Weekend workout update.

I wish the off season would get over with already! This is the time of year when I usually lack motivation, or as I refer to it, the "Demotivation" demons which haunt us all come calling. Not so far this off season. Maybe it can be attributed to the great weather we've enjoyed here in Wisconsin.

Or, maybe it could be I'm really looking forward to the 2011 race season, and the new year in general! (Note to all-PLEASE, remind me of this post when it gets to be, say, late June and I'm feeling a bit burned out from the bricks, the 6 day per week workouts and the early AM swims/runs, thanks in advance!).

Just a quick update on workouts from yesterday and today:

Friday-trainer spin on the TT bike (bike position tweaked)
60min at 85cad, easy spin in the 39 ring
716 kcals (per the Polar F6, too high, more like 500 or so).
HR avg/max 131/142

Sat-swim at JMBA (1st swim in over a month!)
1,500 yards, easy pace (with plenty of rest stops!)
49min
100 yd cool down crawl/free

Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit warmer, and the entire family will be hitting the pool at JMBA. So, I will swim another 1K-1,500 yds or so, and maybe  get a short run in. I need to get acclimated to the swim again; overall I felt good post swim, just a bit tired. I'm looking for some much better times as I get back into the pool on a regular basis again. I just looked back on my swim notes from the summer; I swam 1,500 yd in 39:39 on August 19, so I'm like 10 min off my pace from 3 months ago. Glad I keep good workout notes!

Instead of going to work,

I went snowshoeing with my wife and kids. We ended up getting less snow than was predicted, but we got enough to go hiking down the creek behind our house.

I did swim today, 22 laps. Felt good, less tired than the last swim workout. Now, I need to get up to about 42 laps for the 70.3 in July. Yikes, I better keep on swimming! I tweaked my low back at work last night, just walking and turned/twisted, then felt like the wind got knocked out of me. It felt OK in the pool, no pain to speak of. Tomorrow, I'll see how it feels, stretch it out good, and try it on the bike/trainer for 60-90 minutes.

Tomorrow night, I'm meeting some friends to start planning for our 20 year high school reunion. 20 years out of HS, thats hard to come to terms with some days. The older I get, the faster the time seems to go by. This 20 year thing should be pretty cool, though!

Today's workout.

Swimming at JMBA, Beck also went with her mom. I did a full 20 laps, for 914 meters/1000 yards, with rest breaks. I think I figured out (partially) what I was doing wrong last summer; at that time, I was pushing really hard, trying to swim to fast, causing my breathing rate to increase, thereby increasing my HR. SO, today I concentrated on form, technique and breathing, while going at an easier pace. I kept my breathing much more controlled, even, and took deeper breaths.

I was able to swim for just over 45 minutes, HR avg/max of 132/148, 475 kcal. I am going to swim again this Friday. The shoulders are a little sore (enough so to warrant some tylenol tonight!), especially the left one, which I jacked up at work about one month ago.

I have also sworn off soda, much of the sweets I was eating, and also eating later at night, which is one of my bad habits I have developed while working second shift the past ten years. JMBA has this cool machine that will measure height, weight, BMI and body fat. Well, lets just say I put on almost 10 lbs since I last weighed myself. My BMI is not acceptable now, even though my body fat % stayed in the "good" range. I was going to clean up my eating soon anyways, in prep for the long FLETC ride in May. This is just the kick in the head I needed, it should serve as great motivation and my goal is to lose that 10 lbs I put on the in the past few months. The funny thing is, I really don't feel that I've lost that much of my fitness level. I'm still running a good pace, and my time on the trainer has been good, I don't feel that I'm behind like I felt last winter when I started base training.

So, I picked up the 100 cal popcorn and tea for the night snack time. It better work!

Today's workout

was some core strengthening. Sit-up sets , push up sets. Medicine ball circles and twists, some stretching and low back exercises. Whooow, I'm going to be sore! Plus, more swimming for tomorrow at 11 am. I'm shooting for 20 laps.

I think I'm going to look at some kettle bells, for weight training. They look pretty cool, and they're compact. Besides, I need to go get a new phone (the iPhone, yee haw!) so we might stop and pick 'em up today! I will post some pics of the kettle bells (and the iPhone) if I pull the trigger today!!

Today's workout

consisted of a swim (1st in a long time!!). I went to JMBA with my father-in-law, who is cool and invites me to go along. So I swam 14 laps (25 yard pool), found out I need to be able to do 40+ laps for one mile. I figure 42 laps will be about the distance for the 1/2 IM in July. I'm excited that I've actually started to swim this early this year, last year, I procrastinated big time on it, and did not swim much at all.

I also just got back from a 5k run, 26m 21s, feeling good. I'm going to start a log showing my swim/bike/run totals YTD somewhere on my page, TBD!! Now, off to work.

I did an 80 minute trainer ride today. I will probably run tomorrow, unless the temps go up, then I might get a road ride in. I'm going to start to develop my training plan for the long ride, leading up to May 1; then I need to incorporate some training immediately after the ride to prepare for the Spirit of Racine Tri in July. This should fit into my training plans for running the Milwaukee marathon in Oct '09.

I need to get some pool time in during this early base period. Yippie, swimming!