Sunny Sunday...

    I missed the team brick workout on Sunday due to my 5K race, so the plan was to fit that in on Sunday.  25 Mile Bike in Heart Zone 2 followed by 4 Mile Run in heart Zone 3.  Due to strange circumstances of not having access to my bicycle (the deatils of which are boring and unimportant), I wasn't able to ride so chose to do another long run instead.  It was a cool and sunny Sunday afternoon, perfect for exercising outdoors and having some solitude. It was a treat to be able to go to Heart Zone 3 and not get passed by kids on tricycles.   My pace picked up by almost 3 minutes per mile from last Sunday.  Praise Jesus!!! The delightful run was followed by some weightlifting at the gym and a protein packed Chocolate Elvis smoothie from Planet Smoothie.  Yummy!


TODAY'S WORKOUT from Lake Nona YMCA

Run 6 Miles in Heart Rate Zone 3
700 Calories Burned in 1 Hour 28 Minutes

Lower Body Strength & Resistance Training
206 Calories Burned in 28 Mniutes

Run for the Children...

One of the great perks of living in Orlando is that there are races of every distance almost year round, and many of them are in really cool places.  My Cutie had friends in town for the weekend so we opted to join them for a community fundraiser 5K.  The 31st Annual Dick Batchelor Run for the Children was held at Universal Studios which has some great scenery to take in as you run.  We went through Dr. Seuss Land, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Marvel Comics Superhero Town.  A fun morning for a good cause followed by a great breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.

TODAY'S WORKOUT at Universal Studios
Run 5K (3.1 Miles)
335 Calories Burned in 29 minutes 45 Seconds

My poor ears...

    To call this morning's foam roller stretch workout interesting would be a dramatic understatement. We were first subjected to the loud, repetitive, and extremely-high pitched screech of the building fire alarm being tested for no less than 15 minutes. But did we have to cover our ears? No, of course not! Hearing loss need not be feared when Team Vortex has its very own MacGyver(s) to violate fire marshal codes!!! Thanks to XXX, Walrus, Mr. Argentina, and Flipper, the horrible sounds coming from that pesky alarm were muffled by gym towels and packaging tape. I only wish I had my iPhone to document their resourcefulness. Of course the test was done right after they finished rigging it.
    Once that entertainment was over, we resumed massaging our various leg parts per Coach's instructions. If you listened to a recording of these stretch workouts, it would be normal to hear little grunts, groans, gasps, and moans much like when you get a massage and a spot gets pressed really hard. But then there was the noise produced by Scary Hair which can only be referred to as a cross between the mating call of a howler monkey and the screech of a hawk catching its prey. We would have looked at her funny if she were not verbalizing what we were ALL feeling as we worked on our IT (iliotibial) bands. It is the muscle that runs up the outside of the thigh from your butt to your knee. For sure the most excruciatingly uncomfortable of all the body parts to stretch out with the roller. If any among you can work on your IT band with the Trigger Point Grid and remain totally silent (not even a peep), I will pay you $20. Your video proof will be posted on my blog for future fame.
   

Easy does it...

    Thursday's swim was nice and easy.  To make up for running hard yesterday.  Even though I was the last one finished, I still was done early (for me).  Still working on kicking better.  But the good news is that I am so much more relaxed in my stroke form than I used to be.  Coach said it's much better than last year.  Which is a darn good thing because there was nowhere to go but up.  I am still supposed to purchase the following aquatic paraphernalia to keep improving:  fins, paddles, and a pool floatie.  Okay, just kidding about the pool floatie.  But wouldn't it be awesome if they were triathlon legal?  At least you would be able to identify your friends better in the swim wave starts.  "Look, XXX just made it past the first buoy!  I can tell it's him by the yellow duck floatie!!!" 

TODAY'S WORKOUT at YMCA Aquatic Center

Swim 1800 Meters/1.12 Miles
492 calories burned in 50 Minutes
Warm Up:  200 Pull, 200 Kick
Main Set: 2 x 500 with 30 second RI, 6 x 50 on the minute
Cool Down: 100 backstroke

"I'm good enough..."

    Please pardon me for a moment while I adjust my oxygen mask.  My lungs are still burning.  Coach had us do a Lactate Threshhold Test for our workout this morning. Which should henceforth be known as the "Run Until You Can't Breathe Anymore" Test.   The instructions were to go fast as you can around a 400 meter track (or unconstructed subdivision neighborhood) at a sustainable pace for 30 minutes without stopping.  Check your heart rate every ten minutes (if you still have one) and yell that number to Coach as you literally run circles around her.  My numbers were 182 (10:00), 182 (20:00), and 184 (30:00).  Uncertain of what this means, but I'm told that I should be pleased my heart rate was consistent.  Of course this information was ominously recorded on Coach's top secret clipboard.  No doubt intended to come back and haunt me at a later training session. 
    For the record, I did 12.5 laps in the alotted time which turns out to be a 5K or 3.1 miles at a 9:36 pace.  Pastor Dave was going in a whirlwind past everyone and doing something ridiculous like 7:00 miles.  Who knew a man of the cloth could be so fast?!?  I am working very hard at letting go of my monkey mind chatter that says "You should be going faster."  Let's be honest that we athletes have a really hard time NOT comparing ourselves to each other.  Even when our teammates are genuinely cheering us on.  Self-criticism is my personal demon to exorcise and IMAZ training is certainly helping me do that. 

        PERSONAL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
        Look in the mirror like Stuart Smalley and repeat:
        "I will run my own race."




TODAY'S WORKOUT from Lake Nona Water's Edge Neighborhood
Lactate Threshhold Test
Run 30 Minutes as fast as possible at a consistent pace
Check Heart Rate at 10 Minute intervals
464 Calories Burned 30 Minuntes (3.1 Miles)

Monday...

was a rest day.  No yoga. No run. No swim. No bike.  No stretch.  I even found time to watch the dysfunctional families on my favorite reality TV show Intervention last night.  Let me just say that I am glad to be addicted to my runner's high and nothing else.  Talk about insanity.  Speaking of crazy-- in case you are interested, here is the picture and website for the self-inflicted muscle massage gadget I mentioned in my post on Friday, January20th.

Trigger Point Therapy

I am running...

out of ways to express how slow I feel when I do these heart zone training workouts.  But I would definitely not call it running.  I was delighted share today's humbling experience with the company of my buddies Poopsay and Sharpei.  Long story on those nicknames that you are probably better off not knowing.  We opted to go on a nice blacktop trail that runs along the Little Econlockhatchee River through a park.  Another gorgeous day.  January is one of the best months to live in Florida.  They provided me with some much needed and objective friend therapy.  But more importantly, in the span of two hours, they devised a very useful five point speed scale complete with terminology and paces.  Please feel free to use for yourself!  So actually, today's workout was a walk.  But remember the tortoise and the hare.

1.  Walking (Slowest Pace) [16-18 minutes per mile]
2.  Slogging (Slow Jogging)  [14-16 minutes per mile]
3.  Jogging  (Halfway Between Walking & Running)  [12-14 minutes per mile]
4.  Junning (Running Jog)  [10-12 minutes per mile]
5.  Runing (Fastest Pace)  [8-10 minutes per mile]

TODAY'S WORKOUT from Blanchard Park YMCA
Run 8 Miles in Heart Rate Zone 2
876 Calories Burned in 2 Hours 19 Minutes