Dec 28, 2006

trying my best to stay optimitic

I had a hard time sleeping last night but I had a good work out this morning which always makes me feel better. I got to the gym around 5:40a and did 15 min on the stair mill before my Pilates lesson. Pilates went pretty well - I really like that I am figuring out the different movements and can tell I'm getting stronger :) My traps and neck were super tight - which would explain the head ache I have had for the last day of so. After my lesson I did another 30 min on the stair mill. I took it a bit slower because I forgot to eat anything after pilates so I was a bit low on energy. But I stayed strong and finished the 30 min feeling good. I stretched out for about 20 min or so. Then I ate some breakfast :) Now I am at work and trying desperately not to think about not having a job in 9 days and trying to see that this will all be resolved when people get back from vacation.

Dec 27, 2006

no more excuses

Yesterday I had Pilate's at 7a and had planned on running 4 miles before but my car had a flat front tire and by the time I actually got to the gym it was almost 7. My lesson went well - my hamstrings were a little tight but generally I'm progressing well. I can defiantly feel a difference in the stability of my core :) So after Pilate's I had to head back and deal with my car before I went in to work - which of course took way longer than expected - pretty much an all day event. So the day was stressful for many reasons and I just never got myself to go out running in the pouring rain.
Today I did much better. Before I went to bed last night I got some good reassurance about my job and it started snowing big huge flakes - both of which put me in a way better mind set. This morning when I woke up at about 5a everything was covered in an inch or two including the roads.
I got up and checked the Bellevue road cameras to see what it looked like on the roads to the club and they looked manageable so I got my self out the door. I made it a couple minutes before the 6a spin class. I felt really good - it was a endurance focused class with 30 min or so of consistent high cadence (90s) then about 30 min of gradual increased seated climbing/increased resistance. I really tried to keep my upper body quite and keep my core active and stable. I felt bad about missing my run yesterday and I felt pretty good so I ran 2 miles after the spin class. It was cold, very wet and I know I'm not supposed to do that but I felt like I needed it.

Dec 24, 2006

recap

After the power outage fiasco last weekend, getting ready for the holiday and an issue at work I just have not been on top of posting my workouts. Now that I have a moment to go over what I have done since the last post. Thursday I had Pilate's in the morning - as usual it went really well. She had me do a new hanging pull up thing which was really difficult. I'm starting to get the inverted sit up things pretty good as well :) Afterwards I went for an easy 5 mile or 50 minute run down on west lake sammamish pkwy. I felt good - I really tried to keep my pace up and keep it "easy". The great thing is that my foot has not been bothering me. I was a bit low on energy but I think that was mostly due to eating to many Christmas cookies the night before. lol
Friday I took off as a rest day - though it is was mostly full of stress from work. oh well. Saturday I was going to ski or ride but instead I finished holiday shopping :( and of course it was pouring rain and Kyle would not take his bike out of the garage in that weather. lol
Today I talked Kyle into getting up early - well earlier than he would have liked 8:30am and go for a 4 mile run with me. We just went down to sammamish trail and did 2 out and then back. I felt ok though my mouth of filmy the entire time which made it hard to breath. Other wise it was good - since the miles were marked I could check our pace :) 1 - 9 min, 2 - 8:25, 3 - 9, 4 - 8:16 :) for a total time of 34:41 min. We finished right before it started raining and raining and raining..

Dec 20, 2006

all mixed up

This whole power outage thing is starting to wear on me and my power is not even out - but half the gym is closed and I can't seem to get a couple of days of work outs straight. Yesterday I did have Pilate's even though the front desk people said they were not doing them due to the power outage. It was good but the room was cold and kind of dark. I was supposed to swim but since my normal pool is closed I was going to swim with Kyle at his other gym - he wound up working till after 9 (pool closed at 10). I could have gone and swam at Helen Madison with Col at 8 but in the effort to spend some time with Kyle I choose him and his pool. So in the end I did not get my swim in :(
Today I just mixed up my work outs - I did 45 min of stairs and then stretched when I was supposed to run 5 miles and do arms. I figure tomorrow I have Pilates and afterwards I can do my run esp since I'm taking the day off from work to deal with Holiday stuff and go to the Nutcracker with Kyle and Joan.
I can't wait for things to go back to normal...

Dec 18, 2006

cold nights

I feel like a total slacker and did not do my Friday, Saturday and Sunday workouts but this weekend was kind of crazy. (Of cource Kyle lectured me about keeping everything in perspective and letting it go - it is only December). We lost power late Thursday night and it stayed out till mid morning Sunday. It was cold.. Luckily we have a gas range and gas hot water heater so we were able to cook and take hot showers. We tried to heat the house using the fireplace but it only did so much. I'm still just so happy we got our power back. My mom and a lot of other people won't have power till maybe the end of the week - even the rest of our neighborhood is still dark.
This morning I tried to get back on track with a 4 mile run with a hill. It was crazy cold so I waited till there was a sliver of daylight ie 7am to start. I started at the club and ran down hill to the trail out a mile then back and up the long hill back. I felt pretty good - kind of cold but good. No pain in my foot which is always wonderful. The hill still kicked my but but I kept going and keep my pace up as much as possible.
Then I tried to do an arm and abs workout but the club only has half of its power back. Only one cardio area was open and the only weights they had were in the circuit training area. It was sweltering hot and sooo crowded I just did a quick few bicep curls and shoulder raises then stretched out as much as I could.

Dec 14, 2006

dark and stormy

This morning I got back in the swing of things - getting up around 5:30 am to get to a 6 am Pilate's lesson. It was great - I'm starting to feel like I have clue and improving. Today she increased the resistance on some thing and has started adding in more difficult movements/positions. The over head ab things are definitely the most difficult - but each time I do them I can maintain better form and it is not as bad. The best thing is that I feel like my core is becoming a lot more stable and strong (and my little pooch is going away :) Today was the first time I really felt like it was a work out - still not comparable to most of my other work outs but I could feel the benefits. The whole thing is just hard to explain I guess.
Afterwards I ran for 30 min outside in the cold. I have no idea how far I went or what my pace was so I just ran for time. I did go run the hill on 40th near the club to challenge myself which it did but I was able to keep going and tried to keep my pace up as well. Other wise I felt good - I forgot to eat anything which sort of sucked and running on sidewalks still bothers my foot some. But everywhere else was still very dark and common sense won. Just for fun I did the last 6 min at a sprint pace and up a gradual incline. It felt good to move my legs a bit faster and kept my focus off my foot and empty stomach. Afterwards I stretched out for about 15 min focusing on my calves and legs in general. I have also rolled a tennis ball under my foot and iced.

Dec 13, 2006

years gone by

First off I was completely exhausted yesterday morning from getting up a couple times in the middle of the night to check on Pixel (my cat) to giver her pain medication and do to just general concern for her. So I did not do my planned 3 mile morning run :(
I did still meet Colleen to go for a swim in the evening at Helene Madison Pool - which is where I learned how to swim and swam at till I was about 13. It was so strange being back everything looked smaller and the entire time we were there I was remembering little things. Anyway on to the workout - The goal was 2000 yrds but I ran out of time and only got in about 1800 yrds.
Warm up - 300 yrds
Drills - 200 yrds
Main set -
100 @ 1:50 15 sec rest x 3
200 with pull buoy easy
100 @ 1:52 15 sec rest x 3
200 with pull buoy easy
100 @ 1:55 15 sec rest x 3

I felt kind of tired but generally ok. It took me a while to get warmed up and moving. Once I got going I really tried to maintain good form esp when I got tired. I'm still not very patient when I breath and some times I fall back on pushing down rather than pulling back - but at least I was able to recognise it and correct quickly.

Dec 11, 2006

always fun to push the legs

This morning I did 20 min of stairs on the stair mill to warm up. Then a leg workout. Squats with 10lb ball on balance board x 50. One leg squats on balance board with 10lb ball x 25 on each leg x 3 sets. Lunges with one foot on a bosu with 10lb ball 25 each x 3 sets. Balance on one foot while tossing a 5lb ball side to side to side 50 tosses on each leg x 2 sets. Hamstring curls with ball 25 with both legs , 25 on each leg x 2 sets. Calf raises to fatigue. Lateral side jumps 50 x 2 sets. Then I stretched out really well. I felt pretty strong - it did take me a bit to get some of the single legs stuff stable and not shaky but I was able to do it.
I tried to go to bed early last night but it took me a while to fall asleep - it is always hard when Kyle is away. I think I need to be getting more sleep so this week I will try and go to bed at least an hour earlier - hopefully by 10ish rather than 11-12. Which will give me 7-7.5 hours vs only 6 hours of sleep.

Dec 10, 2006

too much at once

This weekend has been to crazy. It started on Friday when I noticed one of our cats - pixel was not able to go to the bathroom and was trying which led us to the vet hospital and we were there till midnight. She had to stay to have a catheter put in to drain her bladder. We did not sleep much that night - the vet called around 2 am saying that she was doing ok and that they found that she had some sizable stones in her bladder and a lot of solid build up as well. Pour thing..

Anyway so Saturday Kyle went and coached skiing while I got another hour of sleep before I went and did a spinning class for 60 min. I had planned on riding outside but I just could not get myself to go while it was pouring rain. My legs felt great even though I was a bit tired. I just tried to keep my cadence up around 100 and I did 2 "climbs" where I increased the resistance for 5 minutes each.
Later in the day we went and visited pixel at the vet, then to a toys for tots party, then to Bmans birthday dinner.
Sunday has not been much calmer - I went to hot yoga with Steph. I was kind of all over the place - I had a hard time with my left leg tightening up a bit - my shoulder/bicep muscles hurt. Ah well some days it is easy others it is not.
Kyle had to work most of the day and had to catch a plane at 5:45. Pixel pulled out her catheter and the vet said they would be able to move up her surgery to today vs Thursday.. So I'm waiting to hear how it went and that she is ok. Hopefully tomorrow I can pick her up and bring her home finally.

Dec 7, 2006

brrr

I had great fun this morning swimming - though the pool was very cold getting in (I don't get it). This mornings goal was to build up my endurance by swimming an overall longer distance.
The plan was to warm up with 200
drills 100

4 X 50 easy
3 X 100 moderate
2X 150 mod hard
1 x 200 easy
2 x 150 mod hard
3 X 100 moderate
4 X 50 easy (actually just kept going for a 200 easy)

cool down 100
Total=2200 yrds Actual overall time: 61 min

I kept my rest time as short as I could between intervals (take a couple breathes and go) and around 45 sec or so between distance change. I felt really good the whole time even in the longer sets I kept my pace even. My shoulder never really hurt much - only when I fell back on bad form when I breathed but I quickly corrected and was all better. I think that last lesson really helped - the wall of the pool seemed to come at me sooner and for the first time I wanted to keep swimming more just because it felt good - to bad I had to go to work lol.

Dec 6, 2006

evening run

I stayed up to late last night and just could not make it to a morning work out. Luckily tonight I agreed to run with Steph and a couple of other expedia ladies. It was fun we just ran probably about 4 -.5 miles at a 10 min mile pace for a total time of 47:38. Before we started I felt kind of tired and just bogged down from work and stuff. But once we started I felt great and even the initial hill up from expedia felt easy - which surprised me. I felt like I could have run faster and a lot longer :) I did have some weird pain in my left knee - which I have no clue where it came from and still hurts a bit right now. I stretched out afterwards and used the stick in my legs to see if it was because of some tight muscles.. I had planned on going to the gym after my run but decided to just go home and do a few of the pt exercises so that I have eenrgy for my swim tomorrow morning.

Dec 5, 2006

in the water

This morning nice and early I did my swim work out - total of 1600 yrds in about 50 min. Warm up - 300. Drills - 300: side kick 100, side switch 100, side switch w/ fists 100. Main set: 50, 100, 150 w/ pull, 200, 200, 150 w/ pull, 100, 50. Cool down - 100 kicking on back. I focused a lot of being patient and not pushing down but pulling down and back with a bent elbow. It was great my shoulder did not hurt at all - which is a first. Usually it will get a bit tight no matter what. :)
After swimming I did a Pilate's lesson. I feel like I'm improving at least I have some clue about the sequence of movements and such. She gave me a bunch of ab exercises to do on my own that target the lower abs that need so much attention.

Dec 4, 2006

basic morning

This morning I ran 3 miles in 27 min on the treadmill out of the pure convenience factor. It was boring and I am still sore from the leg exercises this weekend - but I got it done all the same. I stretched my legs and then did arm and upper body workout. My shoulder felt surprisingly ok and I did some core exercises.
For some reason I'm a bit shaky right now - I don't really know what it is about but hopefully it will resolve itself as I eat through out the day.

Dec 3, 2006

weekend in review

I started the weekend off with hot yoga fallowed by doing some weight training focusing on legs including a bunch of the pt exercises for my foot. I made sure to do extra sets on my left side to start balancing out. I also added a few bicep curls and shoulder presses while I did one leg squats on the balance board to make things more challenging. Kyle coached all day and said the skiing was really good at Alpental - I guess they even opened International.
Sunday I ran with Steph - who is still recovering from a broken rib and has only just started running a mile or two - so we took it easy and just ran around Beaver lake. It was very cold and the roads still had some snow/ice along the sides. Parts were super slippery. I felt really good and even though my legs were a bit sore from working out yesterday it just felt good to run again.
I considered going skiing today - but Kyle called and said it sort of sucked - frozen and they did not groom so it is just bumpy and hard. I guess I'm now officially a fair weather/condition skier. lol who would have ever thought that would happen. I did watch some good ski racing on tv for a bit anyway.
Some wonderful news is that Colleen qualified for Boston today at the California International Marathon :) Yeah!! I know she worked really hard and she defiantly earned it.

I have been thinking a lot about whats next - since I don't have any races coming up for a couple months. First off I want to be able to run 10 miles with ease at a 9 min mile pace. I need to build my endurance and speed swimming. Build up and balance out my overall muscle strength esp in my core. Though mainly I need to not get bored and stay focused on the big prize/challenge of IMC - which I'm sure will be here before I know it.

Nov 30, 2006

all about form

Yesterday i was total slacker and did not go to spinning as I had planned. I just turned the alarm off and went back to bed even though I was wide awake. I felt bad about it later on but oh well I guess my body took over and decided it was a rest day. I would have gone in the evening but instead I had way more fun hanging out with friends eating some really good home made enchiladas :)
This morning Col & I took a swim lesson with Eric Preston at 8. We got in the water 20 min before to do some warm up and such. It was good my legs did not feel like they were sinking as badly as a couple days ago. I think I swam about 400yrds - 600yrds - I totally lost count after 300. It was interesting to see the tri class going on a couple lanes down - all guys.
Ok so the lesson recap:
We started with video - which was super scary until we watched it and got to actually see what we were doing. I had good head and arm entry position, good rotation(this is good since I have been working really hard on these for a couple months now). I had a straight elbow through the pull (rather than pulling back I was more pushing down), I'm still not very patient when I'm breathing - I use my left arm to push down to keep my head up. Both things are probably making my shoulder hurt when I swim...
Col looked good to, with good rotation. Her head and arm were a bit high in the water but otherwise good.
He had us start with “skating position” - kicking on the side with one arm out and down at 45 degrees down with the face straght down looking straight down at the pool bottom - other arm resting on side - rolling on to the back to breath - we did this on both our right and left side.
Then “zipper drill” - start in same position as the first drill after a kick or so bring arm that was resting at side up and over with finger tips in water then slide hand into water and forward as you extend that arm at this time pull extended arm down and rotate to the opposite side; pause as you balance and kick on opposite side and repeat.
Next was doing the zipper but with hand in a fist to work on feeling the forearm in the stroke and the “catch” at the beginning of the stroke. I also had to focus on pulling back with my elbows bent.
By the end of the lesson I felt pretty good - it was way less strain on my shoulder when I bent my elbow on the pull. We swam a few 100 yrds to practice what we had worked on so that we could rember it all :)

Nov 28, 2006

the aftermath

I took yesterday off. The back of my calves were very very sore/tight - I avoided walking because it hurt so much. I did do about 30 min of slow easy stretching but mostly just rested.
Today I felt a lot better - my calves don't hurt as bad and the rest of my body is not very sore at all - every once and a while I find some random sore muscle but I can handle that. Since the weather was so bad this morning I pushed my Pilate's lesson to 1pm - so that the roads would thaw out a bit. I gave my self lots of extra time to get there on time, I was able to loosen up on an elliptical before my lesson. My lesson was good - she had me stretch out a lot which felt wonderful and we focused on building strength on my left side. That along with core strengthening, while keeping my shoulders down and back.. I felt pretty good.
After Pilate's I went and swam for 45 min. I was shocked by how heavy my legs seemed to be, they just sank. lol So I just took it kind of easy and focused on form. I totally lost track of my distance at around 500 yrds so I switch over to just swimming for time. I used the pull buoy quite a bit to give my legs a break - till they felt more tired from holding it between my legs - go figure. I also felt more tired in genreal than I expected but it felt great to get in the water and just swim.

Nov 26, 2006

Seattle Half Marathon

First off - Thank you to my friend, mentor and the best coach ever Colleen, who ran with me and helped me complete my very first half marathon today. I would not have been able to do it with out her help over the last couple of months and her encouragement today helped me finish with a time I am proud of.


Now on to the race - The day started very early - I woke up at around 4:45am - showered, ate a bagel, and headed over to meet Colleen. It was dark, cold and even snowing on the drive over.. Yeah go figure snow in Seattle. Kyle and Bman stayed and had breakfast while Col and I headed over to the race start, found parking pretty close, figured out if we punched a hole in the clothes check bags we could wear them to stay dry till the start. It was VERY cold (I was shaking uncontrollably) - we went and stretched out a bit in the center house where it was warm and dry. We headed to the start line 5-10 min before the start and lined up. It was a little warmer and some daylight - I ate half a bag of sport beans.
Once the race started it took us a bit to cross the start line/timing mat and we were off. The first mile or so was super crowded and thus slow - it was neat to be running through downtown in the middle of the road. I felt great - more worried about being run over by some one or navigating though the slower people than anything else. The rout then narrowed and went up a ramp on to the express lanes of I-90 which made it more crowded and the roadway was very wet, with a river running down the sides. We also got to run through the tunnel - it was nice to be out of the rain but it was very warm with all the people and everything. I had a gu - which seemed to take me forever to get down - but I needed the energy. We saw Kyle and Bman around mile 5ish or so on Lake Washington Blvd (I think). Col handed off her fuel belt and I gave up my hand warmers. I felt good and we were back on pace for a 2 hr finish time and we kept it till the long hill at mile 8ish. Yuck it was slipper and steep and just bad. I had a really hard time and used a lot of energy getting up that hill - luckily about half way up was my Mom and Jerry were there with a big sign and tons of cheers for me to make it the rest of the way up.Though after that my left leg was kind of tight and I was slowing down.. I kept trying to stay with Col but I would fall back... It never really felt like the road leveled out - either we were running up or down never flat.. So I never really felt like I got any energy back. On the downs my quads and calves hurt, on the up my hamstrings and calves hurt.. I tired really hard to ignore it and just keep going - which I did but not as fast as before. By this time I was slightly behind the 2 hour finish pace so the last mile Col tried to help push me to pick up the pace to meet my goal of 2 hrs. I did ok till the very last steeper hill going under 99 - by the time I got to the "flats" I was tired.. The last quarter mile was really hard and I just wanted to finish. Kyle, Bman and Futa were near the entrance to the stadium and my mom was just inside. I tried to run faster but I was only able to step it up like a half a gear - but I tired.
My final chip time was 2:01:49 - the clock time was 2:03:00.
The guys had our dry clothes and we got some food before we headed to breakfast.


To be honest initially I was really disappointed in myself not being able to pick up the pace so that I would have made it in 2 min earlier. When I came back to reality I did good and I'm very happy with what I was able to do. It was the first time I have ever run that far with so many hills and bad weather. I tried my best and I can be proud of that :) Best of all now I know can do it and where I stand. If I keep up my training and continue to get stronger it is just a matter of time before it will be easy :)

Nov 24, 2006

one day to go

Today I did my last short run before the Seattle Half on Sunday. I was a little scared to go since my foot has been bothering me but go figure once I got out there it felt just fine. I had pt this morning - just doing ultrasound, stretching, massage and ice no exercises. They really froze it though made me super cold for over an hour afterwards. lol Once I warmed up and talked to Col - who said I should still get out and move my legs. Since I always do what she says (lol) I went for a 27 min run from the house. I avoided all the concrete sidewalk in favor of asphalt. I also did four 25 second pick ups. It was super cold and a bit windy but I just took it easy and focused on loosening up my legs. The only thing was that my left ankle was a bit tight.
Luckily afterwards I had a massage which focused on loosening up my legs and back - she only harped on my shoulder a little bit. After a nap Kyle and I went to pick up the race packets for Col & I and check out the expo. Since we both LOVE sports clothing we did a little bit of damage at the expo. I got a new blue running hat, a blue shirt and jacket that I will wear on Sunday :) Kyle got a bunch of shirts. I made dinner (I know shocking) of a salad with avocados, pasta and a liter of water.
I have been thinking about what I will eat tomorrow and for breakfast on Sunday. Tomorrow meal plan:
breakfast - oatmeal with raisins, oj
snack - yogurt smoothly with fruit & granola
lunch - pasta with veggies
snack - half bagel with pj or cream cheese
dinner - cream of wheat
drink total of 1 gal of water
Sunday early morning I will have an ensure shake and some toast with cream cheese

Tomorrow is all about resting and staying off my feet and doing a bit of stretching to stay loose.

Nov 22, 2006

ghost town

This morning I went to the morning spin class - it was an endurance ride so I pretty much fallowed the class. Though in an effort to maintain this weeks taper plan I kept the intensity down and only road for 45 min with the cadence at 85-100 with moderate resistance. I felt good - got my heart rate up and spun out my legs pretty well. Afterwards I spent about 20 min stretching out my legs and feet esp. My core is a tiny bit sore from Pilate's and yoga the day before but it should be resolved by this weekend. :)
Side note found this great article that finally justifies why I only drink hot coco during the week and not coffee - caffeine increase endurance. The key point I think is that "Caffeine loses its beneficial effects with repeated exposure, so athletes who want to gain maximum advantage from caffeine during competition should avoid drinking caffeinated beverages when they are not exercising." I know a lot of poeple who don't want to hear that...

Nov 21, 2006

cardio and pilates

This morning I planned on running a moderate 4 miles but my foot was slightly sore (only 2 out of 10) but in the effort to calm it down and all that I did my 4 miles on the elliptical. I only survived thanks to my trusty video ipod for distraction. Afterwards I did some stretching esp my foot and calves. I also did a few of the balance exercises for my foot - ie standing on the disc barefoot while tossing a ball back and forth. I did this for 5 min or so then stretched again.
I also had my second Pilate's lesson - we focused mostly on pulling my shoulder down and back and strengthening my core esp my obliques. She noticed that the right side of my back is a lot stronger and has a lot more muscle so next time we will work on strengthening the left side. She also had me do a lot of stretching. It was good I felt more energised afterwards.
I'm super annoyed that I can feel my foot again.. I don't really get it. But in an effort to help it I'm icing it as I write this and have been rolling a tennis ball under it to help loosen it as well.. I'm going to try and stay optimistic - the good thing is even if it does hurt like it has this week I don't see it effecting Sunday - it is just annoying not to bad.

Nov 20, 2006

110 degrees of fun

Ahh I had a wonderful time at hot yoga tonight. I felt really good - it always amazes me how much you sweat though. lol I was surprised at how good I did feel - I felt like I could really get pretty deep into a lot of the postures while really stretching out and flushing my system. I only modified two poses to be cautious with my foot, which worked fine. The best part was it was a great low impact total body workout that really helped stretch my back out which will help get rid of the tension head aches I have been dealing with lately. I'm making sure I completely rehydrate and had one of those recovery drinks as well.

sunday recap

I must have needed sleep because Saturday I pretty much slept most of the day after my run - I tried so hard to stay awake for the Apple Cup but I slept through the whole thing.. Then I went to bed at 10pm and slept in till 8:30am on Sunday. I took Sunday pretty easy - had a pt appointment to help with my foot. Then later in the evening I went swimming - 1800 yrds total in 62 min. I took it kind of easy and really focused on form.
300 yrd warm up
500 yrd drills:
150 yrds side switches - 100 yrds fist drill - 100 yrds Catch-Up Drill - 100 yrds Flicker End Drill - 50 yrds Finger Tip Drag Drill
950 yrds Main set:
50 yrd - 100 - 150 w/pull buoy - 200 - 300- 150 w/pull buoy
50 yrd cool down and stretching

My back and neck feel kind of tight today - I think from the run and swimming so tonight I'm going to go to hot yoga to get a really good stretch :)

Nov 18, 2006

8 mile run

Today I did my last longer distance run before Seattle half next weekend. I did not really know where to go so I just did the 4 mile loop I did earlier in the week twice. I felt pretty good - though the back of both my calves were very tight esp my left and they never really loosened up. I also forgot to bring any water to help me get down the gu I brought with me for about half way :( So I only got down about half of it and it seemed to just sit in my stomach - yuck. Around mile 6 or so I started to feel a small amount of pain/tightness in my right foot - like a 3 out of 10.. So I'm glad I have a week of general rest, a pt appointment, and a massage to help keep it in check. I think it was mostly due to the tightness of my calf pulling on my foot or something.
My over all time for the 8 or so miles was 68.45. I really tried to keep my pace constant even up the hills. I stretched out really well afterwards and have iced my foot between using a tennis ball to help loosen it up. Later tonight I plan on doing a few of the pt exercises.

Nov 16, 2006

pilates and running in the sun

So a recap of yesterday I wound up just doing a series of leg exercises focusing on the ones from pt. Then work got in the way so I took it easy the rest of the day.
Bright and early this morning I had my intro lesson to Pilate's with Beth in the studio that reminds me of a jungle gym or something. We started by going over my goals - which are very simply add Pilate's into my training to help target and balance my core and other muscle while helping to prevent injury. She approved :) Then she looked at my standing posture and where it looked like I needed to focus - bring my shoulders down and back, relax my traps, strengthen my lower abs and lastly to balance out my left and right sides. All of which I complete agreed with... Then we started doing some "exercises" - all very slow and controlled while pulling in my lower abs (with out squeezing my bottom). The exercises were so different from things I have done before that I have hard time remembering them or even describing them. lol Even yoga is a lot different. There was a lot of targeting the core, lower abs and pulling my shoulders back.. Afterwards I felt great - way more energy than what I woke up with even. Beth said that I would probably progress very quickly because I am very aware of my body, my strength may get in the way some because I'm so used to using larger muscles to compensate and that at the end my shoulders did look further back :) I signed up for another class on Tuesday of next week with her. I figure it would not hurt esp since if nothing else it might help my form for next Sunday.. Soo I would say I'm on my way to becoming addicted to another form of working out (like I'm not addicted to enough forms of exercises already).
Then I went for a 4 mile run in 35 min- I had 5 easy miles planned - but instead I found a good 4 mile loop with 1 mile gradual hill up and a 200 yrds steep hill. First off it was a gorgeous morning with the sun and kind of crisp. Just made me smile lol So I had a 1 mile warm up of rather flat running on 148th - really trying not to start to fast, keep an even pace through out.. Oh yeah and keep my shoulders back :) Then started up old Redmond road which is a gradual incline up to 140th then I took a left and it flattened out so I could recover until I took a left on 40th and went straight up a big hill (pretty equal to the one by the zoo that Colleen always makes me do). I did this hill twice - recovering on the way down. Then I headed back to the club for about a mile cool down (well trying to stay at the same pace as I started with). Then stretched out a bit. All in all I like the route - super convenient and a good variety of inclines (vs the trail which is just flat and boring now). To bad I had to go to work and could not just spend the whole day outside doing something - anything while the sun is out :) Luckily it is Thursday - one more day maybe the rain will hold off ;)

Nov 14, 2006

fun on the track

Tonight Colleen put me to the track... We did about a mile warm up (running to the track) - I think she said at 8.30 pace or so. I felt really good - well except the pasta I had for dinner had not fully digested. Anyway I felt rested and good. So then we got to the track - the goal was to do a 2 min 400 x 4 times and between we would run a loop kind of around the block and up the hill and back as a "rest". So I don't really know how to pace myself or I just have not been running long enough to know pace yet.. Anyway Colleen kept me on track and I did the 1st 400 at something like 1.50ish. I started to fast which was good because the other half there was a head wind - yuck. Then we went and rand down the street and up a hill then back down. Then the 400 again at 1.55ish. We repeated this 2 more times and I felt really good the entire time :) Then it was a "cool down" run back to the start. In all Colleen thought we ran about 5 miles and now I know I can run faster so it is just a matter of building my endurance up at the faster speeds. I think my goal for December is to be able to run hills and keep my heart rate in check and continue to build my base in general.

Times breakdown from Colleen
Warm-up 8:27 mile then 1:31 to track
Interval (1) 1:47 (2) 1:54 (3)1:56 (4) 1:53
Recovery (1) 7:17 (2) 7:12 (3) 7:15
Cool down 1:35 to the mile and last mile at 8:50
Total time 49:47

Nov 13, 2006

1750

This morning I did 1750 yrd swim. It was rather quite this morning - had my own lane the entire time :) always a treat. I started with 350 warm up (the pool seemed extra cold this morning(and dirty but I tried to ignore that)). 300 yrds of drills - switch sides - fists - one arms (since I always have such a hard time with this one). Then I did 50 yrds - 100 - 150 with pull buoy - 200 - 200 - 100 x 4 - stretched out. I really focused on trying to swim faster and get everything out of each stroke (no lazy one's).
My shoulder was a bit sore/tired so I decided to split my work out into two - tonight I will do my arm/upper body strength stuff.

Nov 12, 2006

keeping everything in perspective

Yesterday I did a 6 mile run at race pace or faster. I ran with Kyle, Colleen and Bryan and they all run faster then me so to eaven stay some what close to them I had to really push myself to run faster. They were running about an 8 min mile and I was around 8.30. We ran around green lake and up by the zoo, which added some hills and even more challenge. Which is what I need since the Seattle Half is considered moderately hilly. In general it was a difficult run esp mentally - I was always behind teh group trying to catch up or keep up. It is really hard to keep it in perspective - I'm running with people who have run all their lives and I really did not start running till May 2206 and really did not run outside much till September of this year.. So I have to remember that I'm doing good and that it is ok not be able to keep up with everyone still. Which is exactly why I started training for IMC in Sept and even though it is really hard to not be in with the group it is really good that I'm even near the group. :)
After the run I did everything I could to not bonk - and it pretty much worked. I really liked the Endurox R4 recovery drink - the fruit punch was yummy and easy to drink after the run when I usually don't feel like eating. Though we went to see the Departed movie - which was very good but I clenched my jaw the whole time so I got a tension headache. At least I was able to sleep the entire night and did not wake up till 7am (which is sleeping in for me).
This morning my legs felt a little sore still so I bailed on going to hot yoga and instead went swimming. I planned on swimming about 1600yrds - but the pool was FILLED with little screaming children. I swam in the multi purpose pool till a group lesson started in the lane next to me and I just could not concentrate at all so I only wound up swimming for about 30 min and I lost track of the yrds. note to self don't go swimming on a Sunday at 10am. At least it was enough to warm up and stretch out a bit.
I signed up for a Plates class for December - Monday mornings - and for a private lesson this Thursday (only day one was open). I'm excited about that - I really hope it can help me balance out and stay injury free :)

Nov 10, 2006

all clear from pt

This morning my pt appointment went really well. I only have one appointment left and it is the week of the Seattle half just in case I need it loosened up or anything. In general Jenny(the physical therapist) said that since it does not really hurt at all when I run I should be just fine if I keep up my exercises and self massage.
So lets see what are my exercises. lol - I do all the exercises bare foot to really help with strengthening my foot and it seems to make them a lot harder.
Massage foot
Stretch calves
Two footed jumps on balance pad landing on toes then rolling the rest of the foot down 2 sets x 25
Squats balancing on the ball of foot on a long foam roll cut in half 2 sets x 25
One foot balance on disc tossing weighted ball 3 sets x 25
Calf raises 2 x 25
One legged squats with small weighted ball placing it around circle around and back x 3 times
One foot on a disc one with resistance pulley facing each direction x 25
Side to side jumps landing only on one leg 2 x 25
Clam shells 2 x 50 or to fatigue
Scrunch towel with toes to fatigue
Pick up things with toes to fatigue
Spread and contract toes with out bending to fatigue
I think that covers it all.. In general I'm happy that it is healing I just hope it does not come back to bother me ;) I have to stay on top of it I guess I'm looking forward to the day when it is not a concern. :)

Nov 9, 2006

60 second tempo

Once it became light enough I went out in the rain and ran 4 miles with 4 X 60 second tempo intervals in 35.12. I started at Marymoore park - the trail was super slippery with the rain and all the leaves - a couple times my feet slipped out from underneath me but I never fell thank fully. I'm not sure why it was soo slippery but oh well.. I felt pretty good though a little cautious and no pain in my foot :) All in all it was a fun morning which helped wake me up for the day.

Nov 8, 2006

500yrd swim

Last night Colleen swam with me. The plan was to do a 500yrd time trial of sorts to see where I stood and what my goal times should be for 100yrds. I started with 300yrd warm up - 250yrds of drills - 150 yrd with the pull buoy - 500 yrds in 10:35 - 100 yrs x 3-4 - then cool down 50yrds. (or something like that) I was surprised that the 500yrd was not too hard - yes it was tiring but I was able to just keep going and going.My time was alright; Colleen finished 75-50 yrds ahead of me :) But hey I did not drown :) Now just like in my running I need to work on speeding up..

Nov 7, 2006

more rain

I still feel kind of tired so I did a really easy 60 min spinning. I just kept my cadance up at around 100 the entire time which was actually harder than doing intervals I think. But it felt good. I streched out really well and did some abs afterwards. Maybe it is the rain and everything but I feel like just hanging out at home in my pajamas today. lol Oh well

Nov 6, 2006

dark and rainy day

I slept in this morning and postponed my 3 mile run till after work. Which was very nice and needed. Since it is pouring rain and very dark I did my run on the treadmill. Maybe it was that I 'm still a bit out of it or something but it felt like it took forever and I got bored really fast. I did the 3 miles in 27 min. My legs felt a bit tight and heavy esp my calves and hips. I stretched out and did a really quick arm work out.

Nov 5, 2006

12 mile run in the rain

Yesterday Colleen, Bryan, Kyle and I headed out to the Snoqualmie Valley trail in the pouring rain. I planned on running 12 miles, and Colleen and Brian were doing more like 16 or something. Kyle rode his mountain bike and carried water for 12 miles then ran the last 4 with Colleen. Other than the pouring rain and some wind on the way out it was great pretty nice - lots of fall color and stuff. Even though I went to bed the night before at a good time and ate I generally felt tired. Colleen and Bryan pulled away from me rather quickly - i usually could keep Bryan somewhat in my sights. My legs just did not want to go very fast so I ran rather slow exactly 60 min to the turn around point so probably 10 min miles. The way back I was a bit slower 66 min. But I did run the 12 miles which is the longest I have ever run. Even though I was going slow I felt pretty good no aches or pains really - my foot was like a 1-2 out of 10. I just everything in perspective and kept going. I was pleased at how well I kept going and stayed positive the whole way - just enjoying myself. next thing is to do the same but run faster lol.
I did eat and drank something after this run but I guess not enough at dinner I had a slight headache (not to much nausea) but I ate all my food. It took me a bit to get to sleep and then I woke up at 4am and could not get back to sleep. I don't feel sleepy now either. My muscles feel a bit tight but nothing really hurts. I guess I need to still work on eating more right away - even if I'm not hungry or feel like it.

Nov 3, 2006

everyone decided to swim this morning

I had a hard time getting out of bed but once I made it though my warm up I felt better - well and after a gu and some Gatorade on the way to the gym. I stuck to the workout plan (even the rest times). The only thing was I did one of the 100yrd sets with a pull buoy and kicking with a kick board hurt my shoulder so I kicked on my back which also let me relax my neck and back a bit more to.

1800 swim workout = 55.42.41 total swim time (I can't figure out how to get my lap times off my watch lol)
w/u 250 (100swim, 50 kick, 100 pull buoy)
1 X 300 yds, 1 minute rest
2 X 150 yds, 45 sec rest
3 x 100 yds 30 sec rest
4 X 50 yds 15 sec rest
4 X 50 yds kicks
cool down 150

I'm a bit tired but I'm going to try to refuel really well and go to bed early so I have energy for tomorrows run.

Nov 2, 2006

spinning + pt

Last night I did 60 min of spinning though I did not fallow along with the class. The instructor is kind of weird and to much for me so I did my own thing. I did intervals of high cadence of 100+ then a hill climb then single leg for a min each - I did this 3 times then 5 min cool down and stretch. I felt pretty good. My legs were a bit tired from the run and from pt stuff. My calves were still pretty tight so I stretched them a lot.
This morning I had pt so more of the single leg balance stuff with lots of hip exercise. My calves were tight still but not as bad. Esp my left which I think was mostly due to rolling my ankle the other night. The wobble in my right running shoe is getting worse so I think I might go get a new pair this week and see if that might help... I don't know if a different model might be better - right now I'm in the GT-2110. I mean my foot does feel a lot better lately but it won't go away and I want it to. :)

Nov 1, 2006

long day

I started the day at 5:30am so that I could get my upper body work out in before my pt appointment at 6:30am. Pt was good she really is trying to challenge me which is great. All sorts of one foot balance things to help strengthen my foot and leg. It was fun.
In the evening I met Colleen and Bryan for a 5 mile run from her place down and around green lake and back up. It was already dark and cold when we started. I rolled my ankle only about 2 blocks into the run - I was able etokeep going but my lower calf stayed tight the rest of the run. This morning it is still sore and tight esp when I'm barefoot and I even noticed it while I was swimming. But I would say only a 2-3 out of 10... Other than that I felt pretty good a little tired by the last bit running back up to Col's house. In general I was pleased with how I felt and did - esp since I would say I barely felt the pain in my right foot. :) Thankfully we all went out to dinner afterwards so no bonking like on Saturday..
This morning I did an easy 30 min swim - I only did two drills and just did laps. I felt good a little tired, and as I mentioned before my left ankle felt sore. I stretched everything out afterwards which felt really good. :)

Oct 30, 2006

frosty morning

It was super chilly this morning. It took me about 15 min to not feel cold in the water - and then even to rest for a min or so I got cold again. I did about 1600 yrd work out in about 50 min.
300 yrd warm up
100 yrd side kick drill
100 yrd switch drill
100 yrd rotation w/ resistance drill
100 yrd catch ups
100 yrds one arm - 50 each arm
main splits
50 yrds - 100 yrds - 150 yrds (will pull buoy) - 200 yrds - 150 yrds (w/ pull buoy) - 100 yrds - 50 yrds
50 yrd cool down and stretched till I froze and had to get out of the pool. lol
I felt really good esp on my main set I really work on reaching and following my stroke through all the way. It seemed helped me feel smother and faster.

Oct 29, 2006

no sleep = no energy

I woke up at about 3am this morning and was never able to go back to sleep. I planned on going for a swim today to loosen up after running yesterday but I never really had any energy. To bad the pool was not open at 5am lol. I feel good though no pain in my foot or any real muscle soreness - just tired.

little green machine

Yesterday was it was the perfect weather for doing my long run - sunny and a little bit cool and crisp. It was wonderful. Colleen rode her mt bike along with me - carrying my water and gu - it was quite the treat :) We started by going around green lake then went down stone way and got on the burk gillman trail went past the UW campus and then back up towards green lake again. It was great route lots of variety of running surfaces and distractions. Colleen also tracked my miles for me :)

mile 1 8:56
mile 2 8:55
mile 3 9:21
mile 4 8:45 (down hill Stone Wy)
mile 5 9:40 includes stop to stretch
mile 6 9:18
mile 7 9:07
mile 8 9:55 (uphill and brief walking)
mile 9 ?????

I felt good, my foot only hurt a little bit. The biggest thing was after the run I forgot to eat anything so later in the day I got a really bad headache and stomach ache which did not go away till I went to bed after taking some Tylenol. But I learned a good lesson - I will eat something with protein in it.
In other news yesterday we got a new car - well new to us - a green 2002 mini cooper with white racing stripes, a rack, fog lights and best of all heated seats hehe.

Oct 25, 2006

all about the legs

I had a fun time doing my leg work out tonight. I started with a warm up on the elliptical and some light stretching. Then I got started with 30 squats with 20lbs of weights, 30 jumps squats with the same weights. next I did 30 squats with same wight on for/aft with the balance board, 30 squats on right/left balance with weights. Then to make it harder I did 20 one leg squats on each side with the weight. Since I did not feel done with squats yet I did 50 on the bosu, 3 sets of 12 single leg squats on the bosu. 50 hamstring rolls on the ball. Lunges with the front foot on balance disc thing - 50 for each leg. The clam shell exercise the pt people have me doing - 2 fatigue x 2 on each side (I think 50 each x 2 but I lost count). Monster walk with a blue band around my ankles 25 steps each way. I still felt good so 30 reps x 3 sets of leg presses with a 45lb plates. I finished with calf raises - but i only did 25 or so my foot started hurting. So I stretched out really well and headed out.

still water

This morning I swam about 1800yrds total in a completely empty pool - which I think made it harder to focus and keep swimming strangely enough. I started with 300yrds warm up, 500yrds of drills - 100yrds side kick, 200yrds switch, 100yrds catch-up, 100yrds single arm (50yrds each). Then in an effort to improve how I felt doing 100yrds distances I did 100yrds x 10 with short rests between. I focused on really stretching out and rotating side to side and keeping my breathing relaxed. I felt pretty good, my feet cramped up a tiny bit but I stretched and it went away. To cool down I stretched out my legs and back. My abs and shoulders are sore form yesterday but once I was warm it felt fine, esp my shoulder.
Some bummer news it sounds like Kyle might have a stress fracture in his foot. He saw the doctor yesterday and one his calf muscles is so tight that it might have caused one of the tiny bones on the outside of his foot to fracture. Not totally sure yet they are seeing if massage and ultrasound will help loosen the muscle and thus ease the pain. But if it does not get better they will do a bone scan or something next week to see if there is a fracture. Kyle's says my foot thing must have been contagious. haha He still thinks he might do the California International marathon though - Kyle thinks that if he can run at all he can run forever. Lucky him lol. That with Stephs' cracked ribs my running partners are disappearing. :(

Oct 24, 2006

catch up

In an effort to stay on track with this weeks plan I did the cardio, arm weight, abs/core and stretch work out I should have done yesterday this morning. After work I did a 4 mile run averaging about 8:30 a mile and I just beat the rain. :) I felt really good. I did more of a warm up before I started running which helped a lot. My foot felt good but my calves were a bit tight. I just ran on the trail since it was convenient and it was nice that there were a lot of others out running to.

Oct 23, 2006

oops

I did the wrong work out this morning - I guess that is what I get for waking up so early. I was supposed to have done cardio warm-up, arm weights, stretch instead I did 60 min of spinning. Which felt good. I sort of fallowed the class - it was a strength day so lots of hills that sort of thing. I tried to keep my cadence up higher and not put to much stress on my leg. It still feels tight and not as strong as it used to - I made sure to still challenge it so that it will get stronger.. One other thing I need to adjust my right cleat I have the hardest time getting it in, it looks super angled - I think I will just straighten it out a bit.

Oct 21, 2006

2 out of 10

This morning I got back out and ran. It felt really good. Kyle and I did 6 miles on the Sammmamish trail. I had a hard time the first 2 miles getting warmed up and into a good ryhtm but once I did I felt pretty good. My leg/knee did not hurt or anything. My right foot was tight and a tiny bit tender - but nothing to bad at all. I have a massage later this afternoon so that should help strech and loosen it up after running on it. Overall I'm very happy with how I felt and am looking forward to adding running back into my training.

Oct 18, 2006

upper body weights + pt

This morning for a warm up I ran 1 8:30 min mile on the treadmill - just to test my foot. It still feels tight but no pain so that was good. I then stretched out a bit and moved on to upper body weight training. Started with lat pull downs 45lb x 15 reps x 2 sets, bicep curls 25lb curl bar 20 reps x 3 sets, upward row 25lb curl bar 20 reps x 2 sets. Triceps dips body weight 15 reps x 2 sets. French press 12lb bar bells 15 reps x 2 sets. Shoulder side raises and front raises 8lb bar bell 20 reps x 3 sets. Low row 45lb 25 reps x 3 sets, push ups 10 reps x 3 sets. Then I went to my pt appointment - started with ultrasound, then massage and stretching - she said it still feels really tight - suggested roll a frozen water bottle under my foot after work outs to ice and massage - also suggested rolling a golf ball under my foot to help massage. Then I did the exercises - squeezing my toes together and separating them, clam shells to fatigue x 2 sets, standing hip abductor thing to fatigue x 2, gastroc stretch, and scrunching a towel. Then 5 min ice. Since my pt appointment finished early I went and did 20 min of abs and core stuff.

Oct 16, 2006

spinning

I did 60 min of spinning maintaining a cadence between 85-110. I felt really good. I went during a spinning class and used the spin bikes and just did my own thing. It worked out really well. I really tried to focus on my form and keep my back still and a smooth motion. Afterwards I stretched for about 15 min. No pian in my foot or my leg/knee. :)

Oct 14, 2006

coaching camp

My legs are definitely not ready for ski season. It did not help that my foot hurt pretty bad and my quad was a little weak. But I survived the first day - I don't know about tomorrow.
Notes: I need to work on keeping upper body down the hill, increasing angles, move hips and body more aggresively down the hill, use the tip of the skis to intiate the turn more. Make sure I push on the front through the intiation. Seperate stages of the turn more.

But what is important is that I have committed to coaching at least 4 days a month so either a weekend or two or coaching Wednesday night training (doesn't start till January-March). I think this should be ok, I need to figure out now when I definitely want to be off - for training/events or whatever.

Oct 12, 2006

recess

I took a wonderful break from work today and met Colleen for a ride around Lake Samm for lunch. It was the perfect weather, I could have left my arm warmers at home. My leg/knee felt great - a little tight and tired but no pain, even up the hills. My foot felt ok, no sharp pain just alittle nagging sort of thing, but way better with the superfeet.

Oct 11, 2006

swim + pt

Started the morning off with a good swim workout. I did 300yrds warm up, 150yrds each arm out for side kick drill (300yrds total), 300yrds of side swimming switches, 200yrds of catch ups, 200yrds of using kick board as pull bouy for resistance, 100yrds single arm (50yrds each). Then did a set of 400yrds and 150yrds cool down. I felt great and had fun working on the drills. I still have a hard time not running out of air...
I had the physical therapy appointment - it went well she did ultrasound heat, then massaged and stretched, and I think it was electrical stimulation and ice. It feels ok I'm wearing my running shoes because I could not figure out another pair that was not a flip flop or a high heel. lol

Oct 10, 2006

back on the bike

I missed spinning class but I did 45 min on the trainer and it felt great. I took it easy and just tried to be consistent and smooth. My left leg/knee felt great no pain what so ever :) The only thing was that my right foot did hurt a little bit, but I did run this morning so I think that had more to do with that. Maybe I should have put a superfeet footbed in my bike shoes too.
On another note I put my ski boots on for the first time since spring, mostly to see if my foot would hurt.. and it did a bit when I put the boot on the inside edge, the other thing was that my calf seems smaller or bonier and it kind of hurts when I press down on the front of the boot. So all this is a bit iffy considering I have a coaching camp this weekend where I need to be on top of things.

4 mile run & distal plantar fascitis

I started the morning with a 4 mile run on the treadmill with 5 x 1 min sprints sprints in 35:35 min.I felt great, my quad felt great, my foot hurt only a little while I was running (it hurts more now). Then I stretched out and did upper body weights and core exercise.
I had a appointment with a podiatrist at the pro club - Dr. Adad after my run.. And he diagnosed my foot pain as plantar fascists. He said that it was not to bad and that with 2 weeks of rest and pt I should be fine. (Hopefully) The hardest thing is that he said no running for 2 weeks and then Colleen added no flip flops (which is probably harder on me than no running lol).
So I'm staying optimistic and I am very aware that this is the time to deal with these issues and not later. Which is really important since one of my main goals is to stay healthy..

Oct 7, 2006

mile high altitude training

The run was very disappointing. I had every intention of doing 8... but I felt really tired and had a hard time. Kyle went with me and noticed I was heal striking and suggested I run more on the ball of my foot. We worked on form for about a mile or so but I was really dragging and my legs felt really heavy. Also the ball of my right foot really hurt. This has been a pain that has come and gone over the last 6 months or so.. It seems to be related to how tight my leg and foot muscles are.. So we walked most of the way. I'm totally bummed at how I felt and that I did not run my goal distance. The good thing was that Kyle's suggested changes in my form felt better and more smooth, so that was useful and I think I'm extra tired due to the altitude since I slept really well last night. I think when I get back in town I will make an appointment with a podiatrist about my foot... Get everything in order now so that I can push harder later.

Oct 6, 2006

asleep in a pool

I was barely awake this morning for my swim. I only got about 5 hrs of sleep or so.. Even though yesterday was my rest day all I want to do is go back to bed. I got to the pool around 6:15a started with 300yrds warm up. Still was half asleep it felt. I did about 500yrds of drills - more than I probably needed but I felt like working on my form. So I did the drills from my swim lesson and single arm drill. I started on my main set doing 100yrds with 15 sec rest between. I never felt like I woke up or got in a rhythm so in an effort not to drown I only did 5 of these then stretched. Even now all i want to do is go back to sleep.

Oct 4, 2006

stairs

I started out with 40 min of the stair mill - something like 172 floors. Then I stretched out my legs. Once I stopped sweating I starting a with 50 sit ups, 30 leg raises, 40 bicycles, 1 min plank, 1 min on each side plank, 50 superman's, 15 push ups. I did 3 sets of these. Then did 40 crunches on the ball, 15 push ups with my feet on the ball, and 25 things were my feet were on the ball hands on the floor and I rolled the ball towards my hands with my feet. I streched out again and headed home. My knee felt great the entore time. The only thing is that right now - as I write this my right foot keeps cramping.

very late night

I had to go into the office at about 12am to fix a small bug on an ad for the homepage so since I did not get to bed till about 1:45a I'm going to do my stair workout this evening after work :)

Oct 3, 2006

forgot the headlamp

Went for a run with Colleen, Bryan and Kyle ran with us as well. I have no idea where we exactly went but we started out around greed lake and then ran in the dark for a while and then back near the lake again.. Some parts were super dark. But we all did well not tripping or anything. I just fallowed Colleen. So in all Col said we did about 4.5 miles averaging about 8:30 miles. I felt pretty good, only had one little side ache as we went up hill at one point - I think around the end of mile 2... But it pretty much went a away later. My legs actually felt good even though they were a little bit sore from yesterdays workout.

morning swim

On a whim last night I set up a swim lesson with the same instructor I had worked with before Lake Samm tri in the spring (I hope this is ok). This morning at 6 I met with him for 30 min of drills to improve my form and it was a great refresher of what he worked with me on before. I started at 5:30 and warmed up with 100 yrds freestyle, 100 yrds kick, 100 yrds pull buoy. I ten started some of my main set as planned - I got 2 x 150yrds, 2 x 100yrds in before 6am.
He started me with focusing on head position - so I kicked on my side with my head straight down and one arm out at about 45 degrees down in front, rolling on my back to breath. I did this for about 100yrds each arm. Next I did this but after a couple kicks brought my hand up to my face and switched sides and repeat - 200yrds of this. I had a hard time at first just because of the coordination involved and keeping my breath under control but by the second 100yrds I got it pretty good. Then keeping in mind head position, arm at 45 degrees down, rotate side to side I swam 100yrds freestyle. felt way better esp on my shoulder and neck. Then did a rotation drill using a kick board like pull buoy/fin as I rotated it gave resistance and really forced me to focus on my abs and hips. It was really cool i could definitely feel when I was rotating and when I was not - 150yrds. Last focusing on my breathing - I keep my left arm out and patient while I breath (rather than pushing down) and then slowing getting rid of the pause between strokes when I breath after 150yrds of practicing this and trying to make it more smooth I started to get it.
After the lesson I continues my main set 3 X 100 - 6 X 50 - cool down 150 easy. I felt way smoother, faster and it seemed to lake less effort then even in my warm up.
I'll probably do a couple more lessons this winter as mini refreshers and reminders in addition to the rest of my training :)

Oct 2, 2006

starting the week off

I slept in this morning till 7:30a which was just lovely. So I went to the gym after work instead. I did about 20 min warm up on a stationary bike. Now I remember why I never use them - the seats are huge and sooo uncomfortable. My knee felt ok though I had a horrible time trying to find the right position on the seat , on the pedals (since no clips), seat height.. At 20 min I gave up. I then stretched out my legs and back, then did abs - 2 sets of 50 sit ups, 2 sets of 25 bicycles, 2 sets of 25 leg raises, 2 sets of 30 toe touches with 5lb ball. Then on to some weights - 2 sets of 15 bicep curls with 25lb bar, triceps pull down 3 sets of 15 with 30lbs, shoulder raises 3 sets 15 with 8lb barbels, bench press on ball 2 sets 15 with 10lb barbels, lunges 4 sets of 25, squats on bosu 2 sets of 25, 1 leg squats on bosu 2 sets of 15 each leg. That about covers it. I finished up with some stretching.

Oct 1, 2006

Sunday hot yoga

I survived hot yoga today though during class I was very aware that I was not re-hydrated and my legs were a bit fatigued after last nights run. This made yoga more difficult than usual though I think it was still very beneficial in helping me stretch out all my muscles. I also stayed a little longer and really stretched out my IT band and quads while I was warm.
I took the rest of today off and even took a bit of a nap around 5ish. lol I'll go to bed early and depending on how I feel in the morning I'll go do some easy cardio and weights in the morning :)

Sep 30, 2006

late night run

Today was a busy day with lots of weekend distractions - Kyle's flight was delayed, his cousin came to visit, dinner with mom - all these things kept me from running until about 8pm. Since it was so late and Kyle was not up for my goal of 8-9 miles I went to the gym for the ultimate challenge of doing a long run on the treadmill. I ran the first 2 miles at a 9 min mile pace and then since I had not fully digested my dinner and felt nauseous I walked for about 15 min at a 12 min mile pace. I felt better so I went for my original goal of 8 miles in 80 min max. I started at a 9 min mile pace for the 4th mile, and increased my speed each mile to catch back to my goal time. Every once and while I would pick up the pace even more for a min or two then go back. I was averaging an 8.5 min mile or so for the next 4 miles and 8 min mile for the last mile. So I did 8 miles in 80:05 min by this time they had turned all the lights on and were getting ready to close up the gym at 10. I stretched for 10 min and headed home to stretch out more. Other than having to much food before I felt pretty good. My knee felt good esp once I got in a good rhythm. Thankfully for my ipod I watched a movie to keep me from going insane - well until the battery went out and I kept catching my hand on the earphone cord and throwing it to the floor. lol nothing was damaged luckily.. but the last 20 min were all about finishing. :)

Sep 29, 2006

empty pool

I got to the pool around 5:45am and it was completely empty. :) I felt sleepy this morning but generally good. Started with 300yrds of warm up. Then catch up drill with exaggerated rotation 100yrds - one arm drills 50yrds each arm - the end of stroke drill 50yrds. For my main sets I did 50yrds w/ pull buoy, 2 x 50yrds. 100yrds w/ buoy, 2 x 100yrds. 150yrds w/ buoy. 200yrds w/ buoy. 150yrds. 200yrds breast stroke. Cool down 200yrds. I swam for about 50 min or so, I really tried to minimise my rest times and keep good form though out. My knee feels great and I spent some time stretching out my legs and IT band since I was warmed up..

Sep 27, 2006

spinning

I set up my bike on the trainer and I spun for about 45 min. The front of my left knee kind of aches, I would not call it painful but it does not feel right or good. It felt weird while spinning and even now after I stopped. The muscle that is healing felt totally fine. I'm not really sure what is off or maybe I'm just being ultra sensitive/cautious right now. But to be honest I'm getting scared of riding.. Which is horrible because it is my strongest part of triathlons...

Mixing it up a bit

This morning I met my friend Cynthia at a great little yoga studio in Bellevue called SHAKTI Vinyasa Yoga for the 6:30a Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga class. It was great though I definitely still don't know all the postures and progressions so many times I felt lost. I was a little tired at first but once I warmed up and got moving I felt much better. Only once I felt strain on my quad muscle and I just slowed down and moved past it and it felt fine after.
I used my YOGITOES SKIDLESS yoga towel again and it was great - this time bumpy side down :)

Sep 26, 2006

evening swim

I had a great swim workout with Colleen tonight. Started out with some warm up 100yards sets of freestyle, kick, and pull buoy. The we did a bunch of drill to help my technique. Lets see if I can remember them all.. Started with rotating to each side and really extending my arm out in front. Then finishing each stroke but pushing my hand back up out of the water with some force. One arm drills, which i got confused on which arm i was working on when and which side to breath on - go figure. I think that was it. Other pointers included getting my head in the correct position so my legs would float better - ie look down or even behind when swimming. Kick with entire leg rather than just lower legs. I hope I'm not forgetting anything..
Then we did a ladder 25 yards, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 150, 100, 75, 50, 25. I might have lost track on the 200 and did 250 accidental.. That was about it - I think it was around 9pm by then so just did a little stretching and got out.
Colleen told me about a after swim product to help get rid of the chlorine smell and stuff called Triswim. Which I defiantly going to check out. All in all I felt good a bit tired on the 200 or 250. My knee felt great no pain at all. I even did a breast stroke kick a couple times and it felt just fine. yeah it is healing :) Now I'm really tired and I'm going to go to sleep/passout. lol

beautiful sunrise

I went and ran 4 miles this morning as the sun was coming up. I wanted to do it outside since it is really boring running in the gym but since I don't know where to go from my house I went down to the trail at Marymoore and ran out and back 4 miles in about 37 min. I took it sort of easy because of my knee. I would not say my knee hurt but it does not feel right. I still can't really stretch my left quad - so I used the stick when I got home to try and loosen it.

Sep 25, 2006

back to work

I did a 1 mile warm up run and walked for another 5 min. My knee felt ok even after running - it is still stiff and tight and hurt when I bend it to much or try and stretch my quad. Then I just did some upper body weight training - bicep curls and shoulder press 2 sets of 20 with 8lb, 1 set 20 with 10lb. Skull crusher 3 sets of 20 at 8lb. Lat pull down 2 sets of 30 at 40lb, low row 2 sets of 30 40lb. sit ups 3 sets of 50, bicycle crunches 2 sets of 50 , reverse crunches 2 sets of 30. I also stretched - my hamstrings and back seem tight I assume from yoga. Still can't do the quad stretch on my left leg.... All in all felt good though.

Sep 24, 2006

weekend recap

Saturday I focused more on catching up on random chores and misc stuff around the house that had been neglected over the last 3 months or so.. I intended on get a swim in but never did.
Sunday was much better. I met Colleen for hot yoga - which was really good. I treated myself to one of those towels with grippers though I think I used it upside down (oh well). But the towel was great I had great grip for all the postures and never felt like I was slipping. After class we look another look at this weeks plan and I'm going to try and stick to it just be aware of how my quad feels and don't push it to much.
Later in the day i went and swam at the pool. My quad felt alright as long as I just did a flutter kick or used the pull buoy - it hurt when I did breast stroke so none of that for a while. I swam for about 60 min doing the same work out as earlier in the week but about half way though my sets I forgot where I was and started over at the 50 yrd sets. I also worked really hard at trying to be patient with my stokes and breath on both sides rather than just my right. All in all I felt good I also added in some bicycle motion kicks off the wall to test my knee and it felt good.
All in all yes it was bummer not to do the olympic tri but I think it was the smart thing to do since the last thing I was is a long term injury. At this point it already feels like it is healing and the faster the better :)

Sep 22, 2006

and Molly says...

My massage therapist Molly says that I seem to have torn and strained some of my quad muscle by my knee. She could feel some torn muscle tissue - and put her finger in it which hurt a lot. lol Also some of the surrounding and lower tissues was definitely strained. She said I do need to let it heal - though she knows me and never said that I should not do anything just that I need to let it heal and that I do heal fast but still.. So now I don't know whether or not to do Black Diamond on Sunday.. Kyle of course doesn't think I should - but I think half of that is because he does not really want to do it. Tonight I'm taking it easy and just resting and icing. I guess just see how it feels tomorrow and go from there.
I'm super bummed about the chance that I "should" not do the event. I hate letting an "injury" bench me and I really wanted the chance to know that I could do a longer race. But I guess if it means prolonging being in pain... I can focus on the half marathon in November (which is plenty I guess). On the other hand I can always walk the 10k if it hurt - but that would be frustrating to... Who am I kiding I know I should not push it and risk getting more hurt..

Different kind of knee pain

For a couple of reasons I decided it would probably be smart not to work out this morning. First I could not find anyone else who wanted to do an open water swim - ok so I could have swam in the pool no big deal. The second is that my left knee really hurts - in a totally different kind of way from last weekend. It is more in the muscle - it is sharp and tight right above my knee on the right side of my left knee.. It especially hurts when I bend my knee.. When it is straight it hurts a little but not really much at all. I'm not sure what is going on so I figured I would error on the side of rest and caution. I have a massage appointment to day and hopefully she can help loosen up anything that might be stretched to tight. I might swim tonight but I'm going to wait and see how my knee feels...

Sep 21, 2006

5 mile run

Since it was down pouring this morning I did my 5 mile planned run on a treadmill which was way harder than running that long outside. So I did 5 miles in 47 min doing 10 min pace for half a mile then up to about 8-9 min mile pace for the next half and back and forth. Which made it almost bearable to be on a treadmill that long. I felt sort of tired this morning even though I slept in till 7am. The best news was that I saw the weather forecast for Sunday (Black Diamond Olympic Tri) and it was mostly sunny and 72 degrees :) which is way better than rain.

Sep 20, 2006

about 1600 yrds swim

As a recap yesterday was an unexpected day of rest - well of not working out anyway. I was at the office from 6:30am till almost 1:30 am with an hour break for dinner at 8pm. It was kind of crazy but that is the word of advertising for you.
So tonight I got back in the swing of training. The plan was warm up 300yds: 100 freestyle, 100 kick, 100 using pull buoy. Drills practice single arm drill, 25yds x 2 each right and left, practice catch-up drill 50 yds (total of 150 for drills or any others you know). Main set: 3 x 50 yds rest 5 seconds after each. 3 x 100 yds rest 10 seconds after each. 2x150 yds rest 15 seconds after each. 1 x 200 yds rest 20 seconds. cool down easy 200 yards for a total of 1600 yds depending on cool down.
I felt pretty good. I did all the distances though my rest times were slightly longer. I found out that I'm much more coordinated doing one arm drill when I use my right arm vs my left. I was all over the place when I used my left and just got all confused with my breathing and stuff... Guess I need to work on that one :) I really loved having a more structured swim workout - I definitely felt like I got more accomplished. Another note is that my knee did not hurt at all :)
After swimming I got my bike fitted correctly - which will hopefully help prevent the knee pain I felt on the last two longer rides I have done. Colleen mved a couple things around and they all felt more comfortable but to be sure I will ride my bike around the block a few time in the next day or so.

Sep 18, 2006

rain rain go away

This morning I ran 4 miles in 35:30 min on the treadmill at a 1.0 incline. I started slow because my knee is still sore but actually it felt ok running. I mixed it up a bit by sprinting for 1 min every 9 minutes and the last 2 minutes. Then streched out really well - esp my quads and it band.
So my knee stll really hurts when I go up and down stairs. I have an acupuncture apointment today and hopefully it will help. I definatly need to get my bike dialed in better.

Sep 16, 2006

Tour de vine

We had a great ride starting in Wenatchee and out through the Wenatchee Valley to Leavenworth through beautiful landscapes of fruit orchards and wineries. We rode on back country roads and it seems got out there before most other people. The morning was chilly but the sun was shinning and the views were wonderful. The only negative was that my left knee joint started to hurt really bad especially when I pushed on it to climb. I toughed through it as best I could and after each hill spinned and caught back up with Kyle, Bryan and Colleen. At the half way point we adjusted my seat back and adjusted the positon of my cleat on my shoe to bring my knee back and my heal in. It seemed to help - or maybe it was more that we got to ride down hill a lot more. I'm proud of my self for pushing through the at time major pain and staying with the group. (yeah they also waited for me after long hills so I could just spin so my knee did not hurt to bad). But still I feel good. The best rest stop was the bakery as we finished up. they had really good bread and other snacks. We will be stoping there on our way out of town :)
Colleen & Bryan at the start

Mac & Kyle




Sep 15, 2006

Friday workout

After taking yesterday to rest this morning I ran 3 miles in 27 min and walked for another 6 min or so. I ran on the treadmill so every 5 min I increased my speed by at least .3 to .5 - it kept me entertained at least :) I considered swimming but instead streched out really well and did some abs. The back of my calves are a bit sore but that is about it. I streched them out really well and used the stick on them when I got back home. Other than that I'm just trying not to catch a cold that seems to be going around at work and I registered both Kyle and I for the Black Diamond Olympic Distance Triathlon.

Sep 13, 2006

Training has begun

I have started focusing my training towards ironman Canada 2007.. So in an effort to track my progress I'm going to start posting my workouts and comments on how things are going.

Tues 12 Sept
In the morning I ran 1 mile to warm up, then did 30 min of stairs at a moderate intensity. I streched out and did 4 sets of 50 crunches and 2 sets of 50 bicycle crunches, 5 1 min planks, and by then my abs were tired so I streched out again.
I planned on swimming in the evening but when I got to the pool around 7:30ish there was a waiting line for a lane and all the lanes were filled with 3 people. So after about 20 min wait I gave up and went home. I felt tired anyway and went to bed around 10ish.

Wed 13 Sept
I got to the pool around 5:30am it was pretty much empty :) so I swam for 45 min averaging about 60 second laps. I probably rested for about 5 min total. After about 30 min I started getting bored and really had to force myself to keep swimming and not just goof off or slack. I think having some drills to mix in would help a lot. After the swim I did some arm weights, bicept curls 3 sets of 15 with 8lb barbells, tricept dips 3 sets 15 with own body weight and feet raised, front shoulder raises 3 sets 15 with 5lb, side raises 3 sets 15 5lb - by this time my left shoulder started to ache and I was hungry so I headed out.
I met Steph at 6pm at Expedia and we started running around 6:10. I actually felt good I thought I would have been more tired. We kept and pretty even pace even up the hills. We ran out to the Lake Hills loop area - almost to Phantom Lake and then turned back and ran through BCC and got back to expedia at about 7:28pm. I'm not exactly sure how far we ran but we never walked and just kept going at an even pace. I felt really good like I could have kept running. It was wonderful.

Aug 29, 2006

Lake Sammamish Triathlon

26th August
10th in my age group!!

Swim rank 20 /swim time 9:07.8 /pace 22:48
trans1 3:05.5
Bike rank 2 !!! / bike time 46:03.3 / pace 18.2
trans2 1:31.7
Run rank 17 / run time 29:34.9 / pace 6.70
overall time 1:29:23.2

Aug 21, 2006

Beaver Lake Triathlon 2007

Saturday August 19, 2006 Race started at 7:45am

Overall time 1:46:28
Swim .25mile - 0:09:29
swim - bike trans 3:14
bike 13.8mile - 0:50:57
bike to run trans 1:23
run 4.3mile - 0:41:25

Age group place 21 out of 34



Complete results

Jun 4, 2006

Issaquah Triathlon

I completed my first sprint Triathlon. The swim was ok, I got pushed and kicked around a bit. The bike was alright; Kyle caught up with me at the end. Which was great because we then ran all the way to the finished together :) It was great fun and I feel I did well for my first time. I want to do at least a couple more sprint distance triathons this summer and finish with faster times. Then next year I want to be able to do an Olympic Distance Triathlon which is 1.5 km (0.9 mi) swim / 40 km (24.9 mi) bike / 10 km (6.2 mi) run.

COURSE
SWIM 1/4 mile, off Swim Beach in Lake Sammamish (expected temp = 68)
BIKE
14.5 mile out-n-back course, mostly flat with one small hill at about the 4 and 9 mile marks
RUN 3.5 miles, "cross-country" style on trails

RESULTS
45th in my age group out of 69 / 201 overall woman out of 372
swim 13:38 / trans 1 3:10 / bike 51:26 / trans2 1:18 / run 32:07 / overall 1:41:36.4

Results are posted
Photos will be posted
The following pics are complements of Cynthia Kern who came out to cheer for us.
I'm just happy I'm done with the swim :)


Just starting the bike


Kyle starting the bike (his favorite part)
Kyle's results
54 in age group out of 81 / 243 overall men out of 416
11:30 / 3:17 / 44:27 / 1:10 / 32:16 / overall 1:32:37.8

May 22, 2006

Tour de Cure!



The Tour de Cure was a great sucess. I did the 50 miles in a little over 3 hours ride time with only one flat tire that some very nice people helped me fix. Thanks for all who supported me.

May 3, 2006

Support Me in Tour de Cure!

I will be cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event on May 20th. I have decided to do the 50 mile ride and Kyle is doing eitherthe 75 or the 100. To donate online, click here.

Feb 13, 2006

Day off from skiing


We took advantage of the nice weather and did a lot of yard work. This is a test to see if it will regrow, since we have to move them anayway.

Another nice day at Hyak