Lift - 20 Minutes/Swim 1/4 Mile
Too busy at work today to ride or walk. Got 20 minutes in the gym after work to do five minutes on the treadmill and then one full body circuit of lifting. Then at the pool I got to swim 1/4 mile very easy.
My log of becoming a "triathlete" at age 48, and continuing through age 55.
Too busy at work today to ride or walk. Got 20 minutes in the gym after work to do five minutes on the treadmill and then one full body circuit of lifting. Then at the pool I got to swim 1/4 mile very easy.
Just rode 15 laps around the industrial park for a 10 mile ride. I didn't time myself or do a heart rate (although my heart rate was 106 a minute or so after riding).
I went back and studied my weekly running mileage since I began this quest. Here's how it breaks down:
Sort of a Rest Day today. After work I was the babysitter and that translated into first bike ride lessons and swimming at the pool. I did 1/4 mile swim after our play time, then went out for pizza.
Went to gym, ran 1 mile at a 12:00 pace. Heart rate was 138.
Swam 1 mile in 37 minutes. I may have swum one extra or one less lap and I may have misread the clock by a minute, but I don't think so. I swam it rather easily, although my legs did cramp when I pulled myself out of the pool.
I obviously won't do all of these, but may get in a couple:
Did a quick 20 minute 2 mile on the tread mill this morning with a one percent incline. Heart rate - 157 after a mile, 167 after two. While this is a little worse than a month ago, I was running on no breakfast, but I felt like I could keep going.
Very sleepy this morning when I woke up and my left knee felt a little sore as I was going down the stairs, so I decided not to load my bike on the back of the car. Later my knee felt fine and it being a beautiful day, I was regretting not bringing the bike. I did do a three mile walk around the loop here.
I'm taking today as a rest day. I was up all night waiting to get my girlfriend and her daughters at the bus station from a trip they took, which had unscheduled delays. I was also tired and stiff from my run yesterday and I got killed at work, including a late call that pretty much shot any chance at a workout. Tomorrow is my 16 hour day. I am going to try to remember to take my bike to work and hopefully get to ride some during the down time. Worst comes to worst I get two rest days in a row.
Beautiful day today. After I got off work, I drove home, changed into my running gear and went down to the high school track. I ran 4.25 miles with an ending heart rate of 157. I was between 154 - 157 most of the way. When I run I think 4 miles is going to be a long way and it is, but the closer you get to it, the easier it is. I am going to try to get to 6 miles slowly and gradually before I start working on speed.
Went for a nine mile bike ride in Simsbury on the Greenway bike trail along Iron Horse Blvd and the Farmington River. It was very beautiful. The path was flat with a couple bumps that emphasized that men shouldn't be riding bikes.
I ditzed around forever this morning, doing everything I could to delay my bike ride. I truly have a deep seated fear of riding. I finally strapped the bike to the rack and drove down to the high school. I rode around in the parking lot a little just to remember how to use the gears and brakes, and then I took off on a 6 mile ride doing loops through residential neighborhoods with a fair number of small hills. I even got up to 18 miles an hour at one point. It took me awhile to figure out how to pedal going downhill. I learned to lift a little when I was coming to a bump and almost stood up on the pedals, but felt too shaky to press it. I got passed by a couple cars and handled that okay. They gave me wide bearth. I do have a problem turning left as I am not yet confident enough to take my left hand off the bike to signal. Still all in all a successful ride. The only dog that barked at me was in a cage. Ending heart rate was 116. No big deal as I hardly pedaled hard the entire time. Lots of coasting, which I expect is how I will ride in a triathlon at least at first.
I swam a half mile tonight after work. Didn't even look at the time. Ending HR - 104.
Cold, windy and overcast. I dressed warmly in my underarmour and sweats, went out and ran some errands. Drove by the high school thinking the track was probably going to be being used by the HS team, and found it was empty -- its vacation week.
Still raining. Worked 16 hours today. I am beat down. I'm thinking I will take tomorrow as a rest day, but since I am off, I will probably do something easy like a light bike ride or easy run or swim. See how I feel
Very tired after work, went to the gym anyway, was upset I left my heart rate monitor and mp3 at home. Ran a 10:00 mile, and then lifted, just doing legs and abs.
I swam a quarter mile and I was getting really tired so I just stopped. I looked up at the clock. I hate the swimming pool clocks because they are very hard to read as far as minutes. They are never right on the the numbers. I think I swam it in 8.5 minutes (about a 50 second per 50 yard pace). Then I decided to just swim sprints and boy did I feel good swimming those. I was swimming 100 yards in 90 seconds (45 second pace) and then 50s in 40 seconds. I did a total of 1/2 mile. I need to do this more often along with other drills. I also should shoot for a mile total in each of my swims.
Drove to the track. Determined to run 4 miles at a slow pace. I want to have one long slow run a week where I gradually add mileage.
Okay. Last night was great at work, I slept through the night other than lightly waking periodically to listen to radio sounds or check the clock. So an okay night's sleep, a great sleep considering I was making double time and a half to press my cheek against the pillow.
I was up all night at work so when I got home I slept until two in the afternoon. Then it was pouring rain outside and cold, so I decided to just not push it. Hopefully tonight will be easier at work. If it were not for the money I would say I was stupid for working these three overnights in a row.
A few days ago, I wrote about heart rate and training zones, and decided on the following based on my research:
Today's my sixteen hour work day. I just did a twenty minute 1.5 mile walk around the circle. It got overcast and the wind picked up so I cut it short instead of doing the full three miles I had intended.
Got up at 4:30 this morning, went to the gym and did a quick twenty minute full body weight workout before getting to work at six.
Last night soaking in the hot tub, drinking two Corona Lites, and looking up at the stars, I made some short term goals.
Today is another rest day as I prepare for the 5K tomorrow. I am sort of resenting not working out, but I do want tomorrow to go as well as possible.
I'm going to take today as a day of rest. I got home from work and have been thinking about swimming, but I worked out hard yesterday and have had a small cold today, plus it is raining. The race is Saturday morning so I am just going to take it easy. When the race is over I'll start a new phase of training.
Went to the gym. Ran a 10:00 mile with HR of 156, and then did a circuit of weightlifting, going from exercise to exercise without stopping. Squats, bench press, step up, lat pull down, back extension, curl to shoulder press, shoulder row, leg extension, leg curl, ab crunch, tri extension, with top HR of 144 during workout, and then got back on the treadmill ran 1/4 mile, HR was in the 170s, so I slowed down and stopped.
Good news is I didn't have the beer last night, but the bad news is I just bought some potato chips. I was in the convinience store for about fifteen minutes, picking up the chips, putting them back down. Just when I thought my willpower was winning out, it would wane. I was so hungry and chips were what my body wanted -- even though I had a pork chop and brown rice and strawberries back at the base, I had to have the chips. I just couldn't hold out. I usually win battle of self-wills like that.
Brought my gym clothes to work with the plan to go right to the gym after work, but I got a late call and got out an hour and half late, and then had to go pick up the girls and I am tired and beat so instead of working out, I am going to cook a rib eye steak, drink half a beer, and then eat ice cream while watching 24.
Did a quick swim after work. Did a 1/4 mile. I was trying to time myself, but the big wall clock is so screwy I can never get it right. I either did it in eight or nine minutes. And I either did 18 or 20 laps. I probably did 18 laps in nine minutes or maybe less. I tried to swim fast, but after about six laps I got out of rythmn and had to slow down. I wanted to swim longer, but I had plans to go out to eat. We ended up getting delievery so while waiting I did 30 minutes on the bike. For the first time I used my heart rate monitor on the bike and my heart rate never got above 94. So I guess I need to pedal harder.