Week 15

Week 15 was my final week of following the Endurance Nation 20 week OutSeason training plan for my cycling workouts due to the need to start race specific prep for a June 1/2 Ironman.  However, I will continue to follow the first 12 weeks of the OS plan for the run workouts (I'm on week 7 now) since my injury over December-February delayed my run training.  So after this week I will start following the Endurance Nation Ironman General Prep training plan for cycling and swimming and finish up weeks 7-12 of the OS plan for running with some additional miles tacked on one of the run sessions every week to prep for a May 1/2 marathon and the June 1/2 Ironman.

As nice as the OutSeason training plan is with its short but intense workouts, I'm looking forward to breaking out of that monotony and changing things up with some added distance and different workout "flavors", especially since it's starting to get nicer outside, so my training time in the "pain cave" (basement) will be much less.

The focus this week was on listening to my body after the intense San Diego training day over the weekend.  I was feeling pretty good all week so I just stuck with the training plan's prescribed workouts except for dialing back the intensity of the Tuesday bike workout a bit.  I also did some testing this week: 1,000m swim time trial on Friday and an outdoor bike 2 x 20' FTP test on Sunday.  Here are the day-by-day details:

Monday: Gave legs a well-deserved break after the epic training/travel weekend: 2800m early morning swim felt therapeutic.


Tuesday: 70' morning trainer ride with 2 x 20' intervals.  Dialed the intensity back a bit due to new tri bike set up and lingering leg fatigue from the weekend.  Tough session but got it done.  35' easy run at lunch with some strides.  Core work afterwards.


Wednesday: Started noticing my left piriformis muscle really knotted up after my run yesterday.  Worked on it with the foam roller, then went out for a solid 7.5 mile run with 3 x 1 mile threshold pace efforts: 6:04 / 6:01 / 6:01.  Feels like I'm starting to get close to my 2009 peak as far as run fitness.  Really rolled the hips again in the evening to loosen up that piriformis.


Thursday: First outdoor ride on new tri bike: 60' with 3 x 10' at 97% of FTP, then 13' @ 80%. Getting a good feel for the sweet machine.  Piriformis is starting to loosen up now...whew, that could have gotten bad fast if I ignored it.


Friday: Second 1,000m swim time trial of the season.  Ended up swimming my best-ever result: 14:40 - 42" improvement in 4 weeks and 1" better than previous PR (2008). Sub-14' is new goal!


Saturday: Pilates in the morning, then travel day to Michigan to celebrate my nephew's 2nd birthday.  No swimming, biking, or running today.  Getting body ready for hard 2 x 20' FTP test tomorrow morning on the beautiful West Michigan country roads.


Sunday: 2 x 20' outdoor FTP test...first one on new Cannondale Slice tri bike.  Ended up riding the test well, but result was a little lower than I would have liked: 293 watts is the new baseline for the next several weeks of training.  After the test, I rode an additional 2 hours at 80% of FTP. Then did a very short 10' brick run at marathon pace.


Here's the data for the week:

• Time spent training: 8:35
• Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 42'
• Time spent at or below LTHR pace on run: 26'
• Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .814
• Mileage: 122
• Training Stress Score (TSS): 649
• Chronic Training Load (CTL): 84.8 TSS/d
• Training Stress Balance (TSB): -23.8
• Weight: 170.6 lb
• Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 293 watts
• Vdot: 53.4

Performance Management Chart (PMC) for week 15:

Week 14

Week 14 started off with another functional threshold power (FTP) on the bike despite not feeling all that great (dealt with a lot of hacking and snotty nose over the weekend). I finished the 2 x 20 minute all-out effort intervals but didn't really see the results I was looking for. Oh well - it was a good workout anyway!

During the second half of the week I was in san Diego for a conference and stayed through Sunday to do some training in some of San Diego's notoriously awesome biking terrain (see my report of that day in a previous post).

It was definitely a good week of training with some quality workouts that have boosted my confidence for where my fitness currently stands and where it can go in the weeks and months ahead.

Here are the details of the week's workouts:

Monday: 2 x 20' FTP test with 2' recovery spin between each interval. Felt OK on the first 20' (306 watts) but virus reared its ugly head and made me suffer during the last 10'. Hit 294 watts for the entire test (down from 299 from week 8 test). I'm calling it a "good workout" and may re-test outside in the coming weeks. Core work and stretching/foam roller in the evening.

Tuesday: Strong 8 mile run on the treadmill with 4 x 1 mile intervals at 6:10-6:15 pace. Lots of stretching after this one.

Wednesday: Maiden voyage on new Cannondale Slice tri bike in the morning - 70' on the trainer with 3 x 10' at 295 watts and 15' at 248 watts. Hopped plane to San Diego later in the morning. Had some time before first meeting in San Diego so swam 2,800m in an outdoor rooftop pool with hard 50s and steady 200m pulls, then did 30' core work.

Thursday: Core work in the morning. Then a great 8 mile run in the beautiful San Diego sunshine along the waterfront. 3 x 1 mile intervals at 6:05-6:10 pace.

Friday: Core work and a swim on the rooftop again: 2,300m with 5 x 200m hard. Resting the legs for some tough cycling tomorrow.

Saturday: Epic training day with fellow EN athletes: morning ride in the mountains with some brutal climbs. Afternoon ride solo along the coast with a 30' steady-effort brick run through the streets of Encinitas. Absolutely spectacular day!

Sunday: Travel day - early morning flight back home. So good to be back to Andrea and Drew!

Data for week 14:

Time spent training: 12:40
Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 32' (includes only the Monday FTT & Wednesday trainer rides - doesn't include the 5 hrs of Saturday riding without a power meter)
Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .86
Mileage: 160.2
Training Stress Score (TSS): 1023
Chronic Training Load (CTL): 83
TSS/dTraining Stress Balance (TSB): -44.9 (body needs rest after Saturday!!)
Weight: 171.0 lbs
Bike Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 299 watts (sticking with old FTP until I test outside)
Vdot: 53.4

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 13:

4/10/10 - My "Epic" Training Day in San Diego

Since I had to attend a conference in San Diego last week I decided to take advantage of one of the best triathlon training areas in the world. Saturday would be my day to just drill myself with whatever training I could get in while enjoying the stellar weather and terrain that SoCal has to offer.

A couple weeks prior I reached out to my teammates on the Endurance Nation forums to get ideas for some good training routes/rides. I got a few recommendations and initially decided that I would just hook up with a local roadie group called the Swamis to get in a 60-70 mile ride in San Diego's North County. However, a couple days before I left fellow EN athlete Tom Nelson sent me a link to a route he and his buddy Eric were going to ride Saturday morning and he invited me along. I decided this would be the best thing to do since I would be riding with a teammate and the route sounded incredible.

After picking up my rental bike from Nytro Multisport (which, conicidentally, happens to be where I just purchased my new Cannondale Slice from) Friday evening and getting a ghood night's sleep I made the 45' drive out to San Diego's East County to meet up with Tom and Eric Saturday morning for a 7:00am start. The route we would be riding was Loops 2 and 3 of the100 mile AdventureCORPS Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic ride to be held the following weekend in Pine Valley, CA.

The morning started off a little chilly (~35 degrees) but the sun was out and there was little wind. We started with Loop 2: a 28.5 mile ride with 3300+ feet of elevation gain.



My fingertips were frozen for the first 10 miles or so until we started the initial climb of the day. That's when the real fun started...~14 miles of sustained climbing (10-20% grade) up to the summit of Mt. Laguna at 6,000 feet elevation - definitely an eye-opener and shock to the system for this Midwesterner! We each climbied within our abilities, regrouped at the summit, fueled up and snapped a couple pictures.



Then we started our 10 mile ride back to the starting point which took us all of maybe 20 minutes. On some of the steeper descents I saw my speeds approaching 50mph!

Then we started Loop 3: a 26 mile route with 2800+ feet elevation gain (2,000 feet of which is gained in a 10 mile stretch of a very narrow Pine Creek Road).



Once we hit Pine Creek Rd I couldn't believe what was in front of me. The road pitched up to consistent 15-20%+ grades...it was the steepest and longest climbs I've ever done. The road resembled what you see in the mountain stages of the Tour de France - very narrow and very steep.  I'm happy to say I made it all the way up without falling over or blowing a lung, although I came close to doing both on several occasions! These pictures don't do the road or the steepness justice, but take my work for it - they were STEEP!









Finally, we hit the summit and stopped into a very cool general store for some junk food fuel and recovery.







We then made the same speedy descent back down the mountain to our starting point. Here are the stats for the ride:
Duration: 03:38:00 (moving time)
Distance: 55 miles
Elevation Gain: 6,184 ft
Calories Burned: 3,970
Morning Mountain Ride Statistics

Tom and Eric had to get back to go to an Angels game in the afternoon but first we made a stop at a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant to replenish some calories. I couldn't resist the Huevos Rancheros!

Since I only had one day to experience all that San Diego has to offer the visiting triathlete I decided to spend my afternoon riding the beautiful California coastline. So, I drove to Encinitas and started riding solo south along the Coast Hwy through the towns of Solana Beach, Del Mar, Torrey Pines and La Jolla. After all of the climbing in the morning the rolling hills of the coast felt like a few bumps in the road. But the scenery was spectacular.



Once I got to La Jolla it was time to turn it around and head back to Encinitas, but first I couldn't resist sitting in the sun with a little energy food.



Here are the stats for the afternoon coast ride:

Duration: 01:57:00 (moving time)
Distance: 32 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,602 ft
Calories Burned: 2,285
Afternoon Coast Ride Statistics

After the ride on the coast, I had a little extra time before I had to return the bike to Nytro.  So I threw on the run shoes and got in a nice, easy 30' brick run.  I ran through Encinitas (cool town!) north to Moonlight State Beach.  I flipped it here and ran back down the Coast Hwy just south of town, then trotted back.  A great conclusion to a spectacular day in SoCal!

Data for the run:

Duration: 00:31:47
Distance: 4.16 miles
Elevation Gain: 133 ft
Calories Burned: 558
All Run Statistics


Here are the statistics for the entire "epic" dayof training:

Duration: 06:08:00 (moving time)
Distance: 91 miles
Elevation Gain: 7,919 ft
Calories Burned: 6,813

Such a great day in San Diego!  It was definitely one the most fun and memorable training days I've had since doing triathlon.  Big thanks to Tom Nelson for being so accommodating and showing me what San Diego has to offer the endurance athlete.  I can't wait to get out there and do it again!

Week 13

This was my last week in a training block of VO2max intervals (30/30s) on the bike.  I feel like the last 6 weeks of VO2max work has raised my top end power, so now I'm looking forward to spending another 6 weeks back at the functional threshold power (FTP) intervals.

My run workouts are going very well.  My threshold intervals are stronger than what my recent run test says I should be running so I'm already seeing quick improvement.  Plus, the body is feeling good.

A little less training time in the plan this week which was good since it gave me the time to get the new TT bike set up the way I want it - it's a scientific process to get these machines dialed in perfectly.  With the help of Todd at TTBikeFit.com I'm well on my way to maximizing my speed on this unbelievable bike.  Now I just need to continue building a bigger engine to drive this thing!

Here are the details of the week's workouts:

Monday: 2,300m swim in the morning with 20 x 50m intervals hard.  Very minimal time spent on the wall - just lotsa work.  Core work in the evening.

Tuesday: 65' on trainer with 5 x (5 x 30/30s) then 20' @ .85 IF. Total ride IF=.84 and 78 TSS. Then 30' brick run with Abby outside at Easy pace (8:06). Great start to the day!  60' of yoga at lunch.

Wednesday: Did a 7.1 mile/50' run on a beautiful day at lunch with 3 x 1 mile intervals at 6:05 / 6:12 / 6:10 pace.

Thursday: 60' on trainer with another round of 5 x (5x 30/30s) then 15' at .85 IF. Trainer and I are getting sick of each other!

Friday: Great start to the day: 2 mile run to the pool, strong 2K swim, then 2 mile run back home. Had to drop off my car for repairs in the afternoon so I threw the bike in the trunk and biked the 10 miles back home (easy spin).

Saturday: 80' on trainer with 5 x (5x30/30s) then 30' at .85 IF. Overall ride IF=.85 and 93 TSS. Then 30'/4.5 mi steady brick run followed.  Then packed up the car and roadtripped it to Michigan.  Hit hard by the Spartan's loss!

Sunday: No workouts - day off.  Enjoyed time with family on Easter!

Data for week 13:

Time spent training: 7:36
Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 41' (36' spent @ 110%+ FTP)
Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .82
Mileage: 95.9
Training Stress Score (TSS): 595
Chronic Training Load (CTL): 72.3 TSS/d
Training Stress Balance (TSB): -12.5
Weight: 171.0 lbs
Bike Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 299 watts (may do another test on Monday)
Run Vdot: 53.4

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 13: