Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Training Notes

We just got our first personalized training schedules from Maramarc. I'm a bit intimidated! Our January calendars and our December ones are exactly the same, only totally different.

Of course we are building on our cycling base, thanks to Ed. The biggest change, however, is the inclusion of personal time goals for our runs. At the beginning of December we each participated in a timed one-mile run, upon which our goal times are based. We ran said one-miler after a "warmup" that totally wore me out! Thank goodness, because I'm scared to death of my so-called tempo pace for next month.

Based on a 7:45 mile, my 1/2 mile speedwork splits should be 3:45, my tempo run pace is 8:50 miles, and my easy, recovery pace is a 10:35 mile.

While apprehensive, I am also eagerly anticipating working on actually running at different speeds, as opposed to doing all my runs somewhere between nine and ten minute miles.

Time to get a new watch!

The Other Season

I've written quite a bit about my training during the tri season, and I've posted about the off season, as well. Much of my thinking right now doesn't have a whole lot to do with triathlon, though. So, this post is a bookmark for myself. Forgive the self-indulgence.

Tis the season. The holiday season. A time to spend with family and friends, perhaps relax (or get stressed out,) and, of course, reflect on the ending year and the beginning one.

This year, for the first time in a long while, my brother and sister-in-law hauled their three kids back to Virginia to spend Christmas with our side of the family. That has been the best part of the season.

Anticipation. I had a tough time wrapping up my school semester and prepping for the holidays. I was finishing up my school responsibilities just as the restaurant was full swing in the busiest month of the year, so I was really pulled in a lot of different directions. Two major events took place over the Christmas weekend, too, that have put me back into an introspective mood and in a place for reassessment of my life.

Fortune. I am so fortunate to have the family and friends that I do. I can't imagine where I would be today without them. I'm also fortunate to have my health, and of course to have a home, a job, a car, more than enough food, etc.

Sometimes I put all of this to the test.

I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions because they are often pithy and almost always soon forgotten. Changes need to be made daily and usually in small starts. I'll use a training metaphor...

Of course I couldn't complete the Ironman tomorrow. But I will in November 2007. Each week I will do something to increase my strength and endurance.

In my life I will make the same plans, avoiding the use of "always" or "never" or "diet."

However, I have an outline of areas of my life that are important and will be included in my weekly plans. I'm trying to be more aware of my relationships with the aforementioned, primarily family and friends, but also with my own body, my spirituality, and, again, even my job. Sometimes I take these all for granted.

If I want to maintain positive relationships with all of these people and things, I need to put in the time and effort necessary and be thankful for them every day.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Bike Crash

It was inevitable that I would be the first (if not only) participant in Ed's indoor cycling class to fall off my bike.

While it was on the trainer.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The "Off-Season," Huh, What??!!

After meeting for some tried-and-true calisthenics and a timed one-mile run Saturday morning, those TRIgirls and Maramarc affiliates who are preparing for Eagleman, Coeur d'Alene, or Florida this year were each issued a personalized workout schedule for the month of December. Each month we will run our mile and get a new schedule. Sounds simple.

Which, actually, is the best thing about having great coaches. I take my mind out of the equation and just do what I'm told. If Grandison told me to jump off a bridge, yes, yes, I absolutely would. Well, okay, sometimes I may or may not cheat just a little bit. But two of my favorite mantras are, "You're only cheating yourself," and, "It's MY workout!" Paradoxical, yes, but aren't most important things?

Having said that, my weekly training consists right now, in this so-called off-season, of ten workouts.

Ten.

Workouts.

I guess that's what happens when you roll three sports into one and work on strength building to boot.

Monday 6 am--Ed's Shenanigans, formerly known as Strength Training
Tuesday 7 am--run with TRIgirls
Tuesday 7 pm--cycling with Ed
Wednesday 6 am--Ed's Shenanigans
Wednesday at-a-time-I-can-fit-it-in-if-possible--swim
Thursday 6 or 7 am--run with TRIgirls
Thursday 7 pm--cycling with Ed
Friday--REST DAY!!!! Much needed and well-deserved
Saturday 7 am--cycling with Ed
Sunday am--run with TRIgirls
Sunday 5 pm--swim with Som

I guess I will have to start considering Monday and Saturday to be rest days since I will exercise only once. My life is very different from what is was three years ago...

Monday, December 04, 2006

End of Season/Semester Blues


I have read much about the experience of triathletes going into the taper before a big race and not knowing quite what to do with themselves.

I have this feeling of extra time and a bit of awkward uselessness at the end of each school semester.

I guess right now these two are kind of coinciding. Although, as I pointed out to myself this morning, my "off season" does include ten workouts a week right now.

This is the last week of classes at both UR and VCU. I really did overextend myself this semester with the four classes, four to five shifts at the restaurant, and eight to ten workouts with the TRIgirls EVERY WEEK. So, right now, I'm having that last-week-of-school panic. And while I know that everything will get done, I'm already worrying about the next thing. How much am I going to have to work at the restaurant over break? How much time am I going to need to devote to my three classes next semester? When can I get the new textbook I'll be using for English 111? Will I need to extend my work schedule in January and February to make up for teaching one class fewer?

And I guess the answer to all of these questions comes down to balance. That, and the fact that our inboxes are rarely empty, nor do they necessarily need to be. Part of the end-of-semester panic comes with the WhatAmIGoingToDoNow feeling of too much time on my hands when that inbox really is empty. For the first time since August.

That last race of the season? Skipped it.

This week I start my indoor cycling for the off season. Weekends are filled with holiday parties and get-togethers with out-of-town friends and family.

Goals for December:
1. Maintain weight.
2. Get into off-season training routine.
3. Relax my mind.

The hectic schedule will begin again all too soon.