Week 12 of 2010 Training Season

The beginning of week 12 forced me to take a good, hard assessment of the cumulative fatigue I was feeling and make a decision whether or not to back off a little or push through it.  Ultimately, I decided to pull back a bit knowing that it's still early in my season and that the long, hard stuff will be coming in a couple months.  From experience, I know that this VO2max work really sneaks up on you and can cause all kinds of problems if you don't listen to your body (injury, mental burnout, etc.).  I still did all the required workouts in my Endurance Nation OutSeason training plan but didn't do any of the "extra" stuff I had been doing (shorter recovery between intervals, longer FTP/VO2max intervals, an extra run here, an extra swim there).  This decision left my legs feeling much fresher coming into the weekend!
The other news of the week was that I finally received my new secret weapon that, I'd like to think, will make me a little more dangerous on the bike course this year: a high modulus carbon-fiber 2010 Cannondale Slice.  I had placed the order back in December and wasn't expecting delivery until April or May, so when the retailer called me to confirm the delivery address I was stoked!  Here she is:



I've been riding an aluminum 2003 Cervelo Dual (my first triathlon/road bike) for the past 7 years and discovered last year that it was completely the wrong fit for me, but I made it work.  This new ride fits me to a "T".  I can't wait to get it out on the road; but first there are several tweaks I need to make on the fit and components swap-outs

So, back to my workouts...here's my day-by-day log:

Monday: 2,300m swim in the morning with plenty of hard 50m intervals and 200m pull sets.  Took it easy the rest of the day to recover from the weekend (tough 2 hour Saturday bike ride on the trainer and an 8K run race on Sunday).

Tuesday: 5:30am trainer ride as 6 x 2' at 352 avg watts then 20' at 245 watts. Legs felt pretty dead.  Missed my targets a bit on the 2' VO2max sets as well as the 20' tempo set.  Followed with 30' brick run on treadmill at Easy pace with some strides.

Wednesday: 45' run outside with the birthday girl (my yellow lab, Abby) just before sunrise.  Did 2 x 1.5 mile intervals at 6:23 avg pace. Calves still very tight and heavy from Sunday's race but felt good to finally start doing some run intensity!

Thursday: 5:30am trainer ride - plan called for a duplicate of Tuesday's workout.  Since the Tuesday ride left my legs feeling cooked I stepped it back to 4 x (6 x 30"/30") today. Nice change to help my trainer mojo. 48' of work 88% of my functional threshold power - good stuff and much more manageble with the fatigue that's accumulated!

Friday: Complete rest day!  Did some core work in the morning but nothing else.  My legs needed this!!

Saturday: Up stoopid early for a solid 2 hours on the trainer with overall ride at 87% of my FTP and 157 TSS. 20' brick run at marathon pace followed. Nailed this workout!  My legs are back!!

Sunday: Nice Sunday morning 7 mile trail run in 50' with 2 x 1.5 mile intervals at 6:20 avg pace.  Abby kept up the whole time - I guess her winter off of running didn't affect her fitness!  She didn't move much the rest of the day, though.

For the data geeks, here are the stats for week 12:

Time spent training: 7:18
Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 47' (29' spent @ 110%+ FTP)
Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .85
Mileage: 100.0
Training Stress Score (TSS): 577
Chronic Training Load (CTL): 69.4 TSS/d
Training Stress Balance (TSB): -18.4
Weight: 172.0 lbs (up a little this week)
Bike Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 299 watts
Run Vdot: 53.4

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 12:

Week 11

The fatigue of the VO2max bike block is starting to set in. I hit some good bike workouts during the week (Tuesday/Thursday trainer sessions) but it caught up to me on the long Saturday ride. I was also able to get in my first outdoor ride of the year on Friday by commuting the 20 miles one-way to and from work - so nice to get some fresh air!

On the run side, I did my first race of the year on Sunday (Shamrock Shuffle 8K - see race report in previous blog entry) and established my new baseline (Jack Daniels' Vdot score) to base all of my future run training sessions off of. I'm a runner again!!!

I also did a 1,000m time trial on Friday so I now know where my swim fitness now stands.

So, here are the week's workouts:

Monday: Rest day after a solid weekend of workouts. Did core work in the morning and then took it easy all day.

Tuesday: 5:30am trainer ride as 5x2.5' at 356 avg watts then 20' at 254 watts (.851 IF). Overall ride IF of .87 & 77 TSS. 85% work is starting to feel EZ...FTP bump? It was a nice day so got in an easy 30' run at lunch followed by 60' of yoga.

Wednesday: Great lunchtime run - 4.5 miles with 2 miles at 6:45ish pace.

Thursday: 5:30am trainer ride - same workout as Tuesday but with weaker results. VO2max fatigue is starting to accumulate! Legs just felt tired but I got it done. 5 x 2.5' at 351 avg watts then 20' @ .844 IF. Total ride IF=.856 and 74 TSS. Did another lunchtime run since it was so nice outside - just an easy 25' to get some fresh air.

Friday: 1,000m swim time trial done...15:21. Slower than expected but not too far off (45 seconds or so) from my best time last year. Good weather allowed for an easy spin to and from work - first outdoor ride of the year!!!

Saturday: Trainer struggle this morning. VO2max work+lack of rest=power outage! Still managed to get in the 2 hours of riding with 140TSS at .83IF. I wasn't too worried about not hitting all the intervals since I have the 8K run race tomorrow. These Saturday bike workouts just keep getting tougher.

Sunday: Shamrock Shuffle 8K in downtown Chicago (see previous blog post for race report). Great race where I exceeded my expectations! New Vdot of 53.4 is set. Need some rest!

And here's the data for week 11:

Time spent training: 8:59

Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 45' (29' spent @ 110%+ FTP)

Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .743 (Friday's easy spin to/from work brought this down compared to other weeks)

Mileage: 128.4

Training Stress Score (TSS): 653

Chronic Training Load (CTL): 67.8 TSS/d

Training Stress Balance (TSB): -32.5

Weight: 171.0 lbs

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 299 watts

Vdot: 53.4

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 11:

Race Report - Shamrock Shuffle 8K

After last year's debacle of a race weekend for the Shamrock Shuffle (terrible weather, chaotic pre-race packet pick up, dealing downtown Chicago on race day) I told myself I would never do another race in downtown Chicago again, let alone this speicific race. However, my brother and his buddy signed up for it again this year and since they were making the drive from Michigan I felt compelled to register myself. I was also a little leary about being "race ready" by March 21st after my 8 week lay off from running and subsequent slow 6 week ramp up.

The weather the week before the race was beautiful - 60s everyday with sun and light breezes. As we got closer to the weekend and race day (Sunday) the forecast was looking grim - snow, sleet, rain, wind, 30s. Basically a carbon-copy of last year. Great!

Given the questionable conditions and the fact that I haven't done any "hard" run workouts since October I told myself I would wait until I crossed the start line to determine whether I was running this one for time or as a "fun run" at an easy pace. In the back of my head I really wanted the opportunity to give it my all so I could use it as a fitness benchmark to know how to structure my run training going forward now that my injury is healed.

I woke up race morning feeling pretty good despite 3 straight days of solid bike workouts (Thurs: 1 hour of VO2max workouts; Fri: 40 mile bike commute to work, albeit easy spinning; Sat: 2 hours riding at 83% of my Functional Threshold Power). Breakfast consisted of a bowl of puffed brown rice cereal with almond milk, banana, cup of coffee, water (3 hrs pre-race); Odwalla Original Super Protein smoothie, cup of coffee, water (2 hrs pre-race); HammerGel, cup of water (30 minutes pre-race). The GI system never felt so comfortable before a race - no bloat, no hungry feeling, no mad dashes to the porto.

The weather wasn't too bad: low 30s, spitting rain, breezy, wet roads but no slush or snow. I got to the start line feeling awesome - light on my feet, empty stomach, snap in my legs, ready to roll. Still I wanted to go out conservatively in the first mile then assess what I should do after that based on how I was feeling - I was thinking somewhere just under 7:00/mi pace.

I hit the clock at the first mile and saw 6:29. "OK", I thought, "I'm feeling good, I'm just going to keep it rolling. If I run out of gas at least I know where things stand." I continued to feel smooth and strong through about mile 3.5 - a 1/4 mile stretch into a strong headwind. The "burn" started and I was confronted with the suffering that comes late in a hard run effort that I haven't felt in soooo long...I fed off that pain because I knew I was back! I continued to push and focused on excellent form. I made my way up the final climb onto Columbus Ave, turned back north for the flat 1/4 mile finish stretch and hit the line in 30:57 - a 50 second PR on this course (set in 2009). Mile splits were as follows:

Mile 1: 6:29
Mile 2: 6:21
Mile 3: 6:11
Mile 4: 5:57
Mile 5: 5:58

I'm pretty happy with this result for a couple reasons:

1) My run fitness wasn't as hurt by the 8 week injury break and slow 6 week build up all at slow, easy paces. I peaked last season with a Vdot (Daniel's running formula) of 56. I was thinking I was probably around 50-51 going into this race, but with this result I found I'm actually at 53.4. It won't take me long to get back to last season's form!

2) I felt no pain related to the pelvic stress fracture or addductor inflammation while racing. Things are healed!!

3) I continued my streak of negative splitting run races! I've had it going for over a year now.

A couple reasons I can point to for the better-than-expected result and the ability to hang onto a good part of my run fitness even with the injury recovery process:

1) I was still able to do all the cycling workouts in my Endurance Nation OutSeason training plan plus some (to make up for the lack of running)

2) A large focus on core strengthening and stretching during the injury recovery. Also, while ramping up the run miles at easy pace I've been very conscious of my running mechanics.

3) A huge focus on body composition since being injured - I think this is the main reason I haven't lost much run fitness. I'm already at my Ironman race weight (weighed in at 170.4 race morning) so I was just able to carry less weight around for 8K which makes less work for the body.

Week 10 - Halfway through the OutSeason Training Plan!

Not much to report this week other than some good, solid work was put in. I'm nailing the prescribed bike workouts, sticking with the plan to swim at least 2x per week (one for drillwork, one for speed) and began throwing some intensity into a couple run workouts. It was capped off by some tough weekend workouts to give the CTL (fitness) a little boost. The other highlight of the week was that I found out that my new tri bike (2010 Cannondale Slice) will arrive by the end of next week - crossing my fingers for good weather so I can get out and ride!

Here's the day-by-day detail for this week:

Monday: Rest day after a good, hard weekend of workouts in all three sports. Did Pilates in the morning, then just chilled all day focusing on good nutrition and hydration.

Tuesday: 5:30am trainer ride as 5 x 2' @ 120% FTP (363 watt avg) then did 25' @ 84.4% FTP. Total ride IF=.862 & 76 TSS - solid work within 60'. Lunchtime 35' easy run (4.25 miles). 60' yoga class afterwards.

Wednesday: Morning swim of 2,500m with mostly drillwork. Focused on the findings from my swim assessment from Sunday - eliminating the crossover in my stroke and breathing earlier in the catch. Felt very smooth and efficient. Lunchtime 30' run outside on a beautiful day - my first run where I threw some intensity in. Did 6 x 30" strides at ~6:00 pace - felt awesome to get in touch with those afterburners again after such a long break! Random core work afterwards.

Thursday: 5:30am trainer ride - same workout as Tuesday. It was tough, though, after going out for a few beers with some buds the night before. 5 x 2' @ 120% FTP (359 watt avg), then 30' @ 83.6% FTP. Total ride IF=.852 & 80 TSS for the 60'.

Friday: Great 2,000m swim with 5x200m hard! Feeling much smoother, more efficient & less energy expended since having swim assessment done.

Saturday: Toughest bike workout for me this OS...2 hours on trainer as 2 x 20' @ FTP (297/294), 3 x 3' @ 110% FTP (325/327/327) and 2 x 15' @ 83% FTP. Total ride IF=.858 & 149TSS. Then 30' easy brick run. UNCLE!

Sunday: Up early (4am) with Andrea so she could catch a 7am flight. On the treadmill for an easy 5 mile run. 30' yoga afterwards. Then did a steady 60' tempo ride @ .872 IF while Drew napped in the afternoon. Good training weekend! Rest day Monday to absorb the work.

Here's the data for week 10:

Time spent training: 9:02
Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 59' (27' spent @ 110%+ FTP)
Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .861
Mileage: 119.2
Training Stress Score (TSS): 632
Chronic Training Load (CTL): 62.7 TSS/d
Training Stress Balance (TSB): -28.9 (Good thing Monday is a rest day!
Weight: 171.6 lbs (still dropping!)
Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 299 watts
Vdot: May use Shamrock Shuffle 8K as a beanchmark/test (03/21/2010), but I'm thinking based on recent runs it's ~52-53

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 10:

Week 9

Week 9 required a significant amount of training schedule creativity as well as a focus on proper rest/recovery since I was traveling for work all week. This week also marked a change in training focus from doing lots of lactate threshold work the last 8 weeks to spending the next 6 weeks focusing on VO2max work (higher intensity). On the bike this means riding very short (30 seconds), but intense intervals at 120% of my FTP. These workouts are my favorite since you punish yourself for short periods over and over again - a nice break both physically and mentally.

On the running front, I'm continuing to ramp up the mileage. I hit a significant milestone for the ramp up by completing 30 minute and 35 minute run sessions with no walk breaks. No pain and the paces have naturally moved up too!

So here's how the week shaped up:

Monday: 2,600m morning swim with plenty of drillwork. Lunchtime 63’ trainer ride with 4x(5x30"@120% FTP, 30"@60% FTP), 20' @ .838. Total ride IF=.83 & 70 TSS. Afternoon flight to Phoenix.

Tuesday: 25' run at sunrise in beautiful, sunny Phoenix. Followed up with 45’ of core and stretching. Afternoon flight back home to Chicago.

Wednesday: Stayed home from work to take care of Drew (103 degree fever). Up early for a 60' trainer ride with 4x(5x30/30) & 20' @ .85. 30' treadmill run at lunch while Drew napped followed by 45’ of core work and yoga.

Thursday: Early morning flight to Denver for a 2 day meeting in Keystone. No workouts today.

Friday: 30' easy run at sunrise at 9,500 ft elevation in beautiful Keystone, CO. Chicago boy had tough time w/ altitude. Evening flight back home to Chicago.

Saturday: 110' morning trainer ride as 2x18' @ 296/295, 2x4' @ 327/327, 2x15' @ 249/246. Total ride IF=.864, 135 TSS. Lots of good work on heavy, traveled legs. Afternoon 35’ run through neighborhood in the beautiful weather at easy pace. Foam roller and The Stick in the evening.

Sunday: Bonus 45' on trainer as 2x10' @ 296/294, then 10' @ .85 followed by a great daddy/son breakfast out - I LOVE THESE!. Went for my first ever swim assessment/video analysis in afternoon – very eye opening! Have some specific things to work on that will really help me swim more efficiently and hopefully faster.

Here's the data for week 9:

Time spent training: 7:54

Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 41'

Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .84

Mileage: 104.2

Training Stress Score (TSS): 525

Chronic Training Load (CTL): 65.4 TSS/d

Training Stress Balance (TSB): -13.2
Weight: 172.6 lbs

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 299 watts

Vdot: Won't test until March

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 8:

Week 8

This week was a testing week. After 7 long, hard weeks of some killer FTP intervals on the bike trainer (ranging from 2 x 8' to 2 x 20') it was finally time to see if the work has been paying off. I knew about 3 weeks into the Endurance Nation OutSeason training plan that the work was working but without doing an actual FTP test I couldn't substantiate any numbers - they were only guesses.

So I got up to my usual 5:00am alarm Monday morning and laid every ounce of effort I had into the Functional Threshold Power Test - two all-out 20' intervals with a 2' easy recovery spin in between. The results? A 10% increase in FTP (Week 1=271 watts, Week 8-299 watts) and a 16% increase in watts/kg (Week 1=3.3 w/kg, Week 8=3.8 w/kg)! Solid improvement for only 7 weeks of training - significantly above the levels I anticipated being at this early in the OutSeason training plan.

This week was also another step in getting back to my pre-injury run form. I ended the week with my first "continuous" run (no walk breaks) with a 25' jaunt through my neighborhood with Abby (my canine training partner who lives for runs). The legs are feeling great!!

Here's my day-by-day activity:

Monday: Functional Threshold Power test on the trainer in the morning. New FTP=299 watts. With the power up and the weight coming down my new watts per kg=3.8. My new goal is 315 watts and 4.2 w/kg for 2010. Core work and foam roller in evening.

Tuesday: 45' of Pilates in morning. Lunchtime treadmill run as 2 x 15' easy with 2' walk break between. 1 hour of Yoga immediately after run.

Wednesday: Morning 2,000m swim with 5 x 200m steady. 45' of core strengthening during lunch.

Thursday: 65' trainer ride as 2 x 20' @ 294/294, 5' @ .836. Total ride IF=.891 & TSS=88. Followed it up w/ a 45' "brick" shovel after the 6" of now we got overnight. Then a treadmill run during lunch as 20' easy run / 2' walk / 10' easy run. 15' core strengthening immediately after run. Foam roller in evening. Solid day.

Friday: 2,500m morning swim consisting of mainly drillwork. 30' deep water run immediately after - this will be my last DWR! Good recovery day.

Saturday: 1-1/2 hour morning trainer ride as 2x15' @ 299/301, 5' @ 331, 2x15' @ .832/.83. Total ride IF=.863, TSS=119. This one was hard but I hit the intervals the way planned! Foam roller in the evening.

Sunday: My first "continuous" run - 25' through the neighborhood with a pace a little faster than I've been going lately (~7:55/mile). Felt awesome - could have gone forever. It took a lot of discipline to stick to the plan and come in at 25' but I know it's critical to be smart with the ramp up right now.

Here's the data:

• Time spent training: 7:53
• Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 38'
• Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .879
• Mileage: 93.25
• Training Stress Score (TSS): 529
• Chronic Training Load (CTL): 63.6 TSS/d
• Training Stress Balance (TSB): -18.5
• Weight: 173 lbs - this seems to be my "sweet spot" for the Off Season
• Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 299 watts
• Vdot: Won't test until March

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 8: