The Pass Book

Yesterday was a big mix-up and I ended up not having pilates in the morning like I thought I would, so that meant no workout for me and my stomach has now been saved until after the Christmas holiday!  Truthfully, I think the rest was best for my cold anyway, so it all worked out.  Plus I got to have a nice egg and potato breakfast at my desk yesterday morning.

This morning Laura and I had made plans to meet at the JCC for a swim.  Last year, we both deemed it to be in the top two pools in the city.  Even though it doesn't even have a hot tub!  This year, we had saved up our passes from our fitness book for the JCC until the end of the year.  This was partly on purpose, I think, and also partly due to the fact that Laura and I both broke bones this year. 

I got there first this morning and the guy at the desk told me that the JCC no longer accepts these passes.  Oh, and they haven't accepted them all year long.  Which was bad news for me & Laura.  But, he was really nice and let both of us go in on a guest pass today.  Disaster averted! 

We got out to the pool deck and there was no one swimming in the Fast lane, so we both grabbed that before anyone else could.  We started by just splitting the lane, but the lifeguard came and yelled at me by the time I had finished my first 25, so circle swimming we went.  It wasn't a big deal or anything, it just most likely would have prevented anyone else from coming into our lane.  Which is exactly what happened near the end.

While I was swimming today, I was thinking that swimming in an Olympic distance triathlon is a long ways.  And even when you're swimming in a pool where the sun is shining directly in your eyes, it's still a lot easier to swim in a pool than open water.  That being said, however, I feel like I should get a triathlon on the books for 2011.  I'll have to do some research on that. 

As preparation for this unknown triathlon(s) in 2011, Laura and I decided today to buy the passbook again for next year.  We didn't get as much use out of it this year as we did in 2009, but we have a plan to change that next year!  

Tomorrow I'm off to Wisconsin to have Christmas Cookie Extravaganza, Take II.  I'll be back with a full recap after the weekend.  If last year was any indication, it should be a lot of baking and candy-making and a whole lot more fun! 

Swimming
1000 Free
100 kick
100 free/breath control (zero breaths x 2)/breast stroke

Time: 26:31
Distance: 1200 meters = 0.75 miles
Pace: 35:21/mile

Philadelphia Marathon Race Report

This post could have easily alternatively been titled "I Only Heard 'Eye Of The Tiger' Once".


I really have to start this with Friday night.  I had packed my bag for Philly on Friday night so that I wouldn't be running around forgetting something on Saturday morning.  I had a dream that night that I forgot to put my wetsuit and my bike helmet in the bag.  When I woke up on Saturday morning I was relieved to realize that I hadn't forgotten to pack anything.  I wasn't going to be swimming or biking before this marathon!

Saturday morning Drew and I took the train down to Philadelphia and got in around 10:30.  We took a cab to the hotel and dropped off our bags.  The room wasn't ready and they told us we should check back later in the afternoon.  We then walked over to the Convention Center to the Expo where I picked up my race number and stood in a ridiculously long line to buy a new running hat with the Philly marathon logo on it.

After that we went next door to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch.  We did some walking around before heading back to the hotel around 3, where we were told that our original room wasn't ready, but we were being upgraded to a room on the 12th floor (original room was on the 5th floor).  I'm not sure it was a huge upgrade, but I was glad to have a room.  We also found out that the hotel offered late check-out at 3 PM for a fee of $35, which I was ecstatic to find out.  It meant that I'd be able to take a shower after the race on Sunday!

We had an early dinner at Olive Garden (go ahead and judge if you must, but I dare you to say that you don't think the salad is good...).  That was nice because it meant that I was in bed and asleep by 10.  I woke up once, at 2:37, but fell right back asleep until my alarm went off at 5:15.  I also found out in the morning that there was some sort of party going on on our floor around 2:30, so I'm sure that was what woke me up.  It was the most restful sleep I think I've ever had before a big race like this.  And probably just further proof that I really wasn't all that nervous about the race.

I got up when my alarm went off at 5:15 and started getting dressed and getting ready.  I was really excited to see that at 5:15 it was 41 degrees, so it was well above freezing!  I ate two Clif bars as my pre-race breakfast.  I wasn't all that hungry, so getting it all choked down wasn't as easy as it sounds.  I also had some water to chase it down.  I was all ready to go and left the hotel at 6.  I got into the elevator with another woman who was running the marathon and we walked to the race start together.  It was nice to have someone to chat with on the way there.  It was her 8th marathon, 2nd time at Philly, and she said that it was a great race.

I made my way to the port-a-potty line and had to wait in line for a while (which I had anticipated).  And then when I got to take my turn, there was no toilet paper (another thing I'd anticipated).  I'd just like to suggest that perhaps they could plan for this?  I mean, it's not like 20,000 people just showed up randomly to use the bathrooms!  After that I made my way over to my corral, which wasn't clearly marked or anything.  I think that organization and information on this race weren't that high.

I had only been standing in my corral for about a minute or two before I heard someone yell "Amy!".  I looked around because I knew that Meggan was going to be in my corral and I thought it was her.  But then the person yelled my last name and I turned around and it was Laura!  She had come down from New York to cheer for me!  We talked for a few minutes and she told me that she was planning on seeing me again at Miles 6.5, 14 and 25.  It was really nice to know where to look for her!

Finally, it was 7:00 and the Elite athletes were off and running.  And I thought the rest of us would be soon, too.  I had taken off my sweatpants at 6:55 and took off my fleece when the Elites started running.  That was a mistake.  Because what wasn't in the informational e-mail that they sent out was that this was a wave start and it took my corral 25 minutes to cross the start line.  Luckily, I had kept my hat, gloves and hand-warmers, so I wasn't freezing, but I was definitely cooling off waiting for us to get to the front! 

And then it was our turn!  Within the first quarter mile, I could just tell that it was going to be a good day for a run, and I was ecstatic about that prospect.  After about a half-mile, I took off my hat and gloves.  I put everything inside my hat and carried it until I saw Drew around Mile 1.5.  I threw it to him and I think it ended up working out well since he was able to use the hand-warmers throughout the rest of the day.  I guess he didn't want to wear the Hello Kitty hat.  Which was too bad since I only wore it running for a very short time and got a lot of compliments on it.  Maybe it's a good thing to hold onto?

I crossed Mile 2 at 21:05.  In my race plan I wanted to cross Mile 2 no sooner than 21:00, so I laughed that it was only 5 seconds after that.  Either way, everything was going according to the plan.  Also around Mile 2 was when I ran into what I'll call "Loudest Runner Ever Girl".  It was insane.  I mean, I'm running with at least 50 other people in a nearby vicinity and she was the only person I could hear clip-clopping along.  Of course, she was listening to an iPod, so she couldn't tell how loud she was.  I decided that I couldn't take it so I'd either have to speed up or slow down.  I chose the former.  I was not going to make it listening to her run for another 24 miles. 

I followed my strategy of taking water at all the water stops and walking through them so that I didn't spill water on myself.  It was working out really well and lots of other people were stopping as well at the early stations, so I didn't feel out of place.  At Mile 5, I had my first Gu just as planned.  I saw Drew again shortly after that around Mile 5.5 and then Laura was there at Mile 6.5!  (I should really give Laura credit as Drew got the top picture and Laura the bottom one.  It's obvious who was the better photographer). 

 

It was nice to know that I'd be seeing them again later on, too.  I continued on my way and it was pretty uneventful until Mile 8.  That was when someone must have stepped on a full Gu packet because I heard the noise of it exploding and then felt it all over my right leg.  One thing you don't really want is a packet of Gu running down your leg.  I can tell you that.  Luckily, there happened to be a discarded t-shirt on the side of the road shortly after that, so I wiped it off as quickly and as best I could and continued on.

I had made my own marathon pace bracelet.  I had done it for a 5 hour marathon and it was nice to see that as the miles passed by, I was slowly gaining on the times posted on the bracelet.  It went from one minute to two minutes and kept growing from there.  I felt really comfortable running and knew it was a pace where I could really sustain it in the long run.  I'm also glad that I didn't go any lower on the pace bracelet that I wrote down because it was my ultimate goal to finish in less than 5 hours and I never really felt any pressure to make up time since I had so much leeway.  

Miles 11 to 13 were a bit hard for me.  Not physically, but we were running directly into the sun and I wasn't wearing sunglasses or a hat.  I felt like I was squinting and so I tried running in the shadiest parts whenever possible.  If I had to re-do this exact race again, knowing what I know now, I think I would have done two things differently: (1) worn a cheap pair of sunglasses and thrown them away at the half-marathon point and (2) picked up a pair of the Philly marathon gloves I saw (I saw at least 5 complete pairs, but just didn't feel like stopping to pick them up).  I really just wanted them as a memento because they looked so nice.  Not because I actually wanted to be wearing gloves. 

Just before reaching the point where the half-marathon split from the full marathon, I heard someone cheering for me (louder than the other cheering I had heard) and I looked and saw that it was Krista!  I knew she would be there somewhere and I was so glad that I got to see her!  It was a nice extra boost!  I saw her husband running later on and cheered for him.  He probably thought I was crazy, but I felt like I had to do it!  I saw Drew again after the half-marathon point.  I was shocked to discover that I beat my previous stand-alone half-marathon time by at least a minute and a half (real results unknown thanks to ridiculous split times from Active.com).  I also had a much easier half-marathon in Philadelphia than I did in Atlanta.  Guess all that extra running paid off!

I saw Laura again somewhere between 14 and 15 and then headed off for a long stretch of running.  The second half of the marathon course is a mostly out-and-back course that takes the runners out to the town of Manayunk.  It was pretty quiet on the run out there.  Once the half-marathoners left the course, you're sort-of left wondering where everyone went.  It was pretty much right then that I decided that my next marathon will either be a marathon only event or one where the half-marathoners split from the full marathoners a lot sooner.

I had kept going with my strategy of taking Gu every 5 miles and had them at Miles 10 and 15 as planned.  I still kept having water at every aid station along the way.  They were handing out Gu packets just before Mile 10 and I saw that the flavor was Vanilla Bean (my preferred flavor) and I grabbed one and tucked it into my pocket just in case.  I also cut my finger on this same free Gu packet around Mile 18, so in the end, I'm not sure it was worth the trouble.  Especially since I didn't need it!

It was probably because of this cut on my thumb (actually under my thumb nail) that I noticed that my hands were really swollen.  I couldn't even move the ring I had on my right ring finger, which is normally easy to move around.  I was sure that this meant I didn't have enough salt, but my hands didn't hurt, they just looked like clown hands.  I guess I know what they'll look like if I get really fat.

I thought it would be until I got back to Mile 25 that I would see anyone that I knew again, but it turned out I got really lucky and saw Katie at Mile 20!  She had told me that she had made a neon-yellow sign that said "Go Runners - Kick Asphalt".  Knowing in advance what the sign was going to say made it really easy to spot her!  Believe me, I had just spent the last 20 miles looking for that sign!  We exchanged high-fives and I continued on my way back out of Manayunk and into Philadelphia. 


To my marathon brain, my swollen hands meant that I should eat more Gu.  To my Monday post-marathon brain that actually bothered to look at the nutritional stats on Gu, I realize that there is very little sodium in a Gu packet.  So, even though I ended up having all 6 Gu packets that I had originally brought with me, I don't know that it did my hands any favors.  Somewhere around Mile 21 there was a guy handing out soft pretzels.  I decided to take one, not to eat, but to lick the salt off.  Boy oh boy was that tasty.  I felt a little bad wasting the pretzel, but I did get what I wanted out of it.

When I passed the mile marker at Mile 20, I just felt like screaming to everyone, "this is further than I've ever run before".  And, truthfully, I wanted to scream that after every single step.  I was so excited that I was that far along in the race and that I was still running and feeling great!  

Somewhere on the way back into Philadelphia, another girl came up to me and asked what pace I was running.  I told her I didn't really know, but something faster than a 5 hour marathon.  She said that she had been behind me for the entire race and that I had been amazingly consistent in my running (which was awesome to hear).  She said that she thought she was on pace for a 4:35:00 marathon.  I hope she made it.  She ran ahead of me at the next aid station when I stopped for water.  Either way, it was nice to think I was being consistent from mile to mile. 

It wasn't long after this that I heard "Eye of the Tiger" for the very first time.  Frankly, I had expected to hear it all the time.  I was actually a little bit disappointed that I only heard it the one time!  Don't worry, though, I totally sang along to myself even after I couldn't hear it anymore.  As a total aside, I've loved this song since I first heard it in after-school care when I was about 8.  If I had known then that it'd be played during my first marathon, I'd never have believed it to be true. 

When I saw Laura again at Mile 25, she got up and ran with me for a minute or so.  She said I was looking great.  I still felt really good, which was encouraging.  I was actually shocked by the number of walkers out there on the course.  And, truthfully, I was really glad that I wasn't one of them.  I never ever felt like I wanted to stop and walk (other than at an aid station) and I never had to convince myself to start running again after drinking my water.  It was what I wanted to do.

I saw Drew one last time at Mile 26-ish before I crossed the finish line.  I definitely tried to pick it up toward the end for the finish.  I finished the race with the exact same look on my face as I had when I started - a smile.  It was awesome.  I loved, loved, loved the marathon.  I want to do another one.  I'd sign up today (provided it was a few weeks away). 

Things I learned:
1.  Having my name on my shirt made a big difference in the amount of cheers I got, even though everyone had their names on their bibs.  I would 100% recommend this and do it again myself.
2.  For my next marathon, I'll only run 3 days a week.  Keeping the same rough mileage, but fewer days running.  And also maybe mix in some cross-training in there.  It would have been nice to feel like I had to do some biking instead of feeling like it was an optional rest day.
3.  I loved it.  I know I'm not fast, but I think something about these longer distances I'm just suited for.  I finished running and immediately thought that I can't wait to do another one.
4.  I want my next marathon to be a marathon only so I can experience that without feeling the loss of the half-marathoners. 
5.  I trusted my training and it carried me to the finish line.  I am so proud of myself to have finished my first marathon well ahead of my goal time.  It was better than my wildest expectations.

I ended up seeing people I knew a total of 9 times throughout the race, which was awesome.  Couldn't have asked for anything better.  Even though it probably would have been more fun for Laura and Drew to hang out together and cheer for me that way, it was a lot more fun for me to know that it would be two separate events.

My post-marathon legs were slow.  After getting my medal and mylar blanket (which was a lot warmer than I would have ever given it credit for), Drew and I made our way back to the hotel.  The curbs were definitely the biggest challenge for me on the walk home.  When I finally stopped moving and was standing still, my legs felt like they had just gotten off a treadmill and I should keep my forward motion. 

Moving from a standing to a seated position seems to be the hardest thing for me (both after the marathon and today, Monday).  I could feel my quads getting tired somewhere around Mile 23, so I'm not surprised that they're taking the brunt of this the day after.  I'm quite proud that I actually walked to work today, instead of taking the subway, but I think it's good for my legs to keep them moving whenever possible.

The best part about it?  I think I'm now 100% officially a runner!

Running
Time: 4:41:28
Distance: 26.20 miles
Pace: 10:44/mile
Calories: 2689
Maximum HR: 188
Average HR: 173

Splits
10K: 1:06:26
Half-Marathon: 2:46:59
30K (18.6 Miles): 3:46:10

These split times cannot be correct.  At least the last two must take into account the 25 minute difference between when I crossed the start line and the total clock time.  I mean, I don't think I really ran the last 7.6 miles of the race in 55 minutes (which would be 7 minute miles).  I'm beyond disappointed that I don't actually know my half-marathon time because I'd really love to know how much I slowed down for the second half. 

The Blame Game

I had a feeling that this morning would be a bad weather morning and I was right.  It was pouring rain.  Which meant that it was probably a good thing that Laura and I had made plans to meet at the Columbus Circle Equinox and use some free passes that I had gotten when Drew and I did the Gay Pride Run.  They were three day passes, but I knew that there was no way we'd actually use all three days since we weren't going to go back tomorrow.  We also have several other passes from our Fitness Book that we need to use up before 2011! 

Laura called ahead and found out that they didn't have a hot tub, so that was a bit of a disappointment.  We had planned to meet this morning at 7:15 and this was our text exchange before we even met: 

Amy - 6:34:  I hate you.
Laura - 6:47:  I hate you too.  And I almost canceled.  Twice.  First just because it's too early, and then due to the rain.
Amy - 6:48:  Oh, I know.  Really don't want to go outside.
Laura - 6:49:  I hate your job too.  This morning thing was never a good idea.  We should live in a world where we can hit the gym at lunch or after work.
Amy - 6:50:  You should just come to our apartment instead and then we can all go back to sleep.
Laura - 6:52:  Don't tempt me.  I'm seriously tempted.
Amy - 6:52:  Do it.  It's a way better idea anyway.
Amy - 7:03:  Yup, I hate you.  This weather blows.
Laura - 7:10:  I blame you for this.
Amy - 7:13:  No!!!  You!!!

I'd just like to say that while all of this was going on I was slightly concerned that Laura wouldn't be on time since she obviously also had cell service (which doesn't normally happen on the subway), but we both got there at the exact same time, so she must have some sort of secret.  When we met in person, Laura said that she not only blamed me for getting up early, she also blamed me for the weather.  I thought that was taking it a bit further than necessary. 

The gym looked nice.  I'm not sure it was nice enough to justify the costs involved with Equinox, but it was nice.  They had very fancy Kiehl's products in the showers, which was a nice touch.  The pool was just okay.  Three lanes and it could have easily been five with the traffic that they had for the pool.  But I know that they're a big expense and it's nice that gyms have them at all. 

I started out sharing a lane with one other person, so we split the lane.  I liked the first 50 yards and then hated the next 100 and remembered that swimming is hard work.  After that, I sort-of settled into a bit of a rhythm and just kept swimming.  With about 5 minutes left of our pool time, a third person got in our lane, so we started circle swimming.  I wasn't too excited about this fact since I was in the fast lane, but it was nice that it actually pushed me a little bit more because I didn't want someone to come up and tap me on the toes! 
I wanted to keep my place in the lane, so it worked out pretty well. 

We cut our swim a couple minutes short to go in the steam room, which we ended up not loving.  Then we sat in the sauna for a couple minutes before heading to the shower.  Why couldn't they just have a hot tub instead?  We headed off to work and I got this text: 

Laura - 8:47:  I still blame you.

Swimming
Time: ~25:00
Distance: 1200 yards / 0.68 miles
Pace: 36:45/mile

Washington, D.C. Weekend Recap

I'd been alluding to being away this past weekend, but I couldn't reveal where I was going at the time.  Drew and I took the train down to our nation's capital on Saturday morning to spend the weekend there.  We were hoping to do some touristy stuff, but we had two real purposes:

1.  Meet Kristin on Saturday
2.  Surprise Laura as she competed at Nation's Triathlon on Sunday

After checking into our hotel and getting some lunch, we went to the Triathlon Expo to see if we could get any free swag.  I actually ended up getting a tri top on a really good sale.  Our real mission was to score some free poster board in order to make signs for Laura on Sunday morning.  After dropping our swag off at the hotel, we started out on a tourist trip. We walked from our hotel at Dupont Circle down to the White House and Washington Memorial.

From there, we headed to the American History Smithsonian.  I really wanted to see Julia Child's kitchen, which has been moved to the museum.  After all that walking around, I was exhausted and Drew had some work to do, so we headed back to the hotel to take a nap and Drew did his work. 

It turned out that it was a good thing that we rested for a bit because we met up with Kristin and her husband Curtis for dinner.

This is my first time meeting a blogger in real life.  Of course I was worried that even though we've been reading each others blogs since March 2009 (read her first comment here), that somehow I'd be wrong and maybe we wouldn't hit it off.  Totally turned out the other way around.  We ended up staying out after dinner getting a few drinks and just generally having a fun time!  Of course, that meant that Drew and I didn't get a lot of sleep before having to get up early on Sunday morning for the triathlon.

However, we did get up early.  And we woke up to rain.  Ick.  We got dressed and got in a cab and headed down to the transition area.  I was hoping that we'd get there early enough that we could find Laura before she got in the water.  As it turned out, we actually saw a former co-worker of ours there!  She was there to cheer her husband on in his first Olympic-distance triathlon.  Not long after that, someone called out "Amy?".  I turned around and it was Laura, who was standing there with her mouth hanging open in disbelief.  Honestly, I think Laura describes it best from her own race report:

"At one point as I was waiting around, I saw this guy from behind who looked exactly like my friend Drew.  So much so that I started to call out his name.  But I didn't get past "Dr--" before checking myself, because obviously my friend Drew lives in NYC, so that guy couldn't be him.  Except that he was standing next to a woman who, from behind, looked like my friend Amy (Drew's girlfriend).  But, again, it couldn't be them, because even though Amy is a triathlete too, she wasn't doing this race.  But it looked exactly like them from behind...so I finally called out, "Amy?"  And they both turned - it was them!  They had come all the way down from NYC just to surprise me!  I was more than surprised - and SO happy to see them - it was the best surprise I could have asked for!"

I was so glad that we actually pulled off the surprise.  We'd been planning on going down to DC since July, so there was a really good chance that one of us would have spilled the beans before we got down there, but Laura had NO idea!  Despite the less than ideal weather conditions, Laura managed to have an awesome race and even set a PR! 

The other really funny part is that after we had been chatting with Laura and some of her other TNT friends, there was someone there who looked just like our friend Lisa.  I asked Drew if it was her and he said that he didn't think that was possible.  Except for the fact that she is a triathlete, so it definitely was possible.  And, it was her!  Very small world in D.C. this weekend! 

After chatting for a while more, Drew and I decided that we should walk around and sort-of scope out where we'd watch the race.  We ended up getting a really good spot on the bank of the Potomac River about 100 meters from the start of the swim.  We watched a few waves before Laura and Lisa (they were in back-to-back waves) went off.  It was really hard for me to watch the swim.  It was almost excruciating in some cases.  I've actually never watched the swim part of a triathlon in real life before. 

I actually wanted to close my eyes.  Or yell at the kayakers.  I'm not sure which.  Watching the leaders and the middle-of-the-packers was totally fine.  Watching the back-of-the-packers was hard.  Cringe inducing.  I saw more than one person swimming kayak to kayak, which I did not think was okay.  I saw one girl get out of the water (twice) and then get back in again both times to try to keep swimming.  I saw people hanging onto the buoys (which were every 100 meters).  I know that I'm a good swimmer, so it's hard for me to understand how horrifying it must be for some people, but I was concerned that those people weren't going to make it and probably had no business doing this sort of a swim. 

I don't know how you go about fixing that, but I guess you can't underestimate the importance of knowing how to swim and feeling comfortable in the water.  It's also a lot different to touch a wall every 25 yards or meters than it is to swim a mile straight without being able to hold on or stand up to rest. 

I was able to pick out both Laura and Lisa in the water, which was pretty cool.  Lisa was closer to the shore side than Laura was when I saw her, so we yelled out to Lisa while she was swimming.  I don't know if she heard us, but we had fun cheering!  After Lisa passed us, we went to stake out a spot to see Laura come out of the water and run into T1.  Once we saw her do that, we ran across a field and waited for her to pass us as she rode by on her bike. 

We actually ended up leaving after Laura headed out for the bike.  The weather had sort-of taken a turn for the worst and the race had also started late, so we had to head back to our hotel in order to make sure we could check out on time.  We took showers, had brunch and then did some more museum-going before Drew had to buckle down and do some more work.  So, before we got on the train to go home to NY, we went to a Starbucks and hung out for a while so Drew could use the Wi-Fi there. 

Even though Drew had to work a little bit, it was an awesome weekend!  We had a fantastic time in our nation's capital!  I always think triathlons are fun to watch and this weekend was no exception.  Although I might steer clear of watching the swim in the future!  It's too hard for me, I think.  I sort-of wanted to jump in and help some of those people!

So, Drew and I debated before we left New York whether or not we should bring workout gear.  We ended up not doing it and I'm glad we made that decision.  We were on our feet so much as it was that my legs definitely got a workout even without running.  That makes last week a really small marathon training week, but I'm okay with that.  Just means I've got to make this week a good one!

You Have No Idea How Badly I Want A Hot Tub

The title of this post is what Laura said to me tonight. I replied, " Right now, sitting in my apartment, I actually have NO idea. It's 90 degrees outside." Somehow, though, she convinced me that we should go for a swim and a hot tub because, "we'd be cold after swimming."

Laura had asked me yesterday if I'd be willing to swim with her today after work. I have to say that I was secretly hoping one of is would get stuck working late, and even though we had some guest pass issues, we both got to the pool.

Laura was dead set on going to a hot tub, which I thought was a little weird since it's 90 degrees outside and is going to be staying that way for at least the next couple days, but I didn't put up much of a protest at the idea of a good hot tub.

We settled on the 92nd Street Y, for their hot tub and decent pool. I was surprised when we got there at 8:15 how busy it was at night. It was probably almost busier than it has been in the mornings.

I still hate that this pool doesn't have anything to hold onto at either end. It's not that I need to stop at one end or the other to hold on, it's more that I need something to hold onto while I pull my legs around so that I can turn around. I'm not big on flip turns, although this would be a good pool for them. My solution today was to grab onto the small (unused) lane line anchor points in the tiling. I'm guessing that's not the normal use.

I swam in the fast lane today. When I first got in the pool, there was another guy in that lane. He wasn't so fast, so I suggested that we split the lane, which he agreed to. Luckily even after he got out, I was able to keep splitting the lane so it was never an issue for me.

Which is probably why I actually had a really nice swim tonight. I was trying to focus a lot on form, especially while doing the pulling and kicking. This was my swim tonight:

500 swim
400 pull
300 kick
100 swim

Nothing fancy, but it got the job done. The nicest thing was that I felt great in the water. Maybe not super fast, but it was nice to be swimming instead of running. I did have a contact issue while swimming, so I had to take them out, get out of the water and throw them away (luckily, I wear dailies), so that didn't help matters any, but it was a tiny fluke.

We finished up the swim with a good old-fashioned gab fest in the hot tub. I have to admit, it actually was nice in the hot tub, even though I wasn't cold after swimming. It was nice to catch up with Laura and just chat a bit. We got out when we were getting too hot and prune-like, hit the showers and headed home. Even though Mondays are for resting normally, this was a good change in plans!

Swimming
Time: 29:10
Distance: 1300 yards (0.74 miles)
Pace: 39:27/mile
Calories: 204
Maximum HR: 163 (77%)
Average HR: 144 (68%)

Monday Is A Rest Day?

This morning I met Laura for a swim. It's almost miraculous that I did since today was (1) a rest day and (2) my first day of vacation, but I figured what the heck?

We met at the 63rd Street Y for a swim. That pool is always so busy. Actually, I think all NYC pools are too busy, now that I think about it. There should be more pools/lanes available. But that's just my two cents!

I didn't have a pool plan for today, which is good because I tend to get annoyed when the pool is busy and I can't do the set plan. However, it also means I tend to have no real idea of what to do. So, I just sort-of made it up as I went along. This is what I ended up doing:

400 swim
300 kick
300 swim
200 kick
200 swim, with breath control
100 breast

I was thinking while I was doing all that kicking that maybe it wasn't the smartest thing in the whole world, but even though I have a really strong kick, it's probably also the least "proper" part of my swimming and I'm really still trying to work on having a straight-leg kick!

The breath control parts always stink. I started the first 25 doing 4 breaths and then somehow the next 3 were all with one breath. I then did two with no breaths and two more with one breath. Not the worst in the whole world.

In some ways, today was a good reminder of the fact that I really like Terrier practice because people are so good about putting themselves in the right lanes and it's never really that crowded, so it's just such a nice swimming experience. I'm really going to try to remember that when I don't feel like going on Sundays from now on!

I do need to stop and say something about vacation here before I forget. Drew and I are leaving on Thursday morning and going to Michigan (where I'm originally from). Once we get there, we're driving straight to the cottage where my family will be staying on Lake Huron. I'm hoping to do some running and open water swimming while I'm there, but in an effort to try to spend more time with my family and friends and less time working out, I'm going to switch my long run around and do it on Wednesday instead of Saturday. I think I can still get in about the same amount of miles this way.

Also, I won't have constant blogging access while I'm gone. I know I'll be able to write posts, but I don't think I'll be able to actually post them. So, I'll probably have a whole slew of them to post early next week!

Also, just to recap (mostly for myself), Hal Higdon thinks that I should have run 23 miles last week and I ran 23.2. Seems to be on track so far! But, of course, it's only the first week!

Swimming
Time: ~35:00 (this is a random guess, I didn't wear a watch)
Distance: 1600 yards (0.91 miles)
Pace: 38:27/mile

You're Both Wearing Black Swimsuits

This morning Laura and I met for a swim at Manhattan Plaza Health Club because what we were really interested in was getting in the hot tub after the swimming was done. I had even planned out what I would do in the pool last night. This is what I was supposed to do:

Warm-Up
8 x 75 (swim/drill/kick)
300 kick (alternate 50 on stomach / 50 on back)
Main Set
300 (every 3rd length backstroke) / Rest 0:30
200 (odds fisting drill / evens swim) / Rest 0:20
200 (middle 100 catch-up drill) / Rest 0:20
10 x 25 on the 0:45 (adjust so there is no more than 0:15 rest)
Warm-Down
2 x 100
Total: 2050 yards / 1.16 miles

Except that's not what I did. I'm always forgetting how crazy crowded this pool is, so when I first got in, all I could do was just some straight swimming. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just wasn't quite what I was planning on. This is what I ended up doing:

800 swim
200 kick
200 drill (odds fisting drill / even swim)
200 kick
100 swim (50 fast in 0:41)
Total: 1500 yards / 0.85 miles

After doing the 800 in the Fast Lane, I moved over to the Slow Lane because instead of having to share the lane with 4 other people, moving to the slow lane meant sharing with one other person. Which is why I decided to use the kick board and do some drills. Eventually, the other person in the Slow Lane got out of the pool and Laura moved over so we were able to share the lane, which was nice.

I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but it must have been while I was doing the 200 drill, a guy in the Fast Lane stopped at the end of the pool to talk to us. He said that since we were both wearing black bathing suits, he wasn't sure which one of us it was that was doing things wrong, but one of us wasn't finishing our stroke all the way. Frankly, I'm not sure it wasn't me, but it certainly made me think about it for the rest of the morning.

So, I'm not really sure how I felt about this guy giving us unsolicited advice like that. It's like a lot of athletic things. I know that there are people out there who could give me pointers, but I'm not sure I want them if they're not solicited. I should mention that this guy is a really awesome puller. I remember him from the other times we were there and he's quite fast, but he never ever kicks and I'm not sure that makes him an expert on swimming overall if he doesn't ever do the whole shebang.

The hot tub at the end was really hot. Shouldn't they adjust that for summer? I think I could have stayed in longer if it had only been a couple of degrees cooler, but as it was, I felt a little gypped on the whole thing. We've now used up our two passes to this Club this year, so we'll have to find other pools if we're in need of a hot tub fix later this year!

Swimming
Time: 34:36
Distance: 1500 yards / 0.85 miles
Pace: 40:54/mile

Getting My Legs Ready To Execute The Plan

I have today and Monday off work since my best friend, Ann, is visiting for the weekend. I wanted to go for a quick run this morning and she was more than game. We ended up heading outside around 8:45, which I realized later is about the same time I'll be running on Sunday, so it was a good realization of how hot it'll be!

We were thinking something in the 3-mile range for today. Just enough to get my legs out there and moving, but not enough to tire them out. Plus, I had a feeling we'd be doing a lot of walking around later on doing some shopping/touristy stuff!

We walked to the Park, headed north up the east side, cut across the Great Lawn Loop and then back down the west side. Whew. It was hot. I made us take a couple of walking breaks. I felt okay about that today. My legs were a little testy and I didn't want to make them mad at me! It was nice to get out and have a quick run with Ann while we could catch up on some gossip. I don't normally love running with other people, but she's a pretty good one to have around. Plus, she never complains that we're going slower than her normal (fast) pace!

We ended up going exactly three miles, so success on that front! Just a nice little fun run! Today starts the getting organized for the triathlon day, so here's the rough outline of my plan:

• Friday: Attend mandatory pre-race meeting, pick up packet and race number, look around the Expo. And, possibly most importantly, get mani/pedis with Ann and Laura!
• Saturday: Drop off my bike. Mandatory to do this on Saturday. No bike drop off on Sunday.
  
• Sunday: Race Day! Transition opens at 4:30. I think I'll get there around 5:00. My swim wave is at 6:20. That should be plenty of time to set-up and walk the mile + to swim start.
  
• SWIM: I'm still not sure what wetsuit to wear. The water temperature is really warm. I'd like to keep more of the Hudson off me, but I think I might wear sleeveless so I don't overheat. My plan for the swim is to find a rhythm, but get out of the Hudson as quickly as possible!
  
• BIKE: Be careful getting up to the course from transition and from there, just have fun. I'm never going to be a fast biker, or at least not for this particular race, so I might as well just enjoy it. I've heard that there is a lot of broken glass really far to the right, so I'm going to be conscious of the road conditions and the technical turns on the course. Oh, and try to not break my arm before the race even starts.
  
• RUN: I really want to run this race. I know that the crowd support is amazing (from my own experience last year) and I want to really have fun and enjoy that. My plan is to get into the Park, up to the East side of Harlem Hill and just keep running from there. I will not penalize myself for walking through aid stations. With the heat, I know I'll need the hydration and it's more important. But, I don't want to take other walking breaks. When I turn the corner on the 72nd Street transverse, I want to have something left in the tank so that I can hopefully pass a couple of people since I know where the finish is (this is my backyard after all!).
  

All in all, I'm just hoping to have a great race. I know that because I was out for such a long time with my broken arm, this might not be my best triathlon ever ability-wise, but I think it will still be a blast! I'm so excited to do this race. I'm really glad that I didn't defer. I'm trying desperately to not have a time goal for this race. In truth, I'd be disappointed if it took me more than 4 hours. I'd love to make it under 3:30:00, but I'm not going to be upset one bit if I'm not. Now it's just time to rest up, hydrate, and execute the plan!

Running
Time: 30:27
Distance: 3.00 miles
Pace: 10:02/mile

We Made A Mistake

Yesterday morning I woke up, ate a bar, and went back to bed. Today, however, I woke up, ate a bar, and headed to the gym. Laura and I planned to use one of our fitness passes and try out the Bally's gym. She said that she really needed to ride a bike and I figured that any reason to get me to a gym was a good one, so we agreed to meet this morning.

Except that she told me that she was running late and then had a few issues that prevented her from getting to the gym for quite a while, so I just did my workout on my own. When I was first signing in, the guy at the front desk said that the locker room was in one direction and the pool was in another direction. Ugh. Pool? And then he said the magic words "hot tub"! Double ugh. So, now, because it didn't say on our fitness pass that there was a pool and I didn't go to the website to double check, we've now potentially wasted a pass with a hot tub!

The pool actually looked nicer than the one at my regular NYSC. Or, I guess I should say that it appeared to be 25 yards instead of 18 yards, which made it look a lot better in my mind. The rest of the gym looked a little run-down. All of the cardio equipment looked a little bit older than at NYSC and at NYSC there are individual TVs at each machine. This Bally's only had TVs scattered around the gym. I don't really watch TV at the gym, so it wasn't really a factor for me.

I started out on the stair mill. I figured I'd give it a shot and see how it worked. The downside of older equipment is that there isn't a spot to set your iPod on the equipment, so I had to hold onto it myself. (Actually, I happened to be wearing tri shorts, so I was able to stick it in my side pocket). I picked a random hill climb setting on the stair mill and off I went climbing stairs. I was able to do okay - I did have to turn the level down one so that I wouldn't have to hold on with my left arm. And then, all of a sudden, the machine stopped after 5 minutes and said, "Goal Attained!" I figured that was a sign that I should go and do something else.

There were a bunch of recumbent bikes right near the entrance, so I thought I'd do that while I waited for Laura to appear. I set the timer for 30 minutes and was off to pedal my heart out. I didn't see any bikes that had straps on the pedals, which is a negative in my book. I also didn't see any spin bikes, which would be another negative if I was going to switch gyms permanently. The one thing I really noticed while I was biking today is that this gym seems to run a little hot. Or maybe most gyms do. I'm just more used to having a bit of a breeze from being outdoors I guess. Nothing too exciting to report on the bike front. I sat, I pedaled, after 30 minutes, I got up and walked around a bit.

I looked at the hot tub longingly and then decided I'd do the elliptical until Laura got there. It was also near the front, so I was able to see when she arrived. I waited until I had done 5 minutes on the elliptical and then went off in search of her in the locker room. I showed her the pool and hot tub and then I headed home to shower and get ready for work and she did a workout of her own on a different cardio bike, I believe.

I'm hopeful that Laura and I will be able to meet up either later this week or early next week in order to check out the pool and hot tub situation at this Bally's. Even though I can't swim, Jon suggested water jogging. Not ideal, but I hadn't really thought of it before, so if we go back, maybe I'll give it a shot!

Stair Mill
Time: 5:00
Distance: 0.41 miles
Calories: 49
Maximum HR: 177
Average HR: 171

Cardio Bike
Time: 30:00
Distance: 10.80 miles
Pace: 21.6 MPH
Calories: 278
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 152

Elliptical
Time: 5:00
Distance: 0.45 miles
Calories: 45
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 149

Healing Hot Tub

Since I'm still waiting for my doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, I feel like I shouldn't workout until I get some sort of diagnosis from the doctor. I somehow managed to talk Laura into meeting me at Battery Park to have a hot tub session this morning!

Even though it is not convenient at all to get there (really, it's crossing the Westside Highway that's the pain in the neck), I think that it was totally worth it. We met at 8 and ended up sitting in the hot tub for about a half an hour. I think that's definitely something I'm supposed to be doing to make my arm feel better, right?

Even if it's not, I felt better by getting up and doing something before work this morning. Kinda like my old routine. The thing is that I have really been wishing this week that I could get outside and do some working out. Even though I know I have to wait for the doctor to give his okay...

What Are Those Suits You're Wearing?

This morning I met Laura for a wetsuit swim at one of our least favorite pools in the city, the McBurney Y. I actually think the pool itself is pretty nice, but it's always really crowded and people are bad at seeding themselves properly into the correct lanes. We also tend to wear our wetsuits there as the pool is a little on the cooler side and I always end up getting yelled at by the woman in the locker room about having too much water dripping by my locker. The good news is that today was our last swim there for 2010!

I cut all my fingernails off in anticipation of this wetsuit swim. That always makes me a little bit sad. I was also a little bit bummed that we were doing this swim today since I did order a new wetsuit for Alcatraz (I need one with sleeves instead of the sleeveless one that I have) and it won't be here until Friday. This is what my new suit will look like (source):
However, I probably won't have my hair all done when I am actually wearing the wetsuit, unlike the model here. When we were putting our wetsuits on, a woman in the locker room started chatting us up and asked us what kind of suits we were wearing. Then she asked us all sorts of other questions. I seem to be a magnet for people chatting with me recently.

When we were all suited up, we headed out to the pool deck. I think I spent five minutes just staring at the pool trying to figure out what lane to put myself into. I got fooled because when I got there it was just before 7:00 AM and the Master's Swim Group wasn't in the pool yet, but when I got out to the pool they were swimming and taking up two lanes of the pool. That made it harder for me to find a spot.

There were two lanes circle swimming and the rest of the available lanes were being split by people, so there wasn't room for me there. I decided to get in the Medium lane that was circle swimming. I did 100 before I got super annoyed at everyone in the lane. After that, I just stood at the end of the lane trying to figure out my options. I must have had a homicidal maniac look on my face because the lifeguard yelled out to me that I could move over and split one of the slow lanes so that I'd have space to myself.

I did about 300 total in warm-up and then did the same thing that we did on Sunday at Terrier. I did 100s but did them fast/easy/easy/fast. I think I was averaging about 1:40 for the 100s. Then I'd give myself 20-25 seconds rest and do another one.

At some point, I was interrupted by a weird guy in a red swim cap and boxer shorts. He had been in the Water Walkers lane and I noticed him because he was mostly just swimming around underwater, not doing any "real" swimming. All of a sudden, he jumped into my lane and forced us to start circle swimming. I wasn't really having any of that. I just watched him swim underwater and then do some really slow breaststroke. I must have given him the stink-eye because he only did that one 50 and then moved over to Laura's lane (sorry, Laura) to cause some more trouble.

After he left, I went back to my same routine. A couple minutes after 8:00, a woman came to the edge of my lane and asked if we would start circle swimming. At that same time, Laura was at the end of her lane and said that she was ready whenever I was. I just wasn't in the mood for circle-swimming with slow people, so we got out and hit the showers.

I have to say that the pool at NYSC isn't anything great and it's really short (only 18 yards), but there is something to be said for knowing that you have 30 minutes of uninterrupted swimming while sharing a lane with someone else. You can do your own thing and not have to worry what anyone else is doing, which I like.

Today's wetsuit swim was a lot better than a couple weeks ago. Last time I felt like every time I kicked, my feet were above water and today I really concentrated on having a solid kick and trying not to be quite so buoyant!

My time today while swimming isn't so great, but that's because I time everything, including me being upset while just standing at the end of the pool and all the rest times. I never really worry about that. Somehow I never really remember to start and stop my watch all those times and the truth of the matter is that swimming pace really isn't as interesting to me as running or bike pacing is.

Swimming
Time: 36:48
Distance: 1200 yards (0.68 miles)
Pace: 54:06/mile
Calories: 318
Maximum HR: 161
Average HR: 146

Do I Even Like Swimming?

Last night I spent a good amount of time working on my half-Ironman training plan. I was going back and forth on how I wanted to keep track of my workout and I finally decided that I would put everything into Ontri manually (I already log all of my other workouts there) and then I would also be able to keep track of what I actually do. So, the plan and the actuals will be in one place. I only mapped out the first 9 weeks so far (of a 20 week plan). Here's what Week 1 looks like:


The only complaint I have is that Ontri uses a Sunday through Saturday week and my plan is a Tuesday through Sunday week, so it's a little bit off, but once I get started it won't make a difference. What I've realized is that this is a lot of time that I'll be spending swimming, biking and running. Especially biking. The good thing about finally getting organized on this is that I realized that I don't have to start "really" training until April, which gives me two weeks after the half-marathon to ease into things for triathlon training. I thought I was going to have to start the day after the half-marathon, so I feel a lot better now.

This morning Laura somehow conned me into going swimming with her in our wetsuits. We met at the horrible 14th Street Y and donned our suits. As we were getting into them another woman in the locker room asked us if they were as hard to get off as they are to get on. I actually thought that we got them on pretty quickly all things considered.

And then we walked out to the pool. On the way out I asked Laura if she had a plan for today's swim and she said no. That made me feel better about not having a plan either. Even though I had one in my bag plus I had practically memorized several options last night from the half-IM training plan, I just didn't feel like being organized about my swimming.

Part of the problem with this pool is that it is always really crowded. Today was no exception. I couldn't figure out if I should swim in the fast lane or not. I decided just to take my chances. It turned out okay. The swimming mainly went like this: I'd swim 100. Stop. Be annoyed at how many people were in my lane. Stand there and wait for people to do their flip turns. Swim 100. Stop. Be annoyed at how many people were in my lane. Repeat 12 more times.

At some point after only swimming 200 or 300 yards, I realized that I'm not even sure I still like swimming. After all this running I've been doing, it's hard to switch to other sports. I think part of it this morning was the whole wetsuit thing. Running is so simple and doesn't involve a lot of gear, but this morning was a sharp contrast to that. And even if you have to share the road with bikers and other runners, it's not quite the same as sharing a lane at the pool. I'm pretty sure I do still like swimming, it just took me a while to remember that I did.

I will say that I completely forgot how floaty wetsuits are. I felt like my feet were out of the water when I tried to kick, so I'm not sure how effective kicking was in general. Luckily I've got months before I really have to wear a wetsuit so there is plenty of time to try this again and work on my kick. Hopefully somewhere when it's not so crowded.

All in all, the swim ended up being fine. Not my best, but not my worst either. I'm not too worried about the time since a good portion of that was me standing around being irritated. I'm hoping at the very least it was a good recovery day for my legs!

Swimming
Time: 32:13
Distance: 1400 yards (0.79 miles)
Pace: 40:28/mile
Calories: 287
Maximum HR: 171
Average HR: 142

Wait, I Need Those Flags!

First, Vegas was a ton of fun! We did some shopping, saw a show, gambled very little, ate a lot and generally had a good time. The only negative thing I can say is that on Monday morning, I woke up with a very weird pain in my left leg. The best way to describe where it is would be if you placed your fingertips on your ankle, it's about where the end of your palm is on the outside of my leg. I'm convinced it's some sort of muscular thing, but it's just a weird spot and it's a little troubling that this happened while I was taking 3 rest days in a row!

Yesterday I really had planned on going running with Terrier. However, when I woke up to snow falling and continuing leg pain (it hurts when I take a step walking, so running seems like not the greatest idea), I decided to make it 4 rest days instead of 3. I think that's probably for the best. Plus, I had yesterday off of work, so I was mostly a lazy bum all day long and didn't leave the apartment (I blame the snow).

This morning, I've still got the leg pain and the good news is that it doesn't feel any worse. I'm not really sure that it feels better, but I'm glad it isn't any worse. I had made plans to swim with Laura this morning at Manhattan Plaza Health Club, so today is yet another running rest day. Interestingly enough, I'm not at all freaking out about this hiatus from running (yet). I think it's doing me good and I'm hoping to test out the leg tomorrow and see what happens.

Laura and I met at the pool at 6:45 as we wanted to get in a long swim and still have time for the hot tub after we were done with our swim. When we got changed and on the pool deck, one of the guys swimming yelled out to us that they'd be done at 7:00 (must have been some sort of Masters group). I got in the pool in a side area (it's about 10 yards long, I'd guess) and the lifeguard blew his whistle and told me that I couldn't move over to a real lane until everyone else got out at 7. At exactly 7:00, I tapped my watch and asked what the deal was. I didn't understand why I couldn't share a lane with ONE other person as I had assessed her swimming and knew I wouldn't be in her way at all.

At 7:02, we were able to start swimming. I had printed out a SwimPlan.com workout because I find that I'm much better at swimming when I have an actual workout to do and follow as opposed to just swimming about aimlessly. I was really excited because I think this was one of the first programs that I had gotten printed out for me that included a stroke other than freestyle!

This was the plan:
Warm Up (repeat 2 times)
1 x 100 Backstroke Easy, rest 0:15
2 x 50 Breaststroke Easy, rest 0:15

Build Up (repeat 6 times)
1 x 50 Backstroke Push & Glide, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Double Arm Backstroke, rest 0:15

Core
5 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:25
4 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:20
3 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:15
2 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:05

Warm Down (repeat 2 times)
1 x 50 Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Freestyle Easy

Total: 2600 yards

So, the really fun part of this workout was that I got to do backstroke! The really bad part of this workout was that as soon as the swim team was done and I was doing my very first length of backstroke, the lifeguard took down the backstroke flags. What? Why on Earth would he have thought that was a good idea at the swimming pool? I really don't understand that at all. Are only the special people who swim from 6 am to 7 am allowed to use the flags?

Anyway, I made the most of it and went ahead and did the backstroke anyway, just counting strokes very carefully and I managed not to hit my head on the wall at all, which was a good thing. I swam most of the plan according to the plan. In the core portion, I'd say that there were a couple times I managed to finish on the 1:35, but the majority of the 100s were done on the 1:40. And sometimes that was just a result of the fact that I was sharing a lane. Not much you can do in those situations. I did end up cutting out the end of the Core portion that was 3 x 100 and 2 x 100 in order to get out and head to the hot tub with Laura. So, instead of doing 2600 yards, I ended up only doing 2100. Still, not a bad workout for the day.

After doing the Warm Down, Laura and I hit the hot tub. It was really hot. In fact, when we got out, I felt really woozy and lightheaded for a while and had to sit down and have some of my Muscle Milk before showering. I still felt a little light headed while showering (even though I used fairly cool water), so when I was done with the shower, I finished my Muscle Milk and then was like an old lady sitting down on a stool to blow dry my hair and put on my makeup. I finally felt more normal by the time I got to work, but I'm sort-of disappointed by the hot tub experience today!

Swimming
Time: 50:02
Distance: 1.19 miles (2100 yards)
Pace: 42:53/mile
Calories: 526
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 155

A Short Slow Swim

This morning I met Laura for a swim. Not surprisingly, we wanted to go to a pool with a hot tub, so we agreed to meet at the 92nd Street Y for a swim. I'll just say right off the bat that I wasn't really in the mood to be awake or to be swimming. And my feelings didn't really change when I got in the pool (which was quite cool!).

I was really mostly pretty lazy while swimming, so this is what I did:

200 swim
200 kick
200 pull
200 breast
200 back
200 swim

1200 yards

Yup. I did 1200 yards. Lazy, lazy, lazy! And I did it really slowly. I thought after doing the first 200 of swimming that maybe I'd get into it once I warmed up, but I really didn't. I also didn't bring a plan with me, which probably didn't help matters any. Instead, I just tried to look at this as a nice recovery from running and giving my muscles a chance to recover a bit.

Of course, we cut our swim a little bit short to spend a couple extra minutes in the hot tub. Always worth it, in my opinion. I'm really not going to get down on myself for my lazy swim today. It probably was a good recovery for me and this weekend is most likely going to be my longest run to date, so I'll hopefully have lots of energy for that!

Swimming
Time: 33:59
Distance: 0.68 miles (1200 yards)
Pace: 49:58/mile
Calories: 284
Maximum HR: 164
Average HR: 138

Guest Post: 2009 Year In Review: NYC Pools

This is Laura, a friend of Drew and Amy, as well as Amy's frequent Wednesday morning swim partner. After I posted (on Facebook) my top-ten list of NYC pools for 2009, most of which I have been to with Amy, Amy and Drew suggested that I turn it into a guest post for her blog. I will admit that this list is somewhat Brooklyn-centric (and otherwise slightly biased), but putting that aside, and without further ado, here is my top-ten list of NYC pools for 2009. Now all we need is for Amy to make her own list so we can compare and contrast!

(10) Asphalt Green - this would be ranked higher if it weren't so far away from everything. Full 50m pool, and a beautiful one besides - but not really worth the commute during the week.

(9) Riverbank State Park - another lovely 50m pool, and home of some good TNT memories besides.

(8) Battery Park Fitness - okay, technically, I haven't gotten in the pool here, because the one time we tried, it was too tiny and crowded. But the hot tub, when it's working, is very nice.

(7) The 14th Street Y - because that's where I basically learned to swim. Yes, the pool is small, but it's conveniently located and I have good swimming memories here.

(6) The 92nd Street Y - the pool was kind of meh, but the hot tub was pretty sweet.

(5) Manhattan Plaza Health Club - sun roof + hot tub. Need I say more?

(4) The Dodge - because that's where all the cool Brooklyn kids swim.

(3) The Reebok Sports Club - the gym was too fancy; the pool was okay; but the hot tub, however, was out of this world.

(2) The JCC - I think it's the most beautiful pool in the city, second to none.

(1) LIU - because it's home.

See You Next Year!

I was completely unable to drag myself out of bed yesterday to go running with Terrier. Drew got up and went to the gym and I just stayed in bed sleeping. When he got home from the gym, I told him that I pretty much hate myself right now. I don't know what my problem is with getting up in the mornings. I'm wondering if I went to bed earlier if I'd have an easier go of it. I've always needed a lot of sleep compared to the average person and I'm wondering if I'm simply staying up too late.

This morning I had a really good reason to get up and out of bed! I was meeting Laura to go swimming at the JCC. The last time we went there was in May and we've been saving our last trip there for something special. I'm not sure that today qualified as special, but we're definitely running out of places to go and we have to use up these passes prior to the end of the year, so it was mostly now or never. They have really nice facilities and we lucked out last time in that it was a sunny day and the sun just shines into the pool and it's really beautiful. This would be the most perfect pool if they only had a hot tub.

This morning we got to the pool, took stock of how fast people were swimming in the lanes, and finally motivated ourselves to get in and start swimming. I didn't go with any sort of plan today. I had asked Drew how far I should swim and he said 1.1 miles, so I sort-of had that in my head as a goal for today.

I swam in the fast lane and when I got in there was one girl that was faster than me and one that was slower, so we all made it work pretty well once we figured out the proper order to swim. It was nice to have someone that I knew was coming up behind me and it definitely made me push a little bit harder and swim faster than I would if I had been in the lane by myself.

Eventually, those two girls got out and I had the lane to myself for a few minutes. I definitely slowed down then. I could tell because I started humming. I know it's a little bit silly, but I really like to hum while I'm swimming. I can tell when I slow down and relax into a slower rhythm because I automatically start humming. When I'm working harder, I don't spend enough time under water (since I breathe more often) to hum.

Then two guys got in my lane and showed off with their hot shot equipment (kick boards, pull buoys, fins, etc.) and started swimming. I actually felt pretty good because even with all the fancy stuff they had, I still definitely held my own without any gear. I just kept swimming most of the time.

I swam in sets of 100s, sometimes 200s, depending on the lane traffic in the pool. Then I'd stop and take a quick break before starting again. Probably only 10 or 15 seconds, although I did have to stop for a longer period once in order to adjust my goggles. I had tightened them for the big swim meet, but they really don't need to be that tight if I'm not diving off the blocks, so I had to put them back to normal as they were giving me a bit of a headache.

After we had been swimming for a while, the sun finally started to come out and started streaming through the water. It really is beautiful to see while you're swimming. Of course, it made it hard to breathe on the right because the sun was blinding me in my eye, but I probably needed a little extra practice of breathing on the left anyway.

So, goodbye JCC pool! At least until 2010. Thankfully, that's not so far away. I told Laura when we got out of the pool that I think that next year we'll have to have a bigger debate on which pool we're going to as it seems like since we know them now, we'll be able to really figure out if we should get the bad ones out of the way and save the good ones for later or do a mixture similar to what we did this year.

All in all, today was a fantastic swim. Much better than I was hoping for. And I even went further than Drew said I should. Seems like a win-win situation. And, of course, I also got up and got my workout done before work, so that was a big bonus as well.

Swimming
Time: 44:36
Distance: 1.24 miles (2000 meters)
Pace: 35:53/mile
Calories: 520
Maximum HR: 182
Average HR: 166

I Guess I Should Have Listened Today

I ended up taking a rest day yesterday. After working out every day last week, I just needed a break. I think it was well earned and much needed. Today, Laura and I planned to use our last day of our 5-day pass to the Fancy Gym! We had to head there after work instead of our normal morning workouts.

I left work and walked home with Drew (who had to go to some fancy fund raising dinner). I was changing clothes and getting ready to head off to the gymnasium and happened to comment on how hungry I was. I was making myself some Muscle Milk to take with me to the gym, but Drew suggested that I should take a bar or at least half of a bar to carry me through. For some reason, I thought the Muscle Milk would be enough, especially since I had just had a snack before leaving work.

Laura and I got to the gym about the same time, but I had to do my weight lifting and she headed straight for the pool. I'm on Week 8 of my 12 Week program, so I can't believe how fast this has gone and how little is left! This actually worked out really well for this week because Week 8 is one workout of total body drop sets. The book explains that approximately every two months, your body needs a short break from weight training in order for your muscles to fully recover. I'm just glad that it worked out to be this week because with the holiday on Thursday, I think I'll have trouble working out that day. This was today's weight lifting:

Barbell Shoulder Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 25 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 10 reps @ 70 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs
Dumbbell Squats: 1 set of 15 reps @ 30 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm)
Dumbbell Bench Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 12 reps @ 10 lbs (per arm)
Tricep Pushdowns: 1 set of 7 reps @ 35 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 30 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 25 lbs
Crunches: 3 sets of 15 reps

I really rushed through this and my arms were not happy about it. I really was just trying to hurry up and get to the pool. The squats were supposed to be with a barbell, but they didn't really seem like they had all of the equipment I was looking for, so I just went with dumbbells since it was easier. The tricep pushdowns were impossible. I'll say that they didn't have the regular lat pulldown machine that I like to use at my regular gym, so I had to use the cable machine and I don't think it was the best set-up. But boy, were my arms exhausted! The crunches were supposed to be with weight added, but there aren't a lot of weight plates at this fancy gym and they certainly aren't anywhere close to where I was going to be doing crunches, so I just went ahead and did them regularly. This was the first time I can remember recently where I wasn't wincing with pain while doing crunches, so I'm hoping my abs are back to normal.

The biggest bummer about the weight lifting today was the fact that I bought myself something new to use while weight lifting and I forgot it in my locker! I'll tell you more about it when I remember to actually use it. I drank my Muscle Milk as soon as I got to the gym, I couldn't wait and save it until after the weight lifting, so as soon as that happened, I knew my stomach might be in trouble.

I realized that while I had printed out a swimplan.com workout, I had left it at home, so it was of no use to me. I figured I'd just do whatever I felt like. Terrier is having a swim meet in a couple of weeks and I signed up for the 50-meter backstroke and the 50-meter freestyle, so I figured I should probably practice my backstroke and tonight seemed like a pretty good opportunity.

When I got to the pool, Laura was in a lane by herself, so we just decided to split that lane unless the lifeguard came over and told us to circle swim. It went really well for a while - I'd guess at least 20 or 25 minutes where we were able to split the lane and just do our own thing. Laura was working on a bunch of drills and I sort-of aimlessly did a really random workout. All I can really tell you is that there was lots of kicking, a fair amount of backstroke, a fair amount of freestyle and a little bit of breaststroke thrown in for good measure. At some point towards the end we did have to start circle swimming and sharing our lane with a third person, which wasn't ideal.

Part of my aimlessness definitely stemmed from the fact that I was really hungry once I started swimming. I'll admit it, I should have listened to Drew. He was right about taking a bar with me. Next time, I'll realize that swimming makes me really hungry and that he's right about stuff like this!

The best thing was that once we got out of the pool, we could head straight to the hot tub! We stayed in for longer than the recommended 15 minutes, but we also had to milk it for all that we could as I'm not sure when we'll next be at a pool with a hot tub. It was actually really nice to not have to worry about getting out and going off to work and it's always such a nice way to end a workout!

Weight Lifting
Time: 20:37
Calories: 157
Maximum HR: 160
Average HR: 128

Swimming
Time: 33:30
Distance: 1250 yards = 0.71 miles
Pace: 47:10/mile
Calories: 317
Maximum HR: 167
Average HR: 144

How Fancy Is Too Fancy?

This morning I met Laura again at the fancy gymnasium, although I got there first because Laura wanted to meet to ride bikes but I also needed to finish up Week 7 of my Weight Lifting book. Since we hadn't checked out any of the cardio or weight lifting equipment yesterday while we were there, I wasn't really sure what we were in for, but I figured that it was such a fancy gym that they'd at least have what my regular gym had.

After checking in and getting all my stuff settled into a locker I headed to the weight lifting/cardio area to check out the equipment. And I honestly wasn't that impressed. For as big as the gym is, I thought that they really crammed a bunch of weight lifting machines into a fairly small area. And while there were a lot of dumbbells (plus over my regular gym), there were not a lot of free weight machines (minus).

This was today's workout, which is still Drop Sets:

Leg Press: 1 set of 12 reps @ 120 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 100 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 80 lbs
Leg Curls: 1 set of 10 reps @ 65 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 40 lbs
Leg Extensions: 1 set of 1 reps @ 60 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 50 lbs / 1 set of 8 reps @ 50 lbs
Dumbbell Squats: 1 set of 15 reps @ 25 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 20 lbs (per arm) / 1 set of 15 reps @ 15 lbs (per arm)
Calf Raises: 1 set of 10 reps @ 105 lbs / 1 set of 10 reps @ 80 lbs / 1 set of 12 reps @ 60 lbs

The leg press machine I had to do on a not-plate loaded machine, instead it was one where you move the pin up and down on the stacked weights. I didn't really love it because the weight increments weren't exactly what I wanted and it's not something you can customize. On the leg extensions, I realized that I forgot to move the pin for the third set of lifting. No wonder my legs were so tired! The dumbbell squats were a lot nicer here than at my regular gym because there were so many dumbbells available, which was a big bonus in my mind.

I normally do calf raises on the leg press machine, but that wasn't an option today since it wasn't the normal leg press machine. Instead, I did them on the plate loaded calf press machine, which I normally don't use. The last time that I did calf raises with Drew, he was using the machine I used today and was lifting 150 pounds. However, he can apparently lift over 300 pounds doing calf raises using the leg press machine. I think he's somehow cheating. I don't know how you can double your weight like that with the different machines. We're going to have a "Pepsi Challenge" soon to see if he can in fact do what he claims to be able to do as I think there is something a little bit fishy about the whole situation.

After doing my weight lifting, I looked around and tried to find the cardio or spin bikes. I didn't see any spin bikes out in the cardio area, which is unlike my gym (minus). Then it was time to meet Laura. We met up and went in search of spin bikes that weren't in the spinning classroom as there was a class going on at that time. We asked a rather unhelpful woman who was working at a information-type desk in the cardio area and she wasn't able to answer any questions about whether or not they had spin bikes not in the spinning classroom or really anything at all.

My gym has one regular and two fancy computerized spin bikes out in the regular area and I guess I just assumed that this fancy gym would have something similar. Wrong. We did find one spin bike that Laura tried out but the seat wouldn't move up or down, so we both hit the cardio bikes instead. I thought that their cardio bike was a lot fancier than the one at my regular gymnasium, but I'll be honest, I mostly concentrated on watching the E! Kardashian Wedding special instead of anything else.

I think also that because my legs were tired from the weight lifting and I was really hoping for better equipment in the cardio area, my heart just wasn't in it. I did a random setting on the bike and switched around between levels 8 and 15 (the highest level was 25). It actually was pretty tough and I do appreciate how cardio bikes automatically adjust the resistance for you, but it wasn't exactly the workout I was looking for.

However, what I was looking for was the hot tub at the end of our workout! It was just such a nice end to the workout and a really nice way to start my Friday before heading to work.

Weight Lifting
Time: 18:40
Calories: 160
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 136

Cardio Bike
Time: 40:00
Distance: 8.94 miles
Pace: 13.41 MPH (average)
Calories: 374
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 143

A Really Fancy Gymnasium

This morning I met Laura for a swim at the really fancy gymnasium. Drew got an invitation in the mail for you and a guest to go try out the Reebok Sports Club NY for 5 days and he was gracious enough to let me & Laura use it. This morning Laura and I met for a swim at the fancy gym.

Once we were all checked in, we headed to the locker room. I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of their locker room facilities because you swap your ID card for a key to a locker. I guess I didn't love having to worry about a key the whole time, since I'm used to using a combination lock on my gym locker everywhere else. Before we headed off to the pool, I needed to use the restroom and when I was trying to find it, I found a hot tub!

I immediately reported back to Laura and we agreed to cut our swim short in order to test out their hot tub. Since we had been planning on swimming for an hour, I had printed out a swimplan.com to keep me focused in the pool. Because we cut the swim short, I had to cut out a little less than half of it.

This is the original workout and the portion in blue is what I actually did:

Warm-Up
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim

Build Up (repeat 4 times)
1 x 50 Freestyle Breath Left, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Freestyle Breath Right, rest 0:15

Core
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim, leave on 1:55
4 x 100 Freestyle Swim, leave on 1:50
8 x 50 Freestyle Swim, leave on 0:58

Warm-Down
1 x 100 Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:20
1 x 100 Freestyle Easy, rest 0:20

I actually ended up doing 150 as a warm-down, so my total was 1350 yards instead of 2200 yards. I actually think that it ended up being a really good (and fast-paced) swim for me. The last time I went swimming with Laura I didn't have a plan and I'm realizing that I do much better when I have one. Even if it's not as fancy as this.

The pool itself was fine. For as large as the entire facility is, I would have expected a larger pool. I mean, there are two full-sized basketball courts, I would have thought they could have an 8-lane pool! I swam in the fast lane, which wasn't really that fast. At one point a guy with flippers came into the lane and I was still faster, so that just goes to show what "fast" meant at that pool. The lifeguard actually said that the people swimming in the morning were the fast crowd. My swim workout actually worked really well because it gave my lane a chance to spread out a little bit while I was waiting during the "core" portion of the workout. I had no trouble finishing the distances in the times allotted, so that was a good feeling.

After the swim, Laura and I headed to the hot tub. Soooooo nice! It was hot, but not too hot and it was bubbly and nice and relaxing. It really should be a requirement to have hot tubs at all swimming pools. Because the gym was so humongous, we didn't have a chance to look around, but we're planning on going again tomorrow and using the bikes and I'm going to lift, so I think we'll have a much better idea of how the rest of the gym looks. I'm really interested to see the rest of their facilities! And use the hot tub again, of course!

Time: 28:51
Distance: 0.77 miles (1350 yards)
Pace: 37:28/mile
Calories: 323
Maximum HR: 171
Average HR: 160