Wednesday, May 29, 2013

May 20-26: At Least I Can Swim?



I spent most of last week pouting about the fact that sudden weight gain makes training in any form, uh, uncomfortable at best, and ranted to anybody who would listen about how unfair it is that I watch my diet like crazy, don’t even touch sugar anymore, and am totally on top of my training while I manage to pack on the pounds at a rate that seems to defy the laws of physics.

Conventional wisdom says that extra weight impacts you most on the run, and least on the swim, but I’ve personally found the most frustration on the bike. My running and swimming both felt OK last week, but I wanted to take a hammer to my bike over the weekend. Luckily, it turns out that my race schedule doesn’t involve anything besides swimming until mid-July, which I guess might give me enough time to build up my strength on the bike and counteract the inexplicable weight gain from earlier this month.

In the meantime, I get to swim a lot, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Monday: Rest day.

Tuesday: 5.25 miles of humid running (9:24 pace) in the morning, 4000 yards of swimming with DCRP masters in the evening, including 48x50. Why the workout didn’t include just two more 50s is beyond me.

Wednesday: A one hour easy spin on the bike trainer, with no data allowed. Basically boring, but I found Simpsons reruns on one of the two stations my TV picks up.

Thursday: Five miles of speedwork on the treadmill in the morning, including 3 miles alternating between 8:00/mile and 9:30/mile every 0.25 miles, immediately followed by 45 minutes of strength training.

Friday: 4500 meters of swimming solo in the morning.

Saturday: A three part brick, starting with 3.19 miles on Connecticut Avenue (9:30 pace), followed by a pathetic 38 mile bike ride at 15 mph, which I now know was so slow thanks to a malfunctioning rear wheel. Numbers aside, it was cold, windy, and 7 different cars almost turned right into me. The only good thing about the ride was that it inspired enough rage that I did the third part of the brick, a 3.36 mile run, at 8:55 pace.

Sunday: McDonnell Lake Swims – 3 miles of swim racing, plus a 600 yard warm up.

10 comments:

  1. The entire time I'm riding my bike on roads, I'm generally just praying every driver I see isn't checking Facebook. I hate people sometimes.

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  2. And that is why biking terrifies me. Things are moving too fast and I am too uncoordinated to respond quickly :)

    Nice week of workouts!

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  3. ARGH, that's why I try to ride EARLY and tend to stick to back country roads. Of course the back country roads isn't really an option for you :)

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  4. Tis the swimming season, at least. You are still kicking ass, V!

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  5. Serious -- 48 x 50? That would piss me off. I would have to do two more. Rage must have worked nicely to drop your pace that much after the ride!

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  6. eugh, people piss me off. i have been increasing my time on the bike, but at speeds slower than i'm used to and it's frustrating. unfortunately my rear wheel is just fine...

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  7. I'm with you on the weight frustration - someone needs to explain the Goddamn laws of physics to our bodies. I'm not completely sugar free but I'm pretty close - I'm limited to one piece of fruit and one vegan protein bar (which has 10g of natural sugars) in the mornings, but no carbs other than veggies after 2pm. It sucks, I know, but all we can do is keep trying and hoping that one day our bodies will stop throwing it back in our faces.

    You're still an incredible athlete IMO, regardless of weight.

    xxx

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  8. Oh, rage-inspired workouts. I'm always so cautious riding in traffic because I don't trust drivers, pedestrians, or basically anyone for that matter.

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  9. UGH to drivers checking facebook. I got rearended in 2011 because someone was checking facebook and not paying attention. Totaled my parents car. Anyways I'm glad the rage fueled to go a good workout though. Sorry cycling isn't the best right now but hoping it gets better!

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  10. Im right there with you on the weight gain issue. I started training for half marathons this year and have put on 8 lbs. i dont get it. and its making me sluggish on my runs. what the heck are you supposed to eat and when to keep you fueled?? whatever i do doesnt seem to work. i turned 50 last october and now i find it so hard to lose weight. grrr....

    Im totally in awe of all that you do!

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