The Journey is the Destination

Ironman World Championships 2011

2011-10-22T11:36:00.002-05:00

Let me start by saying I’m really not sure how to write this up. My goal since my first IM was to qualify for Hawaii. I didn’t think it would take this long. However, when I did accomplish it, last year at IM Wisconsin, it was one of the most amazing days of my life. In life, the things I work hardest for have the biggest reward in the end. I worked hard for the Kona spot and at times just thought it would be one thing in life that I gave my best and never achieved.

The whole year leading up to the Ironman World Championship was kind of weird. I focused more on the short distance racing early on and then shifted to long course training. I never felt like I had the same base that I did leading into WI and my coach heard that from me frequently…I just didn’t feel as prepared. However, with that being said I knew my swim and run were at lifetime bests and my bike had been my strength all year. I also put in one of the biggest training weeks of my life at altitude, training with a great group lead by Justin Daerr , Gordo, and Endurance Corner.

I also, had a pretty interesting speed bump this year. I was having one of my best races ever at Door County Half. I was around mile 9 on the run, racing for a top 10 finish overall and my heart rate shot up over 200bpm and wouldn’t come down. I’ve had my heart rate increase like this in the past but it would typically come right back down. I pulled out of that race even though it killed me to do so…I had no choice. Luckily a buddy of mine Dr. Larry Creswell, helped me out by providing a lot of comfort in a time when things were pretty scary. I was able to get a procedure performed at Northwestern Hospital about 6 wks out from Kona, which fixed my heart issue.

I was pretty excited for the big race, however as I mentioned before I think having a goal of getting to Kona was a much bigger accomplishment and with that I really didn’t have a goal at Kona. I would go back and forth between the idea of Kona as a victory lap vs. really racing Kona. I think in the end the day dictated my strategy.

I arrived in Kona with Lisa and we met my parents. I had an amazing support crew and it was wonderful to see so many friends on Kona that have been part of my triathlon family for so long. Leading up to the race there were lots of logistics to cover, but after the first day and seeing and feeling the race atmosphere, I decided that I would not go down to the expo and race areas unless I had a specific mission. I also did not attend the pre-race dinner or meeting…I wanted to enjoy the circus but not be part of it. Easier said than done.

Race morning finally came and I was very excited to finally get started. I lined up on the far left side in the second row and as I had been told many times, I expected a very physical start…beginning with full contact water treading. Without warning the cannon went off and so did we. I went out pretty hard the first few hundred yards, just trying to find space. I was getting bumped but was completely ready for it. I got dunked, bumped, hit over the head a few times, but it really didn’t matter, I knew it was coming and I was just excited to be racing Hawaii. The worst of the contact ended pretty quickly and I just kept finding feet for the swim. It was the first time in a race where feet would drop me though, and I just figured people could actually swim here. At the turnaround I got a bit aggressive and decided I should give a little surge to try and find a good pack and then ride it back to transition. This worked well and I had a steady pair of feet all the way back to the beach. I had no idea what I swam but based on some of the folks I saw in T1 I thought it probably went well.

I took my time through T1 onto the bike making sure I had everything I needed and most of all made sure to get my sunscreen. In hindsight, I probably needed more sunscreen. Onto the bike it was absolutely amazing how quick everyone was going. I tried to stay below my power cap, which I normally set pretty low for the first 25 miles or so in an IM. However, it was hard seeing everyone go by. It was also interesting to watch folks with a power meter sit up and spin the hills while other folks were hammering them. Once onto the Queen K, I got settled and sat in my zones. The race seemed to really calm down a bit on the Queen K but there were huge packs and I decided that sitting legally in a pack was the way to go. This took a bit more power to get into a group and stay legal but I think it was the correct decision on the day. I felt quite flat for most of the bike ride but really stayed on top of my nutrition plan that I practiced all year and tried to get ahead on my hydration. I ended up going to the bathroom 3 times on the bike and my goal was to go twice…great rule for IM racing…maybe a bit too much info?

I felt really good climbing up to Hawi and hit the turnaround ready to roll. On the downhill I really felt the wind and most of the downhill was spent holding onto the drops and trying to stay upright. I also started catching some folks and dropping folks at the end of the bike. My best power on the bike was in the last hour or so. By the time I was done with the bike I had nailed my nutrition and hydration and was ready to run. I ended up riding 5:15 which was a new bike PR by 7mins…then again it was a much easier course compared to Placid and Wisconsin.

I got off the bike and right away felt a bit weird. I jogged through transition, dropped off my bike and picked up my running gear. The goal was to run the race around a 140-145 heart rate and pick it up in the end. If I ran anything like WI this would have most likely resulted in a 3:15 or so. However, right from the start I was having some cramping issues in my legs and in the early miles went into the bushes and threw up all my nutrition. I was in a very bad place. I knew losing my nutrition was not good, as not only did I not have anything in my stomach anymore but also I probably wasn’t absorbing calories for a while and this was probably why I was feeling so weak. I didn’t have the desire to fight through it and wasn’t sure why. I didn’t know if I went too hard on the bike, didn’t take in enough nutrition, just was tired from training, drank too much salt water on the swim, or just didn’t want it like I did in WI. All of this was going through my head…however, I made a promise with myself that I would not give up and would make it to the finish line…I was pretty sure this would take 5 or 6hrs after I had run 3:20 in Madison the year before. Oh well. I put my head down and would just think about what I needed to do each step. I would count 100 steps at some points or count 10 cones, just to keep trying to run forward before I would walk. I was using every trick I have ever heard of to get to the finish line. I was also trying to figure out what my body needed and tried to stick to my nutrition plan…although I felt like I needed to get in a bit more cause I felt pretty weak. I saw my parents and Lisa at mile 10 or so and told them I was fine but this would take a little bit of time. I started to pull it together around mile 15, right before the energy lab and based on the time I figured I might be able to get in before 4hrs on the marathon. This is what I needed, a new goal. Into the energy lab I started feeling better and started pushing. The energy lab energized me. I was able to run a bunch of the run after the energy lab all the way up to mile 25 where my hamstrings completely seized. That sucked. After a few minutes (probably seconds) of stretching I was able to run again and finished the race that I had wanted to complete ever since getting into Ironman. I crossed the line with very mixed emotions but was happy it was done.

It has taken me awhile to write up this report because of these mixed emotions. I think next year I will not race Ironman. I feel like 4 years of chasing Hawaii has left me somewhat burnt out. However, when I think about trying to take it to the next level I get excited. I just don’t think I have what it takes to train right now to hit that next level. I don’t know if I really had it this year. I’m so happy and grateful to have completed the Ironman World Champs. It was everything everyone told me it would be and more. I have a feeling I will be back one day but right now I’m not ready. I love this sport and I love pushing myself to new levels but I think this next year I will focus on half Ironman and Olympic distance racing…I’m pretty excited about that decision. I’m also pretty excited about my next journey that will be with Lisa and for the rest of my life...the wedding is Dec. 3^rd.

The journey to Kona has been an incredible one. I could have not done it without my Mom, Dad, and Lisa. Before IM WI last year my dad said he really wanted to go to Hawaii. I’m glad I was able to deliver. Finally, I’d like to thank my Coach Tim Waggoner (Lucho), as he was instrumental in this journey and helping me get to Kona…I don’t think I could have done it without him. He had more confidence in me than I ever had in myself and taught me things way beyond triathlon.

Ironman Wisconsin 2010

2010-09-17T07:44:00.002-05:00

PRE-RACE

I really had no nerves going into this race. I had done the work that Coach Tim had laid out for me and this brought me a lot of confidence. I was also seeing some pretty incredible things going on with my body during training so I was feeling good. If I had to pick one thing I was nervous about leading into this race, it was whether my nutrition plan was the right one for me. It had me taking in a lot more calories than I did typically on race day and this lead to a couple rough runs off the bike in training.

For breakfast I had 3.5 cups of applesauce,24oz sports drink with whey protein, and a banana at 3:30am. Thought I would have some decaf as well but there was no room in the gut. I had a powerbar 1hr before the start and then a gel and salt tab at 15min prior to the start when I got in the water. No stomach issues at all in the water. Before the race I was very calm, almost too calm if that is possible.

SWIM

1:04:36

Very rough start. I started in the middle thinking that there would be fast folks on the buoy, slow folks outside and more of a gap in the middle of the line. This logic didn’t play out as I couldn’t pop out into clear water when I started getting clobbered. Other than the rough swim and really never getting into a rhythm there were no major issues or major wins during the swim. Oh, I did pee once so I definitely started the day hydrated!!

I went through T1 very conscious of not sprinting the long transition and spiking the heart rate. I remained smooth and controlled with no issues. I think a major win here was taking my time and not spiking my heart rate unnecessarily.

BIKE—5:22:46

I was pretty disappointed with my swim but I didn’t know if the swim was long or everyone had rough swims or whatever. It was done and I could only focus on that point forward. I couldn’t control what had just happened. I got on the bike and focused on my task at hand. The positive was my heart rate was low and I started on sports drink immediately. The first 25mi or so I tried to cap my watts below 210w. I’m not sure that I was successful with this, but it definitely forced me to slow some. I think I lacked the confidence early on to stick to my low power caps (as I was worried that I would have a super slow bike time that didn’t reflect my fitness). In typical fashion everyone and their brother, mother, aunt, uncle, were passing me. It was so hard to just let them go. Just knowing that I was in the best shape of my life and people were still just flying by me was a really hard thing to accept. Around mile 25, it was go time. I knew I had to pick up my power to my designated goal (220w) if I wanted to do something special in this race. I was a bit scared cause I knew at this point my body would let me know if my power target was possible but I also knew I was fit and it was time to make something special happen…it was all in at this point. As I was getting started on my move to goal power a guy who I knew had Kona aspirations went by me and this was my moment. This time I didn’t let this rider go, I stuck to him and used him as motivation to get it done.

As I started riding at goal watts I had a pretty good feeling that it was going to be my day. I knew I was moving well based on the ease I passed my competitors, many whom I knew from local races and had beat me on the bike in these races. The miles were clicking off much quicker than I expected. I think a lot of this was due to my mantra of staying in the moment and focusing on what I could do right then... trying to stay within my power goals, riding from aid station to aid station, sticking to my fueling plan and making sure I got my electrolytes. However, I noticed myself erring on the side of higher power than goal and as I rode my confidence kept building. It was weird though, instead of fearing a glorious blow up, something inside of me told me I would be good to go. Maybe it was the fact that I had trained so hard for this race, maybe it was my focus on mental preparation where I knew if I got in trouble I would figure out a way out of the mess, maybe it was the fact that Coach Tim challenged me in my workouts on a regular basis and I never felt out of sorts at all like at times in my training. I felt great on the bike, was drinking 1.5 to 2 bottles of sports drink an hour and taking two succeed tabs and one gel every hour. This resulted in having to pee 4-5 times during the bike leg. I kept waiting for a low spot but it never really happened. I didn’t drink any coffee in the morning or leading up to the race and started on caffeinated gels about 2hrs into the bike. As I started taking the caffeine I just told myself that I would get stronger with each gel. Near the end of the bike I had a bit of a twinge in my left hamstring so I started taking 3 succeeds per hour but stuck to my fueling plan. At around 105 on the bike I switched to water and brought it in strong. I was amazed by the amount of people I ended up passing on the bike.

RUN—3:20:02

I got off the bike, had a very smooth T2 and was off running. The goal was 8min/mi for the first 6mi and then to hang on to 7:45-8min/miles for the rest of the race. I took a hand held water bottle with me out of the transition to help myself slow it down. I watched my Garmin and looked at my running pace every 100yds or so, I told myself out loud slow down, slow down…I went by my dad and he yelled out I was in 14^th place…14^th place! 14^th place!! I’m in the hunt!! First 6 mi 7:26 pace. Shit, this was not the plan. I continued to tell myself to slow down, I kept watching my Garmin and I really tried to slow down through aid stations to get my nutrition and slow the mile pace. Although my confidence was building, I still wondered when the wheels were going to come off. Around mile 8 I realized my nutrition plan was NOT going according to planned. I did not want Clif Bloks at all and the thought of a gel was disgusting. Just kept doing the ironman perform drink and water. I got to the halfway point and felt great…well, great for an Ironman is relative but I was still smiling and pretty aware of what was going on. The next 6 or so miles were about the same pace, doh! However, 13 miles were in the bag and I was still feeling very strong.

I headed out for the second loop. Around mile 15 or 16 I hit my first low point of the day. I was conscious enough to make a good decision and realized I was running low on calories. At the next aid station I started on cola and this was just what I needed. I was so proud of myself for realizing I was having a problem, what was causing the problem and making the correct decision…this isn’t always the easiest thing to do 8 or 9 hours into an Ironman. I then switched the plan to alternating ironman perform drink and water to cola and water. But, just when I thought I was out of the woods I started having twinges in my hamstrings. I then decided I would start back on salt tabs every other aid station until the twinges went away. Around mile 20 I was getting pretty tired. I was still running strong but the miles were taking a toll on me. I then switched my strategy again to run to every aid station and then walk the aid station to get all my nutrition. This went real well until about mile 23 when I got a cramp in my hamstring. I bent over for 2 seconds the hamstring cramp released and at this point for some reason I knew I would be good the rest of the run. At mile 24 I picked it up and knew I would be done in about 2 miles. I was running in with everything I had left and really didn’t know what my time was as I was just focused on mile to mile and didn’t ever look at my overall split. I turned the corner and realized when I saw the clock I would be in under 10hrs. Crossing the finish line in 9:57:15, I realized that I had finally accomplished what I set out to do when I first started racing Ironman 7 years ago.

Coming Up on Tucson

2010-02-21T13:37:00.003-06:00

It's only a few more weeks til Epic Camp Tucson and there is no better motivator than fear. This is my third year in a row doing this early season training camp and I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

The last two weeks have been pretty solid with roughly 16-17 hours of training per week. This has consisted mostly of strong bike workouts on the trainer including two 3hr trainer rides this weekend. I've been keeping up on the Olympics during this time as well as catching some "quality" movies. My running and swimming has definitely taken a backseat but they aren't too far behind. My swimming has been much different this year with a lot of emphasis on building strength with paddles and the band. Even though I started out hating my band and paddle only swim sets they have grown on me (like a fungus) and I am definitely seeing some benefit.

I'm looking forward to racing some running races after the camp and have started to plan the triathlon season.

Cheers,

Josh

A Quick Update

2010-02-13T08:40:00.002-06:00

Well, only about 3 more weeks or so to my yearly Tucson training camp with Endurance Corner. I have taken a bit of a different approach this year working with Tim Waggoner. This has worked for me in the past and I look forward to this upcoming season.

This year instead of forcing the indoor work I have been trying to incorporate the snow into my training with some skate skiing and snow shoeing. It's been somewhat of a half fast effort but when I don't feel like biking or running indoors at least I know this is a good option.

I have also been incorporating the TRX system both on my own and in a class setting with Kari Woodall. This has really improved my core strength and kept things interesting over the WI winter.

After my training camp I look forward to a block of some solid run racing and then onto the triathlon season culminating with my 4th crack at Ironman Wisconsin.

Cheers,

Josh

Getting It Done

2009-09-14T06:06:00.002-05:00

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.

Testing the Legs

2009-08-10T09:22:00.003-05:00

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.

A Few Pics From Dad and LB

2009-08-05T21:40:00.010-05:00

First Workout Back

2009-08-04T06:22:00.003-05:00

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.

IRONMAN LAKE PLACID RACE REPORT

2009-07-31T07:36:00.003-05:00

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.

Ironman Lake Placid Thoughts

2009-07-21T11:20:00.002-05:00

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

0-30mi 200w cap on flats to start (180-200w)
Then go to 190-210w rest of race w/corresponding HR of 130-140 w/145bpm cap
220-240w on hills erring on low side especially on first loop. VERY Limited time above 250w.
VI of 1.05 or less w/NP of 210ish.
Nutrition: 350kcal/hr of infinit 2x 700cal bottles on bike/pickup water at aid stations
3rd bottle of 700cals at special needs.

RUN

0-6mi SLOW 8:20/mi jog
6-26.2 7:50-8min/mi goal
Walk 30s every other aid station
Run Nutrition:
200cals/hr of gels and coke.

NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER.

One Week to Race Day

2009-07-20T16:27:00.002-05:00

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.

Catching Up

2009-07-15T06:21:00.003-05:00

Thursday
Swim
Ride-1:51

After a solid effort on Wednesday I backed it up on Thurs. with close to a 2hr ride w/some 30s big gear efforts in the 300w range. My legs were a bit heavy inititally but that was to be expected and the 30s intervals woke them up. After my ride I hit a short swim and called it a day.

Friday
Run-6.75mi
Swim

I met up with my buddy and old coach Tim this morning. Tim coached me when I was preparing for the Great Floridian Triathlon. I placed 5th on the day and won my age group with a solidly executed race. In the offseason after that race, I lost my job, my Grandfather passed away, and soon after I was relocating to Madison, WI. I popped out of triathlon for a bit just to get my life which is typically easy and light, back to a good place without the additional stress of preparing for races. I ended up with a new job, a new house, a new girlfriend, a new dog and felt like the Talking Heads Song for awhile where I was thinking how the heck did I get here? But, it is all good and well, I have an Ironman in a couple of weeks.

So, I was really looking forward to this run as I learn so much everytime I talk with Tim. It was an easy run out S. Boulder Trail but today wasn't about physical fitness as it was about mental fitness. By the time I was done with the run I was in a great place and felt very good about my upcoming Ironman.

I added a swim onto the day and practiced my rocket ship arms with Andy Caplan.

Saturday
Swim-3200m
Bike-3:45/67mi
Run-2.5mi

This was supposed to be a long day but after the high heart rates on Wed. and a little bit of lingering fatigue I thought it would be better to back this off a bit. Better safe than sorry.

I met up with my first friend from Boulder, Jeff Keil and his super fit and fast wife Jenni and hit a bit of a swim prior to our bike. My swim was very simple, 4x800m as 2x swim, where I definitely felt the altitude. Then I tossed on a bouy and hit another 800 and then a final 800 w/some nice big paddles.

From there (after a bit of a coffee break) we got on our bikes, did a bit of a spin then I hit 45min around my IM power. I didn't want to push too hard as my heart rate was already a touch high from the altitude and I wasn't feeling super peppy. Then a bit of an easy spin, a stop to refuel, and back to a 20min effort at IM power then a 20min climb at IM climbing power and a spin home. Jeff and Jenni just tagged along and played Iron Sherpa which was so freakin cool of them. Jeff and I talked all about Ironman, his training, my training, my upcoming race and similar to my time with Tim I felt very much at peace with my upcoming Ironman. I really miss my friends out in Boulder

To end the day Le Jeff and I went for a short run to top off the day where I definitely felt the effects of a day of training at altitude. It was a good day.

Sunday/Monday
Ride-1:25
Run-4mi

On Sunday I just hit a short easy spin and a 4mi run, just to keep the wheels rolling and then took Monday off other than an hour of technique work in the pool with Kari.

Long Run

2009-07-08T19:44:00.002-05:00

Today was another Long Run in the arboretum. Each loop is about 10k and I try to pick it up just a bit each 10k. Today instead of running based on HR, Alan asked me to do the run by perceived effort and not worry about the heart rate. I typically run about 7:20-7:30/mi for the 30k effort and today when I wasn't looking at heart rate that is exactly where it fell. I ended up at 2:18 for a touch less than 30k. My perceived effort felt very much like a steady to moderate effort. Even the last couple miles were not necessarily hard. Last week the last couple of miles were HARD and I was pretty much toasted afterwards.

The only issue, other than peeing right in the middle of a heard of mosquitos, is my HR was rather high today for the effort that I have seen in the past by about 6-10 bpm. So, I'm not sure why that is but I can't get too caught up in it at this point in the game. All I can do is train, rest well, and repeat.

More Recovery

2009-07-06T17:47:00.002-05:00

Friday through today has been super easy. My longest ride of the weekend was 1:40 with a little bit of steady. My longest run has been about 45mins. I am confident that I will bounce back for Wed's long run and the weekend sessions. I'm really craving some workouts after taking a full day off of training. I hate taking full days off!!

Looking forward to a short swim and a short run tomorrow.

Less than 3wks now til Placid. It's all about execution.

So far this week...

2009-07-02T19:20:00.004-05:00

Monday--Day off
A full day of work and a big weekend of training.

Tuesday
Swim--3250yds as sprints (10x50 hard/25ez and 2000 pull/pads)
Run--ez 4.7mi
a bit tired after being in ATL in the morning, then Detroit and finally in Madison

Wed
Bike-2hrs as 2x40 steady
not feeling it today.

Thursday
Run-20mi picking it up each loop (10k)
probably my slowest long run of the year.

I think its pretty obvious, ez is in order until the body recovers a bit. Last week was hard and if you add in the heat stress of the mid week ride and run then it all makes sense. Thanks Coach AC for the pep talk and Blake B. for some good recovery ideas.

A Solid Week

2009-06-29T09:25:00.002-05:00

Swim-12,800yds
Bike-219mi
Run-38.5mi

Need to put a few more of these together. Wednesday long ride and Thursday long run suffered a bit due to the heat but ended the week on a high note. Today is a recovery day, off the legs completely.

Five Weeks Out

2009-06-29T06:27:00.002-05:00

Saturday-Big Day Training
Swim 4000yds
Bike 106
Run 4mi

Saturday was another attempt at big day training. A pretty similar outline to what I’ve planned to hit in the past but with a twist on the bike. The swim was a 5x800 descending pull set in around 12 minutes and out on the 12:30. Swim was pretty uneventful other than the fact that my swim just hasn’t been feeling too strong the last couple weeks.

On the bike I rolled out pretty easy for the first hour. I noticed that my legs were a bit tried, but a good tired, from the week’s festivities. The next hour was done on the Ironman Wisconsin course as IM effort. The next task was 2x1hr a bit higher than IM effort. This was tough. I nailed the first hour and then broke the second hour into 2x30mins w/5min ez. I was able to hit the first 30min section with my normalized power in target but was unable to finish strong on the second 30min section. I ended up spinning the rest of the ride although noticed that my 200-220w IM power was still within reach. As this week was one of the first hot ones of the year it was pretty amazing to see all the carnage of cramping athletes all over the Wisconsin hills. Luckily, I had my heat issues on Wednesday and Thursday and was able to complete this ride without any issues and a heart rate that looked pretty reasonable for the efforts.

I decided to escape the heat by doing my run on the treddie and saw pace to HR efforts similar to what I had done on Friday after a short technique swim. That was a great sign, although I’m still not sure why I’m always slower on the treddie for a given HR than on the roads.

Sunday
Bike-32mi
Run-6mi

I rolled out pretty early on the bike after a lousy night’s sleep. All night my body felt like it was still moving after all the activity from yesterday and I got up several times to use the restroom. I also had limited time as I needed to catch a plane at 1:30. So, instead of going to my usual hill I went to a shorter hill for muscular endurance work. I noticed right away my legs were a bit heavy and the HR was suppressed. I ended up hitting six repeats for about 30mins of big gear work at which point my legs felt well worked. I then took it home at IM effort and got in a good solid six mile run at IM effort.

The Lucho Double

2009-06-23T06:05:00.004-05:00

Last week was a push in the right direction. I was able to hit two key workouts mid-week done as a long ride and then a shorter ride the next day with some strength work in the hills followed by a moderately long run. I call this two day block the Lucho Double as it was introduced to me by my old friend and coach Tim Luchinske (no Tim, I don't think you are old) and I've had much success with it in the past.

So, the first day was a five hour bike ride with a touch over 3hrs of Ironman power. I find if I break up these rides into shorter segments, anywhere from 40-75 minutes of Ironman effort it is much easier mentally than to ride 3-4hrs at the Ironman effort. I'm not sure how physiologically different it is to split it up then to ride it continuous especially as I'm limiting my recovery to 5-10min max. Comments on this AC??? However, I plan on hitting the 112 done as a continuous ride just once before the big day on July 26th.

I followed the long bike the next day with a shorter ride where I went out to my long hill and did a couple of longer (about 18min) hill repeats at a moderately hard effort. This for me works out to about 240-260w on the bike or an average heart rate of 141 and 142bpm for the repeats. I rode home as a steady time trial and then changed into the running gear for a 7mi run in the hills. For this run, with all the biking prior to it, I find it really gives me a realistic sense of my Ironman pace. When I typically do my long runs I'm guessing that I'm about 20-30s faster per mile than what I will run at the Ironman marathon while with this run, I've put enough biking in my legs so that by the time I hit it I find a lot of similar sensations as the Ironman run and the pace is much closer.

I finished up the week with a business trip to NYC and can't say I got much training in. Sunday was my long run after a bit of detraining in NYC and although I got in 30km of running it definitely wasn't my best effort. Live and learn and then learn again and again and again...

Work + Rest = Fitness

2009-06-16T05:55:00.003-05:00

After a bit of recovery last week it was time to try to hop back into the swing of things. Alan and I planned on hitting a big day of training exactly a week after the half ironman. My big day consisted of swim 4000yds (5x800), bike 112 miles, and run 6 miles. I knew going into this it might get ugly as my heart rate was very high for all my short recovery workouts leading into this one.

The day started with the swim and unfortunately I struggled to hit my typical base pace on these. I just chalked it up to a bad swim day and put it behind me. I then hopped on the bike and had no pep in the legs. I decided to just ride and see how things progressed. Unfortunately, I really never came out of it and ended the ride after about 75 miles.

I was a bit down on myself after the ride as now I had a race that I wasn't so happy with and a workout that further caused me to question what I'm doing and how fit I am. Luckily, I have great friends and a great girlfriend who told me how f'ing stupid I was being and they were completely right. I need to remember that fitness doesn't just disappear, it sometimes gets hidden by fatigue, but its still there and rest will bring it back. I know that like most triathletes, I have the work part of the equation down but sometimes (or most the time) unless the rest is forced it doesn't always happen. So, another easy day today and I will give it a go on Wednesday.

Rockman Half Race Review

2009-06-12T06:51:00.002-05:00

I went into this race with big expectations. I have been working hard on my swimming technique with Kari, have improved my functional threshold power in the off season by about 20w on the bike, and have been getting in some good volume on the run and really hitting the key sessions well.

Race Day

My parents and Lauren came to the race with me which always gives me a boost. However, no boost was occurring this morning. I had some issues with sleep for a couple of nights and I may have been feeling the effects of that on race morning. However, I figured, once the gun goes off and we get swimming, I will be good. Breakfast was also a bit light with one can of ensure and I wonder if that played a role in the outcome later in the day. I did a short 20 minute run and then fetched my wetsuit and got in the water to get a bit of a warm up in.

Swim-29:40/15th OA
The gun went off and it was pretty tight and hectic in the water, as usual, for the first 200m or so. However, that was the most energy I was going to use for the next 4hrs or and I settled quickly into a good pack of about 6 people. I got towed around the lake for the rest of the swim and came in nice and relaxed ready to bike. Got into T1 stripped off the wettie and had a pretty quick transition.

Bike-2:29:50/20th OA
On the bike I had specific goals. The first 10-15mi I stayed in my Ironman power ranges then after that section I raised my power range to half ironman (230-250w on flats and up to 290w, FTP on hills). At about mile 12 on the rollers, some riders came through pretty quickly. I knew that I would have a buddy to pace off of and work together through the bike leg. I went with my first potential buddy but he was working a bit too hard for me and I thought he was just more fit but I ended up seeing him again at mile 52 or so on the bike and never again on the run. Another guy told me that I could get over the hills and that I was doing great as he blew by me standing on the first section of rollers. Yes, I saw him later as well. The third little piggie was a charm and as he came by and I knew he would work as a good pacer. So, I took off with him, saw low watts and good speed and stuck with him until he totally slowed down and let me by...WTF!!! Well, it turns out that he knew his game and then I went back and worked for awhile up front. The rest of the bike we shared duties at the front and I was stoked to be riding with someone that understood that when you ride together you don't need to sit on my wheel but can keep it legal with great consequences. The rest of the ride was rather uneventful. However, I believe that the ride lead to the demise of my run as I was just not attentive and only was able to get in about 500 calories on the bike. Other than my nutrition (which was HUGE) I paced the bike perfectly from a power standpoint and raised watts on the second half.

Run 1:30:36/7th OA

On the run, once again I was a man with a plan. The first two miles I used to jog and figure out where my running legs were once again. I didn't want to see anything over 150 on the Heart rate monitor. The next 5 miles were my cruising miles where I would just cruise in zone 3 and then the final 10k were my do work miles where it was time to race hard. I also planned on walking every other mile for 15s and then 45s at the 7mi mark. Last year at Racine I pulled this strategy off close to near perfection. This year was the opposite.

When I got off the bike I jogged and only saw the heart rate go over 150 on some steeper hills. However the heart rate remained low and was very reluctant to come up at all. I should have realized at the time that this was most likely a lack of nutrition issue and I should have grabbed a few gels. However, I didn't have any gels and there were none on the course (BIG LESSON). I did have my camelback full of Infinit and was able to drink a bunch of that (I've become a huge fan of the camelback since Lucho prescribed it back in 2005 and use it for all races half and longer). The rest of the run I struggled just trying to make my way through the course and get to the line. Since it was pretty humid I after the first 2 miles I decided to walk 15s each mile instead of 15s every other mile up to the 7mi mark and then re-evaluate. I never really came out of my funk and couldn't raise the HR when it was time to work. I ended up walking 15s each mile throughout the race and this probably prevented me from cramping any worse than I already was. I was glad to be done with this run.

Take Home
#1 Make sure nutrition is nailed...since this race I have gone back to my notes from other races and coaches and have checked in on what has worked in the past. I will NOT make this mistake again.

Otherwise, I was very happy with my swim, my bike was paced exactly according to plan, and I learned a lesson from this race.

Bike Data

Duration: 2:29:20
Work: 2012 kJ
TSS: 160.9 (intensity factor 0.804)
Norm Power: 231
VI: 1.03
Pw:HR: -1.31%
Pa:HR: 1.9%
Distance: 56.384 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 427 225 watts
Heart Rate: 129 151 142 bpm
Cadence: 29 188 81 rpm
Speed: 4.5 38 22.7 mph

1st half:
Duration: 1:14:10
Work: 981 kJ
TSS: 75.9 (intensity factor 0.783)
Norm Power: 225
VI: 1.02
Pw:HR: -1.62%
Pa:HR: -12.35%
Distance: 27.997 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 398 220 watts
Heart Rate: 129 147 140 bpm
Cadence: 36 174 84 rpm

2nd half:
Duration: 1:15:10
Work: 1031 kJ
TSS: 85.1 (intensity factor 0.824)
Norm Power: 237
VI: 1.03
Pw:HR: 4.62%
Pa:HR: 2.83%
Distance: 28.387 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 427 229 watts
Heart Rate: 129 151 144 bpm
Cadence: 29 188 79 rpm
Speed: 4.5 38 22.7 mph

Rockman Half Ironman Report

2009-06-09T14:02:00.002-05:00

Swim:29:40
Bike:2:29:50 (225w av/231w norm)
Run: 1:30:36

Total: 4:32:39
10th Overall/2nd in AG

Details to follow...

20 Minutes of Truth

2009-06-03T06:49:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was another 20 minute time trial to help determine my FTP (functional threshold power). FTP is approximately the power you can hold for an hour effort. It is also referred to as Anaerobic Threshold. To get an approximate FTP from a 20 minute time trial we just take 95% of the 20 minute power. We have then done hour long testing where Alan has asked me to sit within 5% of this power for an hour to confirm that we are close. This is even less fun than the 20 minute test.

Anyway, I did the 20min time trial in the afternoon, which typically doesn't work as well as the test done first thing in the morning. I guess the fact that I'm a morning person comes into play there. I always hit this test as a 20 minute easy warm up, 5 minutes at my old FTP, 10 minutes easy and then right into the meat, the 20 minute time trial.

When I hit my 5 minute effort yesterday the legs screamed at me and I wondered if I should really be hitting this test today. However, when I got to the 20 minute effort everything felt much better. Just a confirmation of the importance of a good warm up. I started the test trying to go hard but one effort level down from what I would want to hold for the entire test. The numbers looked good and I figured we would have an honest time trial today. At 5 minutes I tried to pick it up just slightly but within reason and at a power I thought I could hold for another ten minutes until the 15 minute mark. Then when I had 5 minutes left I tried to pick it up another notch. I typically find if I pace the 20 minute time trial correctly there is very little ability to pick it up in that last 5 minutes. I find that if I do pick it up its only by a few watts.

When all was done I ended up holding 302w for the 20 minute time trial giving me an estimated FTP of 287w. That's exactly where I was last test and I know that I can hold 95% of that for an hour based on earlier testing we did. I also know that for my longer sessions I can hold 70%-75% of that 287w which is what I need to do for Ironman. So, even though I did not see an "improvement" in my FTP I am very secure in the fact that I have enough top end power for long course racing to accomplish my goals. Alan and I will revisit some FTP specific training later on but for now my goal is to build the ability to go long and execute a solid Ironman at Lake Placid.

A New Best

2009-06-01T13:03:00.003-05:00

I took it a bit easier this weekend and tried to shake my sore throat that has been bothering me for the last few days.

I really wanted to race a 5k on Sat. but was smart and took the day a bit lighter. I ended up going to the track and doing several 200m runs right around 37-38s/200 followed by a spin after a long nap. Sunday, I felt somewhat better although the throat was still bothering me. I hit an easy run and then hit some steady riding with a touch of strength work in the hills.

Today, was a new best. I've been hitting this swim set for many years and was a bit nervous to see the intervals Coach Alan laid out. The set was 24x100yds done on a 1:40, 1:35, 1:30, and 1:25 send off. I shot for a 5s or so rest between each send off. The set was done as one of each interval, so, 1:40, 1:35, 1:30, 1:25 the first time through and then two of each interval and finally three of each interval. I have never done this workout starting with a 1:40 and descending to 1:25 so I was pretty happy to be able to make each interval today!!

Smoked.

2009-05-30T14:08:00.004-05:00

Well, after a solid Wednesday, my last half ironman specific brick, I'm feeling well, smoked.

Wednesday was pouring rain so I ended up riding 1hr easy on the trainer, followed by 90min at Ironman power (about 210-220w) followed by 2x30min at half ironman power (220-250w). So, after close to 4hrs on the trainer, I headed outside for my run.

The run consisted of 2mi in zone 2, 5mi at zone 3 or low zone 4 and then a cool down. This tempo run has been real tough for me to nail due to mistakes with nutrition and starting the run too fast. I ended up taking it out what felt like an easy pace but in reality, worked out to about 7min/mile. Probably due to my aggressive start on the run, I ended up with a nasty side stitch. I was thinking, here we go again with a crap T-run, but as I learned from my last couple runs if I just take it down a notch and jog a bit I might be able to work it out. Sure enough, the side stitch subsided and I was able to keep it rolling finishing off the 5 miles a touch over 35min. I was very happy with the way the workout went.

Thursday was a technique swim with Coach Kari, and Friday was a solid swim and short run.

I was going to race a 5k this morning but due to an "on the edge sore throat" I decided to bail on the race and run easy with some short pickups on the track. I was surprised by my leg speed on the track hitting the majority of my 200m repeats right around 37-38s. I took a solid nap after that session and will do a bit of a spin to loosen up the legs. Hopefully I will be able to regain my mojo here in the next couple days and then put together a solid half at Rockman next week.

A New Favorite Swim Workout

2009-05-27T06:22:00.001-05:00

I've been swimming this workout once weekly. I suck with paddles so, I think this is getting at a weakness.

Warm up.
I've typically been swimming 400yds or so w/my snorkel and then hitting about 300yds of drills to try to ingrain good form for the next section.

Main Set.
10x75yds as 50 sprint/25 easy.
I've been doing this on a 1:30 send off trying to get the 50 sprint under 35s.
2000yds pull w/paddles and buoy as 4x100, 2x200, 400, 2x200, 4x100.
All on a 1:30 per 100yd send off.

Cool down

Hill Repeat Wednesday

2009-05-21T05:49:00.004-05:00

First off my condolences to the Larsen family. This has been on my mind a good portion of the last couple of days. As endurance athletes we push the boundaries of physical and mental limits on a daily basis. We reach a place of feeling almost invincible where we can take on any challenge and succeed. However, we are reminded that we too are human when tragedy such as this strikes. I suppose that the best we can do is just make sure we're living each day to its fullest.

With that being said Hill Repeat Wednesday was definitely a push in the right direction. The day started out with a 5:30 mount up onto the steed and we were off into the sunrise on a beautiful 60 degree summer morning in Madison. I spun out to Cross Plains and then, thanks to Blake Becker, I had a little workout route planned out. I rode route KP to F to J (which is pretty flat out to the turnoff to F and then F basically continues rolling with a gradual uphill until J) at my Ironman effort. At J the hill repeat portion began. The portion of Route F after J is exactly a 4mi hill climb. I spent close to 90min going up and down that hill at a half ironman effort (240-260w). My last interval I decided to give er a little more juice and ended up around 270w for the climb. After the last climb I rode back home at Ironman effort through the beautiful rolling green hills of Wisconsin back home in time to catch my conference call and start the "real world" part of my day.

I felt great, probably due to my new commitment to my foam roller, and was able to sneak in a 3.5 mile run right before dinner. Yes, a great day...however, I might not have the energy (or time) to repeat that one as often as I'd like...bummer.

Last couple of days

2009-05-18T12:03:00.004-05:00

Sunday:
85mi bike/7mi run

I revisited a workout on Sunday that I did a couple of weeks ago. The goal was 90min easy, 90min steady, and 90min tempo. I was able to find some decent flatter roads to really focus on holding the prescribed power (sub 190w ez, 190w-220w steady, 220-260w tempo). The workout went well although I ran out of fuel in the beginning of my tempo set and just kept going because I was feeling good. This later would bite me right in the you know where on the run.

The data: easy-163w av/181w NP/115bpm av
steady-196w av/204w NP/129bpm av
tempo-223w av/230w NP/142 bpm av

From the bike I went right into a tempo run. The goal was 2mi to build (try to hold sub 150bpm) to 7min pace then 5mi at 7min/mi pace and 1 mi easy. This didn't go so well. The first two miles were decent and I avg'd 7:04/mi (145bpm). Maybe a bit quick to start. Then, in the middle of mile 3 I started getting crampy and couldn't take on nutrition because not only were my legs cramping but so was my gut. So, I slowed down a bit until the cramping eased up and started taking in nutrition. I ended up cutting the tempo portion to 4mi (7:20/mi pace/156bpm) and jogging in the last mile ez. I ended up with 7 miles done in 51:52 (152av). I was pretty well spent and ended up ordering a tomato/basil pizza to go with my recovery smoothie.

Monday:
18.5 mile run

I woke up on Monday and felt actually pretty good. I was on the fence on whether or not I wanted to hit the 18 mile planned run today. In fact I shot an email to coach Al telling him I probably was not going to hit it after I got back from my workout yesterday.

I was still on the fence when I ran the first loop of the arboretum. I am now doing all my long runs as 15 minutes running followed by 30 seconds of "airport" walking to take in some nutrition and reset. I just kept on clicking off 15 minute sets and pretty soon I was bringing it home. I ended up running the rolling course in a touch over 2:19. Oh yeah, that was about 18.5 miles. i averaged a 7:31/mi (142bpm) and picked it up the last couple miles averaging 7:16/mi (148bpm) on a mostly uphill section. I was pretty happy with that run.

Now its time to recover a bit. I hope that wasn't too much and my body doesn't rebel.

Run Rest Repeat

2009-05-14T07:30:00.002-05:00

After my Saturday Big Day I followed up with my run on Sunday. I have been doing my long runs as a run/walk. I run 15 minutes and then take 30s to eat, drink, and walk to reset my body and hit it again. This has been working very well for me thus far as long as I bring enough calories with me on my runs. I have gone back to the camelback method that I used last year and was initially recommended to me by Lucho (that guy has a lot of good ideas).

So, on Sunday I was able to run a touch over 15 miles in 1:54 including my walk sections. This worked out to about a 7:30/mi at a 139bpm avg. I was pretty happy with this run and feel like its definitely time to up the distance moving forward.

Monday through Wednesday were easy days with a short flop in the pool on Monday, an easy run with some short pickups and a bit of TRX work on Tuesday followed by a decent swim on Wednesday and a 90 minute easy spin. I'm looking forward to hitting it hard again.

Big Days

2009-05-09T17:32:00.003-05:00

Today was the first of my Big Days leading up to Ironman Lake Placid.

The day began with 5x800yds swim descending each 800. I started the first one with my Finis swim snorkel to work on balancing out the stroke and then descended each 800 from there. I played around with some pace changes throughout the 800s just to keep it interesting. The last 800 I did as 100 ez/200 steady/100 mod-hard and then repeated it. I was very happy with the way I felt in the pool even though I definitely am carrying some fatigue in the body.

Next was a bike ride and since the weather was quite crappy today I decided to do this on the trainer. I also decided to go the trainer route as my buddy Tim gave me some good ideas for IM Placid training and I really wanted to stick in to IM specific zones. So, with the input of Tim and of course Coach AC I hit the trainer and knocked out 4x50min IM specific intervals aiming for 200-220w building each interval. The set went well and felt VERY IM specific. I really need to find some good flat riding or slightly rolling here in Madison so that I'm not limited to the trainer when trying to keep in a specific power zone.

Finally, I capped off the day with a six mile run. I took out the first couple miles keeping my heart rate under 140 and then let the heart rate drift into a low steady effort. I ended up right around 45min for my six mile run and went home to finish off the big day with a big ice bath.

Tomorrow is an early 15 mile run and then Mother's Day festivities.

Recovering

2009-04-11T10:45:00.002-05:00

Well, not much going on right now. This week has consisted of some easy building to steady runs and a couple of technique swims including one lesson with Kari. There were a couple of nights after camp where I woke up with a little bit of a scratchy throat but that was expected with the large increase in training stress that I hit last week. My training stress balance is back to 0 and now perhaps on the positive side of the equation while last week we were pretty far into the negative TSB.

Moving forward tomorrow I get back on the bike and start building the bike again. I'm looking forward to starting to hit some regular training weeks again although I have quite a bit of work travel in the next few weeks. I have also been adding a bit of a run/walk strategy to my run training and am still trying to wrap my head around this idea for half IM and IM races.

Hoping for some good weather after my training week in the desert heat.

The Final Day: EC Camp 2009

2009-04-06T16:57:00.006-05:00

Day 6

Today was the final day of our training camp, the ride to Kitt Peak. The ride is a touch over 100mi with a 12mi mountain climb in the middle of the ride. The ride was friendly on the way out, okay, mostly friendly until about 7 miles in. There was an early goading of the group by Gordo who went out about 100 yds in front of the group to see if there would be any takers. NYC Anthony couldn't resist and that began the up tempo portion of the ride about 30 miles from the climb. This was all fine and dandy until I flatted about 2 minutes into the fun portion of the ride. Luckily a couple more flats, the kindness of Coach JD, Kevin, Alan, a strong pull by NYC Anthony, and a poorly timed bathroom break by the lead group had us back together in the front of the ride. As we were approaching the turn off to Kitt, the one armed bandit, took off and was able to hold off the group to the turn off and then most of the 12 mile climb.

My goal for the day was to give a max effort for the climb and although I was pretty tired from the weeks events the climb went well. Four minutes and 15 watts better than last year. I think I froze through solidly on the way down and was then thawed on the way home by some of Anthony's and JD's pulls.

All in all this was another great camp put on by the guys at Endurance Corner. About 27 or 28hrs of work was done in 6 days with most of it being done on the bike. A big thanks to JD, Gordo, Dr. J, Alan, Coach KP, Aunt Sherry and anyone else that my fried brain isn't remembering that was involved in running this great week. Looking forward to EC Tucson Camp 2010.

Photos by Sherry Daerr

EC Camp Day 5

2009-04-03T18:32:00.007-05:00

Run, Swim, no bike.
5:22am drink coffee

5:50am hop in urban assault vehicle and drive to trailhead
6:24am begin 11 mile run. 90mins as 15min run with 30s walk breaks. I like this strategy for Iroman.

6:54am hop back in urban assault vehicle

8:00am eat breakfast

9:17am go back to room and fall asleep on my computer

10:30am leave for pool

10:55am arrive at pool

11:00am swim 2300yds including a one-armed Individual Medeley against my buddy Dr. J. Dr. J wins.

11:45 back in van and heading home.

1:00pm home and eat lunch.

1:30pm turn in laundary

2:00pm sleep until dinner and work on computer.

6:00pm dinner

EC Camp Day 4

2009-04-02T19:03:00.003-05:00

Once upon a time in Tucson, AZ there was a group of triathletes who woke up at 5:00am for the 5:12 pot of coffee. They did not pull the pot before 5:12am because the scary camp director, JD said he would turn them into newts.

After coffee and some of Monsy's baked goods the campers went to the trail head for a short 45min run to start the day. The sun was rising along with the temps and all was good.

After second breakfast (as most the campers are hobbits) everyone went to the pool for a lovely 5500yd swim. The swim consisted of 5x500, 4x400, 3x300, 2x200, and 100 cool down. Gordo, the assistant camp director, decided that it would be lots of fun to throw in a hard 100yd sprint during one of the 300s as well as a 200 IM for the last 200. Coach AC won the 200 with a strong and marvelous effort. The campers suffered, cramped, and some even became dizzy...and all was good.

For the final workout the campers hopped on their steeds to head out for a 50 mile ride. The 50 mile ride actually turned out to be 50 miles. The campers were shocked and awed. After a leisurely and friendly warm up NYC Anthony decided to attack. Gordo went with him and I was left with Dan "Abe Lincoln" Dungan, JD, and a few others. An organized paceline was formed, hard work was done by all but the catch was not made until the first rest station at the Urban Assault Vehicle. After a hasty stop at the UAV, Gordo, NYC, and Abe took off and I was left alone. I worked hard to bridge the gap and soon after found myself pulling the group for awhile.

Yada, yada, yada, bike, bike, bike, pedal, pedal, pedal, check my watts, good, bring out your dead, I'm not dead yet, eat and drink we came to the incline leading up to Gates Pass. First JD put in a good surge and opened a gap. NYC didn't go. Then Gordo closed the gap and I went with Gordo. Abe and NYC were left behind, JD fell back after a bit to help out Abe and NYC (JD is a GOOD guy) and Gordo and I climbed to the top of Gates Pass. All was good. We took it home from there, made EAS Whey protein shakes and lived happily ever after...until tomorrow.

For those of you playing along at home, we have put in a touch over 20hrs of training these first 4 days of camp with 13,500yds of swimming, about 250mi of biking, and a civilized 12 miles of running.

EC Camp Day 3

2009-04-01T15:46:00.003-05:00

The day began with an early first breakfast and a 6am swim. The swim was a solid 3600yds with some strength work and other fun sets. KP who lead our lane with a bit extra weight added has now been dubbed Coach Rock. After the swim we met for second breakfast.

The ride for the day was advertised as a somewhat peppy 40mi. This was what we got with a good tempo set up Gates Pass and then some pace work. Coach Justin (pictured here) divided us into two groups and the first group was sent off with a 1 min head start. The goal was for the second group to catch the first by keeping a smart paceline rolling. Solid work was done by all. We brought home the ride in a bit over 2hrs and 45 miles. Still need to get a run done and then the highlight of my day is a couples massage with Tony D. from NYC. I knew I'd be spending a lot of time training with him but the massage has taken it to a new level.

EC Camp Day 2

2009-04-01T10:32:00.004-05:00

Day two started with the 20 mile climb up Mt. Lemmon. We rolled out easy to the base of the climb and regrouped. I started in the back so that I was not tempted to go out too hard and cover the attacks that soon would be occuring at the base of the climb. At around the one mile marker I saw Gordo who was already pretty far up the road put in an attack with only a few takers. Me, I just kept plugging along at my desired pace with the goal of picking up the power at the half way point. Otherwise, I was joined by Dave once again on this climb and really enjoyed the company. At about mile 17 I decided to give er and ended up a bit under 2hrs for the 20mi climb.

We then regrouped at Udall park and some did short transition runs before lunch. After lunch we shot over to the pool where we were warmly greeted by the locals. I think the phrase was a bunch of locusts have decsended on our pool. We did a short loosen up swim of about 1500yds with all kinds of fun little sets to cap off the day.

Later that evening Alan gave a great talk on muscle fiber types, peripheral adaptations key to long course triathlon and how to best train to cause those adaptations. All in all a great day.

Tucson Endurance Corner Training Camp

2009-03-31T17:12:00.004-05:00

The first day began with a Monsy Muffin and a large cup of coffee. Thanks Monica!

We headed to the pool for an early swim. Alan provided the set which was a short warm up followed by 8x25 fly and then 20x100 swim. I felt really good in the pool leading our lane. Must be the masters work and Kari’s complete overhaul of my doggie paddle.

After our swim we headed back for breakfast but I decided to pass on brekkie and just snack on a buffet of power bars and Gatorade on my way out to Madera Canyon. Justin Daerr provided a civilized wheel out of town for the group until I had the honor of our first flat of the day. After a quick tire change we were back on our way out to Madera with several good pulls which ended up breaking up the peppy group into several smaller peppy groups. I ended up in the front group with Tony D. each of us taking good pulls at the front into a nasty wind. Some of the highlights of the ride included Dave putting together a monster solo bridge to catch up to Tony and me and then Dave dropping us on Madera Canyon. My lack of hot weather training was evident by the cramps in my legs from the ride up Madera and back down to Tucson. All in all is was a good first day hitting about 96 miles on the bike.

We had a good talk at dinner on riding the long ride given by KP and color commentary by Gordo, JD, and Alan. I’m looking nervously forward to tomorrow’s ride up Mt. Lemmon. It should be interesting to see what that ride did to my legs and how well I can bounce back in this early season camp. It’s another great group here in Tucson and I’m looking forward to learning more about them and myself as the week progresses.

Just A Little Frustration

2009-03-23T08:01:00.002-05:00

I decided with the great weather on Saturday to go and ride with some of the local studs here in Madison. The ride was billed as a base ride and for most of the ride it was. The part that wasn't was a bit frustrating. I really had to work hard to stay with the group on some of the longer hills and also a section which was more of a 20 minute time trial than a base ride. This caused some doubt as to whether I did enough this winter to spring board my fitness toward a good season.

Although it felt good to work harder, and be outside with my buddies, I'm not sure if this is in line with my goal of becoming a better cyclist. I think what is frustrating is the fact that I love riding with my friends not only for the company but also for the fact that these guys are strong and there may be some benefit to riding with them. However, this turned into more of a roadie ride with huge peaks and valleys in effort, power, and heart rate rather than a tri-focused ride with more steady efforts and controlled hills. I'd like to continue to ride with them because I really enjoy their company but I worry that I'm not doing what I should when I'm training but, at the same time, I don't want to be a triathlon hermit.

Groovy Baby

2009-03-18T17:40:00.004-05:00

Its been 10 days into my pre-season unloading period and I feel groovy baby. I've been adding back in some habits that I've let slip once the swim, bike, and run load picked up and hopefully, I can keep them in the routine throughout the rest of the season.

First, I've added yoga back into the mix not only for the great physical benefits but also to calm the mind and center myself. In these 10 days I've been also focused on core work and strength training as well. Even if these items don't make me quicker I feel that they are good for over all health and injury prevention. I've started putting the in season diet in place limiting sweets and high glycemic index carbs. I've also been experimenting with limiting caffeine intake.

With the way I'm currently feeling these changes appear to be a step in the right direction for fitness and overall health and well, um...lets just say I'm feeling randy baby...grrrrrrr.

Unloaded

2009-03-11T18:49:00.004-05:00

Typically the goal is to get loaded but not this week. The past three days have been nice and easy. Monday was a bit of strength training and an easy run. Tuesday was Yoga and an easy swim and Wednesday was a strength bike and easy run. I can't tell if I'm feeling good or bad. My body is used to training 2-3hrs a day with some decent effort. So, typically when I cut back on my training my body goes through some weird stuff. I've noticed for one, it takes a bit longer for me to get into a groove during my workouts. It also takes a bit longer for my heart rate to come up and correlate with my perceived effort and pace/power. Finally, I just feel tired and sluggish even though my hours of training are severely cut. Its good to try this unloading block without any races to cause freakout as most athletes don't attempt a taper until right before a big race. So, I guess we will see how the body comes around and whether this unloading block is a good thing prior to my season buildup. I'm guessing it is but I'm looking forward to getting loaded again.

Two more down...

2009-03-09T08:46:00.001-05:00

Two more solid weeks in the books. Last week I was able to get in about 17hrs of training and this week just a bit under. It’s amazing how much harder 17hrs is when done during winter versus when done during summer.

I’ve been working hard on my swim technique this winter. Kari has me doing a ton of swimming with one of those freestyle snorkels allowing me to really focus on swimming from the core and not leading the stroke with my arms. I’ve always been pretty strong and fit so I think that I’ve been able to more or less “fake” the swim.

On the bike, it’s been more or less a bike maintenance schedule, working more on strength, mod-hard intervals etc., than endurance…duh, it’s the winter and all my training has been on the trainer. So, Alan and I have been rolling with the punches and not fighting back against Mother Nature. It’s been much better than last year although I have had some moving to CO moments where the winters are much milder. Oh, and the best part is that I’m seeing lifetime best power numbers.

Finally, on the run I had an early calf injury so I’ve been slowly building my mileage back up to the 40mi p.w. range. Alan has put forth the challenge of 50mi running weeks and I accept wholeheartedly.

There are now 3 more weeks until Endurance Corner Tucson Camp. Alan has made an executive decision to pull the reigns in and drop some fatigue before the camp. So, instead of trying to do some last minute cramming before the first test of the year we will be getting good night sleeps (me alone, not with Alan), reestablishing good habits such as 2x p.w. yoga and weights, and with the reduced volume I will need to put back in place my good eating habits. After this down time it’s off to camp and then full speed ahead into the Rockman Half Ironman and then Ironman Lake Placid.

Spring is in the air?

2009-02-26T10:19:00.002-06:00

February. By February I'm ready for the end of winter. I'm ready to be running outside in shorts and riding on snow free roads. I need more sleep during the winter and for whatever reason, its much harder for me to handle a solid training load. I feel teased by the warmer days and tormented by the snowstorms occuring the day after. I notice myself feeling a sense of urgency to be fit and train harder even though my body doesn't especially want to train harder. I feel the pressure of wanting to arrive at training camp, about 5wks from now, in good shape.

I'm noticing this push and pull most in my running. Running tends to be my strength and on most occasions I'm the hunter and not the prey. This season, after sticking my nose in both Hudson's and Fitzgerald's books I've been trying more and more to move away from heart rate zones and more toward pace zones. I think this has gotten me in a bit of trouble this winter and may be why my running just doesn't feel great right now. In the past I've had coaches that have relied on heart rate zones and perceived effort for my run training and I've gone with that for the last 10yrs or so in the sport. Now the reason I think this has gotten me in trouble this year is due to the fact most, if not all my running, is on icy, snowy roads, or the treddie. So, a run race or time trial on a clear road doesn't necessarily translate into the way I'm training. Treddie running and snow running is not road running and I just need to accept this. So, its back to what has worked in the past and that is just using the HR to keep me honest, patient, and most of all sane...ish.

Good Week. Bad Week.

2009-02-06T06:08:00.003-06:00

One of my colleagues at our national sales meeting this week shared with me a quote from a book he was reading. Although I don't remember the exact quote it had to do with burying our head in the sand of what we wanted to believe vs. what was really happening or what we were actually doing. The timing couldn't have been any better because I just recently went over my training peaks account from last year. I always thought that I was pretty consistent especially with my running, but the numbers told somewhat of a different story. Although disappointing on some levels this was a great thing to see as there is a lot of upside. I do travel quite a bit so, daily or even weekly consistency is tough and looking at travel or big work weeks becomes a bummer. However, if I decrease the magnification and start looking at 4 week blocks I'm hoping to improve that consistency. Not getting upset with myself during these travel weeks and doing my best will go a long way to those consistent months and as we all know, consistency is key.

Back on the Bus...Gus

2009-01-27T07:23:00.002-06:00

Week of Jan 19th

Swim-11,250 yds
Bike-6 hrs
Run-34 miles

After two lackluster training weeks of travel, last week was an improvement. My swim was a bit shy of my 14k goal as instead of my 4th session I hit a swim clinic with Kari Woodall. Kari has some great ideas and I look forward to working with her a bit in the near future to improve my stroke technique.

My riding was solid. We have been focusing on three key rides. A big gear strength workout hitting 30s hard and 90s recovery for several repeats, a long 3hr trainer ride with a bunch of time at steady, and a big gear workout done as 8 minutes in my tempo power zone and 2 mins easy repeated 6 times. I know if I can consistently hit these 3 workouts my cycling will be in a good spot come spring thaw (in Aug?).

Running has also been going well. I've almost gotten back up to my goal mileage of 40 miles. I've been really focusing on 2 solid runs a week, one done as 20min easy, 20mins steady, and 20 mins hard and the other a 90 minute long run. I've also been making sure to get in a workout or two with sets of 30s strides. My running just feels so much better when these strides are in place and hit consistently.

I'm looking forward to another solid week of training before I'm back on the road again.

Quick Update

2009-01-22T06:11:00.003-06:00

All is well. The last couple weeks have been low volume due to work travel and baby travel. My brother and his wife just had their first kid, Ella Mae. So that makes me Uncle Joshie. Pretty excited about that. I think it is so neat that Ella was born into the Obama era and lucky that she never got to know the frustration of the last eight years. I have a lot of hope for her and this next administration. I am almost starting to feel proud to be an American and not apologetic.

With the increased travel came increased eating and that combined with less volume lead to increased fat. I think that around 150-155lbs is a good racing weight for me and typically where my weight falls when eating well and training well during the summer (I am 5'10 for reference). If I was just running I would shoot for a lighter weight but I think that the swimming and biking and recovery tend to suffer if I drop too low on the weight scale. However, I'm hanging out right around 162 lbs so I really don't want to go much higher. I would like to come into camp on March 29th right around racing weight. That way I'm not carrying a bunch of extra weight on Kitts Peak, or Mount Lemmon trying to chase down Dr. J, KP, Gordo and JD.

Well, will post more on this week later on. I have another week after this one to put in some good training before the next week of travel.

Cheers

Scheduling and Key Workouts

2009-01-11T07:15:00.003-06:00

Week of Dec. 29th
Swim-11,600 yds
Bike-5.8 hrs
Run-32 miles

Solid week. A touch light on weekly swim goal of 14,000yds, right where I need to be on the bike this time of year and a good run week in my build back up to last years run volume.

Coach AC and I looked at my schedule and decided we could probably organize things a little better adding more rest around the key workouts just by moving some workouts around and scheduling things as 3 days on, 1 day ez, 2 days on, 1 day very light/off. I think that whether an athlete is self coached or coached, the athlete should know the goals of each of the workouts and especially know which of the workouts are key. Once that is accomplished it makes the task of execution of the workout much easier. For example, when I have a recovery day I err very much on the side of making the workout easy if not too easy. On the other hand, on the key days I give myself a bit more wiggle room to test my limits, within reason, and keeping in mind what I have on my plate for tomorrow. Another principle I live by when executing my basic week is the idea that we all have good days and bad days. Unfortunately, its pretty hard to judge when those days will occur. So, even though I have my schedule written out and strive to hit all the workouts as planned, I allow myself to back off when I'm feeling lousy and hit it a little harder if I'm feeling good. I guess I can sum this up as saying I try to give it the best I can each day and if my power is just not there or the run paces are a bit slower I try to just give it the best I had for the day. We are still in the process of developing my basic week and making sure this week in the context of life is doable but I'm confident in my coach and our ability to learn from past mistakes...mine not his ;)

Week in Review-Dec. 22nd

2008-12-29T06:28:00.003-06:00

Swim-14,100yds
Bike-6hrs
Run-27 miles

This has been an interesting week. Volume was good for my current swim and bike goals. I was able to get in three solid 4000yd sets in the pool and then a short fourth swim. We hit a solid Tuesday swim of 4 sets of 5x100 descending the interval. Each set was right after the other with no additional rest. I started on a 1:40 send off then 1:35, 1:30, and finally 1:25. I shot for another set at 1:20 but only lasted for one interval. My short swim came about after I hit the pool and felt plenty of soreness in the lats. I swam a 1000yd warm up and then did a short 400-300-200-100 yd pull set. I thought I was going to be super pathetic but ended up swimming a very solid base pace. Go figure.

On the bike I was able to get the volume in but had a little power meter snafu. I think when I did my last test the power meter was not zeroed correctly and my test was a bit high. At first I was bummed about that but, the reason I train is to become the best athlete I can be. Blake was right on the money when he said not to worry about the number but do the best you can in training each day. So, after re-zeroing the torque we will see how the workouts progress and will hit another test at some point to determine some training zones.

Fell a touch short on where I wanted to be on the run but the crappy weather as well as Christmas closings didn't help much. I started to put together some semblance of a long run at 9 miles but still have a bit to go on the run volume and running in general. I think I need to take a step back and ease into the run with a foremost focus on bringing my miles back up to a respectable, at least for a triathlete, level.

On a separate note, yoga as a supplement to training is key. I think I will save that idea for another entry.

Onward

Week of Dec 15th

2008-12-23T06:13:00.006-06:00

Swim-10,500 yds
Bike-5.1hrs
Run-21 miles

The goal of this week was to recover early in the week and then hit some key swim, run and bike workouts. Some creative scheduling has been required with pool closings due to weather. I'm looking forward to my next block over the Christmas/New Years break to really put in some solid workouts and solid recovery. It seems that my run is lagging behind after a bit of a calf injury earlier this fall so the goal is to build my volume back up to the 40-50 mile range, keep the bike in offseason mode, keeping volume low but working on a solid balanced plan, and build the swim volume back up while keeping the hard masters workouts in place.

Saturdays

2008-12-21T14:27:00.005-06:00

Saturday's are typically my long day. For Ironman, the long day starts with a swim followed by a long ride and then a short run off the bike. Since it is only December and my Ironman (IMUSA) is several months out, not to mention its -3F currently, the winter long day tends to be a shorter day. Right now Coach Alan and I are working on my bike power in my moderate hard zone, a.k.a, half IM power, 240w-280w etc. This past Saturday consisted of a short warm up followed by 2x40min at steady (IM) power and then 3x8min in my big ring holding half IM power. I really liked the format of this ride and will continue to build the number of 8min intervals as my fitness progresses.

Later that afternoon I did a short run focusing on leg speed. Eventhough my focus is Ironman I think it is very important to remind the legs how to run fast. This workout consisted of a warmup and then 8x30s at current 5k pace on a 3min interval with a focus on high rpm (95+). Each time I do this workout I get more and more comfy at my current 5k pace.

Rest Week

2008-12-18T10:29:00.005-06:00

This week is a rest week. On rest weeks Zoe (the pup) spends quality time resting with dad. We took a few days early on this week, Monday and Tuesday to recover a bit. Monday was very light with just a yoga session to keep things limber and loose. Zoe hit her own downward dog which looks a lot better than mine. On Tuesday, I opted for the optional Masters session. To me this was a good sign as I was also given the option of an easy solo swim or sleeping in. If I am in dire need of a rest week I would have normally picked the sleep in option. So, even though we are training consistently with a bit of quality I think that we are at a good level considering where we are in the season.

We picked things up a bit on Wed. hitting a 3x20 run. This is one of my favorite runs where I give er 20mins easy (under steady), 20mins steady, then 20mins tempo. Things went well and I finished off the run with some good mod hard running at a 6:40min/mi. I never crossed threshold and this pace was definitely the what the coach prescribed. Moving forward this will be a key workout as testing at the Endurance Corner Labs showed that I was very strong at Ironman pace (steady) but things started to tail off at mod-hard and more so at threshold range (see chart).

Wed. afternoon I finished things off with a short strength workout. I warmed up and then hit several short intervals at my VO2 max watts (330w-380w).

This morning I hit masters once again where we performed several repeats of 100yd IMs. I will finish off the day with an easy run and some strength work in the gym.

Things are a rolling.

Week of Dec. 8th 2008

2008-12-15T10:22:00.004-06:00

Swim-11,200yds
Bike-5.2hrs
Run-28mi

Decent swim week with some real solid workouts thrown in. I'd like to bring the overall volume up just a bit though. On the bike we decided that 3 solid rides per week right now would be perfect, one longer, one working on strength, and one more tempo focused ride. The run is coming along nicely. Volume is slowly increasing and I'm keeping a good amount of quality in the program including some short pickups, some tempo work and the beginnings of a longer run.

This next week I will take a couple of recovery days and then hop back on the plan.

100s over medium with a side of lactic acid

2008-12-14T07:52:00.003-06:00

This week Coach Justin gave us a main set of 25x100 yds in the pool as 5x(5x100) descending. Our send off was on 1:35, 1:30, 1:25, 1:30, 1:35. Looking at those send offs I was a bit intimidated but just put my head down and started swimming the set. On the first set I kept thinking about how I was going to make the 1:25s when my body was already not really liking the 1:35 set. On the 1:30s I was thinking about the fact that hey this really isn't that bad and on the 1:25s I was having fun just pushing to make those 1:17s or so to get a bit of rest before the next send off. Before I knew it the set was over. Its amazing how our mind will shut us down when our body still has the ability to go. One of my goals this season is to keep the yoga practice going throughout the season and utilizing yoga to help hone the mental skills required for a successful race season and life.

Our 100s were revisted on Friday at Masters and I believe that Coach Justin felt that Thursday's 100s were not painful enough. The main set on Friday (which is our speed day at Masters) was 18x100 on a 2:30 send off. The first 6 100yd repeats were done as 75 build from ez to hard and then 25 hard. Next 5 were 50 build, 50 hard. The following 4 were 25 build, 75 hard and the final 3 were 100yds all out. I was able to hit the last 100s in 1:14, 1:13, 1:14.

Looking forward to more fun at Masters next week. Thanks Coach Justin!

20 Minutes of Truth

2008-12-11T05:56:00.007-06:00

Sometimes the truth hurts and nothing could be truer than the first 20 minute time trial of the season. This is a test I would like to perform every 6-8 weeks to determine my Functional Threshold power (aka, hour of power). However, the mere thought of the test frightens me and in all truth (I see a trend here) prevents me from hitting this test every 6-8 weeks. I've also been hitting a similar test in my swim workouts consisting of a 500yd time trial and on the run I will be incorporating 5k time trials.

The 20 minute time trial on the bike consisted of a good 20min warm up, 5min at my estimated functional threshold or a bit above, a 10 min easy ride, and then the 20 minutes of truth. I knew I performed the test well when during the last 5 minutes I was on the verge of seeing my breakfast for the second time that day. All in all it was a good test putting my avg watts for the 20min period at 328w. I use a fugde factor of 5% to put my Functional Threshold watts at roughly 312w. A little scary as 312w is my best for the test and the season doesn't start until June.

Weekend Update

2008-12-09T06:57:00.008-06:00

Week Summary
Swim-9700yds
Bike-6.7hrs
Run-24mi

Was happy with the bike and run totals. Brought both up about ten percent from best offseason weeks thus far. Also got in a good run test without any calf pain or issues. Swim was a bit light with some shorter Masters set (shorter typically=more intensity) and not getting in that Sunday long swim. I added an additional strength workout (now 2pw) and got in 2 strong yoga sessions.

Saturday
Bike 2hrs+/Run 30mins

The weekend began with a 2hr steady bike ride. Very simple format, warm up and then sit on steady watts for awhile. So, I got in about 40mins of easy riding before shifting into steady watts, sitting at 220-240w for 90min (235w avg/HR 127). This is a real good sign for things to come and as the weeks go on we will build the steady section to longer durations. Since my legs did not feel as fresh as a mid summers eve I opted for a run later in the day at just a very easy pace on the treadmill.

Sunday
Bike 60mins/Yoga 90mins

I hopped on the trainer once again Sunday with the intention of some more big gear work but instead I ended up with 60mins of a recovery spin. When the legs say no I find it very important to listen. I bailed on the scheduled swim…the closed pool helped with that decision and instead headed to yoga with Lauren.

Today we are picking up about a foot of snow so I will start adding some skate skiing into the program. Looking forward to that.

Thursday and Friday Fun

2008-12-06T07:37:00.004-06:00

Thursday
Swim Masters 3200yds/Run 40min
Thursday started off with Masters swimming….just a combination of kicking, drills, and a little bit of swimming to complete the set. I then went over to the gym for an easy treddie run. The legs were coming around nicely so I decided to add five 30 second pickups at 5k pace to the run. That really felt good as my legs were feeling pretty heavy all week until those pickups. I just read Brad Hudson’s book and Alan and I plan on incorporating some of his ideas into my running.

Friday
Swim Masters 3000yds/Treddie Run Test/Lift/Yoga
Masters was very challenging this morning. The main set was 3x300yds with 15s rest then 3x100 with 10s of rest (no extra rest after the last 100) repeated 3 times. The twist was the 300s started at 95% and dropped to 80% effort while the 100s started at 80% effort and built to 95-100%. I was very happy with this set and hit 3:58 for the first 300yds and was coming in around 1:18 or so for the last 3x100. Coach Justin mentioned that there were definitely some things I need to work on with my stroke including better rotation to the right side and to be aware of the left arm as it is still swinging a bit wide. Back to the drills that Coach Alan prescribed last year for the wide left arm.

After that effort I shot over to the gym for a run and since my legs were feeling pretty good I decided to hit a treddie step test. I started the test at 6.5mph (1% grade) and built up by 0.5mph and 5min intervals to 10mph. I tracked my average and max heart rate through the test. Alan and I have decided to use this workout as a way to track progress during the season. I was happy with this initial result although I think I felt that Master’s set in my legs by the time I got to 10mph. In addition to this test we will also be running some time trials to keep things honest. I followed up the run with some easy maintenance lifting. I was only lifting once per week but wanted to focus a bit more on general fitness this time of year with frequent lifting and yoga which I have been doing with Lauren. Friday night yoga at Bliss Flow with Lauren is a nice way to wind down the work week.

This weekend will consist of a “long” steady ride followed by a run on Saturday and an endurance focused swim plus a strength focused ride on Sunday.

Cheers

Mid-Week Update

2008-12-04T06:22:00.001-06:00

It’s freezing this morning. A whopping 9 degrees F.

Monday
1:45 bike w/big gear repeats
I started off with an indoor bike ride focusing on 6min big gear intervals. I am now hitting 5 of those intervals at 275-280w. It’s been going great on the bike as of late (I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it).

Tuesday
Swim 3500yds/lift/run 45min
Morning matsers swim with Coach Justin and the gang. Dave, my lane buddy, was the anti-health, showing up to practice with all kinds of coughing, hacking, and other wonderful sounds emanating from his lungs. However, as always he still stuck it to me during the work out. Good solid workout with lots of longish intervals. I then headed to the gym to lift and get buff. I ended the day with 45mins of easy running. I’m still in the process of building my run back to last years volume. I picked up a little bit of a calf issue a few months ago and have been building back slowly. I’ve added back strides and a bit of a progressive run although the overall mileage is still low.

Wednesday
Bike 1:40/Run 30min
Started with a ride building to steady power and then hitting some short 30 second bursts to remember what it feels like to ride hard. I did about 20 of those bursts with about a minute and a half recovery. Later, I hit an easy run again. I wanted to run easy and then hit some short pickups but the legs were a bit heavy and the heart rate seemed sluggish. So, I just ran easy and ended there. Its only December, and this season is a marathon not a sprint. I should probably get that tattooed somewhere.

Off to Masters. Hopefully, Dave is feeling better.

Here we go again

2008-12-02T12:52:00.000-06:00

Its December and that is usually the month where things start to get a bit more focused. After a number of emails and a phone call with Coach Alan I feel very comfortable and excited about the next steps. This "offseason" has begun like no other with life best swimming based on a series of 500yd TTs. My first 500yd TT was a 6:40 effort and then six weeks later I was able to best that time by 9 seconds on a day where I would have been happy with a time 9 seconds slower than my first TT. I tend to swim best when I swim with a masters group but I also need to really listen to my body as it is very easy to get caught up racing your lane buddies.

I also got a new bike fit at the end of last season (at Exclusive Cycles here in Madison) which has somehow produced an extra 20-30 watts. I still don't really believe it. I probably need to go hit a good TT on the bike to get a better idea of my hour of power.

For the winter, the plan is more or less 17hr weeks with 12hr recovery weeks. The goal is to beat the metrics ever so slightly that I set last year mainly with regards to volume. Even though volume, especially on the bike, is our primary goal we are looking at a very balanced plan with more upper zone work...training, not touring...although touring in the basement probably isn't considered touring.

I will continue to share my plan and my key workouts in the next few posts.

T-Day

2008-11-27T06:37:00.000-06:00

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for my friends, family, Lauren and Zoe. I'm thankful that I'm healthy and happy and have lots of love in my life. What an incredible ride its been thus far.

Looking forward to a great Thanksgiving celebration, my favorite holiday of the year.