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?
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10 comments:
I doubt I could keep up with you, but I like the idea of it. There must be someone who would be into it. Christian? (Just kidding.)
sounds good. i'm totally bored with running (as is Bo). if he doesn't fall asleep, he starts whining after like ten minutes. i am also not good at doing anything routinely. mixing it up is good. like map out a couple different routes so you can do a different one each day. that helps us.
we found a heart rate monitor at an REI garage sale last year. do you have REI there? maybe we'll have to look for you next time we go.
keep up the good work.
I'd love to train with you, but then we would both need that 3rd person who was the agro know it all coach.
Uh, plus I'm a little behind on the conditioning.
just tell yourself "if I achieve my exercise goal of the day then I can eat a ritter sport chocolate bar, the one with the biscuit cookie inside"
That's what I do.
Sorry, the waves are way too good here for me to think about any other kind of exercise. This week I had two sessions at the lane that were well overhead, lining up all the way into the statue, and brilliantly sunny and fantastic.
thats was a punky comment C.
I have had a couple of students that were Iron Man triathletes. They spend two or three hours a day training and often more on a Saturday. For example one of them would run out to Haleiwa an back on a saturday, or ride his bike around the whole island. Seems a bit sadistic for my taste...not to mention time consuming for someone with a family and a job.
Some things I gleaned form them:
Do hills and sprints for strength.
varying your pace will generally be better for training purposes.
keep a record of what you do so that you can map your progress.
If you push your body too hard you will get fatigued and be more likely to get an injury.
This may or may not help, but if I were you I would vary road bike training with mountain bike training. Mountain biking is way funner, and works your body differently. also, no 14 wheelers in the mountains.
Thanks for the advice everyone. Sienna, I am kind of a creature of habit about my routes and find it hard to push myself with a new route. But I probably should mix it up every once in a while. It's not like I'm choosing between running up to Malaekahana or Laie falls. It's like the road through town, or the bike path out the river. Jake, your comments are strangely inspiring. Time is an issue, but part of the reason I want to do it is that my life is so sedate now, a little craziness is a good thing. Da, I eat chocolate whenever I feel like it, which has been all the time lately, so that might now work. Maybe I could think up something else, like using the money I don't spend on entering a race to buy myself outdoors equipment. (The races are like $250-500, for the ironman and half ironman).
Oh yeah, Jake, there are almost no hills here, either for training, or otherwise. Mountain biking, likewise, requires mountain of some kind. Hmmm.
Oh yeah, Jake, there are almost no hills here, either for training, or otherwise. Mountain biking, likewise, requires mountain of some kind. Hmmm.
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