Warm-up 500m as 200 free, 100 kick, 200 pull
10x50m free on 1:00
3x50 kick on 1:30
3x 200 pull on 4:00
100 free max effort
200 free/back cool-down
2050 m
I know I had a workout scheduled for today. But, sometimes real life steps up and presents you with projects that need finishing. I've been working on a fence off and on for a couple of months now. My coach objects when I put down fence building in my training log, but I'm pretty sure he never dug holes for 6 foot fence posts with a two handle post-hole digger and then set the posts with a 25 lb. tamper. I spent most of the day outside today digging out some old holes and setting the posts. That is some exhausting work, I don't envy folks that do that for a living. So my training for the day is 5 hours building fence.
Cross-training: 5 hours, sunburn, and a sore back
Round two - ding, ding!!
Rollers: day 2
Okay, yesterday I managed to actually ride upright on the rollers for 60 minutes of wheel time. I'm not sure if I was more mentally tired than physically tired. They say that the rollers are 15 inches wide. That's the narrowest 15 inches I've ever seen, particularly as I watch with horror as my front wheel scoots across them and dumps me on the floor. But, that was yesterday. Today's a new day and I'm already a better rider. I can tell. I looked at the rollers with respect and the knowledge that I was able to ride them yesterday. I hope that counts for something. So today it was Mark vs. the rollers for another scheduled bout of 60 minutes. I knew that I had victory already in hand, I had won just last night. Of course, I wasn't counting on the effects of having an audience. Last night I was alone. Just me and the rollers duking it out for supremacy of the living room. Today, the wife walked in just as I was getting ready to do my ballet dance/balancing act required for me to mount my bike. I know that there must be another way to mount the things, but I haven't figured it out. So I put the bike on the rollers, throw my leg over and place one foot on the pedal and pull myself upright with the counter top. I hover precariously as my left foot searches for the other pedal when it finally finds its berth. I add a little pressure to the left foot and the balancing act begins. My wife can barely, okay not at all, hide her amusement. She says lithely, that looks like a torture device. Little does she know how right she is. I start pedaling. She asks if I plan on letting go of the counter top. I smile wryly and reply, "when I feel like it." Okay, the humiliation continues. After about 3 minutes getting my bearings I let go of the counter top and the fun truly begins. I swerve left immediately, but I catch it. I overcompensate and swing over to the right, I quickly add pressure to the left side of the handlebar and, voila!, I'm upright and heading down the road...errr rollers. I remind myself, look up/forward. I pull my gaze up a little, lock in on the remote control 4 feet in front of me and pedal. 10 minutes later, I'm still pedaling. I haven't come off! Problem now is, I'm thirsty. I could wuss out and stop pedaling, grab a handfull of counter and enjoy a drink, or I could try and find the bottle and drink without stopping. I consider my options, I'm really thirsty. I wuss out and stop. It gives me the opportunity to readjust my position. One thing I've noticed is that once you find the sweet spot to ride steady you don't move and things get a bit tired. I start back up and quickly regain my spot on the rollers and I'm away. I really can't believe how well this is working for me. The minutes tick by, I can just hear the banter on the tv, but all of my focus is on staying on the rollers. I made it another 20 minutes before the thirst came back. This time I was determined to drink on the rollers. I slowed my cadence just a hair and slowly reached down for the bottle. I managed it out of the cage and just as I was leaning my head back a little I realized that might not be a good idea. That realization gained teeth as I swung wildly to the left. I reacted just as wildly slamming the bottle down on the counter and grabbing for my bars. Amazingly enough, I somehow managed to stay on the rollers. Even though I didn't get my drink, I gained enormous confidence. After that, drinking wasn't a problem, just keep looking ahead and squirt the water in. With my new lessons I managed another 60 minutes on the rollers, and not one unplanned dismount.
I can't get over how much the rollers balance your pedaling. Even with only two rides, I notice how much more active my left leg is throughout the pedaling stroke. It has to be so I don't power myself over the right side. Such a simple idea, but it works.
Bike: Rollers 60 minutes.
Yesterday I arrived at my office to find the postman had left me a large box sitting next to my desk. I looked at it and knew instantly the contents therein. One set of rollers and a killer headwind unit. For the rest of the day, it sat there mocking me, knowing that if I were to set it up, there was no doubt that I would be unceremoniously deposited on the floor next to them. I called my wife to tell her. She wanted me to wait until she got home so she could "help steady me." How humiliating. So there they sat, mocking me, calling me fred, daring me to give it a go. The work day ended, and much to my dismay the traffic was light, I made it home in record time.
I set about finding chores. I fed the dogs, the horses, I did the dishes, I walked the dogs, and still they mocked me. I ran out of things to do, so I broke down and assembled my very own torture device. I might as well be Wile E. Coyote and they should be made by Acme. Finally assembled, all that was left was to climb aboard. I know the stories. I've read about Bob being sent to the closet. How could I possibly stay on these things? I set them up next to the Kitchen pass thru where I normally put my laptop while I ride my nice, stable indoor trainer. First question: How would anyone mount these things from the floor without a sloping top tube? I'm standing there in my cycling shoes studying the physics of getting on while the bike is on the rollers a full 5 inches higher than when its on the ground. So I grab hold of the counter with one hand and death grip the bars with the other. I ever so gently place my right foot on the pedal in the bottom dead center position and pull myself upright. Okay, I'm aboard and upright.
Still hanging onto the counter, I just start to turn the pedals. Hmmm, this is interesting, why is it that when I pedal with my right leg, the bike wants to jump off to the right, but when I pedal with my left, it hardly moves that direction? This could be an issue. Little did I know. So I focus on being nice and smooth, even with both legs. Finally, the moment of truth. I let go of the counter. I now have a double-fisted death grip on the bars and I'm staring at every inch of sideways movement of the front wheel. 30 seconds later, before it even registered, vrrrrp, right off the side and BANG! the forearm comes crashing down on the counter. That stung a little. So the process starts all over. I get upright and this time I make it a minute and a half. Hey..... that's a little progress. I get back on and successfully pedal with both hands on the bars for 3 solid minutes.
Wow, this isn't so hard. I mean, I haven't pedaled enough to get down the driveway, but I haven't broken anything yet. So the process continues until the magical moment. I looked up, not all the way up, just like I was looking 4 feet down the road, riding a white line drill. An AHA! moment if I've ever had one. As I stared down the straight edge of the end table parked just in front of me, I envisioned myself riding straight down that white line, and voila, I was riding the rollers. Mastery was mine! At least until the phone rang, at which time I looked to my right to see the caller ID and had a moment of "uh-oh that wasn't the smartest thing to do"
as I came off the rollers for the last time (in the first session). I mamaged to get a full hour of wheel time in my first roller session. I love 'em. I know that the balance skills and the pedaling skills will benenfit me to no end. Okay so, they're not mastered, but at least they aren't mocking me anymore.
Bike: ROLLERS 60 minutes
I figured the injured toe was feeling good enough to give it a go tonight. So, I headed out the door on my regular 4.3 mile out and back. I went out easy and built up to cruise pace and was feeling surprisingly strong. Everything was coming easy to me tonight. I really felt like I had good form and managed a very solid run.
Run: 4.3 miles 39:16 minutes
Thursday was my usual rest day and Friday ended up being quite the travel day to get to Decatur. I did manage to go by the Pearl Izumi store in Fort Worth, which was well worth the extra effort. I bought some compression shorts that worked wonders on today's run.
So today was the Grasslands trail marathon. What a fun way to run. I see how some people get addicted to trail running and swear off the roads. I woke up early enough to try a new breakfast of scrambled eggs and wheat tortillas. I think I might have stumbled onto something. I felt good all morning energy wise and found it much easier to stay fueled during the run. The course itself was pretty tough for a first timer. Lots of sand and hoof prints in clay led to many miles of unsure footing. I planned on just cruising when I felt like it and walking when I felt like it. It really was a lot of fun, but I ended up kicking a rock around 8 miles in and really cracking my big toe. I went ahead a finished the big loop and pulled the plug at 16 miles. All in all a good day even if it wasn't the full course.
Even better news is the discovery of compression shorts. Very little muscle soreness even after 16 miles of running.
I guess I haven't mentioned that this week will culminate in a little run with friends in Decatur. Kurt, Shelley, and I are scheduled to run the Grasslands trail marathon on Saturday. So this week has mostly been easy and restful. So today was 60 minutes on the trainer, easy and a 30 minute run. All things went very well and I still feel fresh.
Bike: trainer 60 minutes
Run: 30 minutes
this is a test of the first entry and notification.
Easy trainer ride to keep the legs fresh. 90 minutes easy to steady.
bike: 90 minutes
I managed to get in a run today after work. 5 miles on the only out and back course from my house that has a couple of small hills. 46:01 for time and a nice middling effort. I'm still focusing on keeping the heart rate fairly low, somewhere around Ironman effort.
Run: 5 miles 46:01
Today was supposed to be a long run day, but the weather never really cooperated. It seems like this winter/spring season has been very wet. I don't mind running in the cold so much, but if it's raining, I just can't get out the door. I opted instead for a trainer ride of 90 minutes. I spent the time at a level effort low heart rate.
Bike: Trainer 90 minutes
Today was brick day. I know that sounds terribly exciting, I know I was excited... maybe not. I love training, but days like today you know the effort is going to be hard and you really want to hit it. The anxiety is not quite race high, but it is higher than a regular training day. So, with the weather being what it was (crappy) I opted to set the trainer up and watched a classic on the free Starz! weekend... The Last Dragon. I know, I know, cheeseball, but I loved that movie growing up and it was on, so I was on. Good Karma. I hit the trainer hard for 90 minutes including 4x10 minutes upper end of the steady zone 53x17. I followed up the trainer torture session with a quick 45 minute steady pace run. The legs didn't really come around for about a mile, but all in all a good run on the hill route.
Bike: trainer 90 minutes
Run: 4.8 miles 45 minutes
Movie night. I was granted a night off of training and a night out. We went to see Hidalgo and I managed to still eat pretty healthy even though we went to a low-rent steakhouse. Time to rest up, tomorrow is brick day.
Another post-work run on the 5 mile hill loop. Today the legs are really starting to feel like I might know how to run. The effort was just easier all around. I love training days like today.
Run: 5 miles 45:48 minutes
Today was one of my long days. I really look forward to Wednesday's, I usually get to work from home and I take advantage of that by filling in with some longer workouts. At lunch today I spent 90 minutes on the trainer. The workout I've been developing is 20 minutes of warm-up followed by 5x 1 minute one-leg drills with 30 seconds spinning between each repeat. I then cruise for 15 minutes. Next I do some big gear repeats, today was 4 x 10 minutes in 53x13 with 2 minutes recovery. I finish off with some easy spinning.
Later after I shut down work, I went for a smooth 60 minute run. Fairly slow, but a good run after the trainer work earlier.
Bike: Trainer 90 minutes
Run: 6.5 miles 60 minutes
Today was just a nice easy run to flush out the legs. 4 miles including a some strides to pick up the leg speed.
Run: 4 miles 40 minutes
Two hours of torture on the trainer. Mixed in some big gear work with a lot of steady effort. I really focused on keeping a steady heart rate and focus on consistent effort.
Bike: trainer 120 minutes
Long run day!!!! Today I put on the water bottle belt and headed out for a long run. The focus today was a consistent effort and keeping a good form even as the body tired. I think my running is really starting to come around. I know some of it is fitness, but I think the focus on running has really helped my efficiency. I'm definitely running a bit faster at the same effort level.
Run: trails 120 minutes