17 March 2006

ERIN GO BRAGH!!!


HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!

This is actually my boss's dog but I just could not resist. Little Bear is an Australian Shepard who is 18 months old. Smart as a whip and cute as a button and apparently part Irish :)







On to serious things. Today was swimming. I had planned a fairly light day; 200m warm up working on form, 500m at (what I think is) race pace, 300m drills; that was it. I did the 200m warm up and felt like I was just gliding through the water. Total Immersion says to roll and glide slightly with each stroke and reach with your stretched out hand. I was really working on reaching and rolling and just felt like I was going really far on each stroke - I like that feeling. Then I did 500m at what I think race pace will be. I didn't try to go superfast but I tried to keep it up so I was a little bit out of breath but tried to hold it pretty steady. When I finished the 500m my right hand was numb. Ummm, this is not right. I stopped and stretched out my shoulder and it a minute it was fine. So I started to do my 300m of drills and within 50m the hand was numb again. I stopped and stretched and it was fine again. So I did 200m super slow working on really good form and trying to just use the range of motion in my shoulder to stretch it out a bit. At a certain point in the stroke I could feel a twinge of numbness, it would just come and leave really quickly. I decided not to push it and called it a day. As I was showering I was thinking about the numbness and wondering if I should go to a doctor, maybe I had done something to it, I was a little concerned. Then, as I was shampooing my hair, I heard a crackling noise in my shoulder and it all came back to me. Back in my early 20's I fractured my clavicle on the right side and over the years arthritis has developed in that shoulder area. Whenever I switch my strength training routine my shoulder acts up. Usually I get pain in the clavicle or back of the shoulder, I'm fairly certain this is just a new manifestation of an old injury. So I only got in 950m but I figured it's better to rest than to push it, especially with my first race in 9 days.
Times: 200m warm up = 5:34
500m race pace = 13:33
50m drills = 2:14
200m slow = 7:15
Totals: 950m in 29:29 minutes.

Not too shabby considering I was working under a handicap.

So I successfully made it through one solid week of training. Tomorrow is my rest day, actually I'll probably be moving and painting, and Sunday I have got to get a serious brick in.

Hope everyone has a great St. Patty's Day; tonight there will be beer!!!!

16 March 2006

Just a quickie this morning :)

I wish but that's a whole other story.

This morning was strength training. I managed to get up just a little earlier but I had done nothing last night to get ready for this morning. So I was still running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I'm hoping that by next week I can get it all together.

Anyway, strength training. Now generally I work out at home with free weights, but since my room is loaded with boxes I'm heading to the Y every morning. I went Tuesday and did the machines for the first time in years - very different from free weights. I decided to start slow this week, high reps, low weight, long rests. Yesterday I was just a tiny bit sore, nothing serious. This morning I was still a little sore and debating on sticking with my plan. I ultimately did and am actually feeling pretty darn good I love strength training because I love feeling my muscles - LOVE IT!!!! So both Tuesday and today I did full body weights. That's all the strength training I'm going to do this week. I figure that will be fine. When I can get back to 3 times per week I'll work up a rotation for upper and lower body.

Also, because I got up a little earlier, I was able to get 15 minutes of hill work on the treadmill. I know, I live in Hawaii, I should be running outside, but the treadmill was right there and it was empty and it was easy and I just couldn't resist......... I will do my long runs outside from now on!!!

That's it. I've got tons of work to do plus a room full of glassware to wash - oh, the glamorous life of a chemist :) Have a great day!!!!

15 March 2006

It's hump day!!

This may ramble a bit, I have a few things on my mind today.

Let's start with the swim. This morning was swimming. Sidebar: I have got to get up just a couple of minutes earlier. I HATE rushing around trying to get out the door. Okay, swimming was good. My tri in 2 weeks is a 500 m swim so I've decided that's will be the base amount of my laps. I did 500m warm up in 14:37 - slow working on form. Then I did 150m in 4:28 (I had a small crisis and could not complete my planned 500m). Next I did 100m at a brisk pace in 2:37 - I could have gone faster but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to hold up. Finally, I got to do another 500m in 14:16. Then I did 50m side stroke; 50m backstroke; and 50m breast stroke. Totals: 1400m in 46 minutes. I'll take it. I was having some issues with my goggles. I guess goggles can wear out because they were leaking and fogging and really annoying me today. Maybe time to switch them out. Oh yeah, please note the entire swim was done with flip turns - wooohoooo!!!

Something I discovered while swimming today, I am afraid of water. Not scared where I won't get in the water. I love to be in the water, playing, goofing around, etc. I'm afraid of being below the surface. This actually came up when I got my diver certification but I had forgotten about it. It all came back to me today during the flip turns. As soon as my head is completely submerged I start to freak. When swimming, with the back of my head out of the water, I can miss a breath and not have a problem just catch it next time. Once my head is totally underwater I feel like I'm out of air. Now logically I know this is not true, but logically I know I can't breath underwater either. I'm not sure what to do about this. I guess I'll just keep doing my flip turns and hope it gets better. I was dragging my turns out today trying to keep myself from panicking - didn't work great. Everytime I came to the wall I could feel my heart rate increase just knowing there was a flipturn coming. Oh god, another issue to deal with :)
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Okay, Keryn over at Chickfit did a great post yesterday on baby steps. It really got me to thinking. I used this concept awhile back and it really worked well for me; I think it's time to resurrect it. Keryn wants to complete a 1/2 Ironman next year (so do I) and has broken it down into smaller manageable steps. I love this idea and think I may steal it. I need to stop looking at the big picture and start focusing on the here and now. My mantra used to be "One workout at a time; one meal at a time" I'm taking it up again.

My big goals are:
- Complete Honu 70.3 in 2007
- Lose 20 lbs.

For the weight lose goal I need to focus one meal at a time. Make the best decision I can at every meal.

For the Honu I need to:
*get a couple more sprints under my belt.
*Get more comfortable in the water.
*Get a better bike and get better at riding it

I used to use the tactic of delayed gratification also. For example, if I really wanted to stay in bed I would bargain with myself, "Get up and go today and then tomorrow you can sleep in" then of course tomorrow I would do the same thing. It works for food too, "if you eat a huge salad you can have desert tonight" but I would have no desert at home so it would have to wait till the next day :)

So, yeah, baby steps all the way thru 70.3....

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On the subject of life in general, it seems that things are finally starting to smooth out. I do believe it will all work out okay. Deep down I really knew that but I just did not see how it would be possible. Now I see possibilities and a way out of this mess so I'm feeling much better. Now that leads to the question: Am I feeling better and working out better because my life appears to be straightening out or is my life straightening out because I'm feeling better and working out better???? Points to ponder.......

14 March 2006

Gvie the girl a gold star!!

Just before the alarm went off this morning it started raining. Raining super hard and the noise was incredible!!! Well, 15 minutes later when the alarm went off I said, I'm not getting up- it's raining. Also, my husband decided to take the day off - that makes it twice as hard to get up. So I hit the snooze like3 times firmly convinced I was going to stay in bed. Then, I don't know what happened, but I literally jumped out of bed and started getting ready to go to the Y. I ended up leaving the house 20 minutes late and due to traffic, arriving at the gym 30 minutes later than I wanted to, but I got there and I worked out!! Yeah!!! I did full body weight workout and 15 minutes cardio. I feel really good and I'm glad I got up.

Working my way out of a dark tunnel is not easy or fast. I have set backs (like Sunday) and there are days when it just seems too hard. But every workout I get in makes it that much easier. Being able to force myself out of bed this morning is a huge step in the right direction. I'm feeling great and I must now do some work :(

13 March 2006

50 METERS IN 57 SECONDS!!!! OMG!!!!

So I go for my swim this morning. Now this is the first time I've been swimming in a week and a half what with the flooding, my tooth, etc.... So my only real plan this morning was to swim. I thought I'd just swim slow, work on my form, for like a mile or so. Well, after I started doing the laps I got bored, then around lap 8 I inhaled a ton of water and decided to take a short rest. I did those first 400 m in 11:11, I was like - sweet!! So I decided to do another 400m which I did with flip turns at EVERY wall in 10:43 - sweet!!! So I decided to do another 400m with bilateral breathing the entire time (I really need to work on this, I have the hardest time breathing to the left) and I did it in 12:28 - sweet!!! By now I'm getting pretty tired but, since that was 24 laps, I decided to do 1 more lap as fast as I could. That was 50 m in 57 seconds - I could not believe it!!! WooHoo!!!! So this morning's swim was just awesome. It really gives me hope that I may someday be a decent swimmer ;)

12 March 2006

So it's sunday morning and

I was having a heck of a time dragging myself out the door. We've begun the serious packing/cleaning so my exercise room is a disaster. Then it was windy and rainy and I really didn't want to go out in it. But I managed to force myself out the door (that's always the hardest part) and once I got moving I decided to do a run I haven't done in a while. I decided to run in the park where this journey really began. So I headed off. I was also dragging and since I hadn't worked out all week I told myself I could run or walk or both or neither, whatever. So I started walking. By the time I hit the park entrance I was ready to run, so I did. I ran for a while, then I walked back along these 1.5' x 1.5' x 10' concrete pillars that are laying on the ground (I walk on top and balance like when I was a kid - this always makes me smile and I have no idea why). A rain squalll came through and I got soaked and I decided to run somemore and then I was walking for a while. I was really enjoying the park since I hadn't been there in quite awhile. Used to be that was enough for me, the park is a 1.2 mile out and back, now it's pretty much too short. I did notice a couple of things while there; 1) lots of people run in this park now. Used to be I was the only one; not anymore. 2) The drainage in this parks sucks. There is still standing water in the park from the heavy rains we had a week and a half ago. 3) There are lots more birds in the park then there used to be, especially this one:

This is the native Hawaiian stilt, also known as the black neck stilt. I could give you a long history lesson of the hawaiian islands (boring) but suffice it to say that once the islands were discovered many of the native birds were lost or seriously endangered due to disease, predators, humans, etc. Well, these guys seem to be making a real comeback. They were all over the park eating today. Of course, they are wetland birds so the park being saturated probably is what attracted them. Anyway, it was cool.

That was it. That was all I managed to do all week was a 40 minute walk/run in the park. Oh well!!! I have to run to work for a short time, then run some errands, then come home and do some more packing. Since my home workout area is seriously destroyed, I'm planning on hitting the Y every single morning from now until we move. I have a tri in 2 weeks.

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...