It's Too Damn Cold!

Wake me up in March!  39F and F as in Fucking Cold!  It's too cold to be swimming outside even in a heated pool.  I just couldn't hack it and gave up swimming today.

Warm Up
200 Swim / 200 Pull / 200 Kick / 4x50's Swim on Minute (800)

The workout was to be a 500/400/300/200/100 each getting faster by 100. 

So I did the 500 and was super slow.  Not a descend at all.  I came in on 6:55!  Left on the 8 minutes.  Then as I was swimming the 400 I realized I was just not in the mood.  That and I was struggling.  At the 300 mark I was at 4:05.  I called it quits.  (800/1600)  It's just too damn cold out!

At least I got some cross training in yesterday!  Hit the gym for the 12pm Group Power Class and got talked into staying for the 1:15 Group Kick Class.  My tee shirt was soaked after 2 hours of working out.  But yet I still went outside for a quick run.  2.28 miles. By the end of the run the cold front had arrived.  The last .28 miles it started to rain.  By the time I got back inside the gym it was raining pretty good.  It didn't last long but the temperature dropped radically.  I think by 20 degrees in just an hour. 

I don't think I'll be running today.  Actually can't decide what I want to do.  Group Ride (Spinning) or just do something else on my own?  Don't think I'm in the mood for Ride.  Need something less leg intensive.

Another Day Another Run

Well another day not being back in the pool.  Really don't know why I didn't swim this morning.  Just hit snooze more then once.  But alas I hit the 12pm Group Ride (Spinning) Class then refueld and hit the road for a 3.79 mile run.
The half way point is after a steep climb.  Didn't know the area had any hills.  Gotta keep that in mind.  Maybe practice my hill running over there.
Sometime next week I hope to do my annual Christmas Light Run in which I run at night to take in the various holidays lights around the neighborhood.  Maybe attempt to take a few pictures of the tackiness. 

Back On The Beat

I've been a bit under the weather battling fatigue the last few days.  Really tried to shake myself out of it the last two days at the gym.  No swimming just gym time.  Yesterday I hit the gym did some chest presses before going to Group Kick (Kickboxing) Class and finishing up with some pushups using the bosu ball. 

This morning after walking Doggie Ludwig or "Willy" I went right back to bed.  No swimming just 2 more hours of bedtime.  I dragged my ass out of bed and to the gym for the 12pm Group Power Class.  I was so hurting in that class.  Just tried my best by pushing myself.  After that I rested for a bit and was on the beat hitting the pavement for a short run.  It was a random run.  3.96 miles via Runkeeper.  Don't know why I didn't run just .04 miles but whatever.
I had planned only a 2 mile run but decided to take a detour.  As you can tell by the pin drop on the map I stopped a bit before the 3 mile mark for two reasons.  The first was that I was sorta lost.  I knew the loop was coming up at some point I just didn't know how far away it was.  I should map these runs out before hand.  Secondly it was warmer than I was expecting.  Didn't know it was going to be 80F outside.  The sun was getting to me as I was feeling over heated.  So I stopped to get my gps map up and cool off.  The next pause (pinpoint after mile 3) was me just trying to cross the street at an intersection.  I don't know whats this World-Rank.in thing is but I keep getting tweets about my runs via Runkeeper.  Oh well yet another website to motivate me to run.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll be motivated to be back in the pool. 

November's Rearview Mirror - Running

Compared to a year ago I almost don't run anymore.  Of course I was training for a marathon last year at this time.  Last month I stated that I wanted to get back running at least 20 miles a month.  Of course I ran 22 miles in October so that wasn't a lofty goal.  But I failed that simple goal.
To be fair even though I'm not running I am going to the gym and working out more then I ever have before.  Group Power, Group Kick, Group Ride and everything else.  So who has time to run?
Hey, I did run more in November then I did in June, July, August or September!  That is something, right?
Too much data for saying "I'm not running enough!".  December will be a cold month and without a Marathon or 1/2 Marathon coming up I doubt I'll be running much.  I'll make 10 miles my goal for the month of December.  I should at least be able to do that!

Swim, Power, Kick, Run and Swim Some More

Okay so maybe I did too much yesterday.  After swimming I felt really good yesterday so I hit the gym big time. Maybe too much as I felt it this morning.

Warm Up

Mixed 400 then 200 Kick (600)

Main Set

4x50's Backstroke (Drill/Swim) on 60 (200/800)

200 Back Swim (200/1000)

4x50's Backstroke on 1:10.  Faster then the 200 pace.  (200/1200)

4x50's Breaststroke on 1:15 (200/1400)

And that was it.  1,400 yard swim.  Good thing it was an easy workout as I didn't feel it.  Normally my bannana in the morning is enough to hold me but today my stomach was grumbling and my body was aching.  Oh well. 

Yesterday at the gym I took the noon time Group Power Class then stayed for the 1pm Group Kick.  Two days of Group Kick in a row is almost too much.  Then after that I went out for a  quick 2 mile run.  I felt all that leg work today while swimming.  Of course the wine from last night wasn't exactly a smart thing to do.  I think I'll let my body rest today.  I want to go spinning but I should listen to my legs and give them the day off. 

The Day Before The Day of Eating

Wahoo...National Pig Out Day!  Since I'll be eating and not swimming I had to push myself a bit harder then I normally would for an IM day.

Easy Day!  Well not so easy.  Today's workout forced me to push myself in my backstroke and IM.  I will admit sometimes I use backstroke as active recovery time.  But today I was pushing myself.

First was the warm up.  Mixed 500 then 200 Kick.

Main Set:
10x100's on 1:40.  I did odds reverse IM and evens backstroke. I pushed myself to get to 1:15's.  Mostly I missed but was under 1:20's.  My last two were 1:15's.  (1000/1700)

Then 8x50's Pull easy on 60. (400/2100)

Not too bad.

Yesterday after swim I headed to the gym.  At the gym took the 12pm Group Ride (spinning) Class.  Tough class today.  Don't know why but I felt so tired.  After class I rested and refueled then hit the pavement for a run. 4.67 mile loop.  This is the 2nd time I've done this loop.  This time it was a bit safer then last time.  Less dodging of folks in golf carts on the paths.  I guess the snowbirds have left for the holiday weekend. 

With no swimming for me tomorrow I'm going to try and go out for a run.  Today I'm just going to take Group Power and call it a day. 

My Itty Bitty One Man Tri Morning

I had this plan to create my own little Tri Workout for this morning.  It included swimming at 7am, Group Ride (Spinning) at 9:30 then running the 6 miles home from the gym.  But with rain forecasted for today I changed my plan.  I set my alarm for 5am and after 15 minutes of debating if I wanted to get out of bed I got up.  I put on my running sneakers but remembered my right ankle still has a blister healing.  So I took off my right Zoot and put on my Mizuno.
I figured no one was going to be out and about plus it was dark outside.  So off I was running.  While running I could see flashes of light in the sky.  So between that and the fact it took me a lot of time to actually get ready and out the door I only ran 3 miles. I was going to do the loop which is about the same distance I had ran but I felt safer with the lightening about to hit if I stayed on my side of the main road.  Plus I felt less exposed to being hit with the houses and all on this side of the road. 

After the run I quickly changed and headed to the pool.  The rain had yet to start but the sky was an odd shade of red.  Almost pinkish.  That was an early warning of a pending storm. 

Warm Up

Mixed 500 then 200 Kick (700)

Then we did…

4x125's on 2:10 - 25 Fly / 25 Back / 50 Breast / 25 Free. (500)

And that was it.  It was to be 8x125's but thunder and lightening hit pretty strong so we had to get out.  So a 1200 yard swim.  But I do know what tomorrows swim is going to be so I need my rest.  I got 3 Rounds of 4x100's on 1:20.  Gonna be a tough morning.

The storm hit so fast with rain the the streets were flooded on the way home.  Glad I got my run out of the way.  Now I just gotta get my act together and head over to the 9:30 Group Ride / Spinning Class to finish my Easy Easy Short Short Tri Workout.

Wow oh wow.  I decided to stay for a 2nd Group Ride Spinning Class with Nancy.  So it was 9:30am and 10:45am.
Earning me a whole bunch of things for Fitocracy.  Which the verdict is still out for me.  I like it but really do I need to keep track of everything somewhere else besides here?  But I do earn cool titles and badges...
Not that I understand what they mean.  They are meaningless I guess but sorta cool?
Yes, I am lost.  Oh well a good day of working out!

A Run Thats A Keeper

Well no swimming this morning but I did get in a run yesterday afternoon.  I've been running segments of this loop but yesterday ran the loop.  It's less then 4.5 miles and it's boring as hell.  Also it's dangerous.  Now I'm running on the golf cart / bicycle lane but the snowbirds in golf carts seem not to understand that they are to move around me and not attempt to run me over.  A couple of times I had to jump on the grass along side the road to avoid being hit.  But when I got back safely in one piece I had an email note from Runkeeper.

I keep setting records since I've only been using RunKeeper for a short time.  But hey, a personal best is a personal best.
I need to work on getting my pace under 9 minutes on my runs.  That's going to be my goal this winter into spring.  I don't have any races in my mind right now but I'd like to run a 1/2 Marathon and be under 2 hours.  The two halfs I've done were above 2 hours -

Long Beach International City Bank Marathon & Half-marathon 2009
10/11/09 — Long Beach, CA - 2:09:19

13.1 Marathon - Los Angeles
1/10/10 — Santa Monica, CA - 2:06:55  

I figure if I give myself a goal maybe it'll push me in my running.

My Monday Reboot - Running, Booting and Powering.

Every week I sit down and look what my work week is going to be and then look at the class schedule and try to map out what I intend to do for the week.  Of course stuff happens and changes best laid plans.  Last night I got asked to go to work early so I had to skip swimming.  So instead of swimming I decided to attack the gym.  Which would start with a run outside around the gym.
Since I had to be at work at 5am I was able to go out for a run pretty early in the day.  The location of the gym offers me a few different loops to run around.  I gotta admit I started with the idea I'd do the short 2 mile loop but was feeling pretty good and decided to try the other part of the loop which is a bit longer.  I can expand on this route or loop to make it a 5 mile run which I should do.  I've been a lazy runner of late.  Not running that much and when running short distances.  Gotta change that.  But at least I picked up a little speed out on my run.
After the run I cooled off and headed towards the 10:45 Boot Camp Class.  Even though I wanted to take the class I wasn't too movitated in the class.  I just wanted to get it over with.  I actually felt some pain during some jumping jacks.  I didn't stretch enough after the run is my guess.  Then after Boot Camp I stayed for the 12:00 Group Power Class.  Yeah, my arms will be sore tomorrow.  But in a good way.  I needed a kick in my ass to get myself into gear.  After feeling pretty good in swimming my last two or three weeks seem to have been all over the map.  Feel that I am lacking in strength and endurance in the pool.  Hopefully by pushing my crosstraining I'll get some power in the water.

1 More Run For Runtober

I went on a run tonight.  Mostly just to get out for a bit.  Needed some fresh air.  Once out on the run I wasn't feeling it.  So I didn't do the planned loop.  I just ran to a point and came back.  Pretty damn boring run.
But that little run helped cap off another month of running.  At least with the cooler weather I ran a bit more in October or Run-tober. It's a bit sporadic but I did run.  I'd like to get back to running at least 30 miles in a month.  Which isn't a whole lot of running.  I don't plan on running any marathons so no need to be crazy like a year ago.  Just wanna stay fit and comfortable while running.