Yesterday a 2.5hour base ride was on the schedule...thankfully the weather in Calgary is still decent, I want to limit my indoor trainer time as much as I can, so I suited up and headed South! I rode from the house to Fish Creek Provincial Park on my cross bike (=road bike with wider tires so you can take it off pavement) to play on the trails down there.

My cross bike is my old commuter bike and is named Jake. That's the name he came with, I didn't give him his name, kind of like a rescue puppy, he already had a name when I picked him out. It's been well used year round, so it's a bit rusty from being left covered in snow, outfitted with full fenders, a pannier carrier, a rear studded tire (for riding on ice & snow), a bell (mandatory on Calgary pathways, and they will ticket!) and is a bit of a beast (compared to Maddy!).

All suited up. At first I thought I was over dressed but once I dropped into the park valley, I wish I had more on!! Love the white leg warmers??

Ice on the creek...brrrr....but the ride was still fun. I rarely head to the park, so every turn was new stuff--I just couldn't feel my toes...

I also ran into this guy below...it hard to see but it was a large young male with new a small rack of antlers. I cycled within a meter of him--it totally scared me when he stood up right beside me! After I took this picture with my phone, he turned towards me on the path and started trotting towards me. I dropped my phone in my pocket and got out of there....he was young but BIG!

As for the rest of my training, it's been up and down this week in the pool. Monday, I was a killing it in the pool, tuesday/wednesday, not so much! I think I'm just a bit rusty on the all important recovery and nutrition that is needed with the higher volume of training. I've decided to take a few notes from Shaggy's play book. He's always ready to go for each walk/run/ball chase session....but in between workouts, he recovers like a rockstar:

Well, I'm off to rest up for swimming....it's time trail night, I have to be on my game--move over Shaggy!!

Oh yeah...this is for Louise and the Saskatchewan rellies: GO STAMPS GO!!!

Lisa

Tryin' to find a rhythm...

The first week back is always the toughest. I'm tired, I have muscles so sore & exhausted that just getting out of bed is a challenge (not complaining, I love the aches and pains that come with training, even missed it a little over the last 6 weeks!), and I have a new schedule to adjust to. I find the hardest thing is finding my rhythm....the first week, I forget things for workouts, I'm a little late due to traffic or parking, or forget to check the gym hours to make sure it's open! It just takes a week to get my act together again!

As for the training, I am back RUNNING!!! Pain free too! It's going to be a slow build but I'm loving every step! In the pool, it's been about finding my rhythm too, this past season, we didn't focus on my swimming and my stroke & endurance suffered a bit. I'm currently swimming with the UofC team and getting my butt kicked daily! The other day was 'circuit day' or as I renamed after the practice, 'torture Lisa day'. I'll spare you all the details, but it included swimming attached to a bucket pulley system, we swam pulling a GIANT bucket full of water up the pulley. I almost drown. Then we moved onto my personal fav, 'chutes'! That's right, swimming with a parachute attached to you. here is a pic of one below:
Don't be fooled, it looks small, but man it is hard!! There was also some underwater swimming, again a fav, and countless pull ups from getting in and out of the pool! I could barely drive home! The next day was filled with so many flip turns my toes ached from pushing off the wall. The good news is....after a couple of weeks of barely making the sets, I'm starting to see some gains and feeling a bit of rhythm in the pool...finally!!

As for the bike...this weekend, while watching the race that I was supposed to be at, I will be doing my first 'test set'....coach wants baseline numbers to start the season off...oh it's going to hurt!!

GOOD LUCK at Clearwater!!!
Lisa

An important day