Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Triathlon Training Update

This is a kind of narcissistic post, but I thought since I announced that I would be trying this on my blog, I should at least provide some kind of periodic follow up. I have been training very inconsistently until we got here and now I have settled, more or less, into kind of a training schedule.
My basic problem is that I am not very good at pacing myself. I am agro for a while, but then I am really sore, so I back off, and then get lazy and miss workouts, and then try and pick things up again, and so on. Basically, I try and get up around 6:20, but sometimes it takes a while to get out of bed. We are on the far western edge of the eastern time zone, so it is still totally dark out. Sunrise is not until 7:30 or so.
So my basic schedule is run about 8 miles on Monday and Friday. Swim a mile or so on Tuesday and Thursday, and then play ultimate in the afternoon (if there's no faculty meeting). Bike ride or some other exercises on Wednesday, and a longer bike ride on Saturday. The last two weekends, it's been a fun 38 mile loop I found. It takes me a little over two hours.
Anyway, when I actually push myself, I am pretty much always sore. My swimming has been pretty slow, since I am working on my technique with a book I have, but I don't know how much progress I am making. Some laps feel much faster, then the next I will totally be floundering. My old stroke, though slower, was very consistent. Biking is weird. It doesn't feel very cardiovascular at this point, maybe because my leg muscles are weak, but it is kind of novel and I like getting out into Indiana. My most beautiful Indiana scenes, misty morning pastures, sunrises over cornfields, etc, have been while biking. It does get boring though, so last Saturday I downloaded a bunch of learn Portugeuse podcasts. That was distracting in a good way, although it was hard to listen with the wind and I didn't as much out of the scenery, and I was little bit slower. Also, I was worried I wouldn't hear the semi's coming up behind me, but I guess if one were to hit me, there wouldn't be a lot I could do anyway. (The podcasts will probably be key in the winter, when a lot of this will move indoors). I kind of hate running, although after the endorphins kick in at 20 minutes or so, it becomes pleasurable in a weird kind of way and doesn't hurt as bad. Still, it always takes some effort to go do it and always feels like an accomplishment when I get home.
Anyway, so what I need is a partner, who is about my level, but is really obsessive about the training aspect of it, how far to run, what kind of weight training or drills to sprinkle in, what to eat, so I can just show up and do it, and be more motivated and feel like I am moving forward. A personal trainer, I guess, but for free. I bought a couple of books, but they are all a bit much. I need to get a heart rate monitor for example. (Someone gave me one a while back, but I thought, Why would I ever need one of these?, and gave it away and am too cheap to buy another). Anyway, I keep telling myself I should just sit down and figure out a plan, but I have so many other things to do right now, I don't see it happening. Any suggestions, volunteers?

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Ultimate faculty meeting

So, one of the brighter spots of life in Indiana has been the bi weekly ultimate frisbee. A group of students and a few faculty play on the quad that is in the middle of the very cozy campus. So I'm out there 4:30 on Tuesday and I notice that Profs. Olofson and Freeze, the two other faculty regulars are not there. Hmmm.
Thirty minutes later, the entire faculty, dean, president, etc, come streaming out of the library.
There I am, sweaty, holding the disc, trying to look inconspicuous.
"Hey. Was there a faculty meeting today?"