Run 6x800M & Pushups

This is a hard one and I am happy with the outcome - had my running flats on for the entire interval. I also used my cadence monitor and set it to 100 for the first 3 as part of incorporating drills.

Lap Time Lap Time HR Max Avg Min Distmin/mile
1. 0:04:01.0 0:04:01.0 151 152 143 101 0.533 7:32
2. 0:12:03.0 0:03:55.3 154 155 146 103 0.518 7:34
3. 0:20:36.5 0:04:03.3 152 154 146 107 0.522 7:45
4. 0:29:34.8 0:03:53.1 159 159 152 108 0.523 7:25
5. 0:38:07.5 0:03:53.5 161 161 153 109 0.518 7:30
6. 0:46:43.0 0:03:54.4 162 163 153 114 0.523 7:28

WOD#2: 100 pushups. Time was 2:48. I did the first 20 as full pushups and also the last 20. Amazing how much work such a short amount of time can be.

No way it could have been planned...

I will start by saying last night around 9:00pm, my father called me to tell me my 93 year old grandfather went missing. My husband drove up to the Berkshires to meet my father, who lives in NYC. Long story short - my grandfather dropped my 92 yr old grandmother at an appt, took the car to get gas and 12 hrs later, thankfully, was found 60 miles from his house, pulled over to the side of the road, out of gas. (they live by themselves in Pittsfield Mass) and effective today, will not be driving anymore!

So maybe I got 3hrs of sleep. I think today's workout must be some sort of fate - I had a bike, 2 min standing, 1 min sit, 10x. This could not have been effectively done outside, and with these hurricane force winds and lack of focus from little sleep, I was, for once, so happy to put the spoke back thru my bike and put it on the trainer.

I did this workout on January 28th and went 7.2 miles, avg speed of 14.4, avg HR 146.
Today I went 8.26 miles, avg speed of 16.4, avg HR 138

I am really happy with the results.

Deadlifts: 5-5-5-5-5 - 65, 85, 95, 115, 125 compared to last time (Jan 28th which was 65, 85, 2x95, 115). Not bad, my hands hurt also. Will try to go heavier next time, thinking I can probably squeeze out another 10lbs of weight, maybe.

Row Circuit & Swim

WOD#1: 8x500 row, 3 min rest in between. I had to 2 min rest. All I can say is Rowing has forced me to buy some Desitin - ouch!
Times were:
2:26, 2:28, 2:23, 2:21, 2:23, 2:24, 2:27, 2:27

After the 2nd 500, I decided to move the shoebrace to a different peg position. Then I got somewhat faster, until I got tired at the end. Any ideas on what the proper peg position should be?

WOD#2: 1000yd swim - after work - 19:55 - totally sucks, but honestly, I am really really tired after the 15k run yesterday - first time my body has felt tired and I had absolutely nothing in the water today - my avg HR was only 134. I almost opted to push the swim off for another day, but switching things around did not sit well with me last week, so I just did it.

15K Run

I was totally prepared to run in the rain after work, but then magically the sun came out. So it was just very windy and a bit cool, but all good for my long run.
Had a 9.3 mile route planned and off I went. Felt pretty good up until mile 7, then I got the feeling that my legs just wanted to stop, but my endurance felt good and my HR was pretty decent - avg 155. My knees really felt sore as did my foot. I also felt a bit nauseous and my favorite and only gel choice tasted yucky today. Hmmm.
But I kept going, primarily because I was far away from the house and had no phone and it was cold and I was sweaty.
My times were pretty good for most of the run and in fact, I had a personal best 10K at 51:15 (compared to 53:01 last week). So here are the times per mile: (avg pace of 8:40).
8:14
8:24
8:20
8:16
8:14
8:53
8:59
9:08
9:22
2:39

I am pretty pleased and really just need my body to cooperate for 3 more months!

5K row

Today's time was 25:01 - not what I wanted, but not surprised by the time either. No excuses, but I had little sleep last night and I knew it would impact todays activity. My HR did not get above 140 either, so my body was telling me something.

The time today was in the middle of my past 2 5k rows: January 27th was 26:40, and on March 7th was 23:44.

I am also wondering what type of shorts/pants you all wear while rowing and I am sure some of you may understand why I am asking. All I can say is that seat is hard and while I thought I had enough stored fat on my ass, I guess I don't.

And the weekends circuits - my lower half is loving it!

Swim, Circuit and Tabata

WOD#1: Swim, 1x400, 2x200, 3x100, 4x50, rest effort time in between. I opted to do this swim instead of going to my last group swim and I am glad I did. On paper I thought this would be an easy swim, but boy was I wrong. By the first 50, my legs were burning and I was toast. Times were:
7:59
3:41, 3:51
1:48, 1:50, 1:51
51:8, 52:15, 50:97, 50:95

WOD#2: 5 burpees, 10 pushups, 500m row (make up from Friday). Did this after the swim and I was tired. Did 15 meters shy of 6 rounds. Last time I did this circuit was 2/25/10 and did 10 meters shy of 6 rounds, but today the pushups (all but last set) and all burpees were done w/full pushups.

Tabata: squats@45#, burpees, lunges, pushups - on tap for later. Reps were:
Squats: 14,13,13,11,13,14,12,12
Burpees: 6,5,6,5,6,5,5,5
Lunges: 5, 6, 5.5, 6, 6, 6.5, 6, 7
Pushups: 18,17,20,17,17,16,17,17

Did this tabata w/my son and totally smoked him! He commented that I was in better condition than him and he is in good condition. We both agreed on one thing - we HATE burpees

60K Bike & Circuit of 25s

WOD#1: 60k bike - did 37.5 miles, avg 15.8 - it was a great ride that had some good climbs, rollers, flats, etc. Rode w/a friend who forced me to go aero alot and I did - the weather was perfect, unlike yesterday and it felt great to be outside.

WOD#2: a bunch of stuff all at 25 reps, will do later tonight w/my son - can't let a 17 year old smoke me in time, so he should be a good motivator. 25 each of: lunges (did 25 each leg), squats, burpees, thrusters (45#), pullups, pushups and KB swings 25#. Time was 8:52 - had to break up the thrusters and pullups - did full pushups on the burpees and pushups - yippeee and boy did the squats hurt after the lunges. This circuit was a fast one and a good one.

Bike Interval and Circuit

Today (Friday) was my bike interval 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 miles, rest same time in between. I was supposed to do this Thursday, schedule got screwed up and could not fit it in. So today it was, but my allergies are really really bad and my head is a bit fuzzy - so I opted to do the bike inside for fear I did not have enough focus to be outside. I did 1,2,3,4 miles inside on a hilly expresso bike course and could not take it any longer, so I left.
About an hour later, I went out for the remaining 15 miles - can you say hurricane force winds, or at least it sure felt like it. For the first time I was actually scared to be on the bike - and my upper back is feeling the tension for sure. Times were:
3:46, 8:11, 11:57, 16:51, 19:02, 16:22, 12:19, 6:40, 3:22

A circuit awaits for later, but it may actually have to wait until Sunday. It is a rowing one so can't do it at home.

Lesson Learned

Being flexible is key, however, not at the price of getting your training schedule screwed up enough it impacts your performance. Went up to the Berkshires Thursday afternoon and spent the night - visited my grandparents, my dad and my brother (who was visiting from Florida with my new nephew- 6 mos old). Had a great visit, my back is killing me from holding an infant, but it was worth it.

So here is the deal w/my schedule. Left work early on Thursday, but did not have enough time to do my bike interval (1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 miles, rest same time), so I opted to do my run yesterday:

WOD: 4x400, 2x800, 1x1600, 2x800, 4x400 - rest in between each distance same time as effort. I rested only 1 min in between the 400s, and 2 min in between the 800. I ran at 98 cadence and switched to my running flats for the back end 2x800 and 4x400. Times were:
Lap Time Lap Time HR Max Avg Min Dist min/mile min/mile
1. 0:02:13.0 0:02:13.0 151 151 138 100 0.259 8:14
2. 0:05:21.5 0:02:05.6 147 152 141 101 0.258 8:07
3. 0:08:29.2 0:01:59.5 157 157 140 101 0.248 8:00
4. 0:11:44.4 0:02:02.9 155 156 144 112 0.251 8:10
5. 0:16:48.5 0:04:09.5 159 159 151 114 0.514 8:05
6. 0:23:03.6 0:04:04.8 157 157 148 108 0.500 8:09
7. 0:33:21.1 0:08:25.3 157 161 155 117 1.003 8:23
8. 0:44:05.4 0:04:09.6 154 156 148 109 0.510 7:51
9. 0:50:31.3 0:04:11.9 154 155 147 109 0.508 8:15
10. 0:55:03.4 0:02:08.4 150 152 144 113 0.254 8:25
11. 0:58:22.8 0:02:07.7 150 154 142 108 0.248 8:33
12. 1:01:57.4 0:02:09.9 148 151 143 119 0.257 7:56
13. 1:04:51.4 0:01:51.8 159 159 146 115 0.241 7:00

800yd Swim and Bad Bad Circuit

For anyone who suffers from allergies, today is just horrible. Even with my daily claritin, I needed to take some sudafed. Throat completely scratchy, ears clogged, eyes watery all day. So as you can imagine I could not wait to get into the pool - ha. Turns out it was pretty good.

WOD#1: 800yd swim - 14:48 - focused on feeling the pressure in hand/forearm with each stroke and was self correcting along the way. This may be one of my best times - water felt pretty good today.

WOD#2: 10! backsquats, deadlifts, burpees. Squats and Deads were 1/2 my body weight. The circuit was great in terms of really working the legs, but bad because I could not manage to go from the squat to deadlifts with the barbell - it was too heavy for me to lift above my head and place on the floor after the squats and too heavy for me to get it back into squat position after the deads. Time was 13:25

10K Run and Circuit

WOD#1: 400 run, KB 25#, 21 reps, pullups 12 reps - 3 times thru for time: 10:52. I managed to do one pullup unassisted and then focused on keeping control on the downward motion (I used a pullup bar I have at home). Felt pretty darn strong today. I did this set about a month ago but w/20# KB and some wimpier type of pullups and a time of 10:32, so today was improvement.

WOD#2: 10K run - PR today at 53:01, same route as 3/14/10 which was 54:04. I won't say it felt good, but it did not feel half bad. I opted for no iPod and used my cadence monitor. I must say my regular running sneakers felt like bricks on my feet.

My massage was today (mix up w/yesterday) and boy was it needed. But I was very happy when my massage therapist, who I have been going to for 5 years, said, Wow! muscles as she was working on my back. She then said 'you are ripped'. I told her I wouldn't go that far, but that I have noticed a significant transformation in my body over the past month.

Group Swim and Thrusters

WOD#1: Group swim, coach was away, which I did not know, otherwise, I would have opted to swim at my local Y at 11 am instead of the group swim at 1:00pm 40 minutes away. Also, only me and one other swimmer showed up. Ended up doings lots of pull and catchup drills and 12x100s for the mainset, then some kicks. So I finally focused on relaxing my shoulders and things felt so much better.

WOD#2: Thrusters - 5-5-5-5-5. 45, 55, 65, 65, 75. These are so hard!

REST DAY AND MASSAGE TOMORROW - can't wait

20K Bike and Circuit

WOD#1: 20K bike - took this inside and used the Expresso bike and did the Vindicator Route - good climbing, 26 - 30% grade inclines. Good workout - time was: 56:47

WOD#2: 5 deadlifts (1/2 weight of max on 4/10/10), 10 box jumps, 500 row, 3x thru. Time: 11:59

And those squats yesterday killed my legs, they are still feeling them and I am sure tomorrow will be worse, which is a good thing.

1 mile x 4 Run - Woo Hoo!

WOD#1: 1 mile run, 8 minutes rest inbetween - 4 x thru. Had all my stuff in my car to head right to the dreadmill after work, but the rain hadn't started yet, so I headed straight home and got my miles in outside - it helps that my block is exactly 1/2 mile, so my rest was truly done in the house. Times were, I must say, pretty darn good:
1st: 7:59
2nd: 8.00
3rd: 8:00
4th: 7:47

I used my cadence device and had it set to 94. I did the first 3 in my regular running sneakers and then changed into my flats for the last one, which happened to be my fasted time and I must say, you can feel the foot more (in a good way) in the flats. My HR for the circuit was also pretty consistent at 150-154. Knee and IT band felt a bit of a burn today, but think it may have to do with standing up on my bike a bit yesterday. Nothing that stretch, ice and advil won't take care of.

WOD#2: 400 squats - 11:35 - OUCH

5Kx5 bike - mentally strong ride

It was windy out today, did not realize until I got on the bike - but who cares, right. 5K x 5 times, 5 min rest in between. Results were:
1st - 10:14 (2:48 min rest)
2nd - 12:01 (no rest in between 2nd and 3rd - the given route did not give me a good stopping point)
3rd - 12:30
4th - 10:31 (3:49 rest)
5th - 12:08 (4:04 rest)

I picked a route that had some hills, which also meant it had some good decents as well. So this ride was a great mental boost for me for a few reasons: I hit 25mph and did not use my breaks (I do not like speed, which is a big problem), I got aero for more of the ride than last time (I am still learning) and finally, I got up that damn hill that I could not do last Saturday. It came during the last 5K.

Row Run Circuit and Swim

WOD#1: 500 row, 400 run, 5x thru for time: Time 23:52. This was my lunchtime activity. I did this circuit last on January 22nd in 25:40 - good improvement. This is a hard one but a good one. Just frustrating for the precious seconds it takes for the rower and treadmill to get computers active.

WOD#2: 500yd swim - later, after work activity. I call this a nuisance swim because it takes me longer to get to the Y etc than to swim. But I have felt totally energized for the past 5 days or so and I am ready to attack the water.
Had a slow as shit swim - 10:01 - I know I sound like a broken record, but I am at the point of not worrying about gaining seconds anymore in the water - I love the water, love to swim and my endurance is good in the water. Enough said.

5K run and Circuit (and personal question)

WOD #1: 5k run - today my goal was to keep a 93 cadence for the entire run. My time was just a few seconds slower than the last 5K, which was 25:03 on March 16th. Today's time was 25:18. The interesting part was I was cadence focused and in hindsight could have pushed it to a higher cadence, but this was the longest run using cadence so I did not know what to expect. (and I did not check my prev time beforehand) But there was improvement w/my avg HR - on 3/16 it was 160 and today was 152, so to me that is a pretty significant improvement and probably an indicator to keep a higher cadence next time.

WOD #2: 100ft walking lunges, 10 burpees, 25 situps, 3x thru for time. Total time = 7:40 (compared to 9:49 on 3/16). It is improvement in the burpees - I used to have to stop for a few seconds after 3 or 4, now I can do them straight through - still hate them. Also, on 3/16 I did this outside and tried to do the lunges up my driveway, worked ok up, not so good down and I had to stop a few times to keep from falling down.

Now to the personal question - maybe more for the ladies, but here it goes - anyone have any bladder issues when trying to run the CF or Pose way? There I asked. I can't quite figure out what is going on other than maybe I am a bit more relaxed than I think - ok, everyone can laugh now. Hey, we have to be able to poke fun at ourselves, right.

Another 21-15-9

WOD: Run 800, 21 burpees, run 800, 15 burpees, run 800, 9 burpees. Time = 16:54 - Avg HR 156, a high 163. And burpees were done w/full pushup - no knees :)

Before this circuit, I did running drills, week 3 (haven't done any drills for 2 weeks, and needed to get back on track). The week 3 drill is 4x90 sec @98 cadence, CF drill - I chose 3x10 each side forward lunge, then 1x6 min @93 cadence. I think it finally clicked today. I was relaxed, focused on the lean forward and relaxed foot, not a high knee. It all felt right today. The 6 min run came in at 7:58 min/mile and I ran .755 of a mile. The 90 seconds started at an 8:42/mile and came down to a 7:45 for the last one.
I felt comfortable in the running flats and decided to keep them on for my circuit thinking the run distance was shorter than what I had just done for my HW drill.

Row Circuit and Group Swm

WOD #1: 500 row, 21 boxjumps, 21 pushups, 500 row, 15 jumps, 15 pushups, 500 row, 9 jumps, 9 pushups. I had 7 risers on each side of the step and did step ups, 21, 15, 9 and each leg during the circuit. Total time 12:15 - I haven't rowed in a while and each 500 came in around 2:15. I realized as I did the last 9 pushups as full pushups (vs. knee) that I am at a point that I could do full pushups all the time now, which is what I will do going forward.

WOD#2: Group swim - only 6 of us showed up, so we got some good 1/1 time with the coach. He likes the way I look in the water -said my stroke looks good, head and body alignment all good, but that I was swimming too dainty like, delicate. He pulled me out of the water to try and get the concept of 'pressure' across to me. I know this is my problem and when he said I had to figure out where the 'stillness' of the water was to know where it felt good to apply the pressure, it made some more sense to me. I also totally relaxed which automatically made my upper body rotate like I wanted and it all felt pretty good.

On a side note: My upper body, core and back are so different looking that they were in November, in a good way - muscle definition like crazy, even my huby commented. Now if I can only alter genetics and get rid of my grandma triceps, I would be perfect.

40K Bike, Proud I got out, Doubted myself the whole way

My original plan was to do a charity ride w/a group at 8:00 am. I got to the bike shop (starting place), it was cold and I just wasn't dressed right. I also was 2nd guessing my decision to ride my road bike for this ride. W/in 5 minutes, I said hi to some friends and then made the decision to head home. I wanted to get a quality ride in and it just wasn't happening with me being freezing cold.

After 3 hrs of procrastination (well I did finish cleaning out my closet), looking outside at the strong wind, trying to talk myself out of riding outside, I just got dressed and got on my bike. It was windy, but the sun was out and I was dressed perfectly and I was on my Tri bike. Did the 40k in 1:38, ended up riding about 26 miles in total. There is a stupid hill at the end of my ride that I just can't seem to conquer. I got off the bike and had to walk up the hill. Is that allowed at LP? Do people do that? As I was walking, I asked myself, what the 'F' am I doing - I am not feeling the hills, and that is a problem. Do I need to do a flat IM? I got back home, purged my doubt to husband, who said, you will be fine - it is early, you haven't been riding outside that long. You did it last year, but in the same breath, he said avoid the hills next time, well that was the WRONG answer, I need to seek out the hills and that is exactly what I need to do, I can't try to pick flat routes to do the bike intervals - I need to just go with the hills and take whatever time I get. I will get up that stupid hill next time. (for those locals, it is the hill up Barndoor Hill Rd going towards Simsbury Rd)

Link: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ct/simsbury-rd-into-granbymass-loop-%28damn-hill%29/932127092743611212


Deadlifts, later, much much later. - 95, 115, 125, 125, 135, 145, failed at 165

Run Interval and 100 Pullups

WOD#1: The weather and my schedule had me inside on the treadmill for the run interval - 1st @8:08, 2@8:05, 3rd@8:10, 4th@8:07
I felt pretty strong and only wish I was able to do this outside.

WOD#2: 100 pullups - the first 40 were done at 10lbs harder weight on the gravitron, next 20 at same weight as last time, then last 40 alternating harder and same weight. Total time: 5:29.

Bike Tabata & Thruster/Dip circuit

WOD #1: Bike 1 minute, rest 30 sec, 20x thru. I did this outside and tried to pick a relatively flat loop, which is hard to come by. I liked this sequence alot. I kept thinking, can I do this for 112 miles and make the time go really fast? Ended up at 8.9 miles.

WOD#2: 21-15-9 Thrusters @45#, Dips. First time doing dips - tried it out on the gravitron before starting the circuit. First set of thrusters seeemed relatively easy - able to go straight thru. Then to the dips - wow, hard, hard and hard. 2nd and 3rd set of thrusters were much much harder - had to break them up, put the bar down once each set. Total time: 5:43

My abs/core is killing from the 250 situps on Tuesday - I sneezed a few times today and it was not pleasant. My arms also hurt and I am afraid, very afraid of what tomorrow brings - the big 100 pullups.

Swim - just as I thought

800yd swim - 15:50
I figured I would come on around a 1:58/100. Only swam once in the past week instead of the usual 2 and it showed today.

10 min out and back run, 250 situps

WOD: 10 minute run, turn around and run 10 minutes, note distance: 1.18 miles 1st 10, 1.21 miles 2nd 10 - felt strong. Was concerned because I have had some new, sharp pain in my foot. Ice later for sure.

WOD: 250 situps for time: Broke it up: 50 incline, 50 powertower, 50 reverse incline, 50 incline, 30 powertower, 20 powertower, obliques. 6:47 - that was hard

I am also feeling the thrusters and pullups from yesterday - I looked ahead and know I have another 100 set of pullups - and I remember that I could barely lift my arms for about 5 days - don't think that will happen, but feeling my upperbody after only doing 55 yesterday - all good stuff

Thruster_Pullup Circuit

21-15-9 Thrusters at 65lbs, pullups. Time: 6:18.
I started with the 65lbs that was on my plan and it was heavy, as I figured it would be. I made it through 16 reps w/65 and then had to bring it down to 55 and even then the arms were shaking and I could barely get the last reps over my head. 2nd and 3rd sets were w/55 and it was hard, arms were shaking. Pullups were assisted and I used 10lbs harder weight than last time and it was still hard. Will I ever be able to do just 1 unassisted real pullup?

Lower body really is sore today - think it is just a combo of the 1 mile runs @100% Friday, 10! burpees, squats, situps Saturday and KB, squats situps yesterday - while I am sore, I like being sore, tells me it is all working.

KB, Situps & Squats

40 KB swings, situps, squats - 3x thru for time: 10:24 and the best part of all, I did this outside in my driveway while my husband was just starting to clean the garage. 4 hrs later, 2nd trip to the dump, we are almost done.
Pool closed today - will swim tomorrow.

Annual fall is out of the way

25K bike today. First time outside on my tri bike. Was wondering if my speed would be comparable to my road bike. Tri bike has 650 wheels. Did the 20K in 56 min. Definitely need to focus on cadence- it was slow, avg at 68, yuck.
And I got my yearly fall in while stopping for a quick second to check something and leaned towards the clipped in foot and down I went. Just a few scrapes.

2nd WOD: 10! Burpees, squats, situps. Time= 8:10

Run Interval - I hope Martin got outside today

I am assuming Martin had something similar on tap for today:
Run 1 mile@ 100% rest 4 minutes - well I thought that is what my plan said, but realized when I got home, I was supposed to rest 8 minutes - but think the additional 4 minutes of rest would have been worse. This was a tough one, my right calve was on the verge of cramping, but ended up not doing that. I am very happy w/my times: 7:39, 7:53, 8:18, 8:28 - #3 & 4 had some small hills, but honestly, the heat was a factor. Sad to say that 74 degrees is even heat but going from cold and rainy to dry, sunny and warm will take some time to the body to adjust - no water, not nothing on this run and could have used some water

2nd WOD was 10! burpees, squats, situps - this will be done on Saturday - had my work team over for some drinks and I am suprised that I had 2 glasses of wine - so circuit will be much more effective tomorrow.

Fun Fun and more Fun: Bike and Circuit

1st WOD: 4x5k, 1 minute rest: 10:41, 10:37, 10:55, 10:41 - not sure if mentally these were so short, or the weather was perfect, but I loved this set. Will sync the watch to PC and get speed avg and HR.

2nd WOD: 21 deadlifts (1/2 body weight), 400m run, 9 situps, 15 deadlifts, 400m run, 15 situps, 9 deadlifts, 400m run, 21 situps. Total time = 11;18, Avg HR= 146. I did the situps as crunches on the tower I have in my basement. The runs definintely felt strange after the deadlifts - felt like they were not moving, but I looked at my speed at the last 400, and was clocking in between 7:38 and 8:04/min/mile.

I really liked todays tasks and loved being outside in the sun for both. Almost thought about moving my bar and plates outside, but opted to run down to the basement instead.