originally it was supposed to be a spinning night. but since the tragedy over the weekend (one of the girls on the team died when she lost control of her bike and went into a car - rest in peace, carin), everyone decided they needed some team bonding time, and they decided to have that during spin class. instead, alex and i decided to do some late night swimming (though it was challenging to get him up off the couch and make sure his eyes were open).
the swim workout from the morning was still on the board so we decided to do that. actually he decided to just swim freestyle the whole time, and i did the exercises on the board. there were 2 people already in the slow lane and only 1 person in the medium lane, so i got in there, hoping i wouldn't be a bother.
this was my opportunity, i felt, to figure out my breathing situation and get it under control. no matter what, i was not going to gasp or feel rushed or hurried in any way. instead, my plan was to be as relaxed as possible and work on the skills, my technique, and my breathing.
and it worked. it was incredible. i focused mainly on the finger tip drag and really twisting my body and reaching with each stroke. i did gasp a few times and thought, "hey! no gasping!" and the next breath was regular. i did 50s without any trouble, and probably wouldn't have much trouble with the 100s. my stroke was getting more consistent, my breathing was getting worked out, i was relaxing, and it felt great.
after i finished my set, alex still had a bunch to go on his, and only he was in his lane, so i jumped in and we did a bunch more together. i was hopeful that i was keeping him going so he could reach his goal of 2000. i'm not sure if he did it or not. i was mostly proud of myself that i kept going. i even did a "fast as i could" 25 at the end, just because.
did i mention we did all this swimming whilst several groups of fraternity guys came into the pool and did their synchronized swimming routines, while listening to the same hip hop song over and over and over? yeah, that's dedication.
| 200 swim | |
| 100 drill (4x4/FTD/fist/FTD ) | |
| 50 12 kick / 3 pull | 350 |
| 8x | |
| 1 x 100 Drill | |
| 1 x 100 | |
| 50 EZ | 1650 |
| w/alex | |
| 375 EZ | |
| 25 sprint | 400 |
| total | 2400 |
tuesday 11/6/2012 - zumba and weights ELECTION DAY!
zumba with laurie
this is probably the highlight of my week. a chance to let loose and be silly. which i do very naturally in this class, due to my constant uncoordination and discombobulation. i am just chronically doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. also, my right shoulder was still bothering me. i mentioned it to the teacher and she seemed OK me doing some modifications. so when we were throwing our hands in the air, i was just throwing 1 hand in the air. which i'm sure looked ridiculous. but when laurie and i got the chance to throw in the running man during stir the pot ("starships were meant to fly"), it was just priceless, and left the rest of the class with the giggles. mission accomplished. i'm a dancing fool!
weights
turned out weights was just by my lonesome today because alex had a meeting and kelly had some other thing, plus she's on a veggie juice-only fast so she's conserving her energy, and also sort of bowing out of most tri things at this point.
random observation - arriving at the gym at 7pm, a girl is talking to her friend outside and says, "gosh, it feels like 8 o'clock!"
i am not sure how one can ever know how it feels at a certain time, but it feels like 8 o'clock because 2 days ago, it was 8 o'clock. silly girl.
second observation - overheard while doing my 10 minutes of abs: 2 girls sit down and decide to do their ab routine. when they are done, girl 1 says, "there. now don't you just feel great?"
i never feel great after working out. i am not sure why that is. i usually and generally just feel tired. or worn out. never "great".
here's the workout:
| bicep curl | 20lb bar | 3x15 |
| deadlift | 20lb bar | 3x15 |
| bent over row | 20lb bar | 3x15 |
| tricep pulldown | 22.5lb | 3x15 |
| tricep overhead - skull | 20lb both | 3x15 |
| shrug | 25lb each | 3x15 |
| seated row | 50lb | 3x15 |
| military press | 20lb bar | 3x15 |
| back extension | 3x15 | |
| abs - 1 minute each | ||
| crunch | ||
| bicycle | ||
| flutter / scissor kick | ||
| reverse crunch | ||
| situp | ||
| supermans | ||
| side crunch | ||
| plank - 2 x 30 sec | ||
| bridge | ||
| alternating toe touches |
wednesday 11/7/2012 - swimming and running
the day looked something like this:
wake up at 5, make breakfast, get ready
bike to swimming
swim for over an hour
bike to work
work
bike to soup kitchen
pour drinks
bike back to work
work
bike home to get running gear
bike back to campus
run
bike home
make dinner
fall over
i do sometimes wonder how i have the energy to do everything.
swimming workout
with my newfound trick of breathing when not rushed, i got into the pool with a world of opportunity at my fingertips.
the coach called me julia several times. i corrected him once but i don't think he heard me. so today i will be julia.
i was able to calmly finish as much as i could finish (while having to get out of the way for the faster swimmers) and i felt good about my results. i did not gasp (much) and really focused on my tricks from monday, which were reaching, twisting, and regular breathing. also pushing my head into the water and trying not to swallow too much water rounded out my top 5 things to work on this morning. and after i didn't stop to gasp for air ONCE after any 50 yards, i felt pretty proud of myself.
i wrote about it to a friend earlier today:
when i was young, maybe 3-4 years old, my mom took me to swim lessons. and then i went to swim lessons every summer through some part of elementary school. we also had a pool at home so i swam in the summers when it was TOO HOT to do anything else. since then, i have swam occasionally, when going over people's houses or at camp in the summer. i know how to do all the safety things - treading water, dead mans float, floating on my back; as well as all the strokes except the butterfly.
so when i joined the triathlon team i thought i could just fall back into my skills and be pretty good at it. at least, i thought, i wasn't going to be a complete beginner who doesn't even know how to do the strokes.
except, everyone who has joined the team so far knows how to do the strokes. and EVERYONE is faster than i am. AND, it's not just so easy as jumping in and doing laps. swimming is super technical, i am learning. things i have to focus on include looking straight down at the bottom of the pool, pushing my chest toward the bottom of the pool to get my hips/legs to float, kicking from the hip, rotating my body every stroke, not gasping for air when i take a breath, not lifting my head out of the water to breathe, not to mention trying not to aspirate or choke on chlorine water or snort it up my nose. that is a lot of things to think about when i jump into the pool and start doing laps and the other people in my lane are catching up to me. and as of last week, it meant i would start to try to swim faster and would gasp for air and then had to rest one lap out to catch my breath.
i went on my own monday night to practice breathing without being 'chased' and it really worked for me. i thought this was a great accomplishment. i easily did 2400 yards, a personal best for me, and never felt tired except the last length when i tried my hand at swimming "fast".
i told the coach about it today, and he said, that's great but in a triathlon, there will be people chasing you so we have to work on that. i thought to myself, hey, at least acknowledge that i'm not at the edge of the pool gasping for air every 50 yards! even if i don't compete in a tri this year, at least i'm trying to do something.
and the coach is super knowledgeable, and i respect that he is trying to make us our best, but i think he figures he tells us something to do, and by the end of 1 hour practice we've mastered it. sorry pal, i don't adjust that fast. i'm not 18 anymore.
so, some mixed feelings about the morning workout. good for me for doing it and working on my breathing. annoyance with the coach for his super high expectations. i feel like telling him, "hey, pretend like i don't know how to swim at all". if we consider that, i'm doing fantastic. and i need a little positive feedback.
we talked a bit about my endurance, and he said "now that your endurance is building up..." and i thought to myself, my endurance is not building up in just 1 week. i just figured out how to breath!
anyway, here's the workout:
| 200 swim | 200 |
| 150 (12 kick x 3 pull/drill*/FR) by 25's | 150 |
| *Hesitation/CU/fist/FTD | |
| 100 en1 | 100 |
| 2x75 FR/BK/FR | 150 |
| 2X50 drill | 100 |
| 2x75 FR/BK/FR | 150 |
| 100 en1 | 100 |
| 4x 200 | 800 |
| total | 1750 |
food: in a bowl - 2 scrambled eggs, 1 garden burger, cheese, black beans, 1/2 avocado, blueberry b monster. brought yogurt and a banana but didn't eat them.
running workout
here's the map of the run: http://goo.gl/maps/i54QX
i arrived at the gym at the stroke of 5:15 and everyone was inside the building. coach nate was handing out some reflective vests. i had worn mine, plus brought my headlamp, plus worn my white fleece headband, blue velvet-like gloves, and black performance shirt. which i have decided, is my favorite running shirt. it is nylon, it breathes, it keeps me warm enough but not hot (actually kind of cool), AND it has a zipper pocket in the back! thanks naked lady party at kelly's house!
but in all honesty, when the coach said, "we'll go down to the bike path to 53rd and back by the covered bridge," i thought i had some inkling about where that was. and when i was left alone (alex stuck with me until the stadium when i had to do some sock/shoe adjustments) and i went past 35th st on the bike path, i didn't realize how far the bike path went away from philomath blvd.
it was a very dark night once we strayed away from the highway and though i did have my headlamp and reflective vest on, i felt a little bit vulnerable out there, almost not knowing where i was going. i had the sense that the highway was to my right and i just had to keep running straight and eventually the path would run into 53rd. it had to, right?
normally the coach sends out the route we're going to run before practice, and i map it and notice key landmarks. but he didn't mention where we were going tonight. and so i was a bit nervous when, after i passed research drive (not without first running up it to see what street it was), i ended up on country club drive, and then was sure it couldn't be that much farther when i saw 49th place, and then 47th place and i thought, "crap, did i get turned around somehow?!" i thought about going back. i thought, well, i'll just run till i can't go anymore, i can always walk home.
eventually i hit 53rd and had an inkling of where i was, though i wasn't sure until i saw the stoplight at philomath blvd. and i was able to run a bit faster to get to that light in time to cross the road with the crosswalk light (the stoplight at that intersection is very long).
after that it was one landmark after another. west hills drive. at that intersection there were cop cars and it turned out there was a car in the ditch. the people had gotten out and seemed OK and there was a tow truck. and then the fairgrounds. and then the covered bridge. and then 35th st. and then the hill and the building at cordley/ALS. and then the home stretch.
while i was running, my ankle ligament got tight several times and i had to stop and stretch it out (10 ankle circles each direction) (i also forgot my ankle brace which might have been part of the problem). i started running more on the outside of my foot, and that seemed to give me some relief. i think i need to put arch supports in my shoes. i also stopped at the covered bridge to stretch my quads and hips out a little bit. my knees were also sore. along the home stretch my legs started feeling heavy. but i persevered!
as i finished my run, i saw a few tri people coming back north towards me, including the coach. one guy high fived me and so did the coach, saying, "hey, you finally made it back." i knew i wasn't fast enough to have kept up with the rest of the group, which had gone over to the stadium and run some stair sprints after the run.
another thing i thought about while i was running, was explaining to the coaches that this is not easy for me, like it seems to be for everyone else. i have been a semi-regular 2 mile runner for awhile now. i have never run 6 miles in my life. to me, that's like saying, "oh, you usually run 26 miles every day? try running 52 tomorrow." and seeing if you can do it. it's all about pacing myself for me - not getting out of breath or spent before the end. and maybe i'll get more comfortable with the distance and be able to increase my speed at some point. but i also remind myself that my previous sports - volleyball, short distance track, tennis, rugby - did not require long distance running. and someone this past weekend pointed out to me, "you don't have a runner's lanky body." so yeah, i'm working against some odds here.
not knowing it at the time, but sensing that the run was longer than typical, i got to thinking that in the future, i should ask the coach to give me a 5 mile run, regardless of what the rest of the team is doing. that was i might have a chance of catching up with them by the end.
summary: 6.1 miles, 1 hour and 1 minute. a beautiful night for running.
food: milk with whey protein powder and chocolate powder, macaroni and cheese with nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, crab meat, strawberry C monster drink.
random thoughts: guy on a bicycle, no lights, no reflectors, smoking a cigarette.
thursday 11/8/2012 - spinning and dancing
spinning
laurie and i decided to meet for spinning today instead of zumba. the guy who teaches the class is really into his music and instead of having an ipod, he lines up the tunes he wants in youtube and so sometimes you can see a video of the song going on behind him. anyway he sings along sometimes and says, "so, yeah" a lot. but he has a good spirit and encourages us along the way. he doesn't remind us as much about keeping our shoulders down, or about pulling up on the pedals, but he does remind us about full pedal strokes and full easy breathing.
seat position - I
seat depth - 4-5
handles - 4
base gear - 8
"hard" gear - 12
climbing gear - 15
average rpm - 86
average watts - 136
total kilocalories - 376
total distance - 18.3 km
after this workout, i met up with emily v. for some delicious pizza and great company. :D
contra dance
met up with laurie around 6 and we headed down to eugene to check out wild asparagus. great dance and a great way to kick off the next several days of dancing!
friday 11/9/2012 -
i believe i opted out of swimming so that i could focus on getting ready for camp this weekend. i'd already swam 2x this week and i thought i could use a little extra time at home - doing laundry, packing, gathering items etc.
contra dance
started camp off right with 2 hours of dancing to wild asparagus, and some yummies from annie, and a bit of swing dancing before calling it a night.
we'd already had an adventure putting up the tent in the pouring rain, and the rain didn't let up the whole night. i was marginally afraid that we would get wet while in the tent, but not enough to stop me from sleeping.
saturday 11/10/2012 - dance camp!
sunday 11/11/2012 - dance camp!
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