The last time I blogged my weekly training stats was July 10. I haven't been slacking (too much) on training, just on tracking it here. The sad thing is, as I feared, the long ride threw me off for the entire next week. My biking was down to 26 miles, I only ran 9.8. miles, and I skipped swimming altogether. Once again, the experts are right - overtraining is a mistake.
The week of July 25 is looking better. 33.50 miles biking, 11.19 miles running so far. I'm about to go for a run, and tomorrow Dusty and I are going for a long bike ride, so this week will look pretty solid.
Next week we are on vacation. I'm not bringing my bike, so I plan to focus on running and swimming. We're renting a house on a lake and I'm going to work on my breast stroke every day. I'm also going to increase my miles. I should be running at least 16 miles/week at this point, instead of hovering around 13.5.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Swimming
I've decided I'm going to focus on my breast stroke for the September tri. Sure freestyle is faster, but I've got too far to go and not enough time. There's no way I can get my breathing in good enough shape to have time to work on my stroke and my endurance. My breast stroke is decent enough that I can actually start doing laps and building up my distance.
Last night I had a fantastically optimistic dream. I was practicing the breast stroke in a slow moving river, heading downstream. It felt lovely, like I could swim forever, gliding through the water, letting the current help me.
Last night I had a fantastically optimistic dream. I was practicing the breast stroke in a slow moving river, heading downstream. It felt lovely, like I could swim forever, gliding through the water, letting the current help me.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Saturday's ride to the Cape was the hardest, fastest, longest ride I've done. It was also 94 degrees and humid. We biked more than 140 miles that day, with very few rest stops. I'm incredibly proud of myself for completing it, but it was really hard, and much of the riding was not particularly pretty or fun. It was also just on the edge of what I'm actually capable of doing. Part of my motive in training for a tri is to start pushing myself to that edge, to learn where it is and what it feels like to reach it. It turns out that the reality of reaching that point is pretty unpleasant.
On the other hand, it felt really good to push that hard, and to succeed. Even if I couldn't eat dinner because I was so overheated and exhausted, and even if I did break down in tears on the way home (and nearly cried once or twice in the middle of the ride, too). I also improved my riding again. I was pushing like hell to keep up with our riding companions Dena and Susan, and that meant that I had to push on the downhill stretches since no matter how hard I pushed on the ups, I wasn't going to keep up with them there. Usually I tend to ride my brakes and coast far more than I should. I get nervous when I get up any decent speed on a downhill. No matter how many times someone has told me to trust my bike, I can't do it unless I'm really familiar with the hill. But on Saturday, I just let myself do it, without holding back. It felt fantastic when I got it right - when I kept up my pedaling until I couldn't pedal any more, and then let gravity do its work, trusting that KP was gripping the road and wasn't going to fall over.
What really felt great, though, was riding to work this morning and doing the same thing. My commute is really hilly. The uphills slow me down a lot, and I usually can't make up for it on the flats and downhills, because I don't push enough. Today I did. Instead of slowing down before the steepest part of the downhills, I kept pedaling. I felt great, and I cut five minutes off my commute time!
I also managed to put into practice something Dusty recently told me about cornering. He said that if I can't get myself to keep pedaling, I should at least make sure that the inside pedal is up, so it doesn't scrape against the ground (not that that is going to happen at my typical slow cornering speed). Today every time I cornered I'd correct my pedals, and more often than not, realize that continuing to pedal truly did feel more stable than braking.
I've been riding now for three or four years, and most of my progress has been slow and steady. But every once in awhile I make a leap forward. Last year when I stopped riding for the winter I still mostly hated hill climbing, and avoided it when possible. When I started riding again this spring, something had changed and I started to enjoy the hills. After the ALC, I figured out how to use my gears more efficiently (that would have been so useful to have figured out before the ALC, sadly). After the Cape in a Day ride, I put together the things people have been saying to me about how to let myself go downhill faster, how to trust my bike and use its strengths. I need to get a new battery for my bike computer, because I bet that I just got noticeably faster once again.
On the other hand, it felt really good to push that hard, and to succeed. Even if I couldn't eat dinner because I was so overheated and exhausted, and even if I did break down in tears on the way home (and nearly cried once or twice in the middle of the ride, too). I also improved my riding again. I was pushing like hell to keep up with our riding companions Dena and Susan, and that meant that I had to push on the downhill stretches since no matter how hard I pushed on the ups, I wasn't going to keep up with them there. Usually I tend to ride my brakes and coast far more than I should. I get nervous when I get up any decent speed on a downhill. No matter how many times someone has told me to trust my bike, I can't do it unless I'm really familiar with the hill. But on Saturday, I just let myself do it, without holding back. It felt fantastic when I got it right - when I kept up my pedaling until I couldn't pedal any more, and then let gravity do its work, trusting that KP was gripping the road and wasn't going to fall over.
What really felt great, though, was riding to work this morning and doing the same thing. My commute is really hilly. The uphills slow me down a lot, and I usually can't make up for it on the flats and downhills, because I don't push enough. Today I did. Instead of slowing down before the steepest part of the downhills, I kept pedaling. I felt great, and I cut five minutes off my commute time!
I also managed to put into practice something Dusty recently told me about cornering. He said that if I can't get myself to keep pedaling, I should at least make sure that the inside pedal is up, so it doesn't scrape against the ground (not that that is going to happen at my typical slow cornering speed). Today every time I cornered I'd correct my pedals, and more often than not, realize that continuing to pedal truly did feel more stable than braking.
I've been riding now for three or four years, and most of my progress has been slow and steady. But every once in awhile I make a leap forward. Last year when I stopped riding for the winter I still mostly hated hill climbing, and avoided it when possible. When I started riding again this spring, something had changed and I started to enjoy the hills. After the ALC, I figured out how to use my gears more efficiently (that would have been so useful to have figured out before the ALC, sadly). After the Cape in a Day ride, I put together the things people have been saying to me about how to let myself go downhill faster, how to trust my bike and use its strengths. I need to get a new battery for my bike computer, because I bet that I just got noticeably faster once again.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Yesterday's ride home was awful. We're in the middle of a second week
of hot humid weather and you start sweating the moment you step
outside. Even when it's not nearly 90 degrees it feels unbearably hot
because the humidity is so high. I'm at my physical low point at 5 pm
under normal circumstances, and the weather just makes it worse. Plus
the headwind on the first half of the ride was so strong that I was
fighting to make any forward progress even on the down hills. So
riding home yesterday was hot, unpleasant, and exhausting.
of hot humid weather and you start sweating the moment you step
outside. Even when it's not nearly 90 degrees it feels unbearably hot
because the humidity is so high. I'm at my physical low point at 5 pm
under normal circumstances, and the weather just makes it worse. Plus
the headwind on the first half of the ride was so strong that I was
fighting to make any forward progress even on the down hills. So
riding home yesterday was hot, unpleasant, and exhausting.
About three miles from home you climb one of the two steepest hills on
the route, then there's a mile and a half of hills and false flat
sections. By the time I got to the end of the false flat I was done
in. My legs were still turning, but barely. I was in my granny gear,
pedaling just enough to stay upright. I tiredly lifted my head, and
saw a cyclist coming toward me on the other side of the road.
Remember, I was on a false flat, so this guy was going down a subtle
decline, with a tailwind. He was doing the kind of riding that makes
you feel invincible, as long as you forget how much help you're
getting from gravity and the wind. He was on a Cervelo, using his
aerobars, with an aero helmet and full racing kit. I was on my
commuter, carrying my heavy bike bag, going uphill at the end of a
long day and a long, awful ride. And despite knowing all that,
despite knowing that he didn't know me and didn't care how I was
riding, despite my tiredness, despite the heat, despite the reality of
the situation, I sped up. Not very fast, and not for very long. But
I couldn't help it. I saw him, and my legs started pumping faster and
harder. I just couldn't stand letting him see me look completely done
in by a small incline. It was ridiculous.
If anyone ever hears me claim I'm not competetive, please feel free to
laugh in my face.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Training totals week 3
Swim: approx. 480 yds, about 45 minutes
Bike: 40 miles
Run: 13.5 miles
I clearly need to up my biking, and I need to add a second day of swimming by the end of the month. My running is not bad -- I want to be averaging 16 miles/week by the end of August and I'm easily on track for that. Next Saturday we're biking to the Cape, so I'll have 150 miles in one day. I don't think I can really count that as "training miles" though!
It's been hot and humid all week, and I've been avoiding exercising as much as I can while still getting some training in. It's so easy to justify driving to work when it's going to be in the 90s on my way home. I've found that keeping a training log helps me stay honest with myself. I can look at my weekly totals and check whether I'm doing enough to keep on track despite the weather. Or at least enough to feel okay about slacking!
For most people, the advice to write it down is old news. But I've never done that. I wasn't one to set solid goals and stick to them. I didn't understand the allure of making life lists, or setting training goals. Instead, I'd do what I wanted, what felt right, as long as it was convenient. I'd increase my exercise during a week of good weather and few commitments, and then a week later, there'd be some unusual demands on my time from the girls' school, or it would rain all week, and I'd realize at the end of the week that I had only run once, and hadn't gotten on my bike at all. I even trained for the AIDS LifeCycle ride that way. I'd get nervous about the length of the ride (545 miles over 7 days), go for a long weekend training ride, ride to work on Monday, and then decide I needed the car on Tuesday because there were errands I had to run, and I wouldn't look at my bike again until the weekend.
I felt bad about this training method at first, but I also felt that it made sense. I was trying to fit my training into my family's existing life. My family is important to me, and I want to prioritize the girls and their needs while they're young enough to still want me around. I didn't want to be ducking out on family activities because I had to get my miles in. There is something to be said for that attitude (and I said it repeatedly, while trying eagerly to convince myself that my haphazard method was going to be sufficient training for the ALC!), but it won't knock you into shape.
The ALC changed me. I learned a lot about my physical abilities on the ride, and a lot more about how much I have held back from pushing myself. I had a great ride, but I could have been stronger and had an even better ride if I had stuck to a real training plan. If I had been willing to ride even though it was hot, or I had to get up half an hour earlier, or had to run in the evening when I'm tired. But it's not just the awareness that I let myself slack that's pushing me this time. It's also realizing that if I want to do this, I have to hold myself accountable. That means I need to set goals and stick to the training to meet them. It also means that on a week like this, I have to not only keep tracking my training, but I have to find ways to get around the heat, or I have to push through anyway.
For most people, the advice to write it down is old news. But I've never done that. I wasn't one to set solid goals and stick to them. I didn't understand the allure of making life lists, or setting training goals. Instead, I'd do what I wanted, what felt right, as long as it was convenient. I'd increase my exercise during a week of good weather and few commitments, and then a week later, there'd be some unusual demands on my time from the girls' school, or it would rain all week, and I'd realize at the end of the week that I had only run once, and hadn't gotten on my bike at all. I even trained for the AIDS LifeCycle ride that way. I'd get nervous about the length of the ride (545 miles over 7 days), go for a long weekend training ride, ride to work on Monday, and then decide I needed the car on Tuesday because there were errands I had to run, and I wouldn't look at my bike again until the weekend.
I felt bad about this training method at first, but I also felt that it made sense. I was trying to fit my training into my family's existing life. My family is important to me, and I want to prioritize the girls and their needs while they're young enough to still want me around. I didn't want to be ducking out on family activities because I had to get my miles in. There is something to be said for that attitude (and I said it repeatedly, while trying eagerly to convince myself that my haphazard method was going to be sufficient training for the ALC!), but it won't knock you into shape.
The ALC changed me. I learned a lot about my physical abilities on the ride, and a lot more about how much I have held back from pushing myself. I had a great ride, but I could have been stronger and had an even better ride if I had stuck to a real training plan. If I had been willing to ride even though it was hot, or I had to get up half an hour earlier, or had to run in the evening when I'm tired. But it's not just the awareness that I let myself slack that's pushing me this time. It's also realizing that if I want to do this, I have to hold myself accountable. That means I need to set goals and stick to the training to meet them. It also means that on a week like this, I have to not only keep tracking my training, but I have to find ways to get around the heat, or I have to push through anyway.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Training totals week 2
Training Week 2 - 6/27 - 7/3
swim: 1 hour
bike: 56 miles/4 hours
run: 10.4 miles/2 hrs
Total time spent: 7 hours
That was somewhat better than the first week. I've also set some goals that seem realistic. By the end of the month I want to be running 12 miles/week, biking 100 (not sure if that's going to happen consistently), and swimming twice/week.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Swimming lesson
Last night I met Alison for our second swimming lesson. I really have learned some stuff! The first couple of lengths I felt like I was largely getting it - breathing decently, raising my elbows, keeping my abs tight, not kicking too much. Toward the end of the second length I was already tiring a lot, and could feel my form falling apart. This also means that I started screwing up my breathing.
Alison gave me more pointers, most of which were helpful, but it started feeling like too much to try at once. Toward the middle of our hour in the pool I just felt frustrated and tired and uncoordinated. Eventually I gave up on trying to do everything properly. I rested for a bit, and tried another lap, just to see what I could do. Again, the first length was pretty good, the beginning of the second length was okay, and then I was tired and it all fell apart.
I think at this point I need to practice practice practice. I need to be stronger in the water, obviously, and I need to work on my technique at the same time. I need more time in the water.
Training week 1
I’m planning to do the Buzzard’s Bay spring triathlon. It’s 1/3 mile swim, 14.7 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. 14.7 miles is not a long distance for me, but my time is slow. Wednesday night I rode from my house to the end of the bike path and back, which is a 15 mile trip. It took me 65 minutes, which is something like a 14 mph page. I wasn’t trying for speed, but I also wasn’t dawdling. Cycling is my strongest area, so my goal will be to get much faster. Running? I can run a 5K, but it’s still work. I haven’t been running with any regularity, because I’ve been focusing on cycling. I figure if I get my running miles up, both by running more regularly and by running longer distances, I should be good for the run. Swimming? Hah! I don’t swim. As a kid I took swimming classes every summer, and we lived on a lake, but I was never very good. I don’t think I ever got out of the advanced beginner class. I don’t like putting my face in the water, I could never get the breathing right, my strokes were weak and uncoordinated. As an adult I’ve never really tried to swim. I splash around with my daughter (who doesn’t swim), and enjoy the water but that’s it.
I consider last week my first official week of training, because last Thursday I met my triathlon guru AK for a swimming lesson. We spent an hour in the pool and she really helped. She worked with me on breathing and strokes and how to kick. I really felt it the next day. I’ve got a lot to learn, but I think I can get there. At least well enough to get through the swim. I can worry about my swim time for the next tri.
I think part of what I have going for me is my stubbornness. When Dusty is feeling good about me he calls it grit. (When he’s irritated, it’s my damn stubbornness.) Swimming was tiring, and it’s a lot to put together, but I pushed through for the hour. Then the next day when I took the girls to the res to swim, I spent a little time practicing again. My breaststroke isn’t terrible, so if I can get my free stroke even halfway decent, and get my breaststroke stronger, I should be
able to push through the swim portion. Right? suuure.
Training week one, starting on June 21: 1 hour swimming (I’m not going to track distance until I can actually swim!); 18.52 miles biking (not good, that was just one ride to work), 11.28 miles
running. Total time spent: about 5 hours. Not a really inspiring first week. On the other hand, one of my biggest challenges is going to be finding or making the time to go. Life happens, and it’s always been my way to let other things, particularly the girls, distract me. One of my goals is to learn how to keep myself focused on a personal goal.
I consider last week my first official week of training, because last Thursday I met my triathlon guru AK for a swimming lesson. We spent an hour in the pool and she really helped. She worked with me on breathing and strokes and how to kick. I really felt it the next day. I’ve got a lot to learn, but I think I can get there. At least well enough to get through the swim. I can worry about my swim time for the next tri.
I think part of what I have going for me is my stubbornness. When Dusty is feeling good about me he calls it grit. (When he’s irritated, it’s my damn stubbornness.) Swimming was tiring, and it’s a lot to put together, but I pushed through for the hour. Then the next day when I took the girls to the res to swim, I spent a little time practicing again. My breaststroke isn’t terrible, so if I can get my free stroke even halfway decent, and get my breaststroke stronger, I should be
able to push through the swim portion. Right? suuure.
Training week one, starting on June 21: 1 hour swimming (I’m not going to track distance until I can actually swim!); 18.52 miles biking (not good, that was just one ride to work), 11.28 miles
running. Total time spent: about 5 hours. Not a really inspiring first week. On the other hand, one of my biggest challenges is going to be finding or making the time to go. Life happens, and it’s always been my way to let other things, particularly the girls, distract me. One of my goals is to learn how to keep myself focused on a personal goal.
Starting out
Four years ago, when I turned 40, my primary exercise was walking ¾ mile to my 4 year old’s preschool. I had made various exercise attempts over the years, some more successful than others, but I never stuck with any of them very long. Shortly after my birthday I hemorrhaged and nearly died. While recovering, I started to run. A year later, I bought a bike and started biking to work. I’m now training for my first triathlon: September 26, 2010.
I love biking, have a love-hate relationship with running (sometimes I get into a rhythm and love it, most of the time I consider running a necessary evil), and don’t know how to swim, despite growing up on a lake. I’m 44, and in the best shape of my life, but not nearly in the shape I’d like. I’m on my way there now. I’m thinking of this as a training blog, not just my miles, but what I’m thinking about and how my training and the rest of my life are intersecting.
My daughter and stepdaughter think of me as a strong, fit woman. They have no memory of a time when I didn't regularly exercise. I like their image of me, and want to keep matching it, growing as they do.
I love biking, have a love-hate relationship with running (sometimes I get into a rhythm and love it, most of the time I consider running a necessary evil), and don’t know how to swim, despite growing up on a lake. I’m 44, and in the best shape of my life, but not nearly in the shape I’d like. I’m on my way there now. I’m thinking of this as a training blog, not just my miles, but what I’m thinking about and how my training and the rest of my life are intersecting.
My daughter and stepdaughter think of me as a strong, fit woman. They have no memory of a time when I didn't regularly exercise. I like their image of me, and want to keep matching it, growing as they do.
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