Ever have something you were looking forward to and it turned out not quite like you expected? Yea, I was looking forward to my big bike/training week, it's the end of winter, the weather is great and I've been looking forward to a week where I could just focus on training, sleeping and eating. Saturday starts of rather well, a solid brick workout weighing in at 3.5 hrs. Sunday was similar, but a bit longer - 4 hrs in total. The thing is, I felt awesome, bricks are notorious difficult workouts and I just plain old felt good. What a great start to my little epic week.
Sunday night roles around and I start feeling kind of funny. "oh oh.." It's now Tuesday I'm just coming out of a little 24-48hr bug that reaked havoc with my system. This has me bummed as it was only 6 weeks ago when I was sick, now I've been nailed twice in a short period. Not good. So now the priority is getting back to 'normal', eating well and getting 8+ hrs of zzz's every night.
A hearty thanks to Sally for putting up with me, I'm really a cranky sot when sick. Big hugs to my wife. :)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
301W, T-minus 25 minutes.
Training camp officially begins in 25 minutes, so I figured I would do a quick blog update.
The last 5 days have been very easy, I want to make sure I'm 100% rested for my mini camp because I know I'll be rather shelled by next Sunday. Recap of the week:
Mon: Swim 2.5k
Tues: off
Wed: Swim 4.8k
Thurs: Spin 1hr (LT test!)
Fri: Swim: 3.1k
Even though it was an easy week, I upped the swim mileage. I figure getting the extra swim time still counts as 'easy' since it is time that doesn't involve leg work. Nice endurance set on Wednesday: 4X400, 8X200, 16X100. Booya.
It's been 2 months since my last bike LT test, so Thursday's workout was dedicated to that. What's interesting about doing the test is that it provides concrete data on whether or not your improving. Here is a brief synopsis of my last LT test numbers:
Time: 28:20 Avgerage speed: 38.1 Watts: 283
And the latest numbers are:
Time: 27:40 Average speed: 39.0 Watts:301 (yay!)
Good stuff, fitness level is increasing and I'm getting faster. Whoever said "It doesn't get easier, you just get faster" is so right on the money. It's difficult to describe just how tough a LT test is unless you do one. These are done at 100% effort, all out, leave nothing behind. Its funny though, when your done I always say to myself 'hmm, I bet I could have gone faster...' But during the test you tsay things to yourself 'oh my god, I've got 10 minutes to go... or.. I should do this test on another day.' Time seems to slow down too, in the last couple of minutes the seconds are taking there sweet time. You should try it sometime.
Lastly, here is the plan for the week:
Sat: 3 hr ride, 30 min run
Sun: 3hr ride, 30 min run
Mon: 1 hr ride am, 7.5k run pm
Tues: 2 hr ride am, 2 hr ride. pm
Wed: swim am, 1 hr ride pm
Thur: 2 hr ride am, 2 hr ride pm
Fri: 1 hr ride am, 7.5k run pm
Sat: 3 hr ride, 30 min run
Sun: run 2+ hrs.
Ok, it may not be EPIC, but that will be a solid/tough week.. Every workout will be in primarily mid/high zone 1.
Eep, 2 minutes until the official start, gotta go!
Cheers!
The last 5 days have been very easy, I want to make sure I'm 100% rested for my mini camp because I know I'll be rather shelled by next Sunday. Recap of the week:
Mon: Swim 2.5k
Tues: off
Wed: Swim 4.8k
Thurs: Spin 1hr (LT test!)
Fri: Swim: 3.1k
Even though it was an easy week, I upped the swim mileage. I figure getting the extra swim time still counts as 'easy' since it is time that doesn't involve leg work. Nice endurance set on Wednesday: 4X400, 8X200, 16X100. Booya.
It's been 2 months since my last bike LT test, so Thursday's workout was dedicated to that. What's interesting about doing the test is that it provides concrete data on whether or not your improving. Here is a brief synopsis of my last LT test numbers:
Time: 28:20 Avgerage speed: 38.1 Watts: 283
And the latest numbers are:
Time: 27:40 Average speed: 39.0 Watts:301 (yay!)
Good stuff, fitness level is increasing and I'm getting faster. Whoever said "It doesn't get easier, you just get faster" is so right on the money. It's difficult to describe just how tough a LT test is unless you do one. These are done at 100% effort, all out, leave nothing behind. Its funny though, when your done I always say to myself 'hmm, I bet I could have gone faster...' But during the test you tsay things to yourself 'oh my god, I've got 10 minutes to go... or.. I should do this test on another day.' Time seems to slow down too, in the last couple of minutes the seconds are taking there sweet time. You should try it sometime.
Lastly, here is the plan for the week:
Sat: 3 hr ride, 30 min run
Sun: 3hr ride, 30 min run
Mon: 1 hr ride am, 7.5k run pm
Tues: 2 hr ride am, 2 hr ride. pm
Wed: swim am, 1 hr ride pm
Thur: 2 hr ride am, 2 hr ride pm
Fri: 1 hr ride am, 7.5k run pm
Sat: 3 hr ride, 30 min run
Sun: run 2+ hrs.
Ok, it may not be EPIC, but that will be a solid/tough week.. Every workout will be in primarily mid/high zone 1.
Eep, 2 minutes until the official start, gotta go!
Cheers!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Monday weigh in. Long term planning..
Last week was the end of a 4 week build and it was a good week. The first 2 weeks were moderate volume of all 3 sports, the 2nd week I cranked it up a notch and last week it was cranked up yet again. Here's the numbers:
Swim: 5.6k
Bike: 8hrs 30min
Run: 67.5k
Weight: 157
Due to March break, I only managed 90 minutes in the pool but still got some quality work in. Fridays main set was a 20X100m on 1:30, alternate one slow and one fast. (1:18-1:20 for the fast ones and 1:26-1:28 for the slow)
The biking is going well. I'm just trying to log as much trainer time as possible without going too crazy. The Computrainer really helps as simulates outdoor riding so well - minus the lousy drivers and crappy weather of course.
Even though I feel like I'm not logging enough running K's, my run feels strong. The Mark Allen low heart rate protocol I've adapted is slowly paying off dividends. Earlier in the week I was noticing I had to put in more effort to reach my desired heartrate training level. More effort = more speed and yet my HR is still in zone 1. Good stuff.
Here's an interesting tidbit about Jasper Blake, Canadian Ironman Champ for '06. His zone 1 heartrate before IMC for running was 3:45/km! Interesting to note that he split a 2:48 marathon for an average of 4:00/km. Even he had trouble maintaining his training zone 1 running heartrate during a race, obviously biking 180k before hand has something to do with it.
Do you have a long term plan? No I don't mean long term as in 6 months from now.. more like what are your goals for next year? The year after? I've been mulling my long term triathlon plan for a few months and here is what I've settled on. Keep in mind this long term and the crystal ball gets murkier the farther I look down the road. This year: IMLP: goal: sub 10:30. Next year: IMC: goal: sub 10hrs. 2009: IMOO or IMFL: goal: qualify for Kona. 2010: Kona. Yea, I've got plans until 2010... go figure.
Next week I'm off work. I've slotted my 2nd BIG BIKE week for it. Yes, I'm taking time off work to train. I don't have a problem with it, neither should you. :) Here's my bike plan: 1st big bike week was end of Jan, where I managed 11hrs on the trainer. 2nd big week is 2 months later, I'm going for 18+ hrs over 8 or 9 days. Two months after this one is my 3rd big bike week and 7 weeks after that is IMLP. Am I training smarter? I think so... am I getting smarter? Hmm.. the jury is out on that one.
Cheers!
Swim: 5.6k
Bike: 8hrs 30min
Run: 67.5k
Weight: 157
Due to March break, I only managed 90 minutes in the pool but still got some quality work in. Fridays main set was a 20X100m on 1:30, alternate one slow and one fast. (1:18-1:20 for the fast ones and 1:26-1:28 for the slow)
The biking is going well. I'm just trying to log as much trainer time as possible without going too crazy. The Computrainer really helps as simulates outdoor riding so well - minus the lousy drivers and crappy weather of course.
Even though I feel like I'm not logging enough running K's, my run feels strong. The Mark Allen low heart rate protocol I've adapted is slowly paying off dividends. Earlier in the week I was noticing I had to put in more effort to reach my desired heartrate training level. More effort = more speed and yet my HR is still in zone 1. Good stuff.
Here's an interesting tidbit about Jasper Blake, Canadian Ironman Champ for '06. His zone 1 heartrate before IMC for running was 3:45/km! Interesting to note that he split a 2:48 marathon for an average of 4:00/km. Even he had trouble maintaining his training zone 1 running heartrate during a race, obviously biking 180k before hand has something to do with it.
Do you have a long term plan? No I don't mean long term as in 6 months from now.. more like what are your goals for next year? The year after? I've been mulling my long term triathlon plan for a few months and here is what I've settled on. Keep in mind this long term and the crystal ball gets murkier the farther I look down the road. This year: IMLP: goal: sub 10:30. Next year: IMC: goal: sub 10hrs. 2009: IMOO or IMFL: goal: qualify for Kona. 2010: Kona. Yea, I've got plans until 2010... go figure.
Next week I'm off work. I've slotted my 2nd BIG BIKE week for it. Yes, I'm taking time off work to train. I don't have a problem with it, neither should you. :) Here's my bike plan: 1st big bike week was end of Jan, where I managed 11hrs on the trainer. 2nd big week is 2 months later, I'm going for 18+ hrs over 8 or 9 days. Two months after this one is my 3rd big bike week and 7 weeks after that is IMLP. Am I training smarter? I think so... am I getting smarter? Hmm.. the jury is out on that one.
Cheers!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Monday weigh in
Last week was my 3rd week of a 4 week build, in which I've been distributing my time more equally among the 3 sports. It was a pretty good week workout wise, although I did miss once scheduled short run. I have to remind myself that's it's OK to miss a workout every so often, especially if I'm feeling tired. Here's the numbers:
Swim: 7.3k
Spin: 8hrs
Run: 51k
Weight: 157
The weeks highlights:
- met up with Cliff, on Friday for a swim session. I haven't seen Cliff since last October and wanted to see his swim progress. The good news is, in my opinion, he's reached the stage that in order to get better, he's going to have to start logging some serious pool time. It's a bit of a milestone of sorts, so a hearty congrats goes out to him.
-also pool related, my main set on Friday was a 10X400m on 6 min. Good set, coming in on 5:45's. My swim is at about 90% already and I'm very happy with that.
-passed the $1,000 mark for my charity fundraiser. Woo hoo 4 digit territory, and yes I do think a 5 digit number is on the horizon. Perhaps in a couple of years. It's all about taking baby steps in the right direction.
Not much else to say, solid spin hours, the running K's are a tad low, but I'll be adding a run or two this week and start building them back up. I have a run build scheduled for April. Actually the plan for the next 7 weeks goes like this: hard week, easy week, bike week, easy week, 3 week run build session.
That's all for now, cheers!
Swim: 7.3k
Spin: 8hrs
Run: 51k
Weight: 157
The weeks highlights:
- met up with Cliff, on Friday for a swim session. I haven't seen Cliff since last October and wanted to see his swim progress. The good news is, in my opinion, he's reached the stage that in order to get better, he's going to have to start logging some serious pool time. It's a bit of a milestone of sorts, so a hearty congrats goes out to him.
-also pool related, my main set on Friday was a 10X400m on 6 min. Good set, coming in on 5:45's. My swim is at about 90% already and I'm very happy with that.
-passed the $1,000 mark for my charity fundraiser. Woo hoo 4 digit territory, and yes I do think a 5 digit number is on the horizon. Perhaps in a couple of years. It's all about taking baby steps in the right direction.
Not much else to say, solid spin hours, the running K's are a tad low, but I'll be adding a run or two this week and start building them back up. I have a run build scheduled for April. Actually the plan for the next 7 weeks goes like this: hard week, easy week, bike week, easy week, 3 week run build session.
That's all for now, cheers!
Monday, March 05, 2007
Monday weigh in..
I'm just thinking on the fly - about inspiration. The reason why I bring it up is because I got an email earlier today from someone who said they thought my blog was inspiring. It sort of makes me feel proud, embarrassed and humble all at the same time. I don't feel I write particularly well, yet I've had comments from people saying otherwise. Usually, I just to write as if I'm talking to you, and it's usually just off the top of my head. Some days it seems to just flow out and on other days I can't string two words togethor for the life of me. So when someone takes the time out of there day and drop me a note - it means something - and that's cool shit.
So I'm pondering about 'inspiration', what inspires you? Who inspires you? Something to think about. I get inspiration from many sources and sometimes don't even know it until I think about it later. Go to an Ironman, jeez if that doesn't inspire you to do something, then I think there is something wrong with ya. The list is long about what/who inspires me, sometimes it's fleeting. I'll see an eldery person who has gone through WWII and I think "I can't imagine what they've seen". There is inspiration there. Back to Ironman, how about the 75 year old nun, Sister Madonna Budder, multiple Ironman finisher and was at IMC and did Kona last year. Inspirational.
It reminds of the quote: "What ever you do, do it well." I'm going to just leave it that - something to think about.
Back to some actual training stuff! Last week numbers:
Swim: 6.6k
Bike: 6:40
Run:: 57.5
Weight: 158
This has been my standard week. I up the time spent in one sport and usually there is time taken away in another area. It's always a combination of balancing the sports and taking the time to focus on one area, then re-balancing. I'm pretty much in a phase of training where I'm balancing the 3 sports. The obvious exception is swimming and that's just because that's the area where I need the least improvement.
This week I'm going to try up the bike time a bit and hopefully the run mileage too. That will be challenge because tomorrow they are talking about MINUS 30C windchills! Those of you that read regularly know that I wimp out when it gets ridiculas outside. The good news is that I have 2 others sports in which to pick up any slack. So instead of run/bike day tomorrow, it's looking like a swim/bike day. See? Having 3 sports to balance can be good thing!
Have a great week.
So I'm pondering about 'inspiration', what inspires you? Who inspires you? Something to think about. I get inspiration from many sources and sometimes don't even know it until I think about it later. Go to an Ironman, jeez if that doesn't inspire you to do something, then I think there is something wrong with ya. The list is long about what/who inspires me, sometimes it's fleeting. I'll see an eldery person who has gone through WWII and I think "I can't imagine what they've seen". There is inspiration there. Back to Ironman, how about the 75 year old nun, Sister Madonna Budder, multiple Ironman finisher and was at IMC and did Kona last year. Inspirational.
It reminds of the quote: "What ever you do, do it well." I'm going to just leave it that - something to think about.
Back to some actual training stuff! Last week numbers:
Swim: 6.6k
Bike: 6:40
Run:: 57.5
Weight: 158
This has been my standard week. I up the time spent in one sport and usually there is time taken away in another area. It's always a combination of balancing the sports and taking the time to focus on one area, then re-balancing. I'm pretty much in a phase of training where I'm balancing the 3 sports. The obvious exception is swimming and that's just because that's the area where I need the least improvement.
This week I'm going to try up the bike time a bit and hopefully the run mileage too. That will be challenge because tomorrow they are talking about MINUS 30C windchills! Those of you that read regularly know that I wimp out when it gets ridiculas outside. The good news is that I have 2 others sports in which to pick up any slack. So instead of run/bike day tomorrow, it's looking like a swim/bike day. See? Having 3 sports to balance can be good thing!
Have a great week.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Monthly mileage, hardest bike workout ever..
Just finished my 80k time trial bike workout about 2 hours ago. It's hard to describe just how much of a sufferfest the last hour was. I wanted to quit, I wanted to cheat (bad thoughts), of course I didn't but I sure wanted to. Having never done a workout of this type before I wasn't quite sure how to pace myself. My strategy was try and hold a mid zone 3 heartrate and see how well I do. I did fine up to about the 1:10 point and from there on it was pretty much a game of counting minutes, breathes - anything to keep my mind off of my obvious discomfort. Final time was 2:14, the first 40k look was just under 1:06 and even though I thought pacing was screwed my 2nd lap was about 2.5 minutes slower than the first. I'm actually kind of pleased because I wasn't pushing the watts and it certainly felt much slower. Methinks the legs are going to be a little cranky tomorrow.
I also did a 10.5k run earlier in the day, so I'm sure that was a factor in my bike workout from hell.
February mileage report:
Swim: 19k
Spin: 25hrs 40min
Run: 103.5k
The number dont' lie, no it wasn't a great training month. Between being sick and the subsequent recovery period, I just wasn't able to log huge numbers. The good news is my swimming feels good and 25+hours on the trainer isnt' too bad.
March 1 is big day for me.. in my mind we're so close to the end of the winter that I can almost taste spring. Oh man that makes me happy - I can't wait. Of course we are getting walloped with snow and freezing rain as I type, but I don't care. Winter's days are numbered...
Ok, I'm off. Must get a well deserved 8+ hours of zzzz's.... hmmmm... sleep.
I also did a 10.5k run earlier in the day, so I'm sure that was a factor in my bike workout from hell.
February mileage report:
Swim: 19k
Spin: 25hrs 40min
Run: 103.5k
The number dont' lie, no it wasn't a great training month. Between being sick and the subsequent recovery period, I just wasn't able to log huge numbers. The good news is my swimming feels good and 25+hours on the trainer isnt' too bad.
March 1 is big day for me.. in my mind we're so close to the end of the winter that I can almost taste spring. Oh man that makes me happy - I can't wait. Of course we are getting walloped with snow and freezing rain as I type, but I don't care. Winter's days are numbered...
Ok, I'm off. Must get a well deserved 8+ hours of zzzz's.... hmmmm... sleep.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Monday weigh in
Not a heck of alot is happening, last week was my first week of getting back to some 'normal' workout and feeling 100 percent healthy. Here's the numbers from build week number 1:
Swim: 7.1k
Spin: 7 hrs
Run: 49k
Two swims, with one of them being a 4k'er. I like the 4k swims because in my mind they are the ones that 'count'. Anything 4k and over counts because an IM swim is 3.8k, so I figure 4k plus is great for building endurance. If I can get 20 or so 4k+ swims between now and IMLP, my swim will be fine.
7 hours on the bike - no complaints there. The highpoint being last Thursday I did a 45 minute zone 3 workout - pushed 268 watts for the duration, felt good. I've come to the conclusion that to get fast on the bike, one really must embrace suffering. I don't know why, but when the legs start to hurt, I think they are fibbing because you can keep pushing at the same effort for a very long time before they truely start to give out. I only bring this up because I have an 80k time trial on the books for this week - and I'm looking forward to it with apprehensive trepidation.
Yay, I'm back running. While 49k isn't alot, it felt good and felt strong. I don't think I lost much run fitness during my sickness. Sunday's run was a 20k'er (hmm, nice -20C windchill) and I held sub 5min/K for the duration while keeping the heartrate in zone 1. A good sign.
So basically the plan for this week is to maintain swimming and biking and up the running K's a bit. Cheers!
Swim: 7.1k
Spin: 7 hrs
Run: 49k
Two swims, with one of them being a 4k'er. I like the 4k swims because in my mind they are the ones that 'count'. Anything 4k and over counts because an IM swim is 3.8k, so I figure 4k plus is great for building endurance. If I can get 20 or so 4k+ swims between now and IMLP, my swim will be fine.
7 hours on the bike - no complaints there. The highpoint being last Thursday I did a 45 minute zone 3 workout - pushed 268 watts for the duration, felt good. I've come to the conclusion that to get fast on the bike, one really must embrace suffering. I don't know why, but when the legs start to hurt, I think they are fibbing because you can keep pushing at the same effort for a very long time before they truely start to give out. I only bring this up because I have an 80k time trial on the books for this week - and I'm looking forward to it with apprehensive trepidation.
Yay, I'm back running. While 49k isn't alot, it felt good and felt strong. I don't think I lost much run fitness during my sickness. Sunday's run was a 20k'er (hmm, nice -20C windchill) and I held sub 5min/K for the duration while keeping the heartrate in zone 1. A good sign.
So basically the plan for this week is to maintain swimming and biking and up the running K's a bit. Cheers!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Bye-bye California, hello Arizona!
Egad, it's been awhile. I have not forgotten about you - honest! I was going to do an update on Friday, but got sidetracked by computer issues. Actually, the computer royally ticked me off, so I reformatted. Anyone who has done this before, knows it's a pain in the butt. The good news, I have my most of my old software back up and running and the system is running so much better now.
The last 2 weeks, I've been rather hamstrung by a nasty little bug that is being rather persistent. Last week I was going to 'get back at it' - and to a certain extent I was successful, but I was lacking heart. Things weren't still at 100%, so I kept the intensity down and just concentrated on getting back to being sick-free. Here is what I ended up doing last week:
Swim 5.9k
Spin: 9hr 10min
What? No running??! Yes, the running mileage has taken a severe beating in recent weeks. Sickness, snow storms and minus 25C windchills = no running for me! Decent spin time though and the extra time on the bike should help my muscle endurance. (which, in my opinion is my primary limiter for an Ironman) Which brings me to bye bye California, hello Arizona:
I'm slowly plugging away on the Race Across AMerica (RAAM) on my Computrainer. Curently, I'm on stage 8 out of 57, which puts me pretty much smack in the middle of Arizona. Depending how much RAAM riding I do, I should be in Utah by next week sometime.
So what's the plan? Ahhh, the 'plan', is always dynamic, but here is it's current incarnation. A 3 or 4 week build phase, followed by an easy week, followed by a big bike week, followed by an easy week. That'll put me into the beginning of April. Gotta get the running legs back, that's a priority - just consistent mileage and getting out 5 or 6 times a week. I had a scheduled 'A' race in the beginning of March, which actually sold out before I registered. I'm on the waiting list, if I'm offered a spot I'll take it, but it sure won't be an A race - it'll just be a good hard run.
That's all for now. Cheers!
The last 2 weeks, I've been rather hamstrung by a nasty little bug that is being rather persistent. Last week I was going to 'get back at it' - and to a certain extent I was successful, but I was lacking heart. Things weren't still at 100%, so I kept the intensity down and just concentrated on getting back to being sick-free. Here is what I ended up doing last week:
Swim 5.9k
Spin: 9hr 10min
What? No running??! Yes, the running mileage has taken a severe beating in recent weeks. Sickness, snow storms and minus 25C windchills = no running for me! Decent spin time though and the extra time on the bike should help my muscle endurance. (which, in my opinion is my primary limiter for an Ironman) Which brings me to bye bye California, hello Arizona:
I'm slowly plugging away on the Race Across AMerica (RAAM) on my Computrainer. Curently, I'm on stage 8 out of 57, which puts me pretty much smack in the middle of Arizona. Depending how much RAAM riding I do, I should be in Utah by next week sometime.
So what's the plan? Ahhh, the 'plan', is always dynamic, but here is it's current incarnation. A 3 or 4 week build phase, followed by an easy week, followed by a big bike week, followed by an easy week. That'll put me into the beginning of April. Gotta get the running legs back, that's a priority - just consistent mileage and getting out 5 or 6 times a week. I had a scheduled 'A' race in the beginning of March, which actually sold out before I registered. I'm on the waiting list, if I'm offered a spot I'll take it, but it sure won't be an A race - it'll just be a good hard run.
That's all for now. Cheers!
Friday, February 09, 2007
I've been sponsored and smoted!
The BIG news first. My employer, Canada Post, has agreed to sponsor me for 2007! I had some wacky promotional ideas, (carrying a letter around during the course of an Ironman was one..), that luckily they aren't going make me do. (I'm still not sure the best place to put the letter during the swim portion...) Bascially it boiled down to this, we like what you did you last year - keep up the good work. Hey! I can live with that. I've provided a nice helpful link to the Canada Post website on the left of your screen, so go click on it and buy a stamp or something!
And now for the 'smoting' part of today's post. It appears that the Super Bowl Gods weren't too fond of last Friday's mini rant against their game, by Monday I was sick as a dog - I've been smoted. I don't get sick often, but when I do, I usually go down for the count. So my workouts for this week look like this:
Monday - OFF
Tuesday - NADA
Wednesday - ZIP
Thursday - Z-E-R-O
Friday- run 7k and hack a lung out. (nah, it wasn't that bad)
So I'm starting to feel better today and did get a short run in. It's funny, being sick makes me depressed in ways like : 'I don't want to workout' or : 'I don't even feel like working out' or 'Bah, I've already lost fitness.. missing another day won't matter'.
That's the bad side...
The good side is: 'ahhh a forced rest, time for some extra muscle repair, so I can really start to rip it up' or 'this rest will make me stronger for later..'
Naturally, I side with the good, a forced rest this early and after some pretty good mileage for Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan is probably good for me. Either way, I'm looking forward to getting back to 100% so I can assauge some of this guilt of missing 4 days in a row! My recipe for getting well: rest, quality food, rest some more, get active when possible and just 'focus on getting well.'
Oh yeah another thing, I'm down to 156 pounds - that's only 5 pounds away from when I used to swim seriously, a mere 20 years ago! I think my new race weight will be 155.
Ok, I must go nap now. Have a great weekend!
And now for the 'smoting' part of today's post. It appears that the Super Bowl Gods weren't too fond of last Friday's mini rant against their game, by Monday I was sick as a dog - I've been smoted. I don't get sick often, but when I do, I usually go down for the count. So my workouts for this week look like this:
Monday - OFF
Tuesday - NADA
Wednesday - ZIP
Thursday - Z-E-R-O
Friday- run 7k and hack a lung out. (nah, it wasn't that bad)
So I'm starting to feel better today and did get a short run in. It's funny, being sick makes me depressed in ways like : 'I don't want to workout' or : 'I don't even feel like working out' or 'Bah, I've already lost fitness.. missing another day won't matter'.
That's the bad side...
The good side is: 'ahhh a forced rest, time for some extra muscle repair, so I can really start to rip it up' or 'this rest will make me stronger for later..'
Naturally, I side with the good, a forced rest this early and after some pretty good mileage for Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan is probably good for me. Either way, I'm looking forward to getting back to 100% so I can assauge some of this guilt of missing 4 days in a row! My recipe for getting well: rest, quality food, rest some more, get active when possible and just 'focus on getting well.'
Oh yeah another thing, I'm down to 156 pounds - that's only 5 pounds away from when I used to swim seriously, a mere 20 years ago! I think my new race weight will be 155.
Ok, I must go nap now. Have a great weekend!
Friday, February 02, 2007
SUPER January totals..
Hi, my name is Darren and and I couldn't care less that this weekend is super bowl Sunday. Can't stand the game. Can't stand the hype. Can't stand the hooplah. You couldn't pay me to watch it. I suppose many would consider that sacrilege and blasphemous, ahh well, to each his own. I do like the junk food though.....
Ok so the January totals aren't SUPER, but they aren't bad either - here ya go:
Run: 255.5k
Spin: 31 hrs 15 min
Swim: 15.65k
Failed to meet my monthly run goal of 300k, but I smashed my projected bike time. That was mostly due to my bike focus week where I did 16 hrs in 8 days. So even though I missed my run goal, the extra time on the bike made up for it.
As for swimming, I'm just getting back into it and progress has been good. Example: when I first got into the pool, I was winded doing a 5X200m on 3:15, coming in on 3:00. Today, I did the same set coming in sub 2:50's and more importantly it felt better. I think by mid March swimming will be back to normal.
I tried to sign up for my early season "A" race - The Chilly Half Marathon and it's SOLD OUT. Doh Doh Doh Doh Doh. I'm on the waiting list, so I'm hoping between that and me begging the race director I'll get in. I can't believe it sold in January - is this running thing catching on or what?
The weekend plan: Sat: spin 3 hrs or so. Not sure if I'm going to do Lake Placid or another leg on the RAAM course. Sunday: run. A cold run according to the forcast - oh joy.
Here's hoping you have a SUPER weekend! :) Cheers!
Ok so the January totals aren't SUPER, but they aren't bad either - here ya go:
Run: 255.5k
Spin: 31 hrs 15 min
Swim: 15.65k
Failed to meet my monthly run goal of 300k, but I smashed my projected bike time. That was mostly due to my bike focus week where I did 16 hrs in 8 days. So even though I missed my run goal, the extra time on the bike made up for it.
As for swimming, I'm just getting back into it and progress has been good. Example: when I first got into the pool, I was winded doing a 5X200m on 3:15, coming in on 3:00. Today, I did the same set coming in sub 2:50's and more importantly it felt better. I think by mid March swimming will be back to normal.
I tried to sign up for my early season "A" race - The Chilly Half Marathon and it's SOLD OUT. Doh Doh Doh Doh Doh. I'm on the waiting list, so I'm hoping between that and me begging the race director I'll get in. I can't believe it sold in January - is this running thing catching on or what?
The weekend plan: Sat: spin 3 hrs or so. Not sure if I'm going to do Lake Placid or another leg on the RAAM course. Sunday: run. A cold run according to the forcast - oh joy.
Here's hoping you have a SUPER weekend! :) Cheers!
Monday, January 29, 2007
Monday weigh in..
Bike focus week is done. From Saturday the 20th to Saturday 27th a total of 16 hours on the trainer, that's the equivalent of 500k -not too shaboo for January! Lesson learned: due to easier/faster recovery the key for building muscular endurance is to log lots of cycling miles. I mean lets face it, you can be great runner but if you don't have the cycling miles in your legs, you will not run well after a 180k bike in an Ironman!
So here are my Monday to Sunday totals:
Swim 5.85k
Spin: 10 hrs
Run: 42k
Weight: 160
Swimming is coming along ok, the stroke is slowly starting to feel better, which is pretty cool because today was only my 6th swim since IMC (Aug /06) - so it's only natural I'm going to be a little rusty in the water. I'm still just focusing on drill work, some pulling and the odd 5 X 200.
The goal for this week is to bring back up running frequency and mileage, log around 5 to 6 hours on the trainer and swim twice and take two easy days. (Monday and Friday).
Still no word on sponsorship, I'm hoping to get news in the next week or two so I can update my '07 race schedule. I'll keep you posted.
The 50/50 draw at work is progressing well - closing in 600 bux for the kids - good stuff.
Must... go.. make... dinner.. hmmmm... foooooooooood.
Cheers!
So here are my Monday to Sunday totals:
Swim 5.85k
Spin: 10 hrs
Run: 42k
Weight: 160
Swimming is coming along ok, the stroke is slowly starting to feel better, which is pretty cool because today was only my 6th swim since IMC (Aug /06) - so it's only natural I'm going to be a little rusty in the water. I'm still just focusing on drill work, some pulling and the odd 5 X 200.
The goal for this week is to bring back up running frequency and mileage, log around 5 to 6 hours on the trainer and swim twice and take two easy days. (Monday and Friday).
Still no word on sponsorship, I'm hoping to get news in the next week or two so I can update my '07 race schedule. I'll keep you posted.
The 50/50 draw at work is progressing well - closing in 600 bux for the kids - good stuff.
Must... go.. make... dinner.. hmmmm... foooooooooood.
Cheers!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Focus & Bonking
Note there is no 'i' in the title.
'Bonking' occurs when you deplete your energy stores, you are basically trying to complete a workout or race with the needle below empty. Generally, it's not a fun experience, power output is minimal and all you really want to do is curl up somewhere, eat some food and grab a nap.
Why am I talking about bonking in January? Usually this only happend during a long bike ride... Well, funny you should mention, but this is a bike focus week. I've been logging some good hours on the Computrainer this week and yesterday's workout was a douzy.
Let me recap the week thus far: Tues: Run 11k (25 min @tempo), 2 hours on the trainer. Wed: Run 9k (trails) 1 hour spinning. Thurs: a 3.5 hour trainer session. (new record!).
The thing about yesterday's workout was not only was it long, it was hard. I downloaded all the RAAM courses for the Computrainer. What is RAAM? Oh, it's a little race where people Ride Across AMerica.... on their bikes. Yea, it's whole new level insanity, which we can discuss at another time. So my thinking is
'hey, over the next little while, I'll plug away on the RAAM courses and eventually I'll be able to say I rode across America in training - so it's virtual riding, but it still counts. So I fire up stage one, (there are 57 in total) and holy crap it's HILLacious. I got more than I bargained for: net elevation was over 1100 meters and that's just net elevation, not even including all the ups and downs on the way. Zoinks. ALOT of hard climbing, I'm talking 15% grades up and out of saddle climbing. Wheeeee!
Average speed for the whole workout was a mere 24kph! Did I bonk? No, but it was close - power output was low and I feeling a little grumpy by the end, but at least I finished that sucker!
So, since Sat, I'm at 12.5 hours of trainer time and I still have 2.5 days to go...
That's all for now. Cheers!
'Bonking' occurs when you deplete your energy stores, you are basically trying to complete a workout or race with the needle below empty. Generally, it's not a fun experience, power output is minimal and all you really want to do is curl up somewhere, eat some food and grab a nap.
Why am I talking about bonking in January? Usually this only happend during a long bike ride... Well, funny you should mention, but this is a bike focus week. I've been logging some good hours on the Computrainer this week and yesterday's workout was a douzy.
Let me recap the week thus far: Tues: Run 11k (25 min @tempo), 2 hours on the trainer. Wed: Run 9k (trails) 1 hour spinning. Thurs: a 3.5 hour trainer session. (new record!).
The thing about yesterday's workout was not only was it long, it was hard. I downloaded all the RAAM courses for the Computrainer. What is RAAM? Oh, it's a little race where people Ride Across AMerica.... on their bikes. Yea, it's whole new level insanity, which we can discuss at another time. So my thinking is
'hey, over the next little while, I'll plug away on the RAAM courses and eventually I'll be able to say I rode across America in training - so it's virtual riding, but it still counts. So I fire up stage one, (there are 57 in total) and holy crap it's HILLacious. I got more than I bargained for: net elevation was over 1100 meters and that's just net elevation, not even including all the ups and downs on the way. Zoinks. ALOT of hard climbing, I'm talking 15% grades up and out of saddle climbing. Wheeeee!
Average speed for the whole workout was a mere 24kph! Did I bonk? No, but it was close - power output was low and I feeling a little grumpy by the end, but at least I finished that sucker!
So, since Sat, I'm at 12.5 hours of trainer time and I still have 2.5 days to go...
That's all for now. Cheers!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Monday weigh in
Ok ok.. I admit it. I'm a fair weather runner. My tolerance for cold weather running stops around the -8C degree mark. Throw some wind in the mix and my will to run evaporates. Luckily last week, was a designated easy week, so even though I bailed on a run or two, I won't allow myself to feel too guilty over it. Here's the mileage report:
swim: 5.6k
bike: 8hrs
run: 23.5k
weight: 160 (down another pound)
Only 2 runs for the week. Did I mention I'm a wuss when it's too cold? Here's what actually happened. Saturday woke up, walked the dog with Sally - all the while she got to listen to grumpy Darren cursing the weather the gods. I get backand bailed on my Sat morning run, instead I fire up the spinner and do a Lake Placid loop on my Computrainer. Phew, that makes up for the run I bailed on. Sunday... brrrr too cold. Run for 2 hours with -20C wind chills? Nah. So I did the Lake Placid loop again on Sunday - hence the spike in bike hours for the week.
I guess with the weekend dedicated to spinning, my bike focus week got bumped up a couple of days. So instead of a 6-day bike focus, it'll be a an 8 day focus. I've adjusted my build weeks. I used to do a 3 week build, followed by an easy week. This Jan I've been trying something new - 2 week build, easy week, focus week, easy week. We'll see how it goes..
Sorry for the short post, but Sal and I have a dvd date - we're starting 24 season 3. Cheers!
swim: 5.6k
bike: 8hrs
run: 23.5k
weight: 160 (down another pound)
Only 2 runs for the week. Did I mention I'm a wuss when it's too cold? Here's what actually happened. Saturday woke up, walked the dog with Sally - all the while she got to listen to grumpy Darren cursing the weather the gods. I get backand bailed on my Sat morning run, instead I fire up the spinner and do a Lake Placid loop on my Computrainer. Phew, that makes up for the run I bailed on. Sunday... brrrr too cold. Run for 2 hours with -20C wind chills? Nah. So I did the Lake Placid loop again on Sunday - hence the spike in bike hours for the week.
I guess with the weekend dedicated to spinning, my bike focus week got bumped up a couple of days. So instead of a 6-day bike focus, it'll be a an 8 day focus. I've adjusted my build weeks. I used to do a 3 week build, followed by an easy week. This Jan I've been trying something new - 2 week build, easy week, focus week, easy week. We'll see how it goes..
Sorry for the short post, but Sal and I have a dvd date - we're starting 24 season 3. Cheers!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The Hungry Trout, bike LT test.
Slowly starting to get things in place for Ironman Lake Placid. After a few days of searching and finding absolutely nothing in the accomodation department, we lucked out and secured a spot at The Hungry Trout Inn. Would I make this stuff up? Actually, the place looks pretty good and it's about 30 minutes outside of Lake Placid located on the bike course. Phew, I can now cross 'find accomodations' off the list.
Yesterday, I did my very first lactate threshold test on the bike. Zoinks, that was fun. If fun means 'sweating profusely while gasping for air and having your legs screaming at you to stop'. Then yes, that was fun. The bike LT test is similar to the run LT test - it's basically a 30 minute all out time trial in which you record your heartrate and determine your 'lactate threshold'. Your LT is then used to establish your training zones. The numbers are: avg watts 283, average HR: 170 - initially I didn't think I could hold this for 30 minutes, but I did - so I think it was a good test. Painful, but good.
So zone 1 (easy) is <139 HR and zone 2 (endurance) is 140-151 HR. Kind of funny as I've been training between 135 and 142 HR on the bike for the last few months.
I also got my 2nd swim of the year in yestereday, 2.6k. Easy sets, drillwork, nothing too hard - slowly getting the arms back in the swing of things.
Today: run 11k plus 1 hr on the bike - more drill work.
Tomorrow: swim & run
Fri: 2nd easy day of the week .. bike 60-90 min.
That's all for now, it's bedtime and I need my 8!
Yesterday, I did my very first lactate threshold test on the bike. Zoinks, that was fun. If fun means 'sweating profusely while gasping for air and having your legs screaming at you to stop'. Then yes, that was fun. The bike LT test is similar to the run LT test - it's basically a 30 minute all out time trial in which you record your heartrate and determine your 'lactate threshold'. Your LT is then used to establish your training zones. The numbers are: avg watts 283, average HR: 170 - initially I didn't think I could hold this for 30 minutes, but I did - so I think it was a good test. Painful, but good.
So zone 1 (easy) is <139 HR and zone 2 (endurance) is 140-151 HR. Kind of funny as I've been training between 135 and 142 HR on the bike for the last few months.
I also got my 2nd swim of the year in yestereday, 2.6k. Easy sets, drillwork, nothing too hard - slowly getting the arms back in the swing of things.
Today: run 11k plus 1 hr on the bike - more drill work.
Tomorrow: swim & run
Fri: 2nd easy day of the week .. bike 60-90 min.
That's all for now, it's bedtime and I need my 8!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Weekend update
It's interesting to see how other people approach training. I keep an eye out on follow bloggers, visit many forums, websites and pro's blogs all in effort to garner as much information as possible and make an informed decision on what is good for me. The bottom line is there is no one definite clear answer that works for everyone. Some people speed train all year around, some 'periodize', some do huge amounts of base training and little else. Regardless of what works for you, one thing is clear, you have to log the miles. Which is kind of a nice segui into the this week's mileage report:
Swim: 2.1k
Bike/spin: 6hr 45min
Run: 84.5k
Weight: 161 (dropped 2 pounds!)
I guess the big news is that I went for my first swim - just did some basic drill stuff and took it easy. While at the pool, I was chatting with the lifeguard and as it turns out, Lisa Bentley regularly swims there. Yes, THAT Lisa Bentley. So not oly does the pool have a maximum of 4 swimmers for the entire pool during adult swim, a 10 time IronWoman champion also trains there. -Yup, I'm liking my new pool.
I guess most other news for the week pales in comparison. I ditched one run, so only got 5 runs in on the week, but gained 75 minutes of bike time and a pool workout. Fair trade I'd say.
I'm going to back off a bit this week, cut the running mileage down to ~50k, swim twice and bike maybe 4.5 -5 hrs - depends how I feel. I have TWO very easy days this week. Wacky stuff. The point of this week is rest up for the following week, which will be my first bike focused week.
That's it for now.. Cheers!
Swim: 2.1k
Bike/spin: 6hr 45min
Run: 84.5k
Weight: 161 (dropped 2 pounds!)
I guess the big news is that I went for my first swim - just did some basic drill stuff and took it easy. While at the pool, I was chatting with the lifeguard and as it turns out, Lisa Bentley regularly swims there. Yes, THAT Lisa Bentley. So not oly does the pool have a maximum of 4 swimmers for the entire pool during adult swim, a 10 time IronWoman champion also trains there. -Yup, I'm liking my new pool.
I guess most other news for the week pales in comparison. I ditched one run, so only got 5 runs in on the week, but gained 75 minutes of bike time and a pool workout. Fair trade I'd say.
I'm going to back off a bit this week, cut the running mileage down to ~50k, swim twice and bike maybe 4.5 -5 hrs - depends how I feel. I have TWO very easy days this week. Wacky stuff. The point of this week is rest up for the following week, which will be my first bike focused week.
That's it for now.. Cheers!
Monday, January 08, 2007
Monday weigh in..
I meant to update on Friday, but got sidetracked. Why you ask? After being ever so patient, my Computrainer finally arrived and like a little kid at Christmas I naturally had to start 'playing' right away! For those that don't know, a Computrainer hooks your bike up to the computer and you can race other opponents, pre-race a course ( or build your own), it simulates hills and grade percentages, provides you with loads of data: speed, rpm, watts, real time 'spin analysis', heart rate and the list goes on.
After I hooked it up, I fired up spinscan and could tell immediately my left leg does more work than my right and that I have a 'dead spot' at top-dead-centre. I have more work to do on the bike than I originally thought!
Anyway, enough of my new toy, if you are interested, go click on the link above or drop me a note. Incidentally, I bought mine through Mike Plumb over at Tripower. He did a group deal that provided a substantial discount. So in addition to being an athlete and a triathlon coach, he's an all around nice guy!
Last week's mileage report:
Run: 91.5k
Spin: 5.5 hrs
Weight: 163
Not too shaboo. I did a 30 minute tempo run on Tuesday which went well, held a heartrate of 175 for the duration. Other than the Computrainer, the only other thing of note was that yesterday I did 25k run in which I acutally had to push myself to maintain a high zone 1 heartrate. ie not over 150 bpm. Held 4:58/k over hilly terrain, in zone 1 for 25k. I'm happy with that because it's tangible evidence my fitness level is increasing.
This week the plan is pretty much the same, maybe add an extra spinning hour and increase the tempo run to 35 minutes.
Oh yeah.. I checked out a new pool today. The problem is my old pool, which is an excellent facility, just can't get their act togethor regarding lane swims. So I go and check out this other pool, which is not as nice as a facility, but .. and this is a big but, it only had ONE swimmer in the whole pool for the adult/lane swim. I think I found a new swim home... :)
Cheers!
After I hooked it up, I fired up spinscan and could tell immediately my left leg does more work than my right and that I have a 'dead spot' at top-dead-centre. I have more work to do on the bike than I originally thought!
Anyway, enough of my new toy, if you are interested, go click on the link above or drop me a note. Incidentally, I bought mine through Mike Plumb over at Tripower. He did a group deal that provided a substantial discount. So in addition to being an athlete and a triathlon coach, he's an all around nice guy!
Last week's mileage report:
Run: 91.5k
Spin: 5.5 hrs
Weight: 163
Not too shaboo. I did a 30 minute tempo run on Tuesday which went well, held a heartrate of 175 for the duration. Other than the Computrainer, the only other thing of note was that yesterday I did 25k run in which I acutally had to push myself to maintain a high zone 1 heartrate. ie not over 150 bpm. Held 4:58/k over hilly terrain, in zone 1 for 25k. I'm happy with that because it's tangible evidence my fitness level is increasing.
This week the plan is pretty much the same, maybe add an extra spinning hour and increase the tempo run to 35 minutes.
Oh yeah.. I checked out a new pool today. The problem is my old pool, which is an excellent facility, just can't get their act togethor regarding lane swims. So I go and check out this other pool, which is not as nice as a facility, but .. and this is a big but, it only had ONE swimmer in the whole pool for the adult/lane swim. I think I found a new swim home... :)
Cheers!
Monday, January 01, 2007
I resolve to..
Stop making resolutions. Not that I ever really did anyway. However, I hope in '07 that I can expand my physical, mental and spiritual horizons, which really is an ongoing process as opposed to any arbitrary 'resolution.'
Last night some good friends came over, including Reddog. Good food, friends, converstion, a beverage or two and a board game. Pretty low key and casual - just the way I like it now. A far cry from my younger days, upon reflection, I have sure done some stupid things. Fortuneately, we kept the festivities to a dull roar and I emerged in '07 relatively unscathed, though perhaps a little sleep deprived. Yes, today is a designated off-day. :)
However, a new phase starts tomorrow. Here's the plan: for January: week 1, 2 run focused. week 3: easy. week 4: bike week. Bring the total spinning hours to ~22-24. Try to maintain 300+ running K's. Do 4 tempo runs and 2 interval sessions. The major change is the addtion of speed work, this period will last for Jan and Feb. The goal for week 4, bike week, is to get 10 hours on the trainer. Oh yea, I may even make it to the pool 2 or 3 times this month... wacky stuff.
Monthly stats:
run: 332k (mileage PR!)
spin: 18.5 hours
Jan 1/06 - Dec 31/06 mileage:
run: 2424k
spin: 131 hours
bike: 3432k
swim: 191k
A good 'build year'. I think if I can build more in '07, I could have a break out year in '08. Hehe, '07 is only 15 hours old and I'm already to starting to think of '08.
This quote seems fitting for Jan 1:
"Never live in the past but always learn from it. " -Unknown
Last night some good friends came over, including Reddog. Good food, friends, converstion, a beverage or two and a board game. Pretty low key and casual - just the way I like it now. A far cry from my younger days, upon reflection, I have sure done some stupid things. Fortuneately, we kept the festivities to a dull roar and I emerged in '07 relatively unscathed, though perhaps a little sleep deprived. Yes, today is a designated off-day. :)
However, a new phase starts tomorrow. Here's the plan: for January: week 1, 2 run focused. week 3: easy. week 4: bike week. Bring the total spinning hours to ~22-24. Try to maintain 300+ running K's. Do 4 tempo runs and 2 interval sessions. The major change is the addtion of speed work, this period will last for Jan and Feb. The goal for week 4, bike week, is to get 10 hours on the trainer. Oh yea, I may even make it to the pool 2 or 3 times this month... wacky stuff.
Monthly stats:
run: 332k (mileage PR!)
spin: 18.5 hours
Jan 1/06 - Dec 31/06 mileage:
run: 2424k
spin: 131 hours
bike: 3432k
swim: 191k
A good 'build year'. I think if I can build more in '07, I could have a break out year in '08. Hehe, '07 is only 15 hours old and I'm already to starting to think of '08.
This quote seems fitting for Jan 1:
"Never live in the past but always learn from it. " -Unknown
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Milestones
A couple of minor milestones. One is relating to winter. You see, psychologically, I break winter down into two major milestones. The first one is the winter solstice, which just passed on Dec 22. Daylight has been increasing for the last 5 days! The next major winter milestone for me isn't until March 1, when it's so close to the end of the tunnel and you can taste spring. Jan/Feb can be a tough stretch, but once March is here, it's game on!
2006 is winding down real fast. As I reflect on the year, specifically relating to triathlon, I think of the top 3 things I've learned. 1) speed is icing on the cake and I don't have cake yet. Off the top of my head, I can't recall who said that, so I can't give proper credit, but it was someone wiser than me! It really is all about building a bigger engine. 2) It really is all about the run. Which is kind of a trick statement. It should be: it's all about arriving at the run with enough endurance to actually run." I thought I was working on the run in '06, but truthfully I did not end up doing what is required. I believe you have train like a runner to become a better runner. Also, just as importantly, do the bike miles to arrive at the run in reasonable shape. Lastly, nutrition really is king. I've found that 'nailing' my nutritional needs for the longer events quite difficult and even though I've learned alot, I still have a ways to go. Such is life.
Another milestone... 101 running K's last week. Yea! A nice Christmas present to myself - a mileage PR. Here's the belated stats for last week:
run: 101 k
spin 4 hr
Plus the usual 2 hours dedicated to stretching and core work.
Ok, well I was a little reluctant to post this, but I did promise I'd post my new bike position, so here it is. Constructive criticism always welcome.. note, I did stay constructive. :)
The only real adjustments over last year is that now there are no spacers in the stem. I played with angling the aerobars down a bit, but after some research decided against it. I was able to achieve a nice flat scapula area and have so far found this position to be comfortable, so for the time being this is the position I'll go with.
The camera did point out some technical flaws in my pedal stroke, just some minor things to work on while logging the spinning hours.
Speaking of spinning, I better stop typing and start logging some miles in front of the TV. Cheers!
2006 is winding down real fast. As I reflect on the year, specifically relating to triathlon, I think of the top 3 things I've learned. 1) speed is icing on the cake and I don't have cake yet. Off the top of my head, I can't recall who said that, so I can't give proper credit, but it was someone wiser than me! It really is all about building a bigger engine. 2) It really is all about the run. Which is kind of a trick statement. It should be: it's all about arriving at the run with enough endurance to actually run." I thought I was working on the run in '06, but truthfully I did not end up doing what is required. I believe you have train like a runner to become a better runner. Also, just as importantly, do the bike miles to arrive at the run in reasonable shape. Lastly, nutrition really is king. I've found that 'nailing' my nutritional needs for the longer events quite difficult and even though I've learned alot, I still have a ways to go. Such is life.
Another milestone... 101 running K's last week. Yea! A nice Christmas present to myself - a mileage PR. Here's the belated stats for last week:
run: 101 k
spin 4 hr
Plus the usual 2 hours dedicated to stretching and core work.
Ok, well I was a little reluctant to post this, but I did promise I'd post my new bike position, so here it is. Constructive criticism always welcome.. note, I did stay constructive. :)
The only real adjustments over last year is that now there are no spacers in the stem. I played with angling the aerobars down a bit, but after some research decided against it. I was able to achieve a nice flat scapula area and have so far found this position to be comfortable, so for the time being this is the position I'll go with.
The camera did point out some technical flaws in my pedal stroke, just some minor things to work on while logging the spinning hours.
Speaking of spinning, I better stop typing and start logging some miles in front of the TV. Cheers!
Friday, December 22, 2006
It's crunch time..
It's crunch time at the North Pole. I'd imagine those poor elves must be 'in the weeds'. <-- bartending lingo for when your busier than hell. I hope Santa is good to everyone.
The week is progressing well, I'm on track for 100 running K's, just have to do a couple 22k runs this weekend. Monday was off, Tuesday: run 17, spin 1hr, Wed: run 12, spin 1hr, Thur: run 17, spin 1 and today was run 9 in the nice cold rain and spin 1. At least the weather looks decent, so I shouldn't have a problem finishing the week out strong.
POGO news:
I finally got the 50/50 off the ground at work- yea 2 weeks later than I orginally thought... office politics, ya gotta love it. The good news is for the inaugural draw $120.00 was collected. Let's just hope it lasts. So current collected total is $220.00, with almost $200.00 in pledges to be collected. Hey, it's a start.
Hmm.. not much else is happening. I'm still waiting on my Computrainer, though with things pretty much shutting down next week, I probably won't receive it until January. Waiting, it's the hardest part.
That's all for now. Don't forget what Christmas is really about, give a loved 0ne a hug and raise a glass for everything we have to be thankful for. Cheers!
The week is progressing well, I'm on track for 100 running K's, just have to do a couple 22k runs this weekend. Monday was off, Tuesday: run 17, spin 1hr, Wed: run 12, spin 1hr, Thur: run 17, spin 1 and today was run 9 in the nice cold rain and spin 1. At least the weather looks decent, so I shouldn't have a problem finishing the week out strong.
POGO news:
I finally got the 50/50 off the ground at work- yea 2 weeks later than I orginally thought... office politics, ya gotta love it. The good news is for the inaugural draw $120.00 was collected. Let's just hope it lasts. So current collected total is $220.00, with almost $200.00 in pledges to be collected. Hey, it's a start.
Hmm.. not much else is happening. I'm still waiting on my Computrainer, though with things pretty much shutting down next week, I probably won't receive it until January. Waiting, it's the hardest part.
That's all for now. Don't forget what Christmas is really about, give a loved 0ne a hug and raise a glass for everything we have to be thankful for. Cheers!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Monday weigh in
Picture this. It's December 17th (yesterday), one hour north of Toronto, a mere 4 days before the official start of winter... it's a gorgeous sunny day with temperature just shy of 10C. If that's not shorts weather I don't what is. Yup, smart money says it'll be a green Christmas. The 'angel' on the right shoulder says "global warming = bad!" The 'devil' on the left shoulder says "get outside and enjoy that global warming!" I kinda feel guilty for running shorts in the second half of December.
The tally for last week:
Run: 87.5 k
Spin: 5 hrs
Weight: 163
Met my goals for the week - all is good. This week I'm thinking of giving myself a Christmas present - a running mileage PR. Yup, going for triple digits next week and maintain the same amount of time on the bike. I figure go for 100 running K's next week, then take the last week of the year real easy, with January 2/07 bringing in a new training phase. So there ya have it. Cheers!
The tally for last week:
Run: 87.5 k
Spin: 5 hrs
Weight: 163
Met my goals for the week - all is good. This week I'm thinking of giving myself a Christmas present - a running mileage PR. Yup, going for triple digits next week and maintain the same amount of time on the bike. I figure go for 100 running K's next week, then take the last week of the year real easy, with January 2/07 bringing in a new training phase. So there ya have it. Cheers!
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