Monday, January 31, 2011

Training Streak: Day 24

Got some bad news today. The injury that I thought was a minor LCL tear has ended up being a partially torn meniscus. Looks like I won't be doing any running until March. On the bright side at least I get to spend a whole month focusing on my swim.

10:50PM Strength and Yoga: The news about my meniscus kind of bummed me out and almost had me breaking my streak. At the last hour I decided I could throw in some push-ups, pull-ups and yoga. The yoga felt great. I'm feeling pretty revived. Now I got to get a quick five hours of sleep before tomorrow mornings bike.

Feeling Sick? Exercise or Rest

Usually when I get sick I try to be mindful of how sick I am and how contagious I could potentially be. If I just caught something I avoid workouts where I could get other people sick. This is usually just the weight room or indoor bike classes.

When I'm sick I try to give a workout a go and see if it makes me feel better. If I feel worse afterward or the next day then I take that as a sign to back off.

I've heard that a good rule of thumb is the "neck up" concept. If all of your symptoms are affecting you from the neck up then its ok to exercise otherwise its probably best to stay at home.

Most important of all, just listen to your body. It will tell you if you can go or not.

Anyone else have tips on what you can and can not do while your sick?

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Training Streak: Day 23

7:00AM Group Technique Swim: This swim actually felt really good. I discovered I was trying to force the bilateral breathing by getting a breath every three strokes and trying to commit to that. I didn't know I could do several breath every two, then throw in a breath every three, then repeat. I was able to get a lot more oxygen this way. Another good part about this workout was that I was able to rediscover several different swim paces. We did three sets of descending 100m. I actually held 2:10, 2:00, and 1:55 per 100 through the three sets. Its coming along.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Training Streak: Day 22

2:00PM Mountain Bike Class: Yay! Today we practiced wheelies. The purpose of them is to be able to clear obstacles while going uphill instead of trying to jerk the handlebar up. I had an easy time with them on a flat surface but when going up a steep uphill I had to come off the bike several times. The problems with me are that I'm putting too much emphasis on the handlebars. I've got to remember biking isn't about twisting the handlebars. The other issue with my wheelie is that I'm not bringing my butt far enough back on the seat. Overall we had a great class. At the end of it we did a fairly technical trail run and I ended up running into a wired fence at one point but it was a lot of fun. A little terrifying but fun nonetheless!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Training Streak: Day 21

7:30AM Optional Swim: Again, I was not feeling this swim. I'm still waiting for those couple of clicks from last season that got me into the swim groove. In order for me to get these completely in I need to 1) Go first thing in the morning and 2) have other people there doing the same workout. I felt so blah during it. I even stopped midway through the workout and just went home. Still, at least the bilateral breathing and flip turns continue to improve.

Outside of Training/Triathlons

I finally went and saw a Sports Medicine doctor. There's a possibility that I might have a torn LCL. I had an MRI done yesterday and will find out the results on Monday. Its no biggie though, because I can still swim and bike but being able to run is still iffy. Its my own boneheaded mistake for going out and playing basketball but for me personally it was kind of worth playing. I like to think I still have a life or other hobbies outside of triathlons and training.

This week's training has been ok. The swim is still a process for me. I'm waiting to experience those couple of "mental clicks" that I experienced last season which helped me get into a good place with swimming. Today, I actually had to get out of the pool midway through today's swim workout. Not because I was tired but more because it seemed like I was miserable doing the workout. There are times where we have to push through our minds limitations but there are also times when we have to listen to our bodies and be conscious of the possibility of burnout. Just like with the longer races we have to think of our training as a marathon not a sprint. We won't be worth much at the start line if we're burned out from too much training.

How's everyone else's training going? Got any cool hobbies that you do outside of triathlons? When was last time you got to do them?

Stay Healthy.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Training Streak: Day 20

6:00AM Technique/Intensity Bike: I left my heart rate monitor at home so I had to rely on tracking my zones by feel. I think I'm getting a lot better at this but sometimes I question if I'm pushing hard enough. At the same time though a lot of training is based on discipline. Its definitely a science which is why I trust my coaches. The knee was kind of sore afterwards, I'm starting to think it really is a tear. I get my first experience with an MRI machine today.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Training Streak: Day 19

7:40PM Swim: I had to sneak this one at the end of the day. I got some bad news in the morning. The sports doc thinks I might have torn my LCL. We'll see tomorrow. Anyhow, she said it was no biggie, I just can't run for now. I can bike and I can swim just as long as I don't push off the wall. This was a really quick swim in the endless pool. I just continued to work on my bilateral breathing which is coming along. I find it to be pretty challenging since its essentially changing a lot of my rhythm while swimming.

8:10PM Quick Strength Workout: When I got home from the swim I threw in several sets of pushups and pullups. I didn't want to feel like a total slacker.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Training Streak: Day 18

6:00AM Technique/Intensity Bike: This didn't tweak the knee too bad. I felt relatively strong throughout the workout. I still haven't pegged down my zones the way I'd like to but I think I'm getting there. I was able to hit V02 Max (Zone 5) with a heart rate of 184 BPM. I'm still curious what about my resting heart rate. I think last year when I tested it out I was somewhere in the low 40s.

What is a training streak?

After I got injured last year I had to take some time off from the run. This cascaded into me taking time off from the bike and swim as well. I was still working out, but I noticed that my speed and fitness was slipping. I decided the best way to get back into things was to hold myself accountable somehow. Hence the training streak.

I'm almost back in the groove of things but I'd like to take this further. I want to see if I can get to 100. I've even imagined the possibility of a 1000 day streak. We'll see.

I haven't really thought about the rules but after looking at some of my previous posts I'd say if I did at least 10 minutes of exercise in a day that would qualify as a continuation of the streak. If you're skeptical about that low number, try running 10 minutes a day at a minimum for 100 days straight and then we'll talk.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Training Streak: Day 17

6:00PM Core workout and Yoga: It was nice to get this in. It helped me take my mind off some of the stuff that had built in it throughout the day. My knee felt fine most of the day but some of the stretches tweaked a little bit. Looks like I'll be seeing a Doctor after all.

Our Bodies are High Performance Machines.

As I've gotten back into the full routine of training I recalled a concept that was mentioned to me by several different people: our bodies are like high performance machines and you have to treat it as such. If you had a Ferrari or some other ultra expensive car you wouldn't use the cheapest parts for it or neglect the maintenance. You'd want to protect your investment by following the appropriate procedures to maintain the car.

Same thing goes for our bodies. Since we are athletes we have to be more conscious about how we treat our bodies. This means getting the appropriate amount of sleep, eating right, stretching, icing our muscles, etc. The other bonus is that these are the kind of things that give you a competitive edge over the rest of the field. The more you integrate these kind of concepts into your training the faster you'll be able to recover from a workout and push it harder for the next one.

Personally, I have tried to do a vegan diet, get at least 8 hours of sleep a night, and done ice baths for stretches at a time. I haven't done them all at once but I can vouch that when I added one of these concepts to my lifestyle it had positive influence on my training and performance.

What about everyone else? Is there something that you do outside of training to make it easier? Do you have any vices that you think make it harder? My latest vices have been S'mores and cheese balls.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Training Streak: Day 16

7:00AM Group Technique Swim: The assigned workout wasn't supposed to be too bad. We mainly focused on stretching our strokes to reduce our overall stroke count. I experienced some knee soreness while pushing off the wall. I was also getting somewhat fatigued and I think it had to do with how I've been trying to incorporate better flip turns and bilateral breathing into my swim. I think my overall average in swim golf was swimming 50 meters in about 58 second time with about 40 strokes. If I went to 45 strokes then I would gain several seconds but would also be considerably more fatigued.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Training Streak: Day 15

2:00PM Mountain Bike Class: It was miserably cold outside. Definitely one of those days where no amount of fun on the bike would make up for the cold weather. What was even worse was the pain in my knee was still flaring up so I wasn't able to get in some of the new techniques we were being taught. We did get on some trails but after an hour or so out there I could not feel my fingers or toes.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Training Streak: Day 14

12:00PM Optional Swim: It took a lot for me to get to the pool. Maybe I'm just worn out this week. Maybe its because I didn't have a very good diet yesterday. Even during the workout I was constantly fighting my mind which was telling me that I should just get out early and go home. Overall the swim did not feel very strong but I'd still consider it a victory since I went out and did it despite my mental hesitation.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Training Streak: Day 13

6:00AM Technique Ride: Ride went pretty well. It was a workout designed to push us to our limits so that we could pull up our race effort. One thing that I focused on that made the efforts a little easier was to concentrate on keeping my breathing easy and consistent. If I can master this, I believe I'll be able to push the harder gears without getting as much lactic acid in my legs.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Training Streak: Day 12

6:00AM Technique Run: Run didn't go to great again. Still having those pains in the side of my knee. I think I was still able to do about two and a half miles. It was also worth waking up this early because I got to hang out with the elite youth on the team. Those kids are crazy fast!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Training Streak: Day 11

6:00AM Technique/Intensity Bike: Felt OK here. My right knee still bothered me a bit but it doesn't sting the same way as when I try to run. My leg muscles were still a little fatigued from basketball but I think its a good thing.

7:00AM Short Run: Did a reeeeeaaally short run. More than anything I wanted to test it out. The pain comes and goes in my right knee. I think I'm noticing it most when I leg is completely straight. This was on the treadmill though, we'll see how it feels on the track tomorrow.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Training Streak: Day 10

8:30PM Technique Swim: I really had to push myself to go to this workout and keep the streak going. My neck and knee were still sore from yesterday and I started talking myself into the fact that today is supposed to be a rest day. I worked on breathing on both sides and pushing off the wall before twisting during my flip turns.

Consistency

The pass couple of weeks I was really struggling with my swim and run so I've opted for a little bit of consistency.

What does this mean? Well first of all I'm making sure to attend all of my team workouts with the exception of the Strength and Stretching classes (I do attend these but they're my optional class). Second of all after talking with a couple of teammates and coaches I learned that just getting small efforts a day can help a ton. I'm talking about efforts so light they can not possibly conflict with our regular more intense workouts. This may mean doing a 10 minute run or getting in the pool for less than 30 minutes and working on some technique drills.

For the past week I've done both of these things. I've done all of my team workouts and sprinkled in a couple of short runs and swims here and there. The result is that my swim has started to feel good again and not as much of a chore. I'm not quite up to my form from the end of last season but I'm confident I'll be getting there pretty soon. Remember with whatever your doing the key is consistency.

So, if anyone wants to sneak in a quick 10-30 minute LIGHT workout, let me know. I'm always open to company.

Other than that, what's going on with everyone? Anything new or exciting? Got your race calendar for the year setup?

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Training Streak: Day 9

7:00AM Group Pool Swim: Today's workout was simple enough. Get in the pool and see how far you can swim in an hour time. I felt great the first 500 but towards the end of the second 500 I felt like I pinched a nerve in my neck on my right side, my breathing side. I got it in my head that I would just breathe to my left for the rest of the workout but I haven't worked on that enough so that ended up being more of an exercise of taking in pool water. This week I'll need to work on breathing to both sides and consider changing my breathing from every other two strokes to every three strokes for more balance.

10:00AM Basketball: First time playing basketball in about six months. I felt surprisingly good. The game even seemed a little simpler to me. This might of been due to some of the things I learned while coaching basketball this pass summer. One thing I need to stop doing is settling for the three ball. Also I tweaked my knee. I guess my body is not used to that lateral movement anymore.

4:00PM Long Run: This really didn't work out at all. Because of the knee tweak I had during basketball I wanted to play it safe by getting on a treadmill. The first half a mile seemed great. I was getting into a grove then I felt a small tweak in my knee again and decided to call it a day. I ended up getting in a tube of ice water later on in order to see if it would expedite my recovery.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Training Streak: Day 8

2:00PM Mountain Bike Class: Didn't get in any other workouts because I participated in a bike service clinic. It was nice to get out there for this ride. The weather was not too cold and it actually got to the point where I felt a little too hot. We had a lot of fun. We worked on getting the front and back tire over obstacles.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Training Streak: Day 7

6:25AM Personal Swim: Wohoo! That felt fantastic. There were parts of that swim where I felt smooth like I was getting my old form back. I didn't do the exact assigned workout but I did the distance. We were supposed to hit VO2 Max but I kept it to more of a Tempo pace in fear that I wouldn't make it through the workout.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Training Streak: Day 6

6:00AM Technique Bike: During the one legged drills my legs did not feel as strong as they did on Tuesday. Maybe it really does have something to do with the Yoga? The workout was focused on hitting higher zones. Either its because I'm a little out of shape or I'm just not quite there yet but my heart rate did not go as high as the zones I had from last year. Overall I felt strong. I may have been able to take more chances and push a little harder but I was afraid of blowing up.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Training Streak: Day 5

6:00AM Technique Run: You know its cold outside when the gravel on the track is frozen and only two people show up to practice. The run was a great confidence builder for me especially considering how much time I had to take off due to my calf. I was able to maintain a pretty decent Tempo pace for 3 x 1 mile repeats. No watch, just focusing on feel. I still need to get more consistent through my runs. My problem this morning was that I would start the first lap too fast, back off the second lap, and hit the next two laps spot on.

7:10AM Strength Training: I missed strength training last night so I went in to get it done on my own. It felt decent. One fallback was I wasn't able to get up and down the peg board that I thought I had mastered before Christmas. Need to get in for strength more often.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Training Streak: Day 4

6:00AM Team Technique Indoor Ride: Today's ride was pretty tough. I had to go all natural with it as I left my Garmin at home. That meant no cadence or heart rate monitoring. Overall I felt strong with a little bit of tightness in my right AT band. One thing of note is that I felt really strong during the one legged drills. Maybe that had something to do with Yoga the day before?

4:10PM Technique Swim: Did a brief swim with the wifey. She's just getting into swimming so we were working on her technique. This week I just wanted to be in the water more so it was a win for me. I was able to focus more on preventing my non pulling arm from dropping too soon.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Training Streak: Day 3

12:05PM Technique swim: Swam a 200 warm up and some additional technique drills. I'm hoping that working on these basics will help me get back to swim shape. It didn't feel too bad, I'm still getting used to incorporating flip turns into my swim. I swam the first 150 of the warm-up using them but by the time I got to last couple my legs and lungs were starting to burn a little from oxygen depletion. Overall a good workout though.

1:15PM Short run: Ran 1 and a third mile. It was bitterly cold outside. The wind chill was painful. The mileage was short but it'll take baby steps like this to get back to where I used to be; plus today is supposed to be a rest day!

6:00PM Group Yoga/Stretch: Did a video at home for the first time. Felt OK. There was a little kink in my back during the middle of it but it eventually got popped out.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Training Streak: Day 2

7:00AM Pool Swim: This was my first real swim workout in the pool prior to the holidays. For the past several weeks I've only really been focusing on my flip turns. The workout was pretty brutal. We did a ladder. I had to stop at the wall and the middle of the pool a couple of times during the swim but I was able to finish the workout. Need to get in the water more often. I felt really strong at the end of 2010s triathlon season. Its going to take a bit of work to get back to where I was. On a positive note Coach Whitney pointed out an issue with my swim form. I was letting my arm in the water drop as I was breathing. By focusing on this for the rest of the workout I was able to finish rather strong.

4:00PM Long Run: First real run since end of November. That calf injury really put me in a running funk. I did 4.5 miles in about 40 minutes. For the most part I was maintaining an 8:15 pace but during parts of the run I had to walk. I had no real major problems with the calf just overall body fatigue. Like the swim, its going to take a little while to get me back into good running form.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Training Streak: Day 1

9:30AM Swim in Endless pool: Did a 30 minute swim in the endless pool. Felt OK, I was swimming kind of crooked so there might of been something wrong with my head position.

10:00AM Movie ride: Got in about 30 minutes during our movie ride. I was able to maintain my cadence over 90 and my heart rate leveled somewhere around the mid 160s.

2:30PM Mountain bike ride: I got to the ride and no one was there. Realizing that I was 30 minutes late I spent the first 15 minutes looking for the rest of the group. I ended up finding some pretty cool trails in the process. When I did find the group we worked on a drill coming down a root filled decline while standing and maintaining pressure on the rear break. I have to focus more on keeping upright, staying relaxed in my upper body, and keeping my weight towards the back of the bike. Great ride. I'm starting to feel more confident on the trails.