End of month totals

I haven't been publishing monthly totals but I'm pretty proud of this month.



Swim 55100yds in 19:11:39

Bike 208.2 in 11:01:30

Run 122.6 in 17:17:59

Hockey 1:30:00

Total of 49:01:08



Most of the effort has gone to the swim and the run but I had picked up the biking for the last 2 weeks and will continue to do so through May when I go into my build periods.

Thursday

Still kind of tired today but I felt much better after I got in the water.



3000 yds force set

600 warm up

300 pull :20 RI

6X50 fast :15 RI

300 pull :20 RI

4X50 fast :15 RI

2X300 pull:20 RI

2X50 fast :15 RI

400 cool down



1:00 on the blue bike on the CT, about 18 miles total, HR 132 for main set.

15 min warm up

40 min (3min big gear 60 rpm, 3min spin 100rpm repeat...stand for 1 min every 9 min)

5 min cool down

Wednesday's long run

Ran long outside today, 13.1 miles 1:53:12 HR 150, this is actually a PR for me although I wasn't going for one, my plan was to run 8:45's for the first half and then neg split for the second half (56:52,56:20) so that really didn't work too well. I still feel like I'm putting out more effort when I'm outside vs. the indoor track but still the HR's match the track times allmost perfectly. I carried the four bottles of Gatorade on my fuel belt and did one gel at the half-way point. It was 60 degrees and a little bit windy.

Tuesday

Beautiful day outside finally. It got up over 60 degrees for a while.



I started the day with an easy run on Hines drive, 5.3 miles 45:50 HR 152 (8:38 pace). Uneventful, I was just using the run for junk miles and a warm up for my bike ride.



Bike was 17.6 miles 54:00 HR 143. There was a headwind going out and I felt pretty strong going into it so I rode at a pace to keep my HR near 145. On the way back I was up 2 gears and still held the same HR.



I was expecting to be slower on the bike cuz of the time off over the winter but I seem to be pretty close to where I was at the end of last season. Because of the increase in speed, I feel that I wasn't strong enough to turn over the gear that I wanted to going over some on the hills. I seem to have the strength of last season but with more cardiovascular endurance. Got to do some thinking on this issue.

Monday's swim

I didn't feel like getting the workout book out of the bag and did a very simple endurance workout.



4000yds 1:20:00

600 warm up (200S,200K,200S)

10X300 on 5:45 (came in on 5:15)

400 cool down



Pretty simple wasn't it?

The end of an easy week

Yes, the easy week has come and gone and I feel much better now than I did earlier in the week. Today I did a very easy bike ride with my dad and then a tempo run afterwards with my dad pacing me on his bike. 20 miles on the bike in 1:15:00 (didn't even bother with the HRM) and 4 miles on the run in 31 minutes HR 165, 16 min out - 15 min back.



Next weeks plans are a little different since I will be on the bike more often.


Mon: Swim 4000, Endurance

Tue: Bike 1 Hour, run 4-5 miles

Wed: Long run 13 miles, approx 1:50

Thu: Swim 4000, bike 1 Hour

Fri: Swim 2000, run 3 miles

Sat: Swim with FAST 4000, bike 2 Hours, run 4-5 miles

Sun: Bike 1 Hour, run 5-6 miles

Saturday

Swim with FAST 1:15, 3500 yds



Run on Hines 6 miles, 0:51:20, HR 153

Friday

Ride outside with FAST this morning and it started out a bit colder than I would have liked (35 deg F) but since I commmitted myself to it two weeks ago I went through with it. Now I'm not a fan of cold weather cycling so I overdressed thinking that I could just peel off layers as I went along. It turned out that I was pretty comfy for the entire ride dressed as I was.



This is how much I was wearing: Normal cycling shorts, leg warmers, tights over them, shoe covers, full gloves, sleeveless shirt, regular cycling shirt, arm warmers, thin coat, shell coat over that, 2 helmet liners and tape over the vents of my helmet. I had the shell opened up about half way most of the ride to let a bit of air in.



Ride time 2:00:00, 37 miles, no HR data but probably about 140ish, it wasn't really hard but not easy either.

Thursday

Swim during lunch 1500yds, 26:39, zone 3, felt pretty good, didn't want to overdo it cuz my long run is after work.



Run 10 miles easy, 1:28:00, HR 151. I ran outside again since the weather is finally getting better. It was about 45 deg F. My PE is so much higher right now for running outside vs. running inside. I had to watch the HRM to make sure I was running fast enough while if I run on the track at Bally's I have to watch it to make sure I'm not running too fast. The HR matched my run pace pretty much as I expected it too, I just need more outside running.

Another easy day

Swim 3000 in about 1 HR



600 warm up (200S,200K,200S)

4X500 decending (9:00,8:55,8:50,8:40) :30 RI

400 cool down (200 kick, 200 pull)



Felt really strong in the water today, it's about time!!! Still kept it short.



Run 3 miles easy, 26:00, HR 150, was going to run 5 but I was really hungry since I hadn't eaten since 9am and I forgot to bring some Gatorade with me today. That's fine, it's an easy week anyway.

Tuesday on the bike

I got 17.8 miles on the road in at 57 minutes, HR 133. It was quite windy on the way out and comfortable on the way back and the temp was 43 deg F. I rode the tri-bike cuz of some issues with the road bike.



I was testing out the cold weather gear and my head was a little bit cold. I wore my normal helmet with my new liner in it and the combo let in just a little bit too much air. Next time I'll use the old helmet with the vents taped up like I've done in the past. Of course my nose ran faster than I could have but I expected it.



Since I rode on tuesday, I'll move my run to wednesday after my swim.

Monday

I swam really easy cuz I was pretty tired. Just about 1000yds in about 25 minutes. Good thing this is an easy week.



I just got back from lunch and it is beautiful outside. I might be getting sick enough to take the rest of the day off :) Looks like a great day for a bike ride.

Food choices

While mentioning my poor food choices for the week I started to think of planning a meal schedule too. Most of the time my food prep is imprompt but a little more planning should help with energy levels. Last week I found myself eating a lot near the end of the week. I seemed to have a craving for milk, (don't know why) and went through 2 gallons last week. (no-fat milk)



Dinner planning for this week:

Mon Chicken and vegetable stir fry w/brown rice

Tue Homemade tacos with real lettuce, tomato and flour tortilla's

Wed Leftover chicken

Thu Leftover taco

Fri Spagatti with meat sauce

Sat Leftover spagatti (easy fix)

Sun Go out


Lunch is almost allways the same, PJB on whole grain bread, 2-3 banana's, lowfat snack cake. Sometimes I forget my lunch or eat it early, and then go to Subway.

Breakfast has been mostly cereal (cheerio's) and was thinking of taking Gordo's suggestion of making a fruit breakfast with a little bit of protein. (http://www.byrn.org/newsletter/2002/apr2k2.htm) See #4 comment

Sunday

Well I think a combination of poor food choices and a lack of rest has caught up with me this week. I got on the bike for 45 min and had a very difficult time getting my HR over 125 and I was averaging over 21mph on the CT. Also I ran afterwards and got about a half mile into it and turned back. It's the end of the hard cycle and time for a rest week.



It's been getting warmer outside and there's hope of riding on the road soon. If the weather cooperates I might get 3 short rides in this week.



This week looks like this:



Mon swim 2500 ~ 50 min

Tue run 5 miles

Wed swim 3500 ~ 1:10, bike 30 min

Thu swim 2000 ~ 40 min, Run 9 miles

Fri bike 45 to 60 min

Sat swim 4000 ~ 1:20, run 5 miles

Sun run 4 miles, maybe an easy bike ride if the weather is nice.



Total of approx 9:00:00

Saturday's swim and run

The FAST swim was a bit short today (2400yds) cuz we did some fun relays after a short workout. I'm not sure if I'm going to finish out my weekly yardage tomorrow or not. I've only got 12000yds in for the week.



I seem to have some problems with the shorter distances, 50's, 100's and I think it's cuz I don't really do that many short intervals. I seem to struggle with those distances while I'm fairly strong swimming 300's and above. Maybe it's time to add in some shorter speed intervals into the mix. Maybe on my short day. I also feel that I need some work on basics too, I seem to feel that I could be more efficient than I am now even though this is the best I've ever swam.



I ran in the evening at the track cuz of the rain and decided to kick it up a bit and see what I could do. I've been good and have kept most of my training near my Aet and needed a change for today. 5 miles, 37:54, HR 162 but it took two miles to get the HR up, mile splits were 8:03 145bpm, 7:38 158bpm, 7:26 165bpm, 7:26 168bpm, 7:21 171bpm. I wasn't breathing all that hard but my legs were wearing down somewhat. I've started to catch up on some sleep but I feel I'm only at 90% right now. This is also my third hard week and am ready for an easy week to recover somewhat.



Tomorrow I get to sleep in a bit, hopefully it's dry outside to I can get out to do the training. Looking to do a brick tomorrow 90min/45min.

Friday

Just an hour on the bike today trying to hold over 130bpm. I wanted to be a little bit fresher for tomorrow's swim so I have an easier day today.



1:00:00, 21.1 miles, program 54, HR 127

Thursday's training

Swim with paddles 4000yds, 1:25



500 pre warm up

300 swim, 300 kick warm up

8X150 pull with paddles decending 1-8 :20 rest

8X100 pull with paddles decending 1-8 :15 rest

8X50 pull with paddles decending 1-8 :10 rest

400 cool down



I've done this swim a couple of weeks ago but this time I brought it up to 4000 total yards. I was a bit tired today cuz of some late nights but I will catch up some tonight with some extra rest.



After I got home I ran 6 miles on Hines Drive, 52:40 HR 153, 35 degrees outside so it wasn't too bad. It's nice to get on the road again.



Friday will be a bit easier with just a bike ride of about 1:30:00 to do. I want to be a bit more rested for saturday's master swim than I have been for the last few weeks.

Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake

I found an old family song that I can remember my Dad, Grandfather and Great Uncles singing around Christmas time. The websites I found it on claimes it's an Irish song but my great grandparents were Swedish and Norweigen (Johnson and Ebbisen) and I though it had come from them. Going through it there are a lot of Irish names so I guess it really did come from Ireland. I remember it slightly different from the way it is here but it's been 30 years since I've heard it so I can't realy make any corrections.



Here it is...



Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake



As I sat in my window last evening

The letterman brought it to me

A little gilt-edged invitation sayin'

"Gilhooley come over to tea"

I knew that the Fogarties sent it.

So I went just for old friendships sake.

The first thing they gave me to tackle

Was a slice of Miss Fogarty's cake.



Chorus: There were plums and prunes and cherries,

There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too

There was nutmeg, cloves and berries

And a crust that was nailed on with glue

There were caraway seeds in abundance

Such that work up a fine stomach ache

That could kill a man twice after eating a slice

Of Miss Fogarty's Christmas cake.



Miss Mulligan wanted to try it,

But really it wasn't no use

For we worked in it over an hour

And we couldn't get none of it loose

Till Murphy came in with a hatchet

And Kelly came in with a saw

That cake was enough be the powers above

For to paralyze any man's jaws



Miss Fogarty proud as a peacock,

Kept smiling and blinking away

Till she flipped over Flanagans brogans

And she spilt the homebrew in her tea

Aye Gilhooley she says you're not eatin,

Try a little bit more for me sake

And no Miss Fogarty says I,

For I've had quite enough of your cake



Maloney was took with the colic,

O'Donald's a pain in his head

Mc'Naughton lay down on the sofa,

And he swore that he wished he was dead

Miss Bailey went into hysterics

And there she did wriggle and shake

And everyone swore they were poisoned

Just from eating Miss Fogarty's cake

Wednesday's training

I was a little rushed to get all this stuff in cuz I had some important things to do in the evening but I did it.



Ran during lunch 3 miles, 25:50, basically an easy run to get a fifth run in for the week, no HRM, just comfortable running without any pressure since it wasn't the focus of the day's training.



Swim after work, 4000yds, 1:25:00, E2

500 pre warm up

6X75 :20 rest warm up

2X200 swim

100 moderate

2X300 swim

100 moderate

2X400 swim

100 moderate

500 pre cool down

6X75 last 25 non-free cool down

Tuesday's long run

Ran long again but it looked like it was going to rain outside so I ran on the track. I picked it up at the end cuz I was trying to drop someone and still finished strong. There was also a time around mile 9 that I stuck with a faster guy for about 1/2 mile.



12 miles, 1:38:14, HR 156, near the top of zone 2.



Went to REI today to use my dividend and 20% off coupon and got me some bike stuff. First I got a pair of cold weather booties that I've needed so bad then I picked out a pair of cold weather gloves. I also got a new skull cap for under my helmet and a thin beenie hat for running. The whole lot cost me $60, that's just a little bit more than the booties are normally priced!!! Looks like I should be able to ride in 40 deg weather now, just in time.

Easy monday

Swam easy for 1500yds, about 30 min. Starting to ramp up the hours and I feel that I need a rest day now.



500 warm up

6X75 swim

2X200 swim moderate

150 cool down

Sunday training

I actually got on the Computrainer and rode for 1:30:00 this morning, hurray!!! I got just over 30 miles in with a HR of 131, program #54 but I didn't get the brick in like I wanted to. Justin had an early hockey game and I ran afterwards. 4 miles 35:55 HR 152, kind of cold outside, felt colder than the 32 that the weather channel said but it was only 4 miles. PE seemed high but the pace matched the HR pretty close to what I would have expected.

Next week's plans

Next week is the last hard week in this cycle which has gone very well in my opinion. So far the run milage has gone up well, my feet and knees don't ache, the swimming yards have come up dramatically and the other strokes are comming along much better. The only thing this month has lacked is the bike time which I will put a lot more effort into next month.



So far, next week's schedule looks like this:



Mon Swim 4000

Tue Run long 1:40 (12 miles) Bike easy afterwards 30:00 E1

Wed Swim 4000 Run 3 miles easy E1

Thu Swim 2000 E2-E3 Run 6 miles E2

Fri Bike 1:00 E2

Sat Swim 4000 (FAST) Run 5 Hills E2-E3

Sun bike :45 E2 Run 5 miles E2-E2 maybe some pick-ups

About 11:44:00



After that I get an easy week on 13500yds of swimming, 1:45 of biking and 23 miles of running. About 9:40:00

Friday Saturday

Friday I just swam 1000yds and did some drills and had some fun in the water, I was pretty tired and didn't want to do anything that hard.



Saturday I swam with FAST and had a pretty good workout. I felt a bit better today cuz I didn't swim hard the day before.



4000yds 1:30:00


600 warm up

2X300 free on 5:30 (lead)

3X200 pull on 3:30 (lead)

4X150 middle 50 non-free (lead 1)

6X100 kick (lead)

4X100 last 25 fly on 1:50 (did 1 arm fly)

200 cool down

400 post cool down (to reach 4000)



After the swim I ran at ballys, 6 miles 52:59 HR 153, 3 miles on a hill program on treadmill at 9:30 pace then 3 miles on track at 8:15 pace. I had planned on 5 miles but forgot and ran one extra. I will probably only run 4 tomorrow since it is supposed to be a brick run but that really depends on the weather outside. I only have 28 miles planned for the week and am very reluctant to go over the planned milage even though I feel strong.

The next training cycle

Hopefully next month it will be a lot warmer outside and allow me to start riding the bike. I've started to plan my next cycle (base 3 of 4) and to include 3-4 bikes a week I need to change my run and swim days around some. Right now runs are Tue,Wed,Thu,Sat,Sun and swims are Mon,Wed,Fri,Sat and I try to get some biking in there too.


The new schedule kind of looks like this. It's a basic week and can be a little flexible. My goal is to have 3-4 swims, 3-4 bikes and 5 runs all done in 14,15 and 16 hrs and then down to about 9 hrs for an easy week. This is still 2 1/2 weeks away so I'm still in the planning stage. I might chop the hours down a couple cuz my "A" race isn't till July and I don't want to get overtrained or burned out. I'll see how I feel after this period ends and I get more miles on the bike.


Mon - easy swim

Tue - easy club bike, easy run

Wed - Long run

Thu - Swim, bike

Fri - Swim, easy run

Sat - Masters swim, Long bike, Specific run

Sun - Club bike, Specific Run



According to books I have, I will need to include some ME work and some shorter speed sessions in each discipline in this next phase. I've got to talk to some people to get some opinions on how much to do.

Thursday, a tough day

Swim 4000yds, pull bouy and paddles

I didn't swim hard, just a steady E2 pace. I'm getting faster with the paddles, most 500's with paddles were in the 8:40's, without were near 9:05.



500yds warm up, easy straight

6X500 1,3,5 paddles, 2,4,6 without :30 rest

500 cool down (2X100 alternating kick style every 25, 2X50 breast, 200 swim)



Run 5 miles, tempo, goal - 8:00 min/mile, 39:27 HR 161 bpm

Wednesday

Ran 2 miles during lunch, untimed just to get in the extra run day.



Swim 4000 yds, 1:25:00, a little bit tired still but OK, shoulder and knee is not bothering me any more unless I bang them on something.



500 pre warm up

200, 2X200 (50S,100K,50S) warm up

400,300,200,100 moderate :20 rest

300,200,100 neg split :25 rest

200 fast :30 rest

100 fast :30 rest

4X150 pull :20 rest

100 cool down

300 post cool down with breast stroke and butterfly drills, a little backstroke too.

Breast stroke has gotten much better. The fly is comming along too.

My Daisey Dog

She loves the snow!!!

Monday Tuesday

Monday: short swim 1000yds, little warmup, dolphin kick drills, 1 arm butterfly drills. 4X25 butterfly, short cool down. This was just to loosen up my shoulder.


Tuesday: short swim 1500yds, 500swim, 4X100 dolphin kick with fins, 4X25 single arm fly drills, 4X25 fly, 400 cool down.



Run 11 miles on track, 1:32:23, HR 157, HR seemed a bit high for PE, felt OK. Shoulder and knee felt much better.

aaahhh!!!

I'm so banged up this morning, I'm thinking of canceling my swim today or maybe just cut it down to 2000yds instead of 3500yds of paddles.

Sunday training

Well it started with nice weather (45 deg F) so I actually got on my bike and rode outside today but on the way back I slipped on some wet pavement and went down. Just banged up a little, not much to speak of but the bike had some shifting problems. Anywho, real easy 12 miles in about 45 minutes HR 130, blue bike, pretty windy and patches of water in a lot of places.



Ran right after the bike, 5.1 miles, 43:20, HR 153, PE was high but the HR matched the pace pretty well. I'm still a little tired from hockey late last night.

Hockey night in Wayne

1:30:00 of hockey in Wayne tonight, Justin skated too. We both did pretty well. I did much better than I expected.

Saturday

What was I saying a couple of days ago about my lungs being stronger than my legs? Well it was apparent today too. Although today's run was not the key workout of the day, it didn't seem that easy.



After the swim I got taped with our underwater video camera, Ken and Jason pointed a few things out and then Jason helped me with my flip-turns.



Swim with FAST this morning, 4300yds total, this one guy leading our lane was killing us.

600yds warm up

100yds additional warm up

3X900yds (100 non-free, 200 pull, 300 swim, 200 pull catch-up, 100 kick)

4X100yds on 1:45

200yds cool down

300yds post cool down for camera



Easy run on Hines, 6 miles 54:18, HR 147, about 35 deg F outside. Still a bit chilly for me but better than running on the track at Ballys.

A lot of shtuff today

Started with a force swim, 3500yds 1:15:00


400 pre warm up

300 swim, 300 kick warm up

8X150 pull with paddles decending 1-8 :20 rest

8X100 pull with paddles decending 1-8 :15 rest

8X50 pull with paddles decending 1-8 :10 rest

100 cool down

I got my 150's down to 3:20, my 100's under 1:30 and my 50's to :40 at the end of each set. I'm normally slower overall with paddles but today I seemed to work really well with them. I still do some funky stuff with my arms on my flip-turns and the paddles really emphasized it. I seemed to have gotten my elbow bend back near what it should be and worked on my hand entries a lot.



Run 3.1 miles on Hines, 26:40, HR 151 to make up for yesterday's short run. Nice way to get in my 5th run.



Bike 19.4 miles, 1:00:00, HR 131, watched American Flyers for motivation. I was kind of shooting for a HR above 135 but that wasn't happening so I kept up the steady pace and was surprised with the result. I used program 54 on the Computrainer which is a continuous random course. It seemed pretty close to road riding. It was 35 deg F today and I allmost took the bike outside, then my senses came back.

oops I did it again

Only this time I forgot my watch, not the transmitter. I only had a short time to run so I paced behind a fast runner at bally's. 3 miles, 23:00

Wednesday's swim

4000yds, 1:25:00, started out kind of blah, blah but when I got about half way done I felt much better and faster. Thinking of changing up a bit by using paddles and doing a force workout for friday's swim. Probably still stick to 3000-3500yds.



500yd pre warm up

6X75 :20 rest, warm up



2X200 E2 :20 rest

100 moderate :20 rest

2X300 E2 :30 rest

100 moderate

2X400 E2 :40 rest

100 moderate



6X75 cool down (50 free, 25 non-free)

500yds post cool down, easy w/pull bouy

Monday Tuesday

I kind of wanted a day off on monday but didn't schedule it so I cut my swim down to 1500yds and got some extra rest. Jumping to 4000yd swims seems to be too big of a jump for me right now so I'm going to swim 2 4000's, a 3000 and a 1500 this week instead of 4 4000's. After a few weeks of building up to it I'll be up to 16000 a week. I don't hurt after the swims (ie shoulders) just generally tired.



Tuesday I forgot my HRM transmitter for my run and probably ran too fast but it was a good motivator for me. My plans were to run 8:30's to 8:45's for 5 miles and then drop about 5-10 sec from that average for the next 5 miles. Well the first 5 miles I averaged 8:15's and the last 5 miles I averaged 8:05's. Guessing at what the HR was I would probably say the first 5 were about 150-152 and the next 4 miles were 155-158. My last mile was a bit faster (7:53) and probably had a HR of 162-165. I tried to hold the PE in the 13-15 range while kicking it up for the end. Mostly a pace that I could hold a conversation with.



It seems to me that my breathing has improved much quicker than my legs have gotter stronger, although both have gotten so much better, I feel that my legs are a little behind and am thinking of adding some strength training for them. I guess it's possible that they are behind because of the lack of bike time which will increase as soon as this crappy weather subsides. :(



Anyhoo, the run was 10 miles, 1:21:48 (a PR for me) 8:11 miles, no HR info.