Monday, May 31, 2010

Activity log

5/31: rest. I've been feeling so lazy lately.

5/30: running speedwork, 1.43 miles at 8'28" min/mile, 0.53 miles at 8'04" min/mile

5/29: RecWay 10K, 59'07" minutes, 9'32" min/mile

5/28: swimming, 33 laps, 36'57" minutes, 1'07" per lap (200 kickboard, 200 pull, 200 freestyle reps). It felt sloppy but I was too tired to do drills.

5/26, 5/27: rest, I cannot remember the last time I was inactive for two consecutive days. It felt awful, but I was swamped at work.

5/25: running with Michelle through the Plantations. Too bloody hot. 4.25 miles at 9'37" min/mile

5/24: climbing. Biggest group so far: Ben^2, Annie, Mike, Sarah, Matt, and me.

5/23: biking! first time with clipless pedals since September or October of last year, 8.6 miles at a blistering pace of 12 mph.

5/22: running with Annie, Gretchen, and Maddy the dog, 4.98 miles, 10'03" min/mile pace

5/21: swimming, I did the swim workout that Rick showed me and I can feel the difference in my strokes already. I did 30 laps (1500 yards) in 36 minutes for an average lap pace of 1'12" min/lap. My pace for pulls and for kickboard laps isright around 60 seconds.

5/20: the nausea is back if I do strength building in the morning so it's time to give that a break. Went for a run after work: 4.31 miles at a 10'21" min/mile pace.

5/19: strength building in the morning, 1 hour of lunch time swimming with Rick

5/18: rest

5/17: abs and yoga before work, running 2.4 miles at 10'38" min/mile after work (meant to go swimming but found out the pool was closed after I'd changed into my swimsuit)

5/16: 2.5 hours of climbing with Mike, Ben, Cloe, and Jason followed by running speedwork, 1.38 miles at 8'29" min/mile, 0.48 miles at 8'23" min/mile

5/15: running with Heather, Gretchen, and Maddy the dog on the South Hill Rec Trail, 5.76 miles at 9'08" min/mile (new personal record!)

5/14: abs and leg strength building

5/13: running with Shamoni, 2.52 miles at 9'15" min/mile, then climbing at the bouldering wall with Mike and Ben. I was surprised to find out that bouldering at Noyes uses completely different muscle groups than climbing at Lindseth.

5/12: rest

5/11: running speedwork, 1.34 miles at 9'42" min/mile (true distance 1.4 miles), 0.58 miles at 7'28" min/mile (true distance 0.5 miles)

5/10: climbing with Matt, Sarah, and our new German friend Ericks. I did laps up my favorite blue route, which I was told is a 5.7. It feels so easy now that it's hard to believe I couldn't do it earlier.

5/9: spinning, 20 miles. Despite not having biked regularly for months, I felt in much better shape than the last time I went spinning.

5/8: running with Michelle, Gretchen, and Maddy the dog, 4.4 miles at 9'59" min/mi. My speed is consistently getting faster and I'm almost able to keep up with my friends.

5/7: rest

5/6: running with Michelle, 4.0 miles at a 10'00" min/mi pace, then I did a 0.5 mile at the same pace to recalibrate my iPod to my current speed.

5/5: swimming, 25 laps, 1250 yards, average pace of 1'13" min/split

5/4: running, 4.67 miles at 8'57" min/mi, now the calibration is off in the other direction. Grrr. True distance 4.2 miles and true speed 10'00" min/mi. On the plus side, now I know that it's 1.4 miles from my building to the water towers and each loop through the Plantations is 1.4 miles.

5/3: climbing with Annie, Mike, and Lauren. I conquered the blue route!!!! It seems so easy now that I've memorized every move.

5/2: running speedwork, 0.72 mi at 11'34 min/mi (0.89 mi true distance), 0.54 mi at 8'09" min/mi (0.5 mi true distance). I recalibrated my iPod between the first and second runs. I think my strides having been getting bigger as I try to run faster (which is the wrong way to increase speed but that's another topic) so my iPod has been really off lately.

5/1: running on the South Hill rec trail with Annie, Heather, Gretchen, Michelle, and Maddy the dog, 2.38 mi at 11'51" min/mi, 1.1 mi at 11'34" min/mi

Note to those following via RSS feeds: this will the be the only activity log post you see this month since post revisions don't get updated on the RSS feed. (Does anyone know how to change this setting?)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Miscellaneous updates

Whew, it's been a whirlwind few months. Work has been incredibly busy with writing, talks, and meetings as I've been trying to finish up and graduate. I've managed to stay consistent with my workouts -- in fact, they're one of the things keeping me sane during this hectic time. But I haven't had time to think about a triathlon training schedule or update this blog consistently. Here are a few updates that have been piling up:
  • April Nike+ challenge: Vikram defeats the girls by a margin of 0.6 miles (brat! :/) [Vikram 87.23 miles, Punita 61.83 miles, Poonam 24.77 miles]
  • May Nike+ challenge: The girls finally win! Vikram ran his first marathon and Poonam stepped up her training for her half marathon. [Punita 50.17 miles, Vikram 47.98 miles, Poonam 35.11 miles]
  • I passed the 300 mile mark of lifetime miles run.
  • I've become terrified of biking. I've lost all my confidence at using clipless pedals and dealing with traffic, and it's been a significant deterrent that's keeping me off my bike.
  • I set a few personal records. (The best part of running a new race distance is that you always set a new personal record.) I did the Belle Sherman Elementary 5K last month and the South Hill Recway 10K yesterday. I came very close to matching my 5K pace in my 10K run!
Current personal records:
5K: 28 min 55 sec (9'18" min/mile)
10K: 59 min 07 sec (9'32" min/mile)
13.1M: 2 hr 22 min 14 sec (10'52" min/mile)
  • As if I'm not busy enough, I have a few other events I'm considering training for: OwascoMan Sprint Triathlon (July), AIDS Ride for Life (September), and the Philadelphia Marathon (November). I'm signed up to do the Tortoise and the Hare 10K+ run through Buttermilk Falls next weekend.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Normal blood tests!

Good news! Just got more test results back and everything looks good. My hemoglobin went from 11.1 to 14.2 (normal is 12-14.5) and my ferritin went from 5 to 28 (normal is 10-291). I'm supposed to keep taking iron supplements since my ferritin levels should ideally be above 40 for my activity level and get retested in 6 months.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Swim workout

I'm gonna really miss my friends at Cornell when I leave. No matter what activity I want to do, I have a friend here who is an expert at it. Today I got a personal swimming lesson from someone who swam and did triathlons in college. We realized that it's too early for me to be worrying about speed and that I should spend a few weeks working on technique. We did some drills and put together what I think will be a very good workout for the next few weeks.

warmup
200 yards side swimming (alternate sides every 25 yards) to get used to being on my side
200 yards of catch up strokes focusing on correct hand position for entering the water
200 yards of pull focusing on arm stroke
200 yards of kickboard recovery
200 yards of freestyle to practice putting it all together with a focus on rotating my body
cooldown

The key here is efficiency. My goals are to use my arms more since the key to triathlon swimming is conserving leg power for the cycling and running. I also want to reduce the total number of strokes it takes to get across the pool.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Smoothies

I've become addicted to smoothies lately. They're the perfect food for an active lifestyle. I make them in bulk once or twice a week, and I keep them in my fridge at home and at work. My stomach can tolerate a couple of sips before a run or working out, and I finish the rest afterward. It's important to have carbs right after exercise, and they're an easy way to meet that requirement. They're also quite filling which is great since I tend to workout after work and sometimes don't get home until 8 or 9.

Here are my two favorite "recipes." I especially like the chocolate smoothie because it takes seconds to make. I've found that glass jars (like the kind you buy salsa or pasta sauce in) are a good way to bottle smoothies. The price is right (free), they have wide mouths for easy pouring, and they don't leak like other containers.

Guava-coconut smoothie
-guava puree (Goya brand, frozen)
-coconut (Goya brand, frozen)
-vanilla yogurt
-soy, almond, or rice milk
-protein powder

Chocolate smoothie
-cocoa powder
-vanilla yogurt
-soy, almond, or rice milk
-protein powder
-optional: oatmeal (makes it even more filling)