LT: Week 23

It feels like the race was a long time ago already, but it's only a week. I feel for Miss Midwesterly. To come across the Atlantic like that, and have such a build-up only for things to go horribly wrong. She's taken it very well and is already looking to the next race to prove herself. Not being a stranger to race adversity, I sympathise.

The race for me was very cool. I was so pleased to have been able to manage the entire thing in the light of my back injury which was still hurting on the run. It was the second run I'd managed to do in 6 weeks and was therefore pretty damn horrible and had me aching for 3 days afterwards, but simply to have finished the run was - in my mind at least - a big achievement.

The swim was great. I had none of my anxiety from the Ellesmere triathlon 2 weeks beforehand, and I even managed to enjoy the experience, as I had done with all my open water swims the year before. Clearly it served me very well to get in the Serpentine 3 times the week before. The water was tasteless and clear too, which helps with the psychology a lot. Still ... I'd like to learn how to push it on the swim because I wasn't even out of breath. I just go at a leisurely pace as if I'm out for a gentle swim in the sea. I think I could shave off several minutes if I learnt how hard I could push myself. Never as quick as Emily mind you ... who was something like 15th out of the water and had all the pros turning their heads!

The bike was amazing. I absolutely loved the course. It was hilly enough to be interesting but not so much that I couldn't spend a good deal of time on the tribars. I felt really strong for pretty much the whole section and enjoyed the psychology of going past people. Although the course is billed as a hilly one, I found the hills to be very short and totally achievable. I think having a compact crankset helped, but also that I was expecting far worse. I managed to refuel a bit on the bike; eating two bananas and about a litre of carbo drink. Obviously this isn't enough on a course of this length (luckily it was a cold morning so hydration wasn't too much of an issue), but it's a start. I need to work on techniques for refuelling while I train.

The run was a killer. Because of my lack of adequate training I went into it feeling pretty tired. It was 3 loops of a very undulating course but I only managed to completely run one loop, having to walk on the uphills of the final 2 laps. I stopped 3 or 4 times at feed stations too, to drink Gatorade and eat my final banana. I think they got me round in the end. I just had to focus on putting one foot in front of the other and ignoring the pain in my back and my body's desire to stop. I'd love to get to a place where I could be strong in the run too. Most of the people around me were also walking when I was, so it would be great to be able to run the full course.

In all it was a very inspiring race. Great that I could finish the distance, and good that I felt strong in 2 disciplines. I think I can improve substantially on my time, and there are already plans hatching for a repeat performance in 2009. I was originally looking for a full Ironman for next year, but currently it makes sense for me to do another year of half distance races before raising my game.

Great race, great company, great experience.


T: 45 mins open water swim
30 mins spin
W: 45 mins open water swim
T: 40 mins open water swim
F: 30 mins bike
S: Rest day
S: UK Half Ironman 70.3
501st out of 799 finishers
46th of 107 women (77th on swim, 36th on bike, 62nd on run)
11th of 26 F35-39 (16th on swim, 7th on bike, 15th on run)
Swim: 41:58, Bike: 3:38:18, Run: 2.09.41, Total: 6:40:27

Total: 9h 50m

argh

i've been thinking a lot about my performance lately.
i know that part of me is quite aware that triathlon, and, indeed, sport, in general, comes second to many things in my life: work and friends coming in numbers two and one.
but i don't think that i ever predicted i'd be so damned broken up over not finishing a race.
i had a mechanical problem. a horrible, stupid mechanical problem that was just par for the course as far as this bike goes.
i mean, let's look at the track history, shall we?

thursday, 5 june: yi shun gets bike stolen
thursday, 5 june: yi shun phones trusty shop guy to build new bike
saturday, 7 june: yi shun gets bike and realizes it's lacking a triple chain ring.
saturdya, 7 june: yi shun looks at bike and realizes she's borrowing someone else's race wheels.
tuesday, 10 june: yi shun flies to london.
thursday, 12 june: lara spends precious time faffing about with potentially lousy build on bike.
friday, 13 june: lara and yi shun go for spin 'round regents' park, where yi shun realizes that gearing is a little bit off.
saturday, 14 june: yi shun and lara and em check in; yi shun has gearing fine-tuned.
sunday, 15 june: yi shun races. yi shun does OK in swim; has lousy transition--and has to drop from race due to a bike problem completely unrelated to anything she and lara have been faffing with. no, the problem is with the borrowed race wheels.
sunday, 15 june: yi shun floods phone booth with crocodile tears. stoic brits who've never met her lend kind words and pats on back.

am sad but recovering with lots of help from good friends and good conversation. need to find another half soon to complete and be happy over. poo.

here we are now

literally T minus 1 day to the triathlon.
i haven't said much about these past few days and weeks because there honestly hasn't been much worth saying.
i've continued the slow slide towards less and less diligent training, and i pretty much have proof that i'll finish last in my group of friends. this isn't a bad thing; i've always known that i'm a slower than many of my more talented friends, even if they were always too polite to say anything.
i do feel pretty shocked at just how aware i finally am that this is the end of a long road. maybe i wasn't aware that i was giving up as much of my life as really was to training; or maybe i just plain didn't think about it at all. either way, the corollary to there being an end to all this is that there must be the beginning to something else. i do feel at this moment that i'm not quite ready to move on from this period of athletic "achievements," even if the achievements are crawling across the finish line in something other than last place.
i'm annoyed at the IM organization. they don't let us set up our own TAs; they make us sign waivers that say they are not responsible for any loss of equipment and the inform us after we've signed the waivers that we're to hand over our bikes to attendants and that we're to pack our TA stuff in designated-color bags...it's ridiculous.
if something happens to my bike, i'm going to be pissed.
the bike is a whole nother story. it's entirely possible that i'll have to pick a bone with the guys who built it, because it's more than likely they did a slap-dash job on it, which caused lara to have to fiddle with it endlessly, which is something she, in her limited time, did most certainly not have to do. ugh.
we went out on a very short five mile spin today just to run the thing through its gearing, and it's still not 100%. i didn't have all of my gears for the first one, either--why should this be any different? :P
while i don't feel i'm going to crush this race, or even do what i was really looking to do, i can only try.
i suppose you could insert some other platitude there and it might actually ring true. perhaps after this race, i'll have a better handle on my racing menatlity. i'm not promising anything.

cheers! and good luck to emily and lara!

LT: Week 22

M: Hilly bike ride 1h 10m

Total: 1h 10m

Back pain prevalent. Maximising injury recovery now, before the 70.3.

argh

The trip to London looms. Ordinarily, I'd be really looking forward to it, except these past few days have been a whirlwind of shite.
You already know I had my bike stolen. We had to drive up to Wisconsin to drop off der hund, and on the way up our air conditioning blew out, so it was 95 degrees on the highway in horrible traffic with no air conditioning and a nervous hound, who panted his way through the three and a half hour trip and slobbered liberally on me (not something he usually does).
We took Jim's parents out for their anniversary to a restaurant that I truly believe is great for its wine list and some items on its menu, but loses many points for its terrifically bad service and horrible placement of us by a window overlooking a dumpster; then the next day it was off to bang-off start with a really bad, very hilly run that had me gasping and crawling within the hour. I walked the last hill home, and now I'm feeling the ache in my calves that tells me I was badly dehydrated when I did the run and probably could have prepared better.
we rushed to the Barnes and Noble and Apple stores in Milwaukee to pick up some things and take advantage of the lower sales tax (Chicago will go up to 10.5% this November); then we dashed home in fairly good time, sans hound and having exchanged Jim's needy car for one of his parents' three working Honda civics. Grabbed some cupcake mix and frosting for the birthday party that night, baked the things, made the birthday gift, and then it was off to get
My
New
Bike.
Which is wonderful an fast on the flats, but which has
No
Triple
Chain
Ring
I am screwed, folks, do you hear me? SCREWED. Lara, you just be sure to not wait for me at the finish line. There are plenty of fish for me to eat in the lake, and lots of fresh water: At this rate I'll be in the lake until July and on the bike course until August.
And. You are not allowed to call a 53-minute 10K a "jog." In my book that's moving pretty fast.

LT: Week 21

M-F: Virus + injury + child holiday = no training
S: 20 min run. Back painful.
S: Shropshire Triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run).

Swim: This was my first open water experience since last September and it shows. Still had crackly chest, wetsuit neck too tight and in general was fighting panic for the first 1000m, so couldn't apply myself at all. Pathetic. Was about 3rd from the back getting out of the water; 15 mins slower than fastest woman.

Bike was better; a lovely course of mostly flat aerobar work, with a few undulations to keep the interest up. Still felt off-form though, and knew I had to save something for the run. 8 mins slower than fastest woman.

Run: Took double dose of ibuprofen going into the run, and resolved to get around at the pace I could manage which was a pretty slow jog. Run was hilly but that saved the repeat impact on my back. Really wanted to be able to push it, but couldn't. Was still glad to manage the 10k though, because when I got up in the morning I thought I'd have to skip the run altogether. 15 mins slower than fastest woman.

Result: Sooooo slow. 16th out of 23 women. Swim: 36:10!, Bike: 1:16:23, Run: 53:25. Total: 2:46:06.

Still have a bit of lingering virus, but the biggest issue right now is my back. I'm going to stick to swimming for preparation for the half, and hope that my back can make some leaps between now and then. If the race was this weekend, I would have pulled out by now, so I'm still looking at it as borderline.

YSL: still dunno what day

i'm going to have to go to a "t-minus" countdown soon. this counting up really is not working.
had an OK week last week. skipped what seems to be the requisite 3 workouts and got in something like 9 hours last week. dunno. apathy? laziness? tiredness? who the crap knows.
this week looks like hell, so i skipped a day. heh. no, actually, i just decided to move my workouts around and took my second scheduled day-off on tuesday instead of friday. sprocket was sick again yesterday (downstairs neighbhors unclear on concept of keeping my greedy hound away from their dog's food), so that kept me from going anywhere until jim got home, at which point i sat down on the couch and FELL ASLEEP SITTING UP. hello? clearly something wrong there. so i took the day off.
today's workout felt remarkably good. it was the first day i've been out on my bike alone this year. felt really, really good. once you get away from the main part of the lakefront path here, it's incredibly relaxing. nice.
today's workout was a two and a half hour ride with cadence repeats followed by a 2300 yard swim. GUESS WHAT? not only did i manage the whole swim in an HOUR (it's the first time i've ever hit the prescribed swim time right on the nose), i managed the fastest 400 i've ever swum. get ready for it... it was a blistering time of NINE MINUTES.
damn.
a really good day all around. felt good. tomorrow's workout simulates a triathlon: an hour swim; a 90-minute ride; an hour run. yikes. i'm scared that if i do badly on this, or feel badly, tomorrow, i'll lose ALL mo.
eeeeee.
tomorrow is also my book party! i'm selling many of my old books, and all proceeds will go to ShelterBox, which, by the way, was the first--and one of the only--relief organizations allowed into Myanmar. which the Brits insist on calling Burma. hmph.

YSL: Still dunno what week or day

Alas, alack,
Poetry Friday
has gone
Remiss.

Lost in the pool,
perhaps dropped on the road,
or even--
carelessly thrown into the bushes
landing next to a toad

Alas, alack
Poetry Friday
has gone
Remiss.

Back pain is back. Dunno what I did wrong. Have been sitting and typing a lot on an unforgiving office chair. It's an old wooden model that I love, and if generations of teeachers frackin' sat on this thing with no problems, what is the matter with ME?

Yesterday's workout was hard work, and therefore felt most excellent. I really like the sprint workouts, but I prefer the loong-distance races. What the hell is the matter with me? I shafted myself 800 yards in Tuesday's swim workout, though. What a loser--just didn't have enough time. I am so SLOW. Ugh.

The weather this weekend is going to be beautiful. Think am going to get into lake. Is a chilly 50 degrees in there right now. Brrrr.

PB: Week 0

No training this week. Took the week off to stay up late, sleep in, and think about what to do next. Last weekend I had a visit from a college friend who is a pro triathlete training for IM Lake Placid. He stopped by my house to shower after a 17 mile run on the towpath. I thought you might find this funny: he said he was trying to negative split on the return run, but then he wasn't feeling up to it so he slowed down to a 7:00 minute/mile pace.

LT: Week 20

Chest infection prevalent this week, causing me to do the 80 instead of the 100 on Saturday. Injury has finally started to recover though, and didn't cause problems on the bike, although 5 mins on the treadmill on Tues was painful so I still don't know when I'll be running.

M: Rest day
T: 5m treadmill. 60m stationary bike. Treadmill hurt.
W: 60m stationary bike with various intervals
   30m swim
T: Day off (Miles ill & not in nursery)
F: Rest day
S: 80 mile cyclo-sportive in Yorkshire. Hilly. 6.16.
S: About 10 miles of casual cycling to watch racing. 1 hr
Total: 9h 35m

YSL: Week Dunno; Day Dunno

I've finally had three good workout days in a row, even if I skipped yesterday's swim. My legs were fried from Tuesday's speedwork in both the pool and on the road, and today's workouts--5x 5-minute hill accelerations on the bike over an hour and twenty minutes and a 38-minute run immediately following to mimic race conditions--were both good.
I'm a little worried about all the hills in the race. I'll muddle through, I know--it's not like I"ll be working against the added disadvantage of being at elevation or anythiing--but it does remind me that, if I'm going to do Austria 2009, I'll have to be even more serious about trainng that I am now. The Alps are no English hills. I know that area of Austria, somewhat, and boy, it's pretty frackin' mountainous. While I'm looking forward to going back there (it's the place in which I first discovered what it meant to truly be awed by the outdoors, and be truly in love with it and make it a true part of your life), I've got to take the difficulty of the race into account as I go into training for it.
Here's today's run.

PB: Week 19 - race week

Th - Run 6.2 mi/60 min very easy. Felt poor.
S - Longest Day adventure race. About 12 hours.

I'm really no good at race reports. Good news is that I had a good time and I'm happy with my performance, considering the training I put in. I was so worried about my own fitness that I didn't stop to think that it really didn't matter because I'm still stronger than my female teammate. The pace was very manageable for me. I didn't feel very fatigued and sore until the bike climbs at the end of the race, when we did some walking. The course was well designed and had optional points on all the trek and bike sections. It took a little bit for me to get back in the navigation groove, and we lost some time on the first couple points because of it, but once I figured out what was going on in my head I was able to turn those skills back on and get back into the habit of knowing where I am and where I'm going at all times. I regret that because of our slow speed and the cutoff times we were only able to do a tiny bit of the optional trail riding section. The canoe paddle sucked up a lot of time because we hemmed and hawed about the safest put-in location at a difficult portage, then capsized in the rapids right below the portage, and because we are just really slow paddlers. By the time we rode from the take out to the rogaine-style trek, we only had time to get one point before the 7pm cutoff. I'm proud of us for taking the capsize in stride and for going out and bagging that last point right under the wire when we could have stayed in the TA/Finish. Overall, I had a good time and it was great to see so many old friends and feel back "in the scene" for a day. I will probably trace my routes on the maps and post them on my personal blog this week.

I'm not sure what's next. My wife did great with the kids, and they didn't give her a hard time, but I'm still not going to be racing on the weekends frequently. And given my lack of success in establishing a regular training schedule I'd like a break from the pressure to get up early and the guilt when I don't. I'm also thinking about a conversation I had with my friend Scott as we were walking to the prologue. He looks in the best shape I've ever seen him, and he said he's been doing a lot of core strength, yoga, weights, better diet, and not worrying about putting in a lot of miles. This mirrors some popular training philosophies I've read about, but haven't had the freedom to try because I've been worried about putting in the miles. Or maybe it's just been easier to do the same old thing. Regardless, maybe keeping away from racing would help me try different ways to get and stay in shape. We'll see.

YSL: Training log failure

I only know that I did a transition workout Saturday at a mere hour and a half. And I did four and a half hours yesterday. Friday I did diddly poop.
The rest of the week I was pretty good except I ignored all of my swimming, because, as I mentioned to Lara recently, I am not getting any faster, and it's pissing me off. Ergo, I'm just flat-out ignoring it.
Better check out my wetsuit. Don't even know if it fits anymore. Do know that I'd also better get in some open water swimming before I do this thing. Eeeeeeeeee.

LT: Week 19

All good intentions went to pot this week. Just as I started going tentatively back to the gym, I caught another viral chest infection thing from Miles. Can't swallow/talk/eat. Copious gunk. Not funny. See ... I'm jinxed!

T: 30 min swim. Left hip hurts when I kick down.
W: 60 min gym bike: 15 mins warmup, 20 mins random, 15 mins tempo, 10 mins cooldown.
T: 35 min gym bike @ base endurance with 1 x 10 min @ tempo + 1 x 10 min random.
   25 min swim with pullbuoy

Total: 2h 30m

p.s. Come on Peter! Tell us ... tell us!

PB finishes TLD!!

Thrilled to hear that Peter has finished The Longest Day! Race report, I hope, forthcoming from Peter.
Sprocket ate four pieces of pizza, by the way, two nights ago. His gluttony can only be a reflection of my own these past few days. Whee!!!

LT: Week 18

Zero. Zilch. Nowt. Nothing.

However I'm slowly recovering and I got over the psychological pain of not being able to do my most longed-for race of the year. I'm aiming for some easy easy stuff this week (running not possible) to ease into it. I expect it will mostly take the form of time in the gym on the machine that hurts the least.

Thank goodness for osteopaths and inspiring coaches (thanks Mike!)

PB: Week 18

This is week 18, right? My week 17 wasn't posted until Saturday.

M - Run 35 min.
T - Bike 43 min/10.5 mi.
Th - Bike 55 min/13 mi. Intervals 4 X 3:10.
F - Yoga 25 min.
Su - Bike 53 min/12.6 mi.
Total - 3:39

Nothing new in training, but the race logistics are starting to come together. My teammates and I have been able to scrounge enough gear so that they'll only have to fly out with their bags. They're borrowing two bikes, two paddles, and a canoe seat. I'm getting a third bike mount for my roof-rack from a student for the weekend. The only thing left to buy are water purification tablets, SPD cleats, and NYNJTC Shawangunk Trails maps. Unfortunately, the maps are hard to come by locally - I should have mail-ordered them weeks ago - but my teammates should be able to buy them near the Gunks the day before the race. They'll be flying in Thursday night. I won't be up there until late Friday, leaving after the kids go to bed. That means I'll be lucky if I get three hours of sleep before leaving for the 4:30 am bike drop.

The latest and last race newsletter laid out the course pretty plainly - 3 hours trekking, 4 hours on the bike (with the bike start at a major singletrack area), then a river paddle and a foot score-o finish. They are kindly letting us stage equipment and nutrition with the bikes and with the paddle gear. This is great for two reasons - one, we won't have to carry paddles and pfds for miles, with the paddle shaft wacking me in the head and getting caught on branches, and two - I'll be able to pack some Ensure to slam 600 calories in the bike-to-paddle transition. Mmmm... geriatric goodness. If we didn't have the drop I'd be carrying the Ensure in my pack. People call me crazy for packing liquid nutrition, but even though it tastes gross when warm it hasn't made me throw up yet, and it goes down fast. It's got a much higher fat-to-carbs ratio than typically recommended for endurance events (the Ensure Plus variety), but it works for me.

YSL: Week 17

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Swim 1 hour, Ride 1 hour
Wednesday: Swim 1 hour
Thursday: Ride 1 hour
Friday:Ride 1 hour
Saturday: Ride 2:45
Sunday: Run 1 hour; walk all over fricken town in fricken heels for mother's day from 10:30 AM to 5PM :(
----

total: 8:45; just over half the volume prescribed. Loverly.

PB: Week 17

M - Run 32 min/3.8 mi easy. HR 131.
F - Bike 53 min/13 mi. HR 130.
Total: 1:25

Two weeks to go. Guess you can say I'm tapering.

YSL: Poetry Friday

On the days you feel in the dumps
Highly confu-sed
Both your energy
and your mo'
Have dipped into the red

Most often, at these times
in conjunction with the cosmic timescale
your body
kicks in
Without fail

On the bike you feel faster
On your own two feet
you are too
In the pool you swim like
the whale they call Shamu...

But at the end of it all
What pulls you out of your funk
isn't yourself--
or your workouts--
or any of that other junk

It's most likely
(for me, anyway)
The fact that my friends near and far
are suffering, too--
the exact same way.

LT: Week 17

S: 10 mins bike
M: 25 mins bike. Painful
Total: 35 mins

I'm cancelling my next 2 weeks of races (including the cyclo-sportive I've been looking forward to for about 2 years). I can barely walk. No chance for cycling and certainly none for running. Will try swimming this week sometime. Don't hold out much hope though ... pretty much everything hurts. This is the time I was aiming to be getting into my racing season. I feel very tempted to ditch 2008 and pick up again in September. I just don't know what the point is in continuing and having these great weeks ... fortnights even, followed by dire periods of depression and zero training. I just don't think I can sustain it. And it's not very fair on my family either. I can't tell you how much this sucks.

YSL: New Kit Weirdness; Invasive Species Suckage

Folks--
I have to confess, I find it annoying that the new kit, whilst lovely and red and blue and Union-Jack-y, is plastered all over with "Ironman." Now, I understand that this is merely a function of the fact that Ironman brand has now been extended from events to a clothing and equipment line, but it feels really stupid to me in strict terms of branding.

Follow me here:

1. I am not competing in an Ironman. I am competing in a HALF-Ironman.
2. The Ironman corporation, which "owns" all "Iron-distance" events, has tacked onto its roster the Half-Ironman distance, which it's now calling "70.3." Which, by the way, is also trademarked to within an inch of its life.

It follows that, in an attempt to preserve the Ironman name, Ironman has prevented any triathlon organization, unless said body pays the Ironman organization or has some other arrangement with them, from using the terms "Ironman" or "70.3." This is why you see a lot of events with random distances on them that are just slightly off of Ironman distance or 70.3 distance. This all makes sense to me.

Why, then, are you insisting that someone who's competing in a 70.3 distance event wear the Ironman logo? This seems like it's devaluing the Ironman brand, no?

I, for one, would steadfastly refuse, except that my fund-raising agreement with Rotary International requires that I wear the kit during the race, and that smart training suggests that I train in the clothes I'm going to race in.

I will say, however, that I feel like a big, fat poseur, wearing the Ironman logo when I'm not racing the Ironman distance.

Jim and I spent three hours Saturday pluckingGarlic Mustard from the Butternut Preserve in Crystal Lake. It was part of a delayed Earth Day project. It's an invasive species, you see. The organization we worked with has a goal of picking 100,000 pounds of the stuff out of this one park. Craziness.

Anyway, Sunday I woke up with completely locked hamstrings. So much for my scheduled run and ride. So infinitely depressed. They are marginally less locked today after some painful stretching last night, but god! what a lousy way to get back on the horse.

YSL: New kit!

Nothing like a set of shiny, very loud, new triathlon clothes to get you all amped up for getting back on the saddle again. The Rotary came through like gangbusters, and everything feels pretty much true to size, although my slacking off this week has made everything look sausage-like.
Sigh. Dress clothes are every so much more forgiving.
I get to wear the Union Jack on my arse, by the way. How sexy is that?

YSL: Poetry Friday

New Shoes
Otherwise in my life
New shoes equate joy.
The spirits they lift, the wallet they deplete
Nevertheless, I'm like a child with a new toy.

This week I've discovered
A lesson long-told
For me it's had to be repeated
Ten--nay, one-hundred fold

It's a tale of new sneakers
A pair determined to ruin
My gait, my arches, my back
Of late.

So it's with some trepidation
That I lace them back up again
I've no one to blame but myself
for a week spent recovering's lost gain--

Twelve slow miles on new shoes equates
Not joy,
But a foam roller--
Guess that's my new new toy.

YSL: Checklist, Week 15

Back: Owtch
Shoulder: Owtch
Arches: Owtch
Physical therapy screening appointment: Check!!!
and
&$*(2!

PB: Week 16

M - Mountain bike on road 59 min easy. HR 112.
W - Paddle Westons Mill Pond 1:14 easy. Solo night paddle; lovely but a bit spooky.
F - Run 42 min at level2. HR 153.
Total 2:55

LT: Week 16

M: Rest day
T: Swim 45 min
   15 min run to spin
   60 min spin
   20 min run from spin
W: 6.6 mile run @ base endurance. Very low energy. 58 mins.
T: 1h 20min gym transitions: 10 min cycle + 10 min run x 3.
   45 min swim
F: 45 min fartlek run.
S: Rest day
S: White Horse Challenge. 150km cyclo-sportive. 5.5 hrs

11h 38m

Will be doing a little less this week. Had a nasty spill yesterday during the race so am now hobbling around on crutches. Sigh.

YSL

Man, this week has been bad. I've skipped a ton of workouts, and I really think it's just because i'm burned out.
Next week is my second half marathon of the season. I've only done two workouts this week, and you know what? I think i'm okay with that. We had a family emergency that required a drive to Wisconsin in the middle of the week and not return until late Wednesday night, and the setting was just not appropriate to working out.and you know what? I'm okay with that too. I was in the pool for what felt like forever yesterday morning, thinking about all the stuff I just wasn't getting done while I was in the pool, having awakened at 5 am to actually get all my stuff done, and then I realized that I wasn't going to finish my workout: I was just going to do what I felt was approriate and go on from there.
And I think this is the way it has to be for here on in. My mental state is worth too much.

LT: Exhaustion Problems

OK I've finally got back into training after my serial viruses but am finding - this week in particular - that I'm suffering from chronic exhaustion. I'm eating enough - have been keeping a food diary and am careful to eat the requisite 3000 calories in an appropriate carb/protein/fat combination. I'm also getting a reasonable amount of sleep. OK it's not 8 hours a night which is what I think my body needs when training, but it's usually at least 7. However when I go out training I find it nearly impossible to get my pulse up above about 150. In general I'd say that I'm operating at about 10bpm lower than I'd expect for the work output. My legs feel strong enough and my body in general feels up for training, but when I get there, the results are very much sub-standard.

I don't really know what to do. Have I been training too hard? - I can't really believe that my schedule is too hard or too long and I make sure I have at least 1 rest day per week. I'm loathe to drop my volume because I want to make use of the relatively little time I have to train, especially after such a rubbish Feb/Mar. I don't want to drop intensity, just as I'm building up to race pace for what will be my hardest 6 weeks this year, but I need to recuperate somehow. Have any of you got any tips? Miracle cure? Do I just have to resign myself to doing an easy week or 2, and if so, is it better to drop volume, intensity or both? I'd really appreciate some advice if you have any.

LT: Week 15

M: Rest day
T: 15 mins run to spin
   60 min spin
   20 min run from spin
W: 95 min run @ base endurance
T: 80 min transition intervals in the gym: 10 min bike + 10 min treadmill x 3. Tempo/race pace
F: 56 min run @ base endurance. 6.6 miles.
S: 75 min run with 3 x 3km pieces @ half marathon pace with 3 min recovery jog inbetween. 14:07; 15:07; 15:00.
S: 3h 50m bike @ base endurance; London to Basingstoke. Lots of traffic lights. Approx 52 miles.
Total: 10h 31m

YSL: Week 14 recap

Monday: Jog with pal; 12 miles; 13 min./mile; 2:37
Tuesday: Swim 1:17, 2600 yards. Endurance Bike 2:30 w/ climbing reps
Wednesday: Swim 1:03, 2100 yards
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Swim 1:13, 2550 yards; Mountain Bike, 2 hours at steady pace; Recovery Run, 20 minutes
Saturday: Recovery Bike, 1 hour
Sunday: Endurance Run 1:30, 7.9 miles; Endurance Bike 3 hours; 38 miles. Heart rate charts TK.
----------
Total: 16:40 or so

Coach Mike wants to make sure I get in all my volume. Looks like I am, even if I'm not sticking to the prescribed workouts. The truth is, I'm burned all the hell out on road workouts. I fricken hate 'em. The two hours spent mountain biking was a ridiculously soothing balm to my asphalt-abraded soul.

I haven't even felt happy enough to Poetry-Friday myself. :( Well...more on this later.

PB: Week 14

M - Bike 17.75 mi/1:18 min. HR 118. Mountain bike on local loop.
T - Strength training - arms. 30 min.
Th - Run 6.2 mi/58 min. HR 133. Felt stiff and slow doing the first run since the weekend long run.
S - Run hill repeats 34 min. 10 min warm up, 20 min of intervals. Average HR 137 overall, 162 on the uphills.
Total 2:50

Training took a back seat to other things this week. My son was sick all week and I spent two vacation days at home with him. Saturday morning I volunteered for a cancer fundraiser relay - some of the students had organized a team - which consists of an all-night walk/run. I figured I could run/walk from 3am-6am when they would have the hardest time getting volunteers, and get a long workout in. Turns out it's more of a walk/dj dance party for the college kids and the route looped through and around the gymnasium. I was mortified at first but stuck around because I felt obligated. It was kind of fun to see the kids carrying on, and my teammates were grad students so we all felt out of place. Definitely no running, though. On the way home I squeezed in a hill workout. Funny thing is Friday night I had a really nice visit from Y and J and forgot to mention that I was getting up at 2...

YSL: Week 14, Week 15, Day 1

Gack. Week 14 a total wash. Started the week out OK, but recovery from the race seemed pretty difficult. Then found out: Must DRIVE to New York for friend's wedding! Gack! Gack!
Therefore, transport, wedding, seeing friends and sleep took the place of any working out Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Did not take my customary day off yesterday. Ran 12 miles with pals. 13-minute pace, but whatever.

LT: Week 14

M: Rest day
T: 6.6 mile run @ tempo. 54 mins.
   15 min run to spin
   60 min spin
   20 min run from spin
W: 45 min swim
T: 90 min run @ base endurance
F: 55 min fartlek run
S: Rest day
S: Bike 5h 40 averaging 25kph. Quite hilly. Felt sluggish.
Total: 11h 19m
Happy to be back to it! :)

LT: Week 13

(Still recuperating after flu bug)
Wed: 60 min trail run. Hilly.
Sat: 75 min trail run. 7.5 miles. Hilly
Total: 2h 15m

PB: Week 13

M - Bike on trainer. 27 min. Got a flat again.
T - Run 54 min/6.2 mi. HR 144.
Th - Yoga 30 min.
S - Run 56 min/6.2 mi. HR 135.
Su - Run 1:55/13.1 mi. HR 144. Highest sustainable pace. Felt quite stiff by the end.
Total 4:42

YSL: Week 13, Days 5 and 6

Oh-Em-Gee. (That's the post-modern way of saying, well, "OMG.")
I am completely wiped from this weekend, still. I had a decent time of the half-marathon, but the recovery's been kinda hard. I always feel like this after a race--it usually takes me a day or two to recover, but I couldn't even get up the mo' to enjoy my swim yesterday or manage the long bike Mike had on my schedule.
So I've moved everything to today but just could not manage the swim this morning. It is absolutely shocking, how exhausting such things can be.
My splits were decent, given that Coach Mike wanted me in a "fairly exhausted" state for this race. I ended up clocking a 2:19, which is what I told myself I wanted, but it's not truly what I wanted to do. Of course I'd have rather clocked two hours, but oh well.
The race itself was nice. A run through pretty Springfield, IL with some passes through a gorgeous city park and great crowd support. I thoroughly enjoed myself!!

Friday: Endurance Bike w/ Climbing Repeats: 1:30
Saturday: 2:19; 13.1 miles; Avg HR 154
Recovery Bike: 25 minutes; easy spin

YSL: Week 13, Day 4

Steady State Bike, 1 hour
Avg HR: 141 :( (ought to have been between 151-160, but, as they say, i just couldn't get it up.)
Cubs game!
Tempo Run with strides, 20 minutes. Forgot HR monitor. :(

Shake for breakfast
Shake for lunch
Shake for in betweens
When I got the urge to munch.
It's time that's a factor; not so much things like
weight.
But must I eat
Like I'm getting a head start
On a geriatric state?

YSL: Week 13, Day 3

Swim: 1:16 minutes; 2450 yards
Steady State Run: 45 minutes w/ Lauri (stopped to "readjust" in the middle for about 30 seconds); 4.5 miles approx. HR: 146 Avg; min 106; max 160.
Temperatures still brisk. Map below.

YSL: Week 13 Day 2

New stage of training this week. Feels light due to race on Saturday (half marathon!).

Today:
Swim: 2650 yards; 1:14
Steady State Bike w/ Fast-Pedal interval: 20 minutes
-----------------
1:34

Felt good today during swim--I didn't even have to skip any yardage to squeeze the whole workout into a reasonable period of time, but is it bad for me to do away with or shorten rest periods, for the most part?

PB: Week 12

M - Run 56 min/6.2 mi out and back in riverfront park. HR 139. Nice to know this is about a 10K.
T - Mountain bike 56 min/13 mi on local road loop. HR 124.
S - Run 55 min/5.6 mi in riverfront park with a bit of trail and off-trail thrown in. HR 139.
Total - 2:47

a brief update on behalf of emily

who has tweaked her knee. i spoke to her by phone a coupla weeks ago and she was trying to get it looked at...
best of luck, em!!

YSL: Week 12

At some point early in this process Lara noted that it might be better to spend time on workouts themselves rather than posting about them. I'm obviously now of the opinion that it's more worthy to spend time recovering from workouts than posting about them.
I have a hydration headache today. Yesterday's race was a sheer misery. Took us 20 minutes to get to the starting gate, during which my feet froze to my ankles and my hands just plain froze; the hamstring acted up around mile 2, and I clocked horrible splits despite the fact that I'd forgotten my watch (this usually makes me run faster). I'm annoyed at myself. And the weather. Is dreary and rainy again today.
Here's the last week:

Sunday: Workout moved to Monday.

Monday; Tempo Run; 35 minutes
Tempo Bike: 60 minutes
------------
1:35

Tuesday:
EB: 1:33; outside; more anaerobic effort than originally planned (snow and wind)
Swim: 1:09
ER: 47 minutes; 9-minute/mile pace
---------------------
3:29

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: Swim: 1:12
(skipped TWB)
-----------------
1:12

Friday:
Steady State Bike: 55 Minutes
RR: 25 minutes
----------
1:20

Saturday:
EB: 2:30
Swim: 50 minutes
ER: 1:11
----------------
4:31

Sunday:
Shamrock Shuffle: 49:16
Bike to Shuffle: 40 minutes
Bike from Shuffle: 35 minutes
--------------------
2 hours

---------------------

14:07 total

LT: Week 12

Ill again. No training. Snore.

YSL: Poetry Friday

Good Man
Last week I was whacked
in the face by a man
in my lane who vaguely
resembled a Mack truck.
This week I've got
What they call a fat lip
Guess he's they type
they say
Leaves a lasting impression

Topography
"Hill repeats": A farce
In the flat prairie heartland.
No prob: We have wind.

LT: Week 11

M: Rest day
T: 40 min swim
   15 min run to spin
   60 min spin
   15 min run home
W: 1h 40min run @ base endurance
T: Day off (travel to Spain)
F: 90 min ride. Hilly
   80 min ride (as above). Hilly
   25 min run: 1 rep of 1.2km steep trail hill.
S: 60 min run: 3 reps of 1.2km steep trail hill.
   45 min spin session.
S: Day off (ill AGAIN)
Total: 8 hrs 50 mins

PB: Week 11

T - MTB on road 13 mi, 55 min. HR 126. 14 MPH.
Th - Evening trek/run at S. Mountain with a friend. 1:50. This park is the closest to home that is both hilly and rocky. We stuck to the carriage roads since we were both new there. We did have an O-map. Nice views of Manhatten and suburbs from the ridgeline road.
Total 2:45

YSL: Week 11, Days 5 and 6

The worst of the week is over. Day 5 (yesterday) was a swim in the morning, followed by madcap riding of bicycle to breakfast date and then back home through almost-whiteout conditions. Insane. Then, an endurance ride with one set of climbing skills thrown in (not so effective on a trainer).
Today was almost back-to-back for all three workouts: an endurance run at the pace I think I'll do my half-marathon in (I'm pursuing a slower pace for the new few weeks on the endurance runs because they are all preceded the night before by long bike rides); then a long breakfast with friends; almost immediate hopping on bike for 2 hours; and then a swim.
Friday:
Swim: 1:02; 2250 yards (I think)
Bike: 90 minutes
Total: 2 hours 32 minutes
Saturday:
Run: 108 minutes (way over prescribed 80-minute run; but that's very okay. I did 9 miles at an easy 11:15 pace)
Bike: 2:08
Swim: 55 minutes; 1850 yards
Total: 4:51
Tomorrow it's just a set of tempo workouts. Thank god. We're having friends over for dinner tonight. Spending all of tomorrow working out too might be just a little too much to bear.

YSL: Poetry Friday

egads! i almost forgot!

Strangeness
The is the requisite amount
of oohing and ahhing
over big fluffy flakes of snow.

'Til we look at the calendar
and realize it's March
and still roughly 4 below.

Then there's cursing and worse
as we slip and we slide
on our long endurance runs, of course

It seems I should be
in shorts and a T-shirt
Instead I'm in five layers, see?

The snow muffles the sound
of my agonized wails:
"I want some spring! Now!" I howl.

So tonight it's another hour on the trainer
Watching rerun after rerun after movie.
It's not the worst that could happen;
it could be raining locusts--
Now *that's* a disaster, it's true.

YSL: Week 11, Days 3 and 4

Took a break on Day 3. Definitely coming down with a common cold--throat sore and head cloggy, but must soldier on.
Day 4:
lousy, slow swim: 2675 yards; 1:25 (forgot watch)
Steady-State ride with fast-pedal interval: 38 minutes (why 38? because I tuned in partway through Scrubs and didn't much feel like The Daily Show.)
Total: 2:03

YSL: Week 11, Day 2

Sluggish swim workout today: 2625 yard; 1:15
Fartlek endurance run: Ow. 5 miles; 54 minutes
Total: 2:11
Bleck. Tired now. Sleep.

PB: Week 10

M - MTB on road 54 min, 13 mi. HR 125, 14 MPH.
T - Bike intervals in the gym. 2 min on/3 min rest x5. Total time with warm up 40 min.
Th - Bike on trainer 20 min, then flat tire. Not enough time to change it and ride before breakfast/shower. How do you get a flat on a trainer?
F - Run on road 43 min, 5 mi. HR 142, Pace 8:43.
Su - Trek and nav practice at a NYARA event with BS in Harriman. 2:20 min. HR 132. We chose a 4:00am start time. Raining, thick sandy mud in spots, and a knee deep stream crossing. A good time, but we didn't have time to get many points because we had to be back by 6:15am. We found out later that the full course would have taken 12 hours. Next time we'll just run a technical trail.
Total: 4:57

I really have to ride longer to build bike fitness. I know what that means, and I really, really don't want to do it. It means getting up even earlier.

LT: Week 10

M: Rest day
T: 45 min swim;
15 min run to spin
60 min spin @ tempo/race pace
15 min run home
W: Attempted long run turned into very short run @ base endurance. About 3 miles.
T: Transitions session; 1h 20 mins incorporating 3 reps of 10 min turbo + 10 min treadmill (reduced intensity);
30 min swim
F: Rest day
S: Ballbuster Duathlon; 8 mile run, 24 mile bike, 8 mile run. Hilly. 3:54:50
S: 40 min recovery run
Total: 9h 25m

YSL: International Day of Misery

Or, Week 10, Day 7.
Here is my crappy run. One of my hands is frozen into a claw from the wind.


You'd think that, after ten weeks at this, I'd do faster that 5.8 miles in an hour and two minutes. The thing is, I really have no defense for it, either, except to relay that I did a little "Life Field Test" on myself this past week.

I've long held the belief that life is not measured out in strict schedules and absolutes. I believe that you can do and be whatever you want to do and be, and if that means that you're going to end up enjoying the company of your friends every night, socializing for work, and trying to be an athlete all at the same time, well, then, so be it. I think I noted in my other blog that I was out on Tuesday night for CARA. I went out Wednesday night on a non-boozing fashion at an event for the Canadian Consulate and to connect two friends. Thursday night was a rousing evening at the standard Green Room sessions; Friday I was out for St. Patrick's Day.

And you know what? My little body is not pleased. Still, I managed to squeeze in all of my workouts, and it was a good week for figuring out my limitations and capabilities.

All in all, aside from failing the Life Field Test miserably, at least I know now what I can and can't do: I can have TWO beers per evening IF I drink a ton of water and eat like a pig the day of AND the day after. I CAN'T drink like a twenty-two year old anymore. Big surprise there.

Rode like a mofo on my trainer last night. Legs fried afterwards. Lunch with Coach Mike and Alexe, too, yestserday. The beauty of Coach Mike is that he allows you to project all the guilt you want to on yourself when you've done something bad. The other beauty of Coach Mike is that he's suggested I do a two-and-a-half-hour bike ride the night before my half-marathon "just to give my body a taste of what it's like to be tired."

Hmmmm.

YSL: Poetry Friday, Week 10

Counting
If this wee little ditty
followed the rules of haiku instead
of simple stupid rhythm
it might go something like this:

line one (that's five) is the number of beers
I drank on Tuesday
line two (that's seven) is the number of beers
I drank
if you combine Tuesday and Thursday
line three is trickier--
there's math involved--
we're back to five, but subtract its lesser, four--
and you get the number
of glasses of water I drank
between the two nights

Add it all up--
seven, five, seven--
and you get the number of times
I smacked myself upside the head
for indulging my more nefarious side.

It's probably better
To not consider haiku
Yours truly is a wee bit hungover,
but the pool today was faboo.

Short-lived Glory
I passed someone today
And then I noticed he was doing
The backstroke

Weather
they say it's going
to snow tomorrow
i think i am in hell.

Queenliness
Freddie says he loves
to ride his bicycle, dear--
I wonder if Freddie ever tried
This one-legged pedaling drill?
If so I bet he'd say something like,
"I want to hurt my biiiicycle,
I want to hurt my ride."
It's a good thing
for the sake of music
That Freddie wasn't coached by Mike.

PB: Week 9

M - Run 43 min, 5.4 mi on road. HR 153. Pace 8:05. Felt great.
F - Strength workout at the gym, 25 min.
Su - Run 30 min on an errand to a pharmacy in the next town.
Total 1:38

My own poem.

athlete in winter
new bike shopping, not training
you will go slowly

YSL: Week 10, Day 2

[Day 1 is almost always a rest day.]
DO-OVER! DO-OVER! DO-OVER!
Coach Mike says I get to do last week over. Hooray! (It was a light week; perfect for recovery from flu and other icky things.)
Swam this morning. Great time! Felt strong throughout, except for a little twinge in my shoulder. Quad feels good; a little fatigued by workout's end, but that might be because there was a good amount of speedwork. Felt that way to me, anyway. Totally dehydrated now and behind YET AGAIN on caloric count. Back to food diary. Must catch up before the day catches up with me; gotta run with CARA group again tonight.
Today is gorgeous and sunny. Workout at 6:30 this morning was done in the dark, though, and only two other people in the whole pool for the bulk of my 2475 yards and 1:10-minute swim. (Yes! I *am* getting faster, if only marginally, and if only improving on dismal times.)
I have the opportunity to take advantage of some total immersion lessons. I'm not sure if I want to take advantage. I haven't had much experience with it. Anyway, stuff to percolate on.

YSL, SDWD (Still Dunno Which Day)

last Tuesday: swim and jog, fall down, go boom.
Wednesday: recover on couch; hot bath, ice.
Thursday: ditto
Friday: Stomach Flu
Saturday: Stomach Flu
Sunday: Stomach Flu
Monday: somewhat questionable.

YAY!!!!

LT: Week 9

M: Rest day
T: 60 min spin @ tempo & race pace
W: 1h 45min run @ base endurance. Approx 11 miles.
T: 1h 20min transition session: 10 min bike warm-up followed by 3 sets of 10 min bike @ tempo + 10 min treadmill @ tempo; cool down + stretch
   45 min swim
F: 60 min run @ base endurance. 6.6 miles
S: 3h bike @ base endurance. Approx 48 miles
S: 1h 20m run incorporating 3x3km @ 1/2 marathon pace (14:15; 15:25; 15:10) with 3 mins recovery jog inbetween
Total: 10h 10min

YSL: Poetry Friday

Design Flaw
A Haiku
Thirteen sleek cutouts
Makes helmet light, keeps head cool
Perfect for winter.

Falling
The smell of chlorine makes me laugh.
The sight of winter dirt all over my bike
is nice, too.
I don't struggle to find my gear anymore.
I see my friends
on Tuesday nights
and we go for "easy five-milers"
and I look forward to it.
I fell the other day
and got to do nothing for two
and was cranky.
Is this what they call
Turning the corner?

----------------

No real activity for the past two days. Sat in a hot bath night with Time magazine for twenty minutes and then stretched and gave myself an ice massage. Yikes. As if my poor, stressed-out winter skin needed any more on its plate! Sheesh.
Pretty blue last night for not getting to do anything. Ate an enormous roast beef sandwich in lieu of my tempo workout.
Coach Mike says rest and ice; Jim says being blue will slow down the recovery. I saw, just lemme back on the fricken horse already. :(
It's better today--not as stiff. I get to hop on the bike today for a short time, see how it is. Maybe I'll go to the pool tonight for some pull laps.

YSL: Still dunno what day

I've been skipping workouts.
Tuesday I did my swim and usual CARA run. The swim went really well. I used to do a 400 in a whopping 10 minutes and change (I know, I know, Emily...and Lara...and Peter...I'm the world's most inefficient swimmer), but I was shocked and really happy to look at my watch and realize that I'm now down to 9 and some! I felt strong throughout and got home pretty happy.
The CARA run did not go so well. I opted for the short three-miler, thinking I'd make a tempo run out of it. I did the three miles with my friend Caroline, but not before I tripped along the lakefront and fell on my hands and knees. I now have two lovely enormous bruises over my kneecaps and a nice scrape up my hip to show for it, and I also have this terrible soreness that feels like a strained right quad when I go up and down stairs. It was a really, really stupid fall. I just tripped over a crack, that's all.
But now I'm stuck with this pained quad. And tomorrow is already poetry Friday. And I have a half-marathon coming up in a few weeks. Egads.

PB: Week 8

Th: Night hike at Harriman with J. for 2:30. It was about 15 F and the surface was ice under crunchy snow. Avg HR only got to 110 but I'm counting it as overdistance anyway.
S: Run 45 min. easy. Calibrated the speed/distance pod on the track.
Su: Yoga 25 min.
Total 3:40

YSL: Dunno What Day

...in the mid-50s.
I guess I'm forced to come up with a new system of accounting.
I greatly relished the flexibility that I exercised over the past week, and I don't mean being able to touch my toes.
Tuesdays are always insane for me. There's usually a pile of work garbage that needs to be done on top of the workout, which typically involves a swim and a bike, and then the CARA group run (and beer!) always falls on a Tuesday. Last week I exercised some creative accounting and ran enough to use that as an endurance run, and that made me happy.
It was a rough week: it was sixteen hours of workout, and I managed to squeeze them all in. The creative accounting wasn't all good; it left me with two days at the end of the week that were each three-workout days. Ick. I was joking with a friend that all I had planned this weekend was "work out, eat, sleep," but that's actually what happened. Some joke. Surprisingly, I also managed to squeeze in social engagements Tuessday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday and not feel too run-down about it.
This week looks like it'll be easier: two rest days, and then next week is my last week in preparation period.
I've been bad about wearing my heart-rate monitor, which is causing Jim to say all sorts of crazy things about cheating myself out of a good workout. He's probably right, but I just can't bring myself to add one more mental checkmark to my already long list of things to keep track of. Ugh. Guess I'll have to get over it.
Swim today; run this evening with CARA.

LT: Week 8

Still in recovery and taking it easy.
M: 1 hour flat bike (15 miles)
T: 50 min swim
W: 1 hour run (6.6 miles)
T: Gym transitions: 10 min warm up, 2 x (10 min bike @ tempo, 10 min run @ tempo), stretch
F: Rest day
S: 2 x 20.5 mile bike ride (1h45; 1h15)
S: 1 x 15 + 1 x 20.5 mile bike ride (1h15; 1h20) My chain broke on the ride out, so I had to get my dad to pick me up. I did all the work though, since the last 5 miles are downhill!
Total: 9h 25min

YSL: Poetry Friday

The Sun Rises
It is dark when I get up
It is dark while I swim
Why did I paint my toes
Such a cheerless shade of mauve?


Food Joy
'Twas late one night
post-vegetarian dinner, you see
I tossed and turned;
Peeked at the clock (it was three)
When finally I fell
into a deep, deep sleep
I dreamed
(most regrettably, it seems)
That
I
Ate
A Meatloaf
'Twas wrapped in Bacon,
with a capital B; then sprinkled liberally with parsley
(Why? That I could already eat)
There was a nice fluffy dish
of mashed potatoes beside.

But then I woke up,
drooling and lonely.

No more! The chains of the veggie lifestyle
have been cast aside
Now I eat what I want to
and set the guilt aside

for later.

Lousy Day
I want not
to work out
Today.

YSL: Day 51

Yesterday was a great day all around. I got up at 5, had some coffee and a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, answered some e-mail, and went off to the pool in some insane crazy snowstorm. My camera does not have a phone, so I couldn't take a photo to show you the sideways-blowing stuff. Too bad.
'Twas a fairly long workout, again--an hour and twenty minutes in the pool--but I managed to get it all in with the exception of two 50-yard intervals of drills. (The time seems to be improving. We'll see.)
Then it was a short bicycle back, in the still-sideways wind and snow and salt and road grit, and then, one egg-and-cheese sandwich and four hours of work later, collapsed on the couch for a 45-minute nap.
I rode 1/2 an hour at decent cadence on my trainer and then showered and worked some more, made myself some cabbage and noodles, and then I jogged to the CARA event, where I was talked into four miles that ended up being closer to 4 and a half, and then, with my added distance to the event, 5.2 miles. In retrospect, it wasn't a smart thing (the weekly group runs are unscheduled ones), given the stuff that's on my plate for Day 52, but then I realized...hey! I have the power the change stuff around! Alright!!
Today is packed. I have a massive editing job to do and some other garbage on my plate that's stressing me out, and it just makes absolute sense that I can't sleep. It's nearly 2 now and I have to get to bed somehow. And yet, I find myself eating a massive peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and washing it down with a glass of apple juice. My reserves must be depleted or something.
The week has started with a bang. It's listed as a 16-hour training week and I've already logged two and a half of those hours...just 13.5 left to go. Ha! Ha! Ha!
Here's the map for tonight. Did I mention that we ding-dong ditched Jim on our run? Only the best way ever to start off a run. Heh.

PB: Week 7

No training this week. Completely lost my motivation to get up early. It's cold, dark and lonely - there's nothing fun about it. I was feeling pretty down about it most of the week, but now I've come to terms with the fact that I may not enjoy training until spring comes around.

YSL: Days 48, 49, 50

Today is Day 50. It's a rest day, and I'm inordinately pleased.

This week was very strange. I swapped workouts one day; did part of one on a day that was supposed to be a swim test day but ended up being a possible rest day--I opted not to rest--and skipped a day entirely. So, to this date, I still have not completed a full week of the preparation period. It's only been 2 weeks, but it's disheartening to realize how bad I am at completing this stuff.

I've started keeping a food log. I was shocked and a little horrified to realize that my net amounts were almost all in the negatives over five days, and by the multiple hundreds of calories...As much as I try, I just couldn't seem to choke down enough calories in the day. I'd get halfway through a bowl of noodles and feel completely full and then not have another chance to eat until four hours later.

I went back to eating meat on Saturday night, when I collapsed on the couch after work at the bookstore and fell asleep sitting up. I spent the afternoon feeling nauseated and totally weak, and actively lamenting the fact that I just could not get up the mojo for even the short tempo run and ride that was prescribed me.
Sunday I talked to Coach Mike and rehashed the training and swim problems. He noted that I just needed to get as close as possible to what was on the schedule, and that I ought to give myself more leeway and switching things around. So I'm doing away with feeling badly about that, and looking forward to the coming week.

Yesterday's workout, a "long" run in the slip-slidey treacherous ice and two hours and five minutes on the trainer, was excruciating. I cried at the end of it (I know, how sorry am *I*?), laid flat on my back to stretch, and ate a pizza with sausage on it. Okay, not one whole pizza, but still.

Lara noted that she can't tell whether or not I'm really enjoying this process. I am. I really, really am. It's fascinating to discover certain things about oneself, and since the rest of my life is such a non-scheduled (outside of appointments) mishmash, it's great to have this structure.

More importantly, it's really, really nice, after a hiatus of several years, to feel as if I'm getting stronger again. It was interfering with parts of my life: having to THINK about whether or not I can do five, six miles with friends is stupid and annoying, when compared to being flexible enough--and strong enough--to just up and do it.

LT: Week 7

F: 30 min run @ base endurance. Pulse through the roof while barely achieving walking pace. Felt much worse over the day. Obviously not ready. Ditched Sunday cyclo-sportive and all other weekend workouts. Gah.

YSL: Day 47, redux

Hi everyone--
Just a recap on yesterday's run.
I'm really, really sick of this weather. I actually really like cold temperatures, but what's making things really hard is the terrain here: the weather fluctuations have made for snow, then water all over as the snow melts, then a quick-freeze makes it so that the water goes to ice; then another fine dusting of snow makes the ice virtually impossible to see. This has been going on for days. It's uber-treacherous and quite dangerous.
Here's yesterday's gimpy transition run after a 75-minute session on my trainer. (I had a choice between a half-hour run or a 20-minute run. I went for 20 minutes because--you guessed it, I didn't want to risk breaking my neck for a stupid three-mile jog.)

YSL: Days 45, 46, 47 (Poetry Friday)

45: Totally exhausted from Day 44. Did endurance bike workout at a snail's pace and forgot the hill repeats.

46: Swam in the morning. Coach Mike has down an hour but he says that if I want to I can adjust certain parts of the workout to fit the thing into an hour, so I opted out of 200 yards of drills and 200 yards of kick strokes. That cut me down to around 1:10. Did not do transition workout base (hour bike; 1/2 hour run) due to scheduling snafu and deadline hell; pushed it to Friday (today).

47: supposed to do a swim test; Coach Mike says to do a recovery swim instead, but it looks like it's going to be the TWB i missed from yesterday.

I've gone out every single fricken night this week, either for work or otherwise. I'm exhausted and laying low. Somewhere in my head I remember Mike telling me I was going to have to rejigger my priorities. Is this what he meant?

Poetry Friday
Slip, splash, zipping here and there.
Frenzied kicking, water frothy,
Muscles tight and tamed.
But in Lane One
--that's the Floater Lane--
serenity reigns.

Their swimsuits are loose;
their skin is loose, too, and crepey.
Bellies balloon outwards; skin is white and pasty.
They bob slowly
to and fro
enjoying the feel of the water
Not hurrying; not counting--
An outrageous idea, this smling while swimming;
What happiness in Lane One!

My Morning Run to Work = faster than yesterday's Tube ride

YSL: Day 44

Swam an hour and a half in the morning; then ran with the Chicago Area Runner's Association at around 6:30 PM. This map says that I logged roughly 5.7 miles, but I don't know for sure. I know that I ran for a little over 57 minutes and that it felt faster than 10-minute miles. I guess it doesn't really matter: I'm beat, and I didn't even get to relax afterwards. I changed and dashed right out to dinner again. Sigh.

YSL: Day 43

Things I do badly:

(1) Swim. Coach Mike seems to think it's going to take me an hour to swim 2,475 yards. If he weren't so darned healthy, I'd say he was smokin' somethin', because it took me an hour and 27 minutes. Rough workout today. Fartleks; lactate threshold intervals; the works.

(2) Eat. As of 7PM yesterday I'd consumed 1100 calories, and 600 of that was either cookie or toffee bar. Smarrrrrt.

(3) Drink. (Not to be confused with the verb "to boozehound.") Yesterday's total liquid consumption: two cups coffee; one cup tea; one glass water. So smart!

Sigh.

Quote of the Week

Coach Mike: Today's test is going to hurt.
Miss Mid: You're gonna make me cry.
Coach Mike [wryly]: Well...[shrugs] I've made hundreds of female athletes cry.

Nice.

LT: Week 6

Another week off. Still not well enough to train. Is this the longest cold ever?

PB: Week 6

M - Run 41 min on local roads at level2. 4.8 mi. Pace 8:30 min/mi. HR 141.
T - Bike 5x2:00 intervals on the trainer with 2:00 rests. 40 min. HR 122. Then 10 min yoga.
W - Yoga 55 min in the morning. 65 min mixed gym workout in the evening at level3-4 (by feel) - run/lift/bike/lift/stairs/lift/run.
Th - Off. Cancelled planned ride because I was tired from the previous night.
F - Off. Cancelled planned run because why am I doing this again?
S - Run 65 min at level1 on trail with my local club. 7.27 mi. HR 148. Met someone there who might run with me at 5:15am.
Su - Off because of impromtu dinner guests.
Total 4:36

Em: Week in Review

Monday : 6.5 Mile Run
Tuesday : 2K erg/weights/500m sw
Wednesday: 15k Bike/2.5K run/stretch
Thursday : 1500 sw
Friday : 4miles
Saturday : 12 mile hike
Sunday : 10.5 mile run

Em's run

YSL: Days 40, 41

Coach Mike hates me. He came over yesterday and did some god-awful thing to me that involved strapping me to my bike and making me do intervals at 100%. He called it a "bike test." This is Coach-Speak for ensuring that the latent athlete (this is what he calls me) is nutso enough to want to continue on this training regimine even after he's done the "bike test."
Cool results, though: Check out the chart he built out of my heart rate. The efforts were 8 minutes long, broken up by a 10-minute break and preceded by two three-minute 100% efforts. I think those two were just for his absolute enjoyment.

In the first effort, in blue, I started a little low (target RPM: 95-105), and Coach Mike gave me the split at 2 minutes, so you can see where I ramped it up a bit after I heard I only had two minutes left.
In the second effort, you'll notice a more even effort throughout, until one minute left during the test. I asked Coach Mike to wait until the one-minute marker, which may not have been the best strategy, because then he got all up in my stuff. I thought I had joined the military.
I crashed on the couch after eating a bowl of wheat noodles, and slept for about forty minutes, and then I got up and did my tempo run, with some strides thrown in.
Today sucked balls:
2 hours Endurance Bike miles (heart rate low 140s avg)
50-minute endurance run, cut short at 45 minutes because I HATE THE TREADMILL and my form started to fall apart and I got all disoriented and bubbly headed.
1 hour in the pool, mostly drills and three sets of 200s.
I did this workout all back-to-back.
I hate the treadmill. I hate it, I hate it. I'll do whatever I can now to stay off of it. What an awful machine.
I had a momentary lapse of nutritional weakness today after this very long effort. I dreamt of going out and getting myself a ridiculously large hamburger or a meatloaf wrapped in bacon, or some other equally large hunk of red meat. I called PB, who talked me off the ledge and convinced me to go eat some fish and chips instead. Hooray for veg-head sponsors.
I'm going to give this vege-quarium thing until August (one full year) before I decide if I want to call it quits or not. I'm not sure I'm any healthier than I was before, but it does make me a better educator about the environment, and that makes it worth it.

YSL: 39

Poetry Friday

I.
Oh, fourth-lane-over
How I hate you.
Your lane markings
Match not at all
With the lane buoys
This is why
I have a scratch on my thumb
and one on my nose
Practically

II.
I have to pee
I have five millllllion laps left
I have to pee
The Gatorade is all gone
Why did I drink it all?

III.
The stuff on the bottom
is more than flotsam
less than jetsam
One Band-Aid
Two Band-Aids
One more in the gutter
and oh look--a tuft of hair
that probably belongs to the hairy guy in my lane

I finished my "hour-long" workout in one hour and 13 minutes. I did it all and took all of the rest breaks I was supposed to take. Sometime during my last set, though, I stopped feeling like I was being efficient. The world seemed to slow down and I seemed to be just floating in the water, in stasis, even though I was moving my arms and legs like I was swimming.
I got up at 5 this morning so I could eat something and have coffee before I went to the pool, but I forgot the eating part.

YSL: 38

Holy crap,
I don't think I've worked out this many hours in a day since...since...well, I don't know.
I swam an hour, as previously noted, adn then earlier this evening I sat on my trainer for an hour (thank goodness for Scrubs!) and then I went straight out for my jog.

Looks like I logged roughly 10-minute miles. I also did something really annoying to my ankle. I think it has to do with wearing Yaktrax all the time and then bobbling about on lumpy bumpy ice disguised by snow. What a pain. Anyway, I'm icing it.
and stretching a lot.
My legs were tired after the first mile, but I pushed through teh wall and everything felt OK after that. Well, until the whole ankle-thing, anyway. Pleh.

YSL: 36, 37

I'm going to have to think up a new way to list these days. I've stopped being able to count, or maybe I just never started being able to count. Maybe the week thing will work for me, too, although I'd probably just forget.
Day 36 was a rest day.
Day 37 was the start of a new stage of working out. I think we're in "Preparation" stage right now. Yes, that's right.
My workouts suddenly look different. Now, instead of nice friendly terminology (bike 1 hour), I have this:
SWIM: SWU3, SDS2, SSF6, SSS3, DPS2, SRS 4
ER2 (FI 6-8)
Agggggh.
Fortunately, there are roughly 150 pages of directions, descriptions, and text to go with this. Lovely.
Yesterday, 37, was disappointing to both me and Coach Mike, I'm sure. I got to the pool later than I wanted to and couldn't do part of the workout. Then it started to snow sideways and I wasn't keen on doing Fartleks (that's what "FI," stands for, by the way) in the snow, which was only barely covering a treacherous layer of dreadful, lumpy bumpy ice. Coach Mike was not pleased that I skipped the run. Get thee to a treadmill, is what he said, pretty much. So I have to find one of those. Maybe I should see if I can freecycle one.
Ur. I did my swim early today (although not early enough, it seems--I cut my recovery times between strokes to about half of what they were supposed to be and still couldn't squeeze in my 600-yard recovery swim at the end), and then, later today, it's a transition workout: an hour bike followed by a half-hour run.
I have to do this in time for Project Runway with KF this evening, and there's a bunch of garbage to get done before then that's not nearly as fun as either Project Runway *or* a TWB ("Transition Workout, Base"). Don't worry, kids. Soon, you, too, will be well versed in the art of Carmichael acronyms...and then you, too, will be hip and cool like me.

PB: Week 5

M - Run 43 min at level1, 4.5 mi. HR 138. Pace 9:35.
T - Run 40 min uphill intervals, 4.4 mi. Warm up, then 5x Harrison St. hill. HR 145. Felt like I couldn't maintain the effort near the top.
W - Circuit strength 25 min. Mountain bike 53 min, 13 mi. HR 124. Unseasonably warm.
Th - Run 40 min at level2, 4.6 mi. HR 150. A new running course over the river that I've thought about for a while but never tried because I thought it was longer.
Su - Exercise bike 65 min at level1 at gym. HR 129. Nothing good on tv - watched the Dukes of Hazard movie!
Total 4:26

Once again, I really ran out of motivation by the end of the week, and pushed the long evening workout to the end of the weekend. It was not so long this time because I couldn't get out the door until 8:30 and the gym closes at 10:00. Otherwise, Sunday actually works pretty well for an evening workout because I'm psychologically transitioning into the workweek, whereas on Friday I'm thinking about the weekend and sleep. Maybe I should consider switching my schedule to make Monday my rest morning, and Sunday my permanent overdistance night. Regardless, getting into a motivation funk at the end of the week for two weeks in a row actually makes me feel better, because if this is something that's just going to happen I can plan for it and work around it.

I'm also trying a new tactic, which is to plan out the entire week in advance, rather than just having a vague idea of what I'm going to do on which day that gets solidified the night before or in the morning. Normally I try to avoid this much planning because it feels too rigid, but on reflection I realize I had forgotten an important lesson of GTD: deciding on your actions is not limiting - rather it sets you free to just DO instead of thinking about it. And it could be much easier to motivate myself to get up in the morning when I know exactly what I have to do, and don't have to do any thinking.

BRRR: chilly photos from the 5-miler

Kirsten and I look like seals. Orp! Orp!


This is what I looked like when I crossed the finish line, shortly before I collapsed against a tree.

YSL: 33, 34, 35

33: recovering
34: walked all over town, recovering
35: raced. 3rd in age group for the Lake Channahon Frosty Five-Mile: First three miles at 9.5-minute miles, got ass kicked in miles 4 and 5 by insane constant headwind and god-awful hill. I know, I know...in ILLINOIS.
Perspective: 1st in age group only posted 8:37 miles; 2nd was 9:38 miles. Exhausted and discombobulated now, although know must sleep.
Photos later. Ran race with fabulous pal KF, who bested her per-mile time by quite a bit. V. V. happy for her.
For the record: was 4 degrees at race start; -23 windchill. Prost! (Map below.)

LT: Week 5

8 days off now, and still counting. The cold got much worse and spread to sinuses and chest. No sign of improvement yet, and though I'm champing at the bit, I'm determined to ride this one out.

Sunny Ride today

YSL: Days 29, 30, 31, 32

29: rest day
30: sick
31: sick
32: sick

productive, you see. :(

PB: Week 4

Not a bad week, in terms of rebuilding the habit. Started out the week very motivated, then the motivation gradually decreased as the week wore on.

M - MTB 57 minutes/12.5 miles on a new loop. HR 130.
T - Run 44 minutes at a comfortable pace in Johnson Park . HR monitor malfunctioned.
W - Yoga 25 minutes (DVD)
Th - Bike 40 minutes at a comfortable pace on the trainer. HR 123.
Circuit strength training at the gym after lunch. Sore for days afterwards.
F - Off. Skipped a planned long run because of rain.
S - Run 1:22/8.3 miles at overdistance pace on a new loop. HR 141. Incredible stars.
Su - Yoga 25 minutes (DVD). Forced myself to do it before I went to bed.

Total 4:58

Here is the new bike loop:


And here is the new run loop:

YSL: Days 26, 27, 28

26: Supposed to be bike-and-swim on Friday, but forewent the swim in favor of a nice hour-long, two-mile snowshoe with friend a friend.
Rode for 73 minutes.
27: Swim for scant half-hour. All stroke drills. Right shoulder feels a little pressured from kickboard.
28: Ride on trainer for 45 minutes.

LT: Week 4

Another slack week, for various reasons. Monday I was tired after the sportive, and couldn't face the 5:15am alarm call that is necessary for a morning workout (any other time is impossible, given that I have to look after Miles all day). Wednesday I felt like I was coming down with something in the morning, and that I was still tired and unmotivated. So I skipped my long run and had another rest day, thinking I'd make up for it at the weekend. However we then made an impromptu trip out of town at the weekend. I intended to cycle part of the route back on Sunday, but after a long run on Saturday felt super-tired and in the light of strong winds and probable rain, decided to skip it. I thought we'd get back in time for a quick session at the gym, but by the time we got back to London I was suffering from a really painful sore throat which explains why my run and recovery felt so difficult and sluggish yesterday, and possibly why I've been feeling sub-par for most of the week. So it's my turn for some light days, although I'll try and keep up some base level training of sorts unless the throat takes a turn for the worse.

M: Rest day
T: 45 min swim
    60 min spin with 30 min run to & from gym
W: Rest day
T: 1 h 20 min session with 6x10 min intervals @ tempo, alternating stationary bike & treadmill. Stretch.
    40 min swim
F: 1 h run @ base endurance
S: 2 h run @ tempo/base endurance. 12.81 miles with map-reading stops (see map)
Total: 7 hrs 15 mins

YSL: Day 25

Bike-and-jog yesterday.
Spin for 56 minutes; at each commercial break, up two gears, then back down.
Jog with hound through deep, slippy snow. Yaktrax clog up in this type of snow--perfect for snowballs!--and ankles were exhausted after this teeny-tiny route, which took me somewhere on the order of 23 minutes. Sheesh.

YSL: Days 23 and 24

Look! I'm in the mid-20s! Holy crap!
Yesterday: Spin on trainer; 1:10, in front of The Biggest Loser. Boy, if I had to watch a show that was motivating, this one is it. Had full intentions to run afterwards (prescribed in workout), but then I looked out the window at 9PM and realized it was snowing sideways, so I bumped the jog to today.
Today: new set of swim drills from Coach Noelle, swimmer extraordinaire. They'll correct my stroke, and hopefully, I'll be much more efficient. I jogged to the pool (butt-cold, again) and swam for 44 minutes. Or, rather, flailed about with my drills for 44 minutes. Someone should take video of me doing this one day. It'll make for good laughs.
I trashed a swimwsuit today, by the way. I've had it for quite a few years, so I'm not sorry, but egads--I don't think I ever realized what a big deal drag is.

EMs : Week 3

Em’s Training Week 3
Sunday Jan 20th - 35 minute jog
Monday Jan 21st - 1200 meter swim
Tuesday Jan 22nd - rest day
Wednesday Jan 23rd - weights and 2k erg
Thursday Jan 24rd - mini-brick
10 mile bike/2k run/500meter swim
Stretching and abs
Friday Jan 25th - rest day
Saturday Jan 26th - 35 minute run
- 3.5 hour bike
Sunday Jan 27th - 2.5 hour surf session in Wales (burr)


This week was a wobbly one. I had a guest in town for the majority of the work week so working out was limited to the early ams before work. I tried my best to fit things into the weekend, however Sunday was dedicated to a surf session in wales…the weather was fantastic and the waves were great. I guess it could translate to some swimming?

YSL: Days 21 & 22

Skipped the workout on Day 21--it was a spin workout, but the hamstring (the right one) was feeling pretty bad, so I stretched a lot and made Jim massage it out, and by Monday morning, my rest day, it was feeling better. The pain in my left hamstring has gone away entirely, which makes me think more than ever that it has something to do with our crappy bed (getting a new one soon, hooray!) and lack of hydration more than anything else.
Yesterday was a rest day, but my very kind friend Noelle, an accomplished swimmer and triathlete, offered to take a look at my swim stroke and teach me to do things the right way.
An hour later, I was armed with a set of drills and a bunch of new things to keep thinking about: entry is like you're spearing a fish, at a 45-degree angle. You want to enter at 1 o'clock, if your head is at noon. Entry, little C, big C, finish. Coach Mike has already said that the biomechanics are more important than lap time in the pool, so my next pool session will be spent drilling.
Hooray! I can finally say goodbye to whacking myself in the back of my head. Today is a bike and jog. I'm pretty excited about that, actually. I'll stretch sometime mid-morning and then ride and run later.

PB: Week 3

F: 30 minute run at easy pace
Su: 30 minutes yoga

I was still sick at the start of the week, then I went out of town on business for a couple days. Went for an easy morning run on Friday to my mechanic to pick up the car. Friday night I was tired, cranky, and depressed, and I slept for 10 hours. Saturday I felt even worse, but with a little therapy from my wife and Yish, I was able to turn my mood around and make plans for this week. This morning I rode 12 miles on a new road course I mapped out, which is a good start.

In other news, the race I'm training for, which usually takes place in June, has been moved to May 17 according to the website. So that makes life interesting. No other details are available yet.

LT: Week 3

M: Rest day
T: 45 min swim
    60 min spin with 15 min run each way to gym
W: 2h 08m run @ base endurance
T: 1h 20m gym session comprising warm up, then alternating reps of bike & treadmill @ tempo: 15m, 15m, 10m, 10m, 5m, 5m. Cool down & stretch.
    35 min swim
F: 60 min run @ base endurance
S: Rest day
S: 100km Cyclo-sportive. Hilly. 1 puncture. 4.5 hrs ish.

YSL: Day 20

What a crappy day. Work hell is bringing my mood down; I've been sidelined by the nagging pain in my left hamstring; and now my right one seems to have been acting up [again] too.
I can't think of anything I've done to piss them off. Maybe the trick is just to stretch. Coach Mike said today that I need to be really cognizant about my stretching; really make it my half-hour workout (I was supposed to run today), and see how it went, so I did a round of yoga and then a half-hour on my trainer until the twinging showed up again.
Stupid. I really hope this is just fatigue, but it doesn't feel that way. I'm just going to stretch the heck out of it and see how it feels.

YSL: Day 20

What a crappy day. Work hell is bringing my mood down; I've been sidelined by the nagging pain in my left hamstring; and now my right one seems to have been acting up [again] too.
I can't think of anything I've done to piss them off. Maybe the trick is just to stretch. Coach Mike said today that I need to be really cognizant about my stretching; really make it my half-hour workout (I was supposed to run today), and see how it went, so I did a round of yoga and then a half-hour on my trainer until the twinging showed up again.
Stupid. I really hope this is just fatigue, but it doesn't feel that way. I'm just going to stretch the heck out of it and see how it feels.

YSL: Day 19

I have got to get my rear end moving on the whole working-out-in-the-morning thing. to date, i've only managed three or four morning workouts, and that kind of thing is wreaking havoc on my schedule. I mean, appointments with people I have to interview are done on their schedule, so when one suddenly pops up and I have to still get a swim and a run in, bad things happen, like forgetting your goggles.
No matter; the lifeguards at the pool are uber nice and I borrowed a pair of theirs. That leaked.
I have a niggling pain in my left hamstring that seems to be a result of sleeping funny, and a twinge in my left shoulder (I can't think of anything that might have caused these things). I took it easy both workouts today as a result of those things. Only a half-hour in the pool and a 15-minute jog. Lame.
I hope tomorrow's run will be better.

YSL: Day 18 (belated)

Refused to run yesterday. Too ass-cold; cranky. Spun on indoor trainer instead, in front of the witch-a-licious charms of...well, the Charmed ones.
An hour went by remarkably fast, although today I'm sore, for some reason.
Also, saw The Spirit of Marathon last night. What an uplifting, dramatic movie. Go see it, really, if you haven't, yet. It's completely wortwhile, totally heartbreaking, and I pretty much cried through the whole movie. Coach Mike said, "So does it make you want to do a marathon?" I said, "Kinda. It makes me want to do a marathon in no more than four hours."
Today: Swim and jog. Damnit.

YSL: Day 17

Bike: 58 minutes on trainer. Today Show in background. News shows are good for excuses to ramp up the workload--plenty of commercials.
Swim: 30 minutes; 25 laps.
Here: a mini-review of the Finis Lap Track, which Jim bought for me because of the aforementioned counting/distraction/bubble-brained problem.
This is a terrific idea, in theory. You either suction the clock to the pool wall or hang it off the side of the pool, and then just bat it each time you complete a lap. Two things keep this item from being a perfect product: First, the waterproofness of the thing means that there's a lot of air trapped in the clock itself, which causes it to have a lot of buoyancy, which means, when the suction cups go, the whole clock goes floating away. The hanging arm also really doesn't work on a pool with a gutter, like ours does. I'll have to tinker with it a little bit more.
Second, you see the reflection that's showing up in this photo, of the swimmer's hand?

Well, that reflection shows up pretty much all the time. so when you're underwater, staring at the clock all you see, unless you get super close, is that reflection.
Whatever, I still don't have to count anymore. That makes me happy. Thanks, Jim!!!
Now, if someone would get me a set of these Mermaid Fins, I'd be totally happy.

YSL: Days 15 and 16

Day 15 was a rest day. (I also have to confess that I skipped the scheduled bike after our race on Day 14, even if Coach Mike said to just spin for 25 minutes and see how I was feeling. I just couldn't do it.
Day 16 is the Day of Infinite Pissiness. While it is not 3 degrees out, it is snowy, which I generally like, except that everything went wrong today.
1. The lap clock that Jim bought me so I don't have to count didn't stick to the wall, so I had to set it on the ledge. I neglected to bring my watch (this "no backup" theme will play into things, just you wait), so I had to count on the lap clock, which I had to pop up and bat with my paw every time I finished a lap. Nice concept. Next time I try it, I'll use the doohickey that allows me to hang it off the side of the pool.
2. I was surrounded by speedy people in my lane and floaters--some, uh, larger than others--in the next lane. It was visually very distracting. The speedy people were very scary.
3. We had to circle swim because all the "New-Year Resolutioners," as my lane-mate called them, were out in full force.
4. The circle swimming led to the feeling that I was being chased by something. (I was: The speedy people.)
5. I took a lot of breaks. The circle-swimming disoriented me; my cap wasn't fitting right, bla bla bla...
6. When I finally called it quits at 33 minutes (23 laps), I went down into the locker room to change into shorts and a tee and went back up to the treadmill, only to find that...
7. The two treadmills were taken up by a woman in full casual-office-garb (pleated khaki pants; checked button-down shirt; belt; ecco shoes, and glasses) and a tall skinny blonde thing in tights. Note the tights. They will come in handy later because...
8. I hate waiting. I went back down to the locker room, pulled on my long-sleeved top, tied a bandanna around my head (to, uh, keep my wet hair from the pool from freezing), and went for my prescribed jog. As I rounded the corner onto Lakeshore access road and waded through a snowdrift and then a stiff cross-wind that blew more snow at me, I thought, gee, I could really use a pair of tights. Will someone please tell me what someone on a TREADMILL, INDOORS, is doing WEARING A PAIR OF TIGHTS??? f*cking gym rats!!! Agh!

See? Infinite pissiness. I ran--and oh, I ran, because it was ASS COLD out there--for twenty minutes before calling it quits. I'm not even going to post the fucking map. Pissy. Seriously.