The short answer is to get up and out of bed and to the gym. The longer answer is to have someone who pulls the covers off of you and says, "Let's go swimming!" I think that if my triathlon dreams don't work out for this year, I've got some back-up ideas swirling around in my head. We'll see what happens.
After getting dressed, eating a kid's bar (which I think are good, by the way), Drew and I headed off to the gymnasium. I had made us swimming reservations at 6 this morning and so when we got to the gym, we headed straight for the pool. I'm still a little bit annoyed at this whole 6 am reservation thing means that you really only get 23 minutes of swimming at best, but there isn't anything I can do about that. I'm just trying to remember that there are no junk laps!
Today I mostly just concentrated on myself instead of Drew. (sorry, Drew!) I am feeling better about my swimming today, so I think it might have been worth it. I didn't really give him any pointers, but the couple times I did watch him and check in with him, he seemed to be doing okay with everything. At first I was trying to keep track of his laps for him, but that got too complicated after a while, so I gave up. I figured if he really wanted to know, he could probably keep track for himself.
After about 19 minutes, Drew announced that he was done and was going to get out. I wanted to get to 60 lengths again today (I don't know why, but I just didn't want to be doing any less than before), so I stayed in and finished up really quickly. Funny thing about that? I still beat Drew out of the locker room and downstairs to do some cardio.
Drew chose his beloved Arc Trainer, but I went with the stairs. I decided to do Fat Burner, Level 7 for 40 minutes. It wasn't so bad for the first 27 minutes. Then I finished the book I was reading and I wasn't sure I could force myself to stay on for another 13 minutes without anything to read. Turns out that listening to some Stones will do the trick and keep me occupied. Of course, I felt like I was looking at my watch every two seconds waiting for it to reach 40 minutes, but time just kept passing at the same rate.
All in all, not the worst workout today. At least I did something, which is infinitely better than nothing. I'm trying not to beat myself up about skipping out on all those workouts over the last few weeks, but it's a lot easier to say than to do, as seems to be the case most times in life. Oh well. I've got big weekend plans, which aren't exactly workout related, but they're not completely unrelated either. And there are only 4 more days until I go back to the doctor!!
Swimming
Time: 21:07
Distance: 1080 yards / 0.61 miles
Pace: 34:24/mile (now we're getting somewhere!)
Calories: 150
Maximum HR: 165
Average HR: 146
* I'm not 100% sold on this HR/Calorie information since at one point I looked down and it was flashing 00 for my heart rate ...
Stair Mill
Time: 40:00
Distance: 3.20 miles / 153 floors
Pace: 12:30/mile
Calories: 363
Maximum HR: 179
Average HR: 165
Showing posts with label NYSC Pool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYSC Pool. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Not A Japan Day Run
Today was supposed to be my 8th NYRR run this year. It was supposed to be a 4-mile run in the Park for Japan Day. Except, I totally forgot about it. In self-defense, I didn't get a handy reminder e-mail from NYRR telling me where and when to pick up my packet, and somehow without that reminder, it just slipped my mind. Oops. There goes $18 down the drain. Plus I'll have to sign up for another race.
Instead, I ended up doing a whole hodge-podge of things. Drew and I went to the gym and decided to go for a swim first. I started out doing freestyle down and breast-stroke back. That way I could watch Drew a little bit and give him some pointers. After a while, he seemed to be doing okay, so I just decided to do some swimming on my own. I think my elbow is almost back to normal now. It definitely still hurts if I try to lock it, but I can stretch it out almost all the way without saying "ouch".
All of that means that swimming seems to be a go for now. I can't even tell you how great it felt to be back in the water and going along at a decent clip. Granted, my times still aren't that great in total, but a lot of that is because I was stopping to chat with Drew and in the beginning I wasn't really testing myself at all. Next time I'll hopefully get in a slightly better swim.
After Drew had reached his tiring point in the pool, we got out and headed down to the weight room. Drew was doing arm stuff, so we did one-armed things. He just did both arms (but separately) and I just did my right arm. I have to say that my right arm was definitely tired by the end of all this. This is what I did:
Right Arm Cable Pulls
15 reps @ 40 lbs / 15 reps @ 45 lbs / 15 reps @ 50 lbs
Seated Row (Right Arm)
10 reps @ 30 lbs / 2 x 10 reps @ 40 lbs
Back Extensions
2 x 20 reps
The cable pulls in the beginning were probably too light for me, but I didn't really feel like overdoing it. I also didn't really feel anything from the back extensions. I felt like I could have done them all day long and still not felt anything. Drew tried to explain that I was supposed to be feeling something in my lower back, but I didn't feel that. He said I could try holding onto some weight to make it harder, but I just wasn't in the mood for all that today.
Truthfully, what I really wanted to do was run. It was so nice outside (okay, it was pretty warm), but when the weather is nice, it just seems like such a waste to be indoors. Drew agreed to go running with me in the Park after some negotiations about how far we would run and how fast we would run. We settled on about a 4-mile course. So, at least I got my run in even if it wasn't how I had originally planned.
We ran along the Bridle Path (for the shade) up to the Reservoir. Once we got there, I said that I was going to continue running along the Bridle Path, but if Drew wanted to do one loop of the Reservoir, that was fine with me. We could just meet up together where we had started from. He said he'd like to the Bridle Path loop around the Reservoir as well, so we both took off at our own speeds. The run itself was fairly uneventful. There is something nice about running by yourself and not having to worry about going too slow for the other person.
When I was making the turn to head back west, the Bridle Path was blocked off, so I had to run along the Reservoir in the wrong direction. Sorry everyone! I'm normally such a stickler for the rules in the Park, so I felt pretty bad breaking them. But, I'm not sure what my other options were, other than extending the run longer, which wasn't really an option for me.
I was definitely getting tired by the time I got back and met Drew. I had also run into our friend, Lisa and then we ran into her again together, so the three of us chatted for a few minutes before we all went off on our runs. Drew and I started running back home. I told him that I wasn't sure I would make it all the way home and I definitely didn't. We ran for about 10 minutes and then I called it quits and we walked the rest of the way home.
I'm a little bummed that running 4 miles was such a hard undertaking. 4 miles used to be a quick and easy little run! I'm realizing that maybe I should have been doing more in the past five weeks than I had been doing, but honestly, at the time, my heart just wasn't in it. I'm sure I'll be paying for that later, but for now, I'm just going to try to rebuild slowly and carefully. Of course, I'm still not technically supposed to be running, so there's that aspect. This was my longest run since the triathlon, so I've got to keep everything in perspective.
Swimming
Time: 28:03
Distance: 720 yards / 0.41 miles
Pace: 68:24/mile
Calories: 158
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 128
Weight Lifting
Time: 20:39
Calories: 126
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 121
Running
Time: 46:09
Distance: 4.20 miles
Pace: 10:59/mile
Calories: 620
Maximum HR: 202
Average HR: 187
Instead, I ended up doing a whole hodge-podge of things. Drew and I went to the gym and decided to go for a swim first. I started out doing freestyle down and breast-stroke back. That way I could watch Drew a little bit and give him some pointers. After a while, he seemed to be doing okay, so I just decided to do some swimming on my own. I think my elbow is almost back to normal now. It definitely still hurts if I try to lock it, but I can stretch it out almost all the way without saying "ouch".
All of that means that swimming seems to be a go for now. I can't even tell you how great it felt to be back in the water and going along at a decent clip. Granted, my times still aren't that great in total, but a lot of that is because I was stopping to chat with Drew and in the beginning I wasn't really testing myself at all. Next time I'll hopefully get in a slightly better swim.
After Drew had reached his tiring point in the pool, we got out and headed down to the weight room. Drew was doing arm stuff, so we did one-armed things. He just did both arms (but separately) and I just did my right arm. I have to say that my right arm was definitely tired by the end of all this. This is what I did:
Right Arm Cable Pulls
15 reps @ 40 lbs / 15 reps @ 45 lbs / 15 reps @ 50 lbs
Seated Row (Right Arm)
10 reps @ 30 lbs / 2 x 10 reps @ 40 lbs
Back Extensions
2 x 20 reps
The cable pulls in the beginning were probably too light for me, but I didn't really feel like overdoing it. I also didn't really feel anything from the back extensions. I felt like I could have done them all day long and still not felt anything. Drew tried to explain that I was supposed to be feeling something in my lower back, but I didn't feel that. He said I could try holding onto some weight to make it harder, but I just wasn't in the mood for all that today.
Truthfully, what I really wanted to do was run. It was so nice outside (okay, it was pretty warm), but when the weather is nice, it just seems like such a waste to be indoors. Drew agreed to go running with me in the Park after some negotiations about how far we would run and how fast we would run. We settled on about a 4-mile course. So, at least I got my run in even if it wasn't how I had originally planned.
We ran along the Bridle Path (for the shade) up to the Reservoir. Once we got there, I said that I was going to continue running along the Bridle Path, but if Drew wanted to do one loop of the Reservoir, that was fine with me. We could just meet up together where we had started from. He said he'd like to the Bridle Path loop around the Reservoir as well, so we both took off at our own speeds. The run itself was fairly uneventful. There is something nice about running by yourself and not having to worry about going too slow for the other person.
When I was making the turn to head back west, the Bridle Path was blocked off, so I had to run along the Reservoir in the wrong direction. Sorry everyone! I'm normally such a stickler for the rules in the Park, so I felt pretty bad breaking them. But, I'm not sure what my other options were, other than extending the run longer, which wasn't really an option for me.
I was definitely getting tired by the time I got back and met Drew. I had also run into our friend, Lisa and then we ran into her again together, so the three of us chatted for a few minutes before we all went off on our runs. Drew and I started running back home. I told him that I wasn't sure I would make it all the way home and I definitely didn't. We ran for about 10 minutes and then I called it quits and we walked the rest of the way home.
I'm a little bummed that running 4 miles was such a hard undertaking. 4 miles used to be a quick and easy little run! I'm realizing that maybe I should have been doing more in the past five weeks than I had been doing, but honestly, at the time, my heart just wasn't in it. I'm sure I'll be paying for that later, but for now, I'm just going to try to rebuild slowly and carefully. Of course, I'm still not technically supposed to be running, so there's that aspect. This was my longest run since the triathlon, so I've got to keep everything in perspective.
Swimming
Time: 28:03
Distance: 720 yards / 0.41 miles
Pace: 68:24/mile
Calories: 158
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 128
Weight Lifting
Time: 20:39
Calories: 126
Maximum HR: 162
Average HR: 121
Running
Time: 46:09
Distance: 4.20 miles
Pace: 10:59/mile
Calories: 620
Maximum HR: 202
Average HR: 187
Thursday, June 3, 2010
183 Things!
First things first ... the title of this post comes from the fact that this is my 183rd post on this blog. Not a momentous occasion for you, I'm sure, but for me it means that I've now done the same amount of posts on this blog as I did on my old blog. From here on out, it's all new territory in the blogging world for me! And it really seemed like we did 183 things at the gym this morning, so it all works out.
We started out with some swimming. Drew had made himself a reservation at 6:00 this morning. They said that there wasn't enough space in the reservations for both of us to have a spot, but it wasn't a problem. They take reservations for 4 of the 8 available slots. I figured that since we'd be there at 6 on the nose, I could be one of the first people in the pool without an issue. Drew and I snagged our own lane and got down to business.
For me, that meant a combination of aqua jogging and kicking. For Drew, that meant some swimming. I really tried to keep track of how far we went today. I'm thinking somewhere in the 30-40 lengths of the pool range, which would be about 540-720 yards range. I think 40 lengths is a bit on the high end, so it's probably somewhere more around 600 yards total.
Drew does seem to be looking a bit more comfortable in the water, but I don't think he's feeling a lot more comfortable. He was swimming on his own at first and then I had him switch to use a pool buoy and he got a lot more confident once his kick was taken out of the equation. His kick is definitely not his strong suit, so it makes sense that it would help him. I actually think what happens is that he gets a little frantic about making it to the end of the lane and starts kicking harder, which would be helpful if he had a good kick, but all it does is tire him out and then he gets a little panicked about breathing since he's feeling tired. I'm not sure what the solution is to this. I've tried to have him slow down and relax in the water, but I just think that some people might never relax completely.
After our swim (I'm not really sure I can say that it was real swimming ... my hair didn't even get wet under my swim cap), we changed into gym clothes and headed downstairs for some cardio. Drew suggested that we do the stair mill and I was fine with that. I knew I'd have to pick a slower level than I'd probably like to do since I can't really hold on that well (or at least I shouldn't be holding on). I decided to do the Fat Burner, Level 8.
After about 7 minutes, I was ready to lower the level and wimp out, but since I know that won't get me anywhere, I hung in there for the full 30 minutes. I really just concentrated on reading my book and not falling off the machine. Drew tripped a little bit at one point on his stair mill, so it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility that someone would fall off!
When our 30 minutes were up, Drew said he wanted to do some lifting. I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to do that too, but I figured what the heck? This is what I ended up doing:
Leg Press:
10 reps @ 135 lbs / 2 x 10 reps @ 180 lbs
Calf Raises:
10 reps @ 135 lbs / 2 x 10 reps @ 180 lbs
Body Weight Circuit:
3 x 10 reps right leg lunges
3 x 10 reps left leg lunges
3 x 15 reps squats
Drew did the leg presses and calf raises as well, but then he did real squats with the bar on his back. I would have liked to have done those, but I don't think I can lift the bar onto or off on my back right now with my left arm and I was too afraid that I'd hurt it if I did something like that, so I opted just to do my body weight circuit. I think it worked out just fine.
We finished up in the weight room and Drew said he was going to do 15 more minutes of cardio. I said I'd do it too if we could use the treadmill. He's on the anti-running-Amy plan, so he was a little skeptical at first. I said I would just walk at a high incline. Which I did, for 10 minutes. I walked at 4.0 or 4.2 at level 9 incline. Turns out that is very boring.
All I wanted to do was run. So you know what? I decided just to go ahead and sprint my little heart out. I put the incline down to 1 and the speed up to 10.0 and just had at it. I think I sprinted for about a minute and then did a little bit of walking, another sprint at 10.0 and then did about a 2 minute walking cool-down. Definitely very satisfying just to get that sprinting under my belt. Reminded me of training for the half-marathon!
We finished up with some stretching and I headed home with a very hungry tummy. Even though I didn't really swim, there is something in the water that just makes me starving, I think. I know I'm not the only person that this happens to ... or am I?
Swimming
Time: 23:20
Distance: ~ 600 yards
Pace: 68:35/mile (we will never discuss this again)
Calories: 117
Maximum HR: 143
Average HR: 111
Stair Mill
Time: 30:00
Distance: 2.57 miles (153 floors)
Pace: 11:40/mile
Calories: 285
Maximum HR: 167
Average HR: 154
Weight Lifting
Time: 23:57
Calories: 121
Maximum HR: 152
Average HR: 112
Running/Walking
Time: 15:00
Distance: ~1.25 miles
Pace: 12:00/mile
Calories: 169
Maximum HR: 193
Average HR: 169
We started out with some swimming. Drew had made himself a reservation at 6:00 this morning. They said that there wasn't enough space in the reservations for both of us to have a spot, but it wasn't a problem. They take reservations for 4 of the 8 available slots. I figured that since we'd be there at 6 on the nose, I could be one of the first people in the pool without an issue. Drew and I snagged our own lane and got down to business.
For me, that meant a combination of aqua jogging and kicking. For Drew, that meant some swimming. I really tried to keep track of how far we went today. I'm thinking somewhere in the 30-40 lengths of the pool range, which would be about 540-720 yards range. I think 40 lengths is a bit on the high end, so it's probably somewhere more around 600 yards total.
Drew does seem to be looking a bit more comfortable in the water, but I don't think he's feeling a lot more comfortable. He was swimming on his own at first and then I had him switch to use a pool buoy and he got a lot more confident once his kick was taken out of the equation. His kick is definitely not his strong suit, so it makes sense that it would help him. I actually think what happens is that he gets a little frantic about making it to the end of the lane and starts kicking harder, which would be helpful if he had a good kick, but all it does is tire him out and then he gets a little panicked about breathing since he's feeling tired. I'm not sure what the solution is to this. I've tried to have him slow down and relax in the water, but I just think that some people might never relax completely.
After our swim (I'm not really sure I can say that it was real swimming ... my hair didn't even get wet under my swim cap), we changed into gym clothes and headed downstairs for some cardio. Drew suggested that we do the stair mill and I was fine with that. I knew I'd have to pick a slower level than I'd probably like to do since I can't really hold on that well (or at least I shouldn't be holding on). I decided to do the Fat Burner, Level 8.
After about 7 minutes, I was ready to lower the level and wimp out, but since I know that won't get me anywhere, I hung in there for the full 30 minutes. I really just concentrated on reading my book and not falling off the machine. Drew tripped a little bit at one point on his stair mill, so it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility that someone would fall off!
When our 30 minutes were up, Drew said he wanted to do some lifting. I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to do that too, but I figured what the heck? This is what I ended up doing:
Leg Press:
10 reps @ 135 lbs / 2 x 10 reps @ 180 lbs
Calf Raises:
10 reps @ 135 lbs / 2 x 10 reps @ 180 lbs
Body Weight Circuit:
3 x 10 reps right leg lunges
3 x 10 reps left leg lunges
3 x 15 reps squats
Drew did the leg presses and calf raises as well, but then he did real squats with the bar on his back. I would have liked to have done those, but I don't think I can lift the bar onto or off on my back right now with my left arm and I was too afraid that I'd hurt it if I did something like that, so I opted just to do my body weight circuit. I think it worked out just fine.
We finished up in the weight room and Drew said he was going to do 15 more minutes of cardio. I said I'd do it too if we could use the treadmill. He's on the anti-running-Amy plan, so he was a little skeptical at first. I said I would just walk at a high incline. Which I did, for 10 minutes. I walked at 4.0 or 4.2 at level 9 incline. Turns out that is very boring.
All I wanted to do was run. So you know what? I decided just to go ahead and sprint my little heart out. I put the incline down to 1 and the speed up to 10.0 and just had at it. I think I sprinted for about a minute and then did a little bit of walking, another sprint at 10.0 and then did about a 2 minute walking cool-down. Definitely very satisfying just to get that sprinting under my belt. Reminded me of training for the half-marathon!
We finished up with some stretching and I headed home with a very hungry tummy. Even though I didn't really swim, there is something in the water that just makes me starving, I think. I know I'm not the only person that this happens to ... or am I?
Swimming
Time: 23:20
Distance: ~ 600 yards
Pace: 68:35/mile (we will never discuss this again)
Calories: 117
Maximum HR: 143
Average HR: 111
Stair Mill
Time: 30:00
Distance: 2.57 miles (153 floors)
Pace: 11:40/mile
Calories: 285
Maximum HR: 167
Average HR: 154
Weight Lifting
Time: 23:57
Calories: 121
Maximum HR: 152
Average HR: 112
Running/Walking
Time: 15:00
Distance: ~1.25 miles
Pace: 12:00/mile
Calories: 169
Maximum HR: 193
Average HR: 169
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Leg Cramps
Drew and I spent the afternoon running errands, but I knew that I desperately needed to squeeze in a swim today. Somehow, I conned him into coming along and swimming with me. When we got to the pool there was a girl that was just getting into an empty lane. Since one of us would have had to swim with her no matter what, I asked her if she'd mind moving over one and sharing with someone else so that Drew and I could swim together. Luckily for us she agreed!
I had brought along a workout and I figured that I'd just try to get as much done while still keeping an eye on Drew and giving him a couple of pointers on his swimming. I don't hold out any hope that he'll turn into a triathlete, but I think it could be a good thing for him to be better at.
This is the workout I ended up doing:
Warm-Up: 16 Lengths
Drills: 12 Lengths drills
Kick: 12 Lengths kick
Main Set: 3 x 6 Lengths
Total: 1116 yards (0.63 miles)
For the drills, I practiced doing something that I had read about somewhere recently (unsure where at the moment). Apparently, a good way to know how often you need to sight is to close your eyes, start swimming and then see how long it takes for you to run into the lane line. It turns out that I'm naturally a fairly straight swimmer, although I have a slight tendency to drift left. But it would take me about the whole length of the pool before I ran into the lane line.
While we were doing the kicking, Drew's legs started cramping. He's not a very good kicker in general and I'm sure that this morning's workout had something to do with it. I've noticed that it's mostly boys that get these leg cramps. That's what it always seems like at the Terrier swims. Whenever I get a cramp (mostly in my toes), I just swim through it. I always figure I'll have to do that in a race, so I might as well get used to it.
I did part of my main set, but Drew's legs were still really cramping up, so I cut my workout a couple of minutes short and got out with him. But, like Sarah told us a couple of weeks ago at practice, there are no junk laps and getting in and getting wet is better than not swimming at all.
Here are my actual workouts from the week:
Oops. Not the best effort ever. Mainly on the biking front. But I blame the bike shipping for that one. I do just need to remind myself that I'm currently training for an Olympic and 6+ hours of training for the week before an Olympic triathlon isn't bad at all. On the swimming front, I'm not quite as bad as it looks. I should have have done 5500 yards - did 3132 instead (missing 2368 / 1.34 miles). I just can't worry about this. I'm excited for the race and I feel pretty ready, so I'm going to keep that feeling and go with it!
Swimming
Time: 25:12
Distance: 1116 yards (0.63 miles)
Pace: 39:44/mile
Calories: 200
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 138
I had brought along a workout and I figured that I'd just try to get as much done while still keeping an eye on Drew and giving him a couple of pointers on his swimming. I don't hold out any hope that he'll turn into a triathlete, but I think it could be a good thing for him to be better at.
This is the workout I ended up doing:
Warm-Up: 16 Lengths
Drills: 12 Lengths drills
Kick: 12 Lengths kick
Main Set: 3 x 6 Lengths
Total: 1116 yards (0.63 miles)
For the drills, I practiced doing something that I had read about somewhere recently (unsure where at the moment). Apparently, a good way to know how often you need to sight is to close your eyes, start swimming and then see how long it takes for you to run into the lane line. It turns out that I'm naturally a fairly straight swimmer, although I have a slight tendency to drift left. But it would take me about the whole length of the pool before I ran into the lane line.
While we were doing the kicking, Drew's legs started cramping. He's not a very good kicker in general and I'm sure that this morning's workout had something to do with it. I've noticed that it's mostly boys that get these leg cramps. That's what it always seems like at the Terrier swims. Whenever I get a cramp (mostly in my toes), I just swim through it. I always figure I'll have to do that in a race, so I might as well get used to it.
I did part of my main set, but Drew's legs were still really cramping up, so I cut my workout a couple of minutes short and got out with him. But, like Sarah told us a couple of weeks ago at practice, there are no junk laps and getting in and getting wet is better than not swimming at all.
Here are my actual workouts from the week:
Oops. Not the best effort ever. Mainly on the biking front. But I blame the bike shipping for that one. I do just need to remind myself that I'm currently training for an Olympic and 6+ hours of training for the week before an Olympic triathlon isn't bad at all. On the swimming front, I'm not quite as bad as it looks. I should have have done 5500 yards - did 3132 instead (missing 2368 / 1.34 miles). I just can't worry about this. I'm excited for the race and I feel pretty ready, so I'm going to keep that feeling and go with it!
Swimming
Time: 25:12
Distance: 1116 yards (0.63 miles)
Pace: 39:44/mile
Calories: 200
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 138
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Two Amys
Tonight I had made myself a reservation at the pool at 8:30. I wasn't overly excited about how late that was, but I know I need to get in some good swims over the next two weeks and the only way to do that is to get in the pool. Once I thought about it, though I was actually thinking that 8:30 (PM) wasn't the worst time. Our gym pool closes at 9:15 and that meant that there wouldn't be anyone getting in the pool after me, so if my workout ran a little bit over, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
I figured that I would just try to do the 2000 yard workout that was on the training plan from Sunday that I didn't do then. It was pretty simple: 250 Warm-Up / 1500 yards / 250 Cool-Down. The only hitch is, of course, that our gym's pool is only 18 yards, so that meant that I was planning on doing 112 lengths of the pool (2016 yards).
I got to the pool a little early in the hopes that it wouldn't be too crowded and I could just get in early. Not the case at all. It was crazy busy! I checked in with the lifeguard and as I was sitting there waiting for it to be 8:30, the lifeguard called over to me and told me that there were two people named Amy that had a reservation at 8:30. Great. Typical. All I could think of for the next 5 minutes was that I wouldn't even be able to swim.
Except, I got really lucky. The lifeguard had both of us (the two Amys) go into the same lane at 8:30. And she was an awesome swimmer! And by awesome, I don't mean Olympic quality, but she was definitely a swimmer, she stuck to her side of the lane, and she didn't float around and get in my way the whole time. Which let me just put the pedal to the metal and swim swim swim. I don't think I took any rest breaks, I just swam straight through.
At some point, a guy got in the lane next to me and I found him to be really distracting. He was pretty much the same pace as me, so we'd turn around and push off the wall at the exact same second, but that wasn't the distracting part. The distracting part was his stroke. I just couldn't stop staring at it. He was swimming freestyle, but his arms looked like was swimming backstroke. He never bent his elbows. It was the weirdest thing. I just kept watching him, he probably thought I was the creepy girl at the pool.
At 9:00, I had managed to do most of my workout, but I still had a few more lengths to go to reach my goal for the night. I peeked around and noticed that the lifeguard wasn't on the pool deck (he was in the office), so I figured that I'd just finish up as quickly as I could and then head out. I only went a couple minutes over my allotted time and there wasn't anyone waiting to get in, so I don't feel bad about it.
I actually thought that I had a really good swim while I was swimming, although it felt like I was slower than I had been on Saturday when I was wearing my wetsuit. The funny thing is that I did actually swim faster today, but I attribute that to the fact that on Saturday I took a few more rest breaks, which all add up and today I just swam straight through.
Swimming
Time: 32:33
Distance: 2016 yards (1.14 miles)
Pace: 28:24/mile
Calories: 326
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 159
I figured that I would just try to do the 2000 yard workout that was on the training plan from Sunday that I didn't do then. It was pretty simple: 250 Warm-Up / 1500 yards / 250 Cool-Down. The only hitch is, of course, that our gym's pool is only 18 yards, so that meant that I was planning on doing 112 lengths of the pool (2016 yards).
I got to the pool a little early in the hopes that it wouldn't be too crowded and I could just get in early. Not the case at all. It was crazy busy! I checked in with the lifeguard and as I was sitting there waiting for it to be 8:30, the lifeguard called over to me and told me that there were two people named Amy that had a reservation at 8:30. Great. Typical. All I could think of for the next 5 minutes was that I wouldn't even be able to swim.
Except, I got really lucky. The lifeguard had both of us (the two Amys) go into the same lane at 8:30. And she was an awesome swimmer! And by awesome, I don't mean Olympic quality, but she was definitely a swimmer, she stuck to her side of the lane, and she didn't float around and get in my way the whole time. Which let me just put the pedal to the metal and swim swim swim. I don't think I took any rest breaks, I just swam straight through.
At some point, a guy got in the lane next to me and I found him to be really distracting. He was pretty much the same pace as me, so we'd turn around and push off the wall at the exact same second, but that wasn't the distracting part. The distracting part was his stroke. I just couldn't stop staring at it. He was swimming freestyle, but his arms looked like was swimming backstroke. He never bent his elbows. It was the weirdest thing. I just kept watching him, he probably thought I was the creepy girl at the pool.
At 9:00, I had managed to do most of my workout, but I still had a few more lengths to go to reach my goal for the night. I peeked around and noticed that the lifeguard wasn't on the pool deck (he was in the office), so I figured that I'd just finish up as quickly as I could and then head out. I only went a couple minutes over my allotted time and there wasn't anyone waiting to get in, so I don't feel bad about it.
I actually thought that I had a really good swim while I was swimming, although it felt like I was slower than I had been on Saturday when I was wearing my wetsuit. The funny thing is that I did actually swim faster today, but I attribute that to the fact that on Saturday I took a few more rest breaks, which all add up and today I just swam straight through.
Swimming
Time: 32:33
Distance: 2016 yards (1.14 miles)
Pace: 28:24/mile
Calories: 326
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 159
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Test Swim
This afternoon I decided that I couldn't wait any longer and I had to get in the pool and test out my new wetsuit and goggles. I put my suit on my lower half and walked out to the pool area. I wanted to see how crowded it was before I put it all on and baked myself. Luckily, I was able to get into the pool right away (normally you're supposed to make a reservation).
I was really nervous before taking my first stroke. I know that everyone says that having a sleeved wetsuit really changes your stroke and gives you a smaller range of motion. But, I didn't experience that at all. If it weren't for the fact that I was so hot in the pool, I honestly don't think I would have noticed that I had it on. Oh, except for the fact that I was super buoyant and felt a lot faster in the water.
I didn't keep track of how far I went on my test swim and I didn't wear my heart rate monitor. I really wanted this to be about testing my gear. However, I'd guess that I ended up swimming about 1000 yards in the time I was in the pool.
The other big test for the day was to test out my new goggles. They're a winner! Seriously, they're awesome. No leaking and no fogging. Granted, I stuck them on my dry face and they worked great. I was hesitant to take them off and ruin how much I loved them, but I forced myself to take them off and re-stick them to my wet face to see how they sealed up. The answer: perfectly!
Even though the wetsuit might be more important for Alcatraz, I might almost think the goggles were a better purchase as I'll be using those a lot more in the long run. It's also just nice to know that even though I bought them on the internet that they worked out just fine. Well, I guess the same could be said for the wetsuit!
Swimming
Time: 25:00
Distance: 1000 yards (0.56 miles)
Pace: 43:59/mile
I was really nervous before taking my first stroke. I know that everyone says that having a sleeved wetsuit really changes your stroke and gives you a smaller range of motion. But, I didn't experience that at all. If it weren't for the fact that I was so hot in the pool, I honestly don't think I would have noticed that I had it on. Oh, except for the fact that I was super buoyant and felt a lot faster in the water.
I didn't keep track of how far I went on my test swim and I didn't wear my heart rate monitor. I really wanted this to be about testing my gear. However, I'd guess that I ended up swimming about 1000 yards in the time I was in the pool.
The other big test for the day was to test out my new goggles. They're a winner! Seriously, they're awesome. No leaking and no fogging. Granted, I stuck them on my dry face and they worked great. I was hesitant to take them off and ruin how much I loved them, but I forced myself to take them off and re-stick them to my wet face to see how they sealed up. The answer: perfectly!
Even though the wetsuit might be more important for Alcatraz, I might almost think the goggles were a better purchase as I'll be using those a lot more in the long run. It's also just nice to know that even though I bought them on the internet that they worked out just fine. Well, I guess the same could be said for the wetsuit!
Swimming
Time: 25:00
Distance: 1000 yards (0.56 miles)
Pace: 43:59/mile
Friday, March 26, 2010
iPhone v. Treadmill
I stayed up late again last night - mainly because I didn't get home until 9:30 and still had to eat dinner and just wasn't quite ready for bed early. All my own fault, I know. That meant that I didn't feel like getting up early this morning to workout. So, instead, I had the gym looming over my head all day long. Not the most fun thing to look forward to on a Friday night.
I had made a really fun playlist a while ago, but somehow my iPhone decided to eat that playlist. So, I made another (very similar) one today before going to the gym. Even though some of the songs are pretty embarrassing, I thought I'd post it here (just in case my phone decides to eat the list again!)
There were 21 songs on the list and I figured I'd run today until the treadmill gave out (after 60 minutes) or I ran out of songs to listen to. Whichever came first. I was definitely "that girl" on the treadmill today since I was mouthing along (not singing!) to my songs.
I was running along (quite happily -- which almost never ever happens at the gym) at 6.0 when I decided that maybe I should try to do a 5K in under 30:00. Except I didn't think about this plan until a bit too late. I think that if I had decided about 30 seconds earlier that was going to be my plan, I would have been perfect. So, instead I finished in 30:07. Still super awesomely happy with that time.
Then because I was running at 9.5 to try to finish in time, I took a bit of a walking break for 0.25 miles. I still had plenty of time left on the treadmill, so I figured I should keep on running. I ended up being able to do 2.5 more miles running. I also picked up the speed at the end of that run too. I figure that's fairly race-like.
Then I went for a swim. I had brought along a swimplan.com workout to do, but I kind-of knew I wouldn't do it. For one thing, the pool there is only 18 feet long and I'm really bad at math so trying to convert in my head is a disaster. I had figured out before I went to the pool that 1800 yards (so 100 lengths of the pool) is 1.02 miles.
I ended up doing 50 lengths (0.51 miles) and after seeing my time, which I thought was fine, I decided to see if I could negative split the next 0.51 miles. The first half-mile was so nice and easy, I really never felt like I was working. The second half-mile was also pretty easy, although I will admit that for the last 4 lengths (72 yards), I did pick it up a tiny bit, but I never was pushing it to the max or anywhere close to that. Definitely have to say that knowing I can swim a mile (it's in the pool, I know) nice and easy in about 32 minutes really makes me more confident about Alcatraz. You have an hour to swim 1.5 miles and I know the current is crazy, but I think I can do it.
After the running, I did some stretching and I even did some quite neglected core work. I did two sets of 25 crunches and also did plank for 1:00. I don't even know if that's good or not, but I figure that it wasn't going to hurt me and every little bit helps. Had some Gatorade while running and a mini Lara bar (thanks Atlanta expo!) after. I also had some Muscle Milk before and most after the swim.
I almost never like going to the gym, but somehow everything was really nice and easy today. Oh, and by the way, the iPhone totally won. I listened to 18.5 songs (out of the 21).
Run #1
Time: 30:07
Distance: 3.10 miles
Pace: 9:42/mile
Calories: 366
Maximum HR: 191
Average HR: 171
Run #2
Time: 24:07
Distance: 2.50 miles
Pace: 9:38/mile
Calories: 298
Maximum HR: 182
Average HR: 172
Swim #1
Time: 16:23
Distance: 0.51 miles (900 yards)
Pace: 32:07/mile
Calories: 161
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 151
Swim #2
Time: 15:52
Distance: 0.51 miles (900 yards)
Pace: 31:06/mile
Calories: 173
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 161
I had made a really fun playlist a while ago, but somehow my iPhone decided to eat that playlist. So, I made another (very similar) one today before going to the gym. Even though some of the songs are pretty embarrassing, I thought I'd post it here (just in case my phone decides to eat the list again!)
There were 21 songs on the list and I figured I'd run today until the treadmill gave out (after 60 minutes) or I ran out of songs to listen to. Whichever came first. I was definitely "that girl" on the treadmill today since I was mouthing along (not singing!) to my songs.
I was running along (quite happily -- which almost never ever happens at the gym) at 6.0 when I decided that maybe I should try to do a 5K in under 30:00. Except I didn't think about this plan until a bit too late. I think that if I had decided about 30 seconds earlier that was going to be my plan, I would have been perfect. So, instead I finished in 30:07. Still super awesomely happy with that time.
Then because I was running at 9.5 to try to finish in time, I took a bit of a walking break for 0.25 miles. I still had plenty of time left on the treadmill, so I figured I should keep on running. I ended up being able to do 2.5 more miles running. I also picked up the speed at the end of that run too. I figure that's fairly race-like.
Then I went for a swim. I had brought along a swimplan.com workout to do, but I kind-of knew I wouldn't do it. For one thing, the pool there is only 18 feet long and I'm really bad at math so trying to convert in my head is a disaster. I had figured out before I went to the pool that 1800 yards (so 100 lengths of the pool) is 1.02 miles.
I ended up doing 50 lengths (0.51 miles) and after seeing my time, which I thought was fine, I decided to see if I could negative split the next 0.51 miles. The first half-mile was so nice and easy, I really never felt like I was working. The second half-mile was also pretty easy, although I will admit that for the last 4 lengths (72 yards), I did pick it up a tiny bit, but I never was pushing it to the max or anywhere close to that. Definitely have to say that knowing I can swim a mile (it's in the pool, I know) nice and easy in about 32 minutes really makes me more confident about Alcatraz. You have an hour to swim 1.5 miles and I know the current is crazy, but I think I can do it.
After the running, I did some stretching and I even did some quite neglected core work. I did two sets of 25 crunches and also did plank for 1:00. I don't even know if that's good or not, but I figure that it wasn't going to hurt me and every little bit helps. Had some Gatorade while running and a mini Lara bar (thanks Atlanta expo!) after. I also had some Muscle Milk before and most after the swim.
I almost never like going to the gym, but somehow everything was really nice and easy today. Oh, and by the way, the iPhone totally won. I listened to 18.5 songs (out of the 21).
Run #1
Time: 30:07
Distance: 3.10 miles
Pace: 9:42/mile
Calories: 366
Maximum HR: 191
Average HR: 171
Run #2
Time: 24:07
Distance: 2.50 miles
Pace: 9:38/mile
Calories: 298
Maximum HR: 182
Average HR: 172
Swim #1
Time: 16:23
Distance: 0.51 miles (900 yards)
Pace: 32:07/mile
Calories: 161
Maximum HR: 158
Average HR: 151
Swim #2
Time: 15:52
Distance: 0.51 miles (900 yards)
Pace: 31:06/mile
Calories: 173
Maximum HR: 169
Average HR: 161
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
