After a few weeks of not updating the blog I'm finally back. Tough to remember back to May 17th to figure out everything I've done since then. A fair amount of cycling but nothing really crazy, used my commute to work as a workout, regular old swimming, getting a run in with Matt when he was out here and I got in another race.
The race was in Ludlow, MA and it was okay. The swim was pretty rough. I didn't have any weight to throw around, instead I got thrown around pretty good which kind of surprised me. Anyway, I was 4th out of the water after trying to keep up with Jason for the first half of the swim, he was just too quick to hang with on the second half. On the bike I had a slight brain fart during the transition and it was slower than it should have been but I got out there and was feeling pretty good until the mile of construction. I just took it really easy over that part because I want my bike and rims to hold up so I can get to Vineman! I had a couple of people pass me on the bike but not many so I was please about that. It was nice having a few climbs in there so I could change muscle groups. Heading into the run I was feeling pretty good but the speed workout I tried doing two days before the race had caught up to me and I ended up finishing pretty strong but man did I feel like crap at the end. That's okay because I did what was necessary to win the 30-34 age group and get 9th overall. I was please about that for a little while but now I've moved on and want to do better. Jason won the Clydesdale division so right now we're tied on Grand Prix points. We'll be going for the tie breaker when we have the Webster rematch in a few weeks. It'll be a good chance to see how far I've come since last year.
Since that race I've done my first track workout (Tuesday night), three swims of a little over 3000 meters. Two trainer rides, two weight workouts, two solid ab workouts.
Today was a great day for working out. Yesterday after time on the trainer I worked on the tri-bike and lowered the front end and brought in the rest pads for my arms. It felt pretty good today, definitely more aggressive than it had been so hopefully I'm more aero. I held a pretty solid average just over 20 for 31 miles with a whole bunch of stops and having to slow down in there. Took a two mile warm down after the 31 and then took 10 minutes to change up and then went for a 10.22 mile run. I ran with Liz Welch and we were at a 7:43 average at 5.22 and then came back with 7:56, 8:04, 7:57, 7:53, 8:06. So we were 1:20 at 10.22 then just walked .25 and loosened up at the cars. I got to try running with the Fuel Belt which was really good to have. I ate sport beans while running at each mile. All in all I felt surprisingly good. I definitely have a lot more speed in me and I'm pretty sure I could have run those back five miles at 7:15's without really killing myself. Only bummer is my good knee started hurting a bit at mile 8. I'm surprised because I don't usually have any pain. I think it must be from my pulled muscle in the other leg and all the weird walking I'd been doing to compensate. I'll just rest it tonight and try to kick it out in the water tomorrow morning.
Despite the pain right now I'm pretty psyched about the half Ironman. I think I might really be able to rip it up much more than I originally expected. I think that 5 hour goal is long gone right now. That's only a safety barrier so if I'm 4:59 I can convince myself I don't suck, but right now if that's where I finished I'll be awfully surprised. 4:50 would be pretty solid if the weather is good. I'd be interested to see if I can crush that though. Should be fun, I'm looking forward to it!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Monday - Thursday May 14-17
It's been a busy few days.
Monday - Swim in the morning. It was fairly tiring because there were lots of fast 25's from the blocks with push-ups after. It really beat me up. At lunch I headed to the gym and hit the weights. Unfortunately after the gym I didn't have time to get through my lunch before a long meeting and I doozed off for a second and I got caught during it! That's never good. I skipped my planned run Monday night in favor of resting.
Tuesday - Run after work. Got some hills in there and a nice long loop around a pond. 7.53 miles at 8:10 average. Just cruising and enjoying sucking in all the pollen. Total time was 1:01.
Wednesday - Swim 3,400. Lift at lunch and then 65 minute lactate threshold workout on the trainer during the thunder showers. Those lactate workouts are pretty tough. I hope they pay off.
Thursday - Today was the day I was worried about, I decided to attempt 10 miles running and I know the jump is more than 10% but I've got to get up there and get it done. I had an all day meeting in East Providence so I headed to the bike trail after that and just followed the mile markers. I went out 5.19 miles in 42:03 and then just tried to descend the miles coming back. I was something like 7:50, 7:42, 7:38, 7:32, 7:36. I can't really remember but the splits are on my other computer. I'll check it out later. I felt fairly controlled but I thought I was going a little faster. I resisted looking at my watch during the run because I didn't want to be influenced by the times. I just wanted to get the miles in. I ended up with 10.38 in 1:22:22. It was a 7:57 average. I at least have confidence that I can run 13.1 miles when I have to. Just don't know if I can do that after 56 miles yet. I'll give it a shot one of these days.
All in all it was a good day and it's been a solid week for workouts. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up and have enough confidence in my abilities to get under five hours at Vineman.
27 minute swim - 2:40 bike - 1:45 run. That would get my under 5:00 even if I took my time in the transitions and I think it's reasonable.
Monday - Swim in the morning. It was fairly tiring because there were lots of fast 25's from the blocks with push-ups after. It really beat me up. At lunch I headed to the gym and hit the weights. Unfortunately after the gym I didn't have time to get through my lunch before a long meeting and I doozed off for a second and I got caught during it! That's never good. I skipped my planned run Monday night in favor of resting.
Tuesday - Run after work. Got some hills in there and a nice long loop around a pond. 7.53 miles at 8:10 average. Just cruising and enjoying sucking in all the pollen. Total time was 1:01.
Wednesday - Swim 3,400. Lift at lunch and then 65 minute lactate threshold workout on the trainer during the thunder showers. Those lactate workouts are pretty tough. I hope they pay off.
Thursday - Today was the day I was worried about, I decided to attempt 10 miles running and I know the jump is more than 10% but I've got to get up there and get it done. I had an all day meeting in East Providence so I headed to the bike trail after that and just followed the mile markers. I went out 5.19 miles in 42:03 and then just tried to descend the miles coming back. I was something like 7:50, 7:42, 7:38, 7:32, 7:36. I can't really remember but the splits are on my other computer. I'll check it out later. I felt fairly controlled but I thought I was going a little faster. I resisted looking at my watch during the run because I didn't want to be influenced by the times. I just wanted to get the miles in. I ended up with 10.38 in 1:22:22. It was a 7:57 average. I at least have confidence that I can run 13.1 miles when I have to. Just don't know if I can do that after 56 miles yet. I'll give it a shot one of these days.
All in all it was a good day and it's been a solid week for workouts. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up and have enough confidence in my abilities to get under five hours at Vineman.
27 minute swim - 2:40 bike - 1:45 run. That would get my under 5:00 even if I took my time in the transitions and I think it's reasonable.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Super Sunday (Steve)
Today was a good ride. 56.2 miles. 3:08. 18mph, 139avgHR, 3800 feet ascending, 3600 calories gone.
But it was also a great learning experience. I experimented to see what would sit well with me and timed out the nutrition. I started the morning with some OJ and a banana. Then as the ride approached, s pack of Sport Beans and some water about 30 minutes before the ride.
I brought two Power Bar Double Latte gels and another pack of sport beans, a bottle of Accelerade and a bottle of water. I wanted to put down the PowerBar gel at mile 20 regarless of if I felt like I needed it and then the sport beans at 35. At mile 20 I put down the gel and it went down easier than any other gels I've ever had. That stuff was great. I think I really noticed when it kicked in too. Mike and I each put them down at the same time and at the same moment we each commented on how energized we suddenly felt about seven miles later. At mile 35 we put down sport beans. They were harder to eat on the bike but still tastey. I want to drink more when I'm eating them (which isn't a bad thing as long as you have the water) so I might end up saving those just for running because I really like them on the run.
After the ride I couldn't believe how good I felt. I threw on the sneakers and my legs still felt fresh. I wanted to go for a jog but Mike didn't have running gear. He felt just as fresh and we each did the same thing for nutrition. Last week we were each wiped out after 50 miles, today we each felt like champs after 56 miles and loads of hills. Definitely a good feeling and gives me more confidence as we approach Vineman. I know last week the thought of 56 miles scared me after how the bike went. Today I say bring it on. But there's a big difference in riding that in three hours as opposed to trying to hold 20mph for the ride. The nice thing is I didn't feel like everything was bouncing around in my stomach after the ride when I put my sneakers on and jumped up and down a few times. That's how I feel after the Clif Shot so I think I found something that works for me. I'll try to stick to the same sort of plan when we do our century next Saturday.
Now I can't wait for dinner!
But it was also a great learning experience. I experimented to see what would sit well with me and timed out the nutrition. I started the morning with some OJ and a banana. Then as the ride approached, s pack of Sport Beans and some water about 30 minutes before the ride.
I brought two Power Bar Double Latte gels and another pack of sport beans, a bottle of Accelerade and a bottle of water. I wanted to put down the PowerBar gel at mile 20 regarless of if I felt like I needed it and then the sport beans at 35. At mile 20 I put down the gel and it went down easier than any other gels I've ever had. That stuff was great. I think I really noticed when it kicked in too. Mike and I each put them down at the same time and at the same moment we each commented on how energized we suddenly felt about seven miles later. At mile 35 we put down sport beans. They were harder to eat on the bike but still tastey. I want to drink more when I'm eating them (which isn't a bad thing as long as you have the water) so I might end up saving those just for running because I really like them on the run.
After the ride I couldn't believe how good I felt. I threw on the sneakers and my legs still felt fresh. I wanted to go for a jog but Mike didn't have running gear. He felt just as fresh and we each did the same thing for nutrition. Last week we were each wiped out after 50 miles, today we each felt like champs after 56 miles and loads of hills. Definitely a good feeling and gives me more confidence as we approach Vineman. I know last week the thought of 56 miles scared me after how the bike went. Today I say bring it on. But there's a big difference in riding that in three hours as opposed to trying to hold 20mph for the ride. The nice thing is I didn't feel like everything was bouncing around in my stomach after the ride when I put my sneakers on and jumped up and down a few times. That's how I feel after the Clif Shot so I think I found something that works for me. I'll try to stick to the same sort of plan when we do our century next Saturday.
Now I can't wait for dinner!
Saturday - May 12 (Steve)
Saturday was a quick bike ride over to Bryant. It was just a good way to test out the roads for a commute to work and also to see how it would be for riding today. The ride wasn't bad. It was fairly hilly so it was a pretty solid hour workout with a backpack full of stuff I needed to bring to the swim clinic. Rowdy is one enthusiastic guy about swimming. It's great listening to him talk, but he didn't offer anything that we don't already say to the kids, the only difference is kids listen to you when you've earned a gold medal in the Olympics. The funny thing about it all is he didn't even spend a combined 10 minutes on breast/fly, but hey, he was a freestyler and a damn fast one at that. After Mike, Jill and myself headed up to Wheelworks (where I decided on NOT getting the Zenith, I opted for a sleeveless after trying on that Zenith). One thing I can say is if you're thin the Zenith makes you look like the most fit person in the world. I got to model it there once I got the thing on while the other Wheelworks members checked it out. It was actually pretty cool. After we went to ATA Cycles which was definitely one of the best shops I've EVER been in. They only carried high end bikes. Mike and Jill each tried out the Kuota K-Factor and loved it. I want to dump the Giant and get a bike there. Their fit room was awesome too. I want to go there and get a Kuota Kalibur without a doubt. I need to do this before the end of the year. I love that bike.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Finally Friday
Well, I'm glad that my wave at Vineman is going to go off 20 minutes ahead of Matt's. From the looks of things we might cross the line at the same time.
Today was the first time I felt like a swimmer back in the water. It was kind of surprising given my past few days of beating myself up but it actually felt good...good means better than all the other swims to date.
600 swim last 200 - 25Back/25 Free
3x (4x75/4x50/4x25) Evens fast stroke, odds free. One round of each.
800 Pull - I held 1:11 - SCM not LCM
300 K/S by 25
Even after the swim the scale at PC had my at 158. After stepping on the scale I was totally looking forward to the left over munchkins still at my desk. I've never looked forward to getting into the office so much.
Lunch was a good weight workout. I went particularly hard knowing I was going to have an easy evening.
Evening workout was just 25 minutes of core work. Something good and mindless just follow the routine and enjoy it. After that it was time for a huge dinner.
Now with a happy belly and time to relax I'll get my cycling gear ready to ride over to Bryant in the morning and help out with the Rowdy Gaines clinic.
Today was the first time I felt like a swimmer back in the water. It was kind of surprising given my past few days of beating myself up but it actually felt good...good means better than all the other swims to date.
600 swim last 200 - 25Back/25 Free
3x (4x75/4x50/4x25) Evens fast stroke, odds free. One round of each.
800 Pull - I held 1:11 - SCM not LCM
300 K/S by 25
Even after the swim the scale at PC had my at 158. After stepping on the scale I was totally looking forward to the left over munchkins still at my desk. I've never looked forward to getting into the office so much.
Lunch was a good weight workout. I went particularly hard knowing I was going to have an easy evening.
Evening workout was just 25 minutes of core work. Something good and mindless just follow the routine and enjoy it. After that it was time for a huge dinner.
Now with a happy belly and time to relax I'll get my cycling gear ready to ride over to Bryant in the morning and help out with the Rowdy Gaines clinic.
Base 2 Rest week (4/9-4/15) (Matt)
Monday 4/9
Run 42:00 approx
Swim 1300+
300 mix
2 x 150 free k-d-s
4 x 75 50dr-25sw
8 x 50 :55 held 32-33
The 50s were assigned in the training plan. They were hard. I am slow.
Tuesday 4/10
Bike 1:20:34, 21.3 miles, 15.9avg@126HR
8 x 1:00 hill repeats, 2:00 recovery
That was the last of the hill repeats, and I won't miss them!
Wednesday 4/11
Swim 800 various
Thursday 4/12
Swim 1650
600wu
1050 straight free/back loco 1-6
Friday 4/13
Bike to Las Tuna Canyon (but not over hard side of hill)
1:39:18, HR 134avg/167max, 16.7mph, 27.6 miles
Mostly up going there (54 minutes), mostly down coming back (45 minutes)
Saturday 4/14
Run 1:22:07
Long run after work. A bunch of trees were being cut down around my little place here, and I was very upset-so I took it out on the run. That may have been a mistake!
10.8 miles, 151avg/166max, 7:36/mile
Sunday 4/15
Bike easy 59:10, 17.0 avg, 16.8 miles
Run 42:00 approx
Swim 1300+
300 mix
2 x 150 free k-d-s
4 x 75 50dr-25sw
8 x 50 :55 held 32-33
The 50s were assigned in the training plan. They were hard. I am slow.
Tuesday 4/10
Bike 1:20:34, 21.3 miles, 15.9avg@126HR
8 x 1:00 hill repeats, 2:00 recovery
That was the last of the hill repeats, and I won't miss them!
Wednesday 4/11
Swim 800 various
Thursday 4/12
Swim 1650
600wu
1050 straight free/back loco 1-6
Friday 4/13
Bike to Las Tuna Canyon (but not over hard side of hill)
1:39:18, HR 134avg/167max, 16.7mph, 27.6 miles
Mostly up going there (54 minutes), mostly down coming back (45 minutes)
Saturday 4/14
Run 1:22:07
Long run after work. A bunch of trees were being cut down around my little place here, and I was very upset-so I took it out on the run. That may have been a mistake!
10.8 miles, 151avg/166max, 7:36/mile
Sunday 4/15
Bike easy 59:10, 17.0 avg, 16.8 miles
Base 2 Week 2 (from 4/2-4/8) (Matt)
Monday 4/2 off?
Tuesday 4/3
Bike Hill repeats 10x1:00 w 2:00 recovery
total time=1:13:05, wu=26:33, 15.3mph avg, 18.7 miles, HR=128avg/167max
Wednesday 4/4
Run 40:29.1 Hilly loops
wu=1.3 miles, then 3 x ~.8 miles, run back (#3=6:26.5)
total 5.0 miles, HR=149avg/167max
Swim 1500 later
Thursday 4/5
Swim 1600
I think it was on this day that there was representative from Huntington Hospital at the Y, and she had a Tantita Body Fat scale. So I ponied up, and saw these numbers:
Weight 177.6 lbs
BMI 22.2
Fat % 16.5
BMR (Basal metabolic rate) 1840 kcal (calories for the rest of us)
Fat mass 29.2 lbs
FFR (Fat Free Mass) 148.4
TBW (Total Body Water) 108.6 lbs
I used one of these scales when I was in the thick of Ironman training, and I got some absurd number like 4.6% body fat. I don't know if that was accurate, but I do remember a fellow IM guy remarking that I was looking either really sick, or really fit (or both, I guess, depending on your definition of sick). Anyway, accurate or not, I have a different body now, and we've got a lot of work to do!
Friday 4/6
Bike 2:23:21 Large loop, from streets, to bike path/river, back to streets. After warming up for about 56 minutes, I did a "tempo" section, going north on the San Gabriel River Bike Path, from the Rio Hondo Dam to the north dam (can't remember the name). I got a flat tire about 6 minutes in, but after that I went again. The total time of "tempo" was 24:03@142HR. This felt good! For IM I used to train my long steady rides around this pace, so it wasn't exactly hard, but solid anyway. There was another 1:07 to go after that.
Swim
500 wu
18x100 free 3@1:35 pull, 2@1:30 swim, 1@1:25 swim, the 2-2-2, then 1-2-3
200 warm down
2500/40:00
A good day!
Saturday 4/7
Run in AM, before lessons! Like 730am-that's hardcore! Went from home, to Rose Bowl Golf Club and back. It was all made bearable by Kathleen biking along with me.
8.2-8.4 miles, ~1:13, I think. First long run in a while.
Sunday 4/8
Day off, tired...
Tuesday 4/3
Bike Hill repeats 10x1:00 w 2:00 recovery
total time=1:13:05, wu=26:33, 15.3mph avg, 18.7 miles, HR=128avg/167max
Wednesday 4/4
Run 40:29.1 Hilly loops
wu=1.3 miles, then 3 x ~.8 miles, run back (#3=6:26.5)
total 5.0 miles, HR=149avg/167max
Swim 1500 later
Thursday 4/5
Swim 1600
I think it was on this day that there was representative from Huntington Hospital at the Y, and she had a Tantita Body Fat scale. So I ponied up, and saw these numbers:
Weight 177.6 lbs
BMI 22.2
Fat % 16.5
BMR (Basal metabolic rate) 1840 kcal (calories for the rest of us)
Fat mass 29.2 lbs
FFR (Fat Free Mass) 148.4
TBW (Total Body Water) 108.6 lbs
I used one of these scales when I was in the thick of Ironman training, and I got some absurd number like 4.6% body fat. I don't know if that was accurate, but I do remember a fellow IM guy remarking that I was looking either really sick, or really fit (or both, I guess, depending on your definition of sick). Anyway, accurate or not, I have a different body now, and we've got a lot of work to do!
Friday 4/6
Bike 2:23:21 Large loop, from streets, to bike path/river, back to streets. After warming up for about 56 minutes, I did a "tempo" section, going north on the San Gabriel River Bike Path, from the Rio Hondo Dam to the north dam (can't remember the name). I got a flat tire about 6 minutes in, but after that I went again. The total time of "tempo" was 24:03@142HR. This felt good! For IM I used to train my long steady rides around this pace, so it wasn't exactly hard, but solid anyway. There was another 1:07 to go after that.
Swim
500 wu
18x100 free 3@1:35 pull, 2@1:30 swim, 1@1:25 swim, the 2-2-2, then 1-2-3
200 warm down
2500/40:00
A good day!
Saturday 4/7
Run in AM, before lessons! Like 730am-that's hardcore! Went from home, to Rose Bowl Golf Club and back. It was all made bearable by Kathleen biking along with me.
8.2-8.4 miles, ~1:13, I think. First long run in a while.
Sunday 4/8
Day off, tired...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)