Weekly Recap 06/23/08 - 06/29/08

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: Ran 3 miles. New post-injury distance. Went well.

Wednesday: Rest.

Thursday: Ran 3 miles again, just to make sure the distance is safe.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Ran 4 miles. It felt freaking hot outside, but I was also dumb and didn't bring anything to drink. Four miles is definitely the threshold of when I need to worry about hydration. Knee felt fine, but this run kicked my butt.

Sunday: Okay, it's not Sunday yet, but it'll be a rest day.

Total: 10.4 miles

Resting HR: 66 bpm


-----------------------

Okay, Bill. You're right. I'm back. I've run every other day for the past two weeks with very little noise from my knee. I'm still being --very-- cautious about stretching, icing, and what not. I don't even dare run without my knee brace, either. In a week or two I might try a mile or two without it, but no promises there.

Next week I'm going to try and go swimming some time, although I'm going to avoid any TNT or Master's practice because I really don't want the "Holy crap! Doug's back!" response when I'm just jumping in to swim (read: thrash around for) a couple laps.

I still don't trust my bike. I just have a gut feeling biking would be a bad idea. If I find out swimming works again, I'll try giving the bike a shot. Until then, though, the bike will have to simply do it's job leaning against the wall in the other room.

I hope all is well in your worlds, mine is definitely starting to shape up again.

Weekly Recap 06/16/08 - 06/22/08

Prelude, Sunday night: I called home and was talking to my old man. He suggested going for a run since everything seemed to stop changing with my knee. His philosophy: If it hurts and you run, or it hurts if you don't run, you might as well run! So... I cautiously gave it a shot!

Monday: One mile. It was raining, but I still kept it to one mile. Pace: 7:58, heart rate: 174

Tuesday: Rest, duh!

Wednesday: One mile again. Still feeling pretty good! Pace: 8:03, heart rate: 172

Thursday: Takin' it easy

Friday: Two miles. Hooooeyyyy, progress! Pace: 7:48, heart rate: 177

Saturday: Being a bum.

Sunday: Two miles and change. Pace: 7:47, heart rate 176

Total: 6.4 miles

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Hey, look at that! Doug's running!

So as usual (is it bad I have a "usual" for coming off of injuries?), my speed sorta stuck around while I was getting out of shape, but I have ZERO endurance. At the end of two miles on Friday, my quads were already starting to ache. Also, my heart rate is simply out of control. I guess thats what I get for doing nothing at all for a couple months, huh?

Regardless of what shape I'm in, it's GREAT to be running again.

By the way, the triathlon I was supposed to do with TNT is today. Good luck to everybody out there!

Weekly Recap 04/21/08-04/27/08

Monday: Bike 10 miles, water run, swim 0.25 miles
Tuesday: Bike 10 miles. Chased by dog. Relapse. Swim 0.25
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Swim 0.25 miles

Total bike: 20 miles
Total swim: 0.75 miles

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Knee hurts worse today than it has in the past two months. Anything else I say would not fit the theme for this blog so we'll just leave it at that.

Okay, now that I'm less sour about being injured I want to update again. This morning was frustrating. My knee was killing me just walking from my car to the pool; this is the first time my knee has interrupted me from every day activities and it really got under my skin.

Swimming went okay. I busted out the pull buoy again and swam maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of a mile. I wasn't counting. I didn't go any further for fear of hurting my shoulder again from pulling an obscene amount.

After looking at the situation from more of a non-pissed-off point of view, I can see my mistake. A month or so I got some exercises to do from my friend Tracy. I started doing them and after a week or two I could bike & swim again. For some crazy reason, I didn't put the two events together. I stopped doing the exercises.

WHAMO! Relapse!

So the goal for this week is to do those exercises a few times a day to strengthen my knee again. Gotta break out the foam roller again too. No more moping. No more feeling bad for my lame self. I'm getting on top of this NOW! With all these people behind me for Team in Training, I can't afford to screw around and let them all down; people are counting on me this time.

To recap:

• Foam roller my IT band like crazy
  
• Strengthen my knee
• Ace my finals
• Then... go brain dead for a week
• Then... GO TO HAWAII!

Weekly Recap 04/14/08 - 04/20/08

Monday: Swam the broken mile in 31 minutes. I was DEMOLISHED for the rest of the day.

Tuesday: Swam a quarter mile then did 30 minutes of shallow water running.

Wednesday: Biked 10 miles out at Russell Cave.

Thursday: Biked 12 miles around Beaumont Circle, with Team in Training. Swam half a mile. Water ran for 30 minutes. Whew!

Friday: Rest day!

Saturday: Ran one mile!

Sunday: Swam a mile, included the kickboard portion of the workout for the first time in a while.

Total swim: 2.75 miles
Total bike: 22 miles
Total run: 1 mile

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I finally feel like I'm getting back on my feet. I'm able to bike and swim normally, although I'm still practicing moderation.

Water running is a go again, too. I was able to run yesterday for a mile on a very soft trail without doing any damage to my knee. It felt great to finally be moving again. Once I got running, I felt like running all day long but limited myself to a mile so I don't cause a relapse (also to prevent my coach from killing me)! Today it feels perfectly normal, although I'm still being extremely, extremely cautious.

Although its feeling better, I feel like (NERD ALERT!) Agent Smith at the end of the third Matrix movie: "Is it over?!" (In the movie, it wasn't over)

The game plan is to start running every other day, with every other run being in the water. So the result will be about 2 real runs a week, and I'll slowly build it up to the point that I can run moderate distances again. I really, really want to be able to run 5 miles by June 8th so I can do my first triathlon up in Michigan with my cousin.

The weather is supposed to be AMAZING this next week, so I'm looking at a few days on the bike just to enjoy the great weather.

Boston is tomorrow. Go Bill, Reid, and Nitmos!

Weekly Recap 04/07/08 - 04/13/08

Monday: Headed out to Russell Cave and biked a little under 10 miles. Felt great to move, knee spoke up very slightly but I might have been listening too hard.

Tuesday: Knee felt great today, went to the pool to swim. Swam normally. Knee is starting to shape up!

Wednesday: Rest day

Thursday: Biked around 10 miles at Beaumont Circle.

Friday: Swam before class, including 800 yards nonstop, without the pull buoy!

Saturday: Rest day, volunteered at the Master's swim meet

Sunday: Biked 45 minutes on my trainer (lets call it 12 miles).

Total swim: 1.5 miles
Total bike: 31.75 miles

---------------

Well well, things are finally starting to shape up. As long as I do everything in moderation, I think I'm in the clear with this knee. I stuck to the plan Eric gave me after fitting me to my bike, and so far it has been working without causing too much flare up in the right knee.

Saturday I decided to go help out at the Master's swim meet University of Kentucky hosts. I think I caught the bug. I'm pretty competitive (big surprise, I hope nobody fell out of their chairs on that one!) so just seeing the meet got me thinking "hm, I wonder how hard I'd have to work to get to that level?" And, to be honest, I may just find out over the next year or so.

In other news, I finally sent in my busted Garmin to get fixed. Bout time, huh? I went and picked up a trainer for my bike for days that the weather sucks, too. Ended up getting $40 off since I'm with Team in Training, not bad! And although it's pretty noisy, I talked to the guy that lives below me and he doesn't seem to mind too much; he said it sounded like I was drilling a hole in the floor for 45 minutes though!

This next week should, hopefully, be a repeat of this one. Except one thing. The one thing thats been missing. Wednesday, if I can get permission from my coach, I'm gonna go ahead and attempt another run around the block and see how the knee responds. It's been four weeks since I've ran at all, and six weeks since I've run anything significant, ugh! I'm really hoping to break that streak soon, but if not, biking and swimming will have to keep me sane (that term is relative).

Hope everyone had a great week!

Weekly Recap 03/31/08 - 04/06/08

Monday: Pushed through the wall during my swim. Great sense of accomplishment, but....

Tuesday: Right shoulder hurt bad, took it easy.

Wednesday-Saturday: Ditto.

Sunday: Swam in the morning, got fit for my bike in the evening. Right shoulder is better and knee is really shaping up!

Total swim: 1.5 miles

Resting heart rate: 65

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A few days ago, I was frustrated. You might have been able to feel the bad vibes from where you're at, I wouldn't be surprised. However, today things turned right around!

Yesterday, my shoulder was feeling back to normal. But I woke up today to it being a little bit sore again. However, I was going to the pool.

No. Matter. What.

Even if I was going to get in the pool, cringe in pain for a lap, and get out, I had to try. So, I went to the pool. I was nervous about getting in, because who knew what was going to happen once I started working my shoulder. But I got in and I got it done.

It felt good. Know why? Because in my haze of worrying about my shoulder, I forgot I need to use the pull buoy to salvage my knee. I got in, and I swam normally. My knee didn't speak up. Let me reiterate that: my busted knee no longer yells at me when I use it.

I didn't push myself AT ALL today. In fact, most of the time I was just doing 50 yards and stopping. I did 100 once. But it felt easy. Just as easy, if not easier, than using the pull buoy. So all that pulling translated over to real swimming, thankfully!

Fast forward to this evening. I got fit for my bike, which I've been meaning to do for a couple weeks now. Eric moved my seat forward and adjusted my cleats too. I rode for a while on the trainer while he watched my form. He took videos to send to a friend of his who fits people professionally, too.

After being fit, I went for a ride around the block. Normally, this wouldn't be a big thing at all, but this is the first time I've moved my body at faster than a walk in the last month. It felt so. damn. good to zip down the street again, whether its by foot or by bike!

Tomorrow, I hit the bike for 10 miles. Nice and easy. No pushing it. Just enough to nudge the knee back into working order. If biking goes good this week, then running resumes next week.

Finally, thanks to E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. for all your encouraging words the past couple weeks. It means a lot. I really, really appreciate it.

Weekly Recap 03/24/08 - 03/30/08

Monday: Swam a mile before class, including 600 yards nonstop -- a new best, but not for long! Ab workout in the evening.

Tuesday: Swam a mile with TNT. I was going to go farther but dinner was making a comeback and I've heard they don't like it when you throw up in the pool.

Wednesday: Swam a mile on my own, including 1000 yards nonstop -- a new best, but not for long! Ab workout in the evening.

Thursday: Swam a mile with TNT, including a lot of faster laps. Part of the workout was called 'swim golf.' The idea is you swim 50 yards and add your time to the number of strokes you took. I was able to hit 89 a couple times (50 seconds + 39 strokes) while pulling, I wonder what I could do if I could kick?

Friday: REST!

Saturday: Swam (you guessed it) one mile on my own, including 1200 yards nonstop -- a new best once again! I felt fresh again after several days off.

Sunday: Swam (once again) one mile with TNT. Shoulders were D.E.A.D. after my 1200 nonstop yesterday. The weird thing was, I didn't even know I was sore until I started swimming. Talk about a crappy surprise!

Total swim: 6 miles

Resting heart rate: 65 bpm

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Not a bad week of training, all things considered. My knee is still healing, but its feeling WORLDS better than it was a week ago. Motivation hasn't been a problem this week, and I'm actually enjoying the swimming now that I can push myself.

For some reason, I really start enjoying a sport once I can push myself hard enough to make my muscles sore afterwards. The same happened with running, cycling, and rock climbing too. Maybe I have a little bit of masochist in me?

I'm feeling a lot stronger in the water lately, especially on shorter durations. A week ago, it was taking me ~18 strokes to get to the backstroke flags on a short interval, now I'm down to ~15. So, needless to say, all this pulling IS paying off with more strength. Although, looking at me I don't think anybody could tell. Not yet, anyways.

Sometime early this week I'm going to attempt a little bit of swimming without the pull buoy. If that goes well, I MIGHT give running a shot next weekend. Maybe. If I feel like it. But more importantly, if my coach lets me. I'll try water running first, just to play on the safe side. I don't need a relapse at this point!

Also, there is definitely a redesign coming up soon. Complete with a new name, color scheme, logo... the whole nine yards. It'll be revealed once I'm able to run, bike, and swim normally again. But until then, enjoy the suspense!

Weekly Recap 03/17/08-03/23/08

Monday: Ran less than a mile. Found out this knee isn't in working order yet.

Tuesday: Swam half a mile with the pull buoy.

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Swam half a mile with the pull buoy. Had Tracy look at my knee, she thinks its ITBS and has me doing a lot of work to fix it up.

Friday: Swam a mile with the pull buoy, more below. Ab workout in the evening.

Saturday: Swam a mile with the pull buoy.

Sunday: Rest day, pool is closed for Easter. Boo!

Total run: 0.77 miles
Total bike: 0 miles
Total swim: 3 miles

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Despite the disappointment early in the week when I found out my knee wasn't better, my attitude has really taken a turn for the better these past couple days. Why? Its the swimming.

This injury is from biking or running, or some combination of the two. Which leaves me right where I should be anyways: in the pool. With regards to triathlons, I have no worries about the running. Thats what I do. It's what I'm good at. My biking has some room for improvement, but I can tough through a bike ride. I've done it in the past and I can do it again.

Swimming is where I need the work. I haven't even completed the race distance yet in the pool, but I've done so several times with the bike and run. The pool is where progress is going to be made. Not just in terms of time, but in terms of being able to finish a race.

So I hit the pool. I swam with TNT using that damn pull buoy for a half a mile two days. I hated it. Each time, though, my knee felt better afterwards. It was like a 30 minute ice bath.

Then I mixed things up: I swam on my own, without the team. I swam when I had no obligation to do so. I swam for me, and it was amazing! I actually enjoyed it. I got in the pool with an intent of pulling 300 yards non-stop, which would have been tied for my longest yet, but after a several week break. Bam! 300 yards. Then I kept going: 350, 400, 450, 500.

I stopped at 500, but was starting to "get it." I started to see what it meant to be in the zone while swimming. If I swam too fast, I could simply slow down to recover, rather than needing to stop. I was able to fade out, but have my body do what I've taught it these past several months.

Next week? Lots of swimming. I'm going to focus all my energy on it. Once I can swim without the pull buoy, I'll think about giving running a shot again. Until then, I got a date with the foam roller!

Weekly Recap 03/10/08 - 03/16/08

This week's recap is going to be a little different than usual. You know why? No workouts. None at all. Unless, maybe, you count randomly jogging to my car to test out my knee.

I'm not frustrated, though, not like last week. Last week's recap got posted immediately after finding out I couldn't even water run. I was ticked, frustrated, and ready to bite someone's head off after finding out my last means of exercise jumped out the window.

But this week wasn't that bad, I just just RICED: rest, ice, compression, elevation, and DRUGS (don't worry, just Aleve)! Plus it was spring break, even if I spent the majority of my time working on stuff, the last few days were break-like.

I ended up going home, and got to see my cousin and his girlfriend both of which I hadn't seen in over a year. Hung out with them, played with the dogs, all the stuff I miss down in Kentucky. All in all, I'd call it a rewarding week.

Nutrition completely went out the window this week. Completely. It was no where to be found. I was only eating about 5 times better than Marcy, and that's saying something! Common foods were pizza, BBQ ribs, and pizza. Common snacks included home made cookies, ice cream, cake, and girl scout cookies. The motivation to eat good just completely goes out the window for me when I don't look at it as fuel for tomorrow's workout!

Luckily, workouts commence tomorrow. I'm planning a very easy one or two mile run just to test out this knee. I'm optimistic since it has been feeling better these past couple days. Then Tuesday I'm swimming. If this knee is still hurting, I'm still swimming. I will use the pull buoy for a full 90 minutes if thats what it takes to get a workout in without hurting my knee. I hate the pull buoy, but I'm going to make it my b*tch if I have to.

And now, I'm off to dream land, hopefully. My sleep schedule is all jacked up after break, as expected. I spent a lot of nights up til 3am with my cousin (which is 4am EST), so it's gonna take some work to get back some normal sleep patterns to form again!

Hope everybody had a great week!

Weekly Recap 03/03/08 - 03/09/08

Monday: Bike in the morning

Tuesday: Run in the morning. Knee was very vocal afterwards. Swimming hurts my knee, so I water ran in the evening.

Wednesday: Nothing.

Thursday: Water run.

Friday: Nothing

Saturday: Nothing

Sunday: Even water running is hurting my knee. Going back to ART guy tomorrow.

Total bike: something insignificant
Total run: something insignificant
Total swim: none

---------------------------------

Can't run. Can't bike. Can't swim. Can't water run.

I hate quitting endorphins cold turkey.

I'm glad your week was better than mine.

Weekly Recap 02/24/08 - 03/02/08

Monday: Breakthrough bike ride, 31 miles. Longest distance in a long time, didn't demolish me like last time I went 30+.

Tuesday: Confidence building run in the morning: two miles under 6 minute pace. Swam in the evening.

Wednesday: Easy run in the morning, really trying to take it easy with the race on Saturday without cutting out any volume.

Thursday: Bike-swim brick in the evening. This swim was absolutely huge. Something clicked again and my endurance is starting to go up in the pool. Ended the swim with 200 yards non-stop which was a new high.

Friday: Rest day!

Saturday: 5k race in the morning, ran 17:45. Make sure you read my race report! Ultimately it showed me I'm in better shape than I thought, and even that time didn't wipe me out. Afterwards I walked around campus with my parents for a few hours, then went out for 21 miles on the bike that evening before going to the comedy club. Long day!

Sunday: Swam in the morning. Legs were pretty sore from yesterday, big surprise huh? I swam my mile, with 300 yards non-stop at the end of the workout. Set out for a 6 mile run in the evening and ended up doing 8 because the weather was so nice: 63 degrees and sunny!

Total run: 28.15 miles
Total bike: 67.25 miles
Total swim: 3.3 miles

Weighted total: 63.77 miles
Resting HR: 54 bpm (Friday night)

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Absolutely. Great. Week. Of. Training. Period. .

The rest week I took definitely paid off BIG TIME! I felt fresh and ready to knock out a great week of training. I planned it out and pulled off every workout as planned or better.

I had a lot of reminders showing me my training paying off all week long. 31 mile bike ride on Monday. Endurance improvements in the pool. 5k @ 5:40 pace. Recovery run today with an average heart rate of 156 bpm but average pace of 7:09/mile.

Did I mention you should read my race report?

Next week should be a repeat of this week, but with a long run on Saturday instead of a race.

I hope everybody else had a great week!

Weekly Recap 02/18/08 - 02/24/08

Monday: Rest day. Canceled my bike ride since I was sick.

Tuesday: Ran in the morning, canceled swim.

Wednesday: Ran in the morning, finally started to feel better in the evening

Thursday: Planned to do my swim-bike brick in the evening, but an ice storm shut down most of Lexington.

Friday: Rest day. Finally feeling 100%!

Saturday: Ran 8 miles on my own in the morning. Planned to jump on the stationary bike but my apartment complex decided it would be a great day to close up unannounced.

Sunday: Swam in the morning, ran fairly hard in the afternoon. I didn't feel like focusing on running slow today, so I ran however I felt. Ended up averaging 6:53/mile for 5 miles.

Total run: 23.06 miles
Total bike: 0 miles
Total swim: 1 mile

Weighted total: 27.06 miles

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Pretty pathetic week by my standards, but I'm not being too hard on myself because (a) I was sick and (b) several factors were out of my control. Although, I will admit to feeling very fresh at the end of the week. Nothing hurts, my energy is back, and I'm ready to rock! That is the purpose of rest weeks, right?

School-wise, I was insanely busy, hence the relative lack of updates around here. I don't see any signs of it winding down, either, since midterms start this week, yikes! Also, I gave my first exam this week and just finished grading them. Apparently I'm doing more than just talking to the walls in there, because my exam average might be (significantly) higher than the other section's average! A good sign that I might be cut out for this teaching thing.

Next weekend is my first race since the disaster that was the Chicago Marathon in October. It's just a 5K, but I think it'll be fun. I'm talking most of Team in Training into coming out to run the race, since most of them haven't done many races before. Here is an interesting fact: Last year the race was won in 20:21. Note my 5K PR. Discover my plans. I think it's doable, unless some (other?) hot shot shows up!

Weekly Recap 02/11/08 - 02/17/08

Monday: Biked on the exercise bike for 75 minutes in the morning.

Tuesday: Ran 6 miles in the morning. Pace was whatever I felt like since legs were still kind of dead from 9 on the 9th and there was ice everywhere. Swam in the evening.

Wednesday: Ran 6 miles, still icy outside. Ab workout in the evening.

Thursday: Hour on the exercise bike in the afternoon, swam in the evening. Usual swim-bike brick canceled because of Hallmark.

Friday: REST DAY! Started feeling kind of sick in the evening. More sick people in class and maybe over training.

Saturday: Ran 10 miles in the morning, biked 21 miles outside in the afternoon. Finally. Real biking! I felt pretty fresh at the end, too, which was a nice surprise for my highest volume day of the year!

Sunday: Swam in the morning, ran in the evening. Still kind of sick, but its above my neck so I decided to push through it.

Total run: 27.98 (+2 from last week)
Total bike: 66.22 (+21 from last week)
Total swim: 3 (+0.5 from last week)

Weighted total: 62.05 miles
RHR: 65 bpm (!)

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I think I pushed a little too hard this week. I started feeling sick these past few days, and my resting heart rate is up about 15 beats which is a sure sign that I'm over doing it. Luckily, next week is a step back week and I can heal up! Even though several signs point towards over training, my legs feel great. I have not been fighting off any injuries, just illness, although if I pushed another week I would probably run into injury.

I also threw a weighted total in the numbers today. Its a combination of all my activities where a mile swam counts as 4 miles, and 3 miles biked counts as one mile. Not a perfect representation, but I think its a good way to track total volume.

If you missed my last post, almost everything is going my way lately, minus the over training bit. After a week of healing up, I'm willing to bet it'll all be back in my favor again!

Weekly Recap 02/10/08 - 02/10/08

Monday: Put in 75 minutes on the stationary bike in the morning, counted as 25 miles. Did an ab workout in the evening.

Tuesday: Ran an 'honest' six miles in the morning, swam in the evening.

Wednesday: Rainy run in the morning. Started an ab workout in the evening, but bailed out. I was started to feel some sickness coming on.

Thursday: I felt like crap. Completely drained. Biked on trainers with TNT then swam. The swim was awful.

Friday: Felt a little better after 10+ hours of sleep. This was a much needed rest day! Canceled my ab workout to make sure the illness was gone.

Saturday: Ran a HARD 9 miles in the morning for Nancy's 9 on the 9th. Canceled the evenings ride because my legs were completely shot.

Sunday: I had a GREAT swim in the morning, and a good, but windy, recovery run in the evening.

Total run: 25.81 miles (+2 from last week)
Total bike: 45 miles (-17 from last week, missed a ride)
Total swim: 2.5 miles (same as last week)

RHR: 52 bpm (Taken Wednesday night)

---------------------------------------------

I have mixed feelings about this week. If I could just get rid of Thursday, all that would change. We all have off days, though. Even me. I'm glad I made the right decisions after getting a little sick. I didn't get all my workouts in, but I did stop the sickness from really taking hold on me, I'll call it a success! Maybe it was partially due to over training? I wouldn't be horribly surprised.

My run for 9 on the 9th showed me the kind of shape I'm in, which is honestly a lot better than I thought it was, and a TON better than I thought I would be if you asked me a month ago! Obviously I'm doing something right. Great race, Nic! I'm still in disbelief how insanely close we were!

Also, I signed up for the Racine Half Ironman just now. I finally made the decision. Several people from TNT are also training for this race. Every time I brought it up to someone lately, it turned out they were already planning to do it. So I sucked up the $165 registration fee and signed up. For the first time I feel like I might really be in over my head after signing up for an event!

Finally, I spent a lot of time this week getting my letters out for Team in Training. Nic, Bill, and Nancy, your letters should be there sometime this week! If you still want one but forgot to let me know, get in touch with me and I'll get one to you ASAP! If you don't want me to know your address, theres always my donation website!

Weekly Recap 01/28/08 - 02/03/08

Monday: Biked 21.23 miles, finally able to ride outside! Ab workout in the evening.

Tuesday: Tempo run (5.5 miles) in the morning, swam in the evening.

Wednesday: Ran a very easy recovery run (4.5 miles) in the morning. Swam in the evening with TNT.

Thursday: Rode on the trainers with TNT in the evening, then went to the pool. Cramped a little at the pool, but all in all it was a good workout.

Friday: Rest day!

Saturday: Ran 8 miles in the morning, biked 21 in the afternoon. Intended to do a core workout in the evening, but my throat was feeling sore and I've been around a lot of sick students/runners lately. I erred on the side of caution and opted for more sleep.

Sunday: Swam 1 mile in the morning (great swim!) then went out to eat with TNT. Ran 5 1/2 miles in the evening with Bluegrass Runners, went a little harder than planned.

Total run: 23.42 miles (+1 from last non-rest week)
Total bike: 62.46 miles (+2 from last non-rest week)
Total swim: 2.5 miles (+0.25 from last non-rest week)

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Another great week! I really don't get sick of saying that, and I doubt I ever will. At the end of the week I feel surprisingly fresh, after a pretty grueling weekend. Somehow I'm not feeling Saturday's workouts at all!

As I mentioned above, my run today was a lot quicker than I planned on it being. But thats not all bad, because it taught me something: even more progress than I mentioned yesterday. I averaged 6:46/mile, but my average heart rate was only 164. A few weeks ago my heart rate would be that high when running 45 seconds slower per mile! Hells yeah, you know what progress does!

Finally, I'm really starting to think about this Half Ironman in Racine. I brought it up at lunch with TNT today, and one of the other members said she has 12 people who are carpooling to the race and renting a house for the weekend and that I could easily join them. That also means there are training partners. I only have one hundred sixty five reasons not to register now: the entry fee. It's probably going to happen. I just gotta roll it around in my head for a few days before I commit!

I hope everybody has had a great week; I know I have!

Weekly Recap 01/21/08 - 01/27/08

Monday: Went all out on the stationary bike for an hour. Counted as 20 miles. Ab workout in the evening.

Tuesday: Ran an easy 4 1/2 miles in the morning, had a great swim in the evening!

Wednesday: Fairly easy 45 minutes on the stationary bike. Skipped abs in the evening due to the step back week.

Thursday: Woke up for the 5:30am run and put in 6 miles. Completely screwed up my sleep schedule by taking a nap after dinner. Apparently got angry with the alarm on my cell phone, slept for 2 1/2 hours and missed my swim. I guess I needed the sleep?

Friday: Rest day! Got a massage in the morning. I did a short ab workout (~30 minutes) in the evening.

Saturday: Ran six miles. TNT meeting afterwards, then 30 minutes on the stationary bike. The 30 minutes disappeared, I felt like I just sat down when it was time to stop.

Sunday: Swam in the morning, then got antsy so I got my 3 mile run in shortly afterwards.

Total run: 19.74 miles (-3 from last week)
Total bike: 45 miles (-15 from last week)
Total swim: 1.5 (-0.75 from last week)
RHR: (Taking it this evening)

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All in all a successful step back week. These past few days I've felt pretty well rested with no aches or pains. Doing pretty good energy wise too, maybe too good, since I've had trouble sleeping the past few nights.

I've also survived another week where practically everybody in my classes is sick. Apparently working out and eating healthy is just what I need to keep my immune system going full steam!

The big news for the week is joining Team in Training. We haven't had any team practices just yet, but it should be fun once it gets going. I've had to rework my schedule a little bit to incorporate the TNT workouts without adding any extras every week, but it should workout all right. Theres only one I have to miss every week, but that is due to teaching. We're hardly expected to make it to all the practices, but I've decided I want to do everything possible to help both myself and the team; and thats part of it!

Thats all I got, hope everybody had a great week!

Weekly Recap 01/14/08 - 01/20/08

Monday: Stationary bike says I rode 25.34 miles, but I'm counting it as 20 since theres no air resistance, hills, etc. Did an ab workout in the evening.

Tuesday: Tempo run in the morning with 3.1 miles hard. Average tempo pace 6:22/mile, average HR 180bpm. Swam ~0.75 miles in the evening.

Wednesday: More stationary bike, again counted as 20 miles. Ab workout in the evening.

Thursday: Relaxed 5.5 miles, felt great the whole way! Swam ~0.75 miles in the evening.

Friday: Complete rest day. Slept in. No workouts at all. Rest days suck, I feel like I never actually wake up. Is that how non-runners feel all the time? I feel bad for them.

Saturday: Ran 7 miles out at Todd's Road at 7am. Put in more time on the stationary bike around 1pm. Ab workout in the evening.

Sunday: Swam 0.75 miles in the morning. Also had one of my coached record me for 50 yards so I can look at my technique (more below). Ran 4 1/2 miles in the afternoon.

Total run: 22.72 miles (+2 from last week)
Total bike: 60 miles (+8 from last week)
Total swim: 2.25 miles (+1.25 from last week)
RHR: 56 bpm

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Another great week of training! My hip had a little twinge in it after my tempo run, but went away within 24 hours. I talked to my dad about it, and he explained it as there being scar tissue still deep inside the muscles. Whenever I push a little harder, it breaks it up a little bit deeper and as a result I can get sore for a short period of time, but it isn't anything to worry about. Over time, all the scar tissue should break free.

Just looking at this week makes me feel as though I should be exhausted; but I'm not in the least bit! I don't feel like this week was horribly challenging at the end of everything, which is a good sign I'm not over training. Regardless, before this week started I decided this next week was going to be an easy week. Even though I feel great, I'm going to back down for a week before pushing again for three weeks.

My weight has been all over the place this week. I think I just have a hard time eating enough when I'm busy with school. I never miss breakfast and I try to eat big meals when I'm at my apartment. I also bring healthy snacks (apples, bananas, clif bars, etc) whenever I go somewhere, but it doesn't seem to be enough!

As I mentioned above, I had my swimming technique recorded this week. And although some of it looks good, not all of it does! According to my coach, the good includes my rotation, keeping my body long, and a low stroke count (15-16 per lap). Things to work on include bringing my head forward to breathe (rather than back), stroke acceleration (arm accelerates throughout the stroke), and my kick. The main thing to work on is definitely my kick. My legs are flying absolutely everywhere. Once I get my kick under control, my drag will decrease (less water resistance) and my endurance should go up big time.

Here's the video, so you can see what I mean! Yes, its sideways and I'm not sure how to rotate it. Although, tilting my head helped me both watch the video and get water out of my ear!

Weekly Recap 01/07/08 - 01/13/08

Monday: Biked 21 miles in the morning, ab workout in the evening.

Tuesday: Ran 4 1/2 miles. Planned to swim in the evening, but it stormed and I figured the pool would close. Turned out the storm was over hyped and I was just a slacker!

Wednesday: Biked 21 miles in the morning, ab workout in the evening. Tipped over on my clipless pedals, whoops!

Thursday: Ran 5 1/2 miles before class, swam in the evening for 30-40 minutes.

Friday: Rest day! Planned to do an ab workout in the evening, but I tried something new for dinner that caused some seriously hazardous gasses!

Saturday: Ran 6 miles at Todd's Road, biked 10 miles in the evening. That night I did the ab workout I couldn't do Friday. I was worried about my hip before/during the run, there was a small twinge in it. It ended up being nothing.

Sunday: Swam for 30 minutes in the morning, ran 4 1/2 miles in the evening. Legs felt surprisingly good during the run! Hip felt great despite feeling a little off on Saturday.

Total run: 20.68 miles
Total bike: 52.04 miles
Total swim: 1 mile
RHR (Resting heart rate): 55 bpm
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Great week of training! Last week I started feeling overtrained halfway through the week, mostly due to poor nutrition. Since being back at school I'm having a major focus on nutrition, and I can feel the difference already! My focus is on eating directly after a workout to aid recovery, along with eating healthier, but also eating more. I crunched the numbers and found on days that I do two sports, I generally need around 3200-3400 calories in order to sustain my energy level; even more than I'm used to!

My training volume has increase significantly from last week, but I still feel fresh at the end of the week which shows I'm adapting to the frequency of workouts and proves the better nutrition is helping. This was my first week running 20+ miles since getting injured! Lots of firsts these past few weeks, keep 'em comin'!

Weekly Recap 12/31/07 - 1/6/08

Monday: I put 30 minutes in on the trainer in the basement, and did an ab workout in the afternoon. Fairly low key day until partying it up to bring in the new year!

Tuesday: I was hungover for the majority of the day, but still managed to get out for 4 1/2 miles.

Wednesday: Put in an hour on the trainer in the basement. Swam in the evening and quit early because I was drained. Did an ab workout after resting for a little bit, which tore my lower back apart in a bad way. This was a rough day all in all.

Thursday: Took the day off due to the lower back pains and generally feeling like I'm overtrained from my sharp increase in training.

Friday: Drove back to UK. Did an ab workout in the evening, being careful not to agitate my back again.

Saturday: Ran 5 1/2 miles, my longest distance since the Chicago Marathon! Also went out to buy my clipless pedals & cycling shoes.

Sunday: Ran 4 1/3 miles, then biked 10 miles later in the day. I somehow managed not to fall with my new pedals, but I know its still going to happen!

Total run: 14.42 miles
Total bike: 39.82 miles
Total swim: 0.5 miles (hey, at least its something, right?)

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Not a bad week, although it was a reminder what a sharp increase in training and a poor diet will do to me. These last few days I've been eating really good to make sure I stay healthy, which has me feeling like a million bucks! After running a significant distance two days back to back, I'm really feeling like this hip injury is history! Watch out 2008!

Weekly Recap 12/24/07 - 12/30/07

Monday: Ran 5 miles with Bill up in Michigan. Great run, great company!

Tuesday: Jumped out on the bike for an easy 8 miles. The roads were finally clear enough to bike outside of my basement.

Wednesday: Ran 4 miles in the morning, biked 12 miles in the evening. All in all, great workouts!

Thursday: First time swimming in a couple weeks. I just went a half miles or so with a major focus on technique. I also did my first core workout in a while, which I'm ready to get back on top of! Also, I went out to pick up some new running shoes, the Asics 2130s.

Friday: Ran 4 miles in the morning. We just got a good amount of snow, so it was a good run but biking outside is over for a while! I biked for an hour in the basement, which I'm going to call 20 miles since that would be about normal on the trainer.

Saturday: More swimming, still focusing on technique. Spending a lot of time counting strokes across the pool, and I'm able to hit 15 pretty consistently now with an occasional 14. Afterwards I did another core workout which I'm really feeling today!

Sunday: Ran 4 miles and change. At the end of the run I had a lingering feeling in the back of my head that I hurt my hip again, but it didn't hurt. Not afterwards, and not now. I think the only thing left for this injury is the head games!

Total run: 17.63 miles
Total bike: 40.06 miles
Total swim: 1 mile

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What a great week! I more than doubled the volume I had last week, which normally would be a huge no-no. Since my mileage is so low, I can afford it. After this I won't have any big jumps, promise! Its great to feel like I'm gaining fitness again. My legs, arms, and core are all starting to feel stronger after just one solid week of training; which is a huge motivator to keep at it!