IMMT Training Week 2: The Calm Before the Storm

The week after a race always feels like a lazy one. You want to recover, to take it easy, to be good to yourself... and since I ended racing Robbie Burns 8k last Sunday, I had to deal with a few aches that showed up afterwards. I had some mild back pain and my calves were super tight, mostly from running in my old KSwiss which I hadn't worn in 2 months. My glutes were also sore, but not in an alarming way, and by the end of the day on Monday almost all pain was gone. I still went to physio and after talking to my therapist about my lack of hip pain in the last 2-3 weeks, we decided that it was finally time to set the therapy aside and see where the workouts take me. However, I am going to continue the strength exercises to try and get me some Glutes of Steel. I am going to miss my therapist and her torturous contraptions.

Pro stretch, vibrating plate, cupping. My therapist is cuter than your therapist.

Swim

I was supposed to swim on Tuesday night, but I had to go to a meeting and it didn't happen. On Thursday I went to the group swim with the tri folks and that turned pretty epic.

Warmup:
200m swim
2x[50m kick + 50m sailboard]
2x100m pull + paddles
Main set:
3x100 descending on 2:10
100m pull easy
3x100 descending on 2:15
100m pull easy
3x100 descending on 2:20
Last 10 min: relays

Basically, you take the fast 50s from the past week and you multiply everything by 2 and remove 5 seconds per 50 in the process. I called this "go faster or drown trying".  During the 2nd (or was it the third?) interval I almost puked in the middle of the pool. I had to stop and walk a few steps because my stomach was rebelling with each breath. I have no idea how I managed to get through the full set.

I didn't swim again until Sunday when I could not get myself to think of anything else but zoning out with a pull buoy, and that's exactly what I did: 2000m pull non stop. Given that I received my first workout schedule from coach, if there was going to be one last time to relax, that was it. And if I sound a bit scared, it's because I am. 

Bike

Pettit on Wednesday

Tried to keep the cadence high enough, but it wasn't too exciting. Enough to get me sweat. Mission accomplished.

Fletcher on Saturday

Take two Pettit, shorten the intervals a little, put them back to back and you get Fletcher. I didn't even choose it on purpose, I asked hubbs to pick it for me. But I didn't complain, it seemed to be the right one for the longest ride so far this year. The instructions said to add a few controlled spins in the middle, which you can guess from those spikes on the graph. I was too lazy, or too scared to do more. They got me coughing quite a lot though, and my puffer lived to tell the tale, covered in sweat just like me.

Run

I went on the treadmill twice this week, once at work for 35 minutes easy and once at the gym near my house, while everyone else was watching the Superbowl. I don't understand the Superbowl, but I was looking forward to the commercials. The only one I remember was the one with David Beckham.

I ran for 45 minutes, then jumped in the pool. Isn't my Superbowl party cool? I had about 100 guests, but they left before the half time, I think they all wanted to watch Bruno Mars and the RHCP with sound. Without me. Oh well.

In a nutshell

I was planning to exercise for at least 7h, but sandwiched between a race and a coach's schedule, I had to adjust my rest days. I ended up with too many of them, but I compensated by being really good about my physio exercises. Did them 3 times and I even added 3 x 1min plank each time. Gotta do what you gotta do... 5.5h is still better than nothing.

IMMT Training Week 1: This Is The Beginning

I have yet to write a line and I hate these recaps already. Whose idea was it anyway? I have no patience for repetitive stuff and I'm rather lazy when it comes to crunching numbers. So what the hell am I gonna write? If there is something worthy to say, I will, if not... sorry dudes. I can't make shit up. 

Now, if you really, really want to see workout details, I log all my workouts in Runkeeper. No secrets. Knock yourselves out! I am also on Daily Mile, Trainer Road, Garmin Connect, Strava and Training Peaks, so there is more than enough information about my workouts if you're curious.

Also, with regards to publishing, I have time to blog roughly once or twice a week and if I wait for Monday, I may as well forget about it. Some weeks I will post recaps on Saturday, other weeks I will post on Sunday. I may skip some weeks because I don't feel like it. It's my blog and I can do whatever I want with it. Got it? Ok, so where were we? Let's try this.

Swim
Despite the fact that I'm still waiting for the "official" schedule from coach starting on February 1st, I got some feedback about the intensity of my current workouts. I was told that all my swims should be "hard" because I'm taking it easy in the other 2 sports. So on Tuesday I was told to go to the pool for a set of 10x200m pretty much all out (on 4:45). No pull buoy! Say whaaaat?

The graph was so pretty, I had to share. The times are nothing out of extraordinary, I am still a slow poke, but it's funny to see my descent into Hell. By the end of the workout, my arms were feeling like noodles ready to fall off.

To top it off, on Thursday I went to the masters swim (with the tri club) and this is what I had to do:

Warmup:
100m free + 200m drills + 200m pull/paddles
Main set:
2x50m fast on 1:10
100m pull/paddles
4x50m fast on 1:15
100m pull/paddles
6x50m fast on 1:20
100m free
14x25 (1 fast, 1 easy, 2 fast, 1 easy, 3 fast, 1 easy, 4 fast, 1 easy)
Cooldown:
100m any stroke

It was BRUTAL!
I may go for another swim tomorrow, or I may not. My limbs are still deciding.

Bike
The highlight of the week was my return to Trainer Road workouts.

Giraud on Thursday

Nice and easy with a few intervals to get the heart going. I tried to keep a good cadence and not fall asleep.

Mont Gosford on Saturday

This one was a sweatfest. Four long tempo intervals. Thankfully I was watching the movie "This Is The End" and I was going WTF !!!??!?!!?? way too often to notice my own struggle or lack thereof, surprisingly to say the least. I did not change my FTP since last year and it seems that I didn't lose much fitness since, which is rather encouraging. I don't feel that I'm ready to take it to the next level though... I am being careful, especially with the muscle pain that I feel in my glutes right now.

Run
So far this week, only one treadmill run, but longer than last week. I ran for 35min on Tuesday and did a little "ladder" because 5x7min in the spur of the moment seemed the right thing to do. Plus, the guy beside me was running at 5.5mph, so I felt that a little lesson was in order, just in case... you never know when you get to race and beat a VP.

7min @ 5.6mph
7min @ 5.8mph
7min @ 6mph
7min @ 5.8mph
7min @5.6mph
All with 1% incline

I have no idea who he was, by the way. But I kicked his butt.

Tomorrow will be my first race of the year and I'm still on the fence about running it. It's my first time running an 8k distance so it'll be an automatic PR, but given the low temperatures (-24C with the windchill OMG), I may end up being very miserable out there. My asthma has been awful this winter and I already had to use my inhaler 3 times a day just from walking from the house to the car and into the office. My colleagues tell me that I have an old smoker's cough. Yikes! And have I mentioned my Raynaud's? How many layers will I need to wear? I can't let the cold get to me or I'll turn pasty white from inside out. So anyway, I guess I'll swing it. If I run it I'll most likely sport a balaclava over my face to save me from coughing to near death. I can't wait to see the race pictures, haha.

In a nutshell
This week will be almost identical in volume as the last, but I bumped the intensity a notch with longer and harder workouts, and possibly a race. I am being careful about my hips, hamstrings and IT bands. I did my physio strength workouts twice this week (I should have done them every day!) and also started some planks (3x1min on Fri). I tried to roll, stretch, ice as often as I remembered and hopefully it'll be enough to keep me from relapsing into injury. Tomorrow's race, if I decide to participate, will be slow and I don't expect to break any records. Overall, I've been feeling good and I don't want to spoil the progress. I won't call it a comeback yet... but I'm getting darn close.

2013 Recap (3/3) : A year in pictures

Finally, my favorite post. This is where you get "the scoop" on my life, outside workouts and races. It's also a bit of challenge for me because the days/months/years always seem to go by too fast and I can barely remember what I had for breakfast. But the photos should be good visual aids, so let's try this (again).

January

Our little family goes on a trip to Disney World, with a stop in Philly to visit my friend Laura. I run the Rocky steps and feel like I'm on top of the world. I even get to meet Rocky, the statuesque kind. Then my husband goes all romantic on me because it's our 15th anniversary.

In Florida, I try to relax in between countless rides and lineups. Not for the faint of heart, this trip leaves me drained. Let's not do this again any time soon, okay?

Alas I don't get any downtime and I fly to Las Vegas for CES (work) without even coming back home. In total I end up sleeping in hotel beds for 20 days straight.

Once I get back home though, things return to normal. I enjoy cold baths because they keep my legs happy after running long.

February

At the beginning of the month we get our first snow storm of the winter and the kids go nuts. I spend one of the most frightening nights in a hospital with my older son, complete with ambulance rides, x-rays, CT scan and MRI.

I find myself trying to cope with a new sort of stress - caring for a hurt child. But thankfully running allows me to sweat it all out and ride the high of endorphins.

March

I buy my first bike trainer and start working out with Trainer Road. The Pain Cave is born.

I find on eBay a hat and scarf that I had bought in 2003 and lost the year before. Wearing them makes everything better.

The snow goes away as quickly as it came, and all of a sudden I don't need a hat and scarf anymore.

April

I lose my job and I get a lot of spare time to do whatever I want with in between sending out resumes. I get to travel to Philly again, this time to attend my friend's photo exhibit and spend some quality time with my camera and the trails.

I discover Blue Mountain coffee.

And Farro.

 And when I come back home, I taste my first ever AG placement medal.

May

Spring has sprung! There are flowers everywhere and I even take my camera out for a walk on the Etobicoke Trail to photograph the Sakura.

I run in shorty shorts for the first time ever. I am not convinced they are for me yet. Most likely, I need to lose some thigh fat for them not to ride up.

I try to stay away from sweets, so I sniff them instead. 

I also seem to like smelling the grass.

I travel to Muskoka to ride the 70.3 bike course and I treat myself with Kawartha's ice cream because it's THE Best Thing Ever and I deserve it, dammit.

June

We go to soccer games because we enjoy watching our favorite team lose. No, seriously, it's not like we have a choice. TFC sucks, we've never seen them win a game this year.

We also flaunt our tan lines.

And our wetsuits.

I ride my bike in the rain and learn to pee on it. Seriously, folks, it's a skill. 

I find a new job, very close to home, that takes me into a new direction. I discover the ups and downs of working in a big IT company. My free time gets reduced to weekends, and not even all of them, but I don't complain.

I bike the Muskoka course once more, this time with my friend Carol. In the rain, because it's so much fun.

July

More bike rides with friends, like this 100km one with Orville through the Hockley Valley and the Forks of the Credit, complete with suicide mission on the Hwy 10.

Miraculously we survive to tell the tale.

Another day, while biking through Caledon, I meet a beautiful horse on a walk with his owner.

Then I drive my boys to camp and I meet the cutest dog in the world.

Cuteness overload!!

August

I do a race simulation day with the coach and a bunch of folks from the tri club and I curse every minute of it. Heat, wind and way too many hills. Oh yes, I remember asking for it.

We travel to Mt. Tremblant to volunteer at the Ironman and we ride the official bike course (one 90km loop).

I like it so much that this happens. I sign up for the Ironman too!

My hubby buys me a new bike because there is no going back now.

September

We race our first Ironman 70.3 and we have the best day ever.

But soon enough I start missing my favorite lake and my bubble of bliss.

And things go downhill from there. I declare that I officially hate pool swimming.

October

We travel to Sandbanks with the boys for the weekend and we enjoy a long walk on the beach. Too cold for a swim, alas.

While training for the marathon, I do some trail running to mix things up, with personal support on two wheels. Despite his best efforts to cheer me up, that day remains pure torture. I had enough of running, biking and racing in the rain by then.

November

The racing season reaches an end with the Hamilton Marathon. I get to meet the #burlingtonskirtbrigade in their nude leg glory in minus temperatures. But they all warm my heart with their kind souls and laughs.

We take the boys away for another weekend and I get to recover from the marathon by climbing walls and wobbly structures. 

 And slowly cooking in the sauna.

On "mandatory fun day" with the office folks, I score a turkey, but I also bust my hip. I wake up the next morning with a bad cramp in my glutes.

December

A few days later, the pain in my butt turns into a full blown injury. I have to stop exercising, but after a week of intense physio therapy, at least I can walk. We go away for the weekend again, this time to attend my husband's office party. 

I visit the largest Toonie in the world, which unfortunately does not increase my fortune magically.
A few days later, as I start my holiday staycation, the ice storm of the century hits Ontario and destroys everything with branches that isn't bendy enough. Even walking outside becomes a dangerous workout.

I take my time and relax, and relax... waiting for things to turn around. 

Hello there 2014!! You're going to be good to me, right?