Triathlon Training Blog

I did end up running on the treadmill the other day.   I did the Cheetah Fast Runnerval treadmill workout.   In my peak Ironman fitness days, I could get throught that workout – just barely, mind you, but I could!    This time, I was a total wuss and had to quit early.  This is what I wrote in my BT log:

dreadmill run. did “cheetah not so fast”. didn’t have the mental stuff to finish it. but at least I got something in.

When I was done, I went downstairs and my family asked me how my workout went. I replied, “Pretty good, I got it done, but I was dissappointed in my performance.   I think I am comparing myself to my Ironman days.”

My teenage daughter replied “But you just did an Ironman!”

The sad truth is that you lose fitness very quickly, and  I am nowhere near as fit as I was three months ago.

I can’t imagine how people train for an Ironman while working full time.   I’m finding it hard to get in 8 hours a week.    No way could I find time to get in nearly 20 hours of training.   Major props to all you Iron athletes out there who find ways to get the training in and work full time – and if you have little kids, uber props to you!

It snowed again here in Chapel Hill.  Can you believe it?  I think this winter can be classified as a mini ice age.  I love running in the snow, but once again and having motivational issues in getting my butt in gear.  This time, I am recalling something a friend once told me.

Just give the workout 10 minutes.  If you still don’t feel like doing it, then you can quit.   But most of the time, you will feel like finishing once you start.

I’m really having motivation issues lately.     I’m going to type some rambling mumbo jumbo here as I talk myself into going upstairs to do a treadmill run.

working is hard. i’m tired.  there’s a pile of dirty dishes in the sink.  i’m tired.   i don’t even know if i have any clean running shorts.   i could pull some out of the hamper. ewww, that would be gross. no way am i doing that. so forget about working out.   man, i really need the endorphins.  need to burn some calories too.  but, hey, i was good and skipped the cookie today at lunch.  it was  a free lunch too.  some hot sales guy from Barracuda treated the office to lunch.   did i mention he was hot?  okay, there’s my motivation to workout:  hot guys.   hahahaha.  okay, gotta run now!

I am not a morning workout person. My alarm went off at 5:45 am today. My plan was to swim with the 6:30 master’s group at the Chapel Hill pool. I hit the snooze button, and didn’t get up until 6am. Then I dragged my feet getting my act together. I was finally heading out the door at 6:20am. Then I remembered I was out of cash. Crap, no time to go to the bank machine first, and I really hate being late for stuff. So I bagged the swim idea.

I went over to my computer and sulked while checking my social notworkingout sites. These are the thoughts that were running through my mind.

I really need a workout. I have my swim stuff together already. Maybe I should go to the pool and just not swim with the masters group. No, that would be awkward. I only swam with them once so far, and they might think I don’t like them. Maybe I should go to the other pool. No, that one is too crowded. Crap. It’s too cold to workout. Maybe I should do some P90X. No, that’s too hard and I’m too sleepy. Maybe I should go running. Nah, it’s too dark out still.

Wow, what a bunch of lame excuses!

I tweeted: did not get up in time for swimming with the group. poop. now feeling very unmotivated to do anything but sit here and sulk. #badmood

I found myself on Youtube and searched for P90X, thinking “Oh, let’s just see what P90X workout videos are on Youtube. Just for fun.” OMG, I found this guy who posted a bunch of the workouts in 4X speed. That was great because I could watch the whole workout and see what it was all about in just a few minutes. So I would know what I was “in for”. I watched Kenpo X, and decided that was too much kicking and punching and I wasn’t in the mood for that. Then I watched Core Synergistics. That one had lunges with dumbells. Yay, I like dumbells! It also included push-ups, but I promised myself I’d do those on my knees so as not to kill myself again.

So, off to my living room I went with dumbells in hand and I did the Core Synergistics P90X workout. It was alot of fun, even at 6:45am. I especially liked the “leaning lunges with dumbells” and the “superman banana rolls” (except not the banana part – ouch). And I did the push-ups on my knees and did not feel guilty one bit.

I am trying to formulate a plan in my mind how to incorporate P90X into a triathlon training plan. You definitely don’t want to start it up in your build or peak phase! It would be too much, and your other workouts would suffer. I cooked myself pretty good last week when I started P90X. When I figure it out, I will let ya’ll know!

In case you are new to my blog, I purchased P90X on ebay for $70 because I wanted an easy way to squeeze workouts into my busy life. And I also wanted to do strength training without joining a gym. It has definitely satisfied those two needs very well.

I pulled out my old mountain bike – the one I used for my very first tri season – and had a go at some snow riding.   First I rode up and down the flat part of my street, just to test it.  It was slippery, but as long as I controlled my speed, it was alot of fun!   I lowered the saddle so I could put my leg out quickly whenever I started to wipe out.

Moving my legs felt really good on the sore muscles.  So,  ventured out farther and ended up riding for 50 minutes.    It was a beautiful day for a bike ride, and I had alot of fun.   It was more of an exercise in balance to ride on the icey roads, than a hard workout.   The only hard parts were when the snow was thick and slushy.

I brought along my action cam video camera and took some shots.  The camera does not pick up voices very well, and there is no anti-shake.   But it gives a good sense of the fun I had today…

One of my twitter buddies, @rburns42 , described P90X as “the hurt cave”. I am in the hurt cave right now. My legs are so trashed I am doing ‘the marathon shuffle’ all around my house.  If you don’t know what that means, watch this Youtube.   I had to ask my daughter to pick something up off the floor for me today.  It will be hard to get up out of my chair when I am done writing this blog.   And even harder to walk upstairs to go to bed. I guess I could just typing endless nonsense to avoid all that.  haha.

I’m not sure if this extreme soreness is from the P90X plyometrics workout I did yesterday, or running 6 miles in the snow today, or both. But man, I hurt. Night, ya’ll!