Went to the pool at lunch, forgot my card and now "they're really cracking down on having your card" says the lifeguard. I can't find my card in my locker or at home, so I go get a new one ($15 for five minutes work on their part!). I go back to the pool to see that it works, and it does (at least I know I can swim tomorrow morning). By then, lunch was over and I had to go back to work. Then I noticed that the water was 87 degrees! I probably wouldn't have swum more than 500 yards in that anyway. "Yeah, we turned off the heat last night to bring down a few degrees," the lifeguard said. I guess I'll try to stay away from that.
Bike after work. Easy 20k, 42 minutes in heavy winds. Lots of bikers out today!
My legs are sore! Damn, that proves that I lost fitness and endurance this last few weeks. I can still walk ok, not like after the Poky 50 run, but I'm definintely sore.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Back at it
Today marked the beginning of Phase 4 of my training plan. Now it's a matter of standard workouts that are race specific and work directly towards my limiters like being able to bike hard uphill and muscular endurance for the run. Open water swim comfort level is no longer an issue, as I completed that change in May and June.
I thought my calf was about 90% this morning, and I was right. I set out for a 6-mile run today, and at mile 5 I could feel it weakening, so I walked the rest of the way. The first five miles went well, but I could feel I've lost some endurance in the last three weeks of tapering for races and then taking a full week off last week.
I biked the Portland simulation route tonight. Very slow...six minutes slower overall than my average. I would like to blame the 40mph hours that were swirling around, hitting me on the front, tail, and side and every other direction in complete random. Very strange, and very hard to bike. And my bike computer is still broke, so no data on cadence and mph. I've realized I'm going to have to buy a new one.
Anyway, I got started for this phase that focuses on my races in August. It was a rough start, but I hope to be back to where I was three weeks ago in about two weeks, and then from there it's five weeks to make gains.
I thought my calf was about 90% this morning, and I was right. I set out for a 6-mile run today, and at mile 5 I could feel it weakening, so I walked the rest of the way. The first five miles went well, but I could feel I've lost some endurance in the last three weeks of tapering for races and then taking a full week off last week.
I biked the Portland simulation route tonight. Very slow...six minutes slower overall than my average. I would like to blame the 40mph hours that were swirling around, hitting me on the front, tail, and side and every other direction in complete random. Very strange, and very hard to bike. And my bike computer is still broke, so no data on cadence and mph. I've realized I'm going to have to buy a new one.
Anyway, I got started for this phase that focuses on my races in August. It was a rough start, but I hope to be back to where I was three weeks ago in about two weeks, and then from there it's five weeks to make gains.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Hot MTB, new start tomorrow
Had a nice MTB today in the City Creek area. This such an awesome area right here in Pocatello!
It was hot! A nice change from the rain the last 3-5 weeks or so. The bank readout said 95 on the way home, but I'm not sure it was that hot. In any case, it was an awesome day and a great way to end my off week.
This week was truly an off week. I haven't done anything all week except eat and hang out. Today was the the first day since last Saturday at the race that I did any workouts. I was up to 186 pounds on Friday, but now back just a bit under 180 this afternoon. Crazy how my weight fluctuates like that.
Tomorrow I enter phase four of this year's training plan. It all revolves around the Portland Tri right now, and all of my race specific training is geared to that race. It is on Aug 25, so that is 7 weeks away I think. I want to be at 170 pounds for that race, if I can maintain the same power I have now anyway.
This is where I think I'm at concerning my goals:
Overall: Not sure, honestly. My opening run in Bismarck was awesome but then I pulled my calf muscle. That pull affected my bike and run on both races, so I can't say with confidence where I'm at. Still, I think my bike is nearly where I want it and I need to get more endurance in my running legs. I'm going to drop my scheduled hours to 9 total because I don't think over 10 hours is a good banf for the buck pertaining to the lost family time and other stuff.
Swim: OWS is looking good, so I'm dropping to one OWS per week, with two other swims in the pool (sprints workout and a 1x2500). I'm quite happy with my OWS progress, but my 1k time of 15:00 gives me a 22:30 for 1,500m pace, and I want that to be 20. Not sure it's going to happen, but I only have to push it on the OWS rather than go along at a "jogging" pace rather than a "hard-run" pace.
Bike: I think I'm where I want to be, but I'm going to continue doing the hill workouts I've done earlier this year.
Run: I need more endurance on the run, and I need to be able to get quickly up to speed off the bike. I know I didn't do enough bricks earlier this year, and I could tell in the races, specifically the last race when my pace got 15seconds/mile faster every mile, starting at 8:45 and getting to 8:00 at the end. I'm adding a weekly 9 mile run on Tuesday nights to get this additional endurance. And I'm going to up my lunch runs to 6 miles rom 5 miles. And I have added a run-bike-run workout in place of a tempo-ride. I have 7 weeks to see the improvements.
So that's that. Here we go on Phase 4 of this adventure!
It was hot! A nice change from the rain the last 3-5 weeks or so. The bank readout said 95 on the way home, but I'm not sure it was that hot. In any case, it was an awesome day and a great way to end my off week.
This week was truly an off week. I haven't done anything all week except eat and hang out. Today was the the first day since last Saturday at the race that I did any workouts. I was up to 186 pounds on Friday, but now back just a bit under 180 this afternoon. Crazy how my weight fluctuates like that.
Tomorrow I enter phase four of this year's training plan. It all revolves around the Portland Tri right now, and all of my race specific training is geared to that race. It is on Aug 25, so that is 7 weeks away I think. I want to be at 170 pounds for that race, if I can maintain the same power I have now anyway.
This is where I think I'm at concerning my goals:
Overall: Not sure, honestly. My opening run in Bismarck was awesome but then I pulled my calf muscle. That pull affected my bike and run on both races, so I can't say with confidence where I'm at. Still, I think my bike is nearly where I want it and I need to get more endurance in my running legs. I'm going to drop my scheduled hours to 9 total because I don't think over 10 hours is a good banf for the buck pertaining to the lost family time and other stuff.
Swim: OWS is looking good, so I'm dropping to one OWS per week, with two other swims in the pool (sprints workout and a 1x2500). I'm quite happy with my OWS progress, but my 1k time of 15:00 gives me a 22:30 for 1,500m pace, and I want that to be 20. Not sure it's going to happen, but I only have to push it on the OWS rather than go along at a "jogging" pace rather than a "hard-run" pace.
Bike: I think I'm where I want to be, but I'm going to continue doing the hill workouts I've done earlier this year.
Run: I need more endurance on the run, and I need to be able to get quickly up to speed off the bike. I know I didn't do enough bricks earlier this year, and I could tell in the races, specifically the last race when my pace got 15seconds/mile faster every mile, starting at 8:45 and getting to 8:00 at the end. I'm adding a weekly 9 mile run on Tuesday nights to get this additional endurance. And I'm going to up my lunch runs to 6 miles rom 5 miles. And I have added a run-bike-run workout in place of a tempo-ride. I have 7 weeks to see the improvements.
So that's that. Here we go on Phase 4 of this adventure!
Monday, June 22, 2009
More photos
Paul is nice and cozy on a cold Yellowstone morning.
The new family truckster....it's a long story.
Start of Janet's Tri at Hebgen Lake.
A few seconds into the swim at Janet's Tri.Photos
Little Paul, happy for the time being.
Paul in the "command ring"
Start of Bismarck Tri-turned-du
Finishing the 5k of the Bismarkck "tri"
Bismarck race results and training changes
Race results from Bismarck are posted. I finished 11 of 17, better than expected actually. Interesting that my bike was relatively good, in the mix with five others who finished the bike in 1:14-1:15 for spot 6-12 on the bike, so I'll take that as a success. My run came in at 55:06 per the official results, and that is incredibly slow for me. The first 5k was a 21:05, which isn't bad considering I limped in for the final 1.5 miles after a good split at the 1.5 mile mark.
Overall, I am really disappointed with these results, but it was fun to do the race. Like I said before, I learned a very important lesson that I don't like duathlons. That said, doing workouts of run-bike-run should really improve both my bike and run for triathlons. I'll start putting those into my workouts. I was already thinking about it, and this absolutely confirms the validity of that type of workout. Even this past week at Hebgen Lake, I could feel that my legs weren't what they could be on the run.
I have seven weeks til the Portland Tri to get into optimal shape. With a run-bike-run workout and a good race distance bike-run brick each week, I should be able to get where I want to be. I'm going to cut back a bit on the hours in order to get in higher intensity workouts, too. Right now I think I'll plan for 8-10 hours instead of 10-12 (and only hitting ten anyway!).
Another interesting thing: I'm losing weight right now at about one pound per week not doing anything. Very strange. I think that might be a sign of overtraining, at least in terms of intensity because I'm sure it's not hours. Every workout to this point except a couple runs per week has been a high intensity, and that's not such a great thing as it might sound.
Overall, I am really disappointed with these results, but it was fun to do the race. Like I said before, I learned a very important lesson that I don't like duathlons. That said, doing workouts of run-bike-run should really improve both my bike and run for triathlons. I'll start putting those into my workouts. I was already thinking about it, and this absolutely confirms the validity of that type of workout. Even this past week at Hebgen Lake, I could feel that my legs weren't what they could be on the run.
I have seven weeks til the Portland Tri to get into optimal shape. With a run-bike-run workout and a good race distance bike-run brick each week, I should be able to get where I want to be. I'm going to cut back a bit on the hours in order to get in higher intensity workouts, too. Right now I think I'll plan for 8-10 hours instead of 10-12 (and only hitting ten anyway!).
Another interesting thing: I'm losing weight right now at about one pound per week not doing anything. Very strange. I think that might be a sign of overtraining, at least in terms of intensity because I'm sure it's not hours. Every workout to this point except a couple runs per week has been a high intensity, and that's not such a great thing as it might sound.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Janet's Tri race report
Race report from this weekend's race in Hebgen Lake near West Yellowstone. Great time. Race website is www.janetstriathlon.org
Left work at noon Friday, out of Poky at 1:15. Checked into Yellowstone National Park Madison Campground around 4:30. Camp setup by 5:00. New family truckster Xterra works well for family trips like this. Weather was ok and looking to be fair for race on Saturday. To sleep at 10pm on the dot.
Pre-race: Up at 0715 to a chilly morning but no rain (yet!). Standard morning routine. Cooked up coffee and SmartStart cereal. Baby Paul was doing ok. Out of camp at 0815, get another coffee at the gas station in West Yellowstone, arrive race area at 0900 to check in and get ready. Felt a little rushed, unlike last year when we got there really early and stood around for 90 minutes or so. The water was looking good, and they said it was 59deg instead of 53 showing on Reclamation Website. Good to go, I guess. The race looked much bigger than the 40 or so from last year, and it was…had 72 entrants this year. I got a decent warmup in the water and then headed to the start line, where they screwed around with the timers for a bit.
Swim: Went exactly according to plan, and a minute faster than expected. Lined up front right so I could get next to the rope that leads to the bouy (out and back course). I hit the start well, and things went good from there. Turned around at 500meters at 7:20 and I was in about 5th place overall. Water was smooth and easy swimming. Saw some cool bugs on the water but couldn't identify for use while fishing later in the day. Swam the rest of the way with a good stroke, focusing on form over power to ensure I didn't freak out and feel like I couldn't breathe. Swam the entire way with my face in the water with a good freestyle stroke. Out of water in 15:02 and in 5th or 6th.
T1: Sucked. Couldn't get the zipper going on my wetsuit. WTF!?!?!?! Out in 3:21…SLOW!
Bike: Went as planned but felt slow. This is a flat course on a packed dirt road with lots of "humpty" bouncers. I passed a lot of bikers that must have been part of the relays that passed me in transition. I felt like I was pushing hard but still felt slow. Not sure what the deal was. This is really a fun course to ride!
T2: In and out! Saw only two bikes, so thought I was doing well. Found at later that I wasn't in third overall but 5th or so.
Run: Started slow on purpose, but not sure I could've pushed much faster immediately. I was babying a pulled left calf muscle from last week's tri-turned-du. First mile was 8:45, second 8:25, third and fourth came in at 16:02 for 8minute average. As I ran, I felt that my calf muscle was stronger, so I pushed it harder. Got passed by one guy at mile 2.5 or so…large guy about 6'2" and 250 and all muscle cut pretty well…not the kind of guy you expect to blow by you on the run, anyway, he kept pulling away for the rest of the run. Finished run in 33:02 (about 100 yards over 4 miles).
Overall: I love this triathlon because of the MTB and trail run. I would like to see a couple of hills, but you can't have everything. I couldn't remember my times from last year on race day, but I just looked them up and my overall time was faster but bike and run were slower. That's with a bum wheel, so I'm ok with that. The swim went so much better and is a better representation of what I can do, so I'm very happy that my OWS practices the past month paid off. The race was much bigger this year, too. Got first in age group. And Pocatello was well-represented in this race this year, which is nice to see.
Misc: The venue for this is simply awesome, and the family that runs it is GREAT. The swim has been in calm water both years I did it. The bike is on flat packed dirt road that is lots of fun to ride cuz of the bumps (cyclo-cross bike is probably best). The run is a nice run on old logging roads, too. No gas fumes during this race! It's a memorial race for their daughter Janet who died from cancer, and it's a fundraiser for cancer research. Very well organized, and everyone is friendly. We make it a family fishing trip to Yellowstone with a triathlon for fun. The weather was great for the race….about 60 and overcast/mostly cloudy, threatening rain the entire time. The rains came after the race and lasted all day, all night, and into the morning, which is why we left early. I did catch a small brookie in the Gibbon about 100 yards downstream from the bridge by Madison Junction, so that was a success, too.
This year's times versus last year's times. First line is my watch. Second line is race results, and the swim and T1 are combined. Third line is 2008 times.
Year Race time Chip time Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
2009 1:39:58 15:02 3:21.46 48:22 XX 33:12
1:39:56.057 18:24.63 47:58.846 27.765 33:04.807
2008 1:42:07.168 1:42:05.556 21:04.55 2:27.700 45:58.082 33.217 32:03.615
Average Heart Rate: 161 Calories: 1,932
Swim AHR: 155
Bike AHR: 162
Run AHR: 164
Left work at noon Friday, out of Poky at 1:15. Checked into Yellowstone National Park Madison Campground around 4:30. Camp setup by 5:00. New family truckster Xterra works well for family trips like this. Weather was ok and looking to be fair for race on Saturday. To sleep at 10pm on the dot.
Pre-race: Up at 0715 to a chilly morning but no rain (yet!). Standard morning routine. Cooked up coffee and SmartStart cereal. Baby Paul was doing ok. Out of camp at 0815, get another coffee at the gas station in West Yellowstone, arrive race area at 0900 to check in and get ready. Felt a little rushed, unlike last year when we got there really early and stood around for 90 minutes or so. The water was looking good, and they said it was 59deg instead of 53 showing on Reclamation Website. Good to go, I guess. The race looked much bigger than the 40 or so from last year, and it was…had 72 entrants this year. I got a decent warmup in the water and then headed to the start line, where they screwed around with the timers for a bit.
Swim: Went exactly according to plan, and a minute faster than expected. Lined up front right so I could get next to the rope that leads to the bouy (out and back course). I hit the start well, and things went good from there. Turned around at 500meters at 7:20 and I was in about 5th place overall. Water was smooth and easy swimming. Saw some cool bugs on the water but couldn't identify for use while fishing later in the day. Swam the rest of the way with a good stroke, focusing on form over power to ensure I didn't freak out and feel like I couldn't breathe. Swam the entire way with my face in the water with a good freestyle stroke. Out of water in 15:02 and in 5th or 6th.
T1: Sucked. Couldn't get the zipper going on my wetsuit. WTF!?!?!?! Out in 3:21…SLOW!
Bike: Went as planned but felt slow. This is a flat course on a packed dirt road with lots of "humpty" bouncers. I passed a lot of bikers that must have been part of the relays that passed me in transition. I felt like I was pushing hard but still felt slow. Not sure what the deal was. This is really a fun course to ride!
T2: In and out! Saw only two bikes, so thought I was doing well. Found at later that I wasn't in third overall but 5th or so.
Run: Started slow on purpose, but not sure I could've pushed much faster immediately. I was babying a pulled left calf muscle from last week's tri-turned-du. First mile was 8:45, second 8:25, third and fourth came in at 16:02 for 8minute average. As I ran, I felt that my calf muscle was stronger, so I pushed it harder. Got passed by one guy at mile 2.5 or so…large guy about 6'2" and 250 and all muscle cut pretty well…not the kind of guy you expect to blow by you on the run, anyway, he kept pulling away for the rest of the run. Finished run in 33:02 (about 100 yards over 4 miles).
Overall: I love this triathlon because of the MTB and trail run. I would like to see a couple of hills, but you can't have everything. I couldn't remember my times from last year on race day, but I just looked them up and my overall time was faster but bike and run were slower. That's with a bum wheel, so I'm ok with that. The swim went so much better and is a better representation of what I can do, so I'm very happy that my OWS practices the past month paid off. The race was much bigger this year, too. Got first in age group. And Pocatello was well-represented in this race this year, which is nice to see.
Misc: The venue for this is simply awesome, and the family that runs it is GREAT. The swim has been in calm water both years I did it. The bike is on flat packed dirt road that is lots of fun to ride cuz of the bumps (cyclo-cross bike is probably best). The run is a nice run on old logging roads, too. No gas fumes during this race! It's a memorial race for their daughter Janet who died from cancer, and it's a fundraiser for cancer research. Very well organized, and everyone is friendly. We make it a family fishing trip to Yellowstone with a triathlon for fun. The weather was great for the race….about 60 and overcast/mostly cloudy, threatening rain the entire time. The rains came after the race and lasted all day, all night, and into the morning, which is why we left early. I did catch a small brookie in the Gibbon about 100 yards downstream from the bridge by Madison Junction, so that was a success, too.
This year's times versus last year's times. First line is my watch. Second line is race results, and the swim and T1 are combined. Third line is 2008 times.
Year Race time Chip time Swim T1 Bike T2 Run
2009 1:39:58 15:02 3:21.46 48:22 XX 33:12
1:39:56.057 18:24.63 47:58.846 27.765 33:04.807
2008 1:42:07.168 1:42:05.556 21:04.55 2:27.700 45:58.082 33.217 32:03.615
Average Heart Rate: 161 Calories: 1,932
Swim AHR: 155
Bike AHR: 162
Run AHR: 164
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