Monday, January 22, 2007

A Week Off

I took last week off due to weather and general apathy about working out. I thought about it several times but never really felt an overwhelming desire to sweat out the toxins that I was ingesting. That urge returned today and I had a great spin class over lunch.

I spent most of the class doing my own thing as I was not real in tune with the workout that the instructor was giving us and I really wanted to focus on time trial specific work, so I did. I did a ladder in an aero position: 5 min, 4 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min, increasing the resistance with each set yet maintaining (or trying to) the same cadence of 85+ rpm.

The last set was a 13 min aero session followed by a brief cool down and some stretching.

I am considering a return trip on the way home to lift a little. Tomorrow will consist of some type of run. I am also going to start doing a yoga class 1x/week to stretch out my body a little. I am in desparate need of some flexibility, so hopefully this will help.

Ryan was working on counting today. When I picked him up from school he told me that he had 2 eyes. Pretty exciting stuff as he has not shown the concept of counting much before. Cool!

That's all for now.
G-

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Workouts This Week

Starting this week, I am beginning a run focused period of workouts. The training plan that I am following is specifically designed to increase speed. I am working to try to get close to an 8:00/mi pace. This is quite an effort since I am running about 10:00/mi pace currently.

Monday - Swim: 1800. This consisted of a 300 w/u, followed by a main set of 200 repeats on 30 sec rest. I did 6 repeats, alternating w/ and w/o paddles, then a 300 c/d.
Tuesday - Run: Pace Intervals, 6x400. 1 mi. w/u; PI 6x400 (3 @ 8:00/mi pace, 3 @9:00/mi pace); 1/2 mi c/d.
Wednesday - This was supposed to be an easy run day, approximately 3-4 miles. Work got in the way and I took a rest day.
Thursday - Hills. 1 mi w/u @ 9:40 pace; Hills: 90 sec, 5 degree, 8:00/mi; 90 sec, 5 degree, 8:30/mi; 60 sec, 5 degree, 8:30/mi; 60 sec, 5 degree, 8:30/mi. 1/2 mi c/d. This workout will grow to longer hill segments until I have the strength to do 5-8 hill segment without breaking it down. I'm not there yet but working on it.
Friday - This is scheduled as a rest day but I may do an easy run and lift a little, to make up for Wednesday. If not, I'll do a spin class.

That's all for now.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Monday

Monday is Ryan's big day. He has another MRI scheduled for 6:00 AM. This is his bi-annual image and is part of the follow-up for the recent EEG that we had for him. Ryan had 2 seizures on December 13 & 14; this is the first time that he has ever had a seizure, although his EEG 2 years ago did show that the opportunity for them existed.

We are going to start him on meds to help control them but need to do the MRI first and do some blood work. Because of his autism and inability to lie still, he has to be sedated. This classifies the procedure as surgery, so we have to have him at the hospital at 6:00 AM on Monday. The sedation is done using gas, so it shouldn't be too bad. The nurse said that he would take a few breaths and be out. We'll see about that! Good luck to them!

I won't say that I'm not a little nervous; I should be but know that my little man is strong and will come through without any issues. Still, I hate to see him have to deal with this.

While I truly believed that I am blessed to have my sons for all that they have taught me about myself and others, I am sorry for them that this is a disorder that they have to live with. That is what I would change: the pain that they are in.

Okay. I've rambled enough. Say a prayer for Ryan this weekend, for his strength.

Thanks.

What a Beautiful Day!

It's sunny and 73 degrees on January 5th. Who could ask for more? I have been watching the weather all week and planning on running outside today. Around 11:00 AM I started feeling tired and like I wanted to blow off the workout.

Then, I went outside. The warm breeze and sunshine picked me up and set my resolve. I was going to run! Into the car I piled and off to Town Lake I drove. A quick change in the bathroom and I was ready to go.

Run: 4.2 miles on the Hike & Bike trail.

It was crowded on the trail as many others had the same idea of enjoying the sunshine during their lunch hour. Who could blame them? Certainly not me as I was loving it too!

Sorry for those of you living under 10 feet of snow this winter but it's loverly here in Austin!

Happy Trails!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Today's Workout

Today's workout was a pool swim:
* - 250 w/u
Main Set:
Ladder - 500, 400 (w/paddles), 300, 200 (w/paddles). 30 sec rest between sets.
Sprint - 4x25. 30 sec rest between sprints
* - 250 c/d

Total - 2000, ~40 minutes

Good workout. I tried to keep the pace above race pace and put some accelerations in the middle of the sets when I felt like it. I didn't push too hard as this is a building phase for me but want to gain some speed without really focusing on speed and the intensity that speed work entails.

I like these shorter workouts as the base building phase continues. It helps to build endurance but has short enough pulls that you can get the heart rate up and still recover quickly for the next set.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming season and hope that it's successful! I'll try to keep putting up the workout notes as much as I can.

Good Luck and Happy Training!