Back to the Grind

After being off work for quite some time over the holidays this week it was back to the normal grind for the family, everyone back to the regular routine and it was a bit tough to adjust. Having time off is awesome especially with the weather we have been having, no snow but cool weather that makes for great CX riding and running conditions.

Now that the new year is hear everyone is going to have their resolutions, going to try to start losing weight, going to start going to the gym, start riding at CT class and so on and so on. This time of year annoys me, I mean why does everyone have to start all this at the new year, what stops them from deciding anytime during the year to make these changes.

My goal for the new year is to keep doing what I have been doing. I set my goals back in October, they haven't changed, my plan to accomplish them hasn't changed and my motivation hasn't changed; if anything it has increased. The best part about 2012 is that I am now the youngest in my age group instead of the oldest but that does not mean it is any easier, going to be a fun year though that is for sure.

So here is to a New Year and lots of swimming, biking and running I have a feeling it is going to be a good year!

And here is my favorite picture from X-Mas, my 87 year old Grandma with Hannah and Landon. She beat cancer 16 years ago and unfortunately it is back and battling it again; she is tough as nails.

The Stupid Games I Play

Like anyone I suppose there are times I need to play some mental games in order to do some of the workouts that I set out to do. Now I won't reveal all my tricks as I think there may be some questions raised or should I say more questions raised about my sanity but nonetheless here are a couple of things that just seem to work for me.

First is with regards to the long run, the hardest part for me about my longer runs are just getting going and pushing through that occasional tough spot. Usually if I just keep going you will forget about that small discomfort you were feeling. One of the ways I like to get around this is to setup my long run routes to where I have no choice but to continue. For instance I have blogged about how much I like running at Warefall Glen, one of the reasons I like running there besides the challenge of the hills is that you do not have a choice once you start to finish the 9.5 miles as it is just one big loop (if there is a way to short it I am not aware of it and I don't want to know about it). Yesterdays route I did the same thing, I setup a route from my house that landed me at the Springbrook Prairie Reserve and once I started the loop I was committed to the distance I was targeting as I had no choice as that was the only way back.

Second is with regards to CompuTrainer classes. I think when people look at the workouts as a whole they get overwhelmed. This seems to be the case when there is a really tough set and the duration is a bit longer than they are use to. For example say we have a ten minute set at ninety percent. Even though I know that we have to ride for say ten minutes I will break it up into smaller manageable chunks say three minute increments, I will just concentrate on that number for the entire three minutes to make sure I hit the numbers I should be hitting and then do it again, then try to challenge myself and hit those numbers for the next three minutes and do the same for the last three minutes, finally the last minute seems like ten seconds as you were just doing it for three minutes prior. This may seem dumb, minimal but for some reason it works for me. I do the same thing for longer hard sets at swimming as well, I will break a five hundred up into five one hundreds trying to make each one the same or better than the last and for some reason it just seems easier and usually with better results.

Yes I may be an idiot or some would say crazy but trust me there are many mental games I play on myself. I guess I will just chalk it up to all the alone time I have when running, riding and swimming that make me come up with these ideas; but for me it works.

Catching Up

Alright I have been slacking a bit lately on the posts so here is a bit of a catch up, not sure how this has worked out but we have been swamped lately at work. Almost every year things pretty much die around this time of the year which is usually a nice change of pace as the holidays approach but this year not so much, I suppose that is good for business?

Anyways we managed to finish the November bike challenge, Rick and I decided to just go for riding everyday for a specific amount of time. I was able to get in over 700 miles for the month according to my Garmin which is pretty solid for November but the key is to make sure I hit my goal for December as well to keep building the base on the bike why adding the run mileage.

We have moved on to the annual December run challenge which seems to have picked up a lot more steam as the concept has spread a bit and quite a few more people are giving it a go it seems this year in some variation or another. The real challenge starts about December 20th when people start to throw in the towel but those that push through the holidays will be glad they do as it seems to really help with all the holiday stress and mass amount of food that comes with this time of year. I will admit I do actually like getting out and running on X-Mas, it just gives you some time to yourself on a day that is probably crazy busy for most families.

On a totally random not I have also decided that Timbaland's new song Pass At Me is my new go to tune. Hopefully the radio won't ruin this one by over playing it like every song by LMFAO but I won't count on that.

So far this year I have been a little more motivated than in the past when it comes to training and I can't really put my finger on it, was it taking most of last summer off from racing. Is it having a circus of a life that makes the alone time in the pool, on the bike or getting out on the trails that more relaxing? Not sure but the one thing it does do is allow a lot of time to be with yourself and your thoughts. My latest idea is that I have been toying with the idea of racing a Half IM come the end of March or early April, we will have to see if we decide to go on vacation with the family or if I just go somewhere by myself with my bike and race. Either way I am going somewhere warm come Spring.


I put this picture up on facebook as well but I love this pic and think this is the best representation of Hannah, the kid is crazy.

Weekends are for Working

As I mentioned last week we had our first threshold test at Endure It for this off season as well as Masters swimming starting up. I think Sunday morning the week caught up to me as my legs were beat, tired and pretty sore. I am sure a lot had to do with Saturday's class and doing the workout with new numbers as well as my longest BRICK run of the off season at a good pace but was a little surprised as that was by far the sorest I have been since CT classes started up again.

This year I have made a couple of changes in a few areas to try to improve, nothing to major just minor things and so far it seems to be helping. Yes it is not always easy but the longer I do it the more confidence I get. The one thing I always have to keep in mind is that as much as a really good workout can help your confidence you have to remember to not let a really bad one bring you down.

Yesterday I was not really looking forward to hitting up masters as I was tired and the Bears were on but this is the time of the year where you can really make some improvements by just being consistent so I went. As we worked through the workout, and got past the kick set, I started to finally get into a groove  until the no breathing for the length of the pool sets.  Glad that I got to the pool as that is usually the hardest part and I would have totally regretted it if I didn't go especially since I had to miss Thursday night as Amy was not back from Florida yet.

I made the mistake of hitting up Trader Joes on the way home, I need to learn not to go to the grocery store on the way home from swimming as everything looks good. I am not sure how much I ate after swimming but I was up 4.5 lbs from Saturday morning to Sunday night and I think almost all of that was added post Sunday's swim session.

The November Challenge is still going strong and I have rode over 300 miles this month all indoors so very happy with the progress on the bike.

Fun Times Before Most People Are Out Of Bed

This morning was our first CT threshold test for the year, this is our baseline for the rest of the winter sessions (until we test again in say Feb\March). This is very important as this number is what all of our workouts are based on. For example this amount time at 90% of your threshold. Last year after IMAZ I decided to take a little downtime causing me to miss the majority of the winter sessions last year. I was happy to get this test in the book as I needed to see where I was at to make sure I was using the correct numbers in class.

I did test back in March once so I had a general idea where my numbers would be but I have been riding quite a bit more lately and was shooting for a little higher number. Everyone has there own strategies for doing this test especially those that have done it that last couple of years but really it is just go with what works for you. I decided right from the start I was going after a certain number and if I got it I got it, if I blow up well I blow up. This may not be the best strategy but it is what I wanted to do. My philosophy was if you never try you will never know.

A little bit surprisingly I hit that number I was shooting for pretty easily so I decided to stay with it until the half way point and see how the legs were feeling and readjust from there. Once I got to the half way point I went up a little higher and just kept increasing as the time went all the way to the end. The result ended up much higher than expected and almost at my goal for where I wanted to be come April, time to reassess the goal I suppose. Don't worry I already have a new one set, it took about 10 minutes after class to come up with it. I was very pleased with the result, the one catch is knowing that classes are going to be a bit tougher come Saturday as we will be working off of that new number.

Tonight we start masters swimming again so I am going to set a new record on fluid intake today to make sure there is no cramping after this mornings hard set. Already had my whey protein oatmeal and a smoothie so off to a good start on the recovery.