One for the Resolution folks....Prone Pike Press (2nd edition)

Yeah, say it a few times and try to say it fast. Good luck with that. Here's another: try to do them without either breaking your wrist, doing a somersault, laughing OR cussing incontrollably. Here's what ya do.....grab a big Swiss Ball, glare at it for a minute so it knows you're good and serious. Throw in a couple of threats for good measure. Bonus round: have a heart-to-heart with your abdominal muscles before this - come to an agreement that what you're about to do will, in fact, be a good thing in the long run. It's going to hurt like hell, you're going to feel quite awkward, but it will be good. So tell them to shut the hell up, don't be girls, and get on board.

Now...there are two ways to get into the proper starting position for this exercise. NC might recommend standing behind the ball with your shins touching it, then leaning forward until your hands are on the ground and walking them out into a "plank" or "pushup position" with the middle of your shins on the top of the ball. I prefer the "beached whale" approach: stand behind the ball, dive onto the sunuvabitch and bounce forward and walk your hands out until in the aforementioned "plank". (That's Step 1) Be forewarned that you'll have to start much further back that you realize, your body is longer than you realize, and if you're not careful you'll put your forehead into the mirrored gym-wall.

From here, the fun begins. With hands shoulder-width or a smidge wider apart on ground, tighten your core and pull your butt straight up into the air until your toes are on the ball. STOP YOURSELF BEFORE YOU GO OVER IN A SOMERSAULT (challenge #1)!! Lower your butt back into a plan position. STOP YOURSELF BEFORE YOU BECOME A SWAY-BACKED COW (challenge #2)!! Breathe, rinse, repeat. Do 3 sets of 10. Remember to breathe throughout. Might I recommend exhaling while lifting one's butt.

General notes: this is a true ass-kicking exercise and will gain you respect from some of the Gym Barbies around if you can do it with some style. Yes, everyone will be staring at your ass. Get over it. If it's good enough to get up there, you deserve a little ogling. I haven't figured out the smoothest way to get up (read: dismount) without a reverse beached whale effect. This is part of what makes this so fun to me. You will feel like Jell-O. I haven't quite figured out the best place for my hands, but slightly "duck-footed" seems to offer me the best opportunity to save my ass JUST before I topple forward into that somersault. (I seem to have mastered Challenge #2 much easier than Challenge #1 as this is the hardest part of it for me....)

So have fun, boys and girls, and let's compare rock-hard abs when you master this. Or....let's compare stories of general hilarity once you, too, have busted your knees, ripped your abs and mastered the somersault like I.

In which we realize we don't like hamsters....

NC and I went to a spin class at the gym tonight. First one we've been to at this gym...a year of membership. I'm biased, I was friends with and appreciated the instructors at the old gym. They understood I wasn't necessarily there to do their thing (standing sprints? Pssht. "Jumps" Yeah, right. "Hovering" When do I hover in a tri?) and were fairly content to leave me alone to do my thing in the back of the room. Sure, I'll climb a bit and I may throw in a sprint or two. But I'm going to set up the bike as close to my own position as I can, and I'm going to chill in the "aero" (as close as one can get when A)not really on a bike, B) not really in any wind and C) without any little arm pads) for awhile. It's what I do when I'm really on my bike and that's why I'm here - because I can't get my butt outside on my real bike. I'm not here so people can see me and think I'm hot, I'm not there because I want my butt to look super-tight or my abs to rip. I'm not even there for a killer workout. I'm on your bike because I can't be on mine. This tends to annoy instructors when we're in their class not doing their thing. Sorry. See that tattoo? However shallow it sounds, it means I know what I'm doing on a bike. If you care to come ride with me outside, I'll respect your indoor chirping a bit more. Until then.....umm..yeah...let the soccer moms sprint and sweat.

So I think we annoyed her. She kind of annoyed me. The music wasn't the best, the workout wasn't the greatest. But it wasn't bad. She didn't specifically say anything to us, so that gives her some bonus points, too. How and why NC picked the bikes RIGHT in front of her I don't know. Alas....

1hr spin class, 25 minutes core work. Good, solid workout for tonight.

Concept: Debunking the long run

This article (Running Times) might just reinforce what I've been thinking all along. There might be more value to consistency over volume. I am naturally suspicious of running only 3 times/wk in training for a marathon. This is all the Runner's World Smart Coach tells me I need, and was reinforced by a local running guru whose sage advice I trust. Yet, as someone who had it pounded into my head that one day off a week was sufficient, one day off a week was necessary, and that one could benefit and thrive with one day off a week, I found myself slapped in the face with this. You mean I can be an athlete with only three days a week? (We'll ignore that little "XT" that exists on the SmartCoach plans, telling me that it's ok to cross-train. I'm not quite sure they realize what we mean by "cross-train" anyway....a 30-40mi bike ride?? A hard swim workout?? Or an elliptical session with some aerobics?)

During the IM training and the Mary training, I did one 20 mile run. ONE. And I vowed, as I spent the next 3-4 days worthlessly wasted with sore, crampy muscles and some solid joint pain, that I would never do another. I will do back-to-back 13s, or back-to-back 10s, whatever it takes, but 20 miles on my body does as much harm as good. Kevin Hanson nails my thought process when he says "The body thrives on consistency," in the above-linked article. I have residual fitness like a mo-fo, and have proven that I can pick up after a ridiculous amount of laziness and pop out a 6mile run (or even a 12.5 for the especially stupid moment). I don't feel great and it may do as much damage as the dreaded 20, but it speaks to residual fitness. With solid and consistent training, I tend to pick back up into the routine fairly quickly and get to where I can "feel good" relateively soon.

But holding a nice scheduled 3x/wk run and gradually building about 10%/wk yields a nice, predictable schedule around which it is easy to work in swimming (and pepper in some biking if necessary). A more consistent schedule of 5-6 runs/wk makes anything else much more difficult. As a multi-sport athlete I would have to shift and make it work for me. Both structures contain nearly the same volume, one just spreads it out more.

It's worth considering as I look at these schedules. It's also worth noting, however, that the Hansons prefer a 20 week lead, whereas I currently have about 12. I have no intentions on running a 20 unless I'm training for an Ultra (kiss it, never) or running in a marathon. But, with it being the time of year that makes cycling totally unappealing (1"of snow on the ground this morning, more coming Wednesday and Friday) and swimming an exercise in freezing and illness avoidance, what better time to work on consistently running?

I recommend to all the purchase of Brooks and Asics stock. If Mama's going to spend more time outside hoofin' it, Mama's gotta be warm. One pair of fleece tights won't cut it. To be continued...

General weirdness...

I woke up today not knowing if it was Sunday, Tuesday or Monday. This leads to a very disorienting few minutes where I'm left trying to figure out if I can sleep in, what time it is, what I'm supposed to wear, and what in the hell I did yesterday. Upon checking my watch I realized that it didn't really matter the day, I could sleep for another few minutes anyway, at which point if an alarm went off I needed to get up. It was weird. I'm not good at the whole disorientation thing in general. But oh well...I finally discerned that it had to be Monday, since I didn't think I worked yesterday and remember watching football before I went to bed. That's about as far as I got when the alarm went off. Problem solved. (Except I think the alarm had already gone off once and I shut it off, thereby increasing the weirdness of not knowing where in the hell I was. It does, however, tell me that I was sleeping like a rock.)

Ran 8.5mi yesterday in about 1:32... It was 23 degrees when we left T's house. I wanted 8 mi, the plan calls for 8mi. But when you run with a sadistic person with higher expectations and unbelievable residual fitness, 8.5 is what you get. Further, when you start to fall apart about halfway into the run, she begins to get quiet to allow you to suffer, adding only the occasional "almost there" and "we're fine" to keep your brain engaged. If you're lucky you can throw in some conversation to distract her from a rabbit's pace and if the Gods smile upon you and bless you with a bit of wind she might even pick on that a bit. But you must beware of the dreaded "barn mode" in which she subconsciously senses being closer to home (or checks the GPS and knows it, or just knows it by looking around) and picks up her pace incrementally to "suicidal". You will all at once notice that you are struggling and the lower half of your body is now angry and convinced beyond doubt that your upper half has launched a coup attempt without informing your legs and allowing them to prepare. Your lungs are fighting with your calves who are fighting with your stomach and your brain is held hostage with little capability of strategizing how to stick your leg out and trip this person who is dragging you along unwittingly. Nonetheless....when you finish the run, it's all good.

It was cold, I was dressed warmly and when turned out of the breeze was almost too warm. Turning back to the wind, however, makes one realize why layers and zippers are good.

Longest run in 3-4 months with only 2 walk breaks (one while I attempted to bring all body systems to the same page of realizing that no one was dying alone). Best yet: I'm fairly sound today, with only a bit of tightness in the hams and calves.

Hello running, I may have missed you. Can you convince my body to metabolize again?

Frozen cheeks...

It's gotten cold here, finally. Really cold. Colder than it has been in over 9mo. Ran 5.38 w/JKL last night after work. Nice, comfortable pace, easy strides. The canal is largely protected from the wind, so while the air was cold it didn't bite as much out of the wind. Was dark by the time we finished, a first for her but one of my favorite times to run. Not quite the same experience as up by home, where it really gets quiet and dark dark, but still counts. Post-tibs tightening at the end and a bit of general tightness afterward, but that's to be expected when the air is about 35* & I'm not acclimated nor used to running in general.

5.38mi (flat), 56:38
36*, windy

The best news: today I feel pretty great. Slept like a rock. Oh, and it's 24* this morning.

Back to Basics...

What I originally started the quest for and what it has become are so vastly different that I have surprised even myself. A quick recount of that (dumb) Iron-distance race and a way to keep track has become a quick-glimpse into the myriad of crap that goes through my head. Much of it is censored, because it can be found by a broad spectrum of people, but it is nonetheless very much me. One of my favorite evolutions of this thing was an in-depth tracking log for my stupid sports. As I'm trying desperately to get back into "me" and back to who I want to be I need to bring this aspect of it back as well. I log here and at RunningAhead, though this side of it tends to be more of the actual feeling and impact of the workouts vs. the technical aspects. I like noting that side of things as much as anything else. That said, and since I'm giving it an effort again...I shall continue my efforts of documenting my athletic stupidity.

The goal: to run a marathon on the last day of February. That's a short 13 weeks from last Sunday. That's a quick ramp-up by any standpoint - when considering that I've spent the past 3 months practically sedentary, it becomes almost mind-boggling to me. Worst-case training scenario (assuming everything falls into place for the race itself) I drop back and do the half. Alternate scenario: I spend a weekend hanging with friends and yelling my head off and helping to drive. Here's banking on residual fitness and quality of sleep.

I've proven that I can schlep around for a few months and pick up and go for a 5 mi run without too many problems. I can get back in the water and at least survive a tough workout. I can even do that a couple times. What I'm hoping will happen is that my body will quickly remember what this "athlete" thing is like and I'll snap back fairly quick. My intent right now is just to focus on swimming and running, since the snow and freezing temperatures don't make me want to go ride for a few hours. This will most likely be my focus through next summer as well, but I still intend to do some tris. I just want to take it easy and have fun, remembering why I do these things again.

So last night's workout: a low-key 3mi on the treadmill around 5.5-5.8mph (10:20-10:54). Then I actually lifted with Noah. what's that? Did the world just stop turning? Did AW really pick up a dumbell? Did 3 sets of 10 on knee extensions, leg curls, step-ups, calf raises, lat pull downs, low rows & bicep curls (2sets). I'm a puny little girl on most everything but lats, and I was a bit noodly-legged walking out. But it felt good and felt like a step in the right direction. I can do all of that on my own. The run felt pretty solid too, some slight wonkiness below my right knee in a really weird spot, but nothing too out of whack. Was playing with my turnover a bit and am hopeful that as the distance picks up and the ability comes back I can train back to a fairly high cadence.