Week Four, Finding My Intensity Level

This last week started out slow as far as training.  I had a colonoscopy on Monday which precluded any training on that day. 

Tuesday is a full day with clients.  I ended up not training on that day as scheduling problems getting together with my coach developed over the course of the day.  I was not mentally prepared for working out on my own that day.  I come to train with no expectations and rarely have an idea of what my coach has planned.  I did, however, swim about 900 yards in the afternoon. 

Wednesday, boot camp.  I did OK.  The running at the beginning always starts me out on the high end of my heart rate as I hit that gaspy oxygen deprivation of warming up.  On the good side, no nausea and very little light-headedness, this day, it is muscle fatigue that is showing me where I am.  On the planks, I can feel that shakiness within 15-20 seconds.  He has us do tripod planks with our feet elevated except for me and one brand new person in class.  I do the first hold with my hands up, not much challenge, so I do the second with my hands on the floor.  That was a challenge.  I hit failure on the ab work.  On the second set of shoelace crunches, my body would not move up anymore.  That just means I pushed myself as far as I could go for today.  All in all, it was a good workout.

Thursday, yoga.  It’s the last week of the month, so we worked on breathing and I stretched out my legs and my chest.  The pool my swim team uses closed because of pump problems which means I have the evening free to attend another boot camp.  This one is good, as it is not as intense as the Wednesday morning group but it is enough to push me.  I like meeting the people in this class, a lot of determined participants who are working to be better. 

Friday, training with my coach in the afternoon.   I swim 900 yards early in the afternoon and wow, the backstroke feels awesome on this day.  I can really get moving and feel my breathing rate increase.  During my training session, my coach starts me with an interval set on the tread climber.  After warming up for 4 minutes, it’s 30 seconds at 3.6 mph, then 30 seconds at 2.6.  On the last 30 seconds, I grab the handles because I am whistling like a teakettle and I want to know my heart rate.  164.   We do a lot of movement work and assessments to see where I am.  It’s always mobility and stability and my coach says I am a rock star of stability.  I.e. flexibility is a challenge. 

 Saturday, spinning class.  It’s my fourth spinning class and a friend, an avid cyclist, meets me there.  He helps me adjust my bike to the right position and we’re off.  You know, I am starting to know what to do and how hard I can push myself.  The instructor has us do 2 30 seconds sprints near the end of class.  This is where I really crank up the resistance and go all out.  I may be training to be an endurance athlete, but I still have a sprinter brain.  I love this – and it is so good to be able to do this-GO, GO, GO.  This makes the nausea and light headed moments all worth it.

Yippee! It is Week Three and Workouts are Fun Again.

Here it is, Sunday, and as I look back over the past week, I am hugely motivated. I was really tired at the beginning of the week. On Tuesday, I did a short swim (900 yds) before working with my coach. He had me do an interval workout on the treadles of 90 seconds at 3.6 and 90 seconds at 2.2 for about 15 minutes. My heart rate was hitting 168 and my entire body ached. I felt light headed. He then proceeded to have me totally beat up my upper body.

On Wednesday, during boot camp, I could really feel the upper body work I had done on Tuesday. We did some agility work and I was doing that well until Dave asked us to put our arms overhead. Instant lead and a huge slow down in pace. Whamo. Another reminder of the lack of aerobic base that I have. Still, it was much better than last week.

Thursday, during yoga, my upper body was really feeling the effects of the prior two days. I did not even attempt the handstand since everything was shaky during downward dog. On this day, I feel not so good about how I am progressing. My yoga teacher sees my doubt and puts me in downward dog with my head resting on a brick and my hips supported by ropes attached to the wall. It takes some time but it works. My head clears and the optimism I usually have returns.

I see my coach again on Friday and we primarily do corrective work focusing on my hips and shoulders. It is interesting and requires me to focus on how to do things and how my body responds to what I am doing. It’s the first time since Christmas that I do not feel some kind of spaciness or nausea during a workout.

Yesterday, I did a spinning class with a different instructor. He exudes enthusiasm and the class is full. We do two 30 second sprints near the end of the hour. Wow, my sprinter brain just loves that! On the second one, I crank up the resistance and focus on seeing how fast I can make my legs move. This is great. I am going fast, my fav, and I can do it!  This is why I did all these uncomfortable, difficult workouts during the last three weeks. To be able to feel strong, fast, and able to do what I want to do.

It’s Week Two and It is Better

So here I am, in the middle of week 2 and I am still in recovery mode. I did a boot camp class today and it was better than last week. No nausea. Some light headedness. And a couple of times, my body hit failure and I had to walk. This getting back into shape after illness is tough. But I can tell it is better than last week. I want to remember that it is OK to be here in this not so good shape place because I am choosing to move forward. In four more weeks, I am gonna be awesome.

On Sunday, I did the spinning class again. I liked it much better the second time. I had a better idea of what to expect and how to push myself. It’s a good thing I have been doing yoga for 5 years because otherwise I would have no idea about what to do in the yoga part. There is little instruction about how to do the yoga part.

Tuesday, my coach began an assessment of where I am now. He will be giving me exercises to do around my other workouts to correct the imbalances my body currently has. It became clearer to me how much I need to do and how consistent I need to be to become a triathlete. In the afternoon, I got a short 800 yd swim in. I felt more normal in the pool than I have in almost a month. I could feel the water around my legs and by my face. I wanted to swim enough to get looser and have some aerobic activity. It felt good for the major part.

What Kicks Your Butt more than a Trainer? The Flu!

Today, I did a boot camp class with running, lunges, squats, ab work, toe touches. I did not feel achy until after about 15 minutes had gone by and I only had a couple of moments of nausea. Much better than yesterday.

I am going to have to be patient with my progress right now. I have not only lost aerobic conditioning, I have lost flexibility and strength as well. I need to push fluids and get plenty of sleep. I am confident that in 6 weeks, I will feel strong and well. I just need to keep doing the right things and listen to my body.

Back in the Saddle Again

Today’s workouts were hard. After being sick over the holidays and unable to work out, I find myself in the unenviable position of being at the beginning of the 6 weeks it takes to get in shape and have working out feel good again.

I saw my coach today and after about 2 minutes on the treadles, my legs were aching and I felt nauseated. The nausea stayed with me for the rest of the workout and continued for another hour past it. The nausea was soon joined by total spaciness. I could not focus on what I was doing and I could barely understand anything that was being said.

Even later this afternoon when I got in the pool to just get loose by swimming a 500 easy, I felt nauseated after only 100 yards. I do think my legs are a little less tight, but the nausea lasted for the entire swim. This is the not fun part. I know I have to go through this to get to the fun part. So I will do it, because I want the fun part. The part where I can run the way I like to, where I can push myself without feeling sick, where I feel strong.

Spinning-First time

It is exactly 24 weeks before my first triathlon and I took my first spinning class.  Finding the place was a little difficult so I got there as the class was beginning.  The guy who signed me in said, “First time?  That’s gonna be hard.”  After the instructor set me up, she told me to slow down.

I felt it in my hip flexors and abductors off and on.  I did sweat but never hit failure.  The 40 minutes of spinning was followed by 30 minutes of power yoga.  My feet cramped off and on during the yoga class and I could tell that I had worked during the spinning class.  I better drink a lot more water before the next class.  And I better take a longer class.  I think it will take a lot longer than 40 minutes to bike 21 miles.

It’s 2010. Time to do a triathlon.

It’s 2010 and I am going to compete in a triathlon.  I started teaching a triathlon performance class this winter.  I had been thinking that it would be a good idea to compete in one myself and my trainer told me to pick one to do.  I chose a competition in June with a 400 meter swim in a pool, 21 mile bike, and 5 mile run.  That means I have 24 weeks to become an endurance athlete. 

I have already begun planning the next 24 weeks.  As I plug workouts and competitions into my calendar, I begin to feel excited and hopeful.  I realize that this is doable and that the other benefits to this are huge.  When my endurance is at the level where I can run 5 miles, I will be able to truly sprint a 200 all out.  I will be stronger, leaner.  And I will prove once again, to myself and others, that age is not a limiting factor.