Today when I was entering the stats for my (sweaty and miserable) run into Buckeye, I noticed that it was the 30th of the month. A-ha! I thought- what better time than to check my monthly stats. And so I did:
Swim: 5:45
Bike: 11:00 (including spin)
Run: 19:05
And, because I love the random stats:
Total calories burned: 21,617
Average calories burned: 720
Average daily training time: 1:12
Total number of workouts: 31
Total run distance: the length of an Ironman bike course (112 miles)
As I commented elsewhere, this isn't exactly a mega triathlon training load. I suspect that in a few weeks time, I'll look back and laugh at my paltry 8 hour weeks. But when you put it into the context of this year, it's damned impressive. In May, June and July, I did around 23-25 hours per calendar month, so I've added a good TEN hours this month. And what makes that particularly awesome is that I'm in a heavily run focussed segment of my training, so my hours on the bike have, if anything, been down (getting a 10+ hour week in is much easier if you spend 5+ hours pootling around on a road bike every Sunday....)
With the end of September comes the end of abstention (from DRINK, guys, from DRINK). I've had a few more "tastes" than I should have, so I'm not super proud of my performance, but, quite frankly, complete sobriety is balls, and there's plenty of time for that in the years to come, so instead of having Pisshead October followed by No-Booze November, I've decided to take a more sensible balanced approach to both months, with one night of grog per week. The rest of the time, I'm taking a leaf out of Kath's book- it's mocktails all the way! Time to stock up on soda water and fun flavours.
In summary:
1) Go me!
2) Roll on October!
3) I get to drink WINE tomorrow!
4) 44 days til Karapiro. Holy crap!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Weekly rundown
A nice solid week, totalling a little over 9 hours. I'm feeling pretty good, and definitely enjoying my training, in all three disciplines.
It's starting to feel like tri season is coming- which, of course, it is. Phil and I have got ourselves on the committee for the Mafia Tri Club, which I hope will help us to get more involved in the *scene*... Though it might interfere with my vague plans for a marathon and rowing year next year!! We're the bike and run coordinators, and we'll be organising occasional group training sessions, as well as trying to "match-make" new members. We've missed having a bunch of training buds, so this is far from purely altruistic.
I'll be volunteering at the World Rowing Champs at Lake Karapiro in early November, and my commitments to training and volunteer days are picking up a little bit, so it's going to be even more important than usual to keep up with things, especially with the Karapiro half coming up shortly afterwards. Thank goodness for bright evenings!
Swim
A typical swimming week. A squad session at St Peter's on Monday, and a cruisy session with Phil at the pool in TA after work on Friday.
Swim time: 1:25 (a little down on what it should have been)
Bike
I had a longer than usual midweek ride scheduled for Wednesday, and was stoked to get home early and head out with Phil. We managed to get about 45 minutes in before it started getting dark, and another 15 in the semi-dark. It was still light enough to see in front of us, even without our super hardcore lights on, but I was a little jumpy, especially with the frequent showers. Phil was only riding for an hour, so we headed home and I jumped on the trainer for a (much less enjoyable) half an hour.
The weekend's "long" ride was only 2 hours, and we decided to head out on the MTBs, as we were in Auckland for a family gathering. My mojo was pretty low, and I spent the first wee bit feeling a bit stompy and sulky. It didn't help that there was an event on, and I was constantly worried about getting in the way. After half an hour or so, I started feeling a lot better, but I'm still a lot slower than the boys, and didn't exactly feel gnarly. We finished our usual loop in about 1:20- 1:30, and decided to call it a day as we had places to be. So, not exactly a win week on the bike, but not bad either. I was definitely glad to have some mojo return by the end of the ride- can't wait to get down to Rotorua a few more times over summer!
Bike time (including MTB and half-hour spin): 2:50
Run
This wasn't my best running week, by recent standards, but wasn't bad either. On both Thursday and Friday I felt a bit weak/dizzy during the runs (only a little bit, nothing worrying)- which I attribute to a mixture of not eating properly and slowly changing seasons. The long runs are proving to be great for my self esteem- it's amazing how much more awesome I feel after a 2 hour run than after 1:40.
Running highlights of the week were:
- evening 10k run at the lake in Hamilton with Phil;
- running along the quickly growing pedestrian/bike path from Leamington to Karapiro- it's looking brilliant!
- today's 20k around the bays in Auckland. Much warmer than I'm used to, but was great to do a nice straightforward run- and to hit the 20km mark for the first time in goodness knows how long! (in training, anyway).
Run time: 4:50
Total time: 9:05
It's starting to feel like tri season is coming- which, of course, it is. Phil and I have got ourselves on the committee for the Mafia Tri Club, which I hope will help us to get more involved in the *scene*... Though it might interfere with my vague plans for a marathon and rowing year next year!! We're the bike and run coordinators, and we'll be organising occasional group training sessions, as well as trying to "match-make" new members. We've missed having a bunch of training buds, so this is far from purely altruistic.
I'll be volunteering at the World Rowing Champs at Lake Karapiro in early November, and my commitments to training and volunteer days are picking up a little bit, so it's going to be even more important than usual to keep up with things, especially with the Karapiro half coming up shortly afterwards. Thank goodness for bright evenings!
Swim
A typical swimming week. A squad session at St Peter's on Monday, and a cruisy session with Phil at the pool in TA after work on Friday.
Swim time: 1:25 (a little down on what it should have been)
Bike
I had a longer than usual midweek ride scheduled for Wednesday, and was stoked to get home early and head out with Phil. We managed to get about 45 minutes in before it started getting dark, and another 15 in the semi-dark. It was still light enough to see in front of us, even without our super hardcore lights on, but I was a little jumpy, especially with the frequent showers. Phil was only riding for an hour, so we headed home and I jumped on the trainer for a (much less enjoyable) half an hour.
The weekend's "long" ride was only 2 hours, and we decided to head out on the MTBs, as we were in Auckland for a family gathering. My mojo was pretty low, and I spent the first wee bit feeling a bit stompy and sulky. It didn't help that there was an event on, and I was constantly worried about getting in the way. After half an hour or so, I started feeling a lot better, but I'm still a lot slower than the boys, and didn't exactly feel gnarly. We finished our usual loop in about 1:20- 1:30, and decided to call it a day as we had places to be. So, not exactly a win week on the bike, but not bad either. I was definitely glad to have some mojo return by the end of the ride- can't wait to get down to Rotorua a few more times over summer!
Bike time (including MTB and half-hour spin): 2:50
Run
This wasn't my best running week, by recent standards, but wasn't bad either. On both Thursday and Friday I felt a bit weak/dizzy during the runs (only a little bit, nothing worrying)- which I attribute to a mixture of not eating properly and slowly changing seasons. The long runs are proving to be great for my self esteem- it's amazing how much more awesome I feel after a 2 hour run than after 1:40.
Running highlights of the week were:
- evening 10k run at the lake in Hamilton with Phil;
- running along the quickly growing pedestrian/bike path from Leamington to Karapiro- it's looking brilliant!
- today's 20k around the bays in Auckland. Much warmer than I'm used to, but was great to do a nice straightforward run- and to hit the 20km mark for the first time in goodness knows how long! (in training, anyway).
Run time: 4:50
Total time: 9:05
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Last couple of weeks: Rundown/highlights
I think it's now evident that I am NOT capable of blogging regularly. The long draft still sitting around from our epic Beervana/Wellington weekend is testament to that. So, since we're getting into The Season, I'm going to revert to the bullet point weekly update.
So, how are things going?
General
In general, I'm starting to feel like a triathlete again. I'm not quite making it up early every morning, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the extra light in the morning and the evenings, and I am getting most of my training hours in every week. I'm a little nervous about my riding and my general fitness, but I know I can get through Karapiro now, and I am SURE I'll be able to dominate September through December in order to rock Tauranga.
Swim
We're back in the pool, and back to squad sometimes. Swims are still pretty short and easy, compared to what I was doing last year, but, well, swimming 3.5k hard 3 times a week didn't exactly help me out with my race times! Going to squad on Monday night was great- there's nothing like an outdoor pool in the evening. Also, I'm convinced that the St Peter's pool is shorter than our usual pool in Te Awamutu- my times were miles better!
Bike
I'm riding well enough, but we're not doing the distances we were this time last year either. We've done a few 3:00 to 3:30 rides, but we're mostly in the 2:00 - 2:30 range. My endurance has been OK for the longer rides. Last week's ride was 2:30 around the countryside around Te Miro. My legs were feeling a bit thrashed, and the weather was ghastly- muggy and windy for the first 2:10, and torrential rain for the rest. If I hadn't been so close to home, I think I'd have pulled over and found some shelter!
Run
My running is feeling great. It's slow, but getting stronger and stronger. I'm doing 2:00 weekend runs, which is big for me, since my marathon training days at least! Last year I don't think I ever ran 2:00, outside of races.
Today my run took me out through the country and up the ginormous hill we rode a few weeks ago. After rolling countryside (complete with evil cows and bad, chasey dogs) for a few k, you start climbing. And climbing. And climbing. There's a few hundred metres of respite after the first steep climb, but after that it just winds steeply up and up for a total climb of nearly 4km.
(Yep, it's steep!!)
When you get to the top, you can keep running along a rolling gravel road. Totally invigorating, especially on a crazy, Wellington-style windy day!
(this is what happens when there's a bit of wind in the Waikato)
Running from Cambridge to the top took just under an hour, so I ran along the gravel road for a k before turning and running back down the hill.
(I didn't follow the first piece of advice this time, but I did follow the second!)
Next time I'll definitely start a bit closer to the hill, so I can spend more time on the gravel road (and also, so I can finish on a downhill, instead of 4 boring flat ks!)
My mid week runs have increased too. When we started the run-focus, my short midweek run was 30, but gradually grew to 60. Last week I had a 45 minute tempo run scheduled, and I'm pleased to say that 45 mins is definitely short again. Phew!
Weight
The elephant in the room. In short, I'm trying, but I'm still F.A.T. About 5kg heavier than my race weight last year- GAH!!! I'm off the booze in the hope that things improve this month, but every time I weigh myself I'm disappointed again. I feel like I'm doing a very good job of not rewarding myself with food (too much), and eating healthy, balanced meals, but I guess I just have to do more.
So, how are things going?
General
In general, I'm starting to feel like a triathlete again. I'm not quite making it up early every morning, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the extra light in the morning and the evenings, and I am getting most of my training hours in every week. I'm a little nervous about my riding and my general fitness, but I know I can get through Karapiro now, and I am SURE I'll be able to dominate September through December in order to rock Tauranga.
Swim
We're back in the pool, and back to squad sometimes. Swims are still pretty short and easy, compared to what I was doing last year, but, well, swimming 3.5k hard 3 times a week didn't exactly help me out with my race times! Going to squad on Monday night was great- there's nothing like an outdoor pool in the evening. Also, I'm convinced that the St Peter's pool is shorter than our usual pool in Te Awamutu- my times were miles better!
Bike
I'm riding well enough, but we're not doing the distances we were this time last year either. We've done a few 3:00 to 3:30 rides, but we're mostly in the 2:00 - 2:30 range. My endurance has been OK for the longer rides. Last week's ride was 2:30 around the countryside around Te Miro. My legs were feeling a bit thrashed, and the weather was ghastly- muggy and windy for the first 2:10, and torrential rain for the rest. If I hadn't been so close to home, I think I'd have pulled over and found some shelter!
Run
My running is feeling great. It's slow, but getting stronger and stronger. I'm doing 2:00 weekend runs, which is big for me, since my marathon training days at least! Last year I don't think I ever ran 2:00, outside of races.
Today my run took me out through the country and up the ginormous hill we rode a few weeks ago. After rolling countryside (complete with evil cows and bad, chasey dogs) for a few k, you start climbing. And climbing. And climbing. There's a few hundred metres of respite after the first steep climb, but after that it just winds steeply up and up for a total climb of nearly 4km.
(Yep, it's steep!!)
When you get to the top, you can keep running along a rolling gravel road. Totally invigorating, especially on a crazy, Wellington-style windy day!
(this is what happens when there's a bit of wind in the Waikato)
Running from Cambridge to the top took just under an hour, so I ran along the gravel road for a k before turning and running back down the hill.
(I didn't follow the first piece of advice this time, but I did follow the second!)
Next time I'll definitely start a bit closer to the hill, so I can spend more time on the gravel road (and also, so I can finish on a downhill, instead of 4 boring flat ks!)
My mid week runs have increased too. When we started the run-focus, my short midweek run was 30, but gradually grew to 60. Last week I had a 45 minute tempo run scheduled, and I'm pleased to say that 45 mins is definitely short again. Phew!
Weight
The elephant in the room. In short, I'm trying, but I'm still F.A.T. About 5kg heavier than my race weight last year- GAH!!! I'm off the booze in the hope that things improve this month, but every time I weigh myself I'm disappointed again. I feel like I'm doing a very good job of not rewarding myself with food (too much), and eating healthy, balanced meals, but I guess I just have to do more.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
A long run!
I have so many posts started, but no energy/time to finish them, so here's a story about my "long" run this morning instead....
Today I had 2:00 scheduled- my longest (in duration) run since Rotorua '09, and my longest (in distance) training run since goodness knows when!
My dear husband found me an iconic 'Tron training route last night, and he was even kind enough to drive it with me this morning. Though even THAT didn't stop me doing some creative navigation and adding 2.5km to my route! I was off and running by about 9:45, and P headed out to the farmers' market in town.
I stopped about 1km in to buy some fuel for my run- a Cadbury brunch bar (they're not too bad, despite the brand name and chocolate base) and ten wine gums- then got on my way.
The run takes you out past the subdivisions, through the lifestyle blocks, and out into the country proper. It's pretty much rolling the whole way- flat for maybe 2km or so!
I love country running, but it does take a bit of getting used to! First, there's the fact that you're ALWAYS running- after that early stop, it was all running, all the time. No pansying around at crossings, no loo breaks, no water fountains. Great for the ol' endurance, but- as I've said before- very different to town running. Secondly, there's the footpath (or lack thereof) factor. It sounds simple- run on the right side of the road, facing the traffic coming towards you. But sometimes it's safer to be on the wrong side, particularly on (some) blind corners. So there's a lot of crossing from one side to the other and back again, all the while looking out for hooning utes... Then there's the camber. I always seemed to be on a slight lean- not awesome for my poor feet (in their way-too-old shoes). Lastly, there're the animals. Great when it's cute ickle lambies and calves frolicking in the fields. Less great when it's stray cows, or barky farm dogs.
I am very satisfied with today's run. My pace was slow, but the same sort of slow as my weekday morning runs. I started feeling stiff after a solid running week and a good 2.5 hour ride yesterday, but my average pace only improved over the remaining 1:45. 50 minutes flew by like *that* and next thing I knew it was 1:15 and I was still feeling good. I found it easy enough to (sort of) control my HR on the climbs- it was drifting up to 155-160, but I could keep it from going any further. I easily had enough in the engine at 2:00 to keep going while I looked out for Phil, and I managed to really push the last few steep climbs.
Frequent running has been fantastic for me- it's not hurting my cycling, and I'm feeling a million dollars. My endurance is there (yesterday's 2.5 hour hilly ride felt quick n easy), my strength is on the way- it's just the speed that's outstanding, and with summer, increased training, and healthier eating, I hope that will come soon (it better... Karapiro is discomfitingly soon....)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)