Okay so this weekend didn't go exactly as planned thanks to Mother Nature and her hatred toward me it appears. Saturday I got my bike ride and a little swim. Sunday I got my swim in but due to a Frisco game it was tough to get anything in else. Monday I only got a swim in due to the wet weather. I was hoping for three straight days of riding and that didn't happen. But I did notice that while I was riding around Grapevine it came to mind how it was when I first rode in Grapevine. I could barely make it to the club and that small hill killed me and I thought that 3.5 miles felt like I was riding forever. Now to present day I am conquering those hills and no longer is a 7 mile ride the max I can do. Now I try to get in at least 20 miles per ride and on Sunday I really try to get in at least 30 to 35 miles. Long ways from February to today. But a good thing of course.
On my swim this weekend it was good and bad and today I would even go as far as saying it was great. While not pretty mind you I made it 100 meters without stopping when I was swimming. The only stops were the small breaks between those 25 meter swims. So that is very positive thing for me. While I am still a long ways to go before I will feel ready for an actual swim in the open waters. But this does help me to get to that point. I missed the last couple of open water swims due to the week just taking it completely out of me. But I am not going to miss anymore. I need that practice in the real water. And hopefully with Coach Lindsey's help we will get a deeper pool for me to swim in so I can adjust to the depth problems that I have when I look down. I did not have too much anxiety on my last swim but it was still there. But with some training I know I can overcome that feeling and see myself getting stronger with the swim.
On to this week's schedule. Swimming after work at least four times this week. Back and core workouts before each swim. And than running at the club after that. But I am not seeing any improvements in my back right now. Even with the additional work with my back it is not seeming to be working. And this is what is killing me. What use to be my strong point is now limited in what I can do as it is hard for me to make it more than a mile before the tightness comes. And when that tightness comes it is down hill for me quickly in my run. What use to be a sub 28 is now averaging about 34 or 35 or worst. And in the end that is what is making my actual finish times for my tri sprints getting worst instead of better even with me improving my swim and bike times.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
30 miles of awesomeness
The ride Sunday was awesome. The weather was great and the ride itself was great. I was at White Rock and rode both directions. Towards the high five and then around White Rock itself. I managed only 30 miles of riding but that was good enough for me yesterday. I got a lot of practice on improving my speed and am getting sharper on my turns along with those sharp turns. I am feeling about 85% confident in my bike now. I managed to get myself through the 30 miles with only one almost crash and burn and that would have been completely my fault if I did actually crash. I was looking at my Garmin and chose then to analyze my speed and predicting my finish when I should have been looking at the path because going up hill is challenging enough without me being distracted. So I rode off the path like a drunk driver but managed to get back on the path without any problems. What I am seeing is that I am improving now in big steps. Still slower than the good riders I am guessing as I still get passed quite often. I need to figure out what the average speed is for a good rider to compare where I am before, now and need to be in the future.
Good achievement for me was that I almost reached my goal mileages for two straight hours. I made my first goal for the first hour in getting 15 miles in for the hour of riding. And missed reaching that goal for the second hour by just 30 seconds. Just like finishing 2nd in a race I would rather have missed that goal by a lot than to see me miss it by only 30 seconds. Oh that one hurt. I could just quickly go through that whole second hour of the ride and calculate where and when it all went wrong. But instead of dwelling on me missing it I am focusing on the fact that I still managed 30 miles quicker than I ever rode it before and that this is only the beginning for me.
Next is hill training. While I love White Rock the one thing it doesn't have on the routes I take are a lot of hills. I know where to find the hills over there and am thinking of doing that route next weekend because I can get from White Rock to Deep Ellum on this particular route that we ran for marathon training. So I am thinking of doing that and seeing how I do on those hills getting to that route.
Swim tonight was good but not great. What I really need is someone to record me swimming so I can see if my lower half of my body is where it is supposed to be or not. I am working on the drills and know that I am doing those right. But once the drills are over and the swim begins that is when I just can't tell.
Also on the schedule for next weekend. Yes I am jumping around now. Is to focus on my 2nd transition. After my ride this Sunday I only lasted 2 miles on the run and even that was painful as I found new parts of my legs that could have pain. Who knew that parts above your knee could have such sharp pains and tightness all at the same time. Well this guy knows that now. And a lesson that will be learned again and again until I get this done correctly. What doesn't kill my legs or myself can only make me stronger. Or that is what I am hoping will happen. I am wanting to work on the T2 all weekend not just on Sunday. I am now determined to either kill myself or make myself stronger in the T2 area. That is where I am losing time from my first two tri's. And that is where I need to improve or else all my other improvements are for not. I mean even when I swam faster on my second tri I still did worst overall due to the run portion. I wear myself out before I even get to my strong part of the event. Not smart at all. But like all my ex's can contest. Smarts and me were never really something that went together. :)
Anyway I haven't run but once this month and that is all part of my master plan. I am working on strengthening my lower back at LA Fitness and my core. I am hoping and praying that this will improve my run with eliminating my tightness in my lower back. I am now needing to get back on the track and start back up running again. I need to test out my back and see where I am in all of my exercising and strengthening.
Good achievement for me was that I almost reached my goal mileages for two straight hours. I made my first goal for the first hour in getting 15 miles in for the hour of riding. And missed reaching that goal for the second hour by just 30 seconds. Just like finishing 2nd in a race I would rather have missed that goal by a lot than to see me miss it by only 30 seconds. Oh that one hurt. I could just quickly go through that whole second hour of the ride and calculate where and when it all went wrong. But instead of dwelling on me missing it I am focusing on the fact that I still managed 30 miles quicker than I ever rode it before and that this is only the beginning for me.
Next is hill training. While I love White Rock the one thing it doesn't have on the routes I take are a lot of hills. I know where to find the hills over there and am thinking of doing that route next weekend because I can get from White Rock to Deep Ellum on this particular route that we ran for marathon training. So I am thinking of doing that and seeing how I do on those hills getting to that route.
Swim tonight was good but not great. What I really need is someone to record me swimming so I can see if my lower half of my body is where it is supposed to be or not. I am working on the drills and know that I am doing those right. But once the drills are over and the swim begins that is when I just can't tell.
Also on the schedule for next weekend. Yes I am jumping around now. Is to focus on my 2nd transition. After my ride this Sunday I only lasted 2 miles on the run and even that was painful as I found new parts of my legs that could have pain. Who knew that parts above your knee could have such sharp pains and tightness all at the same time. Well this guy knows that now. And a lesson that will be learned again and again until I get this done correctly. What doesn't kill my legs or myself can only make me stronger. Or that is what I am hoping will happen. I am wanting to work on the T2 all weekend not just on Sunday. I am now determined to either kill myself or make myself stronger in the T2 area. That is where I am losing time from my first two tri's. And that is where I need to improve or else all my other improvements are for not. I mean even when I swam faster on my second tri I still did worst overall due to the run portion. I wear myself out before I even get to my strong part of the event. Not smart at all. But like all my ex's can contest. Smarts and me were never really something that went together. :)
Anyway I haven't run but once this month and that is all part of my master plan. I am working on strengthening my lower back at LA Fitness and my core. I am hoping and praying that this will improve my run with eliminating my tightness in my lower back. I am now needing to get back on the track and start back up running again. I need to test out my back and see where I am in all of my exercising and strengthening.
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