For whatever reason I now have the Lion King tune that goes "It's the morning report, it's the morning report" stuck in my head. It is official. I've watched too many animated features since my 3 year-olds have been born... primarily in the last 6 months as that's when I finally broke down to let them watch more than one 1/2 hour show. Hopefully I haven't ruined their brains.
Anywho. The weekend report. Here it goes:
Friday night I was exhausted. It was a rest day so you'd think I would have more energy but I had none. Fell asleep pretty close to after the kiddies were in bed.
Which really was a good thing because Saturday started with a 4:50 am pickup time with Training Buddy, that was a little more closer to 5 am because I accidentally set the alarm for pm, not am. Wishful thinking, I guess.
Somehow Training Buddy and I made it out to Lake Sumter Community College before anyone else and in record time. (Perhaps it was the extra adrenalin from running behind and jumping out of bed in a flash. Good thing I have a strong body clock...) A few moments later, everyone from the Team in Training Nike Women's Marathon team appeared and we began our morning torture, uhm, run. It was hill repeats. The TNT group is running their marathon in San Francisco, and coming from Florida that will definitely take some hill training. This is Florida so the only place to go for hills is Clermont. In our case, a neighborhood with a hill that is essentially a 60 degree incline, if not more. We warmed up in the parking lot, stretched, and ran 1.25 miles to the bottom of the hill. During the 1.25 mile run, I couldn't help but think that this really wasn't the morning for this.
But, once everyone arrived at the bottom, we started. 1/4 mile up and 1/4 mile down the evil incline. I made it 3/4 of the way up while running the 1st and 2nd time and then somehow tuned out my brain telling me this wasn't the thing to be doing 3rd time and made it to the top while running. I was thrilled but my HR was 182. Let's just say that while I ran all of the downhills this time around and that I did all 6 hills AND ran the 1.25 miles back to the car, I never quite made it back all the way up the hill.
Afterwards, it was party time. Training Buddy & I got back in the car, I drove like a mad woman, dropped him off, got home, showered and changed, and out the door by 9:15 am. Off to a 4 year old's birthday party at Monkey Joe's - a cute bounce house sort of place. The girls had a blast and I had to climb in with them a couple of times so they weren't scared at first. Mr. Darcy had nothing to do with climbing in, and I have to admit it was difficult for me to do because these things are built for kids not 5' 7" women (or 6'1" men in Mr. Darcy's case). After pizza, cake and a little more fun, we were off to Costco. After that Mr. Darcy decided to drive around a little so the girls would fall asleep in the car... and all 3 of us did. Ladybug, Angelfish and TriMommy. All sound asleep in our seats.
Sunday was another early morning, but luckily not as early. 5:30 am is better than 4:30 am. But I didn't get an icebath in on Saturday so I was stiff legged (and stiff butted) as Training Buddy and I started out on our 50 mile bike ride and what should have been a 6 mile run afterwards. The bike ended up at 51 miles and just a little over 3 hours. Yet again another Longest ride! Whoo Hoo!
The ride was good too because we had amazing animal sightings - a family of 3 deer crossing the street in front of us, 6 deer on the farmer's hill, other deer scattered about, 2 cranes, an animal that we thought might be a possum but really were not quite sure (other than it was bigger than my dog, brown and had a big tail and wasn't a racoon, ardvark or other known creature... kind of scary) - and some terrible headwinds. You know the head wind is strong when your computer says you're going 16.3 mph, the wind starts, and you notice that you're going 14.1 mph within moments. Add stiff legs to the mix and you have quite the workout.
When we got back to the house and started the run, my legs were not happy. I told Training Buddy that they were giving me attitude because it was literally as though they were saying to me, "Are you serious? You ran 6 miles of hills yesterday and had no ice bath, made us do 51 miles of cycling and now you expect us to run?"
I ran the 1st mile and then did a 4 minute/1 minute Galloway for the 2nd mile and then a 4 minute/2 minute Galloway the 3rd mile. My HR was staying down this time around which was good, but my legs were screaming everytime I did the running. Walking they could handle, and I could even walk at a decent pace, but running was torture. Training Buddy wanted to stop at the house for a refill on beverage, and when we stopped I realized that because we stopped I literally could not make myself restart and felt a little tingly (the lack of electrolytes...I'm pretty certain). So the 6 mile run turned into a 3.2 mile run. But it was better than nothing.
I did a lot better about drinking on the bike this time, but think I probably should have drunk a little more. I definitely need to take endurolytes because I have a feeling that's what I was missing - especially when my hands were swollen so badly that bending my knuckles was an optional activity for a bit. That and I probably need to eat more on the bike. I may try Training Buddy's suggestion of a PB&Honey sandwich during the ride because I really can't bring myself to eat more shot blocs or gels than I already do.
After a shower and an ice bath, things were closer to normal. Fingers were still swollen for another hour or two, but they were atleast functional again. Had lunch with the little ladies and played a bit, then we signed up for the YMCA and enrolled Angelfish and Ladybug for Fall soccer. This is gonna be good. Our cutie pies playing soccer. We asked that they be on the same team for our sanity in having only 1 practice a week and only 1 game to attend each weekend. They are both super excited and were "practicing" with Mr. Darcy in the backyard yesterday evening (while wearing dresses). I will be sure to post pictures once soccer begins. Our 3 year old phenoms (Angelfish already blocks out Ladybug for the ball). Tee hee.
Then a haircut for Ladybug, who when I told her that I thought her haircut looked beautiful told me in a rather self-assured way "I know Mommy. I look like a princess!" Angelfish wanted a haircut but hers is still growing out from the massive cutting that occured a few months ago and looks really good. She was trying to get it all over the place while telling us she needed it cut because she had "crazy hair." All she did was make her hair look even cuter! But the lollipop she got for waiting like a well-behaved girl at the Hair Cuttery smoothed things over. Then we played a bit and watched "Word World" (and somewhere I fell asleep only waking to discover the show was on but no one was in the room with me), practiced soccer and ate dinner. The girls played in the tub for awhile and then helped us bathe the dog before bed. How they laughed when Annie ran like the wind around the house and scratched at the floor and rubbed her head on the floor! They chased her and finally made her a bed with a blanket so she wouldn't be too cold since her hair was still wet (such sweetie pies).
They hadn't had a nap, so they were tired little things last night. Angelfish sat watching me read her story with her mouth hanging a little open like both she and I do when we're super tired. Ladybug yawned and laid on the bed listening after petting Annie a good while during the story. They were asleep within minutes of us turning off the light. And so were we! Mr. Darcy was tuckered out from the weekend and I was from all the training.
Monday morning was here all too soon. The girls are happy to be with their teachers one last week before they start with new teachers next week, and to be going to Disney with us on Friday. It is a half day at daycare as it is that day, so we decided to make it into a family fun day since our seasonal passes are back to being useable. I went for my next bit of blood work, which took a bit of waiting for but it got done within the right window of time. The doctor's office says it will take a week to get the results, which stinks. The waiting is the bit I don't like. My theory is that I will not have Cushings disease because while I have some of the symptoms, I also do not have some of the symptoms. But, let me tell you... I will feel much better once the doctor tells me that the blood work came back and all is well.
Training wise, today is a rest day. And I'm tired. For lunch, I may just take a nap!
Showing posts with label hill repeats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hill repeats. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Problem Solved... Sort Of
Remember how I was wondering how to go about wearing my blood pressure monitor while on my bike workout this morning? The problem solved itself. No, I did not skip my bike workout. (With less than 8 weeks left to race day? Are you kidding?)
At 4:15 this morning I sat straight up in bed. About 15 minutes earlier I heard my blood pressure monitor doing its thing. But at 4:15 it did it again. It made all the sounds it should have, but I realized (somehow in my sleepy state) that I didn't feel any squeezing on my arm. I felt along the cuff and determined that it was no longer attached to that box that was now blowing air and making a rather annoying noise. The tube that connected the cuff to the box had come undone, or so I thought. Poor Mr. Darcy turned on the light for me and I found that not only had it come "undone" but it was completely severed with no hope of reattachment. I told Poor Mr. Darcy to go back to bed and asked "What can I do?" There was nothing to even attempt to duct tape, so I decided to bike without it and call the doctor's office when I got back. I seriously doubt the cardiologists were at the office at 4:15 am!
So it solved itself. My ride was a good one. Coach is trying to teach me to pace line so she and I worked on that a little bit while the others who know how to pace line, road well, in pace line. I fear being in a pace line. Images appear in my head of people crashing into one another, bike tires meeting in disastrous ways. I'm not generally a fearful person. I've jumped from airplanes and think it's fun. I'm the mother of twins. I'm the person who stays calm in emergencies. I decided that it's because my brain really likes me and likes the idea of self preservation; and while yes, drafting really does make it easier to go faster, being only a few inches from the tire in front of me gives me pause. Literally. I pause my pedaling.
Today we worked on it. It was great because at one point I looked down and was relatively close to Coach (about a foot away) and I was going 19 mph! I'm not sure how long we had been going 19 mph, but still. I'm getting there. After a little pace line work, we worked on hills. In particular, Coach showed me how to pedal standing up. I know, you just stand up and keep pedaling. But you have to remember, I didn't ride bikes as a kid. I learned and then my bike sat there until Dad sold it. I only started riding a bike less than 1 year ago, so my skills basically have consisted of getting on the bike and pedaling. But, we worked on that for about 5 minutes, which wasn't too bad.
Then hill repeats. Technically 14 (if you count the one one the way to the airport too), but only 13 were intended to be hill repeats. The first one was hard. Heck, they were all hard. The second one included some lovely tightening of my hip flexor. The 3rd back pain. Somewhere along the way it got easier... toward the end, even if I did say to Coach "I think I hate hills." I was super excited with my performance. My 12th hill repeat was with 87 cadence and at 16.8 mph. My last hill repeat? 90 cadence and 17.1 mph. Yeah Baby! Hopefully I'll be able to walk later.
I started the morning exhausted. You would be too if you had something squeezing the bejeesle out of your arm once an hour every hour, and then got up at 4:15 am. Not to mention still have muscle pain from those squats and walking lunges on Monday. As Ryan said, it makes you want to do those over and over again until they don't make you sore anymore... besides, imagine how strong you'd be. At the end of the ride, I was invigorated and pain free... at least until the end of the 30 minute drive home.
Then I called the doctor's office. I have no barriers, evidently, because when the nurse asked if I could come in right then, I paused and said "I can come in soon, but you don't want me to come in right this second because I just had a 2 hour bike ride and I stink." Nonetheless, as soon as the padres arrived and I had a shower, we were off for the new blood pressure cuff.
Which, btw has been registering at under 120/80 ever since we left the doctor's office... 138/87 in the doctor's office. I'm thinking subconscious white coat syndrome (and evidently a fear of firefighters who take my blood pressure... or maybe it was just that they were attractive firefighters... hmm).
Come to think of it, it would have been very interesting to see what the blood pressure monitor would have registered on those hill repeats...
At 4:15 this morning I sat straight up in bed. About 15 minutes earlier I heard my blood pressure monitor doing its thing. But at 4:15 it did it again. It made all the sounds it should have, but I realized (somehow in my sleepy state) that I didn't feel any squeezing on my arm. I felt along the cuff and determined that it was no longer attached to that box that was now blowing air and making a rather annoying noise. The tube that connected the cuff to the box had come undone, or so I thought. Poor Mr. Darcy turned on the light for me and I found that not only had it come "undone" but it was completely severed with no hope of reattachment. I told Poor Mr. Darcy to go back to bed and asked "What can I do?" There was nothing to even attempt to duct tape, so I decided to bike without it and call the doctor's office when I got back. I seriously doubt the cardiologists were at the office at 4:15 am!
So it solved itself. My ride was a good one. Coach is trying to teach me to pace line so she and I worked on that a little bit while the others who know how to pace line, road well, in pace line. I fear being in a pace line. Images appear in my head of people crashing into one another, bike tires meeting in disastrous ways. I'm not generally a fearful person. I've jumped from airplanes and think it's fun. I'm the mother of twins. I'm the person who stays calm in emergencies. I decided that it's because my brain really likes me and likes the idea of self preservation; and while yes, drafting really does make it easier to go faster, being only a few inches from the tire in front of me gives me pause. Literally. I pause my pedaling.
Today we worked on it. It was great because at one point I looked down and was relatively close to Coach (about a foot away) and I was going 19 mph! I'm not sure how long we had been going 19 mph, but still. I'm getting there. After a little pace line work, we worked on hills. In particular, Coach showed me how to pedal standing up. I know, you just stand up and keep pedaling. But you have to remember, I didn't ride bikes as a kid. I learned and then my bike sat there until Dad sold it. I only started riding a bike less than 1 year ago, so my skills basically have consisted of getting on the bike and pedaling. But, we worked on that for about 5 minutes, which wasn't too bad.
Then hill repeats. Technically 14 (if you count the one one the way to the airport too), but only 13 were intended to be hill repeats. The first one was hard. Heck, they were all hard. The second one included some lovely tightening of my hip flexor. The 3rd back pain. Somewhere along the way it got easier... toward the end, even if I did say to Coach "I think I hate hills." I was super excited with my performance. My 12th hill repeat was with 87 cadence and at 16.8 mph. My last hill repeat? 90 cadence and 17.1 mph. Yeah Baby! Hopefully I'll be able to walk later.
I started the morning exhausted. You would be too if you had something squeezing the bejeesle out of your arm once an hour every hour, and then got up at 4:15 am. Not to mention still have muscle pain from those squats and walking lunges on Monday. As Ryan said, it makes you want to do those over and over again until they don't make you sore anymore... besides, imagine how strong you'd be. At the end of the ride, I was invigorated and pain free... at least until the end of the 30 minute drive home.
Then I called the doctor's office. I have no barriers, evidently, because when the nurse asked if I could come in right then, I paused and said "I can come in soon, but you don't want me to come in right this second because I just had a 2 hour bike ride and I stink." Nonetheless, as soon as the padres arrived and I had a shower, we were off for the new blood pressure cuff.
Which, btw has been registering at under 120/80 ever since we left the doctor's office... 138/87 in the doctor's office. I'm thinking subconscious white coat syndrome (and evidently a fear of firefighters who take my blood pressure... or maybe it was just that they were attractive firefighters... hmm).
Come to think of it, it would have been very interesting to see what the blood pressure monitor would have registered on those hill repeats...
Saturday, July 25, 2009
To start the vacation...
I got up at an ungodly hour to (gasp) run hills. Yes, it is official. I am definitely crazy. I woke up at 4 am, thinking it was 4:45 and that I'd overslept. I didn't realize that it was only 4 am though until I was fully dressed, body glide applied, and in the kitchen getting my breakfast. What can you do at that point but just stay up.
So I ate said breakfast, got my camelbak and nutrition ready, gathered keys, money, ID and the cellphone, and checked my email and looked at Facebook. Then about 4:55 am, I headed out the front door to wait on the porch for Ryan since we were carpooling. I'm a bit of a talker (if you hadn't guessed that already) so I sometimes feel badly for Ryan when we carpool. I talk and talk the poor guys ears off. He's a good listener and always has good things to say too, but I know he's not a morning person and yet I can't control my talking. I'd like to blame it on not getting out that much during the work week and the fact that I work from home, but realistically I talked alot when in the office environment too.
We had to drive about an hour to get where we were meeting up for our 6 mile run that was going to include hill repeats. This is Florida so I didn't think they would be all that bad. Hard of course because the term "hill repeats" literally makes me think that Coach is thinking up new and fun ways to torture us along the way to the Ironman 70.3, even if I know (deep down somewhere) that they are good for us. Hill repeats at 6 am when I've had a hard week and accidentally woken up 1/2 an hour earlier than necessasry is an even more special form of torture.
Little did I know that the hill we were going to repeat was essentially a 45 degree incline (if not more) in a neighborhood in Clermont. I didn't know Florida grew hills like that. And unluckily, I forgot my recoverite at home. Yeah. Not good.
We ran about 1.5 miles out to the hill and when I looked at it, it reminded me of San Francisco. As irony would have it, we were doing this work out with Coach's San Francisco marathon team for Team in Training. Then it we did the hill repeats. The hill itself was a quarter of a mile straight up and then another quarter of a mile straight down. 4 repeats. I got about 1/3 of the way up the 1st time, and about 1/2 way up the 2nd-4th times before I had to walk, and then I would run again when I could part way up the hill (nearer the top, of course). Basically, my heart was pounding, I was out of breath, and my old friend nerve pain had returned. My HR monitor says that at one point my heart rate reached 221. Uh, yeah. Total freak out when I saw that one. Not sure that's what the cardiologist would have envisioned for me. My "max out" rate is 185. Luckily, even with the 221, my average was about 148. I'm certain that this torture was actually good for me.
There was walking involved, as well as sitting and waiting for people to complete their 4 repeats before we jogged the 1.5 miles back to the parking lot. I did what I could with my nerve pain and thought to myself that I hoped we do this again in a few weeks so that I could try to get better at it. And that's when I knew that I must have not been getting enough oxygen to the brain during it all... I was wanting more. Not that day mind you. I may have been able to do it once or twice more, but I definitely didn't want to... especially if I planned on walking later in the day (like I need to for errands).
I ended up walking most of the 1.5 miles back. The nerve pain was a little not so fun after sitting (even though I stretched), but it was ok when I walked. But the mileage got done. Coach ordered us all to have an ice bath, so I took one. Not nearly as cold as I thought it would have been, but I may have had the water a little to hot to begin with before I added the ice. The girls joined me, which was pretty funny. Luckily it was after all of the ice had melted. 20 lbs of ice, plus what we had in the freezer. They were mermaids with me in the "mermaid pool." Talk about happy times.
I'm a bit stiff and have a feeling I may be sore in the morning, but (gasp) hill repeats while torture are rather satisfying once they're done. Yup, I'm certifiable. I don't know who it is that has taken over my brain but they, ahem, almost like running. Quite frightening, and crazy in deed.
So I ate said breakfast, got my camelbak and nutrition ready, gathered keys, money, ID and the cellphone, and checked my email and looked at Facebook. Then about 4:55 am, I headed out the front door to wait on the porch for Ryan since we were carpooling. I'm a bit of a talker (if you hadn't guessed that already) so I sometimes feel badly for Ryan when we carpool. I talk and talk the poor guys ears off. He's a good listener and always has good things to say too, but I know he's not a morning person and yet I can't control my talking. I'd like to blame it on not getting out that much during the work week and the fact that I work from home, but realistically I talked alot when in the office environment too.
We had to drive about an hour to get where we were meeting up for our 6 mile run that was going to include hill repeats. This is Florida so I didn't think they would be all that bad. Hard of course because the term "hill repeats" literally makes me think that Coach is thinking up new and fun ways to torture us along the way to the Ironman 70.3, even if I know (deep down somewhere) that they are good for us. Hill repeats at 6 am when I've had a hard week and accidentally woken up 1/2 an hour earlier than necessasry is an even more special form of torture.
Little did I know that the hill we were going to repeat was essentially a 45 degree incline (if not more) in a neighborhood in Clermont. I didn't know Florida grew hills like that. And unluckily, I forgot my recoverite at home. Yeah. Not good.
We ran about 1.5 miles out to the hill and when I looked at it, it reminded me of San Francisco. As irony would have it, we were doing this work out with Coach's San Francisco marathon team for Team in Training. Then it we did the hill repeats. The hill itself was a quarter of a mile straight up and then another quarter of a mile straight down. 4 repeats. I got about 1/3 of the way up the 1st time, and about 1/2 way up the 2nd-4th times before I had to walk, and then I would run again when I could part way up the hill (nearer the top, of course). Basically, my heart was pounding, I was out of breath, and my old friend nerve pain had returned. My HR monitor says that at one point my heart rate reached 221. Uh, yeah. Total freak out when I saw that one. Not sure that's what the cardiologist would have envisioned for me. My "max out" rate is 185. Luckily, even with the 221, my average was about 148. I'm certain that this torture was actually good for me.
There was walking involved, as well as sitting and waiting for people to complete their 4 repeats before we jogged the 1.5 miles back to the parking lot. I did what I could with my nerve pain and thought to myself that I hoped we do this again in a few weeks so that I could try to get better at it. And that's when I knew that I must have not been getting enough oxygen to the brain during it all... I was wanting more. Not that day mind you. I may have been able to do it once or twice more, but I definitely didn't want to... especially if I planned on walking later in the day (like I need to for errands).
I ended up walking most of the 1.5 miles back. The nerve pain was a little not so fun after sitting (even though I stretched), but it was ok when I walked. But the mileage got done. Coach ordered us all to have an ice bath, so I took one. Not nearly as cold as I thought it would have been, but I may have had the water a little to hot to begin with before I added the ice. The girls joined me, which was pretty funny. Luckily it was after all of the ice had melted. 20 lbs of ice, plus what we had in the freezer. They were mermaids with me in the "mermaid pool." Talk about happy times.
I'm a bit stiff and have a feeling I may be sore in the morning, but (gasp) hill repeats while torture are rather satisfying once they're done. Yup, I'm certifiable. I don't know who it is that has taken over my brain but they, ahem, almost like running. Quite frightening, and crazy in deed.
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