a good ride and an 80's style run

Saturday morning I went out and did a 34 mile loop. The first half I felt like crap and wasn't sure how this was going to pan out, as I haven't done this distance in months. By the 2nd half, my climbing legs finally kicked in and I started flying.

This was also my first ride in a LONG time where I was riding with a computer that told me how fast I was going and at what cadence I was spinning at. Its cool to see that I can maintain a cool 20 mph on the flats, and can get up to 28 mph on the flats when pushing it at or around my AT/LT. :)

As for cadence, spinning at 100 RPM is really not that hard and I was naturally doing that. Yay!

Here is the elevation profile:

And then yesterday I was up in a hotel in Massachuesets where their gym had these old 1980's style treadmills. They had a sign that said "dont go over 6 mph". Was this because the thing was so old that it would break over 6MPH or its too loud? I had the place to myself so I went over 6 MPH. The thing held up, but it got boring afterwhile since I was staring at a wall for 30 mins. I'm looking forward to getting back outside.

fast run

My friend and I did a fast paced run today. He led and I shadowed his pace. He is a much faster runner so it was good to be challenged, especially now that I have a solid running base. Here is the elevation profile for today:


So this mean that he pushed me up and down the hills. We were going pretty fast down the first hill, which meant that we then went pretty fast back UP that hill. I was huffing and puffing by the top of it. I definately went over my lacate threshold, which is good.

a constructive swim and a day off

Last night I went to the pool and put in a solid 1300 yards in under 40 mins, all drills. I basically redid my swim class from Monday night. Basically I was trying to get rid of that wonky S shaped wild swing that I do with my right arm stroke. I need to rotate more when catching and pulling with my left arm to set up my right arm. If my body is too flat before my right arm, I will do the wild swing thing. Also, I need to widen the entry of my right arm more. I had some luck, and when I wasn't paying attention, I would go back to bad habits. I think I am figuring out how to nip this technique error.

I am taking today completely off. My knees have been bugging me, especially during some kicking drills last night. Also I am noticing it while climbing stairs. I think a day off will not only strengthen me, but will help the joints heal a bit.

3.87 mile run, and new elevation maps!

Did a quick 3.87 miles this morning, with ~.75 miles of it being on the Greenway trail, which is totally AWESOME to run on now that there is enough light in the morning to be able to see where I am going. I am looking forward to running on it again. To get to it you have to go down a hill, then to get back from finishing it, you have to go back up the same ridge, just on a steeper but shorter incline.

So I was curious to see how steep it really is, so I mapped it @ mapmyride.com and to my surprise they have a new elevation profile with color coded elevation %'s. Sweet! Here is today's run profile:

And as an extreme, Mt Ventoux!


Finally, I weighed in today and I weigh a measly 732 pounds. I think my scale is broken. I did weigh myself in after Saturday's run and I broke 160 and was down to 159.5. Thats down 14 pounds for '08!

an easier spin class

sorta easier. I don't think I had the correct amount of resistance by about 10%, so I couldn't get into as hard of a gear.......oooooorrrrr, it hurt but I was putting out some awesome power? I did .1 more miles in the same amount of time as last week, so what does that mean? I don't know. I am looking forward to metering my output with power, that should tell once and for all if I am putting out enough output.

Run early tomorrow AM.

I am feeling good though! (with no pressure!)

run and swim

Yesterday morning I hit the dreadmill for 30 mins. Did some intervals, with an interval @ a 7:30 min/mile pace for 30 seconds. I felt like I hit a peak yesterday, and that was coming off of my 8:25 min/mile pace from Saturday AM's run, I think my running form has hit a new level. I just need to start extending my distances again to a 10K level.

Then I had my 4th swim class last night. Things are starting to click except for my right arm stroke. I do this really wierd S curved thing that was ingrained into me when I learned how to swim as a kid. Unfortunately I take it to a new level and make it look extreme. I will be doing one arm strokes this week for sure.

8:25 min/miles

Felt like crap this morning, but I wanted to get another run in to make it 3 runs in 3 days. I did 4.17 miles in 35:07, or 8:25 min/miles. Wow! I REALLY felt like crap, but I knew I had another gear to go faster. Hmmmmm, running more often will make you go faster? Noooooooo!