An update...

Sorry it's been over a week. The rains, the lazy days and the much needed rest took my time. But here it is in some detail...

Tuesday - My second day of rest. Chuckie wanted three full recovery days. So what did I do? I got an amazing massage, got the truck fixed (it was overheating) and read!

Wednesday - My final day of 'rest'. Because of the rain, I rode the indoor trainer very easy for 30-minutes and did an easy 30-minute treadmill run.

Thursday - Back at it! The rains were coming down hard so I opted for an indoor ride. It was very hard to get my head and body working together. After three days of nothing, the blood is very thick. I managed to get in 2hr57minutes of ride time broken up in 4 hours. I had to mentally get my head on straight. My power was low indeed but this is expected after three days of rest.

Friday - There was a break in the clouds and I ran early for 1hr20 and had a sold hard power swim of 50x50s with paddles and gear. I ended the day with another run (albeit short).

Saturday - Double swim day with some easy x-training between. Since I didn't swim much this week, we opted for one hard power session and one longer session. The AM main set: 50s and 25s by 500 with 100 easy between. The 50s and 25s were with paddles only.

Sunday - Aerobic run on the track! I felt like I was racing even though my HR didn't show it. It was a hard one, albeit short. After an easy spin to flush the legs, I was back on the feet for an easy jog in the evening just as the sun was setting.

Monday - Finally, a full-day outside! I busted a move on the bike for 4 hours by myself with the I-pod. A solid workout with a solid power output.

Tuesday - Rain and more rain had me indoors again on the cross-trainer and an easy 30-min spin to flush the legs again. (The pool was closed).

Wednesday - I felt dead all day - a much needed rest day. I ran a slow sloth-like jog in the am for about an hour, spun the legs out on the bike and ran again in the afternoon for 30-minutes. I was on glycogen depletion because of a no 3-day carbohydrate diet. I ended it with an easy 2k flop.

Today! - I met up with the crew and did a strength session in the pool. I just finished a moderate ride outdoors in the sun. It's here to stay I think! Knock on wood!

The last 4 days

Friday and Saturday - See my blog post for Friday and Saturday. Both solid days of training.

Sunday - Another aerobic run on the track. I was much faster than last week and kept it going for a solid 9 miles. Chuckie does this often with his athletes (as I do with mine). Testing your pace at a sub-maximal aerobic HR allows you to see how much you're progressing (or regressing). THe After a nap, I headed for a short jaunt on the treadmill and flop in the pool.

Monday (today) - A well needed REST day! Completely off! My legs are up, I just had a massage and I'm enjoying a quaint little coffee shop.

January 10th - 12th

Sunday - On the track with the crew. We did a sub-maximal aerobic run test. I clocked in a solid 9 miles (albeit slow). Later that day I had an easy spin to the gym on tap, a flop in the pool and a short x-trainer session to loosen up the legs. A solid day after Saturday's epic ride!

Monday - Strength day in the pool with all the gear to boot! We used paddles, buoy, band and a small dolly inner tube. Main set was 2400y of pulling broken up into 150, 100, 50. Today was a solid rest day with a long (2-hours) mid-afternoon nap and a super mellow 30-minute cruiser ride on the mountain bike.

Tuesday - A hard swim day with broken 150s as the main-set. The workout is 75 HARD on 1-min, 50 MOD on 1-min and 25 ALL-OUT on 1-minute. We did this 8 times. My hard 75 at best today was 53. I mustered through the workout with determination and maintained it (although I didn't get any faster throughout).

I then met up with Heather and Trevor, with Chuckie on the motor bike for some strength intervals on the back-side of the Fig. I LOVE LOVE LOVE climbing and could have done this until sunset. Chuckie stopped us after three. I was a bit disappointed because I was getting in a solid groove. (Coach knows best I guess.) Later in the day, I headed down for a quick X-trainer session again to mimic run mileage without the pounding!

Jan 6- 9th!

Days ROLL BY FAST!!! Wow! This year is already 9 days gone!

Jan 6 (Wednesday) - After our hard ride yesterday, I was up early (as I am most days) and ready to get the day started. I waited for CV and we headed out for a run (him on the mountain bike). I ran for just over an hour at a moderate pace (nothing too special). This was then followed by a super mellow spin on an old mountain bike I have here. Later, we headed to the local track for a short run and a flop in the pool. A flop that was much-needed!

Jan 7 (Thursday) - Easy ride day (2 hours or so), hard swim session with the group with some Base Pace work (MS: 5x200s, 4x200s, 3x200s, 2x200s, 1x200 at Base Pace with 50 recovery between), and hmm, a lot of lazy-ing around.

Jan 8 (Friday) - Moderate-easy swim with some light paddle work, Longer run session out at the local Kalyra Winery, super easy 1-hour spin (SUPER EASY), and ended with a short run (very easy shuffling) in the late afternoon on the local track.

Jan 9 (Saturday) - AWESOME DAY with the crew! H/T and I had a great moderate-base pace swim with some strength intermixed (MS 10x100s all gear, 8x125s at base-pace, 6x150s all gear, 4x50s sprint). We then got ready for a longer ride session (4:30 or so)with some cruising behind Trevor's wheel and climbing. It was a great day all told. I don't think I finished re-fueling yet! I'm still munching on whatever I can find!

Last few days

Jan 2 - Easy ride, and a longer run effort - all easy to keep the knee healthy.

Jan 3 - On my own today. I went for a great 3:55easy spin to let the knee get to 100% for the coming week of training. I had a great swim with 2k at base pace.

Jan 4 - Monday! I love Mondays because it's the start of a new week. We woke up early and had a great swim practice with a 1k TT. I swam my fastest yet! :) This was very inspiring to me. But I have to get faster....a lot faster! I then had an easy spin around the valley here and a light flop/stretch. Oh, and I mustn't forget the 45 minutes easy run.

Jan 5 - Early morning swim with the MS: 500 moderate, 5x50s at 90%, 5 x25s HARD. This was repeated twice. It was a moderate swim but solid. Total 4k or so. We then met up with Heather and Trevor and I had an awesome ride with the crew (Chuckie V included). We kept it rolling for 3+ hours. We were told to keep it around IM threshold pace and for me, a slightly lower HR than my aerobic base pace. Unfortunately, when you get behind Trevor's wheel, you enjoy the ride a bit too much and that HR creeps up some on the rollers. It was my first hard ride back from my little knee pain I was experiencing and I took full advantage of being able to go FAST! Thanks Trevor!

Jan 1st 2010

Today was a great kick-off for the new year! CV and I headed out for an easy spin on the lone roads of Solvang area for an easy spin of just under 4 hours. After a few cleat adjustments my knee is near normal! :)