Fever Aches and Chills= Easy Week

As you can guess from the title there has not been much to say about easy week.  Very unplanned easy week.  I rode on Sunday the 25th feeling very certain of myself.  Did a 30 minute warm-up while watching the Police live DVD and added in Extra Shot from the spectacular folks at Sufferfest.  Followed that with the usual 30 minutes of core and thought nothing more of it.  A pretty typical Sunday, as the world turns.

Then, we started to get the sense that the tri-kids were not their usual spunky selves and by the time the sun had set, we were in the middle of a full blown snot fest; full of aches pains and general malaise... and all of this accompanied by a low grade fever and chills.  It also became apparent that this was going to include me. I did my best to make it to work on Monday but it was very obvious that I was not going to be an active participant throughout the week and ended up off for Tuesday and Wednesday.  I trundled in to sit in front of my computer screen to get done what was needed for two days and basically phoned it in.



Today, it was time to get back in the saddle and regain some kind of strength. How bad could it be?  Well freakin' impossible... that's how bad.  My glorious return to sufferlandria was the epic - Violator.

This is easily the hardest video out of the lot.  Check this out... over the course of 69 minutes you will do 64 sprints to the point that your legs will no longer respond as your heart has simply exploded and left your steaming carcass still upright only because of the gyroscopic effect created by your spinning legs still cleated to your pedals. 

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!

How Rude!

Not the day for me.
Running angry and frustrated
the music died in the middle
In my mind I'm going to Caro......
the last 3 miles
just me
and my controlled breathing
gasping
running around in consummate concentric circles
... dreaming away the bothers.

Mile 6 would not come and then when it arrived, it would not leave
.... how rude!

Bless you kind sir!

Back in the pool today after a wonderful 2 days off. 7x300 on the schedule and it felt fine... actually better than fine. It felt divine.  The water was flowing over me as I cut through on the first few sets and really felt like I had something going on.  The last few, as always, we a bit of a stretch, but I did 'em.  The guy in the lane beside me offered a suggestion after watching me turn off the wall and suggested that i keep my arm up and out instead of going back through the water.  Creates a bit less resistance (which is always good) and might add up to a second or two throughout the 300m... bless you kind sir.... bless you.

2K or 2000m or 80 laps... you choose

Today was a 2K or 2000m or 80 lap TT.  To be honest it was not as much of a TT as a get int eh damn pool and swim 80 lengths and see if I can still hold 1:40 min/100m.  The answer to the question is ..... yep.

This was my 7th day in a row... no wonder I feel tired.

Ski Weekend

The weather has broken and we have made our way out to Beaudry again and had the time of our lives.  The kids are getting better and better with every day and they are beginning to enjoy the sport.... that said, it take a miracle to get us all out of the house.

Sat was just a little fun with Tri-Gal takin' off with Tri-girl and and Tri-Boy and I bringing up the rear.  And how do we evaluate a good ski day..... no one fell.... more than once.

At the top of mount Crumpit.

Action Jackson.

All alone in the Basswood.

Apres Ski!

We made our way out Sunday morning with High School Yodeller and took to the trails sans kiddies. It was good to go your own pace, but on the other hand, no rest for the wicked other than texting now and then that you were alive and your location. 

Round and Round

I'm feeling a little RaTT tonight.

Round and Round... love will find a way just give it time.

Why the throwback?

I did 7 miles at the track at the Centennial.  That = 84 laps.  12 per mile.  I just chunked them up and all I can say is that I was saved by tri-boy's iPod shuffle.

Took this video of my journey in time lapse .  Enjoy!

Nothing Fancy

too much going on makes it very hard to keep up with the blog, so if you will permit me, I will update several days at once.

This week had been busy and I know that with all of this activity, I can eat just about anything and not gain an ounce.  I am sensing a full rack of ribs in my future.... yummy!

Let's see..  we started with a really intense swim on Tuesday.  I was have moved forward with my sprint set and added two more reps to round out the distance to 2100m.  I was feeling really go on this one and it helped that there was some doofus in the other lane taking me on.  Literally, he was sitting at the end waiting for me then he would attack off the wall and try to stay with me for 50 and then he was done for about 3:00 minutes and then he would attack again..... fun.  I have no doubt that his helped me keep it real as I managed a 1:35/ 100m avg.  Call me the flash.

Then it was off to Beaudry for a family ski on Wednesday.  The thing is, that by the time we got home and loaded the kiddies up with the skis and then we had to stop for a park pass.... I have to be honest it was fairly dark by the time we pulled the skis out of the van and started around the Wild Grape Loop.  Tri-Girl and Kid of Steel one headed out as I wrestled with tri-boy's bindings as they were caked with snow and would not quite catch.  With our eyes as dilated as pre-teen crushing on One Direction, we headed out and had a great time in the silence and the snow.  It honestly did not seem that bad until we got back to the parking lot and the big light made us realize that it was indeed pitch black and we were out way past our bed time.

Nothing fancy, just a great time with the family.

And today it was back to the pool.  Only 1500m on the docket.  I have at least 10K to run tomorrow after work, so no real need to push myself today.  That said, it felt good and the times were comparable to my Tuesday work out and fall into that fast-ish category for me.  Colour me happy.

Now if I can only get them to sponsor my tired legs

I like the titles of the sufferfest videos... puny and direct. Today, we no exception really.  A Very Dark Place.  What else would you expect?  How about visiting there 5 times within 35 minutes.  After a brief warm up you dive in to a set of 5x 4:00 with 3:00 recovery. Those 4:00 are merciless, and I do mean by the strictest definition - without mercy.  thing starting with a 110 cadence standing sprint in to a continued 8.5 /10 effort with pushes and climbs in-between.

I wonder if Advil sponsors any major event or specifically any rider?

Yes, .... yes they do.   Now if I can only get them to sponsor my tired legs.

POP goes the Tri-Guy

Round and round the Centennial Track
Tri-Guy chased his Heart Rate
The Heart Rate though it was all in fun
POP goes the Tri-Guy!

81 laps = 6.75miles or 10.86K - thank you ipod shuffle!


BOOM!  Longest run since August and it felt like it ... 'specially at about 1:00AM. - Advil to the rescue.

Somehow Strangely Satisfying

Got to the pool some.

The Centennial and I are getting along just fine and I am pleased with the results.  After the initial set of 3x500m with 1:20 in-between, I decided to go back and see what it might look like if I put my self into the scenario of the race distance of 2 K or for my use 2100m or 7x300m.  No matter how you slice it,  there was a bucket of back and forth and on the 2100m day, I was one of 4 people in the entire pool.... somehow strangely satisfying, yet when you are all alone like that, you start to think about sharks.... not sure why.  Maybe think about them motivatd me to keep the pace up as I managed to average 1:37minute/100m average for both.  Smiles for me.

The Gag and the Rising: Long Scream

Okay.... not a bad thing that no one really follows this thing, as I have been so busy this week that........ wait a minute, it was not really that I was busy, it was more the fact that Garmin was having a hissy fit an you could not up load any of your data and that meant that there really was not much to post.  That said, I was busy.  I got in a great TT on Sunday and then 2 epic swims and then topped it all off with the longest run since August.

There is really not much to say here.   We did a 30 minute warm up, as the extra shot does not come with a warm-up.... and then a 30:00 TT.  I know it sounds a bit hyperbolic, as I always seem to say that I almost threw up, but guess what, I did.  Seriously, the gag and the rising in the back of my throat... caught me completely by surprise. If you are looking for a way to get your numbers and a base line for the Sufferfest series... take my word for it (as I wipe the vomit from my lips), The Long Scream is exactly where to start.

Hell Hath no Fury

Today, I made it to the pros and I am riding again for the national team at the Women's ICU and we are going for a Yellow jersey today.   Two big 20:00 races with a TTT at the end that can rip your legs off.  Having not been on the bike for a bit, I seemed like a good idea to stay with the usual 30:00 warm-up and in all honesty, I could feel the pain of turkey dinners and the rest of the festive snacking weighing me down.

In my last workout with Sufferfest, I did the Rubber Glove - the Sufferlandrian physical fitness test. Out of that, I had raised my TT effort and now I was going to have to ride at a bit higher speed when I was asked to hit my 7.0 out of 10.  There is no other way to say it, this was going to hurt

..... and hurt it did.  At one point in the second race, a thought entered my mind that this was going to be the one that breaks me.  This was going to be the video that I have to stop and cannot complete.  That th ough was banished and immediately replaced with thoughts of the glory and women that would be showered down upon me when I took the title..... besides it was not like I had any choice and the ministry was going to boil me alive if I did not take home the Yellow Jersey.

All that aside, I love these videos as they consistently get me to do things I never would have dreamed of doing otherwise.

On a side note, Tri-girl and I took the triathlon kids down to the pool for a little lap swim and some fun.  Wouldn't you know it, the pool was closed due to a fouling.  WTF!!!  This is the 4th time my swim has been cancelled due to a fouling on a Friday since October.  I actually stopped going on Fridays, but this was the last day of my holidays, so I mad an exception.... Fuck!