More Winter Cross-Training....a bit of backcountry with a photo.

My living room is down there somewhere, which is why I'm up here and looking down!

So, I've taken the last week off, kind of. After a good three weeks of consistent running and biking, I needed a week of rest. This week, between Christmas and New Year's, seems like a great week to take a break, at least sleep in. Another part of me thinks that this is the week that could be some really big volume; if I'm a few minutes late to work in the morning or after lunch, noboby will notice or care because 1) they probably aren't even there, and 2) they are probably late, too(!). 

Anyway, I say I've taken the week off "kind of" because I did a three-hour cross country tour last Thursday afternoon. And today I did a 3.5hour backcountry tour to the top of a local mountain I've been eyeing from my living room window. The mountain top looks great and seems like it would be a skiing heaven, but everything looks different up close. In the picture above, I'm at the top of Wild Horse Mountain and looking down towards the Portneuf Valley and Pocatello, with Idaho State University and my house in the middle of the picture.

This3.5hour tour took alot more out of me than I expected. Mostly because I broke a pole 30 minutes into it and decided to keep going! Ha! Backcountry skiing, mostly hiking, is difficult with just one pole. I figure I got a great ab workout of the deal because that is the core of balance needed on skis. I didn't get a lot of turns in, maybe a total of 30 linked turns total, but it was a great day to be out and about, and my expectation was to do more hiking to see this area than to get turns.

Anyway, it was a great day in the mountains, and I finally got up to the mountain that has been calling me from my living room.  And it was great workout. I'm putting it down as the equivalent of a twelve mile run......it feels more like an 18 mile run, but I'm going with 12 because I like to be a bit conservative that way.

Update: I did the route in mapmyrun at http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/id/pocatello/155129376609373579

It's 10.3 miles, 2200 elevation gain/loss.

Others shooting for 60 minute 40k TT........

A guy at Nytro is doing a series on how to reach 60 minutes on a 40k TT at http://www.nytro.com/index.cfm/nytro-blog/an-open-challenge-to-nytro-readers-beat-the-hour-for-the-40k/ in conjunction with a challenge he has put out to his readers.

Be sure to watch the motivation video at http://vimeo.com/16468046. I'd love to see the rest of that video. I'd even pay for it, up to $15 for a download I suppose. But I can't find it.

This challenge is also posted on Slowtitch at http://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/Im_issuing_a_challenge_to_Slowtwitchers:_Beat_the_hour_for_40K.__P3133131 Iand got a lot of responses, from basics of it's too easy of a goal to something along the lines of it's a good goal for me, so I'm doing it. Hey..It's been my goal all along, and I'm still shooting for it!

Surreal gray scale

Today's workout. Six miles slight uphill.....six miles cruising home. Incredibly quiet and still. Very unique gray scale look. Nice workout!

Real time workout report

Wooohoooo!!!!! Great PT pulling Paul uphill. Now heading down. This is a real time update......gotta love technology.

A very consistent week....

My goal this week was consistency, and I got most of it. I hit every workout this week, except yesterday morning's bike ride, and I still think that sleeping in and getting a bit of recovery was the right decision. I essentially tried to double my bike volume in one week, which everyone should recognize as both dumb and unrealistic. That's two weeks in a row of consistent training, but with alot more volume this week.

I'm tracking the results of consistent running. In mid-January, I expect to have a nice graph that can show how much improvement the consistency is providing. Notice the word "expected"........I'm positive the results will be there based on what the chart currently looks like; I just have to maintain another four weeks of consistency. There are a couple of variables that are interesting to think about, too.

Next week is Christmas. Last night, we went to Collin Raye's Christmas show here in Pocatello. It was really awesome and got me into the Christmas spirit for sure.

Another view of weight training

Short and sweet note today.......borrowing from someone else!

I like this lady's view on weight training:  http://triathlongoddess.blogspot.com/2010/11/interesting-reasons-for-triathletes-to.html

Specifically, weight training is not about getting big and buff. It's simply about training muscles while getting a bit of variety and change of scenery.

Christmas trees!

Heading out to get our Christmas tree.....Merry Christmas!

Consistency trumps everything else

This winter, my primary goal is to simply be consistent. I was doing well with consistent running in October and November and then ran into a tough two weeks. I've convinced myself that I'm back on the consistent-train this week!

I have since added biking to the mix, and consistency is still my main goal. Of course, I soon realized that to be consistent in both run and bike workouts requires a cut in volume, which I didn't want to admit at first but intuitively knew would be needed.

Joe Friel wrote a post about top ten training errors at http://www.joefrielsblog.com/  All of his information is good, but I particularly liked his note about consistency:

#6 mistake: Inconsistent training.


Correction: High goals? Don’t miss workouts. Ever.

Comments: Consistency is the single most important aspect of training. It’s more important than long or intense workouts. You’ll improve faster by working out frequently and regularly rather than by doing hard workouts with lots of days off in between. This comes down to moderation and infrequent attempts to find your limits. Pushing yourself to the edge frequently leads to soreness, illness, injury, burnout, and overtraining. These will cause you to miss workouts and lose fitness. You gain fitness at a much slower rate than you lose it. But, let’s face it, you will miss a workout on occasion due to things you have little or no control over—weather, work, family activities and other responsibilities. When these happen you need to do some workout rescheduling. Try not to miss any of the key workouts on your schedule.

He's absolutely right. Before making consistency a top priority, I would have argued that you can be kind of consistent and still be good. And I think that's true. But to WIN, consistency is an absolute must.

I want to win, but that's not why I do triathlons, so I don't get too mad when I lose consistency. "Frustrated with myself" is a better description.

But after seeing what just six weeks of real consistency can do for fitness, it is certainly always at the top of my training goals. Just be consistent. Even if it means an hour of really low intensity....the consistency will give you a benefit.  It's important to point out that he mentions "moderation" and "infrequent attempts to find your limits" because that is exactly what I'm finding in my own adventures in consistency. Two hard workouts per week at the most, and the rest are a moderate level with a specific function that he mentions in his other posts.

A new week starts tomorrow...thank goodness

I have a bit of problem in that I like to schedule out a week of workouts, and when I miss two workouts, then the week falls apart. I don't know how to fix it yet, but if you find yourself wondering why you have a great first half of the week and then a crappy second half, take a look at the missed workouts. I'll bet you find a trend.

This week's training fell apart. I was all set mentally for a great week of training. I got up early Monday for the bike workout. I ran in the snow at lunch on Monday.....and then I felt the calf muscle cramping up and feeling really tight Monday afternoon. I don't know what happened, maybe it was running on my toes more or something like that in compensation for really icy roads. Anyway, I haven't run since that Monday lunch run, and it's just barely getting to the point where I want to get back to a run. The no running then killed my motivation for biking in the motivation.....kind of funny, if you would talk to me at night, I couldn't wait to get up in the morning for a ride; then the alarm went off and I couldn't care less about it. I have to learn to beat that mental game like that and accept that no running doesn't mean no progress...it just means I don't run and all bike or swim can BUT DON"T HAVE TO make up for the lost running.

Music and training

I'm not one to use music in all my workouts. I see people at the pool with the waterproof-players and I wonder how they even stay on. I see people with headphones at the gym, always playing with the players instead of the weights. People listen while running, and I can understand that, but I can't get past the safety factor and the fact that I wouldn't be able to hear any birds singing on a wonderful, crisp morning. I tried listening to a player while biking on the road....I'm lucky I didn't cause my own wreck; I don't do that anymore.

On the bike trainer is another story. I like to listen to tunes on the trainer. I have a playlist that is 90 minutes long, which is just a tad longer than I normally ride on the trainer. So, I can go past a few songs if they don't feel right.

My playlist is pretty basic. AC/DC High Voltage album, then select songs from Iron Maiden Live After Death, then select songs from Judas Priest Live (mostly the older songs). Then I have some Donnas, which is really strange for me but keeps me going. For the cooldown, I get to Allman Brothers songs. That's the line-up. It never changes.

It's a challenge to keep the volume down. During my "previous life" of partying, drinking, and heavy metal, I cranked it up. Now I have tinitis, and that damn ringing never goes away.

But when "The Trooper" or "Freewheel Burnin''" comes on, I usually turn it up a bit.

If you like to push your bike intervals as hard as possible, get some "Freewheel Burnin'" on, learn the words, and then go for it. "Fast and furious, we ride the universe To carve a road for us That slices every curve in sight We accelerate No time to hesitate This load will detonate Whoever would Contend its right....

Born to lead At breakneck speed With high octane Were spitting flames.

Freewheel burning......freewheel burning."

Winter Training thoughts

Winter came on strong here in southeast Idaho last week. But NO WORRIES! I got this figured out. Here are a few thoughts about winter training in the snow and cold.

1. How bad will it really be? 4 miles is 40 minutes at the most, so how cold can you get in 40 minutes when you're putting forth at least some effort? Nothing that five minutes in a hot shower can't fix.

2. Plan to stay out of the wind. Really, it's the wind that is the real culprit in the winter, not the cold. If you dress with layers and cover all the skin, the plain old cold doesn't really get you. It's the wind whipping around and THROUGH your jacket that gets you. So plan to run a route in some trees or at least not in the open areas that are getting blasted by the wind.

3. Get warmed up in the house. It's very difficult to leave a nice warm bed next to your next warm spouse to go out into the freezing cold. It's so easy just to snuggle up for another hour or two, and you'd get major cool points from your wife or hubby, right? To win this mental battle early in the morning when you're not even awake yet, plan at least 15-20 minutes of warmup time in the house to get your blood flowing and maybe a couple cups of coffee in you if that's how you roll. The key is to create a transitional period.

4. Enjoy the SUN! It might be cold, but the sun is shining on many afternoons. Get out there and play in the sun! Plan your runs for the middle of the day, and your gyms and swims in the dark times. Plenty of scientific studies say the sun is good for morale, and common sense says the same.

5. Cross Train! Break out the skis. Personally, I think a day in the backcountry hiking up big hills and then maintaining control on the way down is the hardest workout I do. Cross-country skiing is a great option, too. Don't worry so much about whether you cut a bike or a run to add skiing....the point is to break up the monotony of indoor training and GET OUTSIDE! The positive mental aspects of a break in the monotony will far surpass any issues with missing a bike or run that you do half-ass cuz you just aren't into it mentally.

6. Get organized. You've probably read all about how proper organization can help. That is doubly important in the winter because of the extra gear needed to stay warm. Multiple sets of gear help, too. Here are the setups I have, all with old gear that I had laying around and not really being used (ie I didn't spend a ton of money):
1. A warm top and bottom laid out next to the bed so I can get up easily and get going.
2. Bike trainer clothes. Also, I have a coffee pot with a timer downstairs by the bike trainer room. More than once the smell of the coffee already brewing has gotten me to get out of bed!
3. A set of shoes, pants, jacket, hat, gloves, and shorts/shirt for the one mile run to the gym after the bike trainer workout. They are staged by the bike trainer every day to make a quick transition from the bike to the gym for lifting weights (generally only a winter workout).
4. Set of shoes, pants, jacket, shorts, shirt, hat, and gloves staged at work for running at lunch. I keep it simple and use the same gear each day of the week, taking it home only on Fridays to wash it over the weekend. That might sound gross to some people, but it keeps me from forgetting anything more than one day.
It takes about five minutes each night to restage everything in the house and setup the coffee to start brewing five minutes before I should be getting to the coffee pot in the morning.

And what if you forget something? Go anyway! Today I forgot my socks, and I knew I'd be running through some snow and slush. Oh well, nothing a five minute hot shower won't be able to fix afterwards. And do you know what? They didn't even get cold in the 18 degree weather...just a little wet as if it was raining and 50 degrees.

Bottom line: there are only a few no-kidding good excuses for not training (running) outside in the winter; generally you can work around all the standard "but it's winter" excuses. For me, blizzard conditions, significant ice coverage on my running paths, or other unsafe conditions will keep me inside for a day or two at the most.

Cross Training - XC Ski!

Ski'd yesterday and today, pretty much the same distance, except today was a bit longer and with Paul on my back. That extra 40 pounds makes quite a difference! About 6 and 8 miles respectively, first hour all uphill followed by 25 minutes downhill cruising.

Anyway....I love living a 20 minute drive from a great XC ski area. This year I expect to do more XC skiing than backcountry simply because Paul is getting older now, and I'll need to take him to leave Tera in a quiet house on a few afternoons so she can get some much-needed sleep.

I'm definitely considering getting the chariot xc ski setup. We have a really nice backpack for the baby, but I would much rather pull than pack. In the future, after the kids are all grown up, I envision using it then as a pulk to get our gear to snow camps and ski camps or ice-fishing or something like that.

Video of running gait

Tuesday during a nasty storm at lunch I decided to go to the gym and video my running gait while on a treadmill. I've read about people doing this and learning alot, and I've always wanted to do it. When I video'd my swim, I learned alot. I've video'd my bike positions and learned alot. In the video of my running gait below, I'm NOT learning alot becuase I really don't remember what I should be looking at. Everything looks like it remains straight and symmetrical for the most part, other than an occassional swerve because of the strangeness being on a treadmill. 

Your comments are welcome because at this point I really don't know what to look for:

"The Hunted" thoughts and tech notes

During my morning trainer ride this morning, I watched the newest Sufferfest video, "The Hunted." It follows a bit different story line than the others, meaning there is actually a story to this one that follows all the way through the video and makes it really interesting.  It is definitely motivating; I found myself picking up the pace and trying to push myself when the goal was to simply do 90 minutes of fairly easy pedaling. This video has some longer intervals, which is what I've been wanting, and the producer makes it interesting and easy to stay interested in the longer intervals. Those longer intervals are followed by some great shorter takes for the last few minutes that will definitely finish you off for the workout if you've been putting in the appropriate effort throughout the workout.

Side note: I've loaded all my Sufferfest videos onto my Droid X, which makes it alot easier to get going in the morning. Starting the video on the phone take about ten seconds, versus several minutes to get going on the laptop. So much easier.  The last two videos are about 1.5gb so they take up a fair amount of room relative to everything else on a 16gb card. The older videos are about 700mb each.  I use the stock Android movie viewer for most of the videos but it it was unable to play "The Hunted" this morning.....I switch to DoubleTwist, and the video played with no problems.

Sufferfest "The Hunted" available now!

I'm downloading it now, and I'll watch it tomorrow morning. A great deal for $10.99! Go to www.thesufferfest.com.

Here's the rundown of the workout:
The Workout
Where the other 'fest videos have short, nasty and high power intervals, The Hunted is something else all together. Focused on longer, less intense efforts, it gives you a solid threshold workout that still manages to drain you of everything you've got. Here's what happens:
6:30 warm-up: Gradually up the pace, over the intro, footage from a group ride in California, and some pack riding in the Tour de Suisse.
:30 attack: A violent effort to get away from the complacent peloton.
5:00 solo-breakaway tempo riding: You'll ride at effort level 7/10 with Marco Pinotti as he plows through the TT course of the Tour of Romandie.
20:00 climb: Caught by the group, you'll start a long, difficult climb in the group, then in a small breakway and ultimately alone as you ride with Robert Gesink over the queen stage in the Tour de Suisse. Efforts range from 7/10 to 8.5/10.
4:00 downhill: This isn't a time to rest...especially when you're solo trying to hold off the chasers! You wouldn't get to take it easy in a race, so I don't want to hear any whining. You'll take the resistance off but you'll ramp that cadence up to 115+ to train some fast pedaling technique.
5:00 small group: Caught by three other riders, you'll swap off the front in a small breakaway as you hurtle toward the finish line, while the pack looms behind. Effort of 6.5 to 7/10.
5:00 inverse intervals: As you're the sort who goes for the big glory, you'll attempt to attack and shed your breakaway companions. You'll do :50 tempo, then :10 attack, then :40 tempo/:20 attack, :30 tempo/:30 attack, :20 tempo/:40 attack, :10 tempo/:50 attack
?: It wouldn't be the 'fest if there wasn't a small (small) sting in the tail now, would it?
4:00 warm-down
The Music
Yet another solid, hand-picked and agonised over soundtrack of alt-rock and dance music. Here's the amazing collection we've put together for you this time:
Face the Wall - The Watermarks
Silence - Kyven
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - The Swing Movement
Daddy was a Disco Dancer - Pistol Opera
Snow Globe - The Brady Bastards
Beyond the Horizon - George Anthony Tamayo
7th Word - Josh Riptide
Song in My Head - Athenia Henderson
This Feeling - Smooth4Lyfe
One More Chance - Disease
We Love (DJ Vitamin D Remix) - Nique & Sean Biddle
Sunchase - Knut Andresen
Spyplane - Afroskull
In suffering,

David McQuillen
Sufferfest Studios, Singapore
http://www.thesufferfest.com

Sufferfest fun

It seems I'm on a bit of a Sufferfest kick here, but they are really cool videos. I haven't been excited about a "brand" in a looong time, but this stuff is fun. Seriously, the slogan "I'll beat my ass today to kick yours tomorrow" hits me like no other workout saying ever has. The next new video is a TT video, too.....so...really...is that cool or what?

Anyway, here's some fun stuff about Sufferfest:

Another Marine Corps birthday last night! I held myself to three pieces of cake. A good time was had by all.

Lunges!`

At my Marine Corps Reserve Drill this weekend, we did lunges during our PT session. We did ALOT of lunges. After a three mile run and returning back to the "grinder," a large asphalt parking lot area used for military parades, we started the lunges. At one end of the grinder, the Commanding Officer lined us up and said, "Lunges, all the way to the other side." Well, the other side was 200 yards away!

The next day everyone was sore. I was incredibly sore right in the glutes that are used for bicycling. Mmmmmmmm......maybe I really do need to do these lunge things more often.  I did a Spinnerval video last winter (rented from mypypeline) that had us get off the bike and do lunges.....I was sore for two days after that and told myself I need to do more lunges.  Well, I never got to incorporating that.

Now, it seems that my weight lifting routine is only 25 minutes long this year, instead of the 30 minutes that it was last year and all the years before it. That means I have five minutes to fill, and I started filling it with lunges this morning.

I chose to win today.

A while back I wrote a post about "choosing to win." Those are the times when you really don't want to workout but you do it anyway.  It's when you put yourself outside of your comfort zone, and therefore also when you stand to gain the most. Sometimes it's simply breaking a pattern or getting out of a rut. Sometimes it's about pushing yourself to new performance levels during a workout. You CHOOSE to make yourself better rather than playing a victim card of some sort and laying down mentally. This is an important point because it keeps you mentally in control of what happens to you.

Today I was really tired at lunch and didn't want to run the regular 10k route. I had several good, valid reasons not to go. I was really tired from adding about 35% volume into the week, and we have an hour of PT scheduled for my USMCR drill on Saturday, so a makeup session is guaranteed.  But I grabbed my gear and changed, thinking I would just do three miles. I did all six miles.

The way I see it, this is a double workout. Not only did I not bail, but I did the full-on workout that was scheduled. Instead of being lazy and not burning 800 calories, I burned those 800 calories.....for a total of 1,600 calorie difference in the day. That's the sort of thinking that gets me to do the workouts when I don't want to.

So I chose to win today. I won a mental battle. But more importantly, I won the battle for consistency that will build the foundation for good performances next summer.

I made it to the pool today, but I didn't do any laps. I took Paul with me for his second trip to the pool this week. He LOVES the pool! Above is a cool photo and also a video of him getting into the water mostly by himself....not bad for a just-turned-two-year-old.

more Sufferfest info!

I'm downloading "Angels," the newest Sufferfest! video. It's one hour of a warmup, 10 minutes of over/under threshhold, then 3x 8minute climbs with full (and legal!) video of races last year in Europe.

Also, coming up is a time-trail video from Sufferfest! Woohoo! Probably 2x20mins, which will be perfect for me, and perfect for back to back workouts totalling about 90 minutes if you take out the cooldown of the first round and then the warmup of the second round.

I'm a big fan of their slogan "I'll beat my ass today to kick yours tomorrow." What could me more appropriate for motivating yourself to do the early work that builds a great base/foundation months before a race?  I'm thinking of gettinng the shirt they sell, and I haven't bought a cheesy slogan shirt like that in more than 20 years!

Long-range annual planning with weather forecasts

As I ran today at lunch, I wondered how much longer the incredibly beautiful fall weather is going to last. And then I wondered if we would have another long, wet spring in 2011 like we did in 2010.

The answers are available at http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/  Click through the three-month forecasts to get the weather man's best guess!

So how does this affect your annual training plan? Well, if you're like me and basically don't ride your bike outside when it's below 60 degrees, you can start preparing yourself mentally for a long winter indoors. You can also decide that now is the time to build up to a two-hour trainer ride followed by a one hour run that will happen sometime in April. 

Supersticious planning?

Today is a Monday that is also the first day of the month. It's not an incredibly rare event, of course, but it's the type of day I like. What better to start a phase of training than on a Monday that is the first of the month? For some reason, I always find it easy to start something new on the Mondays that are the first of the month. It just feels right, and so it's easier to keep it up.

So what did I start today? I finally got my lazy butt out of bed in the morning and got on the bike trainer this morning! Yes, indeed, and it felt great! I followed that up with a quick trip to the gym for my weight lifting routine. I expect to be sore tomorrow from the lifting, so I'm planning to do a 1,000 yard swim just to stretch out a bit and to get a feel for the water again. I also want to swim a bit to help keep my weight down over the winter.  At lunch, I ran an easy 5 miles on an ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS sunny day! Life is good.

Mr. Swim Smooth

Mr. Swim Smooth has been around for about a year, but I'm not sure I've mentioned it on this blog. The web site is a great way to look at what a good front crawl should look like, and the graphics are great. I also recommend taking a look through all the information on the site, organized by your swim proficiency. Lots of great information on this site. The weekly e-mail newsletter is a good way to keep up with the site updates, too.

Go to http://www.swimsmooth.com/ to take a look.

Another Sufferfest! video!

Found in my e-mail tonight this notice of another Sufferfest! video, just in time to create some motivation for me to actually get on my bike in the morning. These Sufferfest videos are great.  They put you right in the middle of some cool video action with great music. I also like that there is no disc; I always feel like I'm wasting a couple of bucks if I buy an actual disk now.

All the other sufferfest videos available at http://www.thesufferfest.com/

"Preview of our next video - 'The Hunted'!
Hi Sufferfesters,

The preview for our next video, The Hunted, is out!

The full video comes out in early November (so keep checking that email!).

It's less intense that our past videos, but it's not any easier!

It's got longer intervals, including a 20 minute climb!

You can watch the video on BlipTV here. http://www.blip.tv/file/4288050 
The Hunted Preview

PS. Have you seen our team kit and new t-shirts?

As ever, in suffering,

David McQuillen

Sufferfest Studios, Singapore

david@thesufferfest.com

http://www.thesufferfest.com

Twitter: @thesufferfest


PS. I sent you this email 'cause I thought you might like it. If not, and you don't want to hear from The Sufferfest ever, ever, ever again, then just click on the SafeUnsubscribe link below. And that'll be that.

***************************************************************************

Paul Yoga and a calf strain

 

The video above is Paul doing yoga. He's been able to do it for a while, but this is the first time we caught it on video. It's awesome!

I have a calf strain from Monday's run. The regular lunch run was going great; kind of fast even. Then my calf tightened up like it used to a couple years ago. I walked the last two miles, and it got tighter and tighter the rest of the day but I think I managed not to hurt it really bad. I'll stay off it for a couple of days and see what happens. There are too many variables to narrow down: first cold day, sick the day prior (dehydration?),treadmill from day prior? Who knows, but I'm not taking any chances on it becoming chronic again.

#2 is a boy!

Ultrasound yesterday.....it's a boy! I'm excited. The dream of consecutive wrestling championships is alive and well.

What every Dad wants to hear!

Tonight Paul said "Daddy...go swimming." Lovin' life! I think we're going to hit the pool VERY soon.

Change in the air

The past two months have been incredibly gorgeous days in southeast Idaho. Pure, bluebird skies and 60-70 degrees for nearly every day. September seemed a bit windy, but October has been nearly completely calm as far as winds go. Great days for running at lunch, and I suppose that is keeping my running consistent.  I should have been riding my bike, too, but it simply isn't in the cards of time. I'm not even on the trainer yet, even though I wanted to start two weeks ago....it seems I always burn out a bit on the trainer come mid-March, so I'm not too worried about it. If I get into mid-November without any biking, I'll have to kick-start myself somehow.

That's all about to change. Sunday night and Monday morning, we're supposed to see the first winter storm WITH SNOW!  "You git what ya git and don't throw a fit."  I'll have to remember what it's like to run in pants, jacket, hat, and gloves, I guess.  Embrace whatever weather comes your way. The right gear solves every problem, except the doldrums of too many days without a peak at the sun.

There's a trail run in the local mountains here on Saturday morning. I really wanted to do both of the two that are held each year, but I missed the first one two weeks ago because we had a contractor come by the house that Saturday morning. This weekend on race day, family will be here for Paul's second birthday. Mmmmm....not sure how that's going to work out.  10k over the hills and through the woods (literally!) on a beautiful fall morning is hard to beat.

Book update: I made some final changes required by Smashwords, and it will be available for all major e-book formats after they upload it to those distribution sites. To get a coupon to get it for 99 cents, click on the link at the very bottom of the page (not the bottom of this post..all the way down to the bottom of the page).

Consistent Running works!

After three consistent weeks of running every day at lunch, this past week as an easy week. Not "off" week, but easy. I ran three times, 10k each. My times were significantly faster for the first two. Today, I took Paul in the cruise for that same 10k. Instead of 50 minutes, we came in at 65 minutes, which was expected. I ran it really slow and easy, and Paul is up to 30 pounds now! The weather is still holding up.

Last week, I wanted to do the first of two local trail races in the local mountains. Didn't happen because I had to meet with a contractor doing some work on my house. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL morning for it, too. I'm hoping to get to the next one on Oct 23.

The consistent running for three weeks straight at a moderate pace seemed to work! The first run I did on Wednesday of this week was a 49:30 over 10k with big hills, while the average during the three weeks prior was about 52:30 for the same effort level. Sure, it helps to have fresh legs, but it was nice to see that much of a difference....six percent? That will make it much easier to maintain the consistent running, and alot harder to blow off a run on any given day.

For anyone out there wondering if consistent running really makes the much of a difference, I have to say "YES!" at this point.

Next week I want to actually add the morning bike workouts in reality, not just on the schedule. I was going to add them two weeks ago. In fact, I got up one morning and actually sat on the bike (and not much more!). For whatever reasson, I just didn't get out of bed for the other days. I'm not worried about it, though, because I normally get burned out on the trainer by March, with another four weeks to go before I can get out on the roads.

Triathlon Strength Training book published

I finally put together my strength training routine into a book that can be read on most of the digital devices out there (Apple and Sony device availability is pending). It's available at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26079 and with Coupon Code JW26A you'll get it for $0.99, regular price is $2.99, and that coupon is good until December 31, 2010. I really do think this is a good workout for triathletes, and I've done it for several years during the winter training season.

Check it out at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26079 and use Coupon Code JW26A to get it for 99 cents on your Kindle or in several other formats.

Winter Training Season is here.

October is here. That means winter training season started today. Actually, it starts tomorrow because this morning I didn't get up because I got back late from drill last night and needed to sleep in.

My winter training plan is simple for the most part:
- Keep running 10k at lunch every day M-F at a moderate pace. Theoretically, that moderate pace will get faster over time. I have six months for that to happen.
- Bike in the morning. For October, it's a simple matter of getting up every morning and being on the bike for an hour at whatever intensity level seems right for the day. I want to get into the habit of morning workouts. In November, I'll start the workout earlier and then get in a 30 minute swim or weights session before I go to work. December through March is a matter of increasing intensity for the same amount of time during the specified workout.
- I'm going with a hard/short, moderate/moderate, and long/easy approach to workouts for swim, bike, and run. I did that with the run last year, and it worked pretty good, at least when I was consistent with it. The details aren't done yet, but that's the strategy I'm going to take. October is simply maintaining a consistent schedule at moderate intensity.

This past race season really fell apart at the end of June. I had great plans and expectations for the August races and then the September Xterra in Park City. Then I had to go to Korea for USMCR active duty training, and it all fell apart because my motiviation went out the window because I was really bummed about missing the August races (that's when I went to Korea). I could have kept up the training for the XTerra, but it just wasn't happening.  Oh well, the two races I did in June were nice. The Cache Valley was a great race. The Janet's Tri fell apart when I flatted, but that's my own fault because I was cheap and didn't get a new tire when I absolutely knew I needed a new one....I rolled the dice against the odds and lost.

Here's to a good winter training season!

Summer is here!

Summer is finally here! A long, wet, cool spring was long overdue to go away. The weather seemed to break in time for the Janet's Triathlon.

Now it's hot! Last week I was in Boise and did my first long run (11 miles) in the heat. It hurt.

Saturday, I did my longest bike so far...48 miles out to McCammon and back. First 36 miles were great, then it started to hurt. I do twice the race distances for swim and run workouts, but I've never done a bike twice the race distance. Now I konw why I always die on the bike. I certainly need to do at least a few 36 milers, although I've gone 2 hours on the trainer and logged 40 miles according to that setup (I don't completely trust the reading, though).

Now, I'm back into a nice training schedule for a couple of weeks while I decide if I want to do the Twin Falls race. It was GREAT to do an easy 15 miler in the heat today....I forgot how much I really like to ride on a hot day.

Race Report - Janet's Triathlon (West Yellowstone)

This race is part of an annual family trip to Yellowstone National Park's west side, where the fishing is good in mid-June on the rivers there. We camp at Madison Junction, do the race, and then fish Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

The race is at Madison Arm Resort and is a fund raiser for the resort owner's daughter who died of cancer a while back. Race site is http://www.janetstriathlon.com/.  Elevation is about 6,500ft. The water is always cold, and this year was about 54degs. The weather FINALLY broke into a summer day for the first time in recent memory on the day of the race...very nice. This is my favorite race because it has a small family/community feel to it, the lake is awesome, the bike and run trails are great (ie flat and dirt!), and it's simply a great family weekend every year.

Here's the race wrapup:

Tri started at 10am. Felt good going into it, not sure if I had maintained fitness, though, after two weeks of tapering/no real workouts because of a race the week prior and an off week to prepare for that race.

Pre-race went well. Got in a good 200meter swim warmup. Transition area seemed smaller than last year, with less people. Bike setup where I wanted. Ran back to car to get my helmet with only ten minutes left til race time cuz I had forgotten it. Good thing only about 100yds to car! I love the smallness of this race.

Swim: Good start. Pushed out in front of everyone, a bit of competition for that front right spot on the lane rope, but I eventually got it. Swam well the entire way. Had to breaststroke twice at the 300m mark to catch my breath. Overall went exactly as planned. Hard first 200m, cruise 200-500m, push 500-750m, pace into the 1k finish. Came in about 4 or 5 out of the water, including relayers. Followed a guy's feet into the finish the last 200m, decided not to try to pass him cuz it would have really pushed my limit. Water was 54 but didn't feel as cold as last week's 58. My hands didn't "claw up" and feet were ok and not cramping.

T1: slow! but faster than normal cuz I figured out how to use my right hand to undo the velcro and left hand to unzip. That works much better. I thought of that at the start line and decided to do it! Had pulled up my suit very tight into the crotch and shoulders. I think that helped me get some material into the chest area to make room for expansion of my chest/lats during the race, which made it more comfortable. Anyway, that made it harder to get off! Kind of slow. 14:38 for 1k.
Bike: Started really well. Thought I was pushing my luck by starting with a worn out tire and then running over some sticks and such. Eventually, one guy blew by me, and I realized my tire was flatting. At mile 7, it was done for. It was the back tire, which I have trouble getting off in my garage, and it was a slow leak, so I decided to pump it up, ride, pump, ride, pump for 7 miles(!). Lots of people passed me. It was hard to finish that way, but I thought that it was for a cancer fundraiser, so I didn't want to get all pissed off. That and the fact this trip is a fishing trip with a triathlon, so I needed to keep loose. Finished in about an hour(!). Pretty sure I could have gotten a 42min on this bike.

T2: Fast. Decided to push Paul on the run.

Run: Took it kind of easy and pushed Paul and missed last year's time by only a minute (I raced with a calf strain at last year's race).  AHR was about 150 on the run instead of 164 like the run the week prior race. The cruiser is incredibly smooth. Got passed by several more people. Paul slept. It was his first race!
 
We then went on to catch some small brookies in a bend on the Gibbon River at Elk Park. I've always to fish there but have never stopped there. This was the first time that I've gone to a place I've thought I'd like to fish and then proceeded to catch fish with no pointers from anyone; that in and of itself was a major accomplishment for the weekend!

Race Report - Cache Valley Classic

The Cache Valley Classic was this past weekend, and here's a short report on it. I take much longer notes about what went right/wrong, but this is this short version.

Pre-Race Night Before:
- drive to Logan went nice. One of the reasons I wanted to do this race was to see what this valley was all about. Beautiful area. Easy driving; people actually drive the speed limit! Easy directions to get to the campground, where the swim was.
- Pulled into campsite. The guy next to us has a 6.5kw(!) generator running. That's enough power to run most homes! Loud as hell. But he has every right to use it, so I don't say anything. Paul had alot of fun setting up camp, and he's quite the little helper. He also loved running around the park area.
- Check out transition area and swim area. Looks very well organized. There's a quarter mile run from the beach to the transition area, but that will be nice to warm up the legs coming out of the water. Rains off and on; we hope it stops for the race.
- Within an hour, all of our ears hurt from the generator. Quiet hours don't start til 10pm. We get in the car and drive around, hoping Paul will go to sleep and to get away from the generator noise.
- Generator quits at 10:02pm. Finally! Paul finally goes to sleep. Raining. We all get to sleep shortly after 10.
- 12:43am: Paul wakes up. He's not happy without being held while Mom is standing up. There will be no laying down for this little guy for the next two hours. I stay up while Tera holds Paul. Miserable two hours til he gets back in his bed.

Race-Day
0530: Up and at 'em. No rain. Feeling suprisingly fresh for missing two hours sleep in the middle of the night.
Setup my bag, go to local gas station to get a double of coffee. Setup transition.
- Transition area is really nice. We had assigned spots! Unbelievably nice grass with lots of room for our stuff. This is going to be a good race. Still no rain.
0730: Wetsuit on. Warmup about 300meters. Water is nice and cool. I feel good.
0755: Race brief. Water temp is 57.8. Standard temp at the races I do in the mountains around here.
0800: "Open" wave goes off. These are the studs and the guys who screwed up their entry and put themselves in the wrong group.

Swim:
0805: Male and female olympic wave goes. It's a two-looper triangle course.
- I go out too fast, faster than I really wanted to. At 300 meters I start looking for someone to draft off. Where is everybody? Oh, they're 50 meters behind me. That's great, right? Not exactly. My chest is thumping and I'm starting to feel the wetsuit crush my chest and the swim cap crush my skull. Panic coming on, but I chill a bit and it goes away. Back to swimming.
- at 500m and the second buouy, I find my groove. Long and strong pulls, snapping the hip. Life is good.
- 750m, still going good.
-1,000m, hands are starting to freeze. Another panic coming on, I get on my back. My backstroke is suprisingly fast today, and I stay there for about 50m.
- 1,2500m, Hands frozen into claw position now, very hard to get a good grip on the water. I can't kick because my feet cramp immediately if I do kick. I'm about 30m behind the lead as far as I can tell and in a small pack around me.  Time to push in, some water sloshes in my face mask and screws up my contact. Gotta stop to fix that or it will be a long day with one contact; it's very hard to lightly mess with my contact in my eye with frozen hands and treading water, but it works out.
- 1,500m: done in 26minutes and some seconds. Very slow, but in the front. Results show #5out of the water in my wave, with a 14-19 year old male and a 14-19 year old female beating me by several minutes (!).

T1: Shoes on at the mat, and I'm off and running to the bike. The run here went well. T1 was slow, and I went into the race not worrying about transistion times because it was cold (mid-40's) and I was going to need a few dry layers (new shirt, socks). Five minutes for T1! Oh well....

Bike: it's a fast bike course, but today was very windy on the front half of the loop we did twice. I was nearly blown off the bike by a heavy crosswind. Just kept my head down and went. My bike computer showed cadence but not speed, which was probably better for me anyway. Back half of the loop was very fast and protected from the wind, but that meant we didn't get the tailwind after fighting a headwind. A couple of s-turns had me practicing my handling skills that I had read up on but not practiced. Those went much better than expected on wet roads. But it still wasn't raining, so life is good. Finished the bike in 1:14, which I'm considering quite fast for me given the conditions. #19 of 45 olympic, so still right at that 40% mark overall.

T2: in and out. no real issues.

Run: Still no rain. Legs very tired out of the transition. I hadn't done any bricks since March, when I was on the bike trainer followed by a 3-mile run most mornings. I was paying for it, now, and the bike had taken alot out of me. There's a large hill right after the dam at mile .75 or so, but I attacked it as planned, although slower than expected.  Then a nice cruise out to the turnaround on flat roads. At this point, I'm running hard but fairly slow for me, but I'm still having a good time, I guess. Halfway at 22:15 or so. Coming back I started to feel my feet that were previously frozen, and my hamstrings thawed out now, so I could stretch a bit and pick up the pace. Well... I picked up the effort but the pace remained the same. At mile 4, I passed a guy in my age group that had flown by me on the bike...turned out to be the pass to get me third in age group.  Running 7:45/mile or so until mile 5.5 when I crashed into a 9minute mile to finish. A small hill on the final half mile hurt physically and mentally.  Finished the run in 47:XX, #19 of 45 overall in the run.

I was happy with my overall effort and results, although they were nowhere close to my goal times, which got obliterated by the weather. I met my goals relative to everyone else, though. Most importantly, I liked the race and gave a great effort; I was most pleased with the bike portion because that's a good time for me in any weather compared to last year. I put alot of effort into improving the bike over the winter, and it appears to have paid off. This would be an AWESOME race on a nice sunny day with no wind; it's a beautiful area, the race is well-organized, friendly people everywhere, and very spectator/family friendly.

This Saturday is the Janet Clarkson Memorial Triathlon in Hebgen Lake near West Yellowstone, MT. This is an annual race for me, and I really like the small feel of it. It grew alot last year, and it might grow some more this year, but it still feels really small. Water temp is currently maxing at 54deg, and forecast is partly cloudy, mid-60's for a high, and 30% chance of storms. Hopefully it remains a triathlon with the swim, and it past years the water has warmed up alot in the week before the race, same as it is doing this year. Normally, this is Yellowstone fishing trip with a triathlon, but with the rivers in the park still raging from the melt, it might be a hiking weekend with a triathlon.

Race season is here!

First race is an olympic this weekend in Hyrum, UT at the reservoir. I have mixed feelings about my preparedness. I was doing great until May hit, when I became much more inconsistent with my training because Paul wanted to be outside every day after work....and May was officially the coldest on record according to the paper this morning (data from NWS). And it rained alot. I swam alot and ran alot, but the bike suffered big time. The swim and run paid off because I pulled an 18:03 three mile run (at sea level) for my PFT this past weekend; very excited about that.

My swim has suffered in the past two weeks because of a sinus infection, which also took me off the bike because when I leaned down all the snot drained out...can't be having that, no matter how gross I can be. I could run though, so that's what I did, alot of it.  No OWS practice yet, either, but hopefully I'll get in 1500m tomorrow morning.

We'll see how it goes. My goal is a 2:15 total, and I'll be happy with a 2:20. The swim is in a reservoir, so that should be no worry. The bike is a two-looper with a slight incline for miles 2-7 and slight decline for 7-11 or so. Mostly flat run with a 100 ft gain (if I remember right) at mile .5-1.5 or so and then 4.5-5.5 or so decline on the way back.

Looking forward to getting in the first race!

I'm changing focus now. With no room to increase fitness for this weekend and next weekend races, I'll just prep as best I can with gear and recovery. Then get at it for the Twin Falls tri on July 17 or so. Then I'll maintain fitness as best I can during August that is taken up with drill and a long exercise. Then hit it for three four weeks to do the best I can at the Utah Xterra end of September.

Racing with the local cycling club

 One of my overall goals this year was to do the local bike club race series, mostly to learn something from the real bicyclists and also to challenge myself to something new. I wanted to do it last year, but I never put the races on the schedule so I alwasy forgot about them.

I have one flat TT and one hill climb done so far. I missed one flat TT and I'll miss next week's hill climb, both because of other comittements. 

I'm learning already! Lesson 1: I have found a new pain threshold. That's a very important learning point.

The first flat TT went ok, but there was the usual wind at the location out on the plains. OK, so the wind was just average, but it was still kicking pretty good at about 30mph. The first race (the one I missed) was the week before that with winds of probably 40mph, and that race was rescheduled because the week before that there was a wind advisory (50mph+?) that postponed the race. Anyway, I did ok on the race for me personally, but I got crushed by everyone else (of course). The race went as planned....slower on the way out against the wind, cruising on the way back with the wind, and I hit my target mph's. BUT, my math had been wrong, so I was slower than I wanted. My goal on this 10k course is 15 minutes; last week my time was 16:40ish (haven't seen the final results).  I made that goal without really knowing what I was doing other than saying I want to average 24mph, which if my math is right (and I'm bad at math!), puts me at 15 minutes.  I put everything I had into that 16:40 time, and I didn't make it. I think I I'd get close to it if I didn't do any workouts a few days prior, but that doesn't support my overall training goals, so missing those workouts ain't gonna happen. I'll just keep going in tired and challenge myself 110% with what I have.

The hill climb was tonight. I don't know the stats other than it's about 5.25 miles. Google earth says it starts at 5,080ft and ends at 6,535ft for 1,465ft gain.  It really kicked my butt. I was the only one on a TT bike....that's the only bike I have. The club folks are nice enough to let me join in. They really are a great bunch of folks. In any case, it was a BEAUTIFUL night to be out riding...very little wind, a bit of sun, and nice temps about 60deg. 

General training insights

So here are a few training insights I'm thinking about. I'm trying to get away from the boring "I did this workout today" and add in some thought-provoking stuff.

1. If you're at a plateua in your run training, try increasing your swim volume. It's been working for me the past two months. I went from avg weekly swim volume of 4500-5000yds to 7000-8000yds, and my six mile time is coming down fast. Dropped from 52 minutes in March to 46  minutes today. Some of the improvement can be attributed to steady running and some hill repeats, but I think most of it came from the swim increase. Something to do with oxygen levels, I think, but I'm no scientist.

2. The weather is not cooperating for my bike leg! The end of April and nearly all of May seems like it has been 75% cold/windy/wet/snow. I'm an admitted fair-weather-biker, so I'm still on the trainer. Not good. My first race is just south of Logan, UT, and I figure alot of Salt Lake folks will be there. They've probably been biking outside since March, and they're going to crush me on the bike.

3. Hill repeats are great for the run! I started doing hill repeats on a 45degree hill that is about 400 yds long, and takes 2:45minutes to 3:15 to finish going at a very hard pace (but actually is quite slow). I think these are equivalent to 800 yard runs, but I get more out of them in about the same time.

4. Mixing length and intensity is important. This is the first year I've mixed up the training between long/easy, medium/medium, and short/very hard. It seems to be working. All the times on my standard courses are coming down. And the variety makes it much more interesting.

5. I've found that I like triathlons because of the variety in training. There is never a week that I get in all the workouts, and I do specific workouts only once each week, except a few easy runs that I throw in when my schedule requires it (ie I can't do a scheduled workout). When I was training for the one and only marathon I've done in my life, I got so incredibly bored with running that I almost decided not to do it (but then I realized that that was the important part of being able to finish a marathon...running a very long time and dealing with it mentally). Each workout feels like a fresh beginning because it's been a week or more since I last did it.

6. Consistency is definitely the key. Just getting out there and doing something...anything...is better than nothing.

7. I think I'm getting close to figuring out what my body needs for improvement. There is so much information out there, much of it contradictory! You just have to take the time to figure out what's best for you, and that could take a couple of years. You end up trying a basic training philsophy for an entire year before you know if it's working. Of course, changes in mid-season are always warranted if something is definitely not working, but that is usually just a minor tweek of the overall philosphy for the year. I suppose that's why the most competitive age group for men is generally the 40-44 olds...they've had a few years to figure out what training works the best for them. So, I've got this year to figure it out before I get into that age-group.

8. I turned 39 on Sunday. But I feel like I'm 25 again! I'm positive it has to do with moving to Pocatello and getting into a more active lifestyle, specifically not stuck in a car during commutes to/from work, and being able to get outside and be active right from the garage instead of fighting traffic on the weekend to get somewhere (again, more time sitting in the car!). If anyone reading this is wondering if the small town life is truly better...YES IT IS!. Don't worry about missing all the big city stuff; it will be replaced with much more activity that simply makes you feel better. You'll add time to your day to do stuff you've always wanted to do because the commute is generally much shorter, and life is all about time to do the things you want to do and be with the people you love.

"Choose to win" and point system ratios for intensity

I've found myself a nice little mantra to provide that extra push to do a workout or to keep going hard if I start backing off the effort. I tell myself to "choose to win" today, and it works pretty well. Last week when it was cold, windy, and snowy/rainy, I "chose to win" simply by going out for the run. Then I ended up getting a PR on that timed run workout. Beautiful!

The point system I'm using now is providing some extra motivation, also. Instead of using hours to provide goals for volume, the point system is much better because it's a bit more objective...you either did the volume or you didn't...you can't cheat the volume by going slow and just putting in time. I haven't figured out how to create an intensity factor for the points yet, but I'm thinking about it. Something easy like using the base point system (100yds swim = 1, 1 mile bike =1, 1/4mile run =1) multiplied by a certain factor that includes intensity. So, a 6 mile hard effort run would be 6 x 1.2 = 7.2 points total instead of just 6. I'm not sure what to use for the intensity factor, though, and I would like it to be as close to "real" for my body.  Honestly, a hard six miles is a bit harder on the body than an easy nine miles, so that hard run should be worth more than points.

Because my three key workouts for each discipline are hard/short, medium/medium, easy/long, I guess the medium/medium is the baseline point system. What ratio for the others, though? 1.2 for hard, and .8 for easy? That would put the six mile hard run at 7.2, and the nine mile easy run at 7.2, but the hard run takes more out of me and is definitely harder to recover from. Hence, my dilemma. Maybe just go with 1.3 for the hard  and .8 for the easy. In any case, I'll need to figure out an easy way to update all my workouts in the spreadsheet to see where I'm at.  I can see improvements, so I don't want to mess with my workout schedule right now...I'd do the updated points ratio just to see where everything comes out.

Waiting for the lake to fill so I can get the OWS in.

Waiting on good, steady weather for good biking.

Running is coming along very well, even with inconsistent weather. I hate running the track workout, but I really like the 6 mile TT run and the 9.7 mile easy run.  Now I want to throw in some easy to moderate three-milers in the mornings.

I also want to start swimming in the morning to get used to that for the morning OWSs in May. So far, I'm completely out of the morning routine that I did all winter. Every spring, I get into a rut where I want to sleep in every day. I need to stop that, obviously. I do manage to get up for the nine mile run, though, mostly because I know it won't hurt like getting up to do a swim or bike workout will. It's simply difficult to get my heart rate and intensity up early in the morning.

Slowtwitch points system = better scheduling and motivation

Well, just like last year, I started losing motivation a couple weeks after spring break. I really wanted to avoid that this year because I put in some hard training during the winter and made some good progress. But last week, I felt the motivation waning a bit. What better way to get some motivation than create some charts so that if  do the work, I can see a nice chart?!

So I put together all the data in my excel spreadsheet and got some good charts using the Slowtwitch points system, This is a way of calculating volume and makes goal setting a bit easier, if not just something different to look at. 100 yards swimming is worth 1 point. One mile on the bike is worth one point. Each quarter mile running is one point. The idea is to be able to accurately equate swim, bike, and run workouts to provide a good relationship for setting volume breakouts each week.  For example, if I wanted to focus on the bike, my bike points would be 60-70% of the overal points. If I wanted an even breakout, about 33% volume for each, then I my points would be equal at the end of the week. It works really well, and it's much better than just volume.

Added to that is that I've finally made a "workout menu" with prioritized, key workouts for swim, bike, and run. This is really helping with scheduling, especially now that I'm outside and the weather plays a part. I can look at the workout menu and easily plug-in the key workouts for good weather forecasts (or not in bad weather forecasts) or in accordance with family and work schedules. I found that it is really helping me hit the key workouts.

What are the key workouts? Swim, bike, and run all have three essentials: short and powerful sets, a race-length TT, and a long endurance (swim doesn't have a long endurance because of time, I'm making up for that by total weekly volume). Starting with the bike: one 40k TT, one hill repeats workout (usually a lunch workout) and a 40-miler for endurance. I also have a 15-mile recovery ride. For the swim: a 20x100, variable sets of 1x800, 1x400, 3x200, 5x100; a 3x800, and a 1x2000 (all short course yards cuz that's the pool I swim in).  The run has track work (2x800 + 2x400 for starters, working to 4x800 + 4x400) or hill repeats, a 6.6mile TT route, and a 9 miler easy run. Run workouts also include easy three-milers to fill in the schedule when I need to take Paul with me.

My overall points goal each week is 240 now that summer has hit. In the winter, I was averaging about 150 with no swim. The charts make it really easy to see if I am doing what I want to be doing. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to put a chart from Excel into this blog (but I will figure it out!).

For an example of how this helps with scheduling....last night I looked at the weather forecast - supposed to be nice and sunny today and tomorrow, then rain and snow(!) later in the week with obviously cooler/cold temperatures. So I front loaded two of my bike workouts that I want to do outside and two of my run workouts I want to do outside. I won't have good recovery time, but I'll get the key workouts in. Prior to this method, I would have just figured out what I want to do the day prior for the most part, and probably change it when the time came (and then waste time getting my gear together!). It really does work well!

Pool today was 87degrees! Ouch. I did the 20x100 workout, leaving at 1:40 in that heat, and it nearly killed me. It definitely hurt. I finally dug through some of that pain and continued on, telling that voice in my head to "just go away, you're wrong, and you're stupid!" when it told me to just get out of the water cuz it's too hot. I think that little mental victory will go a long way in future workouts. Once you give in the first time, the second, third, and so-on are that much easier to give into.

Strange week for sure

What a strange week! Monday morning, I got up nice and early only to realize that my body is still quite tired from being sick the few days prior....back to bed! I got my lunch swim in, 20x100 that is always quite difficult but I feel GREAT when it's done. Then I did my bike workout at night, not such a big deal other than when I bike at night I can't get to sleep.

So, I ended up with no morning workouts and all my bike workouts in the evening after 7:30pm when Paul goes to bed. Of course, in the evening I can dial up the intensity a bit more because I'm not groggy from just waking up. All my bike workouts were really great. And all my swim workouts were great this week.

Did I forget to mention running? No, because I didn't run AT ALL this week.

But I got in my weekly goals for swim and bike, 8,000 yards and 100 miles respectively. And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have got in that volume had I added any runs. So now I'm at a point that I hit my increased swim and bike volumes but don't run at all. If I can just get my butt out of bed in the morning, I can get those runs in, and then at some point I have to add some intensity to the runs.

And then there was snow on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Great for spring skiing...not so much for wanting to get outside for biking or running. And I didn't even go skiing cuz of the darn wind (I really don't like wind over 30mph).

I got some Bontrager Race Lite tires on Friday. I wanted the Michelin Pro Race 2's, but they didn't have them in stock at the local store. I wanted to buy from them because they gave us a great deal on XC skis last week. I hope they do pretty well at fending off punctures.

I'm geared up at this point. I finally bought some bungee cord straps for my swedish goggles that I use in the pool. The plastic straps that come in the bag when you buy them only last a year, but the goggles themselves seem to last forever.

Looking for a good week this week. Maybe an OWS in Del Mar boat basin, doing the full 1,500m that I have mapped out if all goes well. Oh yeah, I guess I should do some running, too.

Into Build Phase

Now that spring break is over, I'm moving into my build phases. For me, that means I increase the intensity for some of the same workouts I've been doing while adding specific training, such as outside hills on the bike, race pace runs, and open water swims. Because of the weather, my schedule will be a mix of the winter schedule and the expected summer schedule for much of April. In May, the weather stabilizes for the most part, and the full-on summer schedule is in place.

At this point, my weekly goals are
- swim 8,000 yards
- bike 120 miles
- run 20 miles (will probably increase to 24 or 25).

Open water swims are out of the picture in Idaho til May. I might get one in at Camp Pendleton in April, and I hope to make that one a one-mile swim. I'm increasing my yardage now in the swim because that leg of the tri is still kind of in the base phase, as I didn't start swimming til mid-February. My current workouts are M: 20x100 on 1:40, T: 1x800, 1x400, 2x200, 4x100, W: 2x800, R: 1x2000, F: mix of whatever I feel like or off or makeup. The Mon-Thurs schedule gives me my 8,000 yards for the week, with an equal mix of short and long. This yardage is significantly higher than last year's average of about 5,000, and that's because I want to be able push the swim and still get out of the water not feeling tired; the increased distance should facilitate that. The goal for the race split in an olympic race is 20 minutes.

The bike is still kind of inconsistent for me, but I'm getting better. In February and March I had a couple of weeks that I got in all the workouts but not the mileage I was hoping for. In any case, I was increasing the resistance throughout the winter, so the mileage isn't such as great measurment. The month of April will be pretty much like the winter training, but I'll get in as many outside bikes as I can when the weather is nice. The early mornings are still in the picture, and will remain in the schedule during the summer. The goal for the race split is variable given the course, but in general I'm looking for 1:06 or less on a really good day with few hills and little wind.

My run is probably in the worst shape at this point. I've done nothing but easy runs for the past months, but my mileage is higher than it ever was last year. When I can add in the intensity, it should come along nicely fairly quickly. My race goal for the run is a 43:00 10k.

Notice that the race goals don't get me to the 20-60-40....yet. I think that is going to happen further down the road as my open water swim and bike improve. The run may never get to a 40:00 unless I'm under 170 pounds, which isn't somewhere I really want to be.

I think the winter training was good for me. I certainly have a good base for the bike and some decent easy mileage for the run. My swim will get where it needs to be eventually.

I signed up for the Cache Valley Tri on June 12 and the Janet's Tri (West Yellowstone) on June 19 this evening. That will help me get out of bed in the morning and give me something to focus on when the training gets difficult. The Cache Valley Tri bike course is half uphill and the other half downhill.

Sick during recovery week

This week is supposed to be a recovery week, after a five week push of good, consistent training weeks. Now I'm sick. I normally end up taking one sick day a year, and today is the day. I'm not sure I'm actually recovering this week, but I'm certainly not working out. Beautiful day today, too....sunny and 60.

Last Friday's run turned out to be 11.6 miles in 1:23:30, that's about 7:15 miles. I didn't run really hard, but I pushed it a bit. This is supposed to be a long and easy run, but I ended up pushing because I felt so good....there's lot of air to be had at sea level!

Hopefully I can get over this cold/flu/whatever soon. I want to get in my last day of skiing on Saturday, and maybe a bike ride this weekend, too, if the weather holds.

End of winter training...well-timed!

So, at least my plan is working out, even if I'm not working out the plan.

My annual training plan says winter training ends this weekend, timed with the beginning of Idaho State University spring break. Suprisingly, spring sprang this week with some really nice temperatures. And I got in my first open water swim today...not in Idaho but in California at Camp Pendleton, where it was sunny, 70 degrees, and little wind. Anyway...

The past two weeks provided a great transition period from winter training to spring training. I got the bike outside a couple of times, and I got in the OWS today. I ran in shorts and a t-shirt twice last week on one of the warmer days of 45-50 degrees. Woohooo! But I also ran in the morning with pants and jacket a few times because it's still cold when it's dark. I also did a bike race, one of the ICE 10k TTs on a Sunday afternoon two weeks ago...I didn't know it was a race until I got there....I thought it was just a group ride of some sort (which I've never done, either).

Anyway, now it's time to turn up the intensity. My dog isn't going to like that much, because she's getting old and can't do much faster than a 9:30 mile. Paul might like it because I'll start pushing him more outside; he loves being outside! I won't get to swim in Idaho until the start of May, although I'm thinking I might try it towards the end of April just to see how early I can actually do it.

The only problem I have now is that the sun still isn't up til 6:45am or so, so I can't ride outside in the morning. That leaves me on the trainer in the morning and then a possible afternoon ride. That means I'm screwing with the trainer alot, which I'm not particularly fond of because it's harder than it really should be to get on and off the trainer.

I really need to turn up the intensity on the running ALOT. I'm just been jogging along at 8:30 miles all winter. I might have endurance, but my lactate threshhold is sure to be fairly low. But I can feel the endurance increases from the 9-10 mile runs.

ICE TTs:
The Idaho Cycling Enthusiasts bike club hosts two very informal race series each year. One is a 10k TT on a nice fairly flat section of road, although the wind can blow pretty hard (30-40mph) on this section fairly regularly. There is also a hill climb up local Scout Mountain, about five miles and 2,500feet. I'm planning on doing alot of those races, as much as a "cost-to-race" money-saver as a training method. I also want to get to know a few more people who bike. I'm very much a lone biker, which is ok for what and when I train, but it will be cool to meet some new folks and extend my horizons a bit. Like I said, the races are very informal, almost a show-n-go type thing but with a manual timer and some results, and the results get tallied at the end of the series to see who won. I'm certainly not there to win; maybe I'll see if I can't get last while I learn something and meet some people.

I'm looking forward to a good, well-balanced summer of events. It doesn't include the races I really want to do, but I'll certainly expand my horizons.

First outside bike rides

I got in three bike rides outside this week. First was the Idaho Cycling Enthusiasts (ICE) time trial on Sunday. A 10k course, not exactly flat enough for around here, I completed in 17:16 with very tired legs and a "I'm here to see what this is all about" approach to the day. I thought it was going to be a nice 20k ride or so. I didn't know we were going to be racing! It was a great way to see if everything is workingon the bike, though.

Then I rode a 15-miler and a 24-miler on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was sunny and 48 with little wind. Friday was 48 or so, cloudy, and really windy. I figure I'm about where I was at last July, which is good and bad. Good in that I didn't lose much over the winter, and bad in that I thought I might have made some gains compared to where I was at the end of the summer. I really can't make a comparison right now anyway because I'm wearing a jacket and pants in the cold, both of which slow me down.

Snowing today! The streets just got swept, so hopefully there isn't anymore sand going down on the streets. Going for a bit of cross-country ski this afternoon with Paul up to a yurt with friends. I'm not staying overnight, though. I just want to get out and about with Paul.

This next week is the end of the end-of-winter training push, then I get a break going into my reserve drill weekend. My volume is up alot this week, but not exactly where I want to be yet, but preparing to be there for summer.

Last push in winter training

Winter training has gone well so far, and now it's time for a final push of bike-traininer training, building volume on the run, and getting into the pool in a serious way. In a few weeks, I'll start transitioning to outdoor riding (as soon as the sand gets cleared off the roads). Til then, I'll continue increasing the resistance on the trainer and pushing hard.

Today I did my first nine mile run (9.65 actually). This year, I want to follow a 3-6-9 running plan: run hard 3 miles, 80% race pace for 6 miles, and really easy for 9 miles once each week. I'll add in a few other short runs, too, I think. My 9.65 mile course is as flat as I can find around here while staying off roads and keeping it mostly flat and interesting. I came in at 1:24:55 (about 8:50 miles), and I'm quite happy about that for my first run and an average heart rate of 142. I was hoping for something between 1:20 and 1:30 with heart rate of 140, so that result is dang near perfect. Also, so far I don't feel any major issues from pushing my single-run volume up so fast: three weeks ago, my longest run since October was 3 miles, two weeks ago, it was six miles, and then this week was 9 miles.

My swim form is coming along nicely. I swam 3000 yards this week with no issues. Amazingly, my times are equivalent to where I left in August! I'll take that any day. Now it's a matter of cutting some time (from 1:30/100yds to 1:15/100yds), and I'll be where I want to be.

I'm anxious to see what my 40k TT route comes out during the first go in late March (hopefully). That's when I'll see if this winter's work was actually worth it.

February Cross-Training Part 2

A few more photos of xc skiing in Harriman State Park


Beautiful stop along Henry's Fork in Harriman State Park. The Tetons are in the background but don't show up very well in the photo.

We had some extra nutrition!

Along the Buffalo River

My new favorite family photo.

February Cross-Training part 1

These are some photos from an annual family trip with friends to a cabin on Bill's Island on Island Park Reservoir in Island Park, Idaho. It's a weekend of cross-country skiing, some ice-fishing, and some good-ol'-fashioned family fun. I also count it as a cross-training weekend for triathlon!



Paul makes his way through the snow on the lake...tough work!

Training starts early around here.

An awesome day of xc skiing on the Buffalo River and Henry's Fork. This photo was taken right below Island Park dam.

Who wouldn't love a day like this on Henry's Fork in Harriman State Park?

Paul goes to swim practice

Paul has his sweats on and walks into the gym.

Me and Paul in the pool.

Paul gets used to the water. It took him a few minutes to warm up and start having fun.

Whoo...that was a tough set of intervals!
Paul can't actually swim yet, but he's starting to like the water.

Sufferfest videos

My first double-post day!

I recently downloaded the Sufferfest trainer videos from www.thesufferfest.com. I love these videos, and they never fail to make my legs sore for 48 hours. I prefer the Fight Club video because it has longer interval sets, which is what I need to focus on. The price is right at $10 each. It's a download, so you don't have to screw around with DVDs and such. This is definitely the way to go if you're looking for some 60 minute trainer videos. Both videos use clips from real races, interesting communication from the video-maker to keep things interesting, and cool warm-up and cool-down videos.

Race Schedule

This season's race schedule is proving difficult to put together, mainly because of family events and reserve duty that I haven't had to deal with before. The Pocatello 50 mile trail run was sold out before I could put together a team, and one teammate isn't available this year anyway because he's on National Guard training (and this also dropped our Grizzly Man plans in April). Over Memorial Day, my niece is graduating high school, so I can't do the Rigby triathlon.

However, Janet's Triathlon in West Yellowstone is still available for me, and if the date is June 19, as expected but not published yet, I'll be doing that for sure. This was the first tri I ever did, and we do a family trip to Yellowstone National Park; it's a great weekend overall. This year, we hope to rent a cabin in the Hebgen Lake area the night before to make it a bit easier.

I'll be gone for much of the last part of August, so I can't do the Rexburg or Bear Lake tris, both which I would love to do so I can compare times against previous years to guage improvements. Also, I love the venues. But I won't be doing them. The Bear Lake Brawl was moved to August instead of the weekend after Labor Day, unfortunately.

I am thinking about doing the Jordanelle and Twin Falls tris, but we'll see. I have to fit in some fishing trips somewhere, too!

February update

Winter training is going well, and the focus on the bike is really paying off. I don't use a power meter, but I can tell from the increased cadences at the same resistance and gears and heartrates that I am making progress. This week, I increased the resistance on the trainer another full turn, so I'm now working the same workouts a full two turns more resistance than last year at this time. That's progress.

I wanted to start swimming at the beginning of February, and I did actually start. BUT....I had some "crunching" in my shoulder that shouldn't be there and has never been there before, so I put off the start two weeks to make sure that doesn't come back. I think my strength training worked better than expected, especially the "swim pull" exercise, that my muscles are stronger than the stabilizers in the shoulder can handle. Also, I've always had a bit of cross-over in my stroke and not enough hip roll, so it's a matter of getting new and improved form before summer workouts begin. With better from, specifically not crossing over the center line, my hand entering the water flat rather than thumb-first, and a better hip roll combined with bi-lateral breathing, that "crunching" should go away. The 500's I swam before the crunching arrived were at about 7:45, and I swam two of them, so my times are better than normal for this time of the year. That leaves me some extra training time to continue focus on the bike and work on the improved stroke form.

With the swim shoulder problem, I've stopped lifting weights earlier than expected, and I'm filling that 45 minutes with running. I'm doing a definite training no-no by basically doubling my run volume in a week's time, but so far my body is handling it. I'm really tired, but my body is handling it. The runs are doable and close to my times in October, so that's good. All the biking is keeping my run times down pretty good. Unfortunately, I'm not doing enough back-country skiing to match last year, and that skiing is a really good endurance workout....only three days on the slopes so far this year because we didn't have enough snow until early January.

Overall, I'm really excited about where my bike is at, and satisified with my run. I'm anxious about what will happen with my swim, though.

As far as race planning, I have three races picked out right now. My reserve drill schedule is putting a huge damper on the races. My big races are normally at the end of August, but this year I'll be on my two-week training exercise at that time. So, I'm doing the Janet's Tri in West Yellowstone in June, followed the next week by a race in Jordanelle, UT that I'm excited about. I"m thinking about a race in Idaho Falls in mid-July, but the course is kind of strange....a 1,000ft climb on the bike and a six-loop run with a 300ft climb in it.....definitely not what excites me but could be painful in a good way....last year's winner had a 2:35 in the Olympic Distance so it's definitely challenging.

This weekend is three days of cross-country skiing with the family in Island Park and Harriman State Park. Last year was awesome, and this year should be better because Paul is a bit older!