike/Run

Did ten minutes on the bike at the gym as a warm up to a 20 minute walk/run. I ran 1.5 miles and walked .25.

Before I ran I talked to my friend who owns the gym and he thought my foot pain the other day was due to the dress shoes that pressed against the foot nerve based on where I said it hurt. I also showed him the gel inserts I was putting in and he said those were great provided they didn't throw off my arch.

The run felt good, although I was bored without the walkman, which I forgot at home.

I may do a short swim this evening if I take the girls to the pool again.

I am tempted to try to incorporate into my training a daily short bike/run/swim so that every day I am doing each sport, but at the same time not overtaxing myself. I may start at a minimum 20 minute easy bike, 1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile swim, but hopefully bump it up to a 30 minute easy bike, 1 mile run, 1/2 mile swim on every day but Tuesday when I am at work for 16 hours. For my main focused activity I will shoot for an hour bike, work up to 4 mile run (I'm a long way off) and 1 mile swim.

Lift/Bike/Swim

Lifted and then rode the bike for twenty minutes with a cadence in the middle 80's. I felt weak lifting after being sick.

At night I swam 1/4 mile which is all I had time to after swimming with the girls.

I drove by the track today and it was covered in snow so I guess i will have to try the treadmill again and hope the sore foot from last week was due to the dress shoes.

Circus Bear

I rode a real bike today. They have some mountain bikes at work for the EMS bike team so I asked if I could borrow one to try a spin. I felt like the bicyling bear in the circus and rode about as fast. Very wobbly to start, but I did about ten minutes of figure 8's. Turning was harder than I thought. I practiced some with the hand brakes, first the rear break, and then both together. I was getting the hang of it. I couldn't fit my work boots in the straps so I rode on the backside of the wheels. Next time, I'll try to figure out how to shift gears.

Swim/Bike

Swam a half mile. Lost track of laps so I may have gone an extra one. Took me 18 minutes. Felt good.

I need to learn how to do flip turns so my swim is more continuous without all the stop, turn, get a big breath of air, push off and glide. In a triathlon, it will be all straight grinding/gliding ahead.

I worked on pulling harder with my left arm today, as well as entering the water with my thumb and pointer finger at the same time.

Came home, did twenty minutes on the stationary bike at a cadence of 82-85, but on the 1 resistance level, which is the lowest.

My foot is feeling normal again. I am not certain if the cause was wearing dress shoes that day or the mile run on the tread mill.

Tomorrow is my sixteen hour work day, and then I am off for four days.

Swim-Half Mile

Swam a half mile somewhere in the 17-18 minute time frame. I felt strong. I love my pool -- 11 lanes. It just about right across the street from my house and the water is sparkling clear. Tonight I was the only one left in the pool as I swam right before closing.

While swimming I practiced various techniques -- cupping my hands, doing the minimium stroke lengths -- the best I did was 17. I also tried breathing from the other side and while I could do it, it threw my rythm off and when my rythm gets off, I get a little panicky until I can get my breathing under control. I feel like I am a very right arm dominated swimmer and I think if I learned to breath on both sides, it might improve my left arm power. I'm not certain.

Bike

50 Minutes on the stationary bike. My RPMs were in the low 70's which I think is relatively pathetic.

Discouraged

Did a twenty minute walk run at the gym on the tread mill, ran a mile in two half mile spurts.

This is the first workout in six days after being stricken with a GI bug that weakened me to the point I could barely work. I dropped from 226 to 216. I'm up a few pounds now.

Very discouraged.

Tonight, the ball of my right foot feels bruised.

Appraisal

Ate some bad popcorn butter or something last night at the movies and felt crappy, threw up last night so I didn't workout before work this morning, and I am working now till ten, so today is a day of rest.

Here is my appraisal of what I am doing and what I need to do.

Swimming -- Can swim a mile and probably more in a pool. No biggie. My tecnhique is okay, but could use improvement. I need open water practice, which I am unlikely to get. I should be swimming at least twice a week, preferably three with at least one workout of a mile or longer and one workout of technique drills.

Biking -- I can do an hour on the stationary bike fine. I need to get a real bike and start riding. The weather is a bit of a holdup to that, but I ought to find at least one nice day. Maybe later this week I will make the purchase. I'm still undecided between a mountain bike and a hybrid. Until I get on a real bike I cannot judge where I stand. As far as stationary bike workouts, I need to do atleast two a week of an hour and then a third of whatever length.

Running -- Farthest I have run lately is two miles, but my running has been erratic. Good news is that I seem to be over the knee pain. I have been a little careful on the running because of that. I need to run at least three times a week with at least one run a week advancing my milegage count. If the weather is bad I need to run on the tread mill.

Strength Training -- My workouts haven't been robust. I need more variety and need to work toward failure. Minimum two workouts a week.

Brick workouts - The ones of these I have done have been good, but I am very tired the next day. There has been a lot of sickness going around this winter and I am trying not to overdo.

So here's the bottom line for what a typical week might look like:

Sunday Evening (after work)- Swim and light bike or run.

Monday (after work) - Hour bike and light tread mill run

Tuesday (16 hour workday) - Day of rest

Wednesday -- Long Run (Strength Train)

Thursday - Swim and Hour bike

Friday -- Run

Saturday -- Strength Train Bike

Swim

My left knee was a little sore today -- just a slight soreness that I am nort worried about. It is not the bone/joint pain that hobbled me before, but something I have felt all my life on occassion. No big deal.

I went to the pool and swam a half mile. I got confused on the clock so I have no time. I admit to getting a little bored. I should do some more tecnhique workouts and also some longer swims.

When I was getting out of the shower and towelling myself down I looked at my towel and thought -- that's a little darker than usual for my stripped towell, and then I thought, I had a green towel today. Suit back on, out to the pool, found my towell, left the damp dark stripped one while its owner continued to swim oblivious to the mixup. Sorry, guy.

Swim/Bike/Short Run

Went to the pool swam 36 laps -- a half mile in 18:00, trying to work on my arm technique, and then I drove to the gym, rode the bike for an hour. I did 10 miles in 58.30, but I don't know how accurate the bikes are. And then I hopped right on the treadmill and ran a half mile, and then did a five minute cool down. I didn't want to overexert myself or run too much because I ran a little yesterday, I'm still being cautious, but the legs are feeling good.

Tomorrow I will probably swim and then walk/run around the resouvoir that has a 5 k route. I will also check out the bike trails, as well. Hope the weather is decent.

Bike/Run

Rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes at the gym, and then did a 20 minute run walk on the tread mill, running a mile.

I am off the next two days and expect strong workouts both days. On Friday I will try a 2 and a half mile run if the legs feel okay.

Strength

Went to the gym and did strength training. The the emphasis on triathlon is cutting down by gym visits. The problem also with lifting is it wears me out. I am finding I am doing only short full body workouts where I am not trying to lift any heavier. I am just maintaining.

I may swim a little tonight, just for technique as I am going with the girls and I need to watch them in the pool, so I will probably only get in about ten laps if I am lucky.

I am aiming for another mock triathlon on either Thursday or Friday.

Bike

Okay, so I didn't work out before, during or after the super bowl, and I ate a lot of junk (nachos, popcorn, pizza, ice cream) and even had one beer -- my first in awhile.

On the radio I heard a football player saying this afternoon that he always did a hard workout on Super Bowl Sunday because he figured it was his chance to gain on his competition because they would all be chowing down, drinking beer and watching the game.

Today I got off late, but I did manage to ride the bike for 40 minutes, most of it while watching 24.

I went to the bike shop the other day and scoped out some bikes. A mountain bike will run me about $400. I still haven't decided between a mountain bike or a hybrid. I'm thinking the mountain bike is the one to get because later if I do want to get a triathlon bike, then I can get one and I'll have two bikes on each end of the spectrum rather than one in the middle, needing to get two more to do what can be done on the ends.

The bike is worrying me because until I can get on a bike again and actually ride on the street, this is all just a hypothetical exercise. The guy at the store says the prices of bikes will go up in March when the new year's models come out so I should probably pull the trigger soon.

The weather is bitterly cold, which sucks for my outside running. I do have a fairly open schedule in the days ahead so I'm hoping to get some workouts in, maybe even a small psuedo triathlon. I may give the tread mill a try again.

Super Sunday

I'm at work. I get off at six. I need to workout, but the game will be on. What to do? Maybe I'll get on the bike and ride.

At work there is a guy here who is an excellent swimmer and we just went over my mechanics. He showed me some good pointers. He said my head position with the neck slightly hyperextended so the water hits me in the forehead is fine. He says I need to bring my armsdown closer to my chest as I pull them through the water.

I may do a short swim tonight with the girls, who will have been inside all day and need to get out. I can practice some technique.

Then for the second half of the game, pigout.

Possible March 5K

Working a 16 hour day today so I won't workout unless I do some weights at work.

Knees feel just fine today.

I just found out about a 5k in Hartford on March 11. I will be coming back from a conference the day before, but it looks like a fun race that I should be ready for. here's the link:

O'Hartford 5K Run and Walk

2 Miles in the Cold

I rested yesterday, which made two days in a row.

Today I went to the track. Temp 27 degrees. I bundled up and walked 1/2 mile, and then ran two miles straight, and then walked 3/4 of a mile.

I forgot to bring a watch, which I think is good, so I wasn't worried about time. I think I ran a little slower than normal.

For beginner triathlon training, it probably should all be about volume anyway.

I am thankful for my MP3 player. Nothing like crossing the two mile mark, feeling good and then walking my victory laps in the cold as the Rolling Stones "Street Fighting Man" plays.

Or running with Neil Young "Looking for a Leader" on.

"Maybe its Obama, but he thinks he's too young
Or Maybe Colin Powell, to right what he done wrong...

Looking for a leader with the great spirit on his side..."

I love Neil Young when he rocks out.

The knees feel okay. I came back took an ibuprofen and then put ice packs on them for a half hour.

I am using bags of frozen peas as ice packs and they work great. I read that in one of my books. They contour nicely and stay cold with no leaks, and are completely reusable, and eventually edible.