Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Training Update

I'm making a tee shirt that says "My Coach Made Me Do It" or "Blame it on my coach...I do" Seems apropos somehow. May make up for the psychic scarring I'm experiencing trying to breast stroke with a pull buoy between my knees (I simply don't BEND that way!) or finishing 4 x 50 of butterfly kick with a board (oh my abs oh my abs oh my abs).

But back to the update.

I still love it, even when I take pot shots at my coach. She keeps me honest and I've been more excited about triathlon than I was when I first learned about this crazy little "activity." (Pshaw...activity...more like obsession.) Every single stinking day I look forward to seeing what's on deck for me. I log onto my Training Peaks multiple (multiple!) times a day just to review my week and check my progress. And the mileage isn't high yet and the frequency of sessions isn't crazy, but the MOTIVATION to engage in the process is huge.

For example. Last week I had a day that was 100% craptastic. In fact, I've had a number of them recently that I won't bore you with (I mean really, is every single wedding reception venue booked from here until the end of time? I waited 34 years to get married and you're booked??). But I hit the water BECAUSE SHE TOLD ME TO and I fended off the umpteenth swim coach who wanted me to move for the umpteenth time so her girls could have more room. And I was cranky and focused.

We've all had those days, right? So, I did my drills and it cleared my mind. I kicked and played the catch up game and kicked some more. And I launched into my descending 100s and I ABSOLUTELY.ROCKED.THE.HIZZOUSE in that nice leetle lane in that nice leetle Y in my nice leetle town. Dropped 4 seconds off each one. Each one.

Training helps. Doing what your coach says helps. And, as the Elf said when I reported my little coup de grace in the pool... we haven't even started yet!

Anyway, I digress. Here's the stats for the past two weeks, to keep me honest. I may be taking some time off from blogging, but public accountability (read: shame) is an excellent motivator. Plus, I may not be writing a lot, but I'm still making sure that the guest bedroom is covered with stinky, wet clothes. Mighty M is thrilled.

Month: November
Week: 3rd

Monday
Run (0:40/3 miles)
Flat, fast feet drills

Strength (0:40)
AA phase, low weight/high reps

Tuesday
Swim (0:20/1000)
Drills only -- kicked out before finishing session

Wednesday
Bike (1:15/30 miles)
Spin ups, cadence drills

Thursday
Run (0:40/3.5 miles)
Rolling course

Friday
OFF

Saturday
Run (0:45/3.5 miles)
Rolling course, push hills slightly

Swim (1:00/1900)
Drills, IM drills, Descending 100s

Sunday
Missed Bike
Needed rest day and feeling exhausted.

Month: November
Week: 2nd

Monday
Run (0:35/2.6m)
Flat, focus on cadence

Tuesday
Swim (1:00/2000)
Drills, golf, steady swim

Wednesday
Bike (1:15/27.5)
Spinups

Thursday
Run (0:40/2)
Drills

Friday
DAY OFF

Saturday
Bike (1:30/37.75)
Intervals

Sunday
Swim (1:00/2000)
Drills, 100s


Totals:
Swim: 13,200 yards
Bike: 98.91 miles
Run: 20.1 miles
Actual time: 17:39


[Oh, and btw, this may look like blogging and it may smell like blogging,
but it's not blogging, because I'm still on va-ca-tione.
As you were.]

11 comments:

momo said...

nice to see you back... ;-) don't most vacations last about a week??

i learned to do that drill this week too - i'd never heard of it before. i tried it on my own, then met my coach yesterday at the pool and watched her do it. mine so did not look like hers.

maybe one day.

LBTEPA said...

This post made me smile :)
Enjoy your holiday my friend - hope you find a wedding venue soo!

Alili said...

I am so glad you posted about coaching-I start w/the ELF in a couple of weeks:)

Erin said...

Great going! And yes. All wedding venues are booked from now until the end of time. Just one of the many reasons that planning a wedding is a whole lot harder than doing an Ironman (http://erin-thelongandwindingroad.blogspot.com/2007/10/why-planning-wedding-is-harder-than.html). Alas.

21stCenturyMom said...

You make me want a coach so badly. First I need a job so I can pay the coach.

My daughter is visiting and mentioned the book that made her wedding the very perfect experience it was. It is called "I Do but I Don't" and is the story of a woman who was determined not to go over the top with her wedding but then ended up having it on a mountain top, fully tented, with porta-potties trucked in, blah, blah, blah. It's about how easy it is to let the wedding industry talk you in to all sorts of things that make you crazy but that aren't really important at all. She recommends it to all brides who enter the bookstore she works at. They generally sneer and ask where the 18 month planners are but I can tell you with full certainty that my daughter's wedding was the very best wedding I've ever attended and my friends all agree. Less really can be more.

Happy planning!

Steve Stenzel said...

Wedding plans.....gross. I'm sooooo glad I'm not doing that ever again.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Tea said...

ummm, that whole training thing is a bit much isn't it? I was kinda hoping that IM training could be a couple of swims here and there followed by some bike rides with the kids?

The Original MAJ said...

Love it. Happy T-Day. A little late.

I don't even know HOW to breaststroke.

LOL!

Duane said...

Love the sayings!

GP said...

I've always wanted to make a raceday t-shirt that says, "Who's idea was this anyway?" But races end up being so much fun, I really just need it when I'm training on a sleepy day.

Butternut squash, in any form, makes for a great culinary emergency under any circumstances. And not only was that recipe simple, it turned out so well that the squash-haters at dinner (who invited them anyway?) couldn't stop eating it. The yogurt sauce is killer too.

Best of all: it's tasty as all get-out and good training food.

ShirleyPerly said...

On a chance, I decided to see if you might have posted and am so happy to see you did. Glad to hear things are going well with your training!