... luckily only one of those terms is in reference to me, and it's not stitches!
Last night I hit up the JCC for a run on the treadmill. Sadly, the snowstorm came in early - killing my plans for an after work run with Ruby. Instead, I slid my way over to the JCC in the middle of a whiteout to run on the treadmill. Apparently others had this idea as well... I had to wait almost 30 minutes just to get on one. Ugh, nothing saps my motivation like sitting on the gym floor waiting for a treadmill. Anyhow, I finally scored a spot and put in my 45 minutes. I got a little lightheaded around 30 minutes, but this was likely due to the fact that when it snows the JCC turns the heat up to tropical levels. I slowed my pace a bit and got some water and all was right with the world.
This morning, I was all dressed and ready for a trainer ride when Jeremy popped his head into the bathroom with a bloody paper towel around his thumb. Apparently he was refereeing a fight between a carrot and a kitchen knife and the knife got out of hand... haha! Needless to say, I aborted my plans for a ride so I could bandage his thumb and drive him to get stitches. He's all sealed up now, and is sporting an awesome neon green thumb splint which he gets to model for the next 10 days... bummer for him, entertaining for me : )
Given this morning's adventure, I had to rearrange my plans a bit. I will still run tonight after work (probably at the JCC again due to ice on the road concerns). I will do today's bike workout tomorrow morning, and swim in the afternoon. Hopefully this leaves enough recovery time for my legs before my long run on Thursday.
Whew! So far, today is off to a crazy start!
~Ash
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
IMCdA training has officially begun!
I swear this day got here faster than I thought it would. My training plan starts today... I am officially 20 weeks away from IMCdA.
I met my friend Nelly at the JCC pool early this morning. She is looking for a new gym, so I snagged her a guest pass so she could check it out. Today was my long swim for the week. I was a more than a little intimidated by the workout, but having someone else in the pool with me definitely helped. It was tough, but I did it! The grand total was 2000m (w.u. 4 x 200 drills, main: 1 x 1000, c.d. 4 x 50). My shoulders were definitely feeling it by the end, especially since I hadn't done pull drills in years, but I did it! I was starving by the time I got to work, and had to snack my way through our morning lab meeting.
Tonight, I'm doing a 45 min. run. If the snowstorm holds off I'll do it at home and take Ruby along. If not, I'll be on the treadmill at the JCC, sorry Ruby.
Time for lunch : )
~Ash
I met my friend Nelly at the JCC pool early this morning. She is looking for a new gym, so I snagged her a guest pass so she could check it out. Today was my long swim for the week. I was a more than a little intimidated by the workout, but having someone else in the pool with me definitely helped. It was tough, but I did it! The grand total was 2000m (w.u. 4 x 200 drills, main: 1 x 1000, c.d. 4 x 50). My shoulders were definitely feeling it by the end, especially since I hadn't done pull drills in years, but I did it! I was starving by the time I got to work, and had to snack my way through our morning lab meeting.
Tonight, I'm doing a 45 min. run. If the snowstorm holds off I'll do it at home and take Ruby along. If not, I'll be on the treadmill at the JCC, sorry Ruby.
Time for lunch : )
~Ash
Romp to Stomp and other weekend fun
Saturday was the Romp to Stomp snowshoe race. Jeremy and I made our 1st annual return appearance and I must say, it gave me a major sense of perspective. As I watched the first-timers this year I couldn't help but be pleased with our progress. First, we've not only learned to snowshoe, we have our own (thanks to my folks). We were FAR more coordinated than last year. Second, we've adapted to winter weather like champs. We both were laughing at the folks carrying 3 layers of jackets by the end of the race. We were them last year and this year we proudly chugged along in minimal layers. So, for the second year in a row we had a great time, and didn't win a dang thing in the raffle! Oh well, it's for a good cause! Jeremy has decided that next year we need to do the "race" part, rather than the walk part. Yikes, I better learn to run in my snowshoes!
Sunday was of course Super Bowl Sunday!!! It was also my long day on the bike. I hopped on the trainer mid-afternoon and cranked out a solid 90 minutes. I felt WAY better than anticipated and was super pleased with myself. Workout completed, I settled on the couch with some nachos and a glass of wine (I know, not your stereotypical football beverage) and watch the Packers win. A VERY good Sunday : )
This was my final week of prep training. I didn't miss a single workout, and I'm feeling good. Go me!
Plan for next week (modified a bit to accommodate the Gleason's visit):
Monday - long swim before work at the JCC, 45 min. run after work
Tuesday - 60 min. trainer ride before work, 45 min. run after work
Wednesday - moderate swim day
Thursday - 90 min. long run before work, speed swim after work (should have been on Friday)
Friday - OFF!
Saturday - Snowshoeing with the Gleason's (this will replace my 60 min. bike from Friday)
Sunday - 90 min. trainer ride
Sunday was of course Super Bowl Sunday!!! It was also my long day on the bike. I hopped on the trainer mid-afternoon and cranked out a solid 90 minutes. I felt WAY better than anticipated and was super pleased with myself. Workout completed, I settled on the couch with some nachos and a glass of wine (I know, not your stereotypical football beverage) and watch the Packers win. A VERY good Sunday : )
This was my final week of prep training. I didn't miss a single workout, and I'm feeling good. Go me!
Plan for next week (modified a bit to accommodate the Gleason's visit):
Monday - long swim before work at the JCC, 45 min. run after work
Tuesday - 60 min. trainer ride before work, 45 min. run after work
Wednesday - moderate swim day
Thursday - 90 min. long run before work, speed swim after work (should have been on Friday)
Friday - OFF!
Saturday - Snowshoeing with the Gleason's (this will replace my 60 min. bike from Friday)
Sunday - 90 min. trainer ride
Friday, February 4, 2011
Cold morning run... so cold, my butt went numb!
You think I'm kidding?! Well, I'm not!
First, let me update you on last night's swim. I got to the JCC just a few minutes too early and had to wait for swim team practice to end before I could hop in the pool. Those kids were a riot to watch! Motivated me to find more joy in my swims : ) I did a moderate length day, 1400m total (warm up: 2 x 50, main: 3 x 400, cool down: 2x50). Each 400 felt smoother / easier than the one before, so I took that as a good sign that I was settling into my stroke. All in all, a nice little swim!
Side note - we went to PF Chang's for dinner last night and ate for free! Thanks for the gift cards, Gleason's... I LOVE me some veggie lettuce wraps!
Now, back to the main topic of discussion.... my frozen butt. In my opinion, butts shouldn't be able to go numb from cold. It defies physiology! There is probably more fat in my butt than anywhere else on me, therefore it is insulated, therefore it should stay warm unless I'm sitting on ice or something equally stupid. NOT THE CASE!! The plan for today was an 80 minute long run. I was already having motivation problems since I'm not used to doing my long run on a work day. Then, I got up to let Ruby out to pee early this morning and I saw the thermometer... not promising! So, I decided to stay in our warm bed until the sun was all the way over the mountains. This plan backfired since it's completely overcast today. Nonetheless, it had warmed up to 25 degrees by the time I finally headed out. I bundled up accordingly, and off I went. It was cold at first, nothing too bad, but I swear it got colder with every mile. I was heading up City Creek Canyon and the temps were falling fast! It's a bad sign when your quads don't get warm even though you're running uphill! It was so cold that the creek was totally frozen over... yep, running water, frozen solid. I decided to see the positive in this and was thoroughly enjoying the view... then my butt went numb. Numb fingers - normal. Icy earlobes - normal. Frozen tears - pretty normal. Frozen butt - totally NOT normal! I managed to make it the whole 80 minutes, but I swear I JUST finally thawed out. I think the steaming hot cup of soup I had at lunch helped : ) Final thoughts on the run: proud of myself for getting it done. Oh, and I should probably invest in thermal running tights!
Tomorrow is the Romp to Stomp snowshoe race for breast cancer awareness. We did this race last year, having only been in Utah a few weeks, and having never snowshoed before. I'm excited to go back and do it again with a little more experience under our belts! Just got notice that they're delaying the start by 1 hour since all of their gear got stuck in the midwest in the blizzard... yay for an extra hour of sleep!!!
~Ash
First, let me update you on last night's swim. I got to the JCC just a few minutes too early and had to wait for swim team practice to end before I could hop in the pool. Those kids were a riot to watch! Motivated me to find more joy in my swims : ) I did a moderate length day, 1400m total (warm up: 2 x 50, main: 3 x 400, cool down: 2x50). Each 400 felt smoother / easier than the one before, so I took that as a good sign that I was settling into my stroke. All in all, a nice little swim!
Side note - we went to PF Chang's for dinner last night and ate for free! Thanks for the gift cards, Gleason's... I LOVE me some veggie lettuce wraps!
Now, back to the main topic of discussion.... my frozen butt. In my opinion, butts shouldn't be able to go numb from cold. It defies physiology! There is probably more fat in my butt than anywhere else on me, therefore it is insulated, therefore it should stay warm unless I'm sitting on ice or something equally stupid. NOT THE CASE!! The plan for today was an 80 minute long run. I was already having motivation problems since I'm not used to doing my long run on a work day. Then, I got up to let Ruby out to pee early this morning and I saw the thermometer... not promising! So, I decided to stay in our warm bed until the sun was all the way over the mountains. This plan backfired since it's completely overcast today. Nonetheless, it had warmed up to 25 degrees by the time I finally headed out. I bundled up accordingly, and off I went. It was cold at first, nothing too bad, but I swear it got colder with every mile. I was heading up City Creek Canyon and the temps were falling fast! It's a bad sign when your quads don't get warm even though you're running uphill! It was so cold that the creek was totally frozen over... yep, running water, frozen solid. I decided to see the positive in this and was thoroughly enjoying the view... then my butt went numb. Numb fingers - normal. Icy earlobes - normal. Frozen tears - pretty normal. Frozen butt - totally NOT normal! I managed to make it the whole 80 minutes, but I swear I JUST finally thawed out. I think the steaming hot cup of soup I had at lunch helped : ) Final thoughts on the run: proud of myself for getting it done. Oh, and I should probably invest in thermal running tights!
Tomorrow is the Romp to Stomp snowshoe race for breast cancer awareness. We did this race last year, having only been in Utah a few weeks, and having never snowshoed before. I'm excited to go back and do it again with a little more experience under our belts! Just got notice that they're delaying the start by 1 hour since all of their gear got stuck in the midwest in the blizzard... yay for an extra hour of sleep!!!
~Ash
Thursday, February 3, 2011
4.5 happy miles
I am feeling pretty proud of myself. Yesterday got a little crazy at work, but I still fit in my run! I snuck away to the JCC while my assay was running in lab, and got in 4.5 miles on the treadmill. It was nice being at the JCC mid-afternoon. It wasn't as crowded so I didn't have to wait for a treadmill and it wasn't nearly as hot in there as usual... woohoo! I realized part way through my run that my options were to do my whole workout and not shower, or quit early and shower. I opted for finishing the whole workout... by now my labmates are used to me coming in after a workout all sweaty... haha! Anyhow, I had a great run. Definitely the best I've felt on the treadmill in a long time. Maybe I'm finally getting myself back into shape!
Plan for today is a swim after work. I'm planning a moderate length day - I'll post results later!
~Ash
Plan for today is a swim after work. I'm planning a moderate length day - I'll post results later!
~Ash
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Happy Groundhog Day!!!
First things first, last night I went home and rode the trainer for 60 min. I didn't really feel like doing it, but I did, and I felt great afterwards. Yay for motivation!
Today is my favorite holiday... it's GROUNDHOG DAY!!! I know that this just adds to my overall weirdness, but I don't care : ) Punxatawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning, thus he's predicting an early spring. I'm not getting my hopes up (especially since he has a >70% error rate... yep, that's worse than chance), but I'll be thrilled if he's right... it would certainly help with training!!
My plan for today is a 45 minute "easy" run. Given that it's approximately 14 degrees outside (without factoring in windchill), I'm planning to do this run on the treadmill after work. With any luck they won't have the heater set to 90 degrees again today!
~Ash
Today is my favorite holiday... it's GROUNDHOG DAY!!! I know that this just adds to my overall weirdness, but I don't care : ) Punxatawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning, thus he's predicting an early spring. I'm not getting my hopes up (especially since he has a >70% error rate... yep, that's worse than chance), but I'll be thrilled if he's right... it would certainly help with training!!
My plan for today is a 45 minute "easy" run. Given that it's approximately 14 degrees outside (without factoring in windchill), I'm planning to do this run on the treadmill after work. With any luck they won't have the heater set to 90 degrees again today!
~Ash
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tuesday Afternoon
I just realized that I didn't post about my swim yesterday... whoops! I went to the JCC after work and the pool wasn't too crowded which was nice. I had decided that I needed to do a long day to prove to myself that I was ready for the beginning of the training plan next week. After a short warm up, I swam 1000m straight without stopping. I actually felt GREAT! I absolutely could have kept going, but I remembered what my training book said "Even if you're feeling good, don't push beyond the planned workout", so I did a quick cool down and stopped. Overall, I was quite pleased with my swim!
I did not do my planned bike this morning, but I swear I had a good reason. I did not sleep well at all last night. Something I ate did not agree with my stomach, and I was miserable all night. I'm still deciding how I'm going to reconcile this with my training plan. In all reality, I probably won't do both the 1 hr ride and the 45 min run tonight after work (just being realistic). I think I'll do the ride tonight, push the run to tomorrow, and swap my Thursday and Friday plans. I lose a swim workout by doing that, but I think the rides and runs are more important at this point, especially since I had a good swim yesterday. So, my revised plan for the week:
Today - Ride 1hr on the trainer after work
Wednesday - Run 40-45 min (before work, probably on the treadmill since it's SUPER cold)
Thursday - Swim (moderate, before work), maybe bike 30 min after work if my legs feel good
Friday - Long run (75 min.)
Saturday - Romp to Stomp Snowshoe Race... fun!
Sunday - Long bike (80-90 min.)
~Ash
I did not do my planned bike this morning, but I swear I had a good reason. I did not sleep well at all last night. Something I ate did not agree with my stomach, and I was miserable all night. I'm still deciding how I'm going to reconcile this with my training plan. In all reality, I probably won't do both the 1 hr ride and the 45 min run tonight after work (just being realistic). I think I'll do the ride tonight, push the run to tomorrow, and swap my Thursday and Friday plans. I lose a swim workout by doing that, but I think the rides and runs are more important at this point, especially since I had a good swim yesterday. So, my revised plan for the week:
Today - Ride 1hr on the trainer after work
Wednesday - Run 40-45 min (before work, probably on the treadmill since it's SUPER cold)
Thursday - Swim (moderate, before work), maybe bike 30 min after work if my legs feel good
Friday - Long run (75 min.)
Saturday - Romp to Stomp Snowshoe Race... fun!
Sunday - Long bike (80-90 min.)
~Ash
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