Just a quick post...
Had a good last week. I am starting to almost feel like an athlete again. I'm getting comfortable in the pool and actually feel somewhat stronger. My run is coming along nicely with a decent 40mi week last week. Not fast by any stretch but with work and patience I know that will come. The bike just feels off right now but its not really the focus of this block.
Well, off to register for IMWI 2010.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Testing the Legs
Things are coming around nicely. Last week was 2 easy swims, 1 easy run and 1 bike. Just did what I felt like doing and used the workouts to loosen up the body. The run was 4mi and maybe a bit too much as I was feeling my quads afterwards.
I hit a short bike yesterday to test out the legs. I hit it as 2x20min at 125-135bpm and followed power to see what type of power corresponded with that range. I think around 210w would be the top of the range right now. Legs felt pretty darn good.
Today starts week 3 of the recovery period. After this week its back to working on diet, stretching, and all the good things that support my training. I was watching Hard Knocks yesterday, which is a documentary about the NFL training camps, and the players were asked to write down what it will take to go from good to great. I thought that this was a useful exercise and I thought about it as well. I think improving diet will be a step in the right direction as well as more steady base miles. After keeping a food log for a few weeks I noticed my fats and protein are easily met but carbohydrate needs are rarely met. This is so important in terms of having the energy to complete my sessions, recover, and then maintain a productive life outside of my hobby, triathlon. I also, noticed in my journals that when I should have been hitting big miles I wasn't. I was too tired and pretty spent at that point. I think diet will help with that as well as keeping a lid on the intensity until the intensity is appropriate.
Another top priority on my list in the next build is that I balance my training with LBs needs as well as continuing to be very productive with my career. So, basically, train, forget about triathlon, spend time with the girls and work. I think that will help with going from good to great as well...getting out of my own way.
I hit a short bike yesterday to test out the legs. I hit it as 2x20min at 125-135bpm and followed power to see what type of power corresponded with that range. I think around 210w would be the top of the range right now. Legs felt pretty darn good.
Today starts week 3 of the recovery period. After this week its back to working on diet, stretching, and all the good things that support my training. I was watching Hard Knocks yesterday, which is a documentary about the NFL training camps, and the players were asked to write down what it will take to go from good to great. I thought that this was a useful exercise and I thought about it as well. I think improving diet will be a step in the right direction as well as more steady base miles. After keeping a food log for a few weeks I noticed my fats and protein are easily met but carbohydrate needs are rarely met. This is so important in terms of having the energy to complete my sessions, recover, and then maintain a productive life outside of my hobby, triathlon. I also, noticed in my journals that when I should have been hitting big miles I wasn't. I was too tired and pretty spent at that point. I think diet will help with that as well as keeping a lid on the intensity until the intensity is appropriate.
Another top priority on my list in the next build is that I balance my training with LBs needs as well as continuing to be very productive with my career. So, basically, train, forget about triathlon, spend time with the girls and work. I think that will help with going from good to great as well...getting out of my own way.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
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Tuesday, August 4, 2009
First Workout Back
I gave myself one week of no training at all. Yesterday was my first day back. I went to the 50m outdoor pool because I love swimming outside and just did an easy 600 swim, 500 pull, 400 pull with paddles. Done. I will do one bike and one run and swim outside again if I feel like it this week.
I met Blake at the pool and watched him crush a bunch of 200s.
I then worked on my tan.
I met Blake at the pool and watched him crush a bunch of 200s.
I then worked on my tan.
Friday, July 31, 2009
IRONMAN LAKE PLACID RACE REPORT
PRE-RACE
This year on the swim I’ve been working hard on technique with a local swim coach, Kari Woodall, and also put in some good masters workouts over the winter and into the spring. I find that masters gives me a good boost in my fitness but also can lead to quite a bit of fatigue if I’m not careful with the intensity and swimming with swimmers a couple steps above my level. With the swim, I can usually tell how fatigued I am based on how I feel in the water. This is the first sport to go when I’m feeling beat down. My swim was definitely off in June and most of July but started to come around during race week.
On the bike I was strong. My power was up quite a bit from last year. I had some great workouts on the bike. On the downside I was a bit worried about my bike volume. We get a late start on the bike training here in WI and Placid was a bit early for me. I also had some issues with hot foot leading into the race and had some custom insoles made for me at Exclusive Cycles 2wks from race day. It turned out that this was never and issue.
My run was also in a good place. I had done somewhere around 5 runs that were 30km or more. I implemented a walk run strategy on these where I would run 2mi and walk 30s to get used to the Ironman strategy of walking every other aid station. Even with the short walk breaks I was averaging right around 7:30/mi on these runs. I was confident in my ability to run 8min/mile throughout the Ironman marathon. I think the biggest concern for me on the run was how my legs would hold up on the hills. However, compared to the hot foot concerns this was very minimal.
Overall, the preps for this race were decent. I felt like the half Ironman that I did in early June may have screwed things up a bit. I felt very tired for a long time after that race and never fully regained the form I had leading into the prep period for it. Leading into IMLP I was trying to do catch up recovery all the way into race week. I felt much better during race week.
I tried something new this race which was a relatively big breakfast for me race morning. I got up at 3am and drank a large smoothie with 510cals, a banana, and a bagel. I laid back down in bed and my stomach hurt! I got back up at 4:30 had my coffee and was ready to go. I had a gel and some water right before I started my swim warm-up.
SWIM--1:01:08 (30:15/30:54)
I lined up a bit wide of the buoy to start right behind a woman that said she would be hitting a 58 minute swim and wouldn’t be sprinting out. Perfect. The gun went off I promptly lost her in the typical swim start chaos but stuck to my plan of mod-hard swimming and no harder to start. I found some feet and tucked in waiting for faster swimmers to come by. It turned out that this never happened and we were passing swimmers on the way back from the first loop. I figured these were some good feet as every so often the feet would turn over as their owner did some backstroke but kept it moving really well. I tried remain with my feet were when I got out of the water but lost them on the entrance back into the lake. I promptly found some new feet and rode them all the way around the second loop. I was very happy with my effort which I would rate as easy to falling asleep and the resulting splits.
BIKE-- 5:36:14 (at 56mi 2:46:24)
Once out of the water I jogged over and got my wetsuit off and then jogged over to transition. I didn’t want to run all that distance from swim to bike and jack up my heart rate. When I got on my bike I noticed the heart rate was a touch high and just let it settle down the first few miles. The bike was rather uneventful. I had a bit of a down spot after the first out and back section but remembered that if I’m feeling down to eat more, so I did and that spot probably lasted only about 5-10min max. I took in a total of about 1800 or more calories on the bike leg, 3 electrolyte tabs/hr as my quads were a bit crampy in the beginning, and ridiculous amounts of water.
I was passed quite a bit on the bike on the hills and then would go by the people that passed me on the flats and the downhills. I was very much in my own game, as during race week I really tried to instill the mindset of a 10hr time trial, not a race against everyone else, me against the clock and everything else was distraction.
I can’t even explain how good I felt on the bike. I never got to the point of dying to get off the bike or hating my bike by the end of the ride. I enjoyed it throughout. It was my easiest long ride of the year by far. I thought this would set me up for a great run.
RUN--4:12:41 (1:45:42 half)
I got off the bike and went through T2 at a decent clip. I started to settle into my running pace but had some pretty serious lower back spasms going on. I got out of town and ran to the side of the road to do some brief stretching. That seemed to do the trick and I was out running again feeling smooth and very much in control. This continued throughout the run until the long downhill out of town where my quads started screaming at me. I was in unbelievable pain on that downhill and finally just had to go to a shuffle. The pain continued throughout the race but was ridiculous on the downhills. I just kept playing games where I would run for a certain number of minutes then walk a minute. It became a survival technique and racing was now done. I kept this going until I got to the uphill back into town where I just decided to try running up the hill. This didn’t hurt my quads and I went with it. By the time I got up the hill and to the turnaround I was less than a mile from the finish and just gutted it out to the line for a 10:59 finish.
REVIEW
Looking back at the race I was very happy with how I paced the swim and bike. I got lots of calories and water in on the bike and was always thinking about what my body needed next or what I needed to do to make sure I could run well.
The run was a bit of a disaster. I’ve had those same quad issues once before but it was in a half marathon that was quite hilly and I hadn’t done much road work prior to the run. I think I blew it in the preps and didn’t get in enough, or any, long downhill runs. Overall, I’m not completely disappointed. My first goal was to finish and that I did. My second goal was to execute and I followed the plan on the swim and bike as well as the run. The final goal was a sub 3:30 marathon and I came up very short on that one but I have a good idea why.
This year on the swim I’ve been working hard on technique with a local swim coach, Kari Woodall, and also put in some good masters workouts over the winter and into the spring. I find that masters gives me a good boost in my fitness but also can lead to quite a bit of fatigue if I’m not careful with the intensity and swimming with swimmers a couple steps above my level. With the swim, I can usually tell how fatigued I am based on how I feel in the water. This is the first sport to go when I’m feeling beat down. My swim was definitely off in June and most of July but started to come around during race week.
On the bike I was strong. My power was up quite a bit from last year. I had some great workouts on the bike. On the downside I was a bit worried about my bike volume. We get a late start on the bike training here in WI and Placid was a bit early for me. I also had some issues with hot foot leading into the race and had some custom insoles made for me at Exclusive Cycles 2wks from race day. It turned out that this was never and issue.
My run was also in a good place. I had done somewhere around 5 runs that were 30km or more. I implemented a walk run strategy on these where I would run 2mi and walk 30s to get used to the Ironman strategy of walking every other aid station. Even with the short walk breaks I was averaging right around 7:30/mi on these runs. I was confident in my ability to run 8min/mile throughout the Ironman marathon. I think the biggest concern for me on the run was how my legs would hold up on the hills. However, compared to the hot foot concerns this was very minimal.
Overall, the preps for this race were decent. I felt like the half Ironman that I did in early June may have screwed things up a bit. I felt very tired for a long time after that race and never fully regained the form I had leading into the prep period for it. Leading into IMLP I was trying to do catch up recovery all the way into race week. I felt much better during race week.
I tried something new this race which was a relatively big breakfast for me race morning. I got up at 3am and drank a large smoothie with 510cals, a banana, and a bagel. I laid back down in bed and my stomach hurt! I got back up at 4:30 had my coffee and was ready to go. I had a gel and some water right before I started my swim warm-up.
SWIM--1:01:08 (30:15/30:54)
I lined up a bit wide of the buoy to start right behind a woman that said she would be hitting a 58 minute swim and wouldn’t be sprinting out. Perfect. The gun went off I promptly lost her in the typical swim start chaos but stuck to my plan of mod-hard swimming and no harder to start. I found some feet and tucked in waiting for faster swimmers to come by. It turned out that this never happened and we were passing swimmers on the way back from the first loop. I figured these were some good feet as every so often the feet would turn over as their owner did some backstroke but kept it moving really well. I tried remain with my feet were when I got out of the water but lost them on the entrance back into the lake. I promptly found some new feet and rode them all the way around the second loop. I was very happy with my effort which I would rate as easy to falling asleep and the resulting splits.
BIKE-- 5:36:14 (at 56mi 2:46:24)
Once out of the water I jogged over and got my wetsuit off and then jogged over to transition. I didn’t want to run all that distance from swim to bike and jack up my heart rate. When I got on my bike I noticed the heart rate was a touch high and just let it settle down the first few miles. The bike was rather uneventful. I had a bit of a down spot after the first out and back section but remembered that if I’m feeling down to eat more, so I did and that spot probably lasted only about 5-10min max. I took in a total of about 1800 or more calories on the bike leg, 3 electrolyte tabs/hr as my quads were a bit crampy in the beginning, and ridiculous amounts of water.
I was passed quite a bit on the bike on the hills and then would go by the people that passed me on the flats and the downhills. I was very much in my own game, as during race week I really tried to instill the mindset of a 10hr time trial, not a race against everyone else, me against the clock and everything else was distraction.
I can’t even explain how good I felt on the bike. I never got to the point of dying to get off the bike or hating my bike by the end of the ride. I enjoyed it throughout. It was my easiest long ride of the year by far. I thought this would set me up for a great run.
RUN--4:12:41 (1:45:42 half)
I got off the bike and went through T2 at a decent clip. I started to settle into my running pace but had some pretty serious lower back spasms going on. I got out of town and ran to the side of the road to do some brief stretching. That seemed to do the trick and I was out running again feeling smooth and very much in control. This continued throughout the run until the long downhill out of town where my quads started screaming at me. I was in unbelievable pain on that downhill and finally just had to go to a shuffle. The pain continued throughout the race but was ridiculous on the downhills. I just kept playing games where I would run for a certain number of minutes then walk a minute. It became a survival technique and racing was now done. I kept this going until I got to the uphill back into town where I just decided to try running up the hill. This didn’t hurt my quads and I went with it. By the time I got up the hill and to the turnaround I was less than a mile from the finish and just gutted it out to the line for a 10:59 finish.
REVIEW
Looking back at the race I was very happy with how I paced the swim and bike. I got lots of calories and water in on the bike and was always thinking about what my body needed next or what I needed to do to make sure I could run well.
The run was a bit of a disaster. I’ve had those same quad issues once before but it was in a half marathon that was quite hilly and I hadn’t done much road work prior to the run. I think I blew it in the preps and didn’t get in enough, or any, long downhill runs. Overall, I’m not completely disappointed. My first goal was to finish and that I did. My second goal was to execute and I followed the plan on the swim and bike as well as the run. The final goal was a sub 3:30 marathon and I came up very short on that one but I have a good idea why.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Ironman Lake Placid Thoughts
RACE WEEK
BE MY GOAL.
MANTRAS for the day.
- Execute below my capabilities
- If I’m not thinking about forward propulsion then let the thought go.
- POSITIVE POSITIVE POSITIVE
GOALS
- FINISH AND EXECUTE THE PLAN.
- ride the bike w/in my power targets and execute the plan.
- HOLD sub 8min/mi on run from mile 6 on and execute the plan.
- Breakfast 4am- 2 ensure or naked smoothie approx. 400-500cals
SWIM
- Be conservative at the swim start
- Just f’ing steady.
- Sit on feet and do not work.
BIKE
3rd bottle of 700cals at special needs.
RUN
200cals/hr of gels and coke.
NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER.
Monday, July 20, 2009
One Week to Race Day
In the last few weeks leading to race day my mood tends to be based upon key workouts leading into race day. Let's just say I've been up and down...
Tuesday I had a very good swim which was a sign things were coming around. Typically, my swim pace falls off if I'm a bit tired. My run on Tuesday was also pretty good with heart rate, perceived exertion, and pace all lining up.
Wednesday was a progressive run starting easy at 8min/mile pace and dropping to 7min/mi pace. This workout was a bit goofy with the heat and my heart rate, perceived exertion and pace all out of whack. Let's just say I was a bit out of sorts after this run.
A big day was in order for Thursday. I started off with a 3000yd swim which similar to Tuesday went really well. I had a great bike workout with 3x10min hill repeats where I found it very easy to hit my target power and then a short 6 mile run where my heart rate was a touch high but pace came very easy.
Friday was a 6 mile run day and man were my legs sluggish. My HR was also super sluggish for the day so it all lined up and I just went out very easy and came back with five short pickups at about 5k pace.
Saturday was a recovery day with just a short open water swim with a few 6min pickups and a recovery bike for 80min with a few 30s strength repeats.
Sunday was my last big day. I started on the bike and rode for an hour super easy. Super easy is relative here in Madison as the flats and downhills can be easy but you still have plenty of ups. I think the only way for me to do recovery rides is on the trainer. Then I hit 3x20min at my low tempo power, 220w-240w, which is just a step above my steady of 180-220w. It was harder to get my power up into the zone this workout as compared to Wednesday and my heart rates were on the low side. I also find that pushing a tempo power on the rollers is a lot harder than pushing it on an uphill. So, another sluggish day.
After the ride I hit a 6 mile run at my starting Ironman pace of 8:20/mi. Then for the final mile I picked it up to target pace for miles 6-26.2. For Placid I'd like to be sitting in the 7:50-8:00 range/mile on the marathon. For me to do that I will give myself 6mi of jogging at 8:20-8:30/mi. Then at mile 6 I will just try to sit on the 7:50-8:00/mi as long as possible. If there is anything left at mile 20 then I will use it up at that point, not before. So, that run was super easy and felt good even though I was still a bit sluggish.
I really feel that this is a good goal and for my long runs of 18mi+ I've been able to run right around a 7:30/mi pace (with my walking breaks) so I think its doable. I've been practicing is walking for 30s every 2mi so that my body gets used to walking a bit and taking on calories at aid stations.
That's all for now. Getting excited for Placid.
Tuesday I had a very good swim which was a sign things were coming around. Typically, my swim pace falls off if I'm a bit tired. My run on Tuesday was also pretty good with heart rate, perceived exertion, and pace all lining up.
Wednesday was a progressive run starting easy at 8min/mile pace and dropping to 7min/mi pace. This workout was a bit goofy with the heat and my heart rate, perceived exertion and pace all out of whack. Let's just say I was a bit out of sorts after this run.
A big day was in order for Thursday. I started off with a 3000yd swim which similar to Tuesday went really well. I had a great bike workout with 3x10min hill repeats where I found it very easy to hit my target power and then a short 6 mile run where my heart rate was a touch high but pace came very easy.
Friday was a 6 mile run day and man were my legs sluggish. My HR was also super sluggish for the day so it all lined up and I just went out very easy and came back with five short pickups at about 5k pace.
Saturday was a recovery day with just a short open water swim with a few 6min pickups and a recovery bike for 80min with a few 30s strength repeats.
Sunday was my last big day. I started on the bike and rode for an hour super easy. Super easy is relative here in Madison as the flats and downhills can be easy but you still have plenty of ups. I think the only way for me to do recovery rides is on the trainer. Then I hit 3x20min at my low tempo power, 220w-240w, which is just a step above my steady of 180-220w. It was harder to get my power up into the zone this workout as compared to Wednesday and my heart rates were on the low side. I also find that pushing a tempo power on the rollers is a lot harder than pushing it on an uphill. So, another sluggish day.
After the ride I hit a 6 mile run at my starting Ironman pace of 8:20/mi. Then for the final mile I picked it up to target pace for miles 6-26.2. For Placid I'd like to be sitting in the 7:50-8:00 range/mile on the marathon. For me to do that I will give myself 6mi of jogging at 8:20-8:30/mi. Then at mile 6 I will just try to sit on the 7:50-8:00/mi as long as possible. If there is anything left at mile 20 then I will use it up at that point, not before. So, that run was super easy and felt good even though I was still a bit sluggish.
I really feel that this is a good goal and for my long runs of 18mi+ I've been able to run right around a 7:30/mi pace (with my walking breaks) so I think its doable. I've been practicing is walking for 30s every 2mi so that my body gets used to walking a bit and taking on calories at aid stations.
That's all for now. Getting excited for Placid.
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