Lots of little tidbits going through my head lately but I'm not going to put them all in here... too boring and I don't really have the time.
Training has been going well. I continue to hit the pool very hard. Every time in the water is tough with my swim workouts from coach reading "ALL OUT" a lot. I'm doing between 15K and 19K yards a week and my body is feeling it. In the first 2 weeks of this, I made huge progress on times, but then I think the volume caught up with me. Over the last two weeks, it seems that the only pace I can swim is about a 1:30 100. This is a pretty good pace for me and I'm learning to swim this pace more consistently, but no matter how hard I push, it's still only like 1:28 per 100 yds. I think I've hit a little mini-plateau.
I had lunch with Coach yesterday to talk about a whole bunch of things (but that's another post), and with respect to the swimming effort, we decided to hit it hard for 3-4 weeks at a time and then take a recovery week. I think I'll do one more week hard next week and then do an easier week with 9-10K yards to let my body catch up. Then start the cycle over again. I did manage a 15:33 1000 yd TT compared to a 15:58 when I started this process less than a month ago. 2.5% in 21 days is pretty good, but I haven't been making progress beyond that in spite of the hard work. I am sure it will continue to come though.
On the bike, I have hit it pretty hard, too, doing 3 quality rides a week. One set of intervals on the trainer, one power/spin workout, and one long ride with lots of hills. My most recent test on the bike was a 12:36 compared to a 13:15 with 313 watts compared to 298 watts average. That was after 3 weeks, too. I'm going to keep at it on the bike and in the pool and see how it goes.
In addition, I feel like I FINALLY have my running legs back. I did a ~10 miler this morning with hills and it wasn't that hard at all. Plus, I didn't have any sort of weird feelings in my hamstring or with my stride the way I have been since a few weeks before Louisville. Sort of makes me wonder if doing 4 20+ mile runs leading into L'ville was too much. Maybe I should have more of a bike focus. I'll have to have that discussion with Coach sometime soon.
In other news, my wife did a half-marathon this past weekend and is doing another this weekend. Last weekend was the Nike Women's half to benefit the Leukemia Society and she ran it with a friend. The goal was not to go fast, but this weekend, we are going to see where she is at with respect to getting back from her injury after the last marathon she did in July. I am anxious to see how she can do.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Swim Progress
I haven't been posting as much lately because of too much going on, but I did want to get my latest swim progress documented so when I come back to look at it later, I'll have it noted.
This past weekend, I did a little swim, bike, run action in honor of Kona. I hit the pool first and swam my usual warmup and drills. Then I did a mile straight to see how I was progressing. I hit the wall for the first 1000 yds in 15:38, so that's already a 20 second improvement from just 2 weeks ago. I finished the mile in 27:21, which is the first time I've ever done a mile in less than 30 minutes. Not only was it under 30, it was easily under 30.
And on some of the main sets I've been doing lately, I've done a 200 in 2:50, a 100 in 1:24, and a 50 in 0:39. I had never broken 1:26 for a 100 before or broken ~0:41 for a 50. The first week back at training, I did 19K yds and the 2nd week back at it I did 15,350. This week, I'm going to get in a fair amount, too. I know the extra volume is helping so I am going to keep at it for a while (2-3 months at least).
This past weekend, I did a little swim, bike, run action in honor of Kona. I hit the pool first and swam my usual warmup and drills. Then I did a mile straight to see how I was progressing. I hit the wall for the first 1000 yds in 15:38, so that's already a 20 second improvement from just 2 weeks ago. I finished the mile in 27:21, which is the first time I've ever done a mile in less than 30 minutes. Not only was it under 30, it was easily under 30.
And on some of the main sets I've been doing lately, I've done a 200 in 2:50, a 100 in 1:24, and a 50 in 0:39. I had never broken 1:26 for a 100 before or broken ~0:41 for a 50. The first week back at training, I did 19K yds and the 2nd week back at it I did 15,350. This week, I'm going to get in a fair amount, too. I know the extra volume is helping so I am going to keep at it for a while (2-3 months at least).
Sunday, October 4, 2009
19,050
A new swim record for me for the week. I swam 7 times in 7 days and twice on two of them. I was pretty tired on Wednesday after doing 13K yds in 3 days, but then took a day off from the pool on Thursday because of time constraints and on Friday, I had a great swim! I was consistently hitting 3:50-3:55 on 250 yd repeats and was holding 1:30 or less on 100 repeats.
Today, I topped off the week with another swim and a 2-hr ride with hill repeats at the beginning. The swim put me over 19K yds for the week, which is about 8K more than I've done in a week before. Week 1 of my higher-volume swimming experiment is in the books!
Today, I topped off the week with another swim and a 2-hr ride with hill repeats at the beginning. The swim put me over 19K yds for the week, which is about 8K more than I've done in a week before. Week 1 of my higher-volume swimming experiment is in the books!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Two-a-days and Baselines
I started back at "two-a-days" today and hit the gym in the AM and then again at lunch. This morning, I did my 1000 yd TT in 15:58. About a year ago, my baseline time was 18:50. Quite a difference, but more work to do. All-in-all I did 5200 yds in the pool, a 30 minute run, and some weights. A good training day.
Also, this past weekend, I picked out my baseline route and did a TT up the hill. It took me 13:15 and I averaged 298 watts and almost 13 mph. It's a tough climb. The last 1.2 miles is up about 560 feet or so. Over time, I'll build up to doing this 2-3 times in a session and do a session every 2-3 weeks to see how I progress.
The grind begins...
Also, this past weekend, I picked out my baseline route and did a TT up the hill. It took me 13:15 and I averaged 298 watts and almost 13 mph. It's a tough climb. The last 1.2 miles is up about 560 feet or so. Over time, I'll build up to doing this 2-3 times in a session and do a session every 2-3 weeks to see how I progress.
The grind begins...
Saturday, September 26, 2009
It's time!
It's September 26th now and I've done all of 1 bike ride, 3 runs, and 1 swim in a short, 20 yd pool since IM Louisville about 4 weeks ago. I'd say that consists of a pretty break. And for the last week, I was in Tahoe with my in-laws where I ate lots of ice cream, cookies, pizza, whatever I wanted! I slept in (well as much as you can with a 3-year-old and a 1.5-year-old). I only went on a few easy runs with my wife and that was about it. Some good quality family time.
Now it's time to get back at it. I've had a couple of meetings with Coach and come up with some good plans for this off-season. I suppose it's the paradox of triathlon, but the working theory is that to come up with a good run in an IM, I need to become a much better swimmer and biker. Relentless focus on my weaknesses. Even though I did much better in L'ville than I did in Wisconsin in the swim and on the bike from an AG perspective, I still need to have more legs when I get off the bike.
So the plan will be to spend the next 3-4 months hitting the pool hard. I will also do a bike power focus for the next few months with multiple hard rides a week and lots of hill work. In the pool, I am going to shoot for minimum 5 swims a week, with 6-8 preferred. I'm going to try putting in some big volume in the pool and see what happens. I've made some good corrections to my stroke in the last year, so now I want to see how more volume will affect me. In this last year, I've done a max week of about 11K yards. If I can get >6 swims done in one week (with drills), I should be able to push 15K yards a week and maybe even get up to the 18-20K range. I am going to do this consistently as much as I can for the next couple of months. I am years behind the curve in swimming when compared to those that were competitive swimmers in their youth. I need to do some catching up or at least not let people get further ahead of me.
For the bike, I am going to do minimum 2-3 hard rides a week with one on the weekend including some hard hill work. Multiple swims a week are easier to schedule than long bike mileage, so I've got to have a quality bike focus as opposed to just huge volume, especially over the winter. It's just too hard to fit in >3 hour rides not on the weekend and I can usually only fit in one of those long rides on the weekend.
To track progress, I'm going to set up a benchmark ride with hard hill repeats and time myself on 2-3 repeats of all-out effort. I will track HR, power, and time and do this ride every 3-4 weeks. I am going to do the same in the pool and start off this week with a 1000 yd TT, which I will repeat every 3-4 weeks for progress assessment.
I am looking forward to getting back to the daily grind.
Now it's time to get back at it. I've had a couple of meetings with Coach and come up with some good plans for this off-season. I suppose it's the paradox of triathlon, but the working theory is that to come up with a good run in an IM, I need to become a much better swimmer and biker. Relentless focus on my weaknesses. Even though I did much better in L'ville than I did in Wisconsin in the swim and on the bike from an AG perspective, I still need to have more legs when I get off the bike.
So the plan will be to spend the next 3-4 months hitting the pool hard. I will also do a bike power focus for the next few months with multiple hard rides a week and lots of hill work. In the pool, I am going to shoot for minimum 5 swims a week, with 6-8 preferred. I'm going to try putting in some big volume in the pool and see what happens. I've made some good corrections to my stroke in the last year, so now I want to see how more volume will affect me. In this last year, I've done a max week of about 11K yards. If I can get >6 swims done in one week (with drills), I should be able to push 15K yards a week and maybe even get up to the 18-20K range. I am going to do this consistently as much as I can for the next couple of months. I am years behind the curve in swimming when compared to those that were competitive swimmers in their youth. I need to do some catching up or at least not let people get further ahead of me.
For the bike, I am going to do minimum 2-3 hard rides a week with one on the weekend including some hard hill work. Multiple swims a week are easier to schedule than long bike mileage, so I've got to have a quality bike focus as opposed to just huge volume, especially over the winter. It's just too hard to fit in >3 hour rides not on the weekend and I can usually only fit in one of those long rides on the weekend.
To track progress, I'm going to set up a benchmark ride with hard hill repeats and time myself on 2-3 repeats of all-out effort. I will track HR, power, and time and do this ride every 3-4 weeks. I am going to do the same in the pool and start off this week with a 1000 yd TT, which I will repeat every 3-4 weeks for progress assessment.
I am looking forward to getting back to the daily grind.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Like a slug - offseason continued
Well, I've been pretty much a slug for the last few weeks with no training. One bike ride last week and one easy 6-ish mile run today with my better half. We are in Tahoe for the week on vacation, so the run was at ~6500 feet above sea level. Didn't make it easy by any means and my legs were pretty tired after an hour.
I'm ready to get back at it though and coach and I are making some off-season plans. More to come on that.
In the mean time, I've been getting some projects done around the house and here's a picture we got when putting some stuff away in our kitchen. This is what it's all about!
I'm ready to get back at it though and coach and I are making some off-season plans. More to come on that.
In the mean time, I've been getting some projects done around the house and here's a picture we got when putting some stuff away in our kitchen. This is what it's all about!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Some Off-Season Thoughts and Numbers
OK, so after having almost 2 weeks since the big race of the year, I've had some "off-season" time to reflect on my progress. Actually, it really has been an off-season in that I haven't done any swimming, biking, or running since the race. Not once. I am close to starting back up again, but I think I'll start with unstructured training for a week or two. Maybe a bike ride at lunch or something but nothing serious. Looking to start back on a plan in October most likely.
In any case, during this little hiatus, I have tried my best to completely forget about triathlon. I have been doing projects around the house, etc. I have also enjoyed having both days of the weekend for family time. Usually, I designate one complete weekend day with no training at all and that is family day, but having two for the last couple of weekends has been really nice, especially with Labor day included. Having said that, I still have been thinking about the race and trying to figure out what happened to my run legs. In doing so, I put together this little table to see how I've progressed from my first IM to my second.
It shows both of my IM races and how I placed in each event in my AG and OA as a percentage, i.e. my placement divided by the total number of finishers. At Wisconsin, my swim and bike weaknesses really reared their ugly heads. In my age group, I was in the bottom third of both the swim and the bike. Then, I was in the top 25% on the run (in my AG). Overall, these numbers are slightly different because my age group is one of the faster ones.
Even though I was disappointed with my swim time, I did improve from 72 to 30% for my AG placement. I still need to get better from a relative standpoint in my AG. Too many guys are just too far ahead after the swim!
I also made huge progress on the bike portion. From an age group standpoint, I basically went from the bottom 1/4 to the top 1/4 or so. That is good progress and I had a ride in Louisville that went basically according to plan. I didn't go hard at all and THOUGHT I was going to be ready to run (silly me), only to be humbled by the IM marathon.
Speaking of the IM marathon, if you look at my progress from '07 to '09, it was basically flat. Not what I expected. However, if you look at the bright side, I was able to take an hour out of my bike ride without impacting my run split. That's good, but after the kind of training runs I was laying down, I really thought I'd be able to "run" the marathon.
Now let's compare this to my half-iron progress, for which I have a good year-to-year set of numbers on the same course.
In '07, I was bottom half swim and bike and top third on the run for an AG placement of just barely top half (46%). The following year, I made really good improvements on the bike, a decent improvement on the run (27% to 16% AG placement), and stayed about the same for the swim. But then check out the '09 improvement... swimming went from 60% to 20%... not bad. Biking went from 23% to top 8% in my AG. I really made a good improvement, but the biggest thing was running off the bike. My goal for the race in '09 was to try to break 1:30 on the run. I came close and ended up with a 5th-best run split in my AG for a top 2% placement on a really hot day. I was really happy with that and my AG overall was 12th out of 261 finishers. This, with the kind of training I was doing leading up to L'ville led me to believe I was a much better runner off the bike.
So what happened? One theory is I biked too hard. I just don't think that's the case. My power numbers were right on and my RPE was right on - a very easy effort. I was tired at the end, but I was feeling ready to run. Not completely dead like in Wisconsin in '07. My HR was a little high on the bike, but it was reasonably high at Vineman 70.3 also (don't have data, but I recall it being in the 150s most of the ride) and I was still able to run really well. In L'ville, my average HR was 143, which is definitely too high for an IM bike ride, but I felt great and my power was right on target. Perhaps my estimate of my FTP was a little high??? Next year, I'll just have to do a more specific test to see where I'm at. Another theory is that I was overly stressed. This has some merit, I think based on some other evidence. I had cramps during the swim the same way I did at Wildflower in '07. During that race, I also cramped up on the run, just like I did in L'ville. The days before Wildflower were somewhat stressful with the camping and worrying about how my wife was doing with our little girl, etc. They stayed at a hotel and had to drive into the park super-early in the AM that day. Not exactly ideal pre-race activity. In L'ville, even though I had a TON of support and am incredibly grateful, it is more stressful to figure out what 15 people are going to do for dinner the night before. This is just a theory, but next year, I may try to have a more low-key pre-race lead in. I am also considering some kind of supplement to help alleviate the cramps. I have heard Magnesium may help. We'll see after I talk to coach in more detail.
In spite of all this, I did cut over an hour off my previous race time and set a new PR. I just didn't cut as much as I thought I was capable of, but then again, that is the whole addiction with this sport. Always searching for the perfect race where everything goes right. I know I am capable of a LOT more and I intend to find out.
In any case, during this little hiatus, I have tried my best to completely forget about triathlon. I have been doing projects around the house, etc. I have also enjoyed having both days of the weekend for family time. Usually, I designate one complete weekend day with no training at all and that is family day, but having two for the last couple of weekends has been really nice, especially with Labor day included. Having said that, I still have been thinking about the race and trying to figure out what happened to my run legs. In doing so, I put together this little table to see how I've progressed from my first IM to my second.
| | | Wisconsin | Louisville |
| | Date | Sep-07 | Aug-09 |
| | Finishers | 2206 | 2352 |
| | AG Finishers | 266 | 360 |
| Swim | Time | 1:22:06 | 1:17:01 |
| | OA | 1392 | 681 |
| | OA % | 63% | 29% |
| | Div | 191 | 107 |
| | Div % | 72% | 30% |
| | T1 | 10:47 | 4:36 |
| Bike | Time | 6:44:32 | 5:44:47 |
| | OA | 1336 | 459 |
| | OA % | 61% | 20% |
| | Div | 192 | 91 |
| | Div % | 72% | 25% |
| | T2 | 6:35 | 4:52 |
| Run | Time | 4:07:51 | 4:04:48 |
| | OA | 457 | 482 |
| | OA % | 21% | 20% |
| | Div | 66 | 87 |
| | Div % | 25% | 24% |
| OA | Time | 12:31:50 | 11:16:04 |
| | OA | 868 | 397 |
| | OA % | 39% | 17% |
| | Div | 129 | 77 |
| | Div % | 48% | 21% |
It shows both of my IM races and how I placed in each event in my AG and OA as a percentage, i.e. my placement divided by the total number of finishers. At Wisconsin, my swim and bike weaknesses really reared their ugly heads. In my age group, I was in the bottom third of both the swim and the bike. Then, I was in the top 25% on the run (in my AG). Overall, these numbers are slightly different because my age group is one of the faster ones.
Even though I was disappointed with my swim time, I did improve from 72 to 30% for my AG placement. I still need to get better from a relative standpoint in my AG. Too many guys are just too far ahead after the swim!
I also made huge progress on the bike portion. From an age group standpoint, I basically went from the bottom 1/4 to the top 1/4 or so. That is good progress and I had a ride in Louisville that went basically according to plan. I didn't go hard at all and THOUGHT I was going to be ready to run (silly me), only to be humbled by the IM marathon.
Speaking of the IM marathon, if you look at my progress from '07 to '09, it was basically flat. Not what I expected. However, if you look at the bright side, I was able to take an hour out of my bike ride without impacting my run split. That's good, but after the kind of training runs I was laying down, I really thought I'd be able to "run" the marathon.
Now let's compare this to my half-iron progress, for which I have a good year-to-year set of numbers on the same course.
| Vineman | | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| | Date | Jul-09 | Jul-08 | 1-Jul |
| | Finishers | 1831 | 1734 | 1742 |
| | AG Finishers | 209 | 239 | 261 |
| Swim | Time | 0:38:08 | 0:37:05 | 0:32:11 |
| | OA | | ||
| | OA % | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| | Div | 120 | 143 | 51 |
| | Div % | 57% | 60% | 20% |
| | T1 | 4:00 | 3:05 | 3:38 |
| Bike | Time | 2:57:20 | 2:40:26 | 2:28:48 |
| | OA | | ||
| | OA % | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| | Div | 142 | 54 | 21 |
| | Div % | 68% | 23% | 8% |
| | T2 | 3:39 | 2:22 | 2:27 |
| Run | Time | 1:43:38 | 1:39:24 | 1:31:36 |
| | OA | | ||
| | OA % | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| | Div | 56 | 38 | 5 |
| | Div % | 27% | 16% | 2% |
| OA | Time | 5:26:48 | 5:02:24 | 4:38:42 |
| | OA | 443 | 237 | 57 |
| | OA % | 24% | 14% | 3% |
| | Div | 97 | 50 | 12 |
| | Div % | 46% | 21% | 5% |
In '07, I was bottom half swim and bike and top third on the run for an AG placement of just barely top half (46%). The following year, I made really good improvements on the bike, a decent improvement on the run (27% to 16% AG placement), and stayed about the same for the swim. But then check out the '09 improvement... swimming went from 60% to 20%... not bad. Biking went from 23% to top 8% in my AG. I really made a good improvement, but the biggest thing was running off the bike. My goal for the race in '09 was to try to break 1:30 on the run. I came close and ended up with a 5th-best run split in my AG for a top 2% placement on a really hot day. I was really happy with that and my AG overall was 12th out of 261 finishers. This, with the kind of training I was doing leading up to L'ville led me to believe I was a much better runner off the bike.
So what happened? One theory is I biked too hard. I just don't think that's the case. My power numbers were right on and my RPE was right on - a very easy effort. I was tired at the end, but I was feeling ready to run. Not completely dead like in Wisconsin in '07. My HR was a little high on the bike, but it was reasonably high at Vineman 70.3 also (don't have data, but I recall it being in the 150s most of the ride) and I was still able to run really well. In L'ville, my average HR was 143, which is definitely too high for an IM bike ride, but I felt great and my power was right on target. Perhaps my estimate of my FTP was a little high??? Next year, I'll just have to do a more specific test to see where I'm at. Another theory is that I was overly stressed. This has some merit, I think based on some other evidence. I had cramps during the swim the same way I did at Wildflower in '07. During that race, I also cramped up on the run, just like I did in L'ville. The days before Wildflower were somewhat stressful with the camping and worrying about how my wife was doing with our little girl, etc. They stayed at a hotel and had to drive into the park super-early in the AM that day. Not exactly ideal pre-race activity. In L'ville, even though I had a TON of support and am incredibly grateful, it is more stressful to figure out what 15 people are going to do for dinner the night before. This is just a theory, but next year, I may try to have a more low-key pre-race lead in. I am also considering some kind of supplement to help alleviate the cramps. I have heard Magnesium may help. We'll see after I talk to coach in more detail.
In spite of all this, I did cut over an hour off my previous race time and set a new PR. I just didn't cut as much as I thought I was capable of, but then again, that is the whole addiction with this sport. Always searching for the perfect race where everything goes right. I know I am capable of a LOT more and I intend to find out.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)