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.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, June 22, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Janet's Tri race report
Race report from this weekend's race in Hebgen Lake near West Yellowstone. Great time. Race website is www.janetstriathlon.org
Left work at noon Friday, out of Poky at 1:15. Checked into Yellowstone National Park Madison Campground around 4:30. Camp setup by 5:00. New family truckster Xterra works well for family trips like this. Weather was ok and looking to be fair for race on Saturday. To sleep at 10pm on the dot.
Pre-race: Up at 0715 to a chilly morning but no rain (yet!). Standard morning routine. Cooked up coffee and SmartStart cereal. Baby Paul was doing ok. Out of camp at 0815, get another coffee at the gas station in West Yellowstone, arrive race area at 0900 to check in and get ready. Felt a little rushed, unlike last year when we got there really early and stood around for 90 minutes or so. The water was looking good, and they said it was 59deg instead of 53 showing on Reclamation Website. Good to go, I guess. The race looked much bigger than the 40 or so from last year, and it was…had 72 entrants this year. I got a decent warmup in the water and then headed to the start line, where they screwed around with the timers for a bit.
Swim: Went exactly according to plan, and a minute faster than expected. Lined up front right so I could get next to the rope that leads to the bouy (out and back course). I hit the start well, and things went good from there. Turned around at 500meters at 7:20 and I was in about 5th place overall. Water was smooth and easy swimming. Saw some cool bugs on the water but couldn't identify for use while fishing later in the day. Swam the rest of the way with a good stroke, focusing on form over power to ensure I didn't freak out and feel like I couldn't breathe. Swam the entire way with my face in the water with a good freestyle stroke. Out of water in 15:02 and in 5th or 6th.
T1: Sucked. Couldn't get the zipper going on my wetsuit. WTF!?!?!?! Out in 3:21…SLOW!
Bike: Went as planned but felt slow. This is a flat course on a packed dirt road with lots of "humpty" bouncers. I passed a lot of bikers that must have been part of the relays that passed me in transition. I felt like I was pushing hard but still felt slow. Not sure what the deal was. This is really a fun course to ride!
T2: In and out! Saw only two bikes, so thought I was doing well. Found at later that I wasn't in third overall but 5th or so.
Run: Started slow on purpose, but not sure I could've pushed much faster immediately. I was babying a pulled left calf muscle from last week's tri-turned-du. First mile was 8:45, second 8:25, third and fourth came in at 16:02 for 8minute average. As I ran, I felt that my calf muscle was stronger, so I pushed it harder. Got passed by one guy at mile 2.5 or so…large guy about 6'2" and 250 and all muscle cut pretty well…not the kind of guy you expect to blow by you on the run, anyway, he kept pulling away for the rest of the run. Finished run in 33:02 (about 100 yards over 4 miles).
Overall: I love this triathlon because of the MTB and trail run. I would like to see a couple of hills, but you can't have everything. I couldn't remember my times from last year on race day, but I just looked them up and my overall time was faster but bike and run were slower. That's with a bum wheel, so I'm ok with that. The swim went so much better and is a better representation of what I can do, so I'm very happy that my OWS practices the past month paid off. The race was much bigger this year, too. Got first in age group. And Pocatello was well-represented in this race this year, which is nice to see.
Misc: The venue for this is simply awesome, and the family that runs it is GREAT. The swim has been in calm water both years I did it. The bike is on flat packed dirt road that is lots of fun to ride cuz of the bumps (cyclo-cross bike is probably best). The run is a nice run on old logging roads, too. No gas fumes during this race! It's a memorial race for their daughter Janet who died from cancer, and it's a fundraiser for cancer research. Very well organized, and everyone is friendly. We make it a family fishing trip to Yellowstone with a triathlon for fun. The weather was great for the race….about 60 and overcast/mostly cloudy, threatening rain the entire time. The rains came after the race and lasted all day, all night, and into the morning, which is why we left early. I did catch a small brookie in the Gibbon about 100 yards downstream from the bridge by Madison Junction, so that was a success, too.
This year's times versus last year's times. First line is my watch. Second line is race results, and the swim and T1 are combined. Third line is 2008 times.
Year Race time Chip time Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
2009 1:39:58 15:02 3:21.46 48:22 XX 33:12
1:39:56.057 18:24.63 47:58.846 27.765 33:04.807
2008 1:42:07.168 1:42:05.556 21:04.55 2:27.700 45:58.082 33.217 32:03.615
Average Heart Rate: 161 Calories: 1,932
Swim AHR: 155
Bike AHR: 162
Run AHR: 164
Left work at noon Friday, out of Poky at 1:15. Checked into Yellowstone National Park Madison Campground around 4:30. Camp setup by 5:00. New family truckster Xterra works well for family trips like this. Weather was ok and looking to be fair for race on Saturday. To sleep at 10pm on the dot.
Pre-race: Up at 0715 to a chilly morning but no rain (yet!). Standard morning routine. Cooked up coffee and SmartStart cereal. Baby Paul was doing ok. Out of camp at 0815, get another coffee at the gas station in West Yellowstone, arrive race area at 0900 to check in and get ready. Felt a little rushed, unlike last year when we got there really early and stood around for 90 minutes or so. The water was looking good, and they said it was 59deg instead of 53 showing on Reclamation Website. Good to go, I guess. The race looked much bigger than the 40 or so from last year, and it was…had 72 entrants this year. I got a decent warmup in the water and then headed to the start line, where they screwed around with the timers for a bit.
Swim: Went exactly according to plan, and a minute faster than expected. Lined up front right so I could get next to the rope that leads to the bouy (out and back course). I hit the start well, and things went good from there. Turned around at 500meters at 7:20 and I was in about 5th place overall. Water was smooth and easy swimming. Saw some cool bugs on the water but couldn't identify for use while fishing later in the day. Swam the rest of the way with a good stroke, focusing on form over power to ensure I didn't freak out and feel like I couldn't breathe. Swam the entire way with my face in the water with a good freestyle stroke. Out of water in 15:02 and in 5th or 6th.
T1: Sucked. Couldn't get the zipper going on my wetsuit. WTF!?!?!?! Out in 3:21…SLOW!
Bike: Went as planned but felt slow. This is a flat course on a packed dirt road with lots of "humpty" bouncers. I passed a lot of bikers that must have been part of the relays that passed me in transition. I felt like I was pushing hard but still felt slow. Not sure what the deal was. This is really a fun course to ride!
T2: In and out! Saw only two bikes, so thought I was doing well. Found at later that I wasn't in third overall but 5th or so.
Run: Started slow on purpose, but not sure I could've pushed much faster immediately. I was babying a pulled left calf muscle from last week's tri-turned-du. First mile was 8:45, second 8:25, third and fourth came in at 16:02 for 8minute average. As I ran, I felt that my calf muscle was stronger, so I pushed it harder. Got passed by one guy at mile 2.5 or so…large guy about 6'2" and 250 and all muscle cut pretty well…not the kind of guy you expect to blow by you on the run, anyway, he kept pulling away for the rest of the run. Finished run in 33:02 (about 100 yards over 4 miles).
Overall: I love this triathlon because of the MTB and trail run. I would like to see a couple of hills, but you can't have everything. I couldn't remember my times from last year on race day, but I just looked them up and my overall time was faster but bike and run were slower. That's with a bum wheel, so I'm ok with that. The swim went so much better and is a better representation of what I can do, so I'm very happy that my OWS practices the past month paid off. The race was much bigger this year, too. Got first in age group. And Pocatello was well-represented in this race this year, which is nice to see.
Misc: The venue for this is simply awesome, and the family that runs it is GREAT. The swim has been in calm water both years I did it. The bike is on flat packed dirt road that is lots of fun to ride cuz of the bumps (cyclo-cross bike is probably best). The run is a nice run on old logging roads, too. No gas fumes during this race! It's a memorial race for their daughter Janet who died from cancer, and it's a fundraiser for cancer research. Very well organized, and everyone is friendly. We make it a family fishing trip to Yellowstone with a triathlon for fun. The weather was great for the race….about 60 and overcast/mostly cloudy, threatening rain the entire time. The rains came after the race and lasted all day, all night, and into the morning, which is why we left early. I did catch a small brookie in the Gibbon about 100 yards downstream from the bridge by Madison Junction, so that was a success, too.
This year's times versus last year's times. First line is my watch. Second line is race results, and the swim and T1 are combined. Third line is 2008 times.
Year Race time Chip time Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
2009 1:39:58 15:02 3:21.46 48:22 XX 33:12
1:39:56.057 18:24.63 47:58.846 27.765 33:04.807
2008 1:42:07.168 1:42:05.556 21:04.55 2:27.700 45:58.082 33.217 32:03.615
Average Heart Rate: 161 Calories: 1,932
Swim AHR: 155
Bike AHR: 162
Run AHR: 164
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Ready for next race Saturday
Leaving tomorrow at noon for Yellowstone National Park. Reservations at Madison Junction campground. Fishing reports are awesome! We're staying there and then making the 15 minute drive over to Hebgen Lake for the triathlon.
Mostly packed and 100% mentally ready to go for my next race. The Janet's Triathlon at Madison Resort on Hebgen Lake, just north of West Yellowstone. I did this race last year as my first tri ever and absolutely loved it. It was such an awesome day with awesome weather. This year doesn't look as good, though.
Water temp is 53 today, with only one more day of warming. I don't think it's going to get up to even 55, much less 58 or over 60. If they make it a duathlon, I'm not doing it so I can give my calf muscle a chance to recover (and the Firehole River is fishing AWESOME right now, I hear).
If it's a tri, I'm going to love it again. It's 1,000 meters in the water, 500m out and back with a lane rope to follow. The bike is MTB on flat, packed-dirt roads. The run is flat on packed-dirt, too. I love this course. Actually, I wouldn't mind a couple hills to make it interesting, but it's still great to get on the dirt for the bike and run.
This will be Paul's first trip to YNP (out of the womb, anyway)!
Mostly packed and 100% mentally ready to go for my next race. The Janet's Triathlon at Madison Resort on Hebgen Lake, just north of West Yellowstone. I did this race last year as my first tri ever and absolutely loved it. It was such an awesome day with awesome weather. This year doesn't look as good, though.
Water temp is 53 today, with only one more day of warming. I don't think it's going to get up to even 55, much less 58 or over 60. If they make it a duathlon, I'm not doing it so I can give my calf muscle a chance to recover (and the Firehole River is fishing AWESOME right now, I hear).
If it's a tri, I'm going to love it again. It's 1,000 meters in the water, 500m out and back with a lane rope to follow. The bike is MTB on flat, packed-dirt roads. The run is flat on packed-dirt, too. I love this course. Actually, I wouldn't mind a couple hills to make it interesting, but it's still great to get on the dirt for the bike and run.
This will be Paul's first trip to YNP (out of the womb, anyway)!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Race Report: Bismarck Triathlon
I had high hopes for this race. All of them were crushed quickly. I learned alot though!
The race became a duathlon because of cold water from the snow that fell a week earlier. Water temps were high 50s or so. I would have preferred to swim because I am a relatively good swimmer. I'm a below-average biker, and an average runner. And the one time I've run before I biked, my bike sucked because my legs were so tired, so confidence was not high going into the race. But I was going to go hard anyway.
Prior to the race, I had done well limiting alcohol intake during the high school reunion, but I was eating literally probably three times as much as I normally do. I drove the bike course and saw that the hills were longer than expected.
5K Run: The race started with an olympic race field of only about 15 racers. I hit the 5k turnaround at about 9:35, which is really fast for me, and I was hoping for 10:15. At mile 2 of the 5k, I felt my left calf muscle pull. Damn! I have had some problems with my calf muscles, but they both felt strong in training and I wasn't worrying about them. I even warmed up before the race, something I haven't done before. In any case, my second split for the 5k was 12 minutes and change.
T1: Sucked. My legs were tired and I couldn't push off my left leg because of the muscle pull, resulting in the below video comedy of getting out of T1. I'm lucky I didn't cause any crashes.
The race became a duathlon because of cold water from the snow that fell a week earlier. Water temps were high 50s or so. I would have preferred to swim because I am a relatively good swimmer. I'm a below-average biker, and an average runner. And the one time I've run before I biked, my bike sucked because my legs were so tired, so confidence was not high going into the race. But I was going to go hard anyway.
Prior to the race, I had done well limiting alcohol intake during the high school reunion, but I was eating literally probably three times as much as I normally do. I drove the bike course and saw that the hills were longer than expected.
5K Run: The race started with an olympic race field of only about 15 racers. I hit the 5k turnaround at about 9:35, which is really fast for me, and I was hoping for 10:15. At mile 2 of the 5k, I felt my left calf muscle pull. Damn! I have had some problems with my calf muscles, but they both felt strong in training and I wasn't worrying about them. I even warmed up before the race, something I haven't done before. In any case, my second split for the 5k was 12 minutes and change.
T1: Sucked. My legs were tired and I couldn't push off my left leg because of the muscle pull, resulting in the below video comedy of getting out of T1. I'm lucky I didn't cause any crashes.
Bike: I thought I was prepared for the hills and the wind. I was 80% correct. I came in at 1:15 versus a goal of 1:09. The calf muscle didn't hurt too bad but I couldn't really push high gears to increase speed. The hills were more than I bargained for, too....loooonger than expected but the grade was doable. I followed my plan for the bike nearly perfectly, though, and came in ok.
T2: Quick and easy. Thought about bailing to save my leg but it had a chance to warm up more and work itself out a bit such that it didn't hurt too bad unless I was striding out and running hard.
10k Run: I started out pretty slow with trouble getting my legs going. After a few minutes, I got into a groove, but couldn't speed up much because of the bum leg. The run would've been good with a good leg, I think. Came in at 54 something, really slow.
After the race, I got into the water to clean up before another family picnic. I realized that the water really was as cold as they said!
Overall: I felt good going in. I was really suprised at how fast I went out without really pushing it. The muscle pull is obviously damaging to morale. Finished in 2:37 I think versus a goal of 2:12. Mission NOT accomplished in any way, shape, or form.
Next race is Saturday already, and my leg is about 70% only, and that guess is from walking not running on it. The water temp at Lake Hebgen is currently 50 degrees, so if this turns into a duathlon, I'm not racing.....there's lots of fishing to happen in Yellowstone and I want my leg to be get 100% so I can get back to training for the August and September races that are my primary races. This race is a "B" race anyway.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Worked out the long drive today
Spent 13.5 hours in the car yesterday! On the last gas fill-up and once in Center, I was having trouble getting out of the car. My legs didn't like it at all.
So I did an easy 20 minute bike and 10 minute run today to work it all out. I felt much better afterwards! I found riding on the great plains of North Dakota to be fairly taxing mentally. It takes FOREVER to get to the next little hill. It felt like I was going quite slow. Of course, my speedometer crapped out, so I didn't know how fast I was actually going, but it felt slow. My legs felt really weak off the bike but came together nicely after just a minute or so.
I'll do this easy workout again tomorrow to keep my legs kind of fresh.
So I did an easy 20 minute bike and 10 minute run today to work it all out. I felt much better afterwards! I found riding on the great plains of North Dakota to be fairly taxing mentally. It takes FOREVER to get to the next little hill. It felt like I was going quite slow. Of course, my speedometer crapped out, so I didn't know how fast I was actually going, but it felt slow. My legs felt really weak off the bike but came together nicely after just a minute or so.
I'll do this easy workout again tomorrow to keep my legs kind of fresh.
Monday, June 8, 2009
More rain but got my workouts in
Rained all weekend, a perfect time to not have any workouts scheduled! I have my race this weekend in Bismarck, ND, so I'm keeping this easy this week. Not completely off so I don't get stale, but definitely dialed back, using the same schedule.
Got in my OWS this morning. What a great way to start the week! Took 26 minutes instead of 25 for one mile. The water was up significantly from recent rains, and it was definitely a few degrees cooler, to the point it was cold. When I got done, my feet and ankles were numb, and my hands were stiff. Otherwise, good. And the sun broke out for about ten minutes, and it was BEAUTIFUL!
Ran five miles at lunch. This was an easy Level 3, putting forth effort but not pushing hard and keeping the pace uphill. I came in at 37:30, which is only 1:30 or so slower than my PR. So it was a great time for the effort put forth. It's amazing what some recovery time will do for the body.
Bike an easy 14 miles after work. Very windy.
Got an e-mail today that the race might become a duathlon. Bismarck received quite a bit of rain over the weekend, and the water temps dropped to 53.5, so they might make it a run-bike-run. The change in water temp is understandable, since my sister reported 3-4 inches of snow in parts of the state, which all runs into the Missouri River, which is where the marina for the race gets its water. I say we should swim no matter what. I'm not excited about a duathlon because I'm a relatively good swimmer, and that's where I make up for a slow bike and average run. Decision to be made on race day.
Got in my OWS this morning. What a great way to start the week! Took 26 minutes instead of 25 for one mile. The water was up significantly from recent rains, and it was definitely a few degrees cooler, to the point it was cold. When I got done, my feet and ankles were numb, and my hands were stiff. Otherwise, good. And the sun broke out for about ten minutes, and it was BEAUTIFUL!
Ran five miles at lunch. This was an easy Level 3, putting forth effort but not pushing hard and keeping the pace uphill. I came in at 37:30, which is only 1:30 or so slower than my PR. So it was a great time for the effort put forth. It's amazing what some recovery time will do for the body.
Bike an easy 14 miles after work. Very windy.
Got an e-mail today that the race might become a duathlon. Bismarck received quite a bit of rain over the weekend, and the water temps dropped to 53.5, so they might make it a run-bike-run. The change in water temp is understandable, since my sister reported 3-4 inches of snow in parts of the state, which all runs into the Missouri River, which is where the marina for the race gets its water. I say we should swim no matter what. I'm not excited about a duathlon because I'm a relatively good swimmer, and that's where I make up for a slow bike and average run. Decision to be made on race day.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Lots of rain, but no workouts planned
Lots of rain here the past few days. I got in my workouts for the week in between the hard rain sets. I was thinking about a short and easy bike/run brick today, but bailed in the rain. That workout wasn't on the schedule anyway, it was just something I was thinking about.
My race is next week. An olympic distance triathlon in Bismarck, ND. The bike course profile looks quite similar to what I ride here for my 40k route. It's fairly hilly and there should be some wind, both of which I'm familiar with on weekly rides.
My race plan is done. Now it's a might of proper training in the race week to peak appropriately.
My race is next week. An olympic distance triathlon in Bismarck, ND. The bike course profile looks quite similar to what I ride here for my 40k route. It's fairly hilly and there should be some wind, both of which I'm familiar with on weekly rides.
My race plan is done. Now it's a might of proper training in the race week to peak appropriately.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Having a good week
This week is panning out as scheduled. Today I did a six mile run at lunch instead of the usual five. The time was slow (8:25 miles) for my effort level, but overall it was a good run.
I thought about not riding my bike tonight after work because my legs must be getting tired based on the run at lunch. But I went anyway, and it turned out great. I got close to my PR times, only a minute off for 25 miles, and I didn't put forth a great effort. There was some serious headwind on the way out, and I let it get to me mentally, even though I know the wind normally "averages out" on an out n back route, and it certainly did tonight. This was a tough workout mentally more than physically. I'm glad I did it.
I thought about not riding my bike tonight after work because my legs must be getting tired based on the run at lunch. But I went anyway, and it turned out great. I got close to my PR times, only a minute off for 25 miles, and I didn't put forth a great effort. There was some serious headwind on the way out, and I let it get to me mentally, even though I know the wind normally "averages out" on an out n back route, and it certainly did tonight. This was a tough workout mentally more than physically. I'm glad I did it.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A few photos (double post tonight)
I wanted to post a few pix for a while, so tonight is a double post.
Here's Paul on a cool morning at the South Fork of the Boise River last weekend while we were camping.
Here's Paul on a cool morning at the South Fork of the Boise River last weekend while we were camping.
Paul seems to be liking the camping. Sometimes he goes into the pack n play to give everyone a break from holding him.
Family photo. It got hot on the river! But the water was really cold...I'm guessing 50 or less.
Me and Steve after the Pocatello 50. He ran the first leg and had been done for about 8 hours by the time I got to the finish line. Our third team member wasn't there.
Sprints and a good swim
Slept in, so no OWS this morning, but that led to a nice discovery in the pool at lunch. It turns out that OWS is helping my pool swim quite a bit. I did 2x750 in the same splits avg 11:10 that I did 2x700 in the last workout of that nature in the pool. That's interesting, and I'm quite sure I did all the laps. My first 100yd on each of the 750's was 1:21. My stroke is down to 10-11 on each 25yds, and it was 12-13. I focused on a good catch with hands pointed down and a high elbow on the pull. My effort level didn't feel high, but I was averaging 140 heart rate, which is high for me; but the key is that I didn't feel like it was high. This was a nice discovery, and it will be more motivation to get up in the morning to hit the OWS at Jensen's Grove.
Did sprints after work. This time I actually did two sets of 800, 400, 200, 100. I did 2x800, then 2x400, then 2x200, then 2x100. I'm not sure if that's the best way or if I should just do the 800, 400, 200, 100 ladder twice. In any case, my times on the first sets were faster than the last time I did the sprints, and the second sets were equal to last time I did sprints. I'll take that to mean that I've improved. On top of that, I had a relatively full stomach from a late and big lunch with some M&Ms, a Twix, and lots of water still in me; all adding up to the fact that I wasn't comfortable at all from the start. I'm glad to have gotten the first two-setter out of the way finally, which has been something I've wanted to do for a while but haven't. In fact, I haven't done sprints in a while. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.
After the sprints, I did two sets of planks, each for 1:15. I've upped the time 15 seconds, and it makes a huge difference. My abs are still a bit sore from the planks on Monday.
Just over a week left til my tri in Bismarck. I'm starting to get nervous. I'll see if my efforts have paid off. I'll be comparing my time to that of the Bear Lake Brawl in Sept 08, which was at about 5,800 ft. The Biz Tri is at about 1500 feet, so I'm counting on that giving me a bit of advantage over the comparable times and relative to the other racers because I'm training at 4700ft and they're probably training at home at about 1,500 ft. It may not be a huge difference, but I remember feeling tired for the first three weeks we lived in Pocatello, so I'm counting on there being a difference of some sort. But also, I know how that North Dakota wind can blow, and that is going to hurt because I know the wind here, almost as bad but not quite, really slows me down.
Did sprints after work. This time I actually did two sets of 800, 400, 200, 100. I did 2x800, then 2x400, then 2x200, then 2x100. I'm not sure if that's the best way or if I should just do the 800, 400, 200, 100 ladder twice. In any case, my times on the first sets were faster than the last time I did the sprints, and the second sets were equal to last time I did sprints. I'll take that to mean that I've improved. On top of that, I had a relatively full stomach from a late and big lunch with some M&Ms, a Twix, and lots of water still in me; all adding up to the fact that I wasn't comfortable at all from the start. I'm glad to have gotten the first two-setter out of the way finally, which has been something I've wanted to do for a while but haven't. In fact, I haven't done sprints in a while. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.
After the sprints, I did two sets of planks, each for 1:15. I've upped the time 15 seconds, and it makes a huge difference. My abs are still a bit sore from the planks on Monday.
Just over a week left til my tri in Bismarck. I'm starting to get nervous. I'll see if my efforts have paid off. I'll be comparing my time to that of the Bear Lake Brawl in Sept 08, which was at about 5,800 ft. The Biz Tri is at about 1500 feet, so I'm counting on that giving me a bit of advantage over the comparable times and relative to the other racers because I'm training at 4700ft and they're probably training at home at about 1,500 ft. It may not be a huge difference, but I remember feeling tired for the first three weeks we lived in Pocatello, so I'm counting on there being a difference of some sort. But also, I know how that North Dakota wind can blow, and that is going to hurt because I know the wind here, almost as bad but not quite, really slows me down.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Bike in the mist
Nice bike workout at lunch today. The rain shut down for long enough for me to get a bike workout in just a light mist. That's good for me because I need to ride on the wet roads because today was the first day I've ridden on a wet road. It scares the heck out of me for some reason.
Today's workout was the "Barton Hill," which is a 8-9 minute ride up and 2.5 minutes down. I do three sets, and then I have to go up a 5-minute hill to get back to work. The up is nice in a mist because it keeps things cool. The down is pretty scary. A 30mph corner becomes a 15-18mph corner for me, and I rarely get on the aero bars on the down because I'm now terrified of crashing because of wet roads. About two week ago I came to the conclusion that crashing on a bike into pavement would be significantly different than crashing on skis into powder. Pretty obvious, right? Well, it takes a genius to state the obvious, I once heard that somewhere.
Anyway, the first two ups were average, and the third up was slow. I think there is still some fatigue deep down in my quads leftover from the trail race.
Overall, a good day.
Today's workout was the "Barton Hill," which is a 8-9 minute ride up and 2.5 minutes down. I do three sets, and then I have to go up a 5-minute hill to get back to work. The up is nice in a mist because it keeps things cool. The down is pretty scary. A 30mph corner becomes a 15-18mph corner for me, and I rarely get on the aero bars on the down because I'm now terrified of crashing because of wet roads. About two week ago I came to the conclusion that crashing on a bike into pavement would be significantly different than crashing on skis into powder. Pretty obvious, right? Well, it takes a genius to state the obvious, I once heard that somewhere.
Anyway, the first two ups were average, and the third up was slow. I think there is still some fatigue deep down in my quads leftover from the trail race.
Overall, a good day.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Recovered and rocking it!
My body has recovered after a weekend of camping and fishing (lots of bug bites but no fish bites or fish to speak of). I took my MTB with us camping, but I slept so well each night and well into the morning that I didn't ride it.
And today I had great workouts.
Started in the morning w/ 1 mile OWS in 25:51. Time was slower than previous, but I think I swam pretty crooked lines. I actually smacked into a guy this morning. I haven't seen anyone else out there in my other swims. Then today, I'm swimming along, thinking I finally feel 100% comfortable in open water and watching the rocks go by and then completely zoning when WHAM! I run into something. I popped up and it was another swimmer. It was completely my fault, and he was nice about it. Dang that scared me! Gotta pay attention in the water. At least I haven't run off the road on the bike recently cuz I'm constantly telling myself I gotta pay attention after I ran off the road a few times last year.
Great 5 mile run at lunch. PR'd my usual 5 mile lunch course, beating previous time by 1:32 and it wasn't a race effort, just a hard effort. Beautiful weather, too.
After work did my Portland tri simulation route. Got my best times going up the big Terry hill to start, and then my best split going up the other side on the way home. I only did two hill intervals, the first an average time and the second about a minute off average time (not sure what I was doing but it did feel slow). My downhill times both beat previous bests for those splits, too. It started to sprinkle at the beginning of the second hill interval, so I got to practice riding in the rain for the first time. I'm definitely much slower and very careful with wet roads, so maybe that was it.
A great day! And then I got Paul to sleep without rocking him at all. Just put him in the crib with "Harry the Horse," a little doll thing, turned on the mobile three different times, and he was eventually asleep. First time for that!
A good day all around!
And today I had great workouts.
Started in the morning w/ 1 mile OWS in 25:51. Time was slower than previous, but I think I swam pretty crooked lines. I actually smacked into a guy this morning. I haven't seen anyone else out there in my other swims. Then today, I'm swimming along, thinking I finally feel 100% comfortable in open water and watching the rocks go by and then completely zoning when WHAM! I run into something. I popped up and it was another swimmer. It was completely my fault, and he was nice about it. Dang that scared me! Gotta pay attention in the water. At least I haven't run off the road on the bike recently cuz I'm constantly telling myself I gotta pay attention after I ran off the road a few times last year.
Great 5 mile run at lunch. PR'd my usual 5 mile lunch course, beating previous time by 1:32 and it wasn't a race effort, just a hard effort. Beautiful weather, too.
After work did my Portland tri simulation route. Got my best times going up the big Terry hill to start, and then my best split going up the other side on the way home. I only did two hill intervals, the first an average time and the second about a minute off average time (not sure what I was doing but it did feel slow). My downhill times both beat previous bests for those splits, too. It started to sprinkle at the beginning of the second hill interval, so I got to practice riding in the rain for the first time. I'm definitely much slower and very careful with wet roads, so maybe that was it.
A great day! And then I got Paul to sleep without rocking him at all. Just put him in the crib with "Harry the Horse," a little doll thing, turned on the mobile three different times, and he was eventually asleep. First time for that!
A good day all around!
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