March Round Up

 Okay, here's already the tl;dr version of March - it was pretty shitty. Read on if you want a few more details.

Swimming: 2200m (1.37 mi)
Cycling: 27.38 mi
Running: 32.61 mi
Lifting: 16 sessions (4:03)
Other: one hike (1:50), two days skiing (4:45), one stint snow shoveling (:45)

I swam twice. I got on my bike three times. Run numbers look marginally decent, but over a third of those came in one race (yes, the Saguaro Half did take place. Yes, I meant to blog about it Wednesday. Yes, you'll actually get to read about it next week).

I'm still attempting to keep up with a strength program, even if it's not daily. It's basically me catching up on three days' worth of stuff in one day. And then that's all I do.

The hike came in Tucson. Skiing was a bit rougher to get out for since B is actually back on a normal schedule again. The snow shoveling ... well, we got like two feet mid-month so shoveling that was a hell of a workout so I counted it. And my old, late-30s self definitely felt it for a few days afterward, so there's that.

I'm hoping (like always) that April will be better, but currently, that seems to not be the case. We'll see.

February Round Up

At the end of January's post, I said that I hoped February would be a bit better.

It wasn't. At all. Read on ...

Swimming: 2700m (1.68 mi)
Cycling: 35.67 mi
Running: 15.7 mi
Lifting: 17 sessions (4:19)
Other: three days skiing (5:30)

If I'm being completely honest with myself, I've felt off for a few months now. Definitely for this whole year, but potentially even as far back as November. I have no idea what it is or why it is, but, well, it is.

It could be the uncertainty that still exists in terms of racing and everything.

It could be the fact that we're nearing a year of all this bullshit (I regret nothing on that term, btw).

It could be that I just lost any and all reasons to do this stuff.

I'd say it's depression, but if it is, it's not like any depression I've ever dealt with before. A workout depression, for sure. The Saguaro Half still looks like it's going to take place at the end of March and while I know I can still probably finish it, right now it's looking like it'll be pretty fucking ugly.

And yet ... caring enough to get out the door is extremely difficult. To even try. It feels like 2018, but I don't feel like I have a legitimate reason for it to feel like 2018. And I'm really fucking sick of blaming everything on this stupid pandemic, even though that's probably the logical reason behind it. Collective group trauma or something. And that some people can get through it due to their more Type-A nature (that I definitely do not have).

I don't know. Maybe I'm just bitching. Maybe I should continue to take it as it comes and quit stressing over it.

Maybe ... maybe I just don't know anymore.

January Round Up

I'm going to be flat out honest - in terms of Januarys, this one sucked.

Read on ...

Swimming: 12000m (7.46 mi)
Cycling: 52.55 mi
Running: 37.73 mi
Lifting: 20 sessions (4:11)
Other: three hikes (2:50), three days skiing (8:00), one walk (1:00), two sessions yoga (:22)

Swimming, though I definitely missed some sessions, wasn't too bad. I got over my 10k. Some days I feel like I'm doing well in the pool; some days I don't. Fairly standard.

The bike was a huge disappointment. I am having issues getting on my bike right now and I am not exactly sure why. Something to figure out for sure.

Running wasn't bad, but definitely not where it probably should have been. Of course.

While strength seems low in terms of sessions, I actually did do each of the daily workouts ... I just doubled (or tripled ...) them up on some days.

I did get in some other stuff too which was nice, and I'm not going to discount that.

*****

Usually, January is a great month of starting new and fresh and motivated and it just wasn't for me. It was for the first few days, but it fell off and it fell of quickly. I'm not sure if it's just a lot of residual stress and fatigue from gestures broadly ~*everything*~ or maybe a little bit of "what's the point" when there's seemingly no end in sight to our current situation or what, but that's what it was. Hopefully February can be a little better.

2021 Goals

 It might be a bit presumptuous to do goals for this year given how last year went, but eh, screw it. Let's be optimistic.

Swim:
- bare minimum 150k in the pool (preferably 200k)(so depends on pools)
- back to my 10k/mo
    - this averages out to be about 2500-3k/week
- in the summer, get out for an OWS every three weeks (minimum)
- back up to 5k in the water (... pool time dependent, obvi.)

Bike:
- bare minimum 2k (mileage)
    - means 150-175/mo on average
        - minimum 125/mo
        - 30-40 mi/week
- to complete:
    - Lemmon climb IF FEASIBLE
    - Peak-to-Peak loop
    - Carter Lake ride

Run:
- bare minimum 500 mi
    - means 40 mi/mo
    - 10 mi/week
- do a track workout every three weeks in the summer
- aim for:
    - sub-29:00 5K
    - sub-2:20 half

Other:
- schedule the daily, but can do other strength (not gonna lie, getting a bit bored)
- yoga once a week
- stretch more on the regular
- add in more non-SBR still

Always:
- stay healthy and happy

70.3:
- swim
    - keep it sub-:50
    - sub-:48 if possible
- bike
    - sub-3:20
    - sub-3:17 if possible
- run
    - sub-2:45
    - sub-2:40 if possible
- ultimate hope: sub-7:00

Some of the run-only goals aren't super ambitious, but it's getting back to what I could do once upon a time. I want goals this year that are manageable and not too scary ... just in case it ends up being a shitshow again. I know the swim ones could tank hard, but even with not a lot of swimming last year, I managed over 100k ... and I know I could have done more than that even when pools re-opened.

Here's to 2021. May it be more athlete-friendly than last year.

December and 2020 Round Up

December ended up being a bit rougher than I originally planned. Hearing that the half we were sort of training for was cancelled threw a wrench in things and affected us more than I think we expected. After a week or two of not a lot of movement, things got better. Read on ...

Swimming: 9000m (5.59 mi)
Cycling: 120.28 mi
Running: 37.52 mi
Lifting: 31 sessions (5:14)
Other: one hike (1:20), one day skiing (2:00)

I probably could have done better in trying to hit 10k for the month in swimming, but eh.

My goal for the month was to hit 100 miles on the bike and I DID THAT. I do have the Stomp the Trainer 500 to thank for that - Tarsh of Stomp the Pedal took the Rapha Festive 500 and brought it indoors and while I knew there was no way I could hit 500km in 8 days (12.24-31), I could try to get in as much as I could. I ended up with just over 140km which tbh I'm really happy with. Plus it got me back on my bike, so that was a very good thing.

The run ... ended up getting better, even though it was way lower than it should have been. Oops.

What about 2020 goals?

Embrace the hill.
Ha, nope. I can blame COVID on this one. And the horrible wildfire season. I don't even think I rode up in Boulder this year due to circumstances and there aren't that many serious hills down by me. So really, I'm chalking this one up to the year being the year that it was. And I'm okay with this.

Drop my swim times.
... you know, I actually did start doing this a tiny bit near the end of the year. If I really focus on form and push myself, it does work. Who'd've thunk it? I mean, I still need to put in a lot more work, but given the fact that I wasn't able to swim for a good chunk of this year? I'm happy things didn't regress.

Keep working on my run.
My run is actually sort of starting to come around, so I think the consistency that I've been putting in with my run training (I've pretty much stuck with the running every other day thing for over two years now) is slowly starting to pay off. 

Lean out.
A little. Weight's stayed stable (which is a win as far as I'm concerned), but I am starting to see more muscle definition, particularly in places I haven't seen it before. So hooray to that.

Stay healthy and happy.
Done. Especially given everything that was thrown at us this year, the fact that I managed these two things is a MASSIVE win.

2020, you weren't my favorite year, but I've definitely had shittier in terms of working out. You made me appreciate swimming like never before by taking it away from me. You made me thankful for the trail system near my house. You made me thankful to live in Colorado, a state that didn't prevent me from working out outside during the worst of it in the spring. You helped me focus a bit more on strength.

I'm still glad to see you gone, though.

November Round Up

 Another month down. Not much else to say there. Let's see how it went, shall we?

Swimming: 12100m (7.52 mi)
Cycling: 50.27 mi
Running: 59.54 mi
Strength: 30 sessions (5:29)
Other: two hikes (2:14)

I started getting back in the pool regularly again (ending out the month with a few three swim weeks) and it's becoming noticeable. I'm starting to focus on form a bit more and, what do you know, it actually works. I've seen some faster times (for me) again so I guess that's paying off and I guess that's something I'm going to continue working on.

The bike continues to be a disappointment. My swim went back to decent once I started giving myself specific workouts again so I'm going to do the same thing with the bike (or at least parameters of how much I should ride that day). My mini goal is to ride at least 100 miles in December. 

Running is continuing to go pretty well. The race we're in theory training for might not happen (registration still isn't open yet they have a date for it ...), but we're hoping that if it doesn't, there will be something local-ish we can substitute in its place. Hopefully.

The other disappointment this month (besides the bike) was the lack of other. Hoping that changes despite the weather and cold!

Also obviously sticking with the daily since it seems to be working. Consistency over time, man.

October Round Up

In theory, this month should have started off with a 70.3

In actuality, this month ended up having a few virtual races (the BU Alumni 5K and the ZOOMA Amelia Island Challenge (5K and 12K)).

We've also in theory started training for RnR AZ in January - the website still has the dates but no sign up yet. We're just training as if. Everything else except for running? Welllllll ...

Swimming: 4300m (2.67 mi)
Cycling: 55.38 mi
Running: 56.15 mi
Strength: 31 sessions (5:28)
Other: two hikes (2:23:57), two sessions hockey (2:00), one walk (:20), one session yoga (:15)

I hit a swim rut and I hit a swim rut badly this month. Part of it is finding the time to go now that I don't have to set a reservation. Noon is generally an okay time (the time it was usually okay to go swim at that gym pre-COVID), but actually remembering to get out the door and go around then (and schedule food around it) is a bit tricky. I also stopped planning swim workouts and just decided to swim as much as I felt like. That? Was a bad idea. I'm attempting to add in structured swims in again for November.

Cycling is also a bit of a struggle. And it doesn't help that when I do get on the bike, I can tell I've lost a lot of the fitness there. I've ridden over 1000 miles this year but let me tell you, it sure doesn't feel like it. I've gotten out a bit already this month - warm days help - and I'm hoping to ride more than I run.

Running is the main good thing. I don't think I've missed a run yet and have only cut one or two short. I'm proud of that. I've now been running essentially every other day for about two years now and I think it's FINALLY paying off. 

Still sticking with the daily and am trying my best to not half-ass it like I like to do.

I am proud of the other random stuff this month though. Got out for a few hikes - we're still really trying - and played hockey again. One hour was a stick/puck session and the other was an actual drop-in. Despite not remembering how to deal with my annoying feet in hockey skates and developing horrible, horrible blisters, it was actually pretty fun.

November the goal is just to keep keepin' on with half training and to try not to completely neglect the cross-training. I also have a goal to not gain weight during the holidays, so here's hoping.