Thursday

Run during lunch, easy 4 miles 0:33:07 HR 146. Making up missed run from tuesday. I ran on the track at Ballys for a soft surface and cooler air.



Bike in the evening, 22.8 miles 1:11:00 HR 131. Easy ride to spin legs out. Still a little tired from yesterday's long run.



With my season allmost at an end I have debated on what to do in the off season (Oct through Feb). I've been asked to play on a hockey team again and I'm seriously considering it for a change of pace. The only problem is that I haven't had my hockey gear on since January and I know a lot of it is too big for me know. It was too big for me then and I'm 8lbs lighter now, 40lbs lighter than when I bought it.

Wednesday

Swim 1750 Anerobic Endurance, I cut a little short cuz I was running late.



warm up 300yds

4X50 build (All 50's on 1:00 Swim Interval)

2X50 fast

1X50 easy

3X50 fast

1X50 easy

4X50 fast

cool down 700yds



Run 12 miles 1:43:33 HR 154

HR was screwy for the first 2 miles so I omitted them, warm 85 degrees and sunny.

Shoulder is feeling much better

I was a little bit worried about my right shoulder yesterday during the swim but it is healing up very fast. I've got some scrape marks that I thought might get soft in the pool but they didn't. I don't want any of my scabs floating around :(



Strength-wise I was a bit concerned too but since I was able to swim 1:30's with no problem it seems as though I didn't hurt it as bad as I thought. In fact, I felt amazingly strong in the pool yesterday.



This saturday is our first masters workout of the season and I'm going to do my best to move up a lane. I'm planning on staying in the back of lane 5 and see what happens. Hopefully the draft will help me enough to complete the entire workout, I feel I have enough speed to keep up with them now but I know it is a big step. So long lane 4, you'll have to find a new leader this season.

Tuesday

Swim 2200yds



300yd warm up

400 moderate

4X100 @1:50

300

3X100 @1:45

200

2X100 @1:40

100 cool down



Bike 17.8 miles 53:00 HR 137

Weekend training

I wound up taking the rest of saturday off and I probably needed it cuz I feel that I was on the edge of overtraining. Having that extra day off helped get my resting HR down.



Sunday Run 5.1 miles 41:50 HR 153, bike 2.5 hrs 52 miles HR 154, run 5 miles 42:00 HR 163. The heart rates were a bit high and I'm not sure if it was a monitor problem or the HR was really up there. I was pretty close to being wasted at the end so maybe it was a combination of both.



I have really eaten poorly last week and I feel that has a lot to do with my performance on sunday. I have my last race in 2 weeks so I'll be going hard for the first part of this week and then go to a 10 day taper. I'll use the same plan that I used for Muncie since that seemed to work well.

Weekend disaster

Fell off of my bike on Saturday. It was about 1 mile into the ride, I got a tire stuck in a crack and dropped the bike on the side of the road. Luckily my fall was dampened by the grass and I didn't get scraped up too bad, just my right shoulder and my right knee. That should heal up fairly quick but the impact made my shoulder pretty sore.



The bike was damaged to the point that I couldn't ride it and had to walk home. I broke the rear derailleur hanger and twisted the chain. All I could think about was that I had to get to Bikesport before they closed to get it fixed since they were probably the only place around that would have the right parts. I had an important workout planned for sunday that I wanted to get done and I obviously needed the bike for it.



I cleaned myself up and got the bike fixed. Mike at Bikesport has allways been very friendly and has helped me with most of my bike maintenence needs. He found a hanger and had it fixed in no time.

Ouch, I'm hurt. I talk about it later.

Friday swim

I couldn't remember which workout I was supposed to do so I just picked a fun looking ME workout. By the end I was swimming my 100's under a 1:30 pace.



2100yds

400yds warm up

4X100 on 1:50

300 pull

3X100 on 1:45

300 pull

3X100 on 1:50

100 cool down

Thursday

Swim 2100yds 40 min, I really like having a pull workout the day after my long run. It works really well for me.

200 warm up

300 pull with paddles 5:00 Swim Interval

6X50 fast :15 Rest, SI 1:00

300 pull

4X50 fast

2X300 pull

2X50 fast

100 cool down



Bike 22.8 1:10:00 kept hr under 140 most of the time. The HRM got kind of screwy, some kind of interference

Wednesday 8/31

Long run 12 miles 1:43:29 HR 150



I opted for 2 more miles today and ran easier. I ran west today on Hines drive past Haggerty road, not my usual path.

Tuesday

Got back in the pool today and got some quality swimming in.



2100yds about 40 minutes

400 straight 7:00

4X100 on 1:50

300 5:00

3X100

200 3:20

2X100

100 easy (1:40)

100 fast (1:30)

100 cool down



Bike 17.9 miles in 52:52 HR 138, a little bit breezy but a nice 77 degrees. I'm keeping it short cuz it's still recovery time.

Mideast Regional Triathlon Championships

A much more difficult course than Sylvania but with about the same results.



Indianapolis is not too far away but still about 4.5 hours and I'm not a big fan of driving so I drove with a couple of friends.



The swim start was delayed for about 1 hour because of fog, this is the first race that I've been to that was delayed and I was a bit nervous. It did give me a little bit more time to get ready since I was not as early as I wanted to be. I was in the first wave like normal and the race started without a hitch. I started smooth and looked for some feet to follow but I couldn't find anyone worth following. Maybe I should have started in a faster group. I felt someone following me for a while but not for long. The course had a long first leg which is nice for starting wide and I feel it was less congested because of that. When I went around the first turn I was pretty much alone, there were a few people by me but I stayed clear of everyone. The water was slightly choppy on the first two legs and I found it difficult to get into a rhythm but I still felt strong. After the second turn the water smoothed out and I got quite a bit quicker and finished very strong. I started my kick with about 200yds to go and warmed my legs up for the run to the bike.



Looking at my watch running over the timing mat it said about 28 minutes which I really wasn't happy with but that part was over. Comparing my times to people that I know who raced Sylvania, I was consistantly picked up a minute on all of them. So either 6 people had a bad swim or I had a good one.



The bike course was the most technical that I have ever ridden in a triathlon, coupled with moderate rolling hills it suited me very well. I was using gels (my normal amount 3) with caffine in them for this race and they kept me very alert. 1:07:39 is a solid 22mph and I was happy with it, slightly faster than Sylvania. If you haven't guessed yet, I use Sylvania as a benchmark for most of my racing.



There were a few problem areas on the bike course that in my opinion could have been very dangerous. They were all road condition problems and not the fault of the race management. The course was well marshalled and the police and volunteers did a great job directing us through traffic. I rode loosely with a group (while still keeping my 3 bike lengths) for most of the ride and I knew that I was going a bit hard but since I felt good I stuck with it. I finished the bike with a HR of 165, a bit high but not abnormal for the difficulty of the course.



The run was very nice through some small hills with a lot of shaded areas. The first hill got me breathing hard but very managable. I just drank a mouthfull of water from each aid station with no nutrition. I felt much stronger at the 4th mile and made up some lost time from the hills. My legs felt very strong but my breathing was limiting my speed, I'm going to have to work on that this winter again. 47:56 was 1 second faster than Sylvania with a HR of 169 on a much tougher course



I feel that the speed work that I did in the previous 2 weeks helped me out a lot. Since I'm not going to build any more base endurance in the next few weeks I'll keep my training fairly consistant with the last few weeks. I'm going to take it easy for a few days, this weekend I'll ramp up the intensity again and hold for another week. I'm going to do an 8 day taper for Pineman by easing off the weekend before instead of starting on wednesday like I did for Muncie.

Friday/Saturday

Swim 2400yds Anerobic Endurance 45:00



Starting to take it easy for the race on sunday. I've had a lot of intensity this week and am feeling it. I'm hoping that the speed work will help me and that I'll recover by racetime.



Saturday is a travel day and I don't expect to do any training.

More for Thursday

Bike 38.5 miles in 1:51:08 HR 145



This may sound selfish and is a departure from what I normally feel but I really enjoyed hurting people on my bike ride this evening.



I really planned to have an easier bike ride but after about 10 miles I picked up a drafter and got inspired to ride harder. Riding from Northville to Dearborn on Hines drive there was about a 5-10mph headwind, I passed a guy at a light and he was nice enough to ask if I minded him riding behind me. Well I said "Sure, ride as long as you want" but what I really meant was ride as long as you can cuz I'm planning on dropping you. He stuck with me pretty well for about 5 miles at 22-24mph but I could hear him breathing hard on some of the up hills so I took them a little bit harder to see what he had.



We passed another group and I picked up another drafter, another nice guy, very courtious, and shortly afterwards I dropped the first guy. Then I picked up another drafter, a tandem, by then I was so inspired to ride hard I dropped them in just a few miles. I actually waited for them for a few seconds but when I saw that they were toasted I just continued on. I got caught at the next light, then the second drafter caught me (long light) we chatted for a minute and he was just finishing. I got to the end of Hines, turned around and blasted about 24mph home with a slight tailwind.



Now I know that these guys are just recreational cyclists and that I would get toasted by the local racers, but I was in their place just a year ago and have worked so hard to get where I am and I feel really good about my fitness right now. It's like I've accomplished something difficult and the feeling is very rewarding.



I just had to toot my own horn, just this once, but I'd also like to thank everyone that has helped me get this far. God, for giving me the strength and will to anything I put my mind to doing, my dad who is allways telling me how proud of me he is and reminding me that I'm doing good, my good friend Rhonda Armstrong who is one of the nicest and sincerest people that I know, my club who gives me pointers and inspiration to do my best, my old coach Norm Bresinski for teaching me the basics of triathlon training, Mike Ricci for answering my questions even though I'm not one of his athletes, Slowtwitch.com's triathlon forum which is an endless source of information, inspiration and comic relief, Gordo Byrn who doesn't even know who I am but who's writings have taught me so much and finally Roman Krzyzanowski for introducing me to triathlon and changing my life.



jaretj :)

Thursday

Jumbling things around a bit so I can be rested for Sunday's race.



Run 5 miles about 45 min

1.25 warm up

10X.25 (7:30,7:15,7:00,7:00,7:00,6:45,6:45,6:45,6:30,6:30)

1.25 cool down

Wednesday

Longer run 10 miles 1:26:39 HR 147. I ran fairly easy because of the intensity that I ran with yesterday. I also borrowed 2 miles from today for yesterday's run.

Tuesday

Swim 2200yds AE set



1100 warm up

300 swim

8X75 pull

250 kick



Main Set

3X75 on 1:20

1X75 easy :20 rest

2X75 on 1:20

1X75 easy

1X75 fast



250 cool down



Run 6 miles tempo 47:23 HR 155 mostly zone 3

Monday

I decided to add an extra swim cuz I missed two swims last week. I'll be going hard until wednesday at which time I'll back off slightly for the race this weekend.



Swim 2000yds 35:00 straight swim for the feel of the water.

Saturday - Sunday

Saturday

Bike at 7am 36.6 miles 1:51:30 HR 133, I planned on 60-70 miles but a thunder storm moved in so I got off.



Run 3 miles 26 minutes, it was hot and I was uncomfortable so I cut it short.



Sunday

I volunteered for our club race and had a great time so I didn't get anything in during the morning hours.



I did Gordo's HIM workout again but my running is getting faster so I'll need to adjust my run distances for the next time I do it.

Run 5.1 miles 41:50 HR 150

Bike 52.8 miles 2:34 HR 146

Run 5.1 miles 40:11 HR 156



It was in the low 80's and windy so the temp was nice but I still was 4 lbs lighter at the end of the workout and that has me a bit concerned. I drank 44oz of gatorade and then 24oz of water while on the bike. Some water in T1 and T2 and then 1 bottle of my fuel belt during the second run.

I did my race day nutrition of 1 gel every 30 minutes and felt really good. I was a little bit weak on strength but I spun faster on the bike to make up for it. I was mostly 95 to 100rpm, sometimes over 100 on the hills. I was really surprised at how strong I felt on the second run. I could have run faster with no problems

Friday

The Pool was down for maintenance so I decided to run during lunch.



4.5 miles

1 mile warm up - stretch

3.5 miles hill program on the treadmill

2 min cool down that I didn't track distance.



I was really feeling tired this morning, the warm up for the run was a little uncomfortable too but when I got going on the hill program I started to feel much better. When I got done, I felt great. So good in fact that I ate another lunch:)



I've got to jumble around my schedule this weekend cuz of our club race but I should still be able to get my long bike ride in and 2 more runs, maybe 3. Before the race I think I'll be able to get an open water swim in, I'll tell them that I'm checking the water temp.



Next week won't be a typical week because I'm racing next sunday. It's the Mid-East Regional Championships and our club needs to have a good showing. Thinking of doing my long run on Tuesday and only making it 10 miles, probably run easy on monday, thursday and friday. Anywho, I've got a couple of days to rearrange the schedule.

Thursday

Swim during lunch 2600yds force set

500 yds warm up

8X150 pull w/paddles :15 rest comming in @ 2:25

8X150 pull w/paddles @ 1:45

100yds cool down



Bike 17.6 miles 52:30 HR 130, I was pretty tired from yesterday's run so I cut the bike short.

Wednesday's long run

12.8 miles 1:45:53 HR somewhere around 155, the monitor got screwy cuz the strap was loose.



Started off easy, then I ran with Ray T for a little while, he run's just a little faster than me so I picked it up a little. We split around 5 miles and I ran just under 8 more. The last 6 had a little bit more intensity in them where the average was about 8:10. I kind of figure that the base building is done and I need to run a bit faster, but not too fast that I need extra recovery time. I felt really strong today.

Tuesday training

Swim during lunch 2150yds ME

300yds warm up

3X(3X100 on 1:45,4X50 on 55,1X50 easy) :30 rest

250 cool down



Bike 38.3 1:49:30 HR 144

bike walk 3 

bike walk 1 




Cool picture of my bike

finished strong 

near finish 




I was happy there wasn't anyone behind me, that was all that I had!!!

run away 




Looking at how high I raise my recovering leg. I thought it would be lower

run start 




Sylvania run start, I wasn't sure if the pace was too fast

bike run 2 

bike run 1 




Sylvania bike dismount, I find it easier to hold onto just the seat now

Swim exit 


Sylvania swim exit, I felt strong

Sylvania Triathlon

I took yesterday off cuz I wanted to be rested for this race, I figured I could set a PR for an olympic distance here, it's really flat.



Well I really can't call it a PR but I did have a very good race. The bike course was 2 miles short cuz of construction but adding about 5.5 minutes would bring it up to the same as a 24.8 ride would be.



Swim: Solid swim for me, no-wetsuit 26:51. Started easy and drafted, he died then found another pair of feet, he died, found a third pair and he died soon afterwards. That was in the first 600yds, after that I swam by myself and passed about 15 other people that went out too hard. Just before the last turn with 300yds to go I started kicking harder and passed a few more people. I swam right up to shore and felt strong so I ran pretty fast to T1.



Bike: Average bike ride for me, 22.8 miles in 1:02:21, I held off on the bike to be strong for the run which is my weakest event. Bike ride was about the same speed as last year's race. Ave HR was 163.



Run: I had a good run, wanted to run under 47:00, figured I would run a 48:00 but I wound up at 46:57. I felt strong and ran 7:30's the whole way, right where I was training to run at. I was very pleased with the run, 6 minutes faster than last year. HR 169



Total was 2:18:34. Adding 5:30 to that for the short bike it makes 2:24:00 which is 5.5 minutes faster than last year which was a wetsuit race.

Friday run

6 miles easy 52:53, HR 148.



90 degrees again so I ran easy and kept hydrated.

Friday swim

Swim 2100yds



200yd warm up

300 pull w/paddles :20 rest

6X50 fast :15 rest

300 pull

4X50 fast

2X300 pull

2X50 fast

100 cool down

Thursday

Feeling much better today :)



Swim during lunch 2300yds

warm up 200S,100K,6X50 build

4X100 on 1:50 (15 sec rest, comming in @ 1:35)

300 pull

3X100 on 1:45 (10 sec rest)

300 pull

3X100 on 1:50

100 cool down



Bike 22.8 1:05:50 HR 143, harder ride for race sim.



Run 4 miles 30:03 HR 154 but it was really a low zone 4 run and the HR from the first mile brought the average down.

Wednesday

It was hot and I didn't feel right so I cut my 10 mile run to 6.2 miles



6.2 miles 53 minutes HR 145. The last three miles I concentrated on cadence, I figured I might as well work on something, and was keeping it near 192 spm.

Yea!!! I've got me cable back

Now I can post these at home



Run 4.1 miles 32:50 HR 154 but it was really a zone 3 run pushing zone 4. Really hot again, 93 degrees.



About 1 hour break.



Bike 22.8 with Valari, 1:11:50 HR 136. This lady is a much better biker than she thinks. I haven't let on that I was working pretty hard to stay even with her. Still hot outside.

Tuesday

With any luck my cable will be fixed today and I'll be able to post these from home again instead of wasting time at work. I need all of that time to lurk at Slowtwitch.



Swim 2000 straight 34:50. Not blazing fast but then I wasn't trying to.

8:50,8:40,8:44,8:36 Going to try to get under 34 next week

Friday Saturday Sunday

Friday:

Swim 2000 pull set - Felt great

Run 4X800 on track @ 7:00 pace, 1 mile warm up and cool down

I was pretty tired and cut it from 6X800



Saturday:

Swim 3000 open water at trout lake, Felt really good again and had some better than average laps. I feel more comfortable swimming faster now.

Bike 70.5 miles in 3:31 HR 136, I was experimenting with less gels and more gatorade, it didn't work :(

Run on yellow trail right after bike, I felt drained cuz of the poor nutrition from the bike ride 6.2 miles 55:00 HR 146



Sunday:

Bike 39 miles 2:01:00 HR 131 Felt OK, not great, I had a lot to do so I missed my run, I will probably make it up Monday since it is just a shorter run.

Thursday bike ride

While running around everywhere for Justin's driver's ed., I was able to get a quick bike ride in.

22.8 miles 1:06:42 HR 143. Smooth ride but fairly quick

Thursday swim

2100yds during lunch



200 warm up

8X100 on 1:50

8X75 on 1:20

8X50 on :55

100 cool down

Wednesday

I got up early to run cuz the weatherman said it was going to be hot again today. Started my run at 6am to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather. 75 degrees to start and 82 when I got done, very high humidity, my shoes were squishing from the sweat in them by the 10th mile.



12 miles 1:45:01 HR 148. I had some difficulty getting going for the first 3 miles then I kind of evened out at 8:35 miles. It was probably cuz I ran so early without any breakfast or caffeine in me. As you can see the HR was lower than normal cuz I had a rough time moving my body.

More for tuesday

Bike 21.3 in 1:03:50 HR 140



Run 3 miles in 25:30 HR 149, it was so hot (97 in the sun) that I decided to cut a mile, I didn't bring any water with me and I didn't want to go much further without any. I thought it was the wise thing to do.

Tuesday

No monday post cuz I took the day off :)



Tuesday swim 2100yds 40 minutes

400 moderate

4X100 on 1:50

300

3X100 on 1:50

200

2X100 on 1:45

100

100 fast

100 cool down


I feel much more comfortable with the speed now that I have 1 week of increased swimming intensity. Hoping it gets better still.

Weekly schedule 8/1 to 8/7

Mon - off

Tue Swim 2000 ME, Run 4 miles 8:30's, Bike 1 hour moderate

Wed Long run 13 miles 8:20's

Thu Swim 2000 Espd, bike 1 hour skills plus big gear

Fri Swim 2000 Anerobic Endurance, Run intervals 6X800 wu+cd

Sat Swim 3000 ow E2, Bike 3.5 hrs E2, Run trail right off of bike.

Sun Run 2 miles wu, Bike 56 E2-E3, Run 5 8:00's



The next week will be easy with a race at the end.



Mon Swim 2000 E2

Tue Bike 1 hour, run 3 miles easy

Wed Long run 10 miles HR 150-153

Thu Swim 2000 ME, bike 20 Skills

Fri Run 3 miles

Sat Swim 1500 ow E2, Bike 25 miles, Run 2

Sun Race Sylvania Triathlon - Olympic distance

Goals for race :25/1:06/:47 I will sacrifice time on the bike for a good run if I need to. The course is very flat, so fast bike times are expected, I'll try to hold 155bpm on the bike like I did at Muncie.

Sunday

Run 2 miles 17:40



Bike 58.8 miles in 2:58



Run 4.5 miles in about 39 minutes, my HRM had some issues and I didn't get all of my splits like I wanted to.



I was a bit tired because I feel that I didn't eat enough on friday and saturday evenings. I tried some Gatorade from the bottle while on the bike and seemed to have the same stomach issues that I had in Muncie. There seems to be a big difference between the Gatorade in the pre-mixed bottles and the powder that I use. I mix it according to the directions but it isn't as strong as the bottled product. I also feel that I need to start drinking more on the bike. Last year I felt that I drank too much and wanted to tone it down a bit but it looks like I have gone too far and need about 24oz an hour, maybe a bit more.



The run I was pretty tired on, well, energy depleted to be more precise. I probably should have done a double gell at the beginning but I only took one with me (cuz it was only 4.5 miles).



Good weekend worth of training though, learned a bit and biked a lot.

Saturday

Swim 3000yds (2 laps) at trout lake, 60 minutes Zone 2 effort working on sighting.



Bike 60.5 3:20:00 HR 130, Island lake and surrounding area, hooked up with Roman and did 3 laps with him. Easy riding without much effort on the hills



Run yellow trail 6.2 mile in 51:40 HR 153 Moderate effort having a bit of fun.

Friday

Friday:

Swim 2200yds, with paddles, didn't have much time so that's all I could get in.

200 warm up

6X150 on 2:40

6X100 on 1:45

6X50 on 50

200 cool down



Run track intervals 5 miles

1 mile warm up and stretch

3X1 mile under 7:00

1 mile cool down and stretch



I wanted to try 1 mile intervals because I want to simulate running with a high heart rate, something that I have been having trouble doing at the races. After doing so, I feel that the workout is too hard on me and am going down to 6X800's for next week. It also didn't seem like the correct type of training for that purpose, tempo or race pace training should be take care of that while using the track intervals for increasing effeciency

Thursday's bike ride

With Justin taking Driver's Ed. I seem to be running all over the place now. First taking him to the class to drive at 4pm then pick him up at 5pm, go home and make dinner (chicken, rice, mixed vegetable) and then take him back to class at 7pm for the classwork untill 9pm. Since the only real break in the day was from 7 to 9pm I only got about an hour's worth of biking in but it was fairly fast.



22.8 miles 1:5:00 HR 145, pretty much rode as consistantly fast as I could despite the stop lights. I wore the new tri suit again and it feels pretty good. I might swim in it this weekend to see how it swims. I suppose I should run in it too to see if it chafes my arms. I'll try to get a picture up soon.

Thursday's swim

I'm got some specific workouts that I want to do for the next several weeks but not a lot of time, so instead of 3 swims of 3000 to 3500yds I'm going to do my best to get in 4 swims of 2000 to 2500yds a week. 3 of them on my lunch break from work.



Today was an Anerobic Endurance swim 2000yds



700yds warm up (300S,200K,200S)

500 moderate

3X75 fast - on 1:20

1X75 easy :20 rest

2X75 fast - on 1:20

1X75 easy :20 rest

1X75 fast

200 cool down



Swimming plan codes for the next 8 weeks:

8 Build 2--E zone 2,Force,Anerobic E,ME (this week)

7 Build 2--E zone 2,E-spd,Anerobic E,ME

6 Build 2E-E zone 2,Endur zone 2,ME,RACE OLY Sylvania

5 Build 3--E zone 2,ME,Force,Anerobic Endur

4 Build 3--E,ME,Endur,RACE OLY MidEast Champs

3 Build 3E-E,Anerobic E,Force

2 peak-----E zone 2,Anerobic E,ME

1 Race-----E zone 2,Anerobic E,RACE Pineman

Getting back into the swing of things

Wednesday's long run:



I decided to only run 10 miles cuz I'm just getting back to training, I'll bump up to 12 next week.



10 miles 1:24:43 HR 151, a little bit cooler outside, felt like crap until 3 miles in when I ate a gel, I then perked up and ran easily for the next 7 miles. I'm starting to think it's the small amount of caffine that's waking me up.

Tuesday's training

Swim during lunch 2100yds 40 minutes, I didn't have much time today so I wanted to get even a short swim in.

400 moderate

4X100 fast

300

3X100

200

2X100

100 easy

100 fast



Run 4 miles 34:00 HR 152, it was about 88 degrees and very humid.



Bike 20 miles in 58:00 HR 141 about an hour after the run.

Some more Muncie pictures

A little bit of chop in the water





Kind of a cool picture





Just a little bit out of T1





Somewhere out on the course





Allmost to T2, the rain was a little bit different to ride in.





Adjusting my bracelet





On my way, I feel that this is where the race starts.





Still kind of nasty weather





Weather cleared up and got hot!!!





Finally done

Wednesday through Sunday

I've gotten a little behind in the blogging since the last week was an easy week but here are the workouts, there aren't very many.



Wednesday run 4 miles, 32 minutes, HR 154



Thursday swim 2000 yds, 40:00



Friday bike 35 miles 1:45:00 HR 135



Saturday Swim 3000 open water, bike 35 miles, 1:45:00 HR 133, run 6.2 miles on yellow trail 50 minutes HR 155



Sunday Off, travel to Muskegon to pick up Justin

1 year on Blogger!!!

Like the title says, I've been on blogger for a year now and just started to look over last years posts. I started to laugh a bit seeing how niave I was about the Ironman and the mistakes I made in preparation. Also looking at the speeds I was biking and running are so much lower than this season.



1 year ago today I ran 12 miles in 2 hours and had an average HR of 156, I typically do that today under 1:45 with a lower HR (for base runs). Why is that? Most would say that I'm in much better shape than 1 year ago but it is more than that. Not only am I in better shape but I also train different. Last year I was running by HR only and keeping it low to build endurance. I was also running 3 times a week because I felt that I needed time to recover between the runs I was doing. This year I am running 5 times a week (most of the time) and the runs are shorter. I capped myself at 35 miles a week and fill in the time with runs that have a purpose. Running more frequently has had the opposite effect on my recovery than what I expected, I seem to run better with only a short time off. When I take 2 or 3 days off, my joints don't feel as good and I start losing motivation. Some days I will run to a specific pace I set for myself, I will take note of the HR but not run to it, this has helped me with some mental issues and has given me confidence in my racing abilities.



Another reason I am faster is that I run more efficiently. I've pretty much eliminated bouncing up and down and am getting my cadence up near 185 most of the time. Taking shorter steps with a higher cadence has worked very well for me, having someone video tape me helped me see my issues with running like leaning backwards while running easy. There is still a lot of room for improvement and I expect to drop 30-45 seconds a mile for race pace by next season. That is very encouraging for me since that should drop me into the low 7's. I would expect another improvement for the following year but not to that extent.



With bike training I have taken only a slightly different approach. Since I'm not training for an Ironman my longer rides have been a bit shorter, mostly on the order of 65 miles. My goals for the longer rides have been to average 140bpm for the ride. That normally gives me an average near 20mph and I still feel strong afterwards, not wasted for the rest of the day. Last year I was doing 100 milers just to get the miles in and averaging 130bpm and about 17.5mph. My other 3 rides are normally a fast ride, a brick and a skills day with some speedwork afterwards.



Comparing last year's HIM bike ride to this year's, Eagleman, which is a very flat course, I rode a 2:43:10 HR 156, Muncie (this year) which is fairly flat I rode a 2:29:31 HR 155. So I can conclude that I have had a dramatic increase my biking abilities and I feel that is because I now train with a purpose, not just riding for miles.

Monday-Tuesday

I'm still taking it easy for a few more days. The resting HR is still a bit high but physically I feel very strong. The only problem is that I got a blister under my left big toe nail again. It had just grown back from IMFL and I screwed it up again.



Monday swim 1000yds in about 25 minutes.



Tuesday bike 18 miles in about an hour. Rode my road bike :(

Clark Lake Triathlon race report

Yes, I did another race this weekend, The Clark Lake Triathlon is a sprint race and I raced it for the club points. I didn't expect it to go that well but I did pretty good anyway.



800m swim, 13 mile bike, 4 mile run

(16:09, 1:26, 36:01, 1:23, 33:06

Another No-Wetsuit swim and it went well, I started on the outside to keep out of the way but wound up passing a lot of people. On the way back I had to swim around 20 to 30 people from the previous waves which made it quite interesting.



After a decent run up to the bike I had a fairly quick transition and was off on the bike with no trouble. I just didn't have the legs to push the gear that I wanted to and wound up averaging only 21.7mph (compared to 22.4 at Muncie) a little dissapointing but still I expected it.



The run went pretty well too, averaged 8:11 miles the day after a HIM made me feel good. I was able to get the HR up to 165 but that was about it. I finished strong and beat last year's time by about 2 minutes.



Now about 3 or 4 easy days and I'll be back at it again. My resting HR this morning was 54bpm, I'm normally about 45 so I guess I'm a still a bit stressed. I'm also still hovering around 145 lbs. I wish I would have weighed myself after Muncie, I'm guessing I was around 142 lbs.

Muncie Endurathon Race Report

Overall it was a pretty good day, 5:17:27, a PR by about 15 minutes. The last half of the run I bonked, but here is the story.



Got a lot of sleep the night before, about 9 hours and was well fueled for the event, I felt great. The swim was No-Wetsuit like I thought it would be and it went well. It was a little bit choppy going out with the small waves on our left but not too crowded so it was smooth going. We turned right and swam a long way with the waves which was pretty easy and I picked up the pace somewhat. Another right turn and we had the choppy waves on our right side which still wasn't too bad cuz I can breathe on my left anyway. After that there was another right turn, about 30 degrees that put us going into the waves slightly on our right. That was a bit difficult but still, breathing on the left side worked well. I came out of the water in 38:00, pretty close to what I expected, but there was a 2 minute run up to transition that showed up in my swim time.



Transition to bike went well and I was off. About 4 miles into the bike it started to rain, slowly at first and then fairly steady. This was my first race in the rain so it was a new experience. My computer stopped working at 17 miles so I had to guess my pace. I had set a cap of 155 bpm on my HR so I went with that, the only time I went above it was to climb some of the smaller hills, I never went over 160bpm. On the way back I knew I was going fast but I felt so strong and I was still holding back so I figured I was in good shape. During the ride I picked up some Gatorade from the first aid station, it was much stronger than what I was used to and it made me sick to my stomach a bit. At the next aid station I tossed that bottle and grabbed some water but the damage was allready done. I rolled back into transition in 2:29:31 with a average HR 155 and an upset stomach. I ate 6 gells on the bike, 1 at the beginning and then 1 every 30 minutes, they made me feel so much better.



The run started off well, I was running 8:15's for the first 6.5 miles but I couldn't eat anything and wound up bonking near mile 7 and had to walk some of the time. It had stopped raining about 3 miles into the run and the sun came out and baked us pretty good. The run time was a very dissapointing 2:04:22, nearly 20 minutes off of my goal.



For the next big race I'm going to stay away from the course gatorade and use my own stuff, I'll just pick up water from the aid stations.



Having such a good bike ride and poor run has made me rethink my traing plan. I felt that I was going to be much weaker on the bike but when it came down to racing, I was well rested and able to put out the power to have a good bike ride. As for running, I still feel that I didn't have enough training time at race pace HR effort and therefore wasn't used to running with that kind of intensity. Of course the funky Gatorade didn't help much either.



Now the plans for doing some leg strength training are scaled back and I am planning on running more race pace efforts. I'm done with base building, so speed training is in order anyway. I'm going to take an easy week and work on the rest of the season's training schedule to include a different run training strategy.



Clark Lake Triathlon report will follow shortly.

Obviously me, this picture makes me look taller. I'm only 5'4" 

My buddy Rhonda. 

Bike is racked and ready to go. 

Mark's van packed and ready to go to muncie. Look how much smaller my bike is than his. 

Thursday

Easy day, swim 2000 35:30, run 3 miles 24:00. Get packed for Muncie

Wednesday

Run 6 miles 49:57 HR 153, pretty hot 93 degrees. Just ran to get some nervous energy out of my legs. Starting to carbo-load for the weekend.

Tuesday

34 miles about 1:43:00, rode with Valari again and took it easy on the climbs but held a steady pace on all of the flats. Not too hard but rode the fast parts briskly.

I felt so strong while riding. So I guess this is what it feels like to ride and not be tired from the previous training day.

Going to start packing today for the big race. Justin went to his second band camp this morning and won't be back untill the 24th. I have a race the day before and will just stay on that side of the state an extra night to pick him up. I'm allready planning on camping the night before the race and will probably just keep the campground another night.

Monday

Easy swim, 2000yds straight just under 36 minutes like planned.



I'm still a bit concerned with some recent weight loss. I woke up this moring at 144lbs. I thought it may be cuz I ran late yesterday and was a bit dehydrated but after drinking a ton of water today I was still lighter than normal after the swim. I have been going over my last 3 weeks of training and they have all been around 16 hours and recalling my diet I have found that I haven't been eating as much as normal. I had really only been eating for wednesdays and the weekend training. I recall skipping dinner 3 times in the last 2 weeks and trying to make up for it with bigger lunches to keep energy up for training.



Planning the meals for the rest of the week includes grilled chicken, brown rice and mixed vegetables for the next 2 days and then pasta for thursday and friday. I will bring some with me to reload after the race on saturday.

Saturday Sunday

Saturday

Swim 3000yds at trout lake, 1 length warm up (750yds) and then 3 lengths straight (2250yds) to work on HIM pacing.



Bike only 13.1 miles, I felt really worn out so after 1 lap of island lake, I packed it up and went home. I took a nap and then got about 10 hours of sleep saturday night. I wound up skipping the run planned for saturday



Sunday, feeling much better

Bike in the morning 40.1 miles 1:59:35 and then ran in the evening 5.1 miles 42:36 HR 147.



I'm a little concerned with my weight loss in the past 2 weeks. I've lost 2 pounds and I'm not really sure why. I've been eating just about the same, maybe a little healthier but can't really account for missing that many calories. It's OK that I'm lighter but it's just unexpected. It's also hard to believe that I'm 8 pounds lighter than I was for Ironman Florida last November. I'm starting to think it's from losing muscle mass and that I should be eating more protein. Starting a log of my diet might be a good idea to get my carb/protein/fat ratios right.

Friday bike ride

I bagged the run tonight in favor of the bike ride I missed yesterday due to the rain. Tonight's run was optional anyway.



Bike 22.8 miles in 1:07:34 HR 134. It's been so warm here lately that the 74 degree weather tonight felt pretty cool.

Thursday and Friday's swims

Thursday swim, not too long since I am starting to take it easy now



2500yds

700yds warm up

5X100@2:00 comming in at 1:40

10X100@1:50 comming in at 1:35

300yds cood down



Friday

2000yds straight 34:05 (8:35,8:40,8:40,8:10)

pic

Wednesday's long run

12 miles 1:39:15 HR 155

neg split 51:15,48:00



Last long run of this cycle. I start my taper period now, it was nice to get a good long run in on tired legs on the last hard training day. It is a bit of a confidence booster to run that well after doing intervals and a tempo ride yesterday.

Monday - Tuesday

Monday Swim 3000, pretty tired still so I used the pull bouy



1000 warm up

15X100 on 1:50

500 cool down



Tuesday run track intervals

1 mile warm up

2X400@7:30 pace

4X400@7:00 pace

2X400@6:30 pace

Some walking afterwards then a 1 mile cool down



Bike 29.1 miles in 1:27:00 HR 143 Steady pace.

Sunday race simulation

I went a little bit beyond where I should have today. The combination of yesterday's and today's training was a little bit too much for me.



Run 5.1 miles 42:11 HR 147

Bike 52.9 miles 2:36 HR 142

Run 4.8 miles 40:45 HR 152



I felt great on the first run and the bike but the second run I had some trouble with. On my way back I walked for about .3 miles cuz I was so tired, after that brief rest, I resumed running. I didn't realize that I was dehydrated untill I got home and weighed myself. I've normally been 146-147 lately, after the last run I was 142, that's the lightest I've been since I was 18!!! That seemed to be dangerously low for me, allmost 3% of my body weight.



I was guaging race day nutrition today and I found that I will need a bit more fluid than I had thought. I started with 1 gel for the first run and then 1 gel at the end. A quick drink of water in transition then 5 gels on the bike, 1 every 30 minutes and 2 large bottles of Gatorade. Second transition I had about 10 oz of Gatorade again then back to the run. 1 gel 1.5 miles into run, and 14 oz of Gatorade. About 3.5 miles into the run I needed a short break, then started to run again and felt much better. About 1250 calories in 4 hrs, 312.5 per hour, a bit short of the 400 I was planning on.



It was 75 to 80 degrees during the workout and I figure that I'll probably need 2 more bottles (about 35-40ozs) of fluid on the bike. Maybe one of them could be water.



It was another decent week of training, my last hard one for a while. I was a bit short on swimming but the bike and run distances were decent. I started feeling much better in the water on Saturday. :) This was a 4 week cycle and the last week was tough. I usually do 3 week cycles. The Ann Arbor Triathlon race week is what really screwed up this cycle.



Swim 6000 yds
Bike 176.2 miles
Run 31.9 miles
15:45:56

Friday - Saturday

I felt so tired on friday that 2200yds is all that I wanted to swim, I tried pushing myself into swimming longer but I wanted to quit so bad. I normally don't have days like that but I figured my body was saying to take a break, so I did.



I ate a ton of food after the swim. 2 bowls of spagatti and I was still hungry so I made a hot dawg :) and some baked beans too. After that I ate about 1/2 lb of strawberries then, 1 or 2 bananas and a bowl of cereal. Think I also had a slice of cheese or two while something was cooking.



I felt much better saturday morning after 10 hours of sleep. Swam strong at trout lake, first two lengths were 12:40's (normal for me) second two laps at 12:10's. The first two I wore my red quintana roo shirt, the second two I wore me team shirt. I wanted to know if the team shirt would slow me down cuz I had a bad swim in it at the Ann Arbor triathlon. It didn't, quandry solved, I've got confidence in it again.



Still thinking that Muncie will be a non-wetsuit swim and will be going into the swim with more confidence in my non-wetsuit swimming ability.



Bike 62.7 miles in about 3:30, rode with group and kept pace down. It was nice riding in 70 degree weather, 25 degrees cooler than last weekend. Felt strong, rode Island lake, trail to South Lyon, back to the hills in Kensington and the big one on Kensington road and then back through Island Lake again.



Run on Yellow trail, 6 miles in about 50 minutes, very nice wooded trail, I will definitely be running on that one again. Gavin and I were very pleased with it, shaded and soft. I might try the blue trail sometime too, think it's about 9 miles.

Training plan through Muncie

I got this done several days ago but forgot to put it up



The rest of this week:

Fri Swim 3500yds Bike 30 miles Run 4 miles easy

Sat Swim 3000yds open water Bike 3.5 hrs Run 4 miles (optional)

Sun Run 5 miles steady Bike 56 miles Run 7 miles race pace (8:00)

Work on race nutrition on Sunday 400 cals/hr



Week ending 7/10/05:

Mon Off or easy swim

Tue bike 2 hrs (drills and tempo), run 4 miles speedwork

Wed Run 12 miles easy

Thu Swim 2000 working on arm turnover Bike 1 hr (start taper)

Fri Swim 2000 straight Run 3 miles

Sat Swim 3000 open water Bike 2 hrs Run 4 miles

Sun Bike 1 hr run 4 miles (brick)



Week ending 7/17/05: (race week)

Mon Off or easy swim

Tue Bike 1 hr Run 3 miles

Wed Run 6-8 miles

Thu Swim 2000 straight Bike :30

Fri Travel day Swim 500 Bike :30 Run 2 (opt)

Sat Race Day Muncie Endurathon 1.2/56/13.1 (Hopefully :32/2:35/1:45)

Sun Race Day Clark Lake Triathlon, I don't expect much, this is for the club



Week Ending 7/24/05:

Unstructured recovery week

Swim 3 times Bike 3 time and Run 3 times

Maybe Great Lakes Triathlon 7/23 (sprint for club points)



After that I've got 3 weeks of Base again, 3 weeks of Build, 1 peak and 1 race week left leading up to the Pineman. I'll have 2 races in August too, Sylvania and the Indy championships, both are for club race points. If I get Clark Lake, Great Lakes and Sylvania in, the club will pay my entry for the Indy championships.

Thursday evening

Went out for a bike ride, wanted to hook up with Cheryl and Jason but Hines was flooded and I couldn't get to Dearborn. I rode out to Northville instead.



27.4 miles 1:23:00 HR 134. I felt pretty strong despite the long run this morning. I'm way behind in swimming this week but I'll get some time in tomorrow and saturday. Maybe sunday too depending on the weather.



I told my boss I had a plumbing problem this morning and took some personal time.



SSSHHHHHHHH!!!

Wednesday's long run (really thursday morning)

It was pretty hot and stormy last night so I decided not to try the long run, instead I ran this morning.



12 miles 1:44:00 HR 150. The weather channel said 72 degrees but my thermometer said 88 and it was very humid cuz I was soaked when I got home, plus my shoes were soaked with so much sweat that they were squishing for the last 2 miles.



I took it easy on this run since I had a much higher intensity run on tuesday. A faster run now would probably hurt me more than help me since I'm so close to tapering for Muncie. The base building is all done and I'm going to have to rely on what I've done in the last several months.



It's supposed to storm later today so I don't know if I'll be able to get a bike ride in after work.

Tuesday

I know it's a little bit late for intervals but I need to get them in. I only did 8 cuz I didn't want to overdo it. I'll have one more chance to do them next week before I start my taper. Goal pace for Muncie is 8:00 min/mile.



Run 4 miles

1 mile warm up

4X400@7:15 pace

2X400@7:00 pace

2X400@6:30 pace

1 mile cool down plus some walking



Bike 33.2 miles 1:49:00 HR 128

Valari and I turned back early cuz there was a storm comming from the northwest and we didn't want to get caught riding in a thunderstorm, we only cut about 5 miles off of the ride. A few minutes after we turned around we got a lot of strong winds, mostly from behind but still some strong ones from the side that blew us around a bit. It was a fast ride back and luckily we didn't get wet, in fact the ran blew over well behind us.

Some Ann Arbor Triathlon pictures

I didn't realize how hot it was untill I saw these pictures.





I sure was relieved when it was over

Three weeks out from the Muncie Endurathon

Looking forward and back over my prep for this race and here is what I think.



I've gotten behind on the speedwork necessary for the run. I've just haven't been able to get to the gym or track for those sessions. I have done tempo, farklet and pickups but no real intense foot-speed work. I'm concerned that I'm not going to be as efficient as I could be at higher speeds. The Asics DS Trainers are very fast for me, probably about 20 seconds a mile faster than my Kayano's but I haven't been able to run a lot of long miles in them. I tried that a few weeks ago and my arch on my left foot started to ache a bit. I went back to all of my running in my Kayano's and the problem went away. I have no problem running in them once or twice a week or racing in them but not everyday training.



I'm not as strong as I feel I should be riding hills on the bike. My flat speed is good but I seem to suffer on the hills somewhat. I'm still better than last year but not up to my expectations. Since Muncie is so flat, it's not a big concern. I will be in the weight room after the race preping for Pineman, I want a bit more strength for that race.



My open water swimming is behind where I feel it should be. Although my pool swimming has been great, open water hasn't progressed as well, or maybe it has and I've been too tired to use it effectively. Last saturday (without a wetsuit) I felt pretty good in the water and swam as fast as many did in their suits, it was a confidence booster but the dissapointment from the Ann Arbor swim is still lurking with me. I'm very straight in the water and the bilateral breathing is working very well. Sighting every 12 strokes seems to work well too, in the beginning of the swims I will sight every 6 strokes. I've been getting into more speedwork in the pool for the last 2 weeks and my stroke count has come down 2-4 strokes per 50yds also.



I've got about 3 weeks 'till Muncie now, 10 days of real training left and 10 days of tapering. Next weekend will be my last hard weekend and will do Gordo's HIM workout again but probably a little bit longer. Looking at a 5 mile run warm up, 56 mile bike, 7 mile run at race pace with a short, race-like transition. I will also work on the race day nutrition at 400cal/hour. I still have to make up the taper/race week's training schedule and will need some help with it. I'm thinking of keeping the frequency of exercising the same, reducing the volume and increasing the intensity just a little bit.



Finishing in the top 20% in the 3 races I've done this year has been a pretty good confidence booster too. That's much better than the top 40% from last year and a lot of it has come from the run training. Just a few minutes has made a big difference.



Edit: 10am

I also wanted to add that I feel very healthy this year. I don't have the aches and pains from the last 2 years. My knees feel good as well as my shoulders. I feel much stronger than before and am thinking that another Ironman wouldn't be out of the question now. I believe that I'm finally in good enough shape to train for an Ironman the way that I want to race it. 10.5 to 11 hours would be a reasonable goal for next year. 1:05,5:30,3:45 plus transitions. After Pineman in September I think I'll ramp up my run training to see how I feel going long.



Thinking of next years plans allready. Looking at 4 HIM's next year. Little Smokies (Triple T), Muskoka (close), Muncie and Steelhead. If for some reason I could qualify for Wisconsin at Muskoka, I would go for it.

Friday - Saturday - Sunday

Friday:

Swim 3500yds 1:10, Endurance speed workouts

Bike 38.2, 1:53 HR 143, very hot 95 degrees, I cut the run cuz of the heat



Saturday

Swim 3000yds at trout lake, swam without wetsuit cuz I'm thinking that Muncie will be a non-wetsuit race. It's been so warm lately that most of the lakes have got to be near 78 degrees. If it is wet suit legal then it will be a bonus. Laps at the lake were near 12:40 which is 45-50 seconds slower than with a wetsuit.

Bike 65.5 3:20:00 HR 135, very hot again 93 to 95 degrees.



Sunday

Run 5.1 miles easy 44:49 HR 145

Bike 43.6 miles 2:14:46 HR 134, hard at times but not allways

Run 5.1 miles 41:51 HR 152, a bit brisk but it seemed easy



I started early (7am) to beat the heat, it was about 70 deg F when I started. Felt pretty flat for the first run, I probably should have ate a gel before hand but I had eaten a banana and a cliff bar about 30 min before the run and I didn't want to over-do it.



When I got on the bike I felt cold, probably cuz it's been so hot lately, I was about to go back and get my leg warmers but the computer said 70 degrees so I stayed out. I started to work on race day nutrition, 1 gel every 30 minutes and 1 bottle of Gatorade (24oz) every hour. That's near 300 calories an hour which will probably be a little bit light. Next week I'll go up to 400 calories an hour, I've allways been very comfortable there.



The second run went very easy, I took two small bottles of gatorade in my fuel belt and blasted off pretty quickly (for me:). It was starting to get warmer by then and I was glad that I started early.



Overall I was pretty happy with the workout and will probably repeat it again next sunday.

3 short workouts for thursday

Swim 2000yds during lunch



300 warm up

5X100 on 2:00

10X100 on 1:50

200 cool down



Bike 22 miles in 1:10:00 HR 137, 1 flat tire



Run right after bike 3.1 miles 24:09 HR 158

Wednesday - Long run

12 miles again 1:39:40 HR 158. Kind of warm today at 85 deg F.



I pushed up the pace a bit today for some more confidence in my running ability while working on foot speed. First 6 miles in 50:50, second 6 miles in 48:40. Still a little slower than race pace but I was wearing training shoes and not racing shoes. My running cadence has been about 184-186 while running 8 min/miles and seems to get faster with the racing shoes while my stride length remains relatively the same.

Monday - Tuesday

I took monday off again because of the race on Sunday and felt I needed some recovery time.



Tuesday I had some things to do after work so I swam 2000yds during lunch so I wouldn't miss the swim entirely.



In the evening I got on the bike and got caught in the rain after about 5 miles. It came down pretty hard while I was riding back, but it was warm so while I was wet, it wasn't uncomfortable. Since the tri-bike still had the racing wheels and bag on it I chose to ride my road bike.

Sunday - Big Fish Triathlon

Being a "C" race I didn't taper for it but I used it as a BT workout for the weekend so I rested a bit on Saturday to be somewhat fresh for the race.



I did this race last year as a sprint tri 1K/40K/5miles and they changed it to an olympic distance this year so the bike ride was the same. I didn't quite hit my goals that I set for the race but it did go pretty well. I was 2 minutes faster this year on the bike with a lower HR so I know I'm a bit stronger this year.



2:32:02 --- 2-27:34 -- 2:18 --- 3-1:11:31 - 20.8 -- 1:11 --- 5-49:29 - 7:58



Overall 16/108

M35-39 4/17



Swim: I didn't want to get beat up like I did last week so I started away from everyone and swam my own pace. I was 17th overall out of the water with a mediocre swim. I swam straight along the bouys and it was pretty uneventfull. I probably should have swam harder. The water temp was 75 degrees so I figured that it would be a good time to try out the new wetsuit in a race. I'm still not convinced that the full suit is faster than the sleeveless although it feels much better than the Ironman suit that I had before.



Bike: Again a mediocre bike ride, I had a difficult time getting my HR up to normal racing pace but it was near LT so I felt comfortable with it. 1:11:31 was 3rd in my AG and 21st overall. It was a hilly course for this part of Michigan and that slowed me down a bit, that and I haven't seemed to be as strong on the hills this season.



Run: I was winded again at the start of the run but still managed to run under 8 min/miles at 49:29, 5th in AG and 28th overall. Miles 3 and 4 had some big ups and downs that really slowed me down, after the 4 mile mark I felt really good and picked up the pace and ran a couple of people down that had passed me earlier. Being faster on the flats was really good news for me cuz after I went through the hills and thought I was done, I was able to pick it back up again and run my planned pace and finished pretty strong. Since Muncie is flat, the training seems to be going as planned.



All in all it was a good training day and valuable race experience for me that told me what I need to work on before Muncie. Open water swim speed that I will work on at Spring Mill pond, Bike ME pushing big gears, Run speed work - I still am working on the efficiency thing and will start interval training this week to work on foot speed.

Saturday 6-18

Swim 1500yds at Trout lake 30:00



Bike 22 miles in 1:10:00, easy riding



Very nice day, still a bit tired from yesterday



Getting ready for the race tomorrow.

Friday afternoon-evening

Bike 57.2 miles in 2:48:00, HR 143. I pushed it some times and then kept reminding myself that it is an endurance ride so I wouldn't ride too fast. Still, 20.3 is good for me at a long training ride, and it was little windy today. I felt pretty good, used 3 gels (1:05,1:50,2:25) and 48oz of gatorade.



Run right after the bike, 6 miles 48:08 HR 157 but I was in the high 150's and low 160's for the last half so I'm calling it a zone 3 run, which is what I planned to do anyway. 1 gel 2 miles into the run.



Starting to feel better at pushing the pace. I want to get all of my 6 mile brick runs under 50:00 from now on and try to push for 48:00, I'm thinking of setting a goal of 52:00 for each half of the run at Muncie (6.55 miles), that should bring me in pretty close to 1:45.



Tomorrow I'll reduce the intensity of the workouts to rest a bit so I'll have some strength for racing on sunday.

Friday lunch time swim

2000yds straight 34:23



8:48,8:39,8:30,8:26

Thursday

I got my pull sets in, 3100yds in 1:05:00

Felt pretty good, I was a little faster than normal doing my 300's in 4:45-4:50


600wu

2X300 pull :20 RI

6X50 fast :15 RI

2X300 pull

4X50 fast

2X300 pull

2X50 fast

100 cd



I got on the bike but got rained out in a short time. 10 miles in about 30 minutes. I didn't get a chance to run cuz of the rain.

Wednesday's long run

12 miles 1:40:20 HR 153



Felt OK for the first half and then turned it up for the second half. It was a little bit cooler today at about 80 degrees and a bit breezy.

First 6 miles 51:19

Second 6 miles in 49:01



Planning on doing an olympic distance race this weekend but I won't lose any training to do it.



The rest of the week is like this:

Thu swim 2500-3000 pull session, ride 1 hr, run 30 min easy.

Fri swim at lunch, bike 2-3 hrs, run 45 minutes farklet.

Sat open water swim ~ 3000yds, bike 1 hr

Sun race 1.5K/40K/10K. Goals, 24:00/1:08:00/46:00

Next week I'm going to do some intervals on the track, Muncie is comming up in about 4 weeks and I'm feeling strong but I need to get some speed work in.

Monday - Tuesday

I took monday off to recover from the race. I felt OK but wanted to stay on the safe side.



Tuesday:

Swim 2500

500 warm up

5X100 on 2:00

10X100 on 1:50

500 cool down



Bike 41 miles in 2:13:00 HR 140

Run right after bike 5.1 miles 41:30 HR 154

90 degrees to start the bike then 86 degrees when the run started.

Getting caught back up with the blogging thing

Last week was pretty hectic with all of the hot weather and things to do, but quickly, here's what I did.



Thursday 6/10

Swim 1500yds open water at Spring Mill Pond

Bike 17 miles in about 50:00

Run 3 miles of trails in about 24:00



Friday

Swim 2000 at lunch

Run 8 miles, 1 mile wu, 6 miles tempo, 1 mile cd (92 degrees again!!!)



Saturday

Swim 1500yds at Trout Lake

Bike 14 miles of tempo (22mph)



Sunday

Race Ann Arbor Triathlon 1:43:53

Swim 800 meters 17:50 (really about 1000, no wetsuits)

Bike 14 miles in hills 39:21

Run 5 miles on a tough trail 43:02



I hit all of my goal except for my swim, I got bumped around quite a bit and had to catch my breath for a min, (pretty unusual for me)

Wednesday 6/9

I don't care what the weather channel says, it was hotter than 91 degrees today. My thermometer said 100 degrees in the sun.



Run 4 miles HR about 145, I stopped timing when I tured around cuz of the heat but they were near 8:45's. I felt it was just too hot to try a 12 mile run today, I've had fun before and that was anything like it.

Tuesday

I took monday off completely. I wanted to make sure I'm rested and not overtraining myself. With my resting heart rate staying around 47-48 throughout the week I feel fairly confident that I'm not. My normal resting HR has been 44-46.



Tuesday was a little bit longer than I really planned but everything went well.



Swim fairly easy during lunch, 2000 0:35:00



Bike with Jim and Valari from the club, 20 miles near 17-18mph then worked on big gear stuff with Valari (she drafted me for the faster stuff), 3 min fast spin - 3 min big gear 60rpm - 3 min HIM race pace normal 90-95rpm, 5 cycles then cool down. After that I turned around and found my dad on Hines drive and rode easy with him for about 5 miles. Total 46.7 miles 2:32:30 Ave HR for fast stuff was 141.



Run 5 miles 39:34 HR 155, a little high I figured from cardiac drift and dehydration. I was 144lbs (3-4lbs light) when I got home.



Oh yes, I allmost forgot, it was about 90 degrees today, I drank 2 bottles of gatorade and 1 bottle of water on the bike plus 12 oz of water before the run and about 24oz after the run.

Sunday the last training day of the big week

Bike 52.8, 2:39:00 HR 135



I felt so much better at the end of the week than I thought I would, in fact I started the week averaging 19mph on the bike and finished the week near 20mph. I feel a very important part of the week was the rest and recovery time. I was sleeping 9 hrs a night, sometimes took a nap in the afternoon, and made sure that I refueled after every workout. Stretching was a regular part of the day and it normally took place after the hardest workout.



Something interesting happened on the bike half way through the week. Starting on thursday I couldn't push a big gear like I did before so I had to bring my cadence up. I had it up above 95rpm most of the time after that to hold the speed that I wanted to. I didn't seem to have enough strength to do what I usually did and feel that I found a more efficienct way of riding. Although I did have a difficult time on the hills in Kensington, the rest of the hill riding wasn't too bad.



On the run I worked on being efficient all week. I've been reading some books on running and am incorporating the ideas into my run. The ideas aren't too different from what I've been doing so the suttle chages are blending in well.



The open water swimming went well. I was much straighter than I thought I would be and needed to sight less than I did last year. The speed was up too and the cooler water was nice to swim in. It looks like all of the swimming I did over the winter is paying off. :)

Saturday

Swam open water with FAST this morning, 3 laps of trout lake, 2.46 miles (I think it's longer than .82 miles per lap), we had over 30 people at the lake today and I think everyone had a good time.



I felt good, had a good experience with the bilateral breathing but I can only sight while breathing to my right for now. I could swim pretty straight while only sighting every 12-15 strokes. I swam with the full suit for all three laps and it chaffed my neck a little bit but still felt pretty good. I'm still not convinced that the full suit is faster than the sleeveless yet but it isn't slower. Anywho, 4300yds in about 1:10:00.



Bike about 38 miles in 2:00:00, my computer wasn't working so I guessed on the milage, HR was 132, I hit some pretty big hills and I was pretty tired so I cut the ride down from 3 hours. It was near 80 degrees for the bike ride and it felt great. I felt a bit tired so I cut my run for tonight.

Friday

Another beautiful day outside and another good day of training.



9am: Bike 53.9 miles 2:41:21 HR 132, 65 degrees F. I really wasn't trying to ride that fast (20mph) but it just turned out that way. It was a little cool at the start and then very comfortable after about 30 minutes.



1pm: Swim 2000yds 35:11, my normal friday lunch time swim but I took it easy and worked on stroke length by finishing my pull. I was down to 20 strokes per length from 21-22 that I've been doing for the past month. Before that I was pretty regular at 23 strokes since last September.



4pm: Run 6 miles 50:46 HR 153, it was getting warmer and I was a little light when I got back home but still a good steady base effort.

Thursday

I started a bit slow cuz I was still a bit sore from wednesday but after I got going I felt great.



Swim 3100yds, 300yd pull sets, 1:05:00



Bike 32.2 in 1:37:30, pretty hard with a group at Island lake.



Run 3 miles way too fast 23:00, I couldn't stay with the group, they were running under 7:00 min/miles so after about 1 mile I stopped trying. Ran on one of the trails at Island Lake.



Open water swim, 1 lap of Spring Mill Pond so it was about 500 meters, swam with new suit, I'm not convinced that it is faster than the sleeveless but I was pretty tired after the day's workouts.

Wednesday

Long run today 12 miles 1:42:50 (8:35 pace) HR 149. PE was really high today (I'm not surprised) and the HR was low but I still worked on efficiency. Pretty much even pace and neg split by just 20 seconds. I ate 2 gels during the run and drank 28oz of Gatorade.



I was 3 lbs light when I got home so I put down the water with some extra calories.



Along with the extra training time this week, I've put a lot of effort into recovery too. After every workout I replace calories and fluids and even get a nap in between morning and afternoon workouts. I've spent a considerable amount of time on flexability too. While being about half way through the week, I still feel pretty good, I've been eating healthy and getting about 9 hrs of sleep every night.