Last week my little boy was fighting a cold. My wife and I both said if we could take his cold to make him get over it we would. Well maybe that happened, lol. I woke up with a sore throat yesterday and that is usually how my colds start. Sure enough by bedtime I was stuffed up and had a bit of a cough. Today (well through the night) I woke up to more of the same. Luckily his cold was short lived so I am hoping for the same.
I did have a pretty good ride on the trainer last night despite the start of this cold. I did get a good sweat going. I can always tell I am working hard when the sweat is running down the peak of my visor. I was busy during the day and wanted to spend some time with the family so it wasnt until 9pm that I got on the bike. I was shaking my head when I was finishing up after 11pm. I usually much prefer to get my workouts done in the morning but sometimes you have to get them in when you can.
I think today I might lie low and try to get some extra sleep in. I took my boy to his day home so it will be nice a quiet. I will pick him up at 4:30 and then will come home and make something for dinner. My wife gets home from work at 6:00 so I have plenty of time to come up with something. But in the meantime, bed it is!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Swim Camp....how it went.
Being that swimming is by far my weak point I am always looking for a chance to improve. I decided to take a short evening swim camp with Jordan Bryden. If you don't know him, he is a local pro triathlete on the ITU and Xterra circuits and is quite the swimmer. I wasnt sure how much I could take in during one evening but I was willing to try.
The night started off with just some easy warm up laps and figuring out lane speeds. After that we started out with drills. Jordan did a good job connecting the drills with various parts of the stroke. We did do alot of fin work which I have not done in the past. One thing the drills clearly proved is just how bad I am breathing to the left. I knew I wasnt good at it but it was magnified on some of the drills. Definitly one thig to work on.
We got out of the pool for some dry land exercises. The exercises themselves helped pull a few concepts together for me. I will definitely be incorporating these into my workouts. It was nice getting feed back out of the water as well as in.
Then it was back into the water for some laps and analysis. It was kind of funny swimming over top of someone looking up at you from the bottom of the pool. The feedback that Jordan gave me from this point of view was that my head was all over the place. I needed to be breathing or looking down. Another bad habit that I was pretty much aware of.
The swim portion was done at this point and we all hopped in the hot tub and watched a couple very short videos on swim technique. Once we were all warmed up and after a quick change we reviewed our individual swim videos. I had never seen my technique before so it was good to see from that vantage point. Aside from the previously mentioned flaws, the only other thing that Jordan suggested was to shorten my reach about 1 inch. I should get more power in each pull if I do this. My catch was a little lacking but I had improved alot during the course of the session. I thought my analysis was going to be a bit painful and a hit to the ego but overall he said it was actually pretty good.
Overall I did get pick up some good info from this. It will help me build on what my coach has already taught me. I have been feeling better and better about being in the pool lately. It is crazy how when you work at something you can actually see results and maybe even enjoy it a bit ;) .
The night started off with just some easy warm up laps and figuring out lane speeds. After that we started out with drills. Jordan did a good job connecting the drills with various parts of the stroke. We did do alot of fin work which I have not done in the past. One thing the drills clearly proved is just how bad I am breathing to the left. I knew I wasnt good at it but it was magnified on some of the drills. Definitly one thig to work on.
We got out of the pool for some dry land exercises. The exercises themselves helped pull a few concepts together for me. I will definitely be incorporating these into my workouts. It was nice getting feed back out of the water as well as in.
Then it was back into the water for some laps and analysis. It was kind of funny swimming over top of someone looking up at you from the bottom of the pool. The feedback that Jordan gave me from this point of view was that my head was all over the place. I needed to be breathing or looking down. Another bad habit that I was pretty much aware of.
The swim portion was done at this point and we all hopped in the hot tub and watched a couple very short videos on swim technique. Once we were all warmed up and after a quick change we reviewed our individual swim videos. I had never seen my technique before so it was good to see from that vantage point. Aside from the previously mentioned flaws, the only other thing that Jordan suggested was to shorten my reach about 1 inch. I should get more power in each pull if I do this. My catch was a little lacking but I had improved alot during the course of the session. I thought my analysis was going to be a bit painful and a hit to the ego but overall he said it was actually pretty good.
Overall I did get pick up some good info from this. It will help me build on what my coach has already taught me. I have been feeling better and better about being in the pool lately. It is crazy how when you work at something you can actually see results and maybe even enjoy it a bit ;) .
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
You know you had a good bike training session when....
If you have read my blog, you would probably know that I love my bike. I always love the schedule days when it says BIKE. Today was one of those days. It wasn't a long work out but had some intensity.
After a warm up it was 5 mins of 15/15's followed by 5 mins of ez spin. Then the main set started, 90 seconds of big ring and holding 90 cadence. Followed up by 2 1/2 mins rest. In the beginning the 90 seconds seems short and then rest seems to be forever! By the end of the workout it is a much different story. It might not seem like much but do it enough and it is an ass kicker.
My leg strength is definately improved over last year. Doing these intervals I am pushing all the gears the bike has and keeping the cadence. I am excited to see how I feel on the roads in the spring. The plan was for 8 work/rest reps but I miscounted and added on another one. Better one more than one less right?!
In other training news, I signed up for a swim camp. Next Sat Jordan Bryden is putting on a 1 day camp with video analysis. I think this will help lots. My swimming is comming along but there is always room for improvement...and I have lots of room, lol.
In non training news....it was my 2 year wedding anniversary today. Hard to believe that we have been married for 2 years already! We had some good laughs talking about things today. Alot have things have changed since we were married but all for the better! We all had a great lunch at Salt and Pepper...mmmmm mexican. And then we god some shopping done that we needed to get out of the way.
Ohh and to finish off the title...you know you had a good bike training session when you barely keep you lunch down, when it takes you much longer to walk up that basement stairs than it should and when you seriously consider using the hand rail ;).
After a warm up it was 5 mins of 15/15's followed by 5 mins of ez spin. Then the main set started, 90 seconds of big ring and holding 90 cadence. Followed up by 2 1/2 mins rest. In the beginning the 90 seconds seems short and then rest seems to be forever! By the end of the workout it is a much different story. It might not seem like much but do it enough and it is an ass kicker.
My leg strength is definately improved over last year. Doing these intervals I am pushing all the gears the bike has and keeping the cadence. I am excited to see how I feel on the roads in the spring. The plan was for 8 work/rest reps but I miscounted and added on another one. Better one more than one less right?!
In other training news, I signed up for a swim camp. Next Sat Jordan Bryden is putting on a 1 day camp with video analysis. I think this will help lots. My swimming is comming along but there is always room for improvement...and I have lots of room, lol.
In non training news....it was my 2 year wedding anniversary today. Hard to believe that we have been married for 2 years already! We had some good laughs talking about things today. Alot have things have changed since we were married but all for the better! We all had a great lunch at Salt and Pepper...mmmmm mexican. And then we god some shopping done that we needed to get out of the way.
Ohh and to finish off the title...you know you had a good bike training session when you barely keep you lunch down, when it takes you much longer to walk up that basement stairs than it should and when you seriously consider using the hand rail ;).
Monday, January 10, 2011
Loving my pain cave right now....
There is nothing I love more than getting outside for a run or bike. But right now there isn't much motivation to get outside for either. I am fortunate to have a nice large basement that I can turn into a winter haven for training...a pain cave (I can't take credit for the name, I stole it off the slowtwich forums).
When my wife sold her condo and we moved in together, she told me that she wanted a treadmill. I teased her about it because I didn't think that she would actually use it. Turns out I was right, lol. But as fate would have it I would eventually be the one using it. I have to say that it is VERY convenient. On days that I work it is great that I can just come home, change and then hop right on the treadmill for a run. But now with this less than stellar weather it has been a good alternative to running outside. While I have run in colder weather, right now I don't feel the need to, lol.
And for any Canadian triathlete, a bike trainer is an essential tool. I am by no means a huge fan of it but it is what it is.....something to keep the legs going over those cold winter months. I have the trainer set up in front of the TV and usually pop in a movie. I purposely don't have a fan on me during my training. I guess I want to get used to the heat as much as possible. And besides, it is already pretty cool down in the dungeon.
I have some various weights, kettle bells, and resistance bands that I use for strength exercises for when I don't want to hit the gym. Although I do prefer to go to an actual gym it is all about the convenience sometimes.
An endless pool would be a great addition to the pain cave but that is sooooo not in the budget. I have never tried one but would love to just to see how it feels. I am sure my wife would divorce me if I even suggested getting one. Haha, who is kidding who...I am not that into swimming. I have said it once and I will say it again...the only reason I swim is to get to my bike.
Sitting here, typing and looking out the window I am looking forward to the warmth of summer and extra light that it brings. I miss shorts and t shirt weather. But for now I am going to have to continue my love/hate relationship with the pain cave.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Cue the "Jaws" theme....
Nothing makes me smile more than a nice empty pool. Yesterday was a swim day and I was actually looking forward to it. I usually hit the shouldice pool because it is reasonably close to home, cheap and usually not that busy. However I when I pulled into the parking lot I knew it wasn't going to be a "nice empty pool". I get inside and sure enough it is packed. All lanes are marked by speed...slow, med and fast (each has 2 lanes). But why bother, they all have slow people in them. As I keep saying, I am no Phelps or Potts but seriously people, judge your speed correctly!!
I jumped in the med lane because that is where I usually go. I was sharing the one lane with 3 other people and it was going ok until one woman broke out the kick board to do drills. Sure enough it ends up turning into a traffic jam. But as luck would have it, 2 people leave from the lane next to me. I decided to hop on over into that one since it only has one person. At this point the inner shark is coming out...thanks Keith for introducing me to that term!
Very quickly I realize that the person in that lane is slower than me. Whatever, I just assume that she will let me go by at the end....wrong. I am right behind her and she hits the wall, does an awful flip turn, heads towards the bottom of the pool and then just floats up to the surface. Super frustrating!!! I don't care if you are slow, just be considerate. But after 20 mins she left and I was able to get some good time in.
Enough of a mini rant! Training is going well otherwise. I had a bit of ankle pain on my left that seems to be resolving. Not super painful but enough to make sure I was aware of it. It did make running a bit annoying.
Unfortunately I go back to work tomorrow but al least it is a rest day. My mom flies back to Nova Scotia the next day so it is good timing. It will be nice to spend one more evening with her before she goes back. We had a great visit and it was so much fun seeing her get to know my son. She is going to miss him for sure!
It is time to hit the hay, need to get up early to save lives and stamp out disease.
I jumped in the med lane because that is where I usually go. I was sharing the one lane with 3 other people and it was going ok until one woman broke out the kick board to do drills. Sure enough it ends up turning into a traffic jam. But as luck would have it, 2 people leave from the lane next to me. I decided to hop on over into that one since it only has one person. At this point the inner shark is coming out...thanks Keith for introducing me to that term!
Very quickly I realize that the person in that lane is slower than me. Whatever, I just assume that she will let me go by at the end....wrong. I am right behind her and she hits the wall, does an awful flip turn, heads towards the bottom of the pool and then just floats up to the surface. Super frustrating!!! I don't care if you are slow, just be considerate. But after 20 mins she left and I was able to get some good time in.
Enough of a mini rant! Training is going well otherwise. I had a bit of ankle pain on my left that seems to be resolving. Not super painful but enough to make sure I was aware of it. It did make running a bit annoying.
Unfortunately I go back to work tomorrow but al least it is a rest day. My mom flies back to Nova Scotia the next day so it is good timing. It will be nice to spend one more evening with her before she goes back. We had a great visit and it was so much fun seeing her get to know my son. She is going to miss him for sure!
It is time to hit the hay, need to get up early to save lives and stamp out disease.
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