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.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Good Week. Bad Week.
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.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Back on the Bus...Gus
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.
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.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Quick Update
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
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Scheduling and Key Workouts
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 ;)
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 ;)
Monday, December 29, 2008
Week in Review-Dec. 22nd
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
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
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Week of Dec 15th
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.
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.
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