I am currently self-"coached," if you can call it that. Sure, I am not sure exactly what I am doing and would love to put myself in the hands of a coach, but my workout schedule is so wacky and I need to have family as a highest priority right now, so it just seems like it isn't worth the expense.
Anyway, in my schedule I don't really have rest days. I wish I could get the volume I want in 6 days a week, but with work and the kids and Dave's workouts to schedule around, it just doesn't seem possible. Instead I have been trying to listen to the body and take the rest day when I need it on a day that doesn't have a critical workout. So far this has been working for me.
But I think I have a rest day coming.
I woke up Thursday a little sore, but Thursday is my bike commute day and I had an important run scheduled for lunchtime, so I did that. This morning I woke up fatigued again, but Friday is the day I go to my strength class at the gym, which I adore (and pay for), so I did that.
I hate making Saturday a rest day, but it might just have to happen tomorrow. At least a very breezy day with windchills in the teens seems like a good candidate for one.
Who knows if this makes sense as a way to train, but it just seems to be a shame to schedule rest days when the body is ready to train. After almost six years of triathlon training (well, minus the two seasons I took "off"), I should be able to hear what my body is saying regarding fatigue, right?
I hope so.
Tacchino
Friday, February 8, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
The Track
For this winter at least, I have turned Monday lunchtime into my track workout because I work from home on Mondays and there is a track nearby. Now, I love the track.
I'm not sure when I came to love the track. It definitely wasn't when playing lacrosse in college, so I am going to blame my mid-20s when my life revolved around NOVA rugby and getting quicker and fitter and better at 7s. And having some fun. But sometimes you have more fun when you win, so we spent a lot of hours at the track.
We had various programs and met up in the dark of the dead of winter and in the early morning hours in the heat of Virginia summer and, a few memorable times, during rain that turned to thunderstorms. Thunderstorms that were very close.
So, as far as running workouts go, I think that as far as the satisfaction and overall good feeling I get from a workout, the track is my second favorite kind of training run. It pales in comparison to my favorite, a trail run, but it is a solid second. Long runs are nice, especially when there are pace goals attached, but very little compares to checking the watch at the end of an interval that induced and seeing that you are spot-on pace and that you will be able to knock out another one.
But some days you get caught up in something and when you look at the little computer clock it is 12:55. And you haven't eaten lunch because you were going to run. And you make the mistake of sticking your arm outside to see if 34 degrees really feels like 34 degrees today - and it does. And you know the workout is mile repeats. Like, more than a couple.
These are the days I rely on working out as a habit (and guilt) to go upstairs and get dressed and just go do it. I thought about driving .75 of a mile down the street and parking to halve my trip over to the track and back (no parking at the track during school hours), but I didn't.
So I was very happy to get out there and just start putting them back. I prefer shorter intervals so, mentally, mile repeats are a bit of challenge for me, but it helped the the right times were showing up on my watch as it buzzed me in for each mile. And that I didn't feel cold after the second one and was able to take my jacket and gloves off. And when I felt a mild rebellion at the start of the fourth one, I might have taken some inspiration from Caroline's hill repeats the other day, because I think I know what part of Walter Reed she is talking about and that hill is ginormous.
So I am happy to be able to tell you that I was able to nail every repeat, even the 400 full pace that was tacked onto the end of the last mile. They weren't easy, but I didn't feel totally spent on the run home and feel fine now.
And, as always, the worst part was getting out the door.
I'm not sure when I came to love the track. It definitely wasn't when playing lacrosse in college, so I am going to blame my mid-20s when my life revolved around NOVA rugby and getting quicker and fitter and better at 7s. And having some fun. But sometimes you have more fun when you win, so we spent a lot of hours at the track.
We had various programs and met up in the dark of the dead of winter and in the early morning hours in the heat of Virginia summer and, a few memorable times, during rain that turned to thunderstorms. Thunderstorms that were very close.
So, as far as running workouts go, I think that as far as the satisfaction and overall good feeling I get from a workout, the track is my second favorite kind of training run. It pales in comparison to my favorite, a trail run, but it is a solid second. Long runs are nice, especially when there are pace goals attached, but very little compares to checking the watch at the end of an interval that induced and seeing that you are spot-on pace and that you will be able to knock out another one.
But some days you get caught up in something and when you look at the little computer clock it is 12:55. And you haven't eaten lunch because you were going to run. And you make the mistake of sticking your arm outside to see if 34 degrees really feels like 34 degrees today - and it does. And you know the workout is mile repeats. Like, more than a couple.
These are the days I rely on working out as a habit (and guilt) to go upstairs and get dressed and just go do it. I thought about driving .75 of a mile down the street and parking to halve my trip over to the track and back (no parking at the track during school hours), but I didn't.
So I was very happy to get out there and just start putting them back. I prefer shorter intervals so, mentally, mile repeats are a bit of challenge for me, but it helped the the right times were showing up on my watch as it buzzed me in for each mile. And that I didn't feel cold after the second one and was able to take my jacket and gloves off. And when I felt a mild rebellion at the start of the fourth one, I might have taken some inspiration from Caroline's hill repeats the other day, because I think I know what part of Walter Reed she is talking about and that hill is ginormous.
So I am happy to be able to tell you that I was able to nail every repeat, even the 400 full pace that was tacked onto the end of the last mile. They weren't easy, but I didn't feel totally spent on the run home and feel fine now.
And, as always, the worst part was getting out the door.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Long Sets
I was in the pool yesterday and had assigned myself a main set of 2 x 1000 at a manageable pace. (Meters! It really messes my times up when I swim in that meter pool, but that's neither here nor there.)
I wasn't feeling great since the baby brought a cold back from daycare and has not been sleeping and, as it turns out, passed the thing on to me. But I wasn't certain of that yesterday and I went to the pool. Anyway, I picked these long sets because they wouldn't require too much thought. Usually I prefer something a little cuter.
By the end of the first 1000, however, I realized that I really was letting the brain turn off too much and my arms were being pretty floppy. So I reset in my 15 seconds at the wall and felt great for the next 250. And then, just a little bit, I felt the fade start. And it hit me, I have felt this happen in the swim in a race too. I feel good and focused until just past that first turn buoy, then the long middle section stretches out in front of me and if I don't have someone's toes to try to hang onto, my mind can wander.
So I made it a goal to keep focus all the way through the set, to think actively about my arms and my breathing and my turns on each stroke and not start planning out the rest of the day while just counting 26, 27, 28, in the back of my head.
It is obvious that the mental part of racing has to be replicated in training too, but sometimes it seems to take more energy and focus than getting the body to actually do the work.
I don't have the time to let any training sessions go to waste, so I better work on this this season.
I wasn't feeling great since the baby brought a cold back from daycare and has not been sleeping and, as it turns out, passed the thing on to me. But I wasn't certain of that yesterday and I went to the pool. Anyway, I picked these long sets because they wouldn't require too much thought. Usually I prefer something a little cuter.
By the end of the first 1000, however, I realized that I really was letting the brain turn off too much and my arms were being pretty floppy. So I reset in my 15 seconds at the wall and felt great for the next 250. And then, just a little bit, I felt the fade start. And it hit me, I have felt this happen in the swim in a race too. I feel good and focused until just past that first turn buoy, then the long middle section stretches out in front of me and if I don't have someone's toes to try to hang onto, my mind can wander.
So I made it a goal to keep focus all the way through the set, to think actively about my arms and my breathing and my turns on each stroke and not start planning out the rest of the day while just counting 26, 27, 28, in the back of my head.
It is obvious that the mental part of racing has to be replicated in training too, but sometimes it seems to take more energy and focus than getting the body to actually do the work.
I don't have the time to let any training sessions go to waste, so I better work on this this season.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
That New Leaf Again
Yesterday evening, I didn't really want to go to the track to run 800s. Usually I love to go to the track, but it was New Year's Eve, and starting to get cold.
This morning, with the temperature in the 30s, I wasn't sure I really wanted to go out and ride intervals on my bike for the first time in months. And by that I mean I cleaned my chain for what must have been the first time in 6 months, since we just got a chain cleaning tool for the new house since the old one is lost. (I have been riding my new Cross bike a lot, but not my tri bike, not at all.)
A few days ago I really didn't want to start tracking food again. The hassle!
But these things were all done. I'm scanning food labels with my phone and jotting snacks down on a piece of paper when my phone isn't handy. My hip flexors can feel those intervals from the return trip up the hill from past Vienna. I'm reminding myself that the things done in the darkness and chill of December and January pay off in the bright sunshine of a spring race day. This is all, of course, common knowledge, but sometimes I still have to remind myself.
The funny thing is that it isn't inertia that fights to keep me at home or some dislike of training. I have always loved training (except maybe 800s in the cold on the evening of New Year's Eve), but the difficulty of the scheduling of the workout more than anything. The logistics of the childcare and the timing and making sure we both get enough quiet moments in the day to stay sane. That's not a good reason to miss a workout, but sometimes it is.
Part of the new leaf is working through all that and making this more of a priority. Let's see what can be done in 2013.
This morning, with the temperature in the 30s, I wasn't sure I really wanted to go out and ride intervals on my bike for the first time in months. And by that I mean I cleaned my chain for what must have been the first time in 6 months, since we just got a chain cleaning tool for the new house since the old one is lost. (I have been riding my new Cross bike a lot, but not my tri bike, not at all.)
A few days ago I really didn't want to start tracking food again. The hassle!
But these things were all done. I'm scanning food labels with my phone and jotting snacks down on a piece of paper when my phone isn't handy. My hip flexors can feel those intervals from the return trip up the hill from past Vienna. I'm reminding myself that the things done in the darkness and chill of December and January pay off in the bright sunshine of a spring race day. This is all, of course, common knowledge, but sometimes I still have to remind myself.
The funny thing is that it isn't inertia that fights to keep me at home or some dislike of training. I have always loved training (except maybe 800s in the cold on the evening of New Year's Eve), but the difficulty of the scheduling of the workout more than anything. The logistics of the childcare and the timing and making sure we both get enough quiet moments in the day to stay sane. That's not a good reason to miss a workout, but sometimes it is.
Part of the new leaf is working through all that and making this more of a priority. Let's see what can be done in 2013.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Race Report - Ed Sander CX
Final race of the season was the Ed Sander CX just south of Frederick in Maryland. I travelled solo as the weather didn't appear to be great and I didn't want the kids and Dave stuck outside on a damp chilly morning while I raced. Plus, there is a little cold going around our house, so this wasn't going to make it better.
In the end, though, it was warm enough to race in shorts and a short sleeve jersey (though not warm enough to hang out in that for 45 minutes after the race, which I kind of accidentally did, then regretted, then remedied with a chai from a food truck).
There were about 10 in the women's Cat 4. Though I wasn't there in time for a warm up lap on the course, for once I got to the staging early and got a spot in the first row. I also, for once, had a good start. I clipped in on the right like normal and then sat on my seat leaning over to the left.
This proved to be a better strategy then standing over the top tube, as I have done before, because after the whistle I was in the lead! First! For 3 seconds. But then I was 3rd for a little bit, like 50 meters, before 3 girls whipped by me. And I am not sure why I needed to go through the next 35 or so minutes of pain, because I was 7th in the end too.
And pain there was. I thought it was quite a hard course with a couple spots of soul and momentum sucking misery. One was pit of pea gravel that surprised me on the first lap even though someone had mentioned it. More amazingly, it surprised me on the second lap too and I just barely remembered it on the third.
There was also a whole section that looked like it should be fast and fun, but it was low-lying and was in fact muddy and slow and after the first time through I remembered that.
The last notable part of the course was a spot where there was a 90 degree turn that went straight into a steep but short descent and another 90 degree turn in some soft ground at the bottom. On our first lap one woman in my race wiped out at the bottom and the one right in front of me bailed at the top, making it a bit of a tricky spot that lap, but it was not an issue after that. Then the course shortly after went into a few S-turns on the side of another steep incline. I really thought I could ride it the first time through, but wasn't able to manage in the traffic. The next two laps my legs were feeling the race and I didn't even try to ride, since it seemed faster to commit to running it from the start. I felt better when I learned that women in the higher Category races were running it too.
In the end I thought it was a fun race. Seventh wasn't ideal, but it wasn't last and I felt pretty spent at the end.
That's a wrap of Cyclocross season. Had a fun time and am considering doing some training over the rest of the year that would cross over to the sport more specifically so I can try again next year.
In the end, though, it was warm enough to race in shorts and a short sleeve jersey (though not warm enough to hang out in that for 45 minutes after the race, which I kind of accidentally did, then regretted, then remedied with a chai from a food truck).
There were about 10 in the women's Cat 4. Though I wasn't there in time for a warm up lap on the course, for once I got to the staging early and got a spot in the first row. I also, for once, had a good start. I clipped in on the right like normal and then sat on my seat leaning over to the left.
This proved to be a better strategy then standing over the top tube, as I have done before, because after the whistle I was in the lead! First! For 3 seconds. But then I was 3rd for a little bit, like 50 meters, before 3 girls whipped by me. And I am not sure why I needed to go through the next 35 or so minutes of pain, because I was 7th in the end too.
And pain there was. I thought it was quite a hard course with a couple spots of soul and momentum sucking misery. One was pit of pea gravel that surprised me on the first lap even though someone had mentioned it. More amazingly, it surprised me on the second lap too and I just barely remembered it on the third.
There was also a whole section that looked like it should be fast and fun, but it was low-lying and was in fact muddy and slow and after the first time through I remembered that.
The last notable part of the course was a spot where there was a 90 degree turn that went straight into a steep but short descent and another 90 degree turn in some soft ground at the bottom. On our first lap one woman in my race wiped out at the bottom and the one right in front of me bailed at the top, making it a bit of a tricky spot that lap, but it was not an issue after that. Then the course shortly after went into a few S-turns on the side of another steep incline. I really thought I could ride it the first time through, but wasn't able to manage in the traffic. The next two laps my legs were feeling the race and I didn't even try to ride, since it seemed faster to commit to running it from the start. I felt better when I learned that women in the higher Category races were running it too.
In the end I thought it was a fun race. Seventh wasn't ideal, but it wasn't last and I felt pretty spent at the end.
That's a wrap of Cyclocross season. Had a fun time and am considering doing some training over the rest of the year that would cross over to the sport more specifically so I can try again next year.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Spoiled
So, I know I should just be grateful that the bulk of my 12 mile bike commute is on a nice bike path that cuts across Northern Virginia on a route that is more direct than I could take on the roads and, more importantly (especially with early dusk), has no cars.
But sometimes, sometimes on December days where the temperature is forecast to hit 70 degrees, I wish there were two parallel bike trails. One for the commuters and one for the walkers, runners, toddler tricyclists, and dogs on extending leashes (oh, the extending leaches!).
Yup, I know I am spoiled.
But sometimes, sometimes on December days where the temperature is forecast to hit 70 degrees, I wish there were two parallel bike trails. One for the commuters and one for the walkers, runners, toddler tricyclists, and dogs on extending leashes (oh, the extending leaches!).
Yup, I know I am spoiled.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Trotting
Thursday morning was my turkey trot. Forecast was cold, in the 30s, but the sun came out strong once we got there and I took off several layers before getting ready to line up. And then Dave pressured me to take off my long sleeve shirt, leaving just a short sleeve tech tee underneath. Hesitated, hesitated, but decided he was probably right, so I stuffed it in the stroller with about 4 minutes to go until the start. Kept my gloves, though.
Lined up near the front, but about 6 rows back. I know there are some speedy folks at this Turkey Trot these days, but I didn't want to get behind people out for a morning stroll. Somehow this still happened, even though I was right up close, but I probably lost just a few seconds.
Race starts downhill to the first turn and basically trends downhill, then there is a long climb, then repeats this twice, with each decent and climb becoming a little shorter.
When I started my specific training 10 weeks ago, I had to do a timed mile to set paces. I was not thrilled to learn that my timed mile pace had fallen to 7:23, and that was at the track! According to the plan, that meant my race should be at 7:45s or 8s, and I was not down with that, so I had hoped that my fitness would come back with the focused training. Therefore, I was pleased and a little concerned to find my first mile to be 7:04. "Just don't lose it in the second half!"
Usually I have a decent sense of where I am in the field as I run, but I couldn't tell who around me was in my age group, not to mention that the race was chipped, unlike the Backyard Burns, so order over the line doesn't matter, chip time does. So I just went my hardest. There is a hill right in the last half mile that is a bit of a pincher and that is really where it hurt the most, but I tried to stride it out through the finish and ended up with a 22:31, for a 7:15 pace average and 10th in my age group. Not my best, but I am pretty happy with that right now.
I tend to obsess over results, I might have mentioned that, no? So, I have two observations. And a bonus observation. The first is that there were women in my age group who finished 9, 13, and 14 seconds ahead of me. Sure 5 seconds a mile is something, but I never help wondering if I could have found a few of those seconds somewhere with a little more pain or a better line.
The second is that my two most recent results in this trot were 21:20ish in 2010 and a 21:40ish the year before that. Of course you can never compare one race to another like I am about to do, but a 21:20 would have been a podium finish this year. Anyway, I would like to be there again, so maybe I will shoot for it next time I race it (I might be pushing the baby and running with a 5 year old next year so my husband can race, so I guess this might mean 2014 - that's a pretty long-term goal for a 5k...)
Bonus observation: The four fastest women were under 20 years old (16, 16, 19, 19), then the 30-somethings started finishing with a few more teenagers interspersed, including a 14 year old. The first 20-something didn't come in until 12th. I thought this was odd, but Dave pointed out all the 20 year olds might have just been out late the night before...
Next up: Maybe one more cross race if I can swing it and then trying to figure out how to train for a series of 5 hilly 5-mile trail races and an almost pancake flat half marathon at the same time. I can be at my peak for all 6 of those races, right?
Lined up near the front, but about 6 rows back. I know there are some speedy folks at this Turkey Trot these days, but I didn't want to get behind people out for a morning stroll. Somehow this still happened, even though I was right up close, but I probably lost just a few seconds.
Race starts downhill to the first turn and basically trends downhill, then there is a long climb, then repeats this twice, with each decent and climb becoming a little shorter.
When I started my specific training 10 weeks ago, I had to do a timed mile to set paces. I was not thrilled to learn that my timed mile pace had fallen to 7:23, and that was at the track! According to the plan, that meant my race should be at 7:45s or 8s, and I was not down with that, so I had hoped that my fitness would come back with the focused training. Therefore, I was pleased and a little concerned to find my first mile to be 7:04. "Just don't lose it in the second half!"
Usually I have a decent sense of where I am in the field as I run, but I couldn't tell who around me was in my age group, not to mention that the race was chipped, unlike the Backyard Burns, so order over the line doesn't matter, chip time does. So I just went my hardest. There is a hill right in the last half mile that is a bit of a pincher and that is really where it hurt the most, but I tried to stride it out through the finish and ended up with a 22:31, for a 7:15 pace average and 10th in my age group. Not my best, but I am pretty happy with that right now.
I tend to obsess over results, I might have mentioned that, no? So, I have two observations. And a bonus observation. The first is that there were women in my age group who finished 9, 13, and 14 seconds ahead of me. Sure 5 seconds a mile is something, but I never help wondering if I could have found a few of those seconds somewhere with a little more pain or a better line.
The second is that my two most recent results in this trot were 21:20ish in 2010 and a 21:40ish the year before that. Of course you can never compare one race to another like I am about to do, but a 21:20 would have been a podium finish this year. Anyway, I would like to be there again, so maybe I will shoot for it next time I race it (I might be pushing the baby and running with a 5 year old next year so my husband can race, so I guess this might mean 2014 - that's a pretty long-term goal for a 5k...)
Bonus observation: The four fastest women were under 20 years old (16, 16, 19, 19), then the 30-somethings started finishing with a few more teenagers interspersed, including a 14 year old. The first 20-something didn't come in until 12th. I thought this was odd, but Dave pointed out all the 20 year olds might have just been out late the night before...
Next up: Maybe one more cross race if I can swing it and then trying to figure out how to train for a series of 5 hilly 5-mile trail races and an almost pancake flat half marathon at the same time. I can be at my peak for all 6 of those races, right?
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