Psycho Cookie: A training diary

Yesterday I did make it to the gym, ran half a mile as a warm up, and then jumped on some of the machines to tear my muscles apart some more.  24 Fitness has a bunch of machines color coded.  The seats of the machine will be grouped in matching colors.  So I figured I’d run through two sets of their blue & yellow seats.  It basically lets you get in, work out, and get out within an hour.  Which is perfect for those that only have an hour lunch break.  So I did that set, along with a little running and a few other machines to add to the destruction of my arm and back muscles.  By the time I got back to work, my arms were still a little shaky trying to type.

Today however I think I will just take the day off, give my body time to rest and try to resit the urge to drive back to the gym after dinner and go swimming.  Yes I always wait 30 minutes before swimming :-D  But that’s only because it takes that long to get to the gym, get changed and get in the pool

After a day off yesterday (Saturday) it was time to get outside.  Sunshine (my Siberian) was antsy to get out as well.  So along with my friend and her “rent-a-dog” we went up to a trail between Estes Park and Lyons on Hwy 36.  The trail starts around 7200 feet and ends around 8400 feet.  It’s an out and back hike, the goes out to a bunch of old homesteads from the 1800s.  Total round trip ends up being around 6miles, but can easily be more depending on which homesteads you hike to.  It could easily turn into anywhere from 6 to 10+ miles if you’re up for it.  Overall it’s a good hike, mostly uphill on the way out there, which is nice for the return trip.  If you’re interested in finding out which one it is, it follows Lion’s Gulch up to Homestead Meadows.

After the hike, Rachel took her ‘rent-a-dog’ back and went home herself.  I turned on a my Prefontaine movie for about 20 minutes to get my hyped up a little again and then headed over to the gym.  I didn’t do too much at the gym, but I wanted to at at least get over there and swim some laps.  Basically get my arms a workout too without making my legs work too much more.  So I did 4 sets of 200m laps at a faste place than last time.  This time I did them all in 3:45- 3:50.  So a little more speed trying to make the 4minute sets feel a little slower next time ;-)  That way I might be able to kick it up to 400m laps in a couple weeks.  I’m going to have to get out and start laying down some running and biking miles though before January gets here.  Because January is just too cold to be out doing that stuff.  I’m guessing January might just be a “maintain the cardio in the pool, but start building the muscles for running and biking.  At best, I might be able to get myself on the trainer on the bike in the house, but that’s still just not the same as really getting out on the road.

Another 10pm drive over to the gym of course.  The trainer hasn’t written anything down as far as what she expects me to do, so I figured it was a good chance to get in the pool and really do some swimming.  Since it’s only been 2 weeks, I really never know what I’m going to swim.  It’s more of a get in the pool and start swimming and see how I feel during each set.  So I ended up doing this set:

• 2 x 200m in 4 minutes (each of course)
• 1 x 400m in 8:15
• 2 x 200m in 4:00
• 1 x 400m in 8:30
• 1 x 50m in 0:47

So all together I swam just over a mile.  If I manage to do them all without stopping the time would be 32:45.  A half-ironman distance swim is 1.2 miles, which if I actually could maintain that 32:45 pace for the entire distance, it would end up being a 39:15 time in the swim leg.  Which when I glance at the results from the 2008 half ironman here in the Denver area a 40 minute swim looks like a pretty neutral time, which is what I’m going for.  Not looking to be a pro, but also don’t want to be the last out of the water.  It would be nice to be middle of the pack the entire time.  Although I would rather get out of the water having not pushed too hard so that I make sure I have that reserve energy for during the half marathon.

But, if I can do a 40 minute swim, average 18.7 mph on the bike (2:59:53), and keep my half marathon below 2:10:00 (~9:56 mile pace) it will leave me with 10 minutes for the two transition periods and still allow me to beat the sub 6 hour goal I set.  Of course, that goal can easily be destroyed with a single flat tire on the bike.

Now that my dad is living here, it appears that late night workouts are becoming more common for me.  Tonight (technically last night, the 13th, since this post will actually show the 14th) I left the house around 10pm to head to the gym.  The gym is about 7 miles away, 4 miles from where I work.  I got back home around 12:30am though.  I can tell that these first two weeks are beginning to finally show though.  I’m not as sore after each workout and I’m seeing advancements in my swimming already.

So tonight I went to the gym on Thursday and left on Friday :)  I went with the goal of trying to destroy my muscles in every way I could.  So I did some arm stuff, rowing, pull-ups, push-ups, etc.  I went after my legs with some squats, leg presses, leg lifts, etc.  I went after my stomach with some giant bouncy ball crunches, back lift things.  I tried to work on some balance with the 9lbs medicine ball and I know I throw some other random machines in there as well trying to make sure my muscles were good and dead.  I know there was a number of times where my muscles screamed, I’m done… but a short break, hit a different machine and come back to push them more they did what I told them (kind of… they resisted, but ultimately followed along).  I thought about getting on one of the stationary bikes, but then I realized it would be stupid to get on a bike like that because I wouldn’t be clipped into the pedals.  I don’t want to train my muscles to only exert force on the downstroke, which is exactly what those bikes will do.  I want to make sure I am getting on my road bike on the trainer, clipping in and training my muscles that they don’t get a break.  Perhaps I’ll write a page about why I think treadmills, stationary bikes, and the stairmasters are bad for you if you’re working out for a purpose beyond losing weight or looking good.

Even after killing my muscles I figured I needed to do some cardio, and I figured I might as well jump in the pool and swim some laps.  I was thinking at the time that my legs needed more than my arms, because my arms felt pretty tired at that point.  So before jumping in the pool I found the kick board and brought it over to my lane.  The nice thing about going at night, is that not many people are there and even though there’s only 3 lanes in the pool, it’s pretty easy to get your own lane.  So I jump in and I figure I should swim a lap or so to warm up and adjust to the water temperature.  So I’m swimming the first 50m, and figure might as well make them 100m laps.  During the last 25m of that 100m I’m thinking, wow, I’m starting to feel the rhythm… might as well try to make it a 200m warmup.  So I went 200m, where as 2 weeks ago I was doing 50m sets, worked up to 100m sets and felt horrible during and after each.  I finish the 200m and take a little rest and think, wow, that felt great.  So I go and do a second 200m swim.  Shockingly I realize that two weeks ago that was almost the entire distance I swam that first day.  So I grab the kickboard and do a 50m kicking lap to try to tire out those legs.  After that I figure, lets go for another 200m… then after that one I figure, what the heck, lets make today a good solid 1/2 mile swim (800m) so I swim a 4th 200m.

Now all I have to do is turn that 1/2 mile into one continuous half mile swim without stopping, in choppy water, with people everywhere, do it 6 times in a row without stopping and have enough energy to ride 112miles on a bike and then run a marathon directly following that swim and I’ll be ready for that Ironman Triathlon :-)  Almost there…. 16 1/2 more months of training should do it

On Wednesday like I mentioned I met with the trainer at the gym again during lunch.  It would appear that the way to work out is go in, work hard, work fast, and be done.  Because everytime I I work with her my brain, heart and lungs are saying: “Sweet, lets do more”, but my muscles are screaming: “We’re done”.  Let me tell you something… no matter what your brain is saying, if you’re muscles are done, they just aren’t going to to move that weight anymore :)  But I must say the human body is amazing, because if you give your muscles a second or two (ok, maybe 5-10) of rest, they can always push out at a few more reps.  So based on the workout, it would appear it was more focused on cardio, but still had a good amount of upper body going on too.  Some assisted pull ups, some other rowing style thing, another balance and pull style row (but higher on the chest instead of down near the bottom of the rib cage).  Some crunches on the big bouncy yoga style ball, some curls, overhead lifts, and some chest lifts with a 30lbs bar.  Immediately followed by 10 push-ups (after the curls and everything pushups become a much bigger challenge).. on the last of the push-ups, it was get up run to halfcourt of the basketball court, back, full-court, back and then jog full court and back to cool down a little.  Oh, and mix in about 60 jump rope stuff in there too… then repeat the last three.

Needless to say, but I went back to work and my arms were yelling at me for having to move them between the keyboard and mouse.