I got my new mountain bike on tuesday :)
Specialized Rockhopper Expert 29er
Friday, November 05, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Screw long-course triathlon...I'm going to Xterra next season
I was just informed today that I did not make the roll down for ITU worlds at Long course nationals. I missed it by 2:19, and got beat by a bunch of runners that got lucky from a cancelled swim :(
Going to focus on shorter stuff next season...mainly Xterra. When the official schedule comes out I'll put up my plans but unofficialy I'll be doing up to 6 off-road races.
Going to focus on shorter stuff next season...mainly Xterra. When the official schedule comes out I'll put up my plans but unofficialy I'll be doing up to 6 off-road races.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Long Course Nationals
I'm offically signed up for the 2010 TriSports.com Halfmax National Championship at the Myrtle Beach Triathlon on October 2, 2010.
With any luck I'll be able to qualify for the 2011 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships in Las Vegas on Nov 5 2011. I need to score a top 20 in my age group to make it in.
With any luck I'll be able to qualify for the 2011 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships in Las Vegas on Nov 5 2011. I need to score a top 20 in my age group to make it in.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Nothing new, training as usual
Just plodding through the workouts. I've been a bit tired on the swim but other than that I'm good.
The weather has been better so I've been running and biking on Hines Drive again. Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday I got decent rides in with Tuesday being much warmer. I was able to ride without my heavy coat but the other days I was bundled up pretty good.
My last 2 longer runs have been outside too which is a good change from running on the rec center track. It's been warmer in the afternoon too so I'm able to run at lunch and split my MWF run and swim workouts by a few hours.
The weather has been better so I've been running and biking on Hines Drive again. Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday I got decent rides in with Tuesday being much warmer. I was able to ride without my heavy coat but the other days I was bundled up pretty good.
My last 2 longer runs have been outside too which is a good change from running on the rec center track. It's been warmer in the afternoon too so I'm able to run at lunch and split my MWF run and swim workouts by a few hours.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Another week
Pretty good week again with some ups and downs:
Ups...FTP test on the bike was tuesday...Went well, I started on the aggressive side and was able to hold it for the whole test period. I figured that I would be able to hold low to mid 220's for the 20 min test and I did. 223 for 20 min after the long warm up and 5 min blow out portions.
That puts me very close to where I was last year at this time but am not dreading the workouts. Last year I started in October instead of January and rode hard through the late fall/early winter.
For the sake of numbers I'm going to increase my FTP to 212 from 200 untill I'm told to do something else by Mike. (That's ~95% of 223 watts)
Downs...FTP test raised my bike training zones by 12 watts :(
Downs...I had to cut monday and wednesday swims down cuz I was so tired.
Ups...Friday I felt really good in the water again.
Downs...The two pools I have access to on Saturday were both closed :(
Ups...The two pools I have access to on Saturday were both closed :)
Ups...I was at Mt Holly on my snowboard with Gavin for 8 hours on Saturday cuz both of my pools were closed :)
Downs...The snowboarding made my saturday bike ride more difficult...but I still did well :I
Ups...I got to run outside on sunday for my long run and didn't have to circle around the track at the rec center 120 times :)
Downs...It was colder than I thought outside but still comfortable :I
Ups...I reached 143 lbs this morning and am allmost to my first goal for weight loss :)
Ups...FTP test on the bike was tuesday...Went well, I started on the aggressive side and was able to hold it for the whole test period. I figured that I would be able to hold low to mid 220's for the 20 min test and I did. 223 for 20 min after the long warm up and 5 min blow out portions.
That puts me very close to where I was last year at this time but am not dreading the workouts. Last year I started in October instead of January and rode hard through the late fall/early winter.
For the sake of numbers I'm going to increase my FTP to 212 from 200 untill I'm told to do something else by Mike. (That's ~95% of 223 watts)
Downs...FTP test raised my bike training zones by 12 watts :(
Downs...I had to cut monday and wednesday swims down cuz I was so tired.
Ups...Friday I felt really good in the water again.
Downs...The two pools I have access to on Saturday were both closed :(
Ups...The two pools I have access to on Saturday were both closed :)
Ups...I was at Mt Holly on my snowboard with Gavin for 8 hours on Saturday cuz both of my pools were closed :)
Downs...The snowboarding made my saturday bike ride more difficult...but I still did well :I
Ups...I got to run outside on sunday for my long run and didn't have to circle around the track at the rec center 120 times :)
Downs...It was colder than I thought outside but still comfortable :I
Ups...I reached 143 lbs this morning and am allmost to my first goal for weight loss :)
Monday, February 22, 2010
This year so far
Since just before Christmas I had taken some time off from training. I felt that I needed a break before going into the next season so a few weeks off running was in order. I still kept swimming and had a very good month of it in December.
Starting in January I got back on the bike. I started off with 30 to 60 min of easy riding to get my legs back into spinning. Along with that I started to run ~30 min 5 days a week. For the next few weeks I did my EN workouts from last year and they were just boring. I could not stand to do longer intervals near FTP and frequently missed workouts. After 3 weeks of that I decided to interview some coaches, I really had my mind set on Mike Plumb again but I needed to know what was out there.
Now I used Mike back to 2006 and in my opinion he made me much faster on the bike. I learned a lot from his workouts which took me from a 1:08 in a 40K to 1:02's. As well as that, his run program taught me how to run faster at threshold as there was much more time spent there than I had previously done. That racing season had mixed results mainly because of my poor race execution at the big race and the fact that I raced entirely too much that season. I chose to go a different way the following season for two reasons...I did not like the swim workouts and at the time Mike did not use power meters on the bike.
In 2007 I went with Matt Fitzgerald's plans to take me to IMMoo...that race had mixed results too because of my inconsistent training. I honestly do not like to do Ironman races and was very demotivated for the 6 weeks before that race. Still I went 11:30 there with a disappointing run.
In 2008 I went with Matt's plans again with better results but aiming at the Half Ironman distance, a distance I really like. I had a good Triple T early in the season and what would have been a good race at Steelhead had it not been for the swim being cancelled. I really didn't care while racing that and pretty much blew off the run.
In late 2008 I decided to go with Endurance Nation for the following year. I started on the bike early October and rode hard on the trainer all winter. I had a disagreement with one of the coaches after purchasing my plan in January of '09 which was supposed to be specific to Triple T and wasn't so I decided to quit EN and modify the plans myself to take me through the season. I used those plans through Triple T and was very strong going into the race. The only problem was that I screwed up my taper, I set myself up to be tapered on Sunday and not Friday, those two extra days of rest would have made a big difference. So mixed results from Triple T left me unsure of the plan but a little wiser about tapering.
The rest of the 2009 season was spent focusing on the Spirit of Racing HIM and the HFP Wheelie Fun Series. I trained exactly as planned for Racine, executed the race perfectly according to my abilities and had the best HIM of my life. All of my goals were met and/or exceeded. The hard work on the bike and race execution paid off. The good performance at Racine was followed by another good performance at Breakwater which had a particularly difficult bike portion followed by a good run for me. The season ended with my 7th oly distance race of the season at Portage Lake near Akron OH. I did well, 2nd on the swim, led the bike but could only hold on to 3rd for the day during the run putting me 2nd in the series standings...Still a good result.
Now...after rambling on about the last few seasons...In 2010 I found myself not doing my prescribed workouts. I had nobody to answer to so I decided to go back to a coach or coaching plan. After interviewing with 3 coaches I decided on going back to Mike Plumb again for these reasons:
He made me faster in the past and I know why.
He now uses power as a metric in cycling.
His swim workouts are more in line with my goals.
He is willing to set me up of different races.
He has experience with my abilities.
I needed someone to answer too.
His fees are very fair
So now I've been back with him for 4 weeks. I've done every workout he's given me and I'm feeling that I'm getting faster already. The workouts can be tough but still doable.
One thing I'm specifically working on this year is losing weight. I was 148 to 152 lbs most of last season, I'm 145 now down from 154 last November and still dropping. My goal is to get under 140 lbs and then assess my situation then. That will put me ~10 lbs lighter than most of last season, hopefully that will translate into faster times on the bike and run
--
Please support Race for the Cure
http://www.active.com/donate/detroitRFTC09/komenJJohnso15
jaretj.blogspot.com
Starting in January I got back on the bike. I started off with 30 to 60 min of easy riding to get my legs back into spinning. Along with that I started to run ~30 min 5 days a week. For the next few weeks I did my EN workouts from last year and they were just boring. I could not stand to do longer intervals near FTP and frequently missed workouts. After 3 weeks of that I decided to interview some coaches, I really had my mind set on Mike Plumb again but I needed to know what was out there.
Now I used Mike back to 2006 and in my opinion he made me much faster on the bike. I learned a lot from his workouts which took me from a 1:08 in a 40K to 1:02's. As well as that, his run program taught me how to run faster at threshold as there was much more time spent there than I had previously done. That racing season had mixed results mainly because of my poor race execution at the big race and the fact that I raced entirely too much that season. I chose to go a different way the following season for two reasons...I did not like the swim workouts and at the time Mike did not use power meters on the bike.
In 2007 I went with Matt Fitzgerald's plans to take me to IMMoo...that race had mixed results too because of my inconsistent training. I honestly do not like to do Ironman races and was very demotivated for the 6 weeks before that race. Still I went 11:30 there with a disappointing run.
In 2008 I went with Matt's plans again with better results but aiming at the Half Ironman distance, a distance I really like. I had a good Triple T early in the season and what would have been a good race at Steelhead had it not been for the swim being cancelled. I really didn't care while racing that and pretty much blew off the run.
In late 2008 I decided to go with Endurance Nation for the following year. I started on the bike early October and rode hard on the trainer all winter. I had a disagreement with one of the coaches after purchasing my plan in January of '09 which was supposed to be specific to Triple T and wasn't so I decided to quit EN and modify the plans myself to take me through the season. I used those plans through Triple T and was very strong going into the race. The only problem was that I screwed up my taper, I set myself up to be tapered on Sunday and not Friday, those two extra days of rest would have made a big difference. So mixed results from Triple T left me unsure of the plan but a little wiser about tapering.
The rest of the 2009 season was spent focusing on the Spirit of Racing HIM and the HFP Wheelie Fun Series. I trained exactly as planned for Racine, executed the race perfectly according to my abilities and had the best HIM of my life. All of my goals were met and/or exceeded. The hard work on the bike and race execution paid off. The good performance at Racine was followed by another good performance at Breakwater which had a particularly difficult bike portion followed by a good run for me. The season ended with my 7th oly distance race of the season at Portage Lake near Akron OH. I did well, 2nd on the swim, led the bike but could only hold on to 3rd for the day during the run putting me 2nd in the series standings...Still a good result.
Now...after rambling on about the last few seasons...In 2010 I found myself not doing my prescribed workouts. I had nobody to answer to so I decided to go back to a coach or coaching plan. After interviewing with 3 coaches I decided on going back to Mike Plumb again for these reasons:
He made me faster in the past and I know why.
He now uses power as a metric in cycling.
His swim workouts are more in line with my goals.
He is willing to set me up of different races.
He has experience with my abilities.
I needed someone to answer too.
His fees are very fair
So now I've been back with him for 4 weeks. I've done every workout he's given me and I'm feeling that I'm getting faster already. The workouts can be tough but still doable.
One thing I'm specifically working on this year is losing weight. I was 148 to 152 lbs most of last season, I'm 145 now down from 154 last November and still dropping. My goal is to get under 140 lbs and then assess my situation then. That will put me ~10 lbs lighter than most of last season, hopefully that will translate into faster times on the bike and run
--
Please support Race for the Cure
http://www.active.com/donate/detroitRFTC09/komenJJohnso15
jaretj.blogspot.com
Monday, November 30, 2009
Week ending 11/29 plus monday for the end of month
A up and down week as I don't think I got enough sleep.
Swim 14,000 in 4:30
Run 33.10 in 4:34
I was tired swimming most of the week and kept it short on friday cuz I didn't feel that strong. After taking it easy on friday I felt much better on saturday. I swam at Livonia rec center W,F,S cuz Franklin and Schoolcraft were closed for the holiday.
The run volume was planned to be a bit shorter this week and I pretty much hit my goals. Tuesday's run really took a lot out of me and slowed me down untill saturday.
(2 miles E pace + 5 X 5 min T pace w/1 min rests + 1 hr E pace)
Saturday I was feeling better with 3 reps of 1K with a few min rest between them plus warm up and cool down. By sunday I was whipped and took the day off.
Monday I felt pretty good, I ran 5 miles on the indoor track at the Rec center and then swam 3600 at Franklin High School. Warm up then sets of 400 on the swim that I really felt strong on.
Finished the month with:
55200 yards of swimming
155 miles of running
I only biked once and it's not worth mentioning.
Swim 14,000 in 4:30
Run 33.10 in 4:34
I was tired swimming most of the week and kept it short on friday cuz I didn't feel that strong. After taking it easy on friday I felt much better on saturday. I swam at Livonia rec center W,F,S cuz Franklin and Schoolcraft were closed for the holiday.
The run volume was planned to be a bit shorter this week and I pretty much hit my goals. Tuesday's run really took a lot out of me and slowed me down untill saturday.
(2 miles E pace + 5 X 5 min T pace w/1 min rests + 1 hr E pace)
Saturday I was feeling better with 3 reps of 1K with a few min rest between them plus warm up and cool down. By sunday I was whipped and took the day off.
Monday I felt pretty good, I ran 5 miles on the indoor track at the Rec center and then swam 3600 at Franklin High School. Warm up then sets of 400 on the swim that I really felt strong on.
Finished the month with:
55200 yards of swimming
155 miles of running
I only biked once and it's not worth mentioning.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
New Pic on top
I put a new pic on top of my blog. That's from the beginning of the second race on Saturday at Triple T last May. It was a really high resolution pic that I zoomed in about 400%
Week Ending 11/22/09
Swim 13600 yards in 4:15
Run 36.8 in 5:16:51
Swim went OK this week Friday was fun with faster sets but I just didn't feel like swimming so I only got 3200 in. Today we had trouble with the lane lines and it took 10 minutes off of our swim time so we were 400 yards short today. I felt really strong today despite being 4th in line. I need to make some time to see Elena again to work on my technique.
Running was good too, I've got a pair of Zoot shoes to try out. They seem OK but I've got to break them in before I try to go barefoot in them. My latest pair of Fastwitch shoes are dead now. I really like those shoes and will be looking for another pair. My Asics will be my primary pair now that they are broken in. I have a pair of Riders still in the box but it looks like they won't be comming out any time soon since the Asics are starting to feel better, it only took 60 miles to break them in :(
I've lost another 2 lbs this week :) That's good news, if I can keep that pace up then I should make my goal by the new year or a week into it. I'll do my best to get near 140 lbs again. I should be scary thin by then.
I may try to swim and/or run a little bit tomorrow depending on how I feel. No more than 2000 yards of swimming or :30 min or running might be in order. I'll see what the weather is like and make a decision.
Run 36.8 in 5:16:51
Swim went OK this week Friday was fun with faster sets but I just didn't feel like swimming so I only got 3200 in. Today we had trouble with the lane lines and it took 10 minutes off of our swim time so we were 400 yards short today. I felt really strong today despite being 4th in line. I need to make some time to see Elena again to work on my technique.
Running was good too, I've got a pair of Zoot shoes to try out. They seem OK but I've got to break them in before I try to go barefoot in them. My latest pair of Fastwitch shoes are dead now. I really like those shoes and will be looking for another pair. My Asics will be my primary pair now that they are broken in. I have a pair of Riders still in the box but it looks like they won't be comming out any time soon since the Asics are starting to feel better, it only took 60 miles to break them in :(
I've lost another 2 lbs this week :) That's good news, if I can keep that pace up then I should make my goal by the new year or a week into it. I'll do my best to get near 140 lbs again. I should be scary thin by then.
I may try to swim and/or run a little bit tomorrow depending on how I feel. No more than 2000 yards of swimming or :30 min or running might be in order. I'll see what the weather is like and make a decision.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Midweek 11/18/09
2 good swims this week so far.
Monday was a broken 1650 with warm up and cool down and Wednesday I did 15X200 on 3:15.
On the 200's I tried to come in at 2:50 but most of the time I was at 2:52-3. I finished out the hour with easy 100's on 1:45.
Monday run was 6 miles of moderate running.
Tuesday I did the Lightfest run in Hines park. I started at the far end (finish line end) and ran with Eric K, Jim C and his sisters. I met Karen at the actual start, ran for 5 min with her, did 20 min of tempo then turned around to pick up Karen again to finish the run. I felt slow that night probably cuz of the slow start and had a difficult time holding 7:30's during the 20 min section. I just couldn't get my feet to turn over. Anywho that was the Q1 workout so I'll get to do the shorter Q2 on Saturday. The entire run was just under 11 miles.
Wednesday's run was a shorter at 4.3 miles just to get run time in. I would still like to keep 6 runs per week through the winter. My left quad had been hurting since monday and I debated on taking Thursday off of running but for some reason it's all better now.
Weight loss is going well. I have actually lost 4lbs in the last 11 days by keeping track of everything I eat (and I really mean everything) and assigning a value to it. I have made better choices to keep myself under 2200 calories a day including the energy foods I eat. I have felt weak in swimming at times but I'm going to have to deal with that untill I get my weight in the place I want it to be.
Monday was a broken 1650 with warm up and cool down and Wednesday I did 15X200 on 3:15.
On the 200's I tried to come in at 2:50 but most of the time I was at 2:52-3. I finished out the hour with easy 100's on 1:45.
Monday run was 6 miles of moderate running.
Tuesday I did the Lightfest run in Hines park. I started at the far end (finish line end) and ran with Eric K, Jim C and his sisters. I met Karen at the actual start, ran for 5 min with her, did 20 min of tempo then turned around to pick up Karen again to finish the run. I felt slow that night probably cuz of the slow start and had a difficult time holding 7:30's during the 20 min section. I just couldn't get my feet to turn over. Anywho that was the Q1 workout so I'll get to do the shorter Q2 on Saturday. The entire run was just under 11 miles.
Wednesday's run was a shorter at 4.3 miles just to get run time in. I would still like to keep 6 runs per week through the winter. My left quad had been hurting since monday and I debated on taking Thursday off of running but for some reason it's all better now.
Weight loss is going well. I have actually lost 4lbs in the last 11 days by keeping track of everything I eat (and I really mean everything) and assigning a value to it. I have made better choices to keep myself under 2200 calories a day including the energy foods I eat. I have felt weak in swimming at times but I'm going to have to deal with that untill I get my weight in the place I want it to be.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Week ending 11/15/09
I missed a swim this week cuz two of the pools I swim at were closed and I didn't feel like swimming on Sunday :P
Swim 10,000 yards in ~3:00
Run 37.7 miles in ~5:17
Swimming was all freestyle this week cuz I wanted to see if my shoulders would feel better if I did so. They did. I'm going to do some minimal stroke work this week break things up a little. I probably will not try to make up the swim distance lost from last week.
Running went well. Tuesday was a faster day with the intervals and Saturday was a long(er) run. I ran 6 days again and felt better. The newer shoes are feeling better but not quite right yet. I would think that with over 50 miles on them that they would be broken in by now. I bought another pair of shoes (Mizuno Riders) to replace the Asics Cumulus if they don't work out. I've run in the Riders many times before, I was just looking for a shoe that I could get more milage out of and normally I was able to do that with Asics shoes.
I've lost 2 lbs last week by writing down everything that I eat. This makes me more aware of what I'm eating and what I require. I'm still targeting ~2000 cals a day and hopefully will be able to lose another 10 lbs in the next few months. It's still hard for me to do this but I'm still just too heavy for my height.
Swim 10,000 yards in ~3:00
Run 37.7 miles in ~5:17
Swimming was all freestyle this week cuz I wanted to see if my shoulders would feel better if I did so. They did. I'm going to do some minimal stroke work this week break things up a little. I probably will not try to make up the swim distance lost from last week.
Running went well. Tuesday was a faster day with the intervals and Saturday was a long(er) run. I ran 6 days again and felt better. The newer shoes are feeling better but not quite right yet. I would think that with over 50 miles on them that they would be broken in by now. I bought another pair of shoes (Mizuno Riders) to replace the Asics Cumulus if they don't work out. I've run in the Riders many times before, I was just looking for a shoe that I could get more milage out of and normally I was able to do that with Asics shoes.
I've lost 2 lbs last week by writing down everything that I eat. This makes me more aware of what I'm eating and what I require. I'm still targeting ~2000 cals a day and hopefully will be able to lose another 10 lbs in the next few months. It's still hard for me to do this but I'm still just too heavy for my height.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Midweek 11/11/09
1 good and 1 OK swim so far.
Monday was long sets of 400 which I like so much more than doing a bunch of 50's and 100's.
Wednesday was supposed to have a lot of stroke work in it but doing so hurts my shoulder sockets so I opted to do freestyle instead. I had my own lane and wasn't bothering anyone else :) When saturday comes around I'll know if it was the stroke work that hurt my shoulders last week for sure.
3 runs so far...I'm finally getting some faster work. Once again I'm doing Daniels Marathon A plan (verbatim).
Monday was a 6 mile run at an easy pace
Tuesday was about 7.5 miles with 3X4 min hard with 3 min easy between them + warm up and cool down. The last interval was the fastest one as I tend to feel better when warmed up. 2 miles of warm up wasn't enough, next time I do something like that I'll move up to 3 miles.
Wednesday's run was just junk miles like monday, 4 miles of easy running before I went to swim.
I've been struggling with my weight lately. Since I stopped racing I've gained a few lbs. In October I cut out a lot of candy and sweets, because of that I've stayed about even in weight. I cut some more calories in the last few weeks with poor results so I decided to take my own advise and write down everything I eat in a spreadsheet and then assign calories to it.
Here it is.
What I noticed is that I eat a lot of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches and chips. I want to know exactly how much I eat and of what so I can make better choices and get my weight down. I also added a section of what exercise I've done that day to help figure out how many calories I need. Hopefully this will make me more responsible for what I eat.
Monday was long sets of 400 which I like so much more than doing a bunch of 50's and 100's.
Wednesday was supposed to have a lot of stroke work in it but doing so hurts my shoulder sockets so I opted to do freestyle instead. I had my own lane and wasn't bothering anyone else :) When saturday comes around I'll know if it was the stroke work that hurt my shoulders last week for sure.
3 runs so far...I'm finally getting some faster work. Once again I'm doing Daniels Marathon A plan (verbatim).
Monday was a 6 mile run at an easy pace
Tuesday was about 7.5 miles with 3X4 min hard with 3 min easy between them + warm up and cool down. The last interval was the fastest one as I tend to feel better when warmed up. 2 miles of warm up wasn't enough, next time I do something like that I'll move up to 3 miles.
Wednesday's run was just junk miles like monday, 4 miles of easy running before I went to swim.
I've been struggling with my weight lately. Since I stopped racing I've gained a few lbs. In October I cut out a lot of candy and sweets, because of that I've stayed about even in weight. I cut some more calories in the last few weeks with poor results so I decided to take my own advise and write down everything I eat in a spreadsheet and then assign calories to it.
Here it is.
What I noticed is that I eat a lot of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches and chips. I want to know exactly how much I eat and of what so I can make better choices and get my weight down. I also added a section of what exercise I've done that day to help figure out how many calories I need. Hopefully this will make me more responsible for what I eat.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I can count to 16!
I just wanted to write out yesterday's workout with sets of 400
3500 yards
12X75 Warm up
6X400 with 1 min rest as:
2x400 straight
2X(2X200) :20 rest
2X(4X100) :10 rest
200 cool down
400's came in ~5:50
200's came in ~2:52
100's came in ~1:25-1:26
3500 yards
12X75 Warm up
6X400 with 1 min rest as:
2x400 straight
2X(2X200) :20 rest
2X(4X100) :10 rest
200 cool down
400's came in ~5:50
200's came in ~2:52
100's came in ~1:25-1:26
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Week ending 11/8/09
This week went mostly as planned and I've stuck to the schedule but added run on Thursday and went for a short bike ride today since it was so nice outside.
This weeks totals
Swim 14,000 yards in 4:45
Bike 20 miles in about 1:05
Run 38.65 miles in 5:23:46
I finshed out the week swimming strong despite my shoulders being sore from the stroke work on wednesday. Friday was hard and fast swimming against Fred T, that's what I think I need to get faster. 14,000 yards is more in line with my weekly goals for the month.
Running went well too, I added a short run on Thursday to get 6 days of running. By the time the long run came on Saturday I was pretty tired and it took about 4 miles to get warmed up. The hard swim on Saturday morning also probably had somthing to do with that. Now that I've got 6 weeks of easy running done I've laid out the prep work for some faster training. I'm starting to second guess my origion plan and do a 10K program instead...I'm just not sure of the direction to go in. I feel that mile-speed is what I need and not endurance, I can work on endurance in March and that will be too late to work on footspeed.
I've got one more day to over-analyze this :)
This weeks totals
Swim 14,000 yards in 4:45
Bike 20 miles in about 1:05
Run 38.65 miles in 5:23:46
I finshed out the week swimming strong despite my shoulders being sore from the stroke work on wednesday. Friday was hard and fast swimming against Fred T, that's what I think I need to get faster. 14,000 yards is more in line with my weekly goals for the month.
Running went well too, I added a short run on Thursday to get 6 days of running. By the time the long run came on Saturday I was pretty tired and it took about 4 miles to get warmed up. The hard swim on Saturday morning also probably had somthing to do with that. Now that I've got 6 weeks of easy running done I've laid out the prep work for some faster training. I'm starting to second guess my origion plan and do a 10K program instead...I'm just not sure of the direction to go in. I feel that mile-speed is what I need and not endurance, I can work on endurance in March and that will be too late to work on footspeed.
I've got one more day to over-analyze this :)
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Midweek 11/04/09
My midweek report
2 good swims on Monday and Wednesday
Monday was a lot of hard free sets and I got 3700 yards in about 1:10
Wednesday had a lot of stroke work and half way through the workout I switched to freestyle. 3000 yards in 1:00
3 decent runs 5.1 on monday, 8 on tuesday, 5.4 on wednesday
Monday and wednesday were junk mile days. Tuesday was my intermediate run day and I finished pretty strong. I'm still running my longer runs in my Fastwitch shoes. I really like those shoes and could run every time in them without issues. The only problem with them is that the soles wear out so fast. I can only get about 200 miles out of them before I've worn the tread off...I've got about 150 miles on my current pair.
I'm breaking in new shoes on my junk mile days and I really don't like them. Asics Cumulus...I've only got 27 miles in them so they really aren't broken in yet. My heels slip, there is a lot of padding in the forefoot so that part is sore, the right heel is bugging me and my right foot was a little tingly when I got done today...probably cuz I had them too tight. Otherwise they're "OK" :P
2 good swims on Monday and Wednesday
Monday was a lot of hard free sets and I got 3700 yards in about 1:10
Wednesday had a lot of stroke work and half way through the workout I switched to freestyle. 3000 yards in 1:00
3 decent runs 5.1 on monday, 8 on tuesday, 5.4 on wednesday
Monday and wednesday were junk mile days. Tuesday was my intermediate run day and I finished pretty strong. I'm still running my longer runs in my Fastwitch shoes. I really like those shoes and could run every time in them without issues. The only problem with them is that the soles wear out so fast. I can only get about 200 miles out of them before I've worn the tread off...I've got about 150 miles on my current pair.
I'm breaking in new shoes on my junk mile days and I really don't like them. Asics Cumulus...I've only got 27 miles in them so they really aren't broken in yet. My heels slip, there is a lot of padding in the forefoot so that part is sore, the right heel is bugging me and my right foot was a little tingly when I got done today...probably cuz I had them too tight. Otherwise they're "OK" :P
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Week Ending 11/1/09
This week went mostly as planned and I'm trying to stick to this schedule.
Mon Run Short Swim 1 Hour
Tue Run Mid Distance
Wed Run Short Swim 1 Hour
Thu Off
Fri Run Short Swim 1 Hour
Sat Swim with FAST 1 Hour Run Longer
Sun Off
This weeks totals
Swim 13,000 yards in 4:25
Run 33.5 miles in 4:42:49
I've been building up the swim volume and run volume slowly
I'm up to 33 miles of running this week and have been averaging just over 13,000 yards a week. I'd like to be near 38 miles next week and bump up to 15,000 yards for the the next month.
I'm 5 weeks into swimming and running after my layoff and am feeling good. I've swum almost 60,000 yards this month and my shoulders are finally starting to adjust to the increase and feel better than they did a few weeks ago.
My running is getting better with 5 runs per week for the last 3 weeks and I may add a short run tomorrow depending on how I feel. I've got 1 more week of easy running and then I go into my next phase of my run plan which has a short fast day, a longer day and then easy running for the rest of the week. I'm doing the Daniels Marathon A plan. The weather is getting colder but I've still been able to do all of my running outside. If it gets nasty I'll run on the treadmill and track at the Rec Center.
Swimming will continue as it's been. I've been swimming better since I went to the swim clinic and may spend another 3 days out there to work on swimming technique again. There has been a 5 to 7 second improvment from this time last year. I'm able to regulary come in under 1:20 for 100 if I have enough rest now. 100's on 1:35 is very doable now, last year I struggled with 1:40's.
Biking is still on hold until December when I'll slide 2 sessions in on thursday and sunday.
Mon Run Short Swim 1 Hour
Tue Run Mid Distance
Wed Run Short Swim 1 Hour
Thu Off
Fri Run Short Swim 1 Hour
Sat Swim with FAST 1 Hour Run Longer
Sun Off
This weeks totals
Swim 13,000 yards in 4:25
Run 33.5 miles in 4:42:49
I've been building up the swim volume and run volume slowly
I'm up to 33 miles of running this week and have been averaging just over 13,000 yards a week. I'd like to be near 38 miles next week and bump up to 15,000 yards for the the next month.
I'm 5 weeks into swimming and running after my layoff and am feeling good. I've swum almost 60,000 yards this month and my shoulders are finally starting to adjust to the increase and feel better than they did a few weeks ago.
My running is getting better with 5 runs per week for the last 3 weeks and I may add a short run tomorrow depending on how I feel. I've got 1 more week of easy running and then I go into my next phase of my run plan which has a short fast day, a longer day and then easy running for the rest of the week. I'm doing the Daniels Marathon A plan. The weather is getting colder but I've still been able to do all of my running outside. If it gets nasty I'll run on the treadmill and track at the Rec Center.
Swimming will continue as it's been. I've been swimming better since I went to the swim clinic and may spend another 3 days out there to work on swimming technique again. There has been a 5 to 7 second improvment from this time last year. I'm able to regulary come in under 1:20 for 100 if I have enough rest now. 100's on 1:35 is very doable now, last year I struggled with 1:40's.
Biking is still on hold until December when I'll slide 2 sessions in on thursday and sunday.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Plans for the Off Season
Looking at my strengths and weaknesses I’ve decided to go back to work on my run and swimming again during this off-season. I need to run faster and lose some weight this winter :(
At Racine I rode a comfortable 2:25 and had a good run afterwards. The fastest bike split in my AG was a 2:19 so realistically I will probably only be able to pick up a few minutes on my bike for a HIM. As long as I can repeat that for next year I feel I will be in good shape.
My swims have been in the top 15% for most of my races but that is comparing myself to triathletes and not real swimmers. I would like to drop down below 22 minutes in my 1650 in the pool. That would be a little more than a minute improvement than I did last spring. I went to a clinic about 4 weeks ago and worked with a few coaches. They gave me a lot of little things to work on and I’ve seen improvements already. I’m able to swim long sets under a 1:25 pace where last year I was swimming near 1:30 for longer sets in training. My thoughts about my stroke are a little different now and it seems better. There are still things I need to work on to get me down to 1:20 per hundred for longer distances.
I’ve kept my swim volume at a medium level for right now to keep myself from getting shoulder problems. I’m trying to stay around 13,000 yards a week for another month before I pick it up again.
Running is where I’m going to focus my time this year. At Racine I was 20 minutes slower than the fastest run split of my AG. I ran a 1:44 and the fastest guy ran a 1:25. I figure that I could realistically take 5 minutes off my run time, which is about 23 seconds per mile. That may be a stretch but I feel it’s realistic.
I’m not 100% sure as to how I’m going to go about increasing my run speed. I’ve played around with the idea of going through Daniels Marathon A plan again which I think is a good mix of intensities for me. I’ve completed 4 weeks of building my run volume back up and have 2 more weeks before I would go into any sort of structured plan. Right now I feel a need to bring my threshold pace up and I think that the other paces will follow. That kind of training would include 3 to 8 minute intervals but I don’t know how to mix them yet. I need to ask questions.
Anywho, races and goals for next year are to match my best Triple T performance in the first 3 races and then drop 10 to 12 minutes in the Half. That would be dropping 5 to 7 minutes on the bike and about 5 minutes on the run. I still need to find a second “A” race for next year and possibly qualify for Long Course Nationals. Possible races include Spirit of Racine and Steelhead but I would really like to do something else.
I’m going to stay local for my smaller races instead of doing the HFP series again. That was a lot of traveling and despite the fun I had at those races I don’t really like all of that driving.
Lastly, I’m going to be taking a day off per week from triathlon training this winter. Not to rest but to go snowboarding and have fun. Expect to see some snowboarding pictures in the near future.
At Racine I rode a comfortable 2:25 and had a good run afterwards. The fastest bike split in my AG was a 2:19 so realistically I will probably only be able to pick up a few minutes on my bike for a HIM. As long as I can repeat that for next year I feel I will be in good shape.
My swims have been in the top 15% for most of my races but that is comparing myself to triathletes and not real swimmers. I would like to drop down below 22 minutes in my 1650 in the pool. That would be a little more than a minute improvement than I did last spring. I went to a clinic about 4 weeks ago and worked with a few coaches. They gave me a lot of little things to work on and I’ve seen improvements already. I’m able to swim long sets under a 1:25 pace where last year I was swimming near 1:30 for longer sets in training. My thoughts about my stroke are a little different now and it seems better. There are still things I need to work on to get me down to 1:20 per hundred for longer distances.
I’ve kept my swim volume at a medium level for right now to keep myself from getting shoulder problems. I’m trying to stay around 13,000 yards a week for another month before I pick it up again.
Running is where I’m going to focus my time this year. At Racine I was 20 minutes slower than the fastest run split of my AG. I ran a 1:44 and the fastest guy ran a 1:25. I figure that I could realistically take 5 minutes off my run time, which is about 23 seconds per mile. That may be a stretch but I feel it’s realistic.
I’m not 100% sure as to how I’m going to go about increasing my run speed. I’ve played around with the idea of going through Daniels Marathon A plan again which I think is a good mix of intensities for me. I’ve completed 4 weeks of building my run volume back up and have 2 more weeks before I would go into any sort of structured plan. Right now I feel a need to bring my threshold pace up and I think that the other paces will follow. That kind of training would include 3 to 8 minute intervals but I don’t know how to mix them yet. I need to ask questions.
Anywho, races and goals for next year are to match my best Triple T performance in the first 3 races and then drop 10 to 12 minutes in the Half. That would be dropping 5 to 7 minutes on the bike and about 5 minutes on the run. I still need to find a second “A” race for next year and possibly qualify for Long Course Nationals. Possible races include Spirit of Racine and Steelhead but I would really like to do something else.
I’m going to stay local for my smaller races instead of doing the HFP series again. That was a lot of traveling and despite the fun I had at those races I don’t really like all of that driving.
Lastly, I’m going to be taking a day off per week from triathlon training this winter. Not to rest but to go snowboarding and have fun. Expect to see some snowboarding pictures in the near future.
The rest of the summer races
I’ve been back at it for about 4 weeks now but here is a recap of what I’ve done after the race in Racine.
East Fork Triathlon, Olympic Distance near Cincinnati Ohio
Part of the HFP race series all the way down near Cincinnati Ohio. I was a bit hillier that I had expected but I was just trying to get series points. The resevoir had flooded a little bit and they had to change the run course. I was tired and didn’t post a good run time. Still 6th place at 2:28:33 was not too bad while training through the race.
The bike and run were much harder than I had expected. This is not a race to train through and I was not well prepared for it.
Vermilion Triathlon, Olympic Distance in Vermilion Ohio
It was a very nice little town that I visited many years ago when I was a kid racing sailboats. A lot of landmarks were still there. Karen and I both did the race prepping for the Breakwater Triathlon. She did the sprint and I did the Olympic (for points). The drive there was nice as it went down Highway 2, a route that Karen had never taken before and we got to see a little bit of Ohio that wasn’t from the highway.
The Olympic distance race got very hilly after 7 or 8 miles out, to the point that at the top of one hill, painted on the road was “Steep downhill…No Joke” and it was no joke. Still I liked the course and had a good time. The run was fairly flat but hot, I did OK for me while training through the race. 2:27:15 got me 3rd place on a hot day.
Afterwards Karen and I walked through town a little bit, had lunch then drove home. I would recommend this race to anyone.
Breakwater Triathlon HIM in Petoskey MI
I couldn’t really call this an “A” race since it was so close to Racine but I trained as if it was one and did a full taper despite it being 6 weeks after the previous HIM. I ranked it as a “BB” and wanted to do the best that I could with what I had left. This was Karen’s first HIM and she executed her plan perfectly and came in right on schedule.
It had been raining for the days leading up to this race and we were pleasantly surprised that it stopped for the race. The weather was still chilly on race morning and presented a unique challenge. The water was rough so they moved the swim course completely into the harbor. That wasn’t bad but I had hoped to swim in the waves outside the break wall and get a better lead on the poor swimmers L
The swim was uneventful and over very quickly, water temp was in the low 60’s so I wore my full Aquaman suit to stay warm.
Karen and I had ridden the bike course beforehand so I knew what was coming and had a plan for it. The course had a lot of rolling hills that came one after another with a lot of false flats too. 220 to 230 watts uphill and 170 to 180 watts on the flats was the plan and it worked quite well. I would ride restrained until mile 45 where I reassessed my abilities and decide what to do from there. At that point I felt very strong and rode by feel afterwards. I caught some people that had passed me earlier, even the girl that had drafted a friend of mine for the previous 30 miles. The only issue I had was that it took me about 10 minutes longer than I had expected but finished very strong.
The run was and out and back heading south on the path along Lake Michigan, it was very flat and easy to run. Since I was near the front of the race I didn’t see many people on the way out. I had figured that I was between 17th and 20th overall. On the way out I got passed by one person very early and passed 2 or 3 people on the first half, one of them passed me back, some young kid that was very nice. I went out a little harder than I did at Racine since I felt good but kept it under control and kept putting down the gels so I wouldn’t bonk. In the last 3 miles I didn’t have enough energy to pick it up and wound up keeping the same pace until the finish. A 1:46 run for me was the second best I had done in a HIM backing up the 1:44 I did at Racine and confirming that the run at Racine was not a fluke. I was very happy with the run since it had come after a very challenging bike ride that took me 31 minutes longer than the bike ride at Racine.
Portage Lake Triathlon Olympic Distance in Akron Ohio
This was the Championship race for the HFP series and I thought I was well prepared for it but still had a disappointing run L
The swim was the regular HFP rectangle and I went out hard cuz I was trying to get as much of a lead as I could on my buddy that was in first place in the point series. I had a good swim and came out of the water in second place J. After a 50 sec transition I was off on the bike, little did I know that I was in first place at that time.
I went as hard as I thought was realistic for me on the bike. The course had some long rollers but nothing too difficult. Karen and I had driven the course the day before so I knew what was coming. When I got back to the transition area the bike racks were empty (a good sign), got my shoes on and was off on the run. Still I had no idea I was in first place.
Well I had cooked off a hard bike ride and didn’t run too well. As it turned out my buddy had a good swim and bike ride too as was only about 30 or 40 seconds behind me coming out of T2. He passed me about 1 mile into the run and I just settled into a “do the best I could run.” There was one section that was kind of uphill and I felt really slow there, on the way back I was quicker. The second lap was about the same as the first but I came back a little harder on the downhill section. I got passed again about 1 mile from the finish, it turned out that it was the second place finisher and I was then in third place. I really figured that I was in 5th or 6th place by then but still finished as strong as I could.
2:15:05 is good for me in an Olympic distance race so I was happy with it despite a slow run. I was much happier when I found out I got third place. I found my buddy and congratulated him on a well-run series, he outran me in every race.
East Fork Triathlon, Olympic Distance near Cincinnati Ohio
Part of the HFP race series all the way down near Cincinnati Ohio. I was a bit hillier that I had expected but I was just trying to get series points. The resevoir had flooded a little bit and they had to change the run course. I was tired and didn’t post a good run time. Still 6th place at 2:28:33 was not too bad while training through the race.
The bike and run were much harder than I had expected. This is not a race to train through and I was not well prepared for it.
Vermilion Triathlon, Olympic Distance in Vermilion Ohio
It was a very nice little town that I visited many years ago when I was a kid racing sailboats. A lot of landmarks were still there. Karen and I both did the race prepping for the Breakwater Triathlon. She did the sprint and I did the Olympic (for points). The drive there was nice as it went down Highway 2, a route that Karen had never taken before and we got to see a little bit of Ohio that wasn’t from the highway.
The Olympic distance race got very hilly after 7 or 8 miles out, to the point that at the top of one hill, painted on the road was “Steep downhill…No Joke” and it was no joke. Still I liked the course and had a good time. The run was fairly flat but hot, I did OK for me while training through the race. 2:27:15 got me 3rd place on a hot day.
Afterwards Karen and I walked through town a little bit, had lunch then drove home. I would recommend this race to anyone.
Breakwater Triathlon HIM in Petoskey MI
I couldn’t really call this an “A” race since it was so close to Racine but I trained as if it was one and did a full taper despite it being 6 weeks after the previous HIM. I ranked it as a “BB” and wanted to do the best that I could with what I had left. This was Karen’s first HIM and she executed her plan perfectly and came in right on schedule.
It had been raining for the days leading up to this race and we were pleasantly surprised that it stopped for the race. The weather was still chilly on race morning and presented a unique challenge. The water was rough so they moved the swim course completely into the harbor. That wasn’t bad but I had hoped to swim in the waves outside the break wall and get a better lead on the poor swimmers L
The swim was uneventful and over very quickly, water temp was in the low 60’s so I wore my full Aquaman suit to stay warm.
Karen and I had ridden the bike course beforehand so I knew what was coming and had a plan for it. The course had a lot of rolling hills that came one after another with a lot of false flats too. 220 to 230 watts uphill and 170 to 180 watts on the flats was the plan and it worked quite well. I would ride restrained until mile 45 where I reassessed my abilities and decide what to do from there. At that point I felt very strong and rode by feel afterwards. I caught some people that had passed me earlier, even the girl that had drafted a friend of mine for the previous 30 miles. The only issue I had was that it took me about 10 minutes longer than I had expected but finished very strong.
The run was and out and back heading south on the path along Lake Michigan, it was very flat and easy to run. Since I was near the front of the race I didn’t see many people on the way out. I had figured that I was between 17th and 20th overall. On the way out I got passed by one person very early and passed 2 or 3 people on the first half, one of them passed me back, some young kid that was very nice. I went out a little harder than I did at Racine since I felt good but kept it under control and kept putting down the gels so I wouldn’t bonk. In the last 3 miles I didn’t have enough energy to pick it up and wound up keeping the same pace until the finish. A 1:46 run for me was the second best I had done in a HIM backing up the 1:44 I did at Racine and confirming that the run at Racine was not a fluke. I was very happy with the run since it had come after a very challenging bike ride that took me 31 minutes longer than the bike ride at Racine.
Portage Lake Triathlon Olympic Distance in Akron Ohio
This was the Championship race for the HFP series and I thought I was well prepared for it but still had a disappointing run L
The swim was the regular HFP rectangle and I went out hard cuz I was trying to get as much of a lead as I could on my buddy that was in first place in the point series. I had a good swim and came out of the water in second place J. After a 50 sec transition I was off on the bike, little did I know that I was in first place at that time.
I went as hard as I thought was realistic for me on the bike. The course had some long rollers but nothing too difficult. Karen and I had driven the course the day before so I knew what was coming. When I got back to the transition area the bike racks were empty (a good sign), got my shoes on and was off on the run. Still I had no idea I was in first place.
Well I had cooked off a hard bike ride and didn’t run too well. As it turned out my buddy had a good swim and bike ride too as was only about 30 or 40 seconds behind me coming out of T2. He passed me about 1 mile into the run and I just settled into a “do the best I could run.” There was one section that was kind of uphill and I felt really slow there, on the way back I was quicker. The second lap was about the same as the first but I came back a little harder on the downhill section. I got passed again about 1 mile from the finish, it turned out that it was the second place finisher and I was then in third place. I really figured that I was in 5th or 6th place by then but still finished as strong as I could.
2:15:05 is good for me in an Olympic distance race so I was happy with it despite a slow run. I was much happier when I found out I got third place. I found my buddy and congratulated him on a well-run series, he outran me in every race.
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