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
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Thursday, July 21, 2005
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
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 :(
Monday swim 1000yds in about 25 minutes.
Tuesday bike 18 miles in about an hour. Rode my road bike :(
Monday, July 18, 2005
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
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.
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, July 11, 2005
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.
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.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
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.
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, July 08, 2005
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.
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)
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)
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
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.
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, July 03, 2005
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
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
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