Do Tigers Play Banjos?

(With thanks to E. Izzard for the question.)

If so, they're welcome to use my hamstrings if they need spare strings anytime...

Yesterday's workout was a swim and a bike ride-- the bike was 30 minutes of keeping the heart rate in Zone 1 (the lowest of Fink's 4 training zones; see below for more on these) while spinning the legs at 100+RPM. A tricky feat, juggling those two numbers-- go too fast on the legs and the HR goes over; slow down to let the HR recover and the legs go below 100RPM. First thing in the morning before breakfast, that's a lot to keep in mind. And by the middle of the day after an hour's drive to get stuff done, my hamstrings had clearly tuned up for a session with Steve Martin (a very accomplished banjo player, in case you didn't know-- and yes, I know some curious facts about comedians, all right?). In other words, OUCH. Had at them last night with the foam roller: they laughed; I nearly wept.

Yesterday's lesson: post-workout stretching is NOT optional. I do yoga in the evenings (more for my sanity than anything else, really), but clearly I have to make sure to stretch various muscle groups right after I use them while I'm training as well. Good to know.

Today's lesson: post-workout electrolytes are not really optional either-- while I can get along without them, I feel terribly thirsty all the time, and I've just drunk some NUUN and feel ever so much better as a result, so clearly on the 2 hour+ workout days, electrolytes are a Good Thing.

Today's session was a spin class (which I really enjoy, so I'm going to try to keep going on Fridays even though it's an add-on to The Plan), followed by a 30-minute run with HR in Zone 2 (inside on the dreadmill because I was already hot and sweaty; didn't even have my iPod with me but somehow managed to muddle through, thank heavens), followed by some core strength work and a set of rehab exercises (no WAY am I going to go through a relapse and end up pool running for hours on end). Came home, ate a small snack, showered, and then because it was such a gorgeous day outside I walked a mile and a quarter or so to get some errands done. Managed to resist the temptations of 5 Guys and their freshly cooked burgers and fries...and also managed not to eat ALL of the sushi for sale at Whole Foods. Near thing, though: sushi = YUM. Makes me glad that the cookbook I just got has lots of recipes for snack-type things for eating during exercise that involve sushi rice: that stuff is GOOD when you're hungry!

I have a rather sneaking suspicion that I'm likely to be hungry on a pretty regular basis as The Plan continues. Ah well, we'll see how it goes... right now I'm trying not to overdo anything because I know I'm not actually working out much more (in terms of time) than I used to. That will change, of course-- the more immediate change is that my workouts are very precisely targeted in terms of time spent in specific HR zones (derived as a percentage range of my maximum HR, which I had tested just before Christmas so I have real data to base them on rather than the wonkiness of any numbers of formulae). On the one hand, that means I'm working much more consistently in a given zone than I had been before; on the other, there's something wonderfully liberating about not having to worry about how far or how fast I'm going at the moment! Concentrating on staying in a given zone is nice and simple; speed and distance will come eventually. Or, at least, that's my hope.

In the meantime, the extent of my happiness at the fact that a second strap for my HR monitor should be in my hands tomorrow is pretty much indicative of my state of mind at the moment. (Putting on a cold and clammy HR strap for one's second workout of the day is so dispiriting...) We'll see how it works next Tuesday, when my  next double day is scheduled! In the meantime, it's the weekend, so LSD-central for biking and running chez WT. Hope the weather holds on Sunday for the run... luckily for me, I have lots of fun videos to watch while pedaling on the trainer tomorrow-- thanks, Mum, Dad, and Chief Enabler!