Week after spring break...

Okay, it is Monday at 730am. I'm not sure if this is going to be a very good blog.

Tuesday

Got up early (6am) and headed over to the pool. I might have been a little short finishing that 1000 because the pool closed. It was really busy that morning and took a while to find a lane. Therefore my timing was off.

Rode the rollers after work. It think I remember the weather being kind of yucky.

Wednesday

Got up again to swim. This time 530am. That workout was good! I figured out all of my times in advanced based on a 16:00 1000. Never could quite get it. Always a few seconds off. I really like knowing exactly where I am.

Ran after work. It was beautiful out and I had a really good run. Solid. Kept the pace up and did lots of hills. I didn't do the usual up and down Pete's. It was a slushy mess on the trails. Stuck to more of the roads.

Thursday

Ride after work. Was more like 1:45. Got the TT bike out and did the ride with Erik. Found some good places to do the 10 minute intervals that were mainly uphill. This was a good solid ride. We were both pretty worked from it.

Friday

After work I went over and got the swim in. Those 50's were fun. Tried really hard to get a little faster on each one.

Went on a run. Didn't feel very good. Legs were heavy and not very motivated. I decided to head back and cut it short. After 10-12 minutes my legs felt much better. I think that was a good learning experience. Maybe it takes 10 minutes to get the legs going. I still headed back. Felt stressed about stuff at home etc.

Excited and nervous about the weekend. Racing, no matter what kind, makes me nervous.

Sat.

Up early again and off to Missoula. Training race was really fun. Good test of my fitness. I kept up with Lindsy and Tamara. This is good for me. It was pretty cool to be able to get myself to dig deeper than I think I have in the past.

Had a good afternoon hanging out with Lindsy and a good evening hanging out with my cousin and her family. She has an amazing guest bed. Plush sheets, featherbed. Slept like a rock.

Sunday

Up early again. Got suckered into the LMSC (something about a swimming committee) annual meeting that morning. Should have slept in until 830 or so and then headed to the pool.

Swam my races. Finished the 50 fly. Did the 100 free in 1:17. Talked to Jen Luebke. She was really nice and actually approached me. I think we will get something worked out for a little swim clinic. I am thinking maybe May? Did the 1000 in 16:08. A- I am happy about it. I took off time from my plateau swim time of ~16:45 and B-I am happy about the swim training because the numbers do not lie. I feel like working with you on this is doing some good. Master's works too they just don't accomodate my focus all the time.

Was pretty tired after that day of swimming. That was a blast though. Type 1 fun. Except swimming the 1000. That was type 2. Anyway, got out on that run. Did the Grizzly course and ran that hill 3X. I really wanted to get in my head what to expect. I always remember a lot of false summits. I also wanted to practice running down it. Last year 2 people passed me on the downhill. This year they won't be able to get by!!

This week. Focus is to get sleep. I need to stay more rested. Last week I was running off of sleep deprivation. I like morning swimming, but think only one day is better than two. And not so much socializing this week. My ass is on the couch in the evening.

Masters starts again this week. I guess the got the pool up and running faster than expected.

Tuesday is a big work day!!

Spring Break

This trip was amazing in many ways. It wasn't until the night before we left that the rest of my life came rushing back to me. I started thinking about work, paying bills, cleaning the house etc. and realized I hadn't really thought about any of that stuff all week. During the week while doing all of our riding, and my swimming and running I had reflected on life a lot and realized that my goals, ambitions, and clear thinking gets really muddled when I'm at home and gets taken over by all the little stuff that I have to do.

So here I think is kind of an update of my homework from the end of last race season. Maybe a little more in depth and I reserve the right to change this stuff but this is what I decided over the week.

1- I need to take vacations more often and I think that getting out of town for weekends is actually less stressful and helps me focus more than staying at home. How am I going to do this- My work contract is going to be re-signed this summer. I think I am going to ask my boss for more vacation time in the contract. If he can't do that I am going to ask for a comparable raise so that I can take unpaid leave. I think if I stay focused and get my work done at work this shouldn't be a problem.

2- I have been thinking a lot about my age and having a baby. I definitely want at least one kid. I don't want to get to old and not be able to have a baby because I am racing. So I am thinking that I will see how this season goes. If I can achieve the goals I have set out for this year, I have some grander goals in mind for the next year. If it all plays out I would like to go for the grander goals and then take off time to have a baby. I'm really afraid I won't be able to manage work, a baby, and racing seriously all at once. Something will have to give for a while. Have you coached people who have quit for a baby? I still don't really get how people do it. I guess I can do it how I want but....

3- This might change when I go to work tomorrow, because whenever I'm at work I feel a little inadequate compared to the grad students, PIs and post-docs. I'm really "just a tech". But this week made me really feel like my loves in life are not my job. Thoughts of work vanish quickly when I leave that place. I like what I do and appreciate the benefits, I can't really quit it, but hmmm where was I going with this. Okay, lets leave this an unfinished but a written thought. I'll come back to this. I'm also going to go and buy a journal.

Okay, enough of that lets get to the week.

We rode and rode and rode.

I basically followed the plan. I re-arranged the long ride because that day was supposed to be Erik and Bender's rest day. So I swam and ran on that day and did the long ride the day before. We didn't have any rides that were less than 3 hours and on the road rides we climbed and climbed and climbed. The riding in St. George is amazing, the whole trip was wonderfully exhausting. The pool was awesome and the trail/bushwacking running was exhilirating. We enjoyed the whole week immensely.

There is no Masters for the next couple of weeks. I will have to get everything in at the MSU pool. The hours are weird. 6-730am, 11-1pm, and 3-6pm. So this may take some adjusting to. As far as work schedule.

Also, I am going to Boston for a week. The first week of May. . We leave Thursday the 3rd and get back Tuesday the 8th. I will probably be pretty consumed with the conference. Our hotel has a 20yard pool and I have looked a little for another pool or Masters practice but haven't gotten anything concrete yet. I think this trip will be hard to commit to a lot of training. The hotel and conference are by the river which has a running path so that will be good.

3/7/12 thru 3/12/12

Tuesday
Got up at 5:30 this time. The longer the swim the earlier I have to get up. Uggh. Hard to get up, but once I'm at the pool it is totally fine. Plus, I get to work before 8 and get in a good work day too. Did the swim and felt good. So far I think you have my time intervals dialed. Did the half IM pace pretty much spot on. You are better than the Masters coach at this.
Went home and rode rollers for 75 minutes. Got in all my TV watching. Did some core and stretching after the ride.

Wednesday
Went and swam. Had a really good swim and a lot of fun. Did some backstroke (okay, maybe only one) flip turns. Feel like my swimming is starting to come along. Skipped the optional run and went to Jaimee's Mom's for dinner.

Thursday
Rode the rollers for an hour and did the 8X2:30 high cadence. Good doing this on rollers. Taking more attention to the actual riding. Went to meeting. Long day, feeling kind of burnt after this week. Glad to not have so much training when people are in town and have friends here.

Friday
Don't you hate it when people come to work when they are sick and then brag about sucking it up and working? Don't they realize it is sort of selfish to expose everybody else to their infection.

Feeling worn out today. Going to go do the swim after work and then get all my errands and packing done.

Excited for training camp, being in the desert, and getting a break from work!!

2/29/12 thru 3/5/12

We have decided to go on spring break. We are going to St. George next week. I think we will leave Sat. morning and come back the following Sat. I am sort of viewing this as training camp. I am very excited to get in some good outside riding. Questions about this.
Biking: Should I bring by TT bike and do that kind of riding, or would it be okay to mt bike or if possible (as far as space) bring both and do a little of each?
What else do you know about St. George. Swimming? Good road rides, good mt bike rides? Can you ride in Zion?

Wed- Leap day. Went to the pool in hopes of a fun workout. Kinda boring and only 5 of us there. Workout had 2 600s. Did one in my own lane and asked Katherine if I could chase her down so did one with her. 20 seconds faster with her.
Total meters- 3400

Thursday
Run at lunch- Felt good ankle is feeling much better. Still sore but doesn't hurt to kick in the pool anymore. Am trying to keep icing it.

Trainer Ride- Wow that was a doozy! I sure was huffin and puffin through that one. Good workout.

Friday
Ran at lunch. The wind had picked up and it was cold out. Went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. The 2x5 minutes felt good.
Swam after work. The pool was busy. At least 2 per lane. Did the workout. The paddles are definitely getting easier. Also, the breath every 3. Makes me feel like I am getting fitter.

Sat.
Ran in the morning and then had breakfast with Eriks family. Ran outside and had a giant St. Bernard run up to me. I had visions of it standing on my chest with me flat on my back. He stopped though and ran the other way.

It was cold and cloudy so we had trainer ride at my house again. Lawrence, Jamie, Art and I. This workout was a lot tougher than last week. I was definitley a lot more worked afterwards. Got it done though.

Sunday
Uggh. Drank too much wine with Heather and Marta last night. No drinking for the week. That is my new resolution.
Swam hard when I was swimming, but missed out a little on the warmup and so my distance was probably only around 2400. Did 6x150 (middle 50 non-free). The interval was on 1:45. Had to work hard on the non free to keep up. Also did a couple of 300's.

Went on a ride outside on my new cross bike. Went with Matthew and Erik. They worked me. I didn't pay much attention to the intervals. We had a pretty good headwind/cross wind for most of the ride and I was working pretty hard to keep up with them. Saw some really cool chickens and turkeys. The chickens got out of the coop and were all over the place at a farm and the turkeys were in the chicken coop. Then had a horse run along side us. He wanted to go with us. Did lots of dirt. Good ride. I was pretty pooped. Didn't make 3:30 though, only 3.

Definitely feeling pretty worked after this week. Excited about swimming. Feel like I can get in some good distance before I feel very worked.

2/22 thru 2/28

Tuesday

Swam in the morning, but we already went over this.

Went over and ran the M then went across the street and ran up Drinking Horse. Each one took about 20 minutes of a good solid uphill. Drinking Horse is relentless and had to walk in a couple of places. Felt really nice to get outside and be in the woods a little bit. Get tired of the same routes I always do through town.

I love trail running, will that be okay to do some trails this summer for long runs rather than everything on the road?

Wed.

Ran at lunch for 40 minutes. Felt good. Felt better than I thought I would.

Swam- Big Masters swim. Had a good motivated lane with fast people I kept having to chase down. Good workout too. 4x100, 2x200, 1x400, 2x200, 4x100 etc. They kept the intervals on about 2 minutes/100. It was tough. Swam ~3400. We were all pretty excited in the end to have finished the workout.I Like those girls.

Thursday

Trainer ride post work. Did the workout. 1:30: Include 5x (3:00 HC r 1:00, 7:00 @ 1 gear easier then 40k r 3:00). Ride was fine. Felt tired and had a hard time finishing the last 7 minutes. Did some core,PT, and stretching post ride.

Friday

Swim-Went up to MSU. Did the workout. Was slower on the 100's than I think I should be. Maybe still tired from Wed. Its pretty easy to bust out these workouts at MSU.

Run- Had to get back to work so thought I would give Oula a try instead of running. Seemed quicker to get changed etc. Rolled my ankle. Walked it off and finished the 30 or so minutes so it isn't too bad. Really annoyed with myself.

Sat.

Skipped am run to keep my ankle from getting worse.

Jamie, Lawrence, Art and I rode the trainer together. The "big" storm blew in snowing about 1 inch. Did the workout. Went fast with having everybody to talk to.

Sunday

Masters swim- Ankle was sore and it hurts to kick much. We had some stroke stuff so did fly and breast. Then we did a bunch of 100's descending. I pulled the 100's. Thought it was better to be in the pool and made a good compromise with my ankle. Swim not so long. Only about ~2600.

Afternoon- Watched the newest Twilight while I rode the rollers. Got in 1:30. Solid ride but not hard.

Ankle much better this afternoon. Can sit cross legged without it hurting. Icing and elevating.

2/8/12 thru 2/21/12

Run to Pub: Likely. We were going to try for a Spring Break but it might not work out since Erik will actually have work then. I might try and fly to visit my parents again either near San Diego or in Palm Springs but that would be a long weekend.





Road Races: I called a meeting with the GAS girls so that we could discuss our schedule. I would be up for you telling me what to do a little bit too. If you think a Missoula training race would be beneficial we could come up for that. The Speedwagon Classic is March 30 and definitely on the list and the Roubaix is on the list so far.









Pool: the Swim Center pool is closing for repairs and cleaning for 3 weeks starting March 12th. I think Masters is trying to get time at MSU though and I can also swim there on my own. The hours are short though and weekends very limited with only a 2 hour time window on Saturday.

Wednesday

Took the whole day off and layed on the couch. Didn't feel very well at all.

Thursday

Did the ride. Tried doing the intervals but it felt like it was too much. Felt okay to spin though.

Mini brick- Did the run. Ran pretty easy.

Friday

Off -Flew to PHX

Saturday




Hike with the extended family. I think the total distance of the hike was only 3 miles. Not the crazy stuff my Dad usually does. Swam and did the workout that evening. The water in that pool was way too warm. Talk about being dehydrated after a swim. Think the pool is 25 meters.









Sunday




Long run. Didn't find any hills. They were all too far away and my parents had plans so couldn't take the car to find the mountains. A trail run would have been fun but just wasn't in the plan. Ran on dirt along a canal that was just outside their place. Ran for 1:30.




Swam and did one of the 2000 workouts that evening. The one with the 1000 continuous. Felt good. The water was choppy and hard to settle in, but got it done.









Monday




Got up in the am before the water aerobics class to swim. Did the workout in the cool morning air. The air on the arms was the only respite from the heat of the pool. Barely finished the workout before the pool got inundated with old people. I counted 25 there for water aerobics and of course they come early to gossip.




Ran right after the swim for 30 minutes. Just wanted to get it done.




Had a good day with Mom and Dad after that. Lots of relative visiting.









Tuesday




Went home after work and rode the trainer for 1:20. Felt good to bike. I think I'm gaining weight. My legs look big.









Wed.


Ran hills at lunch. Felt good. Went to Petes Hill and went up and down all the little side trails.


Master's- Swam with a bunch of fast people. Lots of 200 building. They would get so far ahead of me they would start their interval again before I even got back. Finally I just had to let them catch me on one lap to get a little break. Swam 3350 total. Pretty pooped.





Thursday


Did the ride on the trainer. Good solid bike workout.


3x(9minutes RI 2:00, 6 minutes RI 2:00, 3 min RI 5 min) rode at a gear easier than 40TT. (Just put that in there for looking back on this log)





Friday


Swam and ran post work. Had to get up early to read a paper for work. Also, can swim at gym and have to pay extra for the Swim Center. Also, the water is getting colder. Brrr.

Saturday
Ride outside. We got all geared up and went out for a ride. After ~30 minutes it started to snow and only got worse. Rode up Triple Tree and went down the trail. At 1:30 I was getting cold. Stopped by Rockford and got a hot shot of espresso before we kept going. Did the Erik loop backwards to get home. Lots of blowing snow in our faces. Got lost on the little wooded look at the east Gallatin. I know I could get out, it was just so strange to be so disoriented. Good solid ride and some adventure.

Sunday
Masters swim- Only got in ~2800. It seems like she keeps doing the same workout. 200's. Wish there was a little more to mix it up with. Did a couple of the 100's as IM's just because. Was pretty tired from yesterdays ride.

Rode outside again for 2+ hours. I think it was more like 2.5 or 2.75. It started out beautiful but then the sun went behind the clouds and it got cold. Further, there was lots of snow, slush, and water. I was wet and cold.
So tired. Layed down on the couch at 530 and didn't get back up. Went to bed early and slept in pretty late. I can't believe how those two rides killed me like that.

Monday
Went to gym and did a treadmill run for 30. Wanted to get some good stretching and "PT" in. Can't really do it very well at home. Felt good. Went to bed early.

Tuesday
Got up early to swim at MSU. Just dragged though the swim. Didn't even finish the workout in the time I had alotted myself (then the pool closed). Maybe 200 short? Not really feeling so hot today.

Am planning on running this pm. Going to go over the the M and Drinking Horse. Good hills!
Hopefully I will feel better than on that swim.

1/31/12 thru 2/6/12

Wednesday
Ran at lunch- Did a 30 minute easy loop from work around town and back. I have a hard time getting out on these, but once I do they are great. Feels good to get out. Hard to motivate but I never regret it.

Busted out ~2900 at Masters. Lots of descending. Descend on the 100 1-4. Then an easy 200 then Descend on the 100 1-3 then kick 25 fast 75 moderate. Swim felt good. Was not in the right lane. There were two guys who complained a lot. Next time I need to go in the other lane. They might be faster, but I can chase them down and at least they do the workout and stay on time.

Friday- You know what we did! It was a fun day. I like swimming in the morning if I can bet myself there


Saturday
Got up earlier than I would have liked to get to work to start a culture. Came home and ate breakfast and drank some coffee. Was feeling pretty tired. Went to work and infected mice. Was totally planned to run after infecting. However, I got out of there and was so tired and a little hungry. All I wanted to do was take a nap. Went home and took a nap instead of running. Didn't really think I was getting sick until Sunday

Sunday
Woke up and was tired. Almost didn't make it to Masters. Felt good at Masters. Swam hard. Swam ~2800 total. Lots of 200's. A couple of sprinting 100's. Thought about my kick. Tried a 6 beat on the 100's. I think I swam faster but man the legs got tired.

Got home and rode with Erik, John, and Lisa. Did the loop we took you on and didn't go up Story Hill but rode over to where my parents live. Then did a south of town loop. Rode for exactly 2.5 hours.

Was starting to not feel well after this ride. Got home and my nose got stuffed up. Think I'm getting sick.

Monday 2-6-12
Slept really long and well last night. Woke up feeling better than when I went to bed. Had a sore throat. That had gone away. However, as the day goes on I am feeling worse not better. Going to skip the run.

Questions: Oliver or the Desert Half? If I do Oliver I would have a better chance at my goal race time. The Desert Half is up that climb. Other thoughts are that the Desert Half is July 8th and then the Bozeman Half is July 29th. Pretty close together. I could spend the 4th weekend doing some hard training without all the travel ect. If I went in June it would be more relaxed.

Thoughts: I really think that stress and anxiety make me sick. This weekend was great and the clinics were great, but my poor management and working so much pushed me over the top. Better planning!! No big work days when other stuff is going on, or else I need to recruit help to manage it all.

I sort of made a last minute decision to go visit my parents in Phoenix this weekend. Leave on Friday at 5:30pm and get in late on Monday. Leave there at 7pm. They have a roughly 25 yard pool in their little complex with a line on the bottom for swimming laps. The water is kindof warm but its so nice to swim outside. I will also bring my running shoes. My Dad likes to hike so that might be an adventure one day?