Lean Eating Phase 7 - Gym Workout 2

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set / 4th set

(4) Deadlift: 150lbs / 150lbs / 155lbs / 160lbs
(8) DB Press @ Tall Kneel: 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 / 20lbs x2 / 25lbs x2
(10) Fast Kicks to Stability Ball: 10 / 10 / 10 / 10
-30secs REST
---
(AMPRAP 60secs) Push-ups: 23 / 21 / 23
(10) Lateral Squat: 30lbs / 30lbs / 30lbs
-60secs REST
---
(AMPRAP 60secs) Inverted Rows: 25 / 22 / 22
(AMPRAP 60secs) DB Curls @ Half Kneel: 20 @ 12lbs x2 / 20 @ 12lbs x2 / 22 @ 12lbs x2
-60secs REST

-- Duration: 46mins

Workout Drink: 5g BCAAs with organic lemon juice (700ml)

Toronto Triathlon Club - Swimming Stroke Improvement Clinic

A special clinic with my regular Coach to go over the reasons behind her usual drills, proper arm stroke and kicking technique, analysis of our individual swimming style.

I was reluctant to sign up, because I thought I should be getting much of this information from my regular practise anyway, but I realized that if I don't go, I'll never find out what I'm doing wrong!  And I'm really glad I did go.

Warm-up: 400m

Drills: Shoulder Roll (to improve reach), Catch-up w/ board, Kicking, Pull w/ Touch to board between knees (to improve roll), Side Switch (to improve reach), Sculling to three positions (to feel the pulling pressure on the hands), Finger Drag (to keep elbow up) ... I probably won't remember all of them.

Stroke Counting: 25m - 21-24 depending on speed

Topics:

• High elbows: optional, but does take pressure off the shoulders - ultimately doesn't matter what you do in the air, only what happens under water
• Bilateral breathing: good for versatility in open-water, but some people are uneven with their stroke; consensus was: do what is most comfortable
• Counting kicks: a sort of cadence per stroke; 2 when tired, 4+ when passing, even more at the end to regain circulation in the lower body ahead of transition
• Kicking power: kick shallow in relation to the depth of the body to reduce drag;  increase speed for more power, use glutes and hamstrings, relax the ankles
• Pulling should be done by the lateral back muscles, not the shoulders

Stroke Improvement:

• Crossing arms in front of body: consciously enter the water wide and maintain hands outside the width of a pool's centre line
• Enter the hand before the end of the reach
• Roll the body for better reach
• Finish the stroke all the way through

4x 50m

0:55 / 1:00 / 0:55 / 0:47

1x 100m

1:55

Once I got to practise a wider stroke, it seemed so much easier to move my arm through the water.  This is what I will focus on in practise.

--Distance: ~1,500-2,000m
--Duration: 2hrs

Thomass Caledon

Terrain: forest, fields, shallow valleys
Weather: sunny, slightly below zero, snowy

I was nervous about this race all week for a number of reasons:

• As the 5th race in the series, this would be the first one that could push my crummy Thomass Chase score out, as only the top 4 count
• I did relatively well in the previous race and I started having high hopes, but a lot of self-doubt
• This was the final event hosted by this club, so everyone was going to be there and I felt I needed to have a good showing
• Last time I was at this venue in September, I had an absolutely terrible race, and I was jittery about making stupid mistakes again in this terrain

In short, I was going into this race in a very bad headspace!

I had a good warm-up, and I took a basic gel before the start. I had told myself that with two Thomass boxes of 3 controls each, 2 of which overall I could drop, it would be better to drop the latter ones, allowing the elite guys to break trail for me in the snow. I told myself I should use the elite guys to help me make decisions.

But looking a the map, I somehow decided to drop two of the first controls and head straight to 1 ahead of everyone else.  Already this slowed me down because of the slower traffic going to A, and me needing to get back past them on the way out.  I was first to control 1, but then once some other racers started to catch up to me, I started getting cocky with my speed and went off course at 4/5.

After that, I planned to go the second box in the opposite direction of everyone else, to save countours on a climb.  Kind of stupid because the orienteering was easier the other way.  Once again I was a bit ahead, but missed my attack point and ended up running in with the elite guys, who were on their way out of the box.  Except they were running a different line, so I had actually done a round-about route to get to the same control.

Finally I got cocky again and orienteered one leg instead of following power lines. Shortly after that, I had to go back to 4/5 and was so scared of being behind, that I went too fast and lost my catching features again.  That put the final nail in this race's coffin.  By the time I got back to running, I was in the midst of very slow racers.  The remaining point-to-point controls were really easy, just a straight-up run, but I couldn't really move up too many spots, as I was exhausted from all the extra running-around I'd done.  I ended up with 12 points, which is embarrassing compared to my usual mid-30s (out of 50).

My head totally got to me in this race. Hasn't happened in a long while. Gotta get over it and be fresh for the next one. It will be in a city park I know very well, but I'll study the map to have it fresh and well-visualized in my mind.

--Distance: 7.9K
--Duration: 1:26:00

Route Link

Measurement Day - 2012-01-28

That's some good maintenance!

Couldn't measure last weekend, as I was busy, busy on my weekend trip.

Rest Day (Illness)

Full-blown cold today, stuffy head, fever, and sneezing so hard I thought I'd sneeze my brains out.

Packed my jiu-jitsu equipment, but could not get better in time.  So... a rest day!  Hope I recover for Sunday's race.

Toronto Triathlon Club Swimming

Feeling a cold coming on, so by the time the meds kicked in, I had missed the warm-up - but glad to make it after all.

This was my first class in Lane 4 after being allowed to leave Lane 5, which is too fast for me.

4x 100m on 2:45
1min rest after set
4x 100m on 2:40
1min rest after set
4x 100m on 2:35
few minutes' rest on deck between each 100
4x 100m on 2:30
few minutes' rest on deck between each 100

The first two sets were quite slow and easy, as I was the last one in the group.  We did something like 2:25 to 2:20, but the last few 100s were difficult for the leader.

When Coach pulled us out on deck, she started giving us our individual finishing times.  I led the last two sets, and managed 2:00-2:05 pretty consistently.  I actually held back a bit because I thought we had a fifth set to do, oops!

This is definitely a better lane for me, but I have to be sure I'm not taking it easy.  I should be confident in being able to lead, although it's hard for me to pace properly.  I was definitely way too fast on my first 100 as the leader.

Cool-down: 200m easy

--Distance: 1,800m
--Duration: 55mins

Workout nutrition: forgot to mix my BCAAs, so nothing; but the extremely sugary cold/fever drink I had before leaving work must have given me a boost!

Meals on Wednesday

M1-M3: Ground pork** cooked in a beet stock, with beets*, carrots*, cabbage*, onion*

* Organic
** Antibiotic-free

Possible food intolerance: cabbage, at least when only cooked for a while. I can eat it raw, I can eat it as sauerkraut, but something was off with these meals.

Chiropractic Treatment

My weekly appointment at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College clinic, with a 4th year intern, supervised by a clinician, who is a foot specialist.

Adjustments to my dysfunctional foot joints, and ART on my calf and shin muscles to take the pressure off my feet, although the pain was much lesser today.  Also, and adjustment to my SI joints for the same reason.  My cuboid foot joint is still really tender to the touch after 3-4 months of treatment.

Also did foam rolling on my calf muscles.

The last part of treatment was an introduction to squats on a Wobble Board, which will improve the proprioception in my weak ankle joints.   10 squats @ BW.

I will also have to bring heel raises into rotation at the gym.  Straight feet, toes pointing out, toes pointing in, one-legged.

XSNRG Running Club

Sunnybrook Lower Flats

5x 4mins w/ 2mins Rest

After 3 intervals, I got hit with my running cramps and sat out on a log for a total of 6mins, then continued.
I wish I had the time for a warm-up with the group, but I have a hard time coming down from work.

Distances are very approximate:
1.1K / 730m / 850m / 950m / 950m

--Distance: 5.7K
--Duration: 35mins

Workout Nutrition: none during the run, but I chugged my BCAAs afterwards.

Route Link

Rest Day

I didn't realize I'd need this rest day after just volunteering at the Raid, but that, coupled with what seemed like an easy day of snowboarding, really did my butt and legs in!

Snowboarding School

Decided to volunteer for the Snowshoe Raid orienteering race in Collingwood, as many of my friends were in the race - but I have no idea how to use snowshoes, so I was out myself. A bunch of us went up the day before to make a weekend of it, so I signed up for round two of Snowboarding School at Blue Mountain (after round one at Mont Tremblant last winter.)

The way BM Snow School works is you get a package deal with everything, and then you just show up to various ordered stations when you feel like it, and the instructors teach you that level, then advance you further. The first two levels were on the ground, just learning how to balance on the board, how to walk it up and down a hill, how to glide with one foot, how to stop.

Toe Edge!

What is that? Is that One wipe-out?

Levels three and four were atop the bunniest of bunny hills, where we learned sliding down on the heelside and toeside edges and doing turns. The hill was really lame and flat, and I found I'd get stuck in the middle of it. The line for the magic carpet was always like a million people, so I would just run up the "slope" and strap in again. My instructors' total age might have been less than mine, and they didn't seem keen to make explain too much, so I realized that if I hadn't had an intro lesson the year before, I'd be a little screwed. My buddy CK joined me after a morning of xc, but after a while, he suggested a steeper bunny hill on the other side of the resort, so we walked over.

Turns out one of the more mature instructors had moved there for the evening, and he was serious about getting me to do better turns - by leading with my upper body more. It was so much more fun on this hill (the Undergraduate). At the end of the night, CK casually said that the next thing I have to do is try a chair lift. There just happened to be a lift next to us, going up to the top of the biggest green hill. I decided that this is the perfect way to finish off my learnin' with pride. :)

Graduate Hill with Chair Lift!

I conquered a chair lift! I didn't even crash getting off it, although I did give our third liftmate fair warning that he should get the crap out of the way at the top. The Graduate hill was daunting and steep, and people seemed to be riding pretty fast on it, but I managed to get to the bottom without crashing, and I even got one complete turn in!

This hill looks flatter from down here!

Now I felt like a real snowboarder, no more magic carpets for me. I'm a big girl now.

CompuTrainer Time Trial

A free Time Trial CompuTrainer clinic at Absolute Endurance for Toronto Triathlon Club athletes.

You bring your own bike, they hook it up to the trainer, and you get a readout of a virtual route you will ride on, with the trainer adjusting resistance as you go up and down hills.  The screen shows the other participants moving along the route, so you can "race" each other.  Fun!  You can always see the distance you need to cover to catch the person in front of you.

Route: 20.75km, some short flats, but overwhelmingly up-hill, including a monster incline in the last 2K or so.

Average? Watts: 129
Average Speed: ~23.5 kph

The first few kms were brutal on me; everyone seemed to speed off, so not knowing my strength, I tried to keep up.  I thought I'd need to quit after the first 10mins or so.  After a while, I got much better at changing speeds, doing so early into the uphills to maintain a high cadence.

By the time we got to the big final uphill, I noticed that the leader, who was powering massive wattage on her trainer, had to get out of her seat to get though it.  I was about 1,000 ft behind the next person in front of me, but I got so comfortable with maintaining cadence, that I decided to go after her on the downhills.  Eventually, I caught up to her and passed her, and managed to keep sprinting up that crazy hill. 

I thought I'd have an aneurysm, but I made it.  There was a puddle under my bike, but it was worth it!  I was 5th out of 7 people on my computer.

This was an eye-opener for me.  The leader had an average wattage of nearly 200.  I had one of the nicer bikes there, but it doesn't help when you don't know how to ride it.  It will be a long learning experience to figure out the proper shifting.  I might go back to AE for some of their instructor-led CompuTrainer classes.

--Distance: 20.75K
--Duration: 52:53

Chiropractic Treatment

My weekly appointment at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College clinic, with a 4th year intern, supervised by a clinician, who is a foot specialist.

Adjustments to my dysfunctional foot joints, and lots of ART on my calf and shin muscles to take the pressure off my feet.  Also, and adjustment to my SI joints for the same reason.  My cuboid foot joint is still really tender when pressed after 3-4 months of treatment, so I don't know if I'll ever get this fixed.

Finally got the referral from the clinician to a craniosacral therapist to look into my running cramps.  Unfortunately I cannot afford his services without extended health care.

XSNRG Running Club

Hanna Ps - 8x letter P w/ 90secs rest intervals
Each letter P = 785m
 
Terrain: asphalt with one mild hill on the way out, then the downhill on the loop of the P
Weather: mild, a bit damp, extremely windy!

Lean Eating Phase 7 - Gym Workout 2

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set / 4th set

(4) Deadlift: 150lbs / 155lbs / 160lbs / 165lbs
(8) DB Press @ Tall Kneel: 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 / 20lbs x2 / 25lbs x2
(10) Fast Kicks to Stability Ball: 10 / 10 / 10 / 10
-30secs REST
---
(AMPRAP 60secs) Push-ups: 23 / 24 / 21
(10) Lateral Squat: 30lbs / 30lbs / 30lbs
-60secs REST
---
(AMPRAP 60secs) Inverted Rows: 28 / 24 / 25
(AMPRAP 60secs) DB Curls @ Half Kneel: 21 @ 12lbs x2 / 18 @ 12lbs x2 / 21 @ 12lbs x2
-60secs REST

-- Duration: 52mins

Workout Drink: None! Did not have my spoon to mix my BCAAs... where's my spoon??  Had to just sip plain water in between the sets.

Recovery Day

Total rest day.  I was indisposed in the morning and missed my gym timeslot, so this wasn't scheduled, but much-needed.  I looked into hitting the Ryerson University gym after a class in the evening, but they are very expensive and close 30mins after my class.

Thomass TOC Winter Orienteering Race

Location: Greenwood Conservation Area
Host Club: Toronto Orienteering - that's us!
Weather: -16 °C and sunny
Terrain: forest and open meadow, shallow snow, lots of ice sheets, some climb into the river valleys

Format: Point-to-Point with 2 Score-O Thomass Boxes, where competitors drop a number of controls corresponding to their age and gender (I dropped 2 of 6 each time)
 - mass start and (more-or-less) mass finish, with winners ranked according to whoever crosses the finish line first, regardless of age or gender
- points are awarded to clubs, where the winner gets 50, 2nd finisher gets 49, etc.

I had a fast, clean run with only minor errors.  That said, I didn't make the best route choices all the time, but once I made a choice, I got it right.  And I felt physically amazing!

Route Link

The crazy part was the start, which was a flagged course to Control 1, and all the elite guys took off in a pack along the ~800m winding trail.  And I was right behind them!  I couldn't believe it, but there was quite a gap behind me - I was the lead woman runner!  So thrilling!


I was really confident with choosing the right terrain to cut across instead of playing it safe and going around.  Then again, it wasn't a technically challenging course.  But it's good to get the confidence up.

My friend CB managed to recruit several carloads of newbies to try orienteering, and in the end, we had to wait a few hours for everyone to finish before heading back to the city.  There's nothing like bonding while standing around in frigid temperatures!

I will update my place when the official results go up in a few days, but the winners came in at ~51mins, and I finished in 1:10 on my watch.  So pretty darn good.  I hope to snag quite a few points for my club.

--Distance: 9K
--Duration: 70mins

Running Clinic with Marathon Dynamics

The Toronto Triathlon Club put on a running clinic at the Toronto Track and Field Centre up at York University.  It was handled by Kevin Smith of Marathon Dynamics.  He went over a lot of little things, many of which I was aware of, but most of which I didn't really understand until he explained them.

- the benefits of speed work, and the different types:

1. tempo runs
2. fartlek
3. strength intervals (2:1 run to rest and run interval of 800m or more, with lower reps up to 6) - geared toward longer distance runners
4. running economy intervals (1:2 run to rest, with shorter few-100m runs in high reps up to 20) - geared towards the shorter road distances
5. Hills
6. Time Trials
7. Racing!

- Running A, B, Cs, and Ds! Finally got a good explanation of these drills we do at XSNRG, but which I didn't ever fully understand
     A - drive knee up quickly, almost generating a short forward motion with the lead leg, not with the rear
     B - drive the leg back down to the ground, landing below the hip (using your hamstrings)
     C - kick your feet up to your butt
     D - the extra one - kick your knees up
- Striders: putting it all together on a 100m or so distance, starting slow and changing gears about 2 times, but being mindful of the ABCs techniques

- discussion of heart rate monitors: that you basically shouldn't need one unless you get properly tested for your max running range, as the guidelines in the instructions are usually way off and could stymie your potential
   - and try not to look at it during the run, but check your max hr after to make sure you were in the right range - Kevin is all about more intuitive running without gadgets - like me!
- running form, from sprinters to ultra-marathoners
    - sprinter: off the ground, leaning forward, huge strides, maximum use of the arms - basically using up the infinite amount of energy they have over the short time they have
    - marathoners + : more grounded, erect posture (to decrease weight over lungs, decrease pressure on the lower back, and create more range of motion in the front), shorter strides with higher cadence, less use of the arms
    - the sprinter form can go up to the mile range or so, while over that, one ought to straighten out more and transition to the distance posture
- cadence: aiming for 90 steps / minute (counting one foot), regardless of height or speed!
- foot strike: most would benefit from bringing it forward of where they are (i.e. mid-foot to ball of foot), and it should be directly under the hips at the point of contact

-  Speed or Endurance Bias: where you might be more naturally predisposed to doing better at either end of the spectrum (or closer to it), necessitating a training plan that fills the gaps **

In the middle of this we did two time trials, 1 mile, and then 400m.
Based on my 1/2 marathon and 5K PBs, Kevin put me in a 6:45 to 6:50 range for the mile, which I was not happy with!  That's what I was running when my 1/2 was 11mins slower and my 5K was 4mins slower.
My mile PB is 6:29 (off-track), and I'd set it when I need the time to qualify for a special training course I'd been working towards for a whole year, so I left everything on that course!!
Today, I seemed nervous and uneasy, and I didn't give it my all...

1 Mile: 6:31*
400m: 1:21

Kevin said he'll review our results and make adjustments for an indoor 200m track and give us a more "true" mile time; he said he'd also do the metrics on our mile and 1/4 mile times to determine if we do have a particular running bias.

This was a super-cool experience, as he covered a ton of practical information, and put us through a good workout as well.  Plus it was my first time on a real track!

--Distance: ~5K with the warm-up and cool-down
--Duration: 2hrs of the whole clinic

* Subsequently corrected to 6:25
** I was assessed as having a Pronounced Speed Bias

Measurement Day - 2012-01-14

My new Baseline for the year. 

I'm quite happy with these measurements.  Basically within normal parameters from the end of Lean Eating.  Slightly up from the holidays, but I'm maintaining really well! Looking forward to working on the lower half of my body this year, after shrinking dramatically from the butt up last year.

I'll be skipping some of these measurements for the next few months, and then checking in one month at a time to see where I'm at.  This includes weight, which has been stable for months, so weighing weekly in unnecessary.

Lean Eating, Phase 7, Gym Workout 1

Repeat of July's workouts.

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set

(4) Rear-elev. Split Squat: 40lbs x2 / 45lbs x2 / 50lbs x2
(8) Asstd Chin-ups: 8 unassisted / 4 unass. - 4 band / 3 unass. - 5 band
(10) Stability Ball Front Roll-out: 10 / 10 / 10
-30secs REST
---
(AMPRAP 60secs) Bent-Over Alt. Row: 25 x2 @ 15lbs x2 / 26 x2 @ 15lbs x2
(10) Single-leg DB RDL: 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2
-60secs REST
-- Duration: 27mins.

Had an appointment, so did not get the chance to do the last grouping. Last week's numbers, for reference:
 ---
(AMPRAP 60secs) DB Floor Press: 32 @ 15lbs x2 / 25 @ 20lbs x2
(AMPRAP 60secs) Lat. Raise @ split stance: 31 @ 5lbs x2 / 29 @ 5lbs x2
-60secs REST

Meals on Friday

M1: Omelette: 2 eggs*, spinach*, green onion*, onion*, plain tomato sauce*
2x Water
M2-M3-M4: Soup: homemade veggie-fish stock, cauliflower*, carrots*, onion*, tuna**, green and yellow split peas*
Coffee w/ cream (should have been organic, but they carelessly dumped it out for me at the coffee shop!) 
...

*ORGANIC
**POLE-CAUGHT

Food Intolerance: too many split peas, maybe - tummy is hurting a bit.

Kyoshin Ryu Jiu-Jitsu

Partnered kicks: yoko geri, yoko hook kick
A double gyaku zuki with a push-down of the arm, very neat
Basic breakfalls, rolling breakfalls over a bar set up across two chairs (2' off the ground?) - finally didn't crash out once I rounded my back a bit.
Kata guruma from sempu, kihon go, and standard position
Randori

Short class for me tonight, as I felt a bit down and had a hard time leaving work.


--Duration: 30mins

Toronto Triathlon Club Swimming

First club swim of the year.

XSNRG Running Club

Missed the warm-up and cool-down, as I drove straight in.  Actually had to run the last 5 by myself after the session had ended.  But I was motivated by the team being there for most of my run.  They're always surprised that even though I'm late from work, I still show up and get the workout in.

12x 440m loops, including a hefty hill to start, 1min rest intervals
I averaged probably 1:50 per loop, although I didn't look at my watch for the first number of loops, as I'm trying to reduce my reliance on it.  I know the 11th loop was very slow at just under 2mins, but the 12th loop was only 1:43, yeah!

--Distance: 5.3 K
--Duration: <30mins