Tag: tempo runs

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Swimming and Lightning

Headed down to the YMCA for my swim workout over lunch.

200 Swim
200 Pull Buoy
200 Kick
200 Pull Buoy

Then a bunch of 100 sprints.

Well, just as I was about to start my sprinting, the lifeguard blew my ears out with her whistle.

“Gotta get out of the pool. There’s lightning!”

Part of me wanted to get in her face and tell her I didn’t care about lightning. The other part saw it as an excellent excuse to not have to do a bunch of 100 meter sprints.  The third part of me remembered that “Every missed workout is a missed opportunity,” and that rang the loudest.

I can’t help but think that most lifeguards actually hate swimmers. I know it’s not social hour, but most give the impression that swimmers are wasting their time. I didn’t tell you to be a lifeguard and sit there bored for 8 hours!  But, I kinda get it too. The thought of being a lifeguard probably seems a lot cooler than it actually is, especially if you’re trapped in a sterile pool instead of a Baywatch beach. But that’s no reason to seem happy when lightning cancels my workout. Well, maybe it is.

Anyway, I guess I’ll have to settle for a tempo run in the rain after work.  Someone explain why I’m doing this again?

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Last Night I Ran

I started with an 20 warm up jog then got down to business:

30 sprint, 30 off, repeat
45 sprint, 45 off, repeat
60 sprint, 60 off, repeat
1:30 sprint, 1:30 off, repeat
60 sprint, 60 off
45 sprint, 45 off, repeat
30 on, 30 off, repeat

Several of the sprints coincided with hills.  I finished with an easy run to make 60 minutes.

It was rough, but In the end I felt great about being able to run a decent pace for the last 15 or so even though I was winded.  My legs felt strong as I glided along to complete the day which included an early morning swim.  I felt like I could have kept going for another hour or so at a jogger’s pace, which is really encouraging.

And from “Today’s Random Conversation” file, what every woman wants to know . . . what do guys talk about inside the men’s locker room?

Earlier that morning, I was sitting in the locker room after a swim and was a fly on the wall as three older black men were having a discussion.  They were all kinda overweight and I surmised part of the morning pool exercise crew.  They moved confidently at a very slow pace while I scrambled impatiently to get the heck out of there.  I am quite fond of random locker room babble and this trio did not let me down.

For the purpose of my recollection of their conversation I’ll call them James, Ray, and Carl.

James: Man, have you seen Bobby around?

Ray: Naw, man.  I ain’t seen him in a couple weeks.

James: Yeah, I heard he was sick.

Ray: He must be sick cuz he was comin every day and gettin in that pool.

James: Yeah, he must be real sick.

Ray: He was in that pool every mornin.

James: I hear you, man. Boy gotta be sick.

Carl: Better get him a Z-Pak!!

James: I know that’s right!

Ray: Hell yeah.

James: He must be real sick.

Ray: Yeah, he was serious about that pool for a month.  Every damn day.

James: Aww man, he must be sick.

Carl: Boy better get him a Z-Pak.

James: Yup.

Ray: Uh huh.

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The Beauty of "Off Days" in Training

There’s nothing like waking up on Monday after a rough weekend of workouts, rolling onto the floor, and relaxing into Shavasana pose.  High ranking monks claim Shavasana is the most important part of yoga because it’s when we let the fruits of our labor sink into the fiber of our muscle, bones and mind.  The real work is in the relaxation.  The recovery is in the intention.

Then again, monks aren’t training for an Ironman.

In reality, my “off day” started early this morning with a 30 minute easy run and will end with an hour of light bike training while I watch another crappy documentary, like HIStory.  I have mixed emotions about the intensity of training because, quite frankly, I am a big fan of monks!

But I get what’s going on and can already see how it’s paying off.  A year ago mixing in a “light 30 minute run” would have been laughable.  Today, it was a nice way to start, even though it’s a holiday.

I used to lift weights a lot in college.  There were streaks when I’d lift 6 days a week for an hour and a half, including ab work, etc, but this weekend was probably one of my most impressive combinations of endurance workouts in . . . oh . . . ever.

It started Friday night with an hour bike ride on the trainer, which was mainly interval work and, while I realize an hour is just the beginning, that hard ass seat no picnic.

Saturday, I met the IMWI crew at 7:20 for some video shooting, then I and climbed on a Spin bike for an hour and a half, which included a pretty tough Spin class in the middle.  At 9:00 we stripped down and went for a 20 minute run to complete the brick.

Sunday was a tempo run and to make a long story short we had a warm up and cool down, but still covered 9.5 miles in 80 minutes (8.24 overall pace) which was pretty tough, but felt good.

We all want to go fast, so, light runs, like this morning’s, are in some ways the toughest.  That’s another reason why I will be coaching the Couch to 5k group a couple times a week.  It forces me to slow down.  To think about form.  And to let go of my ego.

In an “Ironman Monk” sort of way I am learning how the light workouts are Shavasana for triathletes.  They remind our muscles, bones, and mind what we’ve learned, but don’t wear us out in the process.  I think, after some deliberation, the monks would endorse this philosophy.