Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Wait Up, Guys!

Holy Crap! Were we supposed to start training already?!

$%&$!
Monday - Yoga
Tuesday Morning - planned to run, but nerve still not letting me put any pressure on the leg. Did 15 min on elipticle (how do you spell this?) and 45 min on a stationary bike. Kept HR at 150.
Tuesday Afternoon - Chiropractor appointment. Complete with x-rays and electro therapy to relieve some of the pain
Tuesday Night - Swim practice - 500 yard warm up, 6x 50, 3x100 corkscrew, then backstroke clinic with Jacquie
Wednesday Morning - spin class (60 min) average HR at 155.
Wednesday Morning - Chiro follow up - NOT GOOD NEWS. Weird curvature in lumbar region. 6th lumbar vertabre (not normal, but not something you can do anything about). He's put me on a 3xweek schedule for a month to see how it reacts. No running until mid week if the spine reacts well to the adjustments. He said not to swim but we'll at least try to pull the longer sets. Cycling should not be a problem.

Monday, October 29, 2007

SOMA Half Ironman Weekend

OK, so this stupid sciatic nerve issue really got the best of me this week. Tried to train through the pain while still trying to taper for the weekend.

Sunday - swim 2600 yards. tried to keep it slow and easy (I know you're all thinking....."Has he ever swam anything other than slow and easy?") Pain not so bad once it warmed up.
Monday - Spin class 1 hr in the morning, keeping heart rate right at 140-145. Then Yoga (naked yoga, baby!) that evening.
Tuesday - planned an easy 7 miler but the smoke and wind in the OC was nasty so kept it to 45 min on the treadmill. Ipod helps but I didn't want to continue getting used to it since the race doesn't allow the ipod during the race. Swim that night (with the hottie JC). Again slow and easy. Lot's of stretched out strokes.
Wednesday - swim that night.
Thursday - took the day off. The sciatic nerve was really acting up! Lot's of advil and ice but it still hurts like a dickens.
Friday - tried to do a mini tri (500 yards at the gym pool/45 min spin/15 min run). The swim really started to hurt with any type of kick with the left foot, tried different body positioning to alleviate the pain to no avail (oh, no! what's gonna happen this weekend). Spin went well. Kept the heart rate at 135-140. then the run......if you can all it that. I got on the treadmill got the speed up to 6 mph and nothing! The leg was dead! Pain, pain, pain! so I stopped! feeling dejected and mad!
Saturday - nothing but package pickup. Buddy had to get new goggles, so we went to the pool where we staying to try them out. Got in and swam a few laps.
Sunday - race day! Decided that morining to go in a complete as much as I could. Make decisions at each transition.

Swim - 0719 start. Water was nice 70 degrees. Smooth, clearly marked course. Gun goes off and the mayhem starts. Let most of my wave go out and I start. Right away I feel the sharp distinctive shot of nerve pain down the leg. Start figuring out what position/stroke will get me through. All the while while I'm breathing I see the shore.....should i just call it a day and climb out....I can't get into a smooth stroke....I think I'm going to die in Tempe Lake....and this nimrod swimming next to me, just won't let me move to the shore....damn him! Keep swimming until I leave him or he leaves me, then I can get to shore and climb out. Buoy #1. Hey, that wasn't so bad, I guess I have to swim....45 min later I'm out. Pulled out by a massive bear of a man! "HELLO, DADDY! My name is Daisy, what's yours?" Wetsuit strippers are next....find the cutest one, have to wait just a few seconds....rip, there is goes.....call me later, please! Run through transition....nice grass, that feels good on the feet. Leg not hurting so bad....maybe I can run today?!

Transition - find my spot...Thank God for the big rainbow flag! Damn it, not my bike, don't know why I was drawn to that spot. Put on my jersey (not a fan of swimming with it) race belt with number, socks (wait dry your feet dummy!), shoes, glasses. Take a powerbar to eat while I run. Helmet, you nimrod....now go!
Click, click, click on the cement. Mount, go! Not bad.

Bike - 3 loops let's see how this goes. No wind to speak of, I'm feeling good. Steady climb but I see the other riders on the return coming down, look forward to that. Starts getting warm on the first lap at about mile 10. Rio Salado, head wind out, but can hit up to 30 miles coming back. Little short hills on the other side of the lake, actually nice to get out of the saddle. Heart rate good, but little spikes at the hills. The course is narrow and slow with all the turns. Keep it around 13-16 through the traffic. Loop 2, the first wave of pros are now zipping by....my god, how can they go that fast! my lower back is hurting, my sciatic is annoying on the downstroke, CRAP! Just get through this. Stretch the back, get off at the next aid station to walk it off and relax the back. Good call, get back on with new legs and back. Loop 3, feeling good, running under 3:30 for the bike, which is good considering how I'm feeling. Mile 50, just get your lower back through this....oh, my we have to get some miles in to just train the body to get through this race! Final push, see some friends cheering as I come into the transition at about 3:30 according to my watch.....let's see how the leg feels as I run. Oh, no, it's hot! without the wind in your face from the bike you really feel the heat. Run, not feeling good.

Transition - get the helmet off, shoes off, slip on the running shoes, swig of water, wrap my fuel belt, hat on, start to run (moment of truth), Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! can I work it out through the transition...Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! No, this isn't going to work today....crap, I'm done!

Still feel good, got out in the water, on the bike course and know what I have to do between now and April. Feel good about swim workouts, just need more time on the bike.....run (probably my strongest leg) will be OK once this damn sciatic calms down. Looking into accupuncture as an option. But yoga (naked yoga, baby!) should help get my spin more flexible (and maybe a date ;)!)

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Drew's Friday and Saturday Workouts

Yesterday, I ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then swam 1000 yards. I was going to swim more, but I wound up getting this huge headache. Maybe I was dehydrated. Maybe the air quality was still poor--but I felt like crap, so I stopped.

Today (Saturday), I biked about 30 miles and then ran 2. Heartrate was bouncing around 130s-140s on the bike, and then then run was right around 150--pace for the run at that HR was just under 11 min. miles, which seems like an improvement already, since just a week ago, I was flirting with the 12 min mile mark at that heart rate.

Probably not training tomorrow--I'll be drinking at Oktoberfest tonight.
Drew

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Gave up due to Toxic Fumes in air

The california wildfires going on got the best of me. I was supposed to go out for a long run of an hour and a half, but I did nothing. At first, I was going to do the whole thing on the treadmill at the gym, and that just ate at the very core of my soul. Running for an hour and a half on a treadmill is the purest definition of hell that ever existed.

Then, I decided I would go to the gym later and run on the treadmill for half an hour, so I did some annoying stuff around the house--scheduled some people to come out and finish the kitchen, made the doctor's appointment I should have a year ago, called in for a refill on Max's phenobarbital, and fixed the alarm system. This last one required me to go outside, which resulted in my eyes burning from the smoke in the air and me getting a slightly irritating cough....at which point I thought it might be better to skip the exercise altogether.

So, there you have it. I'm a total pussy and didn't do my long run this week.

I suck.

Drew

Am I the only one training?

Ok--So yesterday, I lifted weights (same AA weights at 2 sets of 25 reps on all of those exercises) and then went to a spinning class. I'm not wild about this particular spinning class because there was so much time out of the saddle. I don't think that's ideal for building strength and endurance in the seated position.

This morning was swim practice with Dr. Tom:
(SCM)

200 Swim/200 kick/200 pull
400 pull alternating breathing every 3 and every 5
Main Set: 4x100s on 1:30
3 x 50's on 39 (didn't make it, so had to add a second to next round)
3 x 100's on 1:30
3 x 50's on 40 (didn't make it, so added another second)
2 x 100's on 1:30
3 x 50's on 41 (made these--if the set continued, that would mean dropping a second)
1 x 100 on 1:30

6 x 50s drill 25/swim 25 on 1:10 either backstroke or breaststroke
2 x 25s no breathers


JC/Steve---you guys out there? Doin' anything? Anything at all?

I'm having coffee now and then doing yoga.

Toodles--
Drew

Monday, October 22, 2007

Training Sunday and Monday

POST FROM DREW:

Okay, here's what I did--
Since our meeting yesterday, I ran, lifted weights, and swam.

Running was yesterday, around the track--about 0.5 mile warm-up, then 3 repeats of 1 mile (Heart Rate Zone 3), each followed by 2 minutes of rest. My garmin was nice enough to beep at me constantly when not in the correct zone. Warmed down with about 0.25 mile jog.

Followed that up with about 1 hour of AA weights at the gym (leg sled, leg ext., hamstrings, calf raises, bent arm pulldown, lat pull, tricep ext, dips, and core work)

This morning, Brian kicked our asses in the pool with:

Warm up (200, 2x100s, 4 x50s)
4 x 100s KRLS
10 x 200s on 3:20 (He wanted them faster, but my body would just not oblige)

Let The Training Begin

4+ homos - picked to train together - for the same goal - the coveted title of.... IRONMAN 2008.

Read about their training, their goals, their accomplishments and their disappointments.

Drew aka - Drewbacca














John aka - JC Twinkletoes











Steve aka - Ironman













Mike aka - Daisy