Sparrows Experiment

ahem- that is a short sentence, but it says

"I ran a 1/2 marathon yesterday and I am no worse for the wear.

as a mater of fact- I swam 2 miles today"



that is what you just said!

you are DYNAMITE woman!
 
Np sparrow. It's fun living vicariously through you guys.

Gimme about a year or two and I'll see if I can make some sparrow-style posts. Y'know, something along the lines of...

Hey guys. Just climbed a mountain with one arm. While carrying a schoolbus full of children. I mean I tried to take it easy but it wasn't my fault the driver didn't see that he was heading for a cliff, right? Anyway, I feel like I should be tired, but I'm not. Go figure. Maybe I'll go for a swim later.
Click to expand...
:D
 
Derwyddon said:
Hey sparrow - when did you start endurance training?
Click to expand...

Do you mean this season or in my life? I started out at age 12 as a long distance swimmer. Since then I've always been into endurance sports. I went from swimming to running to triathlon. I'm a lousy sprinter. Besides some injuries and pregnancies, I've never not had a goal in some form of endurance sport since that age of 12.
 
Derwyddon said:
That's pretty cool. I hope my kids pick up something like that they're good at the way you did!
Click to expand...

you're quick on the draw! haha

I hope that for my kids too. So far none of my kids are too into anything. I have 1 very UNathletic older daughter. The middle and youngest are really active and good at sports but nothing in particular. I was always "good" at stuff but never settled into anything. the only reason I settled into swimming is my mom made me pick something at a lazy overweight time in my life. I basically started swimming to lose some poundage. I was a heafty little 12 yr old :) ha! I can laugh NOW but it wasn't very fun then.
 
Derwyddon said:
I really want some boys to be able to play sports with, but that's so dumb to think because - why can't i do it with the girls??
Click to expand...

Well, I get what you mean. In college I had a ton of friends who were boys. They far outnumbered the girls and it was all for the fact that they like to really DO stuff. More rugged stuff, which is what I like. Mountain biking on unmarked trails, hiking, football in the mud. ha, it was super fun. Most girls don't dig that kind of thing. This is probably one of the reasons I get along with FF so well. He sees me as an equal, just as they did. I got no mercy and I wanted it that way.

What kind of thing are you interested in right now?
 
Derwyddon said:
I've paced out a mile from my house and I'm going to start walking there and back every morning and eventually running there and back.
Click to expand...

Awesome goal to have for 09! I know you can do it. You seem a very determined, hard working gal. If you pass telephone poles eventually just start running every 3rd one, or every other one. If it has to be a shuffle at first, so be it! It gets easier. I was excited when you started your endurance journal so I'm happy to hear its something you want to resume. Sickness does put a damper on things, and whatever is going around right now is pretty wicked :(
 
Derwyddon said:
Oh, I forgot to say, I think I'm going to volunteer at this years Triathlon (they have the same one every year) so I can see what the transitions are like and what the exact course is, so when its warm out I can actually practice on the real course I'll be using
Click to expand...

That is a FANTASTIC idea.
 
Derwyddon said:
You've done a sprint distance haven't you? Or did I make that up?

If you have... what were the transitions like?
Click to expand...

yes I have.

well the transitions are the same pretty much no matter what the distance. Its good to be at the specific race you're interested in because the set up will be different at different races. It would be wise to note where the best set up for your bike would be in relation to coming in from the swim and going out to the bike. I typically like to set my bike up where I'm going to exit with it. I really don't care that I have to jog farther to get to my spot after my swim. It actually helps me get my barings better as I'm usually a bit dizzy after my swim in open water. Its good to be set up on the outside of a rack so you're not squished between others and they are less likely to step on or mess up your stuff.

For sprint distances you have 2 types of people. the ones that are REALLY good at the sprint distance and are there to place; and the ones who have never done a triathlon in their life. SO most of the time the transitions are not hectic. The faster people have already come through and the slower ones really don't care about their time as much as they just want to finish the thing. Its often a really positive experience.
 
Since you are FF's equal, maybe you could take a picture of your urine too and put it as your avatar, hehehe. Just kidding, your avatar is great!
 
My body fat is 15.7 again but I actually "feel" bigger lately. I'm not keen on that feeling. I think its my stomach/digestive issues messin with me.

Today I did a hill workout in spin class and then did NROL FL 3 workout A. I guess I'd missed the "A" workout last week because my muscles acted like they'd never done it before! I kept my same weights and increased my reps by 2 on everything but it was more challenging than I expected. I'm sure the hill workout the previous hour had some to do with that. I may swim my 3k tonight but I have a 7 mi tempo run tomorrow so we'll see.
 
The question today was run or swim...run or swim...run or swim..packed my bag for both...pondered it more in the car....as I checked in....dropped kids into childcare...and I sighed deeply and went upstairs to the tread. My immediate goal is running so I had to put that as priority, but I've gotten my groove back in the pool again and I don't want to back track. ANYway, it was run in the AM or run in the PM so its not like I'd have gotten out of it and I do better first thing in the morning. However, my legs are tender today from weights. I had a tempo run lined up which I dread on the tread. I worry about my shins with the faster pace but I had no choice today.

1 mile warm up 10 min pace
5 miles tempo run 7:50 pace
1 mile cool down less than 10 min pace

total 7 miles. I was pretty happy with myself being that i had to play a few mind games to stay on track. I finally just sort of went into my zone and felt like I was floating. The track coach of the high school closest to me, and owner of "the running zone" here in town came over and started talking to me on the tread next to me. I had my earphones in. I never understand people like that. Hello, its obvious I have earphones in, I'm sweating like a pig, I'm running really fast and don't want to be bothered! Anyway, he only wanted to tell me "nice pace" and "you have really great form" which was nice to hear because I feel like my form SUCKS, especially on the tread. So I guess I forgave him, but it kinda messed my "zone" up for a little while.

I had time to stretch and eat something before I coached so I'm hoping thats sufficient for recovery since my long run is the day after tomorrow. Tonight I'll do that swim. After warming up I'll do a 30 min timed swim and see how many laps I can cram into it. Its a test I do once a month for all the masters people. I should probably do it too.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top