Top of the Key

Turned out to be a big workout day. I couldn’t decide if I should swim or bike first. In the past, I would always do the swims first thing in the morning. But trying a new approach, run before anything else. So I got out on the run by 6:30. It’s still dark out then. Ran with the GPS again, so I headed toward NCAR on Table Mesa. It’s a steady climb, and I can’t think of the last time I did this run. But the steady uphill action is really great to pace yourself and get the feeling of your form. The only drawback is the run downhill. I hate that.

A quick bite to eat and then off the pool. I had a big swim, and knowing that, I knew I wouldn’t be spot on. But it’s a swim, and I’m not going to gain minutes at this point. So, just headed into the swim with the intention of working on my form. I read a blog post first thing this morning which got me thinking about my goals. I really need to just swim and work on efficiency. Like I said, I’m not going to break any records in the pool..not even close. And then once I was at the pool, there was that swimmer, which I could totally tell was a triathlete (the standard jersey tan we all get), and he was really smooth, and long with his stroke. I looked at it under water, and it was effortless. So with that, I tried to swim long and strong. Big catch, and really try to glide. I was getting 18 strokes per 25, where I normally get 21. So something was good there. Then, the women I shared the lane with stopped me. She said that she is really intimidated by men swimmers, with their splashing and thrashing and sometimes ‘out of control’. But she said it was a real pleasure to swim with me…I wasn’t splashing, I was smooth, and she said my stroke looked really, really good. Sooooooooooooo what do i take from that? If you set an intention before a workout, and really focus on it even if you have to through the actual workout out the door, you’ll benefit more. At least that’s what I think…and believe.

Back home again, this time to eat more…but then Jess was heading to core power yoga for 11:30, Jo’s class. I usually go to her class in South Boulder. So i said why not…what’s another activity. And I needed the stretching too. One move which tore my hip flexor apart and showed how unflexible my quads are, was this bracing up against the wall. You put your back to the wall, bring your right leg back so it’s braced up against the wall by your foot, and then you are stretching your left leg out…pretty hard to explain, but man, I could not straighten up. My quads were super tight. Another thing to work on. Although I stretch, guess I’m not stretching the right muscles.

Now to work…it’s 2pm, start of my work day today!

The weather is changing a bit, and for the better. I ran outside again, started around 7am. I used my new Timex BodyLink System…pretty cool to view the mileage I’ve been running the past year. I had 3×800’s at the track, and in z4. There was ice and snow on it, but enough patches of track to jump around a little and get a solid surface. Finished up the run and got straight to work. For some reason, I remember running this distance last year and having aches and pains in my hip flexors and knees. But running through the off-season was huge for me.

Did the Over Distance ride tonight on the cranks. All 27 miles. I actually like these rides, since it’s the winter, I just zone out and watch college basketball. Great game tonight between Duke and Pittsburgh, overtime, and buzzer beater…doesn’t get any better. So hopefully recover some tonight, and then run/swim tomorrow. My long swim for the week. Looking forward to a stabalizer next week.

Starting to feel a little run down. I guess yesterday’s brick took a little bit more out of me than I had originally thought. I got to the pool later than I wanted to, and then when I got there, I was feeling a bit spent. So i just accepted the way my body felt, and tried to treat it as a mental workout. I had my 600 yd. TT in the pool today too. After a big warm up, I was ready as I would ever be for it. I just kept thinking about each 100, just complete one more 100. Until I was done. Because of the weights the previous night, i really had to keep my arms loose and that helped to keep a soft flow to the stroke.

Got done with the pool workout and headed home. I was tired all day. Didn’t have time to nap, but did have a massage today with Jess. I was so out of it. I don’t really remember the walk home from her office. But doing a little better now. Prepping for a 10 mile run tomorrow. Supposed to be nice weather.

Had a solid workout today. On the bike at 5am, on the run by 7:30. The bike was pretty uneventful. Just sitting on the trainer in the aero for 2 hours. In a few more months, I’ll be sitting in the aero for 6-8 hours. Off the bike, I couldn’t decide if I should run to the gym and then get my main mileage on the trainer, or just run outside. I had 7 miles to do, and I have the perfect 7 mile loop that starts and ends at our house. And the course is hilly too. I ended up running outside. There was a moment there where I was going to detour to the gym, as I run rigth past it. And i had slightly underdressed, what’s new? But stuck with it, and really had a solid run. My pace was right on target, 7:09 min. miles. Weird how this z3 pace was the pace I held for the 10k on Saturday. But on Saturday, I was pushing z4.

After the run, I still had weights to do, but no time. So i pushed it off to the night if I could squeeze it in. I did. Now it’s about time to sleep. For those morning rides, I’ve been catching up on Heroes. You can watch them on NBC, so i just keep flying through the episodes, I’m onto season 2 right now. Also watching Big Love, an HBO series. I find this easier to watch than a movie, because it’s all at once and then your done. Whereas with series, it just keeps going.

I said I was going to post a photo of the new member in our family, Weke…here it is. He is fighting Harrison for the ball. They’ve really gotten along well, too well. We are really lucky to find great cats. Actually, Weke is trying to grab Lhasa’s tail right now, and she’s not liking it. They’ll work it out.

Took Sunday off totally from exercise. I wasn’t planning to, but I was feeling the effort I put forth on Saturday. So just let it go and rested up for today’s workout.

Monday’s have started to get me into a routine. Run early, end up at the pool, and done by 9am to get a solid day’s of work in. Today’s run was a bit harder than normal, due to the wind and snow swept trails. I ran from the house and got on the boulder creek trail. Wind was at my back going out, and then slammed directly into my face on the way back. I was running in deeper snow in some areas as the wind was blowing it over the trail. Managed to get back home and check on our new cat, Weke, and then headed up to the rec center to swim. We picked up Weke yesterday at the Boulder Humane Society. We have always had a cat in the house since Jess and I started dating. And almost a year ago, we lost Mac, the best cat we ever had. He was from the Humane Society as well, and really got along with our dogs. Now Weke has been here just over 24 hours, and he’s already roaming the house and playing with the dogs. Lhasa, our Bernese Mountain Dog, loves cats. She is very interested in this new animal that’s taking over the bed. Weke has even slept in Lhasa’s dog bed today. He’s really cool, we’ve lucked out with animals for sure. Our family is back to 5 now, and everything is right again.

Basic drill swim today. Felt pretty good. I’m planning to get up again tomorrow at 4am to get on the bike for 5. I like those days, feels like I get so much more done. I’ll post a photo of Weke tomorrow.

Race day, not the normal prep was needed this morning. Without the swim and bike, You really don’t need to prepare much for a 10k. We rolled down there, Jess and our friend Brian, to the Chatfield Res for Rudolph’s Revenge 10k. It was so cold when we got out of the car…and could feel the ice directly under the thin layer of snow. You could even see it if you wiped away the snow. I knew I just wanted to be cautious, and not risk having my feet slide out from under me.

Warmed up for about 2 miles. Got the race start, and then just paced myself around 7min. miles. I felt pretty good, nothing aching. I was surprised how the cold wasn’t burning through my chest. At the turnaround, I was beginning to push it a bit more, middle of z4. The course was hilly, so sometimes i was flying, and others just really trying to get up the hills as fast as I could. I was slipping more on the 2nd leg of the race. And lost some ground, but kept trying to gain it back on the flats. Between mile 5 and 6, i really pushed it to high z4. I caught with this group of guys that looked really solid. I stayed with them for a minute or so, and then just pushed past. I looked back once, and they weren’t getting closer. I finished strong and that’s been a really big goal of mine when running these races. Noone passed me, although i seeded myself towards the back to start. I like catching up to runners versus in the lead, but need to work on that to get past the 44 min. time. I ran a 44:17 today, about 7:09min/miles.

Still had a 26 mile over distance ride to do, so jumped on the bike when i got home and rode the cranks. I felt ok, so stayed with it and finished all the mileage. I know i’ll be feeling it tomorrow. Might get out for a small run to keep the feel going, and not stiffen up. But will know more tomorrow.

Still snowing here in Boulder, pretty cold day, and the roads aren’t clearing too quickly. I swam this morning, got in 3400 yards with alot of that in big chunks. The main set was 2×500 in z3, and then 3×50’s in z3. I like the way Craig is setting these up. Different from last year, and keeping it interesting.

Tomorrow is the 10k, hoping to do a good time despite the cold and snow…and ice.

Woke up real early today to get my long ride in before 9am. I was on the bike at 5am, and rode the cranks for 9 miles, then jumped on the tri bike. I had some standing efforts, and I just can’t stand on the cranks…some people can, I am not one of them. I felt really good, and if I had to, could have ridden longer. Finished the bike and went out for a quick mile run. Again, even with the snow and ice on the ground, I was able to do a mile off the bike in z2 under 8 min. For some, that’s probably not a very big accomplishment. But for me, it’s a good pace for where I’ve come from.

I plan to run tomorrow, even with a 10k race on saturday. I figure it’s a good training run, and running with tired legs. You’ll see that I’ve enabled the ‘comments’ feature on my blog. Feel free to leave a comment, I’ll post it if it’s postable of course.