I fought the cold and the cold won

T.V. and tea.

Yep. I'm sick.

I hope the flu shot I got earlier this season will keep the illness to a dull roar. Right now I'm just tired, sniffly and very stuffy.

Watching the marathon Olympic trials is going to be the closest I get to training today. I'm going to go lay down as soon as the women are done.

Oh, well. Better to get sick early in the season, I guess.

Quick hits at the end of the week

Some weekday training. And meal planning. And salad making.

I did some training on a Thursday, last night, for the … second time this year. For some reason, Thursdays have been the oddball day so far in 2016. I’ve had personal meetings, I got sick, I went truck shopping and truck buying, etc. All on a Thursday. Last night was nothing special; I did my usual weekday ride of a few big-ring intervals. I wasn’t feeling 100% as I have been fighting off a cold for a few weeks now, but I put in a decent showing. It was nice to get that extra weekday ride in for the first time in a while.

Earlier this week I marked two years of blogging. Wow, that went by in a flash! I got into the blogging game very (very, very) late, but I still enjoy rambling on about my mediocre training and trying to balance swim, bike, run and life. Since my last blog birthday, I actually only completed one triathlon, but have also done another marathon and a couple swimming/multisport events. And I’ve had a lot of fun and even improved a bit. I’d call this last year a success.

I mentioned that I didn’t feel 100% lately and as today has gone on I feel less and less great. Not sick enough to leave work, but the pool is sounding NOT appealing right about now. I am leaning toward making tonight a “lay in bed and watch movies” kind of night, followed by a good night’s sleep for once, and hopefully I can hit it hard again tomorrow. But, there’s no sense in stressing my immune system and paying for it with multiple sick days later.

Week in review Feb. 1-7: The road to mediocrity is paved with good intentions

I guess it wasn't terrible?

Like pretty much every other week in my training history, I had grandiose plans. I’m going to swim three times! I’m going to get on the bike trainer every day! I’m going to lift weights and do all my pre-hab exercises AND do yoga every night before bed!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But seriously.

Honestly, I feel lucky to have gotten through last week in one piece with truck shopping, work being crazy, errands, a Super Bowl party, and all that other stuff to work in with real life. Since it's already Tuesday night, here's a quick review for posterity:

Swim: Twice, both in the pool, for 5275 meters (I know) in about 2 hours, 12 minutes.

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for a total of 3 hours, 15 minutes.

Run: Twice, once on the treadmill and once on the road, for a total of 5 miles in about 55 minutes.

Weights: One video for about 50 minutes.

Pre-hab: A round of ankles/arches/toes and a round of hips for about 40 minutes total.

Total: 9 sessions in just less than 8 hours. I know I can do better, but it wasn't terrible for an off-season week.

Triathlon is a hobby that I have to work around real life. On to the next week.

Two cars and foot cramps

We're a two-car couple again. Yes! My husband doesn't have to waste two hours of his day every day driving me to and from work, and I don't have to be abandoned at the Y waiting for a ride (bringing me back to the days I was waiting for my mom, oh, everywhere).

Lots of room for bikes in the bed.

Hopefully this will be good for my training, as I won't be working his errands and truck shopping into my schedule anymore. I lost Thursday's workout to signing all the paperwork, and that should all be behind me now.

Last night's swim was another comedy of errors. I had a heck of a time finding a parking spot and took a risk with a spot marked for one hour but in a two-hour zone. I did my warmup and drills, and 5 x 200 at a decent-for-me pace. I started on the first of 10 x 100 and was 75 meters in when... foot cramp! A bad, one, too. I hung out in the deep end for a while (which I never do) trying to stretch it out, but it was no use. I got out and limped around the pool to my stuff and headed out while I could still get out on my own power.

On the plus side, I didn't have a parking ticket waiting for me. I headed home, ate some chocolate, and went to bed early.

Hopefully today I can do a nice, long trainer ride and maybe some weights before the weekend commitments start kicking in. It's supposed to be nice tomorrow so I see another outdoor run in my future.

January’s swimming time trial: A day late but a big improvement

Still slow, but less slow than last month!

I have proof that I’m making improvements in the pool. Hooray! OK, OK. The bar was set pretty low. But still, it’s nice to see I’m moving even a little bit faster in the water.

I missed my planned last swim of the month last week, so did my 1,000 meters Monday instead. Eh, technically it was only 21 hours late, so I’m not too worried. After my warm-up and drill set and a few descending 200s, I hit my watch at 22:04, for a 2:13/100 meter pace.

This is a big improvement from the trial I did in December, 25:00 flat for a 2:30/100 meter pace. So although I have a long way to go before I hit fast, I’ll take “not quite as slow” for the time being.

I’m also ahead of where I was last January, when I did 1,000 meters in 25:32 for a 2:33/100 meter pace. I did last February’s in 21:27 (2:09) and last March’s in 21:53 (2:11), so I have my work cut out for me if I want to keep improving.

But, I feel like I’m off to a good start. I just have to be consistent getting in the pool and keep chipping away at it.

January in review: Hey, it wasn’t that terrible!

Hours this month. I wish there had been more running. =(

In many ways, January was a comedy of errors with fighting a cold, temporarily being a one-car couple, family in town, late nights – you name it. But looking at my training totals for the month, I don’t think it was actually THAT bad, considering.

I swam a bunch, I biked a bunch, and I even started running short distances very slowly again. My yoga practice still leaves a lot to be desired, but I did do some pre-hab and lift some weights, so the supplemental training wasn’t a total wash.

My monthly totals were:

Swim: 6 times, all in the pool, for 18,800 meters (11.75 miles, thanks Daily Mile) in just a smidgen less than 8 hours. I lost one swim to a sick day and one to a car-shopping day, but I still got some decent pool time in for this early in the pre-season. That 18,800 meters works out to 3200 meters (2 miles) 5 out of the 6 times, and having to cut one swim 400 meters short because I derped around and got to the pool too late. I would have swam an extra 400 somewhere in there, but… eh. Once I start racing and lake swimming again I won’t have an even number anyway.

Week on, week off.

Compared to last January: I also swam 6 times last year, but did less distance each time and overall, so I'm about 1.5 hours and 4,400 meters ahead of this time last year. Yay!

Bike: 10 times, all on the trainer, for a total of 15 hours, 20 minutes. While I’m time crunched in the morning, I can go a bit longer in the evenings, and have been trying to make each trainer ride at least 1:15. Plus, I have been adding to my “long” weekend rides a bit at a time, working up to 2 hours this past Saturday. It all adds up, and I feel good about where I am at this point in the season. I feel like I’m a stronger rider since getting my fluid trainer. I guess riding the hills in the spring will tell.

Compared to last January: I rode three more times and for 5 more hours last year. So I'm a bit behind, but feeling stronger.

Run: My biggest headache. I managed 7 runs, 4 on the treadmill and 3 on the road, for 16.5 total miles in a hair less than 3 hours. I am trying to be positive about being able to run again after my IT bands left me in so much pain this fall. I get the odd twinge but haven’t felt actual pain in a while, knock wood, so that’s something. I’m going to keep going cautiously and slowly, and keep trying to strengthen those glute and hip muscles, so I can be back to my normal running self as soon as possible.

Week by week.

Compared to last January: This really isn’t apples to apples, but last January I managed 105 miles. Without any IT band pain. But I'm NOT going to get discouraged. 16.5 miles this month is still about 14.5 more than I have been doing. I'll get there.

Pre-hab: I logged 11 sessions. Assuming that’s divided equally between hips, glutes and ankles/arches/feet, that’s almost a full rotation a week. Which is better than the nothing I was doing!

Yoga: Only once. ONCE! I am better than this and I know better than to skimp on the yoga. I HAVE to make this a priority this month.

Weights/plyo: Three weights sessions and two supplementary plyo sessions. Not terrible, but I’d like to double that for February.

So my January was on track in some areas and a bit behind in other areas, but I feel good about the month as a whole. Now to keep chugging away for February.

Week in review Jan. 25-31: Life, uhhhh, got in the way

Meh.

It was really difficult to get any training in last week. I had personal commitments, I wasn't feeling 100%, and my husband and I are still sharing one car. All of that doesn't bode well for a lot of time swimming, biking and/or running.

Part of me is bummed I didn't get more training in, but the other part of me is amazed I managed as much as I did:

Monday: A swim and my hip exercises. Hooray!
Tuesday: A personal meeting that ran late.
Wednesday: A trainer ride. Hooray!
Thursday: Working late, followed by truck shopping. (Ugh.)
Friday: My cousin was in town for her last weekend of a clinical rotation, so we went out to dinner.
Saturday: A trainer ride. Hooray! But that was all I had time for before my mom came into town to spend time with my cousin, and we all went out again.
Sunday: A very easy run and my glute pre-hab after a friend's birthday party. Hooray!

And by discipline:

Swim: Once in the pool for 3200 meters in about 1:22.

Bike: Twice on the trainer for about 3:15.

Run: One very easy run around the neighborhood for 3 miles in about 34 minutes. Overall, this felt good; my knee didn't have any twinges until past mile 2, so that is progress. But it is hard not to get discouraged about a 11:something pace when just a few months ago I was cranking out 8:08 miles that felt good.

Pre-hab: Hip and glute exercises for about 1 hour total.

Total: Six sessions in about 6 hours, 11 minutes.

The good news is I don't have any evening commitments yet this week and my cousin is done with her rotation, so I get my Friday and Saturday evenings back. The one-car thing should be resolved this week. I just have to hang in there and get the training in wherever I can.