Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Midweek Exhaustion

Wow, was today's workout ever hard. Fortunately Will was with me for the first of the four exercises and gave me more stuff to work on. But is my body ever tired from yesterday's workout. (Will said I should have done more than the 30-lb bar for the rebound lunges, because I wasn't supposed to have been able to do all 100 without stopping. He told me I might have to stop and that was OK, and because of that I was determined to complete them all in one session; I think if he'd given me twice as much weight I still would have done it all.)

5 on, 5 off thru 45, then back down from 45 thru 5 (after a short rest)
  • Lunge: all on right leg, rest, then all on left leg. He said that when I get tired, my front foot starts moving slightly. That's bad, so I have to work hard on turning my muscles on harder to keep that from happening. My hip flexors were tight from yesterday, and my hamstrings were sore. I didn't notice it so much on my right (first) leg, but I sure did on my left (second) leg. My first step down hurt initially, but then I realized that it was just soreness and not pain. I was going to battle through the discomfort, so we started over. It took at least one more restart because it got into my head that maybe it would hurt. Once I stopped focusing on that, and once my legs started loosening, I did better. Will said he could tell that I was definitely lagging during the first few but then that I improved as we continued.
  • That was all we had time for together. But Will's encouragement (?) today was that, when people ask why they're doing ISOs again and can they move on to something else, he tells them that it take 40 perfect sessions where everything is perfect. That means muscles, focus, hands, face, eyes, everything. He says I'm about 90% there but need to work on what happens when I get tired. We'd talked about this yesterday, where when you get tired you have to turn your muscles on that much more, work that much harder, to make the last 15 look the same as the first 85 or the last 15 seconds look the same as the middle 45 seconds. It's so that you put out the same amount of effort at the beginning as you do at the end and you look the same at the finish technique-wise (albeit a little more sweaty and tired) as you looked at the start. Oh, how I wish he were closer, but God has definitely opened a door for him elsewhere now, and I want God's will more than I want my own; His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
  • Glute ham: Not that this was easy (it was anything but!), but evidently it is even more difficult on an actual glute ham stand (where you're still parallel but you must keep your upper body parallel because you're not on the ground)
  • Push up on knees: I had to take 10 seconds between the last 2 because I couldn't push myself up at all. I was really, really focused on driving my chest up and could definitely tell a difference when I did—my lats were (correctly) working much harder than my shoulders.
  • Preacher curl (light bar): Again, here I was focused on driving my chest up and using my lats more than my arms. It helped that I was in front of a mirror and could tell whether my shoulders were up (bad). Now if only I can translate all that to swimming.
As tired as my muscles are, Will is only home for another couple days and I think it will be another 4–6 months before I'm able to work out with him again, so I think we'll get together again tomorrow or hopefully Friday and do day 3.

He has given me so many good things to work on, though, in terms of technique and new exercises. Today was something else new (or rather, refreshing, since I'm sure we've worked on this before): Breathing correctly (i.e. through my nose and into my diaphragm as opposed to my chest).

No swim today since I went to CSY instead of BFY. Tomorrow at BFY or MFY if I have time, or I'll wait until Saturday when I'll be required to swim again.

What Drives Women to Race?

A pro cyclist recently asked these questions on the Harpeth Bike Club site. She seems to be interested in creating a website directed toward women and focused on getting them to race. The questions are very interesting, and I enjoyed answering them, based on both my experience and my interaction with other racers.
  1. What drives women to enter the sport of cycling?
    Often, knowing other women who race or ride and having them talk to you about riding is was drives women to enter the sport of cycling. Hearing that other women are involved opens the door to others and reminds us that the opportunity is there to try something different.
  2. Is it the competitive nature, fitness and health, or friendship/peer pressure?
    Cycling is definitely competitive and helps with fitness and health. Both of these could draw women into the sport, but those aspects draw certain people in. For example, if someone is competitive by nature, they'll be drawn to the competitive side of racing (road races, criteriums, track racing, triathlons). However, if that woman is not competitive but wants to increase her physical ability or improve her health, she'll be drawn into the sport for different reasons.
  3. Is there one thing that trumps all other forms of motivation to enter a race?
    1. An athlete's competitive spirit trumps all other forms of motivation to enter a race. After that, I would say the order of decision-making (as far as whether to enter a race or which ones to do) is something like this:
    2. Can I win? (Or, do I want to win?)
    3. Who else will be racing in this race?
    4. Does the course suit me? (Or, is it hilly if I'm a climber or flat if I'm a triathlete?)
    5. Has someone else done this race who can tell me all about it?
    6. How far will I have to travel, and how much will it cost?
    7. Are any of my local training partners racing, so we can travel together?
  4. What does a comprehensive website need to encourage women to try riding and racing?
    Helpful information on a comprehensive website would be testimonials, opportunities, mechanical information, cost estimates. Testimonials from other female riders are a great place to start. Everyone wants to know if someone else has done this and what her experience was. Then she'll know whether she can do it and how much it will take to get involved. As far as opportunities to ride, including, for example, a list of regional or state's bike club's websites so that the woman can find out what's going on in her area would be helpful information; this would provide a way for her to get connected quickly. Basic mechanical information is always helpful; it will give readers a starting point on how to maintain their bikes if they can't take them into a bike shop regularly. Cost estimates, especially regarding bicycles and race entry fees, will help prepare the women for how much they can expect to spend and help them decide whether it's a feasible and wise decision.
  5. What, if anything, eliminates the intimidation factor of attempting to ride or race?
    Cycling in general is a great sport because you can compete or you can ride; many races are available throughout the season, but many group rides, which are often leisurely in nature, are also available. Knowing that you can relax or hammer while you're out riding with a group, and that you can decide in the middle of a ride to take it easy and still have people to ride with, helps eliminate any intimidation factor of attempting to ride. The best way to eliminate the intimidation factor of attempting to race is to talk to other women who have raced, get input from them, train with them, and then just go out there and do one. It's like anything in life: You're not going to be perfect the first time you do something, but the more you practice and the more experience you get, the better you'll be if you continue to put the time into training.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Busy Tuesday

First I went on a bike ride:
  • 41:48; 13.15 miles; 18.9 mph (35.9 max); 783 cal; 164 HR (186 max); beat my time on the course by 1:25 and 0.35 miles
  • It was ridiculously windy; the only respite I had from the wind was up Mack Hatcher and up Moores Lane.
Then I worked out with Will:
  • Rebound lunges: 100 each leg with 30-lb bar between legs; he kept saying that I could go down farther and to separate my pectorals.
  • Glute ham: 10×3 overspeed; after we got past the first one when I came up and knocked him in the chin with my head, these went well—tho he did remind me that I should be trying to pull myself away from him.
  • Bench press: 10×3 overspeed with 30-lb bar; again, he had to remind me to push up fast (especially since this was half the weight we'd done the other day).
  • Russian twist: 10×2 each side; reminder here—don't clench your fists because you're not even really using your arms/hands, you're using your lats/obliques.
  • We didn't do one other thing because we didn't have time; he said it was something where you jump off a platform into a squat? I didn't understand.
Finally I went to play some volleyball. It was about 30+ degrees colder this week than last and my feet are still freezing! We won our first match (21-14, 21-7 or something) and then lost our second match (13-21 and 17-21 I think). Considering that we had only 3 players, we did well, but two wins would have been nice!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Criteriums

Lisa and I had a chance to catch up before Bible study (learning about Esther and her teachable spirit and obedient attitude), and she shared with me some very encouraging information: Not doing the crits next year is a good decision. Earlier this month, I decided to not race in the criterium series that I've won the previous two years. I made this decision based mainly on four things:
  1. It felt like the right decision (i.e. I prayed about it and thought God was directing me elsewhere; black and white issues are easy for me because they're directly addressed in the Bible, whereas gray areas are more difficult because they are not specifically addressed, but I did seek Him and His guidance).
  2. I want to focus on triathlons.
  3. The bike skills, aerobic/anaerobic work, time, and distance of crits don't translate well to triathlon training.
  4. Brian, a former-pro-triathlete-and-coach friend, suggested I not race them.
Sometimes it's also nice to hear from other learned people, those who have competed professionally and coached excellent athletes and know the ropes, that your decision was indeed the right one. Lisa had talked to Todd over at Endeavor Performance (he's her coach) and told him what I was focusing on next year; she couldn't believe I wouldn't do the crit series and wanted to hear what he had to say. He said it was absolutely the right decision. She didn't tell me whether he'd said why, but I was definitely glad she shared at least a little.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Great Friends

Allison has been in town this weekend, and I am so grateful that we got to spend a little time together. An hour plus for breakfast and then church was definitely not enough time, but it was more than I've seen her since mid July, so I'm not complaining. We are going through some of the same things, and it was great to just be able to talk a few things out with a good friend.

Will is around, too, and I LOVE being able to work out with him. He makes me work hard, teaches me how to work right, and then encourages me when we finish. And he makes me want to know God more and live for Him better every day. I want to move to wherever he is so I can continually learn from him. But before that, I want to sit down and talk theology for a couple hours. Just for fun, no real point to the conversation, so I don't think it's going to happen. That's OK.

I ran a little 20-minute jog today, mainly to get my legs moving after yesterday's iso workout. Yep, definitely going to be even more sore tomorrow! I stayed in the neighborhood and focused on lifting my legs and dorsa flexing my ankles and pushing back up off the ground to propel myself forward and using my big muscles. Will saw me and said my form looked good (that's good, because at that point I was thinking more about who those people were who were waving at me than running right). It ended up being about 2 miles; the first 1.25 was at 7:45 pace or faster and the next 0.75 was slow while I worked on high knees and butt kicks.

Then we headed to Brentwood Y (who knew the CSY is closed on Sundays?) and did the following:
  • Front-foot elevated lunge: 15 times, 10 sec on, 10 sec off, then switch legs
  • Glute ham: 10 sets of 3 altitude drop 4 sets of 3 to top, 6 sets of 3 altitude drop
  • Zurker (sp?) squat: 10 sets of 5 (hold light bar in crook of arms; focus on keeping chest up, shins perpendicular to ground, hips to the rear)
  • Glute ham: 3 sets of 6 overspeed (have someone push you from bottom so you must stop yourself at top)
  • Bench press: 20 sets of 1, 65 lb, a couple breaths between each set (focus on driving chest up the entire time—no lag between lowering and raising the bar)
The Z squat was the best, and then bench. The squat made me think about keeping my chest up and not hunching over while using the same muscles I'd be using while running. The bench again made me think about keeping my chest up; this will help especially in swimming if I really think about using my lats—the big muscles—to do most of the work. I will again be very sad when Will leaves, because I'll lose my personal trainer to distance again and will have to rely on the phone. Sad!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Shelby Bottoms Boogie 5K

I decided earlier this week to do this race. I hadn't intended to race this early in the off season, but I noticed there was a race, looked at the previous years' results, and decided it was one I could win. Or knew, at least, that I could have beaten the girl who got second place. I started at the front and stayed with them the entire time. Final place: 16 over all.

The very wet start...I'm behind the guy in the black and white and beat the girl next to me!

There were a few other women at the front at the start, so I was focused on them. I figured if I could stay with or close to them, I would have a great chance. I started my Garmin but didn't split the miles because it was raining. In fact, I never looked at it until mile 2.65 when I stepped on a rock and twisted my ankle slightly. I think I wanted to see how I'd do without knowing HR or pace. I'm not sure whether I did as well as I might have had I known since I didn't finish with a PR, but that could have been partly due to the puddles and rain we had to contend with.

Finishing...I had thought I was lifting my legs better than this picture shows; bummer!

I ended up as the 2nd overall female of 49 and the 16th overall finisher of 98. I was 1st in my age group of 5, but that was negated by the overall finish. There was also a 15K (it started about 15 minutes after we did, and we did our awards before they all finished) with 182 finishers.
  • Total time: 22:48 (PR time: 22:10)
  • Distance: 3.08 miles (slightly short because the lead cyclist led everyone the wrong way; I wondered how they could have 0 water stops during the 5K—not that I needed it, but others certainly would have benefited from water!)
  • Pace: 7:24 (the results said 7:21, or 1:02 per minute slower than the winner/the woman who beat me); best pace: 5:33
  • 168 HR

Drying my shoes—this might take a couple days!

The swag—bag with papers about other races, trophy, 10th-annual-race cup, and number

I spent a little time working on a sponsorship application for Trakkers. This looks like a fantastic product with great technology—not only can family and friends and supporters all over the country track me during my races, I can look at my stats at the end of each race and see how I did—swim included! Then it was lunch with Will, definitely one of my best friends ever. Then we went to work out. I'm glad he's so patient and willing to teach me and help me get faster and stronger; some parts of today's workout were tough and frustrating:
  • Iso extreme lunge, 30 seconds
  • Bouncing lunges, 12 seconds (these are basically mini Russian lunges; I needed to remember to lift my knees up with my hip flexors and dorsa flexing the ankle on my front foot)
  • Rest 30 seconds
    • Repeat the previous 3 10 times, then switch legs
  • Lots of calf jumps, simulated running steps, calf jumps, bouncing lunges, calf jumps, you get the idea; I was definitely struggling with the concept of lifting my leg high so that it comes down fast and propels me forward wall and correctly and efficiently. I don't want to run by shuffling and I want to be efficient, so that's what he's trying to help me accomplish.
  • Glute ham, 3×10 reps to the top
  • Iso extreme push up on knees, 30 seconds
  • Altitude drop bench press, 30-lb bar, 3×6; my problem here was that I wasn't moving my arms away fast enough; each set was only 6 reps, so they should have been good (excellent) reps and they weren't.
    • Repeat the previous 3 6 times (we should have done this 10 times but were running out of time)
  • Bent over rebound barbell row, 30-lb bar, 6×3 (it might have been 6? Warren called and we got distracted); reminder: Bent over barbell row is basically an inverted push up
  • Scapular pull up, 30. This was supposed to have been 3×30, from deepest position possible, basically pulsing my lats. I struggled, Will demonstrated, I tried again. He said it looked good, but I felt like I was using only my forearms. I don't know why I won't let my big muscles work when they're supposed to. So we tried something else that I just couldn't do, and then we did 30 total, with about 4 or 6 inches range of motion. I did 20, took a break because I couldn't hold on, then completed 10 more.
So the reminder for today is that scapular pull up (which always frustrates me) is supposed to feel pretty much just like push up or bench press. Because you're basically using the same muscles—laterals—in a slightly different way. That will be my focus the next time, and hopefully I won't get frustrated.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Friday!

Fridays are probably some of my favorite days. I work only half days, and then I can do whatever I want and get some laundry done. So today I came home, did laundry, went on a quick ride, played tennis with ARenee and Angela for a couple hours (no games, only hitting around), and spent some time with Nancy and Will. Fun times!

I didn't get the full stats from my ride (I think I missed the first 45 seconds or something), but what I did get looks like this:
  • 40:46; 13.1 miles; 19.0 average; 801 calories; 141 HR (not right b/c it was right only half of the ride)
  • 40:44; 13.09 miles; 19.3 average; 804 calories; 168 HR; 42:48; 13.07 miles; 18.2 average; 822 calories; 155 HR; 42+ minutes; 12.4 miles; 18.0 average; 752 calories; 149 HR
  • Warm up: 28:50; 9.45 miles; 19.7 average; 131 HR
  • Warm up: 30:00; 9.82 miles; 19.6 average; 164 HR; Warm up: 30:30; 9.5 miles; 18.7 average; 150 HR; Warm up (note that by "warm up" I mean the ride itself): 27:27; 8.89 miles; 157 HR
  • Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.19 miles; 23.1 average; 171 HR
  • Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.19 miles; 23.0 average; 180 HR; Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.19 miles; 23.2 average; 162 HR; Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.16 miles; 19.3 average; 160 HR
  • Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.17 miles; 20.9 average; 176 HR
  • Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.18 miles; 21.0 average; 182 HR; Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.17 miles; 20.8 average; 182 HR; Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.18 miles; 21.4 average; 176 HR
  • Cool down: 5:41; 1.77 miles; 18.7 average; 168 HR
  • Cool down: 5:41; 1.73 miles; 18.2 average; 183 HR; Cool down: 7:38; 2.08 miles; 16.4 average; 166 HR; Cool down: 8:12; 2.16 miles; 15.8 average; 158 HR
I missed the first 00:45 to 01:15 because I forgot to start my timer. But besides the bulk of the ride, the rest looks pretty much the same.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Mile Times

Since I did hundred times earlier, I figure I'll do a few mile times. So today I did two 1-mile intervals with a mile jog between. I don't know what my previous mile times are; the only thing I know is that my fastest 5K average is 7:09 (Firecracker 5K, 7-04-09, 22:10). My goal is do get under 6 minutes for at least 1 mile and then work up to more miles. Today's times were 7:11 and 7:06. In that order. I ran at the Brentwood Y where it's fairly flat and has tenth-of-a-mile markers. It was about 78* and super humid. I definitely have a lot of work to do to get just 1 mile down to 6 minutes. Today's times are a benchmark and will give me a starting point for the winter. The change from endurance/long distance/slow/pacing to short/sprint/fast/no pacing is going to be an uphill battle!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Swimming

Today's workout started with a swim (total time: 32 minutes, but I think I did an extra 50 during the warm up):
  • SWU3T 300 wu (4-5 RPE) technique
  • SDS3 8x25@10sec RI drills
  • SBI3T 4x100@5sec RI (6-7 RPE) technique (6:35 total) (6:45 last time)
    1. 1:30.73 (1:29.74, 1:31.19 last times)
    2. 1:34.54 (1:37.37, 1:34.70 last times)
    3. 1:35.23 (1:37.07, 1:34.81 last times)
    4. 1:34.05 (1:38.24, 1:36.07 last times)
  • SKS2 6x25@10sec RI kick
  • SPS2 8x25@15sec RI pull
  • SCD3T 300 cd (4-5 RPE) technique
OK, so I'm excited at the 4.5-second spread between my slowest and fastest times (way better than the 8.5-second spread and 5-second spread from last times). And that my median time was seconds lower than last time's. Hooray! How sad is it that that's all I did today besides work, a short lunch, work, and spending some time with Nancy (that's always exciting, though, and I always learn from her).

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Busy Fun

I started out the morning with 100 altitude drop scapular pull ups (I wanted to do them at home and they took me nearly 10 minute even with my not knowing whether I was doing them correctly), continued with 100 altitude drop bent-over barbell row (light bar ~30 lb), 100 altitude drop bench press (light bar), 20 altitude drop squats (light bar; I wasn't happy with how I was doing and so stopped), 20 things on the glute ham stand that Will says is crappy because it doesn't adjust correctly, and then came home and rode my bike. If it were more than about 2 hours total including getting-ready time I might think I have a pro schedule.

I raced myself of the virtual trainer today and it says that I came in 0.53 miles ahead of myself. I was definitely faster!
  • 40:44; 13.09 miles; 19.3 average; 804 calories; 168 HR
  • 42:48; 13.07 miles; 18.2 average; 822 calories; 155 HR; 42+ minutes; 12.4 miles; 18.0 average; 752 calories; 149 HR
  • Warm up: 30:00; 9.82 miles; 19.6 average; 164 HR
  • Warm up: 30:30; 9.5 miles; 18.7 average; 150 HR; Warm up (note that by "warm up" I mean the ride itself): 27:27; 8.89 miles; 157 HR
  • Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.19 miles; 23.0 average; 180 HR
  • Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.19 miles; 23.2 average; 162 HR; Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.16 miles; 19.3 average; 160 HR
  • Rest 1: 2 minutes; 0.58 miles; 17.0 average; 172 HR
  • Rest 1: 2 minutes; 0.58 miles; 17.5 average; 181 HR; Rest 1: 2 minutes; 0.53 miles; 16.0 average; 173 HR
  • Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.18 miles; 21.0 average; 182 HR
  • Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.17 miles; 20.8 average; 182 HR; Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.18 miles; 21.4 average; 176 HR
  • Rest 2: 2 minutes; 0.59 miles; 7.8 average; 188 HR
  • Rest 2: 2 minutes; 0.54 miles; 16.2 average; 175 HR; Rest 2: 2 minutes; 0.48 miles; 14.4 average; 176 HR
  • Cool down: 5:41; 1.73 miles; 18.2 average; 183 HR
  • Cool down: 7:38; 2.08 miles; 16.4 average; 166 HR; Cool down: 8:12; 2.16 miles; 15.8 average; 158 HR
So it looks like my HR was higher, but my pace was higher, too, so I'm happy!

Then it was off to volleyball. I decided to play some sand volleyball at the church with a random league. My team tonight was Brad, Jeff, and Kristin, and we won 21-16, 14-21, and 15-11 (or something like that). Then I stayed to referee one match.

I had to finish what I could, so then it was 100 altitude drop crate crunch. I am so glad Will is coming back soon. I just don't feel like I'm working hard and need someone to push me and make sure I'm doing everything right. To get me in the right mindset. He'll be good at that!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Little Run

Statistics-wise, today’s run is very similar to Thursday’s (the major difference is route [Donelson Y vs. Moores Lane/GG Patton]; today’s was much hillier!):
  • Totals: 21:41; 2.69 miles; 8:03 pace; 5:43 best pace; 168 HR; 323 calories
  • Lap 1: 10:01; 1.26 miles; 7:58 pace; 164 HR
  • Lap 2: 10:01; 1.24 miles; 8:05 pace; 174 HR
  • Lap 3 (I had to finish the hill on Moores Lane to the Landings): 1:38; 0.19 miles; 8:30 pace; 167 HR
  • Drills were the same: 2 high knees, 2 butt kicks, 30 seconds each, with 1 minute of rest between each
  • Cool down + drills was 10:34, 0.84 miles, 12:34 pace, 162 HR
  • Totals from Thursday: 29:11; 3.31 miles; 8:50 pace; 388 calories; 173 HR
  • Warm up: 19:58; 2.50 miles; 8:00 pace; 6:34 best pace; 174 HR
  • Cool down: 3:12 (to the end of the trail, then I did 5 after); 0.36 miles; 8:57 pace; 8:07 best pace; 174 HR
The focus of this run was the same as Thursday's as well: Loose fingers, arms, and shoulders, and a placid facial expression. I know I didn't do as well today because I was focusing on the hills and keeping a decent pace.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Swim Work

Today's workout started with a swim (total time: 31 minutes):
  • SWU3T 300 wu (4-5 RPE) technique
  • SDS3 8x25@10sec RI drills
  • SBI3T 4x100@5sec RI (6-7 RPE) technique (6:45 total)
    1. 1:29.74 (1:31.19 last time)
    2. 1:37.37 (1:34.70 last time)
    3. 1:37.07 (1:34.81 last time)
    4. 1:38.24 (1:36.07 last time)
  • SKS2 8x25@10sec RI kick
  • SPS2 6x25@10sec RI pull
  • SCD3T 300 cd (4-5 RPE) tech.
Extreme slow exercises all looked like this: 30 sec work, 30 sec rest, 45 sec work, 30 sec rest, 60 sec work, 30 sec rest, 75 sec work, 30 sec rest
  • Body-weight squat ext slow
  • Rebound standing ham: 100
  • Glute ham to arm’s length ext slow
  • Rebound standing ham: 100
  • Lunge from parallel on crates all on one leg then switch ext slow
  • Rebound standing ham: 100
  • Bench press 55-lb ext slow
  • Quick bicep curls: 100 w/1–3-lb dumbbells/plates
  • Standing curl w/light bar ext slow
  • Quick bicep curls: 100 w/1–3-lb dumbbells/plates
  • Crate crunch ext slow
This all took me about an hour.

Later, I joined ARenee and Lauren for dinner at Blue Coast, a trip to Costco, and some NPT shows that were fascinating. Fun time!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Perpetual Rain (Dry Spot!)

I managed to find a window of time today when it wasn't raining and get in a good ride. It was the same route, focus, and drills as Wednesday and looks very similar:
  • 42:48; 13.07 miles; 18.2 average; 822 calories; 155 HR
  • 42+ minutes; 12.4 miles; 18.0 average; 752 calories; 149 HR
  • Warm up: 30:30; 9.5 miles; 18.7 average; 150 HR
  • Warm up: 27:27; 8.89 miles; 157 HR
  • Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.19 miles; 23.2 average; 162 HR
  • Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.16 miles; 19.3 average; 160 HR
  • Rest 1: 2 minutes; 0.58 miles; 17.5 average; 181 HR
  • Rest 1: 2 minutes; 0.53 miles; 16.0 average; 173 HR
  • Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.17 miles; 20.8 average; 182 HR
  • Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.18 miles; 21.4 average; 176 HR
  • Rest 2: 2 minutes; 0.54 miles; 16.2 average; 175 HR
  • Rest 2: 2 minutes; 0.48 miles; 14.4 average; 176 HR
  • Cool down: 7:38; 2.08 miles; 16.4 average; 166 HR
  • Cool down: 8:12; 2.16 miles; 15.8 average; 158 HR
This felt almost exactly the same but was slightly faster, which I guess is good? Better HR on the warm up/bulk of the ride, and that's definitely good.

I went to a "Signs and Wonders" conference with Bill and Nancy tonight. It was a very unique, experience. Entertainment is probably the best word to describe it. It really felt like people were there just to see what would happen to the guy who was speaking. Would he get covered with gold dust? Or maybe even sheets of gold? Would oil start coming from his feet? (What!!)

The singing in tongues sounded like an African choir—sweet sound, but not understandable—how do I know whether the Spirit understands?

What if an experience doesn’t happen?

What do they do with the gold, and with the oil?

How do they feel if they come expecting a miracle and don’t get one?

The gold comes from when the Israelites left Egypt with their gold. It is basically glitter, though. Nancy said she’d been there earlier and he hadn’t any gold on his jacket, but when I was there, there was glitter in is hair and on his jacket. Then evidently he got oil? Coming from his feet? Yeah, he stepped all over little pañuelos (handkerchiefs, but I couldn’t remember the work), which were then cut up and handed to everyone who put money in the offering as a tangible token of their attendance and giving. This was based on Acts 19:11–12, where “handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them” and Acts 5:15, where “at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.” But this was all before the Scripture was written and complete. Now that it is, do we need more revelation? Not what we have the sun, we have no need for the stars!

How much does the prosperity gospel discount God’s sovereign will? How much does the conservative gospel discount the work of the Spirit?

When Jesus healed, He healed all who came to Him. He didn’t do anything strange like “I’m getting a birthday.” “I’m hearing initials.” “I’m seeing someone with a friend named Daniel.”

The church felt so alive—like Mom and Dad’s church.

Does he just keep talking until the oil comes or more glitter comes? That’s sure what it felt like!

The prosperity gospel: all about taking, nothing about giving to God of myself (except my finances, because if I give my finances He’ll bless me with gold). Nothing about surrender. Prosperity angels (Elijah when he fled Jezebel, slept, awoke to an angel who fed him, slept, awoke to an angel again, ate, then journeyed. Gen 24:6ff: Abraham seeking a wife for Isaac—your angel of prosperity will go before you and find you a mate. Psalm 34: David “the poor man” cried; the angel of prosperity delivered him—actually, though, there’s a phrase between: The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. The passage goes like this: This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.
Take it to the Lord in prayer. I surrender all. Go, sell all that you have, and give it to the poor; for it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Take up your cross and follow me. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Be a servant; John 12:26; the Son of man came to serve, and we are to emulate Him. Deut. 11:13. Shall I go on sinning so that grace may abound? No! 1 John 2:6

It’s not always going to be easy, and you’re not always going to be wealthy. God is going to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory, but He alone can distinguish between your needs and your wants. Indeed, He is a sun and shield; He will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Basically tonight was all about taking, not really about walking uprightly. Sure, there was prayer, but prayer for what? More blessing. Nothing that deals with the heart. My heart can’t be the only one that struggles; I see it everywhere in the Psalms and I know the writer of the Proverbs dealt with it too or he wouldn’t have addressed it.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:12–14

What is the whole business with “getting whacked” and where did it come from?

Does the “joy of the Lord” “manifest itself” only in uncontrollable laughter? Ananias and Sapphira were slain in the Spirit—literally! (Acts 5)

Are they disappointed to see only glitter rather than sheets of gold? Bill says “it’s God’s prerogative.” Don’t we get our real reward (crowns and such) in heaven? It seems like they’re too busy looking for rewards and blessings and manifestations and experiences here on earth to truly yearn for heaven! Or maybe what they see now makes them long for it even more?

Those who saw angels (in the NT were afraid: Zacharias, Mary, John, the shepherds.

I know so much, but what am I doing to help others see the truth and love of God?

In a few places, you’ll be rewarded openly: Doing charitable deeds in secret (Matthew 6:1–4); Praying in a secret place (Matthew 6:5–6); Fasting but appearing normal (Matthew 6:16–18).

The tax collector asked for mercy because he knew he was a sinner. Yes, we can approach the throne with confidence, but we also must approach in humility, knowing that we are not worthy in ourselves but rather in God.

How to be blessed (God’s way) from Matthew 5:
  • Be poor in spirit (theirs is the kingdom of heaven)
    deep humility; recognizing spiritual bankruptcy apart from God; acutely conscious of lostness and hopelessness apart from divine grace; Matthew 9:12; Luke 12:13
  • Mourn (they shall be comforted)
    mourn over sin; have godly sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation without regret; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Isaiah 40:1–2
  • Be meek (they shall inherit the earth)
    supreme self-control empowered by the Holy Spirit; Galatians 5:23
  • Hunger and thirst for righteousness (they shall be filled)
    seeking God’s righteousness, not your own; Romans 10:3; Philippians 3:9
  • Be merciful (they shall obtain mercy)
    showing compassion for others; James 1:13
  • Be pure in heart (they shall see God)
    seeking to refrain from sin and to please God in every possible way; Psalm 24:4–5; Psalm 15:2; Hebrews 12:14
  • Make peace (they shall be called sons of God)
    loving your enemies; blessing those who curse you; doing good to those who hate you; praying for those who use you; Matthew 5:44–45
  • Endure persecution for righteousness’ sake (theirs is the kingdom of heaven)
    suffering because of your faith and willingness to share; James 5:10–11; 1 Peter 4:12–14
We are all filled with the Holy Spirit. How can some human (sinner) exhale on me and fill me with more of the Spirit? It is God who gives us the Spirit and of God whom we should ask for more. Could His way be that? I highly doubt it—where’s the evidence in the Bible? John and Elizabeth were filled with the Spirit—God. He is the Spirit. He comes upon us, not the breath of some human.

John was filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. (Luke 1:15) Mary would have the Holy Spirit come upon her. (Luke 1:35) Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit upon Mary’s arrival (but when Mary greeted Elizabeth—it was at the sound of her voice). (Luke 1:41) Stephen was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. (Acts 6:5) The apostles and others with them were filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:4)

Maybe the breath is to imitate “a sound from heaven, as of a rushing wind”? But God sent that sound—it wasn’t created by humans! (Acts 2:2; John 3:8)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Predators

Today Anna and I went to the Predators game, so I split up my workouts to get everything done.

Take 1: Strength Training
  • 3-minute iso extreme push up on knees
  • 3×3 bent-over barbell row with 55 lb
  • 3-minute iso extreme push up on knees
  • repeat
  • I was definitely focused—did the entire 3 minutes both times, all the while trying to pull into the deepest position possible. In fact, I wished I'd used benches instead of weights for my hands because I felt like I could have gone deeper! Probably could have gone with more weight on the row, and I took about 3 deep breaths between sets.
  • 2-minute iso extreme scapular pull up
  • 3×3 bench press with 65 lb
  • 2-minute iso extreme scapular pull up
  • repeat
  • I still don't know whether I'm doing the scap pull up correctly; hopefully Will can show me next week. I definitely could have gone with more weight on the bench press, and again took about 3 deep breaths between sets.
  • 3-minute standing extreme hamstring
  • 3×3 squat with 55-lb bar
  • 3-minute standing extreme hamstring
  • repeat
  • After hitting my heat on the bar (ouch), I still completed the whole thing. Not sure what I was thinking about besides stretching out my hamstrings and using my glutes for the squats. The goal for all this stuff is always no pacing—go as hard as you can the entire time.
  • 2-minutes each leg 1-leg squat
  • 3×3 glute ham to the top
  • 2-minutes each leg 1-leg squat
  • repeat
  • I had no trouble going to the top of the reps, but I felt like I was not using my hamstrings at all; I don't know what was working. I'll be honest, though, my legs were TIRED after the 8 minutes of 1-leg squat! I think I stumbled (i.e. nearly tripped) no less than 3 times while leaving the Donelson Y)
Take 2: Technique Run
The focus of the run was staying loose: loose fingers, arms, and shoulders, no hunch in shoulders, and a placid facial expression. I ran 20 minutes and then did a few drills (high knees and butt kicks).
  • Totals: 29:11; 3.31 miles; 8:50 pace; 388 calories; 173 HR
  • Warm up: 19:58; 2.50 miles; 8:00 pace; 6:34 best pace; 174 HR
  • Drill 1: 30 seconds; 221 feet; 182 HR
  • Rest 1: 1 minute; 321 feet; 182 HR
  • Drill 2: 30 seconds; 236 feet; 162 HR
  • Rest 2: 1 minute; 289 feet; 166 HR
  • Drill 3: 30 seconds; 321 feet; 163 HR
  • Rest 3: 1 minute; 375 feet; 169 HR
  • Drill 4: 30 seconds; 254 feet; 163 HR
  • Rest 4: 1 minute; 358 feet; 175 HR
  • Cool down: 3:12 (to the end of the trail, then I did 5 after); 0.36 miles; 8:57 pace; 8:07 best pace; 174 HR
Then I headed downtown for the Predators game! I got free tickets and had to pay only for parking. Anna joined me, and although she wasn't too keen on sitting as high as we were, she was definitely a good sport and we enjoyed the game. We were so busy talking that I took 0 pictures, but I do have evidence that I was at least in Sommet Center:

Program, ticket, and parking stub...we were up in row Q of about V rows!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Swimming (Hundred Times)

Today's swim was probably one of the fastest, highest-heart rate swim I've done. I knew I only had 1,550 m (rather, yards) to swim, so I tried to make the best of it. The focus of the technique parts was swimming uphill—mainly, keeping my legs and hips high instead of dragging. That was tough and something I must continue working on!
  • SWU3T 300 wu (4-5 RPE) technique
  • SDS3 8x25@10sec RI drills
  • SBI3T 4x100@5sec RI (6-7 RPE) technique
    1. 1:31.19
    2. 1:34.70
    3. 1:34.81
    4. 1:36.07
  • SKS2 8x25@15sec RI kick
  • SPS2 6x25@10sec RI pull
  • SCD3T 300 cd (4-5 RPE) tech.
This took me a total of 35 minutes; I estimated 30-45 minutes when I told Will the times of this month's workouts, so I'm pretty happy!

Hundred (yards) times look like this.
  • February 3: 1:35, 1:41, 1:44, 1:45, 1:43, 1:45, 1:47, 1:44, 1:45, 1:44, 1:44, 1:42
  • February 19: 1:34, 1:35, 1:33, 1:34, 1:37, 1:36, 1:35, 1:37, 1:35, 1:38, 1:37, 1:37
  • March 10: 1:28, 1:30, 1:32, 1:33, 1:34, 1:33, 1:35, 1:35, 1:32, 1:36, 1:35, 1:32
  • April 14: 1:34, 1:36, 1:36, 1:37, 1:36, 1:36
  • April 17: 1:38, 1:40, 1:42, 1:41
  • April 21 (200-300-400-500 per-100 averages): 1:37; 1:42; 1:45; 1:47
  • May 12: 1:42, 1:42, 1:42, 1:41, 1:41, 1:38
  • May 19 (200-300-400-500 per-100 averages): 1:33; 1:35; 1:40; 1:41
  • July 12: 1:34.72, 1:37.39, 1:37.65, 1:38.46, 1:38.86, 1:39.41
  • September 16: 1:31.19; 1:34.70; 1:34.81; 1:36.07
My average pace in races is just about 2+ minutes. All the times above are from a yardage pool, and I might need to start swimming at MFY to get an accurate per-100 time in the pool and then go from there.

When I got home, I made and ate a banana/protein smoothie. My stomach is currently reminding me why I swim in the morning; taking in a lot of water is not smart, and I think I took in even more because I was thinking about swimming downhill. Note to self: This about that also next time!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Back to the Real World

42 min
12.4 miles
18mph average

32 minutes
10.06 miles
18.7 average

My workout stats are split up because I forgot about wanting to do drills at the end. So first I rode for 20 minutes:
  • 19:57, 6.71 miles, 20.2 average, 401 cal, 134 HR (168 max)
Split for intervals:
  • 20:43, 5.70 miles, 16.5 average, 351 cal, 161 HR (183 max)
  • Warm up: 19:57 + 7:30; 6.71 + 2.18 miles; 157 HR
  • Drill 1: 30 seconds; 0.16 miles; 19.3 average; 160 HR (this was up Mack Hatcher into the wind)
  • Rest 1: 2 minutes; 0.53 miles; 16.0 average; 173 HR (I had to pause for the light at Mack Hatcher and Franklin Road)
  • Drill 2: 30 seconds; 0.18 miles; 21.4 average; 176 HR (this was down Franklin Road)
  • Rest 2: 2 minutes; 0.48 miles; 14.4 average; 176 HR
  • Cool down: 8:12; 2.16 miles; 15.8 average; 158 HR
The focus of this "technique" ride was keeping my ankles loose. So I had to think about pushing my heel down at the bottom of the stroke and pulling my heel up at the top of the stroke. I noticed how much more comfortable I felt while pedaling when I was thinking about my ankles. But I also had trouble remembering to use my big muscles. When I focused on my ankles I forgot about my glutes and hams. The drills were "mash." Basically, on a slight incline or flat road, put your bike in the highest gear possible and mash the pedals as hard as you can for 30 seconds. It felt oh, so good to be back on the bike!

Curls

This is what my hair looks like if I comb it once and then neglect it. I did put hair spray in it to tame it slightly, and that came back to bite me on the bike since I sweat it all into my eyes. Ouch!

Then I did more technique work:
  • 1-min scapular pull up
  • 100 rebound standing extreme glute ham (start in the almost-deepest-position)
  • 55-lb bench press, 3 deep breaths, 1 rep, then do as many as you can (I did 15, 10, 10, and none of those was as many as I could; I thought about having to finish the entire thing, and having to swim tomorrow, and not having a spotter, so that's what I did)
  • 1-min preacher curl (light bar—15 lb)
  • REPEAT all the above 3 times
  • 10 times 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off glute ham
I worked so hard on the glute ham. I worked hard on the others but when it came to the last preacher curl, I wasn't sweating and thus felt like I hadn't worked hard enough. But I was working hard. I need Will to spend some time working out with me and hope he has some time when he's home! Supper of a hamburger, veggies, spinach salad, and water, and then off to bed!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Monday Challenge

The sunrise this morning was amazing. I was so glad I got to enjoy it with the Lord (I was driving in my car to work, but I knew He was there with me and I knew He had orchestrated it. After work I came home for a quick walk (talking with Mom)/supper/cut veggies and then headed over to church for Bible study.

The lesson was a challenge. We were talking about the Samaritan woman at the well, and once she knew the truth about Jesus' being the Messiah, she went and told everyone in the town. I know that Jesus is the Messiah and wants everyone to know Him personally and yet I have trouble talking to even my friends about Him. The women in my group (Kristi, Yvonne, Mary, Beth, and visitor Carolyn were there, plus Tressia and Lisa weren’t there) are great (although I was having a hard time tracking with the leader—or rather, wondering where she was going to go next and how quickly; there were a lot of subject changes on her part! But we had some great discussions about the woman at the well and how part of our responsibility is to tell others about Jesus wherever we are.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Rollerblading

Rainbow on the ground

This week I've been reading Genesis. When I read through the story of Noah, I realized something that I don't remember noticing before: When God sends the rainbow after or during the rain, it's not merely a reminder for us a reminder of His control and providence—it's chiefly a reminder to Him of His covenant to Noah that He will never destroy the earth by flood again. First He promises this:
I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination [intent or thought] of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.
Then He gives a sign of His covenant ("Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."):
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.
Thank You, God, for Your promise, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and faithfulness!

Pretty much all the rubber came off the tires of my rollerblades...it made it hard to roll!

I tried to rollerblade after church, and I managed to get in a little over a mile (16:40; 1.23 mi; 13:33 pace; 123 cal; 106 HR). Fortunately I was on a path and not far from my car, because my rollerblades didn't last long. They are now in the trash.

The damage...everything that is purple should be black

I then walked a little (18:17; 1.03 mi; 17:45 pace; 86 cal; 87 HR) just so I would feel like I'd done something active (35 minutes total, and 2.26 miles). I can't wait for Tuesday!

Lovely, lovely dinner (chix and rice with salad) at Anna and Josh’s with Ben. Then I stayed for dessert with Anna and Josh, Ben, Kristen and Josh, Sara, Nancy, and Christian.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Radnor Lake Part II

Park entrance

The pristine lake...it made me want to go skiing!

Yep, I was up pretty high...I got up to 1,109 feet according to my Garmin

Hiking up the trail

This was an off-day activity, but I couldn't have run if I'd wanted to :-(

Probably about 15 feet away

I did both...Ganier was "difficult" and Lake was "easy"

You know you're ready to get back to training when you take your Garmin GPS on a hike through nature, when you're supposed to be admiring and glorifying God and His creation and enjoying the time off. Yep, I'm ready to get back to it.
  • 1:20:06
  • 3.77 miles
  • 21:15 pace
  • 336 calories
  • 91 HR (OK, so I did take it easy)
I met someone named Geary (pronounced "Gary") on the trail. He asked was I some sort of athlete. Hah! He is a jazz guitarist who, years ago, had been working two full-time jobs while trying to make it as a musician. He decided to go for his dream, sold the material things, and is now still able to survive but doesn't have the things that the world sees as important. He said one day he just decided to go for it, and he said that I should continue pursuing my dream and go for it. I like that advice, and as long as it's in the God's will, I'm going for it!

Because I didn't have to go to the Y since I'd stopped at BFY earlier to pick up what I'd left yesterday, I went to the pool, finished figuring out my 12-week off-season plan, and then relaxed. It was hot! But, the full 12 weeks are recorded on the the computer (and backed up online) and I have a general idea about the drills; I'll either have to study those again tomorrow or Monday so I have them down.

I got all ready and headed downtown for Brad and Whitney's wedding, which Brad, having forgotten to send me an invitation, emailed me about yesterday. I didn't reply but wanted to go. Unfortunately, his email said the wedding started at 5:30, but when I arrived at 5:20 I heard the applause and the closing song. Rather than waiting around, even though I'd seen Jay's and Wade's cars and cars of other people I recognized, I left. I had wanted to go to the wedding, but I didn't want to go to the reception and wasn't going to hang around and let people try to convince me to go. So instead I went to Blue Coast to read and study the Word and little and then ran to WalMart. Fun Saturday night.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Tennis

This morning I worked a couple hours and then headed to the trails behind the Brentwood Y. I had been missing wearing the Garmin, so I put it on the for walk:
  • 01:00:00
  • 287 calories
  • 3.40 miles
  • 17:38 average
  • 93 HR
After that, I did some work on my training schedule for this next year—sitting outside was so pleasant! 01:20:00, 59 HR.

Then it was on to the fun part of the day: Tennis with Aunt Renee and Angela! We played for about 01:10:00 (1.70 miles, 40:59 pace, 104 HR [160 max], 153 calories). Angela is very good (it was obvious that she's played a lot) and ARenee is good, too. Hopefully we can play next week and I can find someone else to play with us so we can actually play a game or two (we just hit around--there was no serving or anything, but it might be better and less competitive that way).

It had been a while since I'd gone over to talk to Nancy, so I headed out to visit her. She was walking Bo, so I joined her. No Garmin, but it was probably about 1.5 miles, really slow but very nice. We always have great discussions, and she, like Will, challenges me to be better and to serve and know God more. Lots of interesting turns of conversation, and I have learned that once she leaves a topic, she rarely returns to it (even if we haven't finished the discussion). So I just leave it and go with her. It's a good mental exercise, and I love mental exercises.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Radnor Lake

Today's activity was hiking at Radnor Lake. I LOVED it and will definitely go back. With a camera (and a companion if possible). I saw 10 deer and came within about 15 feet of a few of them. I also saw tons of squirrels and just got to admire God and His creation and talk with Him (or rather, try to listen). There were a few other hikers on the "difficult" and "moderate" trails I walked on, and a few others on the road. I wish they allowed running on the trails, but I could hike to warm up or cool down and run through the park on the road. Fun times!

I tried to make a pros and cons list of being on a team versus being unattached as far as cycling goes.

Team ProsTeam ConsUnattached ProsUnattached Cons
People to ride withRequired number of racesTraining on own scheduleNo one set group to ride with
Benefits at a shopRequired rides
Focus on tris
No name on jersey

Different skill set
Any TTs possible
No crit series


I will likely add to this as I think of other things.

Asleep at 9:20pm, awake at 1:01 (bathroom). 49 bpm at 3:58 (alarm).

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Time Off

Brentwood's Deerwood Arboretum

Tree canopy...lovely!

Sometimes days/weeks off make me emotional (like yesterday). I don't know what to do with all my time, so I think and pray and read the Word a lot. I love having the time with the Lord. I hate that my mind takes me other places as well. My body likes the time off; my mind, not so much. But yesterday I was able to walk through the Deerwood Arboretum in Brentwood and admire the trees. I thought maybe I'd see some wildlife and that other people would be out, but not so much to either.

I didn't see the spider, but I admired his web

The little wildlife that I saw

Today I got to play some racquetball. I went down not knowing whether it would be challenge courts and thus there would be people there, but even though it wasn't Kent and another guy were there and let me play cut throat with them. My court sense was definitely lacking, and my finesse was pretty much nonexistent, but I did have a few nice shots and actually earned double digits in the third and final game! Fun times.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Clay in the Potter's Hand (Becoming Who God Wants Me to Be)

Proverbs 8:17 I [wisdom] love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.
Psalm 98:1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him victory. (Slept from 8:55-9:05. Then the phone rang [Will] and woke me up; I did not answer it. I was up reading until 11, praying until 11:30 or so, then asleep until 4:20 [when I reset my alarm] and up at 4:53 [before the alarm went off].)

Oh, God, let my life represent all the good that is below and let me shun all the evil that is below. I want to continue learning to be more and more like Christ.

Bless the Lord, O my soul; let all that is within me bless His holy name.

Who I Must Be and What I Must Have (With God's Help)
  • a temple of the Spirit
  • continuing in the things I have learned and been assured of
  • faithful
  • following every good work
  • gentle
  • good
  • honest
  • joyful
  • kind
  • knowing what is acceptable to the Lord
  • love
  • manager of household
  • not ashamed
  • not conceited
  • not slanderous
  • obedient
  • patient
  • peaceable
  • ready for every good work
  • ready to give an answer for the hope that I have
  • reported for good works
  • reverent
  • self controlled
  • showing all humility to all men
  • speaking evil of no one
  • subject to rulers/authority
  • temperate in all things (wineless, alert, watchful, vigilant, clear-headed)
  • walking in the Spirit
  • walking in wisdom
1 Timothy 3:11
1 Timothy 5:10–14
2 Timothy 3:14
Titus 3:1–2
Galatians 5:22–26
Ephesians 5:10–15

Who and What I Want to Be
  • Focused on God wholly: running toward Him and seeing who passes me
  • Aware: not so smitten that I miss the truth
  • A safe haven (Prov. 31:11)
  • Supportive (Prov. 31:12)
  • Submissive but not stepped on (1 Pet. 3:1; 1 Tim. 2:11; Eph. 5:22)
  • Encouraging
  • Supportive
  • Virtuous (Prov. 31:10-31)
  • Loving
  • A goal-setter
  • Respectful (Eph. 5:33; Col. 3:18)
  • Always athletic and competitive, but not so much as to erect a wall (Prov. 31:17, 25)
  • Pure: living an uncompromising life (Eph. 5:27; Tit. 2:4-5)
  • Open to the truth/opinion of others
  • Truthful
  • Honest
  • Reverent: serious in mind and character; not silly (1 Tim. 3:11)
  • Temperate: wineless; alert; vigilant; clear-headed (1 Tim. 3:11)
  • Faithful and trustworthy (1 Tim. 3:11)
  • Adorned in humility (1 Tim. 2:9)
Who and What I Want to Find
  • A Christ-follower: relationship with Him is top priority
  • A one-woman man: sexually pure (1 Tim. 3:2)
  • Worthy of respect (although not perfect, because that's impossible)
  • Kind and loving, but not fake (Prov. 31:28; 1 Cor. 7:3; Eph. 5:25, 28)
  • Athletic, or at least willing to support me, cheer, and attend events
  • Pure: living an uncompromising life (1 Tim. 3:7)
  • A leader in spiritual walk (1 Tim. 2:8, 3:4; 1 Cor. 11:3)
  • A man of valor (Ruth 2:1; Judg. 6:12)
  • Courageous
  • A goal-setter
  • Temperate: wineless, alert, vigilant, clear-headed (1 Tim. 3:2)
  • Loving (Col. 3:19)
Exodus 40:1-16
Proverbs 31:10-31
1 Corinthians 7:3-4
1 Corinthians 11:3, 7-12
Ephesians 5:22-33
Colossians 3:18-19
1 Timothy 3
2 Timothy 2
Titus 2:4-5
1 Peter 3:1-6

Who and What I DO NOT Want to Be
  • a backbiter
  • a busybody
  • a drunkard
  • a fornicator
  • a gossip, saying things I ought not
  • a liar
  • a hater of God
  • a lover of money
  • a lover of pleasure
  • a lover of self
  • a murderer
  • a reviler (destroying others with words)
  • a thief
  • a whisperer
  • a wrongdoer
  • adulterous
  • alienated from life
  • always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth
  • an extortioner (stealing indirectly)
  • an inventor of evil things
  • blasphemous
  • blind of heart
  • boastful
  • brutal
  • cheating
  • contentious
  • covetous
  • cowardly
  • deceived
  • despising good
  • disobedient
  • disobedient to parents
  • filled with all unrighteousness
  • foolish
  • full of deceit and evil-mindedness
  • full of envy, murder, and strife
  • given over to lewdness
  • hateful toward others
  • haughty
  • having a form of godliness but denying its power
  • having outbursts of wrath
  • having selfish ambitions
  • headstrong
  • heretical
  • homosexual
  • idle
  • idolatrous
  • jealous
  • led away by lust
  • lewd
  • living in malice and evil
  • loaded down with sins
  • loving falsehood
  • malicious
  • past feeling/apathetic
  • practicing falsehood
  • practicing magic arts
  • proud
  • serving lusts and pleasures
  • sexually immoral
  • slanderous
  • traitorous
  • unbelieving
  • unclean
  • undiscerning
  • unforgiving
  • unholy
  • unloving
  • unmerciful
  • unthankful
  • untrustworthy
  • vile
  • violent
  • wandering about from house to house
  • weak-willed/gullible
  • wicked
  • with a darkened understanding of God
  • without self-control
  • working uncleanness with greediness
Who and What I DO NOT Want
  • all of the above plus
  • creeping into households
  • disapproving concerning the truth
  • full of folly
  • making captives of gullible women
  • of a corrupt mind
  • resisting the truth
Romans 1:28–32
1 Corinthians 6:9–10
1 Timothy 5:13
2 Timothy 3:2–9
Titus 3:3
Ephesians 4:17–19
Galatians 5:19–21
Revelation 21:8, 22:15
**Originally written 1-11-08; edited 3-15-08**

Monday, September 7, 2009

Franklin Classic 10K

This morning's Franklin Classic 10K went well. Although I didn't win or even place in my age group, I'm pleased with my results.

Run (I’m pretty sure the mile markers were a bit off, because although I split at every one, some on my Garmin are over or under a mile:
  • Totals: 53:08 (race time: 46:36; PR); 6.17 miles; 8:36 pace; 752 calories; 159 HR; 198 max HR
  • Warm up: 11:43; 0.67 miles; 17:34 pace; 91 HR
  • Mile 1: Unfortunately, I missed most of the first mile. But I hit mile 2 at 14:50 on the clock, so subtracting would make this mile about 7:10.
  • Mile 2: 7:30; 7:22 pace; 178 HR; 5:39 best pace
  • Mile 3: 8:04; 7:41 pace; 180 HR; 6:49 best pace
  • Mile 4: 7:17; 7:36 pace; 176 HR; 6:48 best pace
  • Mile 5: 7:32; 7:33 pace; 6:58 best pace; 178 HR
  • Mile 6.2: 8:59; 7:22 pace; 194 HR; 5:34 best pace
  • Cool down: 16+ minutes (lots of paused time); 0.69 miles; 23:49 pace; 114 HR
  • It was 66° and humid at the 7:30am start. Way hotter and more humid at the finish.
  • The course is very hilly.
  • Fastest male:
  • Fastest female: 39:25
This is significantly better than my last 10K:

Purity Moosic City Dairy Dash 10K 4-11-09/Franklin Classic 9-07-09
  • 47:12 total (7:37 pace); 7:23, 7:27, 7:29 (22:21), 7:47, 7:47, 7:40, 1:35; pace); 46:36 total (7:31 pace); 7:10, 7:30, 8:04, 7:17, 7:32, 8:59
  • Sex overall place: 18 of 247; 22/362
  • Overall place: 74 of 439; 116/896
  • Age group place: 2 of 58; 5/59
  • The course is pretty flat (through Metrocenter business park and on the Shelby Greenway for a mile or two); the course is very hilly (down Del Rio, across 96 on Carlisle and Boyd Mill, and then back into town).
  • Fastest male: 32:19 (5:13 pace); 32:54 (5:19 pace)
  • Fastest female: 36:56 (5:58 pace); 39:25 (6:22 pace)
I spent most of the afternoon at Farkases' (after working a little at MFY), playing games with Lauren and making dessert.

All the necessary ingredients...and the chef

We played some speed, ate grilled steak for dinner, worked on my wheel, and then watched Wipeout with Marables while eating banana pudding and Publix ice cream. Mmmmm!

Lauren making the pudding look presentable

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Planning Phase

Nearly every tri training plan you look at has 3 phases: Base, Build, and Peak. They should really include a fourth phase: Plan. Actually, it would be the first phase. That's the phase I'm currently in. Since I'm done with IMs for a little while, I have to find a new training program that fits better with shorter-distance races. Today I went to Barnes and Noble and bought Triathlete Magazine's Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide: Plans, Scheduling Tips, and Workout Goals for Triathletes of All Levels book. Someone on Slowtwitch recommended it, and after I looked through about 30 other books, I decided to go with it because it looks like it has some really good programs in it. Knowing now a little of what goes into planning workouts, I appreciate what Will does for me even more. Thanks, Will! You rock.

I was hoping to find something that would tell me what to do when, but this will require a bit more planning. I will enjoy it, but it will take me a little more time than I'd anticipated. Oh, well. Happy planning phase. That also means that I get to pick races for next year. Already, it looks like I'll be going to Des Moines and Knoxville for sure, with a trip to either NYC or Cali and a trip to St. Petersburg, FL also on the list. And that's just for tris. I'm going to stay local for run races (and I plan to just run a few of them without registering to save a little money) and try to stay local for bike races (it looks like Avery Trace, State TT, Sumner County, and one or two others plus the NashvilleCyclist.com crit series). Wow. It will be a fun season. I love traveling!

I actually did a little workout today; since I'm racing tomorrow, I want to be fast, so that's what I was thinking about today while training. 5 on, 5 off thru 30 and then back down again after a short rest.
  • 1-leg squat: I did much better at this one than the last time. As I was glancing through some books at the sore, I saw a picture of someone doing it and decided to spread out a little more than I had been. I could definitely feel it more in my quads and hip flexors and less in my knee, so I was pleased. I tried to pull as deep as possible every time. I did 5 on, 10 off thru 30, 20-second break, then 25 on, 10 off thru 5. 40-second break, then second leg.
  • Glute ham: I just worked as hard as I could, pulling with my hamstrings and glutes as hard as possible. I still can't wait until Will comes home for a couple days and we can work out together. He pushes me harder than I would push myself.
  • Preacher curl with light bar: I started out with a 15-lb bar (thru 25) then decided it wasn't enough. So I started over with an 18-lb bar. That might still have been too light, but I did the entire thing with that, focusing on lengthening my biceps by trying to reach the wall in front of me while keeping my chest up and my legs engaged. Thinking about swimming this time, even though my back was to the pool.
  • Push up: I started on dumbbells but felt like I could definitely be pulling down deeper and so after the 20-second interval I quit, put 2 benches together, and started over. Definitely harder and better. As much as I didn't succeed Thurs/Fri) whatever day it was) I succeeded today. Happy day!
I spent some time at the pool looking through my new book, reading my novel, and talking with Liz. A good, relaxing Sabbath all around considering I also got to spend some time talking to my mom and in the Word with the Lord at my favorite worship spot on the grounds here. God is good!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Clarksville Metric

Lisa (so strong!) and me post ride

At the beginning of the summer, Lisa and I had thought we'd do the full Clarksville century, fast. The record for the elite peloton (which is fully supported, meaning they never have to stop except to answer the call of nature if necessary) is 3:45; that's a strong, fast group of guys! We thought we could try for 4:30 for sure. But she'd been sick the last couple weeks, and I just finished an IM, so we decided to go do the metric century, 100 kilometers vs. 100 miles. We started at the front of the group of a few hundred, happy to be with some strong guys and away from some not-so-steady riders.

I knew when we hit mile 24 at 1:01 it was going to be a fast ride. I wasn't disappointed. We started out with about 30-40 riders with us, and when we finally got organized there was a good group of 30. At mile 30, a few riders stopped at an aid station and the rest of us continued on. We split up some more along the way and ended up finishing as a group of 12 riders.

Who takes pictures while he's riding?

About 5 miles from the finish, we got passed by the elite peloton. They cruised in at an average of about 27 mph for a finish time of 3:49. Wow. Surprisingly, no one in our group even wanted to chase. I was disappointed; we were so close and I wanted to jump on their wheels for as long as I could. Instead, I stayed with my group and we finished in 2:40:26, riding 61.13 miles at 23 mph. Amazingly, my HR was 140. I so could have gone harder!

When Lisa and I finished, we both agreed we could have gone farther and longer. It felt so good to ride with such a good group! Parri and Lisa would have been on board, and we could have finished around 4:15 at our pace. We are so in for next year!

Lisa, Parri, me, and Lisa
  • Totals: 2:24:31; 61.88 miles; 22.4 average; 138 HR (181 max); 33.3 max speed
  • Metric Century: 2:40:26; 61.13 miles; 23 average; 140 HR, 3,864 calories
  • Cool down: 5:05; 0.75 miles; 96 HR
We had a little spaghetti, pizza, and ice cream sandwiches for an early lunch and then headed home. What a great morning!

Friday, September 4, 2009

MonTuesWedThursFri IM Recovery

I have been less than diligent about blogging this week and have been sleeping instead. I have definitely needed it. Sunday after the race I laid on my bed with my feet up (wearing compression socks) and made a few phone calls. After the race, I had a little protein shake; I would have rather had a smoothie, but it wouldn't have sat well all day. I got some pizza that I gave to Jesi and a soda I kept for later. Once back in my room, I ate some Coco Caribbean bars (dates, walnuts, coconut, and supposedly good for recovery) and had some eggs; I wasn't hungry but knew I had to eat something, first because I likely didn't consume enough calories while racing and second because I definitely didn't consume enough after the race. I'm so bad about getting calories in after—the last thing I want to do is eat!

I slept from 10 until 7, waking up to head over to the IM expo. I put the socks on again but was not at all sore. It was quite fun looking at all the athletes hobble around; not me—I was focused on walking like the athlete that I am!

I ran into Kurt outside the Galt House. We had spent a little time together during the run while his IT band was bothering him, and given the pain (which he was still feeling) wanted to say that he was happy with his time. I checked out the finishers stuff but was less than impressed with the options and the organization. Not only had a couple hundred people been waiting outside for the 8am opening, IM had only 4 registers open, with 2 lines, and it was impossible to get around to look at the stuff because the lines were all through the merchandise. The people who decided to wait in line were expecting it to be at least an hour. I wasn't interested and had no water, so I went back to the hotel.

We had the lunch and awards thing, but I just wanted to get home and didn't want to have to worry about the parking meter, so I headed home after getting some food. Stopped at the grocery store, then headed home and to bed. Slept another 9 hours Monday night (8:40–5:30).

Tuesday was another day off, and all I did was work (wearing the compression socks). I wasn't feeling bad at all and actually walked the stairs a few times. I am so thankful God preserved my feet and I have no blisters and all 7 toenails I started out with. I did stop at MFY on the way home from work. During the drive, I was praying that the massage person would be there. God answered Yes, and when I walked in I saw the chair indicating that someone was there. I asked at the front desk, and they called Lauren to come out. She worked on my for 20 minutes, saying that the tissue on my shoulders and neck was so tight. Yeah, I knew that, that's why I needed her! It felt a lot better when she was done, but it was slightly painful sleeping, like a pinching pain right on my neck depending on how I moved. Slept another 9 hours (8:30–5:30).

Wednesday I was thoroughly exhausted. I came home from work and took an hour+ nap. I spun on the trainer for 20 minutes, went to a Harpeth team meeting, and came home. Slept again from 9–5:30.

Thursday I was less tired and thus went to MFY after work. I rode a spin bike for 35 minutes, maintaining about 145 HR. Then I did my workout from Will. Well, I don't know if I actually did it all. If I'd have had more energy, I would have done it again and actually succeeded. As it is, I probably would have failed. 5 minutes (or less) as hard as you can go until you feel yourself relaxing) 1-leg squat (I did only 1 minute on each leg. I HATE this exercise and never feel anything), glute ham, scap pull up (I did only 1 minute just to have done something), and preacher curl (8-lb weight; I could have gone longer, so either it wasn't enough weight or I wasn't working hard enough). Came home and had some supper, went to Inversion, from which I left early, and slept from 9–5.

Friday when I woke up (before my alarm) at 5, I was awake, so I decided to get up. Went to work for a few hours, then ran for about 20 minutes around MFY. 8:30 first mile, not sure about the rest. Then I sat at the pool for a couple hours wishing I could sleep but listening to the guys mowing outside. Still no soreness, except the little pains on my neck. Next week I want to get a real massage, and hopefully that will work on my shoulders and neck also and fix whatever is going on up there. All this week I've really been trying to not "carry any tension there" (as Will says) just by trying to keep my shoulders down and chest up and stay loose, but I don't think it's really working.