Back From the Dead

Its been a really long time since I have updated. Mainly because I fell off the wagon of consistent training. It is slowly getting nice enough to ride outside regularly, but I having some personal struggles with season goals. Whenever you focus on one goal, it is common to have other elements lag behind, and I have a hard time grasping that.

I have signed up for the Chicago Marathon, and have to renew my triathlon pro license this year, so needless to say, selecting races and setting goals is a big challenge. My race calendar changes everyday.

After the Lonestar Half Ironman, I am happy with my early season run fitness, satisfied with my bike fitness, and disappointed by my swim fitness (if you can call it that). But... Do I really enjoy swimming enough to work on it? Probably not, but I also don't like embarrassing myself with an elite run split, and a 3rd grader swim split. I take that back, I am willing to bet most 3rd graders can swim faster than me.

I think the Masters swim helped, mainly because it got me in the pool when I would normally not have been. But $120 per 8 week session for fitness I lose as soon as I stop going doesnt really sound like a good tradeoff. I would be a badass if I could go 15X100 @ 1:30. What is that 31" for a half IM. Thats probably a year aways. Versus 40" for not swimming at all. Is 9" worth $60/month forever? I still need to figure that out.

Ive joined the Universal Sole Running team, so lots of supportive runners to train with. Some fast, some really fast, but mainly it gets me out for a couple longer runs per week with some company. Long run on Saturday mornings, Tempo/whatever you want on Mondays. Should be a good time, and get to do some more running races this summer.

Real Quick, here is the rundown for last week.

Monday, Nothing. Recovery from race
Tuesday: Easy 6 mile run
Wednesday: Easy 8 mile run before work, Chicken ride after. really windy and cold, but good to be out
Thursday: Easy 6 mile run
Friday: Easy 8 mile run
Saturday: 14 miles, 7 min pace
Sunday: Off, Easter.

Good week for 55 miles and a group ride. Next week will add some bike miles to running miles, and Sea Otter Races. FUN!!

AF

Week of December 11th, 2006

Big running week this week, and thats about it. I did try yoga for the first time on Thursday night. I was sore for 4 days. I think it is just getting the cobwebs out and holding stretches, but I felt pretty good afterwards, hence the uptempo running on Friday.

Monday, 8 miles Treadmill
Tuesday, 8 miles outside in the rain
Wednesday, 8 miles Treadmill
Thursday, 8 miles outside
Friday, 8.5 miles, with 5 at 155-160HR
Saturday, 15.5 miles, felt pretty good
Sunday, 8 miles Treadmill

64 for the week, a new high. I will now start adding in some "Hadd Style" higher heart rate running. The idea is to keep the majority of the miles in the 145-150HR range, and do two run per week at 155-160. Over time bumping the higher HR running up to 160-165, then 165-170, and finally 170-175. This will complete the base and get me ready for higher intensity work. I may just stick with this scheme, and not get into the typical speedwork. Hopefully the pace at all HR's will increase over time. The plan is to spend 6 weeks at each level.

Week of December 4th, 2006

Brrr!! Another super cold week, mostly single digits all week. This forced most of my running indoors. I did manage to get outside for a run on Saturday, all bundled up, but it was not fun. I also managed to go for a bike ride this week. It was a Spinervals workout on the trainer, but hey, after not being on the bike since the cross race, it went pretty well.

Monday: 6 miles, treadmill
Tuesday: 8miles, treadmill
Wednesday: 8 miles, treadmill
Thursday: 8 miles, treadmill
Friday: 4.5 miles, treadmill (3x1 mile @ 6' pace, one minute recovery)
Saturday: 13.5 miles, outside 7:40 pace, super windy and lots of snow on the sidewalks.
Sunday: 90 minute Spinervals 22, 12 miles, treadmill

Thats right, if my math skills haven't failed me, thats 60 miles of running this week, a new record. The plan is to add 2 more bike rides this week, so that'll be 7 days running, 3 days riding, with a lot of riding at or above FT. Based on the Spinervals workout, FT is about 280ish. Looking for 315 by March 24th. That should put me at 2:20 half IM pace @ 80% of FT.

Friday was Lisa's 24th birthday. We went to dinner with our parents, as it was pretty much the first time they had all met. It only took 3 1/2 years to do. Had a few too many Vanilla Stoli and cokes at Bamboo Room, but it was a really good time, especially when Bradley, Pilch, and Krezel randomly showed up. Happy Birthday honey!

Week of November 27th, 2006

This was a roller coaster week for fitness. It started out really warm, and got really cold, and we were hit with our first snow. In the middle of it all, I got punched in the stomach with some kind of flu. Sweats, chills, it felt like someone had my stomach/intestines in a kung fu grip. Tuesday was the worst, and felt a little better Wed till the end of the run. I could feel hints of pain on Thursday and Friday, but I toughed it out. 50 miles again this week, bound to the dreadmill all weekend. Not too bad for how bad I felt, and a day off.

Monday: 8.35, felt good, low 7 pace
Tuesday: 8.15, couldnt get heart rate down, felt awful (flu symptoms started)
Wednesday: Off, trying to recover
Thursday: 5.5 with Todd, felt pretty decent, but slow. Pain came at the end
Friday: 8 miles, Treadmill
Saturday: 8 miles on treadmill
Sunday: 12 miles on treadmill.

I have been doing easy progressive runs on the treadmill. Started at 8 minute pace, rolling course and raising the speed .1mph every mile, so the 12 miler finished at around 7 minute pace. I'll bump the starting speed every week, and see what happens. I like to go 5k-10k pace for the last couple minutes, because strides on the treadmill are dumb.

Looking into next week, I will get back on the bike. For real this time. Also, I want to add some upper body lifting since I am not swimming. The Plasma is set up on the trainer, and I spread the aerobars a bit, so it will relieve tension on my shoulders. Higher wattages feel so much easier on that bike, I need to copy that geometry at a shallower seat angle. Very nice..

Week of November 20th, 2006

Thanksgiving week. Goals are to balance out all the food with fitness. A successful holiday week is one that you get in most of your regular workouts, endulge in good food and spend time with family, and hop on the scale Monday to read the same number as last week.

Monday: 8 miles, slightly progressive. Finished with 8x30"on,30" off at 5k pace
Tuesday: 8 miles easy, again finished with 8x30"
Wednesday: Evening 4mile shake out with 4 strides.
Thursday: Bonfield Express Turkey Trot 5k, 17:16. 10miles total
Friday: Day off, busy getting the after thanksgiving deals.
Saturday: 13.5 miles, 7:19avg. This is my first run over 90 minutes in a long time. Legs were sore at the end, but lungs felt good. Maybe 5bpm of drift. Working on getting this to 16miles.
Sunday: 6.5 miles, easy on the treadmill, pretty sore, so I had to slow down.

50 miles total with one short day, and one day off. 60 here we come.

The race on Thursday was not too bad, but 3 seconds slower than a 5k last month. I did have offseason of 2 weeks of no running though, so Im not too worried. 76 miles in the 10 days leading into the race is a lot for me, so I cant complain. I again started a little too fast in the first quarter mile and paid for it. I think my splits were 5:27,5:40, 5:35. The course has some elevation, but not enough to use as an excuse for slowing 13" in the second mile. I ran the course 2 more times afterwards, so including the warmup, 10 miles for the day. I made up for the 10miles with a decent sized plate at Lisa's Thanksgiving, including some Pumpkin Spice Ale, and a Apple Spice Ale. And some crappy $9 white wine. I was nearly in a food coma when we went to Jason's, but I felt I needed a full plate and a couple more beers there. The highlight of day was the stuffing at Lisa's and the Spinach Souffle at Jason's. Mmmm.

Saturday we went out for Lisa's friend's brother's girlfriend's 21st birthday (you got all that). A little too much Vanilla Grey Goose and Coke and dancing postponed the Sunday morning run to sunday night. After the Bears got killed. Who forces 5 turnovers and still manages to lose...lame

Overall a good week. Ordered some spinervals DVD's, hopefully will bring the motivation to get back on the bike. Might do the cross race on sunday, or just focus on the 60mile target.

Week of November 13th, 2006

The road to run durability is long, and boring sometimes, and cold. But, I hit a lifetime high of 56 miles this week. On the flipside, the only training outside of running was a short trainer ride. I will slowly add in other training as I become more comfortable with the higher run milage. I am planning on 5 more weeks of 60 miles before I move on.

Monday, 8.6 miles Easy
Tuesday,8.2 miles Easy
Wednesday, 8 miles Easy (GPS not working)
Thursday, 8 miles Easy
Friday, 7.89 miles Easy
Saturday, 50minutes Trainer 15min@ 232 watts, 10min @ 230 watts (IM Goal Wattage), 8 miles Treadmill
Sunday, 8 miles treadmil, 30' pickup @ 5:20 pace

Having a hard time pushing on the trainer, maybe boredom, maybe lost FT fitness. We'll see.
AF

Week of November 6th, 2006

The off-season is over, and its time to get off the booze, cigarettes, and late nights, for the most part. I will miss White Castle and Whiskey Cokes the most, but I will strive to keep a balance of race goals, recreation, and not abandoning friends and family.

The goal for the next few weeks is to build run durability via frequency, which will by definition raise volume. Cycling will be on the trainer for the most part, with the occasional outside ride (I am a big wuss for cold riding). Masters swimming starts back up

Monday: 6.25 miles, heart rate very high for what was a moderate pace.
Tuesday: 6.25 miles, same feeling as Monday, 7:30ish pace at 160 HR, weird.
Wednesday: 6.25 miles, focused on keeping HR below 150, regardless of pace.
Thursday: AM ride on cyclocross bike, 6x90" at LT, 30" rest. Felt good. Played some pickup basketball at lunch, but the potential for injury is too high, never again.
Friday: 8 miles, back to normal HR, ~150bpm for 7:25 pace.
Saturday: Nothing, its the first week of the season, I deserve a day off.
Sunday: Cyclocross race, 170HR average, 55 minutes.

Bos, Gatto, Firak, and I were all in the 3's race. 27 starters.
Right away the field split to 3 main groups, the Gatto group was off the front within the first 2 minutes. Bos and I were in the second group, with Bos doing most of the work. Firak broke his chain on the first hill and spent the race spectating. I was fighting to stay in the second group, for a few laps, capping out at 184 HR. Oops. I drifted back to the third group were I was comfortable sitting in and taking a few pulls. The long straight on the last lap I was sitting 4th in our group, I brought my cadence up to ~100rpm, and at the final turn, 100m I shifted down and brought it to the line, winning the "field sprint" for 11th overall. Bos got 9th, Gatto 4th. Overall I was pretty happy for my first cross race, I thought it was harder than a 3's criterium. I'll try again in a few weeks at Montrose, hopefully some time on the bike in the next few weeks will at least let me be a little more comfortable with the effort.