I had a pretty good week. I met some of the goals. I did not take a day off from running and I ran more miles than planned. I did, however, lift twice; I swam twice; I did not bike. All in all a good week. I also did a really good job with some research, so I'm excited about that (and more importantly, so is my advisor!)

M - 9 + 2000 yd swim
T - 6
W - 3.8 + 5200 yd swim
T - 5 + 1:30 stairmaster
F - 9 + lift (half-mile walk cooldown)
S - 8 + lift
S - 3 + 1:30 stairmaster + 1.26 mi walk


Totals - 44 mi run, 7200 yd swim, 3 hrs stairmaster, some walking and lifting.

Eating went ok; two instances of "I ate more than I should" but only one was a binge, so that is progress.
Goals for this week: swim a couple of times, bike a couple of times, keep the running in check, lift 2x.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

last week's goals:
- run x 5: WIN. hugely happy with my running last week.
- bike x 2: WIN with 3, though one was just an easy ride around checking out christmas lights with tanker.
- swim x 4: FAIL. couldn't stand goggles until saturday, so only swam sat & sun.
- core/strength x 4: WIN


this week's goals:
- run x 5
- bike x 2
- swim x 4
- core/strength x 4


cheers!


-mistress k

---

__________________________________________________________
ill advised racing inc.

I am in sort of some limbo of sickness. I take a day off as rest and feel better so I workout and then the next day I feel horrible again. But its not a horrible as in I can't get out of bed, its more of a horrible that I feel tired and achy when working out and my HR is not where it is to be expected. I wish it would just go away or take over and lay me out for a couple of days. This back and forth sucks.

Goals for last week: 2 swims/2 rides/4 runs/2 strength - I attempted and finished all of them but my long ride. At the 1:30 mark I was dizzy so I called it quits.

Goals for this week:
M- yoga (rest from the horrible ride yesterday)
T - ride/strength
W - swim/run
Th - run
Fri- swim/strength
Sat - long run
Sun - long ride

Hope everyone has a great week!

I did pretty well. Total mileage = 20.

I hit my schedule except Friday. I had one on my schedule but I was just worn out so I skipped it. I did some memorable ones,

Tuesday I had speedwork on the schedule plus a work get together. I was at the work thing until 8 then hit the treadmill. I'd eaten pizza, dessert and drank a bunch of Cokes. I felt sick during while on the treadmill but I kept it all down.

All week I ran in 38 - 42* weather and rain.

Yesterday I did a longish trail run in 38* and pouring rain. Lots of mud on the trail and even after a hot shower I was still cold all day.

But I got it done.

---

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce

Nice job on the schedule & the research TC.
Everyone else seems to be holding down good routines & schedules, doing well with the adjustments as we all fight off the bugs that come with this time of year & the myriad schedule whomps from parties or gatherings or whatnots. Good job ladies!!

I. Am. Lazy. That sums up my past couple of months, let alone weeks. Doing the minimum....swimming easy a couple times per week. Haven't been running or riding. Slacker!

I did finish our 100x100 (SCY) set at the pool yesterday, so that's something! Residual fitness from all those long summer yards really played a good role. Broke them into sets of 10, 1:00 rest after each 10. I did them all swim (I enjoy that more than the pulling/kicking/etc. right now) on a 1:30 interval, holding 1:15-1:20 on all but a few around 1:23. Just a good, solid, long day of zoning out in the pool. I even got to draft off of someone for about the first 20 before he kicked me to the front of the lane.

This week is pretty light at work so I'm hoping to get another couple of swims in, maybe even go to the gym for an easy run. Registered for a 26.2 at the end of April, so I suppose I have to pick that back up. Shame I can't just swim all the time & have that all transfer to the run automatically. I'm also overhauling my diet in January & we'll be moving in February...so it should be an interesting first quarter.

---

AW

My week was pretty good. Did 50 miles of running in 4 days to get caught upish in the 200 miles in December. Had a kid in the ER three different times this week (she's fine, but we had to rule out appendicitis) :( Sucked for her, and my training took a hit for sure as these visits were all late nighters. She was so sweet the whole time. She kept apologizing to me (silly, sweet kid). I finally had to say, "Baby, please stop apologizing to Mommy. I'm sorry you feel so bad. This is just what mommies do."
Only two days of swimming and no biking.

My goal this week is to get two days on the trainer, three swims, and to stay on track for both the 200 in December challenge and the 100/100 challenge.

AWARE: How in the hell did you do 100/100s on the 1:30 like that? How did you get to be such an awesome swimmer? I am SO jealous. Do you have any kernels of wisdom to share. I am freakin' desperate to make the swim more tolerable. A fast, well-rested 100 for me would be 1:25 (no flip turn). Oy!

---

--------
Trying to fight gravity on a planet that insists

Nice job on the 100 x 100. Any favorite sets within it? I have always wanted to do that set.

EDIT - just reread and saw you did them all swim.

---

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I've been a swimmer since I was an annoying kid diving for spoons/change in hotel pools endlessly. It's my favorite place/time to shut down, zone out & just let my body do what it does. Yesterday was that day for me - just shut my brain off & just go. It was super helpful to clear out some of the angst that's been boiling around a bit coming from the personal & professional worlds.

My wisdom would probably be to swim more & relax while doing it. Don't constantly think about form or time or speed but relax & just swim to be swimming. Leave the toys on the side of the pool (unless they're things to dive for or other actually "fun" toys!) and just spend some time actually feeling the water when you swim. Try to feel how it pushes back & where it drags on you. When you want to go faster, think about giving it less area to push on. That sounds awfully hokey & zen-like. Boyfriend was watching the entire spectrum of swimmers yesterday across the lanes (he's a SUPER newb when it comes to swimming) & said the biggest difference he could tell going from lane 8 to lane 1 was the efficiency & the ease from lane to lane. It doesn't just look easy, it is easy - stop fighting the water. Now....when I try to swim fast - it's not nearly as pretty & there's a lot more splash & thrash...probably why I can cover 10k with only 2 swims/wk but I can't hit a fast interval twice in a row (right now)...

You're obviously a runner (the mere thought of 50mi in 4 days makes my whole body hurt) - know how that run feels easy-peasy when you're out just looking around, zoned out & putting in the miles? And know how you have to log a lot of miles to get to that point? That sometimes running more IS the answer because your body will naturally correct a lot of things as you just move more? That's what you're going for in swimming. You can get super fit hammering out yards on tight intervals & hating swimming but doing the practices - but you've got to quit fighting the water for it to get a bit easier.

Going to chew on granola now & be all greenpeace hippy happy....once I leave my corporate cube!!

---

AW

Last week's goals: run a lot? haha well I ran a fair bit but not as much as I wanted (70k done, was aiming for 80k but 20k on Sat in the sleet/snow really sucked it out of me). Rode twice as well, so that was a bonus.

This week: Sooooo busy at work it's going to be tough to get any real distance this week. Aiming for 2 runs to work (~10mi each) and another 10mi-20mi on the weekend. I'd like to hit 65k or more but it will depend on the long run on the weekend.

However, after Friday, I am off for 2 weeks and will fill my days with long runs aplenty! :-)

AP

---

------------------------
"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Had my last CX race of the year on Sunday. It didn't go as planned due to a fall which resulted in my front brake rubbing for the 2nd half of the race.
4 laps total.
I was in the lead when I fell, I had been pushing it because the crowd was yelling that the woman behind me was gaining. Hearing my front brake wailing away was demoralizing. She passed me. I fought for a while to stay with her but it felt like I had so much resistance with the brake. Ugh! Then the next woman passed me but there was a long sand run so I got back to her. Figured I'd just sit on her wheel until near the end, I knew I could outsprint her. 1/3 of a lap to go, another sand pit and we both tried to ride it but stalled out. She somehow fared worse than me, I exited the sand before she did and figured I should punch it. This opened a gap and I tried to keep the heat on. Stayed away until the end.
Bummed because the woman who beat me yesterday was someone I'd previously beaten 3x. When I finished, my husband checked out the wheel. Trying to give it a spin resulted in it stopping without even half a revolution. He told me it was my mechanic, he figures the wheel shifted, which we laughed about because he's my mechanic.

Got in workouts enough last week. Minimal running due to my soreness - which I went to see my sports massage/therapy/trainer guy and we figured it was tibialis posterior that is crabby for some reason. So he worked on it a bit and took a look at my running gait. He gave me some stability exercises to do with my floppy ankles.

I also got in the pool last Friday after a bunch of life stuff getting in the way of me swimming. OH man was it painful. Instead of the water being so awesome it felt like it was fighting me. I hate that. It's why I try to get in the pool a MINIMUM of 1x per week, needs to be more.

Goals upcoming: run 3mi every day it's possible. Ice the leg (hard for me in the winter), do my stability exercises every day, find a pool near my work to swim at (or master's group, preferably), maintain biking.

I signed up for a dirt road / gravel road race (bike) for March. Yikes!

Awesome job to everyone! Last week, I joined the 100/100 with goal of getting in at least 70 runs.

Goals last week 5 runs, 4 swims, 1 trainer ride. Score on all fronts EXCEPT the trainer ride. Sigh, I love my bike except when it is strapped into that mind numbing torture device.

This week brings major motivation to ride the trainer. I pick up a new toy (my Xmas present from my honey) - a used p2C. A friend upgraded to a p3c and he is basically giving me the frame sans drivetrain. Just need to figure out what components to put on her. And yes, i have named her already - she is Phoenix (long story here). Am worried about fit but will get it close on my own and then see a fitter. Have never ridden a TT bike on the road before so this should be an experience! Lots of experience with schwanky pursuit bikes on the track but never ridden even in aerobars on the road. I figure i just need to ride lots once I get the fit dialed in. Will post pics once she is in my possession later this week.

In addition to playing with the new toy, I am off for the next two weeks so I plan to run lots - shooting for lots of EZ short runs based on everyone's recommendations and am going to apoly the same approach to swimming.

Specific goals - finish xmas shopping (hey shopping at this time of year IS a workout), stay away from too many Xmas cookies, run at least 5x, swim 4x, ride once. Once i finish Xmas shopping, I will play with fit on my new toy!!!!

AWARE,

Thank you! This is really helpful. I have a tendency to get really hung up on the mechanics of stuff and get over-think something into a big mess, which is probably exactly what I've done with swimming. I get so much performance anxiety before a pool session that I'll sometimes get a side stitch getting into my suit--totally embarrassing, but I just have to own that one. Wow. I need to chill out! I have had moments of the water feeling really good, but I've only been able to hold onto them for seconds at a time, not minutes. Interestingly, some of my best swims have been after other workouts; lowered expectations and a little fatigue to take the edge off seems to help, weird?

I know exactly what you mean about just zoning out, and you're right, I totally do that running. I can't imagine ever getting there in the water, but I'm hopeful that it can get much better than it is right now! I really appreciate your advice. Thanks so much :)

---

--------
Trying to fight gravity on a planet that insists

You're back to running - that's great! How's the foot (leg?)?

Well done all!!
I took a week of recovery after that horrible thing that I am laughing referring to as a marathon.
This week I'll try to bump up my mileage to 40-50. Also aim for 2 bikes and one swim.

last week-
Monday-off (race recovery)
Tuesday- elliptical & yoga
Wednesday-swim meet
Thursday- swim meet , run 1 hour
Friday- swim meet, bike 40 min
Sat- swim meet
Sun- swim meet
I'm on my feet a lot at these swim meets, so kind of bummed I didn't get to swim, but did get a bike and run in between sessions on a couple of days. It was nice running and riding along the beach.
This week-
M- off
T- Swim & Yoga (have to do yoga in the evening instead of my usual morning class, due to the fact I had a job interview today)
W- run
Th-swim
Fri- run
Sat-??? family get together for xmas as my bro, sis-in-law and cute little nephew are in town.
Sun- bike

---

check out my blog http://theswimmingtriathlete.com