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November 30, 2006

Only Two More to Go

I have class tonight. And then I have class next Thursday. And then I don't have class anymore! That makes me happy. If you don't already know, I'm looking forward to the end of this semester. :)

This morning I went to the Pitt masters swim. The pool is back to short course 25 yds. Still, swimming at the Pitt pool is very nice - people to swim with and the temperature of the water is about 20 degrees less than at my YMCA. (okay, maybe not 20, but there is a significant difference)

AM swim workout:
3500 yds total (1000 yds warmup, 500 yds cooldown)

8x25 yds on :30
8x50 yds on 1
8x75 yds on 1:15 (except for kick was on 1:30)
8x100 yds on 1:45

the 8 repeats went as such: 2 x (kick, distance per stroke, easy, all out)

The workout wasn't too bad although the all out 100s were rough. I really tried to push it and swam 1:12, 1:11. I think the 1:11 is a PR. :)

This afternoon I lifted at the Pitt gym. Same stuff as Tuesday. Nothing too exciting.

And now off to class soon. Ugh. But the end is in sight! Have a great evening everyone!

Posted by beth at 3:46 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2006

I'm Tired

It's official. Today tired me out.

AM swim workout:
2600 yds total @YMCA (900 yds warmup including 8x50 as 25 drill/25 swim, 400 yds cooldown)

7x100 w/20 seconds rest descending:
(1:23.5, 1:22.0, 1:20.5, 1:19.5, 1:19.3, 1:17.8, 1:15.9)

then 1:30 rest followed by 3x100 w/20 sec rest at same pace as last 100: (1:14.4, 1:15.3, 1:14.0)

then 300 steady kick (4:51)

No joke - I was hurtin' on that last 100. Felt good to hurt though.

PM run workout:
After work (wherein I endured a 6 hour meeting - I kid you not!!) I headed to the shop. First up, a run. I discovered a little park near the shop that just happens to have a crushed limestone trail around it! Not a lot of great places to run from the shop so this was a definite gem of a find. And the park is about 2 miles from the shop so it made for a nice run. I did 46 minutes total with 5x20 second striders in there (on the grassy fields at the park). I felt pretty good but took it easy.

PM cycling workout:
I had about 30 minutes after my run to stretch, get something to eat and set up my bike for movie night. My cycling workout tonight was 1:25 total on the trainer w/10 minutes/leg of ILT in the middle. I have to admit - my legs were revolting (mostly my quads) for about the first 30 minutes. But I eventually felt better and got through the workout.

And now I'm tired. Want to know something very cruel that happened to me this morning? I woke up in the middle of the night (or so I thought) and was like "wow - it's probably like 1 am and I have 4 more hours to sleep - yeah!" So I look at my watch and it's 4:43 am. My alarm goes off at 4:45 am. Yep - I'm still trying to recover from that one. :)

Better get to bed - it will soon be time to go it all over again!

Posted by beth at 8:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2006

Workout, Eat, Work, Repeat

Lots of training today. Lots of eating today. Lots of working today (kind of).

AM swim workout:

2500 yds total at the YMCA (800 yds warmup, 200 yds cooldown)
5x200 on 3
5x100 on 1:30

True to form, I have one speed only. This morning's swim was the perfect example. Doing 200s on 3 minutes seems easier for me than doing 100s on 1:30. Same pace right? So doing the shorter interval should be easier. Not so for me. I felt like I could swim 200s in 2:42-2:45 forever. I was ready to be done with the 100s after about 2 of them. Either way, it was a good workout. I felt kind of akward in the water but otherwise all was good.

lunch time lifting session:

Snuck (is that a word?) out of work at lunch time to do my weights at the Pitt gym. There are only 7 exercises (with a brief warmup and cooldown) but it still takes me an hour. Why you might ask? 3 sets of 30 is the answer! :) After lifting session, back to work where I inhaled leftover spaghetti (literally) and then went back to work.

Spent the better part of the afternoon trying to talk a patient and his wife into the idea of having a surgical feeding tube placed. Everyone is against feeding tubes and I suppose in some circumstances I can understand why. But in some cases they are so beneficial I can't even comprehend why you wouldn't want one! Heck, if I thought I could get a surgeon to place one in me I might opt for it. I would get much better much nutrition that way. :)

After work I raced over to the shop. It's 60 degrees here (AHHHH!!!!!) and I wanted desperately to ride outside but time and daylight were against me.

PM cycling workout:

I opted to ride outside anyway. The mechanic at the shop (who has saved me from myself more than once) quickly put some blinkey lights on my road bike as I quickly changed and then I headed out. I rode for 1:17 or 1:18 - 25.7 miles or so. I was good on daylight until about the last 5 miles. Then it got a little scary. I probably won't do that again. Aside from it turning real dark real quick I had a wonderful ride. I felt really good and kind of felt like I was flying along. My rides lately haven't been the greatest. I haven't had any really bad rides but I haven't had many great ones either. Felt good to feel good today if you know what I mean.

Last but not least - pm pilates workout:
I'm starting to learn what some of the "moves" are actually called. I'm not graceful by any means and I'm sure I don't look good doing this stuff, but hopefully that core is getting stronger.

So there we have it - 4 hours of the 14.5 hour week complete! Tomorrow a swim in the am and then bike/run in the pm.

Posted by beth at 8:36 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2006

Bliss

Remember when you were in elementary school and it was about 3 weeks into summer vacation and all of sudden you were just really, really bored? Yeah - that was me today. Today, for the first time in a very long time, I was bored. Seriously - bored?! It was crazy. But it was pure bliss.

I didn't work today and today was also my day off from training. My instinct told me to switch my training days around so I could make today a big training day, but coach had other plans. He didn't want me to switch. He wanted me to sleep in and then relax all day. It's a novel idea folks. I know none of you do it - but you should. I tell you, it's a thing of beauty.

So I slept in until about 7:30. I ate breakfast. I looked on the internet. I took a shower and stretched really well. I worked on the paper that I wrote for publication that needs A LOT of help. (yeah, the reviewers weren't very nice) I read my Triathlete magazine pretty much cover to cover. And then it was only 11 am. What. The. Heck.

It was official. I was bored! WHOO-HOOO! I filled much of the afternoon with a shopping trip to Sams Club that included some Christmas shopping at the mall. And then get this - O and I actually made dinner. Like real live food that requires pots and pans. We only used the microwave to time when the sauce was done. Insanity!

And now I'm blogging and thinking (usually I don't have time to think - I should keep it that way because my thinking is dangerous and very likely to get me into trouble) how much I would like to be a professional triathlete. Like I really, really, really want to be one. Seriously I do. I decided at some point today that in order to do so I need to do a couple things. First, I need to train hard. I'm working on that. Second I need to keep myself healthy. I know this one will always be a battle but I'm going to do my best. Third, I need to do all the little things (sleeping, eating, stretching, etc...) that make a difference when you add them all up. Again, working on that. Fourth I need to keep things in balance. My focus can sometimes get the best of me. Finally, I need to believe that I'm capable of what I want. That's a tricky thing. It's something that I have to work at. I'm not naturally a confident person. But if I don't believe it myself, nobody else will. And nobody can believe it for me. So today I decided that I need to see myself as I want to be - a professional triathlete. I need to swim that way, bike that way, run that way, rest that way, walk that way and talk that way. And I don't need to worry about coming off too assured or too cocky. There is a difference. As my late high school cross country coach used to always tell me "there is nothing you can do to replace belief in yourself. All the hard work and talent in the world won't make a difference if you don't believe that you can accomplish what you set out to do." Words to live by.

Alas, my blissful boredom will end tomorrow. Over the next 5 days I have 14.5 hours of training to accomplish. 14.5 hours doesn't seem so bad but condensed into 5 days it kind of looks bad on paper. Tomorrow I start things up with 4 workouts. :) Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are pretty big days too. Thursday I'm a slacker with only a swim and weights. What was that I said about wanting to be a professional triathlete? ;)

Good night all!

Posted by beth at 6:56 PM | Comments (3)

November 26, 2006

Whew!

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and I'll have to admit I'm more than a little sad that I now have over 350 days to wait until it comes around again. That just isn't right. We should do this holiday more often don't you think?

Where to begin?! Thanksgiving day O and I and my grandparents set out on our journey to my sister's house in North Carolina. Long trip yes, but let me tell you - it was soooooo worth it! Somewhere along the way my sister and her husband (could have been his influence I guess) learned how to cook and they learned how to cook GOOD. Oh man. One of the best Thanksgiving meals ever folks. I briefly considered moving down to NC to live with them so they could cook for me all the time but I don't think they would be too pleased with that decision. Unfortunately that means back to eating cereal and frozen dinners for me. Oh well. :)

We got to their house around 1:30 and so before dinner commensed O and I went out for a run. It was a beautiful day. The sun seems to shine a whole lot more in NC than in Pennsylvania. We ran 51 minutes (with some striders thrown in there) around Duke's campus. So beautiful that campus. It's no Penn State but really, who could compete with Penn State? :)

Friday O and I woke up and ran just about the same thing we had done the day before, again around Duke's campus. I was hoping some of the fast karma that must hang around Duke (afterall, they have a LOT of fast women runners) would rub off on me.

Later in the day on Friday my sister, brother-in-law, O and I all headed to the YMCA. Those three played raquetball while I hit up the pool. It felt good to swim. It was an easy workout - just 2000 yds total w/8x50 on :90, but it was nice to loosen up some from the running and the long car ride south.

Saturday morning dawned even sunnier than the previous two days; hard to believe. I haven't seen that kind of sun in a long time. I was pretty excited because I had a 2 hour run on tap Saturday morning. O ran with me and I'll tell you guys - it was great. I haven't run that long since I was training for Columbus 2 years ago. And it felt really, really good. Triathlon is my sport now and I have no plans on leaving it any time soon but I will never forget that running was and always will be my first love.

After the long run we had to leave. I hate leaving. But it was great to see my parents, grandparents and sis and brother-in-law. Of course the ride home was long and evil. I'm about the worst traveler there is. I can't sit still in the car. After about 2 hours I'm ready to pull my hair out. O is quite a trooper for putting up with me. And of course when we were about 3 hours from home we sat in some nasty traffic for about 30 minutes because there was an accident on 79 in West Virginia. UGH. We finally got home around 10 pm last night even though we left at 1:30!

This morning I was feeling the post-holiday blues. You know those? That realization that life is back to normal. But I got my stuff together and headed to the shop so I could do a ride. For some reason I didn't have today off like I normally do but that's okay. I was actually looking forward to some time to myself to ride and be out in the fresh, cool air. I rode for 1:20, just kind of taking it easy. My legs felt like I had run 16 miles and then got in a car for 9 hours but they feel better now that I rode and stretched and am moving around more. I'm working at the shop now (working...blogging...it's all about the same thing... :) and when I get home I'll do some lifting and that will end this week of training.

Week summary:

Monday - 3600 meter swim w/8x300 in am, 45 minutes on the trainer w/ILT in pm, core/feet exericses
Tuesday - 2700 yd swim w/2x500,400 kick in am, lifting session at lunch, 55 minutes on trainer w/7 spin-ups in pm
Wednesday - 2500 yd swim w/10x100,300 kick in am, 1:20 run in pm, 2x25 pushups/2x100 crunchers
Thursday - 51 minute run w/5x20 sec striders, LOTS of eating :)
Friday - 50 minute run w/5x20 sec striders in am, 2000 yd swim w/8x50 in pm
Saturday - 2:02 run (16 miles), 2x25 pushups/2x100 crunchers
Sunday - 1:20 ride (25.5 miles) in am, lifting session in pm (yet to be done)

I hit 40 miles for the week for running! I was very excited about this fact, although coach didn't seem nearly as thrilled. :) I suppose it sort of just makes me feel like I really am "back" as a runner...or something like that. I didn't do much riding at all this week although I'm consistently keeping my swimming yardage over 10,000. O was telling me how a "hot" saying right now in football talk is "just keep chopping wood"...as in, keep playing hard, keep putting in the work, keep chipping away and in the end it will be worth it. It's a good mantra for me too. My races are so far away right now but I know the training I do now will make the difference for me. Just keep chopping the wood. As tiring as it may be with no end in sight, the reward will be worthwhile!

Posted by beth at 1:01 PM | Comments (3)

November 22, 2006

Thanksgiving Eve

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Turkey time is upon us! My excitement cannot be contained. I can taste the turkey and potatoes already. Thanksgiving really is one of my favorite holidays...

But first we had to get through today. I started the day off with a swim.

AM swim workout:
2500 yds total @YMCA (900 yds warmup including 8x50 as 25 drill/25 swim, 300 yds cooldown)

7x100 w/20 seconds rest descending:
(1:21.7, 1:22.6, 1:20.6, 1:19.9, 1:18.1, 1:17.0, 1:15.5)
then 1:30 rest followed by 3x100 w/20 sec rest at same pace as last 100: (1:14.8, 1:15.3, 1:14.3)
then 300 steady kick (4:51)

More than anything I'm impressed with my skills at descending my first 7 100s. Seriously people - that takes talent. :)

Next up? Work. This is a big time of year for traumas - lots of partying and drinking and driving and general rowdiness. It's not good folks. Not good at all. One thing is for sure - those of us that work in trauma will never be out of a job. Anyway - that's just my little PSA for the day. Nobody ever thinks it's going to happen to them until it does.

Following work I got stuck in the ugliess traffic I've seen in a while. What the heck man? I was on a mission to get home but it was not meant to be. It's times like these that I always think I'm going to be real sneaky and take a "shortcut" home - you know - the "back roads". Trust me when I say THAT IS NEVER A FASTER OPTION. Regardless, I do it time and time again.

I finally got home and went for my run. VERY good run my friends, very good run. I ran for 1:20 and because I didn't start until 5:45 and it was already dark, I was stuck on the roads around our town vs the trail. It wasn't bad though and I really enjoyed myself. I felt good. I checked my pace twice on the HS track at two different points and both times was running in the 7:20-7:30 range. I finally feel like my running fitness is coming back.

And now for the truth - as predicted, I stalled out the new car this morning on my way to work. I knew it! Just a matter of time... Of course it was at a most inopportune time too and the guy behind me was not pleased. But life goes on and we all survived. :)

Alas - time for a shower and off to my grandparent's house tonight! Tomorrow morning - the long journey to NC where turkey and taters will be awaiting. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! I know I have a lot to be thankful for! :)

Posted by beth at 7:29 PM | Comments (2)

November 21, 2006

Swimming, Lifting, Cycling and a New Car Too

AM swim workout:

2700 yds total @YMCA (900 yds warmup, 400 yds cooldown)
2x500 yds w/1 min rest (6:50, 6:45)
400 yds moderate kick (6:45)

Arms. Were. Tired. But I did this same workout last week a lot slower. Weird.

Mid AM lifting session:
I busted out of work around 11 am (when I would normally be chowing down some lunch) for a lifting session at Pitt's gym. Same 7 exercises (with warmup and cooldown) but this time, 3 sets of 30 reps. Seriously people - 30 reps?! That takes forever! I think I have about 4 weeks of this high rep stuff until the reps lower but the weight increases. I think. See how much I know about my training? :)

PM cycling workout:
After work over to the shop for a session on the trainer - 55 minutes total, mostly easy spinning (very high cadence) but also w/7x30 second spin-ups. Nothing too hard or exciting, but a workout nonetheless.

It's cold outside. Did I mention I'm excited to go to the warmth of North Carolina for Thanksgiving?

In other news, we got a new car today. Long story short - we weren't really in the market to buy a new car but for some (very) strange reason, the car dealership where we bought the current car I drive REALLY wants used models of that car. They must be worth something (could have fooled me) because they gave us a very good incentive to trade in our car for a new one of the the same type. REGARDLESS - not that you care AT ALL but the point of the story is, new car is a stick. Now, our other car is a stick too but that's the car I don't really drive. Do I know how to drive a stick? Yes. Kind of. I'm not the best but now that I won't have a choice, I guess I'm going to get real good at it. Interesting thing is, it turns out not all sticks are the same. (who would have thunk it?) New car has a VERY short clutch compared to our other car and although I drove the thing all the way home from the dealership myself without stalling out, I know I will stall out soon. O and I have a running bet - who stalls out first - him or I? If I was a bettin' gal, I know where I would put my money... :)

TWO MORE DAYS UNTIL TURKEY TIME MY FRIENDS!

Posted by beth at 9:17 PM | Comments (3)

November 20, 2006

Holiday Week

Ah...the Big Turkey Day is almost upon us! I'm getting very excited to chow down on some turkey and stuffing and potatoes and pie and corn and whatever-else-my-sister-makes-for-us-to-eat. Yep, that's right - the family is converging on my sister and brother-in-law's house in North Carolina for Thanksgiving this year. And although they've threatened to make things like sushi for dinner instead of turkey, I have faith they will produce a (at least somewhat) normal Thanksgiving meal. Can. Not. Wait.

Anyway, back to today, I hit the pool in the morning and the trainer in the evening. It snowed here today. North Carolina cannot come any faster!

AM swim workout:
3600 meters total @Pitt masters swim (900 meter warmup, 300 meter cooldown)

8x300 meters as:
2x300 on 6
2x300 on 5:50
2x300 on 5:40
2x300 on 5:30

For the odd # repeats the first 150 was moderate and the 2nd 150 was to be negative splited. For the even repeats we were just supposed to go hard. I was an orphan again this morning - not really haven't a great lane with which to swim in. Coach choose to keep me in the slower lane though as she thought the next lane up was swimming too tight an interval for me. This means I had more rest and so she told me to really focus on negative splitting the odd 300s and then holding that same pace for the hard 300s. I thought I would like to swim the hard 300s in 4:30 so I made that my goal. I swam 4:35, 4:32, 4:33 and then finally 4:30. I swam my odd repeats in 4:40-4:42. I'm not going to lie - it was a hard workout. My arms were killing me when I was done. Good deal! :)

After work I went to the shop and rode "my" bike on the trainer while watching tv. I had just a short 45 minute ride, but with more isolated leg training (ILT) where (after warmup) I alternated legs, each for 1 minute on, until each leg had 10 minutes total. That stuff kills my hip flexors or the top part of my quads - whatever you want to call it. I was feeling the burn, that's for sure!

This appears to be a big run week for me. I added up what I thought the mileage would be if I did all the runs as planned and I came up with 38-40 miles depending on how fast I run them. I remember a long time ago talking with my coach (when I first started into the sport) and him telling me how he was trying to get up to 40 MPW in his own training. And I remember thinking - that's just crazy! How can you run 40 MPW and still do all that other stuff and still be okay? I guess I'm in the process of learning. What (kind of) scares me is that I don't think 40 miles is the ceiling here. I'm not sure what his plans are (and if you ask you don't always get the straightest of answers) but whatever he calls for me to do I will do it. I work best that way. Listen to someone else and trust in what they tell me. And the only thing I have to worry about is gettin' 'er done.

Good night!

Posted by beth at 8:41 PM | Comments (1)

November 18, 2006

Week Summary

I survived my team ride this morning in fine fashion. I feared the worst which may have been a good strategy because then it wasn't that bad. We ended up with 45 miles in about 2:10. We climbed lots of big hills that left me cursing at times, but very happy to go down the other side. And I held my own. They never had to wait for me which is always my goal. :)

This afternoon I went for a run - about 46 minutes with striders in the middle. O went with me. It was a nice afternoon - I'm still wearing shorts but I know that will soon come to an end.

And now I'm off to the end of the year cycling banquet! It's for the group that put on all the crits in the summer. I have to watch my teammates pick up all their hardware. :) And it will be fun to see everyone in something other than cycling shorts.

Week summary:

Monday - 3700 meter swim w/5x500 in am, 1:15 (10 miles) run in pm, 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchers
Tuesday - 2000 yd swim w/6x50 in am, weights in pm, 1 hour pilates class
Wednesday - 3000 yd swim w/2x500, 400 kick in am, 55 minute run w/striders in am, 1:30 w/ILT on the trainer in pm
Thursday - 45 min on trainer w/5 spin-ups in am, weights in pm
Friday - 2400 yd swim w/10x100, 300 kick in am, 1:20 (10.5 miles) run in pm, core/feet exercises
Saturday - 45 mile ride in am,, 45 minute run w/striders in pm

Another big week! 15 hours, about 34 miles running, 85 miles riding, 11,500 yds swimming and some weight lifting and pilates for good measure. Coach informed me this morning that I would be swimming more and running more in the weeks to come. Yikes! :)

Posted by beth at 4:40 PM | Comments (1)

November 17, 2006

Two More Under the Belt

Two more workouts today - a swim and a run.

AM swim workout:
2400 yds total @ YMCA (900 yds warmup including 8x50 as 25 drill, 25 swim, 200 yds cooldown)

7x100 w/20 seconds rest descending:
1:23.5, 1:22.6, 1:20.1, 1:20.4, 1:18.1, 1:18.0, 1:16.0

1:30 rest - last 3 100s at pace of last 100 w/20 sec rest:
1:15.1, 1:15.5, 1:15.2

300 kick moderate (4:56)

I'm not going to mince words here. When I woke up this morning I felt ROUGH. Man was I hurtin'. I did not, in any way, shape or form, want to get out of bed. I did not want to go to work and I *really* did not want to go swimming. But I did anyway and you know what? I had a pretty good workout. Swimming 100s in 1:15 isn't easy for me. But it's very gratifying because a couple months ago I couldn't swim one 100 in 1:25 let alone 1:15, let alone a bunch of them at that pace. Very gratifying indeed.

I had a pretty good day at work. I got pizza from our cafeteria at lunch. And let me tell you - the cafeteria pizza is da bomb at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Da Bomb!

Got stuck in some nasty traffic on the commute home; realized there was no way I was doing my 10+ mile run on the trail tonight because it was already getting dark by the time I got changed into running clothes. Humpf. The good news is, O was going to be able to run with me today. So we ran around the lighted streets of our neighborhood and the town next to us and I felt great. It was supposed to be an easy zone 1 type run for 1:20 and that's exactly what we did. We checked our pace once on a half mile around the high school track and it was about 7:40 pace. Good deal.

I'm kind of scared for tomorrow's team ride. My only other female teammate isn't going to be there. My coach isn't going to be there. And there was an email sent out on the team's email group about riding a "tough" 50 miler tomorrow morning. Ugh. I'm always up for a challenge but my cycling hasn't been feeling great lately and I'm going to be stuck with all the fast guys that could easily hammer me into the ground. I can only hope for (1) a lot of hills or (2) that we ride in a place that I'm familiar with so that if I get dropped I can find my way back. Perhaps I should carry some bread crumbs? :)

Posted by beth at 9:12 PM | Comments (1)

November 16, 2006

Nothing Exciting

This morning I got up (at 4:45 am as usual) and got on my bike (on the trainer) in our basement and started pedaling away. I kind of felt like I never went to bed...just sort of kept riding since last night's trainer ride. The days sometimes all run together like that. :)

I rode for 45 minutes including 5x30 second "spin-ups" where you build up to the highest cadence you can and hang there for a few seconds before resting. Gets those legs moving if you know what I mean.

During the day I snuck away from work (late lunch hour I suppose) at around 2:30 to go lift at the Pitt gym. Same 7 exercises as Tuesday but today I did 3 sets of 25 reps for everything. Needless to say, I've been using light weights!

In other news I finally got that presentation done for class and presented during class tonight and handed in my final assignment for class and wow...I'm pretty much done with that $%@#RUYF*#@ class! It's such a wonderful feeling. I think we have 2 or 3 more classes to actually attend, but have to do little more than sit there during them. I can take that any day of the week. Cross one more thing off the list! :) Good night all!

Posted by beth at 8:59 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2006

Inside Out Triathlon

I did a triathlon of sorts in training today. Only difference being I had several hours rest between activities AND I did things in the wrong order. Can't get it right all the time you know... ;)

AM swim workout:
3000 yds total (900 yds warmup, 700 yds cooldown)
2x500 w/1 minute rest moderate (7:12, 6:54)
400 kick moderate (6:53)

The warmup included some sculling drills which I'm about 99.9% sure I did not do correctly, but hey, you get a point or two for trying right? ;)

Mid AM running workout

I came home from my swim, did some laundry, replied to some emails, did some other odds and ends, etc... and then went out for my run about 45 minutes later. I hemed and hawed about what exactly it was I should wear on said run. And as I started I was definitely questioning the decision to go with shorts and just a running cap (vs a winter cap). In the end though, it was the right choice. It was a beautiful morning and the sun came out shining like a champ! Amazing how that sun can warm things up.

56 minutes total running (7+ miles)
38 minutes running, stopped to do 5x20 second striders were I hopped back (30 hops/leg) to the "starting line" to begin the next strider. Hopping is really hard - I kid you not! You can feel the fatigue just well up in your muscles. Builds a lot of strength I suppose. And you look real stupid doing it. :) Then, 18 minutes easy running back home.

PM cycling workout:
1:30 total on the trainer w/10 minutes per leg (alternating legs 1 minute off, 1 minute on) of isolated leg training (ILT). ILT is where you just pedal with one leg at a time. Hurts like crazy after a while but is supposed to help your stroke. Pedal stroke that is. :)

And now I'm tired and now I STILL don't have my presentation done for school tomorrow. The good news is, the next blog entry I write I BETTER have that presentation done because...well...I will have had to present it in class already! Brilliant! Good night all!

Posted by beth at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2006

I'm Cold

Seriously people. I'm cold. Like really cold. And I have about 5 layers of clothes on. Could it be because I just ate a bowl of ice cream and it's winter outside? Perhaps yes. I don't even want to think it, but I honestly might have to give up ice cream until June. What a wretched thought.

In other news I had a rough morning. It all started when I got up and couldn't quite remember where I was. Yep, one of those mornings. I then proceed to put my contacts in only to realize that they were already in because I had failed to take them out the night before. That 10 miler last night must have tired me out more than I thought.

Next up, I go to the pool. I'm have an awful time of getting myself into the water and when I finally do and take off swimming I realize that I don't have my goggles on. What. The. Heck. Who forgets their goggles?! Luckily I had them with me in the locker room, just didn't have them on my face. Rookie move to say the least.

Continuing on with my morning, I finally get ready and leave the house for work (very late by the way) and as is my usual custom, I treat the STOP signs right by our house as more of...um...lets say..."YIELD" signs instead. Usually not a problem, no. But on this fine morning of mine there happens to be a cop car sitting across the street visualizing my bad behavior. Of course I didn't notice him until it was wayyyyy to late. And yes, he pulled me over.

At this point I thought it was funny. I mean really. I was busted and there was no way around it. When he came up to my window I already had my license, registration and insurance ready. He asks if I know why I got pulled over. No mincing words on my part - "yes sir, I didn't stop at that there stop sign back there." He took my stuff and I prayed the ticket wouldn't be more than $200. I sat there thinking of all the things I could have bought with the $200 I was now going to be paying Harrison Township.

Mr. Policeman comes back and hands me something to sign and then says - "I'm just giving you a warning, but you better start completely stopping at those signs because there are a lot of kids in this neighborhood." If I thought it appropriate, I would have kissed the man. HAPPY DAYS!! HAPPY DAYS!!

I go on my merry way. Get stuck in the worst traffic I've seen for years. Then get stuck up at my parking garage because my card to get in won't work. Next up? I lose my keys. Seriously - I lost all my keys...including those that let me in my office at work. I finally drag by bloodied and bruised body into my office (after someone else let me in) and wondered what was next.

But I'm happy to report, all was good from there. I found my keys. I didn't have that much to do at work today. Oh yeah - I ONLY got a warning from Mr. Policeman. Life is good! And I think I'm going to go take out my contacts right now so I don't forget again... :)

AM swim workout (once I got the goggles on... :)
2000 yards total @YMCA (1000 yds warmup, 700 yds cooldown)
6x50 yds fast on :90

Yeah, the workout was really that easy.

PM weight workout
Yes, it's true - back to the weight room for me! After the a couple weeks of plyo stuff, I was back to the weight room to resume that stuff they call weight lifting. And I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

This workout consisted of doing 3 sets of 20 reps for squats, lat pull downs, step-ups, pushups, seated rowing, hamstring curls, and some crunchers. There was also a brief warmup and cooldown on the bike - all in all 55 minutes. Did I mention I'm going to be sore tomorrow?

PM pilates workout
The usual. We had the instructor that doesn't focus so much on the core but on other stuff instead. We did do some wicked ab stuff though. Ouch.

I have tomorrow off from work and it's a good thing because I have to swim, run and ride. Oh, and there's that presentation that I have to do in class on Thursday that I didn't really start. Oh boy...I am SUCH a slacker...

Posted by beth at 8:32 PM | Comments (1)

November 13, 2006

I Couldn't Have Said it Better Myself

The back cover of the newest Triathlete magazine has my absolute favorite ad of all time. I read the print and thought "did I write that and forget somehow?". The ad is for TYR and is a picture of Becky Lavelle (professional triathlete) sitting in her TYR gear on a bench, wet, elbows on knees, looking down. And the print says:

"We all have to do it. Explain our actions. Make sense of it to somebody that doesn't quite get it. You may even question yourself sometimes, but not for long. No matter how tired you are, how much your muscles ache and joints hurt, you feel better after training and nobody can take that from you. It's just you and your body. THE PLEASURE AND PAIN IS ONLY YOURS. IT'S PERSONAL."

I can't even begin to tell you how much that speaks to me. Especially given my decision to cut back on work some, train a little more, not have children for a while, etc... I've had to explain myself more than once to people that don't quite get it. And I've wondered more than once if what I was doing was right. Sport in and of itself is a selfish endeavor and I struggle with that sometimes. But guaranteed when I'm getting up at some awful hour to go swim in a cold pool, or cycling in the pouring down, cold rain, or running intervals on the track at 7 pm at night because there wasn't any other time to do it, I'll be reminding myself that indeed, the pleasure and pain is mine only and even more so, it's personal.

Posted by beth at 8:49 PM | Comments (3)

A Great Day to Train

AM swim workout:

3700 meters total (900 m warmup, 300 m cooldown) @ Pitt - long course pool

100 m on 1:40
400 m on 7:20 (1:50 base)
200 m on 3:20 (1:40 base)
300 m on 5:30 (1:50 base)
300 m on 5 (1:40 base)
200 m on 3:40 (1:50 base)
400 m on 6:40 (1:40 base)
100 m on 1:50
500 m on 8:20 (1:40 base)

If you're real smart (unlike me) you can see a pattern to this workout. Basically it was like 5x500 meters. Ouch.

I'm starting to feel like a bit of an orphan at masters swim. You see, me and 2-3 others (depending on who shows up) don't really have a home lane. When we swim long course on Monday mornings we share the pool with the Pitt women's team and so we only have 4 lanes. One lane is for the really, really fast swimmer guys. One lane is for the people who really don't do the workout and are more or less learning how to swim. That leaves the two middle lanes. I and the 2-3 other orphans have always been in the 2nd slowest lane but we've started to outgrow that lane. Even if we do our own workout on different intervals it gets messy when we start to lap them. Well today coach moved us up to swim with the 2nd to fastest lane and instead of the hunters we became the hunted. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that one day I can swim their workouts but certainly not yet! They swam their faster stuff on a 1:30 base this morning. Double ouch.

Work was work. Not much more to say about that. Sick people. Very sick, sick people. Where do all these sick people come from?

PM run workout:

Great run. I was supposed to run 1:15 easy in zone 1. I managed a 10 mile run in 1:15:12 with an average heart rate just 2 beats over my zone 1 limit. So basically that means I ran a little (just a tiny bit) harder than I should have. But it also means that my "easy" pace is somewhere around 7:30. Now, that is a good thing for me. Guaranteed that same run would have been zone 4 HR 2.5 months ago. I'm making progress for sure.

And to top it off when I came home from my run the love of my life had hot soup and a grilled cheese sandwich waiting for me on the table for dinner. I kid you not - life does not get much better than this. :)

While I was at the pool this morning I saw my Trizilla teammate E who happens to be a swimming coach at Pitt (hence seeing him at the pool). Anyway, E is about to get his pro card - really great athlete with lots of talent but also works HARD and is tougher than nails. He inspires me. He was running his 10Ks in his Olympic distance tris in the 34s and 35s and the most he's EVER run is 20 miles/week. Talk about untapped talent. Anyway we were talking training this morning and I was getting alllll worked up. We have both been not feeling the cycling lately but he's been running a lot and I've been feeling good in the pool - we were just egging each other on. I'm really glad to have him around. He's a great resource and a great person and I can't wait to see him mix it up with the pros this summer!

Posted by beth at 7:57 PM | Comments (1)

November 11, 2006

When it Rains it Pours

Wow did I get wet riding this morning. I'm talking soaked to the gills. One wet rat. And it was bone-chilling cold too. Delightful really. :)

The team ride started off very nicely - it was about 60 degrees and although I think we all knew it would eventually start raining, I also think we were all enjoying wearing shorts and being nice and warm on the ride. I was feeling pretty good myself and enjoying the scenary. We were riding on the hills again so the legs were getting a good workout (as were the heart and lungs!).

And then, around 20 miles into the ride it started to pour. No warning really, the skies just opened and within seconds I was soaked. And then really cold. Brrrrrrrrrr!!! At the point when it started to rain we happened to be riding (about 35 MPH) down a really long hill. I couldn't see; my sunglasses were fogging up. The spray from the road was making it extremely difficult to focus on anything else. It wasn't pretty. But we survived the 10 miles back and although I was supposed to ride for longer, 30 miles and 90 minutes will have to do for today! Actually, other than being really cold and wet at the end, it was a good ride. Now I just have to figure out how to dry out my cycling shoes... :)

I still have a plyo workout left today but nothing else. Good thing - it's still raining and the temps are falling! I also have a little homework to do today but that's it. It's been a long time since we've had such a quiet weekend. Definitely a good thing. I got 9 hours of sleep last night but I'm really not opposed to getting a few more this afternoon... Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Week summary:

Sunday - off
Monday - 2500 yds swimming w/10x100 in am, 10 mile run w/6 mile tempo in PM, 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchers
Tuesday - 40 mile ride (2:10), 1 hour pilates class
Wednesday - 1550 yds swimming w/3x200 and 30 minute plyo session in am, 1:15 w/interval session on trainer in pm
Thursday - 45 minutes easy running, core/feet exercises
Friday - 10 miles running w/track work (200,400,600,800,1000,800,600,400,200)
Saturday - 30 mile ride (shortened due to weather) in am, plyo session in pm

Definitely an easier week in general - 11.5 hours total w/much less swimming than usual. Still a decent amount of running. We shall see what next week holds! :)

Posted by beth at 1:53 PM | Comments (2)

November 10, 2006

Mark This Day

Um...when was the last time it was 70 degrees and sunny on November 10th in Pittsburgh, PA? Absolutely amazing weather today! I kept thinking that I could literally take this weather 365 days of the year, for all the years of my life. It was perfect - sunny and 70 and not humid. If there was a place that existed with weather like this year round that still had the same cost of living as Pittsburgh...well...that place would be so over-crowded I probably wouldn't want to live there anyway. So there!

Regardless, I was majorly chomping at the bit to get out of work today and get some outside time. Luckily I went in early and was able to leave early. And the weather did not disappoint. I did a track workout today in shorts and a sports bra and I felt like it was a May day of track practice! What a way to life the spirits!

Anyway, the workout today consisted of some "faster" stuff which is really where I struggle in most of my athletics endeavors. I place faster in quotation marks because my intervals (all of shorter nature) were based on a pace of 5:40/mile. Under no circumstances would I consider this pace that incredibly fast and indeed I used to be able to handle things like full mile repeats at 5:40 pace. Now a 200 at 5:40 pace feels like sprinting, but nonetheless, I am no longer a spring chicken and I can't expect to run like one. :)

Based on that 5:40 pace my interval time goals were :42 (200), 1:25 (400), 2:07 (600), 2:50 (800), 3:33 (1000). For the rest interval I jogged 1/2 the distance of the previous interval.

20 minute warmup to track

200 (:40)
400 (1:26)
600 (2:06)
800 (2:49)
1000 (3:33)
800 (2:49)
600 (2:07)
400 (1:25)
200 (:42)

25 minutes cooldown home

When I started off I thought "hmm...this isn't so bad" but I think that was just temporary euphoria as based on the fact that I wasn't doing something like a 6 mile tempo run. Mentally a 400 meter repeat is a lot easier to handle than 40 minutes of hard tempo running. Physically, however, the 40 minutes doesn't seem to take nearly the toll of that :85 of pain. Interesting that lactic acid stuff.

Either way it was a good workout. I put in at least 10 miles total. And hopefully that faster stuff will start to make 6-6:15 pace feel easier...as in easy enough to run 10K straight in it. :)

Posted by beth at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)

November 9, 2006

Catching Up

Back in the saddle today!

I woke up this morning to 50 degree temps. Can't complain about that at 4:45 am in mid-November! Today's training called for 45 minutes easy, zone 1 running. Recovery day I suppose. Although this was a bit of a recovery week so the workout fit right in with the theme.

I felt good on the run this morning. It was peaceful out. And running in the dark is kind of fun. I definitely took it easy though. My HR monitor let me know when to back off.

Catching up with yesterday's workouts - I had a swim and plyo workout in the morning and then a trainer ride with intervals in the evening (movie nite that turned into watching ESPN on the tv instead).

The swim was very easy - only 1550 yds total with the main set being 3x(200 yds @ T-pace, 50 yds kick easy). My 200 T pace would be 2:46 but I hit 2:45, 2:40 and 2:39. When I was done I felt like I needed to do much more, but again, recovery week calls for less volume. When I'm getting killed next week (as is my suspicion) I'll be glad to be feeling fresh from this week!

After the swim I hit the plyo workout - jumping, skipping, hopping, etc... That stuff really is hard. Try jumping rope on one leg for any length of time. Trust me when I say - you get real tired, real fast!

I didn't feel like movie night after the funeral but I knew it would help. I felt like crap when I showed up, my head ached from all the crying and I felt worn out and very tired. But I'm glad I went and I'm glad I did the workout because I felt tons better when I was done. I spent 1:15 on the trainer - including 3 sets of 3x20 seconds all out (1 min rests) followed by 5 minutes in HR zone 5 (=VERY hard) w/8 minutes easy before starting the next set. It was a tough workout - especially those 5 minute pieces but as the workout progressed I felt better and better.

Alas, it will soon be time for class. The very exciting news about class is that (1) our professor isn't going to make us take a final and (2) besides 2 article write-ups and one presentation I have no more work in there! I love it when I can count on one hand the amount of things I have left to do for a class. AND we don't have that many classes left to attend. See, life isn't so bad afterall... :)

Posted by beth at 3:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 8, 2006

Sad, Sad Day

There's really no nice way to put it. I had a real bad day. Sad day I should say. Really, really sad.

Coach's funeral was this morning. I'm not quite sure how to put in words how awful it was. I'm going to say it was one of the roughest days I've ever had. I don't think it had really sunk in to me that coach really is gone...until today...when I watched them roll his casket away. I don't think it had really sunk in to me how deeply saddened I was by it until I really couldn't control my crying (actually sobbing) at times. And although I'm definitely hurting myself, what I just cannot stop thinking about is coach's wife and the total devastation she must be feeling right now. She now has 3 young children to raise by herself. Absolutely tragic in all senses of the word.

At the lunch afterwards my head cleared some as we all sat around and talked - sometimes about coach, sometimes just about other stuff. And we laughed some. And I got to tell both coach's wife and his mother that he meant the world to me and that the way he lived his life has and always will have a lasting effect on me. He taught me so much. And I feel so very honored that he was my coach and even more so, my friend.

I wish more than anything that I could have one last run with him. But since I can't here on this earth I'll have to wait until we are reunited again. Until then, I'm sure he'll be running with the angels, watching down on us all, his children, his students, his athletes, with a huge smile on his face - just like we all remember him.

Posted by beth at 9:21 PM | Comments (3)

November 7, 2006

Great Ride

I decided that riding by yourself every once in a while isn't such a bad thing. Case in point - today's ride.

I went into work really early so that I could leave early and (hopefully) get my full 2:15 ride in outside in the light if it indeed was going to be warm enough to ride outside. I got to the shop and got ready by 3 pm and although it really wasn't that warm and it was sort of spitting/drizzling I decided to go outside anyway. I'm glad I did. I was cold but it was so much better than riding inside on the trainer.

I rode 40 miles total in about 2:10 - 20 miles out and then I just turned around and came right back. That's one long road I was on. :) It was a great ride. I didn't push myself - just sort of cruised along, hammered when I felt like it and took it easy when I felt like it. And I felt good. I just kind of let my mind wonder. Very cathartic.

After a nice, hot shower I headed to pilates. We had the instructor that really focuses on core today so my mid-section was on fire! My lower back might never be the same. :)

And that's that. I have some homework to do now. Let's see if I actually do it... Good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:39 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2006

Sleepy Monday

I fell asleep at work today during rounds. They were going on and on and on about giving copper to liver patients and I just could not keep my eyes open. I thought to myself - "I'll just rest my eyes for a few seconds." Famous last words... :)

AM swim workout:

2500 yds total @ YMCA (800 yds warmup, 700 yds cooldown)
10x100 w/10 secs rest
1:20.8
1:20.9
1:20.6
1:19.3
1:18.4
1:17.9
1:16.9
1:16.7
1:16.1
1:16.1
total time - 13:03.7, ave 100 - 1:18.4

I complained last week about having to do 500 repeats - long and hard. Well let me complain this week about doing 100 repeats - short and even harder. Some people just can't be pleased with anything... :)

This evening I came home for a run. I knew it was going to get dark on me but I had a tempo run of sorts and so I wanted to run on the trail that has all the miles marked out (and is soft and flat too). So that's what I did.

PM run workout:
10 miles total - 70:08
First 4 miles were easy warmup (30:30). Surprisingly I felt good. I thought Saturday would have done me in but I must have recovered yesterday during my day off. The next 6 miles were to be at goal race pace for my half ironman in June. My dream goal race pace would be 6:45. No telling if that's realistic or not but that was my aim today - run those last 6 miles at 6:45 pace. I started off with what I felt was a comfortable yet challenging pace that I could sustain over the next 40-45 minutes. My mile splits were 6:47, 6:38, 6:35, 6:35, 6:36 and 6:28. If anything, you can call me consistent.

I figure if I keep running 6:30-6:40 pace (which seems to be the pace for all my recent workouts) one day it will just become "my" pace. It definitely feels more comfortable than it has in a long time, I'll give you that.

Anyway, during my run I was thinking of Coach a lot. Several of my high school teammates called/emailed me today about his death and every one of them said something along the lines of "I know you guys were really close so you are probably devastated, etc..." It surprised me - that they all thought I was so close to him. But if I think about it it really is true. We literally ran together every day. And from now until the day I stop running, I know he will always be my favorite running partner. I can't tell you how much I wish I had one last run or even one last conversation with him. I feel so much regret about it. But there's nothing I can do now. I remembered today during my run what he always used to tell me in high school - "There is nothing you can do to replace belief in yourself. All the hard work and talent in the world won't make a difference if you don't believe that you can accomplish what you set out to do." I put up my favorite picture of Coach by my desk today - to remind me of his life and his legacy, of the belief he had in me and in all his athletes, of his infectious smile and most of all, of the fact that life is short and we have to live it as such.

Posted by beth at 8:17 PM | Comments (5)

November 4, 2006

Good End to Good Week

I'm tired, no doubt, but stronger for sure.

This morning I was bound and determined to stay with the pack on the team ride. I got dropped pretty badly the last time we rode outside together. I didn't want a repeat of that. No, no! It was cold this morning (26 degrees when I left) so I basically went through my closet and just kept putting clothes on. I believe I had 4 layers on the top, 2 on the bottom, gloves, hat (and helmet of course) and small foot covers for my cycling shoes. I'm proud to say the only body part that got really cold was my feet for which I purchased full boot type deals that cover your whole cycling shoe and then go up over your ankle. Watch out! I probably weighed a good 5 pounds more than usual. Good strength training I suppose.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I did indeed stick with the group today. We rode just a hair under 50 miles in 2:35. I was greatly helped by the fact that we rode on some serious hills today. I can't say that I love hills but in terms of sticking with the pack, it's my savior. I can kill some of those bigger guys up the hills. Call me a mountain goat. It pays to weigh 110 pounds sometimes. Certainly doesn't pay when you're riding on the flats or downhill but up the hills? It's MONEY! :) Regardless, I survived the whole ride but I will admit, my quads felt like absolute trash when we were done. I definitely had to work hard this morning.

All during my ride I refused to think about the run that I also had to do this afternoon. I've done short bricks after Saturday team rides but never a full 2nd workout. Especially not a full 2nd workout that called for a 5 mile tempo run. Can I take that thing about getting a pro card back?! :)

After I got home and laid around some, did some odds and ends, cleaned the house, watched Penn State lose to Wisconsin, etc... I had to acknowledge the fact that it was getting both darker and colder and my run needed to get started. Luckily O was going to run with me too. That boy deserves a medal of some sort.

The workout consisted of a 5 mile tempo on the track. I wasn't thrilled about doing it on the track but I figured that would be best because (a) our track is lit until 11 pm and it was already getting dark by the time we left and (b) it would help for consistency's sake to make sure I didn't run 6 minutes on the first mile, 8 minutes on the 2nd, etc...

At some point I determined I would be thrilled to run 6:40 pace for this run. As we were jogging over to the track however I modified that to include anything up to 7 minute pace given how my quads had just taken quite a beating a mere 6 hours earlier. But to tell you the truth, I felt about 10,000 times better than I thought I would. It was weird. I guess the same muscles that I put a hurtin' on this morning and not the same muscles that are required to run 6:40 pace on a track for 5 miles. Thankful was quite the overwhelming feeling for sure.

I think we ended up running 32:53 (6:34 ave pace) with mile splits of 6:39, 6:35, 6:35, 6:31 and 6:33. I will take it! So 50 miles on the bike and 9 miles total running (including warmup and cooldown) for the day. A mere pittance compared to those covering 140.6 miles today at Ironman Florida. :)

Week summary:

Sunday - off
Monday - 3600 meter swim w/400,4x100,400,2x200,400,400 in am, 1:15 run in pm (10+ miles), 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchers
Tuesday - 21 mile easy ride outside, 1 hour pilates class
Wednesday - 3300 yd swim w/4x500 in am, 1:25 trainer ride w/5x6 minute intervals in zone 3 in pm, 35 min plyometric routine somewhere in between those workouts
Thursday - 8 mile run w/3x1600 @6:20 pace
Friday - 3200 yd swim w/4x500 (again), 30 minute plyometric workout in am, 56 min (7 mile) run in pm
Saturday - 48 mile ride in am, 9 mile run in pm w/5 mi tempo (32:53), core/feet exercises
Sunday - off! :)

93 miles cycling, 10,500 yds swimming, 34 miles running, 15 hours total training = a new high for me!

Posted by beth at 8:26 PM | Comments (0)

Heart-Breaking News

My high school cross country coach passed away yesterday. It was totally unexpected. He was 47 years old, the picture of perfect health, still ran 50 miles/week. My heart aches. When I was in high school, coach and I were buddies. We ran just about every day together - in the summer, winter, all fall and all spring during track. He saw me through lots of highs and lows. He was much more than a coach for me, more like a very good friend, or perhaps a big brother. I can't believe he's gone.

But worse than my own heart ache, my heart is absolutely broken in pieces for his wife and three children. He married late and his kids are 6, 4 and 2 years old. I can't even begin to imagine the devastation his wife is feeling right now. How in the world do you explain to your 2 year old that daddy is gone and isn't coming back any more? My eyes tear up thinking about it. It just does not make sense. And it's not fair.

But I know life isn't always fair and it doesn't always makes sense. Okay, it rarely makes sense. I certainly won't every understand it but I know there's a reason. Coach lived his life to the fullest and touched the lives of many, many people as a coach, as a teacher, as a wonderful, caring person. Gone yes, forgotten never. Reminds me that life is just too short to worry about anything other than the most important things. And that life cannot be taken for granted.

Posted by beth at 8:10 PM | Comments (1)

November 3, 2006

Two Down, One to Go

I'll tell you - life is good today. I have the day off work, my first since going casual and I couldn't be happier. I think working 4 days a week (at my real job) is going to be just perfect for me this winter. It gives me one day to catch up on sleep, on laundry, on homework, on playing with Roxy, on cleaning, on email, on life in general. Life will still be busy, which is the way I like it, but not disasterously busy. :)

I have two workouts done for the day, one (a 55 minute run on trails) to go. This morning I slept in until about 6:50 and then got up to go to the pool.

3200 yds total (400 yds warmup, 800 yds cooldown)
4x500 w/45 seconds rest (to be done in 6:55) - 6:58, 6:48, 6:45, 6:46

If the workout looks familiar it's because I did the same thing Wednesday. I won't lie, I wasn't looking forward to it this morning, but once I got going it was fine and actually felt easier than Wednesday. I will be excited to do something other than 500s on my next swim! :)

After the pool I did my plyometric workout which took about 30 minutes - rope jumping, one and two legged hopping, skipping. Try hopping on one leg for height, 30 times. It's hard and makes your leg tired. Trust me. :) After the plyo stuff I jogged (very) easily in the gym at the YMCA for 10 minutes to cooldown.

In a couple hours a 55 minute run which I'm very much looking forward to. It's cold but otherwise a beautiful fall day.

Random thoughts for the day:

1) O tutors a friend who in turn pays him by baking "us" cookies. Okay, the cookies may be for O but I eat them too. Well apparentely so does Roxy. When I got back from the pool this morning the plate of cookies (sans cookies of course) was on the kitchen floor. At least she cleaned up all the crumbs too. :)

2) I got a call from a telemarketer this morning who started off by asking if my mom or dad was home. I kind of chuckled; briefly thought of a smart retort but then decided on answering her by saying "nope." Got her off the phone anyway. :)

3) I signed up for two more races for next season. The NYC tri and the Philadelphia tri both opened registration November 1. It's crazy that you have to sign up for these races so early but they sell out within a couple weeks. It got me SOOOO excited for next season. I have 4 races definitely planned out (Columbia, Eagleman, Philly and NYC) but there will obviously be others as well. Chicago? LA? We shall see.

4) I finally got my What It Takes DVD in the mail Monday. I've watched it about 2.5 times already. I can't get enough. It's a documentary about 4 professional athletes and the year leading up to the 2005 Ironman World Championships. I love it, love it, love it! If anything the thing you take home from it is the fact that they are incredible athletes, they train incredibly hard but they are human beings too. They have feelings, are low on motivation sometimes, are disappointed and get frustrated. They have their highs and lows. It's so cool. Did you know the average pro Ironman athlete runs 60-70 miles/week, cycles 300 miles/week and swims 30,000 meters/week? It's okay, I almost threw up too when I heard that.

Regardless, I must get back to "work". Hope everyone has a super day!

Posted by beth at 12:32 PM | Comments (4)

November 2, 2006

Nothing Says "I Love You" Like...

...meeting your spouse at 7 pm at the track on a cold and windy night after a long and tiring day to do mile repeats. No nothing. That's why O is my True Companion (one of my all time favorite songs).

But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. First things first - I got up early and went to work from 6A to 2P. Drove over to the shop to cover for about an hour (scheduling difficulties today - someone needed to work from 3-4P and that someone was me). Back to campus for class and an exam that I didn't study enough for. Luckily what I did study was mostly the right stuff and I probably did just fine. It would be an understatement to say I'm looking forward to this semester being over.

With my exam done I was feeling relieved and almost looking forward to the mile repeats I had yet to do. I had to stop and get gas on my drive home from Pitt (as I was dangerously close to an empty tank) and all hell broke loose at the gas station. I was seriously there for about 20 minutes waiting in line, pumping my gas, trying to get out of the lot. It was ugly. What was even uglier was when I got out of the car and the coldest wind I've felt in some time chilled me to the bone. All of a sudden I wasn't looking forward to those mile repeats anymore.

Home, fed the dog, looked at the weather. 34 degrees w/a windchill of 26. It was cold, it was dark, I was hungry, I was tired, and there were about 25 other reasons I came up with as to why taking the day off would have been a better idea than intervals.

Nonetheless I put on my tights and short sleeve and long sleeve and jacket and hat and gloves. I patted Roxy on the head and gave her a bone. And I headed out the door at 7 pm to do my workout.

Meanwhile, O, who had had an equally long and tiring day, was waiting at the track. He had just finished tutoring someone (way at the other end of Pittsburgh) and was driving straight to the track to meet me for the workout. Why in the world he would do that I'm not so sure. What I am sure of though is the fact that if the tables were turned, I would have probably been at home on the couch under a big blanket with hot cocoa! :) What I'm also sure of is the fact that nothing important in life can be accomplished without the love and support of others in your life. It's just too hard. And I won't ever believe that someone becomes successful by themselves. There are always a lot of unselfish people behind the scenes that get them there.

20 minutes warmup
3x1600 @ 10K pace + 10 seconds w/200 jog recoveries (so called cruise intervals)
20 minutes cooldown (about 8 miles total)

As always I struggled with the "what is my 10K pace" question but at some point decided that as based on a 10K time of 39 minutes (6:16 pace) I should aim for 6:25-6:30 pace. Then I felt the wicked wind of the west on the homestretch and I told O that 6:35 pace may be okay too.

We started the first one and went through the 400 in :90 and I felt just fine. I knew I didn't want to do the whole workout at 6 minute pace (because I have never run a 10K at 6 min pace let alone 5:50 pace) so I tried to slow down and settle in. We finished the 1st one in 6:20 and I decided that would be fine to continue with. Next two were 6:17 and 6:18. I felt good and comfortable and under control. Our rests were about 1:10-1:15. All in all a good workout, even with that evil wind and the cold. Because it was sort of continuous it went by pretty quickly. Not so bad afterall! :)

And that was our evening. Now it's time for some serious shut-eye. Happy "almost" weekend! :)

Posted by beth at 9:52 PM | Comments (3)

November 1, 2006

Swim and Ride (and plyos too...)

AM Swim workout:

3300 yds total (400 yds warmup, 900 yds cooldown)

4x500 yds w/45 seconds rest (ugh)
I was supposed to do these at T-pace which based on my 1000 yds TT last week equates to 6:55/500 yd (1:23/100 yd pace). I swam 6:57, 6:47, 6:47 and 6:50. No lie - that last one was hard. I was thinking while I was doing these that this type of workout is equivalent to doing 2000s on the track by oneself. Lots of mental fatigue not to mention the physical fatigue. And the hard part is I have to do the same workout by myself AGAIN on Friday! It's some sort of cruel joke I think. But you know what I told myself? I said "self - it may be hard now; it may not be much fun; but what's going to feel REALLY good come next season is getting out of the water in 21 minutes and being only 1 or 2 minutes off the lead instead of 5 minutes. Now that will be fun." :) I even got a compliment from my coach (who does not give complimants out freely) for the pool workout this morning but he did follow it up by saying that my problem is that I only have one speed in the pool. Um yeah - guess how many speeds I have running?! It's the story of my life!

Anyway, came home from work. Did my plyometric workout (10 min easy spinning on bike, lots of hopping and skipping and jumping and generally making my legs mad at me, 7 minutes easy spinning on bike for cooldown - 35 minutes total).

Back to shop for movie nite. I had some intervals to do on the trainer tonight. I warmed up for 20 minutes then did 5x6 minutes in zone 3 w/2 minute easy recoveries, cooled down for 27 minutes for 1:25 total. The last 20 minutes of my cooldown I switched from my trainer to the rollers. Those things are tough. You have to concentrate or if you choose not to, fall flat on your face.

Total training time today - 3 hours. Tomorrow some intervals on the track (after work and...oh yeah...that exam that I didn't study for yet...) Ugh - I wonder if we made any progress on adding that 25th hour into the day? :) Good night all!

Posted by beth at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)