Ready for Winter

Well, now that we are living in the North, we have accepted that it will be a cold, dark winter. We have a beautiful training space to keep us in shape until spring, but we also have a furry friend who still needs to run outdoors. So we have been braving the ice and cold to make sure Harley gets his run training in. D took him out for 90mins today and he was going strong the entire run. We may have created a monster! At least he will stay warm now that he has his stylin parka. There is even a pocket on the back, which D decided was for gels :-)


The week has been great, I feel like I got my running mojo back, although my swimming has suffered. I was swimming on Wednesday and felt like I had over cooked noodles for arms. I thought back to the previous day's workouts and realized that between my strength workout and the nasty bootcamp I dished out I had done 95 pushups...so that would explain the noodle arms!

Saturday we had a great spin session with our group and coach Troy. 2 hours of Have Mercy the Sequel and we were fully cooked. My long run today was only and hour, and done on the tready while D and Harley braved the outdoors.

Christmas lights are up and I am thinking of digging out the tree next weekend :-)

Monday: 60mins
Tuesday: Strength
Wednesday: Swim 1500m, Run 70mins intervals
Thursday: Bike 45
Friday off
Saturday: Bike 2hrs
Sunday: Run 60

Another Week, Another Blog Post

I have been really slacking on the blog lately, not for lack of bloggable activities, just been lazy I guess.
It was a better week training wise, although I opted to bump my long run until tomorrow as the legs are still burnt from yesterday's fun. We meet a big group of GP athletes at 8:30 for a run. I took Harley out for a new experience..;.group running. I started out with the fast boys and was at the back of the pack, which is not where Harley likes to be. He is a leader, and was doing all he could to try and get up to the front of the pack. I was his anchor, opting to stay back and try to keep from tripping over him and killing myself. Harley did fairly well for the 12.5km route, although some of it was on the highway and he didn't like that much. Neither did I, as he kept pushing me into the icy tire tracks, opting to take the nice running surface for himself. After the run we met at the coffee shop and had a meeting about reforming the tri club in GP as well as the GP triathlon which has been santioned for the upcoming season. It was great to know there is a group that is enthusiastic about tri and wanting to organize some group training.
After the meeting it was home to host our Saturday spin. This week we had four others plus us and we worked up a serious steam with Coach Troy's 'Totally Time Trial' workout. The 90 min workout was tough after the run I had done and I was feeling really short on fuel, having had breakfast at 7:30, and finishing the ride at 12:30.

The rest of the week's workouts were good, and I only missed one run this week. The swims are really challenging me, with all kinds of drills and other strokes that I SUCK at. I had a 10x 100m IM session that nearly killed me. I am soooo bad at butterfly, and almost as bad as breast stroke. I was worried that the lifeguards were going to try and save me, thinking I was having a seizure in the pool! The other killer was a 8x100m single arm, alternating arms every 100m. Tough stuff, but it is good to have the challenge. Surprisingly, I have been most consistent in getting to the pool and doing my set workouts 100%. With more of a short course focus this year, I want to be both faster and more efficient in the swim. I hope that all this embarrassment is worth it...

We had a full house on the weekend, with my cousin Heidi visiting, and my dad staying with us. Today was my bro's bday and we had dinner and cake with them Also played his bday present- Rock Band 2, which was ALOT of fun and very addictive.

The treadmill kicks ass, our home gym is awesome! I now have everything I want to train with in the comfort of my own home...well, except for a pool...maybe in a couple of years :-)


Tuesday TFTD: Bike 75mins
Wednesday: Swim 66mins
Weights
Run 30mins
Thursday: Bike 60mins
Friday: Swim 40mins
Saturday: Run 65mins
Bike 90mins

The Weekend

Winter has definitely arrived and the early morning walks with Harley are getting ch-ch-chilly.
Training this week was about 80%, certainly not what I want, but alright for this time of year. I have been feeling like I am fighting some kind of cold the past few days and today I have a sore throat and am really lethargic.
Yesterday I bailed on my long run and did a bunch of errands and chores. I did get out for a long walk with the pooch, and he did his long run with D. Harley seems to have about 14km of D's pace in him, and then he has to be dragged the last km. I guess his endurance isn't quite there yet.
Saturday we had a pretty full house for spin class, with 3 other GP triathletes joining us for a 2 hour session in the basement. We started with an hour of TDF and then plugged in Coach Troy for a little hurt to finish off the ride. It was great to meet some new people and I am glad we decided to open our home for these sessions.

We also bought a treadmill, which I am stoked about! It is being delivered tomorrow, and I think my running will get more consistent now that I don't have to go out in the cold and ice!

Saturday TFTD Bike 2hrs

New Training Partner :-)

Meet Harley, our new buddy who's job is to train me to be a faster runner..lol.
This dog can move! I have been taking him for 3-4 walk/jogs a day. My hips and shins are killing me! I am not used to this much power walking.

Also, I have gotten started with my coach, Syl. I have been following the program this week and so far, so good. I missed a run, due to my sore legs, but I should be adapted to this new form of training soon and will make the run up tomorrow.

D has been on the road this week, it is nice to have Harley as company :-) I took him to the vet the other day, and found out he is a lab/rotty cross. That explains his massive quads and chest. He weighs 72lbs and doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. When the vet found out we are runners, he said Harley in top condition will be like an athlete on steriods...look out! EEP.

We are loving being doggy parents, and I am soooo happy we found him!


Tues TFTD: Bike 45mins, Run 15mins
Weights Full body
Wed TFTD: Swim 45

Saturday Sufferfest

Good times again this morning with the "Have Mercy" 2hr DVD workout compliments of Coach Troy...who I hate by the way :-)
We worked really hard, and at times I felt like wanted to quit, but thankfully I had D suffering along with me and pain is always less when shared with a loved one... haha

A HUGE congrats to our good friend Chris Daniel who ROCKED the IM Florida course today. The conditions out there were near perfect for a PR day and he did it! Way to go!!!
DANIEL, CHRIS 2/2/4 48/M45-49 00:53:54 04:54:44 03:41:06 09:34:51

Looking forward to a run tomorrow and a trip to High Prairie to see about a Harley...more to come on that ;-)

TFTD: Bike 2hrs

Friday: Tempo Run 60mins