Sunday, March 25, 2012

Week -31: Packing

(19 - 25 March)

Packing this week.  We moved on the Saturday, so spent most of our weeknights building this:

2012.03.21 Move (4)

It's amazing to find out how many cubic feet your life fits into.  Not many, in our case (not counting bikes, of course).  We also got a free "upgrade" the night before, to this truck:


2012.03.21 Move (9)


2012.03.21 Move (12)

Good thing we got the upgrade, huh?  We might not have fit otherwise.

The move went as well as I could have hoped.  It was a long day, but we got through it with only one casualty:

2012.03.21 Move (13)

2012.03.21 Move (14)

One more week to go.  A little bit excited.

The (disappointing but expected) stats are:



(T-31 weeks and counting until New Zealand)
Matt Caroline
Swim
Hours
0
0
Sessions
0
0
Distance (m)
0
0
Bike
Hours
0
0
Distance (km)
31
15
Elevation (m)
200
0
Run
Hours
2.5
1.5
Sessions
2
1
Distance (km)
9.5
13
Cross Training
Hours
1
0
Distance (km)
7
0
Elevation (m)
200
0
Descent (m)
200
Total Hours
3.5
1.5

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Week -32: Better and Better

We got back on the swimming horse this week.  Three solid workouts, with a total distance of just over 4km for myself.  The workouts are really the way to go - having a checklist of things to get through in an hour or an hour and a half is so much mentally easier than trying to get in the pool and just keep swimming for 1500 metres.  That would be 60 lengths in a normal sized pool.  I was also able to do fairly consistent 0:45 second 50m lengths, which is my goal pace.  Obviously 50m is much different than 750, but at least I know I can actually move that fast.  All I need to do now is learn to hold it for longer.

Even better than the swimming progress, I was able to run so far that I blistered both of my feet.  For me this is a good thing.  Six kilometres without IT pain is farther than I have to race, so that is a huge confidence boost.  Now I just have to do it fast.

We finished the week off at Whistler.  Not too shabby.

The week's stats:


(T-32 weeks and counting until New Zealand)
Matt Caroline
Swim
Hours
4.5
4.5
Sessions
3
3
Distance (m)
4100
4900
Bike
Hours
0
0
Distance (km)
53
0
Elevation (m)
0
0
Run
Hours
2.5
2.5
Sessions
2
2
Distance (km)
10
15
Cross Training
Hours
0
0
Distance (km)
0
0
Elevation (m)
0
0
Descent (m)
11000
11000
Total Hours
7
7

Monday, March 12, 2012

Week -33: Gains

(5 - 11 March)

This was a week of major improvements:

- I ran 5km continuously, and may have figured out how to do it again
- We videotaped both of our swimming, and used that to figure out improvments.  I think major gains were made - this morning in the pool, both Caroline and I took between 10 and 20 seconds off of our 100m time.  Relatively, that's huge.
- We also videotaped our running.  This definitely helped me (see above) and gave Caroline some areas to work on as well.
- Finally, we took the tri bikes out for their first real spin around Richmond:
We didn't think we'd be able to do this for a while yet, since it never stops raining in this city.  But when we looked out the window Saturday afternoon, it was sunny! And dry!

At about km 2.5 on the ride it started raining again. But we were already out, so had the incentive to keep going and finish the thing off.   Both of us made huge improvements in terms of getting comfortable on these bikes.  It's a very different feeling from a normal road bike - personally, it feels like most of my weight is almost in front of the front wheel hub.  But we got used to it by the end.

(T-33 weeks and counting until New Zealand)
Matt Caroline
Swim
Sessions
2
1
Distance (m)
1500
1000
Bike
Distance (km)
42
41
Elevation (m)
134
134
Run
Sessions
3
3
Distance (km)
8
19
Backcountry
Distance (km)
0
0
Elevation (m)
0
0

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

-Victory-

I just ran 5.0 km. Continuously. No sharp knee pain. At all. That's the first time I have done that since before the triathlon, in August of last year.

It felt awkward and on the edge of uncomfortable the whole time, and I had to run super slowly and concentrate on how I was running the whole time, but I'll take it.

This means that I could now theoretically finish the triathlon I've signed up for. Probably come last at the pace I was running - but finishing is a start.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Week -34: All Sorts of Preparation

(27 February - 4 March)

A lot of time spent towards triathlon this week, but in more indirect ways.

Both of us were able to get in to the bike shop to get our triathlon positions dialed in. Unfortunately, it has been raining for every hour that we could otherwise be out trying out these new positions, but it's got to stop sometime.  In the meantime, Caroline tried on aero helmets:


Thoughts?

We also met with our massage therapist / coach and worked out a training plan to go forwards. It's going to be a busy summer:
typicalweek
(a typical week plan)

And then of course a night out "cross-training" (skate skiing).

In short, we're both feeling pretty good about where we are at right now. The rest of March will be split between:

A) putting in as many base miles as physically possible running and biking, as well as swimming for as many hours as we can stand
B) working as much overtime as psychologically possible so we don't have to do it this summer
C) packing up our house and getting ready to move

It's going to be a busy March, too.


(T-34 weeks and counting until New Zealand)
Matt Caroline
Swim
Sessions
1
1
Distance (m)
1250
2000
Bike
Distance (km)
43
0
Elevation (m)
134
0
Run
Sessions
2
2
Distance (km)
3
13.5
Backcountry
Distance (km)
9
9
Elevation (m)
300
300