BDay Rest

Active-Recovery Engaged!

Oops. That was dumb. I cut my RoadID wristband too short. It's actually too tight. I couldn't find a length that stopped it from sliding and rolling around on my wrist. It's not like a watch that has a bit of weight/anchor to it and stays 'right side' up. It felt 'ok' at first but then when I flex my arm it's way too tight. Uggghhh I feel dumb but it was extremely annoying to leave it to flap around. I tried stretching the band but that material is pretty tough. It's not gonna happen. Maybe I'll look for a different type of band. I'm such a knob.



Happy 50th Birthday Wayne Gretzky



Well I definitely took the 'recovery' advice to heart. Thanks all! I went for a very easy paddle in the FREE pool last night. It was free to get in because it was a special someones Birthday. Apparently some famous guy that comes from my town that built the sports center was letting everyone in for free. My hamstrings are not burning anymore but there is still a slight 1/10 pain on my right one. I think it's from cramping last week. This morning I took a guilt-free pass on my indoor bike session. With the hamstrings JUST starting to leave me alone I didn't want to risk prolonging their recovery. I'm also going to wuss-out on tonight's run and hit the treadmill for 40 minutes. I cannot justify getting all bundled up to just run around the block. That's alot of hassle for a cold stroll that is hardly 'training'. The treadmill will do just fine tonight.

It may seem like I eased off the throttle too much here, but there is a reason for me taking it so easy. This weekend's long run may be in snow again. I need to be 100% repaired by the start, and somehow convince myself to go easy on it. Same with the bike. Next week I start piling on crazy amounts of run in preparation for around the bay race. I'm taking it easy and enjoying myself now while I still can! February is crunch time!

TRAINING:

Swim - 0:35hrs  (Recovery)

Bike -  Skipped it guilt free :)

Quick Slow

Go faster! No slower. No Faster. No slower. Go go go!

I was going to skip posting today but since I have some time to kill before my early bedtime I'll document a quick boring overview of my last few workouts that I haven't mentioned.

Saturday was a looooong run. Now, it would take alot to top the Blizzard Run From Hell a week prior and this one was bordering similarly bad conditions. At least this time there was much much less snow and as long as traffic co-operated I was able to run down the middle of the lane on a country road for traction. That worked 'ok' but being in the country it meant some killer winds whipping across the fields and caused one heck of a chill. I thought all was fine until I turned the corner 8km in and immediately I began planning my exit strategy to call the wife for a pickup. Before you go calling the whaaambulance on me you gotta consider this is a planned 20+Km run. So for YOU pussies running for a short hour, I can understand that we should be able to suck it up and survive it. HOWEVER, here I was 1 hour into a 2.5hr long slow run and I was being chilled to the bone. No amount of clothing was going to stop this breeze. I could grit the teeth and bare something like that for an hour tops, but after that it gets dangerous. Country roads, unsupported half-marathon and all. Soooo I was lucky that the road was hilly, oh yay for me, and I dipped into valleys JUST long enough to give refuge from the wind. I am happy to say I completed my run but when I finished my outer layer was an absolute frozen crusty iced-over shell. My clothing froze solid!

Sunday was a nice spin on the bike on the trainer. I rode a little over a couple hours to make sure my training hours topped the 10hr mark for the week. I even got some Zone 5 in during the Virtual-Reality climbs of the lake placid spinervals DVD. I love it! Although I need to make time for all the other material I've been meaning to watch on the trainer. I got alot of road racing videos to watch. I don't know much about the road racing scene, so I'm studying up so I can enjoy the next Tour de France and understand it better. If there is one thing that has been consistent my whole life, it is that I'd rather be a racer for a moment than a spectator for a lifetime. I do not watch sports, especially ones I actively participate in but there is some history and culture to TdF that I would like to learn to respect.

What my training runs look like...

This week is SUPPOSED to be a recovery week. 3 workouts into it and I'm pushing harder and faster than ever. Grrrr. I can't seem to throttle back, I'm going waaaay too hard. It's fun, but at this rate I will injure myself or burn-out before IMLP shows up. My hamstrings are already singing to me. I think it's not helping that I am reviewing the race results from last year's finishers. I'm comparing pace and I'm a loong ways off the 'respectable' category. I need to come to terms with the fact I'm slow and stop pushing myself. One of the best quotes that go through my mind is the 'Why suck at one sport, when you can suck at three at the same time!'. That rings true for me lol. I am enjoying the training for now though. I'm surprised I've stuck it out this long, but the routine is working for me. Gees, it's only Base-Building phase and I'm already whining about my pace. I gotta get my head screwed on straight here. It's still early. Mental Health FAIL.

Wait. What happened to a short post? DOH!

TRAINING:
Run - 2:25hrs (Sat.)
Bike - 2:20hrs (Sun.)
Swim - 1:00hrs (Mon.)
Bike - 0:45hrs (Tues.)
Run - 1:00hrs (Tues.)