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.
