Getting back to swimming (aka...i hate breaststroke)

Friday swim
200S, 200K, 200 broken IM, 200P, 200S
4X200 Free
4X50 kick
4X200 (25 stroke, 25 free IM order by 200)
200 cool down

Saturday swim
warm up 200S, 100K, 150W
2X125 on 2:00
2X175 on 3:00
2X225 on 4:00
2X175 on 3:00
2X125 on 2:00
4X50 kick
2X50 on :50 (:P I hate 50's)
2X75 on 1:20
2X100 on 1:45 (oh hum)
2X75 on 1:15 (oh no)
2X50 on :45 (AHHHH!!!...I stll hate 50's)

8X25 broken IM
200 cool down
+200 cuz we had some extra time at the end of practice

Wednesday - easy day

Just swim 2000 meters at LTF C

400 warm up
300 pull
5X200 on 3:35
300 cool down

Thought about running but I was a bit sleepy )

Tuesday Brick

I did my best to keep from spiking my power and I did it for the most part expect for one small section where I was trying to make a light.

Fun ride, held back to keep power under 175 watts but went up to 220 for the hills.
Ran 1 loop around the lake afterwards in 24:15 (3.1 miles) Not fast but I did 6X20 second pickups while on the loop.

Entire workout (169 watts):
Duration: 1:02:52 (1:03:51)
Work: 632 kJ
TSS: 71 (intensity factor 0.826)
Norm Power: 177
VI: 1.05
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 21.688 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 370 169 watts
Cadence: 29 138 84 rpm
Speed: 0 31.1 20.8 mph
Pace 1:56 0:00 2:53 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 251 51 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 800 171 lb-in

Monday (taper week)

I reduced my run volume last week but really didn't mean too. I'm starting my taper for the HIM this sunday a little later than I normally do. I feel I've tapered too much in the past. I will do less this week than normal but still will have some training effect.

Swim 2200 SCY

400 warm up
300 pull
6X100 base intervals on 1:35
6X100 hard (1:18 to 1:21) with 1:00 rest
300 cool down

This rain is killing me :(

Wednesday
Swim 2800 meters
Good swim including 7X200 and 7X100 base intervals

Bike 1:45 but got rained out. I felt riding was unsafe so I cut the ride short.

Thursday
Run hilly route during lunch 5.2 miles in 42:19
Bike 3:08 63 miles 143 watts in the rain again but I finished the ride

Friday
Swim 3000 yard at a pool in Gaylord.
Swim included 4X400 hard with 1:00 rest and 4X50 sprints

Saturday
Swim 2100 yards...easy swim with warm up, 3X500 and cool down
Bike 41.6 in 2:17 on the roads around Karen's sister's house. Jim rode with us and showed us the way. I did one extra loop

Sunday
Run 12 miles in 1:40 on hilly roads in Gaylord. Fun run but had a little bit of rain again :(

Tuesday - Amy's brick

Training as usual, I got the work done.

Run 3.1 miles in 25:30 easy running getting warmed up for the bike ride.

Bike 21.8 miles 58:27 184 watts NP 199 watts.
Good strong ride, I did most of the leading but still felt strong for sprints if I wanted. My plan was to ride as close to 200 watts as possible and not tail off at the end.

Run 6.2 miles in 49:15, first loop at 25:05 and second loop at 24:10.
Moderate paced first lap and quicker on the second. I didn't seem to have the same speed as earlier in the season but I've also moved my long run from Wednesday to Sunday so I'm not as rested for this workout as I have been in the past

Training Thoughts

Everything is still going well with the new schedule format but I missed 1 swim last week cuz of personal issues, not cuz I was tired.

The Toyota Challenge at Deer Creek is about 2 weeks away and I'm coming into form better than I expected. I've dumped a couple pounds and have been consistent with my running.

The schedule change has allowed me to be on my bike more without being tired from running. The only catch is that I have to get riding as early as possible on Wednesday so I can be done before it gets dark. Tuesdays I'm rather fresh for the hard ride and Thursday/Friday ride is actually getting done. That leaves Saturday to do a 2 hour ride as hard or easy as I want to. Last Saturday I rode fairly hard through Kensington and the surrounding area while hitting the hills aggressively knowing that I was done afterwards.

My running has been above 40 miles a week of mixed intensities. A long run, a hilly run, a tempo and some junk miles too. Swimming is up too but I won't be in as good of shape as I was in May/June. I should go 32 minutes or quicker at Deer Creek in my current shape provided the conditions are ideal.

Bike and run goals will be the same as they were for Steelhead but I really feel I'll be in better shape this time. On the bike I'll ride just under 170 watts for the first 1:15 and under 180 for the second 1:15+. That should bring me in near 2:30 and set me up for a strong run. I will error on the easy side if I have to make a choice, the run goal is the most important for me right now. Realistically I feel anything under 1:50 will be a good run but secretly I want to run near 1:45. We'll see how things go on race day.

Muncie took more out of me than I thought it would 3 weeks before Steelhead and I was lagging behind on my training relying on my accumulated fitness to pull me through. This time I'll be doing a shorter taper and more volume up untill 5 days before the race.

So now 2 weeks out I'll be hitting near the same volume as the last 2 weeks with the exception that my long run will only be 1:40 instead of 2:10+. I may or may not make up the volume during the week, I haven't decided yet, it really depends on timing and how I feel.

Monday just swim

Decent swim on the last day the outdoor pool was open.
Very nice day, sunny and warm.

3250 meters

400 warm up
300 pull w/paddles
8X100 base intervals
7X150 hard on :45 rest
12X25 kick
400 cool down

Sunday long run

Karen and I drove out to Pinckney and ran on the MTB trails. Really just looking for interesting routes.

Ran the Poto but cut off the 4, 5, 6 loop so it was only 15 miles. I completely expected to run 1 mile/min slower than normal cuz of the hills and I did.

15 miles 2:23:54 with a lot of ups and downs

A few more days in one post

Wednesday
Swim 2200 yards during lunch

Bike right after work 3 hours easy pace for endurance.

Entire workout (142 watts):
Duration: 3:01:15
Work: 1529 kJ
TSS: 164 (intensity factor 0.74)
Norm Power: 152
VI: 1.07
Distance: 58.228 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 698 142 watts
Cadence: 29 113 84 rpm
Speed: 0 32.9 19.4 mph
Pace 1:49 0:00 3:06 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 495 53 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 898 149 lb-in

Thursday off for personal reasons

Friday
Run 5.1 miles easy pace
Bike 1:20 out to Beck and 7 mile road, moderage pace. Antonio hooked up with me.
Run 5.1 miles again moderate pace


Power-Tap #1:
Duration: 1:20:47
Work: 737 kJ
TSS: 93.4 (intensity factor 0.842)
Norm Power: 173
VI: 1.11
Distance: 25.641 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 404 155 watts
Cadence: 33 105 85 rpm
Speed: 0 33.9 19.2 mph
Pace 1:46 0:00 3:08 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 365 59 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 581 167 lb-in

Saturday
Swim 2 laps of Trout Lake ~ 3000 yards ~ 60 minutes

Bike 2 hours on Hilly Island Lake Kensington route. Rode with Antonio again.

Entire workout (145 watts):
Duration: 2:09:48
Work: 1127 kJ
TSS: 150 (intensity factor 0.834)
Norm Power: 171
VI: 1.18
Distance: 41.008 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 555 145 watts
Cadence: 34 105 84 rpm
Speed: 0 34.7 19.0 mph
Pace 1:44 0:00 3:10 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 292 61 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 565 162 lb-in

Tuesday 8/26

A little tired but still good. Just this week and the next untill I let off for Pineman.

Amy's brick night
Run 3.1 miles 25:30 easy run to warm up
Bike 21.8 miles 58 min 183 watts NP 204, I hit the hills fairly hard.
Run 6.2 miles 49:43, brisk working on Daniels M pace (HIM run pace)

Very nice outside, a little on the cool side. It is definitely getting darker earlier now

Monday 8/25

Run 5.2 miles on the Hilly route at lunch. Uneventfull, a little tired so I didn't push any of the hills, kept training stress down a bit and made the run just junk miles.

Swim 3050 meters at LTF Commerce

400 warm up
300 pull
7X150 quick :15 rest
8X100 Base intervals :10 rest
12X25 kick :07 to :10 rest
200 cool down

Felt fairly strong and motivated knowing I was done for the day when the swim was done.

Friday and the weekend

Friday I kept it easy and just swam 3200 meters

Saturday
Swim 1 lap of Trout Lake
Bike 2 hours in hills ~37 miles
Run 1.8 miles, I was so tired and out of energy

Sunday
Take pictures at the Island Lake Triathlon that Karen was in.

Run 14.7 miles 2:06:53 at Island Lake.
Started from Kent Lake parking lot and ran the Blue MTB trail which started 2.5 miles away.
It was hot and humid, a very nice day to run on the trail where 75% of the run was well shaded. Felt fairly strong and liked the fact that I was only running that day. Not having to work beforehand helped too.

I liked the format for the week and will be doing that again with the longer ride on wednesday and long run on sunday.

Thursday

We went out to Island lake so Karen could try out some race wheels and get in some uninterupted training. We got out there a little later than I had hoped but got the work done.

Run 5.1 miles after work ~ 42 minutes of easy/mod running

Bike 1 lap at Island Lake ~14 miles

Run 45 minutes ~ 5.4 miles Started easy then built up to M pace

Wednesday

Changed up a bit like I said I would

Swim during lunch, didn't get as far as I wanted to but still got in some work

2100 meters
400 warm up
300 pull w/paddles work on form
7X200 on 3:35

Bike on Hines keeping the intensity low to moderate, stayed in the 150's for the first half then 160's for the second half. Did my usual sprint on Merriman Rd at the end and got that 800+ watts. Still have not beat the light yet but it's the closest I've been. I just need a couple more seconds

Entire workout (146 watts):
Duration: 3:02:57
Work: 1581 kJ
TSS: 174 (intensity factor 0.762)
Norm Power: 156
VI: 1.07
Distance: 60.271 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 817 146 watts
Cadence: 35 106 85 rpm
Speed: 0 32.8 19.9 mph
Pace 1:50 0:00 3:01 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 505 53 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 920 152 lb-in

Monday Tuesday

Monday
Run 5.1 miles during lunch on hilly route ~43 minutes
Swim 3100 Base and LT intervals

Tuesday
Run 3.1 miles M pace
Bike 21.8 hard AP 193 watts NP 210
Run 6.2 miles M pace

I know it's been a while

Yes, I've been slacking...on both the blog and training side but still having fun.

Since I wrote last I've raced Muncie, Waterloo, Steelhead and Sylvania

Muncie 5:07 ...Good trial, at too late the night before, learned from that mistake

Waterloo the next day... Just racing Bernie, had a lot of fun

Steelhead Duathlon 4:39 ... Not very happy about the race, still a good day and came in as planned.

Sylvania Oly 2:15.xx ... Good day, personal best on that course, windy so the bike was a little bit slower than usual plus I was a bit tired from Steelhead the week before.

Next race planned is Pineman provided training goes as planned. I've got to put in a solid 3 weeks of training before the race and not taper so much. I think I taped too much before Steelhead.

Going to shake the training plan up some and move around my long bike and run. New basic week goes as follows. Highest priority of the day goes to the training in Bold

Mon Run, Swim
Tue Run, Bike, Run
Wed Swim, Bike long
Thu Bike, Run
Fri Swim, Run
Sat Swim OW, Bike intervals, Run LT
Sun Run long

Monday

Swim 2650
Warm up 200 swim 200 pull 200 swim 100 kick 300 pull/paddles
5X200 :15 rest
13X50 :10 rest (50's 'till I got kicked out of the pool cuz of the rain)

The weather looked good when I started but was soon overcast and threatening rain so I got as much in as I could. The outdoor pool was nice, Dawn P warmed up with me 'till another lane became available.

Thursday - Friday and the Weekend

Thursday
Swim 2900 yards
Bike 1:30 out to 7 and Beck road. Nothing special just riding.

Friday
Swim 2000 meters, kind of tired and just getting pool time.

Saturday
I wanted to pace out my HIM bike strategy so I did Gordo's HIM sim again.
Plan was to ride the first 1:15 of the bike under 170 watts and the second 1:15 under 180 watts
Run 45 min 5.35 miles smooth just under long run pace
Bike 2:30 - 1:15 at 168 watts, second 1:15 at 178 watts TSS 168 ~ 53 miles
Run 48:09 6.0 miles close to HIM run pace

I pretty much nailed the pacing on the power side, the course was a little hilly and I wasn't using race wheels so the speed was a little slower that what I would expect to see at Muncie and Steelhead. The second run I felt very strong, I felt that had I been running 13.1 miles I could have picked it up for the second half of the run.

Sunday
Run on track but I was tired. Note to self, don't do track intervals the day after a race sim :P

Warm up 1.5 miles
6X400 with 400 recovery
cool down

Bike
1 hour 20.2 miles
I felt very good on the bike despite how I felt on the track but it was still just a leisurely ride.

So bike pacing at Muncie this weekend is the Key reason I'm going. Planning on riding exactly as I did on Saturday. On a normal day I should be in near 2:30. With a 32 to 35 min swim and a 1:45 run I should come in just over 4:50, that would be a very good race for me.

Wednesday's long run

I delayed my swim untill thursday cuz I've had trouble in the beginning of my long runs.

Run 14.2 miles 1:58:xx HR 142
Interesting run, I felt like crap for the first 3 miles then near mile 4 I hooked up with Jay S again who was out for an easier run. Turned around at Newburgh rd (4 miles in) and ran with Jay for a while, that really picked me up and got me feeling better. He turned around a few miles later and I felt like a million bucks, I even had to watch the pace so I wouldn't go too fast.

I heard some thunder crackling behind me but the clouds didn't look that thick so I continued with my plan and ran out just past the toboggan hill (dead man's hill) and turned around for the 4 mile trip home. A light sprinkle and gentle breeze kept me cool on the way, at 1 mile to go the rain started comming down a little bit more but still very managable, as soon as I got under the carports by my place the rain really started comming down, allmost like someone held it back for me untill I was finished :)

So a little interesting run, the trend of feeling better in 3 to 4 miles continues although I don't know why. Just another day to go and it's a 3 day weekend :)

Tuesday

Amy's brick

Run 3.1 miles in 25:30 to get warmed up
Bike 16 minutes before the main ride
Bike 21.8 miles in just over 56 minutes stoplights included, by myself.
Run 6.2 miles in 49:10. First 5K at 8:10 pace, second 5K just under 8:00 or M pace

I got a pinch flat on the bike ride and did my best to catch the leaders. I caught 2 minutes on them in 20 miles but that was the best I could do. I rode as hard as I could just making sure I was over 200 watts for most of the time and over 300 climbing. I finished 3 minutes behind them, not bad for 1 rider against 4.

The run I took out easy, a little under my long run pace. My PE was probably 5 out of 10. The second loop I just wanted to run M pace or just under 8 min/mile. I was fairly tired by then and the PE went up to about 7. It had cooled off a little bit so it was a pleasant run.

Monday...My easy day

Sticking with monday as my easy day getting ready to get the work done for the next 3 days

Swim 2900 yards
400 warm up
6X100 :15 rest
6X100 pull :15 rest
2X200 :15 rest
2X200 pul :15 rest
8X50 kick on back
100 cool down

Friday and the weekend

Good and bad...

Friday
Swim 3000 meters
1100 warm up
400 moderate
2X200
4X100
8X50 sprints
300 cool down

Bike
Planned 10X3 min hard 1 min easy but tore up a tire
Completed
20 min warm up
6X3 min hard 1 min easy
had to get a ride home.

Saturday
Swim 2 loops of Trout Lake ~3000 yards
Bike 3:30 or 5 loops of Island Lake Rec Area ~ 68 miles

Sunday
Watch Karen race at Kensington, I'll have some pictures soon

Run on Track (yes me on the track :)
3.2 mile warm up
6X800 with 400 recoveries
1.something cool down

800 times were set using Mcmillan Running Calculator
3:18 to 3:28 Speed workout for long distance runners
http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

Life gives you your days off

Friends have asked me

"What day do you take off from training"

I reply with "I don't schedule any days off, I just have 2 easier days per week. Life will give me my days off."

Well, yesterday was one of them,

After the storm blew through it was fairly nice outside and I wanted to get my bike ride in. Everything was going well and just after about 20 minutes of warm up, a spoke popped on my front wheel the same way it did at TTT Camp. I wasn't going to do intervals on it the way it was so I bagged the bike ride and drove around in search of a new set of spokes. I found a set at a local bike store and respoked the wheel last night.

Since I missed my ride last night I'll be doing it today weather permitting as well as my longer swim.

Wednesday

Swim at lunch but not much
1500 meters in about 30 minutes

Run 14.1 miles in 1:58
Once again, hard to get going for the first 4 miles then I felt good.
West on Hines drive and around the Newburgh lake 2 times then headed home. I ran with Jay S for a while when we crossed paths, we chatted for a while and made the time go by quickly. While I ran a bit quicker, I hope I didn't slow him down too much cuz he is just a crazy fast runner.

I seemed to have missplaced my HRM transmitter and have gone without it for the last 2 days. It's not a big deal since I don't train by it anyway :P

Monday Tuesday

I got rained out of the pool on Monday and had to move indoors, then got booted out of the indoor pool cuz of lightning so I only got about 1200 yards in.

Tuesday - easier like planned
Edit: I ran 3.1 miles before biking. Somewhere around 25 minutes
Bike 21.8 miles 58 minutes 173 watts NP 190 watts. I stuck with the group and lead less than half of the ride as opposed to the last few weeks where I lead 90% of the ride.

Run 6.2 miles 49 minutes, first loop near 8:10, second loop a little quicker. Just trying to stay strong for thursday.

Maumee Bay Tri (some pictures)

Before start setting up :)

Comming out of water (the short guy)

Heading out on the bike

Comming in on the bike

About 1 mile into the run

About 1 mile to go


In the finish chute

A lot of watermelon :)


Post race

Somewhere in the park

Looks like I'm heading out on the run.

Training Thoughts

I've gotten my key workouts in lately but not all of the extra stuff in. They key workouts have left me very tired and I feel a change is in order.

My strengths
Swim...So much better than last year, 2 to 3 minutes better in Oly distace races
Bike...Stronger than last year, FT is up to 215 right now, that is where I hoped to be in August and there is still room for improvement.

My weakness
Run...Still the same speeds as last year but I'm probaby 6 weeks ahead right now.

My changes
Swim...No change, still staying with 4 swims of varying intensities per week.

Bike...Easier on tuesday for quicker recovery, I don't need the Tempo work right now on that day. Going to schedule longer speed intervals on thursday or friday. Keep weekend riding the same.

Run...More consistant running and 35 to 40 miles per week. I feel that 6 weeks out of Steelhead is the right time to add some speedwork.
Tuesday will be backed down to M pace for the second loop of the brick instead of T pace.
Keep Wednesday long run the same.
Find time to fit 3 to 5 miles on thursday
Try to fit in a trail run on Saturday
Schedule track time on sunday starting with 5k of 800 meter intervals

Maumee Bay Triathlon

I decided to race on Sunday down a Maumee State Park since I was down there allready for my son's show.

Very nice park and was put on by one of the best race organizers around, HFP Racing.

I'll have some pictures later today.

Swim
It was a beach start and I've been swimming well lately so I started at the front. The horn went off and I was running into the water, after a few dolphin dives I swam hard for 100 strokes then settled into a smooth pace. I caught a lot of people from previous waves and had to swim around them. For the most part it was OK but sometimes I got wacked by them inadvertently, mostly in the back. It was 2 laps and the second lap went as well as the first, smooth swimming and fairly uneventfull. I was out of the water in 22 minutes.

Bike
After a 54 second transition I was off on the bike. I was told it was flat and it was. It is the only race that I've done that is flatter than Sylvania :) Since I wasn't really rested for this race I was concerned about going too hard on the bike, then I remembered that I really wanted this race to be a test and it was also a "C" race so I decided to go fairly hard. I seemed to settle in to about 200 watts fairly well which brought me back in 1:03:30...Not my best but a solid ride. The course had a little bit of wind, maybe 5 mph, and it seemed like I was going into it about 75% of the time which suits me fine since I am more aero than most cuz of my size. The roads outside of the park were in fairly good condition and allowed for a lot of speed. There were Police and volunteers at every intersection and I felt very safe during the ride.

Run
Back in transistion and out in 54 seconds (again!!!) even though I put socks on it went pretty quick.

I really didn't know where to go comming out of transistion but the volunteers pointed me in the right direction and I followed the cones that marked the way really well. When I got to the path I just settled in to my quickest pace I felt I could hold for the entire run. After a few minutes into the run, Tom Demerly passed me smiling away, it looked like he was having a good time and just ran away, I wasn't able to follow. I lost a little concentration and my second mile was a little slower than the rest, when I realized it I picked it back up. I hit the turn around just under 23 minutes and wanted to try and neg split the run, I wound up doing that but just by 1 sec so I felt it was a good run for me at just under 46 minutes. I'm not a great runner and I really felt slow during the run despite it being my quickest Oly Tri run by a few seconds.

2:13:18 is my best Oly time, good for 4th in AG and 21st overall...not a bad day for going into a race unrested :) I was very happy with the result.

The rest of the week

I was really dragging through this week and a change is comming.

Thursday
Swim 1500 yards during lunch
Bike 1:50 38 miles about 160 watts HR in the low 140's most of the time.

Friday
Bike 1:50 37 miles about 150 watts HR is the high 130's

Saturday
Swim ~3000 yards, 2 times accross Trout Lake
Bike 50 minutes easy. I was really tired

Saturday evening I drove down to Toledo to see a Drum Corps show that my son is touring with. It was a great show and it was the first time that I have seen him in a month.

Wednesday Long Run

I chose not to swim cuz I didn't get much sleep and I didn't feel that another hour of training stress was the right thing to do so I'll move the swim to thursday.

Run 14.3 miles 2:00:32 HR 137

Easy long run, HR was lower than expected and I had to concentrate on keeping the pace where I wanted it. Early in the run I was trying to keep the pace up, late in the run I was trying to keep the pace down, I know it sounds backwards.

Anywho, uneventfull run down Hines drive just past Telegraph road. Very nice cool day sunny and about 65°F.

Tuesday

Amy C's brick modified in my own way.

Run 3.1 miles easy for warm up 26 min HR 135
Bike 21.8 miles hard, 200 watts NP 214 watts
Run 6.2 as 3.1 easy 25:30 and 3.1 hard 22:10

I really felt strong on the bike and probably rode too strong but I was really having a lot of fun pulling 4 or 5 people. They would give me a break every once in a while but I really wanted to ride hard. I had the HR in the high 160's low 170's a lot (that's high for me).

The 6.2 mile run I stared off with a little upset stomach but that went away after a mile. Ran easy with OA and Al C for the first loop, Al had to make a pit stop and ran ahead, the second loop I let go and ran well.

After a few days of higher intensity the rest of my week will be easier:

Wed easy long run
Thu 1 to 1.5 hour bike and 30 to 45 min run
Fri 3000 meter swim
Sat swim open water, bike long maybe run 30 min
Sun Bike 2 hours run 45 min

Monday

Keeping to the plan Monday is an easier day.

Swim 3100 meters
1100 warm up
8X200 Base intervals 1-5 on 3:35 6-8 on 3:30
400 cool down

Helped a friend with swimming so I did some balance and streamlining drills afterwards

Catching back up

Thursday
Bike for 1:15, moderate steady, still tired from the long run

Friday
Swim 2000 meters

Saturday
Gordo brick, I use as a test. I'm looking for pacing on the bike so that I can be fueled and ready for the second run. I try to do the second run at a higher intensity than the first. If I can't then I need to look at my bike pacing. The bike is done as 30 min 150 watts (IM Pace), 20 min just over 170 watts (HIM Pace) repeat 2 times.

45 min run ~ 5.5 miles HR 144 Just under my long run pace
2.5 hour bike ~ 54 miles 162 watts
45 min run ~ 5.75 miles HR 154

I did the test at Island Lake and it went well as I biked strong and really killed the second run, well it's good for me anyway.

Sunday
Bike 1:15. The rain was comming and I got home before it came down. Planned on 2 hours but I was still pretty tired from yesterday. That 4 hour workout took a lot out of me.

More Ann Arbor Pictures

Swim Exit
My new wetsuit top, I'm still undecided as to weather I like this suit or not.


Somewhere in the middle of the bike ride.
I remember passing the guy int he blue jersey and white aero helmet


Don't know where, probably near beginning since I started with 3/4 water bottle and didn't drink untill I was well into the ride.


Don't know where but a good picture


Middle of ride again





Near Finish


In the Finish Chute

Wednesday 6/11

Swim during lunch
3000 meters
500 warm up
300 pull
7X200 on 3:35
7X100 on 1:50
100 cool down

Long Run on Hines Drive out to RR Tracks
14.4 miles 2:02:06 HR 144
A little warm but fairly easy run.  I've been having trouble getting started, getting through the first 5 miles is the toughest part, after that I'm good to go.  It may be from the hour long swim earlier.

Tuesday 6/10/08

Run Bike Run again...getting back to my basic week.

Run 2 miles easy about 16 minutes

Bike on Hines Drive 21.8 miles 56:55 199 watts NP 214
Fairly windy but we had a small group to ride change leads with

Run 2 loops around Newburgh Lake 6.2 miles about 49 minutes
1st loop moderate
2nd loop harder

HR seemed higher today than normal...I get the data soon.

Bike info
Entire workout (199 watts):
Duration: 56:55
Work: 677 kJ
TSS: 102.9 (intensity factor 1.044)
Norm Power: 214
VI: 1.08
Distance: 21.849 mi
-------Min Max Avg
Power: 0 937 199 watts
Cadence: 25 109 87 rpm
Speed: 2.2 32.1 23.1 mph
Pace 1:52 26:49 2:36 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 484 62 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 899 202 lb-in

Monday

Short swim 2700 yards in the outdoor pool
600 warm up
300 pull
8X100 :10 rest
8X100 hard 1:00 rest
12X25 kick on :30
200 cool down

Pool was cloudy and had a strong scent of sunblock.
I won't be doing that again if the water is cloudy.

Some pictures

I've just been so darn busy lately since TTT camp, IronKamp, TTT, a trip to El Paso/Juarez then the Ann Arbor Triathlon. Hear are a few pictures though:

Poor Gavin with some leg cramps...That's me behind him

A fast decent on Route 125

The best run image I had but it make me look like I need to lose 30 lbs :P

A newer wetsuit for me. Notice how long the legs are and the wrinkles in them cuz I couldn't pull them up anymore. After the races I cut 4 inches from the legs

Finish to a long race weekend

Karen, me and Jon Logan before the start of AA Triathlon



Me before the start of the AA Triathlon

Monday Tuesday

I took is easy on the swim monday. LALA had an open lane so I used it for a while.

Monday
400 warm up then 10X100 on 1:45
Swam down a little and got out. I was pretty tired :(

Tuesday
Much better rested and ready for the Tuesday Brick

Bike pretty quick and consistant. Went out a little conservative in the beginning targeting just over 170 watts and under 250 for the small hills. After the first turn around I felt pretty good so I bumped up to 180 watts for the flats.

Entire workout (184 watts):
Duration: 58:39
Work: 645 kJ
TSS: 89.7 (intensity factor 0.958)
Norm Power: 192
VI: 1.04
Distance: 21.845 mi
.............Min Max Avg
Power: 0 479 184 watts
Heart Rate: 90 188 153 bpm
Cadence: 29 102 87 rpm
Speed: 2.7 30.4 22.4 mph

Run 10K afterwards targeting near 8 min/miles for the first 5K then drop :15 for the next 5K
6.2 miles in 48:06...no HR data since I was wearing the wrong strap

DATT Training Weekend

The weekend down in Portsmouth turned out really well. I was a bit concerned about the weather but we did just about everything we planned. The only thing we didn't do was swim.

Friday
Packed up Lesley and Gavin's car and drove down, I totaly missed the crossing into Ohio so Gavin beat me there (inside joke).
Bike 1 loop on the Little Smokies course, a little bit of rain but OK. We went up Thompson Hill Rd just to do it, came back down and finished the course

Entire workout (140 watts):
Duration: 2:04:44
Work: 1041 kJ
TSS: 166.6 (intensity factor 0.897)
Norm Power: 179
VI: 1.28
Distance: 31.886 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 750 140 watts
Heart Rate: 22 236 133 bpm

Run afterwards to the top of the run course hill
6.6 miles in about 59 minutes

Saturday
Run to the end of the run trail and back to cabin
8.3 miles in about 1:13

Bike on the Sat am course. We had to loop back cuz I broke a spoke early in the ride and MJ was kind enough to lend me a spare wheel for the rest of the weekend. Thanks so much.

Entire workout (141 watts):
Duration: 2:14:42
Work: 1133 kJ
TSS: 174.5 (intensity factor 0.883)
Norm Power: 177
VI: 1.26
Distance: 35.205 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 716 141 watts
Heart Rate: 3 231 133 bpm

Run 2 miles afterwards on a short nature trail near the cabins in about 18 minutes.

Bike again on the Sat am course in the evening with the whole group. A nice recovery ride but still challenging in a lot of parts.

Entire workout (111 watts):
Duration: 2:00:59
Work: 801 kJ
TSS: 114.3 (intensity factor 0.754)
Norm Power: 151
VI: 1.36
Distance: 27.944 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 546 111 watts
Heart Rate: 19 242 125 bpm

Sunday
Bike on the Saturday pm course in the morning. It was a lot more uphill on the way out than I remembered. The big hill on the way back I targeted 215 watts to stay strong, it was the right decision.

Entire workout (146 watts):
Duration: 1:36:57
Work: 844 kJ
TSS: 117.7 (intensity factor 0.855)
Norm Power: 171
VI: 1.17
Distance: 25.569 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 624 146 watts
Heart Rate: 79 205 138 bpm

Run to the end of the run course trail again
8.3 miles 1:11:20. A little quicker than before and I don't know how as we were pretty tired.

Last week 4/28 to 5/1

Since I had an 1100 point week I felt that I needed a day of rest cuz that was 100 points past where I wanted to be. So getting rested was a high priority to be ready for another big week.

Mon Off

Tue
Run 3.1 miles
Bike 21.8 tempo paced
Run 6.2 miles as 5K moderate then 5K raising HR by at least 5bpm

Wed
Swim a little bit at lunch
Run 12.5 miles in the evening

Thu
Bike 50 minutes easy then pack for the weekend

Friday Saturday Sunday

Friday
Run easy after work just getting in junk miles
30 minutes 3.65 miles

Swim 1000 meters afterwards, I still didn't feel like swimming

Saturday
Swim with FAST  4200 yards 1:25
Felt good and bad, then good, then bad...get the pattern.  Overall it was a decent swim.

Bike on Hines
1:27:57 27.2 miles easy junk miles followed by a run of 5.2 miles in about 43 minutes.

Sunday
Bike with a small group in the morning, it was chilly but not bad
Got some easy riding in with about 30 minutes of Tempo near the end. 36.3 miles in just under 2 hours.
Run 8.1 miles later that day in 1:08 easy running to finish out the week.

I was a little bit over on my point system and I'm feeling it.  Monday will be a planned easier day with just swimming on the schedule like normal.  It's supposed to rain anyway.  Hopefully Tuesday will be warm enough to get the brick in again.  I like the way I did it last week with a run to start then run 10K afterwards.  It was a good way to get my running started for the week.

Thursday short hills on the bike

Planned some short hill climbs today hoping to ride up six mile hill several times but there was just too much traffic there so I did the hill climbs on Hines between Northville road and 7 mile.

Entire workout (149 watts):
Duration: 1:38:52
Work: 876 kJ
TSS: 126.1 (intensity factor 0.877)
Norm Power: 175
VI: 1.18
Distance: 31.38 mi

About 30 minutes of warm up and 5X2 min climbs over 250 watts with 4 min recoveries then a little over 30 min of fun zone 3 riding on the way home.

Wednesday Swim and Run

I swam during lunch but only for a little bit. I'm still tired of swimming for the moment. I'll get a little bit in on Friday and swim with the team on Saturday, next week I'll get back into the groove again. Right now this week is about the bike with running comming in a close second.

Swim 1000 meters
SKIPS plus some more, just a little time in the water

Run long(er) on Hines drive. Very nice sunny day near 70 deg F.

12.3 miles 1:43:50 HR 143

Easy run trying to keep wear and tear down and just getting the work done.

Tuesday Run Bike Run

I decided not to try an FTP test today since I wasn't 100% and chose to get a little extra easy running and ride at what I feel will be near my HIM power.

The plan:
5K easy
1 hour bike at 170 to 180 watts
10K starting brisk for 5K then trying to get a 5 bpm spread for the second 5K

The first 5K went easy, about 26 minutes HR in the low 140's, just like I planned. 1 loop around Newburg Lake

Bike on Hines, Mark S stayed with me. I was shooting for 170 to 180 watts while not going over 215 on any of the small hills and holding at least 160 going downhill. I felt good.

Entire workout (167 watts):
Duration: 1:01:58
Work: 618 kJ
TSS: 77.7 (intensity factor 0.87)
Norm Power: 174
VI: 1.04
Distance: 21.877 mi

..............Min Max Avg
Power: 0 377 167 watts
Heart Rate: 14 161 147 bpm
Cadence: 32 103 89 rpm
Speed: 0 30.4 21.3 mph
Pace 1:58 0:00 2:49 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 365 56 lb-in
Crank Torque: 0 341 166 lb-in

Run 10K in about 48 minutes, my watch screwed up but that is pretty close. First 5K HR 150 and the second 5K HR 156

Monday

Since it's been a while since I've been on the bike I wanted to get a little extra today. Tapering for the Masters meet gave me some rest time that I may or may not have needed for Tri training.

Bike on Hines end to end a couple times planning to ride 80 miles or 'till the sun went down. Goal for the ride was to go between 150 and 170 watts depending on how I felt and holding small hills to 215, larger hills to 250. I hooked up with Gary for a while and rode a little harder while I was with him.

I'm going to try and ride hard on Tuesday to get an idea of my FTP. I want to get an idea of where I'm at compared to my goals. I'd like to be near 210 watts by DATT, that would put me in a pretty good position to build from.

Entire workout (157 watts):
Duration: 3:24:48
Work: 1911 kJ
TSS: 232 (intensity factor 0.828)
Norm Power: 166
VI: 1.06
Distance: 68.902 mi

The rest of the state meet times

100 Free 1:08.04 --- Previous best was 108.97 from state meet last year.

500 Free 6:45 --- Really close to my seed time based of of my 400M time at Milford.

200 Free 2:28 --- 1 second better than my seed time and my best to date, 4 seconds better than last year.

50 Free 29.45 --- Best by about 1/2 second.

1000 Free 14:07 --- I was really tired since it was the last event of the meet and wasn't even close to my seed time of 13:51. It was still by best by seconds.

I don't even want to talk about my 50 back time.

Michigan Masters Friday night 1650 time

A very good swim for me...

1650 yards 23:06

Cruised for about 1000, then tried to pick it up for the rest.

Easy week so far

I really want to be rested for this weekend so I've taken it easy.

Monday
Run 5 miles moderate. I felt tired, normally it's just a swim day but I was teaching a Tri 101 clinic that evening and didn't have time to go to the pool

Tue
Swim during lunch at Lifetime
1500 meters
600 warm up SKIPS (Swim, Kick, IM, Pull, Swim)
8X100 on 1:40 pull with paddles
100 cool down

Bike
Amy C's brick
1:01:00 22.1 miles 159 watts 170 NP 144 bpm
Run 5K afterwards around 25 minutes

Wed
Swim 1700 yards with LALA
250 Mixed strokes
250 kick
200 easy IM (as if I could really go hard :P)
200 Mixed strokes
4X25 sprints on :30
4X50 on 1:00
4X100 hard on 2:00 comming in under 1:20
100 cool down

Training Thoughts

Another hard week with just over 18 hours and that has historically been a lot for me. I knew I would be getting a break this week with the swim meet this weekend so I kept up the training volume.

A breakdown of the last 3 weeks reveals that I've hit my time goals for the Bike which in my opinion are the most important right now. Here are the times and percentages for all three disciplines

Swim......%.......Bike.....TSS...%.......Run......%......Total
4:45:00 30.5% 5:46:00 298.9 37.1% 5:02:51 32.4% 15:33:51

3:30:00 20.4% 8:24:00 485.5 49.0% 5:14:30 30.6% 17:08:30

4:25:00 24.5% 8:24:50 504.8 46.7% 5:11:15 28.8% 18:01:05

Last week's bike time saw a lot on the Computrainer, when I was on it I was doing short hill repeats looking to hold over 250 for the short intervals and 200 for the longer intervals.

The only intensity on the run was from sunday when I ran 45 min of Tempo on the second run of the day. Everything else was easy as I missed my short run on thursday that I normally run fairly hard.

This week will have less volume since I want to be rested for the weekend. I'm looking at a schedule something like this:

Mon Swim 2000M or less
Tue Hard bike, moderate run
Wed Swim 2000M or less, run easy
Thu Bike easy, run easy (optional)
Fri Swim 1650 Free
Sat Swim 100 Free, 50 Back, 500 Free
Sun Swim 200 Free, 50 Free, 1000 Free

Edit: Looks like I'll be adding 4 relays to that :)
2 Medley relays that I'll be swimming Backstroke and 2 Free relays.

Sunday finish to a long week

Run on Hines Drive 45 minutes 5.4 miles HR 135

Bike on Computrainer 1:30:30 130 watts 122 bpm

Run on Hines Drive again 45 minutes 5.7 miles HR 146

Not a hard day just steady. Second run was obviously much faster than the first.

Saturday

Kind of a long day

Swim 3500
Warm-up: 1000 SKIPS (Swim, Kick, IM, Pull, Swim)
12 x 50 @ 1:05 (25-no breath, 25 six beat kick)
6 x 150 @2:40 (50 free/50 no-free/ 50 free)
4 x 25 @ :45 (odds- build, evens- 12 ½ sprint)
10 x 50 @ 1:05 @ 500 pace
Warm-down: 400

Bike on Computrainer 1:21:40 138 watts 126 bpm

Run on Hines 5.1 42:40 HR 135

Friday outta work early

With heavy rain storms comming this evening and all weekend my boss let me go early so I could get some good bike time in.

It was 70 degrees and sunny, I even got a little bit of a sunburn too.

Anywhoo, a good bike ride on Hines drive to Dearborn then to Northville, back to Dearborn then home.

52.5 miles 2:40 150 watts NP 157 HR 139

After showering and a hair cut I swam with LALA so I could work on starts.

Swim 3150 yards
10X125 warm up (100 swim 25 back)
12X75 1...25 kick, 25 drill, 25 swim, 2...back stroke
8X100 from blocks 75 build kick 20 build stroke
8X25 sprints from blocks
Swim around a little for cool down

Thursday bike

Nasty weather outside forced me inside again. I did some short hill climbs and picked a course on the computrainer that I felt was right. It turned out that the hill climbs were only about 40 seconds long so they were a little too short but I finished the bike ride with that course. I was targeting over 250 watts for the climbs which is 50 watts over my FTP of 200.

1:20 on Computrainer, a little more than the 2 loops of the Alien crop circles 9.6 course. About 20 minutes of warm up, 12 hills and then cool down.

Entire workout was 135 watts NP 159 watts 120 bpm TSS 84.5

Thursday

I signed up for Michigan Masters State Meet today, here are the events and seed times:

Friday night
Event #1 1650 Free 24:12

Saturday morning
Event #3 100 Free 1:09

Saturday afternoon
Event #15 50 back :45
Event #21 500 Free 6:48

Sunday morning
Event #23 200 Free 2:29

Sunday afternoon
Event #35 50 Free 29.7
Event #43 1000 Free 13:51

Wednesday

Swim in the morning before work.

2200 meters in about 45 minutes

Run on Hines drive and 2 loops around Newburg Lake
14.3 miles 2:03:23 HR 132

I had a hard time getting going. At 3 miles I stopped cuz I was tired. I ate 2 gels then felt better, since I had 2 more I decided to keep running. I wound up getting the full 2 hours in and only ate 1 more gel. I was a little slower today but still within my planned paces. Looking for more rest tonight.

Monday Tuesday

Using Monday as a reduced training day really helped out. I had planned on doing 6X500 but I was just too tired and unmotivated.

Monday
Swim 3300 meters
800 warm up
300 pull
4X500 as 100 hard, 100 easy, 100 hard, 100 easy, 100 hard alternated with 500 pull
200 cool down

Tuesday feeling really strong
Run Hilly route from work
6.5 miles 55:12 HR 137

Bike with friends on Hines drive
1:32 28.5 miles 144 watts HR 135

Training Thoughts 4-6

Well 2 solid weeks of good training have gone by but I can't help but think that It's too much for me. I have devised a way of tracking my training stress for all 3 disciplines, I won't explain it in detail but I will say I'm using WKO for the bike and have arbitrarily assigned numbers to the swim and run. I'm doing this so I know where my limits are. I'm 40 years old and need to be healthy for work and family too.



The last 2 weeks have seen more time mainly cuz of the extra bike riding where I got 5.5 hours and 8.5 hours in respectively. I've limited my running to near 35 miles per week and feel that is enough to slightly improve my run while giving me enough recovery time to ride more. I'm feeling that my bike abilities are behind where I want it to be right now and want to remedy that. Fortunately the weather has been better so I've been able to get more outside riding done :)



I've come up with a basic week that seems to work well with 2 easier days...it goes like this:

Mon Swim

Tue Bike, Run some type of speed or hill intervals

Wed Swim in morning, Run long

Thu Bike some type of intervals, easy 30 min run

Fri Swim

Sat Swim with Masters, Bike long, 30 min run.

Sun Run, Bike Run varying distances to how I feel.



So I've really have 2 easier days on monday and friday which help recover from the weekend and midweek training. Plus I like to go out with friends on friday night so that works too :)



Upcomming events:



I've got Michigan Masters State Meet comming up in 2 weeks. I'll be swimming all of the free events plus one more that I haven't decided on yet. That would be the 1650, 1000, 500, 200, 100 and 50. I'll be going a little easier next week to prep for the meet so I guess life will give me the break in tri training that I will probably need.



Triple T camp is the first weekend of May. I'll be going down to Portsmouth OH to ride and run the race courses for the DATT. We went last year and had a lot of fun re-learning the courses, there was a lot of bumps I didn't remember. I really feel it kick-started my bike training.



IronKamp is the following week in Boyne Michigan. That camp has been going on for quite some times and it will be my first time doing it. It's a bunch of friends getting out and swim, bike and running a lot over the weekend.



DATT is 2 weeks later, I really want to do well there and not struggle on the final run. I want to have better bike strength but still ride about the same as last year so my running will be better.



So I have a very busy month of May comming up and want to be prepared for it the best I can. That should carry me into this seasons' racing with a lot of endurance to build upon though Steelhead.

Friday Saturday and Sunday

Well another good week has gone by, that will be addressed in training thoughts.

Friday
Swim 3400 meters
800 warm up
300 pull
5X300 Hard with 1 min rec
4X50 sprints :20 rec
12X25 kick
300 cool down

Saturday
Swim 3500 yards
A bunch of hard 75's and 50's

Bike out to Island Lake
62 miles in 3:26 142 watts

Run on Hines Drive Moderate
30 minutes 3.75 miles HR 141

Sunday 3 part brick
Run 45 minutes 5.3 miles HR 136
Bike Hines drive end to end + 5 mile hill 39.2 miles 143 watts HR 135
Run 45 minutes 5.8 miles HR 150

Thursday

I got out of work a little early to get some biking in :)

Bike on Hines Drive
1:52 HR 35 miles 137 watts HR 131
A little chilly but OK for me so I got nearly 2 hours of easy riding in.

Run on Hines a short while after.
30 minutes 3.7 miles HR 137
A little quick but comfortable run

Mon Tues Wed

I've been busy in the evenings so I got a little behind.

Monday - good hard swim
Swim 3000 meters
800 warm up
300 pull
8X100 on 1:45 Base Intervals
8X100 Hard with 1:00 rest (2:30 total)
300 cool down

I helped with a Tri 101 clinic that evening. It went really well

Tuesday
Run after work on Treadmill, it was not so nice outside
5.3 miles HR 137 (junk miles)

Bike easy on Computrainer, I didn't feel strong
1 Hour 129 watts HR 119

Wednesday
Swim in Morning but I was tired and didn't have my partner to keep me going
1000 meters - just warm up and 200 more.

Long Run on Hines Drive
1:59:30 14.2 miles HR 142
Nice day, sunny and not much wind. I kept the pace down even at the end so I wouldn't have an extended recovery time. I feel pretty good this morning.

Looks like the weather may allow me to ride this afternoon since it will be near 50 F (10 C). I'm going to try to get 2 hours in and a short run afterwards if time permits.

This weekend looks good too with both days over 50 :)

New Wheel on Bike

New Rear Wheel

I just got this today!!!

I've been looking for a HED Jet 90 with a PT built into it for quite some time. Without any success I started looking on Ebay for an older CX 90 to build a PT into it. Well I found out why I was never able to find a used one...That is cuz HED has never made one before...This is the very first 650C Jet 90 that they have built up with a PT.

I'm still at work and will have to wait to get home and play with it.

Sunday 3/30

Run Long(er) on Hines drive. A little rainy but I made it back before it really came down.
10.3 miles 1:26:47 HR 137.

Saturday 3/29

Swim with FAST 3900 yards 1:20

Bike on Computrainer later in the day
1:30 133 watts HR 119
Run right afterwards
4.95 miles 40:40 HR 138 bpm

Friday 3/28

Bike on Computrainer 1:05 149 watts
8X1 min speed interval with 3 min recoveries + warm up and cool down
I chose a flat course (Sylvania) to do the intervals on.

Swim 2800 meters
800 warm up
300 pull
5X200 Lactate Inervals :45 rest
8X50 sprints :20 rest
300 cool down

Training and more Rambling - Thursday 3/27

I've been pretty consistant on the computrainer lately, it's been a good thing. Last night when I got an hour into my ride I was getting bored so I popped in my ITU tape and I was going strong again in just a few minutes. Scrubs just wasn't cutting it :(

Anywho...I've eaten pretty good lately and I've been able to drop down to 146 lbs. I feel pretty good about it and have 2 to 3 more pounds to lose to get to my goal weight. Whenever I start losing weight my arms start to look scary thin but I seem to hang on to the fat on my stomach and but. I can allready feel it thinning out now :)

Also, I forgot to mention that I changed shoes again last wednesday (3/20) cuz my Elixers were worn out. I got 315 miles on them and the sole under the balls of my feet were getting crushed down pretty well. That was about the milage I expected to get out of them but I wish I would have changed about 50 miles earlier cuz my right foot was starting to hurt. I really liked those shoes and will be getting another pair for racing and fast training but now I've gone back to the Wave Riders for my every day training shoe.

Run on Treadmill cuz it was really nasty again outside and added in a little bit of intensity. It was a little more difficult that I thought it would be.
Run 5.6 miles 47 minutes HR 137
10 min easy warm up
6X1 min hard 3 min easy
Finish up with easy for the duration of the workout.

Bike on Computrainer
1:30 ~ 30 miles 134 watts HR 123
I road the "staffordshire_stroll_UK course" 1 loop plus a little more. A lot of climbing in the beginning with only one really steep section of something like 13%. I don't really care for courses like that cuz I don't have the gearing on my bike for that at this time.

Oh, and speaking of gearing. I've gone about 2 weeks now with my new Q-Rings. I didn't mention them before cuz I was a little shy about them but they seem to be working OK. My first ride on them was an outdoor ride and honestly I didn't really notice anything different about them. After a few rides on the Computrainer I noticed that at the top of the pedal stroke I seemed to be a little behind on the pedal speed. I'm used to them now but I would like to wait another couple weeks before I go messing around with the ring positions. I'm thinking that position #4 would be better for me cuz it would advance the gearing just a little bit.

I got the Q-Rings seperately off of Ebay, the big one from Korea and the little one from Chicago or something. It was a quite a while untill I got the price I wanted but hopefully it was worth it. I decided to get a 53 big ring and change down from my 55 since I'm not strong enough to pull a 55 and cuz Rotor doesn't make a 55, they only go up to a 54. My small ring is a 40 and was the smallest I could get. At first I was a little bit concerned about not getting a 39 but I should be OK, I don't really do a lot of climbing except for the TTT. I'll write more later about them when I have more experience and a better opinion.

Wednesday 3/26

Run Tempo on Hines Drive
6.6 miles 51 minutes HR 149
Warm up for about 12 minutes, Tempo (about 7:25) for 28 minutes, Cool down for the rest.

Swim 3750 meters with Karen at LTF Canton
800 Warm up
300 Pull
4X400 on 7:00 comming in on 6:35
7X100 on 1:45
350 cool down

Tuesday 3/25

Run on treadmill cuz it's so nasty outside. Not too cold but windy and rainy.

9 miles 1:17:24 HR 138

Boring but OK with my music on.

Afterwards Karen and I drove out to Fraser Bicycle and took a look around. Very nice place, many bikes, parts and clothes. I wear small stuff so It's hard to find things that fit me well.

Monday 3/24

Swim 3250 meters 1:10 Really kind of a hard swim for me and I was pretty gassed at the end even though it really wasn't a long swim.

800 warm up
300 pull
10X100 on 1:45 Base Intervals (felt better near the end)
10X75 hard :45 rest Lactate Intervals (tired near end but didn't slow up)
400 cool down

Bike 1:41 on Computrainer 140 watts HR 127
2 loops on the Ann Arbor bike course. A good short hill ride and since I know the real course it was quite entertaining.

Weekend

Friday I took off cuz I really didn't feel like doing anything.

Saturday
Swim 3400 yards with FAST
Bike 2 hours on Computrainer at home
Run 5 miles in the snow 42:30 hr 148

Swim was good with a bunch of fun relays at the end. A lot of 200's on 3:30 which were fairly easy for me since I'm used to doing 200 meters on 3:30. Karen, Dave and I rotated leads and were comming in around 2:52.

Bike was on the Steelhead course for just 2 hours though.

3 or 4 inches of snow just fell the night before so I had enough to run through. I ran my normal pace but with my trail shoes and the snow my HR was much higher.

Sunday
Bike on Computrainer again for just over 1 Hour. I used the Nankin Mills Duathlon course since it's on Hines Drive and I live right next to it, so I'm pretty familiar with the road.

Run on Hines Drive out to Newburg road. 8.1 miles in 1:06:40 HR 140. I still don't like the cold weather but it's been tolorable lately since it's been over 35 degrees F

Thursday First Day of Spring :)

Bike on Computrainer 1:08, 142 watts, 122 bpm. Not too hard just bike time.

Run on Hines 1:06:10, 8.1 miles HR 144

Just a little chilly on run running against the wind but comfortable with it.

Wednesday evening run

Run on Hines drive
11 miles 1:33:18 HR 137

Easy and uneventful run. I did my best to keep the speed down at the end so my legs wouldn't be trashed like last wednesday.

Morning swim before work

This is the first time in quite a while I've swam in the morning before work. I met a friend from my swim club there to get me out of bed that early.

Anywho, he was pretty fast and I know he was just waiting around for me between the intervals.

3000 meters
450 warm up
6X50 easy off stroke
6X200 free on 3:30 (came in around 3:12)
7X100 free on 1:45 (came in around 1:35 to 1:32)
350 cool down

Tuesday 3/18

Run during lunch on treadmill since it's cold and rainy outside.

45 minutes HR 138 so it wasn't too hard. The program alternated between flat and 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6% grades. Using the flat speed of 9 min/mile the treadmill adjusted the pace for the inclines. It made the easy parts easy and the hard parts hard.

Monday 3/17

A little break from swimming today since I had so much intensity yesterday.

Bike on Computrainer doing the Alien Crop Circles hilly route.

About 19 miles 1:13:xx, 144 watts on PT, 158 watts on CT, didn't wear HR monitor.

Felt good although the pacer guy is really annoying cuz he won't climb with me and I seem to need 10 to 15 extra watts to ride the same speed so wattage pacing seems unreliable. I'm just going to start riding without him.

The time went by quickly since the ride was interesting but the 8% grade required gears that I don't have on the bike right now. I'm going to need to find a course that goes up to 5% only.

Sunday Swim Meet at Milford High School

I felt pretty good about my longer stuff today from the swim meet at Milford High School
The pool is short course meters

800 free 12:07 goal was 12:44
400 free 5:57 goal was 6:11
200 free 2:47 goal was 2:47
100 free 1:17 goal was 1:17
50 free :34 goal was :34

I pretty much blasted my goals for the long stuff beating my 400 and 800 meter times by 16 and 34 seconds. Even my 200 time converts to my quickest ever while my 100 and 50 are just normal for me. Considering that I really haven't been working on the shorter stuff leaves me happy to be where I am.

These times seem to indicate that I'm much further ahead of last year since they are so much faster than last year's state meet times. I'm going to continue with my swim plans from Matt Fitzgerald's book and concentrate on my freestyle. Hopefully I can beat these times at Michigan Masters state meet when I'm tapered and the events are spread out over 3 days. I'm planning on swimming all of the free events plus 1 more that I haven't decided on yet. I'm also hoping to get 2 relays there too.

Friday Saturday

Friday
It was very nice outside on Friday so I got on the bike and rode for a while. That's all I did.

22 miles in about 1:10

Satuday
Swim 4150 yards
700 warm up
4X225
8X50 kick
8X125 on 2:10
300 pull
7X100 on 1:35 (I did 5)
50 easy
100 for time (1:12)
200 cool down

Run on Hines drive
6.3 miles in 53 minutes HR 141

I've got a swim meet tomorrow and will be swimming all free events
800M, 400M, 200M, 100M, 50M and hopefully I'll be in a 800 relay.

Thursday the 13th :)

1 hour on the Computrainer followed by a 30 min run.
60 minutes bike HR 129
31 min run 3.6 miles HR 133

Legs were blasted from Wednesday's long run. I was really cold comming back from that run and I ran as quickly as possible. It showed up in today's workouts.

Catching up again

I'm going to forget last weekend's training and just start with this week so far.

Monday
Swim 3000 meters pretty hard
warm up
12X25 stroke work
7X100 on 1:45 Base intervals
9X75 :45 rest - Lactate intervals so this was fairly quick
9X25 :20 rest - Sprint intervals as fast as I could go
12X25 kick on :30 (:10 rest)
cool down

Run on Hines drive 6.2 miles 50:15

Tuesday
Run 6.3 miles on Hines drive 52:00
Get fustrated trying to get a Computrainer to work so I didn't ride like planned.

Wednesday
Swim during lunch 3000 meters
Warm up
6X50 stroke work
6X200 on 3:30
8X100 on 1:45 (might have been 9, I was playing "You Suck" with the person next to me
cool down

Run Long on Hines drive 14 miles 1:58:30 HR 144

Friday

Run hill program #2 on Treadmill
5 miles 47 minutes
The program worked really well. It even slowed down when the grade got steeper. A very worth while experience.

Swim 2900 meters
warm up
12X25 stroke work
6X200 Threshold (so quick) :45 rest
Comming in at 3:05 leaving on 3:50
6X50 sprint intervals :20 rest
12X25 kick
cool down

Tempo Run

Run after work
6.2 miles 50:41 HR 144

10 min warm up
30 min tempo (well allmost since I haven't done a lot of fast running lately)
1 mile 7.5 mph (8:00)
1 mile 7.6 (7:53)
1 mile 7.7 (7:47)
.82 miles 7.8 (7:41)
10 min cool down

Felt pretty strong throughout the whole run. The cool down was very welcome.

Swim during lunch

2900 meters
350 warm up
300 pull
6X200 on 3:30
7X100 on 1:45 (2 at 1:50)
350 cool down

Tuesday - Back in the swing

Changed up some with a little shorter runs and slightly more time on the bike.

Run on Treadmill moderate
3.6 miles in 30 minutes HR 139

Bike spin class, got there early to get an extra 15 minutes in for warm up. I find it difficult to warm up in the first 10 minutes of class like we are suppose to. This way I can go right into it.
1:15 HR 127, main set HR 134

Run on Treadmill a bit harder looking for a 8 to 10 beat spread on the HR
3.7 miles in 30 minutes HR 149

Monday 3/3

Easing into the week

Run on treadmill 6 miles about 51 minutes HR 144

HR is higher but I expected it since I was rested

I was hoping to run outside during lunch cuz it was warm outside but it was raining and all the walkways were covered with ice so I had to wait 'till after work

Weekend

I took my own advise and rested a few days when I was feeling sick thinking that I could return to training in just a few days. I wound up taking more time off than planned but I needed it. Twice I have gotten sick 4 days after running outside in the cold. Probably a combination of the cold air and over-extending myself.

Anywho...I was off thursday and friday, saturday I swam longer and took off sunday returing to training on monday.

Saturday Swim 4000 meters
800 warm up
400 moderate
4X100 :15 rest (on 1:55)
4X50 kick :10 rest
300 moderate
3X100 on 1:50
3X50 kick :10 rest
200 moderate
2X100 on 1:50
200 Pull - no paddles
100 moderate
100 quick
100 pull

6X50 easy, sprint, easy, sprint, easy, sprint on 1:30

250 cool down

Been sick for a few days so no updates 'till later today.  I'm feeling much better.

jaretj

Wednesday 2/27

Swim during lunch 4000 meters
800 warm up
5X400 on 7:30 (:45 rest)
5X200 on 3:40 (:20 rest)
200 cool down

I did my best to bring the 200's in on 3:10 but just couldn't do it and had to settle for 3:20

Run 5.1 miles in 43:40 HR 134

Tuesday 2/26

Run on Treadmill
5 miles 43:08 HR 134

Bike Spin class Hill workout
60 minutes HR 127

Run on Treadmill
5 miles 40:53 HR 141

Pretty decent training day despite not feeling well in the beginning. I had to push myself on the treadmill and after 2 miles I felt much better.

Felt pretty strong on the bike and did the class as planned.

The second run felt really good as I pushed the pace up to 8:00 min/mile after the second mile.

Monday 2/25

Swim 4000 meters
800 warm up
6X500 Alternate between 100 fast/100 easy and 500 pull
200 cool down

Felt good during the swim, the whole thing took me just under 1:20.  For the 500's I was comming in around 8:15 for the faster ones and 8:25 for the pulls while allways leaving on 9:00.  I know I had an extra 30 sec break in there somewhere since I started off the main set on the bottom and finished on the top.

Run 2 miles on the Treadmill.  

A combination of treadmill running, being tired from the swim and the F-its shortened the run.

Training Thoughts 2/24

Goals I put up last week:

Swim Long Intervals...Normal training load
Run 45 to 50 miles...Doubles on Tuesday and Thursday
Bike 4 to 5 hours
Get 7 to 9 hours a sleep a night and a short nap on Saturday
Better food choices to drop another 1 pound

How I did:

Swim harder but not long intervals, I made a mistake and looked at the wrong week's training schedule. I finished with my normal distances.

Run 50 miles with the doubles on Tues and Thurs just as planned. Finished the week with a long run and the weather cooperated :)

Bike 4 hours of mixed intensity

Slept well all week with a nap on sunday between the bike and run.

Maintained weight but didn't seem to lose any despite my better food choices. I'll see what happens next week.

This week's goals:

Swim - normal training load with sets of 400 and 500
Bike - 4 to 5 hours of mixed intensities
Run - 50 miles adding 1 day of hill work or tempo
Keep rest up to stay healthy
Stop relying on Subway for lunch
Split workouts so I'm not bricking every day. Try to swim bike or run two times in the morning instead of the afternoon.

Friday Saturday Sunday

Friday
Run on Hines Drive 6 miles 49:40
Swim 1000 Meters - Just my normal warm up and cool down for time in the water

Saturday
Swim 3850 yards
600 warm up
4X225 on 3:45
8X50 kick
8X100 on 2:00 last 25 non-free
300 easy pull
12X50 Rotating IM
250 cool down

Bike 1 Hour on CT at Bikesport 149 watts HR 127

Sunday
Bike Spin Class 1 hour HR 125
Run Long 14.05 miles 1:59:05 HR 137

Thursday 2/21

Run Bike Run again like Tuesday at LTF on Treadmill and spin bike

Run 5.5 miles 46:33  7.1 mph HR 136
Bike Spin Class 1:00 HR 128
Run 5 miles 41:57  7.2 mph HR 137

HR's were a bit lower today than expected but I felt good during all three

Wednesday

Swim 3200 meters - Hard workout for me
800 warm up
300 pull - like usual
6X200 on 3:40 (about :20 rest)
7X100 on 1:45 (about :05 to :08 rest)
200 cool down

The 100's were tough cuz I decided to drop the interval to 1:45. I've been hanging out at 1:50 for a while and figured it's time to drop it.

Run 4.5 miles on Treadmill. I had gas and had to get off a little early since the club was packed. Probably shouldn't care about anyone else but I do.

Tueday Run Bike Run

Run on Treadmill 5 miles 43:04

Bike 1 hour spin class

Run on Treadmill 5 miles 42:40

Felt good in on the spin bike and bumped up the HR 5 beats.
The first run was fairly boring, the second felt better.

Monday 2/18

Swim 2800 meters about 1 hour
Good swim felt fairly strong

800 warm up
300 pull
9X100 on 1:150
12X25 sprint :20 rest
12X25 kick :15 rest
200 cool down

Run 5 miles 43 minutes
Kind of tired on the run but ran through it

Weekly plans

Goals
Swim Long Intervals...Normal training load
Run 45 to 50 miles...Doubles on Tuesday and Thursday
Bike 4 to 5 hours
Get 7 to 9 hours a sleep a night and a short nap on Saturday
Better food choices to drop another 1 pound

Monday
Swim 2600 meters
Run 5 miles

Tuesday
Run 5 miles
Bike 1 hour
Run 5 miles

Wednesday
Swim 3000 meters
Run 5 miles

Thursday
Run 5 miles
Bike 1 hour
Run 5 miles

Friday
Swim 2000 meters or shorter
Bike 1:35

Saturday
Swim 4000 yards
Bike 1 hour
Run 5 miles

Sunday
Bike 1 hour
Run 12 miles

Strange week

I had to cut monday short and take tuesday off for personal reasons. I did the best I could making up the time. I get the most results from running so I made sure that was the focus of the week.

Monday
Run 2.7 miles 22:30

Tuesday
Off

Wednesday (a bigger day)
Swim 2000 meters
Run 5 miles
Bike spin Class 60 minutes
Run 5 miles (tempo)

Thursday
Run 3.5 miles during lunch
Run 6.6 miles on Hines drive

Friday
Run 8.1 miles on Hines Drive - a little too cold for me

Saturday
Swim 3800 yards with FAST
Bike 1 hour on trainer
Run 5 miles on treadmill

Sunday
Bike Spin class 1 hour
Run 10.1 miles on Treadmill

Goals for the rest of February

Simple goals

Swim - Continue with longer hard sets focusing on 400's and 500's 2 times a week and keeping overall volume the same with 4 swims per week.

Bike - Continue with 4 rides of least 1 hour per week with at least 2 rides focusing on raising my FTP.

Run - Increase running volume to 45 - 50 miles per week with no more than 1 day of higher intensity and 1 brick day. 6 to 7 runs per week.

Body - Lose 3 lbs with better food choices. Get 8 hours of sleep each night. Stay healthy to continue with volume of training planned.

Mind - Build confidence in bike ability and prep for outdoor training when available. Swim - when space permits on saturday, move to lane 6 and hold on the best I can.

It's never fast enough :P

I swam another swim meet today, did some decent times for me but I allways seem to be dissapointed with what I've done.

I was really hoping to equal my state meet times from last year but was only a few seconds off. Comparing SCM times to SCY times is a little difficult too. Compared to last year at this meet, I beat all of my times.

1500M Free 24:07.99 - Last year 25:12
200M Free 2:50.00
100M Free 1:17.34 - Last year 1:19
50M Free in a Relay 33.90
400M Free 6:13.4 - Last year 6:30

Some solid improvment from last year in my longer stuff which is really what I've been focusing on for the last 5 weeks. These times are really close to my state meet SCY times (when converted) which means I'm probably about 10 weeks ahead of last year in my swim program.

Really weird week

I think I beat a cold this week with extra rest and some days off of training. Monday and Tuesday I got to bed early just cuz I wasn't busy, Wednesday and Thursday I was really tired so I cut my runs, Saturday I just swim easy prepping for the meet on Sunday. I cut all of my bike rides this week.

I will resume my normal training schedule (run heavy) on monday.

Week in review

Mon Run 10K Swim 2500 meters
Tue Run 8 miles
Wed Swim 2900 meters - sets of 400
Thu Off
Fri swim 2800 yards with LALA - 400's and 200's and 100's
Sat swim with FAST 2400 yards - sets of 200
Sun swim FAST Valentines Meet at Brighton
2300 Meters of racing (1500M, 200M, 100M, 400M, 50M, 50M)
Probably about 1000M of warm up and cool down

Monday 2-4

Swim 2500 meters
600 warm up
300 pull
8X100 on 1:50
10X25 sprint on :40
12X24 kick :10 Rest
250 cool down

Run 6.2 miles in about 53 minutes HR 136

Tired today from not sleeping well over the weekend and the party on sunday evening but I still got everything off as planned.

When I got done with my swim I drove to the north-most parking lot on Hines drive and ran from there. It was misty and getting dark so I stuck to the low traffic area. I was really tired and had to put down a gel to keep going. I've got to get to bed early tonight if I want to complete the week as planned.

Training Thoughts / Plans for the week

5th week into the plan and feeling good. Other than last weekend I've gotten plenty of rest and completed another week of just over 14 hours

3:25 Swimming
4:30 Biking
6:07 Running

Since I was having trouble getting the motivation to ride more I decided to fill in the extra time with running and will continue to do so.

I will be swimming in a meet this weekend and will take it easy on Saturday to rest up a little. This should let me know how my swim is progressing and I expect to be quicker than last year. I'll be swimming the 100, 200, 400 and 1500 in a 25 meter pool.

The most important races are the 1500 and 400 as I would like to go near 24 for the 1500 and 6:10 for the 400.

This week's plans
Mon Swim 2500 Run 1 hour
Tue Bike 1:30 Run 45 minutes
Wed Swim 2500 Run 55 min
Thu Brick 1 hr Bike 30 min Run
Fri Swim 2600 Bike 1:25
Sat Swim 1500 Bike ? Run 45min
Sun Swim at Brighton Swim Meet, Run later if I feel like it.

Sunday-A nicer day outside

Started off with the Spin class at LifeTime. It was OK, not hard nor easy. After that I got on the treadmill looking for a 90 min run but after 20 some odd minutes I just couldn't stand it anymore. I knew the weather was borderline for me to run in but decided to try it anyway.

So when I got home I headed out for a 70 to 90 minute run. I felt good so I went with the 90 minutes.

Bike Spin Class 60 minutes HR 123

Run on Treadmill 2.85 miles 23:29 HR 132

Run on Hines 11.1 miles 1:32:19 HR 137

Saturday 3-A-Day

Swim with FAST 4300 yards 1:15 - Good swim
600 warm up
300 pull
4X500 on 8:00
--500 Straight (came in around 7:15)
--2X250 with :20 rest
--5X100 with :10 rest (came in around 1:25)
--500 Straight
50 easy
6X50 kick
3X250 (75 breathe 3, 100 breathe 5, 75 breathe 7)
300 cool down

Bike on Trainer 1:20 HR 126 147 watts

Run on Treadmill 6 miles 50:38 HR 145

Friday

Just a swim today

2800 meters
800 warm up
300 pull
10X150 as 50 build 25 fast
200 cool down

When I got home I was just about ready to get on the bike trainer when some swimming/tri friends called to say they were going for pizza and a movie...I bolted outta here real fast :)

Thursday

Run 6 miles 50:49 HR 138

Moderate run on the treadmill.

Bike on trainer 1:10 HR 134 153 watts
15 min warm up
6X8 min (2 min @150watts, 2 min @170, 2 min over 200, 2 min easy)
Finish out time cooling down

I've been feeling stronger on the bike but still been having trouble riding for more than an hour at a time so I'm just going to go with more intensity untill I can stand it.

Since I won't be putting in the extra time in on the bike I'm going to jump my running time up a bit to increase my training stress at least untill I can get the bike outside again.

I've been feeling strong lately and I think it's cuz I've been getting a lot of sleep lately. I've gotten 8 to 8.5 hours a night for 6 nights a week for about 3 weeks now

Tuesday Wednesday

Tuesday
Run 45 minutes 5.25 miles HR 139

Bike Spin Class HR 128

Wednesday
Run during lunch 35 minutes 4.3 miles HR 135

Swim 1:10 miutes 3400 meters
800 warm up
300 pull
4X500 on 9:00 (alt 100 hard/100 easy, pull) (8:20, 8:30, 8:15, 8:00 paddles)
300 cool down

Monday nicer weather

Run 8.06 miles in 1:10:09 HR 144

Finally warm enough to run outside.  About 35°F.  

I bagged my swim to get this in and probably won't make it up.

Training Thoughts End of January

So far this month has gone pretty well. I've done more biking that I did last year while holding on to the same speed on the run and improving my swim times. My shoulders feel good as well as my knees, hips and feet unlike last year where my shoulders were killing me. The treadmill running still stinks but the mp3 player has helped me a fair bit.

I'm 6 lbs heavier now than I was last January and I feel that's cuz I've haven't been running as much,  last year I was running 45 miles per week by now peaking over 50 but I didn't have as many cycling miles under my belt.  What's better? Well I can allways lose the weight and I should by April, I'd like to be near 144 lbs then as I feel I'm still overweight at 148 lbs now.  4 lbs in 2 months is very realistic weight loss, I've lost 3 to 4 lbs just this month alone but starting my cycle and not really watching what I've been eating.  I have cut out french fries but that is really it.

I made some good choices and some mistakes this week.

The good choices:
Running easy - I have been doing my longer runs easier this week (and last week) with the intention of reducing recovery time. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I recovered from every day running at that intensity. I do a lot of 2-a-days back to back since the weather is so poor and wanted to have energy for swimming and biking.

I ran tempo on Thursday after an easy run and a spin class and felt really strong. The easy run continued through sunday where I ran 1:20 on a treadmill at 6.8 to 7.2 mph (8:50 to 8:20) with an average HR of 134. Today I feel strong and ready to go again.

The bad choice:
This is not really that bad but I put too much effort into swimming this week and it took away from my bike time. Saturday I was really gassed from my swim (which was terrific by the way) and consequently my bike ride afterwards was really too easy to count as training. Monday's swim was hard too, which is also good but not what I wanted to focus on. I finished the week with 4:10 swimming, 4:15 on the bike and 4:35 on the run. The plan was to spend near 6 hours on the bike which is difficult for me on a trainer but not impossible.

Other than being being gassed on saturday I felt fairly strong this week.

This week's plans:
Mon Run 1:00, Bike Easy 1:00 (it's supposed to be warm today)
Tue Swim ~1800 Run 45 min
Wed Swim ~2100 Run 35 min
Thu Bike 1:15 Run 40 min with some strides
Fri Swim ~1800 Bike 1:00
Sat Swim ~4000 Bike 2:00 Run 20 min (bike/run brick)
Sun Bike 1:00 run 1:05

Sat/Sun 26/27 Jan

Sat
Swim 4250 yards about 1:20

Sun
Bike Spin class 1:00 HR 125

Run easy 1:20 minutes 9.3 miles HR 131

Friday 1/25

Swim 2400 meters about 50 minutes
600 warm up
300 pull
5X200 50 easy/50 hard
12X25 kick
200 cool down

Bike on trainer 1:15 HR 132 155 watts

Felt good on bike
15 min warm up
10X 2 min hard 1 min easy
10 min spin 150 watts
2X 4 min hard 2 min easy
Cool down with 150 watt spin

Thursday

I didn't want to go home before I went to LTF so I stuck around at work for just a little while longer and then just went straight there.

Since I was there early I added and extra 30 min easy run before the spin class.

Run 30 minutes 3.4 miles HR 137

A little stretching here

Bike Spin class 60 minutes HR 132

Run right afterwards 30 minutes 3.7 miles HR 146

Wednesday Swim Run

Swim 2600 meters
500 warm up
300 pull
4X400 on 7:00
200 cool down

Run
1 Hour 7 miles HR 141

Wasn't really sure where to put the priority, I decided late in the day to put it on the run since it was the longer of the two. (But not by much)

I was surprised that I was comming in fairly easily in 6:40 on the 400's. I put 6:30 in for a seed time for an upcomming meet since that is what I swam last year, looks like I'm going to beat that one.

Anywho, half way through the run I had to pee so I put a towel over the treadmill to save it, it worked. The second half I felt much better.

Tuesday

Run 45 minutes 5.2 miles HR 135
Bike 1:00 HR 128 139 watts

My running HR keeps falling and I'm not quite sure if I should pick up the pace or stick with it.

I normally use Daniels paces for intensity and I'm closer to the easy pace now than I've ever been.  
Friel HR training says my zone 1 is 115 to 148 and zone 2 is 149 to 158 so most of my easy running is deep down in zone 1 right now and I feel I should be training in lower zone 2.  Currently I feel strong but have lacked the motivation to ride on the bike trainer for much more than 5 hours.

Starting next week I'm going to be adding a different run training stress for 1 day.  Since I have historically responded well to 1 mile tempo intervals (and they are my favorite too) I'm going to find a place to add 3 miles of tempo.  8% of 35 miles a week is 2.8 miles which is close enough to 3 miles for me.

Monday 1-21

Business as usual

Swim 3000 SCM
800 warm up
4X500 as 100 hard/100 easy, pull, 100 hard/100 easy, pull w/paddles
200 cool down

I like the 100 hard/100 easy cuz the time goes by fast and it's easy to count but it sure is hard when it's done right.

Just for reference I brought the hard ones in at 8:10.

Run on treadmill (still too cold for me)
3.5 miles 30 minutes HR 135
Uneventfull junk miles

Sunday 11-20

Last day of the week went as planned.

Bike
Spin class, kept it easy since it was just junk miles
60 minutes HR 125

Run on Treadmill
8 miles 1:11 HR 133
Very easy since I was really only looking for run time not quality.

I'm starting to understand why we have easy runs...basicly to be able to do the next planned work out. Instead of running harder and needing 36 hours to recover, I ran easy and will be recovered by tomorrow morning and ready for a quality swim workout.

Training Thoughts 1/19

It's so difficult for me to ride much more than 1:30 on the trainer that I'm thinking of just making the best of that time. Untill it's warm enough outside to ride longer, I'll do some more quality work instead of quantity.

The last 2 weeks have been fairly consistant with about 11,000 yards of swimming, 5 hours of biking and 35 miles of running. I've been healthy and rested and feel mentally strong towards my training although I have had a personal problem that troubled me during the week. Good friends helped with that issue but I still feel like I let people down that trusted me.

On to training talk:
Swim
I feel very healthy and strong. Shoulders feel great unlike last year at this time. I feel it's because I've reduced my use of paddles to about 10% of my swimming compared to about 30% last year. I've gone back to 200's for a while and have been consistantly been doing repeats on 3:30 in a SCM pool. Last year at this time I think I was doing them on 4:00. I like doing the 50 easy/50 hard during the 200's, they are interesting and challenging. Next week I'm going to change it up a little and go back to 500's with 100 easy/100 hard one time and 100's and 200's with the other 2 week day swims.

Bike
As I said before I'm going to keep the bike rides down to no longer than 90 minutes and work on quality. I experimented with some FT workouts this week and felt good about them, they were hard but doable. I've been staying away from the spin classes only cuz the trainer has been more conveinent lately. I'll probably do the spin class tomorrow morning (sunday) as I'm going to be on the treadmill again. Still looking at targeting 5 to 6 hours for the next couple weeks.

Run
All my runs this week have been on the treadmill in contrast with last week where all of my runs were outside. Hopefully it will get warmer this week and I can move outside again. I really need 35 deg F to be comfortable. I bought 2 pairs of shoes this week, a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 10's again and a pair of Wave Elixers. I've been wearing the Elixers since tuesday and am very happy with them. They fit well and seemed comfortable right out of the box. My older shoes were Wave Riders so I know the new ones will work when I start running long miles outside again.
I introduced a little bit of speed this week to break things up and make the run interesting but the bulk of my running has been easy. My hips, knees and feet all feel healthy so I expect to keep this amount of running load untill I move completely outside again.

Next 2 weeks will still have a lot of easy workouts, after that I get to run some more tempo and bike a little harder. My swim load will stay the same but possibly moving to longer intervals depending on how I respond to the 500's this week.

Peterborough is looking like it is comming off my schedule since I haven't found anyone else that is doing the race. Muncie is 4 weeks before Steelhead and is looking like a good tune up race since I have done it before. It would be a good place to work on my bike pacing as the bike course was fairly similar to Steelhead as I remember. I would intentionally go easier on the bike to see how I can run afterwards. Being a lower key race would take pressure off of me to perform on the bike.

Next week's schedule
Mon
Swim ~1:00 sets of 500
Run Easy 30 to 45 minutes

Tue
Bike 1:45 Moderate Aerobic
Run 45 min Easy

Wed
Swim ~ 2500 Base Intervals
Run 55 min Moderate Aerobic

Thu
Brick 1:00 Bike/30 min Run

Fri
Swim ~2400 Fartlek Intervals
Bike 1:15 Moderate Aerobic (might move to sunday)

Sat
Swim with FAST
Bike 3:00 (in my dreams :P)
Run 35 min with some strides (might move to friday)

Sun
Run 1:20 Moderate Aerobic