The Dream-Day 20A

Couldn't resist. The real athlete in the family. When I grow up I want to be just like her.






Ok, the leg is sick, but the abs? WTF?



The Dream-Day 19

After hitting the gym for abs, back, and bi's I fueled up and rode for 1 1/2 hrs covering 25 miles. A pedestrian 17 mph pace, but lots of hills. Oh, and any time DOT wants to clean up the streets would be appreciated. It's like a freakin' mine field out there.

It was a day of firsts. First ride of the season outside; First time riding with aerobars (definitely takes getting used to); First time riding with headphones (music while riding = awesome). Easy Mom, I could still hear the cars.

More dance competition tonight and all day tomorrow. Madzo (my youngest) scored a Platinum for both solos (highest award) and won an individual award called "Legs For Days." Can you get a scholarship for that?

The Dream-Day 18

Yesterday's training was another bike/swim sandwich. The morning bike had me do 2x 175-195watts for 20min on the trainer. For you HR people out there, it had me on the high end of my aerobic threshold (~86% of max). I gave it an 18 out of 20 on the Borg Scale (see previous post).

Swam at 5pm. This is what Joe gave me to do. As you can see, it's not about winging it. Every workout has purpose.

W/U 4x50 easy then 2x100 easy
Main Set:
5x100 on :20 rest, build effort in each 100
1x50 easy
4x100 on :15 rest, start fast then settle into a comfortable effort.
1x50 easy
1x300 steady pace.
C/D 2x50 easy
1900 yds total: 1.1 miles

Today, I had it easy. Run only. Totalled about 3 mi between brisk walking and running.

Tonight starts dance comp for my little one. Harder to watch than any workout. Crossing my fingers there's no outfit malfunctions and/or any meltdowns.

The Dream-Day 17

Hit the gym this morning for abs, chest, shoulders, and tricep work and did my scheduled run tonight. My left shoe is giving me grief so I'll stop by Runner's Edge tomorrow for them to triage.

I keep adding to my collection of gear. Today's purchase...a water bottle belt with a pouch to hold my iPhone. I know, super "metro" but functional.

Tomorrow morning I'm back on the bike trainer and I'll swim in the afternoon. It would be nice if it didn't rain every day. Where am I, Seattle?

The Dream-Day 16

Last night, I completed the Ramp test (aka heart attack on a plate) at Joe's house. The Ramp test has you on a bike and holding a certain wattage (power output) for a minute. After each minute, I gave my coach a number corresponding to the Borg Scale of perceived exersion and simultaneously increased the wattage. There were a total of 10 increases that maxed out at 280 watts (really hard). The chart is numbered 6-20, but I suggested they left out a symbol representing "the finger". Oh yeah, I flipped that a few times.

Joe and Mike (another coach) crunched numbers that would determine the initial bike workouts which began this morning. After a brief warmup on the trainer, I had to hold 190, 200, 210, and 220 watts for 10 mins with a 5 min recovery in between. Let's just say that during the 220 cycle my heart rate was 98% of max. That's about a 20 on the Borg Scale which is equivalent to I hate Joe more than life itself.

Tonight, I'll swim 5 sets 10 mins each with a 1 min rest in between. I guess that's considered a break. Lucky me.

Panama City IM is 7 months to the day away. Game on!!

The Dream-Day 15

After a long Bat Mitvah weekend for my daughter combined with the poor decision to have chicken wings and beer Saturday night while watching the Final Four and only getting 4 1/2 hours of sleep, I was up yesterday at 5am for a swimming fitness evaluation at the Suffolk Community College Aquatic Center. Never said I was very bright.

The FE is conducted quarterly and consists of 100 meters, 500 meters, 50 meters, and 25 meter lengths to determine various fitness indicators such as VO2 max, endurance, etc. I was last tested in January and my numbers have improved in all areas. However, my endurance figures are hurting and need the most work. Not a surprise given that P90X, Insanity, etc. have focused mainly on anaerobic systems.

After the swim, I came home and crashed for an hour and then rallied for a 3 mi run. This pretty much put me in zombie mode for the balance of the day as I became one with my bed.

This morning, I did abs and biceps. Tonight is my bike Ramp test at my Tri coach's (Joe) house. Joe will use the swim and bike data to determine my long awaited first week of training.

The Dream-Day 14

Cranked out P90X Ab Ripper X + Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps followed by a 2.5 mi "dreadmill" run. Rampin' up the volume.