How Hard Can It Be? Round 4

[Veronica]

I sorta did a brick today. I rode my bike in the trainer for 50 minutes and then we went to the gym and while Thom worked out with Shawna, I did 4 miles on the treadmill. I wore my new bright pink compression socks. They look pretty dorky and are not very complimentary to my legs, but they sure did make my calves feel good.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Tuesday is interval run day. Ideally, I do these outside at 4 AM with Thom pacing me. We are having just the wackiest weather. Normally by now it's in the 60s and the rain has ended. We headed out for our run yesterday and right as we started up the road, the skies opened up and started dumping large, plopping drops of rain. We bailed and went back inside. I did yoga and Thom got in an extra long piano session.

That meant doing my intervals by myself either at the gym on the treadmill or outside in the afternoon. I dutifully packed my bag for the gym and headed off to work.

I have a nice, motivated class this year. But they are also the squirreliest bunch of kids I have had in a while. Afternoons have been tough all year and I have really had to change up how I plan things. If they are active, they are focused and on task and learning. Not every lesson can be active though. Yesterday was a tough day. And really, all I wanted to do was come home, make some hot chocolate and hang out... maybe do some cross stitch or read.

I got in the car at the end of day, with a tremendous mental debate going on in my head. Go to the gym... run outside since it's not actually raining right now... do a trainer video... do nothing... I only live 1.2 miles away from work and it's amazing how much thinking you can do in that short amount of time. I realized somewhere on that very short drive, that it's this waffling, after a mentally draining day, that sent me down the path of not training enough last year. Too many days my head was burnt out and I came home and lounged and ate bonbons.

Off to the gym I went. Interval run completed. Ended up having a really good run too actually.

Veronica

[spindizzy]

"Discipline is remembering what you want." Your tag line. Good for you!!!!

I was waffling because I was to do hills today. Outside. We had absolutely no snow on the ground yesterday. An unfortunate snowstorm today relegated that workout to treadmill hills. But got them done.

[Crankin]

I thought of this post when I didn't want to get out of bed this morning to do my measly 30 minutes on the treadmill. I did, though.

[Veronica]

Yeah Crankin! And there is nothing measly about 30 minutes on the treadmill.


One of the things I'm doing differently this year compared to past years is having a regular weekly schedule. Previously I would change up my schedule every week.

Monday: Trainer/Swim
Tuesday: Interval Run/Yoga
Wednesday: Trainer/Yoga
Thursday: Spinervals/Fun Run
Friday: Yoga

Weekends are looser - we ride, I run, do bricks and/or yoga. Plus the stuff that needs doing around the house.

I like the set schedule because I waffle less about what to do each day and it fits pretty well with my daily work schedule. Most of my after school meetings are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It's easy to do yoga after a meeting.

Thursdays are long days and deep into the week my motivation seems to wane. The video starts off the day with some good endorphins (high on them now!) The "fun" run is just that. The point is just to get my butt out the door. I've done as little as 1.25 miles - it was windy and cold. And as many as 3.2. It doesn't matter, it's just about getting in a third run for the week.

I only needed 8 more video minutes to get my goal for March, when I got on the trainer today. Woohoo! I now have 130% of that goal.

March has been a good training month so far.

Veronica

[Veronica]

All three March goals have been fulfilled - a week early I might add.

Yesterday's "fun" run was on the treadmill at the gym. I have really started to enjoy running "gasp!!!!", especially if I have some good, motivating tunes. I needed 3.7 miles to get my monthly goal. I did 4.1.

I considered upping my goals for April, but decided against it. Keeping my mileage goals modest allows me to have some wiggle room for those unexpected meetings that crop up. Last year, with higher goals, I had run about 50 miles for the year, by the end of March. I'll have over 100 by the end of March this year. But I think the biggest gain, has been that I actually like doing it now.

Love my rest day. The scary thing is I am always so hungry on Friday because Thursday is such a big effort day with a hard video session in the morning and a run in the afternoon.

Veronica

[Veronica]

New month, new goals, nothing really new. Running and trainer video goals are staying the same. I should hit the pool at least three times. Maybe more if I can get in an extra swim while on vacation.

Now that decent weather is here I will get in more outside riding on the weekends. I plan to keep riding the trainer during the week. I have scheduled bricks the next three Saturdays.

Veronica

[jef09]

This thread was a nice surprise. I have not been on the forum for several months. Been needing a motivational boost for my own training and I found it right here. I really hope you reach your goals this year.

[Veronica]

This week started off slowly. I missed Monday's swim. I had some errands to run... left my wallet at home... the afternoon was shot. Well, not entirely, I did do yoga. I missed Tuesday's interval run. I was going to do it after work, but my after school meeting ran until 4:45. By Wednesday I was back on track with my weekly plan. I barely got in Thursday's fun run before the hail started. It was sunny and 58 degrees when I left. About an hour later the sky was a dark, ominous gray, it was 39 degrees out and my flowers were being pummeled with pea sized hail.

Monday - Friday Workouts
2 Personal Trainer sessions
4 Yoga sessions
1 Spinervals - Uphill Grind
1 run

Veronica

[Veronica]

Another okay week. I had a trainer session Monday morning and got in a good swim Monday afternoon. Tuesday's interval run with Thom in the morning was great and yoga was a pleasant way to unwind at the end of the day. Wednesday was another trainer session in the AM and more yoga in the afternoon.

Thursday was the "bad" day. My plan was to do my "fun run" in the morning and my "Mental Toughness" video in the afternoon. I woke up Thursday with an awful cramp in the arch of my left foot. I worked it out by the time I went to work, but I was limping around the house for about the first 90 minutes I was up. It wasn't a total loss. I did get all my grading done.

I don't know what was up with my lunch on Thursday, but my stomach was not very happy when I came home. It wasn't anything different from what I normally eat. So, Thursday became a day off.

Friday was more yoga.

Today was brick day. 14.7 mile bike. Average speed, including stop lights and a few small hills, 17 mph. Followed that up with a 5 mile run. Average moving pace was a 10:25. I spent nearly 4 minutes at stop lights. I wonder why my Garmin shows stopped time for the run, but not for the bike.

Looking forward to training in Hawaii.

Veronica

[Veronica]

We did a beautiful ride from our hotel up to Hawi yesterday - 55 miles of the Ironman route. The coastline is not flat - long shallow hills. The last 5 miles into Hawi are uphill and we had a headwind on it yesterday. It did make for a lovely 5 mile descent with a tailwind though. The winds here are weird. We had it blowing every which way on the way out and the way back. I'm glad I wasn't racing, both because of the wind and I like looking out at the scenery. I'm not very good at that when I'm hammering. It was pretty warm - about 80 degrees when we started right around 8 (after a lovely breakfast!) and 88 degrees when we finished. I was dreaming about the icy citrus water the hotel keeps at the valet station for runners.

CNN is here at our hotel this week filming for Fit Nation. I guess they are doing a triathlon series now. They were heading out for a swim as we were going to breakfast. They were leaving for their bike ride when we were coming in.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Kayaked out to the Captain Cook monument yesterday and then did some snorkeling. I misjudged my position in the surf zone and had a wave slam me into some coral. I am so glad I was wearing a rashguard. I've got some scratches across my chest that are pretty nasty as it is and a bunch on my right thigh and one especially nasty one on my left knee.

I went for a short "fun run" this morning. All runs while on vacation will fall into the "fun run" category. There is a trail that runs between our hotel and the next one over along the beach, so I ran down that. Running in soft sand is hard. I was out just after sunrise, so it was quite beautiful, not too warm yet and watching the surf pound as I ran was so cool.

It's only 2.5 miles so I think I'll do it again tomorrow. Probably head to the gym some time today and swim some laps.

Veronica

[indysteel]

Kayaked out to the Captain Cook monument yesterday and then did some snorkeling. I misjudged my position in the surf zone and had a wave slam me into some coral. I am so glad I was wearing a rashguard. I've got some scratches across my chest that are pretty nasty as it is and a bunch on my right thigh and one especially nasty one on my left knee.

I went for a short "fun run" this morning. All runs while on vacation will fall into the "fun run" category. There is a trail that runs between our hotel and the next one over along the beach, so I ran down that. Running in soft sand is hard. I was out just after sunrise, so it was quite beautiful, not too warm yet and watching the surf pound as I ran was so cool.

It's only 2.5 miles so I think I'll do it again tomorrow. Probably head to the gym some time today and swim some laps.

Veronica

Ouch! I hope you heal quickly.

As for the rest of your adventures, it sounds like you're having a blast. I'm SO jealous!

[Veronica]

Did weights yesterday with Thom instead of swimming. Did the same 2.5 mile run this morning. Nice, pleasant way to start the day.

Had breakfast with Tim and Nicole DeBoom. Sort of... They were at the table next to us with the CNN FitNation people. He was talking to them about nutrition during a race. I didn't learn anything new for me, but it was still pretty cool. He didn't seem to eat much, yogurt, maybe some meat and a lot of coffee. I couldn't see Nicole as well, so I don't know what she ate. My brush with celebrities.

Veronica

[Veronica]

The current lava flow is inaccessible so yesterday we did a short 4 mile hike across Kilauea Iki and then did some driving around to some sites we hadn't seen before.

Today we did a monster hike starting at the Halina Pali overlook at 2280 feet above sea level. Three and a half miles later we were at a small lagoon with a black sand beach, watching ocean waves crash onto the shore. After a snack and water break we turned around and went back to the overlook. Amazingly, going back up took about as much time as hiking down. It was a pretty steep trail and you just had to be super careful on the way down. Hopefully we got some good pictures that we'll post when we get home.

Veronica