More Vacation Workouts

On Christmas eve, the whole family went to the Green Bay Y in the morning. Melissa did an elliptical and Trinity and I went swimming. We chatted with the guy in the lane next to us that was wearing a USAT National Championships swim cap and had a swim/bike/run tat on his calf. Nice guy but was talking about the struggle he had with a stress fracture in his sacrum from too much running. 2 months of bed rest.

It was a good swim, but that water was FREEZING! Had to keep moving just to try and stay warm.

Then we took a couple of days off from workouts, drove to Toledo and managed to get another couple of workouts in there. The weather was much warmer, in the 40's-50's. So we did a run one day, and a strength workout at the local YMCA another day.

So I managed to get 4 good workouts in while I was on vacation. It felt good to get them done, and feel like I was actually burning off some of the calories I was consuming.

Vacation Run

Our first night we spent at a hotel since my sister and her large family were also in town and staying with my parents. So this morning we got up and went for a run/walk as my choice cardio. I was actually mentally motivated to run this morning, but my body wasn't interested so it was a bit of slog. Fresh dusting of snow but not slippery.

Ran from the hotel and passed the YMCA as I made a big loop. Paused briefly to look at a map to ensure I didn't get too lost and managed to find my way back to the hotel.

On the way back, there was a pond full of geese.

Now to consume more calories as the eating festivities continue!

Double Workout Day

Today I had a scheduled swim in the morning, and I had a run scheduled for tomorrow. However, we had freezing rain here today so the shoulders of the road and all the sidewalks and parking lots are just an ice rink. Kinda scary walking around tonight. I also don't have time in the morning to drive down to the Y and back due to a work obligation, so I decided to do the run on the track at the Y tonight while the kid was at swim team practice.

I was pretty happy with the run tonight. Everything felt good, no issues with my legs at all. My times seem fast, which makes me question it a bit. But I was trying to go at a faster pace when I was running so maybe I actually succeeded.

But overall it went well. Now time to get packed up as we head out Saturday morning for an 8 day road trip for Christmas.

Continued knee pain

About 2 weeks ago I took the day off (I had vacation to burn before the end of the year) and scheduled a fit update with my bike shop in St. Paul. On the agenda was to discuss my hamstring tightness, my knee pain, and moving my aerobars out where my hand grips.

The aerobar move was small and all I needed for a more comfortable hand rest.

We lowered my seat down by 5mm which will hopefully make a difference with my hamstrings. Lowering it anymore and my knees felt crunched.

We spent a lot of time working my knee issue. I tend to toe in with my left foot compared to my right. We played with adjusting my clete on that shoe to try and straighten me out some. My pedals have a lot of float which is good, but I wasn't centered in the float and I am actually rubbing on the crank. So we did some clete moves and it is amazing how just a little toe movement has a big effect on my knee and hip position.

I rode for a while (20 minutes+) at a hard pace (probably 200+w) to see if I could get my knee to hurt because it generally only hurts when i am pushing it. It did a bit but in a different spot. So we decided to just leave it where we have it now, as it appears to be better than it was.

Now having ridden with the new position for a couple of weeks, I am still limited by knee pain on my left side. Oddly the pain has moved though which I am actually taking as a positive sign. I go back to see the doc after new years, but I will continue to monitor it.

Swim Meet

First swim meet of the season is a short course meters (SCM) meet at the University of Minnesota.

I swam 4 individual events, and 2 relays. I ended up with a 2s PR in 200m Free, 18s PR in the 400m Free, 2s PR in the 100m Back. Feet slipped on my first flip turn on the 100m Free so no PR there.

Overall good meet. I am happy with where I am starting this season because I am basically just as fast as I was last April in the state championship meet, so I haven't lost much in the last 6 months. So with another season of workouts I expect good things by next April!

Indoor Track Run

Late night run on the indoor track at the Y tonight. Work and family stuff meant starting my run after 8pm.

Run went pretty well. Running on a track like that (16 laps/mile) makes it pretty obvious to me how as the workout progresses, my run segments get shorter and my walk segments get longer as I try to keep it in that HR zone.

What starts out as nearly a full lap running and a half lap walking, completely flips by the end of the workout. Probably interesting to see if that changes over time as I improve my run fitness.

Another Green Bay Run

In Green Bay for a football game and the weather was nice so Melissa and I headed to the park for a creekside run, well a walk for her.

Nice paved trail, that was mostly clear. There was some icy spots, so just had to be aware. Nice morning, right around freezing, and protected from the wind.

The run went well, and after my first mile being 10:33 I was thinking that maybe I am getting somewhere with my running. Then I realize I am following the creek downstream so the run is all downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back. Darn, I am still slow. Lol.