Glimpse of my log...

This time last week I wrote in the comments section of my training log, "There is nothing redeeming about this pool!". Today, due to the extension of the maintence phase at the pool I usually use, I was forced back to the 'bath tub pool'. And, once again, there is nothing redeeming about this pool. OK, maybe one thing: it's real darn close to my house. But that's it.

Bath tub pool: It's 90 degrees. It's only 25 yards. All of the showers only stay on for 5 seconds at a time.

Regular pool: it's cold to get into, but perfect once you start swimming. It's 25 meters. There is one shower that stays on for like three minutes at a time.

Oh well, I got the 2000 yards done. The main set was supposed to be a faster set with kicking in between to recover. But I just swam the main set at an easy pace otherwise I would just over heat. Schedule for this evening is a 60 minute ride followed by a 30 minute run.

Hopefully this weekend I will get the Banff sweater pieced together.

I will try and be diligent...

Last week I took a look at a blog I usually read and saw this. I do not know LeAnne. I have never met her, but I got to her blog through another woman's blog that I read. Turns out she is a knitting fiend and training for Ironman Canada. So I sent her an email suggesting we were some kind of blogging twins. So I was heart broken to read that her plans for Ironman Canada have come to such an abrupt end. But I am in awe of her positive attitude... not one little bit of complaining on her blog. So I know she is now living a little vicariously through me, so I will try to give her something to read while she rehabilitates at home!

So last week things looked like this:

Swim: 1900 yards
my usual pool was closed so I had to go to the pool that is 90 degrees. So just one session and it was mostly drill and technique work because one can not over exert themselves when swimming in a bathtub. It makes you feel gross)

Bike: 110 km
two sessions. Wednesday was 3 x 10 minute intervals, Saturday was a long ride on the IM New Zealand course on the Computrainer. I was much happier with the long ride this weekend than last. Last weekend I started out at 110 watts, and by the time I was half way I had to keep dropping the watts to keep my HR under my 145 limit. So I ended up with an average wattage of 104 and the second half of the ride was 6 minutes slower! So this week I pegged my watts at 105 and stayed there for 2:45. Worked out perfectly. A nice even pace (even if it feels too easy for the first 30 minutes) is way more rewarding than feeling like you have to keep slowing down at the end.

Run: 36 km
Three sessions. Tuesday I took the small group that I lead over to High Park to run the 8K Spring Run Off race course. This course has two great down hills and two pretty nasty uphills. So it was a good workout, and the woman that is running the 8K now has a better idea of what to expect. Thursday I did about 40 minutes with the group and then I did about 20 minutes of tempo work on my own. Sunday was long run day. I have been struggling a bit with the long run. It just doesn't seem to be getting any easier even though I have been running 18K pretty consistently for a few months. I am just working on finding a running groove rather than trying to be too much of a slave to the HR monitor. This run still felt a bit hard (or harder than it maybe should) but my pace was consistent, so no complaints.

So a pretty good week.

Today I was up at 5:30, out the door by 6:20 and at the pool at 6:50 only to find a sign saying they were extending their maintence closure. So I arrived at work a 7:10 (about two hours earlier than normal)... this is going to make it feel like one long day!

GOOD NEWS on the knitting front. I finished the sleeve of the banff sweater last night!!! It is done! The whole sweater is done! Now it just needs to be 'sewn' together and then the neck is worked on a circular needle at the end. I have never done this before, so I am hoping that my mom can show me when I am home for Easter dinner.

Work on the blanket continues...

Last Week In Review

5550 meters of swimming
105 kilmeters cycling
34 kilometers running
10 hours total

and for fun, as always, here was what I was doing this time last year:

5700 meters
77 kilometers
29 kilometers running


Knitting wise I am closing in on the end of the Banff sweater sleeve and I finally got around to casting on the blanket again.

I Love Swim Fridays...

It seems that every swim on a Friday is a swim where I meet some goal that I have set for myself. The other week I took some serious time off my 1000 meter time trial. Today the main set of my swim was a 2000 meter swim at Ironman pace. So not an all out effort, just a comfortable, even, steady pace. I was hoping to finish in 40 minutes. That would mean that an average of 2:00 for every 100 meters. The 2:00/100 meters is kind of a goal of mine. I am used to swimming in pools that are 25 yards and 2:00 then felt like a bit of work, so 2:00 for 25 meters would be excellent. Well I finished the 2000 meters in 39:19, and every 100 meter split was under 2:00. Most of them were in 1:57. I was very excited. Excited enough to have some McDonalds breakfast! I'm feeling confident in my swimming these days. I'm not gaining any kind of crazy speed, but I am pleased with the pace that I am able to maintain and still feel really really comfortable. The goal for the Ironman is obviously to come out of the water feeling like you really did nothing at all.

Last night I finished up to the point on the sleeve where I need to start decreasing. I didn't have it in me to do any difficult purl-two-together-through-the-back-loop action, so I watched CSI rather than knit through it. I'll start on the decreases tonight or tomorrow.

I bailed on my two hour ride on Wednesday, so I might try and get that in tonight.

My life got away on me...!

I got busy.

*insert any excuse here*

I was however using my spare time to knit, so there. I ready to start decreasing the sleeve for the sweater, which means only about 60 rows to go! I started a baby gift for a co-worker, but made some mistakes and tore out what I had. I was disheartened and haven't gone back to cast it on again, but would like to have done so by the weekend.

Training is still moving along. I'm being very consistent, not missing workouts, and as my coach tells me, "Even if I gave you a crappy plan, a crappy plan done consistently is still better than a great plan done inconsistently". But for the record my plan is great!

Last weekend in the freak warm weather I actually GOT OUTSIDE to ride! It was a small, much needed miracle and I enjoyed it. But it is back to the Computrainer for the next while at least.

Sunday I ran the annual St Patty's 5K. I have been running this race every year since 2000 (which was when I started running a bit more seriously). So it has been a great way to track my training progress, and a great way to start to get into the spring and summer racing series. I didn't have huge hopes for the race on the weekend. Given that I am training for an endurance event I haven't been doing any faster paced run work. But at the start line I just decided to let whatever happened happen. I had a great race. I felt strong and in control of my pace the entire time. Obviously a 5K is difficult, the pace and effort are high and you have to be prepared to be a little uncomfortable. But this still felt easy. I ended up crossing the finish in 23:30. I didn't even expect to break 24:00 so I was very pleased. It was a nice confidence boost.

Oh, in other news, I got a promotion at work. I am an admin assistant in the Industrial Relations department. I mostly give assistance to the management here, but also do work for the people that enforce our collective agreement. Well, I am about to become one of the enforcers. They are getting ready to fill my position, I will train the new person, and then onward and upward.