05/17/2010 - Week 20

Had a great week of training this week with my biggest volume (distance & duration) so far this season.  I feel like my body is adapting well to the transition from short/hard workouts of the Endurance Nation OutSeason training to the long-course training.  I also had a week of no travel which allowed me to ensure I hit all my workouts with the right amount of rest, focus and intensity.

The Swim
My swimming is the one sport where I feel like everything is clicking right now.  My stroke is feeling smoother than ever (thanks to a great lesson from Fitz at Chicago Blue Dolphins a couple months back) and my times in the pool are reflecting the hard work I've been putting in.

Since my regular indoor pool is now closed until August, I spent some time trying to find alternative locations to swim for the next couple weeks until my local outdoor community pool opens after Memorial Day.  I've always been an early morning swimmer (dictated by the pool schedule) but I was forced to alter my schedule a bit this week to be able to swim at some pools that are close to my office.  I found a couple that are great and within 10 minutes of the office so I just zip over at lunch, knock out a workout and get back to work by 1:00.  I  traditionally have done my run workouts over lunch, so by flip-flopping the times of these sessions I've found that my body actually handles this training load better.  Plus, the swim is such a good recovery from a hard run!

This week was my first open water swim (OWS) of the year.  It was so great getting back to the lake even if there were huge seaweed and algae colonies to swim through!  I've never seen anything like it.  I'd be swimming along then meet a huge mass of slimy algae head on.  Disgusting, but manageable.  These OWSs will become a weekly session every Friday from now until IM in September.

The Bike
I pretty much got right back on the horse after Sunday's half marathon.  I was a little nervous about doing a bike trainer session Monday morning but I really want to jump start the bike fitness so I gave it a go with decent success.

I was also able to get in back-to-back bike workouts over the weekend which is one of the hallmarks of Endurance Nation Ironman training.  No weekend races or other things to get in the way this week.  I didn't feel my best during the second ride but I put in a solid effort in some very warm and humid weather.  I was also playing around more with my bike position during these weekend rides - I feel quite a bit more comfortable in the saddle and cockit.  Just a couple more tweaks to make over the coming weeks and I think I'll have my IMWI position pretty dialed in.

The Run
After the build up over the last several weeks for Sunday's half marathon, I pulled back the reigns a bit on the mileage to give the body a break.  Even though I'm feeling great, I've found that this can be the time when injury can abruptly present itself.

Key sessions were a track/speed workout, long-ish run and a few easy, short "recovery" runs.  I'm loving the track workouts and will probably continue to do at least one per week if my body responds well to it.

Body Composition
I had a pretty intense focus on body comp in the weeks leading up to the half marathon, so I decided to give it a rest for the week and allow myself a few indulgences.  I may get back at it prior to my big bike weekend over Memorial Day weekend (easier to carry a few less pounds up those Madison, WI area hills to stay with the stud riders).

Here are the day-to-day training highlights for the week:

Monday: Short early morning trainer session with 4 x 5' at FTP as the main set. Great high effort 3,400m swim in a new (to me) pool during my lunch hour.
Tuesday: Early morning speed workout at the high school track up the road.  Tough getting the legs to wake up but hit the intervals well.

Wednesday: 75' on the trainer with some long FTP intervals then a 20' easy brick run after.

Thursday: Pilates and yoga in the morning.  Solid 10 mile run during lunch with 2 x 2 mile intervals at threshold pace.  Felt great the whole run like I could have gone all day.

Friday: First open water swim of the year: 1.6 miles and faster than my best from 2009 despite the the cool, rainy weather and algae/seaweed slowing me down!

Saturday: Just under 3 hours in the saddle at .8 IF & 187 TSS. Still tweaking position.

Sunday: 2 hr ride at .79 IF & 123 TSS followed by 30' brick run at 7:05 pace. Hot & humid finally. I love it!

Data for the week:

Time spent training: 11:56

Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 46'

Time spent at or below LTHR pace on run: 35'

Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .808

Mileage: 167

Training Stress Score (TSS): 860

Chronic Training Load (CTL): 103.4 TSS/d

Training Stress Balance (TSB): -24.7

Weight: 170.0 lbs

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 293 watts

Vdot: 54.3

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 20:



Life Outside of Triathlon
Now that the weather is warming up, Drew wants nothing to do with being inside!  He's constantly playing in the yard with his lawn mower or riding around on his "bike" (a 4-wheel scooter).  I wouldn't want it any other way - I hope he retains this desire to be outside as he gets older because there are way too many kids who don't get their butts up off the couch to explore the outdoors.

Another highlight was Drew's first trip to a petting zoo.  He was a little freaked out at first actually seeing real, live animals from his books but after 15 minutes we couldn't tear him away.  A ride in a trailer behind a tractor quickly distracted him.  It was such a fun afternoon!

We're also in the middle of a few house projects.  We've been doing quite a bit of landscape work and the yard is finally starting to look pretty good and tidy now.  We also have a contractor doing a couple indoor projects for us: turning our laundry room into a mud room with built-in lockers and re-facing our fireplace with stone (replacing the old, red brick) and new doors.  Should all be complete in the next couple weeks.

Week 19 - 05/10/2010

19 weeks of focused training!  It's hard to believe it's been that long.  And there's only 18 weeks to go to the big day in Madison.  I have much work to do as I came to realize this week.

 

It was another week of business travel (last one for a while!) with a trip to Newport, RI from Wednesday through Friday so I was able to get in my key workouts before and after the trip and enjoyed a nice run while in Newport taking in the beautiful New England landscape.

 

This was my last week swimming at the high school pool right up the road from my house where I've been swimming for the past 2 years.  Beginning Monday, the pool will be shut down for the summer for construction.  I'll be able to swim at the community outdoor pool once it opens after Memorial Day so for the next couple weeks I'll probably be swimming in random pools and will also start doing weekly open water swims in a nearby lake.

 

The week ended with a solid half Ironman-distance race simulation ride as well as a half marathon race in downtown Chicago (race report in a previous post).  The half marathon brought me to the reality that I still have quite a way to go to get my run fitness up to where I want it to be for Ironman but I'm pretty confident I'll get there with the increased volume that is coming in the heart of Ironman training this summer.  Now that the half marathon is done I really plan to kick start the bike fitness a bit too and get uber-focused on every bike workout to ensure I'm pushing myself adequately to get the most out of every session.

Here are the day-to-day highlights for the week:
Monday: 3,100m swim in a COLD pool this morning was crap! Never got warm and felt very unsmooth. 30' easy run at lunch finally warmed me up.

Tuesday: Pilates and yoga in the morning then hit the treadmill at work for a speed workout. Mentally tough getting going but nailed the workout. Couldn't get lunch in me fast enough after this one.

Wednesday: 3,800m swim in the morning, then 45' on trainer at .85 IF with a 20' easy brick run after. Good, solid day. Arrived in Newport, RI in the evening - beautiful place!

Thursday: Nice 8 mile run through the mansions and along the ocean in Newport.  Did 3 x 1 mile intervals at 1/2 marathon pace. Feeling good about Sunday's half marathon where I'll be doing a little "experimenting".

Friday: Core work before an early morning flight back home.

Saturday: 56 mile race simulation ride: 2:33, IF=.83, NP=243, TSS=178, VI=1.03. Then 4 mile brick run at marathon pace.

Sunday: Ran Chicago Spring Half Marathon: 1:26:50 (1:29 PR but 1:50 slower than what I wanted to run).  Experimented with a 9' run/1' walk strategy - didn't work out too well.  Good trial with many lessons learned, though.

Data for the week:

Time spent training: 10:00
Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 23'
Time spent at or below LTHR pace on run: 1:30
Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .83
Mileage: 113
Training Stress Score (TSS): 847
Chronic Training Load (CTL): 98.6 TSS/d
Training Stress Balance (TSB): -22.2
Weight: 168.6 lbs (lightest I've been since high school)
Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 293 watts
Vdot: 54.3
Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 19:

Race Report - Chicago Spring Half Marathon

For the past 4 weeks or so I've been really focusing on getting my run fitness built up enough to perform at my best for the Chicago Spring Half on May 16.  I've been slowly ramping up the miles week by week and paying special attention to body composition to be as lean as possible for race day.  I put together some pretty good training weeks and achieved the body comp I was looking for (actually the lightest I've ever been since I've been competing in triathlon and endurance sports).  Unfortunately, I ran out of time to get some really decent long run miles in my legs (my longest run was 13 miles the week before the race) but I felt plenty prepared for the 13.1 mile distance.

I also decided to use this race to experiment with the run/walk strategy that I plan on using during the marathon at Ironman Wisconsin.  I began practicing it on my long runs a few weeks prior to the race.  I knew it would be tough to be able to run my goal time (1:25:00) using the run/walk but I wanted to get a feel for it in race conditions anyway.  The plan was to run 9 minutes and walk for 1 minute for the first 10 miles of the race.

Race morning came and I was feeling pretty good.  My legs were a little fatigued from doing a 56 mile race simulation ride with a 4 mile run at marathon pace the day before, but nothing that I felt would limit me.  It was a pretty low key race for a downtown Chicago event (only about 3,500 runners).  The course was an out & back along the lakefront path with a slight tailwind on the way out.  The weather was almost perfect with high 40 degree temps and sunny for race start.

I started out the race according to plan: take it fairly easy the first 3 miles targeting 6:35 pace for the 9:00 run portion, then from miles 3-10 target 6:05 pace, and after mile 10 give it everything I had to the finish.  All was going according to plan, but things got pretty tough at about the 9 mile mark.  I was having a difficult time holding the run pace and I could feel my form starting to break down.  By mile 10 I could really feel the fatigue in my legs.  I was determined to not allow anyone to pass me and to stick with a guy I was playing cat & mouse with all day.  Finally, at mile 12 I passed the guy (fellow Ironman) and tried like hell to pick up the pace but I just didn't have a sub-6:00 mile left in me.  I crossed the finish line completely spent!

The good news: a new half marathon personal best of 1:26:50 beating my half marathon PR set last year at the Steelhead 70.3 triathlon by 1:29.

The bad news: I was 1:50 off my goal time.

Obviously my run fitness isn't where I thought it would be at this point.  I can point to a lot of reasons for this but I think the primary reason is the lack of long run miles since returning from my stress fracture in March.  A couple more months and I think I'll be where I want to be.

I was also a little disappointed that I didn't have the "mental fitness" to dig deeper in the last 3 miles to really turn myself inside out.  I got to this point for the first time last year and I think with more training it will come back.

As for the run/walk approach, I think it could be altered to yield a better result for the half marathon distance.  I like the method but for this distance I think I would have been better off doing either a 10 minute run/40 second walk or 15 minute run/1 minute walk.  I just never felt like I was in a good rhythm.  But that's what these "C" races are for...trying new things so when the "A" race comes you are well prepared and can execute a plan that you know from experience will work.

It turned out to be a fun day of racing and socializing with fellow Endurance Nation athlete Matt Ancona who captured his first overall win!  I was so happy for him - he's an unbelievable athlete who has a really bright future in this sport.


Andrea and Drew also made it down to the finish so it was great fun hanging out with the Anconas and then taking a stroll up Michigan Ave watching Drew look up at all the big buildings and taking in the big city chaos - we just don't get the opportunity to be downtown enough.

Now the focus is on continuing to build up the run mileage and really concentrating on some quality bike workouts in the coming weeks leading up to my next race: High Cliff Triathlon (half Ironman) on June 19.  I've got a long ways to go to get to where I need to be for Ironman but I also realize I have the time and just need to be patient - it will come!

Week 18 - 05/03/2010

This week continued to present some challenges in fitting workouts in amongst life's other priorities. Andrea was out of town all week and I had an overnight trip to make to Maine on Thursday/Friday. Luckily I've got access to my trainer and treadmill in the basement (pain cave) and a fitness center/good outdoor running routes at work, and also a very helpful sister-in-law who came Thursday afternoon from Michigan to watch Drew for the night.

This week I'm continuing to see things going in the right direction with my run fitness. I'm happy with my efforts during workouts and find myself hitting faster and faster paces, so the run focus is paying off. Hopefully this focus equates to a PR at a half marathon on May 16.

Because of the run focus, I've taken a little mental break from the bike. I'm still doing the prescribed workouts but I'm letting the brain tell me that it's okay to miss my intensity numbers while in a workout session. This will change after the half marathon where I intend to intensely focus on the bike with some big things planned for Memorial Day weekend to really jumpstart the fitness.

I also saw some good things happening to body composition. I hit my lightest weight since I've been doing triathlon and am really feeling the benefits while running. I'll be happy to maintain this weight for the upcoming half marathon.

Here are the day-to-day highlights for the week:

Monday: 2,500m swim with some 50s and 200s hard. Legs feeling pretty good after yesterday's 10K, but going to stay off them for the day. Foam roller work at night to ensure the legs are loose.

Tuesday: Pilates and yoga in the morning. Lunchtime speed workout consisting of hard 200s and 400s. Followed these intervals with 3 miles at half marathon pace. Total of 55' in some beautiful May weather!

Wednesday: Single dad for the week means a very early morning workout. On the trainer at 4:50am for 60' at .82 IF, then 30' treadmill brick run at marathon pace. Glad my son's a good sleeper!

Thursday: Good night's sleep last night to prep body for long run. Core and yoga in the morning, then lunchtime long run: 13.1 miles with 5 miles at easy pace, 3 miles at marathon pace and 5 miles at half marathon pace. Finished feeling strong. Threw on the compression gear for evening flight to Maine.

Friday: Late night last night, so slept in a little which left me time crunched to get in a short run and swim. Ran an easy 1.5 miles to a YMCA pool in Portland, swam a hard 1,200m and ran the 1.5miles back to hotel - all done in less than 45 minutes. I couldn't make my first trip to Maine without some local delicacy for lunch:


Saturday: Delayed flights got me home very late last night. Slept in and didn't start bike workout until 9:00am. Geared up for the cold, windy weather but only made it about 30 minutes before deciding it was ridiculous dealing with these conditions. Returned home and knocked out 2.5 hours on the trainer, then did 30 minute brick run on treadmill.

Sunday: Happy Mother's Day! Slept in, made pancakes for a special Mom (and Drew and Dad), then headed out for a 42 mile/2 hour steady "always be pushing" (ABP) ride at .82 IF and 128 TSS. Weather was much more tolerable than yesterday.

Data for the week:

Time spent training: 10:13
Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 43'
Time spent at or below LTHR pace on run: 1:16
Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .809
Mileage: 135
Training Stress Score (TSS): 793
Chronic Training Load (CTL): 95.9 TSS/d
Training Stress Balance (TSB): -21
Weight: 169.0 lbs
Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 293 watts
Vdot: 54.3

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 18:

Week 17

This week began a stronger focus on the Half Ironman race (High Cliff Triathlon) I have coming up in June. I'm now using the Endurance Nation half Ironman training plan for my bike and swim workouts. I'll continue to stick with the OutSeason training plan for the run workouts but will be adding some run miles here and there during the week since the OS run workouts don't exceed 60'.

My run mileage was definitely up this week. I capped the week off with a 10K "race" on Sunday (ended up being more of a tempo run workout since my body and mind definitely didn't prepare to race this one). It was in East Lansing on Michigan State's campus (my alma mater). I met my brother and his buddy there who were doing the 5K (which started 1 hour after the 10K so ran it with them as a cool down run). Being back in E.L. for the first time in 5 years with some fun dudes meant that there would be some good times the night before the race. After many beers (those Leinenkugels Summar Shandys rock!), bad food, on my feet all day (after a 3 hour hard bike workout in the morning), 5 hours of sleep and pouring rain during the race I ran the 10K and managed to set a PR. However, it was about a minute and a half slower than where I thought my time should be. Still, it was a low priority race done more for fun. It was cool to run around campus and finish on the 50 yard line of Spartan Stadium! You need these low key, "who cares" races every now and then to give yourself a break.

Here are the day-by-day details of the week:

Monday: 2,000m morning swim with hard 100s in 1:20 - I can feel sub-1:20 coming soon. 5.5 mile easy run during lunch with runner buddies that I hadn't run with in a long time.

Tuesday: 45' run with 3 x 1mile repeats @ 6:05/mile pace. Suffered bad on #2 but pulled it together for #3...No snap in the legs this morning.

Wednesday: 60' bike session on the trainer followed by an steady 30' brick run outside on the trail ion the beautiful sunrise weather.

Thursday: Great 11 mile run with 3 miles at 10K pace and 5 miles at marathon pace. Strong, smooth & comfortable. Definitely a confidence boosting run!

Friday: "Give-the-legs-a-rest day": 2500m swim in 40'. Prep for long ride tomorrow & 10K race Sunday.

Saturday: Battled some crazy winds on a 3 hour/60 mile ride in Michigan. Definitely didn't hold anything back for the 10K tomorrow.

Sunday: Heart of a Spartan 10K: 39:00 (PR by 3:30 (only the 3rd 10K I've ever done - last one was 4 years ago)). "Racing" it just wasn't in the cards (or shelled legs). Good enough for 13th overall and 2nd in age group though. Established new Vdot of 54.3, but I think I'm closer to 55.

Data for week 17:

Time spent training: 9:37

Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 50'

Time spent at or below LTHR pace on run: 1:19

Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .797

Mileage: 115

Training Stress Score (TSS): 784

Chronic Training Load (CTL): 91.9 TSS/d

Training Stress Balance (TSB): -20.3

Weight: 170.5 lbs

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 293 watts

Vdot: 54.3

Performance Management Chart (PMC) through week 17:

Week 16

I'm a little late, but here's a brief synopsis of  Week 16:

It was good solid week of training where I hit all my workouts even with some work travel thrown in.  My run fitness continues to improve.  This week was my first of many back-to-back long weekend rides and I handled them pretty well despite all of the short bike workouts the last few months.  Here are the day-by-day details:

Monday: 2800m in the pool with 20 all-out 50m efforts and a couple 300m pulls. 50m times slowly coming down.
Tuesday: Did my long run today...felt strong with 4x1 mi intervals averaging 6:05/mi pace. Total of 9.25 miles in 65' - longest run since November!  Ramping up for May 17th half marathon.

Wednesday: 60' bike session on the trainer followed by an easy 20' brick run.

Thursday: 6 mile run with 3x1 mile in 6:02/6:00/5:59 following a customer meeting in Syracuse.  Travel & triathlon training requires creativity!

Friday: Supposed to get in a 2800m swim this morning but lifeguard didn't show up to open pool. Good thing I'm taking a vacation day=>long bike ride/brick run later.  Did 30' of yoga in place of the swim.  Bike workout: 3:10, 66 mi, NP=240 watts, IF=.82, TSS=216, VI=1.07. Brick run: 30', 4.25 mi, IF=.95, rTSS=49.

Saturday: Great 2 hour ride on the road bike with a consistent .85 IF effort.

Sunday: Rest day! Slept in and then b-fast out just the boys...


Here's the data for the week:

Time spent training: 9:57

Time spent at or above FTP on bike: 50'

Time spent at or below LTHR pace on run: 49'

Avg bike Intensity Factor (% of FTP) = .822

Mileage: 150

Training Stress Score (TSS): 769

Chronic Training Load (CTL): 87.7 TSS/d

Training Stress Balance (TSB): -19

Weight: 170.5 lb

Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 293 watts

Vdot: 53.4

Performance Management Chart (PMC) for week 16: