05.31.14 - Happy Saturday

Hello!!!

Yep, hot and dry here in the AZ desert...no more sleeping in for me with the next couple months...boo.

Woke up this morning not feeling that great, so will probably use as a rest day. Did walk the dog 2 miles though.

Today is my youngest son's 7th birthday, so enjoying the day with him!

Workouts for the week went well. Trying to juggle the kids being home for summer, inlaws visiting and summer schedules.
Since my shoulder is injured, no swim workouts for at least 2-3 weeks, so will try to focus on PT, then run and bike fitness. I don't have anything on the calendar until Oct/Nov, so plenty of time to rebuild and improve!

The shoulder injury put a stop to any swim training I had planned for the Spring/Summer, but once the kids are in summer camp I intend to work on core strength and flexibility this week...and get my KK trainer set up so I can do some at home workouts!

Enjoy the weekend all!

1000 yd swim. Not much for you guys but my first time getting that distance before. Minimal push offs from the walls(just enough to get away) and little to no breaks. Makes me optimistic about the swim portion since it is 750 yds and I got through that fairly easily in 22 mins. Hope to get a 40-45 min run in later.

going to finish May off with a peachy square on the calendar - heading out for a 9 mile run...the dog is like run...let's go...haha

It's been a month of epic heat and humidity here. I never get to sleep in, unless it's a swim only day or a day off. (Even then, my cats won't usually let me.) Yesterday, I made the mistake of starting a long run at 5:50 AM. It was already 86. I don't mean the heat index, the temperature. This AM, the sky is filled with monsoon clouds and it's cooler. Lots of thunder but just a few dribbles of rain as yet. Bike day so either going to ride trainer at home (90 minutes) or go to gym and ride the stationary (the latter has a power meter), 30-minute brick run, weights.

Had a race mid-month but I don't feel it went well. I had a great swim, a not-so-great bike, and a horrible run. I've been consistent with training and most workouts have gone well; thinking it may have been an issue with the heat. I'm used to it, but over time it just wears me down and hurts the quality of my workouts, especially longer rides/runs and tempo stuff outside. Currently training for an Oly at home in late July. I did the sprint there last year and it was a great race. The odd thing was I didn't really train for it most of the summer, but had a really good swim and run and okay bike. Maybe I just shouldn't train? Still trying to think through what I'm doing wrong with training and taper--feel like I've tried everything, but I don't see a consistent connection between training and race results. I don't feel like I overtrain--I should know--and I've even tried tapering for two weeks for an Oly, but there's something I'm not doing right.

Looks like real rain is passing us by once again. On the plus side, it's a little cooler. Home in two weeks so then I'll stop griping about heat.

Edited by Hot Runner 2014-05-31 6:05 PM

My swim is my weakest part so I'm going to try and focus on it this spring. It's finally warm enough to swim outside. Today, I didn't even need my gloves and boots. I spend just over an hour working on technique and some intervals. My shoulder muscles seem to be the limiting factor. They get sore and fatigued easily. I might try some paddles to get some more power built up in them.

May was a big month for me and I have gained more confidence. Today, I did a 54.5 mile bike down to the Atlantic Ocean and back with my new tri group and then capped that off with a 1 mile run with the group which felt good.

I just did my long ride indoors in the AC and then the brick run outside. Felt like I hadn't just ridden 90 minutes pretty hard, actually one of the best runs I've had all week. It's the first brick workout that's gone well since maybe February. I think the culprit for my training and race issues is pretty clearly heat/dehydration, not just in acute form but kind of a chronic accumulation of stress on my body, and maybe, at this point, my brain!

Since I'm still shut out of the industrial park (my only venue for outdoor road biking) I think I'm just going to keep it on the trainer until I head back to Oregon. Run/bike paradise there and then looking forward to vacation in Vancouver, BC and Kona! figure I won't bother with serious training on vacation, just swim and run when the opportunity presents itself (may have to rent a bike or find a group ride in Kona, though, just to see some of the course), since the no serious training plan worked pretty well last time. At any rate the trip is only 12 days and I'll be doing something most days.