Back on the swim team - quit the bus!

Monday July 6
Today I drove to work and swam at the SU pool (Master's team). I've been looking into different gyms in Issaquah, trying to get myself motivated to workout more. Today, I decided to quit the bus! I save money and the environment by riding the bus; but I don't workout as much. I find that with an hour ride each way, I'm just not getting my workouts in. I haven't swum consistently since I started taking the bus (2 years ago). I can workout at home (before work), but only for 30 minutes. I have a difficult time making it to group rides after work because I don't get home till 5:30 (at the earliest) and thus I have trouble making it to a trail head by 6:00pm and forget the 5:30pm starts. Thus, I started the swim team again (starting summer quarter). I'm swimming 3 days this week and then the pool is closed for 2 weeks. The days I'm not swimming I'll run and lift weights. The week that the gym is closed I'll bring my road bike and ride along Lake Washington boulevard. The key for me (for the next 3 weeks) is to drive I-90 before 6am (due to the west bound lanes being closed).

I'm also bringing a bike with me to ride after work each day. I'm really excited about my decision to stop riding the bus. It gives me a full hour workout in the morning and I get home 20 minutes earlier at the end of the day (if I don't go ride). This is probably the best decision I've made in many years.

Sunday, July 5
Rode Tokul East with Ann, Mitch and Fredrika. I climbed well and realized that I need to push myself on the climbs (especially when they are not overly steep). I don't know that I can keep up with either of them climbing, but I think I could come close if I pushed myself. My heart rate was only around 80-85% of MHR. We rode last frontier. Wow was it steep! I rode really well except I walked the switchbacks that were steep and tight. I need to practice switchbacks at Colonnade on the Nomad! Then we rode Flowtron. Flowtron is a trail that traverses back and forth across a big gully. You ride down one steep side and try to keep your speed up to make it up the other side, then a tight turn and repeat about 8 times. I was fine on the riding down and back up; but the turns were difficult. I found I wanted to stop after each run and then getting started down the next one was tough. But I rode them all except one with a big drop in the middle. These two trails will definitely help me get more comfortable on steep runs. This week's freeride Thursday is on steeps and chutes.

Thursday, July 2
Free ride Thursday was all about riding skinnies and getting off skinnies. I did well (on the Nomad). We learned to vault off the bike, and I was doing great until we moved up to a skinny that was about 4" off the ground. My leg caught on the saddle and down I went. I sprained my big toe and could hardly walk the following two days. This meant I didn't ride on Friday or Saturday.

Tuesday, June 30
Met Friends (Ann, Mitch, Dennis, and Linda and Ray) at Tokul East. I decided not to ride with them (I'm a slow climber). I climbed the first road to the top (it was a ride/push deal). Then I rode half way down and crossed over to road #2 then descended to cross back to road one by the pond. My goal was just to get a sense of the place (so I don't get lost in the future). Had a good ride, the climb took me a full hour.

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