STFU & Train

As mentioned in my last post, I haven't been feeling 100% lately which was making my workouts a little difficult to get motivated for. Once I felt I was at a point physically to get through the workouts I decided to shut off the brain. I felt like I was suffocating with too much random stuff...what if's, missed workouts, the weather...yadda, yadda, yadda.

I told myself to just STFU and train.

I try to focus on the now...something that has been mentioned by a few friends. I set immediate goals when I am in a workout, ie, when riding into a strong headwind to focus on the pavement passing by, when running, visualize coming into a finish line feeling like I can do the run again...etc. It really does make a difference.

I am not saying you should ever lose sight of the big picture, but sometimes you need to shift you focus away from it - from the details, and just concentrate on what you are doing at the moment. Don't think about how shitty the weather is before you head for a run...think about how strong you will feel at the turnaround point of your run. Be thankful you are in a position to do these activities.

Overall, my weekend of training went well. Physically, I was still fatigued from being sick but mentally I felt great and was glad to be out there doing what I love.

Pushing through it

Been trudging through bit of a mental/physical rough patch since last Saturday evening. I picked up what I am calling food poisoning but the Calgary food authority is calling it possibly Norovirus.

Took some time off training...trying to get back into the swing of things but it is slow going. I feel tired all the time as a result of not eating much since Saturday.

Anyways, hopefully this shit passes soon and I can get my head, and body, back into training mode.

Have moved my rides indoors on the week nights as a result of sunset happening earlier now. Tonights workout is an hour and 15 on the trainer followed by a 30 minute run. At least there are some new shows on the go now to watch while pedaling nowhere fast.

Tennis ball, foam roller, & one sore arse cheek

Last night, while watching the Big Brother Finale, I decided to pull out some toys and see if I could work out the knot I had in my left hip area. I had a buggar of a time trying to find it but after a couple of minutes discovered it buried deeply in my arse cheek. I find these the toughest ones to break up because they are hard to get at.

I tried to massage it out with my finger tips. As I was doing this, laid out on the carpet in front of the TV, Mel looks down from the chair and says "What are you doing with your hand up there?!?"

"I'm trying to work out a knot hon...can you come over here and stand on my arse cheek for me?", I reply.

Mel looks perplexed but comes over nonetheless. "Where is it?", she asks.

"Hold on...let me find it again", I reply.

I root around...OUCH!...found it. "Right there!!!", I reply hoarsely.

"I'm not going in there...that looks gross!!!" was her reply.

So I was left to my own devices. Out comes the tennis ball...in goes the tennis ball...into the area ON my arse cheek that is you dirty birds. I musta laid on that thing for a good 30 minutes...rolling it around. Not pretty but I managed to break it up somewhat. To finish up I hit up the foam roller to stretch the IT band and quads.

Woke up this morning to some serious soreness in my arse cheek. The bike ride into work this morning helped to stretch it out...good times.

On Saturday my buddy Chris and I did our lsd ride together. (Chris & his wife Jill are also racing in Clearwater in Nov.) We rode from my house out past Airdrie to Madden, over to Crossfield, back through Airdrie, and then back home. Just shy of 110km in total. The ride out was great but coming back was a total grind. The wind was fierce. Thankfully Chris did most of the pulling back so I tucked in behind him and just focused on his cadence to take my mind off the world of hurt I was in.

After the ride we did a short 2.5km t run and called it a day. Later that evening I met up with Susi, Katie, Chris, and Keith/Linda for Sushi. Mel doesn't eat sushi so she passed on the meal. However, she gets to choose where we go next time and I believe we *might* be going to Coup - which I believe is a vegetarian restaurant...she be fun.

Sunday morning was a short 2100m swim down at Chris's pool - Shouldice. I had to do a 1500m time trial so I was off in my own lane.

After the swim I had to race home to meet my buddy who was doing some chimney work on our house. Big thanks for Scott for coming out and fixing that stuff for us. We both really appreciate it buddy!

Was suppose to run later that day but the wind disappeared from my sails and I ended up crashing pretty hard for the day. Will have to run this evening as soon as I get home.

POOP FAIRIES

I woke up around 5:45am this morning to absolute darkness. Not too long ago there use to be light at that time. Anyways, I got up at 6:15am, dressed, laced up the runners, and took off into the dark, cold morning for a long interval workout. Total time on the schedule was 50 minutes with a sufficient warm up and cool down. Sandwiched in there were 3x 5min intervals at 5km or faster pace with 3 minutes active recovery. 15 minutes of work...I got this.

After 15 minutes of running it was time to get this started.

Interval 1: I was absolutely flying on a flat stretch of road and felt great. Couple of times I had to dial it back because I had 2 more of these to follow.

Interval 2: Decided to take it out a little slower and build into it. Got up to my goal pace but by the 3.5 minute mark I could feel cracks starting to form in the foundation. By the end of this set I was starting to hurt.

Interval 3: Starts out flat for the first 300m but then starts to climb for the last bit. Again I start out conservatively and build into it. Towards the end of the interval I hit the steepest part of the climb and are just suffering. Pace drops quite a bit but I am still able to keep my heart rate pegged at 2 beats below my projected max heart rate.

After the last one I walked for a minute than jogged the rest of the way home to make up the total time of the workout.

At home, I changed quickly into my cycling gear and made the 50 minute trek down to work. Felt good to spin the legs out. At lunch time I did an abbreviated swim workout - 2000m in total. 400m warm up, 6x 200m slightly above threshold effort on 45 secs rest, followed by 400m cool down. My times this week for the 200's were about 15 - 20 seconds slower than last week. I figure it is mainly due to accumulated fatigue - week three in this block of training. Next week is a recovery week so I am dialing everything back to get some rest.

Tonight - another bike ride home and then an hour on the tri bike to spin things out.

Saturday - 110km ride followed by a 2.5km trot

Sunday - 1500m Swim time trial and a lsd run.

Outside of training, I plan on drinking lots of Tim's with Mel and watching a few movies. We have a dog training class on Saturday afternoon and later that evening we are meeting up with the crew for Sushi!!!

And that is that my friends.

If you any of you read Jenna's blog, you MUST vote for the "Poop Fairies" as her team name for an upcoming competition. How cool would that be to have that splashed across your shirts for a team jersey!!! Heck, I'd wear it!

Just get out and farking run

My schedule called for a 12km run yesterday. The first 7km were at a steady-state pace with the last 5kms at pace between my 5km and 10km pace. I opted to do the workout in the evening, so as soon as I got home after biking from work I changed into my running gear and took off. Despite feeling a little tired, from lack of sleep, I still managed to kick out a solid effort and totally surprised myself. I was so close to bailing on the workout and just flailing onto the couch. However I convinced myself to just get out and run for 10 minutes and see how that felt. Glad I did.

This morning I skipped on biking to/from work to rest a bit and so I got a ride from Mel. What a treat...even stopped into Tim's on the way down!

Train, Train, Train

Nothing too exciting to blog about recently. I am into full training mode for Clearwater and really enjoying it so far. The reprieve I took from training immediately after the Calgary 70.3 definitely helped to recharge the batteries on many levels.

This week is Week 3 of a 12-week program I have written out heading into the World Champs. I was telling my buddy Chris last night I like to see the big picture and that is why I write my entire programs out for a training season/race - but end up changing it every week to accommodate personal/professional commitments.

Recently though, I have been doing a little reading about structuring training programs/cycles less "structured". I haven't been able to truly embrace this way of thinking yet but plan on doing some more research throughout the next several months and giving it a go next training season. What does it entail...I'm not sure yet but I'll be blogging it about it.

Saturday I had a super awesome workout - one, that I am sure, I'll remember the feeling for a long time to come. It started with a 2hr bike ride which was pretty uneventful. After the ride, it was a quick change into my running gear for a 45 minute trot through the hood. The first couple of minutes were rough transitioning from riding to running but after that I hit the "zone". For me it was a euphoric feeling from start to finish. I have can't recall ever feeling that great running or effortlessly. My technique was on, I felt light on my feet and super strong.

The extra attention to my running I have been giving is starting to show some positive results and I am excited. Can't wait to see where I am at by the time we leave for Florida!

Been there, done that, messed around...

Last night I was in bed by 9pm reading an issue of Triathlete. Up at 3:45am to let J out to do her business and again at 4:30am to drive Super Sammy back to bed. The little fart is always trying to get up early so he can eat. And no we are not starving him! I can't wait for Mel to get back on Friday night so we can tag-team the little farts.

I got everyone up at 5:55am to eat and get them geared up for a walk. After their walk it was my turn to exercise and I ran for 55 minutes at a steady pace. Running is starting to come back to me now and feels much better than a couple of weeks ago. I am really trying to focus on keeping my stride short n quick, shoulders loose and back, driving with my elbows, running tall, and engaging my core so my arse doesn't stick out too much. Lots to think about so I rotate through them spending about a minute on each one.

Biked into work this morning which felt great. I really enjoy coming into work as when I hit the top of 14st (across from Nosehill Park) I have a great view of the downtown core. I keep meaning to snap a pic of it.

Short 1500m during lunch focusing on 200 & 100's on a steady pace and short rest intervals.

Another ride home this evening followed up with an 1hr15min on my tri bike.

Things are starting to click.

Bit of a long day...

Monday was rest day from swimming, biking, and running. I did end up in the gym during lunch to do a core and upper body strength workout. We had leftover pizza for lunch so I helped myself a couple of slices of vegetarian with feta cheese & spinach on it. Quite tasty but super salty. I drank an enourmous amount of water throughout the afternoon. As a result, I was up every 60 minutes last night to go pee. No word of a lie.

5:30am rolls around and I feel like shite. I managed to roll outta bed shortly before 6am to feed the dogs and take them out for a 40 minute walk. After that it was down to the pool at work to swim for 55 minutes. Even though I felt a little flat I still managed a solid effort throughout my sets.

We had two major events happening today involving my school. Where I work in the corporate communications department we were heavily involved in both. From 11:20am to 1:20pm I volunteered to directing Media traffic. Most people were polite and respectful which was nice. But boy, standing around in 30 degree weather with jeans, two shirts, and a thick vest for two hours was brutal. I kept reminding myself this is great practice for Florida...lol. By the end though, I was over cooked and thirsty as a sailor.

In the afternoon it was down to Stampede grounds to help setup our school's booth in the vendor's tent...which, by the way, has absolutely no air conditioning. They had these little fans going at the top of the tent but they were not really doing much. We were lugging boxes for the majority of the time, setting up booths, and media equipment. More practice for the Florida heat but someone forget to bring water. 3 hours later and I was spent and in dire need of something to drink. We walked by the Samsung booth...one of the tables had melted ice cubes for their drinks (which they wouldn't give us one by the way)...was soo tempted to dunk my head in the bowl and drink that cruddy water!

By the time we got back to the office, my manager, coworker, and I bee-lined to the water coolor and inhaled about 3 large cups of water within 30 seconds!

I was late getting home, late feeding the dogs, and absolutely spent from todays events and especially the heat. As a result, I skipped my ride and will have to make it up tomorrow night.

Nighto!