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July 01, 2005
Priority #1: Sleep
Yea, that's my excuse for my mini-absence in blogland. Last weekend was chock-full of exercise and learning more about exercise at the tri clinic with Audrey, so I was darn exhausted by Monday. I completely agreed with Audrey's review of the clinic. Didn't learn anything new on the run portion except maybe to work on increasing my cadence to improve speed. Anyone familiar what concept? The parts that I most benefited from were the tiring changing, competitive biking rules, race talk through, and the little gear pointers. The simulated mass start the six of us did in the pool was the most amusing part of the day. It was hard to motivate myself this week to do double workouts with being so tired and school work, but I snuck in a few and managed to catch up on sleep at the same time.
Sunday, June 26
Bike 23 miles - R. and I bumped into two of our running friends in the 'burbs. It was a nice surprise and we made plans to do an open water swim and bike ride in Annapolis, Maryland for this weekend.
Swim - with coach. I learned today that I've been turning my head too far when breathing, almost to the point where I'm looking behind me. That and I stick my neck out too far underwater, probably a result of working on the computer all day. Now I'm very self-conscious about looking like a duck. Waddle, waddle...
Then, I rushed off to a wonderful outdoor performance of a local musician, Sharif, with my friend S. and her brother. We hadn't seen each other in months and really enjoyed catching up. I was beat when I got home.
Monday, June 27
Run 14 miles - medium long run. I felt okay the first hour, but then I got super hungry and my left quad started aching. My right heel and calf are still tight. More massage, and heat and ice.
Tuesday, June 28
Run 10 miles, including 8k race - This was the second of the summer club races. The course runs through a neighborhood with gorgeous, huger than life homes. Nice sightseeing. However, the disgusting humidity, rolling hills, and fatigued legs from Monday made for very sorry pacing. On a positive note, I didn't go out too fast this time (7:09 first mile) and I mustered a sprint for the last quarter mile.
Wednesday, June 29
Run 6 miles - recovery. Nothing spectactular, on the treadmill.
Lift arms
Swim one mile - 3 warm up 50s, did sets of 5 laps with 1 minute rest between. Aimed for easy effort, not too much kicking.
Thursday, June 30
Bike 30 minutes on indoor trainer at home - Focused on higher rpms, lower gear, instead of power pedaling as I usually do.
Run 6 miles - recovery. R. took me on a new shaded gravel and asphalt trail that he found. It's kind of a hidden treasure near our neighborhood, running along a creek with lots of foilage. It's a welcomed respite from the blacktop courses that comprise most of our weekday runs. My legs were heavy, but running with R. kept my mind off the sluggishness.
Friday, July 1
TGIF!!! I'm taking the day off! I need to finish up my first summer paper after work and get to bed early, so I can do 6 stealth miles before meeting up with the club for 14. Cross my fingers that my achilles will behave on those hills.
Have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend everyone!
Posted by Leilani at July 1, 2005 05:54 PM
Comments
Sounds like a great week! Way to get lots of things done! As for cadence, my coach had me working on this at some point, counting the strike of one foot for 30 seconds, aiming for 45 strikes (180 both legs a minute). Increasing turnover is supposed to save energy while making you faster (although at the beginning it took some effort for me to hit 45 vs. 42 or 43).
Have a great long weekend and enjoy the SLR!
Posted by: Nanda at July 1, 2005 09:32 PM
yes, i feel like i need to rest just looking at your workouts. i hope the achilles felt okay during you (very) long run. happy 4th!
Posted by: Audrey at July 1, 2005 09:36 PM