Week 4 is over, and I’m exhausted. I was supposed to do 14.5 hours, and I got in 13.5. I wish I could do that extra hour, but my body was just too tired. It’s tough going from working out about 6-8 hours a week to a big jump up. My running mileage is down a bit, but I’m way up on bike mileage and swimming time. Here’s my weekly summary:
This is how I got there
Running: This week was a good running week except when you consider the calf/knee pain I feel from my blisters. I’ve never had blisters before, and I’ve had five that I had to pop this week. Although they felt fine after popping, I think I was sub consciously altering my stride and running more on the outside of my foot (blisters on big toe and inside part of forefoot). On my 12 mile run this weekend, I could barely walk when finished and the pain really comes when i angle my foot in (think duck feet). I’m hoping to stay off my feet for a bit. My shorter runs were ok, and I did a 5k turkey trot at my girlfriend’s pace in my vibrams. That was a lot of fun! She did awesome in the race too – hopefully I can get her to do more 
Swimming: Two long swim workouts and starting to get the body rotation down. I really focused on clearing the hips as my hand pulled water away, and I also focused on angling my arm pulling the water back (more right angle) than straight arm. It was much easier to balance this way. I did a great drill – a variation of the catch up drill. I’d do this with and without swim paddles – as you pull your hand back, rotate the body completely out of the way and stay on your side for an extra second. Then stroke your hand forward to catch up to your other hand. Make sure you regain balance here and your hips don’t sink. Repeat with either the same hand (for one handed drills) or the other hand. Great for integrating drills into a real stroke. Another variation via @sandiegopj is instead of leaving your dead arm at front, leave it at your side. I didn’t try this but will do it this week.
Cycling: I’m over the 100 mile barrier. In a week that is. I’m still struggling to get my mileage up, but my endurance for 50 miles is pretty good, even on tired legs. When people pass me, I’m able to keep up and even outlast them, which is a good feeling and a big step up from a few months ago where I stood no chance. Although I have a vacation coming up, I hope to start getting these weekend rides to 60-75 miles and get 150-200 miles on the week. My biking legs are getting better and my pedaling more efficient, but I have a long way to go. I used my trainer for the first time this week and the one legged isolation drills really helped. I’m jerky on those, so I know I can get more out of my pedaling. I also need to continue to work on my balance.
Other: Another week of Pilates with Leah Stewart (that’s the other listed above). Great work and my biggest weakness in flexibility is my calf. I would of never guessed. And my upper calf. So I’ll be working on stretching and strengthening those over the next few months. I also continued to do some running drills, which I wrote about here this week.
That’s it for Week 4. This week I’m going to take it easy and do about 10 hours. I’m scheduled for 16 and I think I’m going to do some re-arranging. My body needs some rest and I’m going to focus on that instead of pushing myself and risking injury. I may even take the next few days off from running given the pain in my calf.
Here are my ruminations this week:
- One thing I’ve learned riding – probably 10% of people stop at stop signs. Everyone rolling stops. What the hell? STOP BEHIND THE LINE! Guess what’s in front of that line 80% of the time – that’s right, a BIKE LANE!
- I’m getting a new puppy in two weeks. YAY! A running partner. Here she is – she’s a beautiful Shiba Inu named Kaila (pronounced kI-La)
- My calf hurts, bad.
- Blisters really suck, but I must admit, I love popping them and watching the fluid drain.
- Since we have so many clothes for biking, why not make clothes for biking on a trainer that are so cool we don’t sweat EVERYWHERE.
- Why does some italian food not settle well and others do? This morning was painful before my ride, but other times, no issues and lots of energy. Maybe home made is better?
- I’m learning to ride/run without an ipod. I must admit, it is peaceful and I enjoy the time getting to know my own body.
- Isn’t it easier riding when you’re chasing someone? When someone is ahead, it’s so much easier to pace and push yourself.
- Should people ask for permission to draft off you if you’re riding solo? I kinda hate it when people get right up on me
- I think my cats are starting to like each other, well like each other 50% of the time. I wonder how Kaila will screw this up
- I want to be a coach – that would be awesome!
- VACATION in one week – WOOOO
