Hehe.. a great line. Being a rather self analytical kinda guy, it's clear I'm just not running enough. I put off the big treadmill purchase for a year and in hindsight it was probably a mistake. It's been a real struggle for the last couple of months just to log in 200-230k a month and one thing is for certain, I won't become a runner logging those paltry K's. I thought I was doing OK, considering the retardly crappy winter we've been having, but the log doesn't lie. It will be even more challenging to try increase the running while simutaneously trying to balance the other 2 sports. Such is triathlon.
Le log from last week:
Swim: 5k
Bike: 7hrs
Run: 55k
Notes: My current favorite swim set is 5(400fr, 100bk). It's a pretty easy 2500m, still just concentrating on form and getting into the swim of things.
Bike is coming along awesome. Did the ErgVideo loop of Lake Placid on Saturday and averaged 231 watts - mostly a high Z1 /low Z2 effort with some spikes into Z3.
Did a 5k Z4 effort on Thursdays run. Held my typical 4k/min, but perceived effort was rather high. Should be interesting this Sunday as I'm actually running a race... Yup, the Chilly Half Marathon is this Sunday and it's my last race as a 39 year old. I'd love to PB it, but I think that's asking alot considering I've done zero speedwork and I'm bitchin about my lack of running, but we'll see how it goes.
This sort of drives me nuts. When well intentioned people say they are going to do something, but really it's just talk. Anyone can talk a good game, but the key here is be true to yourself and if you say you're going to do something, then damn well do it!
Be true to your word. Really, it's all you have. (got to give props to my Mom for that.. cheers, Mom :)
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
El Cheapo, ITB - not!
Desoto tri short at LBS: 69.99 + tax.
Desoto tri short on Ebay: 28.50 no tax and delivered.
Saucony running shoes, full retail: 130.00 (yea, like I'm going to pay that)
Saucony running shoes on "sale": 99.99 (still too much)
Last years Saucony's: 79.99 (ok, I'll bite, bought 4 pair)
Best price I've paid: ~40.00 delivered and no tax on Ebay - tough to find though.
I like running shoes, but I hate the ridiculas marketing that goes with them. THIS years model is exactly the same as LAST years model, but has new improved shoe laces, or a different colour, maybe they changed a grommet, now because the shoe is sooooo much better, we better charge you extra for it! Yet, Joe Average thinks a $200 shoe is better than last years shoe that can be had for $80. Hey, if Joe Average is dumb enough to buy 200 dollar runners you can sure as hell bet that someone will sell it to him. (even though the labour is farmed out to 3rd world countries and that said company probably doesn't pay more that 6 bucks for them.)
Just like the tri shorts. I support the LBS as much as possible and have thrown a good chunk of change at them over the years, but I will not pay 70 dollars for a hunk of lycra with a pad on the butt - yet I have no problem dropping $$$ on race wheels... go figure. But since, I'm cheap when it comes to some stuff ... I can actually afford race wheels!
I would be the first the champion local business, but if I feel I'm getting ripped off, they won't be getting my money. I say, unite! If you feel you are paying too much - then you are! Do something about it.
A quick word about running shoes. Look for: actual 'running shoes' and buy the cheapest ones on sale in last years model. Trust me, I've run in them all and they all last the same amout of time. Buy, them in pairs of 2 and alternate your runs with your shoes. By doing this, I average ~600k per pair. This is tip number 1 of the week.
Last week's mileage recap:
Swim: 6.3k
Bike: 3.75 hr
Run: 73.5k
Notes: missed a long ride - had company on Sat night and Sunday was a .. umm... 'recovery day'. Good running K's for the week. I mentioned hill repeats last week for the bike - you are doing them - right??? Good. Now add the odd LT workout. Bring your HR to 5-10 beats below LT and hold for 10 min, rest 5 and repeat. Once you are 'comfortable' with that, bring the set to 15 min and finally 20 min. Do the 20 minute sessions closer to peak season. With the added strength from the hill workouts and regular 'LT training' - you'll defineately be zippy. Tip number 2!
So, last week, I had some IT issues. Nothing too bad, but enough to make me worry. Time for immediate and decisive action. The remedy: stretch - alot. I do 3 different IT stretches and was doing them 2 and 3 times a day. Massage - yea, messaging your IT is a painful experience, but it's got to be done. Lastly, bought new shoes. (hence the shoe rant above) Which leads to tip 3. If you have an issue, don't hope it's going to go away, do something about - NOW. I was lucky, addressed the issue and was able to clock some running K's and the IT feels 100%.
Cheers!
Desoto tri short on Ebay: 28.50 no tax and delivered.
Saucony running shoes, full retail: 130.00 (yea, like I'm going to pay that)
Saucony running shoes on "sale": 99.99 (still too much)
Last years Saucony's: 79.99 (ok, I'll bite, bought 4 pair)
Best price I've paid: ~40.00 delivered and no tax on Ebay - tough to find though.
I like running shoes, but I hate the ridiculas marketing that goes with them. THIS years model is exactly the same as LAST years model, but has new improved shoe laces, or a different colour, maybe they changed a grommet, now because the shoe is sooooo much better, we better charge you extra for it! Yet, Joe Average thinks a $200 shoe is better than last years shoe that can be had for $80. Hey, if Joe Average is dumb enough to buy 200 dollar runners you can sure as hell bet that someone will sell it to him. (even though the labour is farmed out to 3rd world countries and that said company probably doesn't pay more that 6 bucks for them.)
Just like the tri shorts. I support the LBS as much as possible and have thrown a good chunk of change at them over the years, but I will not pay 70 dollars for a hunk of lycra with a pad on the butt - yet I have no problem dropping $$$ on race wheels... go figure. But since, I'm cheap when it comes to some stuff ... I can actually afford race wheels!
I would be the first the champion local business, but if I feel I'm getting ripped off, they won't be getting my money. I say, unite! If you feel you are paying too much - then you are! Do something about it.
A quick word about running shoes. Look for: actual 'running shoes' and buy the cheapest ones on sale in last years model. Trust me, I've run in them all and they all last the same amout of time. Buy, them in pairs of 2 and alternate your runs with your shoes. By doing this, I average ~600k per pair. This is tip number 1 of the week.
Last week's mileage recap:
Swim: 6.3k
Bike: 3.75 hr
Run: 73.5k
Notes: missed a long ride - had company on Sat night and Sunday was a .. umm... 'recovery day'. Good running K's for the week. I mentioned hill repeats last week for the bike - you are doing them - right??? Good. Now add the odd LT workout. Bring your HR to 5-10 beats below LT and hold for 10 min, rest 5 and repeat. Once you are 'comfortable' with that, bring the set to 15 min and finally 20 min. Do the 20 minute sessions closer to peak season. With the added strength from the hill workouts and regular 'LT training' - you'll defineately be zippy. Tip number 2!
So, last week, I had some IT issues. Nothing too bad, but enough to make me worry. Time for immediate and decisive action. The remedy: stretch - alot. I do 3 different IT stretches and was doing them 2 and 3 times a day. Massage - yea, messaging your IT is a painful experience, but it's got to be done. Lastly, bought new shoes. (hence the shoe rant above) Which leads to tip 3. If you have an issue, don't hope it's going to go away, do something about - NOW. I was lucky, addressed the issue and was able to clock some running K's and the IT feels 100%.
Cheers!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
"Ya, but you are obviously gifted"..
HAHA! I almost choked on my own tongue. Let me rewind a bit. Over the last 2 weeks I've been spending some time at the local pool, which has an A.M. swim. So far, I've met 'Bob' a 67 year old triathlete and cross country skier, one of the local 'Iron-Docs' (2 local area doctors that started doing Ironmans a couple of years ago) AND 'Billy' - a '72 Olympian for diving. (Indonesia). Yea, the Mark Spitz Olympics, Billy was not only there he was actually a fellow pool competitor. I consider myself lucky to meet 3 interesting people a year, and here I've met 3 very neat and unique individuals in 1 week!
So I'm talking to Billy after yesterday's workout, picking his brain about the Olympics and acting like a googly eyed teeny bopper, when he says, I see you have done some swimming, you obviously have a gift. I'm sure he was just being nice as I really had no interest in talking about me, I wanted to hear his Olympic stories! But later that day, it got me thinking (ya that happens occasionally).
In VERY rare instances you'll see people who are truely gifted in what they do. However, for the rest of us mere mortals, things aren't that easy. It's takes hour upon hour, week after week, month after month and year after year to realize success. So where does that strength come from? Well, obviously, the mind. I truely believe, that the majority of the population can achieve WAY beyond what they THINK they can achieve. Unfortuneately, their minds have already limited what they can and can not do. So what mental attributes set the people apart who want to achieve their potential? The catch all characteristic is desire. Really, it all comes back to how bad to you want it and what are you willing to do get it? Think about it.
Now here is a guy who obviously has a gift and is skewing the whole bell curve: 5th grader basketball phenom
In other news..
The second week of my training camp is coming along just swell.
Monday: am swim 2k. pm spin 1 hour
Tue: am run 17k. pm spin 1 hour (held 250w @142 hr - 30+ beats below LT - nice)
Wed: am swim 1.6k. lunch run 7.5k. pm spin 45 min.
Thur: am run 17k. pm: 1:15 hill work on the bike. (to do..)
Guys, I'm telling you, do your hill repeats on the bike - it will make you strong like Conan. In very short order, I've noticed a substantial increase in power in the bike - just do it. Once a week. Hold 70 to 80 rpms in a lower gear, climb for 5 min maintaining mid Zone 2 heartrate. Rest 2.5 min. Repeat. Increase the reps over an 8 week period - trust me, you won't regret it.
Enough for today. Happy heart day to everyone!
Cheers,
Darren
So I'm talking to Billy after yesterday's workout, picking his brain about the Olympics and acting like a googly eyed teeny bopper, when he says, I see you have done some swimming, you obviously have a gift. I'm sure he was just being nice as I really had no interest in talking about me, I wanted to hear his Olympic stories! But later that day, it got me thinking (ya that happens occasionally).
In VERY rare instances you'll see people who are truely gifted in what they do. However, for the rest of us mere mortals, things aren't that easy. It's takes hour upon hour, week after week, month after month and year after year to realize success. So where does that strength come from? Well, obviously, the mind. I truely believe, that the majority of the population can achieve WAY beyond what they THINK they can achieve. Unfortuneately, their minds have already limited what they can and can not do. So what mental attributes set the people apart who want to achieve their potential? The catch all characteristic is desire. Really, it all comes back to how bad to you want it and what are you willing to do get it? Think about it.
Now here is a guy who obviously has a gift and is skewing the whole bell curve: 5th grader basketball phenom
In other news..
The second week of my training camp is coming along just swell.
Monday: am swim 2k. pm spin 1 hour
Tue: am run 17k. pm spin 1 hour (held 250w @142 hr - 30+ beats below LT - nice)
Wed: am swim 1.6k. lunch run 7.5k. pm spin 45 min.
Thur: am run 17k. pm: 1:15 hill work on the bike. (to do..)
Guys, I'm telling you, do your hill repeats on the bike - it will make you strong like Conan. In very short order, I've noticed a substantial increase in power in the bike - just do it. Once a week. Hold 70 to 80 rpms in a lower gear, climb for 5 min maintaining mid Zone 2 heartrate. Rest 2.5 min. Repeat. Increase the reps over an 8 week period - trust me, you won't regret it.
Enough for today. Happy heart day to everyone!
Cheers,
Darren
Monday, February 11, 2008
Would ya?
This weeks post ties in nicely with last week's post about sacrifice. You see, I had last week and I have this week off work. When people know you are going on vacation, invariably the question asked is 'where are you going?' This time my answer was 'umm, no where, just gonna hang out and train.' Oh sure, like that doesn't get the odd look or two.
In reality, I'm very content being a homebody, farting around the house, hanging with my pooches and structuring a week around training. OCD, endorphin addicted - whatever. I just plain ol enjoy it. So I guess most would think I'm sacrificing two weeks vacation to train. Personally, I don't think it's a sacrifice at all, you do what you enjoy and I enjoy training. So here's last week log:
Mon: run 8k am, spin 1hr pm.
Tue: swim 2k am, run 10k lunch, spin 1 hr pm
Tue: swim 2k am, run 10k lunch, spin 1 hr pm
Wed: run 11k am, sp 1 hr pm
Thur: sp 1.25 hr am (hills, hard workout), run 10 pm
Fri: swim 2.1 am, run 8k lunch, spin .75 hr pm
Sat: spin 2.5 hr (Ergvideo Lake Placid loop)
Sun: ditch long run and spin 2.5 hr (Lake Placid loop -again)
Total:
Swim 4.1k
Bike 10+hrs
Run 47k
Not a super epic week by any means.. but a very solid effort that won't leave me so trashed that I can't do something similiar this week. Some notes: swam 2 times! Stroke feels good, probably need about 8 weeks to really get back in the groove. Tues and Fri were three sport days, if I didn't have to work, I'd do these much more often. Sat: averaged 221 watts for the LP bike route. Felt great for 2 hours, but anyone who has done the route, knows it's the last 30 minutes that's tough. Sat in zone 1 for 2 hours, moved to mid Z2 for last 30 min. Sun: crappy weather, so bailed on the run and did Sat's ride - again. Did the exact same ride and felt even better. Going to bump up the wattage next time I do that ride.
In closing..
Must be a triathlete-only church:
Monday, February 04, 2008
Sacrifice
Establish a framework of priorities. I'll share mine:
1) Sally
2) Family and friends
3) Day to day realities. ie work, household stuff, chores etc..
4) Training
Now the trick is squeezing as much of number 4 without sacrificing too much of 1,2 and 3. The very first thing you have to do when 'getting serious' is discuss it with your significant other, family and friends. You WILL need their support. This is super important as it will make or break your future goals. Not having their support means will require a re-thinking of your priorities and goals.
Having their support means they will help you along your journey and on occasion help you with your other responsibilities so that can pursue your goal. Bascially you are clearing blocks of time. Don't worry, you can payback during the off-season.
Now that a framework is established. You have to work on the methodology of attaining what it is you want. I think the keywords here is consistency and have a willingness to learn and adapt. Keep the goals attainable and realisitic. You want to run a sub 3 hour marathon, but if your PB is 4 hours, you will NOT be running a 3 hour marry anytime soon. Get a plan, be consistent and come back in 5 years.
If it's your career, your sport whatever it is your pursue with passion in life. You will have to make sacrifices. Just make sure it's the ones you are willing to make and try not to let your passion cloud your vision and reality too much.
January numbers: (last years in paranthesis)
Swim 4k (15.5k)
Bike 29 hours (31.5)
Run: 258k (255)
Last week was an easy week/recovery week. Which was nice because I managed to catch a cold, so I took a 72 hour layoff of all training and concentrated on getting well. Still not 100%, so slowly easing back into it.
February is 'aerobic' month...
1) Sally
2) Family and friends
3) Day to day realities. ie work, household stuff, chores etc..
4) Training
Now the trick is squeezing as much of number 4 without sacrificing too much of 1,2 and 3. The very first thing you have to do when 'getting serious' is discuss it with your significant other, family and friends. You WILL need their support. This is super important as it will make or break your future goals. Not having their support means will require a re-thinking of your priorities and goals.
Having their support means they will help you along your journey and on occasion help you with your other responsibilities so that can pursue your goal. Bascially you are clearing blocks of time. Don't worry, you can payback during the off-season.
Now that a framework is established. You have to work on the methodology of attaining what it is you want. I think the keywords here is consistency and have a willingness to learn and adapt. Keep the goals attainable and realisitic. You want to run a sub 3 hour marathon, but if your PB is 4 hours, you will NOT be running a 3 hour marry anytime soon. Get a plan, be consistent and come back in 5 years.
If it's your career, your sport whatever it is your pursue with passion in life. You will have to make sacrifices. Just make sure it's the ones you are willing to make and try not to let your passion cloud your vision and reality too much.
January numbers: (last years in paranthesis)
Swim 4k (15.5k)
Bike 29 hours (31.5)
Run: 258k (255)
Last week was an easy week/recovery week. Which was nice because I managed to catch a cold, so I took a 72 hour layoff of all training and concentrated on getting well. Still not 100%, so slowly easing back into it.
February is 'aerobic' month...
Monday, January 28, 2008
A "dousy" update, Alton Half Iron race report..
A Half Ironman..
in January..
in Canada.
Gosh, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I think I came up with the idea last October. Back then, Jan 26th seemed like an eternity away. Well Jan 26th is now two days ago...
The inaugural Alton Half Ironman took place on Saturday. The event is currently capped at 5 participants, of which 3 actually took part. Very cosy, and at least this way everyone who participated is gauranteed at the very least a bronze medal. Now if only there was hardware available... Bah! Who needs a medal? Swag .. now that's something I'll have to work on for next year.
Moving right along. Aaron (who is quite the bad ass blogger - go read is his race report!) and hardcore Cliff were the only ones who actually thought this idea merit. Doh, they called my bluff.
The transition zone opened at 7:30am and naturally Aaron arrived exactly on time and Cliff arrived exactly when he was suppose to. (8am). We do a quick setup of the bikes in from the of TV. (HAHA.. you thought we were going to bike outside? -ok we maybe Canadian, but we aren't THAT stupid). We grab our swim gear and head to the pool. (nice deal on the pool, we get our very own swim lane and it only cost us 18 bucks - score!)
The swim.
10X 200 on 5 minutes. Lots of rest.. well cause we need it. This was my first swim since IMLP .. a mere 6 months ago and Cliff and Aaron aren't in any better swim shape. So this was clearly about ' just git er done'.
T1
~35 min. A bit long, I know. But by the time we changed, drove back to my house and got on our bikes, 35 min elapsed. Oh well. I guess no sub 4:30 HIM for me today.
The bike.
3 hours of Coach Troy. We were doing his "Tough Love" video and I had completely forgot how much he likes us out of the saddle. Felt like a bunny rabbit, up out of the saddle, down in the aerobars .. repeat... repeat. Well after two hours quad frying saddle jumping, we toasted Coach Troy and instead watched the 2007 Ironman World Championships, which was, as usual, highly entertaining AND allowed us to do some 'steady' work.
T2
~10 min. The 3 of us, 'dry out', as in towel off the sweat that 3 hours of indoor riding will do to you, eat and get dressed for the run.
The Run.
Muahahaha.. The evil imp that sits on my left shoulder took over and make a 'challenging' run. Challenging as in hilly. It was SO hilly, that Cliff actually got a nosebleed!! (true story!) Luckily, my beautiful wife, Sally, was driving the 'sag' wagon and came to Cliff's rescue. Naturally, he soldiered on.. tough guy.
Aaron was running well. I'd stop for 10 sec to talk to Sally and get a drink and it would take me 15 min to catch him.
In the end, I ground out the required 21+k and the legs are hardly complaining - some residual soreness, but that's OK, because this week is a scheduled EASY week.
Yes!
In other news...
(my God, is this guy going to ever shut up??)
Race Sched is now set.
Sporting Life 10k
Mississauga Half Marathon
Muskoka Long Course Tri
Peterborough Half Ironman
Owen Sound Olympic Tri
Guelph Lake Tri
Musokoka 70.3 Ironman
All registered and ready to go. Yiiihaaa
Last weeks mileage
swim 2k (yes! 1st swim of the year!)
bike 8+ hours
run: 57k.
Ok, I'm done. Cya.
in January..
in Canada.
Gosh, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I think I came up with the idea last October. Back then, Jan 26th seemed like an eternity away. Well Jan 26th is now two days ago...
The inaugural Alton Half Ironman took place on Saturday. The event is currently capped at 5 participants, of which 3 actually took part. Very cosy, and at least this way everyone who participated is gauranteed at the very least a bronze medal. Now if only there was hardware available... Bah! Who needs a medal? Swag .. now that's something I'll have to work on for next year.
Moving right along. Aaron (who is quite the bad ass blogger - go read is his race report!) and hardcore Cliff were the only ones who actually thought this idea merit. Doh, they called my bluff.
The transition zone opened at 7:30am and naturally Aaron arrived exactly on time and Cliff arrived exactly when he was suppose to. (8am). We do a quick setup of the bikes in from the of TV. (HAHA.. you thought we were going to bike outside? -ok we maybe Canadian, but we aren't THAT stupid). We grab our swim gear and head to the pool. (nice deal on the pool, we get our very own swim lane and it only cost us 18 bucks - score!)
The swim.
10X 200 on 5 minutes. Lots of rest.. well cause we need it. This was my first swim since IMLP .. a mere 6 months ago and Cliff and Aaron aren't in any better swim shape. So this was clearly about ' just git er done'.
T1
~35 min. A bit long, I know. But by the time we changed, drove back to my house and got on our bikes, 35 min elapsed. Oh well. I guess no sub 4:30 HIM for me today.
The bike.
3 hours of Coach Troy. We were doing his "Tough Love" video and I had completely forgot how much he likes us out of the saddle. Felt like a bunny rabbit, up out of the saddle, down in the aerobars .. repeat... repeat. Well after two hours quad frying saddle jumping, we toasted Coach Troy and instead watched the 2007 Ironman World Championships, which was, as usual, highly entertaining AND allowed us to do some 'steady' work.
T2
~10 min. The 3 of us, 'dry out', as in towel off the sweat that 3 hours of indoor riding will do to you, eat and get dressed for the run.
The Run.
Muahahaha.. The evil imp that sits on my left shoulder took over and make a 'challenging' run. Challenging as in hilly. It was SO hilly, that Cliff actually got a nosebleed!! (true story!) Luckily, my beautiful wife, Sally, was driving the 'sag' wagon and came to Cliff's rescue. Naturally, he soldiered on.. tough guy.
Aaron was running well. I'd stop for 10 sec to talk to Sally and get a drink and it would take me 15 min to catch him.
In the end, I ground out the required 21+k and the legs are hardly complaining - some residual soreness, but that's OK, because this week is a scheduled EASY week.
Yes!
In other news...
(my God, is this guy going to ever shut up??)
Race Sched is now set.
Sporting Life 10k
Mississauga Half Marathon
Muskoka Long Course Tri
Peterborough Half Ironman
Owen Sound Olympic Tri
Guelph Lake Tri
Musokoka 70.3 Ironman
All registered and ready to go. Yiiihaaa
Last weeks mileage
swim 2k (yes! 1st swim of the year!)
bike 8+ hours
run: 57k.
Ok, I'm done. Cya.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Uncomfortable is only a state of mind.
Ya, that was my mantra. Anyone who did some sort of extended outdoor activitity on the weekend knows first hand how uncomfortable it was. The temp was on the chilly side, but in truth, it was the wind. I'm guessing with the wind we were flirting with -20 to -25C windchills. Uncomfortable. My long run was in these conditions and I'm sure most people who saw me were shaking their heads.
Being uncomfortable is just a state of mind.
Oh sure, you can resign yourself to grumbling about how bad you got it and woe you are, or how the world owes you and to being miserable. But that's your choice. If you choose that direction, it so shall be.
Being uncomfortable is just a state of mind.
So that obviously ended up being my mantra during my long run. Crazy enough it worked. I ended up having one of my BEST long runs...
ever. (24.5k in <1hr 53min with an avg HR of 146.) The mind is powerful thing.
The rest of the stats for the week:
Swim: goose egg!
Bike: 7 hrs
Run 66.5k
The plan. Basic structure:
Mon: off/or easy swim
Tue: run 1 hr// hard bike. (LT work)
Wed: swim// easy run
Thu: run 1hr (Zone 2) // bike (strength work)
Fri: swim// easy run
Sat: long bike// easy run
Sun: long run.
Currenlty I'm substituting the swimming with extra biking and running. I did this plan last week and it seems to work well. The one major difference of this plan over last year's plan is the extra speed work. I will NOT be afraid to occasionally go into higher heartrate zones. The last couple of years I was primarily concerned with going long as much as I could handle, which meant ALOT of zone 1 work. The foundation has been laid, the cake is baked, going to put some icing at that bad boy this year. Let's see what happens.
FIVE days until the Alton Half Ironman...
Next weeks update should be a dousy.
Cheers,
Darren
Being uncomfortable is just a state of mind.
Oh sure, you can resign yourself to grumbling about how bad you got it and woe you are, or how the world owes you and to being miserable. But that's your choice. If you choose that direction, it so shall be.
Being uncomfortable is just a state of mind.
So that obviously ended up being my mantra during my long run. Crazy enough it worked. I ended up having one of my BEST long runs...
ever. (24.5k in <1hr 53min with an avg HR of 146.) The mind is powerful thing.
The rest of the stats for the week:
Swim: goose egg!
Bike: 7 hrs
Run 66.5k
The plan. Basic structure:
Mon: off/or easy swim
Tue: run 1 hr// hard bike. (LT work)
Wed: swim// easy run
Thu: run 1hr (Zone 2) // bike (strength work)
Fri: swim// easy run
Sat: long bike// easy run
Sun: long run.
Currenlty I'm substituting the swimming with extra biking and running. I did this plan last week and it seems to work well. The one major difference of this plan over last year's plan is the extra speed work. I will NOT be afraid to occasionally go into higher heartrate zones. The last couple of years I was primarily concerned with going long as much as I could handle, which meant ALOT of zone 1 work. The foundation has been laid, the cake is baked, going to put some icing at that bad boy this year. Let's see what happens.
FIVE days until the Alton Half Ironman...
Next weeks update should be a dousy.
Cheers,
Darren
Monday, January 14, 2008
Pen to paper
Weekly recap:
Run: 66.5k
Spin: 6.5 hrs
Yea babay, back in a solid groove and feeling good. Highlights: Tuesday: LT test on the bike. 30 minutes max effort. It really is a hellish experience.. I think the "One more minute" game started at about 4 minutes in. Went out a tad hard and faded at the end - not exactly what your suppose to do. Ended up averaging 291 watts for the duration. Heartrate was 174 from start to finish, so I did get good data there. Completely and totally fried my legs and almost needed a bucket. Haha.
Highlight number 2: Ran with Aaron on Saturday. Anytime you get to train with a partner, it's gravy. Just knowing someone is right there beside you always seems to lift your spirits. Before you know it we banged off 23k. (although I bet if you looked in his log, I bet he wrote down 24k..)
Highlight number 3: Zoinks. Three training highlights in ONE week. Yesterday I did 2.5 hours on the bike. Yup, it's that time of the year.. Lord of the Rings. So I stuck in LOTRO, put the computrainer in Erg mode and pedalled away. I kept going back and forth between 220w and 240w, 15 min in at each wattage. Awesome ride! The really cool thing about putting your Computrainer in erg mode is that no matter what gear you are in or what cadence you pedal, you HAVE to do the watts. There is no cheating. There is no coasting. You always always always gotta push the watts. Defineately a premium work out.
In the vain of Slowtwitch, critique my trainer dungeon!
I've been doing a bit of research on cycling and increasing functional threshold power (FTP). As usual, the more research you do, the more you begin to realize there is no ONE way. However, the one thing you have to do to become a faster cyclist is push the watts. Some do it by the tried and true 2X 20 Zone 4 workout and others do it by low cadence/high watt drills. Personally, I'm thinking of adapting both and alternating each week between the two.
So the plan is starting to come togethor, once I've actually committed pen to paper, you'll be the first to know.
Cheers!
Run: 66.5k
Spin: 6.5 hrs
Yea babay, back in a solid groove and feeling good. Highlights: Tuesday: LT test on the bike. 30 minutes max effort. It really is a hellish experience.. I think the "One more minute" game started at about 4 minutes in. Went out a tad hard and faded at the end - not exactly what your suppose to do. Ended up averaging 291 watts for the duration. Heartrate was 174 from start to finish, so I did get good data there. Completely and totally fried my legs and almost needed a bucket. Haha.
Highlight number 2: Ran with Aaron on Saturday. Anytime you get to train with a partner, it's gravy. Just knowing someone is right there beside you always seems to lift your spirits. Before you know it we banged off 23k. (although I bet if you looked in his log, I bet he wrote down 24k..)
Highlight number 3: Zoinks. Three training highlights in ONE week. Yesterday I did 2.5 hours on the bike. Yup, it's that time of the year.. Lord of the Rings. So I stuck in LOTRO, put the computrainer in Erg mode and pedalled away. I kept going back and forth between 220w and 240w, 15 min in at each wattage. Awesome ride! The really cool thing about putting your Computrainer in erg mode is that no matter what gear you are in or what cadence you pedal, you HAVE to do the watts. There is no cheating. There is no coasting. You always always always gotta push the watts. Defineately a premium work out.
In the vain of Slowtwitch, critique my trainer dungeon!
I've been doing a bit of research on cycling and increasing functional threshold power (FTP). As usual, the more research you do, the more you begin to realize there is no ONE way. However, the one thing you have to do to become a faster cyclist is push the watts. Some do it by the tried and true 2X 20 Zone 4 workout and others do it by low cadence/high watt drills. Personally, I'm thinking of adapting both and alternating each week between the two.
So the plan is starting to come togethor, once I've actually committed pen to paper, you'll be the first to know.
Cheers!
Monday, January 07, 2008
Upside down pyramid.
I truely think that when you 'seriously' start to pursue triathlon, there is no 'correct' way. Each individual is basically human guinea pig that struggles to find out what works best for them. Some are more successful than others and having a coach to help you navigate those waters would be a big asset. I actually enjoy being self coached, there is a personal satisfaction in researching, following a protocol, laying out and following plan and having a modicum of success in doing so. A couch would tell you "Do this" and you'd do it. Personally, I want to know the why's - it's only through exploring the why we something - is when I believe or not it will work for me.
An example is the pyramid approach to training. Many athletes approach their training in a typical pyramid fashion. Big base building hours in the early season, followed by some shorter more intense session as the season progresses. In my mind, this makes most the sense. The base period helps establish an aerobic engine in which the body has time to adapt and strengthen. This will put in you a much better physical state for when the time comes to do the harder/intense sessions.
The upside pyramid approach basically flips this idea around. ie: Do your more intense/interval training early in the year and your longer type stuff in the mid/late season. From a northern climate perspective this can make alot of sense, the reduced day light hours and dealing with lousy weather can put a damper on the hours one wants to train. However, from a physical stand point, I tend to agree with the standard pyramid approach to training. Always be working on the aerobic engine, but do the fine tuning later in the season. You can always incorporate some 'steady' state stuff to help alleviate the boredom, but save the interval training for racing season.
No one approach is 'best'. It's a matter of figuring what works best for you. The one universal truth that matters is consistency. Be consistent in your training and make sure you get enough rest. Ok, I guess that's two truths.
Last weeks hours:
Run 61k ( must... run... more...)
Bike 7.5 hrs (nice!)
Cap it off with two wieghts/core session and my regular stretching and you have the makings of a decent week.
Cheers!
An example is the pyramid approach to training. Many athletes approach their training in a typical pyramid fashion. Big base building hours in the early season, followed by some shorter more intense session as the season progresses. In my mind, this makes most the sense. The base period helps establish an aerobic engine in which the body has time to adapt and strengthen. This will put in you a much better physical state for when the time comes to do the harder/intense sessions.
The upside pyramid approach basically flips this idea around. ie: Do your more intense/interval training early in the year and your longer type stuff in the mid/late season. From a northern climate perspective this can make alot of sense, the reduced day light hours and dealing with lousy weather can put a damper on the hours one wants to train. However, from a physical stand point, I tend to agree with the standard pyramid approach to training. Always be working on the aerobic engine, but do the fine tuning later in the season. You can always incorporate some 'steady' state stuff to help alleviate the boredom, but save the interval training for racing season.
No one approach is 'best'. It's a matter of figuring what works best for you. The one universal truth that matters is consistency. Be consistent in your training and make sure you get enough rest. Ok, I guess that's two truths.
Last weeks hours:
Run 61k ( must... run... more...)
Bike 7.5 hrs (nice!)
Cap it off with two wieghts/core session and my regular stretching and you have the makings of a decent week.
Cheers!
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Hello '08!
Just like that.. '07 is out the door and big hello goes out to '08! As a bonus, it's an Olympic year, love the Olympics, love the motivation and inspiration it provides.
Lots of catching up, so here the abbreviated version of the last 2 weeks of training.
- injured on Dec 18th. Had a fall work.. (people PLEASE shovel and salt your driveway and walkways!!) Fortuneatly, it wasn't too bad, but just to err on the safe side, I only ran twice for that week.
- mileage total for week of Dec 17-23: run: 23k spin: 4.5 hrs.
- mileage total for week of Dec 24-30: run: 59k spin: 6.25 hrs. The knee is back to 100% and I'm feeling good.
- consistently stretching for 20 minutes a day and doing two sessions of weights and core work every week. Yup, the addiction is back.
Speaking of addictions, I suppose a few of you may have made a New Year's resolution to get fit, lose weight etc.. Here's a little trick that worked for me. Tell yourself you just have to workout for the next 6 weeks. Weeks 1 and 2 are easy, you are all gung-ho and ready to rock. Weeks 3 and 4 are more challenging, the gung-ho-ness is gone and it's much more of a challenge. Weeks 5 and 6 are make or break time, tough it out - it's only 2 weeks. After week 6, things will get alot easier. Why? Because you just made a habit. Go ahead, give it a shot, see what happens, afterall it's only 6 weeks - you can do *anything* for 6 weeks.
The January agenda.
-very similar to my last week of December. Looking to get 12 hours of aerobic activity in each week. Basically half running and half biking. Mondays are still my off day.
-the Alton Half Iron is scheduled for Sat the 26th. Space is limited and is selling it out very fast. I have a feeling the people that have been invited are beginning to have second thoughts about the wisdom of doing a half ironman in January. To them I say: muaahahahaha... :)
I feel the urge to soemthing sorta epic today... I'm thinking the ErgVideo Lake Placid loop... I guess that means it's time to
HTFU.
Cheers gang and Happy New Year!
Lots of catching up, so here the abbreviated version of the last 2 weeks of training.
- injured on Dec 18th. Had a fall work.. (people PLEASE shovel and salt your driveway and walkways!!) Fortuneatly, it wasn't too bad, but just to err on the safe side, I only ran twice for that week.
- mileage total for week of Dec 17-23: run: 23k spin: 4.5 hrs.
- mileage total for week of Dec 24-30: run: 59k spin: 6.25 hrs. The knee is back to 100% and I'm feeling good.
- consistently stretching for 20 minutes a day and doing two sessions of weights and core work every week. Yup, the addiction is back.
Speaking of addictions, I suppose a few of you may have made a New Year's resolution to get fit, lose weight etc.. Here's a little trick that worked for me. Tell yourself you just have to workout for the next 6 weeks. Weeks 1 and 2 are easy, you are all gung-ho and ready to rock. Weeks 3 and 4 are more challenging, the gung-ho-ness is gone and it's much more of a challenge. Weeks 5 and 6 are make or break time, tough it out - it's only 2 weeks. After week 6, things will get alot easier. Why? Because you just made a habit. Go ahead, give it a shot, see what happens, afterall it's only 6 weeks - you can do *anything* for 6 weeks.
The January agenda.
-very similar to my last week of December. Looking to get 12 hours of aerobic activity in each week. Basically half running and half biking. Mondays are still my off day.
-the Alton Half Iron is scheduled for Sat the 26th. Space is limited and is selling it out very fast. I have a feeling the people that have been invited are beginning to have second thoughts about the wisdom of doing a half ironman in January. To them I say: muaahahahaha... :)
I feel the urge to soemthing sorta epic today... I'm thinking the ErgVideo Lake Placid loop... I guess that means it's time to
HTFU.
Cheers gang and Happy New Year!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Technique.
Anyone who remotely follows this blog, knows that I always go on about technique. I know first hand how important good technique is. Sometime ago I swam fairly seriously. Occasionally, I'd get my butt kicked in a race by someone who was smaller and not as strong. They simply had better form. I vowed to become better by attaining better technique. I watched videos of Olympians, I practice mental imagery and most importanly I listened to what my coaches told me. It took awhile, but it worked. Today, the muscle memory that I had from 20 years ago is still alive and well and that I'm still a decent swimmer despite hardly training it. It's all due to technique.
I bring this up because I've dedicated all my riding in December to soley focusing on technique. For that I'm using spinscan that comes with Computrainer. See previous post if you're curious about spinscan or click here:
http://www.racermateinc.com/spinscan.asp
Last week my spinscan high for a mere 30 minutes on the bike was 77. This week it's 86! A 9 point improvement! Might not sound like much to you, but I was shocked. If I really concentrate while spinning, I can actually feel how I'm suppose to spin. ie: slightly changing when a muscle fires or changing my maximum torque angle. It takes alot of concentration and when my attention wonders, the numbers go down. I'll be routinely incorporating technique sessions throughout my winter training.
I'm an idiot. Wanted to do the Chili half marathon at the beginning of March. I procrastinated to the point that now the race is sold out. On the waiting list.
Last weeks totals:
Run 5 times: 60.5k
Spin 5 times: 3+ hrs.
The highlight was doing a 20k'er with Cliff on the Trans Canada Trail at 9 am on Saturday morning when it's -15 degrees. Afterwards, I bought myself and Sally snowshoes from Caledon Hills Cycling, who've recently branched out into winter sports. It was good timing as we almost got a foot of snow yesterday. So Sally got an early Christmas present and we snowshoeing in the middle of a blizzard yesterday. Might not be your idea of fun, but we had a blast!
Cheers!
Anyone who remotely follows this blog, knows that I always go on about technique. I know first hand how important good technique is. Sometime ago I swam fairly seriously. Occasionally, I'd get my butt kicked in a race by someone who was smaller and not as strong. They simply had better form. I vowed to become better by attaining better technique. I watched videos of Olympians, I practice mental imagery and most importanly I listened to what my coaches told me. It took awhile, but it worked. Today, the muscle memory that I had from 20 years ago is still alive and well and that I'm still a decent swimmer despite hardly training it. It's all due to technique.
I bring this up because I've dedicated all my riding in December to soley focusing on technique. For that I'm using spinscan that comes with Computrainer. See previous post if you're curious about spinscan or click here:
http://www.racermateinc.com/spinscan.asp
Last week my spinscan high for a mere 30 minutes on the bike was 77. This week it's 86! A 9 point improvement! Might not sound like much to you, but I was shocked. If I really concentrate while spinning, I can actually feel how I'm suppose to spin. ie: slightly changing when a muscle fires or changing my maximum torque angle. It takes alot of concentration and when my attention wonders, the numbers go down. I'll be routinely incorporating technique sessions throughout my winter training.
I'm an idiot. Wanted to do the Chili half marathon at the beginning of March. I procrastinated to the point that now the race is sold out. On the waiting list.
Last weeks totals:
Run 5 times: 60.5k
Spin 5 times: 3+ hrs.
The highlight was doing a 20k'er with Cliff on the Trans Canada Trail at 9 am on Saturday morning when it's -15 degrees. Afterwards, I bought myself and Sally snowshoes from Caledon Hills Cycling, who've recently branched out into winter sports. It was good timing as we almost got a foot of snow yesterday. So Sally got an early Christmas present and we snowshoeing in the middle of a blizzard yesterday. Might not be your idea of fun, but we had a blast!
Cheers!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Spinscan numbers
Ran 6 times this week for a total distance of 73.5k. Ran disciplined, ran smart. Discpline in the sense I kept my heartrate down to the magic number of 145 and smart in the sense that the effort was low intensity followed by excellent stretching afterwards. Paying particular attention to my IT and hip flexors. I'm feeling pretty good and just trying to be hyper aware of any 'bad' pain. Even massaging the IT band is not ringing any warning bells, so I must be doing something right!
Also got in 4 short sessions on the bike for a total of just over 2hours. Really focusing on technique. Computrainer has a program that analyzes your pedal stroke, as it analyzes, it assigns you a number for each leg. The higher the number, the more efficient you are pedaling. A number of 100 is the highest you can go and is really only attainable by a motor. It would signify complete and uniform force through the entire 360 degree pedal stroke. Pro level cyclists routinely hit 80 for their spinscan. It's a tough thing to toy with, you start to play with the numbers as you spin and eventually you start to get 'it'. If I'm not paying attention and just pedaling away, my spinscan number is routinely about 67. I want to get the number up, so I'll sit on the computrainer, run the program and just concentrate on getting high spinscan numbers and pedalling as efficient as possible. I set my new record on Friday with a spinscan of 77!
Now I'm only doing this for 30 minutes at a time, but it's a good start. Got to burn that perfect technique into muscle memory.
Cheers!
Also got in 4 short sessions on the bike for a total of just over 2hours. Really focusing on technique. Computrainer has a program that analyzes your pedal stroke, as it analyzes, it assigns you a number for each leg. The higher the number, the more efficient you are pedaling. A number of 100 is the highest you can go and is really only attainable by a motor. It would signify complete and uniform force through the entire 360 degree pedal stroke. Pro level cyclists routinely hit 80 for their spinscan. It's a tough thing to toy with, you start to play with the numbers as you spin and eventually you start to get 'it'. If I'm not paying attention and just pedaling away, my spinscan number is routinely about 67. I want to get the number up, so I'll sit on the computrainer, run the program and just concentrate on getting high spinscan numbers and pedalling as efficient as possible. I set my new record on Friday with a spinscan of 77!
Now I'm only doing this for 30 minutes at a time, but it's a good start. Got to burn that perfect technique into muscle memory.
Cheers!
Monday, December 03, 2007
Cheater hours
Wah, wah, wah..
Yes winter is here. Big time. We have snow. We have white-out conditions. We have freezing rain. We have more snow.
Despite the inclimate weather I still squeaked out 4 runs for the week. (3X 60min, 1 X 90min) and actually *doubled* my bike trainer hours to ....
Two!
I'm sort of forcing myself to only workout once a day and keep the weekly training hour to a minimum. Going too hard now will must make me all burnt out by July - not a good thing.
I also managed to do 3 X 15 minutes of weights and core. This got me to thinking, when I think of training hours, I think of 'aerobic' training hours. Stretching (and I stretch alot), core work and weights don't count as part of my training hours. If you include these, you're just padding your hours. Hence, cheater hours. Gosh, I probably could have padded my hours by +20% this week if I included the extra stuff. Aerobic hours - that's where the money is at.
December is here. Just like that. This time last year, I was definately more fit. Just interesting to note that. I'm still hoping to train smarter this year and by the time racing starts - I will be faster. So what's the plan for December? Pretty much more of the same, still keeping the aerobic hours fairly low. I'm offically keeping track of mileage and getting much more disciplined in keeping my heartrate in check. I'll be getting on my bike more frequently. A slow, methodical increase in hours is the plan. The last week of December will be super easy, just in time for Jan '08 - when things start to get interesting.
Yes winter is here. Big time. We have snow. We have white-out conditions. We have freezing rain. We have more snow.
Despite the inclimate weather I still squeaked out 4 runs for the week. (3X 60min, 1 X 90min) and actually *doubled* my bike trainer hours to ....
Two!
I'm sort of forcing myself to only workout once a day and keep the weekly training hour to a minimum. Going too hard now will must make me all burnt out by July - not a good thing.
I also managed to do 3 X 15 minutes of weights and core. This got me to thinking, when I think of training hours, I think of 'aerobic' training hours. Stretching (and I stretch alot), core work and weights don't count as part of my training hours. If you include these, you're just padding your hours. Hence, cheater hours. Gosh, I probably could have padded my hours by +20% this week if I included the extra stuff. Aerobic hours - that's where the money is at.
December is here. Just like that. This time last year, I was definately more fit. Just interesting to note that. I'm still hoping to train smarter this year and by the time racing starts - I will be faster. So what's the plan for December? Pretty much more of the same, still keeping the aerobic hours fairly low. I'm offically keeping track of mileage and getting much more disciplined in keeping my heartrate in check. I'll be getting on my bike more frequently. A slow, methodical increase in hours is the plan. The last week of December will be super easy, just in time for Jan '08 - when things start to get interesting.
Monday, November 26, 2007
A broken wing test
So, I'm out running on Saturday and when I'm not concentrating on form, cadence or breathing, I was trying to come up with something to post this week. Training wise it's been pretty uneventful, so there was nothing of interest to post in that department. So as I'm pondering this, out of the corner of my eye I see movement. It was a morning dove on it's back. Not being a bird expert, I assumed the poor thing had a broken wing. Sigh. What to do, what to do...
This is a test..
Whenever I'm put into a situation that involves some sort of action on my part, I think of it as a test. Not a test from the Almighty (I'm actually quite non-religious, at least in the conventional sense, spiritual - yes, but that's a topic for another day); this test is more like "ok, here is a situation, what's the BEST course of action?"
What to do.. what to do..
Find a rock? Put it out of it's misery? I'm a confessed softie, especially when it comes to animals, I've had to put an animal out of misery and I can't say I pariculary enjoy it. But if it has to be done, it has to be done. So I look for a rock to do the job. Well everything is snow covered and no large rocks are presenting themselves. Hmm...
What to do.. what to do..
Pace. Hmmm.. Ok, let's examine this little guy. So I pick up the bird, I can't tell if it's wing is broken or not, but there is a small and fresh wound on it.
What to do. what to do..
Smash it on the ground? As barbaric as that sounds, it would end its' suffering - quickly. Mercy is a good thing.
What do do.. what to do..
I swear at this point the little guy looked at me and said 'what now boss?" Sigh, in for a penny in for pound. So I run home (about 5k away) with a morning dove in my hand wrapped in kleenex. I get home, put him in a box in a darkened area of the basement. Well, I'm in deep now.
What to do.. what to do..
Google knows all. Look up on Google on how to fix a broken wing and think that I could probably pull it off. Call my vet, who refer me to the Wildlife rescue guys.. who are conviently located a good hour away! No pick up service of course. Ahh crap, I've gone this far, can't turn back now (sort of like an Ironman!). Sally and I were heading in the direction of the Wildlife rescue guys to attend a party, so if we left a little earlier we could drive a little extra and at least give the little guy to the pros, at least that way he'd have a chance. So that's what we ended up doing.
Two FREE lessons learned. 1) *Always* try to do the *best* course of action, regardless whether it's easy or not. 2) Sometimes you just can't go back. Yup, now that I think of it, I got alot more out of trying to save a bird then meets the eye. Life, ya gotta love it.
As for actual training..
Run 5 times. Shortest 52 min. Longest 70min (X2)
Bike 1 time. For an hour. On the trainer. Yes the bike is offically on the trainer.
Weights & core: 3 X 15 min sessions.
Cheers!
This is a test..
Whenever I'm put into a situation that involves some sort of action on my part, I think of it as a test. Not a test from the Almighty (I'm actually quite non-religious, at least in the conventional sense, spiritual - yes, but that's a topic for another day); this test is more like "ok, here is a situation, what's the BEST course of action?"
What to do.. what to do..
Find a rock? Put it out of it's misery? I'm a confessed softie, especially when it comes to animals, I've had to put an animal out of misery and I can't say I pariculary enjoy it. But if it has to be done, it has to be done. So I look for a rock to do the job. Well everything is snow covered and no large rocks are presenting themselves. Hmm...
What to do.. what to do..
Pace. Hmmm.. Ok, let's examine this little guy. So I pick up the bird, I can't tell if it's wing is broken or not, but there is a small and fresh wound on it.
What to do. what to do..
Smash it on the ground? As barbaric as that sounds, it would end its' suffering - quickly. Mercy is a good thing.
What do do.. what to do..
I swear at this point the little guy looked at me and said 'what now boss?" Sigh, in for a penny in for pound. So I run home (about 5k away) with a morning dove in my hand wrapped in kleenex. I get home, put him in a box in a darkened area of the basement. Well, I'm in deep now.
What to do.. what to do..
Google knows all. Look up on Google on how to fix a broken wing and think that I could probably pull it off. Call my vet, who refer me to the Wildlife rescue guys.. who are conviently located a good hour away! No pick up service of course. Ahh crap, I've gone this far, can't turn back now (sort of like an Ironman!). Sally and I were heading in the direction of the Wildlife rescue guys to attend a party, so if we left a little earlier we could drive a little extra and at least give the little guy to the pros, at least that way he'd have a chance. So that's what we ended up doing.
Two FREE lessons learned. 1) *Always* try to do the *best* course of action, regardless whether it's easy or not. 2) Sometimes you just can't go back. Yup, now that I think of it, I got alot more out of trying to save a bird then meets the eye. Life, ya gotta love it.
As for actual training..
Run 5 times. Shortest 52 min. Longest 70min (X2)
Bike 1 time. For an hour. On the trainer. Yes the bike is offically on the trainer.
Weights & core: 3 X 15 min sessions.
Cheers!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Bruce Trail, Wierdness
Quite often when I think of 'fun' things to do, others think I'm just plain wierd. I look at the Bruce Trail, all 768km of it, and I think it would 'fun' hike the whole thing. I look at a map of this beautiful country that I love so much and I think it would 'fun' to cycle from coast to coast. I look at the epic wilderness of the Arctic and I think it would be 'fun' to go camping on Ellesmere Island. Maybe I am an odd duck, perhaps people do think I'm 'wierd'. Then again, I think many people are wierd for wanting to sit and watch TV for 5 hours a day.
On Saturday, I went for a challenging hike-n-run along the Bruce Trail with Cliff. A fairly rugged 23k looped section of the Bruce with some pretty good elevation gains. It took us 3.5 hours (exactly the same as last year!), so we weren't blazing the trail or anything, but with the all the elevation gains and losses, by the time we got back to the car, we knew we had a great workout.
During the hike-n-run we'd talk tri stuff, training philosophies etc.. At one point I said I'd like to do this loop twice, make a day of it. (ok, THAT would be a tough workout) You know what? Cliff didn't look at me wierd, I could see the glint in his eye - yea I could probably talk him into doing it. Smile.
He mentioned he'd like to do a back to back 200k destination ride. Two words: "I'm in." I guess we are both wierd.
It was a great day and I felt like a million bucks afterwards. We agreed, we would try to do it once more before snowfall. Maybe in a couple of weeks.
Ran 6 times last week. Good stuff. Running legs are at about 80% and climbing steadily. Brought the bike inside, probably for good. Still *thinking* about swimming.
Cheers!
On Saturday, I went for a challenging hike-n-run along the Bruce Trail with Cliff. A fairly rugged 23k looped section of the Bruce with some pretty good elevation gains. It took us 3.5 hours (exactly the same as last year!), so we weren't blazing the trail or anything, but with the all the elevation gains and losses, by the time we got back to the car, we knew we had a great workout.
During the hike-n-run we'd talk tri stuff, training philosophies etc.. At one point I said I'd like to do this loop twice, make a day of it. (ok, THAT would be a tough workout) You know what? Cliff didn't look at me wierd, I could see the glint in his eye - yea I could probably talk him into doing it. Smile.
He mentioned he'd like to do a back to back 200k destination ride. Two words: "I'm in." I guess we are both wierd.
It was a great day and I felt like a million bucks afterwards. We agreed, we would try to do it once more before snowfall. Maybe in a couple of weeks.
Ran 6 times last week. Good stuff. Running legs are at about 80% and climbing steadily. Brought the bike inside, probably for good. Still *thinking* about swimming.
Cheers!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Sick no more
Been a relatively crappy week. Finally caught that bug that was floating around, pretty much knocked out any will to work-out for a week. Got back up on the horse on Friday and got a decent run in for both Fri and Sat. So this week I'll attempt something a bit more 'normal'.
Next Saturday, I have a planned 25k hike-n-run, which I'm terribly out of shape for. Am I backing out? Hell no. Sorry guys, you don't get off that easy. I have one confirmed buddy joining me, hopefully I can grab a couple more and make a party out of it.
Earlier in the week I was pondering about how triathlon has made such a positive change within me. No one ever asked 'why or what is tri'fusion?' Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. Tri-fusion isn't about triathlon. The title actually means the fusion of mind, body and spirit through triathlon. A bit of a play on words. I experience such a peace within myself when things are going well training wise. I try to share that with others.. I feel it's a positive thing. However, I wasn't able to do this until I made the positive changes from within first.. only then was I able to share with others. It could anything from urging a coworker to quit smoking to picking up a piece of garbage on the street. It's all positive change and if I can be some small part of it - that's a good thing. Hey, we all of that power, might as well use it.
Cheers,
Darren
Next Saturday, I have a planned 25k hike-n-run, which I'm terribly out of shape for. Am I backing out? Hell no. Sorry guys, you don't get off that easy. I have one confirmed buddy joining me, hopefully I can grab a couple more and make a party out of it.
Earlier in the week I was pondering about how triathlon has made such a positive change within me. No one ever asked 'why or what is tri'fusion?' Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. Tri-fusion isn't about triathlon. The title actually means the fusion of mind, body and spirit through triathlon. A bit of a play on words. I experience such a peace within myself when things are going well training wise. I try to share that with others.. I feel it's a positive thing. However, I wasn't able to do this until I made the positive changes from within first.. only then was I able to share with others. It could anything from urging a coworker to quit smoking to picking up a piece of garbage on the street. It's all positive change and if I can be some small part of it - that's a good thing. Hey, we all of that power, might as well use it.
Cheers,
Darren
Monday, October 29, 2007
Holding steady
As most of you know, October, for me, is pretty much dedicated to slowly acclimatizing my body to the rigours that will applied to it in future training. So to that end, I've very slowly upping my running frequency, doing some weights and the odd bike ride. In a nutshell, that's it.
This week, I'm planning on running 5X, 40min will be the shortest and the longest will 75min. Hopefully get a ride in next weekend and do weights 3 times. I'm not a big fan of weight training, so I only focus on a few exercises (leg extensions for the quads and leg curls for the hammies), core work and pushups. This short session I can bang off in 10 to 15 min. Currently I'm only doing 1 circuit of the above 2 times a week. By the end of the Nov, I'll be doing the circuit twice, 3 times a week. That's it. I think weight training is good tool, but if it cuts into any other swim, bike, run training then it's a no go. That's why the sessions are pretty short.
It's a no go for the masters swim team. Actually, I'm on the list, so the only way I'll get in is if someone drops out. The fact that there is no space available caught me by suprise. I'm thinking about doing a masters swim meet (as an independent) in the spring -just for the heck of it. So for now, I guess when I pick up swimming, I'll be doing it solo again. :/
Went for a ride with Aaron last weekend. We're both in early season, not really caring phase of our training, but before we went, we both agreed that we are not into training if it's crazy cold and raining out. This is a time for fun, not a time for trying to toughen yourself up.
So I setup a ride with half an eye on the weather and things are looking good. Saturday roles around and what do you know, it's cold, it's raining. Damn you Weather Network! The unwritten rule is, if you setup the ride you simply can't not show, that would be very bad form.
Naturally, Aaron shows, remember, this is the guy with who I agreed with NOT to train in cold crappy weather; yet here we are riding in..
cold..
crappy..
weather.
As usual, the tough part was getting going. As usual, I was glad we rode. Typical.
Cheers!
This week, I'm planning on running 5X, 40min will be the shortest and the longest will 75min. Hopefully get a ride in next weekend and do weights 3 times. I'm not a big fan of weight training, so I only focus on a few exercises (leg extensions for the quads and leg curls for the hammies), core work and pushups. This short session I can bang off in 10 to 15 min. Currently I'm only doing 1 circuit of the above 2 times a week. By the end of the Nov, I'll be doing the circuit twice, 3 times a week. That's it. I think weight training is good tool, but if it cuts into any other swim, bike, run training then it's a no go. That's why the sessions are pretty short.
It's a no go for the masters swim team. Actually, I'm on the list, so the only way I'll get in is if someone drops out. The fact that there is no space available caught me by suprise. I'm thinking about doing a masters swim meet (as an independent) in the spring -just for the heck of it. So for now, I guess when I pick up swimming, I'll be doing it solo again. :/
Went for a ride with Aaron last weekend. We're both in early season, not really caring phase of our training, but before we went, we both agreed that we are not into training if it's crazy cold and raining out. This is a time for fun, not a time for trying to toughen yourself up.
So I setup a ride with half an eye on the weather and things are looking good. Saturday roles around and what do you know, it's cold, it's raining. Damn you Weather Network! The unwritten rule is, if you setup the ride you simply can't not show, that would be very bad form.
Naturally, Aaron shows, remember, this is the guy with who I agreed with NOT to train in cold crappy weather; yet here we are riding in..
cold..
crappy..
weather.
As usual, the tough part was getting going. As usual, I was glad we rode. Typical.
Cheers!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
"Darren, we are riding this Sat.. "
are you in? What the hell, I'm in! Let's not even mention the fact that my bike still had race wheels left on from IMLP - 2.5 months ago! I met up with Aaron and Cliff and rode for 2 hours on Saturday. I'll say two things: 1) I'm glad I left my HRM strap at home (by accident) 2) What is it about group riding that throws every bit of caution out the window? First, we warmed up for about 30 minutes and before you know it I (like an idiot) am out front hammering. (well it felt like I was hammering, average speed says otherwise) I can't shake Aaron, so we mellow the pace for a bit, then what do you know? Aaron is up front hammering - well naturally I must try to keep up - and thus went the ride. Screw heart rate just go out and have FUN. I'm glad I went.
So no Ironman next year. Why? The short answer is: too many eggs in one basket. I tend to be pretty self analytical and pragmatic, so in the end I think it's a case of just not having enough years of training under my belt to effectively do the distance the way I believe I'm capable of. So next year, I'll be racing more often and stick to the half iron distance and under. The juices are already starting to flow and I'm looking forward to next season.
The big show at Kona was last Saturday. Was looking forward to the epic Stadler, Macca showdown in the final few K's, but it didn't happen. Stadler bailed on the bike and in the end Macca won. Props to him. Un-frikin believable how fast/ good these guys are. Kept half an eye on the women's race, but lost interest when hometown favorite Lisa Bentley was having troubles. She's is as tough as they come, but doing IMC and Kona is just too close togethor, in my humble opinion.
Last week mileage: run 4 times, 40-45 minutes each. Bike for 2 hours. :)
Cheers!
So no Ironman next year. Why? The short answer is: too many eggs in one basket. I tend to be pretty self analytical and pragmatic, so in the end I think it's a case of just not having enough years of training under my belt to effectively do the distance the way I believe I'm capable of. So next year, I'll be racing more often and stick to the half iron distance and under. The juices are already starting to flow and I'm looking forward to next season.
The big show at Kona was last Saturday. Was looking forward to the epic Stadler, Macca showdown in the final few K's, but it didn't happen. Stadler bailed on the bike and in the end Macca won. Props to him. Un-frikin believable how fast/ good these guys are. Kept half an eye on the women's race, but lost interest when hometown favorite Lisa Bentley was having troubles. She's is as tough as they come, but doing IMC and Kona is just too close togethor, in my humble opinion.
Last week mileage: run 4 times, 40-45 minutes each. Bike for 2 hours. :)
Cheers!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
2 Month hiatus is over..
Hard to figure out what to say after 2 months of 'laying low'. Basically, I went through a 'triathlon system purge.' Two months of doing anything BUT triathlon. I used the time to rest, catch up on household chores that I somehow managed to put off over the course of the summer, hike, play videogames and log some quality time with Sally. It was a good rest session and my body and mind needed it.
So now I'm back and I'm sure my readership has dwindled from a mere few people to .. oh I don't know.. maybe 3?? Yes, I did get the odd email wondering where the hell I've been - and I believe I'm caught up in that department. As the mind and body are slowly shifting into gear, I'll be blogging and checking my email much more frequently. Promise!
Shh!! SECRIT TRAINING!
Well not really. But it did begin just over 2 weeks ago. Very light, occasional running. Nothing more than 45 minutes, keeping the HR down (very hard to do!), just slowly and methodically increasing frequency of runs per week, stretching and core work. My mind and body are slowly waking up to the fact that off season is over, easy season is in session and regular training will be starting up soon.
Basic highlights for the '08 season: NO IRONMAN (I'll save the whys for a future post), 'A' races will be the Peterborough half and the Muskoka 70.3 and aging up! Yup, I'm at the top of the hill next year at the ripe age of 40.
Other training stuff. I haven't yet, but I think I'll pull the trigger and train with the local masters swim team. Again, running will be a priority this year. Going to do more 'focused weeks' and will try a few months of 1)bike week 2)easier week working on the all 3 sports, 3)run week, 4) very easy week. Slightly different from the build for 3 weeks and rest for 1 week protocol. I'll be introducing speed training, instead of periodizing, I'll be doing a more consistent (but infrequent) speed training - starting in April. Also, throughout the off season I'll be doing wieghts. Hey, gotta face the facts that at age 40 I'm losing muscle mass.
Alrighty, I'm off. It's good to be back!
Cheers!
So now I'm back and I'm sure my readership has dwindled from a mere few people to .. oh I don't know.. maybe 3?? Yes, I did get the odd email wondering where the hell I've been - and I believe I'm caught up in that department. As the mind and body are slowly shifting into gear, I'll be blogging and checking my email much more frequently. Promise!
Shh!! SECRIT TRAINING!
Well not really. But it did begin just over 2 weeks ago. Very light, occasional running. Nothing more than 45 minutes, keeping the HR down (very hard to do!), just slowly and methodically increasing frequency of runs per week, stretching and core work. My mind and body are slowly waking up to the fact that off season is over, easy season is in session and regular training will be starting up soon.
Basic highlights for the '08 season: NO IRONMAN (I'll save the whys for a future post), 'A' races will be the Peterborough half and the Muskoka 70.3 and aging up! Yup, I'm at the top of the hill next year at the ripe age of 40.
Other training stuff. I haven't yet, but I think I'll pull the trigger and train with the local masters swim team. Again, running will be a priority this year. Going to do more 'focused weeks' and will try a few months of 1)bike week 2)easier week working on the all 3 sports, 3)run week, 4) very easy week. Slightly different from the build for 3 weeks and rest for 1 week protocol. I'll be introducing speed training, instead of periodizing, I'll be doing a more consistent (but infrequent) speed training - starting in April. Also, throughout the off season I'll be doing wieghts. Hey, gotta face the facts that at age 40 I'm losing muscle mass.
Alrighty, I'm off. It's good to be back!
Cheers!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
2.5 weeks, off season?, ITB, Muskoka
Ya I know, it's been a long time between posts. I can hardly believe it's been only 2 and half weeks since IMLP. It seems like a lifetime ago. I don't suffer PIDS (a phrase brought to you by Crackhead)- Post Ironman Depression Syndrome. At least I don't think I do. I'm actually relishing my current lazy state -getting fat and playing video games.
I managed 3 runs last week, each of a 40 minute duration. And each run was a short sufferfest due to some crazy tightness in my IT band. So I've backed off on the running. As for swimming and cycling, I currently have no desire to start them back up, especially since the season is almost over. My initial plan was to try to put togethor a decent marathon on October, but with my current IT issues and my dubious mental-end-of-season-state, I'm leaning to taking an early off season and starting back up in the fall. I take the off season very serious - 4 to 8 weeks of chilling out, I relish the thought of it.
It looks like Muskoka is getting an official 70.3 (half Ironman) in September of next year. Tough decision, IMC, or stay local and do Muskoka in '08? Points to ponder..
Ok, you HAVE to see this video. This is the swim start of IMLP '07. My god, if you are a MOP swimmer (middle of the pack), this, is incentive to train your ass off to be a FOP'er! I now get why the swim freaks so many people out! My hats off to you guys.
Video of '07 IMLP swim.
Lastly, just a quick kudos to the guys at the Brampton Post Office. Funds for this years charity drive for POGO now stands at $2625.00. Just awesome.
Cheers!
I managed 3 runs last week, each of a 40 minute duration. And each run was a short sufferfest due to some crazy tightness in my IT band. So I've backed off on the running. As for swimming and cycling, I currently have no desire to start them back up, especially since the season is almost over. My initial plan was to try to put togethor a decent marathon on October, but with my current IT issues and my dubious mental-end-of-season-state, I'm leaning to taking an early off season and starting back up in the fall. I take the off season very serious - 4 to 8 weeks of chilling out, I relish the thought of it.
It looks like Muskoka is getting an official 70.3 (half Ironman) in September of next year. Tough decision, IMC, or stay local and do Muskoka in '08? Points to ponder..
Ok, you HAVE to see this video. This is the swim start of IMLP '07. My god, if you are a MOP swimmer (middle of the pack), this, is incentive to train your ass off to be a FOP'er! I now get why the swim freaks so many people out! My hats off to you guys.
Video of '07 IMLP swim.
Lastly, just a quick kudos to the guys at the Brampton Post Office. Funds for this years charity drive for POGO now stands at $2625.00. Just awesome.
Cheers!
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