No great revelation

I did not want to go tonight.   That's it ... nothing in it that is too shocking... no great revelation... I just did not want to go.  Yesterday's workout nearly killed me, and there I was seemingly without a second of recovery (although it had been almost 20 hours) and my body was not up to the task.... at least mentally.  But, if there is anything I have learned over the past few years is that you'd be surprised what your body can do when you truly ask it to step up.  Also... I cannot mock all the people who show up religiously at the  start of the new year and then not continue to go regularly.

On that note, wow.... that place was a ghost town, comparatively speaking to the last few weeks.

I had my pick of the machines... and I got the magic one.  Ya see, all the machines at the "Y" are set for 30 min.... after that they move to a cool down 5 minutes and then that is it.... However, if you can find the "magic" machine, you can set it to marathon mode and you can run all day.

In the end, I did the usual with a slight twist as we are in a build period.  So tonight's workout looked like this.  15 minutes of stretching and active warm-up.  Then 2 miles at 6.5 then 2 miles at 7.5 and then 1 mile at 6.5  and then a cool down of 5 minutes.  In then end the data was 5.2 miles (8.36859 kms), 47:17 - which is about a 9 minute mile average... which is really slow for me; however, you tend to do that on a treadmill.... or at least I do.....    Oh and 873 Calories.


..... not bad for a night that wasn't going to amount to much.

A Hot Sweaty Monday

I started this morning with this in my head.....




I cannot go for a filling without thinking of this.  I first saw it when I was about 15 at Summer Camp and it has stuck with me since.  I am particularly fond of the bit at about 3:57 where he is trying to tell the Dr. that he smells smoke...  I started to laugh this morning and just about swallowed my tongue as I began to smell smoke.. There I was lying on my back with toes clenched wishing to be anywhere but under the drill and I am laughing.... I mean it started as a giggle, but after I hit a full blown chuckle, he looked down at me and said, "everything ok?"   NO it's not okay!!!!   You are literally drilling into my head and I am laughing about it.  

I think the dentist thought I was nuts.... maybe I am.

Anyhoo... I drooled through my day watching sheep regurgitate and made my way to tribe.

I got on the bike completely exhausted as the last bit of food I had was at 10:00 a.m. and it was now 5:30.... this was not going to go well.

I took my first hit off the water bottle only to have it dribble out of the left hand side of my mouth and down my jersey.... stoopid freezing.  As I dove into the set the blood coursing through my veins succeeded in rinsing out the last bit of the novocaine and the ache started to set i and throb along with my increased HR. .. sigh.

At about the 1 hour mark, I got off my bike and grabbed a GU... I am not even certain what flavour it was, as it went down faster than Felix without a chute.  Taht seemed to help a bit, but I am truly not certain how I made it thorough the last set of 3 minute Tempo into  2 minutes Threshold into 1 minute  whatever you have left - [ as long as it is faster].

Here's what it looked like in the end.

Wonderful Waterfall

The dripping sweat from my headband formed a wonderful waterfall symbolic of my aerobic longevity.  

Can't towel off enough even to make a dent....

Must shake it off like a dog......

What a workout..... 2 hours and 20 minutes of sheer push.  I am glad for it and my legs are coming back on line.  The last threshold set of 4 minuted on and 2 off x 5 was a real killer.

Here's how I got rid of some 1400 calories this morning.

Nothin' but 11's

So there I am at 6:20 staring my day in the pool, yet again.  As always, I did not do much of a warm up, I just stretched out the shoulders after throwing myself into the pool  (firsties).    I always start nice and relaxed and I was pleasantly surprised to reach the other end of the pool in 11 strokes.

A bit of a back story is to say that I tend to swim at the "y" purely for convenient sakes.  I am only a few blocks form work and I can drag myself out of there and be in my office in 15 minutes.  It is rarely busy (now that all the new years resolutionists have left) and I am always in a lane by myself.  The downside is that the pool is 19 m long and not the regular 25.  Consequently when I talk about strokes, some of you might raise an eyebrow.

So back to the back story is to say that in 2006, I decided to start swimming again as a way to get in shape.  At that time I hopped into the pool at the "y" - a former lifeguard and self proclaimed "jock" and I was not able to swim more than one length without feeling like my lungs were going to burst. I would do one length breast and free back.

At that time and for about a year after, as I slowly built up my fitness and began to go more than one or two lengths, I was consistently at 17 strokes per length.  I can remember some time in 2007/8 cleaning that up to 15 and sitting there for the longest time.  After that, with my arrival in the triathlon scene, I am not certain of the transition, but I have been sitting at 13 for ever and ever.

Well, as you can read by the title, today was all 11's.  Neat.  I mean it is not surprise to be fast in your first few laps, but to constantly hold that for 30 min or somewhere between 1500-1800m is pretty cool. Maybe it was the new goggle I got for christmas...

TYR - Special ops polarized and mirrored red... tres chic, no?

Getting out of bed

So it is Saturday again and the weather is trying for a repeat of last week to no avail, but it  sure is blowing it around to try to look like something.  The sun has come out now and the bright light contrasted with the whiteness of the snow makes everyone a little bit happy... that and the return of the Jets at 2:00 this afternoon.

Caught all of part 1 and most of part 2 of Lance and Oprah.  I really don't care.  I like him.... faults and all.  He got an overweight slob of a man to re-invest in himself and to redirect some pretty negative energy into cycling... and ultimately triathlon.  There is no better drug than watching a stage of the tour and then hopping on your bike and giving it hell.

Hey - it still gets me out of bed and on my way to the Pan Am even though the weather is hellish.

Even without the windchill, we are looking at a high on Monday of -27˚C.  Sigh.......

Today was a solid effort in spite of the false moniker of 'Easy Week."  We started with our usual HR test building up to 90% of our Max HR in 15 minutes and then seeing how much we recover in 90 seconds.    Today my max HR was 156 and my heart rate after 90 seconds was 100.  So, A-B = 56 so I am up about 3 b.p.m. from the last test.  So there's that.  It may even mean that I am getting in shape.

In the end a solid 2 hours and 1200 Calories make for a great Sunday.

Blah, Blah, Blah

Well.... let's see.

I'm okay and I am sticking with it.   I have thought about all this level of training that I keep doing and I really have no reason.  There is no big race or huge event that I need to be ready for.  There is just me and I have been so involved in exercise for so long that I honestly believe that it has become a  part of my life.  And, being totally candid, I must admit to some enjoyment in the feeling of accomplishment that each event brings.... more bragging than complaining, I guess.

So to re-cap the last little while is to say that I am still on board with doing 30 minutes free before class on either Wednesday or Thursday.... meaning that I am in the pool at 6:15 and I am swimming about 1500 to 1800 metres in that time.  There really is something to be said about the zen of swimming back and forth and back and forth and back and forth....

Well I did learn something last week.  When you get out of the pool and steam fro 10 minutes, you might want to leave enough time so that your shower can take. .... you know what I mean?  I am talking about arriving at work and even-though you have showered, you are still sweating.  I even waited until i was out side to put on my jacket, as I just could not get the heat under control.  Sometimes, I am just a dumb-ass like everyone else.

So the plan was to take Friday off and then get back to it with the Tribe on Saturday and a long run on Sunday.  Go up Saturday morning to this...

In actual fact, we only received about 15CM of snow, but the wind was up in the 60 kmph area and it covered the area.  I got up at 6:00 a.m. and put on my boots and went out to see a 3 ft high drift up against the garage.... nope... not going to happen.  When I did get around to it, after letting my snowblower warm up for 45 minutes, it took me an hour and a half to blow out the driveway and the street in the front of my house.

Needless to say, Sunday was a wright off as well, as the temp was -29˚C with a windchill at -35˚C with the roads not plowed and extremely treacherous.

That brings us to Monday.  No Michael... we got Jeff. Either way, the work our solidified in my already mushy brain that there is nothing easy about easy week.  This set was kickin' and it was all I could do to keep up.  In fact during the main set, I literally thought I was not going to be able to do the second repeat.  Then there was the 10, 10 second all out sprints with 1:50 recovery.... Yikes.

Here's what it looks like to burn just over 1000 calories...




There is some serious effort in there.... let me tell you.

That brings us to Tuesday... Dance Night.

There I was back at the "Y" doing my thing.  I did about 20minutes of stretching and then headid out to try to get a treadmill... good luck.  What the fuck am I thinking.   There I am waiting for some lab rat to get off their hamster wheel.  There is easily 40 machines and all of them were occupied.  So... I waited.

I finally got on and began my workout to the blah, blah, blah of the people around me. .... god I need some music.

Caution.. people actually not working out... just posing.

Anyhoo... I got in my 5 miles and I was happy... even though I had to stop at the 30 min mark, as it is set to go no longer.  My set seems to be 2 miles at 6.5 and then 2 miles at 7 and then one mile at 6.5 to round it all out.  It was really good sweat and I think if I can get some tunes going i might even enjoy it a bit more.... I am simply not one who enjoys crowds at the best of times..... and let me tell you that 5:45 at the "Y" on a Tuesday night is pure pandemonium.

So then it was Wendesday and I hit the water at 6:15......  Brrrrrrrrrrr.......

Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, sputter as you inhale some water,  and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, adjust goggles, and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, sprint a bit so that you can absolutely crush the guy in the lane beside you, and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, check your watch and see that you still have 10 minutes left,  and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back, check you watch and see that your still have 8 minutes left, and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and get out.  Hurry to work and giggle at the fact that your hair freezes before you get to the car.

Next time I'm going to funk it up.

Its been a couple of days of wicked fun.  Monday out with the Tribe and enjoying a heck of a work out.  This was a really solid effort and my legs were done in from the get go... 90 RPM seemed like a fantasy.... but I got there... I always do.    I guess in the midst of prepping the set someone either mis-red the set or simply wanted to see what we'd do... but we had a set of 10 - 10 second all out sprints from a stop with 10 seconds rest.... try that one on for size.  Hell... there was no sprint it was all I could do just to get out of the saddle.  See for yourself...


Not to mention that my Garmin was pitching a fit as I did not turn off the satellite reception and it had me doing ridiculous things inside the Pan Am.... just look at the map..... let alone the elevation gains.... better yet what about the 84.5KMPH top speed.  Hell I wouldn't go that fast if you flat out dropped me from the roof of the freakin' place.  Regardless, and as always, I had a good sweat going and there was a significant lake to prove it.

A bit of rest and on to Tuesday....

A new twist in the old sched.. tuesday workout.  So I dropped off the little blighter at dance and headed over to the "Y" to add in a few miles on the hamster wheel.  I got in and I could not even find a parking spot... why?  New Year's Resolutioners + Swimming lessons + fitness classes + Open gym = MAD HOUSE!!!!!   I was lucky to find a machine.

I did a bit of stretching while I waited and hopped on to the tready shortly there after and proceeded to eaves-drop on a wonderful conversation beside me about the difficultied of video editing and the amount of RAM needed to get the job done.... my own little slice of Reality Hell.... next time.... funk music. Regardless of the blah, blah, blahing beside me I still managed to get in 4.5 miles in about 40 minutes.   My data would have been a bit more accurate, but the machine shut itself off at the 30 minute mark and I got all pissed off as I was in the middle of a faster mile.  Lots of grrrrrrr and sigh and then I managed to reset the damn thing, but only after coming to a complete stop.  Next time I will know better.

As fast as one can in ice and snow

After getting through an excruciating return to the bike yesterday, man that was a killin' work out, I wanted to get back on to the routine of doing long runs on Sunday.  I have decided that I have no really "A" race in mind, so I think 10k should be my base.  So.....



The run was good and I felt okay during it, but I am always so jealous of all those people that get to train on a hard surface all year round.  Even with my running cleats on I was still all over the map for the first and last mile as I tried to negotiate the edge of Charleswood road... just slip slidin' away.

Dainties are Bad. Tribe is good.

"Just a hearty hibernation," he said with a twinkle in his eye.  Just one more chocolate.  Just one more glass of wine.  But then the consequence.... you have to get back on the bike and suffer through the start up of another new year in the world of triathlon.

To be honest, I feel  that I have done rather well over the break.  Since my last post, we took the kiddies to lap swim twice and they loves to play in the pool while Tri-Girl and i went at it for 30 minutes of free.  That in itself should be commended just on the sheer fact that we had to get up at some un-godly hour to make it to the pool before lap swim ended at 9:00.  Nothing.... and I do mean that there is nothing like waking up at the bottom of a pool.

As well, Tri-Girl and I got out for a nice 5k.



Nothing too strenuous, just an easy day out in the sun... and with a little procrastination, we made our way to Friday where we took the kids tobogganing at Woodhaven.

This was great as we owned the hill, as there was no one there.   Tri-girl skated to her hearts delight on a rink that had just been flooded and there was not a soul around.  Never underestimate the exercise involved in climbing up and down the hill in heavy clothing.

Finally, it was back at it at the PanAm and Tri-girl and I made our way out with trainers and accoutrements to join our fellow tribe members for a serious workout.  Click on the "View details" for a brief recap of the carnage.


All in all, I am ready to get back into the saddle.  It truly feels satisfying.