Wed. 10-3 & Thur. 10-4

Zoomers

Wed. 10-3
Off, massage and chiro.

Thur. 10-4 Swim a.m.; Bike & Run p.m.
Swim 6a-7a
Dry work to start - yoga type - toe touches, reach for sky, downward dog moves to engage some of the swim muscles.
Into the pool. Lines set up for yards not meters, 25yd instead of 25meter lengths – probably worth at least a couple secs per length for me.

1. 200 easy free warm up
2. 5x50 kick, hands out front on kick board holy hip flexors!
   
3. 5 drills (below) (2x50 of each) (wearing Zoomers)
   
4. 5 x 50 free hard controlled efforts (:52 down to :48)
5. 100 easy free cool down

Kick work of any kind is all new to me. Setting aside the triathletes-don't-need-to-kick playbook. I need to go from one big sloppy inefficient and poor propulsion kick to a tight little flutter with floppy feet and loose ankles. At least that's the goal. I'm not flexible any where, esp not at the ankles, hazard of coming from a running background.

Drills:
Side kick: Kick with one arm extended straight ahead of shoulder, opposite arm by your side, breath opposite of the extended arm. Body position is suspended from the hips, the goal is to stay as high on the water as possible.

Single arm: Stroke with one arm only, with the non-stroking arm by your side, hold the extension phase of the stroke for a couple of seconds, breath to the non-stroking side, rotate from the hips evenly left and right.

Stroke and glide: Stroke with both arms, hold one arm by your side and the other arm extended for a couple of seconds before taking a stroke, breath on both sides.

Catch-up: Leave front arm extended until the recovery arm is extended then stroke (don’t touch hands), breath on your non-dominant side.

Fist: Full stroke, leave your hand clenched in a fist feel for the most resistance against the forearm during the pull (don’t rush the stroke)

The first 3 drills are kicking drills. Emphasis is on keeping the body high on the water. The hips are the hub for all movement. Hand entry should be just short of full extension, and at 11 o’clock and 1 o’clock.

Evening
Bike
QR trainer, short easy ride before run, no knee troubles.

Entire workout (153 watts):
Duration: 46:35
Work: 427 kJ
TSS: 37.4 (intensity factor 0.694)
Norm Power: 160
VI: 1.04
Distance: 14.784 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 209 153 watts
Heart rate: 72 143 130 bpm
Cadence: 38 94 87 rpm
Speed: 3 21 19.0 mph

Run

Run 30mins, ~4mi after 5mins trans from ride.

The Other Vitamin C

Coffee! Yeah for caffeine!

It's not evil. Really. A fairly recent article on the pro/cons. As vices go it may not be so bad.

If you're a coffee drinker you probably have a personal preference for your palate. Me? I'm no coffee connoisseur or java snob, but I do know what I like. I take my tasty rocket fuel cold processed and cold in hand.

1lb of coarsely ground fresh coffee. Choose your fave bean or brand.
Put it all in a big pitcher, add 10-12 cups of cold water. Stir a bit.
Stick it in the frig over night.
Filter the grounds as you pour it into another pitcher, and you're left with a sizable batch of potent delicioso. Condensed coffee. If you haven't killed it in a week or so, pour the remainder into an ice cube tray, and (what else) freeze it.

I pour a half a coffee cup (3-4oz) of the dark nectar into a BIG glass already chock full of ice. Add some soy or cow juice if you like. I use soy, and I add some water to further dilute the mix and top off the glass. I sweeten with a couple drops of liquid stevia extract, no need for sugar or any fake stuff.

The stevia, the lack of heat brewing, the soy milk - these all undermine the acidity that usually is carried with a standard cup of coffee.

Smoothies

The topic of smoothies has come up recently.

I like mine cold and thick, so I use a blender. I don't get too sports geeky with it, but if you're of that mind, 4:1 ratio of carbs:protein is the way to go.

My typical blend is something like:

• 1 sliced banana
• handful of ice cubes
• fruit juice (cran, rasp, red grape) or soy milk depending on mood (fruity or creamy)
• frozen berries (blue, black, rasp, cherries)
• other fruit I may have around (kiwi, frozen mango chunks)
• start blending, add a bit of water as needed
• add a scoop of protein powder as it churns, I use this
• maybe a scoop of Green stuff (I get it much cheaper locally)
• sometimes a teaspoon of Manuka Honey
  

For a few other recipes, click here.

Cousteau? Spitz? Non.

Local news coverage of The Nation's Tri here (2min nbc video). Hey, it's the duty of every tri triber to promote the sport. Just doing my bit. Mayor Fenty raced. The video includes some footage of him racing and a post race quote. Look, the fact of the matter is (TM, J. Biden) it's pretty cool to see a fit urban mayor coming out of the water in a triathlon.

That bargain buy Oregon Action Cam is indeed water proof. Engineered an under water mount and voila - je suis le Jacque Cousteau of the local pool.
















My swim technique, er, lack thereof, will hopefully be much improved come spring '08. I really did not think it was as bad as apparently is the case. Perception is most certainly not reality when it comes to what the body is doing when in water. I sure feel more straight and streamlined along the surface than the video shows. I've seen good swimming, this ain't it.

So, indulge my inner Cousteau (or Clouseau), and the wet vid test, edited down to 25secs starting and finishing a lap breathing to my right and then one breathing left.

Follow our camer-ahz into zee blue chlorine waht-airs in pursoot of zee elusive "finless pale flopp-aire," mannis nonswimmerrus, one of zee breath taking one-dares of the suburban aquatic atmose-fair.

Diz creature is deceptively slow moving despite the fervor of his movements, throwing his limbs about. It is an optical illusion of sorts, as he remains in nearly one spot despite all of this apparent effort. He iz too slow to catch food. How-eff-air, he survives quite adequately scavenging on land.

Once in zee watt-aire he would be easy prey for any predator, eh? Non! Like a drunk Republican ducking a minority audience, he dodges all potential predators. Savvy is this creature. Watch as he throws his feet about, twisting his torso haphazardly while he over shoots his hands to enhance the zigzag effect. Would be predators turn away in fear of contagion.


[annoying Clouseau mode off]

For the runners out there, a distance running highlight compilation. Careful, it just might produce goose bumps and the desire to head out for a feisty cruise.