1.5 miles - 1/29

After feeling little soreness after yesterdays run, I wanted to try doing short runs on successive days. So today I decided on a slightly longer run of 1.5 miles. It also included a bit of a hill, just to work out the calves a bit more, knowing I'd be going to yoga the following day.

Garmin Results

1.3 miles - 1/28

After last weeks 1.3 mile run, I found my calf soreness afterwards was barely an issue, unlike the 1.8 miles from a couple weeks ago. Today I decided to continue with the 1.3 mile distance, partially because it was cold - but also because I wanted to see about doing another short run tomorrow, so I didn't want to push it. Plus, I ended up doing 30 minutes on the bike rollers again, so I wanted to make sure the two activities together didn't cause too much quad tightness. I also made sure to roll out the IT band before going for the run, and after the bike session.

Garmin Results. Just like other runs, very short and not too exciting, nor much of anything of note to report.

1.3 miles - 1/20

I decided to knock off a quick 1.3 miles before Yoga this evening. I didn't want to repeat the 1.8 miles that left my calves sore for 3 days like last time, because I'd like to take a day off and then do another 1.3 - 1.5 miles the following day. If I were to do 1.8 miles, I'd probably have to take 3-4 days off.

Garmin Results

There's not a whole lot to say at this point. I tried to keep the elevation change as minimal as possible this time around. Last run, I had forgotten a key component of what I found to be extremely helpful last year when I was dealing with the IT band issue - that of proper warm up. It dawned on me after last run that last year I started to warm up slowly, only speeding up as my legs and muscles felt good enough to do so - no pushing them after only 4-5 minutes of running, on the assumption that they were ready to be pushed. So this time I slowed down the pace - evidenced by the last run being a 9:00 min/mile pace (including hills) and this run being closer to 9:45 min/mile (with no hills).

Once again, right around 1.2 miles, my calves started to feel pretty fatigued. Last run, I continued running for another 1/2 mile or so after that, but this time it was only another .1 miles before the run was over. So while there is some soreness, it is minimal.

General update - 1/20

After 3-4 days, the soreness I felt in my calves after the 1.8 mile run the other week finally went away. So doing 1.8 miles was definitely a little much. It'd be nice to follow that run up with something like 1.5 miles in short order, but the weather around here has made that difficult to do. But I should probably just suck up the fact that my toes will get cold, and get it over with. In fact, I could bust it out quick before a yoga class where everything would get warmed up right away anyway. Actually, on second thought, that is probably a good idea - any tightness that might show itself would be met quickly with heat and stretching.

The other thing I've done a couple times now is to get on the bike rollers for 30 minutes at no resistance. The idea here is to get the knee and muscles used to the motion of cycling without any of the resistance that can lead to muscles tightening. It is also a good way to get the butt used to sitting on a saddle again. Both times I've been on the rollers, the left IT band has felt a bit tight the next morning. So far, it hasn't lasted more than a couple hours, but it has prompted me to start rolling the IT band out again on the PVC just as a precaution. The way I'm looking at it, though, is that if I am feeling that tightness and it is not lasting, hopefully after a few sessions I won't feel it at all, which would be an indication of progress.

Lastly, I've started noticing another round of improvements due to yoga. Last update I mentioned that I can sit with my legs crossed, and while it is not comfortable, it is significantly less uncomfortable than it used to be. This past weekend, I found myself sitting on the couch with my legs crossed.. inadvertantly. I'm not sure whether it was because my legs were tired of being stretched out in front of me or what - but that is something I'd never have done before.

Other aspects of yoga are improving as well, but only in a way noticable within the context of yoga itself. Previously, both fixed firm pose and camel pose were undoable for me - but I've recently been able to start laying back in fixed firm pose (knees are still too tight to fully get my hips on the ground), and I've been able to get into the full backward bend of camel pose. Not only that, but I've been able to do both in the past couple classes. For about a week, I was only able to do one one or the other without getting extremely light headed.

1.8 mile run - 1/9

Last season when I came up with my off-season rest and rebuild plan, I had done so without knowing I'd be doing yoga, and without experiencing the benefits it has provided. I had also done so without having signed up for a half iron in June. So the original idea of waiting until the end of January to even start cycling on the rollers, and March before doing any running isn't going to work. It is too risky to try and build up to 56 miles on the bike followed by 13 miles of running between March and June. My concern isn't the ability to build up the distance for each event individually, it is being able to put the two back to back without having fatigue cause a relapse of IT band issues.

Another factor is also the build up of the calf muscles for that distance. Having never run essentially barefoot, my lower legs have no base from which to draw on when starting up running again. So the more time I have to build up, the better, as I can stretch things out a bit and keep from having intense workouts without adequate rest in between.

The last major reason is that I'd like to continue doing yoga 2x per week during the season, and eventually I'm going to have to put the body through the acclimation process of doing both. So while the dominant activity is yoga, I thought it might be a good idea to start introducing running into the picture with some short, easy runs. This way, hopefully, any tightness that is induced by running is very limited, and worked on fairly quickly by yoga practice.

So we'll see what happens.

Garmin Results.

The big thing I noticed during this run was that my upper body posture felt really solid. I feel like I was not leaning forward at all (I think I normally lean forward ever so slightly), and my head was up straight. I know for a fact that I often have my head down a bit looking at the ground ahead of me - this is something I noticed last year, and wanted to make an effort to fix, as I found that on long runs, my upper back and shoulders would start feeling it.

Before Thanksgiving, I had worked up to 3 miles in the sandals, but after having only done that once, I didn't want to start with that distance. I decided to shoot for just under 2 miles, and see how things went. During the run, the calfs felt strong until about 1.25-1.5 miles in - then I could tell they were getting fatigued, as some spring in my step was lost and my heel was making more contact than it had at the beginning of the run.

The day after, my calfs are tad sore. Right now I'm thinking that I'll do another short run in a couple days, probably only about 1.5 miles, and on flat surface. No sense in doing another short run with a 100' incline in 1/4 mile right off the bat again, as it only hastens fatigue and I'm not quite ready for that yet.

Swimming - January 2011

1/8
36 laps - 33:57 (avg 56.6)
41 laps - 38:45 (avg 57.6 for these 5 laps)

Noticed this session some specific ways that my form gets sloppy as I tire. Previously I was thinking that every so often I'd do a session to start extending the distance, but now I'm thinking that I should maybe replace that with a session where I swim at moderate intensity until form suffers (probably 200-300 yds) and then take a break, and repeat - in an effort to build up to where form is maintained throughout the entire 1800 yds.

1/10
8 x 150 yd sets, sustained higher effort per set than normally exerted during 1 x 1800 yd

Set 1:
44.0
48
49.8

Set 2:
46.5
46
49.3

Set 3:
47.6
49.9
51.7

Set 4:
44.2
46.1
47.5

Set 5:
45
49.7
49.6

Set 6:
49.0
51.5
52

Set 7:
50.5
55.3
54.6

Set 8:
56.8
53.1
56.0

1/14
Arrived just before closing, couldn't get full workout in.
42.7
46.5
49.0
54.1
51.6
54.0
53.2
52.6
56.6
56.2
53.9
53.6
53.6
54.0
54.8
51.1
52.5
53.0

1/15
36 - 32:35 (avg 54.3)

1/18
36 - 32:17 (avg 53.8)
Started off slow and easy to keep from fatiguing too quickly. Made effort to keep head down while in water, and looking back while breathing. Felt zen-like with water during many of the sets.

1/23
36 - 32:39 (avg 54.4)

1/27
36 - 32:42 (avg 54.5)

1/28Forgot stopwatch, decided to do some speed work.
200 yd warm up.
4 x 100 yds - 2 min for each set plus rest (about 1:40 for each 100 yds)
4 x 100 yds - maintain 1:40 for each 100 yd set, but allow additional 30-60 seconds rest. Started toying more with form on last couple sets
~4 x 100 yds - form and speed focus - about 1:40 for each set based on wall clock, but form focus was on keeping arms from stretching too far ahead (which may cause body to curve and increase drag), and lowering catch position (so that part of stroke was not energy expenditure on downward movement, which wastes energy and angles upper body up).

Overall
Did not get as much swimming in as originally intended because I decided that the yoga should have higher priority. Any swim improvements sacrificed would likely be relatively small anyway (in terms of time), but the benefits of the yoga would be show more impact during running/biking. Primary focus for swimming is just being able to maintain the full mile of swimming. Bilateral breathing is fairly smooth - just some minor mechanic fixes to make breathing to the left smoother, but they will come in time and with practice.

Yoga - full of surprises!

Currently I am 6-7 weeks into doing Yoga 3-4x per week, and all I can say is: WOW! Not only has my back not felt this good in 10 years or more, but there are so many things have dramatically improved, and continue to improve. My gast is flabbered.

First off, there is the expected flexibility benefits. My spine has become noticably more limber in all directions - side to side, full backward bending, and forward bending. My hips, although still tight, are loosening up gradually to the point where sitting indian style (always quite uncomfortable for me) is doable. It still isn't a comfortable position, but it is significantly less uncomfortable. My ankles have become more flexible - when I started, sitting on my knees with my ankles under my legs resulted in a big stretch of the muscle in front of the shin. Now it is not uncomfortable in the least, and I'm hoping this increased ankle flexibility will help with kicking propulsion in swimming. Even the connective tissue in my knees has loosened up a noticable amount. And this isn't even going into the obvious muscle related flexibility - quads, hamstrings, back muscles, shoulders, thighs, etc.

Second, there is a lot more strength benefit than I ever anticipated. The first I noticed was all the soft tissue (muscles, ligaments, tendons) involved in balance and stability. When I first started, my lower legs were heavily fatigued after the balancing series of poses, and I often could not maintain balance during the full posture count. I still lose the balance every so often, but all that connective tissue is much stronger and has more stamina, and I can maintain the pose for the full count. Even the connective tissue on the bottom of my feet gets fatigued - which causes me to hope that it is also being strengthened, to help prevent potential PF issues in the future. I still need to work on fine tuning, as my standing leg isn't quite as still and stable as it should be, but it is getting there.
Then there is also strength in the quads. When I first started, a series of postures in what is called Awkward Pose was very tiring, and I could not sit down very far into it (the pose is essentially a few variations on squats). Now I am able to generally hold the pose for the full count (if I dont lose balance while on my tip-toes), and I'm able to squat down much farther - in some cases to the point where my thigh is parallel to the floor with my back straight up and down as if against a wall.
Less noticable, but still improved, is overall core strength. It is never something where I feel fatigued or sore or anything, but just general daily life tasks that require core strength (lifting things up off the floor, improved sitting posture, getting up out of bed, getting out of the car) are done more easily and with more stability.
Another big strength improvement, and this is related to core strength, is the hips. The standing head to knee pose is killer for the hip stabilizing muscles. While my balance in this pose has improved, I'm less concerned about balance at this point, and more concerned about strengthening the stabilizers, as weak gluteus medius muscles are a key component cause of IT band issues.
Finally, the other major area of strength increase is the back itself - lower, middle and upper. Strengthening the back is a tough thing to do, as it is difficult to isolate the muscles in the back, but there is a series of spine strengthening poses in the Bikram routine that does a pretty good job of it.

There are still some things that I am told improve over time (breathing, as an interesting example) - sometimes taking a year or more to fully 'get' - but one thing I noticed recently is the improvement in diet. Normally, I go to class at 7:30 on weekdays. Due to the intensity of the workout, I dont eat anything for a few hours before class, making lunch the last meal I eat before class. Then a couple hours before class, I start hydrating and drinking water. Usually in class I drink another 24 oz of either gatorade or water, followed by another 16-20 oz immediately after, and another 24 oz in the 60-90 minutes following class, when I am recovering. After class, I don't much feel like eating anything significant (and by this time it is often around 10 pm), so I have gotten to making fruit smoothies (3/4 cup blueberries, 5-6 large strawberries, 1 banana, some orange juice and some cranapple juice) afterwards - both as a recovery drink due to the fast absorbing sugars, and as a dinner of sorts. The result of this is that I haven't been eating as many dinners at night, cutting a huge number of calories. And since I often would eat dinner at 8:30 or later, this is doubly beneficial because eating dinner that late is not necessarily the best thing. Even the days that I don't go to yoga, I find myself passing on foods that I would normally eat with little hesitation - things like cookies and what-not that people bring into the office to get rid of. I'd normally grab a cookie or brownie or two on my way by the kitchen - now I pass by them and think 'meh.. not worth it unless it is homemade'.