Still not a fish

I think this is officially the first time that I have crapped out on one of these workouts. Exactly halfway and the thought of another 700 yards was too much to bear, so I bailed on the second half. The campus is closed today, so although I have been at work all day, I have been living on Diet Coke and coffee, with no input of real food. This was probably the main cause---but a secondary, and somewhat less reliable reason is the not-a-fish factor. It seems that whenever I have more than two days out of the pool, the following workout is REALLY difficult to bear. It's not that I don't have the strength, I just seem to drink too much of the pool and get frustrated by it all. That was the general feeling today---just not enjoying it at all.

Got out of the pool did the core workout (better balance on the ball; strangely the planks seem harder than they did last week) and then went for a 2-mile run at 10:00 pace and 1% incline on the treadmill, ensuring that HR stayed around 145 (c.75%). This was boring, but if I am going to find a 4th day of running beginning in March, then I want to add these 2-milers for a few weeks. My idea is to follow the program that I have outlined but do 4-days of running and then substitute swimming and cycling on the easy- and off- days. This will require me to be ready to alternate 8-mile and 4-mile days each week on Monday and then do speedwork on Tuesday. Starting in February, I will kick it up to 3 miles on the off day and then we will be ready to transition into a real 10k training schedule March 1.

kata skopon dioko

I press on toward the goal, forgetting what lies behind, reaching forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:14). Not without some difficulty---January is a cruel month with grant deadlines, closing out year end books, reports, the first stab at taxes, budgets, annual meetings, and it does not help that it is cold. And then there are the new things---planning a running fund raiser for the Gargoyle and working on changes in web services for Augustana. It all adds up and takes a toll on work and home and even sport. This morning I just could not get moving and I decided to skip my planned swim, take an extra hour in the sack, and see where it left me. By late afternoon I felt better and I decided to stick the workout back in the evening hours. This is the second night-swim this week (and, I think, overall). I am surprised how much I enjoy it.

Did the core exercises from RW again. I thought that I was pretty weak in the core, but I am having no trouble with these exercises (some trembling at the end of a 2 minute plank, notwithstanding). This gives me some sense that the combination of swimming/biking/running is working the core adequately. I will keep these up and add some tougher ones down the road with the hope of trimming down more of the gut---but all in all, I feel pretty good about where things stand in terms of core strength.

The quote from Paul at the beginning has come back into my mind these past couple months and it strikes me as profound both for running and life. He does not see the run as a simple here-to-there, but as a long, continuous striving that reaches the prize at the END, but not at some interim end. Always becoming, always captured by the endeavor, always engaging oneself fully in the moment and the day---looking toward what is ahead. I will probably come back to this again.

Core Work and Swim

Finally had time to hit the pool just before 8pm and was running on fumes for most of the workout---which also means sucking in more than my share of pool water. I noted that the more tired I get, the less I am able to maintain any type of form in the pool---and my breathing goes downhill as well. I also work less efficiently: I swam 18 and 16 s/l during the first of two sets and then 20 and 18 s/l on the second. My flip turns are improving (one was nearly perfect), but getting the breathing right for the turns is still an issue. I know that flip turns are hardly critical, but they add an element of fun to the equation.

I have been doing crunches and planks for the past couple months, but the recent Runners World article on core strength reminded me to get more serious about it. After the swim last night I added the first four core exercises in the base fitness workout (Plank/Side Plank, Bird Dog, Back Extension, Swiss Hip Extension) and was surprised at how well I was able to do them. The hip extensions are done on a balance ball, and this is the place where I had trouble (I kept falling off), but I should also see some rapid improvements as I build the strength and muscle control on the ball. In contrast to swimming (and regular lifting) these kinds of exercises fit with the reasons that I love running---they are really endurance work and require one to develop sustained muscle control.

Blue 6

This is the first of what I expect to be a four-day week of swim workouts. I tried, comically, to do proper turns, but with little actual success. I will continue to fool around with this, mostly because it adds a little variety. Overall, things are coming together little by little, but I still find my efforts rather laughable. A member of the UC team was in the lane next to me this afternoon and I took a few minutes to see if I could pick up anything by watching her---I mostly realized how much more I still had to do if I wanted to really see some speed. I did not use the rest periods that Hines puts in to this workout, preferring to rest briefly during the changes between drills.

Adding Sunday to the Swim Routine

I went out to swim this afternoon with some regrets that I was not on my bike. 60 degree days in January are so rare that had I thought about it even a little, I would have been out for a 30-miler on the bike today. Only some regrets, I suppose, because I had already intended to increase the swim workouts to 4/week last week (and instead only got in two). Adding the Sunday afternoon swim and a short Monday jog is my new approach to kicking things up a notch, yet again. The paradox I face is that without a clear structure, I do not get the motivation up for the workouts (this goes to the 'training for something' note I have been pushing on all week). But there is also a limiting factor in the structure---I have a rough workout plan that goes for the next 10 months---and the Shamrock Shuffle is on the wrong week which throws things off. At the same time, I am not going to skip a Chicago 8k that falls on an otherwise good weekend---and since my training plan is 29+ weeks long, we have enough of the long view available to adapt to these unforeseen opportunities. So I swam today because of structure when weather would have (and maybe should have) called me out onto the path on my bike---and I will swim tomorrow too---because the structure keeps me moving forward and helps me attain my goals, which are pretty important to my overall way in the world. Swimming is not exciting, but if I can keep ticking off the workouts, sooner or later I might be a good swimmer---and that is the long view at work.

Back to the pool

Back in the pool this morning with Hines next set of workouts---1000 yards of static balance exercises. Taking a week off apparently did not help my attitude or form, because I really felt like this was a waste of time. My side glide is still imperfect and I am not sure that the workout actually improved it; my front and back balance are both just fine and plodding up and down the lane powered by my legs alone is just dull. Although I have really committed myself to working through the Hines book bit by bit, assuming that he really does know what he is talking about, I swapped the 1x100 static balance for a 1x100 swim. In some ways, the swim felt more natural today---including a 2x25 where I was really exhaling underwater (I know, for most of you this is not difficult, but it is unfortunately new for me). I will keep at it, as I always do, but I am going to try to punch up to a 4-day/week swim schedule to see if I can make some progress. As I have been saying, it is hard to stay engaged with something that I am so unbelievably bad at doing.

Did some back stretches and put in two miles on the treadmill after the swim, just 6/7/8/9/8/7/6 (mph) cycle to stretch the legs out in anticipation of the NYD run tomorrow. All reports say that we are looking at seriously arctic chills---so much for my plans to do it in shorts, set a PR, or run with Linus. The weather suggest a revision: No specific goals for the run, just looking forward to being out with some fellow runners in this cold.

Keeping this log has been personally beneficial, in that it is part of an internal pressure system that pushes me along---but I want it to be something more than it is now. Looking at 2008, I think we are going to try to do something more with the science end of this site. Not sure what direction this will take, but be prepared.

Teaching Myself to Swim

As I have mentioned, I am not a good swimmer. Bought and started reading Emmett Hines Fitness Swimming as way to see if I could move forward from my usual thrashing about. Hines starts with Static Balance drills which really felt helpful.

The workout:
2x25 FB on :20R
2x25 BB on :20R
4x25 on :15RMax---Alt 25FB / 25BB

2x25 SGB on :20R
4x25 on :15RMax alternating FB/SGB/BB/SGB
2x25 Swim on :20R

2x25 SGB on :15R
4x25 on :15RMax alternating FB/SGB/BB/SGB
2x25 Swim on :20R

Took maybe 1/2 hour, but the two swims in these drills felt completely different than the laps I did on the 15T last week. Actually felt like I was swimming at times.

I am sure I will grow impatient with the pace, but this morning really inspired some confidence about my ability to swim more seriously and the pace of these drills may be fine since I will be doing them on my 'off' days and later as an add-on to one of my run/bike days.