Triple T race report
Another good race at the American Triple T this year. Some bad stuff happened but mostly good stuff resulted :)
Race 1
The warm water was nice as I could wear my sleeveless wetsuit but not be too warm. The water temp was ~73° F so it was a change from the past few years of high 50’s and low 60’s.
The swim went well, I was fairly fast and comfortable, no problems. The swim exit was closer to transition this year which was nice, but I didn’t have much time to take my wetsuit top off before the entrance to T1. I still had it off in time but had to hurry.
On the bike I felt pretty good, mounting went well and rode up the hill pretty strong. Descending the hill was fast and had a quick transition to the run.
On the run I was a bit winded as normal, I’m not a fast runner but I’ll take a 7:02 for a 1.05 mile run.
The only bad thing about this race was that I hurt my heel on the long run into transition and it slowed my down just a little near the end of the run. I was also a little worried that it was be a problem on Saturday and Sunday.
Race 2
This is where it starts getting interesting. The swim went very well, I was happy with the effort and it was uneventful. I came out of the water in good shape, had a fast transition and was off on the bike. I had one little hiccup on the bike where I dropped my chain to the outside and then wrapped it around my crank. I had to stop and fix it so I did not tear it up. Because of that I lost about 45 seconds which was reflected in my final results. With that behind me I ran fairly quickly and on schedule for my run. I was about 49 minutes for the run which was just a little faster than last year. Overall I was 2:27:55 which was almost 2 minutes slower than last year. I can attribute that to a longer swim and the bike issue.
Race 3
This race was nearly a carbon copy of last year. 2:32:55 this year and 2:32:30 last year. The bike I felt strong on but rode conservative, the swim was strong despite the longer course and the run was just a little faster than last year. All I really wanted to do was set myself up for the Half on the next day so I didn’t push it that hard. Statistically I normally do better in this race than all of the others but that wasn’t the case this year. The only issue on this race was that I got kicked on the swim and had a little bit of a black eye because of it.
Race 4
This is where the race starts. I had to hold back just enough on Saturday to put down a decent race and place well on the overall. My primary goal was to do at least as well as last year and the secondary goal was to beat 5:35 so I could use it as a qualifying race for the USAT Long course nationals. Going under 5:35 is normally not a problem but this is one of the hardest half’s in the country and I did 3 races in the 2 day prior. It didn’t start off too good…
First of all I was sick to my stomach on Saturday night and had to force myself to eat, it was not pleasant. I figured that I would feel better in the morning, which I did, a little bit.
In the morning I got up as planned, had everything ready to go but still felt a little sick. My normal breakfast includes Pop tarts because they are easy to eat and have a lot of calories, I had to force myself to eat two of them. How bad do you have to feel when eating Pop tarts is difficult?
Anywho, after eating them I rolled down to transition and put down a bottle of Infinit hot weather mix and felt a little better. That normally does the trick but still I only had about 650 calories by then which was about 400 short of where I wanted to be.
I had to get the job done so I put down my two gels before the start (30 min and 15 min beforehand) and was off. Like normal I felt better after about 200 yards of swimming and had a fairly uneventful swim except that I almost threw up near the swim exit. I came out of the water near 27:45 so I knew the swim was short. That was good cuz it gave me a little breathing room for the qualifying time.
After another fast transition (they were good all weekend) I was off on the bike with the goal of riding a 3:06 or better. I really wanted to ride something like a 1:34 then a 1:32 like I did two years ago so I started off conservative. I know these courses pretty well so I know where to go hard and where to coast downhill, that worked out pretty well as I came in from the first loop at 1:32 still fairly fresh. On the second loop I road just a little bit more aggressive on the hills and came in ~1:30:30 so together I rode about 3.5 minutes faster than last year. Doing math in my head I figured I needed to run something like a 2:02 to be under the 5:35 goal which shouldn’t have been any problem.
The nutrition on the bike went well. I started with a gel 15 minutes in and then one every 30 minutes until 2 hours where I ate one early and stayed on the 30 minute cycle. To drink I had one bottle of Infinit on the first loop followed by a second bottle on the second loop. Unlike previous years I only carried one bottle at a time, I just felt I didn’t need more and I was right.
After riding well I was into T2, which was probably my slowest transition at 1:39, and off to a good run. The first half I ran in 55:40 but had some rocks stuck in my shoe so I dug them out at the turn around. That took me about 30 seconds and I was off on my second loop. I felt pretty good but wanted to run conservative so I short stepped the first mile and a half and felt surprisingly well. I got up the hills pretty good, down the backside and then back up in good shape. When I got to the top and knew it was all downhill from there, I picked up the pace, a little too fast at first then settled in at a good clip. I ran strong for the last mile which took me into a 1:52:07 finish, a good run there for me.
So with the combination of a slightly short swim, good bike ride and a strong run I was 5:24:40 for the half which is my best there by about 6 minutes and got me my qualifying time. Now I just need to make my final decision about going to Nationals.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
The shoes that carried me through Triple T
I have a lot of shoes, most are the ladies model because I like a narrow shoe. Here are the ones that carried through the winter and got me through Triple T.
Mizuno Wave Rider 14
I put a lot of miles on these shoes...Just under 700 according to my log. They are my do all shoes, I can run easy, fast, tempo, intervals, indoor, outdoor, trails and just about everywhere else. They are light enough to make my feet fast yet protect me from road shock. While they are not a high performance shoe, they still can perform in a pinch. The only reason I replaced them is because I was getting holes inside of them.
Asics Cumulus 13
I bought these to replace the Riders but really don't like them. I had a pair before and they rolled well but for some reason these don't. I've got about 200 miles in them and I'm going to relegate them to every day duty. They are very good quality shoes, it's just the feel isn't quite right with them.
Saucony Fastwitch 4
These have been my go to shoe for fast running for quite some time now. This particular pair only has about 100 miles on them but this is my 5th pair and I still like them. They are suprisingly spongy but light and fast. The pair before these I did all but one of my Xterra races in as well as Battle of Waterloo and a few road races. They protect my feet from small debris and are fairly grippy but they don't do so well on small rocks. The small rocks seem to poke through and hurt my feet so they don't work on gravel roads. Single track trails and road running are just fine.
Saucony A4
These are fast shoes, very light and let air flow through them. They work well for really fast training but I don't like to run much more than 6 miles in them unless I'm racing and that should be on some pretty good pavement. I did my best 10K in them and did the prolouge at the Triple T in them. I like them but the road has to be right for them.
Asics DS Racer
These are the only men's running shoes that I have, all of the others are ladies shoes cuz I like a narrower shoe. These are fairly new shoes to me and I bought them strictly for Triple T. The Fastwitch don't have enough protection in them for the rocky road but these do. Like the Fastwitch and the A4 they have holes in the soles to let water out so my feet stay dryer. They just don't feel as fast as the Fastwitch but are another great shoe. I suppose the fact that I did my fastest run at the half at Triple T on them could make someone say otherwise but if I could have worn a different shoe I would have. Maybe when I get some more miles in them I'll like them more, right now they will be my tuesday night brick shoe until I run them out.
Mizuno Wave Rider 15
Brand new today, I ran about 6 miles in them and they feel great. I got them to replace the Asics Cumulus.
Sidi T2.6 Carbon
Last but not least...My bike shoes, two years old now, I still think Sidi is the best despite their price. These like the pair before them, I got a great deal on so I keep on riding with them. With any luck I'll find a great deal on my next pair. Stiff and comfortable they fit my feet perfect, I don't think I've every had a better pair of bike shoes.
Mizuno Wave Rider 14
I put a lot of miles on these shoes...Just under 700 according to my log. They are my do all shoes, I can run easy, fast, tempo, intervals, indoor, outdoor, trails and just about everywhere else. They are light enough to make my feet fast yet protect me from road shock. While they are not a high performance shoe, they still can perform in a pinch. The only reason I replaced them is because I was getting holes inside of them.
Asics Cumulus 13
I bought these to replace the Riders but really don't like them. I had a pair before and they rolled well but for some reason these don't. I've got about 200 miles in them and I'm going to relegate them to every day duty. They are very good quality shoes, it's just the feel isn't quite right with them.
Saucony Fastwitch 4
These have been my go to shoe for fast running for quite some time now. This particular pair only has about 100 miles on them but this is my 5th pair and I still like them. They are suprisingly spongy but light and fast. The pair before these I did all but one of my Xterra races in as well as Battle of Waterloo and a few road races. They protect my feet from small debris and are fairly grippy but they don't do so well on small rocks. The small rocks seem to poke through and hurt my feet so they don't work on gravel roads. Single track trails and road running are just fine.
Saucony A4
These are fast shoes, very light and let air flow through them. They work well for really fast training but I don't like to run much more than 6 miles in them unless I'm racing and that should be on some pretty good pavement. I did my best 10K in them and did the prolouge at the Triple T in them. I like them but the road has to be right for them.
Asics DS Racer
These are the only men's running shoes that I have, all of the others are ladies shoes cuz I like a narrower shoe. These are fairly new shoes to me and I bought them strictly for Triple T. The Fastwitch don't have enough protection in them for the rocky road but these do. Like the Fastwitch and the A4 they have holes in the soles to let water out so my feet stay dryer. They just don't feel as fast as the Fastwitch but are another great shoe. I suppose the fact that I did my fastest run at the half at Triple T on them could make someone say otherwise but if I could have worn a different shoe I would have. Maybe when I get some more miles in them I'll like them more, right now they will be my tuesday night brick shoe until I run them out.
Mizuno Wave Rider 15
Brand new today, I ran about 6 miles in them and they feel great. I got them to replace the Asics Cumulus.
Sidi T2.6 Carbon
Last but not least...My bike shoes, two years old now, I still think Sidi is the best despite their price. These like the pair before them, I got a great deal on so I keep on riding with them. With any luck I'll find a great deal on my next pair. Stiff and comfortable they fit my feet perfect, I don't think I've every had a better pair of bike shoes.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Plans for the rest of the season
I am going to do the HFP Olympic distance series again in Ohio like I did in 2009, I've already paid for it. I'll miss one race to do Battle of Waterloo in August. I may also do the He tried, She tried sprint distance with Karen it timing works out, I think that is in July.
The one big change I'm debating on is instead of doing the half at Cedar Point I'm thinking of going to Long Course Nationals again. I was pretty ticked off the last time I went because the swim was cancelled but it appears that that was a blessing in disguise...The swim was cancelled at ITU Long Course Worlds too. Here is my short post about it LINK
This year Long Course Nationals is in Oklahoma (Redman) qualifying for Worlds in 2013 in France. I've never been to Europe before and this may be a good time to go. I age up to 45-49 this year and I think it's my best opportunity to make Team USA. What I need to do is get a qualifying race to get into Nationals, since I did Xterra last year I don't have a later season Half on the books. I need a 5:35 to get in and I'm pretty sure I can do that at Triple T, I've done better than that the last two years. If I don't then I'll have to find a flat local race to qualify at, it shouldn't be any problem.
After Triple T I'll make my decision but I'm really leaning toward Nationals again.
The one big change I'm debating on is instead of doing the half at Cedar Point I'm thinking of going to Long Course Nationals again. I was pretty ticked off the last time I went because the swim was cancelled but it appears that that was a blessing in disguise...The swim was cancelled at ITU Long Course Worlds too. Here is my short post about it LINK
This year Long Course Nationals is in Oklahoma (Redman) qualifying for Worlds in 2013 in France. I've never been to Europe before and this may be a good time to go. I age up to 45-49 this year and I think it's my best opportunity to make Team USA. What I need to do is get a qualifying race to get into Nationals, since I did Xterra last year I don't have a later season Half on the books. I need a 5:35 to get in and I'm pretty sure I can do that at Triple T, I've done better than that the last two years. If I don't then I'll have to find a flat local race to qualify at, it shouldn't be any problem.
After Triple T I'll make my decision but I'm really leaning toward Nationals again.
Oops...I forgot about my swimming
Well, swimming is going OK. I came off of state meet fitness going into HFP camp and was swimming really well. Now I've cut my swim volume to about 2 swims a week with the occasional 3rd. I've noticed about a 5 sec/100 drop in times but I've also been really tired going into all of the swims.
I feel that when I'm rested I'll be able to swim nearly as fast as I was just after state meet in March but right now the biggest focus is on the bike and next is the run.
I feel that when I'm rested I'll be able to swim nearly as fast as I was just after state meet in March but right now the biggest focus is on the bike and next is the run.
Starting the taper for Triple T
According to WKO+ I'm at least 6 weeks ahead in training volume compared to last year which was a few weeks ahead of the year before it. Is that good? I'll see next sunday if more training volume equals better fitness and/or better racing.
Here is why I'm so far ahead of last year:
There are a few factors why I'm ahead of last year, First the weather was much milder this winter and allowed me to train outside earlier than expected. I planned to put more time into running this year like I did last year but got derailed a few times. Still with all those issues I was still running stronger than last year.
Second, I signed up for a training camp with HFP in late March and had to prep for it. (3/26 to 4/1) I knew that the camp was going to be hard and got more bike time in beforehand, the milder weather helped but knowing I had to prepare made me start earlier this season. About the Camp...It was hard...much harder than I anticipated, here is a note I sent to my coach 2 weeks after the camp: _____________________________________________
The camp down in Georgia really shattered me, while I was able to do most things you gave me for the following week I was really tired for all of them and was sleeping 10 hours a day to recover.
I took last saturday off cuz I had some personal business and did a longer run, bike, run workout on sunday. It really wasn't until yesterday (thursday) that I started to feel better and back to normal.
Anywho, the camp was too much volume for me, there were 3 guys there that were much stronger riders than me, 2 that were a little better and everyone else was way behind me. Most all of the climbs I had to settle in near threshold power to save myself for the next climb and the next day. Some were so steep that I could barely turn the pedals over while standing (15-20%), most were comfortably hard (~5-7%) if I kept the power reasonable. I could decend with the faster guys with no problem even though I've never been in the mountains on a road bike before. On the runs, I was always at the front of the groups and there was nobody there that could swim with me (3 pool sessions).
Last week I kind of just went through the motions of the workouts, I skipped monday and wednesday's swims, friday and saturday didn't go well. Sunday I did a 5 mile run, 2 hour bike and then 5 mile run. I felt OK but struggeled to go faster on the second run.
This week has been much better, Wednesday was OK but the new shoes I have don't run very fast, it seems that I run 10-15 sec a mile slower in them (asics cumulus, I normally wear Mizuno Riders) I really don't like them. Yesterday I ran in my flats and felt so much faster. Tuedsay and Thursday bike rides went well.
Today's run went OK for an easy run and I might ride long today since there is supposed to be quite a bit of rain this weekend and I want to get the bike time in. I'll send data on sunday after the long run. jaretj _______________________________________________
As you can see I was blasted from the camp and really thought that I had made a mistake in going. The biking was so hard there was no way I could stay with the leaders, I road at threshold (3.6 W/Kg) up all of the climbs, some were several miles long and the leaders just road away, yes they were working hard but I would have probably had to be over 4 W/Kg to stay with them. All I could do was go as hard as I could and follow Mark L (if I could) cuz he was riding smart and just above my level. We road 315 miles in 5 days with over 30,000 feet of climbing. I'm going to try to make a seperate post about the camp.
Now the swimming and running were a bit different...On the runs I just stayed with the leaders, not expelling too much energy because I knew we had a lot of riding to do. They weren't running that hard anyway and it was nice not to be killing myself trying to stay with them. On the swims I just went through the motions and stayed even with the faster swimmers. I couldn't believe that most of them wore fins during the swim but I could still stay with them without any extra effort. (That's why I said there was nobody there that could swim with me)
Now the last reason why I'm ahead of last year is that I was really prepped for my Triple T camp and road that strong. I knew all of the courses and concentrated on riding the hills hard. Karen and I (and Curt) went down there on thursday evening and were able to get in 2 good rides on Friday and Saturday with a very strong ride on Sunday too. I didn't blast myself because I kept down the run volume that weekend and wound up staying near 1000 TSS points (in WKO).
So it took me about 10 days to feel like I was back to training well after the HFP camp in Georgia. Since then my longer tempo intervals have been +/- a few seconds off 7 min/mile and my biking has been a lot stronger. In the past I would have a very difficult time running under 7 min/mile while deep in training, now it's difficult but I have been able to do 40 minutes worth of tempo work on wednesdays.
On the bike I tested 225 watts for 20 minutes back in February (FTP 215), just last tuesday I did 3X15'(2') at 229,228,228 so there is a definit improvement there. It's at a point now that I may call my FTP 230 watts even before I test for it, previously I've only been as high as 225 at the end of the last two seasons and it's only May :)
So now going into the last 10 days before Triple T I feel strong and have a lighter training weekend waiting for me. As long as I don't do something and hurt myself I should do as well as last year.
Here is why I'm so far ahead of last year:
There are a few factors why I'm ahead of last year, First the weather was much milder this winter and allowed me to train outside earlier than expected. I planned to put more time into running this year like I did last year but got derailed a few times. Still with all those issues I was still running stronger than last year.
Second, I signed up for a training camp with HFP in late March and had to prep for it. (3/26 to 4/1) I knew that the camp was going to be hard and got more bike time in beforehand, the milder weather helped but knowing I had to prepare made me start earlier this season. About the Camp...It was hard...much harder than I anticipated, here is a note I sent to my coach 2 weeks after the camp: _____________________________________________
The camp down in Georgia really shattered me, while I was able to do most things you gave me for the following week I was really tired for all of them and was sleeping 10 hours a day to recover.
I took last saturday off cuz I had some personal business and did a longer run, bike, run workout on sunday. It really wasn't until yesterday (thursday) that I started to feel better and back to normal.
Anywho, the camp was too much volume for me, there were 3 guys there that were much stronger riders than me, 2 that were a little better and everyone else was way behind me. Most all of the climbs I had to settle in near threshold power to save myself for the next climb and the next day. Some were so steep that I could barely turn the pedals over while standing (15-20%), most were comfortably hard (~5-7%) if I kept the power reasonable. I could decend with the faster guys with no problem even though I've never been in the mountains on a road bike before. On the runs, I was always at the front of the groups and there was nobody there that could swim with me (3 pool sessions).
Last week I kind of just went through the motions of the workouts, I skipped monday and wednesday's swims, friday and saturday didn't go well. Sunday I did a 5 mile run, 2 hour bike and then 5 mile run. I felt OK but struggeled to go faster on the second run.
This week has been much better, Wednesday was OK but the new shoes I have don't run very fast, it seems that I run 10-15 sec a mile slower in them (asics cumulus, I normally wear Mizuno Riders) I really don't like them. Yesterday I ran in my flats and felt so much faster. Tuedsay and Thursday bike rides went well.
Today's run went OK for an easy run and I might ride long today since there is supposed to be quite a bit of rain this weekend and I want to get the bike time in. I'll send data on sunday after the long run. jaretj _______________________________________________
As you can see I was blasted from the camp and really thought that I had made a mistake in going. The biking was so hard there was no way I could stay with the leaders, I road at threshold (3.6 W/Kg) up all of the climbs, some were several miles long and the leaders just road away, yes they were working hard but I would have probably had to be over 4 W/Kg to stay with them. All I could do was go as hard as I could and follow Mark L (if I could) cuz he was riding smart and just above my level. We road 315 miles in 5 days with over 30,000 feet of climbing. I'm going to try to make a seperate post about the camp.
Now the swimming and running were a bit different...On the runs I just stayed with the leaders, not expelling too much energy because I knew we had a lot of riding to do. They weren't running that hard anyway and it was nice not to be killing myself trying to stay with them. On the swims I just went through the motions and stayed even with the faster swimmers. I couldn't believe that most of them wore fins during the swim but I could still stay with them without any extra effort. (That's why I said there was nobody there that could swim with me)
Now the last reason why I'm ahead of last year is that I was really prepped for my Triple T camp and road that strong. I knew all of the courses and concentrated on riding the hills hard. Karen and I (and Curt) went down there on thursday evening and were able to get in 2 good rides on Friday and Saturday with a very strong ride on Sunday too. I didn't blast myself because I kept down the run volume that weekend and wound up staying near 1000 TSS points (in WKO).
So it took me about 10 days to feel like I was back to training well after the HFP camp in Georgia. Since then my longer tempo intervals have been +/- a few seconds off 7 min/mile and my biking has been a lot stronger. In the past I would have a very difficult time running under 7 min/mile while deep in training, now it's difficult but I have been able to do 40 minutes worth of tempo work on wednesdays.
On the bike I tested 225 watts for 20 minutes back in February (FTP 215), just last tuesday I did 3X15'(2') at 229,228,228 so there is a definit improvement there. It's at a point now that I may call my FTP 230 watts even before I test for it, previously I've only been as high as 225 at the end of the last two seasons and it's only May :)
So now going into the last 10 days before Triple T I feel strong and have a lighter training weekend waiting for me. As long as I don't do something and hurt myself I should do as well as last year.
Monday, March 12, 2012
The weather is starting to get better :)
I need more bike time!!!
Going to camp in a few weeks and I would really like to be on the bike 7 to 8 hours per week for the two weeks leading up to the camp. The last 3 weeks have been 5+ hours and I feel pretty good but I haven't had any rides longer than 35 miles yet. The weather looks like it will finally allow me to go longer this week :)
Swimming has been a little low cuz I've been tired on Monday's after running long on Sunday but I got back into the groove this week.
Running is going well, 37 miles this week with some hard tempo intervals on wednesday. I need to keep up on that so I don't lose what I have.
Going to camp in a few weeks and I would really like to be on the bike 7 to 8 hours per week for the two weeks leading up to the camp. The last 3 weeks have been 5+ hours and I feel pretty good but I haven't had any rides longer than 35 miles yet. The weather looks like it will finally allow me to go longer this week :)
Swimming has been a little low cuz I've been tired on Monday's after running long on Sunday but I got back into the groove this week.
Running is going well, 37 miles this week with some hard tempo intervals on wednesday. I need to keep up on that so I don't lose what I have.
Monday, March 05, 2012
Still things are going well, 3 solid week behind me with a few more to go until I go down to Georgia for a week with the HFP guys.
Swim
While still not a big focus I am swimming better than last year (which happened to be my best so far). I'm not a great swimmer but do OK. A week ago Karen and I went to a start and turn clinic at a local YMCA, I knew my turns were pretty good but it's the starts that I really needed help with. I know part of what I'm doing wrong but there is a lot I don't know about how to get off the blocks.
Probably the number one thing I do wrong is that I bend my legs while going into the water. I know I do it, I concentrate on not doing it but it still happens about 80% of the time. Another problem is that I don't bend at the hips enough to go into the water in really straight, I do more of a shallow dive and make a big hole in the water and I think that really slows me down.
Other than that I can get in the water without losing my goggles and something like a half sec behind my competition, maybe a full second behind someone that is really good.
The training has going well, there has been a swim meet at my local pool for the last two weekends so I haven't been able to swim on friday, that's OK since I've used that time to get another bike session.
Bike
I've been increasing bike time slowely but it's hard to get in extra time while on the trainer. I've gotten 4.75, 4.75 and 5.2 hours on the bike for the last 3 weeks, all but one ride on the trainer. The weather is supposed to be getting better this week and hopefully I can get some time on the road.
I did a FTP test two weeks ago and while I didn't do as well as I'd hoped I did do what I figured I'd do. 225 watts for the 20 minute period which puts my FTP ~215 watts. So It appears normal for this time of year and I kind of expected it while only riding ~3.5 hours a week for an extended period of time. I've gotten an extra ride in on the last two fridays and I think that will help me out some.
Run
A lot of work is going into this right now, the last 3 weeks have been at 36.5, 38 and 41 miles. It appears I'm done with VO2 intervals for now and into tempo intervals. While I'm able to do them they are a different kind of hard running. A lot of running in the low 7's is quick for me but I know doing them will help me out a lot. A big focus on Olympic distance this summer is probably why my coach is giving them to me.
Most of my running has been inside on a treadmill or on the track at LRC but with the weather getting better I'm hoping to do more running on the road now. :)
Swim
While still not a big focus I am swimming better than last year (which happened to be my best so far). I'm not a great swimmer but do OK. A week ago Karen and I went to a start and turn clinic at a local YMCA, I knew my turns were pretty good but it's the starts that I really needed help with. I know part of what I'm doing wrong but there is a lot I don't know about how to get off the blocks.
Probably the number one thing I do wrong is that I bend my legs while going into the water. I know I do it, I concentrate on not doing it but it still happens about 80% of the time. Another problem is that I don't bend at the hips enough to go into the water in really straight, I do more of a shallow dive and make a big hole in the water and I think that really slows me down.
Other than that I can get in the water without losing my goggles and something like a half sec behind my competition, maybe a full second behind someone that is really good.
The training has going well, there has been a swim meet at my local pool for the last two weekends so I haven't been able to swim on friday, that's OK since I've used that time to get another bike session.
Bike
I've been increasing bike time slowely but it's hard to get in extra time while on the trainer. I've gotten 4.75, 4.75 and 5.2 hours on the bike for the last 3 weeks, all but one ride on the trainer. The weather is supposed to be getting better this week and hopefully I can get some time on the road.
I did a FTP test two weeks ago and while I didn't do as well as I'd hoped I did do what I figured I'd do. 225 watts for the 20 minute period which puts my FTP ~215 watts. So It appears normal for this time of year and I kind of expected it while only riding ~3.5 hours a week for an extended period of time. I've gotten an extra ride in on the last two fridays and I think that will help me out some.
Run
A lot of work is going into this right now, the last 3 weeks have been at 36.5, 38 and 41 miles. It appears I'm done with VO2 intervals for now and into tempo intervals. While I'm able to do them they are a different kind of hard running. A lot of running in the low 7's is quick for me but I know doing them will help me out a lot. A big focus on Olympic distance this summer is probably why my coach is giving them to me.
Most of my running has been inside on a treadmill or on the track at LRC but with the weather getting better I'm hoping to do more running on the road now. :)
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Everything is getting back on track
I got a little cold two weekends ago, most likely cuz I have been getting little sleep. Not because I couldn't I just was staying up and watching TV too late. Since I get up for work at 430am I really need to be in bed by 830 to get enough effective sleep.
I missed a few swims and swam two events in a swim meet while sick but am back on track now.
Swim meet at Brighton High School:
Our club "FAST" hosted a masters' swim meet on Feb 5th, Superbowl Sunday, and I had to be there to help run the timing system. I was already signed up for the meet so since I was there I swam my events as scheduled and just kept the option open to bail out if I felt too bad.
I swam the 1500 and the 400 free and while I didn't expect to do my best I did put down some good times for me at this time of year. The best I have ever swam the 1500 is 23:54, I seeded myself at 23:45 and came in at 23:45.57 so I was happy with that being sick and all.
The 400 went pretty well, I swam 5:58.16 which is about a half second slower than my best from 2008. While I'm not the fastest swimmer I did have a strategy...swim the first 100 strong, keep a good pace for the second 100, try to make the third 100 the fastest I could go and do my best to hold the pace for the last 100. I went according to plan and it appeared to work well for me.
Anywho, back to training stuff:
Swmming: Going OK, nothing new, I've been able to bring my pull sets in at 1:15/100 and leave on 1:30 pretty consistantly but swimming without them has been nearly the same. This week I seemed more tired than usual but probably just as fast as I've ever gone.
Biking is going OK, nothing new either. I've been basing my interval effort on 225 watts but that is probably a little high right now since I've been riding just under 4 hours a week. Last week I was just under 5 hours cuz I was able to ride outside on friday. I got my road bike finished and rode it for the first time on friday but only for about an hour.
Running going well, the last two weeks have been ~36 miles with short intervals on wednesday and longer intervals on sunday's long run.
So all together I'm doing well but I want to get more time on the bike so I may cut my friday swim and start riding on that day. I've got 5 weeks before my Camp with HFP down in Georgia and I don't want to go there unprepared to ride the distances on the schedule. Ideally I would like to be near 7 hours for 3 week before the camp.
I missed a few swims and swam two events in a swim meet while sick but am back on track now.
Swim meet at Brighton High School:
Our club "FAST" hosted a masters' swim meet on Feb 5th, Superbowl Sunday, and I had to be there to help run the timing system. I was already signed up for the meet so since I was there I swam my events as scheduled and just kept the option open to bail out if I felt too bad.
I swam the 1500 and the 400 free and while I didn't expect to do my best I did put down some good times for me at this time of year. The best I have ever swam the 1500 is 23:54, I seeded myself at 23:45 and came in at 23:45.57 so I was happy with that being sick and all.
The 400 went pretty well, I swam 5:58.16 which is about a half second slower than my best from 2008. While I'm not the fastest swimmer I did have a strategy...swim the first 100 strong, keep a good pace for the second 100, try to make the third 100 the fastest I could go and do my best to hold the pace for the last 100. I went according to plan and it appeared to work well for me.
Anywho, back to training stuff:
Swmming: Going OK, nothing new, I've been able to bring my pull sets in at 1:15/100 and leave on 1:30 pretty consistantly but swimming without them has been nearly the same. This week I seemed more tired than usual but probably just as fast as I've ever gone.
Biking is going OK, nothing new either. I've been basing my interval effort on 225 watts but that is probably a little high right now since I've been riding just under 4 hours a week. Last week I was just under 5 hours cuz I was able to ride outside on friday. I got my road bike finished and rode it for the first time on friday but only for about an hour.
Running going well, the last two weeks have been ~36 miles with short intervals on wednesday and longer intervals on sunday's long run.
So all together I'm doing well but I want to get more time on the bike so I may cut my friday swim and start riding on that day. I've got 5 weeks before my Camp with HFP down in Georgia and I don't want to go there unprepared to ride the distances on the schedule. Ideally I would like to be near 7 hours for 3 week before the camp.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Jan 31 2012 - 56° outside :)
I got to bike and run outside today
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/146241386
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/146241391
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/146241386
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/146241391
Monday, January 30, 2012
week ending 1/29/12
Training went well except I was a little tired at the end of the week from going to bed too late.
I missed the swim on monday because I was out of town but I did get a good run in on the Rec center track in the evening. I also missed the short swim on friday cuz I was very sleepy. The wed and sat swim I felt fairly strong.
Tues, Thurs, Sat bike went as planned and felt OK during those sessions. Not strong or weak, just kind of in the middle.
Running went well...Wednesday's intervals started conservative but ended as planned, Sunday's intervals in the long run went well too. Junk mile days were OK...I was tired on friday.
I've lost a little bit of weight, I've been 143 lbs 3 times last week so ~3 lbs in 2 weeks by adjusting my diet and bringing my run back up to where I was at before.
So nothing out of the ordinary other than my leg feeling better, today I'm a bit tired but that's normal for monday.
I missed the swim on monday because I was out of town but I did get a good run in on the Rec center track in the evening. I also missed the short swim on friday cuz I was very sleepy. The wed and sat swim I felt fairly strong.
Tues, Thurs, Sat bike went as planned and felt OK during those sessions. Not strong or weak, just kind of in the middle.
Running went well...Wednesday's intervals started conservative but ended as planned, Sunday's intervals in the long run went well too. Junk mile days were OK...I was tired on friday.
I've lost a little bit of weight, I've been 143 lbs 3 times last week so ~3 lbs in 2 weeks by adjusting my diet and bringing my run back up to where I was at before.
So nothing out of the ordinary other than my leg feeling better, today I'm a bit tired but that's normal for monday.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Report on wednesday's intervals
Wednesday's intervals have come and gone and I still feel pretty good. I'm just about back from the hamstring problem.
7 miles including 5X4' hard 3' easy with warm up and cool down.
Started cautiously at 6:50 then progressed a bit quicker to 6:40, 6:29, 6:22, 6:19. The target was 6:20 to 6:30 so I got there in the last 3 intervals.
Looking back at why I had a problem, here is the chain of events that preceded the issue:
I had been running really strong for several weeks (~35 mpw) and had hit all of my goals in the intervals.
Most of my interval sessions were on a treadmill where I could set the speed exactly where I wanted to.
I was on the holiday break from work so I didn't have the same treadmill available.
My exercise patterns were slightly disrupted.
I was running on the track at the Livonia Rec center on that particular day.
I didn't feel particularly strong that day, most likely cuz I had just woken up ~3 hours before and had been fairly inactive.
I didn't feel warmed up that day but had done my normal amount of warm up at 15min.
I struggled to meet the speed required for the intervals on the first two of 5X4'(2')
I just ran the next two as hard as I could even though they were slower than prescribed.
I noticed a slight pain in the back of my right leg after the second interval, kind of ignored it cuz intervals hurt anyway.
I jogged the last one cuz I couldn't make the pace.
Cooled down normally and still had the pain in my right leg.
Just a note on how I know the pace...I have a Garmin 310xt and the footpod that goes with it. That gives me run speed while indoors but on the track it reads kind of funny depending on which way we run around the track and how I'm running that day. Since it's only on one foot it appears to record the distance of that one leg and assumes the other leg is taking about the same size step, that's not necessarily true all of the time.
The way I adjust the pace for that inconsistency is that I know the track is 10 laps to a mile, on warm up I look at how the watch tracks to the number of laps, that day it was reading low, I don't really know why. With the interval function of the watch it doesn't count out miles and I was doing 15 min warm up and didn't really pay attention to how it tracked that day, it could have been 1.9 miles and only counted 1.8 miles which would put it way off for that day.
I started the intervals very aggressively mainly cuz I had done them quite a bit with good success (this is the hardest of the VO2 interval sets) but should have eased into them a little bit. Combined with the watch being slightly off and me not really warmed up I probably started off way to fast, maybe as fast as 6:10 which is really too fast for me.
With that in mind it's apparent the I didn't warm up enough, started off too hard, and ran much too fast that day. Those things were what I was trying to avoid yesterday and it appears I did a much better job.
7 miles including 5X4' hard 3' easy with warm up and cool down.
Started cautiously at 6:50 then progressed a bit quicker to 6:40, 6:29, 6:22, 6:19. The target was 6:20 to 6:30 so I got there in the last 3 intervals.
Looking back at why I had a problem, here is the chain of events that preceded the issue:
I had been running really strong for several weeks (~35 mpw) and had hit all of my goals in the intervals.
Most of my interval sessions were on a treadmill where I could set the speed exactly where I wanted to.
I was on the holiday break from work so I didn't have the same treadmill available.
My exercise patterns were slightly disrupted.
I was running on the track at the Livonia Rec center on that particular day.
I didn't feel particularly strong that day, most likely cuz I had just woken up ~3 hours before and had been fairly inactive.
I didn't feel warmed up that day but had done my normal amount of warm up at 15min.
I struggled to meet the speed required for the intervals on the first two of 5X4'(2')
I just ran the next two as hard as I could even though they were slower than prescribed.
I noticed a slight pain in the back of my right leg after the second interval, kind of ignored it cuz intervals hurt anyway.
I jogged the last one cuz I couldn't make the pace.
Cooled down normally and still had the pain in my right leg.
Just a note on how I know the pace...I have a Garmin 310xt and the footpod that goes with it. That gives me run speed while indoors but on the track it reads kind of funny depending on which way we run around the track and how I'm running that day. Since it's only on one foot it appears to record the distance of that one leg and assumes the other leg is taking about the same size step, that's not necessarily true all of the time.
The way I adjust the pace for that inconsistency is that I know the track is 10 laps to a mile, on warm up I look at how the watch tracks to the number of laps, that day it was reading low, I don't really know why. With the interval function of the watch it doesn't count out miles and I was doing 15 min warm up and didn't really pay attention to how it tracked that day, it could have been 1.9 miles and only counted 1.8 miles which would put it way off for that day.
I started the intervals very aggressively mainly cuz I had done them quite a bit with good success (this is the hardest of the VO2 interval sets) but should have eased into them a little bit. Combined with the watch being slightly off and me not really warmed up I probably started off way to fast, maybe as fast as 6:10 which is really too fast for me.
With that in mind it's apparent the I didn't warm up enough, started off too hard, and ran much too fast that day. Those things were what I was trying to avoid yesterday and it appears I did a much better job.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Right leg is still feeling good
My hamstring is still feeling good. I ran a little faster today on the treadmill but still stayed cautious. 6 miles averaged 8:00 min/mile.
To keep it interesting I built the speed up to 7.2 mph then went up every .25 miles until I got to 7.5 then back down to 7.2. It passed the time quicker.
To keep it interesting I built the speed up to 7.2 mph then went up every .25 miles until I got to 7.5 then back down to 7.2. It passed the time quicker.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Good news!
Today is the first day of running with any kind of speedwork. My coach Mike Plumb allowed me to adjust my effort according to how my hamstring responds so I started out cautiously.
Workout is Run 6 miles include 4X4' hard 3' easy. I normally use Daniels I pace for hard and that is a 6:27 min/mile.
I ran on a treadmill and started easy at a 7:40 pace, after that I increased the pace ~20 sec/mile for the next 2 then a just a little bit for the last one. I wound up with 7:38, 7:23, 7:02, 6:53.
So far everything feels good, I got through the workout with no issues but am still going to be cautious for the next week or two.
Workout is Run 6 miles include 4X4' hard 3' easy. I normally use Daniels I pace for hard and that is a 6:27 min/mile.
I ran on a treadmill and started easy at a 7:40 pace, after that I increased the pace ~20 sec/mile for the next 2 then a just a little bit for the last one. I wound up with 7:38, 7:23, 7:02, 6:53.
So far everything feels good, I got through the workout with no issues but am still going to be cautious for the next week or two.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Week ending 1/15/2012
Right leg is feeling better, I ran 6 days this week, just a little bit of pain. Ran 6 miles twice this week and ~4 miles every other day. I'm going to put a little speed in the comming wednesday.
Biking is going good, rode outside on tuesday but had to ride the trainer on thursday and saturday.
Swimming went very good this week. Swam strong on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Swam short on Saturday and swam a swim meet on Sunday.
A few new personal best times during this meet.
1000 free 13:41 which is 20 seconds faster than before. This was the first swim of the day so I was pretty fresh for it. I actually negative split the swim with a 6:52 then a 6:49.
200 free 2:26.X I wasn't going to swim this but Karen made me feel guilty about skipping it to stay fresh for the 500. Maddie said I would swim 2:25 but I let her down :( I can remember seen a 1:12.x for the first 100 so the second must have been a 1:13.x
100 free was a 1:06.4 I had a decent start and swam strong. I was actually surprised to see that.
The other race was the 500 free 6:46 which was 3 seconds off of my best. I really wanted to beat by pace from the 1000 and this was the last race of the day. I was kind of tired from swimming the 200 free and in the 4X100 relay back to back but did well anyway.
Biking is going good, rode outside on tuesday but had to ride the trainer on thursday and saturday.
Swimming went very good this week. Swam strong on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Swam short on Saturday and swam a swim meet on Sunday.
A few new personal best times during this meet.
1000 free 13:41 which is 20 seconds faster than before. This was the first swim of the day so I was pretty fresh for it. I actually negative split the swim with a 6:52 then a 6:49.
200 free 2:26.X I wasn't going to swim this but Karen made me feel guilty about skipping it to stay fresh for the 500. Maddie said I would swim 2:25 but I let her down :( I can remember seen a 1:12.x for the first 100 so the second must have been a 1:13.x
100 free was a 1:06.4 I had a decent start and swam strong. I was actually surprised to see that.
The other race was the 500 free 6:46 which was 3 seconds off of my best. I really wanted to beat by pace from the 1000 and this was the last race of the day. I was kind of tired from swimming the 200 free and in the 4X100 relay back to back but did well anyway.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Update 1/12/12
The last few weeks have been interesting, most important is the run.
During the holidays I hurt my right hamstring during some track intervals (12/28). Things started off slow, I've been doing these for quite a while and know what I'm capable of, I appeared to struggle to hold the disired pace (<6:30) and developed a little pain in the back of my right leg.
Now this has happened before, I was running hard and expected to have some pain but this one stayed with me. When I got to the 5th rep I decided I was too tired to complete it so I just ran it out at an easier pace and completed the milage for the day. Afterwards I had the nagging pain that wouldn't go away.
I tried to run thursday with the option of bagging the run and I did. I walked about half a mile and then ran a half mile then quit. I took friday off from running.
Saturday I ran about 30 minutes and have been doing so up until last sunday (1/8) where I did 6 miles. It was feeling OK but not 100%. Monday and tuesday were 4 miles, yesterday was 6 miles and it's feeling much better. I started stretching it last sunday and putting a heating pad on it while watching TV. The reason I didn't start stretching it earlier is because I believed part of the muscle was damaged or torn, I did not want to stretch a torn muscle and tear it some more. Sunday I felt that it was time to start lengthing the muscle again so I started stretching.
Today I feel pretty good and plan to continue running easy for another week.
On the bike I've been fairly strong, not as good as before the Christmas holiday but still good, I've met all of my goal on the workouts except for last saturday where I rode outside and it was too cold for me. I came home, put the bike on the trainer and couldn't really get any motivation to finish the workout. On another note, The compact crank on that bike (with 650's) doesn't have enough gear to do zone 4 intervals with a slight tailwind and with the cadence I like to pedal at. It will not be a good choice for me to train or race with on the road.
I was able to get out on the road last tuesday too, it was a little warmer and dry. I rode the P2 for the right gearing since it has a standard crank on it.
Swimming has been going very well, it appears with my drop in run volume I'm much stronger for swimming and have been really strong in the pool. I've been consistantly bringing in 100's in 1:20 and 200's well under 2:50 so I'm pretty happy with the training.
I'm swimming a meet at EMU this weekend. I've signed up for the 1000, 500, 200 and 100 free but I really want a good 1000 and 500 time.
During the holidays I hurt my right hamstring during some track intervals (12/28). Things started off slow, I've been doing these for quite a while and know what I'm capable of, I appeared to struggle to hold the disired pace (<6:30) and developed a little pain in the back of my right leg.
Now this has happened before, I was running hard and expected to have some pain but this one stayed with me. When I got to the 5th rep I decided I was too tired to complete it so I just ran it out at an easier pace and completed the milage for the day. Afterwards I had the nagging pain that wouldn't go away.
I tried to run thursday with the option of bagging the run and I did. I walked about half a mile and then ran a half mile then quit. I took friday off from running.
Saturday I ran about 30 minutes and have been doing so up until last sunday (1/8) where I did 6 miles. It was feeling OK but not 100%. Monday and tuesday were 4 miles, yesterday was 6 miles and it's feeling much better. I started stretching it last sunday and putting a heating pad on it while watching TV. The reason I didn't start stretching it earlier is because I believed part of the muscle was damaged or torn, I did not want to stretch a torn muscle and tear it some more. Sunday I felt that it was time to start lengthing the muscle again so I started stretching.
Today I feel pretty good and plan to continue running easy for another week.
On the bike I've been fairly strong, not as good as before the Christmas holiday but still good, I've met all of my goal on the workouts except for last saturday where I rode outside and it was too cold for me. I came home, put the bike on the trainer and couldn't really get any motivation to finish the workout. On another note, The compact crank on that bike (with 650's) doesn't have enough gear to do zone 4 intervals with a slight tailwind and with the cadence I like to pedal at. It will not be a good choice for me to train or race with on the road.
I was able to get out on the road last tuesday too, it was a little warmer and dry. I rode the P2 for the right gearing since it has a standard crank on it.
Swimming has been going very well, it appears with my drop in run volume I'm much stronger for swimming and have been really strong in the pool. I've been consistantly bringing in 100's in 1:20 and 200's well under 2:50 so I'm pretty happy with the training.
I'm swimming a meet at EMU this weekend. I've signed up for the 1000, 500, 200 and 100 free but I really want a good 1000 and 500 time.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Yay!!! It was warm enough for me to run outside
I'm working a lot of half days this week so I'm not running on the treadmill. Today it was almost 50°F so I ran on Hines drive :)
Swim went well too, don't know why but I swam pretty strong today. I got in the pool a little later than normal so I had to split the lane with others :(
Swim went well too, don't know why but I swam pretty strong today. I got in the pool a little later than normal so I had to split the lane with others :(
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Week ending 12/18/11
Legs feeling much better this week, I did all of my easy runs easier than before. Instead of building the speed through the runs I kept the treadmill down at 8:10 to 8:20 on monday, tuesday and friday.
I did have a run issue during the week...I didn't eat very much on tuesday night which left me unable to complete my intervals on wednesday morning. I got through two of the intervals and then bagged the rest of the workout. I was completely out of energy that day. I completed the intervals as planned on thursday morning.
Swimming is going OK, I bagged wednesday's swim and swam longer on friday to make up the yards. I'm still able to come in low 1:20's on 100's, a lot of this week's workouts will be on a 1:35 send off so It will be a little harder.
Biking is going well, I'm still doing ~1:10 per workout and trying to keep in the highest part of each training zone. Saturday I had several 2 min Zone 5 intervals which I have not done well on in the past, I was able to start at the low end and finish them at the higher end of the zone. I'm really hoping to bring my FTP up well over 230 this summer which should get me near 3.7 watts/Kg. Ideally I would like to be closer to 4.0 but that may still be a year or two away. If I can get those 10 watts I think I will be able to get closer to 3 hrs at the Little Smokies on the bike and still have a good run.
The only real concern I have now is my weight again. I'm a little heavier than expected and have started my food log again (not the online one) to help me realize how much I'm eating.
I did have a run issue during the week...I didn't eat very much on tuesday night which left me unable to complete my intervals on wednesday morning. I got through two of the intervals and then bagged the rest of the workout. I was completely out of energy that day. I completed the intervals as planned on thursday morning.
Swimming is going OK, I bagged wednesday's swim and swam longer on friday to make up the yards. I'm still able to come in low 1:20's on 100's, a lot of this week's workouts will be on a 1:35 send off so It will be a little harder.
Biking is going well, I'm still doing ~1:10 per workout and trying to keep in the highest part of each training zone. Saturday I had several 2 min Zone 5 intervals which I have not done well on in the past, I was able to start at the low end and finish them at the higher end of the zone. I'm really hoping to bring my FTP up well over 230 this summer which should get me near 3.7 watts/Kg. Ideally I would like to be closer to 4.0 but that may still be a year or two away. If I can get those 10 watts I think I will be able to get closer to 3 hrs at the Little Smokies on the bike and still have a good run.
The only real concern I have now is my weight again. I'm a little heavier than expected and have started my food log again (not the online one) to help me realize how much I'm eating.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Legs feeling better now
My legs have been pretty sore for the last two weeks despite my reduced off-season volume. I have been pretty consistent with running 6 days a week but have recently started biking a bit harder.
Because of that I think I've not been able to recover. Starting this week I decided to run my junk mile days easier like I probably should be. Instead of pushing monday and tuesday to mid 7 min/miles on the treadmill I've kept it in the low 8's.
Today I felt much better on the bike and now afterwards I'm not nearly as sore. Hopefully this is the solution to that problem.
With the 100/100 challenge starting on ST in 2 days I might actually bump up to 7 days. Most likely I will only be running 30 min on saturday in addition to what I'm doing now but that also depends on how I feel.
Because of that I think I've not been able to recover. Starting this week I decided to run my junk mile days easier like I probably should be. Instead of pushing monday and tuesday to mid 7 min/miles on the treadmill I've kept it in the low 8's.
Today I felt much better on the bike and now afterwards I'm not nearly as sore. Hopefully this is the solution to that problem.
With the 100/100 challenge starting on ST in 2 days I might actually bump up to 7 days. Most likely I will only be running 30 min on saturday in addition to what I'm doing now but that also depends on how I feel.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
What I'm working on now
Like last winter I'm spending a lot of my time working on my running. I can run a long time but not really that fast so I'm doing something about it.
The recent 10K of 42:28 shows that the work has been paying off. I probably won't get another 10K in until the spring when it gets warmer. I'm been debating on a goal but instead of that I might just going to work on speed and whatever I get is whatever I get. I would like to be under 40 min but I'm not sure if that attainable. I'm going to need to drop from 6:51 to 6:27 or ~24 seconds per mile. I'm thinking that's a pretty tall order and maybe going under 41 min would be a better goal, that would be running 6:35's.
Ultimately I need to go as fast as I can in triathlon so without goals I won't be disappointed or held back. Since paces are set by recent results all of my speed work stimulate improvement.
My basic running week goes like this:
Mon run 4 miles
Tue run 5 miles
Wed run 6 miles with VO2 intervals
Thu run 4 miles
Fri run 6 miles
Sat off from running
Sun run long (12 miles now)
Running during the week is mostly on the easy side. I run a little easier on monday and thursday to help recover from the hard workouts, the other runs are a little quicker pace but not quite fast. I'll run as fast as 7:30's on tuesday and friday but no faster.
I'm doing this while still training on the bike and in the water. Swimming is still going well. When I get the workouts for this week I may change the paces depending on how I feel.
On the bike I'm riding pretty hard and only doing the prescribed workout, I am not addding any extra so I can kill the intervals. I'm using 225 for an FTP and am hitting the top of the zones so I'll keep them there for now. They are hard but I'm not ready to raise them yet.
I plan to keep the volume of the swim and bike the same until it's time to get ready for Triple T which happens to be ~23 weeks away. When I get closer I would really like to get 10+ hours on the bike for ~10 weeks while keeping the swimming the same.
The recent 10K of 42:28 shows that the work has been paying off. I probably won't get another 10K in until the spring when it gets warmer. I'm been debating on a goal but instead of that I might just going to work on speed and whatever I get is whatever I get. I would like to be under 40 min but I'm not sure if that attainable. I'm going to need to drop from 6:51 to 6:27 or ~24 seconds per mile. I'm thinking that's a pretty tall order and maybe going under 41 min would be a better goal, that would be running 6:35's.
Ultimately I need to go as fast as I can in triathlon so without goals I won't be disappointed or held back. Since paces are set by recent results all of my speed work stimulate improvement.
My basic running week goes like this:
Mon run 4 miles
Tue run 5 miles
Wed run 6 miles with VO2 intervals
Thu run 4 miles
Fri run 6 miles
Sat off from running
Sun run long (12 miles now)
Running during the week is mostly on the easy side. I run a little easier on monday and thursday to help recover from the hard workouts, the other runs are a little quicker pace but not quite fast. I'll run as fast as 7:30's on tuesday and friday but no faster.
I'm doing this while still training on the bike and in the water. Swimming is still going well. When I get the workouts for this week I may change the paces depending on how I feel.
On the bike I'm riding pretty hard and only doing the prescribed workout, I am not addding any extra so I can kill the intervals. I'm using 225 for an FTP and am hitting the top of the zones so I'll keep them there for now. They are hard but I'm not ready to raise them yet.
I plan to keep the volume of the swim and bike the same until it's time to get ready for Triple T which happens to be ~23 weeks away. When I get closer I would really like to get 10+ hours on the bike for ~10 weeks while keeping the swimming the same.
Week ending 12/11/11
Pretty good week with 6 days of running 3 days of swimming and 3 days of biking.
Swimming:
Made all of my intervals but had to swim at Schoolcraft on saturday because of a swim meet going on at the Rec Center. Water was normally warm but still a decent workout. Dropped some of my send off times to 1:35.
Biking:
3 days, made the top of all the intervals everything going well. A little twitch in my left quad had me a little worried but I've been training through it. It's not really unexpected since I've been going harder on the bike.
Running:
All indoors on the treadmill and the LRC track. Wednesday's intervals went as planned although they were tough. I had a little twitch in my left calf as well but like in my quad, I'm training through it as well.
Swimming:
Made all of my intervals but had to swim at Schoolcraft on saturday because of a swim meet going on at the Rec Center. Water was normally warm but still a decent workout. Dropped some of my send off times to 1:35.
Biking:
3 days, made the top of all the intervals everything going well. A little twitch in my left quad had me a little worried but I've been training through it. It's not really unexpected since I've been going harder on the bike.
Running:
All indoors on the treadmill and the LRC track. Wednesday's intervals went as planned although they were tough. I had a little twitch in my left calf as well but like in my quad, I'm training through it as well.
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