Altitude Adjustment

The weekend in Denver, Colorado was a mixed bag.  The mixed experience was partially my fault for not planning better and for simply being an ignorant Californian. 

View of downtown Denver from the Museum of Nature and Science


As an ignorant Californian, I had expected Colorado to be this wonderful outdoors state where everyone looked like Lance Armstrong and Ryan Hall and ate natural fresh foods.  I had read about the fast runners from University of Colorado at Boulder in Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross Country Team and had expected to see elite national team runners training on the roads. 

There are definitely parts of Colorado where I might see elite runners whiz by, but Denver was not one of them.  We went to some of the usual tourist spots in Denver--16th Street Mall and Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  16th Street Mall was no more than a trashier version of Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.  The museum, however, was a better and larger version of Berkeley's Lawernce Hall of Science, and even the Princess had fun for the most part, crawling about the exhibits.

The Princess crawling next to the wildlife exhibit

I had also been excited for the weekend because we were actually staying in Aurora, Colorado, right next to Cherry Creek State Park.  When you say "State Park," I automatically picture forests of redwood trees (think Muir Woods National Monument) or mountains and waterfalls (think Yosemite).

Cherry Creek State Park looked nothing like what I had imagined.  Bordered by a highway, the park consisted of a lake and flat, dry grassland and marshland.  To be honest, the landscape was somewhat disappointing; it looked almost like the yellow rolling hills occupied with cows that you can find almost anywhere in California. 

There were, however, paved trails throughout the park, and my husband and I were determined to use this opportunity to get a run in.  Pushing the Princess in her royal chariot (a total of 40 pounds, including the backpack tucked in the stroller), we started to run.  For the first 15 minutes, I felt like crap.  My legs felt heavy and I just felt SLOW.  We also had to remember that Denver is called "Mile High City" for a reason--Denver has an elevation of 5,280ft, exactly one mile.  Up this high, there is less oxygen and the sun shines brighter, more white than yellow.

We ran for about 45 minutes on this never-ending paved trail before stopping to look at a map.  Instead of running a loop around the lake, we had run directly south east, away from the lake.  There was no way we would be able to loop the lake without running at least a half marathon.  And we were in no way prepared to run that far.  Running in the middle of a warm day and with only a 12oz Dasani bottle of water, we were already tired by the time we decided to turn around and double back. 

Map of Cherry Creek Park and our there-and-back run

The run back was really a slow race against time and heat.  We did manage to make it back relatively intact, suffering only from mild heat exhaustion and dehydration.  The Princess slept most of the time and was only slightly sunburnt.  We were pretty dumb and lucky.  We should have been more prepared with more water and looked more closely at the trail map before running.  We probably should not have chosen a long run to be our first workout at such a high altitude. 

It has been two days since we arrived, and I think I am still trying to adjust to the altitude.

"Vacation"

Friday:  Today we left for our second family "vacation."  The first was San Diego.  I say "vacation" because the original plan was for my husband and I to take advantage of my work travel and tag a weekend vacation on while the Princess stayed with Grandma and Grandpa.  Unfortunately, Grandma and Grandpa were themselves out of town and the Princess ended up coming with us.  Can you sense my bitterness?  Who wants to juggle a car seat, a stroller (big jogging stroller), luggage, and a 24 pound squriming animal through security? 

Try to control this--the 24 pound squirming animal
on a normal day

The day got off to an inauspicious start--I overslept and missed practice this morning.  As many rowers learn in college, you must do everything humanly possible to make it to practice.  Of course, if you are unconscious, there is not much you can do.  Luckily, I only overslept by half an hour and did manage to fit in a run.  I had forgotten how much I love mornings runs where the air is cool and crisp. 

After a half-day at work, I came home to pack like a maniac.  I actually hate to travel, even when it is for vacation.  Packing freaks me out because I can never decide on what to bring.  We picked up the Princess from daycare and then, went to the airport where my husband dropped the Princess and me off.  Yes, unfortunately, my husband and I had separate flights and I was the lucky parent to fly with the Princess although I am cleary not the favorite parent.  The Princess was screaming when she realized that Dad was not coming with us.  Lovely.

The Princess and I had a connection in Salt Lake City.  By the time we finally landed in Salt Lake City, I had half a mind to leave the Princess behind in the plane.  She had taken the orange juice that I had been served right out of my hands and drank the whole thing.  Well, about 80% of it.  The other 20% ended up on her shirt.  

The Princess awaiting her royal connection
at Salt Lake City

Thankfully, for the last flight--Salt Lake City to Denver, the Princess fell asleep.  Now, I had to struggle to keep my legs from falling asleep with 24 pounds on top.  Welcome to Colorado!

The sleeping Princess; thank God!

We made it!

42 or 44

Thursday:  Want to know what we were recovering for Wednesday morning?!  The 15 minute swim test!  The last time we did a 15 minute swim test was on St. Patrick's day. 

Oddly enough, my 15 minute swim felt good.  I think all of Marcia's damned 200s from last week and this week's IM and free killer workout helped my endurance or at least helped me with my pacing.  One of the challenging things about the 15 minute swim is to be able to keep count of all the laps we do.  It always help to have other people in your lane so that you can piece together exactly how many laps (Marcia counts a 25yd as a lap) you did.  For example, if Jane did 30 laps and you passed her twice, you probably did 33 or 34 laps.

This morning, I did not know if I swam 42 or 44 laps.  I knew exactly where I lost count too--it was on the 26th lap.  I was swimming, zoned out for a moment, and then wondered if I had already mentally counted 26 or 28.  I guess 26 is the limit to my counting abilities.  No one is ever absolutely sure when it comes to counting this high, but based on what my lanemates counted, we figured I did 42 laps. 

I asked Marcia if she thought I did 42 or 44 based on what the other lanes did.  This is what Marcia said, "Oh definitely 42.  You are definitely not fast enough for 44!"  Haha.  One of the reasons Marcia is so great is because she tells you straight up how it is.

Recovery Swim

Wednesday morning:  This morning’s swim was what Marcia called a “recovery” swim.  Recovering for what?!  This makes me suspicious.  I am already scared for Thursday.  I hate surprises, especially ones that come in as swim tests or erg tests.

A view of the Wisconsin boathouse, Porter Boathouse, from the side;
the erg room is on top where the balcony is

Surprise erg tests put a big knot in my stomach.  I remember one morning during the first week of camp in Wisconsin, we went out on the water as normal and then, came back in early.  That only meant one thing—erging.  That morning, I had actually debated with myself whether or not to bring my tennis shoes.  Since it was summer in Wisconsin with about 90% humidity, I always wore my flip-flops.  And that morning, I had decided to leave the tennis shoes at home.  SHIT.

The erg piece was a 5,000 meters at max pressure with controlled rating, starting the piece at 18spm and increasing the rate 2 beats every 1,000 meters.  Basically, it was an erg test with specified rates.  I did the entire erg piece without shoes, which can be challenging because it is much harder to swing at the finish and keep your feet touching the footboards.  Luckily or unluckily, I was not the only person to forget her shoes.  One other girl who was not from Wisconsin also did not bring tennis shoes.  All the Wisco girls knew better and always carried tennis shoes, just in case. 

Unfortunately, for the other girl, she stopped a few times to adjust her feet and foot straps, and the coach came up and said, “What is up with this?  What are you doing?  This is an erg test.  You can’t just stop.”  From one of my novice coaches, I learned that you NEVER ever stop in the middle of an erg test unless you are passing out or throwing up or having an asthma attack (which one of the girls at camp actually had during an erg test and the coach had to force her to stop because she would not give up).

The lesson is erg tests suck, and surprise erg tests suck more.  Bring your tennis shoes if there is even a chance of erging.

As for the recovery swim that we had, it really was not that easy.  The main set had a lot of partnering up with a buddy and since my lane had an odd number of swimmers, we had a threesome. 

1. 3x50yds family kickboard (all two or three people hold on to one kickboard and flutter kick for 50yds) and 50yds pulling partner (one person swims while the partner or partners hang on, acting as dead weight)
2. 3x50yds free, descending
3. 3x100yds free, descending

Maybe Marcia thought it was a recovery swim because all the partner work gave us adequate rest between sets?!

Daily Double

Tuesdays are my daily double days where I try to fit in two workouts.

Tuesday morning:  This morning’s swim had both building and descending.  Here was the main set:

1. 300yds IM (75yds of fly, back, breast, free), focus on technique, i.e. not drowning especially on the butterfly
2. 200yds free FAST
3. 200yds IM, focus on technique
4. 300yds free FAST
5. 100yds IM
6. 400yds free FAST

The IMs got shorter while the freestyle got longer.  This was one long, tiring set.

Tuesday evening:  THE LOG BOOM IS DOWN.  If you do not row for Lake Merritt, you probably are not aware of this long log boom that goes up in the lake every winter and spring.  The log boom sections off about a quarter of the lake in order to create a bird refuge.  I love nature and all, but this log boom makes the lake smaller for us rowers and has us turning more frequently, which after six months, can be very annoying. 

This evening, we had 1 eight, 1 women’s double, and 1 men’s single out on the water.  The Bay Blades had 1 single, 1 double, and 1 quad.  The quad did pieces with us. 

We warmed up the entire lake, all the way down the Embarcadero fountain and back to the dam.  The workout today was 3x1000m race pieces with starts and sprints at 38spm in the start and 34spm in the body of the pieces.

The first piece felt heavy and all over the place.  The second piece had much better rhythm, and the last piece was alright.  1,000 meters felt like a long distance today.

Favorites

Monday morning: This morning's practice was in my favorite and only seat in my favorite boat (at the current moment)--the single.  Wait until another rough day and the single will become my least favorite boat.  Today though, the lake was calm, no hint of the windy days from last week.  We had 1 single (me), 1 women's double, 1 mixed double, and 1 quad.

We took a whole lake loop to warm up.  The workout today was 2x12 minute pieces, 26-28spm at 80-90% pressure.  My favorite workouts are ones like today where the pieces are solid and long enough to be difficult, but not boring.  The challenge is to find a smooth rhythm and to be consistent in rating and power every stroke.  Emphasis on the consistency.

Everyone has favorites--favorite color, favorite food, favorite TV show, favorite seat in the boat.  The Princess too has favorites--favorite foods (fruits and anything that Mom and Dad are eating), favorite toys (blocks, flashing lights), and of course, favorite parent--DAD.

This is what the Princess looks like with her favorite parent.

With her favorite parent

This is what the Princess looks like with her other or least favorite parent--ME.

With her least favorite parent

It probably does not help that I constantly play bad cop, telling the Princess, "No, you cannot put the toilet paper into the toilet" and "No, you cannot eat the ice cream bar that Mom is eating."

Without a little discipline, the Princess and her favorite parent would turn into wild children with no clean laundry and no clean dishes.

A Page Out of My Log

Some of my workout journals, including the one from Wisconsin

In my black massive purse, you will find a variety of items--wallet, stroke coach, extra diapers for the Princess, random receipts, pens, iPod, planner, food journal, and workout journal.

Last fall, Chris asked us to keep a log of all our workouts.  This is not a new concept. I remember my first semester rowing, one of my novice coaches strongly recommended us to keep a journal. In fact, I am pretty sure you will find that many serious rowers keep a workout log of some sort. Brad Lewis in Assault on Lake Casitas almost swears by his journal.

Since I have been remiss for a few days in blogging, I will take a page out of my log starting from my last post.

Tuesday, 4/26/2011
PM:  ROW   4x, 8+

Stroked the 4x (what was Chris thinking?  @#%^&)
Warmed-up whole lake; rough, choppy water, but rowable; wind blowing from finger towards the south shore
Workout - 3x(3x2'on) or basically 9x500m divided into 3 sets with each set having a start piece, body piece, and sprint piece; about 2-4 minutes of recovery in between to get boats lined up
Rates in the 4x - starts were about 35-37spm; settle at 33spm; body at 31-32spm; sprint at 34-36spm
Course steering was a little off--almost collided due to wind and next piece too far away from 8+
4x: need to sit up more and think quick and light

Wednesday, 4/27/2011
AM:  SWIM
Main set: (massive kicking)

1. 1 minute wall kick (holding onto the wall like a 6 year old learning how to swim and kicking as hard as you can)
2. 2x25yds overkick (big legs, slow arms)
3. 200yds fast free
4. 30 seconds wall kick
5. 4x25yds overkick
6. 200yds fast free
7. Repeat #1-5 (thank god we did not have time to do another 200yds, theme of this week)

Tired, working on stroke, extending (not sinking) arm out and breathing as arm enters the water

PM: OFF

Thursday, 4/28/2011
AM:  SWIM
Main set:

1. 4x100yds free, all at the same speed
2. 50yds flutter kick with board, FAST
3. Repeat set three times

Was pretty good at keeping same speed

PM:  OFF

Friday, 4/29/2011 
AM:  ROW  1x, 4+, and me in 1x

Windy, especially in main lake and even in finger; water was best near sail boathouse
Steady state, rate 22-24spm, total of 60 minutes
Need to work on set!!
Blades dragging on the water
If my steady state is going to be this bad, I am going to start hating the single!

PM:  OFF

Saturday, 4/30/2011
AM:   ERG  20minutes

Steady state, 19-20spm
Only had time to do 20 minutes before practice; tried to get to boathouse earlier, but the Princess woke up *grumble grumble*

AM:  COX  8+  (been awhile since I have coxed!)

1x and 4x also out on the water, with two men in the stern (had better be fast with two men in the boat!)
Workout - 6x500m
Water still windy; did pieces starting at the three S's

PM:  RUN  w/the Princess in the jogging stroller

On Skyline trails, 7-8 miles, 80 minutes
Thank god for seat belts, especially with my crappy job driving the stroller through potholes and over big rocks

After a trail run with the Princess in the stroller

Sunday, 5/1/2011
AM:  ROW  1x

Went out early because going to zoo with the family and a friend's family
Some dragonboat race setting up (I find these boats so annoying!)
Warmed up whole lake
Calm water, only the softest breeze
Workout - 3x2,000m race pieces
Legs felt tired during warm-up and between pieces, but okay during the main pieces
Had hard time bring the rate over 30spm in the body of the piece

How many people can you fit in a dragonboat?!

PM: OFF