Sunday, February 27, 2011

Another good week

I only swam two times cuz the pool was closed on friday and saturday. There was a big swim meet going on during the weekend. I had to work saturday morning so I couldn't swim with some friends that offered me a free pass :( I'm still feeling strong in the pool. I was able to get under 1:20 for a few 100's and well under 2:50 for some 200's.

Biking is going as usual...3 hours of various intervals. I feel strong but really want to get back outside. Power zones still feel good. I'm at the top of them most of the time.

Running was a little bit higher this week cuz I ran two times on friday. Since the pool was closed I did a 30 min run in it's place. Wednesday's run had tempo intervals in it which I like a lot better than fast intervals. The long run was just a straight run and fairly boring.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

New Pict on top

This is from Triple T North Carolina Saturday PM race (Race 3 of 4)

I know that cuz I'm not wearing arm warmers from the morning races and I have a big water bottle for doing an Olympic dist race in the warm, dry weather.

I really had a good time at that race. 3rd in Masters is a good result for me especially since the weekend before I was 27th at Nationals. My buddy Gavin said I looked stronger at Triple T than I did at Nationals :)

An update

Just a note to remind myself how I'm doing.

Swimming is going very well. I decided to ease back on the swim volume this winter and focus on running so I've been swimming 3 days a week between 2500 and 3000 yards at a time.

Things that I've noticed are:
My shoulders don't hurt anymore
I don't dread going to the pool
I get right in and kill the intervals
I'm noticeably faster now that I've ever been before

I think the reduced volume has allowed me to swim harder since I won't be going as far. It's not uncommon for me to bring 100's in under 1:20 and 200's under 2:50 when I need to. For the last few years I struggled to bring them in under 1:30 and 3:00. I swam 23:54 in a 1500 at a local swim meet, my previous best was a 24:07 :)

Biking seems to be going well too. While looking over last year's data I noticed that I'm 10 to 15 watts higher this year for the same type of intervals. I'm only doing 3 hours a week now, when the weather breaks I'll get longer rides in. Hopefully the trails will dry out quickly so I can get back on my Mountain bike too.

Running appears to be going well too. I've been consistently running 40 miles per week for the last 3 weeks and have only missed 3 days of running this year. This was cuz I hurt my ribs while snowboarding :(

The fast intervals age getting more comfortable and the tempo intervals are getting to be more fun than work. I enjoy running 7:20's (tempo) much more than before and hopefully this will translate quicker times in my short course racing and Xterra.

Speaking of Xterra, races I've planned for this season include:
Xterra Ft Yargo (Atlanta GA)
Xterra Torn Shirt (Brighton MI)
Xterra Dino Versailles (Versailles IN)
Xterra Appalachia (Indiana PA)
Xterra USA Championships (Ogden Utah) hopefully I can qualify

Other Xterra races I'm interested in but probably won't do are:
Xterra Last Stand (MI) interferes with Triple T Ohio
Xterra Scales Lake (IN) If I could ride with someone I'd go.
Xterra Sugar Bottom (IA) Long drive
Xterra DINO Logansport (IN) interferes with Battle of Waterloo on 8/14/11
Xterra Dairyland (Sheboygan WI) If I could ride with someone I'd go too.