A Workout Post

How about some exercise content?
Still not running. Plan to attempt a short run in the next few days. If that goes poorly I'll take an SIU pill and try some pool running.

The last few days:

Tue. 8-5
Missed 6a swim. Not happy.
ART massage, Lara. Right glutes better than last week. Not as painful. I'm calling it progress. Right heel had felt bruisy when stepping on it for last 4-5 days, when rolling out of bed and after sitting. Some hard attention to the area from Lara. It's 95% gone the next day.

15mins upper body strength at home.
Super Tuesday primary night. Wow (!)

Wed. 8-6-08
Bike & 15mins of Core after bike
QR trainer. Intervals. Hard data below.
Warmup.
4x6mins (w/2min recvry btwn);
5mins easy;
3x2mins, alternating seated/standing every :30 (w/1min rcvry btwn)
Warmdown.

Watched mountain stage of the '01 TDF.
After this session I'm guessing my CP (max avg wattage I could hold over 60mins) is ~210-215watts maybe less, down 10-15%.

Entire workout (179 watts):
Duration: 1:23:22
Work: 895 kJ
TSS: 95.5 (intensity factor 0.829)
Norm Power: 191
VI: 1.07
Distance: 27.586 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 289 179 watts
Heart rate: 76 169 144 bpm
Cadence: 34 198 85 rpm

Power-Tap #1:
Duration: 6:00
Norm Power: 206
Distance: 2.191 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 157 224 206 watts
Heart rate: 140 156 152 bpm
Cadence: 59 95 92 rpm

Power-Tap #3:
Duration: 6:08
Norm Power: 222
Distance: 2.303 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 126 250 221 watts
Heart rate: 138 160 155 bpm
Cadence: 80 91 89 rpm

Power-Tap #5:
Duration: 6:00
Norm Power: 223
Distance: 2.244 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 257 223 watts
Heart rate: 137 165 157 bpm
Cadence: 59 93 89 rpm

Power-Tap #7:
Duration: 6:03
Norm Power: 231
Distance: 2.121 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 117 270 231 watts
Heart rate: 137 169 161 bpm
Cadence: 72 91 88 rpm

2min Intrvl #1:
Duration: 2:03
Distance: 0.72 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 176 289 236 watts
Heart rate: 144 167 159 bpm
Cadence: 67 87 83 rpm

2min Intrvl #2:
Duration: 2:01
Distance: 0.698 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 188 260 226 watts
Heart rate: 145 168 160 bpm
Cadence: 79 91 83 rpm

2min Intrvl #3:
Duration: 2:01
Distance: 0.709 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 162 274 234 watts
Heart rate: 152 166 161 bpm
Cadence: 73 87 82 rpm

Thur. 8-7-08
Swim 6a-7
300 warm-up
3 vertical kick
5x50 kick bd
500 free w/zoomers
400 free no zoomers ~:54-57 per 50yd pace
6x75 ~1:22-25 each (guess?)
100 cool
1850 total

Bike pm - QR trainer recovery ride
Entire workout (144 watts):
Duration: 1:01:47 (1:05:23)
Work: 531 kJ
TSS: 43.1 (intensity factor 0.647)
Norm Power: 149
VI: 1.04
Distance: 19.41 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 226 144 watts
Heart rate: 71 143 128 bpm
Cadence: 36 236 85 rpm

Fri. 8-8-08
Bagged planned swim and run attempt, feeling run down.
Yoga – 45mins (video at home)

Caged Runner.

Rock Creek, U.S. Park Stables
2-4-08

Update for the record.

Haven't run since Jan. 6 when the right knee went wacky. Tried once last week, after quite a few days of it feeling fine walking around and biking. Had to abort after .5 mile.

Went to Sport & Spinal for an exam. Very unlikely that there is a discrete/acute injury or problem with the knee or surrounding tendons and ligaments. My upper thigh and glutes are tight and my range of movement for the upper leg is significantly limited. Knee moves (dives? falls? collapses?) to the inside when I perform a standing one-leg squat. My feet are still flat.

All together, text book IT Band syndrome characteristics. As are the symptoms of Jan. 6 and the days thereafter. I know, however, that ITBS is a large catchall bag for many causes and symptoms. Identifying the true cause is difficult, e.g., is a tight muscle pulling the pelvis out of alignment? Or vice versa? It's a chain with many links. Finding the twisted link is the challenge.

Continuing some deep massage work, with the range of motion problem areas providing some guidance. Last visit to the therapist uncovered some real trouble spots, upper hammies and glutes. Me face down on the table, Lara perched on top grinding and driving her knees into my derierre. This may have been the most painful session ever for me. I'm officially a tight ass. I was a sore, but not quite as tight, ass for another 24-48hrs after. After that I was, of course, just my usual ass.

All of this is good news. It may amount to discovery of the underlying cause - the hard part. I'll proceed as if it is for now, focusing on the problem areas for 30-45mins a night on my own.

Tools for nightly muscle manipulation.

Continue to swim, seeing some small improvement. Biking as well. Bike legs are weak but not totally gone. Almost all trainer (hampster wheel) sessions, 60-90mins, long warm ups into some steady efforts then long warm down. All of it sitting up, no time down in the aero bars - no need to put added pull on the IT/glutes.

Got outside for a ride yesterday. 2.5hrs in near 60F mostly sunny no wind. Rock Creek Park. Lots of folks out on Beach Dr. Stopped to see some sights and stretch. Nice to be outdoors.

Bike, swim, no run yet.

Thoughts go out to J & N and the entire Oberlin crew. I hope you are getting through this time as best you can.

****************************
Starting to think of slipping on the run shoes for a test drive. Holding off for now. The last three days:

Sat. 1-19-08 Swim-Bike
Swim 60mins. Free (~300-400), side(200), stroke and glide (250), kick bd (50), free (50), fist (300), free (50), 3x100yds (1:45-48)
Swim was 2-3p after working 9-1. Ride was ~3:40-5:40p after swim.

Bike
QR trainer watching Terps beat #1 UNC at UNC. No aero time. No hard efforts, more time at steady, steady+ efort than recent rides. No knee trouble.
Entire workout (164 watts):
Duration: 1:58:16 (2:00:02)
Work: 1167 kJ
Distance: 39.002 mi

Heart rate: 145 bpm avg
Cadence: 87 rpm avg
Speed: 19.8 mph avg

Sun. 1-20-08
Swim 60mins easy, steady nothing hard
~400free, ~350 side r/l (w/zoomers; trying to find high body position, looking barely fwd, and 45deg angle not 90) ~350 stroke and glide (w/zoomers), 50 kick board, 50 free, ~150 fist, ~400 free. ~1750 total
Core/Lift 35mins
2 x (fonda leg raises r/l, lat pulls downs, cable side bend (obliques) r/l, cable side arm raise r/l, tri pushdown, seated row, side plank)
3 x (bicycle crunches, feet together crunches, plank)

Mon. 1-21-08
Bike QR trainer. No aero time. Gradual warm up to some extended steady time. Watched Bourne Ultimatum.
Entire workout (165 watts):
Duration: 1:51:31 (1:55:44)
Distance: 36.768 mi
Heart rate: 137 bpm avg
Cadence: 86 rpm avg
Speed: 19.8 mph

Tue. 1-22-08 Swim 6-7a

Knee barely stiff out of bed. Taking stairs normally. ART tomorrow. Overall assessment at Sport & Spinal Fri.

Really wanted some more sleep.
Body was screaming sleep! Eventually I managed/decided to tune it out. Did I chose poorly? Ignoring the bod is high on the ingredient list for injury or illness. We'll see.

Solid hr of swimmin’. No one else showed = individual lesson.
Today's flaw fix - Keep my pulling hand at/near/under/traveling past belly button!!! Don't swing it out wide! This is a tough bit of muscle memory to break.

300 warm-up
10x100 alternating left/right breathing every 25 (:30 rest) (fastest 1:48, slowest 1:52)
500 with zoomers, same alternating breathing
5x50 on 1:30 (:48-:50)
100 cool down 2150 total

Hard to get a hold of, feel for grabbing water with the dif hand/arm pull position.
New (?) spots on shoulders, lats feeling the slightly dif use pattern - also carrying some fatigue from recent addition of back/shoulder weight work.

Digging a New Groove

Forcing myself to find a run-free regimen. Hope to get into a long term routine of swim, easy bike and prehab/rehab of broadening my core and minor muscle group work. Work the stuff that is neglected or is a secondary supporting muscle group as related to those that get all the work when engaging in the primary three.

Will blend running back into the mix when it's prudent. The ultimate 2 words of runner desperation - water running - have popped up and bounced around my big noggin. For a nanosec. I just know running in a pool would suck. It will be a last resort.

This evening, walked down the metro escalator with a normal gait and no discomfort for the first time in nearly 2 weeks. Knee not bothering me swimming or biking, tho not testing it with any heavy loads, intensity or long duration. Still stiffens up over night, and probably when sitting at work.

The last few days:

Wed. 1-16-08
Right knee status quo.
Core 30+mins

Thur. 1-17-08 Swim, Bike
Right knee quite tight out of bed, after swim. Sore spot is area and above below outer corners. Sigh.

Swim
6-7a coached session at G'town Prep, ~56mins in water
200 free warm-up
2x50 side (w/zoomers)
2x50 1 arm "
2x50 stroke and glide "
2x50 catch-up "
500 free "
5x100 w/:40 RI - swam 1:49-50 for all.
100 cool
1700 total yards

Bike
Bike QR trainer, gradual warm up and stay in small ring 39x14/13, into big ring 53x15-16. A few 20-30sec easy standing. No knee bother at all while riding.
Entire workout (158 watts):
Duration: 1:03:50

Fri. 1-18-08 Bike-Swim-Core/Lift
Bike QR trainer, easy like yesterday
Entire workout (159 watts):
Duration: 1:02:17 (1:03:54)

Swim 40mins - Free, side, stroke and glide, fist, free, kick bd, free
Core/Lift 30mins - (back/abs/sides/tris/delts)

Bilateral = Hypoxic

Humor up front. Bikesnobnyc gem re wooden handlebars. Yep. Wooden handle bars. The prime line:

Together with a brakeless bike, wooden bars will transport you to that next level of sublime uncertainty, and simply arriving at your destination with all your teeth will feel like a Tour de France stage win.

Tue. 1-15-08
Swim-Bike-Core
Right knee better out of bed not too stiff (only 5hrs of broken sleep, less time to stiffen up?), can walk 95% normal ROM out of bed but still funky, full and tuggy feel in spots around knee.
6-7a Swim, solid 60mins wet.
Pretty worked by the time I crawled out of the pool.
Def felt whipped at times mid session, esp for the 2nd half of each bilateral breathing 100. Hello hypoxia. Lats begging for O2. Slight nausea as blood diverted from gut to extremities.

• 200 easy free warm-up
• 6x50 kick bd (25 at 90% effort, 25 at 70%)
• 10x50 w/zoomers (25 hard free, 25 moderate stroke and glide looking for 10 or fewer strokes)
• 7x100 free bilateral/3rd stroke breathing (:30 RI)
• 2x50 hard "bucket" effort (if you aren't wishing for a bucket at the end of the 50 you didn’t go hard enough) (:49 & :52 for the 50s)
• 100 easy free cool down
  

1900yds total

Bike - 40mins easy QR trainer half 39x14, then 53x15, cool in 39x14

Core – 15mins

Swimfest. 1-11 thru 1-14-08

Doing what I can do. Swimming and lifting and stretching and self deep massage. No run or bike since 1/5. Hitting the quadballer, roller and tpball hard every eve after dinner. Hip to heel.

After 2 weeks of The Wire, I'm liking it. I was a little shaky on it after episode one of this final season. Here's an interview of the man behind the show, creator, writer and producer David Simon. Spoiler free. Talk of Dickens and the classic Greek structure, casting decisions, mixed in with Simon's Baltimore experience, including some his dealings with B-more folks from the street to the city gov't to Mayor O'Malley.

Fri. 1-11
Swim 43mins,
lift at MAC 30mins - 3 x (pull downs, cable lean, cable 1-arm raise across body, seated row, tri push down, plank, crunches)

Sat. 1-12-08
Swim 45mins (side, stroke & glide, fist, free)
Core 30+mins (front fwd steps-ups,pushups, crunches, planks, Fonda lying leg raises, curls).
Dinner at Devereaux. Good Indian dishes!

Sun. 1-13-08
Swim 57mins (side, stroke & glide, fist, free)
Knee tight when wake, better over course of day. Felt very close to normal after swim, no bother during, pushing off but not aggressively on turns. Going down steps normally in eve. Getting some feel for the water back, felt like was catching decently today.
Lift 35mins at MAC after swim. Lat pull down, rows, cable arm raise, cable side leans, tri pushdowns, crunches, planks, Fonda lying leg raises.

Mon. 1-14-08
Swim 45mins in eve, not bad, nothing hard, decent grip on the water, stroke and glidfe and fist drills in between steady free. No knee trouble in the water.
Bike QR trainer 20mins very easy, knee okay, a tad funky just below knee cap on outer side.
Knee stil stiffens overnight, loosens earlier in day now, going down stairs is not bad by eve. Loosest of all after swim.

Blankety-Blank 1/6 - 1/10/08

The last couple months I've been more consistently injured than training. If not for injury venting this training journal would be blank. Makes for generally boring, depressing, repetitive tri blogging. Anyway for the record, the latest injury. At least, it happened while actually training, not raking leaves or taking out the garbage.

Sun. 1-6-08
Run
Beach Dr. path run 50mins easy, ~6.5mi. Right knee, lateral side of knee and just under lower front right corner developed growing ache, spread some both up ITB and down leg, stopped and walked last couple miles, walking was quite uncomfy too, uphill better than downhill. 75+min all togther.
Iced it at home. Refused to think negatively. (denial?) Still riding the joygasm that was the problem-free 3hr Sat. ride outdoors.

Mon. 1-7-08
20mins core.
It's official. Right knee all fouled up, can’t bend it. Iced a few times during day.

Tue. 1-8-08
Skipped swimming. Right knee no good.
ART massage, hard on both legs, found a little line of some scar tissue in right knee area, not sure if existed before this problem.

Pattern becoming evident. Over night the area tightens like an Enron exec stuck in an elevator with Michael Moore and his camera. I have to walk funny and deal with limited ROM in the a.m. During the course of the day it loosens a la Ed McMahon at an all day wine tasting - slowly but surely.

Eve - Attended coach Dan Brafman's base training talk at Bike Rack 1412 Q St NW, learned a little. Ironically, I can't train but it distracted me from whining to myself about not training, losing fitness, etc. Before the month is out I may see Dan for a "movement screen," find the strength and flexibility imbalances, it's been a couple years since last assessed.

Wed. 1-9-08
Eve - 25mins core
(3 x circuit: pushups, crunches, 6”, Jane Fonda-esque side leg raises, plank, curls). Long deep session on the roller and quadballer working on any knots ("trigger points") I could find from ankle to hip, both legs.

Again, knee tightened over night, have to keep it straight when walking in the a.m., can go up stairs okay but not down, loosens some over day, but same deal p.m. with stairs but up is even easier and and down not quite so nasty but def undoable. Decided not to try swimming tonight, will miss the Thur. a.m session tomorrow.

Thur. 1-10-08
Fairly close to walking normally by end of day. Descending stairs still no fun.
More core and stretching and roller, etc. in the eve. Probably could have done some swimming. A little gun shy. Can't afford to lose much more time, really need to establish a deep well of fitness for DATT weekend in May. Picked up some fresh run shoes, latest iteration (13th) of the Asics DS Trainer. My fave for a few years now. Current pair has ~400miles on them, not excessive but enough.

Bye to Bill Richardson. Fred Thompson next?

Weekend of 1-5-08 - Tri Training, Music, Politics

Sat. 1-5 & Sun. 1-6-08
Marathon Blog session

A full weekend. A little work, a dose of outdoor exercise, college basketball (Terps win) presidential campaign heating up with Iowa and NH, the final season of The Wire starting up (link). Augmented by the HD Radio for xmas - I can now revel in not just one NPR station and one Cspan but three of each (ital)

SPORT
Sat. 1-5-08
Bike: Fuji, outdoors, 3hrs, 50mi, 38-40F, no real wind, gray, dry. Heavenly.
Swim 33mins easy-recovery, some drills.

Sun. 1-6-08
Run 50mins, right knee feeling a little funky. Walked some, iced it after.
Core/strength 20mins

The sweet misery of a good hilly ride, that was Saturday. A good ride hurts, you know? Soooo nice to be outside. Tuckerman-Falls-Glen-Seneca-River Rd. Lots of riders out. Chit-chat at intersections but stayed solo, just out to play at my own pace. Jazzed to be out, no desire to engage in any weekend world championship duels. No need to take a caning and damper my day.

Putting on the snow gear (Dec. snowsuit post, below) as a kid has nothing on the prep for a cold weather ride. Getting out in cold temps is time consuming, esp given my penchant for wearing and carrying enough gear to comfortably survive a weekend on the Alaskan Range or lost on the trail of Big Foot. The 45mins of devising and redevising a layering strategy, prepping food and water, actually donning the gear, etc.- all worth it. Got it about right today, no cold bits.

Getting out provided a rude reminder of the cruel rewards of clean living (and clear head pipes). An enhanced sense of smell. No scent is good, it's all overwhelming. Perhaps accentuated by the dry cold atmosphere, everything is a tart smack to my finely tuned olfactory unit.

The worst: auto exhaust, tobacco, car scent trees and heavily perfumed occupants, all of which I do indeed smell via my finely tuned schnoz. Notable was the tag team of a fume spewing school bus and an old dirty-burning diesel Benz slowly accelerating past as I grind up a long, lung busting hill. No place to go, no way not to breath. It's not like the metro where I can avoid the nasal irritation and/or headache by jumping to another passenger car when Mr. Toomuch Cologne or Ms. Canaday de Hairspray boards.

Saturday ride data for the propeller heads.
Meat of the Ride:
Duration: 2:30:47 (2:33:24)
Work: 1584 kJ
TSS: 181.5 (intensity factor 0.851)
Norm Power: 196
VI: 1.12
Distance: 43.917 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 409 175 watts
Heart rate: 105 172 151 bpm
Cadence: 28 106 74 rpm
Speed: 2.7 38.9 17.5 mph

Entire workout (170 watts):
Duration: 2:54:38 (2:59:05)
Work: 1776 kJ
TSS: 202.9 (intensity factor 0.836)
Norm Power: 192
VI: 1.13
Distance: 50 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 409 170 watts
Heart rate: 70 172 149 bpm
Cadence: 28 106 74 rpm
Speed: 2.5 38.9 17.2 mph

2007 Bike Data
Year cumulative:
5500+ miles (4,924 for Jan. - Oct.)
291.9 hrs
179,244cals
Avg Power 172watts
Avg Normative Power 186watts
Avg Heart Rate 139bpm
Avg Cadence 80rpm

Biggest month of 2007: May
686 miles; 36.7hrs; 22,888cals

Biggest Week of 2007: Jan. 8-14 (followed by the 2nd and 4th weeks in May)
198miles; 10.3hrs; 6,830cals

• Only 8 weeks over 160miles
• Only 1 week over 100miles after 8/26
• Longest ride: 82miles 8/11/07
• Only 10 rides 65+ miles
• 30 rides 50+ miles
  

MUSIC
Hopped online in search of "Anyday" performed by Susan Tedeschi (think younger Bonnie Rait) with the Dereks Trucks Band at Eric Clapton's 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival. Derek is on lead guitar (slide), Mike Mattison is the impressive male voice. The song's been rolling around my head since I caught the PBS broadcast of the show a few weeks ago. That's got to be a sign I'm nearing the geezer tipping point, rocking out to PBS. To Youtube I go. Bam there it is. Beautiful thing that YT. Here it is.



Nodding and bopping to the music on my exercise ball chair (trigeek alert), I multitask over to the bikesnob blog. I'm dangerously behind in my snob reading. The Snob's latest entry (Fri. 1-4-08, he's a M-F guy) is re Clapton as trend setting cyclist, or at least lover of bikes as fine objects d'art.

And, the final stage of this marathon Big Ring digression session...

POLITICS
Sad that Biden is out. Plug for a friend - Here's a video put together as an evening project a few weeks ago by a fellow Biden-ite. Biden on Iraq voiced over images and with some music. Heavy, def not humor. Maybe if we'd seen more coffins the last few years would've been different.



Folks were certainly fawning over Obama's Iowa victory speech. Hard not to swoon. Soaring stuff.


Just when I thought Iowa was the last chance to get any level of policy discussion, the NH debate Sat. actually got into some. Except Bill Richardson. Yeeesh. Take that fork out of your back Bill, have a donut and get some sleep, you're done. Meanwhile you're taking yourself out of VP contention. How much better might that debate have been if Joe Biden, or Dodd, was in the 4th chair? Uh, much, much better.

HiIlary landed a blow equating a vote for the likeable, change, all-for-unity Obama to the error that was a vote for likeable , grab-a-beer, uniter not a divider GW. O wasn't too bad on specifics and defended his hope talk pretty well I thought. Edwards, fiesty and appealing but maybe too much anger coming across, fogging over his agreement re the desire for change/unity/bipartisanship.

Q: Was the Iowa turnout a fluke? Esp new and/or young and/or independent voters?
A: Not a fluke.

Q: Can Hillary dissolve the experience v change dichotomy that seems to have solidified?
A: Maybe blur it some.

Really off on a a horse race tangent...
Q: Will Ron Paul stay in to the end? Go indy? Be a spoiler for a Repub?
A: Yes, yes and yes... I hope.

Send Ron a little $, eh?
Or, maybe the Dems won't need any spoiler help.

Road ID on the bike.
Thanks B.

Steering back into the groove

Thur. 1-31-08

Back in the pool. I mean, BACK IN THE POOL!!

Triumph #1 - Beating back the strong desire to go back to sleep when the alarm went off at 5a. 18F on the Cougar-ometer at oh-5-40 didn’t scare me back indoors. Sliding into bed and getting to sleep would have been sooooo easy.

Triumph #2 - Surviving the swim session, staying relatively "on", not just going through the motions to finish a set.

Best of all: no noise from the high chest strain, finally!

Form wasn't as terrible as I feared, I'm still far from sprouting gills, and fitness is ugly. If the effort was anything but very easy it quickly felt hard. Fortunately, coach went easy on us. I wasn't the only one returning to the water after a layoff.

200warm up
2x50 drills of each, all w/zoomers: side swim, 1 arm, stroke and glide, catch-up
500 free hard w/zoomers
500 free steady no zoomers
3x25 very easy
1x25 hard

Evening - Bike
1hr20mins on the trainer. Just riding. A little standing and a little pushing the effort now and then. My attempt to ease the legs back into things.

Fri. 1-4-08
Run steady 60mins, ~7.8-8mi, feeling a bit more like a runner, not quite back to form or HR:pace tho.
Upper 20's, crisp.
15mins core.

How about Obama and Huckabee in Iowa?
The high turnout pleases me greatly. Might there be hope for a record (respectable) percentage of eligible voters to get out to the polls in November?

On to Oh-Eight

The cats are doing just fine, keeping the help in line for another year.

How about that strong family finish to '07: Welcome to Taran! Will Taran get shortened? To "T"? Tary? Plenty of time to sort that out. Well done and good luck to parents P & N.

Thanks to the folks who sent the annual update holiday cards. How can you be so busy and still put together the update letter? Maybe I'll hop on Craigslist, find a future ex and have a couple kids so I have some good material for an oh-8 Christmas update.

Dorothy Z. sounds great, apparently still on top of her game in Vegas, taking down the one-armed bandits and who knows what else. What happens in Vegas....

Word through the grapevine of other items of interest including tai chi mastery out West and thoughts of corn roasting in '08.

There's a new Capo at the helm of the East Coast Soup Mafia, flexing his soup muscle and kitchen control out at the Devereaux cat ranch/high end knitting factory. Giving truly is receiving when the gift is a french cooking lesson. That lead to great soup for the Nov. - Dec. holiday run. But no soup for the NY's eve meal. Instead, Indian - Vindaloo.


For the first time since Thanksgiving my health is coming around. I can swim! Well, I can find water and thrash from one end of the lane to the other without chest/shoulder pain. Looking forward to getting back to coached group swim sessions every Tue & Thur. Five weeks of inactivity has added 10-12lbs to the pale whiteness that is my belly and 10 beats per min to my HR. With the atrophied muscle and rusty parts I feel like raw pizza dough thrown over an old shopping cart, the one with the shaky, dragging wheel.

Snow

Backyard, Troy Road

First of the '07-'08 winter has arrived.
Two, maybe even three or 3.5 inches here near Rock Creek. Probably an extra inch due to creek effect.

My do nothing streak may not survive the week, even with the bad weather assist.

Down time and snowmobile suits.

In the quest to stay sane while doing nothing the internet has proved itself an invaluable and unquenchable time sponge. Thank you Al Gore, thank you.

Makes me wonder, how did youngsters survive the 150+ days of darkness that is a WNY winter without it? Building indoor forts. The Guiding Light. Clue, Monopoly and Masterpiece. 500 piece puzzles. Cookie dough. Time consuming attempts to play D & D. And after Thanksgiving....

There was some outdoor time, voluntary or otherwise. No doubt it took a motivated parent to spend part of a day squeezing Pop Tart and Honeycomb fueled kids into more layers than a tray of baklava. The complex layer ordering is under appreciated science, involving two or more pairs of socks preferably including something wool and itchy and something with an exposed red stripe, plastic bread bags (Stroehmann's Sunbeam or Wonder) on each foot. This was key - it was semi-water proof, but was also the grease that enabled oversized foot into boot with something less than a hernia and crying jag inducing 10 min pilates work out for parent and child.

Up from the feet: long johns, jeans/cords, a polyester turtle neck and/or button down oxford shirt, full body snow (snowmobile?) suits or the two-piece option of a coverall style ski pant and jacket, hat(s), mittens, scarf (or 2)... Did I miss a layer? And, later, another 45 mins chipping through the ice encased zippers and shoe laces and stripping the wet clothes when the monsters were allowed back in at sunset.

Back to the internet. A few items I've read recently and partially remember more than 24 hrs later. First, an obligatory fitness item, breaking news: Exercise is good, running spurs nerve growth. Related study ongoing - sloth leads to vacuous blogging.

Extroverts, I think we've got you out numbered. Treat us nicely. Don't make me say it out loud. This is the 2nd time I've stumbled into something from The Atlantic. The first was that Obama piece by Andrew Sullivan, which sticks with me, so here it is again.

Finally, some knee-slapping, choke-on-your-(iced)-coffee funny stuff, at least for cycling geeks. NYC cyclist poking fun at cyclists re reactions to the arrival of autumn weather, and on the snow theme, how to continue not having fun biking when the white stuff hits. It's a small but stubborn niche and this daily blog is king of that little realm.
Check out the right sidebar loaded with new twists. I'm also adding random labels, because I can. Cheap unleaded is $3.29 in monied Montgomery County.

I think I can not... I think I can not...

I'm working on a weakness, focusing 110% on doing nothing. Going all out to find my inner slug. Six days so far. That's some pretty decent consistency, maybe even a new DN PR. I'm no Jabba the Hutt yet, but why not aim high?

The internet is an excellent slugability enhancer. A beautiful blackhole, with an amen corner for every persuasion. Even within the fitnet, encouragement to slack abounds. The body needs a break, and the mind will relish the change, they instruct. Firm up the foundation. Lay the mental and physical ground work for good health next season command the gurus. Even the NYT echos the chorus suggesting there's an upside to just not doin' it for a bit. Ignore the HTFU crowd.

So, go ahead: Find some new interests. Reintroduce yourself to neglected friends, family and/or pets. Gain some weight - don't burn those great holiday meals, build on them. Shop, on line of course, $3.19 for the cheap gas, ouch. Sleep more, blog at great length(ahem), read more, work more? Enjoy some college B-ball (avoid Dicky V.) Restful down time now for fewer down days over the long term. Sounds rational, right?

Taking it easy doesn't necessarily feel better. It feels worse, at least for awhile. And I've yet to make it past awhile. Rest indeed seems to be rust. Sluggish becomes the norm (Jabba) and does wonders for a dipping cranky curmudgeon factor. Yeah, I'm a strong perfomer on the CC achievement scale as it is. But, I'll buy into all the faffle, file it under doing the right thing and claim the mental victory of successfully doing nothing.

I was nudged in this direction, via an ornery achilles tendon and a high chest strain of some sort (never should've raked those leaves). Not hurtin' enough to prevent exercise. Cold weather and diminished daylight gave that nudge some added oomph, more of a stiff-arm. Seven days worth of oomph? Ten days? Let's not get crazy. All things in moderation.

Logging In, Getting the (b)log up to Date

Mon. 11-12
Off

Tue. 11-13 S, R
Swim 6a
Bit of a crap day, just not feeling any spark, neither physically nor mentally "on", not having any good connection of mind to body.
200 warmup
10x50 bilateral breathing, steady/easy effort, form focus, start on 2mins, ~1min per 50.
3 x (100 hard, 200 steady, 50 bilateral easy; :30 rest btwn each) held 1:50 for the 100's, nothing special there.
1750 total

Run 42mins evening, ~5.5mi, foggy, ~55F

Wed. 11-14
Massage
Swim 35mins

Thur. 11-15
Swim 6a-7 Not good. Been dragging all week, no change today.
Felt a little better than Tue. Physically, but big downer re my swim speed.
200 wup
100yds of drill -side swim; -one-arm; -stroke and glide ; -catch-up; -fist
500yd TT 10:29
compared to 9:34 on 10/16 ! WTF!? Did I underswim by a lap on 10/16? Overswim today? don't think so.

100 free with zoomers
100 cool
1500 total

Bike 33mins trainer, cut off session
Core/lift 10mins

Fri. 11-16
Run 42mins, ~5.8mi
Bike QR trainer after run
Swim 38mins

Sat. 11-17
Swim 55mins, trans to run
Run 67mins, ~9mi, pretty frisky.

Great meal at Devereaux - killer soup, steelhead, Ireland tales. Good stuff.

Sun. 11-18
Bike Fuji outdr, 2:30, 44mi
Swim 22mins recovery

Mon. 11-19
Off

Tue. 11-20
Swim 60mins 6a-7a
250yd warmup
3x1min vertical kick, w/1 min RI
5x50 kickboard, w/~30sec RI
Ladder main set w/30sec RI:
500 (w/zoomer fins)
400 (")
300 no fins
200 no fins (1:50-52 100 pace)
100 no fins (1:50)

2000yds total + vertical kick

Felt much better than last week. Was dragging all day everyday most of last week.
Could've done 10min flat or faster for a 500TT today.

Run 57mins in eve, ~7.7mi

Wed. 11-21
Run 37mins, ~5mi, 5min trans to bike
Bike QR trainer
Duration: 1:15:21 (1:15:32)
Swim 40mins

'Snot too Cold

to get out and play. Just nippy enough to get the nasal tap running.
Kinda like this shot from cycling new zealand, minus the the beatiful backdrop.

Tour of Taranaki

Wooden, you say?

Sat. 11-10 R, S
Work in the morning.

Run 74mins, ~10mi, flat Beach Dr path, low 40’s cloudy some wind, pretty frisky jaunt – maybe cool temps and the extra Sat. cuppa?
Miles 6, 7, 8 at 7:00, 6:45, 6:35.

Swim 47mins
Steady form-mindful free as extended warmup (~500),
Side swim and stroke & glide with zoomers;
8 hard intervals with :30sec recovery intervals: 4x100 (~1:57-2:00 splits) and 4x50 (~:55);
3x50 kick bd;
100 easy free cool down.

Sun. 11-11 B, S
Work in the a.m.
Bike Fuji outdr, 1:30-4:30pm, Potomac rollers, ~45-50F, sunny, light winds.
Entire workout (180 watts):
Duration: 2:59:30 (3:02:31)
Distance: 53.513 mi
Min Max Avg
Heart rate: 83 173 139 bpm
Cadence: 22 102 74 rpm
Speed: 2.6 36.1 17.9 mph

MEAT of the ride:
Duration: 2:38:33 (2:41:33)
Work: 1751 kJ
TSS: 202.2 (intensity factor 0.875)
Norm Power: 201
VI: 1.09
Distance: 47.793 mi

Min Max Avg
Power: 0 400 184 watts
Heart rate: 98 173 141 bpm
Cadence: 22 102 74 rpm
Speed: 2.6 36.1 18.1 mph


Swim
Swim ~22mins easy, stroke and glide, side swim, clear the legs out after bike.

Cliffs and Chips

Great Ireland pics over at intomysixties. I'm hankerin' for fish and chips and a pint.

Earlier this week I heard this on NPR.
And went on to read this. The first time I've actually read anything in The Atlantic. Is that good or bad?

My heart and mind are nearing convergence: Obama. Don't know if it'll stick.
Maybe the heart/hope/yes-the-glass-can-be-half-full spirit is pulling harder just now in the internal tug of war. The ticker has been on the O. bandwagon since his Convention speech.

Okay, on to the usual sport material, here's a little some cycling humor.

Cyclists are the biggest sandbaggers and secret trainers around. They'll say anything to soften up a fellow rider. Such as:

"I'm out of shape"
Translation: I ride 400 miles a week and haven't missed a day since the Ford administration. I replace my 11-tooth cog more often than you wash your shorts. My body fat percentage is lower than your mortgage rate.

"I'm not into competition. I'm just riding to stay in shape"
Translation: I will attack until you collapse in the gutter, babbling and whimpering. I will win the line sprint if I have to force you into oncoming traffic. I will crest this hill first if I have to grab your seat post, and spray energy drink in your eyes.

"I'm on my beater bike"
Translation: I had this baby custom-made in Tuscany using titanium blessed by the Pope. I took it to a wind tunnel and it disappeared. It weighs less than a fart and costs more than a divorce.

"It's not that hilly"
Translation: This climb lasts longer than a presidential campaign. Be careful on the steep sections or you'll fall over -- backward. You have a 39x23 low gear? Here's the name of my knee surgeon.

"You're doing great, honey"
Translation: Yo, lard ass, I'd like to get home before midnight. This is what you get for spending the winter decorating and eating chocolate. I shoulda married that cute Cat 1 racer when I had the chance.

"This is a no-drop ride"
Translation: I'll need an article of your clothing for the search-and-rescue dogs.

"It's not that far"
Translation: Bring your passport.

Pubbers land

The Pubbers are back safely.

Spoke to them briefly last night at 8p.m. our time, so 1a.m. to them. Customs let them through and the cats welcomed them home. Will get out to Gaithersburg over the weekend to see some of the many pics and get some stories.

Initial impression shared with me was Ireland has lots and lots of stone architecture and amazingly old structures. Rained briefly once during the whole trip.
Old stone stuff, pubs, fish, potato, bread. All in large quantities, repeatedly. Oh, and beer. Literally a few pubs per block I'm told.

Snow up in the Western Tier of NY I hear. Yikes.

******************
Wed. 11-7 Bike

QR Trainer. Warmup; 4 x 10min blocks (as 7min hard/3min easy); cool
Entire workout (177 watts):
Duration: 1:06:14
Work: 703 kJ
Distance: 22.07 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 305 177 watts
Heart rate: 76 167 138 bpm
Cadence: 34 96 87 rpm

Thur. 11-8 S, R
Swim 6a-7a
Filled the hour pretty well, call it 60mins of workout.
400 warmup free
Vertical kick and twist - 3x
Kickboard - 6 x 50
400 continuous with zoomers as 4 x (25 side swim switching sides half way, 75 free at 8.5 intensity)
400 continuous no zoomers as 4 x (25 stroke and glide, 75 free hard)
100 all out (~1:43)
200 free easy cool down

Total: 1700 + vertical kick

Run in the eve.
51mins again, ~6.7mi, maybe 40F, brrr.

Pubbers preparing to return

The pub crawlers made it full circle back to Dublin.

We made it back to Dublin in record time! We got here by 1pm and had lunch and toured the castle and St. Patricks church and are now having a Guiness, wine and Irish coffee. Headed to our favorite restaurant - Hugo's - for dinner later.

No damage to the rental car!! And no accidents!!

Luck of the Irish, eh?

*************************

Mon. 11-5
Off

Tue. 11-6 S, R
Swim 6a-7a, ~50mins
v 2x50 drills: Side swim ; 1-arm ; Fist ; Stroke & glide
v 10x100yds w/:10 RI (splits ranged 1:52 - 1:55)
v 2x50 w/1min+ RI (:49, :47)
v 100 S&G cool

Run 51mins, ~6.7mi

Weekend wrap 11-4-07

Another tidbit from Ireland via blackberry:

Drove to galway today. Saw the cliffs of moher.
Having dinner at a wine bar on high Steet in galway city.
Very cold and a few thousand round a-bouts
B.

*************
I'm looking forward to pics and tales after they all get back and recover.

Meanwhile, I crossed the border into foreign territory today. Ventured into VA and had a nice enjoy-the-day ride on roads that were all new to me, which was very nice. Thanks to Lawrence and Mike for joining in and navigating the Mt. Weather loop.

All I had to do was get up and down the hills and get a few pics. Passed wineries and fields lined with stonewalls, reminded me of Gettysburg battlefield areas.


Country roads, turning leaves, 50+ temps, sun and cloud mix... about as good as it gets in November.



It's so hard to look suave in cycling gear, esp cold weather gear. Okay, it's impossible.

<- M & L

Moi ->



************

Sat. 11-3 R, S
Run 77mins, beach Dr. Twinge in right groin few miles from home.
Swim 25mins very easy easy recovery.

Sun. 11-4 B, S
Mount Weather ride.
Fuji, hi 50's, mix clouds/sun, low winds
Smell the Roses ride, but some steep climbs and rollers mixed in.
Almost zero groin "thereness," went ahead on the ride and had no problems at all.

Duration: 3:32:26 (3:54:56)
Work: 1864 kJ
TSS: 246.3 (intensity factor 0.836)
Norm Power: 192
VI: 1.31
Distance: 56.225 mi

Min Max Avg
Heart rate: 74 174 132 bpm
Cadence: 21 96 67 rpm
Speed: 0 39.9 15.9 mph

Swim
Easy swim 30mins, drills, and free, after Mt Weather ride.

Freezin' Friday 11-2

Apparently no international incidents have cropped up in Ireland. Here's the latest from B:

Drove to Waterford from the B&B. Not as bad a drive in the daylight. Toured the factory and than drove to the heart of the city and wandered. D got online at the internet cafe while I went to the tourist office and booked rooms for Killkarney and Galway. We than toured a fishing village and had dinner. Today we are eating at blarney castle in cork on our way to killkarney.

**************
Predicted to hit low-mid 30's here tonight, blustery during the day.
Should hit 50's and sunny all weekend, not as windy Sun.

Joining a couple others for a Sun. afternoon ride that will be new to me.
The 55mi Mount Weather loop (aka Blue Ridge Challenge) starts/ends in Marshall, VA, a little over a 1hr drive for me. A crisp day with nice fall colors is the hope.

Looks like I might find an elevated point where I can snap a pic.


An easy/off day today exercise-wise.
Chiro, massage at lunch hr.
Eve – 20mins poolside stretching, then swim.

Swim 40mins drills and very form-focused steady free.