Heat...but in the pool. And a bike workout I didn't want to do

The swimming pool I swim in is keeping the water at 87 degrees! 15ooyds in that water is like a 10k in 100degrees. Whoo! It really drains me. I'm upping my swimming yardage a bit because I've noticed a reduction endurance in the water. The local outdoor pool is $5.00 to get in because it has a water park, too, so I'm not paying $5 for a 1500m swim (25 minutes) when I can do it for free at ISU. Now, if I could only get out of bed in the morning, I could do some Open Water Swim.

But I've had really big problems getting to sleep at night. I usually don't sleep til about midnight, after tossing and turning for 90 minutes. It's either too hot or the fan is too loud, or I'm just not tired. I've taken my wife's suggestion of turning off the computer by 9:30pm to let my mind "turn off" and it works a little. Melatonin makes me really groggy in the morning, but I sleep like a king...when I finally get to sleep, which it doesn't help me get to sleep much better.

Did my Portland Tri bike simulation route after work. This was one of those workouts that I "just do" even though I don't want to because "good, consistent workouts" are the key to improvement. Was nearly hit by two cars tonight within a 3 minute timespan, and I nearly turned around at that point, but I stuck it out. This route usually has very few cars on it, but there is a somewhat blind turn with a stop-sign that I am always extra cautious about, and tonight it paid off. Very tired legs today, not sure why, but probably from the long yardwork on Sunday in the heat....bending, standing, leaning to put in about 100 ft of new dog-eared fencing because my dog likes to tear up the old fence and break out of the back yard (but that's another story....a long one at that).

I'm biking to work every day now....again...finally.

I did the brick as planned on Saturday morning. Nice cool morning with no wind. Biked in 1:12 and ran in 54. Both routes have big hills, so I'm expecting the times to drop on flat routes. And, in Portland, I expect a 5-10% drop in time because of the elevation difference. I'm satisfied with those times. The thing I'm not satisfied about is how long it took to get in a groove on the run after the bike....that was a 10 minute adventure instead of the usual 5 minutes. That first ten minutes on the route I ran is all uphill, so I hope that has something to do with it.

Sunday was yardwork in 100 degrees (actually 94, but it felt like 100!). Pulling ivy (I hate ivy!), and replacing some fence that the dog broke up while escaping for whatever reason (I expect a cat!). Also trimmed some trees that have been bothering me lately. I was tired after this adventure in landscaping.

I saw two comments. Somebody other than family reads this! I am hope that you are getting something useful out of reading....either groans at my misfortunes with the pool or some smiles from the cutest little 9 month old in the world. Thanks!

Lunch Run, easy bike cruise after work

Had a nice, hard run at lunch in warm and very humid conditions....the humidity is not common here. Anyway, 6 miles in 48:00.35, missing my goal time of 48 flat by .35 seconds. I'll rationalize that by saying I started my watch earlier than normal (at the door of work instead of the street, adding several seconds. It was a good run.

After work, I did a "cruise" on the bike out to Century High School and back. This wasn't a recovery ride, but simply a time to get some miles on the bike. I wanted to go easy because of the hard run at lunch and planned race-distance brick (40k bike, 10k run) tomorrow morning. It was fun to cruise. Finished in 41:38, with heavy winds (headwind out, tailwind back).

So tomorrow I'm doing a full race-distance brick. This will be only the second race-distance brick I've done this year, the first being the race in North Dakota in June. I need to be doing more of these, but I've run out of time. This weekend is the last weekend I have to do it. Next weekend is the Pocatello Tri, followed by a weekend fishing, followed by the Rush Tri, followed by the Portland Tri....then a few weeks (including Labor Day fishing) to the last tri of the year at Bear Lake. Time has caught up to me, and I'm not ready! I know I can finish, the problem is finishing in my goal times. I just don't have the endurance in my running legs that I want coming off the bike. And I've forgotten what it's like to do the entire 10k run after the bike. The whole "season" has gone by so quickly already. If I didn't love fishing in the backcountry so much, I could be a much better triathlete for sure!

Bike/Run brick yesterday, swim today...It's HOT

Getting hot out there! 93 degrees today and yesterday. I'm not used to the heat, either.

Yesterday (Wed) did a bike and run brick. 40k bike, and 5k run. Was going to be a 10k run, but the heat was getting to me and I didn't want to kill the rest of my workouts this week. The bike came in on 1:12, which is good for me, and there was no wind. Felt good, considering I hadn't biked in a week or so, and I ran a hard 6 miles the day prior.

Then ran 5k. Wanted to do 10k to see where I'm really at, but I found out before I got finished. I cut it short because of the heat, so I know I'm not acclimatized to heat yet. That will come. So I finished the 5k in 25 minutes. I could have held that pace, so I'll consider that I could have done a 50min 10k, with the hills and heat.

Swam a 2x750 today. Felt good, but I know I'm losing my swim endurance now that I'm not swimming 3 days/week. But I need to focus on the bike and run.

This posts has a few qualifiers in it, as in "but,...." So now I know I'm making some excuses, too. This year is a bit different than last year for sure, mostly because I have a young boy at home now who needs a father!

Long Weekend off, back at it....

Went to Yellowstone this past weekend for some hiking and fishing with family. Five mile hike in to the fishing, and then five miles back out. Good for two hours of cross-training each day, plus a whole day of fishing on the river. For some reason, my calves got really sore. I always sleep GREAT in the backcountry, and this night was certainly an awesome night of sleep.

Ran 6.1 miles in the heat today, with hills, in 49:31, beating my previous time under similar heat and rest conditions by 30 seconds. I thought I lost alot of fitness in June and the first two weeks of July, but that appears not to be the case. Woohhhooo! Tomorrow I find out if I lost any endurance on the bike.

Bike and run today

Nice day...not too hot, not too cold, not too windy.

Short bike at lunch today. 14 miles in 43 minutes. Felt good.

After work, ran 10k in two laps around the university instead of the planned trail run. I wanted to get the dog Sooner out and about. She went on the first 5k lap and really lagged behind. I guess the heat was getting to her because in March she did ok for at least one lap. Finished that lap in 30minutes (10min/mile!). Dropped her off at home and hit the second lap in 26 minutes, much slower than anticipated but I didn't really push. This injury stuff sucks, but I think all the extra time on the bike is doing well.

I looked at my "aerobic points" as detailed on slowtitch.com. For March, April, and May, I ended up with 100 swim, 351 bike, and 600 and some on the run. Those numbers should be equal to have a balanced training program. However, I don't really want balanced. I want the bike to be 50%, run 35%, and swim 15% so that I'm working towards my weaknesses. The run is out of whack because of the weather and running with Paul in the stroller. I can't figure the points for earlier in the year because I wasn't keeping track of distances, but now I am. I'm hoping July brings about the percentages I'm looking for. Maybe I need to figure out the weekly and monthly plan using these numbers instead of just setting up workouts based on time available.

Back to running!

I ran today for the first time in 10 days. I was resting my calf muscle, and it took alot of discipline not to run, but I made it. Ran 4 miles at lunch today, and it felt good. 8:15/mile easy running (no heart rate monitor today, on purpose). It was good to run again.

I didn't swim this morning because Paul let us sleep in, and I finally got some good sleep, so I took it while I could get it....I haven't been able to get to sleep most nights til about 1am, not sure what the deal is.

I left work at 5pm and thought "Today is the day I get a PR on the section of today's route that goes from the house to the top of Terry." Then I saw police cars at the bottom of the hill as I drove home, and they were making cars turnaround. But today was the day I was going to PR that hill, so I went up that way anyway. Turns out that there was a downed power line on the road over to Pocatello Creek Road, which is the I hill I do as the simulation for the Portland tri. I was still able to go up the hill, but I'd have to turn-around. I could deal with that, and I had a back up route in mind already.

So I kept cruising up the hill, pushing just a bit harder than normal, knowing I didn't have to the usual hill twice more and then come back over this hill. I made it up in 10:21, including about 20-30 seconds of talking to the police and then getting going again. I now KNOW I can get up that hill in less than 10 minutes!

From there, I cruised over American Road to get to Barton. I was going to do two loops of American Road to Alvin Ricken, but American Road is about the crappiest road to bike on I've ever been on. So, scratch that plan 500 yards into American Road. I then went up Barton (the hill I'll do tomorrow three or four times) and went home. I then thought about a three mile run, but I decided against it so I wouldn't overload my calf muscle that I've just spent 10 days recuperating.

All in all, I didn't get thwarted on this workout like I normally do for swim closures. I had a back-up plan in mind and did that, then went to another backup plan from there. I fulfilled my latest mantra of "consistent workouts of any quality are better than super quality workouts at random." I'm calling today a success.

Did four hours of yard work yesterday in the heat. Well, it was only 90 degrees, but that qualifies as heat right now. Pulled out almost all the ivy that overgrows and kills other plants. I really dislike ivy! Call me "Ivy Killer."

Tour de Scout

This year seems to be the year that I do all the trips up Scout Mt that I've been thinking about. In the winter, we skied up to the top. In the spring, I ran the Poky 50 trail run, so I ran to the top. Today, I biked up to the campground on my road bike. No I didn't go all the way to the top. This was 32.5 miles roundtrip from my garage, from about 4,600ft to 8,540, much (3,000 or so) of the gain coming in the last five miles. I've been wanting to do this ride since last August or so, and today seemed like the day to do it because 1) I wanted to meet some friends who were camping with their young 'uns for the first time, 2) I had a two hour workout scheduled anyway (40k bike, 10k run) but I can't run so I needed a two hour bike, and 3) it would get me out of doing yardwork. My goal was to get to the campground without stopping, and I did that, although there were a few times that I just wanted to stop (but didn't). At the top, I did a loop through the campground to find them but didn't. I found them pulling out of the campground as I was about to leave and stopped to chat for a bit. There night went well.

I cruised down the hill, slowing way down for the cattle guards, though. Then I cruised across Bannock Highway at about 28mph (not sure what the wind was doing, but it must have been a tailwind!).

I had to stop at the university for a light, and when I stopped, I flatted. Not sure how that happens.....tires are good til you stop, then phhhtttt. WTF?!?! I figured "OK, now's the day I time myself as if I was in a race." Nine minutes later (AARRGG, I'm slow) I had my new tube installed and aired up....BUT it was not sealed right. So I aired down to put the tube back in, and then ran out of CO2 air as I was filling it back up. Damn, that's three times now that I haven't been able to fix my tire and ride it back home. I walked it home on bare feet on hot cement....that led to a couple of blisters faster than I could count to ten....not sure why. I can run or hike all day without a hotspot, but today I got one big blister on both feet on the bottom of my feet below my middle toes outward to the pinkies. Not comfortable at all, but I got home. Would've been a two hour ride had I not flatted. Turned into a 1:50 ride with a 20 minute "walk-it-out" stretching.

This is my longest ride ever, I think. The Buckskin ride (to Inkom then over Buckskin pass) might be longer mileage wise but not timewise as far as I can remember. It was a difficult 1 hour and 10 minutes on the first half, anyway, then easy cruising back home.

Now I can say I've done that ride. And what an awesome ride to be able to start from my home! Gotta love livin' in Poky!!!

Good bike workout

Nice bike training today. Did the Portland hill simulation route twice. Times were equivalent to best times this year for the most part. Best part about it was that I didn't feel really tired afterwards, and it felt short (I know it wasn't shorter than normal). Those two things put together tell me it was a good workout. My second hill was faster than the first, I think because I came up out the aero position a bit and could get better power out of my legs and breathe bettter. A little bit of wind but nothing significant. Nice day, too!

Wind!

What's with the wind? It never goes away in the Gap.

Swam 1x1500 at the pool yesterday. Stroke count is 9-10 per arm per 25yds. That's better than usual 11-12. But my speed went away. 22:33 for a 1500? What happened?! I wasn't killing myself, but I wasn't lolly-gagging either. That's right....water was about 85 degrees.

I'm now biking at lunch instead of running, this week anyway. I go for about a 40 minute ride. Nice that the workplace now has a shower! The wind never stops on this ride. I just hope that the saying "bike will help the run, but run won't help the bike" is true because this not running stuff is killing me. My leg feels fine when walking flat, up, and down, but I don't want to risk getting back on it too early. Next week I'll get back at it. Probably start running in the mornings with Paul...not sure how that's going to work out, though.

Bike instead of run this week

I'm not running at all this week to let my calf heal up a bit. It's doing pretty good, but I don't want to test it. I self-diagnosed it on the internet as a calf pull and not achilles tendonitis. Basically, it's too high up the calf to be achilles tenonitis/tendonosis. When I flex with a bent knee, it hurts. There is no pain when I flex with a straight knee.

So today was a double bike. Biked 14 miles at lunch, then the standard 40k route to Inkom. Very windy today. The 40k time was a few minutes slower than normal, and I'll blame that on the wind. We'll see how I feel tomorrow after a double bike day.

Saturday was a nice family hike up Gibson Jack to see how Paul liked the baby backpack. He seemed ok with it, fell asleep, on the way up, then babbled the entire hour and half on the way down. I practiced talking back to him! Overall, a nice three hour hike.

Sunday I did six hours of yardwork. Call me the "ivy killer." I hate ivy, and all the recent rain has made it grow like the weed it is. It is killing one of our juniper bushes, so I yanked it all out of there. Then I cleared the area around our air conditioner. Sweated like a beast all day. Good workout I guess, but I don't log it as such.

MTB and swimming

Got in a nice two hour mountain bike (MTB) ride this morning on a day off. After big rain last night, I thought the trails might be really muddy, but they were still dry. Legs felt good, too. Broke a chain link, not because of my massive power....it's the original chain from 15 years ago! Tim was smart enough to have a chain tool, and smart enough to know how to use it....otherwise I would've been walking home (or calling for a ride!). It was a great day, and I learned something too (broken chain).

Then we went to the Ross Park pool to get Paul in some outdoor swim time, his first go at an outdoor pool. I think he liked the cool water more than the warm water at the hospital baby class. I'm pretty sure he had fun! Pix below. I wanted to get in some laps, but my shorts and goggles were locked up in the gym that's closed for the holiday.....simply another story to add to the many about my inability to swim at the ISU pool.




Getting in.

Mom is taking him for a cruise in the lazy river.

Checking out "the sights" already!

Good times at the pool!

Swim improvements, 40k Bike PR

Went to the pool at lunch, intending to do 2k straight. By the time I got into the water, it turned into "I need to do some drills to make sure my form is still good cuz it's been about two months since I was in the pool." I did some various drills with no real structure; I found it quite invigorating. Most importantly, I found that I've dropped my swim strokes per 25 yards from 12 to 10. Probably because of the open water swimming. I'll take it!

After work, got a new PR on my 40k TT route! Yeehaw! I started out slow and sore with lots of wind and thinking "well, this is just one more workout this week that's gonna suck." By the 30k point, I realized I was on pace for a PR, so I kicked it in. Bam! Beat previous by about 15 seconds.

A good day!