After Christmas....going into the new year

The morning workouts continue to go well. I'm getting up and doing the workouts, and now I can feel my body beginning to be able to work at higher outputs in the morning. The human body is an amazing machine.

I did a nine-days straight push of workouts before leaving to NoDak for Christmas. My legs were ready to sit in the car all day, for sure. Then it snowed for three days straight with blizzard conditions most of the time. I was no-kidding planning to run, but I don't run in the wind...or two feet of snow. I don't mind the cold, it's the wind that gets me. So now workouts for six days.

My parents got me a nice wind-breaker cycling jacket for Christmas. Nice and bright, too. It should help me get out in the mornings during the summer. Maybe I'll start to ride even when it's down to 50degrees! Seriously, I need to be biking in the morning, and the cool wind has made me bail in the past. Not this year!

Today I basically destroyed my legs during my morning workout. I normally feel ok after a workout, but today the soreness set-in within a few hours. All day long I had trouble walking. The real challenge is to do tomorrow morning's workout.

I am seeing weekly improvements on my bike, and it is very motivating. It's easy to get up and workout when you know you are improving. Each day is a different type of workout, and each day I do better than the previous week. I'm not looking forward to the inevitable plateua at all.

Next week I start a new phase of this plan. I'll continue to do big bike workouts each morning, followed by a 1.5 or 3mile run. The bike is being extended by 20 minutes to reach a total of 80 minutes, which is just a bit longer than a normal 40k ride. Then I'll run with the goal of teaching my legs to run after the bike. At lunch will be lifting weights or swimming. I'm starting up swimming again next week when the gym at ISU opens up again. I'm not terribly excited about that, but I need to do it. I am excited about getting back into the weight room again, though.

This weekend I plan to get in my first turns of the year. A buddy and me are planning a backcountry ski adventure in the local mountains. The snow will be sketchy, but it should be there by now. Then it's a family fun XC ski on Saturday.

My race schedule is up in the air right now. The Marine Corps drill weekends and the two-week exercise at the end of August are really cutting into the schedule. Everything is falling on the same weekends, and the Marine Corps gets the priority. Looks like a couple of olympic tris in Utah at this point. The Rush Tri in Rexburg is definitely out, and that was going to be my A race. Also, the Bear Lake Brawl got moved to the last weekend of August, so that is out, too. Damn, my two favorite races are gone this year. But I still get to do Janet's Tri in June, so that is good; it's always nice to be in Yellowstone, do a tri, and then get in some early summer fishing.

Things are on track for a much improved bike time this summer, though, and that is my focus right now. When I'll get to prove that in a race is the question.

Body clock changed successfully

I have managed to change my body clock. I'm now completely ready for bed at 9pm instead of 11pm. Of course, this helps me get up at 0445 for morning workouts. I've found that I'm much more consistent now, and I am doing all of my workouts. With lunch and after-work workouts, something would always come up that shortens the workout or completely cancels it. Consistency is my goal this year, and I think I've found my answer.

Last week was really cold, but I still got out and ran after the morning bike workout. It's a matter of gear and being warmed up. There's no way I could get out of bed and go run in -10 degrees, but I can get up and ride the bike for an hour and then be warmed up and ready to go outside in the cold. I got in three runs last week this way!

Interesting that as my body gets used to morning workouts, it gets easier to get my heart rate up. In early November, I couldn't get ready mentally or physically to get my heart rate much above 145 or so. After six weeks, I can get it up to 170 now and the intensity is close to what my afternoon workouts were. This should probably help come race day when I need to be "on" early in the morning.

Snow is here, and I can't wait to get in some backcountry skiing!

December going well so far...SNOW!

The December training schedule is going well. I've added a bunch of details for here on through Spring Break in March. The focus is on the bike, and I'm doing one workout of each type each week: M=power (slow cad, big gear, low heart rate) T=hard interval set, W=easy spin and spin-ups, R=hill repeats, and F=steady state at 75% LTR. I'm running 1.5-3 miles after the M,W,F workouts to train my legs for running after the bike, and I like that I have an entire winter and spring to do it. The distances are short, but it's the consistency I'm after; and it's damn cold in the morning now (avg about 5deg), so I like to keep it short. It's much easier to run in the morning after you've had a good workout because it's easier to get out in the cold with a working body rather than one straight out of bed.

I'm lifting weights at lunch on M,W,F, and swimming at lunch on T,R. All in all, the average scheduled hours is 9-10 hours, of which I hit about 7-8, with missing hours because of work, life, etc.

And there is now snow on the ground. In a few days, that measn ice on the roads. The running will be difficult, but it will force a shorter, faster cadence. My goal is to get to an average cadence of 84 on the run this winter, so I guess the conditions help that.

This past weekend I was at Camp Pendleton for my drill weekend. I liked the warm sunshine, but I simply didn't do any workouts other than a bike spin on some rusted out stationary bikes in the Del Mar gym. Next drill periods, I resolve to do lunch and after-work-hours workouts like long runs instead of sitting in front of a tv.

I also got the video analysis of my bike tonight (Thanks, Tera!). Everything looks good. I have a bit of a "snake" action in my core that I don't know if it should be there or not, but it sure looks like it shouldn't. Also, my right heel doesn't come down like it should, although the left ankle action is looking pretty good. The Cobb seat is AWESOME!

The good and the bad

The good:

1. I got the V-Flow Max saddle. So far, I love it. It really is much more comfortable than the old stock saddle. It's even comfortable during 60-second one legged drills; with the old saddle I was screaming after only 10 seconds. I also got my hips a couple inches closer to the handlebars, and I feel much more powerful in this setup. All in all, a good thing.

2. This morning workout thing is going well, and I like it alot. I'm almost to the point where I actually want to be in bed by 9:30pm instead of telling myself that I need to be in bed by that time. I am getting up every morning, and it's great. 100% of my workout hours are invisible to my family at this point; 90 minutes in the morning and 60 minutes at lunch, completely invisible (ie no conflict between family and practice)!

3. Lifting weights in the morning on M,W,F after the bike. Once done with the bike workout, it's a short 5-minute jog to the gym for weights or swim. So far, I've managed to start the weight lifting in earnest. The first days I was very quite sore, but now that's gone and it's just a matter of consistency. It feels good to be lifting weights again. I swam four laps on one day last week; my form and feel are still there, with 35 second 50's with little effort. But I had no motivation to be in the pool. So I'm not sure what I'll do about the swimming; I can always do a longer bike workout those mornings, which is probably needed more than swimming right now anyway.

The bad:

1. Running consistency was good for a while but will now be non-existent. I missed Wed - Friday of last week, and now my heel feels much better after some sort of pain after the PFT on Oct 31. I figure I'll just stay off it a few more days and let it get to 100%. I forgot what a completely pain-free heel feels like, I guess.

2. Nearly 190 pounds, versus 175 during the summer. Not sure what's going on, other than I must be eating more than I think. I'm averagine 7 hours of workouts / week, and gaining 2-3 pounds per week.

Great week so far....

The only consistency is my inconsistency.

Last week's workouts sucked. This week I'm on a roll. I've done all my workouts this week, morning bike trainer rides and runs at lunch. If...no, when, I hit tomorrow's workouts, I'll have done 100% of my schedule. That doesn't happen often. I don't think it has ever happened. So I'm on a roll there, and I think I'll hit 20 miles running, too.

USMC Birthday was Tuesday night. We had a great dinner with the local Marines, all retired except me and a Corporal. I have absolutely no discipline when it comes to Marine Corps Birthday Cake; I ate at least four pieces, probably six, I lost count!

Looking forward to some snow and getting into the backcountry on skis! The seasons are at point right now that I don't do anything on the weekend. Kind of relaxing, actually.

Not a great week.

This past week was not so great. The only workout I got was a three mile run. No bike at all. Wow...what happened? Still not sure, but I know I was really tired and needed sleep, so I wasn't getting up in the morning. Tera and Paul were both sick all week, so I think that was affecting me, and my body must have been successfully fighting it off. I didn't get sick, but I got really tired for sure.

I haven't called about the V-flow seat yet. Still looking into it and pretty sure it's going to happen.

This upcoming week is an important time for me to get back into the swing of morning workouts and daily runs. I was doing pretty good in October and need to get that enthusiasm back. With November here, I am to a point where I shouldn't be too worried about burn-out anymore. I took off alot of September and workouts in October were pretty low-key. At this point, I'm losing important time on the bike that will get me down to the 1:08-1:10 times I want next summer.

In December, I want to start getting into the pool for about 2,000 yards a week and three days of weight lifting.

And Tuesday is the 234th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Happy Birthday Marines!

And everyone have a safe Veteran's Day....say thanks to a veteran and also to his/her family because it's tougher at home when a family member or good friend is deployed.

PFT results and a V-Flow Max?

This past week became a bit of a recovery with a test week. I got in only three trainer rides and no training runs. I was quite tired all week...maybe it's something in the house because both Tera and Paul are a bit sick, and they're both really tired and sleeping alot.

On Saturday, I did my Physical Fitness Test (PFT) for the Marine Corps. It turned out to be a nice day. With a 1000 start, it had warmed up to around 45, maybe 50, degrees. Very little wind. I ran the 3 mile run on a track, and I was worried about getting bored. This "race" for time was more of an administrative requirement than any real evaluation tool for promotion. Therefore, I didn't go 110%, but I did put out at least 95%. I consider running 90% mental, so the mental aspect is important. Anyway, I ran a 20:22, with my first 400 at 1:30 and last at 1:38, with an average close to 1:45 for the rest. I thought it was a good run, and I'm happy with it.

I got 15 dead hang pull-ups. Not bad for not doing any training for pull-ups and being 10 pounds heavier than I like.

I got 85 crunches in 2 minutes. I'm suprised how my crunches have deteriorated. I always got 100 (the max) prior to 2008. I have a solid core, but it doesn't help when doing these crunches. Or, maybe I'm just kidding myself about my current core training, and I really do need to work on that.

I'm up to 185 pounds! Yikes! Too much birthday cake and other crap, I guess. No need to worry about right now, other than the fact my goal is to be at 178, and one month ago I was at 175.

Finally, I'm about to buy a V-Flow Max saddle. I figure something has to be better than this stock saddle I'm on. This current saddle isn't terrible, but it doesn't let me get up on the nose for more than a a minute or so without some serious issues. If I sit back, it's actually quite comfortable. On the trainer, if I get up on the nose, I can really feel alot more power. This seat should help me stay up there without any issues. Cobb offers a 180-day trial period, so that is the deciding factor over an Adamo, which is very much the same except for the nose. Most reviews consider them very similar except for the Adamo being a bit wider at the back of the seat. I'm excited about it.

Week in Review and a few notes

What happened this week?

1. Goal was to ride for 60 minutes each day Monday through Friday. I did it Monday through Thursday, then had to watch Paul Friday morning when he woke up early. I did the ride on Saturday morning, so I met that goal.

2. Run 15 miles. I got in 14 miles. Missed the Saturday run when Paul woke up early (again!) and couldn't run after the bike. Was going to run during a BEAUTIFUL Saturday afternoon, but I took a nap instead. I was really tired and really cranky. I very rarely take a nap, and I can't remember when the last time I took a nap was. Original goal from the annual training plan was 20 miles this week, but I dropped it to 15 miles to avoid any injuries from too much volume too fast. So far so good. Next week is 20 miles. I had absolutely no problems this week.

3. On Slowtwitch, I saw a post that included the opportunity to demo an Adamo road saddle. I pm'd him, and he'll send me some details. I'm pretty excited about it.

4. I got a blue-lamp this weekend, and I'm going to use it for the hour in the morning while I'm biking. I generally have lots of trouble getting up in the morning during the winter, and more trouble getting going when I finally wake up. I hope that this solves the problem.

5. I'll drop my handlebars by one spacer after I get done with this post. With no problems all week from the change in the cleat position, I'm going to call that a good change, so I'm ready for the next change....dropping the handlebars.

6. I also got some Acai and Green Tea drink mixes to drink during the day. I've been using an Acai powder for about 10 years (before the big hype started), and the Green Tea is always something I've thought of. Today at Costco, I saw some handy drink mixes that I'll try out.

7. Ski season is about two months away!

Initial changes for this base period

I've made a few changes to incorporate into this base period and see what happens.

1. Moved bike cleat positions to all the way back. I've read a few things about cleat position, and being a relative newbie (only two seasons in the books), I still have a lot to learn about the bike leg in tri. I moved my cleats all the way back, thus moving my foot further forward on the pedal, which is where I feel I have the most power on my mountain bike. I'm clearly lacking straight-up power on the bike, so this is my priority change this year. With two one-hour trainer rides in after this change, I feel good about it. My worry now is injury, but initially I don't think it will be a problem. After two one-hour rides, I can feel a bit of soreness in the upper quads that I've never felt before, so the forward-foot position definitely changed my angle of power in a way that I like. Not sure how it affects my hamstrings yet, but what I've read says it should make the run easier.

2. I want to get an ISM Adamo saddle. I'm riding on the stock Giant saddle right now, and I feel like I could put more weight on the seat if I wasn't worried about parts going numb and getting permanent damage. The Adamao saddle looks like it will allow me to solve this dilemna. I'm looking at the road saddle right now...it's about $160! Ouch.

3. I turned up the resistance on my trainer by a half-turn beyond where I ended in March. I remember thinking that the resistance was harder on the road than on the trainer when using the same gear. I'm probably still a beat easier on the trainer than the road for the same gear, but I want to give some time to adapt to riding every day before I worry about this more. I'll leave it where it's at til the end of November and then crank it up another half-turn and evaluate from there.

4. My upper body position feels ok right now, but I'm thinking about lowering the stem by one spacer position.

Biking consistently, no running

A review of the week:

I biked each day of the week except Monday morning, when the alarm volume was down. I got in 45 minutes easy (Zone 2, Average Heart Rate 120), and it feels really good.

I didn't get in any runs because I was working through lunch. Lots going on as we do final preps for vaccination clinics for H1N1.

Saturday I spent the day on the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park trying to catch some of the big browns that are going up from the lake for spawning. I didn't even get a bite, but I spent the day in the park in October and on the water which was the primary mission. I did catch a nice nap on the riverbank, though! We started the morning at 1000 with 9 degreees (yes, only one digit!) but it didn't feel that cold. It warmed up a bit through the day, maybe to 20 degrees. I managed to stay warm all day with two sets of SmartWool socks and two SmartWool long-sleeve shirts. I LOVE SMART WOOL! I was as warm on a nice summer day while taking the nap.

This week I go up to 60 minutes on the bike, and I still want to get in the runs, but I think I'll back off a bit on the run mileage to 20 miles this week because I didn't get in any miles last week and the increase of bike volume.

After this week, I should have my body clock effectively changed to get up at 5 and to bed at 9:30. I'm certainly feeling more tired at night, and it's getting easier to get up at 5 as I find a nice routine to go through in half-sleep.

My weight is managing to stay down somehow, but I have to watch what I eat now, for sure. I'm flirting with 180, but I want to stay down around 176-178. And it's not even close to Thanksgiving and Christmas yet!

Answering Joe Friel's season summary questions

I occassionally read Joe Friel's blog (he wrote the Triathlete's Training Bible). He provides some season summary questions at http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/blog.html in the Sept 27 post. Here are the questions and my answers:


1. What was the high point of your season? Why does this stand out for you? Was it what you thought it would be at the start of the season?
High point was probably the Rexburg Race when I did what I expected to in terms of times (after reviewing the course and changing my expected / goal times). The swim and bike and run went almost exactly as planned. I like it when things come out as planned. This is NOT what I thought it would be at the beginning of the season, which I thought would be meeting seasonal goals at the Bear Lake tri.

2. What was your greatest disappointment? Why did this happen? Is there anything you could have done to have avoided it?
Greatest disappointment was the Bismarck Tri because the swim was taken out and then I blew out my calf. I don't think I could've changed anything because I can't control the race, and I stretched considerably more than normal because I was worried about it happening. I guess I could have gone slower on the initial run, but I did back off when I started feeling the calf start to go out.

3. Looking back, do you think you trained as wisely and as hard as you could have trained?
I trained wisely but not consistently enough. I certainly trained hard enough when I did a workout. My bike training was consistent, but my run training was fairly inconsistent and I didn't hit the track and bricks like I had planned. This was because I was putting family before triathlon, and I don't have any problems with this. I had scheduled inappropriately more than anything, and I'm changing that this year by getting up in the morning and changing my body clock by about two and a half hours (up earlier, to bed earlier)

4. What is the one thing you most need to work on for next season in order to perform better?
Actually two things: The run needs to be much more consistent with the track workouts (actually do them!), simply running more, and doing more bricks (even just a one-miler off the bike). I need to swim a bit more to get down to the 20min mark, focusing on my new-found good form and pushing the entire race.

5. What would you most like to accomplish next season? Is it a good stretch and yet within your reach if you do things right?
I want to hit a 60-minute 40k bike. That is a very good stretch (10-12% improvement, depending on the course) but I think within my abilities if I am consistent in training and go hard enough in the race (not worried about what it does to my run).

2010 Annual Training Plan done

Below is my updated training plan for the 2010 season, starting Monday, Oct 6. This is the overall plan that doesn't address details. I have a more detailed list of objectives and "how to meet the objectives" that I won't be posting because it's pretty long and requires alot of reformatting to go into this blog and be readable. I do think that the schedule supports the objectives and tasks to meet the objectives.


Overall Winter 09-10 Training Objectives:

- Maintain bike base and increase leg muscles to allow improvement of bike speed for 40k distance beginning in March.
- Keep weight under 178 pounds to help get to 170 during the summer.
- Improve running cadence to average of 84.
- Make new found swim form a habit.
- Backcountry skiing when snow is good.
- Lose the fat.
- Change my body-clock to sleeping 2100 – 0500, which is eight hours to set up morning workouts next summer.
- Make sure family has priority not just in words but in actions.

October - December Schedule
-Bike Trainer five mornings per week.
- Build up to 60 minutes by mid-Nov.
- Mid-Nov to end of Dec: Mix 90 minute rides with 60 min rides plus 30 minute gym/swim.
- Run 24 miles per week.
- Weather is not an excuse. With really bad weather, 10 mins on elliptical = 1 mile.
- Swim twice weekly (2x1000) beginning mid-November for maintenance and feel.
- Volume/intensity picks up in February because I burn out kind of quickly on the swim training.
- Weights start in mid-November after a solid base on the bike is formed.


Weekly goals for Oct - Dec period:
- Consistency is the key. Get up every weekday at 0500 and do it. Weekends = 0600.
- Keep Friday morning weight below 178.
- Get to sleep at night. To bed at 2130.
- Swim: 2000 yards (starts after Thanksgiving Break, 1,000yds per week begins first week of Nov)
- Bike: 240 minutes any effort, including MTB (only uphill counts) on weekends (after buildup to 45mins/day in mid-Oct)
- Run: 24 miles (starts 5 Oct)

Jan - Spring Break
- Bike trainer five mornings per week, mixing 60min rides + gym/swim and 90 min rides.
- Increase runs to 30 miles/week. Should be getting close to natural cadence of 84 by end of this period.
- Swim volume and intensity picks up in February. Details TBD.

Spring Break - end of April
- Start riding outside. Change up morning, lunch, and evening schedules to allow for bike in the sunlight outside. Increase intensity.
- Continue lifting, but cut it to twice weekly.
- Swim intensity increases, volume remains the same.
- Running = 30 miles per week. Start a long run with Paul in cruiser.
- Bike tune-up for outdoor safety.

May - Idaho Championship Race (mid-July)
- Race specific training. Hills and high intensity.
- More bricks. Twice weekly run 2-3 miles off the bike at 6:30 miles.
- Swim OWS twice weekly at Jensen's Grove.
- Long run once weekly (9 miles?) with Paul in cruiser.

July - Rexburg Race (mid-August)
- Race specific training. Continue high intensity bike training.
- Continue bricks. Twice weekly run 2-3 miles off the bike at 6:25 miles.
- Bike Terry Hill x3 for morning workouts. This is a roughly 45 minute workout.
- Basic swimming workouts.

August - Bear Lake Race (mid-Sept)
- Race specific training.
- Continue bricks. Twice weekly run 2-3 miles off the bike at 6:20 miles.
- Bike the Inkom TT route. This is a nearly perfect simulation of the Bear Lake course.
- Swim 3x2000 weekly. 1x2000 (endurance), 3x600 (muscular endurance), 7x300 (speed/power)

Healthy Eating!?!?!?!?!?

This is officially the end of the 2009 season. More on that later.....First, let's talk about food.
Nutrition is a key element of triathlon. How do you get your kids to eat healthy? Put them by some fresh apples! Paul loves helping us collect the apples off our tree. He samples each as he crawls along. He also loves to inspect each and every apple by picking them up off the ground or taking them out of the bag, one by one. Crazy kid!



I like apples!

This apple passed the official taste test.

This morning's breakfast of champions. Cinammon rolls, egss, and long and thick pieces of bacon! And some super strong coffee. Of course, Paul had his basic breakfast of Cheerios and bananas.


Now onto some serious stuff. This is the last week of the 2009 season. While reviewing the training plan, I saw that my goal was to hit 80% of the training schedule and workouts I put together. I actually did that most of the season.

Last night I updated my philosophy and annual training plan for the 2010 season, which begins on Monday. I'm not doing much of a transition period because that is what I did most of September. I'm moving right into a base training period that consists of morning bike trainer rides and consistent running. October through December is pretty solid right now, and I have concepts for Jan-March, April-June, and then race-specific preps for races in July, August, and September. The plan progresses well from a base period Oct - March, and then it rolls into some higher intensity stuff after the universit Spring Break, and ends with race-specific training in July, August, and September.

Here's to the next 12 months of triathlon adventure!

First snow and a change in training philosophy for the winter

Looks like I changed my training plan just in time. The weather turned from really nice fall days to snow today. No accumulation here in the valley, but the local mountains are white. Yeehaw! (I think).

This is the first week of my winter training plan. Well, October through December, anyway, beginning this last week of Sept and first week of October. I'm simply scheduling a morning bike trainer ride and a 5 or 6 mile run at lunch EVERY DAY. This requires me to get to bed at 9:30pm instead of after midnight, and then I have to get up at 0500. I was successful the first three days (Mon, Tues, and today)! We'll see if it continues, but I feel good about.

The morning bike trainer is just 30 minutes right now, and it's more of a matter of getting up and then simply doing a little something to get used to getting up. The bike isn't boring...yet. Intensity level is low, with heart rate around 120. It's amazing how much you can begin to sweat when you're not really working hard but don't have any wind to evaporate the sweat. I actually drink coffee during this workout to make sure I don't get into a higher effort level than I want. I'll up this bike trainer time to 60-90 minutes as time goes by and I get used to the volume.

The lunch run is the same as I've been doing all summer, but I'm lowering the effort level to 8:15 miles or so, about a 6 out 10 effort level, with a 10 being race effort and 4 being a little jog. I want to hit 24 miles per week, which is four six-mile runs or five five-mile runs each week. The focus is on consistency and not effort level. I'm going with the theory at least until December that consistency at a moderate effort level can increase your overall speed, and I'm also working on getting my run cadence up to 84 instead of 80, which actually takes alot of mental focus. Running at lunch in the cold and/or snow is something I can deal with, but cold and wet means I'll head to the gym and get on the elliptical. It's nice that home, work, and the gym are all within a mile of each other.

I feel good about this plan / philosophy so far, but I'm only on my third day. I found in the first three weeks of September that consistent running with moderate effort can be effective because I noticed myself running a bit faster with the same effort level.

In any case, I'll continue with this and evaluate it after three weeks. I'll assume I can continue getting up in the morning! When the bike trainer time gets up past 60 minutes, I think I'll cut that time back a bit and head to the pool when it opens at 0600 to get a short swim in and be back at 0640 so I can watch little Paul (not so little anymore, btw!) while Tera works out.

Lifting weights will get thrown into the mix somewhere along the line, too, but I'm not sure where. Maybe 60 minute bikes followed by 30 minute swims on Tues and Thurs and then lifting weights for 30 minutes on Mon, Wed, Fri. I have a quick lifting routine that will fit into that time frame nicely.

All in all, I think I'm happy with this plan and where it should get me at the end of December.

End o' summer...such a bummer.....

So, summer is officially over. Yesterday I came back from the annual late summer fishing trip in Yellowstone National Park. That trip is my "recovery" period, although it is usually lots of walking and quite physical because of the rock hopping, water-wading, and fighting all the fish(!).

So now it's MTB season. I recently got my front crank replaced after a few of the teeth on the small and middle chain rings bent from a broken chain. This bike was purchased in 1994, and this is the first major component replacement, so I think it's doing pretty well. Lots of trails to hit out there!

I've been keeping up the running at lunch, usually doing six miles at about 8:10 pace, kind of easy but it's getting harder.

I haven't been on my tri-bike since the Portland race. Oh well. I'm planning on doing some easy morning workouts of 60-90 minutes once I decide I want to start getting up early. Right now, I sleep in and take it easy with little Paul so Tera can hit the gym. It's dark til about 7:00am, and we don't like to run in the dark.

This 20-60-40 goal is pretty tough. I thought I got my bike to a good level with all the hill training, but it didn't show in the races this year. I took about 8 minutes off my average 40k route this summer, so I know I made progress. I really wanted to see the progress in a race I did last year versus a time this year. The only Olympic race I did last year was the Bear Lake Brawl, and I canc'd that this year because of too busy a schedule. I guess I have to wait til next year.

I'm still committed to the goal, but I realize that it's much tougher than I thought. I got my swim time down alot by getting in some OWS in May and getting comfortable in the open water. I'm still weak on the hills on the bike, and that's where I can get the most time. The run times really suprised me this year by staying under 46, and this winter I want to work on increasing my natural run cadence as a method to improve my run times. My transition times improved immensely this year, too, from first to last races....I focused on getting in quick, changing gear smooth and fast, and then getting out quick.

I put together a Sept - Dec workout plan to slim down a little and maintain a base. I want to do 60-90 minutes easy biking in the morning, running 5-6 miles at lunch, and then evenings off. The only swimming I plan to do is as a replacement for a bike or run to break it up a bit.

From Jan - March, I'll add my favorite backcountry ski routes to the workouts! That's always a good workout.

When spring hits, I'll do the hills on the bike again and do more short, hard runs after each bike. That first mile on the run after the bike is where I can cut some time, I'm sure. Next year, I need to actually get in the 800's and 400's on the track more than once!

So from now til March, I'll probably only update this once a week or so.

Here's to a good off-season to everyone!

Early end to race season

My race season has come to an early end. With so many trips in the past few weeks and more coming up along with a busy time at work, my wife and I decided I shouldn't be doing the Bear Lake race. I agreed, but it is a serious bummer because that's the race I could use to gauge my improvements this year because it's the only Olympic distance I did last year.

Consider: leave late Friday Sept 11 to get to the lake 2 hours away (I have to work til 7pm). Up early to race and drive back tired. Pack for USMCR trip and leave early Sunday. Gone all week. Return late Thursday, and pack for a fishing trip. Depart Friday morning at 0500 for a long drive to trailhead (the short route in Yellowstone has a closed road, so I have to go a long way around). Fishing trip til the next Tuesday.

That is simply too much time away. And I've cancelled the fishing trip, too, which was ten times harder to cancel than the triathlon because it is three full days of September fishing in Slough Creek.....that trip with a guide goes for about $1,500 because it such an awesome opportunity. Even though I'm not out the cash because we do it on our own, it still sucks. And my fishing buddy is out a plane ticket, or at least the miles he used to get it, I think. This was certainly a difficult thing to ask him.

The last few weeks have been quite difficult with time away from work and family. I know I needed to cancel this race (and fishing trip!), but it was very difficult. The last trip to NoDak for family cost a lot, and the tab is still running as I have a car broken down that needs repair, I have a rental car that is running at $50/day, and I have to go back to Wyoming and get my car after it's fixed and turn in the rental car (that's a full day trip...12 hours probably).

As for triathlon, now I'll sit down and evaluate what I did this year for training and racing and see where I can improve. I still want to continue my training schedule as it was simply because I like to do the workouts. And, I have to stay in shape for the fall trail race series and ski season(!).

Such is life. The little guy Paul has me around his tiny little finger!

Portland results

Back from Portland on Monday. The family time was great, and the race was fun. Here's a quick rundown:

9 of 30 in age group
49 of 168 in men's olympic

2hrs 33minutes overall versus goal of 2:27 (90% of the difference is from the bike, and I missed my goal of 23 minutes on the swim by 34 seconds).

Pre-race: went as expected. Up early and got a good transition spot. It's so nice to have both T1 and T2 in the same spot! No swim warm-up, but I didn't see anyone else get one either, so it was all equal.

Swim: went well. 23:34 on the swim. I started too far to the right and think I added about 17m (according to Google Earth!) by the angle alone, and my 25 yard race pace time is about 22 seconds. I swam the second half of the out-n-back faster than the first half, more than likely because of the start position. First half went really well, and I swam a straight line with very little siting. Second half, I had a head-on collision with another swimmer way off course. Between 1100 and 1300meters, I was all alone and not swimming straight or with good form. Then I spotted the finish area and did well for the last 200m. I pushed the entire swim like I wanted to (first time to do that!) and pleased with the time. I really think the 22 seconds from from the bad starting point and the 10 seconds from the collision add up close enough to the 34 seconds, so I can rationalize away that missed goal(!).

T1: went well. Ran hard to the bike like I wanted to do. Changes went quickly. Position in the racks was great, only had to push the bike about 30 yards to the mount area.

Bike: Started out very rough. Crashed with another cyclist in the first 50m. I am not sure who's fault it was, but onlookers near my wife said it was the other guys'. I think we were both looking down to clip in. A mile later in the tunnel, a guy dropped his water bottle and it came right into my line, and I ran right over it without crashing (yikes!). The uphill is what I had trained for and I did ok on that, but the downhill portion was very tight turns and I had to slow down alot. The last mile or two was on very rough pavement. And it was incredibly crowded; I'm used to rarely seeing anyonoe next to me on the bike! Clearly, my bike handling skills need alot of work; I bike mostly straight roads with little traffic here at home. Overall, I did 26 minute laps instead of 23 minutes as I wanted. My goal times did not account for slowing in the downhill curves, so that's why I missed that goal time.

T2: Good and fast. Again, bike position paid off really well.

Run: My "perfect race" goal was 45:13 to match the Rexburg run. I did it in 45:12! At this point, I was wondering how I'd crash on the run, since I had crashed already on the swim and bike. On the downhill to the river edge after the first bridge, the concrete was a bit uneven and I tripped a few times but remained upright. The east espanade was a cool area to run on, and the uphill to the steel bridge was cool because it had steps, and I imagined myself as Rocky as I went up the steps. Downhill of the steel bridge was nice, too. Then cruising through the crowd to the start of the second loop / finish area. The second lap was 20 seconds faster than the first lap! Second go was the same as the first. I felt good the entire way, which was really surprising. I finished strong, which is always nice.

General Comments:
- bike course was really crowded.
- swim in the Willamette was ok. I certainly wouldn't drink the water, but I wouldn't hesitate to swim in it again.
- nice cool morning.
- put duct tape on feet "sore spots" so I didn't have to put on socks. Worked well.
- Had a 12oz FRS after the race (It's the stuff that you always see Lance Armstrong in the ad with "Tired of being tired?"). That stuff is really awesome and brought me back around very quickly in about five minutes. I didn't get a massage because it was a 40 minute wait.
- I'm happy with the results. I know where I lost time versus my goal times, so that is an important learning point.
- A fun race!

Packed and ready to go....leave tomorrow 0615

I'm ready for the Portland Triathlon. Packed and ready to go. Leaving tomorrow at 0615, any earlier and we hit morning traffic in Boise. Plan is solid. Training is ok (more consistency would make it great).

Did a short bike last night. 20k in 40.5 minutes very easy. If time was an issue, I'd be happy with it. Stopped to see if a guy walking his bike was good..."Wife's on the way," he said. Gotta love the support team!

Ran easy 5k tonight. Lower calf muscles are acting up again. I'm going to call it a bit of dehydration because they feel like they want to cramp. I put out some extra water bottles for the drive.

My main pre-race goal is to minimize the impact of drive-time and family time on the race. I'll have to have some discipline to eat right and drink enough water (not wine!).

I'm excited about the trip. Weather still looks good for Sunday.

Swim and race planning

Swam at lunch: 2x500 (7:22 and 7:28 @ 80%). I know I can do a 23:00 in Portland if I swim hard the entire time instead of worrying about using too much energy and not doing well on the bike and run.

Was going to bike easy after work, but realized that I no longer had my race package with instructions and planning because of the computer crash. So, did the planning thing again, and I'm all set. Goal times are set.

This trip is creeping up quickly and quietly.

Next up...Portland on Sunday

Wow, I'm still trying to figure out what happened yesterday, and already I have to think about what I'm doing on Sunday in Portland. Lesson learned: no back-to-back races next year.

And my computer is crashing (BSODs!) after Windows SP2 update....damn it. That means all my planning thoughts and notes are gone for now. It should be an easy fix, but it's beyond me right now. I've tried everything suggested from various non-MS forums...no luck. At least I know the files are safe and it's an OS problem. Now if I could just find that recovery disc!

Anyway, I figured out the Willamette River current is .34 mph....not fast at all, but I have to swim 750m in it on the back half of the swim....never done that before. Water temp is currently about 68 degrees; anything over 72 I won't wear a wetsuit (I think; the wetsuit is a nice safety blanket, even for a good swimmer). Current forecast is low of 55 and high of 80-85. Last three days, calm wind in the morning til about 8am when it picks up to 5 and then about 8 at 10am. I'll be on the bike from 8am-9:15am or so, so I guess there will be a slight breeze from the west, which is against me on half of the long hill that is done each of three loops. Gonna have to keep a good aero position for this (I've been practicing to come out of aero under 12mph, but I won't be able to do that, so I already have one strike against me!).

I also realized that I didn't have to stop for bathroom break yesterday. That's another plus for that race. Last year at Bear Lake, I had to pee after the bike, and that added at least two minutes. So, I have to remember to limit water intake the morning of.

Right now, I'm thinking 2:20 is a realistic finish time for the Portland Tri. Tomorrow I'm going to do my simulation hill for this race one time at race effort to see where I'm at with that to check my current level and then make my guestimate on the bike time. I'm really hoping the elevation change makes a difference for me!

The 20-60-40 goal ain't happenin' this year! I'm still 10% off, using yesterday's times, and I don't think I can run much faster than that...two minutes faster is the best possible I think, for a 42min 10k. The bike...I just don't know what's happening on that; I'm training hard and not getting anywhere. I really think not having the bike computer in June and July hurt me alot on that; the fishing trip took away three good rides I could have done, too. I think I can hit 22 on this swim on Sunday, and that's a full 10% off the goal, too, but I know that is from not training the swim to focus on the bike.

The goal now is to take off 10% from the bike and run at the Bear Lake tri in Sept. That gives me a 1:08 on the bike and 42 or so on the run. The swim from last year was so bad that I'm not even going to use it to compare (I started late and stopped alot for siting).

Anyway, that's what I'm thinking about right now.

The Rush Tri Race Results

Results from today's race at Rexburg, "The Rush Tri." I don't have the official results, and I didn't hang out for awards because I was pretty sure I didn't get any hardware. Also, "results" implies placing and all that, but for me it's just how I do against my goals....everything else is secondary. Below is a quick review of the whole thing, some splits, and a "goals vs reality" section to see if I did what I wanted to do (in that section, black text is the goal, blue text is a note on the reality).

Review: Race went as planned. Goal times were changed during the Friday night bike course drive when I saw how tough "the hill" was going to be. Ultimately, I missed my swim goal, the bike goal, but beat the run goal. Transitions were slow. This was my best swim yet, but I still missed the goal. The bike was fun and scenic but cold (my feet felt frozen at the end of the bike). The run was much better than expected. This was my second olympic distance race and first "Rush Tri." I really like this course and plan to do it again (it's only an hour ten minute drive from home, too!). Good day overall.


Total Time: 2:28:30 at elevation of 4900 - 5200ft
Avg Heart Rate: 160
Peak Heart Rate: 174
Calories: 2896

Swim and T1 together: AHR 155, Time 28:11:47
Bike first 12 miles: 39:00:05 AHR 162 (tough uphill on this section)
Bike last 12 miles + T2 : AHR 157 36:29:31 (long downhill cruise)
Total Bike + T2: 1:15:20 Avg Cad=86 Avg MPH=21.8
1st Mile Run: AHR 157 7:43:04
2nd Mile Run: 165 9:07:63 (hard uphill)
3d Mile Run: 164 7:32:14
4th Mile Run: 165 7:07:67 (flat w/ some rollers)
5th Mile Run: 166 6:43:08 (downhill)
6th Mile Run + remainder to finish: 167 6:35.13 (downhill and/or flat)
Total Run= 44:48.47
Total: 2:28:30

Note: AHR= Average Heart Rate

Reality vs Goals:

Overall Time:
2:24 - realistic (23+2.5+70+.5+48=144)
Best Possible = 2:19 20+2.5+70+.5+46=139
2:28:30 is a little slower than best possible realistic time. While driving the bike course, I lowered this to 2:28 plus my transitions, so I did beat that changed goal (just barely!).
Race record for men is 2:13, so I doubt I'll get that fast. Going for five minutes slower.

Swim: 23:00 1,500 meters (20:00) Not sure what my swim split was. I think I came in around 24:00 so missed this goal. Swim plus transition of about 3-4 minutes was 28:11:47.

T1: 2:30 (2:30) don't know. I think I was slower than this. In any case swim of 23 plus T1 of 2:30 was not met.

Bike: 1:10:00 (1:06:00) Didn't meet. I think my T2 time was around 3 minutes (took a while to put socks on frozen feet!), so take away three minutes from 1:15 and I get 1:12. This was not met. The altered goal of 1:10 after driving the course was not met, either. Bike computers shoed 25.47 miles at the end...so might have been a bit long, accounting for maybe a minute at the most.

T2: :30 (:30) Did not meet this goal. Feet were frozen!

Run: 48:00 (46:00) Beat even the "best possible goal" with a 44:48! Go figure…I figured the run would be the worst part of this race, but I did much better than expected. I had an altered goal of 52:00 after seeing the hill during the bike-course-drive, so I blew that away…I was concerned my bike ride would blow out my legs.

Note: Time in black text parenthesis is the "best possible" I think I could do. The time in black text is the original goal. Altered goals after the bike-course-drive are in the blue text notes.


Lessons Learned:
- My run is faster than expected right now.
- Gotta put duct tape on my feet so I don't have to use socks. I can do the no socks bit except for one area of my left foot that gets cut by my shoe. Duct tape can solve this problem.
- I should be able to push the whole swim and not worry about how it's going to affect the rest of the race. Current OWS capability is good, I just need to increase endurance by getting into the pool. Wetsuit is working well.
- Get a bright colored tape of some sort to put by my bike for easy ID.
- The hill workouts I'm doing for the bike are working.
- Next year, only one race per month max. Schedule fishing trips accordingly so I can continue to peak two weeks prior to a race.
- Ensure source of very strong coffee in the morning. Take a coffee pot?

The Rush Tri photos....part 2

Happy guy after the finish. Don't know results yet, but I don't think I placed in AG. Lots of tough competition at this race that is basically a premier event.

Paul missed the big finish. Too tired from cheering at T1 and T2.

The Rush Tri photos part 1

Finishing my best race swim yet...gettin' better every time. Don't have official split yet, but my swim + T1 was 28:11, with a very slow T1 cuz I couldn't find my bike even after practicing the entrace to the bike rack TWICE. After I left for the swim, all the sprint racers came in and filled up the racks, making it look differently.

Going into T2. Feet were frozen at this point. Chilly Idaho mornings will do that to cold, wet feet. Bike time was ok: 1:15 (including T2 of about two minutes) versus goal of 1:10.

Coming onto the track for the final 250 meters of the run. Bigger version of this photo looks like I'm smiling!

Excited to be done.

Fishing tomorrow through Thursday

Tomorrow I go to Yellowstone for a week of fishing (and hopefully catching!). I wanted to completely wear myself down this week, kind of like a crash week that I've read about, I guess. I got close. Had I been able to do a 40k bike followed by 5k run tonight as planned, I would be there. However, with 50mph gusts from a crazy front coming through, I decided I didn't want to chance getting blown into a car or simply blown over on my bike.

So the only workout today was the same lunch routine as yesterday....run to the gym for a swim (that sounds cool...run to the gym for a swim!). Today was only a 1x1000, but I swam it a it harder to see if I could maintain this new stroke technique I "found" on Tuesday. I held for everything but the last 100 yds. Came in at 7:30 and 7:50 for the 500 splits.

I wonder how this fishing trip will affect my endurance. I certainly need a bit of a break, after five weeks of pretty consistent (albeit non-morning) workouts. I have a 4 mile hike in and out, mostly flat, with a 35 pound pack (I'm guessing...have four days of food in there!). The walking around all day (literally fishing about 10 hours per day) should do some good. I'm pretty sure I"ll be in a calorie deficit the entire time (-500 cals/day?). Last year, I hiked ten days in the Sawtooths and I think it actually helped alot, in mid August for the September Bear Lake tri. That was mostly walking 8-10 miles per day with a pack, rather than fishing. But at this point, I'm ready to do some fishing and sleep under a full moon tomorrow night!

I get back Thursday, then Friday after work we head back up that way to Rexburg for the Rush Tri on Saturday morning. I see the lake for the swim every time coming back from Yellowstone and wonder what this race will be like. I know I have to get in a quick bike spin and easy two-mile run Thursday just to knock some rust off. This race has separate locations for the transitions, and I'm worried about how that's going to work out because I've never done one like that. Tera will be there to make sure my stuff gets to where it needs to be...she's awesome!

I realized I'm not going to hit the 20-60-40 goal this year. My bike has come down about six minutes on the 40k home course, and the run came down about a minute. My swim has lost about 1 minute for a 1500. Overall, I'm thinking I'll come in at 22-69-46 if I have an average race. The bike course has a big hill on it, so I'm thinking that might a couple minutes. I really think I could hit a 1:06 (66 minutes) on a flat course right now....there's just no flat courses in Idaho!

I'm thinking about the Portland Tri now too, the following week. How do I maintain fitness while not over-doing it for that race? I guess I'll just keep it short, with a few hard intervals thrown in, in each of the events. I'm not looking forward to the 9 hour drive, either. Plus, I have to go to North Dakota (12 hour drive each way!) for four days in between the races for my Mom's surgery. God is asking me to make some decisions on priorities in my life, I guess. The decisions are easy, though.

In any case, water temp in the Willamette was 72 degrees yesterday. If it's that warm in three weeks, I'm thinking of not wearing a wet suit. But it will be 58 degrees (avg morning temp every day of August in Portland is 58!), so coming out of the cold water and hitting the bike in 60 degrees or so might be too cold for me. Not sure. We'll see.

No posts til Thursday, and hopefully there will be a photo of a nice Yellowstone Cuttthroat to go with that one!

Technique realizations

At lunch I swam a 1x1500 in 24:01. Time was slow, but I realized that I finally "found" the "feel" of a "good stroke." Before all the open waters swims in May, I pulled through my freestyle mostly with arms and pecs, always wondering why I didn't feel my shoulder roll and using my lats more...like I read about all the time. Back into the pool after five or so open water swims, I felt a change in my stroke...more efficient and almost getting to that point of rolling my shoulders and using my lats more. Well, today I felt what that feels like, and I LOVE IT. It is a noticably different stroke for me, much more efficient and just as fast. I can actually feel my shoulders roll "over the barrel" and the pull in my lats. Today I easily averaged 10 strokes per arm per 25 yds. Today was a good swim, obviously. And I ran to the gym from work (one mile each way) as a recovery run. I found that this is a workout that I really like for an easy day.

After work, I biked a 20k in 40:25 as a recovery ride. This was my first ride back with a bike computer, and I realized I am back down to an average cadence of 80, from 84 in April and May before the bike computer broke. So, clearly, the cadence meter helps me on that front. But now I guess I've built up a good slightly-anaerobic base in the last six weeks by not using the bike computer to gauge cadence. This is all quite interesting to me because I felt like I was losing endurance in the past few weeks but gaining power.....and I suppose that is exactly what was happening. Hopefully I can get my average cadence back up to 84-86 and see that this was a blessing in disguise to get my power up and still have endurance. Lesson learned: bike computer data is definitely useful.

And finally, I thought of a strategy for the bike during races. You have to power into and out of the turn of an out-and-back course. Last year, I rolled casually into the turn because I didn't have any bike handling skills whatsoever, and then casually rolled out. I figure I can gain at least 15 seconds on a more intense turnaround that I ride into hard, slam on the brakes, and then burst out of onto the backstretch. Now I have to remember to do it in a race.

Big Day...S, B, and R in the heat then mowed!

Big day today. Finally got my butt out of bed this morning and swam 1x1000 with 500s at 8:16 and 8:24. Water is still hot. My pace is way off of what it was last year, when I was swimming 7:40s and sometimes 7:30s, which were at lunch when I swim better because I've had a chance to wake up but still significantly faster than where I'm at now.

Bike the Barton hill at lunch, but only twice because I had to be sure to be back at a meeting that the big boss was attending. First time up tied my PR at 8:05, second time up was a 8:26. Lots of wind on the way down, and I found (thankfully before the ride) that my front quick-release was loose..tightened that up of course.

The run scheduled for today was a big run. I wanted to do my 10k route in the heat without any energies (gels, endurolytes, etc). It went well, I finished in 54:05, two minutes off my time from Friday after a 40k bike. Guess my legs were tired. I also stopped by the track to do two pace laps, with the 400s coming in a 1:59 and 2:00 flat. Total of seven minutes to get off the route, do the laps, and get back onto the route at predetermined split locations (I love it when a plan comes together on split locations!). I finished strong, but overall time was a bit slower than expected.

Then I had to mow the yard. Thankfully, we've xeriscaped about half of it in the spring, so I'm down to 30 minutes of mowing and 10 minutes of sweeping up the clippings on the street. And we have a small hill that is a bear to get up and down...of course, tonight was the night I mowed up and down the hill instead of across.

I love days like this when I do all three events. The challenge is to do something tomorrow and not just blow it off cuz "I'm tired."

Got the Triathlon magazine from USAT yesterday. Interesting articles on "What to do when things go wrong during your workout." It didn't cover unplanned pool closings and such like I have problems with. Bottom line: always have a backup workout plan and then DO IT.

Strange bike results...priorities conflict

I did my Portland simulation route tonight on the bike. Tonight it was after dinner because of some errands. I didn't run at lunch either because of errands.

The bike workout had some strange results. I was full from dinner and it was quite windy, so I wasn't expecting anything spectacular tonight....it was another case of "consistent workouts of any quality are better than inconsistent workouts of high quality." Anyway, the uphills were quite slow, and the downhills were quite fast. Then, I PR'd a short uphill section on the way home (I keep a standard split for this section). Overall, my time was very consistent with other workouts of higher quality. Does that mean I'm getting better or losing fitness on the uphill, of which the Portland race (an "A" Race this year) is 1/2 uphill? I don't know.

I am realizing that my priorities in life are squaring off right now. This is my last week to gain fitness for the Portland race because I'll be in the backcountry fishing (Hellroaring Creek area on the Yellowstone in the Yellowstone Park!) from Friday to Tuesday morning. Then a couple of days in the park with family. Come home next Thursday. Then the Rexburg race on Saturday, then leaving for Portland the next Wednesday afternoon. AAAAAHHHH! Scheduling hell, for sure, and not much time for even maintaining a fitness level.

The biggest race of the year is Sept 12, though, and all this time in August is affecting that now, too, I've realized. After the Portland race on Aug 23d, I have only three weeks, one of which is/should be a taper week of some sort and there is yet another backcountry visit to Yellowstone (Bechler River for Labor Day!). That's the biggest race of the year because it THE race I have a time from last year to compare to see if I've really met my goals for the year.

I'm realizing that I'm not as dedicated and committed to this triathlon thing as I want to be or thought I was. I am realizing that my scheduling sucks! Next year, only one race per month at the most. To be fair, though, the fishing schedule came to be what it is because of three other people's schedules, all of whom have this fishing week as the biggest week of the summer. And I have to remember that my overall triathlon philosophy has "keep Tera and Paul at the top of the priority list," which I've been doing. So, I guess I'm learning something today that I can apply next year. "Learning is taking place," so all is good in the big picture.

Sunday workout = more yardwork

More yardwork on a hot Sunday afternoon. This time putting in some pavers where the sprinklers don't reach and the grass is dead and there are weeds and some erosion. I got the pavers from a friend, who recently took them out of an area in his yard, of a house built in the 30's. So I'm thinking the pavers are pretty old because they were about 10 pounds each (12"x12"!). These are not the cheapo Home Depot pavers you get these days....clearly they made them to last back in the day. I'm not kidding. I moved about 40 of them from his place to mine, and into the backyard, and I was whooped. Putting them in was the easy part.

A good bicep and quads workout to say the least. And it was hot!

Sooner is thankful to be home from the kennel, although they love her there and call her "the Princess."

Paul's workout machine, the Johnny Jump-Up. He can jump for an hour and not be tired!

Paul in the swing. He's "Mr. Safety" because he hangs on all the time.

Our out of control grape vine is about ten feet from side to side. This photo was taken after we pruned it a bit. Lots of buds on it this year, it's third year. The first year it was planted in July, so nothing. Last year we got three little handfuls. This year, we'll have bushels!

Back to back bricks....whooo!

Thursday and Friday were brick days. Thursday was a long lunch with a 20k bike and 5k run...it went pretty well. I just set up a quick transition area in the parking lot of work, using the bike rack on my vehicle as the center. Shoes and water by the tires. After the bike, switch shoes, lock everything in the car, and grab a drink....it works great. The bike was faster than I expected, and the run was average.

Friday I got off work a bit early and did a 40k bike and 10k run in the heat. I'm acclimating myself to the heat, mostly for the Portland Triathlon but also for the Rexburg tri. Portland is over 100 degrees this week! So I need to be ready for that. This brick workout was with no gels or other nutrtion like endurolytes...and my times came in at 1:12 for the bike (very average) and a 52:00 for the run, which is two minutes faster than the last 40k/10k brick run time on the same course (actually 6.6 miles). The big difference was starting the run off the bike.....I started out at a much faster pace this time. I wish I knew what I did to make that happen. Very happy with this workout.

My weight is starting to drop, mostly from working out in the heat I think. Last year, I bottomed at 172, and I'm hoping to get to 170 this year. I'm at 176 this morning, fully rehydrated. Losing five pounds really does make a huge difference on the run, and a noticeable difference on the bike.

I successfully turned off the computer at 9:30pm every night this week. I'm able to sleep a little better, but it's still a struggle to get to sleep. If I could get to sleep, then I could get up and get in easy morning workouts that help so much in losing weight because you have to work off the reserves from the start.

Today was the Pocatello Triathlon....the hometown race. I realized Friday morning that I hadn't registered. Now the price was up to $50 for a spring. I decided a need to give back a bit and that I'm just not paying $50 for this race....So I volunteered. I ended up counting laps, which was actually really fun cheering everyone on. It was a beautiful day for it, too!

Spending the afternoon with Baby Paul. He's almost crawling and wants to stand all the time.

Heat...but in the pool. And a bike workout I didn't want to do

The swimming pool I swim in is keeping the water at 87 degrees! 15ooyds in that water is like a 10k in 100degrees. Whoo! It really drains me. I'm upping my swimming yardage a bit because I've noticed a reduction endurance in the water. The local outdoor pool is $5.00 to get in because it has a water park, too, so I'm not paying $5 for a 1500m swim (25 minutes) when I can do it for free at ISU. Now, if I could only get out of bed in the morning, I could do some Open Water Swim.

But I've had really big problems getting to sleep at night. I usually don't sleep til about midnight, after tossing and turning for 90 minutes. It's either too hot or the fan is too loud, or I'm just not tired. I've taken my wife's suggestion of turning off the computer by 9:30pm to let my mind "turn off" and it works a little. Melatonin makes me really groggy in the morning, but I sleep like a king...when I finally get to sleep, which it doesn't help me get to sleep much better.

Did my Portland Tri bike simulation route after work. This was one of those workouts that I "just do" even though I don't want to because "good, consistent workouts" are the key to improvement. Was nearly hit by two cars tonight within a 3 minute timespan, and I nearly turned around at that point, but I stuck it out. This route usually has very few cars on it, but there is a somewhat blind turn with a stop-sign that I am always extra cautious about, and tonight it paid off. Very tired legs today, not sure why, but probably from the long yardwork on Sunday in the heat....bending, standing, leaning to put in about 100 ft of new dog-eared fencing because my dog likes to tear up the old fence and break out of the back yard (but that's another story....a long one at that).

I'm biking to work every day now....again...finally.

I did the brick as planned on Saturday morning. Nice cool morning with no wind. Biked in 1:12 and ran in 54. Both routes have big hills, so I'm expecting the times to drop on flat routes. And, in Portland, I expect a 5-10% drop in time because of the elevation difference. I'm satisfied with those times. The thing I'm not satisfied about is how long it took to get in a groove on the run after the bike....that was a 10 minute adventure instead of the usual 5 minutes. That first ten minutes on the route I ran is all uphill, so I hope that has something to do with it.

Sunday was yardwork in 100 degrees (actually 94, but it felt like 100!). Pulling ivy (I hate ivy!), and replacing some fence that the dog broke up while escaping for whatever reason (I expect a cat!). Also trimmed some trees that have been bothering me lately. I was tired after this adventure in landscaping.

I saw two comments. Somebody other than family reads this! I am hope that you are getting something useful out of reading....either groans at my misfortunes with the pool or some smiles from the cutest little 9 month old in the world. Thanks!

Lunch Run, easy bike cruise after work

Had a nice, hard run at lunch in warm and very humid conditions....the humidity is not common here. Anyway, 6 miles in 48:00.35, missing my goal time of 48 flat by .35 seconds. I'll rationalize that by saying I started my watch earlier than normal (at the door of work instead of the street, adding several seconds. It was a good run.

After work, I did a "cruise" on the bike out to Century High School and back. This wasn't a recovery ride, but simply a time to get some miles on the bike. I wanted to go easy because of the hard run at lunch and planned race-distance brick (40k bike, 10k run) tomorrow morning. It was fun to cruise. Finished in 41:38, with heavy winds (headwind out, tailwind back).

So tomorrow I'm doing a full race-distance brick. This will be only the second race-distance brick I've done this year, the first being the race in North Dakota in June. I need to be doing more of these, but I've run out of time. This weekend is the last weekend I have to do it. Next weekend is the Pocatello Tri, followed by a weekend fishing, followed by the Rush Tri, followed by the Portland Tri....then a few weeks (including Labor Day fishing) to the last tri of the year at Bear Lake. Time has caught up to me, and I'm not ready! I know I can finish, the problem is finishing in my goal times. I just don't have the endurance in my running legs that I want coming off the bike. And I've forgotten what it's like to do the entire 10k run after the bike. The whole "season" has gone by so quickly already. If I didn't love fishing in the backcountry so much, I could be a much better triathlete for sure!

Bike/Run brick yesterday, swim today...It's HOT

Getting hot out there! 93 degrees today and yesterday. I'm not used to the heat, either.

Yesterday (Wed) did a bike and run brick. 40k bike, and 5k run. Was going to be a 10k run, but the heat was getting to me and I didn't want to kill the rest of my workouts this week. The bike came in on 1:12, which is good for me, and there was no wind. Felt good, considering I hadn't biked in a week or so, and I ran a hard 6 miles the day prior.

Then ran 5k. Wanted to do 10k to see where I'm really at, but I found out before I got finished. I cut it short because of the heat, so I know I'm not acclimatized to heat yet. That will come. So I finished the 5k in 25 minutes. I could have held that pace, so I'll consider that I could have done a 50min 10k, with the hills and heat.

Swam a 2x750 today. Felt good, but I know I'm losing my swim endurance now that I'm not swimming 3 days/week. But I need to focus on the bike and run.

This posts has a few qualifiers in it, as in "but,...." So now I know I'm making some excuses, too. This year is a bit different than last year for sure, mostly because I have a young boy at home now who needs a father!

Long Weekend off, back at it....

Went to Yellowstone this past weekend for some hiking and fishing with family. Five mile hike in to the fishing, and then five miles back out. Good for two hours of cross-training each day, plus a whole day of fishing on the river. For some reason, my calves got really sore. I always sleep GREAT in the backcountry, and this night was certainly an awesome night of sleep.

Ran 6.1 miles in the heat today, with hills, in 49:31, beating my previous time under similar heat and rest conditions by 30 seconds. I thought I lost alot of fitness in June and the first two weeks of July, but that appears not to be the case. Woohhhooo! Tomorrow I find out if I lost any endurance on the bike.

Bike and run today

Nice day...not too hot, not too cold, not too windy.

Short bike at lunch today. 14 miles in 43 minutes. Felt good.

After work, ran 10k in two laps around the university instead of the planned trail run. I wanted to get the dog Sooner out and about. She went on the first 5k lap and really lagged behind. I guess the heat was getting to her because in March she did ok for at least one lap. Finished that lap in 30minutes (10min/mile!). Dropped her off at home and hit the second lap in 26 minutes, much slower than anticipated but I didn't really push. This injury stuff sucks, but I think all the extra time on the bike is doing well.

I looked at my "aerobic points" as detailed on slowtitch.com. For March, April, and May, I ended up with 100 swim, 351 bike, and 600 and some on the run. Those numbers should be equal to have a balanced training program. However, I don't really want balanced. I want the bike to be 50%, run 35%, and swim 15% so that I'm working towards my weaknesses. The run is out of whack because of the weather and running with Paul in the stroller. I can't figure the points for earlier in the year because I wasn't keeping track of distances, but now I am. I'm hoping July brings about the percentages I'm looking for. Maybe I need to figure out the weekly and monthly plan using these numbers instead of just setting up workouts based on time available.

Back to running!

I ran today for the first time in 10 days. I was resting my calf muscle, and it took alot of discipline not to run, but I made it. Ran 4 miles at lunch today, and it felt good. 8:15/mile easy running (no heart rate monitor today, on purpose). It was good to run again.

I didn't swim this morning because Paul let us sleep in, and I finally got some good sleep, so I took it while I could get it....I haven't been able to get to sleep most nights til about 1am, not sure what the deal is.

I left work at 5pm and thought "Today is the day I get a PR on the section of today's route that goes from the house to the top of Terry." Then I saw police cars at the bottom of the hill as I drove home, and they were making cars turnaround. But today was the day I was going to PR that hill, so I went up that way anyway. Turns out that there was a downed power line on the road over to Pocatello Creek Road, which is the I hill I do as the simulation for the Portland tri. I was still able to go up the hill, but I'd have to turn-around. I could deal with that, and I had a back up route in mind already.

So I kept cruising up the hill, pushing just a bit harder than normal, knowing I didn't have to the usual hill twice more and then come back over this hill. I made it up in 10:21, including about 20-30 seconds of talking to the police and then getting going again. I now KNOW I can get up that hill in less than 10 minutes!

From there, I cruised over American Road to get to Barton. I was going to do two loops of American Road to Alvin Ricken, but American Road is about the crappiest road to bike on I've ever been on. So, scratch that plan 500 yards into American Road. I then went up Barton (the hill I'll do tomorrow three or four times) and went home. I then thought about a three mile run, but I decided against it so I wouldn't overload my calf muscle that I've just spent 10 days recuperating.

All in all, I didn't get thwarted on this workout like I normally do for swim closures. I had a back-up plan in mind and did that, then went to another backup plan from there. I fulfilled my latest mantra of "consistent workouts of any quality are better than super quality workouts at random." I'm calling today a success.

Did four hours of yard work yesterday in the heat. Well, it was only 90 degrees, but that qualifies as heat right now. Pulled out almost all the ivy that overgrows and kills other plants. I really dislike ivy! Call me "Ivy Killer."

Tour de Scout

This year seems to be the year that I do all the trips up Scout Mt that I've been thinking about. In the winter, we skied up to the top. In the spring, I ran the Poky 50 trail run, so I ran to the top. Today, I biked up to the campground on my road bike. No I didn't go all the way to the top. This was 32.5 miles roundtrip from my garage, from about 4,600ft to 8,540, much (3,000 or so) of the gain coming in the last five miles. I've been wanting to do this ride since last August or so, and today seemed like the day to do it because 1) I wanted to meet some friends who were camping with their young 'uns for the first time, 2) I had a two hour workout scheduled anyway (40k bike, 10k run) but I can't run so I needed a two hour bike, and 3) it would get me out of doing yardwork. My goal was to get to the campground without stopping, and I did that, although there were a few times that I just wanted to stop (but didn't). At the top, I did a loop through the campground to find them but didn't. I found them pulling out of the campground as I was about to leave and stopped to chat for a bit. There night went well.

I cruised down the hill, slowing way down for the cattle guards, though. Then I cruised across Bannock Highway at about 28mph (not sure what the wind was doing, but it must have been a tailwind!).

I had to stop at the university for a light, and when I stopped, I flatted. Not sure how that happens.....tires are good til you stop, then phhhtttt. WTF?!?! I figured "OK, now's the day I time myself as if I was in a race." Nine minutes later (AARRGG, I'm slow) I had my new tube installed and aired up....BUT it was not sealed right. So I aired down to put the tube back in, and then ran out of CO2 air as I was filling it back up. Damn, that's three times now that I haven't been able to fix my tire and ride it back home. I walked it home on bare feet on hot cement....that led to a couple of blisters faster than I could count to ten....not sure why. I can run or hike all day without a hotspot, but today I got one big blister on both feet on the bottom of my feet below my middle toes outward to the pinkies. Not comfortable at all, but I got home. Would've been a two hour ride had I not flatted. Turned into a 1:50 ride with a 20 minute "walk-it-out" stretching.

This is my longest ride ever, I think. The Buckskin ride (to Inkom then over Buckskin pass) might be longer mileage wise but not timewise as far as I can remember. It was a difficult 1 hour and 10 minutes on the first half, anyway, then easy cruising back home.

Now I can say I've done that ride. And what an awesome ride to be able to start from my home! Gotta love livin' in Poky!!!

Good bike workout

Nice bike training today. Did the Portland hill simulation route twice. Times were equivalent to best times this year for the most part. Best part about it was that I didn't feel really tired afterwards, and it felt short (I know it wasn't shorter than normal). Those two things put together tell me it was a good workout. My second hill was faster than the first, I think because I came up out the aero position a bit and could get better power out of my legs and breathe bettter. A little bit of wind but nothing significant. Nice day, too!

Wind!

What's with the wind? It never goes away in the Gap.

Swam 1x1500 at the pool yesterday. Stroke count is 9-10 per arm per 25yds. That's better than usual 11-12. But my speed went away. 22:33 for a 1500? What happened?! I wasn't killing myself, but I wasn't lolly-gagging either. That's right....water was about 85 degrees.

I'm now biking at lunch instead of running, this week anyway. I go for about a 40 minute ride. Nice that the workplace now has a shower! The wind never stops on this ride. I just hope that the saying "bike will help the run, but run won't help the bike" is true because this not running stuff is killing me. My leg feels fine when walking flat, up, and down, but I don't want to risk getting back on it too early. Next week I'll get back at it. Probably start running in the mornings with Paul...not sure how that's going to work out, though.

Bike instead of run this week

I'm not running at all this week to let my calf heal up a bit. It's doing pretty good, but I don't want to test it. I self-diagnosed it on the internet as a calf pull and not achilles tendonitis. Basically, it's too high up the calf to be achilles tenonitis/tendonosis. When I flex with a bent knee, it hurts. There is no pain when I flex with a straight knee.

So today was a double bike. Biked 14 miles at lunch, then the standard 40k route to Inkom. Very windy today. The 40k time was a few minutes slower than normal, and I'll blame that on the wind. We'll see how I feel tomorrow after a double bike day.

Saturday was a nice family hike up Gibson Jack to see how Paul liked the baby backpack. He seemed ok with it, fell asleep, on the way up, then babbled the entire hour and half on the way down. I practiced talking back to him! Overall, a nice three hour hike.

Sunday I did six hours of yardwork. Call me the "ivy killer." I hate ivy, and all the recent rain has made it grow like the weed it is. It is killing one of our juniper bushes, so I yanked it all out of there. Then I cleared the area around our air conditioner. Sweated like a beast all day. Good workout I guess, but I don't log it as such.

MTB and swimming

Got in a nice two hour mountain bike (MTB) ride this morning on a day off. After big rain last night, I thought the trails might be really muddy, but they were still dry. Legs felt good, too. Broke a chain link, not because of my massive power....it's the original chain from 15 years ago! Tim was smart enough to have a chain tool, and smart enough to know how to use it....otherwise I would've been walking home (or calling for a ride!). It was a great day, and I learned something too (broken chain).

Then we went to the Ross Park pool to get Paul in some outdoor swim time, his first go at an outdoor pool. I think he liked the cool water more than the warm water at the hospital baby class. I'm pretty sure he had fun! Pix below. I wanted to get in some laps, but my shorts and goggles were locked up in the gym that's closed for the holiday.....simply another story to add to the many about my inability to swim at the ISU pool.




Getting in.

Mom is taking him for a cruise in the lazy river.

Checking out "the sights" already!

Good times at the pool!

Swim improvements, 40k Bike PR

Went to the pool at lunch, intending to do 2k straight. By the time I got into the water, it turned into "I need to do some drills to make sure my form is still good cuz it's been about two months since I was in the pool." I did some various drills with no real structure; I found it quite invigorating. Most importantly, I found that I've dropped my swim strokes per 25 yards from 12 to 10. Probably because of the open water swimming. I'll take it!

After work, got a new PR on my 40k TT route! Yeehaw! I started out slow and sore with lots of wind and thinking "well, this is just one more workout this week that's gonna suck." By the 30k point, I realized I was on pace for a PR, so I kicked it in. Bam! Beat previous by about 15 seconds.

A good day!

Pool problems...again, and I'm sore!

Went to the pool at lunch, forgot my card and now "they're really cracking down on having your card" says the lifeguard. I can't find my card in my locker or at home, so I go get a new one ($15 for five minutes work on their part!). I go back to the pool to see that it works, and it does (at least I know I can swim tomorrow morning). By then, lunch was over and I had to go back to work. Then I noticed that the water was 87 degrees! I probably wouldn't have swum more than 500 yards in that anyway. "Yeah, we turned off the heat last night to bring down a few degrees," the lifeguard said. I guess I'll try to stay away from that.

Bike after work. Easy 20k, 42 minutes in heavy winds. Lots of bikers out today!

My legs are sore! Damn, that proves that I lost fitness and endurance this last few weeks. I can still walk ok, not like after the Poky 50 run, but I'm definintely sore.

Back at it

Today marked the beginning of Phase 4 of my training plan. Now it's a matter of standard workouts that are race specific and work directly towards my limiters like being able to bike hard uphill and muscular endurance for the run. Open water swim comfort level is no longer an issue, as I completed that change in May and June.

I thought my calf was about 90% this morning, and I was right. I set out for a 6-mile run today, and at mile 5 I could feel it weakening, so I walked the rest of the way. The first five miles went well, but I could feel I've lost some endurance in the last three weeks of tapering for races and then taking a full week off last week.

I biked the Portland simulation route tonight. Very slow...six minutes slower overall than my average. I would like to blame the 40mph hours that were swirling around, hitting me on the front, tail, and side and every other direction in complete random. Very strange, and very hard to bike. And my bike computer is still broke, so no data on cadence and mph. I've realized I'm going to have to buy a new one.

Anyway, I got started for this phase that focuses on my races in August. It was a rough start, but I hope to be back to where I was three weeks ago in about two weeks, and then from there it's five weeks to make gains.

Hot MTB, new start tomorrow

Had a nice MTB today in the City Creek area. This such an awesome area right here in Pocatello!


It was hot! A nice change from the rain the last 3-5 weeks or so. The bank readout said 95 on the way home, but I'm not sure it was that hot. In any case, it was an awesome day and a great way to end my off week.

This week was truly an off week. I haven't done anything all week except eat and hang out. Today was the the first day since last Saturday at the race that I did any workouts. I was up to 186 pounds on Friday, but now back just a bit under 180 this afternoon. Crazy how my weight fluctuates like that.

Tomorrow I enter phase four of this year's training plan. It all revolves around the Portland Tri right now, and all of my race specific training is geared to that race. It is on Aug 25, so that is 7 weeks away I think. I want to be at 170 pounds for that race, if I can maintain the same power I have now anyway.

This is where I think I'm at concerning my goals:

Overall: Not sure, honestly. My opening run in Bismarck was awesome but then I pulled my calf muscle. That pull affected my bike and run on both races, so I can't say with confidence where I'm at. Still, I think my bike is nearly where I want it and I need to get more endurance in my running legs. I'm going to drop my scheduled hours to 9 total because I don't think over 10 hours is a good banf for the buck pertaining to the lost family time and other stuff.

Swim: OWS is looking good, so I'm dropping to one OWS per week, with two other swims in the pool (sprints workout and a 1x2500). I'm quite happy with my OWS progress, but my 1k time of 15:00 gives me a 22:30 for 1,500m pace, and I want that to be 20. Not sure it's going to happen, but I only have to push it on the OWS rather than go along at a "jogging" pace rather than a "hard-run" pace.

Bike: I think I'm where I want to be, but I'm going to continue doing the hill workouts I've done earlier this year.

Run: I need more endurance on the run, and I need to be able to get quickly up to speed off the bike. I know I didn't do enough bricks earlier this year, and I could tell in the races, specifically the last race when my pace got 15seconds/mile faster every mile, starting at 8:45 and getting to 8:00 at the end. I'm adding a weekly 9 mile run on Tuesday nights to get this additional endurance. And I'm going to up my lunch runs to 6 miles rom 5 miles. And I have added a run-bike-run workout in place of a tempo-ride. I have 7 weeks to see the improvements.

So that's that. Here we go on Phase 4 of this adventure!

More photos

Paul is nice and cozy on a cold Yellowstone morning.

The new family truckster....it's a long story.

Start of Janet's Tri at Hebgen Lake.

A few seconds into the swim at Janet's Tri.

Photos

Little Paul, happy for the time being.

Paul in the "command ring"

Start of Bismarck Tri-turned-du

Finishing the 5k of the Bismarkck "tri"

Bismarck race results and training changes

Race results from Bismarck are posted. I finished 11 of 17, better than expected actually. Interesting that my bike was relatively good, in the mix with five others who finished the bike in 1:14-1:15 for spot 6-12 on the bike, so I'll take that as a success. My run came in at 55:06 per the official results, and that is incredibly slow for me. The first 5k was a 21:05, which isn't bad considering I limped in for the final 1.5 miles after a good split at the 1.5 mile mark.

Overall, I am really disappointed with these results, but it was fun to do the race. Like I said before, I learned a very important lesson that I don't like duathlons. That said, doing workouts of run-bike-run should really improve both my bike and run for triathlons. I'll start putting those into my workouts. I was already thinking about it, and this absolutely confirms the validity of that type of workout. Even this past week at Hebgen Lake, I could feel that my legs weren't what they could be on the run.

I have seven weeks til the Portland Tri to get into optimal shape. With a run-bike-run workout and a good race distance bike-run brick each week, I should be able to get where I want to be. I'm going to cut back a bit on the hours in order to get in higher intensity workouts, too. Right now I think I'll plan for 8-10 hours instead of 10-12 (and only hitting ten anyway!).

Another interesting thing: I'm losing weight right now at about one pound per week not doing anything. Very strange. I think that might be a sign of overtraining, at least in terms of intensity because I'm sure it's not hours. Every workout to this point except a couple runs per week has been a high intensity, and that's not such a great thing as it might sound.