Boot Camping

New year’s resolution fail… I have not kept up with the blog. Puppy-motherhood, which began shortly after my last blog entry, has taken up much more time than I anticipated, and thusly I have not blogged on here because I have not worked out much if at all.

Last weekend I was forced to start up again and I had my first outdoor bike ride since last fall and first run and swim since January.. It was all due to attending my first tri-camp, the Mid Atlantic Multisport Tri Book Camp in Philadelphia. I didn’t exactly know what to expect from it and I was a bit intimidated since I am out of shape, but I was very happy that I went. There were classroom based sessions on various topics (how to make a training plan, transitions, swim technique, sports psychology), practice sessions (such as bike handling, swim video analysis, open water swim techniques, dynamic running workouts, and strength and stretching), and group workouts for biking and running. It felt great to be back out and has definitely helped motivate me to start training again. Unfortunately it didn’t come soon enough to give me time to train properly for the Columbia Tri, which is now just under 7 weeks away, but I will chose a new goal race for the summer and implement many of the things learned at the camp.

The highlights of the tri camp were definitely the swim analysis and technique discussions, the sessions with the sports psychologists, and the training plan session. For the swim analysis they had an endless pool set up with multiple cameras videotaping your stroke from many angles. Even though I consider myself a pretty good swimmer, there were still things I was doing wrong and need to improve, especially my catch in the water and my arm positioning in the water. I was also surprised by the sports psychology session because I assumed it would just be touchy-feely B.S. to motivate us. Instead it was one of my favorite sessions with practical information that applies not just about triathlon but life too. It gave me a lot to think about and in terms of what my priorities in life are, how I handle negative thoughts, and how to accept things in life. It is definitely something I think DCTri Club should look into offering as a clinic to their members.

Upon my return this week I did do a bit of strength training at home and went for a short run. I also ordered a bike trailer to attach to a bike to take Ninja out on longer trips. Today I tested it out with Kevin (he put it on his bike since he is a faster biker than me, so it would handicap him a bit) and it worked out so well! We took the Mt. Vernon trail to Four Mile Drive Trail to the Shirlington Dog Park, and then locked up the bikes and let Ninja play for a while, and then biked back. Kevin said it handled pretty well. We took it pretty slow, and although I know I can’t do all of my workouts with Ninja in the trailer, I think it does work for some slow, steady base training in lower HR Zones and for general getting around in a fun and fashionable way with her. I envision trips to Hains Point with her in tow.

On a side note, the Shirlington Dog Park is awesome! Unlike the Clarendon one that is a dirt square, this one is more long and narrow with a long path winding through it, and it has an enclosed section for small dogs. Although Ninja is a svelte 8.6 lbs right now, she played in both the small dog and regular area. The coolest thing though is that the park butts up against a creek, so dogs and can go and play in the water too. The dogs that were out in the water were very active larger dogs, like labs and boxers, but Ninja was not one to be left out and ventured into the very cold water herself, twice! She didn’t really have the athleticism or height to be able to romp around and chase balls or sticks through the water, but she got in and stood in the water and walked around a bit. It was ridiculously cute!

Movin' on up'

End of the run near Santa Monica Pier

Since the pain cave entry, I have not been doing too well with my New Year's tri/blog resolutions, but there is a good reason for it. On MLK weekend, I went to LA for 5 days to visit my besties from high school, and although I could have trained more, my focus was on spending time with them. I did however wake up earlyish (while my two besties continued to sleep since we were out late the night before, but I was still waking up since I'm on EST) and ran by the beach in Santa Monica. I could not have asked for better mid-January weather. It was bright, sunny, warm without being too hot, and just perfect. The whole weekend was like that, and it really made me miss my SoCal upbringing in that weather. And being by the beach was also great and a reminder of some of the things I really miss about California. At the end of my run, I even walked down to the water just to make sure I got a dose of a Pacific Ocean in my system. It wasn't a very fast run, but it was so pleasant. If only I could live a car free life in LA, I would be very tempted to move back.

And the other reason I haven't been good about training this past week is because I am preparing to move. I'll still be in the same neighborhood, but I need to move to a puppy-friendly apartment. So although I didn't go out for any training this past weekend, I think I went up and down the stairs in my apartment at least 75 times on Sunday, which should count as some sort of cross training since my calves are sore.

So the next blog post will now be from higher up - from a 10th floor apartment. Until then!

Pain Cave–of many sorts

I spent this past week trying to prepare for the year. I have made some extensive tasks lists and am trying to organize my life, including training, so that I accomplish things instead of just thinking about all these things I should do, eventually.

Part of the training preparation was an ART (active release therapy) appointment. I wanted to get loosened up because my IT band and hamstring were acting up, and that was pain cave #1 – the tension being released from those pressure points – yikes! I know ART can sound like some hippy-dippy alternative medicine stuff, but I am a total convert. One thing he recommended based on my IT band issues was getting a bike fit, which I did later on in the week (but more on that later).

Pain cave #2 wasn’t really training related, or really all that painful, but Friday I did have a bit of hang over after a very fun night out on Thursday for the DCTri Holiday Party. It was a great time chatting over beers with my friends, although surprisingly, I was not convinced to do any new races. Are people losing their peer-pressure touch?

On Saturday, I had pain cave #3, but what should have just been a pain cave based on trail running became an empathetic pain cave instead. It started out as a COLD trail run in Rock Creek Park with Kevin. The snow made for very beautiful scenery, and the run was causing pain with those hills and the cold weather.

But once I found my rhythm and was starting to feel good out there, I then came upon Kevin (who is a faster runner than me and was ahead) on the ground. The poor guy had rolled his ankle and was pretty sure he sprained it (and he was right). But nature had provided a near by ice bath, Rock Creek, so he could start icing right away. So any pain cave that the run would have caused is overshadowed by my empathetic pain cave of his actual injury. Despite the pain, he was still able to smile while “icing” his leg. Here’s to your quick recovery!

Then Sunday, I had my appointment for a bike fit with the infamous Paul from Contes. My bike needed major adjustments and I got new road shoes and pedals after using SPDs for a few years. It made me excited about riding again and I really think the new fit will help me get faster after what felt like a year of stagnation on the bike. The new bike fit led to pain cave #4 – doing a tough trainer workout. Ron, another DCTri’er and spin/bike master is posting a series of workouts for the winter, and holy crap, it was tough! I think the new fit is great, but my body also has to readjust to new muscles being used, so I was exhausted quickly, and cut the workout short. I was SLOW on the trainer and realized my normal cadence has been pretty slow, so I need to improve that.

But I’m excited overall to the possibilities, now including on the bike. All the pain caves, excluding the injury based one on Kevin, were ones that were worth it and will lead to a better season. Even the hang over counts towards that goal because for me, the social aspect of triathlon is also very important for me, and those social get together plant seeds for new group training or races.

Ending 2010 on a high note, and starting off 2011 sore

As I reflect back on my 2010, I have to say, it was a very good year. I had a lot of great times with friends, traveled a lot, and athletically I hit a few milestones as well - I finished my first half ironman race, I did my first 10 mile race, even did my first stand alone 5k. I guess that shows I have really be trying to work on hating running less, and it really is working out for me. My goals for 2011 are the same as when I began this blog, train more consistently, get faster, and blog about it. I  know I can improve those things since I started this blog 2.5 months ago, especially on the blogging side. Let’s aim for a blog post/week.

As for training, I was spotty in December – I did the JATW 10k, then I ran with friends for an unofficial Christmas Light Run (complete with jumping picture with Sandy), I swam in NJ the day after Christmas, and then I did a few work outs in a row the last week of December. On Tuesday, I got on my trainer since the first time since last winter, and worked out for an hour. I am still looking for actual trainer work outs, but I tried to mix in a few minutes of higher intensity with a few minutes recovery and then a few minutes of single leg spinning, etc. Man, I am really out of biking shape. Wednesday, I went to track workout at Washington and Lee, but I didn’t have an easy time of making it an actual track workout since I was sore from the day before, so it was more of a run around the track than a track workout, but hey, at least I got 5 miles under my belt. Then on Thursday, Sandy and I were able to convince each other to swim despite individually not wanting to do it ourselves. It was a funny phenomenon that you take two people looking for excuses to not go to the pool and then put them together and the result is actually convincing each other to swim. I put in a good 2550 yards and felt really good.

Then my last workout of 2010 was a bit of cross training – I went snowboarding for the first time ever. I went with people who all knew what they were doing in the snow, so I was the only newbie, but I really enjoyed it. Below, enjoy some action shots.

 

Although I guess the REAL last workout was actually my favorite type for workout – booty shakin! I went to a great NYE party with a bunch of tri friends danced all over the place and enjoyed ending 2010 on a high note and starting off 2011 surrounded by great people and looking forward to a year full of possibilities.