Light Day, Easy Swim

Today is the start of my race week.  The NYC tri is on Sunday and I just checked my start time, 6:38am.  Brutal.  I'm only training 6.5 hours this week and everything is easy.  Time to watch food intake.  Since the weekend was pretty hard and today is a sunny day will head out to the read hook pool. Want to swim for just an hour.  Start with a quick warm up then set my tempo trainer to a slow 1:20sec stroke rate and swam 2 laps counting strokes and keeping track of time for the 160 meters.  Increase rate to 1:10 and then 1sec.  Best time was  1 sec at  3:36 but felt like i would get sloppy with my form if I continued for a long swim.  Took a short rest and set tempo trainer to 1:10 for my 1500meter swim.  Felt relaxed and think my head position was better than in past although i still need that massage.  Finished in 35:36 with av of 36-38 stokes consistantly per length.  Happy with that.  Next and last swim before the race will try a 1 sec stroke rate.  Finished after 55 min and did a quick cool down.

At home did 10 min of abdominal work.  Plan to keep weight training this week light (no legs) and all short sessions on Tuesday through Friday between clients.

Modified Tempo Run

since yesterday was my long bike i really souldn't be thinking of  a tempo run today but that was my plan and i awoke feeling good.  Problem was I ate yogurt, granola and fruit for breakfast.  Much heavier than my usual shake and only had about 20 min rest before my run.  Looking forward to the North Fork scenery though.  Will head out to the Orient bay and cross a few bridges over water. Started run with the wind easy for 20 minutes.  Then started tempo portion which was intended to be 45 minutes at about 30 sec below 10k race pace.  There was not shade and i'm not feeling acclimated to the heat.  Felt a bit of pain in my left shin and after i turned around decided to cut the tempo portion to 35 min.  Av hr was 87% and 8.1mm which was on target.  Was hoping to go longer but the environment and my heavy stomach didn't allow it.  Enjoyed the run thoroughly, just wish i ate a smaller breakfast.

Spend a few hours recovering at the beach and headed home for the long ride on the LIE.  Arrived home by 4:30 which was perfect.  Time to do some grocery shopping, cook up a fresh salmon burger over greens, and prepare for my week with clients.

North Fork Long Bike And Easy swim

We headed out of Brooklyn on Friday for a weekend with family in the North Fork.  Perfect envirnoment for tri training.  Pleanty of open water oppertunities, easy rolling hills (similar to the NYC tri course next weekend) and beautiful open road scenery for running. Today I rode my last long ride before the NYC triathlon.  My intention was to have a good time, get used to race gearing with the new bars and take it fairly easy.  I Rode the first hour at a high cadence (70-85) against the wind.  Didn't realize how strong that wind was until i turned around and found myself back to the cottage 15 minutes sooner than planned.  On the return i worked a lower cadence at lower gears.  Had a great time flying home.  My bike feels really good although i feel the angle of the bars could be changed so my wrists are more relaxed.  Will work on that after the race.

After my ride we set out to explore beaches.  Found a good one for me to do a little open water swimming.  I'll be over on my training hours for the week with this additional swim, so the idea is to just enjoy the water, adjust my wetsuit so it doesn't rub on my neck like the last time I wore it, and to feel what it's like to swim in current.  Only swam about 30 minutes.  Water was actually too warm for a full suit and was surprised by that.   I never felt too warm with my last suit which didn't have sleeves.  Was glad i had the sleeves though because ran into a few jelly fish out there.  Hopefully I won't experience the jellyfish attack at the NYC tri like lat year.  If so, i'm prepared!

Hang Over Ride

Last night David and I  celebrated our  11 year anniversary and since two of my early morning clents cancelled we splurged a bit and stayayed out too late.  I'm mostly crabby, but also not feeling motivated at all.  Later today we drive out to the Forth Fork of Long Isalnd to spend time with in-laws and I"m really looking forward to time with them as well as training outside of the city.  So today was supposed to be easy anyway, but I cut my ride 15 min short, from 1 hour down to 45 minutes. I set my trainer up outside.  Warmed up for 15 minutes and then managed to work torough a pretty good workout.  Working about 8bpm below threshold i did 3 minutes seated at 60rpm, 3 min standing 60rpm, 2 min seated 50rpm, 2 min standing 70rpm, 1 min seated 40rpm, 1 min standing 80 rpm.  Recover for 3 minutes at 90rpm seated.  Repeated the entire set.  Sweating a bit, along with a lot of water was good for my hangover.

Pick me up Run and Weights

Im feeling like going heavy on my weight trining today.  Spent an hour on mostly multi joint movements for chest and shoulder at 4x8 reps.  Some single joint at 3x10-12.  About 8 exercises total.  Worked back and shoulders heavy and chest moderate. Was able to do un-asisted dips without pain for the first time since my shoulder surgery.   Before this session i started with some shoulder band work for rotator cuff and scapular retraction.  Finished at home with 10 minutes of ab work.  Have not had time for a full hour and a half weight and PT session in a long time.  Good times! It was 84 degrees and partly cloudy and humid when I set out for my run.  Went from the John Street gym down to battery park, along the Hudson River up the west side runner's path.  Ran at an easy 9:20 mm pace for most of it and inserted 40 stride pick ups of 7-7:30mm 9 times throughout.  Headed back to the gym along Chambers Street because i was feeling like some hills.  The traffic lights allow for some rest but i hit the hills at a moderate pace, not too hard.  Overall felt like a good run, but it was real humid and my heart rate was a bit higher than it should have been and was feeling a little something in my left shin.

What excellent bars can do for a bike

My training ride today was supposed to be an easy ride up Coney Island Ave to Roy's Sheepshead Cycle to replace my bike's current bars with new carbon Easton Attack TT bars.  I found that the tube I replaced on Saturday had a damaged valve as I suspected and I needed to replace the tube.  Except the only tube I had left was the wrong size.  Oops.  So the bike went onto the car and off I went.  After an hour and a half at the shop I had my new bars and decided to replace the back tire as it was quite worn and had a few significant holes from glass.  What the hell, i'm over budget anyway. Oh, by the way, these bars are normally $600 and i got them for $300.  So call my shop or order on line, they seem to have more stock www.roysbikes.com. Now for the test.  I've never ridden in true tri bars so I was feeling a bit out of sorts riding through traffic to prospect park.  Noticed that my shoulder placement was much more narrow and therefore a less solid base of support.  Once in the park I had planned a workout that I did the previous week.  Basically, a tempo ride for muscular endurance combined with  long hills for force.  After one loop of prospect park I was getting a better feeling for the new bars, shifting, weight balance, and relaxing my hands.  Really like my shoulder position, head position and generally more relaxed upper body placement.  I completed 6 laps of the park working around 70 rpm on flats and 60 on hills.  Felt really good!

When I compared results from previous workout I had increased my best lap time by 20 seconds over 3 miles, not bad considering it's like riding on a new bike.   Looking forward to riding this weekend on Long Island.  Feel i'll be adapted to it for my race in 11 days.

Didn't do any weights today.  Will have a chunk of time between clients tomorrow, so will save it for then.

Sometimes goals are unreasonable

I almost never swim two days in a row, and today i was wisinging i could go for a run instead, but since the weather is holding up nd my closest pool is outdoors, I'll stick with my plan and go to the pool.  Since yesterday was really light,  and i'm feelng like a run I jogged 15 minutes to the pool and again home. The pool was not crouded today, probably because it's only about 78 degrees outside.  I started with 23 minutes of warming up, focusing on long stokes and varied breathing between 2 and 3 strokes.  Then i started my main set which was supposed to be 10 short cruise intervals of 160 meters in HR zone 4-5a.  My goal was to complete them in 3:30 sec and take a 30 second rest inbetween.  I set my tempo trainer at .50 seconds per stroke.  I only completed 5of these because after only 3 sets i felt like i was struggling, my stroke was getting shorter and swimming should not be a struggle.  So I continued the set but at a much slower pace and stoker rate hoping to get the length back into my stroke.  Each set I increased the stroke rate a bit and was feeling more easy in the water, but not very long or fast.  Really disappointed that the speed workouts are not working for me.

The results were that during the so called hard set I swam about 36:53 per mile at best and yesterday i swam a full 1500m set with longer strokes per lap at a 37:32 min mile pace.  I'll keep playing with workouts, but getting discouraged that the speed workouts are not helping my long swims, and just swimming long all the time is not the answer either.

Also did 45 minutes combined of shouder physical therapy, shoulder strength super sets and abdominal work earlier in the day.  Noticing that when I do shoulder work on swim days I'm not as effective in the pool.  Will keep that in mind for next week.

Short speed set and long swim

Feeling ready today for a swim.  I find i have to put a swim on my calendar for Mondays or else I don't get in three sessions and although it's a bit cool today it is sunny.  I'm feeling recovered because I only did some light wweight training on Suday, so this thould be a good day.  Drove to the pool, easy parking,   Red Hook is the he only neighborhood I ever go to where parking is not a problem. Today I start with drills, single arm, catch up, and long strokes for 20 minutes.  Followed by full effort 4x 80 meter with 30 second recovery.  Stroke length was pretty good, about 50 and times were between 1:41 and 1:46.  Hr was in Z5 as planned.  the main set was 1500m with the tempo trainer set at 1 second stroke rate and 50-54 strokes per length.  The stroke felt faster than usual but using the tempo trainer gets you into a zone that is still new to me.  My HR was in zone 3 as planned and final time indicated a 37:32 min per mile which is a little better than what I was swimming without the tempo trainer.

Will keep experimenting with using the trainer to find a pace a bit slower that will allow for a longer, easier stroke.  I did feel  a bit rushed during this set although not tired at the end.

Earlier in the morning I did 45 minutes of weight training.  3 back movements, 2 chest and 2 legs.  Straight sets 8-12 reps.

Long Ride and Flat

My time was limited today so David and i got started early .  We drove over the GW Bridge to ride 9W.  I planned for a 2:45 min ride, about 45 miles.  Was mild and very little wind.  Was really enjoying the ride, turned around and then on the way up a long 4 min climb i heard the unmistakable sound of a tire going flat.  Bummer. I'v actually never changed a flat out on a ride.  For some reason I've always been near home and gould change my tube in the comfort of my home.  I had everything i needed including a CO2 cartridge which i've never used before.  Had a terrible time changing the tube.  First it was twisted because i didn't put enouth air in it to start out.  Then the co2 cartridge didn't work.  When i finally finished i had a little bulge in the tire.  Prayed i would get home.  Taking bike to shop in a few days anyway and if need be, will have them change it for me.  Give me a little lesson.

Good thing i had water and food on me.  Was frustrated so having a Pure bar to eat was helpful.  The other thing that was nice is about half of the riders on the road asked if i needed any help.  Good to know it's available if you need it.  Interesting that i saw no women during this time.

Chicken Salad with Grapes, Avocado, and Almonds over Spinach

I really liked this dish because it was refreshing with nice textures and flavors.  It took about 40 minutes to prepare and cook and worked well as a leftover.  Took it to Jones beach one evening and ate it with soy crisps before a concert. A very nutritions combo of flavors  The spinach, corn and avocado all deliver on either lutein or zeaxanthin, or both.  Other antioxidants present include vitamin E (almonds), selenium (chicken) and catechins (grapes).

1/4 cup olive oil (or flax oil is even better)

3 Tbs white wine vinegar

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

Course sea salt and ground pepper

1 pound organic chicken cutlets

1 tsp ground coriander

8 cups fresh organic spinach leaves (or more)

1 cup seedless organic red grapes, halved

1/2 medium shallot, thinly sliced

1/4 cup sliveed almonds, toasted

2 ears corn, shucked and removed from cob

1 avocado, halved and thinly sliced

In a small bowl, whick together 3 tablespoons oil, vinegar, Dijon and season with salt and pepper. Set aside

In a large nonstick skillet, heat remaining tablespoon oil (use olive oil, not flax) over medium heat.  Sprinkle chicken with coriander and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until opaque throughout, about 4-5 minutes total.  This may need to be done in batches.  Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes;  Slice thinly crosswise.

Add chicken, spinach, grapes, shallot,  and corn to bowl and toss with the dressing.  Top with avocado and toasted almonds.

Per serving: 437 calories; 4g saturated fat; 2.2 grams unsaturated fat; 63mg cholesterol; 26g carb; 222mb sodium; 29 g protein; 8g fiber.

Taken from body and soul magazine.