Two reasons to do flip turns

I swam this morning for the first time in about 90 days. And in that 90 days, I didn't do much in the way of exercise after the 70.3 on September 8th. I ran about 15-20 mile per week, but didn't do any swim or bike or anything else for that matter. What I did do was eat and drink whatever I felt like. Needless to say, I'm a relative physical mess right now as I start back into a winter training season. In short, I got a bit fat and out of shape.

So I swam 500 yards this morning. The goal of the session was really to just get to the pool and jump in and see what happens.

Well, the first thing I noticed is that I'm physically weak.

And that was especially clear when I did the flip turns. It took an additional bit of effort to make the flip, and I realize now just how much of an abdominal workout it is to do flip turns. And that leads to the title of this post.

Here are my two main reasons to do flip turns:
1. The underwater glide creates a hypoxic element to your workout. As you glide after the push, your body has to work with the oxygen it is given and you can't simply get another breath. I don't pretend to know the physiology behind it, but I know it results (for me, anyway) in an increased efficiency in my body and its breathing requirements, most of which is most notable when I get to running. This is a major reason why I think increased swim volume can lead to much faster run times (in addition to weight loss and general aerobic improvements).

2. The flip turns are an additional ab workout. Physical fitness depends signficantly on core strength. Any opportunity to increase core strength and endurance should be exploited and maximized. Thus, you should be doing flip turns whenever possible. Incidently, this is the only positive thing I can think of when wondering what could be good about a 25 yard pool.

My point is....do your flip turns. If you don't know how, learn. It will help you swim, and you'll be quite surprised what happens with your run.

More swim stuff and random notes

This Master's Swim practice has me writing about nothing but swimming. I'm pretty excited about it. On the flip side, I haven't run in three weeks and my bike volume is down because I don't recover well from all the swimming. But I am still lifting and seeing improvements there, although it is making me gain alot of weight that will be hard to carry when I start running again.

Mr Swim Smooth sends out a weekly e-mail. Many of them are good stuff, and this week's e-mail is about the big picture of training rather than some detail of form and technique.

http://www.feelforthewater.com/2012/01/performance-technique-fitness-ow-skills.html

"Are you getting a feeling of deja-vu with your swimming? Doing the same things every year and getting the same old results? In this situation you need to shake things up both from a physical and psychological perspective."

Well...I definitely shook things up with the Master's Swim practice, and my swim is improving quickly. But I need to improve my bike more than anything else, and I definitely need to run more.




Paul and I hit the cross-country ski trail last week. It was pretty good once we got a bit higher and into the real the snow. Amazing...it's the end of January and the snow level is 6,000ft. But it's really good once you get there. Of course, I forgot to prep my feet because it was the first ski of the year, and I got huge blisters right  in the same spot as I get them the first ski of every year. These xc ski boots are nice but they really rub on my heels. A bit of duct tape fixes the problem easily; the biggest issue is remembering.


On the bike, I got in four rides last week, and I thought I was finding some consistency there. But Tera is gone this week, so I'm alone with the boys. That timing just isn't working out. Noah is standing now and also crawling around and getting into everything, so he has to be watched nearly constantly.  And then like I said in the first paragraph, I just don't recover from the swimming effort very easily. 


I do manage to get some consistency in the weight room, and it's showing. The place it shows up the most is on the scale when I weigh-in. Wow! Muscle weighs alot. I'm not huge or anything by any means, but all the shirts that were almost loose last summer are fairly tight now. Pants are tighter too, but that doesn't account for all the weight I've gained.  At this point, I'm only a couple pounds from competing in Clydesdale.


My run is non-existent right now. Haven't run in probably three weeks. When I get that going again, alot of this extra weight will come right off. 

Thoughts on my first Master's Swim practice

A Master's Swim Team has started up in Pocatello, and I went to my first practice with them yesterday.

Quick take-aways: 

1. Definitely going to do this at least til summer hits. We did all those things that I don't do on my own.

2. Nice and warm water is easy to get into in the morning.

3. I did some drills, which is something I really NEED to do.

4. I did some butterfly and breaststroke. I guess muscle-memory lasts over 20 years because that's how long it's been since I did those strokes.

5. I got in just a bit of high-intensity work early in the morning, which is really hard for me to do normally.

6. I can justify the cost because it provides additional flexibility in time by giving access to a pool at 5am on the weekdays, and a 6am swim workout on Saturday.  The ISU pool doesn't open til 6am on weekdays, and I can't swim til noon or 1 on weekends.

The Long Story For Those With Too Much Time on Your Hands

I've been swimming completely solo for the last 25 years (I swam on a club swim team from sixth or seventh grade to eleventh grade). My solo workouts consisted of basically simply do sets of freestyle varying from 25 or 50 yards to 2,000 yards . I've kept the intensity level down a bit for the most part, although at one point a couple of years ago I was regularly doing some really hard 15-20 x 100 yard sets. Outside of that, it was get in, swim at a decent but not hard pace for about 1,500 - 2,000 yards and then get out. Simple.

Yesterday was simple, too....it simply much more difficult!

Alarm goes of at 4:25am, and it takes me a few minutes to realize that it's the alarm. I've had a 50% success rate of getting up for a workout in the past 2-3 months. I thought about not going, then the voice in my head said "Just go. You'll be glad you did. How hard could it be?" Out of bed at 4:35.

Getting up and going is ALWAYS the hardest part of early morning workouts.

I had pre-staged some of the Starbucks micro-brew coffee single packs next to the baby formula. That's a lifesaver idea, by the way!  Thirty seconds later I have a full-on awesome 20oz coffee to get me started. I put on the clothes I prestaged the night before because I know that is a stopping point for me if I can't get up and get out of the door right away in the morning.

Fire up the car to warm it up a bit. It was about 15-20 degrees outside, so I wanted as much heat as possible going when I got in the car. Less than five minutes of warm-up in 15-20 degrees doesn't get much heat going, by the way.

To the pool. Streets empty but not deserted. Parking lot is dark. Hmmm....I'm on time so far. One guy hanging out by the door. A couple folks running around; I guess they ran to the gym and don't want to stand around and   freeze to death. By now, I 'm getting comfy in the warmth of the car and waking up as I finish my coffee.

Into the pool and quick change. Four other people! OK, I'm "one of the few" here, too.

Now, the biggest problem I always had with swimming at zero-dark-thirty in the winters of North Dakota back in the day was getting into the water. It's cold as heck out, and then you have to jump  in cold water in the morning.

That problem was not present. I sighed some relief as I slid into the nearly-90-degree water. No shock whatsoever. You know that any water that doesn't cause a chill-shock at 4:55am is pretty warm. But I consider it "just right" because it solves my biggest gripe about early morning swims.

The workout itself went great. I finished 2,150 yards if I remember right. That's the longest swim I've done in  eight months. Intensity level was much higher than I've done in the past year, even at that early hour (I generally can't get a high intensity level before 1100). Again, the water was nice and warm (only felt way too hot a couple of times, although it definitely was way too hot).

Then we did a few 100's. This was the high intensity part. It felt pretty good, though!

Then we did some drills for each stroke. Wow! I haven't done a drill in many, many years. And you know what? The catch-up drill is probably the solution to my snaking issue and just might be the way I learn to breathe on my right side! So things are looking better already.

Out of the pool at 0558. When I got home, of course Noah was already awake. That's the only bad thing about the timing of this workout. Tera is probably going to have to get up with Noah because he often gets up at around 5:30am and doesn't go back to sleep. Incidentally, that's how I'm writing this post this morning...Noah is up at 5:10am while I was supposed to be on the bike trainer.

I met the other swimmers very briefly on my way out of the pool. Nice people of course, but they must be a bit weird because they get up and go swimming at 5am on a cold winter morning.

11th Day of Christmas - Swedish Goggles

 I love the simplicity of these goggles, and you can't beat the price! Never worry about losing a pair of goggles again....because it's not a huge monetary loss if it's these. I usually buy 4-6 every couple of years, in whatever color fancies me but usually a couple clear sets for indoor pools.  If you haven't worn them before and are wondering if you could ever wear a pair of goggles with no padding, have no fear. These will indeed work with absolutely no leaks; it will take a few workouts to get used to them, no doubt, but in the end you will prefer them. Also, these don't cause black-n-blue eyes like padded goggles sometimes do.

Mr. Swim Smooth "Our Stroke Analysis: The Two Best 1500m Swimmers In The World"

Mr. Swim Smooth has another great Friday morning blog post in "Feel For The Water."  They compare fast turnovers with a long, strong pull. Best of all is the comparison of a swimming styles with a bicycling analogy (Lance Armstrong vs Jan Ullrich).  If you're a Lance-fan, you'll be glad to know that Mr. Swim Smooth thinks that the "swinger" style of swimming with a fast turnover and very little glide is probably the best method for open water swimming. This is because it provides very little dead-time in a glide, during which a wave or chop could stop you in your tracks. This can be compared to the high-cadence bicycling of Lance Armstrong.

Feel For The Water! Advice & Tips to Improve Your Swimming.: Our Stroke Analysis: The Two Best 1500m Swimmers In The World

The impetus of Mr. Swim Smooth's post was watching the different stroke styles at the World Championships. I haven't been following them closely, but I have read a few reports. There are fewer world records because of the ban on the high-tech swim suits. Locke is stealing some of the spotlight from Phelps, who says he's not in top condition. And I haven't seen or heard or read anyting about the women's side.

It's kind of late in the tri season here in Idaho, but it's never too early to start thinking about your swim stroke and how you can improve!

"Coping With Cold-Water Swimming" quote with comments

Here in Idaho and in the triathlons in Montana and Utah I've run in, the lake water is usually in the upper 50's. BRRRR! It's also that cold at the beaches in California, too.  Over at Triathlon.Competitor.com there was an article about cold-water swimming with some tips from Kevin Koskella, with my comments in italics after each paragraph.

Coping With Cold-Water Swimming:

1.. Wear two caps. You lose most of your heat through your head, and doubling up your “capage” helps you to keep your heat in.  Wearing the regular swim cap required in a race is enough for me. I don't like to wear that swim cap, but it really does help. I can't bring myself to wear two, though.

2. Wear a neoprene cap. Neoprene handles the cold-water better than standard latex and can help keep your head warm  Regular swim cap is enough for me.

3. You also lose lots of heat through your feet. Neoprene socks are also a good idea, but you may want to use these mostly on training swims, as they can be a hassle when it comes to transitioning to your bike!  I've really thought about this, but the cost versus times of use and value don't really add up.

4. Wear a wetsuit, but more specifically, a full suit. The sleeveless suits allow heat to escape through your armpits. I learned this the hard way when doing the Alcatraz swim in 52-degree water with one of these sleeveless, “farmer John” suits. By the time I finished, I was in the early stages of frostbite. Keep in mind that wetsuits are allowed in triathlons for water temperatures 75 degrees Fahrenheit or below, according to USA Triathlon rules.  I would freeze to death if I wasn't using a full wet suit. A bit of water inside warms up fairly quickly and keeps everything good for me.

5. Put in earplugs. When the water drops below 60 degrees, I believe earplugs become necessary- and they aid in keeping your core temperature up.  This should be step number one for anyone swimming in open water. They help in balance, too, when you come out of the water. I use the flexible plastic, industrial earplugs. Foam works, too, but not as well as the foam plastic with little concentric circles.  

6. Practice swimming in cold water in the weeks before your race. It can be a shock to your system that can lead to hyperventilating or a panicked feeling. You will want to swim slowly until you get your breath. The first time you experience this it can throw you off, but with practice, you will get used to it and be able to relax into your swim.  That's the only open water to swim in around here!  This is really basically a "train like you race" principle." 

7. Do a significant warm up (10-15 minutes minimum) the morning of your race. This will minimize the shock effect that cold water can have, and will allow you to get into a stroke rhythm much faster.  Warmup in the water is ESSENTIAL. It will also warm up some water that is inside your wetsuit. It will help you get rid of some of the pre-race nerves and jitters, too. 

8. When the cold water hits your face, the shock causes your lungs to contract causing breathing problems. Blow bubbles before taking off on your swim. Go waist deep into the water and submerge your face to blow bubbles. This helps alleviate the shock of the cold water. I don't think this goes far enough. Get all the way in the water and get your hair and neck wet...that's what really sucks and will suck the life out of you for a few seconds. Better to do that before the race than during!  See Point #7 and actually do a warm-up.

Recovery Swims really work

A few posts back, I commented on an article at www.triathlon.competitor.com by Matt Fitzgerald that talked about using swimming as a recovery from running. Also, I put forth a really big effort on my three-mile run at Marine Corps drill this past weekend, and I also had to do some situps and pull-ups, all of which made me quite sore and tired Monday morning. I planned to sleep in on Monday and then "swim it off" at lunch on Monday, but I bailed because I was tired and wanted to have lunch with my parents who are in town to see their new grandson.

Anyway, I did the recovery swim today at lunch (after sleeping in!). And it worked out GREAT! This morning, my abs were still sore, and my lats were still quite sore from the efforts on Sunday. Interestingly, my quads and glutes are sore, too, and I don't know remember the last time they were sore from a run effort.

I did about 40 x 25yd all freestyle, concentrating on a good form that was streamlined and strong. I kept the pace really easy. It was actually fun and relaxing to swim this way! Better yet, I was stretching out those lats and abs that were so sore, and the legs were moving from a bit of a kick.  All in all, I got out of the pool refreshed nearly 100% and ready to hit it tomorrow morning.

Bottom line: the "recovery swim" is the real deal and you should make use of it. Plan for a recovery swim next the next time you have a breakout run session planned. If you're like me, you'll love the results.

85% swim pace best for tri races

I agree with this article...mostly. I prefer a 90% effort myself. Really, isn't this just science confirming common sense? You can't go 95% of max heart rate  on the bike and expect to run well, either.  A good red-line effort for a sprint or olympic tri is probably 90% of max heart rate in very general terms.

Triathlete.com » Faster Swim Times May Not Lead To Faster Finish Times

Results concluded that with an exertion of 80-85 percent and 90-95 percent of maximum swimming intensity, athletes maintained faster cycle times. The overall triathlon time was faster with swimming at 80-85 percent than swimming with a 98-102 percent exertion. Additionally, when triathletes swam at maximum intensity, their stroke rates went up, so they were doing more work.

Therefore, researchers concluded that performing at a swimming intensity below that of a time trial effort significantly improves cycling and overall performance in a race.

Things I’m working on for my swim technique this year

Short version of what I’m focusing on for swim technique this year:

- Touch my toes and knees together during the kick to streamline my body.

- Proper body rotation that streamlines my body and creates a propulsion platform in my core.

- Not crossing the centerline with my arms.

- Pulling back with my arms instead of pushing down.

- More swim volume than last year to minimize the impact of a hard swim on my bike and run.

- Lastly, “rolling over the barrel” during the pull phase.

- Someday, I’ll work on bilateral breathing!

I’ve been swimming laps for at least 30 years now (wow! It feels weird to say that!). Starting just last year, I decided I need to take a look at my form to see where I can improve. Until last year, I just plugged away at 1:30 – 1:40 per 100 yards freestyle, pulling through the water with brute force and a fair amount of endurance. Then my shoulder started hurting. Thus, my desire to make some changes. I’m surprised it took that long for the pain to show up.

So, two years ago, I took a video of me swimming 750 yards in the pool during a spring sprint triathlon here in Pocatello. Two things popped out immediately: I “snake” terribly and I have a nasty crossover in both arms. And, my left foot swings really far out when I breathe. A picture is worth a thousand words. A video is worth ten thousand words.

Then I found Mr Swim Smooth and started reading the articles there. I signed up for the weekly e-mails, most of which are informative. The one thing that stood out was a tip to keep your toes and knees nearly touching each other during the kick; this should help keep you streamlined.

The swim smooth tip for keeping the legs together was the item that brought it all together. When I concentrate on that, I’m much more streamlined, which then takes away most of the snake and the crossover. Concentrating on not crossing over the center line might be preventing the snaking, too.

In just the third week of training this year, I think I’m successfully instilling new technique habits that streamline my body much better. This requires retraining my muscle memory, and also training new muscles to some extent. It isn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, but it does require some patience and focus during each workout. I can feel significant improvements in streamlining, and it shows up in my times. This year, I’m starting at an average of 1:30/100yds, versus normally starting at 1:40-1:45. I think I can realistically get myself down to 1:10/100yds this year, which puts me right around 20 minutes for a 1500m swim in good conditions with a wet suit. Last year I was at about 1:15-1:20 per 100 yards average during my swim workouts in the pool.

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.

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.

The good and the bad

The good:

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

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

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

The bad:

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

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

Swim and race planning

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

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

This trip is creeping up quickly and quietly.

Fishing tomorrow through Thursday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Technique realizations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wind!

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

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

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

Swim improvements, 40k Bike PR

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

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

A good day!