Training Log Archive: Bash

Hill intervals on the LifeCycle at the Talisman Centre. I was so absorbed in Impact Magazine, published by the Canadian Sport Centre Calgary, that I didn't stop after half an hour, even though I'd planned to. Great article on strength exercises done by the national speed skating team, with emphasis on movement and velocity specificity. One-legged squats (holding a bar with weights across the shoulders behind the neck) were a featured exercise.

Back to the pool for more deep water exercises. It wasn't nearly as inspiring without the horrible music and amusing instructor, but I kept going for awhile. My favourite is the deep water XC skiing (classic style).

My stupid foot hurt more this morning again. Could this really be the result of just 25 calf lifts last night? I've been walking on eggshells most of the week, trying not to bend my foot when I walk, so I suppose my right calf has had an easy time until I put some stress on it. Today's non-weight-bearing workout at the Talisman Centre had no effect on my foot, fortunately, and it got my heart rate up nicely. But I really wish I could RUN, darn it.

Tried a couple of sets of one-legged calf lifts, and the injured foot didn't feel as fragile as it did earlier in the week. I'm not going to risk running until I get back to Ontario, which means Tuesday at the earliest. If I aggravate the injury again this weekend, there won't be enough time to recover before the Pig, so I'm being extra cautious. Too bad, because there are wondeful riverside runs in Calgary, and I'd brought along an orienteering map of Nose Hill to practise on. I will need to confirm that I am able to run before I make the long drive to Ohio. I'm optimistic, but it's hard to tell. I'm actually more worried about the Giant's Rib Raid, since that will be an extended foot abuse session! I still don't have a clue what happened, but I'm guessing it's an inflamed tendon.

Lower body and core strength class at the Talisman Centre.

Hill intervals on a stationary bike.

My foot injury needs more time to recover, and fortunately it feels like things are improving - phew. I tried a Deep Water Cardio class, since I've never tried deep water running and thought it would be interesting to see what it's like. I was impressed! It had lots of variety (including deep water XC skiing) and was surprisingly effective at getting my heart rate up. It was clear that you only get as much out of deep water resistance training as you put into it. It was possible for people of all levels to go at their own pace, which was great.

The music was the usual high-speed, throbbing-beat disco-ized medley of miscellaneous songs. My personal favourite was the high-speed-cheery version of American Pie. The instructor was entertaining: "Come on, squeeze that tushy harder, girls!" Once again, I mistakenly thought this was a 30-minute class, but at the half-hour mark, the instructor started us on 15-minutes of pyramid intervals - eek! I had to sneak out after 45 minutes to meet my parents. I would do this class occasionally if I lived in town.

I'm not sure why the bottom outside edge of my foot became sore during the flight on Monday, but I assume it is related to Sunday's long run combined with a poor choice of shoes for travelling. I thought it was no big deal, but yesterday's classes aggravated it, and I was limping by last night. The pain isn't as localized as it was, so I'm worried it could be tendinitis. Crap. I've got the Flying Pig and the Giant's Rib Raid in the next 2.5 weeks, so I've got my fingers tightly crossed that a couple of days of TLC will resolve it.

Went to the Talisman Centre for a couple of classes. The first one was an 80s cliche - I didn't know there were still classes like this. Perky instructor in cute purple aerobics outfit, calling out motivating comments like "I want you to give it 110%!! Remember this is your workout, and you only get what you put into it!! If you came in feeling bad this morning, you're going to feel happy and confident when you leave!!" The music was particularly annoying - Abba and Michael Jackson material performed by Chipmunks-like cover bands - and even worse, the instructor could turn up the speed of the music to make us work harder. Having said all that, the class did get my heart rate up, even though it was BORING compared to a nice run on a trail.

The 2nd class had a great name: "Ripped for Results". How could I resist? And actually, this one was excellent. It was a tough combination of strength training and aerobics, using hand weights, a step and a mat. The leg and core strength part went well, since that's been my focus over the past few months. However, the upper body stuff was really hard for me, and it will be interesting to see how much I hurt tomorrow! I misread the schedule and thought that it was a 30-minute class, and it was discouraging when I pushed hard for the "last" 5 minutes - only to discover that I had another 30 minutes to go. Eeeek!! A worthwhile way to spend an hour.

Light run to and from the Talisman Centre for Sport and Wellness. Wow!! Calgarians are so lucky to have a huge, spectacular, well-equipped facility like this - several large swimming pools of different sizes, several gymnasiums with mult-storey ceiling height, rows and rows of fitness machines and weights, a "nutrition kitchen" for cooking classes, meeting facilities, etc. I picked up the class schedule and checked it out for a future visit or two. It sits on the Elbow River, which has a paved running trail beside it. That might be nice for a flat run in my medium-traction shoes. (I didn't bring Ice Bugs, and Calgary has more snow than it had a few weeks ago.) I didn't run far today though. During yesterday's journey, the outside bottom of my foot became quite painful. It is probably related to Sunday's long run, combined with wearing hard-soled shoes for the flight, I suppose. Anyway, I don't want to mess around with it too much. It seems to be improving, but was borderline incapacitating last night.

A few of my usual exercises that can be done in a hotel room without special equipment.

Rest day - if you can call it that when you fly a couple thousand kilometers on only a few hours of sleep. On the bright side, I got upgraded to business class, but the fellow behind me snored loud as a chainsaw for 3 hours, which detracted from the experience somewhat. And the hotel in Calgary is such a long story that even I can't type that much into AP. I'm sure it will be a nice place once they close off all the outside walls and finish building it - and when they stop filming the movie next to my room, in the lobby and in the hotel restaurant (which has been closed as a result).

It's a rare treat to have access to high-speed Internet, so I just downloaded the full version of Catching Features - yahoo!