80 miles Saturday

So I lead my first official JDRF group ride on Saturday.

It started off a little shaky with me not being able to print out any of the maps or cue sheets due to outdated Microsoft products on my computer and then getting my signals crossed thinking that the ride started at 8am when it actually was scheduled to start at 7:30am. So my planned 20 minute early arrival ended up being 10 minutes late.

But we were able to get underway pretty quickly once I got there and were on the road by 7:45am.

It was a great morning for a ride with the temp hovering around 60 degrees. We had a couple of missed turns to start with, as I had to adjust to the way the cue sheet was laid out by coach Alex. I had brought one with me that gave mileage point to point, but the official sheet was laid out as miles from the start to each turn. The good news is that the route was originally to be 78.5 miles and ended up being 80.5.

Danny, Kate, Kelly, Lisa, Sam and Tony were mostly good natured about the initial missed turns :) and as we headed north, worked well together in efforts to develop some critical skills for our Death Valley ride, including straight line drafting in a pace line, echelon formations for drafting in a cross wind and dual pace line to keep the pace higher in shifting wind conditions.

All in all it was a great training ride with the gang, a few aches and pains (my left foot started that burning thing, but I think a little glide on the affected areas might solve this dilemma) but no belly aches.

What is really the Truth?

Yesterday, I took a rest day. Not a planned day, but I got up at 4:30 checked my Blood Glucose, it was 176 (perfect for pre swim) but my throat was a little scratchy and I was very sleepy even after 8 hours of sleep.

So I told myself that I needed to take the morning off as I had done 2 swim workouts on Monday for a total of 3200 meters. I bolused for my BG and went back to sleep, waking up barely in time to make it to work on time with a 51 BG. Needless to say that after 11.5 hours of sleep, I did not completely wake up until I was all the way to work. (I ususally wake up pretty fast)

I told myself all day that I needed to get in the pool last night, but I had to help a friend with something that was not supposed to take long and I was going to swim right after that......wrong. No workout last night.

I stayed up and watched "Lost" the next to last episode, didn't get to bed until 10:30 after taking my night time, Reliv vitamin shake, woke up this morning on 6.5 hours sleep and had a great workout. 2200 meters in 1 hour 2 minutes. If I had not forgot my swim suit in the truck and had to make 2 elevator trips and crutch all the way back and forth twice, I would have had another 2-300 meters in the warmup. So I felt great.

We did ladders and I am getting a lot closer to making the times that they are asking of us. Even with my gimpy leg.

So what I did well this morning
1. Breathing was more relaxed
2. coughed under water when I choked while trying to breath. (getting good at that when it happens - it pays not to get rattled when you choke on water while swimming)
3. I seem to be getting a little faster.
4. good length
5. kept stroke in front quadrant
6. kick more compact

3 Things that I wish to improve on
1. Elbows high
2. Turnover
3. Less Splash in high turnover

my top 3 mental strengths
1. stayed focused on the short goal - every half way on the pool 25m
2. stayed focused through choking
3. visualized perfect stroke

2 mental areas that I would like to work on
1. not loosing focus on max effort at end of sprint - would like to intensify effort at that point
2. get out of bed with more of a can do looking forward to my swim attitude

One thing that I always no is that no matter how tired I may be at the end of any swim workout, I always am glad I did it. Every stroke brings me one step closer to my goals for swim times and makes me a better swimmer.

My broken foot always looks better after I am done swimming so, there must be some sort of therapeutic effect going on there as well.

Goal wise, I felt guilty taking yesterday off,, but I think that it really paid off today. I have been much better at taking my vitamins twice a day and am paying very close attention to my nutrition. Now if I could integrate my BGs into my BT training log so that I could have yet another visual to show me how I am progressing, life would be perfect (grin)

I am having a little trouble getting my stretching routime started back up, but it won't be long until I get that and mynew core workout in full swing.

Thanks for following and see you tomorrow ..... don't forget that you can check my progress by clicking on the title link of the blog

Peace

Michael

The Water Feels Great, Come on in!!

So, I took a week off after breaking my foot to let it get started on the mend before I jumped back into the water. While my ankle is a bit stiff from the swelling and feels like it needs the joint popped, the water was great and I think swimming is threaputic for injurys!

I keep track of my nutrition and training totals at Beginner Triathlete and I believe that you can view my progress and history just by following the link in the title. Please let me know if that does not work.

Part of my work with John Elsworth involves journaling and I am going to make this a part of this blog so that I can be consistent with both and kill 2 birds with one stone, same with the idea of linking to my BT training log.

So three things that I did well this morning were
1. got up with a positive attitude looking forward to getting in the water
2. did all of the intervals with the exception of kicks, with in the prescribed time limit
3. Good stroke technique

2 things to work on
1. effectiveness of kick - more compact, in box, point toes (tough right now) faster cycle, less flex in knees
2. turnover or stroke rate

Going Forward - tonight I am going to work on my stroke rate (I left my tempo meter sitting at the pool when I gathered my things, hopefully it will still be there or in lost and found tonight)

I was slowest in my lane again, but feel like all things considered I am improving, feel my grip on the water getting better, we did a few hundred meters of fist drill to work on using the whole arm in the stroke and I can feel that grip getting better all the time. I also have a tendency to pace instead of going all out and I am going to work on that as well tonight.

Well that's it for this AM.

I get knocked down but I get up again

It has been a long time since I have blogged. Sometimes it seems like this just gets put on the back burner of my priority list.

It has been November since I have blogged here and shame on me. I have posted my thoughts and notes on my Beginner Triathlete account in stead of this and from now on have resolved to just post a link to this blog and vica versa, to keep me accountable to those who have followed this blog (thank you)

Since November, I have broken my foot twice (the last time 8 days ago in the first mile of the Indianapolis Mini Marathon and the first time the day before Christmas. I have had 6 eye surgeries for Diabetic Retinopathy, lost most of the vision in my right eye in February, due to a hemorage. Developed tendonitis in my left ankle, and had my wisdom teeth removed. Had my training interupted for a solid 8 weeks due to that first foot break (the 4th metatarsel in my left foot.

Also, I have competed in one 15 K running event with a personal best time, one sprint triathlon, with a personal best time and one Olympic Triathlon with a personal best 10 K run and swim time in some adverse conditions. I also started my 4th Indianapolis Mini Marathon.

So here I sit with 2 broken bones in my left foot and planning my strategy for the summer. It has been said of 2 time heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, that he was the boxer that got knocked down the most, but what people remember about him is that he was the boxer who got up the most.

With this in mind, I am treating this current injury with a different view. First, I started by going to a Dr that gave me a lot of encouragement during my last injury about getting back on the run. Also I have in my plan more patience on the recovery along with some alternatives that should make me come back stronger. I will likely not compete in any event that involves running until 2011.

I have determined to focus on improving in all the areas that I am week (i.e. flexibility - likely the cause of my current condition, improving my swim, my mental race game...)

I also am going to blog on a daily basis and make that a priority, because if anyone is reading this it will keep me accountable.

My Dr has okayed me to swim as much as I like during my recovery, so I am sure that most of my posts will be swim specific during at least the next 4 weeks of recovery. I have drafted a plan that should help me to actually have a stronger more flexible core, by the time I start biking again and certainly by the time I start running.

My wonderful and lovely wife immediately came up with a brilliant Idea the day that I hurt myself, she said,"Honey, why don't you do Chi Walking for a few months to improve your form before you start running again, once you get out of the boot."

This is where I am, picking myself up from another knock down and going forward. Some of my goals have changed, in that thanks to the coaching of John Elsworth, my mental game coach, I can actually see myself on the podium when I come back, which by the way this injury is not a negative, it is a chance to come back better than I was before and to take what I have learned to make me a better competitor and athlete.

See you tomorow

Michael

into the spin zone

No, I have not entered profesional politics :)

I am encorporating spin classes into my winter/off season training.

Definitely learning some interesting things, such as
1. you should not feel your legs burning at 50% effort
2. you should not feel your legs burning at 60 % effort
3. you should not feel your legs burning at 70 % effort
4. you should not feel your legs burning at 80 % effort
5. you should just start to feel your leg muscles burning at 85% effort

Guess who thought his legs should have that burning sensation starting at say.... 60%,,,,,??? If you guessed Michael Schwab, you would be 100% right. Now that I have that figured out, I will probably still try to kill myself in every class (provided it is not on a recovery day) just because that is the kind of guy I am (grin)

After the spin class, I showered off the 3 gallons of sweat that came out of my body and jumped in the pool for an hour. I used the first 20 minutes just kicking and working out my balance, rolling to sweet spot to breath (sort of like freestyle only longer breath and no rythem to a stroke.

Then I used the rest of the time to work on my stroke at tempos ranging from 1/second to 1/1.3 seconds. A world of difference, believe me.

Some things I did well today on my swim include

1. balance better every time
2. better glide in tempo
3. improved grip on water
4. kicking from hips more
5. elbows higher on entry
   
   For improvement

1.higher elbows on entry

2.more patient front hand on breath stroke

Prudence is the better part of valor

Some times knowing when to quit is as important as sticking it out.

I woke up this morning feeling my heart beat from my left ear all the way down to my hip. I started out trying to tell my self to get up and get into the pool anyway and it turns out that I did the right thing by laying in bed and working to get my BG down from a good morning high of 458
Seems I have swimmers ear again and an infection on top of that. Melissa gave me a couple of Naxproxin and called the Dr for me to get me in Before work. .... Yes I still went to work, a brother needs to get paid :)

The Dr put me on Z packs and some ear steroids, along with a drying agent to clean up my left ear, which she said had a bulging eardrum from the infection. The good news is that as long as I wear my tight ear plugs, I can get back in the pool tomorrow.

I didn't run today as it was pooring down rain and I really felt awful all day.

On a positive note, I raced the metal man for 10 miles last night on the CT and only finished about 100 feet behind him. Woo Hoo

Good things about last nights ride
1. I improved my spin

2. I learned the importance of my spin for producing watts

3. I found out how much compression tights can improve your workout and recovery, plus the importance of graduated, zone compression. This apparently speeds muscle recovery, improves blood circulation, reduces lactate acid and allows me to perform at a higher level with decreased risk of injury!

4. saw the positive results from stopping momentarily (coasting in the real world) and allowing my muscles to reset for more continuous power output

5. got some good work on my aero position riding with a proper/more efficient spin

Areas for improvement
1. my spin especially at higher work loads. I need to involve the muscles in my inner back quads more for a stronger more sustainable spin. This will be a tremendous asset not only for raw power for extended sprints and climbing but for overall endurance, particularly on rolling courses.

2. my flexibility, so that I can stay aero more comfortably and spin more efficiently in that position, taking advatage of reduced resistance and still putting watts to the ground

Somethings new

OK so first of all, I am setting some goals, one of which is to post here, every day.

It can be time consuming, (mainly because I talk a lot and don't know when to stop :)) but I think it is an important part of my discipline to do this and have at least some sort of accountability to do this.

Some goals I have set for the week (started Friday actually) out of bed by 5:30 (yes that is AM) - which means I have to be asleep by 9:30Pm or sooner. So far so good, up at 4:30 on Friday (also part of the goal as I have a meeting at 6:45 on Friday mornings and I want to swim before hand every time.

Some other goals for the week, swim M-F for 1 hour before work. Run every single day with a long run on Saturday, Long Bike ride on Saturday, Computrainer workout M and W, and don't miss my vitamins on any day, twice per day, post every day here and include a daily log in a format provided by my mental game coach John Ellsworth http://mentaltoughnessnetwork.ning.com/

So far pretty good!

I went swimming this morning and first some positive things!

1. elbow height on entry improving

2. first time using my new tempo trainer and that was really swell, right on beat every stroke, with my rate set a 1 sec and 1.15 secs!

3. good balance even at the higher stroke rate, and LS breathing continues to improve

4. kicking is improving with a better feel for kicking from the hip, every time that I get into the water

5. reaching for the end of the pool consistently, while maintaining early entry on the catch

Good swim overall, I just need to ad to my goal of getting up at 5:30.....get out of the house by 6am M-T and by 5am on Friday, so that I have time to swim for a whole hour.

For improvement

1. Balance on right side (when breathing left on sweet spot drill)

2. Patient hand out front at all times, for improved length on my vessel, with more consistent front quadrant swimming

next workout focus (tomorrow)

1. Drill 200 yards (4 laps) on left side sweet spot with my goal to keep my head back (low in water) to maintain balance and not drink/breath in water. Will likely be able to accomplish this more efficiently by starting on the right side and paying attention to my position and how it makes this work.

OK so at lunch, I ran 3.1 miles and my Garmin Forerunner, (which I could have sworn was fully charged last night) decided to give me the dreaded battery low message, as soon as it fired up and locked in on the satelites. This gave me an opportunity to try to adapt and recover, from an unanticipated problem. I did good, but there is definitley room for improvement in this area.

I did my extimated (probably a little more than 3.1 miles) in 27 min 45 secs. What I actually calculated was 27 min 15 sec, but given that I did not decide to adapt until 2:30 into the run, my accuracy on this is up for debate. Plus the 17mph wind factor out of the east could not have done much for my actual time. So regardless pretty good run.

What I did well

1. did not get shook up when my Garmin checked out and did a little bit of premptive work to be able to have a record of what my performance was

2. kept on the beat like a machine for the second half of my run (85 BPM) used my gears to keep my pace up even when going directly into the wind. Was able to stride out long at the end and not rev it up

3. loose arm swing

4. good foot strike - felt right in the middle the whole time

5. Good linear rotation on my hips - maybe that fast time was totally acurate

Things to improve on.

1. faster turnover

2. keeping head up and focused attention ahead instead of down.

Focus next time - bring BPM up to 86 from the start - better preperation with Fore runner :)