The Last Day of Summer

~15km to the beach and back!

Yep, it was the last day of summer vacation. I sat at the beach all afternoon. Felt great!
Now I gotta get my butt in gear!

1700m

1000s
200k
400p
100s

Total: 1700m 45min.

After Fuji, I needed to stretch! I'm stiff and sore. And in no shape for a real workout of any kind. Plus I had the day off today, so I went in early to avoid the crowds. I got a lane to myself and swam nice and slow for about 45 minutes. Kicking was painful. Pushing off the walls was painful. Moving my legs at all hurt. But felt good to get things loosened up and moving again. Now I need to get back into a routine. The next big swim meet is in 2 months!!

Climbed Mt. Fuji

See my other blog for pics and more about climbing Mt. Fuji.

Total: 2942m (ascent & descent) in 15 hours

21km + 1500m

11km
500s
200k
5x100IM :10rest
200s
100k
11km

Repeat of my workout last weekend! The pool closes early on Sunday, so I didn't have much time to swim. That was fine with me. I'm not sure I could have done much more. The heat is so intense. I've already bathed 6 times today. I'm keeping cool water in my bathtub and dunking myself when it gets too hot.

Oh, and my bike tires are low....so I was riding a bit slow today. I need to get them pumped back up so I can be speedy gonzales!

Linea...we got invited to dinner next Wednesday. The daughter living in America was at the pool today with her mom and I couldn't say no. I HOPE you can come!! August 30th at 6:30

21km + 1500m

1o.5 k bike
1500s
10.5k bike

One last workout before I sit on my ass for a week in Hiroshima! I waited until it cooled down a bit after 5pm. But that meant that I had limited daylight. So as soon as I got to the pool, I got in and swam 1500 without stopping. My heart rate was already up a bit, so it was easy to just get in and go. I didn't feel nearly as sluggish as yesterday! I would have liked to do a bit more, but the sun was going down. And on my way to the pool I lost my water bottle....so I had to retrace my path on the way back. Found it!

Total: 21k bike & 1500s 2 hours door to door

Tai Chi & 2100m

Warm-up:
600s/400k/100s

Sets:
6x100 on 2:15 (IM, Fr, Brst)
100scull
100IM k

Cool Down
200s

Total: 2100 1 hr.

This morning I spent 2 hours with about 30 teachers from my district learning Tai Chi. Given that all the instruction was in Japanese, I probably missed a few key points about the art/excercise form. But I was able to follow the movements. We did a lot of stretching and practiced a routine that lasted a few minutes. Moving that slow doesn't really appeal to me, but I see how it could be meditative and relaxing

After skipping out early on work again, I headed to the pool to cool off. Seriously, this heat is ridiculous! It's probably a combo of the tatemon festival, my long pull set on monday, biking in the heat and tai chi....but I felt so sluggish today. I could barely get through my warm-up. It felt good to cool off though. Probably my last swim for a week (or two), but I hope not!!!

~25 km

Cycling Errands: I didn't ride hard and fast, but I rode in the heat, all day long. I rode to school in the morning and then did a 15 km ride in the heat of the day to pick up my most recent glass blowing project. And then cycled to my private lesson. It was about 35C. I just barely have time to get to the pool some days, biking is a great alternative! Yeah!

Oh no, next week I'm off to a week long seminar. Not sure what excercise I'm gonna get. I think I'll bring my Bollywood Aerobics DVD and my computer...I might be limited to a little bollywood dancing in my hotel room!

Total: 25km 90 min

3500m

1000s
500k
1500p
200s
100IM
200s

Total: 3500m 70min.

I just wanted to keep swimming tonight. No breaks. I stopped at the wall to adjust goggles and to grab the kickboard. Just needed a long long aerobic swim tonight. Felt good. Now I need to get back into a routine. Unfortunately, I just agreed to do sing with a choir that practices at the same time as the Masters Team. So, I'm gonna have to go to swim practice every other week until December. Oh well, singing might help with my breathe control!

30 km

It's saturday morning, I couldn't sleep past 6am-damn! So after discovering my 2nd fridge (for baking purposes) was leaking, I started the de-thaw process and woke up enough to go for a bike ride. It's gonna be 34C today--earlier the better!! I rode up along the river towards the red bridge. Just before the bridge I met up with two other bikers, much more pro looking than my yoga pants and uniqlo quick dry shirt. But they slowed way down so I had to pass them, just in time for a massive hill. I didn't want to turn back and I didn't want to stop....so I pedaled ahead and it kicked my ass. But I made it up and never saw them again. I rode back on the other side of the river. And back along Route 8. I feel so good after morning exercise...but convincing myself to actually do it when I'm still sleepy is next to impossible!

Total: 30 km 90min

Hokkaido Adventures

Last week in Hokkaido: Rafting! Canyoning! Biking! Floating in a Lake!

The Bike was the biggest workout of the week! We biked 57km around Rishiri Island off the Northern most point of Hokkaido in just under 4 hours. The first 15km sucked because we were riding into the wind and through a seagull nesting area, but there were dead bird carcasses EVERYWHERE. It was very eerie! And the official bike trail ended after 20km. So then we were on the roads with traffic, but it was much easier going from then on. The last 10-15km was hard on my ass, literally!! It HURT! I need biking underwear! Seriously!

Luckily there were no accidents, just fun pictures! Amy (below) started her across Japan bike ride from Wakkanai last week. She should be somewhere near Sapporo by now.

Rafting on the Mukawa was the most fun we had all week!! The water wasn't super high, but the river was pretty technical. And our guide, Pat, is a rafting guru....lots of first descents, runs multiple rafting companies around the world, and lots of crazy stories of close calls! But a great guide. He made sure to flip us a few times. We also did a day of canyoning. It wasn't technical at all. I was hoping for a bit more. But it involved water and was outside...so I was a happy camper!

Our last two days were spent on a lake near Sapporo. We attempted a few hikes but a typhoon several years ago had ruined the trails! Boo hoo!! Instead of intense heart pounding adrenaline induced activity we just sat on the beach and enjoyed the sun and reading! Never a bad option!

2000m

Cool Down
600s/600p/200k
8x25 fly
8x25 brst
200s

Total: 2000m 50min

Just got back from Hokkaido on Tuesday night. If I hadn't left school two hours early, I would have never made it to the pool today. But with temps over 30C, I needed to cool down!
It wasn't much of a workout because I didn't have much time. But got me in, got me wet, and got me cool!