Spin Studio: Resurrected

Ages ago I had set up a little spin studio in my garage.  I had a TV in there, a DVD player, a small player to plug an iPod into…  It was pretty sweet.When the husband moved in the spin studio disappeared as his moving boxes needed a place to reside.  When we had a garage sale a few months ago we took the opportunity to get rid of the TV and DVD player since I didn’t actually like watching TV while spinning.  Eventually all of our bikes just lined up on the side of the garage…the tires going flat from disuse (*tear*).I’ve still got my Ironman Canada number on the bike.What on earth is in this bottle?  I’m afraid to find out given how long it has been in there (luckily it was just water).My old spin studio.  Time to clean up!I found my old gear check back from Ironman, with my bike helmet, gloves, CO2 cartridges, deodorant, Body Glide…I swapped the rear tire out with my trainer tire.  I forgot how hard it was to do this!Finally the bike had been cleaned up, set up and ready to go.  I picked a short but sweet workout and I had forgotten how good it felt to be on the bike.  All done!It is almost hard to believe that fall is here and spin classes at Bow Cycle start up this week.  Bring it on!

What’s that new feeling??

On Saturday I made plans to meet up with my friend Tara for our long run.  She was keen for company so I was game.  The plan?  1:45.  We shook things up by starting near the University of Calgary, running west along 32nd Avenue, south down Home Road, then east towards downtown Calgary.

The run is fairly flat with the exception of running down Home Road.  The change in elevation is about 150 feet over 0.3 mi.  Fun times!

It was a beautiful morning out.  Lovely and sunny, and I realized part way through that I could have opted for shorts and a short sleeve top instead of capris and a long sleeve.  Running with Tara pushes me out of my comfort zone a bit as she is faster than me.  I know she does slow down for me, but I do wind up speeding up too.  As we neared Edworthy Park I looked down at my Garmin and realized that we were running sub-10:00/miles.  I tend to average about 10:30/mi on my long runs.  I was feeling good though, so I didn’t say anything.  A bit later on Tara checks her Garmin and asks if I realize how fast we were going.  We talked about slowing down, but I think we wound up keeping the pace fairly even.  We ran almost to the bridge at Crowchild, we turned around and stopped in at Tri-It briefly to say hi to Richelle (and to borrow their bathroom).  I also downed an Espresso Love Gu.  This was my first time trying this flavour.  I love Hammer Gel’s Espresso, but I did not care for this one.  Chocolate Mint is still my number one favourite Gu flavour.

As we approached going up Home Road I slowed down a bit in order to tackle the hill with a “slowly but surely” attitude.  I watched Tara pull away up the hill, which was fine.  I had run hill repeats just a couple of days before so my main goal was to just make it up the hill on my own terms.  About half way up I felt a sharp pain on the inside of my left knee.  The kind that they tell you that if you feel you should stop.  So I stopped, rubbed the area, walked a bit, jogged slowly…where was this coming from??  When I met Tara at the top I told her what was up.  We slowed it down for the home stretch, but the pain was there.  Not the same sharp pain, but a dull, tight kind of pain.  By the time we made it back to our starting point I was four minutes short on my run, but I didn’t think it really mattered.  I stopped and stretched and oddly after that it wasn’t bothering me.  Hmm…

On Sunday I had an 89 minute spin on my schedule – a strength workout with some squats.  Given the knee issue I dialled the gearing back a notch and upped the cadence slightly, typical if you have knee issues.  I figured that if my knee started to act up again that I’d be able to just hop off the bike.  Luckily the spin went well with no discomfort.  Time to throw on a jacket, swap out the bike shoes for running shoes and head out for a 15 minute brick run.  Success!  It went well. 

So…fingers crossed that pain in my knee doesn’t come back, but if it does I’m heading straight off to my physio therapist just in case!  So apart from that little niggly thing the rest of the weekend was a good one.  I even managed to score a fantastic deal on a new Specialized S Works helmet at Bow Cycle during their Blue Light Special weekend.  How was your weekend?

The Time Suck

My writing has been sporadic at best lately.  After all, it took me almost a week to write about my skiing experience!  I’d like to blame the Olympics.  The winter Olympics are my favourite and it seems to be sucking most of my time.  After all, they only come around once every four years so I think I can justify this.  So let’s recap the week so far, shall we?

• Monday: I had a 45 minute run on the schedule so I hit the pathways over lunch to knock that out.  Despite having dead legs on the bike on Sunday my run felt pretty good on Monday.  Like my legs were back to normal.  I was going to swim in the evening, but ultimately I decided that watching the women’s semi-final hockey game of Canada versus Finland was a much better use of my time!  Oh, and not to mention the historic gold medal performance by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in ice dancing.  This was the first time a North American couple has won gold in ice dancing and their performance was phenomenal.
• Tuesday: Spin class!  The Canadian men’s hockey team had a qualification date with Germany that just happened to be on right in the middle of spin class.  The workout on the bike was insane though, so I spent most of the class with my eyes squeezed shut, grimacing in an attempt to make it to the end of the interval.  This was our last class at Bow Cycle (next week we move elsewhere until the end of April) so we went out for some post-class beers.  I always love the chance to hang out with my teammates and I feel very lucky to be a part of such an amazing group of people.  We chatted, made some cross country ski plans, and watched Joannie Rochette skate her amazing short program.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the group as we watched her.
• Wednesday: I met up with Kelly for a run over lunch.  I was only planning on running for 30 minutes, but it was a beautiful day out.  Kelly had a 45 minute run on her schedule that she was going to run 4:1 intervals on.  I figured a 45 minute run with company sounded way better than a 30 minute run on my own, so we ran, chatted and enjoyed the warm day (6C!!).  I was then home in time to watch the Canadian men’s hockey team take on Russia in what I thought was going to be a much closer game.  You could tell Canada wanted it and they dominated the game.  During the third period I wound up flipping between hockey, bobsleigh (where Canada took gold and silver!!) and the women’s short track speed skating relay where we also won a silver.  Add that to another long track bronze from earlier in the day and it was one big win day for Canada!
• Thursday: What a day!  I had planned to swim over lunch but I wound up having to go to a business lunch instead.  So…then I was going to swim after work…until I realized the women’s hockey gold medal game started at 4:30 pm.  To make sure I could get my workout in before I got too caught up in the Olympics I figured my best bet would be to spin while watching the game.  Except I don’t want to spin in my living room as I’m worried that it would wreck my flooring.  But…no cable in my garage either.  I found a video cable to hook my computer up to my TV though and streamed the game live on the internet.  Sadly the sound had to be streamed via the computer speakers, but oh well!
  Finlay and I settled in to watch part of the second and third periods while I ran through my workout.  The spin went well, and I got to see the Canadian women win gold.  Yeah!!!  Then the rest of the evening has been spent watching the men’s aerials and women’s figure skating.  Go Joannie, go!!!

Tomorrow is my long run…plus hopefully a swim in there somewhere since I’ve missed that so far this week.  I hope everyone has a great Friday and a great weekend!!

The Aftermath…

I learned just how much work skiing is after my big downhill and cross country day on Thursday.  On Friday I was one big ball of sore muscles.  I felt like I had done a full body weight workout on every single muscle with the exception of my abs.  Yowza!

Needless to say that when I got out on Saturday morning for my long run I was a little nervous as to how it would go.  Luckily I had company though.  I met Tara out at Edworthy Park at the rather early hour (at least in the winter time!) of 7:30 am.  Our plan was to run from Edworthy to Eau Claire and back, something that would take us just over an hour and a half.  I don’t run with other folks very often, but I hadn’t seen Tara for a few days so it was a great chance to catch up.  Most likely the conversation took my mind off my fatigued body.

I’ve been doing my long runs closer to lunch hour to take advantage of the warmer parts of the day.  I think it was probably about –12C when we were out running?  I can’t quite remember.  I felt comfortable while running, but when we stopped for a bathroom break at the Eau Claire Y I realized that my legs were actually pretty cold.  Hmm.  Tara and I ran into our old Bikini Boot Camp instructor Sheena at the Y, chatted a bit, then headed back.  Near the end the run I was starting to tire, but I was motivated to keep going since it was cold out!  At least the sunshine felt amazing even if it was cool.

Once we were done Tara and I bid a quick goodbye, then I took back off to Eau Claire for a swim.  The pool was a bit of a gong show though as the training pool was closed.  Half of the lap pool was cordoned off for parent and baby swim classes.  I was happily sharing a lane with a guy until he grabbed his six year old daughter and started playing around at the end of the lane instead of swimming.  I made it half way through my workout and I figured that was good enough.

I also made it through a spin on Sunday but I had to dial back the intensity as my legs were still shot from my ski day!  Who knew that skiing was such a workout?

Family Day Long Weekend

Hey folks, I hope everyone had a terrific weekend!  Monday was Family Day here in Alberta, so it has been a long weekend here.  It has been full of workouts, friends and family, and of course, the Olympics!!  I’ve been soaking up as many events on TV as possible and I am so proud of all of our Olympic athletes!  Anyhow, let’s recap, shall we?

Saturday

Time for a long run!  I waited till around lunch time to knock out this run out, but it stayed a bit chilly at –7C (19F).  I had an 1:15 run on the schedule, but I arbitrarily decided to aim for 8 mi instead which would take me just a bit longer than that.  I ran another out and back from downtown and west along the river, just like last week.  The major difference was that the entire run went really well though!  I carried water and a gel with me, and I downed a Gu Roctane pomegranate blueberry gel at the halfway mark.  This was my first time trying out this flavour.  It wasn’t my most favourite, but then again I tend to not care for berry flavoured gels.

When I turned around I was running into a fairly strong wind, but this fuelled me to keep to keep the speed up so I could minimize my time in the wind.  I finished up at the YMCA in Eau Claire and immediately grabbed a chocolate milk and some cottage cheese.  Before I had finished eating I had really cooled off so I ran to the changing room and had a long, hot shower to warm up.  A great long run!!

Sunday

I’ve been having a tough time fitting in a long run and a swim on Saturdays lately.  This mostly has to do with the fact that I feel so cold by the time the run is done that all I want is a hot shower.  I could try swimming before I run I suppose, but I haven’t tried that out yet.  Instead I tried swimming early Sunday morning.  I was at the pool soon after it opened and I knocked out a great 2000m swim.  I showered, went home, then had a brick workout to take care of.  It was like a mini-triathlon day!

My bike workout was a full of low cadence work to build strength, plus a couple of times where I had to hop off the bike for squats and lunges.  70 minutes of time on the trainer.  Once I was done I quickly changed into running tights, threw on a jacket and went out for a 15 minute brick run.  This was my first brick in ages!  My legs felt wobbly and like they didn’t quite belong to me for the first few minutes.  Bricks are a bit tough in this weather as even though I was warmed up it was still a bit of a shocker to transition from indoors to outdoors in the cold and the wind.  My legs were tuckered after all of that!!

Monday

My only thing on the schedule for today was a drill swim.  I hit up the Y later in the afternoon.  The pool was fairly quiet and I had a lane to myself for probably half my workout.  I ran through some 6 kick rolls, fist drills and fingertip drags for my drills.  I also added in some paddle work to help build some strength.  I definitely love working with paddles.  I feel like it really helps to drive home certain aspects of good form.

And with that…now bring on the week!  This one looks to be busy and fun!

Legs…where are you???

Sigh, I maybe was not the smartest cookie with my workouts this weekend.

Exhibit #1:

I actually slept in on Saturday morning, as in, I woke up at 10:00 am.  Does anyone else wake up at 10:00 am on the weekend and suddenly think, “oh no, the day is over!”  I do! 

Oh well, I got up and chatted with my parents on Skype (who just made it home from their around the world vacation) so I could say hi to my fur ball Finlay.  I have missed that little character!  With any luck he’ll be back here soon.  By the time that was done I figured I’d spin instead of do my run/swim combo that was on my schedule.  It was a really good spin too that involved a lot of low cadence strength work.  4 x 5 min of hard low cadence (between 60-70 rpm) and after each interval I’d get off the bike and do squats for 1.5 minutes.  After my first interval I realized that I had been a bit of a weenie on the gearing/trainer tension so after that I really socked it to my legs.  I just kept telling myself that this was what I needed to build towards riding that tough Ironman Canada course!  On my last set of squats my legs were shaking…

It was a great spin workout, but on Sunday when I started running I realized that I would have been much better off if I hadn’t swapped those two workouts around.  My legs were beat!  Thankfully, I only had a 45 minute run to do, but the pace wasn’t quite as good as last week’s 45 minute run.  Surprisingly I actually ran one of my most evenly paced runs ever though.  Hmm.

Exhibit #2

I finished my run right at the YMCA and went inside to change for my swim.  I had eaten lunch at 1 pm, started running at 3 pm and hopped in the pool at 4 pm.  As I was showering before getting in the pool I remembered that I had a chocolate mint GU in my gym bag that I had meant to eat, but I didn’t want to run back to my locker since I was now soaking wet.  So I jumped in the pool instead.

First off, it was a bit of a gong show when I got there.  The 25m pool is completely roped off with lanes for aqua-jogging, and slow, medium and fast lanes.  But there were people who were bobbing around and playing at the end of one of the medium lanes.  I grabbed the other medium lane just as its other two inhabitants were leaving.  There was a guy in the fast lane powering through workout next to me.  Just as I was getting in two kids (in boxer shorts????  yuck…) jumped into the fast lane and started clowning around in it, thoroughly pissing off the guy who was swimming there.  I’m not sure if words were exchanged or not, but the swimmer took off soon and eventually the kids went back to the training pool.

Anyhow, I only had an 1800 m workout on my schedule but I had absolutely no juice.  It was one slow go from one end of the pool to the other.  I should have taken that GU!  I decided I was tired of trudging through the workout at 1000 m and called it a day.

Hopefully I’ve learned a few lessons from the weekend!  And, finally!!!  My Christmas tree came down yesterday!  I have to admit that my living room feels somewhat bare without it though.  Happy Monday all!

The Charity Spin-a-Thon

Today was Tri-It’s Charity Spin-a-Thon!  Last year’s event was held at the store, but this time the group was large enough that the event was held in the gymnasium of Rundle College.  $65 gave you the chance to ride for 3 or 6 hours, you’d get a swag bag and you’d be helping pro athletes Janelle Morrison and Jordan Bryden.  I had a lot of fun at last year’s event so of course I was in for today’s!  I opted to only ride for three hours in the morning since I had a fair bit I wanted to accomplish later in the day.

After registering and grabbing my swag bag (full of Honey Stinger products, a pack of Ultima lemonade drink mix and a towel) I set my bike up between Tara and Kelly, my partners in crime for Ironman Canada this year.  The set up was really neat – we had a DJ playing tunes for us, plus there was water, Ultima, orange slices, bananas, bagel and cream cheese for us to snack on.  There were several pros out there supporting the event including Scott Curry.  Luke Way was our first instructor and he led us through about 45 minutes of high cadence stuff.  Once Luke’s session was over we spun to the 2007 Ironman World Championship video rather than having another instructed session.  This was terrific!  This gave us a chance to just sit back and spin, catch up with each other and it kind of gave our legs a bit of a break. 

After the video there were giveaways for those folks who paid attention.  I managed to win a pair of socks that say “Save the Ta-Tas” on them for knowing the Chris Lieto won the Timex Bike Bonus that year.  Yay me!

After the video Janelle took us through a 30 minute spin  where we got to work a bit harder.  Unfortunately I left my heart rate monitor at home though, so I don’t have an idea of what I managed to get it up to!  Final ride time was about 2:40.  Once we were done there were Spolumbo’s sandwiches to help us refuel.  All in all a great day!  I had a good workout and managed to catch up with a bunch of friends that I haven’t seen in ages.  I am continually reminded at various triathlon events around town just how great everyone in the community is.  I’ve made some terrific friends through this sport and I am so grateful for that!

**And yes, in response to my last post, the capri running tights come out once we head north of 0C or 32F.  I generally try to under dress for runs and I feel pretty comfortable out there in those temperatures.  I guess in part I just want to make sure that I’m saving my heavy duty winter running gear for those really cold days!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Tri It’s Charity Spin - a - Thon

Just a little FYI for all my Calgary friends.  Tri It is holding a charity Spin-a-Thon on January 10th.  For details go here. 

Where?

Rundel College
4336 16th Street SW

HOW?

Load up the car on Sunday morning with your bike and bike trainer. Come on down and enjoy the day.

Why?

To help support Jordan Bryden and Janelle Morrison in their pursuit of excellence. Additional funds will be given to development athletes in the community.

Cost?

65.00 gives you the chance to ride

FOOD

Spolumbos Sandwiches will be free to all athletes. Bars, gels, chews, drinks and snacks are all included!

How Do I Register?

Email us to register!
Email: triitspin@gmail.com
or come visit us at the Tri It store!

9am - 12 pm: Spin #1
12pm - 1pm: Break!
1pm- 4pm: Spin #2 (athletes from spin # 1 are welcome to stay)

Six Things for Sunday

Number 1

A little while ago I decided to upgrade my TV in my living room. I had a 30-something inch Acer that had been given to me, but it used to be a demo TV and the screen has issues. So when Costco was running a deal on a 40 inch Samsung LCD, plus get a Samsung blu-ray player for an extra $100 it seemed like a good deal. But now I had four TVs. The first TV I got when I moved away from home that is upstairs in my bedroom. The upgrade to TV number one, a 27” Sony flat screen that is hanging out in my garage for trainer workouts. Plus the Acer and the new Samsung. Four TVs for one person seems a bit excessive, right?

Number 2

So I put an ad out to sell the 27” Sony last week. And here is the response I got back from someone:

“I am looking for a TV to donate to an elderly gentleman in a nursing home. As he doesn't have any family in Calgary nor does it appear he has anyone to visit him, he is always striking a conversation with people going by to find out the highlights of hockey games - for which he is very interested in and loves the game. Due to his eyesight not being what it used to be, he is unable to read the paper. Therefore, a thought was to try to find this gentleman a TV so he can enjoy watching a game and bring a little pleasure over the holiday season.”

So he came by and picked up the TV yesterday, and I’m happy that I was able to give it to someone who will get some enjoyment out of it.  The Acer is now hanging out in the garage.

Number 3

Things have been a little bit…arctic…in Calgary this week! Work (and a few fun activities too) sucked up all my time and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday wound up being rest days. Unless you count a bunch of walking that I did to get to meetings or pick up Christmas presents. It has been in the minus teens and twenties around here with snow falling off and on for what seems like about three weeks straight now. November was so beautiful that December is a bit of a shock.

Number 4

I managed to knock off a great trainer ride on Saturday morning. It involved a bunch of gear pyramids, which are always fun, and took me 55 minutes. Later in the day I dropped my bike off at Bow Cycle to have a few things adjusted – the derailleur needed to be repositioned as the chain was rubbing on it. An easy fix though. She’s also getting some new bar tape and will be cleaned and shined up.

Number 5

It would feel wrong to not run once all week, so I made it to the Y just as they were opening up at 7 am. Given that it was -28C (-18F) outside a treadmill run was really the only option. At least I got to run in shorts though! I hopped on for 30 fun filled minutes. I kept cranking up the speed as the run went along and watched the visual display show me as a little red dot running around a track. Talk about boring! You are running on a treadmill, visualizing yourself running round and around on a track…

Number 6

And reserves are coming along. Everyone keeps asking how they are going but it is really hard to quantify. The best I can say is that they HAVE to be done by December 18^th. And that I’m getting on a plane at 8 pm on December 18^th. And that I’ll most likely pass out the entire way after being so sleep deprived for so long..!!

Hope you guys had a great weekend!

Snow Day!

When I say I’m taking a hiatus, apparently that means less than a week…  But I had to share some of the craziness from this weekend!  On Friday we had a winter storm warning – up to 20 cm (~8 in) of snow and wind gusts up to 50 – 70 km/hr (30 – 44 mph).  Nuts!  At 3 pm our VP sent an e-mail out to the entire company basically telling us to go home.  Here’s the scene as I left my office:
Luckily the drive home wasn’t as bad as last Friday’s – that one took 90 minutes and it was a skating rink the entire way.  This Friday’s was only about 40 minutes, although there were a couple of white knuckle moments along the way…  I even saw a couple of cyclists making their way home in this snowy mess!

On Saturday I hoped to knock out a spin workout then go into the office.  I was up at 5:30 and on my bike in the garage soon after.  I ran through a pretty good workout that was a lot of high spinning stuff, followed by some standing strength moves.  I spun for about an hour and I followed it up with some core work.  I turned on the radio and the RCMP were telling people to only make trips if absolutely necessary, but otherwise to stay home.  Me being the fraidy cat that I am I decided that a trip to the office wasn’t worth the risk of getting in an accident or getting my car stuck because it was just nuts outside!  Instead I watched Star Trek…Pirates of the Caribbean…and just took it easy.  As the day went on the temperatures plunged so it became even more brutal outside!

So cue Sunday…and since it was so cold outside there was no way i was going to attempt a run.  -18C and –30C with the wind chill.  Brr!!  And definitely not in all that snow!
So I got back on the trainer for another one hour ride.  It was ironically more of the same…one leg drills, lots of high cadence and some big gear low cadence stuff.  I have to admit that having the new bike to spin on makes these indoor training rides a whole lot more enjoyable!  After that I managed to make my way downtown and put in a few solid hours at the office.
Tomorrow?  It is still going to be freezing!!  I have an idea for a different workout I can do over lunch though so I can still stay warm!

Denial…Not Just a River in Africa!

It has been blizzarding here these last two days!  Time to face the facts and set the trainer up in the garage!  As soon as I got home I pumped up the tires (boy these have lost a lot of pressure in the last few weeks..??), got together a new playlist on my iPod, changed and got going.  My goal was to ride for 30 minutes.  I tested out the new aero bars and cranked the music.  Yup, the trainer hasn’t gotten any more interesting in the few months that I’ve been away from it.  All of a sudden around 29 minutes in it felt like I was losing resistance on the pedals.  I tried shifting into a tougher gear and no go.  What?  I got off the bike at 29:44 and took a look at the back tire.  Flat!  Oh well, close enough.

New Stuff!

You may have already heard about this from a few folks already.  Gu has come out with some new flavours – pineapple Roctane and Vanilla Gingerbread for the holiday season!  I stopped in at Tri-It today to pick some up.  While the pineapple was in stock the Vanilla Gingerbread hasn’t come in yet.  So Richelle gave me one of her packs that she got at Interbike on the condition that I blog about it!  So be sure to keep your eyes open for Vanilla Gingerbread this holiday season!  (Seriously, who wouldn’t love to get a few of those in their stocking this Christmas??)  I can’t wait to give it a shot.  Thank you Richelle!!  You rock!

And for those of you who love Chocolate Mint Gu, I’ve heard that this flavour is going be available year round after this holiday season!  Excellent, that is my favourite flavour!!!

And an aside…

I skyped with my parents this evening.  Finlay was showing off his new hair cut and looking super cute on the camera.  I miss my little fur ball!

Crazy Calgary Weather

Wow, Mother Nature is working hard to keep me away from biking outdoors!  The weather looked pretty nice all day today, and as I walked towards my car after work it looked like this:
Ugh…  I remained optimistic on my drive home and even changed into gear to ride outside.  I took Finlay out for a walk and I felt a few raindrops.  My bike workout was to ride for an hour at high cadence, and I had absolutely no desire to get caught in a potential downpour.  After this weekend it was apparent that the weather can change so quickly here.  So I bagged the ride and decided to get on the trainer.

My bike was making this weird creaking sound and I just could not figure out what it was.  I kept getting off and on trying to listen to what was causing it.  Eventually I figured out that my skewer in the rear wheel needed to be tightened just a bit more.  After wasting all of that time I decided to call it a day 30 minutes in.  Wouldn’t you know it, it was sunny when I finished up…

And in other random stuff:
- I’m doing a happy dance because I sold my wetsuit on Saturday!  Phew, it feels good to take care of that!
- Angie watched my swimming stroke during the aquathon on Sunday.  She noticed that I’m not following through on the end of my stroke properly and I’m pulling my hand on the water too early.  Must focus on getting my thumb to brush my thigh during the stroke.  Without that I am losing a lot of power…which probably explains a lot.
- I was at the pool on Saturday and I had a few sprint sets on the workout.  I think that when I see “sprint” I just churn the water quickly, but I don’t think I have that much more speed.  I really need to pay more attention to my form..!!
- I may have a chance at an open water swim this week, plus I’m racing this weekend.  Woo hoo!!

An Equation

Leana + Caffeine > 7:30 pm

yields
a Leana that cannot fall asleep

Last night I met up with one of the ladies from my swimming class at Starbucks. I had a London Fog, which is Earl Gray tea, steamed milk and vanilla. I needed to be up early this morning but I just wasn't sleepy. I guess I just am that susceptible to caffeine! I think I probably fell asleep sometime around midnight... Which meant that this morning's 4:30 am wake up was brutal!

I was planning on skipping swimming today because I had to give a big presentation at work this afternoon. I still wanted to get into work early, hence the 4:30 am wake up. As soon as the alarm went off I jumped out of bed and had one thought... Coffee!!

I never make coffee at home. In fact I very rarely drink regular coffee. But I do have a coffee maker and some beans for when my parents come to visit. I went downstairs and looked in the freezer. Thank goodness - I had coffee beans, but no ground coffee to speak of. Hmm. I took out my coffee grinder. I've used it once...
I brewed four cups and had a taste. In case you can't tell, it was horrendously weak. Yuk!
I thought it may be because of how I ground the beans so I ground a bit more (a little bit finer), added a bit more coffee and brewed again. Stronger this time, but still yuck!!
Oh well, it did the trick I guess.

As for our team hill repeat ride today? Canceled again. Stupid rain. Angie sent a trainer workout to do, but I'll be honest. I'm beat. I've also been sucked in by the Biggest Loser finale. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some better weather tomorrow. If so I'll go ride outside on my own, otherwise I'll do Angie's workout inside tomorrow.

So what does that mean? I haven't worked out since Sunday. I have a date at the pool at 9 pm with my friend DGB as well, so hopefully I'll get a little something in today! And then I'm planning on going home, falling into bed...and waking up slightly later than 4:30 am tomorrow...

Have a good night all!

Bargains, Burritos and More

Thursday

Because I ran on Wednesday that meant that I had a bike to do on Thursday. Originally I was hoping to ride into work but when I woke up and looked out the window I knew that wasn't going to happen. The clouds were nasty and there were possibilities of thunderstorms. I figured that if I got home and the weather was okay I would do the ride outside. Nope, the weather was still crappy, so it would have to be on the trainer. As it turned out I got sucked into watching the Canucks game and the ride just never happened...

Friday

My friend DGB had mentioned a new restaurant in town that opened up that I was keen to try - Mucho Burrito. It is pretty similar to Chipotle (which I love...), but they don't have up here. I decided to make a deal with myself - get on the bike then Mucho Burrito would be the reward. The ride was pretty easy - a 45 minute high cadence spin. I threw season one of Red Dwarf on and spun away. (If you are into British comedies and haven't seen Red Dwarf...I love it! Awesome show from the late 80s and 90s.) Truthfully my stomach was rumbling after 30 minutes so it was off to Mucho Burrito. It was so yummy....and even though I knew I may regret it I went for some hot salsa on top...which was most definitely hot! So good though..!!

Saturday

I had a big round of workouts on the schedule - a 2300m swim followed by a 15K run. I figured my best bet was to swim at the Eau Claire Y early in the morning, then hit the pathways around the river for my run. I threw all the gear I would need into my gym back and took off to try to be at the pool early. I hopped in a lane with two other guys and got to work. The water felt really good and I found my rhythm. The main set called for a 1000m continuous swim, a 1:00 rest, then another 500m continuous swim. Since I was feeling so good I opted to swim the entire 1500m together (in part so I could see where my time would shake out for the distance), then I'd follow it up with a 1:00 rest, another 250m swim, then cool down for a total of 2500m. The swim was awesome!!

I hopped out of the pool, had a quick shower to get the chlorine out of the hair, and put the running gear on. I also downed a gel. I thought I would try a new one - Key Lime Accel Gel. I wanted to try this one out since it has protein in it. I know as my workouts get longer for half Iron training that I'll need to incorporate protein in my fueling so I wanted to see how this stuff tasted and worked.

Taste? It was fantastic. It really tasted just like key lime pie filling. How it worked? Oh well...we'll see...

Mile 1 - 10:25 - I was a bit slow to warm up.
Mile 2 - 10:04 - Getting faster...
Mile 3 - 9:58 - And a bit faster...
Mile 4 - 9:50 - Hitting my stride.
Mile 5 - 9:47 - Faster...but all of a sudden my stomach starts rebelling. Was it the hot sauce? The gel? The pool water I probably ingested earlier in the morning? A combination of all three?
Mile 6 - 9:48 - Holding on...heading back to the Y.
Mile 7 - 9:48 - Still hanging in there
Mile 8 - 9:34 - So close...I just want to be done!
Mile 9 - 10:01 - Total rebellion...
Mile 0.18 - 9:41 - Done, thankfully!

So...was it the gel? Maybe... I still have a couple of packs to try, so we'll see if it happens again. I won't be pairing it with Mucho Burrito again though (I'll save that for before a rest day). My legs felt great on the run, it was just a shame about the ol' digestive system not feeling quite up to par.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday! Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there, but most especially to my mom!!!!

Jinx!

I speculated that last Tuesday night would be our final indoor spin. Looks like I jinxed myself! Some ugly clouds rolled through around 2:00 and we looked destined for a good storm. Just as I left work it started to rain, and just after I got home it started to hail!! Apparently the wind was wicked out in Cochrane, plus there was some lightning too which never makes for a good ride!

Angie e-mailed us a trainer workout so I set the bike up in the garage and hopped on. It was a tough one! There were all kinds of good exercises to simulate hill climbs and I tried to push hard. It is tough to work as hard at home compared to at class, but I think I did a good job today. By the time I was done the workout I was starving!!! Time to head in and throw together some dinner.

I also had a good swim this morning. I have been a bit hard on myself, thinking that I could not keep up the folks in my lane. Today it hit me - I can actually hang on to the toes of two other folks in the lane, there is just one guy who is super speedy that seems to get away from me. I think we are so quick to beat up on ourselves if we cannot meet whatever standard we have set (i.e. not getting dropped ever on the swim) versus seeing whatever progress we have made. So never fail to recognize what you have achieved!

***

As a total aside, the Biggest Loser just started up over here this evening. I CANNOT believe they are going to make them run a marathon!!!! Even making them run a half marathon seemed a bit mean since they had not trained for it, but a marathon is just ridiculous...if you ask me...

The Weekend – Part II – Sunday

Whew…it has been a busy night and I need to get off to bed…  But first I have to tell you about Sunday!  Tri-It was holding a Spin-A-Thon on Sunday.  Up to 6 hours of indoor riding with proceeds going to help local triathletes reach the podium.  I love the sound of doing something good for a good cause.  Plus I may have also been swayed by the words swag bag, Spolumbo’s sandwiches and door prizes.  Since my longest ride to date on my bike has been just under two hours (both indoors and outdoors) I was a little nervous about the prospect of spending so much time in the saddle.  I was assured that I could ride for as long as I wanted, and that there would be the option to do some yoga as well.  So…sign me up!  I had the option to ride from 8-2 or 2-8 and I figured I’d go for the morning session.

I woke up to another crazy dump of snow Sunday morning.  Seriously, it doesn’t look like spring is ever going to arrive in Calgary…  Getting to Tri-It that early in the morning was a challenge.  The roads hadn’t really been ploughed yet and there were plenty of cars in the ditch.  Since I think folks were a bit delayed thanks to the rough roads we were a bit late starting.

I had picked my bike up from Bow the afternoon before and hadn’t tested it out.  But it sure looked so shiny and good as new though!  The bike mechanic had even cleaned up the wiring for bike computer by hiding the wires underneath the bottom tube.  Sweet!  I set up my bike next to a friend and started spinning.  I looked down at the computer and it was reading 0s.  I lined the magnets up properly and started spinning again.  This time the computer told me I was spinning around 250 rpm and going 5.5 mph??  I didn’t want to ride for that long and not have some estimation of how many miles I was getting in.  I thought maybe some wires got mixed up, but once I realized that I just needed to swap the sensors around that sorted things out.  By this time I’d already missed the first few minutes, but at least now I knew what was going on with my computer!

We had a new instructor every hour or so, with a break between each instructor so you could grab a snack or refill your water bottle.  Some of the gals even came by with nutrition or offered to fill up our bottles while we were riding, so terrific support!  Honey Stinger provided some of our nutrition and I just have to say that their dark chocolate cherry almond protein bar is amazingly tasty!  Definitely my favourite bar that I’ve tried so far.  Their organic energy chews are also really good.  We also had orange slices and bagels and cream cheese for snacks, plus HEED to drink (although I stuck with nuun and water).  And of course, the sandwiches from Spolumbo’s!

The first gal coaching us took us through what felt almost like an hour long warm up.  At least that was how I took it.  I knew I’d be on the bike for awhile so I didn’t think I should push it too hard, too early.  Our second instructor helped us visualize going through one loop of the IM Lake Placid bike course.  That was a pretty neat way to think of the ride on the trainer!  Coach Angie was our next instructor and this was the first time that I really got my heart rate up.  We ran through some single leg sets, some max rpm challenges and some sprints.  Richelle took over for the fourth hour and this was where at least half of the group decided to pack it in.  Richelle had a good workout for us though with a nice mix of low cadence and high cadence work.  Our final instructor was Luke Way.  Wow did he challenge us!  120 rpm for 2 min?  Gear pyramids building to our hardest gear and back?  Crazy stuff!  Part way through Luke’s set my right knee started to feel a bit tweaky so I stretched, got off the bike to chat with Richelle and grab a bite to eat.  I got back on the bike to finish the workout though…and it felt like such a good accomplishment!  There were up to 50 people there, but probably 15 of us stuck it out to the end?

Apart from the tweaky knee I felt surprisingly good.  My quads?  In great shape.  My sit bones?  Not sore at all.  Okay, it didn’t feel like I’d been sitting on a pillow the entire time, but all in all my new saddle is really comfy!  And my bike fit?  Also really comfortable.  I figured this would be a good test to make sure everything on my bike is set up pretty well.  I couldn’t have imagined riding that long indoors under any other situation, and switching up instructors and having so many people there made the time fly by.  Literally.  By the time I got the bike computer working I recorded 4:42:55 in the saddle, and the equivalent of 76.22 mi.  My longest ride before that?  Just over 32 mi back in September.

We had to hurry up and pack up so the afternoon group could come in and set up.  I grabbed my swag bag and here’s what we got:

Sam McGlone was also there for the afternoon session so I had a chance to tell her that I enjoyed her talk at the Outdoor Show the day before.  If I left Tri-It with one feeling on Sunday, it was that I cannot wait for all of this snow to go away so that I can get out on some really nice, long bike rides outside!

Off to a Flying Start

Last week's workouts? Practically non-existent. But today I was ready to jump back into my training plan. My swimming clinic is on hiatus this week for spring break so I'm on my own, although Angie gave me a couple of workouts to keep me going. One of my teammates was telling me that the pool at the Eau Claire YMCA is fairly empty before 5 pm. I figured I'd give a post-work swim a try instead of the usual early morning session. I had meant to get into work by 6 am...except I forgot to set one of my alarms and I finally woke up just after 5:30 am. Oops! I made it in at 6:30 though, so I was out of work at 3:30 and off to the Y. There were two medium and one or two fast lanes set up. I got into a medium speed lane with a guy and I guess he wasn't too keen on sharing so he ducked into the fast lane.

My swimming felt somewhat like Phoebe's running style but in the water. How is it that after a week off I feel like I've lost all coordination? At one point a lady and I shared a lane. I was swimming behind her and I got distracted by some guy that jumped into our lane and swam along the bottom of the deep end underneath us and I wound up bumping into her. Oops! Pretty well the rest of the swim was uneventful and I got 2100 m in.

After I got home I whipped up a quick omelet, then I had a spin workout to get done. Just under an hour with 10 x 30 second sprints. I put the rest of Twilight on and hopped on the bike. The spin went well and I finished up just as the movie was ending. Perfect timing! Now...time to head off to bed since I need to get to work early!

Super Sunday Intervals

Last night a blizzard blew in.  This was what I woke up to this morning…  Tons more snow!

Maggie was one happy girl.  She loves the snow.  Leave her to her own devices out there and she could spend hours eating the snow.

I had a 90 minute ride on the schedule entitled Super Sunday Intervals.  There wasn’t anything overly technical about the ride, I just had 5 x 5:00 intervals that I had to ride at a higher heart rate than my rest intervals.  I rented WALL*E which was about the perfect length for my ride.

The movie is super cute…and pretty insightful…and at parts it makes you feel pretty thankful that we live in a society where activity is a part of a lot of our lives.  It maybe isn’t the best movie to spin to since I think I need a little more action and noise, but it is a really good movie.

After the ride it was time to whip up dinner.  I knew I wanted to make something with lamb in it and I found a really interesting sounding dish – Iraqi Lamb and Eggplant Stew.  It calls for pomegranate molasses which I didn’t bother to look for, but it is easy enough to make your own.  This is definitely what makes the dish.  I modified things a little bit – I used lamb leg steaks instead of shanks and cut back the volume of water in half.  This helped the dish to cook a little bit faster.  Thank goodness, because I started cooking at 6:30 and then saw the cook time was 3 hours…and this probably cut off an hour just by using a different cut of meat.The picture definitely doesn’t do it justice…but I would definitely make this again.

Otherwise, this week is a bit of a cut back for me since I’m racing the St. Patrick’s Day 10K on Sunday.  In some ways…thank goodness…because it looks like it is going to be miserably cold for most of the week!  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Miscellany

• I'm in the lottery for the Nike Women's race. After putting some good thought into it (i.e. thought that doesn't happen when I'm running) I knew the half marathon was the right choice. This was also confirmed by coach Angie. She wants me to work on my speed and a full marathon isn't the forum for that. And I don't want to enter a marathon just to run one, I want to do well. Anyhow, fingers crossed that our group gets pulled in the lottery!
• Yesterday was our last day of nice weather for the next little bit. I got a run in around my neighborhood in the afternoon. I was supposed to go for 5 miles but my route was slightly off and I finished up with 4.5 miles. Oh well. The run went pretty well - nice pace that I managed to hold on the uphills.
• I have been totally sleep deprived this week. No bueno.
• Despite the sleep deprivation I rolled into the Y on time...for the first time in weeks!! My IMLP lanemate was back and we rolled through our workout together. We had a ladder to do - 11 lengths, 10 lengths...down to 1 length...with front crawl on the odds and our choice on the evens. Since I was pretty tired I kind of copped out a bit and did a breast stroke when I had the option. When we had one length left to go my friend turned to me and said, "Wow, you really go fast on your breaststroke! I look up and you are half a length away from me!"
• After I got out of the pool I was looking over my swimsuit. Sheesh! Swimsuit integrity issues for the second time this week! This time it was in the rear end of my suit, and seriously...this may not be a spot you want the suit to be threadbare!
• I was chatting with a couple of gals today and actually used the word y'all. Wow, where did that come from?! It has been awhile since I activated my inner Texan.
• Tonight was a 54:30 spin on the bike with hill repeats. I propped the front wheel up under a couple of phone books and knocked the workout out. I loaded the iPod up with some old school songs. Well...old school for me...and had a good workout. Finished up and ran through a quick strength workout.
• Tomorrow is a rest day and lunch with an old friend of mine that I knew from Texas. We both live in Calgary now and are off for Indian food tomorrow! Can't wait to catch up with her.
• I have 342 unread posts in my Google Reader. My apologies if I haven't been around to comment on your blog this week, but hopefully I'll catch up with y'all soon!
  

Hope everyone has a good Friday!!

The Weekend Wrap Up

Since my Saturday morning was pretty well shot I procrastinated on my spin workout until sometime after 5 pm. I had a 72 minute ride on the schedule called "crest the hill." The idea is to spin hard in your low cadence section as you go up the hill, then keep the momentum going as you "crest the hill." It is definitely a good workout, and I'm hoping that these spin workouts are really going to help for when I can get outside to ride again.

After the workout was done I had a 20 minute T2 run on the schedule. It was getting late...it was -13C...so it was dark and icy out. But I got out there and got it done. Well...okay...I went for just under 17 minutes, but who wants to quibble over three minutes? With the warming, then the snowfall, then the freezing the sidewalks change day to day and they were brutal last night. I'd definitely be running somewhere else for my Sunday long run.

After the run I whipped up dinner. I'd found an interesting recipe in a magazine while I was waiting for my massage and I was keen to try it out - stuffed poblano peppers. These sounded like a great alternative to chile rellenos. I lucked out in finding some poblano peppers and queso fresco at a Mexican grocery here in Calgary, and this dish turned out so well. I'd definitely recommend it! Because I'm all about the pairing I figured some Dos Equis Amber would work out pretty well.
After dinner I went through my stretches from my PT and whipped out the foam roller. Holy...flibberdijibbet... That thing just about made me cry...

Sunday was more procrastination. The weather was supposed to warm up so I took care of a few things in the morning, had some lunch, then decided to head out for my run. I had 15K (or 9.3 mi) on the schedule. I've been running around my neighborhood most of the time and I needed a change of scenery. Not to mention that I wasn't keen to be dodging a lot of the ice on the sidewalks here. So I drove down to Shouldice and ran the pathway along the river towards downtown since I knew the pathway would be cleared well.

It was +2C (35F) when I was leaving my house. After the crazy cold weather this past week that meant capri weather in my books. Plus a long sleeve shirt and a midweight top. It was somewhat overcast and luckily it was nice and calm out. Since the pathway is pretty flat I also wanted to try and keep my heart rate in zone 2 the entire time. There were a lot of people really bundled up for their run, but I felt pretty comfortable. It just felt so good to not be bogged down in so many layers. I really can't wait for spring!

While I was running I was tossing and turning my fall race schedule around in my mind. The lottery for the Nike Women's Marathon opens this week so I had a lot going through my mind:

• Do I want to enter the half or the full marathon in San Francisco?
• Is two months enough time between Lake Stevens and a possible full marathon?
• Is San Francisco the place to go for a sub 4:30 marathon?
• If I do go for the full...that means I'd probably wipe the 2010 Disney Marathon off the slate. This is where I'm fence sitting mostly. While I'd love to go and meet up with friends do I really want to kill a full week of vacation at Disney World for the third year in a row?
• If I don't get into the Nike race, what's my backup? The more Suz (my friend in San Antonio) and I talk about meeting up, I think my backup race may be the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Race in November. It would be a great chance to hang out and to see friends back in SA. A race in November would really nix the Disney Marathon for sure. But anyhow, we'll see...
  

Anyhow, lots of stuff was running through my mind while I was out there today! I ran an out and back and it was pretty easy to keep my heart rate in zone 2. Slightly tougher on the way back. After I hit 8 miles I gave myself permission to just run without worrying about heart rate.

So the interesting thing is, I was trying to run easy...didn't feel the need for a walk break at any time...and I finished up in 1:33:46. That is a solid 6 minutes faster than the Minnie Marathon 15K last May when I was trying to race. Yay for progress!!