28 November 2012

triathlon club - week 9

monday 11/26/2012 - swimming, bodypump, spinning

swimming


i was well rested this morning for swim practice, having gone to bed at like, 1045pm or some crazy early hour.  getting up was no problem at all!  and, having swam on sunday, i thought my muscles would be pretty loose.


i was in a lane with someone who was faster than me this morning, but it wasn't too bad, and he "finished" way before i did so i was able to complete "make up" laps without the pressure of him being right on my toes.

 

200 swim 200
2x (12kx3p BP/4x4/CU/hesitation) by 25 200


2x100 200
3x50 drill  150
1x200 200
2x100  200
3x50 drill  150
1x200 200
2x75  150
3x50 drill  150
1x200 200


200 EZ 200


total 2200
 
bodypump

laurie and i decided to do bodypump at noon because i would be spinning at night and she wasn't feeling the spinning.  this time we were both there early and got primo spots in the front row where we like to be.  this class has very little moving around (unlike zumba or kickboxing) so once you claim your spot, you're there for the duration of the class with very little chance of bumping into other people.  also, very little coordination needed in this class other than just doing the exercises.


the format of the class is something like this:

  • warmup weight:  do a few squats, a few overhead press, a few bicep curls
  • squat weight:  put on the heavy weights "the legs are a big muscle group!  you're cheating yourself if you go light." the teacher is always telling us this.  i noticed this time that there were 3 guys in the class and while i appreciate their participation in this mostly female class, it does make me feel a little intimidated seeing how much weight they put on their bars.  
  • shoulder weight:  more like warmup weight but also light single hand weights
  • lunge weight:  put the heavy weights back on! "the legs are a big muscle group!"
  • back weight:  heavy, but not as heavy as squat/lunch weight, or that heavy if you want.  "the back is a big muscle group!"
  • tricep weight:  more than warmup, around same weight as shoulders, less than legs.
all the rounds are something like this, repeated 3-4x:
8x "down 2 up 2"
8x "down 3 up 1"
8-16x "singles!"
8x "stay low" or "in the basement" or "small movements"
  • for squats, we mostly just do squats, deadlifts, bent over rows
  • for shoulders we do flys, something like archery, and overhead press.
  • for lunges, we do lots of squats and lunges, along with kicking back, bringing our knee up, and then some people jump up (i don't).  somewhere in here we do clean and press.
  • for back, we do deadlifts and bent over rows, and wide grip bent over row.  
  • for triceps, we lay on the bench and do skull crushers, something like bench press, then we stand and do overhead tricep lifts.
spinning

average rpm - 90

average watts - 142
total kilocalories - 480
total distance - 24km
total time - 52 minutes
tuesday 11/27/2012 - zumba and weights


zumba


zumba with laurie is just fun.  i'm ridiculously uncoordinated.  but our running man rocks!


weights


i almost talked myself out of going to do weights tonight.  knowing that people were coming over for dinner and i didn't have dinner ready, and alex wasn't feeling well and wasn't going to make it, and i'd done bodypump just yesterday, i thought, "i don't need to do this, i should rest."  but then i thought, "if i don't make myself do it, no one will.  this is about me!"  so, i dragged myself over to the gym but decided to set myself a time limit of being done BY 6pm.  success!


this week i decided to up the weights and decrease the reps.  for certain things, the 30lb bar wasn't hard (deadlift, bent over row) but it was harder for the bicep curls and the military press.



bicep curl 30lb bar 3x10
deadlift 30lb bar 3x10
bent over row 30lb bar 3x10
military press 30lb bar 3x10
tricep skull crusher 20lb both 3x10
shrug 30lb each 3x10
seated row 70lb 3x10



abs:

plank 2x30 sec
crunch 30
flutter 30
bicycle 30
penguin 30
side twist w/12lb medicine ball 30
100s 3x
bridge 30
bridge hold 30 sec

wednesday 11/28/2012 - swimming and running


an epic day!


swimming


this morning, waking up was a little more challenging than it should have been, since i didn't get to sleep early (after spending the night with my girls [and housemates] eating delicious food and watching an "interesting" movie about an australian tribal story, oh, and eating popcorn).  but i got up and got a move on, and was able to get to work and get my swim stuff and still get to the gym a tiny bit early.  


sometimes, i experience some frustration at swim practice.  usually i'm able to deal with the fact that i'm the slowest by just falling in behind the last person in the lane.  however, there is one person on the team that is new-ish (i guess) who is just a FAST swimmer.  why he is in the slow lane - well, i know why he's in that lane, his technique is garbage - but still, he's fast enough to be in the next fastest lane.  and yet, there he is in my lane.


and all that would be fine except that when he goes fast and gets done with something, coach stops me from finishing my set because he doesn't want the other guy to wait around too much.  i mean, i get it, why punish the fast by making them wait for the slow person.  but don't i have a right, as much as anyone else, to complete the amount of swimming that is assigned to us each day?  i have just as much right to get in the yardage as the fast people.   


especially because i'm really focusing on my technique and trying to really burn it in correctly.  plus, i like to write down the workout that *i* do (versus the one that's on the board; they are often not the same) and it's hard to always remember what i've done, how many 50s i didn't do, etc.  but, it's a good game of memory.


things i worked on today:  reaching out instead of across my body, staying long, sticking the hand in and keeping the elbow high to pull the body past, remembering to kick, trying not to turn my head out of the water so much to breathe.  this last part is very difficult with congestion in my head because it feels like i'm often choking on mucous, and then i'm choking on water; it's very disruptive to my flow.


anyway, to make up for the yards that i didn't finish during the drill and main set, i did 200 extra on the EZ at the end.




200 swim  200
150 drill by 25 150
drill: zipper, wrist drag, FTD, fist, zipper, wrist


2x through:
2x100 400
4x25 (BK/FR) 200
1x150 fast 300
1x100 fast 200
3x50 (BK/FR) / (zipper/FR) 300


300 EZ 300


total 200

--- 

today i almost forgot what time the soup kitchen started and was a little late getting there after i realized i needed to be there at 11 not 12.  all these noon classes have me setting my alarm for 1145, but today i needed to set it for 1045 and didn't.
---
 
running - map:  http://goo.gl/maps/ruZCy
and the track:  http://goo.gl/maps/S9D27


one thing that hasn't really progressed for me yet is my rapport with the people on the team.  it's not exactly like being invisible, but it's close.  i show up, stand on the outside of the circle of people, people occasionally acknowledge my presence (usually the coach), we discuss where to run, and then we go outside and they take off and i fall in my place in the back.  when i come in from my run, the team is usually onto something else like drills or running around the track.  


today i picked up the pace a little bit and was able to meet up with the team not long after they arrived back.  i was pretty proud of myself though i was very, very tired and out of breath by the end.  at one point while i was running, i thought, "maybe i have asthma," since sometimes i feel very short of breath right at the beginning of the run.  maybe it's the cold air entering my lungs.  maybe i take off too fast.  maybe i am just not comfortable with being out of breath.  who knows.  


one of the guys in our running group is a little bit older.  maybe he's 50?  he has an ironman hat so i guess he did an ironman sometime.  anyway, when i describe my place in the running pack to people, i usually describe it like this.  "first it's the fastest people - all guys, then it's the second fastest people and all the rest of the girls, then it's the older guys, then me."  i should probably find out what this older guy's name is - i think it's gary or greg or something like that, thought i heard him say that to someone.  anyway when we are all done with our drills and are getting ready to go run around the track for awhile, he turns to talk to me:


older guy:  how are you doing?

me:  good.  that was my best time so far.
older guy:  i could tell.  you've lost weight, i can see that.

and we fist bump.


i could take this comment as "you are wearing tights and i've never seen your body before and you are a woman and i like looking at women" or i could take it as a compliment.  i won't believe the weight loss until i see the results on the scale.  which i have been avoiding since for the first 6 weeks i weighed myself each week and it was always the same.  but, maybe it is starting to show a little bit.  i put on a pair of pants that were comfortable when i got them in september, and they seem to be a little looser this week.  could be 'cause they are stretched out a little, or maybe i've gotten a tiny bit smaller.  i'll have to try this theory with other pairs of pants that have been tighter lately.


summary:  3 miles in 27:06 minutes (9:02 min/mile)!  then 4 laps (1.6 miles) in 14:12 minutes (8.875 min/mile)


note:  something inside me is very emotional tonight.  i have been semi-crying for the last hour.  not sure what is wrong.  could be tired. 

 
thursday 11/29/2012 - spinning and running


spinning - different teacher!

different teacher means different tunes and different workout.  this one mostly focused on rolling hills and some "endurance sprints" where you try to stay at a given speed at a medium hard gear, then try to push it 10rpm faster.


average rpm - 88

avereage wattage - 154
total kilocalories - 322
total distance - 14.8 km
total time - about 35 minutes

running - map:  http://goo.gl/maps/9Cp9Y


again i get the sensation that i'm almost a nobody.  of course, i'm not openly bubbly or super friendly to everyone, but when i arrive at our meeting spot to go running there's only a few of us around.  the president is there and he seems to be determining that we won't run for too long 'cause he has to go to work at 6.  so we decide 3-4 miles, and when we start talking about where it should be, there's some talk and some confusion and some decision and i am still unclear about where we are going.  i try to say i'm not sure where we're going, and someone tries to explain it like it's so elementary, everyone knows where that is.  and then someone says, just keep running and when you get back, you're done.  i think, 'how helpful.'  i tell them i probably won't see them so i'll just wing it i guess, but when i catch up to them at an intersection, i then realize where we are going.  so it's no biggie when they really do leave me in the dust.  

they didn't actually leave me in to much dust - i saw them a few times as i tried to sprint to a stoplight to catch up with them as they were about to cross the street.  and by the time they were really gone, i knew where i was and how to get back.

my pace felt decent at the beginning and i thought maybe they were slowing down to let me keep up.  i was able to keep up with them for some amount of time before they pulled away.  i didn't have the spring in my step and definitely less power than yesterday.  i found myself running more upright at times, instead of hunching over and just trying to get through it.  that seemed like a big step to me.  but when i got tired i crumpled up again, and i had to remind myself to stand up and breath.  

i attempted to use a breathing trick from swimming, which is to not gasp and take large breaths of air, but rather to just take sips of air.  i found that when running, as you let the air out, your lungs naturally fill back up again.  i thought i was gasping but it turned out i wasn't, so that's not a useful crossover lesson.  ah well.


at the very end of the run, i look down at my watch and think that i have forgotten to hit the start button again.  darn it, i think, well i can't hit it now because it won't be accurate.  turns out, i hadn't forgotten.  still, the time is approximate because i pushed it and then walked around a little, catching my breath after the sprint at the end.


summary:  3.4 miles, ~33 minutes


friday 11/30/2012 - swimming and singing


my choir concert was this afternoon.  i did not get up for swimming because i was tired and felt i needed extra rest.  plus this stuffy nose isn't going away and it's hard to breath properly while swimming with a cruddy nose.  concert went well, i thought.  aside from the tunes that were very technical and hard to sing anyway. 

saturday 12/1/2012 - contra dance


jon and i went to the contra dance tonight but it certainly lacked something that might be called energy.  well first of all, i was not in the best of moods because of something someone had emailed me earlier in the day.  it was then that my mood changed because i felt the weight of the contra dancing world on my shoulders and almost like it was too much to bear.  also i thought maybe that this person didn't like me and that bothered me.  and i thought they had been rude and mistreated me.  and so i was a bit of an emotional wreck and felt helpless.  

luckily my fellow dancers/friends came to my rescue and all was not lost.   they comforted and consoled me and let me cry it out.  we only stayed at the dance until 10-10:30, and then my headache had still not gone away so we went home.

sunday 12/2/2012 - day of rest


true day of rest.  jon went back to portland and i lay around most of the day watching season 1 of glee on DVD.  i did a few chores but mostly just rested.


and it's at this junction that i realize that when you're go go go for so many weekends in a row, all you want to do is rest when you get a weekend off.  and that leads me to decide that next year i need to go to less things on weekends so i can be home more.  this year was ridiculous!

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