Logging Laps on a Treadmill

Last night I spend about an hour forty on a treadmill getting my long run in. I have a few tricks to make the time pass that I can write about, but in general I was content and could have kept going.

Physically, I felt good. I was running slow, keeping my HR under 145 and my aerobic engine could have gone on for hours. My legs were towards the end of their rope at the end, but that was to be expected given it was my longest run in over a year.

My tricks to keep my mind occupied are the following. I listen to music or podcasts on my ipod. Last night, I listened to the end of a B.S. Report from the Sportsguy, all of Ironman Talk, then about 20 minutes of music on my training playlist. Every 10 minutes I drink some water from my water bottle, and every 15 minutes I check my PDA for emails and text messages. Sometimes I open up a magazine (my gym has some pretty good multisport/endurance/outdoor mags) that is rich with photos and just sort of scan the page for photos, captions, and any writing in font large enough to make out while bouncing along. It works.

While I was in NH a couple of weeks ago, I attended the pro Q&A on Saturday at the race expo. Pros on the panel included Andy Potts, Michael Lovato, Dede Griesbauer, Simon Lessing, Karen Smyers, Chrissie Wellington, Fraser Cartmell and Torenzo Bozzone. The crowd of spectators wasn't as big this year compared to last, so it was easy to get questions asked and answered.

One question I posed to Andy Potts and Dede Griesbauer was how their swimming background and coming to triathlon with an understanding of how to train based on what they'd learned in the pool for all of those years helped their tri training, as well as how it hurt them. The answers were interesting.

For those who don't know, Andy Potts was one of the best US Milers in the pool. I think he even ended up third at an Olympic Trials in the 1500M just missing a spot to Sydney or Atlanta. Dede was also a great swimmer finaling twice at Oly Trials in the 200 Backstroke (my event) finishing as high as 5th at the '92 trials.

Andy's response was that after years and years of following a black line up and down the pool, that he had no problems putting his back wheel up on rollers or a wind trainer and doing a long ride on a trainer. He could also get on a treadmill and do a long or intense run and he would be completely content focusing on critical things like pace, feel, and form and not once wishing he was anywhere besides where he was.

That hit home with me a bit. I've always been more comfortable on a treadmill, trainer, or doing a short cycling course over and over compared to my peers.

In Houston, there is a great 1 mile bike loop at Memorial Park that lots of cyclist ride on. I logged many miles there in prep for my Ironman in '05. I can recall doing a 60 mile ride there on that one mile loop, then getting off the bike and running the loop a couple of times to get a transition run in. It didn't bother me. It was safe (no cars), had bathrooms right there, you didn't have stop lights or interruptions, and I could keep my replacement bottles at my car so they were always close by.

My buddies I was riding with at the time weren't as fond of the loop, and liked to get out on the open road and ride through the rest of the park. It all sort of makes sense now.

Don't get me wrong, my last post was about the most amazing run I had had in ages on a beautiful road along a lake, and my other favorite spots to run are at Town Lake in Austin, and on the running loop (a different loop) at Memorial Park in Houston.

I'm just saying I tend to spend my time thinking about other things, gauging how I feel or how my workout is going, or enjoying my music or podcasts. The setting I'm in is just icing on the cake.

I think swimming for years and years has conditioned me to be content this way. It is at times a solitary sport. There is no one to talk to when you are hurting the most, except in between intervals or sets. You have no choice but to focus on technique, pace (if there is a visible clock), how your feeling relative to the other day, earlier in that workout, etc., and you are maybe doing a little racing/pissing contest with the other people in your swim group. Other than that, there isn't much to focus on, but that list there gives you plenty to think about to get you through the session, and looking forward to coming back again later that day or the next morning.

Let your mind wander the next time conditions force you to run or ride inside. There is plenty to keep you going.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm going to start posting my swim workouts. I've found that my blog is getting lots of hits from people googling swim workouts, or solo swim workouts, so I might as well give the people what they are searching for.

This was in a 25 Meter pool:

300 swim / 200 kick warm up
12x75 IM order (fl/bk/br, bk/br/fr, br/fr/fl, fr/fl/bk repeat 3 times)
4x200 swim on 3:15
800 pull with paddles
200 warm down