Wednesday - Thursday

Wednesday
Swim 1500 meters 30 minutes
Run 2.7 23:36 HR 129

I was just too tired to go any further. As you can see my HR was really low. I've been a bit short on sleep for the last few days.

Thursday
Run 7 miles 1:00 HR 141 - Feeling better since I got a lot more sleep last night.
Just making up miles from yesterday.

Bike Cycle 60 class at Novi 60 minutes HR 135 Hill workout

3 a day tuesday

A little bit different today. I gave up some swim time for more bike time. It was very nice outside today and decided to use it.

MTB 13.2 miles 1:13:19 HR 144

Cycle 60 spin class 60 minutes HR 129

Run after spin class 3.5 miles 30 minutes HR 142

GIOS bike

Someone wanted a photo of my road bike

3rd monday's Reps

Eased into it pretty well. I like a longer warmup than 10 minutes so I run a mile, stretch a little more, run half a mile then go into the reps.

Today I was quickly up to speed, I'm learning how to run faster and feel much more comfortable doing it.

7.0 miles 57:18 HR 150
1.5 miles warm up
8 X .25 fast .25 easy 6:49, 6:45, 6:40, 6:36, 4X6:31
1.5 mile cool down

I've decided to try and swim tomorrow morning as I may be able to get on the MTB later in the day instead of the spin class

Training Thoughts

A good week of training

Swim 11700 - yds 4 swims 4:03:00
Bike 36 miles - 2 spin classes 2:00:00
Run 45.8 miles - 6 runs 6:28:15

Shoulder feels better while swimming. I have to sleep on my right side (long story) and that irritates it more. By saturday I was feeling pretty good.

Biking took a hit cuz of thursday, still not liking it much but spin classes are better than riding the trainer by myself or not at all.

Running went really well. Monday's reps felt better and it was easier to run faster than my easy pace. Friday's intervals went just as well with me feeling a little bit more efficient. All other running was done at an easy pace. It was a nice change to be able to run outside on saturday and sunday, the time goes by much quicker and I like to breathe the fresher air.

Plans for next week:

Mon Run Reps ~ 6.5 miles Swim 45 minutes
Tue Cycle 60 class Run 45 minutes
Wed Run 90 minutes Swim Masters
Thu Cycle 60 class
Fri Swim 1 hour Run Intervals ~8 miles
Sat Swim Masters Run 60 to 90 minutes
Sun Cycle 60 class Run 60 to 90 minutes

Flirting with the Bonk

Morning ride the Cycle 60 spin class

60 minutes HR 127.

I still have a hard time getting my HR up for the first 30 minutes of the class. The instructors talk about exercising near my Anerobic Threshold but I don't know their definition of that.

I've heard it described as:
180-age (141bpm for me)
180-age +10 (151bpm for me)
First deepening of your breath (around 140bpm for me)
Lactate Threshold (165bpm for me)

I've been using 140bpm for these classes mainly cuz my focus in on the run and this leaves the classes to be done at an easier pace.

On to the Bonk story

Run on Hines drive, very nice outside at near 55 degrees F
8 miles 1:08:14 HR 141

I've been trying to lose weight so cutting calories during the day and trying to train is difficult. I got done with the spin class and was home by 10:30am, watched a little TV and dozed off. Well I wanted to run outside but hadn't eaten anything yet and I had to get on the road soon since it gets dark around 5:00pm now so I left with 2 bottles on my fuel belt and 2 gels with plans of running 8 to 10 miles depending on how I felt.

Started off a bit easy, HR was low, by 3 miles I felt tired so I ate a gel, no big deal I've done that before, normally it takes 5 minutes and I feel better, I didn't. Got to my 4 mile mark, stopped ate my second gel (my bail out emergency gel that has been in my fuel belt pocket for about a year) After 2 minutes of running back home, suddenly I felt good, I mean wide-eyed ready to do some tempo work good!!! Sometimes that extra bit of sugar wakes up my brain and I feel so much better. Had to hold back on the rest of the run, first 4 miles were about 8:35's and struggling while the last 4 were 8:20's finishing with an 8:00.

I debated on running the extra 2 miles but really what would that give me. I was allready at my max milage, 2 miles would not do anything on the grand scheme, 46 miles or 48 miles - it didn't really matter. It is so early in the off season and I don't want to burn myself out before the serious training starts in March. Also tomorrow I've got a stressfull running day with 8X400meters and need to be fairly rested for it.

Sat run

Finally warm enough for me to run outside.

10 miles 1:25:19 HR 141

It is so much easier to run outside. PE is lower and time goes by faster and it's so much more pleasant than running on Astro's walker. At 50 it's still a little chilly for me but I'll take what I can get.

Sat swim

Swim with FAST
4300 yards 1:35
600 warm up
4X250 on 4:00 neg split
6X50 kick #3 and 6 under water
8X50 25 drill 25 swim IM order
18X100 on 1:45 every third-stroke on 2:00 (fly,ba,br)
200 cool down

Friday

Swim 3000 meters sets of 200

1000 warm up (200 swim, 200 non free kick, 200 swim, 200 non free kick 200 swim)
3X200 free
3X200 pull
3X200 (25 stroke(fly,back,breast) 175 free)
1X200 pull easy cool down

Run 8.3 miles 1:07:52
Same intervals as last friday
15 min easy
4X.75 at I pace - 4 min easy (7:20, 7:10, 7:00, 6:50)
15 min easy

Much easier to run today than last week, started a little bit easier and finished stronger, legs feel strong with minimal aches and pains.

Thursday

Taking yesterday off was the first time in 7 weeks. I didn't mind it, it's off season and I can afford it. All I lost was an hour on the spin bike anyway.

What I gained was time with the family. My dad and Diane - a good friend and mentor, as well as my father. Michelle's family (my x wife from 6 years ago) still consider me a part of their family, they are extraordinary people. My brother Sean and his wife Kim along with their two sons Alex and Noah of whome I should be closer to. And my son who I don't see much of anymore since he started dating.

Dinner with my dad was nice, great food from which I was very carefull not to over indulge and conversation with them was a change from just reading the web and talking through slowtwitch to people that I mostly don't know.

LALA Masters swim

I dropped in on a Masters swim, had a pretty good time, worked on many off-strokes

2600yds
400 warm up
150 kick
150 pull
4 X 400 working in IM order
--100 IM
--2X50 kick
--2X50 (25 drill 25 swim)
--2X50 stroke
12X25 free breathe 3,5,7

Wednesday's run

10.5 miles 1:30:22 HR 136

HR was abnormally low, I was really hungry and my weight was low today at 145lbs finished at 142lbs. Went to subway afterwards since I don't have much time before my swim tonight.

Tuesday 3 a day

Kind of tired on the swim but I got in what I planned.

1500 meters 27:20

Bike Cycle 60 spin class 60 minuts HR 137, felt pretty strong, probably the best since I started doing the classes, this was the main focus of the day anyway.

Run 2.5 miles 21:53 HR 138, felt tired and was spent from the spin class. Rather than eat a gel I packed it up, went home and cooked a good dinner.

For the last week or so I've been trying to cut calories down and the weight has come off a bit. I've been consistantly 146 lbs but don't have as much energy to swim with. Still have 2 to 4 lbs to go (and a little bit of gut) untill I can ease up on the diet. That should coinside with the start of my bike plan in mid-January where I will need some more energy to exercise with. Kind of wondering if the spin bike is a suitable subsitute for real biking, it certainly is better than nothing at all. I suppose that I will only get out of it what I put into it.

2nd monday's Reps

Felt better than last monday, I picked up the last 2 to the speed Daniels prescribes, probably should have gone faster earlier. Since I went into the workout cold I did some extra warm up.

6.5 miles 54:35 HR 145
1.5 miles warm up
8 X .25 fast .25 easy
10 min cool down

Next week I'll run more of the reps at R pace.

I screwed up with my swim time, I read the schedule wrong and showed up an hour late.

Training thoughts

This week went well with running but my legs are pretty beat up, I don't know if I can (or should) continue with this volume, I'm going to try it for at least another week, maybe it will get easier. I've been pretty good with keeping my easy stuff at 8:50 pace, I moved up to 8:34 today since my HR was so low.

45.55 miles in 6:31:12 is actually my biggest week of running to date.

I've let the swimming go a bit to increase run focus and to let my shoulders heal up a some. I'm going to try to swim with LALA this week to get some motivation in the pool again. Hopefully swimming with friends will help.

Biking is still taking a back seat to the swimming and running. It will untill Jan/Feb timeframe. I did do 3 spin classes this week and felt fairly good at them.

Sunday

Cycle 60 spin class at Novi LTF, the instructor Denise is the best one I've worked with. I'll look for her classes in the future.

Bike 60 minutes HR 126

Run in the evening, easy 8 miles 1:08:56 HR 143

Evening run

8 miles 1:09:45 HR 141

Easy run on treadmill in the evening after work, kept HR low and speed down.

I bought some new shoes today and tried them out. They are Asics GT 2120's. Not even supposed to be released yet but since I asked for them specifically, the running store sold them to me. I like them just as much as the 2110's and they seem to be a little bit lighter, more like the weight of my DS Trainers. The HR on the treadmill seems to confirm that.

Sat morning masters swim

I have to write this before I forget it.
4125yds - I'll explain later
650 warm up
4X375 pull on 6:00 (I screwed up the count on these but then made up for it)
6X50 kick
12X100 IM (I skipped one)
4X100 on 1:40
8X50 on :55 decending on 4's (we got to 6)
200 cool down (didn't do)

Explaination: I screwed up and counted 7 lengths for 3 of the 375's and not 15, we made up 400 of that after the kicks which still left us 125 short.

Friday's Intervals

Pretty good run today, I decided not to swim and put the entire focus on the run.

8.2 miles 1:07:36 HR 148
15 min easy
4X.75 at 7:00 pace - 4 min easy
15 min easy

Noticed some odd arm swinging with my left arm and tried to straighen it out but it was difficult, I think I leave my elbows out too much. Probably should get a video camera on me while on the treadmill. Footspeed feels much better than on Monday's run and I was only :10 off pace this time although it was a supposed to be a little bit slower at 6:48.

Pretty sure I'm going to go down to 3 to 4 swims a week since none of the swims this week except saturday's will be of any quality. I'll have a Masters swim, straight swim, fast swim and an endurance swim.

Thursday Maint Day

Really kind of tired and since there really wasn't a main focus for the day I decided not to push it and use the workouts as maintenance.

Swim 2500 about 50 minutes, mixed up sets like on tuesday only 50's instead of 25's

Bike Cycle 60 class at Novi LTF, kind of tired and didn't ride hard 'till the last 20 minutes. Actually I was ready to go home 20 minutes into it.

Wednesday

Thinking I was sticking to my plan I ran easy 90 minutes tonight, according to my schedule I was supposed to run 60. That's OK cuz I really only want to run 6 days and not 7 so I'll have tomorrow off from running.

Run 90 minutes 10.25 miles HR 148 but it really should have been like 145 cuz the HRM got a bit whacky during the last half of the run. When I pressed it against my body a little harder it read much lower.

Tuesday

Pretty good day of training, weighed in at 147 for 3 days in a row now, seem to be losing about 1lb every 2 weeks. Pretty much right on schedule.

Swim 3000 meters, kind of made it up as I went along, not too hard since it wasn't the focus of the day's exercise, just time in the water.
600 warm up
200 (25 fly 175 free)
200 (25 back 175 free)
200 (25 breast 175 free)
100 IM
200 (25 fly 175 free)
300 pull on 6:00
2X150 free on 6:00
300 pull
3X100 free
300 pull/cool down

Bike Cycle 60 spin class Endurance workout - the day's highest priority workout.

I did the class as the instructor dictated it, not really a killer workout but you don't get a break on the spin bike since it's a fixie. Added loads to stay in the prescribed HR zone as she requested.

Run 5 miles easy 42:48 HR 143 on treadmill after Cycle 60 class just to add in the junk milage.

WARNING Aliens Are Coming

ATTENTION

ALIENS ARE COMING TO ABDUCT ALL THE GOOD LOOKING AND

SEXY PEOPLE. YOU WILL BE SAFE, I'M JUST BLOGGING

THIS TO SAY GOODBYE.

.

.

.

I got this from one of my friends, I thought it was hilarious :)

Monday's reps

I say repetitions cuz that's what Daniels likes to call them, they are short and fast where intervals are longer and used for a different purpose.

Well, running that fast is HARD! I can run all day at 8:30's but 6:45's really kick my butt, exactly what I expected. As I got further into them they seemed to get easier. I couldn't do them at the rep pace of 6:25 (9.2mph) so I went to I pace of 6:45 (8.8mph), they were very difficult but doable. I'll probably have to slow friday's run down just a little too.

Run 6.1 miles 52:07 HR 148
10 min warm up
8 X .25 mile with .25 mile recovery (6:45,9:00)
10 min cool down

A good light-hearted blog

www.waiterrant.net

Some rants of a kind hearted waiter.

Weekly schedule

Well, here I am, starting the running plan that could make a difference. I guess time will tell if it does.



Here it is integrated with my complete plan switching monday and tuesday around. I may have to drop one of the running days since I don't know if I am capable of running 7 days a week. I think I'll try it but will have to be disciplined enough to keep the easy days easy.

Mon Swim 60 minutes, Run Reps
Tue Swim 40 to 60 minutes, Spin Class, Run easy 60 minutes
Wed Run easy 60 minutes
Thu Swim 60 minutes, Spin class, Run 30 to 45 min easy with 8 strides
Fri Swim 45 minutes pull sets, Run longer reps - if tired run easy
Sat Swim masters, Run 30 to 45 min easy with 8 strides
Sun Run 60 to 90 min easy

Still reading Gordo's blog

Gordo's Long Course Clinic notes

Some very interesting reading, I had to read it slow to make sure I understood what he was saying. Find a time when you have 10 minutes to read and understand it.

Some good quotes

From KP:
"...the struggle is sometimes hard to see because it is not a struggle between good and evil as much as it is a struggle between the good and the best...

"...the good is always an enemy of the best because the good is so good; it has the feel of good, but ultimately it is less useful because it is not the best."

Not an obvious concept, people think they are training good enough and are willing to settle for that when they could be training better. I suppose this could come from not developing and executing a training plan or just winging their training without any focus.

From Gordo about Bobby McGee:

"Bobby shared his experience that fit athletes need to be worried about key workouts going too well. This has been shared with me by elite swim coaches. As we near true peaks in fitness -- we need to be extra careful as we have the ability to spend that fitness in training. Dave shared this with me in 2004 and I did a good job of limiting myself in training."

I've done this all too often, get close to a race, have a lot of energy, train extra hard thinking I will get more fitness and wind up using my fitness to train hard too close to race time.

Example Wednesday Sept 13

Sunday evening run

Run 10 miles 1:26:47 HR 144

Run on Hines drive, a little bit cold for me at 42 degrees but tolorable. I wanted to run very easy so I averaged 8:40's and 8:50 on the way out and 8:30's on the way back. I kept the HR low in prep for some faster work this week.

West Bloomfield Masters swim meet

An inprompt swim meet at West Bloomfield High School. I did the deck entry since I didn't think I would have been fast enough to get into the 1650, turns out I could have with a 25:30 seed time, oh well :(

200 Free 2:40 Seeded 2:36...A bit dissapointed with that time
50 Free :30.4? Seeded :30...Just about what I expected
100 Free 1:09.4 Seeded 1:12...Very happy with that time, my best yet
500 Free 7:18 Seeded 7:36...Very surprised and was close to State meet's time

I've finally figured out the links section

I've added a couple links to blogs I read frequently. The list will get longer as I go along.

Saturday run

Came down with a case of FI's at work today so I jetted out of there and landed at the gym to get some treadmill time in.

11 miles 1:37:32 HR 147.

Origionally planned on 90 minutes of easy running but I wanted to finish up the mile I was on. Started out pretty conservative at 8:50's then bumped it down to just over 8:30 and just ran steady. I stuck to my plan of easy running and didn't care what the people around me were doing. Pretty uneventful and boring, I was trying to figure out what was happening on the televisions but had a hard time reading the captions from 50 feet away.

Friday and Saturday swims

Friday swim 2500 meters
1000 warmup
300 pull
200 (25 fly 175 free)
300 pull
200 (25 fly 175 free)
300 pull
200 cool down

I missed Friday night's run

Saturday Masters 4100 yards, lead all but 2 of the IM's
700 warm up (250S,200K,250S)
6X150 on 2:30
4X100 on 1:45 decending (1:30,1:28,1:25,1:18)
6X100 kick with fins on 1:50 (I changed to free,free,dolphin,back,back,back,back)
4X150 on 2:40 (broken 50 rest :10)
3X100 IM on 2:00
50 easy free
2X150 pull
250 cool down

Thursday

A day off from running, it seems so unusual now, I almost got on the treadmill last night after my spin class and then remembered it's my only day off from running.

Swim 40 minutes, about 2000 meters. I saw someone doing fly in the other pool taking it real easy so I decided to try it again. Well, doing it the way he was made it much easier, instead of muscling through it I just glided through and had a much better time. I even thought of doing 50's instead of 25's errr...maybe sometime soon but not now.

Bike Cycle 60 spin class, HR 120somthing as I'm just using this class to get time on the bike, kind of recovery day.

Looked at my log and noticed that I'm on my fourth week of 6-days-a-week running. I'm kind of nervous and excited to start my new run program next week, I may drop the milage down a few miles initially to reduce training stress as I get used to it but that would only be temporary.

Wednesday quicker run

I had to get back but still wanted to get 8 miles in so I picked it up a little at the end.

8 miles 1:06:58 HR 146 on Hines drive. Uneventful and still fairly warm for this time of year at 52 degrees.

Tuesday

Swim about 2500 straight near 45 min, not quickly but steady, worked on doing flip-turns correctly. I'm slower with them now but they will get better when I get balanced. Shoulders feel a bit better today too.

Bike Cycle 60 class HR 126, I really followed this class program this time, not just lagged behind with light tension.

Run 3.5 miles 30 minutes HR 144 on treadmill.

Monday

It was so nice outside that I couldn't waste it swimming indoors so I cut my swim short to get on the road.
Plus my shoulders were still a bit sore.

Swim about 1500m in about 30 minutes

Run 8 miles 1:07:50 HR 143 on Hines drive out to Newburg road. It got dark as I was running but still stayed warm enough for me to run comfortably in shorts

Training Thoughts

Week totals:

Swim ~17000 meters (18300 yards) in 5:38
Bike 2 hours (2 spin classes)
Run 40.2 miles in 5:36

Total time of 13 hours 14 minutes

After looking at my 2007 ATP it looks like 1 more week untill I start my run training with any type of intensity so one more week of easy stuff :)

I've got to try something different this year so instead of working though a marathon plan I'm going to work on a faster plan. I feel that I am limited by speed more than endurance and since I have never taken this approach, this seems like a good time to try it.

I expect to get a bit faster fairly quickly then level off, guessing at some numbers might put me around 7:50 miles at an easy pace, I would be very happy with that. It's hard to speculate what will happen after that but hopefully running fast for shorter distances won't be such torture.

Pretty sure I'm going to drop down to 4 days of swimming a week, my shoulders have been sore and this 39 year old body isn't repairing itself as fast as it used to. I feel really good after a day off so the 3 hard days in a row (thu, fri, sat) will be broken up. Volume should only drop to about 15,000 meters since I will be only dropping the small day.

Biking is still taking a back seat to running and swimming but whenever I get a chance to go Mountain biking, I will take it. Tuesday and Thursday is still in the plan with the spin classes with Thursday at Novi so I can ride with Jon L.

One more week with this:

Mon Swim Endurance 3.5 to 4K Run 30 minutes easy
Tue Swim Short 60 min spin class, 30 min run easy
Wed Run 70 minutes easy
Thu Swim 3.5 to 4K, Spin class?
Fri Run 45 minutes, maybe bike too
Sat Swim Masters Run 60 minutes
Sun MTB or spin class, Run 60 minutes

5 to 6 hours running
4 to 5 hours swimming
2 to 3 hours biking

After this week I am looking at this run plan for approx 4 weeks, when I get through this I can guage how I feel and then post the next 4 week plan. This is still an experiment so after a few weeks I may change my plans again.

Mon Run 60 min easy (about 7.5 miles)
Tue Run 10 min easy, 8X400m R pace 400m recover, 10 min easy (about 6.5 miles)
Wed Run 60 min easy (about 7.5 miles)
Thu 30 to 45 min easy with ~ 8 Strides (probably day off)
Fri 15 min easy, 4X1200 I pace w/4 min recoveries, 15 min easy (about 9 miles)
Sat 30 to 45 easy with ~ 8 Strides (about 4 to 5 miles)
Sun 60 to 90 min easy (about 7.5 to 10 miles)

So I am looking at the same volume I am doing now only with a bit more intensity. If I cut anything it will be the friday run and replace it with easier running.

Sunday

Run on Hines drive, 8 miles 1:07:13 HR 143.

Felt a bit tired today probably cuz I got so much extra sleep.

Saturday

Swim with FAST this morning, don't know why but I felt very strong. I saw the longer sets and I knew this workout was for me to lead, I like long sets while I struggle to swim much faster than 1:30 per hundred yards for many sets in a row. I made all of the times which I was proud of even the 1:30's and 1:25.

From all of the swimming this week, my biggest week ever at near 17,000 meters, I have learned to keep my elbows bent even more and still be able to use my arms as a big paddle. While my shoulders are a bit sore I feel I can continue with this pace for quite a while, I may only swim 4 days in some weeks but probably only for scheduling difficulties. Three 4000 meter endurance swims, one 3000 meter swim with pull sets and a 2000 meter straight swim seems like a good plan for right now. Later when it gets warmer outside and I start biking again I might get more specific and reduce the volume..

Swim 4100yds 1:20

500 warm up + 200 post warm up
450 on 7:30
5X100 on 1:45
350 on 6:00
4X100 on 1:40
250 on 4:30
3X100 on 1:35
150 on 3:00
2X100 on 1:30
50 on 1:00
100 on 1:25

200 easy pull
8X25 on :30 IM order
250 cool down

Run on Hines drive, felt pretty good except it was a bit cold for me. Held a quicker pace than expected while getting the HR up into low zone 2 after warmup.

58:47 7.1 miles HR 147

One more day and then I'll have a weekly report and possibly modified running goals since I am close to starting a new running program.

Friday

Swim 3000 meters 1:00 Pull sets but I didn't use the paddles like I normally do.

Run 45 minutes 5.35 miles HR 146 on Treadmill. I would have run futher but I had too much to drink during the swim, 'nuff said.

Thursday

Swim long again 4000m Endurance #2 + 1000m extra warm up

Cycle 60 spin class at Novi Lifetime Fitness
Jon L was there, that made it better having a friend there

Wednesday's run

Kept it short today, I was really hungry, wanted to get home and eat.

8 miles 1:07:18 HR 144 on Hines Drive.