Onward
Hi October Peeps!
Here's hoping you're ready to get started with week 9. I for one can say that I was really shelled by the time Friday rolled around. The final workouts of this week were a challenge, to say the least. I'm feeling like the mojo is coming back by now, and I think that with tomorrow's rest day I'll be back on form. Man though, the testing plus the holiday activitiies really took it out of me. Luckily as of Saturday this week I will be on vacation in warm Key West, FL!!! So excited!
Check in when you can and let me know how it's going.
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I'm looking forward to a little change-up in the workouts, just for the variety. I fear the 30-30s but welcome the challenge! If I hate them, hey, it's only 6 weeks, right?
I gave myself the holiday and this weekend to eat what I wanted and not worry about body composition, and, as a result, I felt really heavy and slow on my run today. Back on the diet wagon tomorrow, though.
I envy your Key West vacation, Olivia! Have some fun!
How is everyone else doing?
Hi Team:
I've been gone for a full week, flew south to Sedona Arizona for warm weather. As this was a family vacation my training went to pot. However, I was able to find an excellent bike fitter near Phoenix and got the bike dialed in nicely!!!
I missed most of the workouts and did lots of mountain biking with the fam. In fact, one of the greatest parts of the trip was seeing my kids and my wife develop confidence on the trails with their bike handing skills.
I ended up using the week as a recovery week but performed the tests. It was good to see the numbers showing concrete improvement
. I see that you all kicked some booty too! I'm looking forward to the change up with the addition of VO2 max training.
Olivia: Enjoy your time in Key West. Hope you have beautiful weather!
Hopefully this will help keep me going even though I am stuck in a hotel room. Here's to the next 6 weeks!!
I am also looking forward to a change of pace
Pete
p.s. Does anyone know exactly what a 30" Spinup is?
Hey Pete, I found this in the EN Training Plan Quick Start Guide:
Spin-Ups: Shift to a very easy gear and spin (very light pedal pressure, as if there were no chain on your bike) very quickly until you begin to bounce in the saddle. Hold it there for 30-60". Recovery for 1-2', repeat. Purpose: to increase your pedal smoothness at all cadences and comfort at high cadences.
My first run at 30/30s were hard, and fun in a crazy-pain-is-fun kind of way, but I think something is wrong with my PT, the work 30's kept getting longer and the rest 30's went by in no time! Oh wait...stupid time distortion...
Looking forward to the short run intervals tomorrow, time to open up the legs and channel Usain Bolt!
Have a great week 9 team!
Two great lines to read this morning! Good stuff!!!
You guys are awesome and the group is really keeping me motivated to get in my workouts regardless!!!
After a car accident on my way to the airport yesterday (nobody was hurt, but it was my fault and did about $7k damage to my car!), I finally made it to Indiana where I'm spending the week on a business trip. BTW its COLD here! I woke up at 3:30am LA time this morning to get in my 30/30s on the only bike in the gym that had power on it, a recumbent. It was a struggle, but I did them all at ~325 watts! Followed it up with a short 10' run on the treadmill before my first morning meeting!
Sorry about the car. I'm glad no one was hurt at all. Hope that's it as far as annoyances for the week. Dang! Seems like things all hit at once...car accident, then INDIANA for a week! Whoa!
Knock on wood I haven't had to travel for work since September! (knock, knock, knock) You and Pete are travelin' fools though. Pete, where are you again. DC? I grew up around there...in Rockville. The parents are still out in Bethesda.
Olivia: Unfortunately my travel is all or nothing. With today's economy I have to go where the work is, so I am not really complaining. It is good to be working. I am currently stuck in Gaithersburg, MD (just outside DC). Don't get me wrong it is a nice place, but if I am going to be away from my family I could think of some better spots. Key West, maybe.
Fred: Glad to hear no one was hurt. Bet that put a real damper on the day. Were you able to channel that frustration into your 30/30's?
Woke up this morning feeling like crap, so decided to delay the 30/30's until this evening for an additional few hours sleep. Hopefully I can keep my promise to myself and get them done later
Pete
Fred, I cannot even imagine doing 30-30s on a recumbent bike. You're a beast! Glad everyone is ok after the car wreck.
Pete, I hope you are feeling better this afternoon. If not, don't worry, you get another chance at the 30-30s on Thursday.
I'm glad to see everyone checking in and having fun!
Whoa, Nelly! Those run intervals this morning were tough! I'm sad to say that I only made it 50 minutes instead of an hour, but my legs were toast.
Reese seemed to enjoy it, although she kept looking at me as if to say "what in the world are we doing now?"
I was all set to do this morning's run on the dreadmill, even though I hate it, because it was supposed to be rainy and cold, in the low 40s. It stopped raining overnight, though, so out we went! I can do 2 out of my 3 run parameters (cold, raining, and/or dark), but not all 3! I look like the world's biggest nerd with a light on my cap, a reflective vest, and a blinking red light dangling from Reese's collar, but it makes me feel a little safer.
Have a great day, everyone! Just one more day and then we get a rest day!
I am envious of being done with today's work out Kristen! Wish I were done with my intervals... not looking forward to them. In fact (it must be a deep phsycological issue) I forgot my shorts and shirt at home so will have to stop and buy something to run in!... Can't see running in a speedo, black dress socks and no shirt as going over too well in the gym! Luckily I keep a pair of running shoes there.
Sorry about that image....... running in a speedo, black dress socks and no shirt......... it even gives me the willies!!!
When I was commuting by bike more frequently I had my share of days where I'd forget a critical garment. In some cases, when my husband would leave the house later than me I could have him bring whatever it was and give it to me at the gym where we both were getting ready (a couple times I forgot my entire outfit which was packed in my bag so that increased his load a lot). In other cases I would have to wear bike gear for a while and then get out to a store ASAP to buy whatever it was. I now keep a little stash of important articles of clothing at work and in my gym locker.
Woke up to an inch of snow on the ground. Like you, Kristen, there are certain combos that I will just handle. Snow, dark, and IP intervals are not one of those combos. So I did the intervals on the TM this morning. After a couple of weeks of high fifties and low sixties with glorious sunshine, I guess we had this coming. Anyway, I started doing the work, the intervals came and went. When I was done I felt like I had to have missed something or done something wrong because it just wasn't that bad. Really wierd.
Oh look...the sun is coming out again! Yea!
Just do it, Mark! You would give people a memory they would never forget.
Olivia, anything cold enough to include snow would keep me from running outside. I'm such a cold-weather wimp! I'm glad to hear that your treadmill intervals were not too bad.
Glad to hear that everyone is surviving the new workouts. I am dying to get started myself. I had to finally give in an go to the doctor's yesterday. It turns out that I got the double-whammy: strep throat and the flu. I haven't felt like doing much other than sleeping. Decided to take it easy this week and try to easy back into things this weekend after getting back home. Hopefully I will be back to full capacity starting next week.
Beautiful day on the east coast today. Get out outside today! Snow will be flying soon.
This morning when I got on the bike my legs felt heavy. The workouts appear to be wearing them down a little. I'm switching Saturday's workouts to tomorrow because Sat is our travel day. Hope the legs hold out just one more day.
I'm with you Olivia...my legs had no go-go juice this morning either, so my 30/30s felt more like 300/3s!
At least I showed my legs who's boss by making them do over 300 watts for my last interval...so there, legs! Only now they're getting me back by making me walk around like an old man...
Thankfull for the day off tomorrow!
Marc and Olivia...I totally bonked on yesterday's run. I'm thinking of going out and giving it another try today. I have always had a 10 below threshold on running but I'm seriously thinking of abandoning this for a membership at SNAP fitness so I can run on a treadmill. I hate hate hate treadmill running especially when there are other people around. I just can't take the cold anymore....what is with this becoming wimpier and wimpier the closer I get to 50....bleck.
Pete, Sorry to hear you are sick. That sucks. Think of it as getting your one illness for the next 12 months early on in your training.
Sheryl, Intervals on a treadmill aren't too bad... you'll be working so hard that you won't have time to get bored....of course there is the rest between the work sets that can be challenging... It'll just get you going fast again that much quicker.
Get well soon, Pete! Don't worry about the workouts. They will still be here when you are feeling better.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had dead legs this morning! That last set of 30-30s was torture. Olivia, good luck on doing Saturday's workout tomorrow - personally, I really need that rest day!
Wow, you miss checking in with the group for a few days and it's amazing all the different things that are coming down the pike in our lives. Fred survives an auto accident unscathed, Pete gets contaminated with the nasty flu, Marc gives us a mental image that traumatizes us for life
, etc. Then, the weather changes to these beastly temps. I'm dealing with a high of 32 F that feels like 21 F due to wind chill. Yes, the treadmill and trainer are actually appealing with these nordic conditions. I never thought I'd say the trainer looks appealing for a workout but it's true. Glad you guys are doing okay despite the unexpected upsets.
Pete, hang in there and know that in a few days you'll get your strength back and be able to hit things hard again.
As usual, the ladies are crushing the workouts by simplying getting them done. I'm heading to Anaheim, California for next week for a psychotherapy conference and will be doing what some of you have already done: Make due with the fitness room recumbent bikes and turn it mainly into a run week.
I really like the changes in our prescribed workouts. It's so much easy to maintain intensity, although it's higher, for short periods of time. As I took a recovery week last week I've noticed I'm more refreshed and strong for the workouts this week. I'm actually running a 10K this Saturday in Moab without tapering. I should place well in the Master's category, we'll see.
Thanks for all of your inspiration and support.
I love that we're all suffering together this week with legs that feel like cement posts. So strange how things feel generally OK, and then WHAM-O! I am going to wait until this afternoon to do my re-arranged Saturday workout. Just to give myself as much rest as possible.
Like you Stephen, I'm making next week a run focused week. Looking forward to a) running at sea level, and b) running at the Key West High School track (gotta love the "Home of the Conch's"!!!) The following week will be a bike focused week. It will be an interesting experiment to see how that arrangement makes me feel.
IMSG PEEPS - There's a thread in the General Training forum about a potential camp in Tucson in March....check it out if you might want in. Mark - will you be doing the NorCal camp?
Didn't know there was a Nor Cal camp.... I will have to look into that as a big week is much easier when done with others!....
Boy, I am BEAT today. It was all I could do to drag my sorry butt out of bed this morning. I have to keep reminding myself that the intensiity is just as tough on me as volume. In fact, it is a bit insidious. Mentally I don't think I should be tired becasue I'm not spending all my time training.... need to change that frame of mind!
Steve, good luck on your 10K. You're going to crush it!
Olivia, have a wonderful vacation in Key West! You should be posting some super-fast times on that track after living and training at altitude. Where in Colorado do you live?
It's snowing (!) here in Houston today, and it has the entire city in an uproar. We have had zero appointments all day, and none the rest of the afternoon. My boss is a wonderful man but he doesn't believe in closing for anything, so we have 3 vets, 2 techs, 2 receptionists, and 2 kennel attendants all sitting around looking out at the snow.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Ha...Kristen, my sister in law just called me to tell me about the snow. She and my brother live in Alvin. I have to tell you....Houston having significant snowfall before Minnesota? Incredible. Have fun with that!!!
Sheryl, it's just so funny to me how a little snow paralyzes this city! Most schools either cancelled classes or had early dismissal, and even the city shut down at noon. I'm looking forward to going home and enjoying my fireplace!
They are in the midst of a massive remodel and I'm jealous because our remodel is on hold until the economy improves...so she has no fireplace and I kinda have an evil little giggle about that....
Well, there's no outdoor biking for me, but I'm a known wimp. There are guaranteed to be numerous crazy ultra-layered cyclists outside tomorrow, but I'll be snug as a bug on my trainer in my house.
That's pretty funny about your sister's fireplace!