Strong Swim and Yucky Circuit

Back to regular training schedule today.
1st WOD: 15 minute swim, note distance. 800 yds in 14:50 - felt really good in the water today and head looking down vs. forward may be the key to all my woes.

2nd WOD: 50 ft of walking lunges with 25# overhead, 21 burpees, 4X for time - 11:27. This one hit all muscle groups, by the middle of the 2nd set of walking lunges, my arms were shaking and totally had to focus on my core to keep my arms up straight over head - guess that is the point of this drill.

Recovery Bike - #2

Today was another recovery bike - tabata bike and then a 15 minute ride at 95 rpm - legs feeling pretty good, except for calves - guess that is what hill running does to you. Massage yesterday was huge and helpful - will roll out calves tonight and then back to regular training schedule tomorrow, just in time for the rain to be finished.

Ahhhh Recovery Ride

Got in 34 minutes of a recovery bike at lunchtime - my legs are thanking me for it. Massage tonight, another recovery bike tomorrow and by Wednesday, will be back to regular training.

13.1 Run

Today was a 13.1 run - did an organized run, close to to the house. Ran about 6 miles w/Martin, then he went ahead of me, but it was great running with someone. And he ended up crossing the finish line just ahead of me. I did use the laps on my HR watch, but until tomorrow I don't have those results. The first 5 miles of this course are hilly, climbing about 650 feet I think. Weather was cool, but turned out to be good, a bit of head wind during the climbs.
Total time 1::58:57 but no timing chip for this race - so gun goes off, regardless of when you cross the start line.
I met my goal of under 2 hrs - cardio/endurance was outstanding, waist down a different story, just hurt a bit, but I did not walk at all and all in all a good day. My watch came in at 13.5 miles

Lap Time Lap Time HR Max Avg Min Dist min/mile
1. 0:08:49.8 0:08:49.8 162 162 144 73 1.050 8:15
2. 0:18:11.2 0:09:21.4 158 170 162 153 1.085 8:37
3. 0:28:13.5 0:10:02.3 153 170 162 152 1.053 9:31
4. 0:37:49.3 0:09:35.8 156 167 159 152 1.028 9:20
5. 0:46:44.4 0:08:55.1 163 164 158 149 1.004 8:43
6. 0:55:16.8 0:08:32.4 163 164 157 149 1.028 8:18
7. 1:03:58.6 0:08:41.8 163 164 161 157 1.032 8:25
8. 1:12:54.7 0:08:56.1 162 163 160 155 0.994 8:44
9. 1:22:13.0 0:09:18.3 160 166 160 157 1.050 8:51
10. 1:31:35.9 0:09:22.9 164 168 163 158 1.044 8:45
11. 1:40:36.9 0:09:01.0 167 169 165 162 0.966 9:04
12. 1:49:34.9 0:08:58.0 164 168 165 160 1.030 8:42
13. 1:59:01.1 0:09:26.2 178 177 167 162 1.145 8:17

Thrusters - that's it

Switched up Saturday and Sunday - doing a 13.1 tomorrow, so today was 5-5-5-5-5 thrusters and a swim. Thrusters are hard:
45, 65, 65, 65, 75
Pass on swim - may swim a bit after race tomorrow to keep body moving w/out impact.

Run Interval

WOD: 8X400m at best 5k pace, 3 minutes rest inbetween. I rested just over 2 minutes in between (had to get somewhere). My best 5k pace this training season so far was 8:04 min/mile, so I set the treadmill to 7.5 speed. Ended up at 7.6 for the last 4 and even at 7:53 min/mile it felt sort of slow - strange. Results:
1:41 (watch problems only .20 dist), rest were all w/in .01 of .25 (up or down) Times were: 2:05, 2:13, 2:14, 1:59, 2:06, 2:01, 2:03

I must say the treadmill start up time and my watch not registering a lap when I press the button were all frustrating on these short sprints. Would have liked to have done this outside, but did not work out today.

Bike Interval - Well worth 2 hours of vacation time

There was no way I was going to do this on the trainer and wanted to get outside before any rain came - so I made the decision to use some vacation time - best decision I have made in a long time - weather was perfect - some wind, but shorts and a long sleeve bike jersey - no jacket needed.

3 mile bike, 1 min rest = 10:52 = 16.6 mph
6 miles, 2 min rest = 21:21 = 16.9 mph
9 miles, 3 min rest = 34:28 = 15.7 mph (this was the hilliest interval)
12 miles = 43:02 = 16.7 mph

Not only did I really love this workout, but I am very happy with my results.

2nd WOD - 21 burpees, 500m row, 15 burpees, 500m row, 9 burpees, 500m row - 10:52 (HR avg 148). Something about doing burpees in front of lots of other people makes you go faster.

And my tri bike has seen its last trainer session (this past Tuesday) - in the shop for a tune up and I need a new chain.

And I had a new recovery drink - Paleo style - Almond Milk, unsweetened, frozen peaches and some protein powder - delicious

Swim and 10,20,30

500yd swim - 9:29 and I know I counted 20 lengths correctly this time. I did a 500yd back in early Feb and in looking at my time, must have miscounted by 50 yds. Todays swim was 1:53/100 - good time for me and I felt very strong and focused on all feeling the pressure in my palm/forearm and also rotation at my shoulders and head down. I felt good in the water.

10, 20, 30 - box jumps, squats, pushups and burpees. Time = 12:28 and I did all box jumps, no step ups today. I also did first round of pushups and burpees with a full pushup. Crazy how much sweat accumulates in a mere 12 minutes.

Today marks one month on Paleo - I am very happy with the switch.

Bike TT and Back Squats

20K bike at 80% effort - Time: 46:40 and I was able to get much closer to the 90 avg cadence, managed 88. I knew going in I was going to be in an easier gear, so figured I would be much slower than a full out TT. I did a 20K TT outside on March 9th in 44:38, so I think todays results are somewhat positive. I must say that after biking outside this weekend - bringing it inside just sucks.

3-3-3-3-3 backsquats: 85, 95, 115, 115, 125

Rest Day and some Food for Thought

Rest Day - yippeee
This coming Wednesday, marks 1 month of Paleo. Last week I watched: Capitalism, A Love Story and yesterday watched Food, Inc. and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I think it was Food Inc. that pushed me over the edge. Going into the movie, knowing the changes I made on Paleo, I thought the movie would either make me adverse to eating all beef and poultry and/or going organic on produce or some sort of combo. Turns out that is exactly what happened. Not sure if some issues I have w/Big Business Capitalism in combo with being saddened over what has happened to the local farmer and just knowing I want to put as pure foods in my body as possible made my decision. Husband and I have decided to do all organic for meats, eggs, produce. Hubby went to a local beef farm today and picked up grass fed rib eye, ground beef and some stew meat. Will seek out local farmers markets as soon as season starts. I am excited about the health benefits, supporting the local farmers and knowing all of my choices are contributing to a better environment, for however small my contribution is.

Swim and Shoulder Press

Group swim today - good set that included thumb drills, catchup drills, a bunch of 200s w/varying speed/intensity, some heavy duty kicks. Got some 1/1 time with the coach and not only had a small break through with the rotation of my shoulders, but coach watched me alot and said my head was way too much in the water - so I lifted it up and what a difference.

3-3-3-3-3 Should Press: 45, 65, 75, 75, 85

REST day scheduled tomorrow, but if forecast calls for rain Tuesday and it is nice tomorrow,may switch out a bike 20k TT to do tomorrow.

Good Things Come In 3s

1. Bike 20K TT - ended up riding with 4 friends into Granby for 29.1 miles. I thought about doing the 20K by myself before the longer ride, opted not to. I did note my 12.4 distance time, which was 51 minutes, but it was a very different route than my last 20K TT - much hillier - today's overall route was pretty good for a first decent distance route and the weather was so good, it did not matter that we got a bit lost. Avg speed of 14.9, a few hills required small ring, but mostly big ring, middle gearing - those 6x5K at 60 cadence thursday helped with the hills. I also think that Max may not have expected the weather to be conducive to outside riding so early and may have planned all the TT thru March to be done inside with non variable conditions.

The trainer just does not compare to outside - looking forward to moving outside for all rides, although next weeks weather looks good, except for the 2 days I am scheduled to ride - rain in the forecast.

2. 1000m row - my goal was under 5 minutes -did it in 4:42

3. Deadlifts 1/2 my body weight, 20x - 65lbs - did time it although wasn't sure that was called for - 1:15

Lunchtime Quickie

NOT what you think :)
21 situps, 200m run, 18 situps, 200m run, 15, 12,9,6,3 with 200m run in between. Set mat up in the garage so I could stay outside
Total time: 9:12

What a day! 3 more hours behind the desk and then will head out for a long dog walk. I should get the dogs into obstacles and come up with doggie Crossfit.

Not What I Expected - Bike Interval

6x5K @60 rpm, 3 minutes rest in between each one. First of all, all day I was sitting at work staring out the window saying to myself, I can't believe I will be inside on my trainer. So as soon as I got home, I took the dogs for a walk to get my sunshine fix.

For the bike interval - I had it in my head that I thought each 5K would take me 5 minutes - not sure why I was thinking that, maybe because at 60 rpm, I would be really slow in a hard gear. This interval surprised me - i.e. did better than I thought I would. Actual results will sync to my computer tomorrow, but the distance for each was 3.10 - 3.12, speed ranged from 16-17.5 over the 6 5K, cadence avg between 60-62 and times were from 10:41 - 11:37.
Results:
10:31 (3.12), 10:59 (3.12), 11:10 (3.10), 11:11 (3.11), 11:20 (3.10), 11:37 (3.10) - total of 66 minutes of riding which brings my speed avg to 16.9. I am happy with that.

I am shot - running HW/Drills will wait until tomorrow and be done either before or after my short running circuit, outside in the 70 degree sunny weather we are expecting.

1000 swim TT and Tabata

Like I really did not even need to time myself for the 1000 since my swim times are just so damn consistent - 19:30, 1:57/100. The interesting thing is my HR avg was much lower than past swims - avg @144, so maybe that means I am getting stronger. Now I need to figure out how to turn the strength into speed. Honestly, as long as my endurance is there, I much rather focus the effort on my bike and runs.

Tabata: boxjumps, pushups, lunges, situps. Lunges were new to my tabata this time around. I also did step ups for the box jumps (crossfit deems this to be an valid alternative). I decided to keep track of my reps this time:

Stepups: 9,9,10,10,11,11,12,11

Pushups (knee): 21,20,20,20,21,21,21,23

Lunges (alternative standing lunge): 13,12,13,13,13,13,13,13

Situps: 16,19,20,21,21,20,20,22

Too nice outside to not do something outdoors - walked my 2 goldens for 50 minutes. We will all sleep well tonight.

5K run and a quick little circuit for dessert

5K run - PR @ 25:03, avg pace 8.04, HR avg 160. I am happy and encouraged.

2nd WOD: 100ft walking lunges, 10 burpees, 25 situps, 3x thru for time: 9:49. I did this outside in my driveway and garage. I thought that up and back down on the driveway would be 100 ft, but turned out to be way more and I realized lunging down a hill is not so easy. The first 2 rounds, I did the driveway then during my situps on the 2nd rounds asked my husband how many lunges he thought 100ft would be - he said 3ft per lunge, so 30ish. So 3rd round I did about 40. Legs felt this one and I did all the burpees, did not sub out anything for them :)

Run Laps:
Lap Time Lap Time Max Avg Min Dist min/mile
1. 0:08:06.0 0:08:06.0 163 153 98 1.002 7:55
2. 0:16:09.8 0:08:03.8 167 163 157 1.001 7:58
3. 0:25:03.3 0:08:53.5 170 163 145 1.092 8:05

Hmm, am I weak?

I had 5-5-5-5-5 push press on tap for today. I have not done max weight of these so I did not know what to expect. I saw Jane did them this week and tried to follow her weight by converting the Kilograms to Pounds, subtracting the 45lb barbell and then adding the plates accordingly. All I can say is JANE YOU ARE A STRONG WOMAN!!
First 5 @65lbs
2nd 5 @65 lbs (after I could not even do one at 75lbs)
3rd, 4th and 5th sets @75 lbs with my son standing behind me just in case - this was very very hard.

Just a swim today

Was in NYC for the weekend and missed my group swim today, but knew I would get home before my pool closed. So after a 3+ hour traffic ride home, I quickly changed and headed to the pool - managed to swim for about 40 minutes and it felt pretty good. Some slow, stroke focus, pulls, kicks, fast sets in the swim today.

What's Rain Got To Do With It

10k run today - longest run for me so far. It was cool and very rainy, but I had to get it done. I am pleased with the outcome: Time - 54:04 Avg HR -156 Avg min/mile - 8:43

Not a dry spot on me - my sneakers will take a few days to dry out - all in all, the weather really wasn't much of a factor.

Wall Ball Shots on tap for later. Legs definitely need some good rest time. In NYC today and brought my medicine ball with me. Did my wall ball shots in the hotel - 75 in 2:10

Run Circuit

Todays task: 800m run @80% effort, 3 min rest in between, 4x thru. I calculated 80% at a 9 min mile based on full efforts for other run circuits were at 7.36 min miles - but 9 felt too slow, so I started adjusting after the first one.
1st - .51 miles, 4:33, 9:06 avg, HR avg = 147
2nd - .52 miles, 4:29, 8:50 avg, HR avg = 146
3rd - .51 miles, 4:21, 8:41 avg, HR avg = 150
4th - .50 miles, 4:15, 8:46 avg, HR avg - 151

I would say based on the HR, I hit the 80% - I also would have liked to do this outside since I hate the treadmill start up time and just hate it pretty much all around, but left work later than planned and had no outdoor gear w/me.

Also had 100 pushups: 3:35 for time, all knee and doing these after the 50 pullups and pushups last night in that circuit was very hard.

Woo Hoo and WOW!

2 WOD today:
1st one was a bike - 1 mile on, 1 minute rest - 15x thru - I had a goal to keep each mile under 4 minutes and I did that. While I won't have my results until I upload my Polar data tomorrow at work (Polar IrD not compatible w/Mac) as I hit my Lap button after each mile, I saw 3:30s, 3:40s and maybe just one or two in the 3:50s. This was definitely a tough one and my legs were screaming - actually still feeling the KB swings from the other day. Total mileage was 17.25 and I did get off the bike for some of the rests and some rests were just a few seconds over the minute
Lap Time Lap Time Lap Note
1. 0:03:19.9 0:03:19.9
2. 0:07:59.5 0:03:25.6
3. 0:12:39.7 0:03:34.7
4. 0:17:09.4 0:03:29.8
5. 0:22:07.9 0:03:44.3
6. 0:26:59.3 0:03:46.0
7. 0:31:46.9 0:03:42.6
8. 0:36:34.6 0:03:47.3
9. 0:41:35.7 0:03:48.0
10. 0:46:18.7 0:03:40.7
11. 0:51:20.8 0:03:50.5
12. 0:56:22.0 0:03:59.8
13. 1:01:11.0 0:03:49.8
14. 1:05:31.3 0:03:56.0
15. 1:12:39.7 0:03:46.5


2 WOD - 50 pullups, 50 pushups, 50 situps, 50 squats - time = 8:18. I hit the lap button on my watch for each station and will get that info tomorrow when the data is loaded. I had to do the pullups in sets of 10 - the first set I used 100lbs and then had to go to 110 - pull ups are just plain hard. Pushups - not bad. I did the sit ups using the machine that rests your elbows and I did crunches w/knees to chest - did these also in 10 increments. Squats 50 straight thru.
Lap Time Lap Time Lap Note
1. 0:03:35.5 0:03:35.5
2. 0:05:15.6 0:01:40.1
3. 0:06:58.7 0:01:43.1
4. 0:08:18.0 0:01:19.3


I did not fuel adequately after my bike so after the short circuit was completely light headed - won't do that again!

Good Swim

I finally counted correctly and was pleased with the results: 700yd swim - 13:11, which is a 1:53/100, about 5 - 7 second improvement over my avg.

Running HW outside before it gets dark.

Helen Again and an Outdoor Bike

2 workouts on tap for today: Helen (400m run, 21 KB swings, 12 pullups, 3x thru), but w/increased KB swings (25lbs today, vs 20lbs last week). Did this at lunchtime since I have a bike later today. Time was 10:12 - :23 seconds improvement from last week and I ran the same length, which was just a bit over the 400m. HR sored today and it felt great to be outside midday.

20K Bike today - a year ago I would have gotten on my trainer because of the wind, but since I can't predict weather on race day, I went outside - turned out to be a fast bike for me: 12.2 miles (.2 shy), 44:38 time, avg 16.4. Very windy and just after reaching the end of my block, which is only 1/2 mile, I thought I was going to get blown over and was thinking about turning around, but didn't - Thanks Christina for blogging earlier.

Good day today.

Deadlifts

7 sets of 1 rep, max deadlifts today: 115, 115, 125, 125, 135, 145, 145
Also took a last minute day off from work - my daughter surprised us and drove 10 hours from NC and arrived Friday night. So given the weather forecast for today, took a day off and we did a trail walk w/the 2 dogs thru the McLean refuge - must have to admit, I have lived in Simsbury for 11.5 yrs now and have never been in the park and it is only 2 miles from my house - we had a great time and walked for just over an hour thru ice, mud, hills - good for the legs.

Massage on tap for tonight, yippeeeee

All Water Today

Had a 5k Row on tap for today: 23:44. On January 27th, my 5K row was 26:40.

Group Swim 90 minutes later: a great 3000 yd set.
Then came home and did my running HW
All in all, a great end to the week.
So already almost 2 weeks into Paleo and have never felt better - tons of energy, great sleeping and all around feel awesome.

I hope it's not a tease

First outside ride today. 21.16 miles, avg 15.6 mph. I was so excited to be outside, I got caught up in taking the scenery in and forgot I was out for time. Boy did it feel great to be in the fresh air.

Run Circuit

WOD: 400m run, 20 burpees, 4x thru. I subbed 50 squats in between each run - total time: 11:53 and my HR hit 178. I then came inside to do 80 pushups to make up for not doing burpees. I like these nice and quick ones, especially on a Friday evening.

After today's ride on the trainer, hoping to get outside on Saturday for a 20 mile and never put the bike back on that stupid piece of equipment. WOD 4x5k, increasing effort, decreasing time - 2 min off in between each one. Started out strong and promising, but then it was back to the discomfort of the trainer, gearing (which I clearly still can't quite figure out) , etc. No excuses and I am not making any - results don't lie: The promising thing is that even my slowest 5k avg speed is better than last year.

Speed avg Cad avg Time
1st: 17.5 82 10:38
2nd: 16.8 82 11:09
3rd: 15.6 76 11:52
4th: 15.5 78 12:02

Just more motivation to get outside on the road this weekend.
Did my running homework - felt good and better than the last time

2nd WOD: AMRAP in 15 minutes: 10 box jumps, 5 push press @70%, 10 burpees - oohhh, just can't wait to do this one.
Did 10 step ups on each leg as a sub for box jumps. Did 7 burpees shy of 8 rounds. Used 45# barbell for push press
Has anyone subbed something for a burpee - really hate them and don't look forward to the circuits w/them

Pool Traffic Jam

What a fiasco at the pool today - two lanes open when I got there, had to share a lane w/another person, which I always expect, except this other person was angry w/that - too bad. I finished warming up, then hit my watch and started my 700yd TT - 2 laps in, another women showed up in the middle of the lane I was in and I almost ran her over. The 2nd open lane was 'shut down' to test some young kids, so 1 lane for 3 people, again, not a big deal if everyone is doing the same set or are at similar pace. Long story short, I was not going to leave, stopped my swim at what I think was 28 laps, time said 11:35, I am usually consistent at 1:55-1:58 per 100, so I think I got distracted and shorted myself 50 yd. but probably more like 100. Still was a good swim stroke wise and felt strong, HR got up to 158, avg at 150.

Circuit today was a new one for me: As Many Rounds as Possible in 15 minutes: 5 deadlifts at 70% max weight (95lbs today), 10 burpees, 15 squats. I did 7 complete rounds and one round of deadlifts, 2 burpees. I HATE BURPEES.

Homework is working

I am learning to run a new (and better) way. I have some drills to do as homework and after only doing them 2 times, things are starting to make more sense to me.
Today was a 15 minute run, turn around, 15 minutes more.
1st 15 min: avg pace = 8:17, 1.81 miles, Avg HR 156,
2nd 15 min: avg pace = 8:28, 1.78 miles, Avg HR 166

Who knew leaning forward just a tiny bit would help so much on hills. I also felt myself in my usual heel running, especially up the hill - I was totally pushing into the ground, so today I focused on pull up and it really made a difference. This will take some time, but I am pretty satisfied with today.

Back to drills/homework tomorrow

Helen today

Run 400m, 21 KB swings (20lbs), 12 pullups, 3x thru for time. I did this in 10:35, but ran .3 longer on each run, spaced out each time before realizing I needed to turn around and head back to the house for the KB/pullups. I did this circuit on Jan 11th in 10:41 with the correct run - so this is improvement