I should have kept my helmet on

So my pseudo-promotion is official. On Wednesdays, I'm up to lane 3. (I suck, and I'm happy about that.) On Mondays and Fridays, this is the most crowded lane, so I'll probably still be kept as the strongman of lane 4, unless my times for the test day are mid-group. I'm almost there.

Just before we got in the water, the coach said to me, "Drew, you're in this lane today." So I was there right from the start. There was only two other people in that lane today, one a regular, the other I've never seen before. We had a good workout, some drills, some descending and tempo work, and more timed 100s. Everything went pretty well, except for all the times I kept hitting my head.

During a backstroke set, I got a distracted and went right into the wall. During the last timed 100, when I was shooting for one more sub-1:30, the new person in the lane (other than me) didn't leave enough room for oncoming traffic, and we collided. Twice. (I still made 1:33.) Then I hit my head backstroking again. Swimcaps don't provide enough protection. Next time I'm wearing my bike helmet.

Swim: w/u - 200yds each free, non-free
Drills: 8x25 one-arm/25 free, 10"
4x50 ear switch, 10"
3x300 descending (~5:40, 5:13, 5:04), 30"
200 non-free, 30"
2x200 tempo, 1'
100 non-free, 30"
3x100 timed, 1' (1:24, 1:27, 1:33)
c/d - 100 back
Total: 3000 yds

Run: 5 miles @ 7.2 mph

Getting close to the edge

It's been a hard couple of weeks, with lots of threshold work on the bike and run. With other work going on, my sleep hasn't been great, so I'm getting a bit under-recovered. I haven't gotten to the point of "overtrained" yet, but I'm definitely overreaching. I just need to get through this weekend, then I'll get 5 days of pseudo-rest. I'll bounce back something fierce during that rest week.

Even in this state, I had a pretty good ride tonight. This was the last time through the 2x20, and I held 300+ watts through both blocks (avg ~305w). My heart rate was 5-10 bpm higher than last week when I was averaging 295-300w, which is a product of my lack of rest. But I plugged through the workout, and don't feel dead to the world. Just tired enough for a good night's sleep.

Bike: 65 min, w/2x20 min @ 305w, 5 min rest
Run: 2 miles @ 7.2 mph

Not haulin' ass

I finally got a good night's sleep, but it was cut short by the alarm at 4:50 (or more specifically, by my waking up in anticipation of the alarm at 4:38). But it's time to swim, and with my recent improvements, it's easy to get motivated. And today's session was good, except for the truck and trailer, which is my new least favourite drill ever. It's not fun. Otherwise it was a good swim, and now I'm pretty much exhausted. Luckily it's a night of rest, so I'm done for the day.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
200 as 25 full scull/25 pull
300 truck and trailer
400 mod-hard free
200 as 100 non-free/100 pull
3x200 free descending (4:24, 4:04, 3:50)
200 as 100 non-free/100 pull
3x200 pull descending (4:30, 4:10, 3:55)
Total: 3100m

Stiff second day

For some reason, I didn't sleep much last night. I finally crashed about 1 am, but woke up around 6. Then I was doing bits of things about the house until 9. Luckily, I got almost all my daily tasks done, so after my run, I could shut down for the day.

And I needed it. After yesterday's sufferfest, with the higher-tempo running, my legs were a bit stiff this morning. Aerobically, this run wasn't taxing at all, but muscularly I just couldn't feel smooth. Even still, the speed was there, which is to say, I wasn't any slower than usual for my aerobic Sunday run. Just stiffness. This was most evident trying to stretch after the run. Luckily, tomorrow requires no running, and barely a bike ride. So lots of time to recover before Tuesday.

Run: 10.5 miles, 44:05/41:53

There will be post in the near future about all my new "go fast" gear. Lots of stuff to brag about. I just need to figure out this digital picture thing.

Make it sparkle

Group rides start next weekend. That means today's ride was going to be the last Saturday I'd spend on the trainer. So I decided to make this a good, tough workout. I figured I'd do the Roth Ergovideo, since all the pace changes would be like the hills of Muskoka, and I'd do a quick transition and knock out a few miles at predicted marathon pace. A nice brick as my last shot.

I set the Ergovideo at the hardest level I've attempted so far (-15%, up from -20%), but I had my gearing in a relatively easy gear, so that the easy parts of the ride would be more relaxing. The downhills and easier sections would have me at 140-145w, whereas last time I would have been at 170w. So, easy sections easier, but hard sections harder. Net result: the average watts for the day were 1.5w higher, but the high wattage sections were 10-20w higher. The made for a lot harder ride than I expected.

I hopped off after 2:30, changed shoes, and got the treadmill moving. According to Daniels' charts, my marathon pace is a shade over 7:00/mile, so that makes for 8.5 mph. The first half-mile was unpleasant, but once I fell into my rhythm, it actually went pretty well. Three miles in 21:12, and a quick cooldown. It's odd that I was "comfortable" (ie, not dying) at 8.5 mph, but my intervals at 8.8 mph are such a struggle. That small speed increase is obviously enough to change energy systems. Give me a few more months, and these will be easy speeds. (Yeah, right.)

Then I spent the afternoon and evening doing some bike tuning. It's time to get the road bike ready to take the spot on the trainer, but I'm making it all pretty to start. New bar tape, new chain and cassette, full tune-up. Lightning McQueen will get a full work-up on Wednesday. It's spring and the bikes deserve the special treatment.

Bike: 2.5 hours, 199w average
Run: 3 miles @ 8.5 mph

Note: Don't get kicked again

Lots of new stuff in the pool this morning. We began with the warm-up we did a few weeks ago, as open-water practice (diagonal swimming toward targets) and followed that with some mass-start sprint practice. About half the group (~15 swimmers), treading water in the deep-end, then sprinting 50m before turning around and cruising back nice and easy. I know I'm fast approaching the start of my triathlon career, but I can say I'm not a real fan of this practice. When floating bodies go from vertical to horizontal, they take up much more space. And so, sometimes your head ends up directly above someone's feet. I'm happy to report I didn't start to bleed. During the last one, I got to experience what it was like to be swam (swum? swimmed?) over. A few strokes in, I take an elbow to the ribs. Next stroke, it's an elbow to the shoulder. One more, and it's the side of my head, and my goggles are dislodged. Rule for races: goggles UNDER swim cap.

Then we practiced drafting, in a paceline manner, which was fun, but a bit too easy when I wasn't pulling. Even a moderate stroke had me right on top of the person in front of me. After this, we did sprint-thrus. A group of people would swim slowly. After a few seconds, the second wave sprinted after them, and shot through the gaps to make a pass. Rabbit/sprinter was traded after each length.

The last part of the workout was more timed 100's. Our test workout, planned for Monday, has been pushed back to Friday, so we did a few today. Even after all the sprinting, I knocked out a couple of very good times. So good, in fact, that I beat everyone in my lane by at least 20 seconds, and would have been mid-pack among the next lane. Things are improving. I need to work on my pacing though. The last 25m are not as fast as the first 25. I'm not sure if "gun it and hang on" is the best strategy, but it's what works right now.

Swim: w/u - 500m open-water practice
4x50 mass start sprint/50 ez free (no ez after last sprint)
200 ez non-free
500 drafting free
500 drafting pull
6x50 sprint thru
200 ez non-free
2x100 free timed (1:37,1:41)
Total: 2750m

After work, I promise I'll do this ...
Run: 3 miles @ 7.2 mph

Time warp

There's something about hard interval workouts, especially those with short rests, that cause tears in the time-space continuum. It's the only thing that can explain it. How else could the last 60 seconds of an interval seem to last 10 minutes, and the one minute recovery last 15 seconds? It's too bad Einstein wasn't a runner or maybe he would have been able to explain this.

Needless to say, I suffered through the eight hours of intervals (the clock says 70 minutes, but see above). Solid run. Going to the well on a repeated basis like that gets pretty tough, but that's what will carry me through those last 2 kms when it's time.

Run: 70 minutes, w/8x5 minutes @ 8.8 mph, 1 minute recovery @ 6.3 mph

Was that me?

So last night my cousin was in town, so we went out for dinner, so by the time we got home and watched a bit of hockey, it was bit later than the usual bedtime. I guess in some way this was helpful, because I had one of the better swims I've ever had. After warm-up and drills, we got into a faster set, setting up next week's 8x100 test. And somehow I ended up blowing my lane out of the water. I've never felt that good swimming hard 100s, but something was on. For our second set, I got moved up a lane, to join four swimmers there. Based on my times of the first three, I was to start fourth. After the first 100, I got moved to third. After the second 100, I was moved to second spot, all because I kept catching the people in front of me. (Note: I may have been slowed down a bit by catching up to the others, but I was able to go faster because I was in the draft. So it's all a trade.) I figure I'm going to feel sore for a day or two when my body realizes what it has done, but right now, I'm pretty chuffed.

Swim: w/u - 200yds each free, non-free, pull
4x25 high elbow scull/25 pull, 10"
4x50 forearm flop, 10"
4x50 straight-back pull, 10"
500 as 25 sprint/75 ez free, 1'
3x100 timed (1:28,1:35 (crowd at the wall so I couldn't push off at 50), 1:27), 30"
300 as 100 non-free, 100 pull, 100 non-free, 30"
200 as 25 sprint/75 ez free, 1'
3x100 timed (1:27, 1:24, 1:27), 30"
Total: 2800 yds

Edit: Added a little run after work, before crashing on the couch. Nice and easy, got a few miles. I should be set up well for tomorrow's threshold run.
Run: 5 miles @ 7.2 mph

The classic FT workout

After a few months of building up the time, and reducing the reps, I've finally got to what most people think of when you talk about an FT workout, the classic 2x20 minutes. It's an odd experience, much more of a mental exercise than the shorter intervals. At about three minutes, I was considering cutting the intervals short because I'd never finish. At ten minutes, I could go forever. At fifteen minutes, I needed complete focus to get to the end.

And then I had to do the second interval.

All in all, a great workout. I hit my wattage targets, and will bump it up by 10 watts next week. The transition run afterwards went nicely. I would have expected to be tighter, but I was running pretty smooth. So, we'll call this one a win.

Bike: 65 minutes, w/2x20 minutes @ 290-300w, 5 minutes recovery
Run: 2 miles @ 7.2 mph

My shoulders

Here's something you can do if you want to be kind of sore for a while: high-elbow sculling. With your arms rotated so that your elbows are as close to your ears as possible, make your way down the pool with just a sculling motion. Then, repeat. Ow. This is how we worked on the vertical forearm part of the catch today. Needless to say, it works, but it's not much fun while you're in the water. But if it makes me faster, I'll suffer.

Swim: w/u - 200m free, 200 non-free, 200 pull
4x(50 high-elbow scull, 50 pull w/forearm flop), 10"
400 as 25 sprint/75 ez, 30"
400 as 50 hard/50 ez, 30"
300 as 100 ez non-free/100 ez pull, 30"
300 mod-hard, 30"
200 as 100 ez non-free/100 ez pull, 30"
200 mod-hard, 30"
c/d - 200 non-free
Total: 3000m

Hard ride + late night = tough run

After yesterday's ride, I spent a good portion of the day doing some painting in the house. Although it's far from draining on the legs, it does go against the maxim: "Don't stand when you can sit, don't sit when you can lie down." Then I stayed up much later than usual watching TV, but my internal alarm doesn't care much about that. And so, a bit under-recovered, I got to set out for a ten mile run. Luckily, pace meant absolutely nothing today. No watch, no heart rate, just enjoy the miles.

And so I did. Then more painting, and a nap.

Run: 10 miles, hilly

So if there will be a lot of hills

Then I better get some good work in the hills. After the rest, I pulled out a workout from 6 weeks ago, affectionately called "3 hours of hills". I set a rough target wattage (~75% FTP=215w), and based on the gradient, go above or below the target. It's pretty draining, and a good basis for my HIM racing strategy (try to stay below 150 bpm as much as possible, never go over 155 bpm). Needless to say, this strategy is out the window today, and there's no way I could after this session. (This is how I set up the strategy. Find out what doesn't work, and scale back from there.)

Unlike last time, I didn't have to take any rest breaks during the ride, and was able to push right through. The last few minutes were a struggle, and I was almost seeing spots. So we'll call that a good effort. Now I need some rest, to set up the rest of week.

Bike 180 minutes = 102.7 km, average 218.8w

End of the rest

Once more around (in a figurative sense). My "loop" of three miles on the treadmill, if it actually existed, would be getting well worn by this point. But hey, what's one more time?

Run: 3 miles @ 7.2 mph

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

Quoted from the Triathlete Magazine Ironman and Ironman 70.3 Qualifier's Guide:

Ironman 70.3 Muskoka
Bike: The one-loop bike should be challenging. There won't be any lengthy climbs, but athletes will be face over 30 small hills.

On the one hand, that's pretty good for me, since I pretty much float up climbs. I don't weigh anything, and have a high tolerance for pain. On the other hand, I can't attack these hills as an exercise in hurt, since I'll still have to run 13.1 miles afterwards. Looks like I need to learn to rein things in on rolling terrain.

Cup O' Noodles

Here's something new: a poolfull of triathletes floating around on those foam noodles. This was part of today's workout. With the noodle supporting our weight, we worked on sculling forward, backward, left and right, and around in circles. It was like a waterbound version of the hokey-pokey. I was a bit worried we'd get spotted by some of the water-aerobics crowd, and be accused of stealing their workout.

Then we got into the serious work. Looking at it now, it doesn't seem so bad, but all those paddle and moderate-hard sets dig pretty deep into the muscle. The final descending set was a bit of a struggle, but I'm pretty sure my paces were good.

I'm still in my usual lane. I didn't get the call.

Swim: w/u - 200m free, 100 non-free, 200 pull
Scull practice w/pool noodles
400 ez pull, 1"
3x200 pull w/paddles, 30"
200 ez non-free, 30"
3x200 free, mod-hard, 1'
400 as 100 non-free, 300 free descending
c/d - 200 non-free
Total: 2900m

Another spin in the new shoes

Once more, an easy three-miler in the new boots. Add a little Bodyglide, and these are the shiznit. (Am I too old to use that word?) I don't think I'll use them for the upcoming 10k, but definitely for the Du. Heart rate was a little high today (which means it cracked 140), not sure if this is the warm spring weather, the short rest after riding home, or if my HR was depressed from all the work in the last few weeks, and it's finally recovering. Once again, something to keep an eye on, but not worth stressing or making changes for. Yet.

Run: 3 miles @ 7.2 mph

Go fast. No, faster.

Interesting swim this morning, kind of a hodgepodge of stuff, but with some serious speed work thrown in. After the usual warm-up, and some time spent on drills, we got to do sprints as a group. Two heats, 7 or 8 people spread over six lanes (lots of room). 8x25 on 60". I was in the second (slower) heat. I got pipped during the first few, but then my endurance/tenacity kicked in, and finished first for the remainder. Then we did a block of easy work, which included a drill called 'truck and trailer', which basically translates to "take turns dragging another swim across the pool". Something different, and definitely not fun to pull someone hanging on your ankles. After that, it was another round of sprints. 8x25 on 60". This time I was pretty much a front-runner from the get-go, except for the last 2 sprints. It was then decided to have one heat, 15 people in six lanes, going full bore. I guess this was somewhat like the insanity of a mass-start. I held my own here, so not a bad morning.

Between the sprint blocks, I was moved to lane 4 (one faster). I doubt this was a permanent move, mainly just done to balance the lanes for 'truck and trailer' (they had 3, we had 5). Maybe sometime in the coming weeks I'll get my promotion.

Swim: w/u - 200yds each free, non-free, pull
4x50 drill/50 free (1: full scull, 2: forearm flop, 3: one-arm w/arm extended, 4: one-arm w/arm at side)
100 free as 25 ez/25 quick
8x25 sprint on 60"
100 ez non-free
200 ez pull
300 truck and trailer
200 ez pull
100 ez non-free
8x25 sprint on 60"
c/d - 100 ez non-free
Total: 2400yds

After work...
Bike: 30 minutes, zone 1-2

Enjoy the recovery

I had some issues with the bike-commuting today, and under normal circumstances would have used the frustration to power through some kind of horrible interval session, but this week is recovery, so no doing stuff like that. Instead, I did another run in my new racing flats. This time I added a bit of Bodyglide, and there were no issues at all. It takes a mile or so to get used to the stride change, but once I get in that groove, it was all good. Nice and relaxed, HR was low. A few more days like this and I'll be ready to fire it up this weekend. (By "days like this" I mean the easy workout, not the mechanicals on the bike.)

Run: 3 miles @ 7.2 mph

Not exactly restful

Well, since I was pretty shattered last night, I was in bed about an hour earlier than usual. I think it helped, since I'm feeling pretty good today, but there's no way I'm getting away from my plan of a recovery week. I know I need it. I've been complaining enough for the last week.

The swim this morning wasn't the most restful way to start the week, but I'll be fine. I'm more concerned about my legs anyway. We opened with some open-water practice, starting at one-corner of the deep-end, and swimming a V (lane lines were removed for this time). Since we had all kinds of speeds swimming together, there was some practice drafting, sighting the cones as a target, a little bumping and foot-grabbing. Good times. Then it was a speed workout. Lots of efforts, and lots of rest. I'm learning (slowly) that I go my fastest at about 95% effort. When I try to go 100%, I end up slapping and flailing and not doing much. (I may be raising the concern of the lifeguards, but they haven't tried to fish me out. Yet.) So by slowing down a little and making sure I'm stroking properly, I do better. I got a reminder about one of my earliest tips that I may have been letting slip recently, to reach all the way forward. I get a stronger catch and pull, and just as important, the farther out I reach, the more likely I am to pull all the way through (I have a tendency to stop at my hip). The 100s we did were timed. I hit 1:48, 1:50, 1:49, and 1:48, so even dead-tired, I was consistent. I think we have another 8x100 test day in a few weeks, so I'd love to see a good set of low numbers for that.

Swim: w/u - 550m open-water practice
100m non-free, 30"
4x25 sprint/25 back, 30"
200 ez pull, 30"
4x50 sprint/50 back, 30"
200 ez pull, 30"
4x(100 sprint, 30", 100 ez pull, 30")
c/d - 2x(100 pull/50 back, 30")
Total: 2750m

Run: 3 miles @ 7.2 mph

Last day before I can rest

First, there were a few events I forgot about when mentioning all the racing this weekend. Turns out the O-Cup begins with Westover-Strabane, and one of the fastest marathons happened in London. Big day for Ryan Hall, running the 3rd fastest time ever for an American in 6th place. Second, congrats to my assistant coach for swimming, who was first out of the water at IMAZ. I'll need to pay more attention when she shows up to coach.

Today was just a relaxing 10 miler, two loops through the hills. I took the first lap especially slow, and I'm quite happy with what I did the second lap. Considering my legs are shot at this point, it was a good effort. Not quite relaxing, there was some effort put in, but that's kind of refreshing in its own way.

Run: 10.5 miles, 44:29/42:05

Big weekend (for other people)

Back to Holland for another run through the second half of the Green Heart Classic. This is the second time I've done this course, and the second time the video has frozen about halfway through. That's kind of frustrating. The program will still run, but it's not as engaging when you can't see the terrain, especially since I'm riding through the pan-flat Dutch countryside. But all in all, a good ride. I was tired but not exhausted at the end, which, considering how I've felt the last couple of days, is surprising. Now I just need to get in a good run tomorrow, and I get five days of pseudo-relaxation.

Lots going on for racing tomorrow. There is an ITU race in Japan, and two Ironman races (South Africa and Arizona). Add in Paris-Roubaix, and the start of the OCA season at Mosport, and a bunch of calories will be burned worldwide. Good luck to everyone participating in anything. I can't wait to toe a line in the coming months.

Bike: 2.5 hours, zone 1-3, 65-80% FTP (185-230w)

Did I do that?

It's been a long week of training. Two hard swims, a hard ride and hard run, plus commuting. Once I get through the weekend, I get to cruise through 5 days of recovery, with <30 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">cooldown. Get in the water, put your face down, and swim. Not much else needs to be said.

Remember when I did 2km, and how tired I was? Well, multiply that by 2.5 (tiredness is exponentially distributed), and you can guess where I am right now. If I didn't have officemates, I'd probably be napping under my desk. I'm conscious due to coffee and Pop Tarts.

I didn't do the effort as a straight swim. We were given the option to use the pull buoy, so given the soreness in my legs, and my desire to ride hard tomorrow, I took a couple of breaks. Additionally, all my races this year will be wetsuit legal, so I'll have that for added floatation (once I get around to actually buying it). There's only a small piece of me that feels guilty for taking the "easy" way, but the coach OK'ed it, faster lanes were doing it, and I know I don't always have to find the hardest workout I can (I did stop my rear wheel from rubbing, after all). If I really wanted to do the hardest workout I could get, I could have gone with ankle bands. Sometimes it's better to back off a little and be able to go again.

I guess in some way I'm a Lifetime Ironman now. I've done over 112 miles on the bike, I've finished marathons, and now I've done the swim. I have even more respect for those people who string it together in one day. Maybe, a few years from now, I'll be among them. Maybe.

Swim: 1x3800m as 1000m free, 1000m pull, 1000m free, 500m pull, 300m free (Time: 1:23ish)

Note: I lapped a couple of lanemates, who finished on the same lap as me, and are quite confident they did the right distance, so I may have done 3900m. I suck at counting. Good thing I don't do math for a living or anything.

After work I'll do this:
Run: 3 miles @ 7.2 mph

"This better pay off"

That was the primary thought I could muster through the last interval. Threshold work on the run is just tough. Even more than on the bike, it can start so easy, but by the end of the interval your heart is in your throat and you're counting the seconds until you can hit the "go slower" button. At least the treadmill is keeping me honest. I think I'm starting to overcome the sense of dread before these sessions, but trust me, I'm not sorry that I don't have to do this next week.

Today was 3x12 minutes, with 2 minutes rest. That makes for 6 more minutes at threshold pace than last time, a 20% improvement. Normally I don't bother counting strides during an interval (I'm too busy focused on ignoring the hurt), but today I found out I'm running this pace at 96-100 spm. My long run/marathon turnover is usually 92-94, so I'm really cranking. I might try to work on lengthening my stride and cutting the turnover back a little, but since it's working right now, I probably won't mess with it until after the races.

This part of my blog post is rated BF, for bodily function talk:
Two weeks in a row now, I've learned an important lesson. Threshold pace is better than All Bran at clearing the system. I can barely get through the cooldown before I have to sprint upstairs. I can't imagine the panic if I was doing these workouts on the road. I'll feel a little bad if, after the upcoming 10k, my fastest pace isn't the sprint in the homestretch, but instead from the finish line to the port-a-john. I am hereby renaming threshold pace (sorry Dr. Daniels, there's a more appropriate name) as "crapyerpants" fast. I see this discussion taking place at a track between a coach and his athlete:
A: What's my pace for today's workout?
C: 4x1000m at "Crapyerpants" fast, and 4x400 at "crapyerpants" fast -10%.

Run: 60 minutes, w/3x12 min @ 8.8 mph, 2 min recovery

Like Mercury's Talaria

I got a package in the mail yesterday. Inside, my new race shoes. (My wife's first comment: "They're very ... yellow.") So I needed to test them out today, make sure the fit is right, and that they're the right shoe for me. So, onto the treadmill, I go.

It was an easy run, so I didn't take them up to speed. It was a different feel, since it's closer to a true racing flat than what I usually wear. It took a mile or two, but it felt OK. They're designed to be worn without socks, so I tried to pay attention to any hotspots. Nothing of any real significance, although there was some tenderness on one toe. There's no seams, so it may be just having to condition my foot for sockless running. Otherwise, the fit is good. It's a half-size down from my Nikes, but according to my reading, that's what most people are doing. I'll take these out for a couple of short runs next week as well, to make sure everything is right. But I think I've found a fast shoe for the season.

Run: 4 miles @ 7.2 mph

Not what I expected

So, we had a 750m TT on Monday (followed by a pretty good workout), and we know we have a 3800m distance swim on Friday. Tough week. So what should we do on Wednesday? I was really hoping to see "Main Set: splash around in the shallow end. Water wings are allowed." But that wasn't it.

There was a long warm-up. (Nice. That's all easy swimming.) Then a bunch of drills. (Not too bad, takes more focus but the effort is still pretty low.) Then a particularly nasty descending set workout. (What? That's not good at all.) 10x100 descending, 30" rest. I thought, "I don't have 10 different speeds. I have three: dead man's float, kind of hard, sprint." This was less than fun.

(OK, I say that, but I admit that any other week I'd have a serious love/hate relationship with this. That's the great thing about tough workouts: they suck, they hurt, but man are they effective.)

Swim: w/u - 200yds free, 300 as 25 back/25 breast/25 free, 300 pull as 25 quick/50 ez
4x200, 30" as 25 drill/25 free (1: full scull, 2: forearm flop, 3: straight-line pull, 4: tripwire)
10x100, 30" descending free (1:56 -> 1:35)
c/d - 200 ez non-free
Total: 2800 yds

Keep turning the legs over

Another good, but very tiring, session on the bike. My strength is coming back even faster than I expected. It will be interesting to see how fast I am in real world terms, since the i-Magic probably isn't entirely accurate. But at least the numbers there are going up every time.

One important thing to note is that my heart rate this week, at powers consistently 5-10w higher than last, was 5-10 bpm lower across the board. So there's even more evidence that last week was some kind of anomaly. It's an outlier. Trend FTW!

Bike: 65 minutes w/3x12 min @ 290-300w, 3 min recovery
Run: 2 miles @ 7.2 mph

Start of a tough week

By the end of this year, this week will probably go down as one of the hardest. There are two test sessions in the pool (one for speed, the other for endurance), threshold workouts on the bike and on the run, and topped by the usual weekend double-header of bike trainer/run hills. I probably should have rested a bit more this weekend, instead of trying to eat my weight. But I didn't, so I'll have to get stronger for it.

It starts today in the water. After a lengthy warm-up, which included some faster work to get the blood moving, we had a 750m TT. It seems like an odd distance choice to an outsider, but that's the length of the classic Sprint distance, so this should give me some idea as to where my speed will be for race season. As I said last week, I would love to see sub-15:00, but I'll take anything under 16 minutes. I didn't look at a clock during the test, since I'd just get confused trying to figure out my start time, and which color hand I started on. Head down and hammer was the plan.

For the most part, I'm happy with the result. I know my form was all over the place. There were some really good lengths, and some not so good. Interestingly, they were spread all over the TT. I need to continue grooving my stroke. The effort was hard, but I could have gotten out of the water and ridden away, so not quite all-out. My breathing for most of it was 2 breaths every five strokes (2 strokes, breathe, 3 strokes, breathe...). I got held up a little when I was lapping a lanemate (caught two of them), but that's maybe a few seconds I gave up. The worst part was hitting the wall at 650m, and not being sure if I had 100 or 200m to go. If I hung it out for 100m, and was wrong, my last 100 would have taken about an hour. So rather than sprint it home, I went fairly hard, but leaving a little in the tank. All told, a solid effort, and I finished in 15:46. Made the outside goal, which is good, and I know what I need to work on to get some more time to come off. I'll be giving away some time to the leaders, but the smaller the gap the better.

We finished with a somewhat easy workout, just to do some more after the TT. Hopefully Wednesday will be fairly easy, what with 3800m coming on Friday. That's a big number right there.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free (as 50 breast/50 back), pull
4x25 quick/25 ez, 15"
2x100 free, mod-hard, 30"
50 breast/50 free/100 pull
750m TT: 15:46
50 breast/50 back, 30"
100 pull, 30"
2x150 pull w/paddles, 30"
50 breast/50 back, 30"
100 pull, 30"
4x25 sprint, 30"
c/d - 50 breast/50 back
Total: 2850m

Keeping On

I'm really going to enjoy my Sunday mornings. Getting out for a nice 10 miler, as I'll be doing for the next few weeks, is a great way to start the day. We've had pretty good weather, the traffic is light, and there's lots of terrain to mix things up. I know I'm getting stronger every time out.

This is the only run I do without a HR monitor. I don't like to race with heart rate on the run, so this allows me to go by feel. All I take is a watch, and I'm not even that concerned with pace. Things can change too much week to week. My only goal is to negative-split the run (I do a 5.25-mile loop twice). If I do the first loop too fast, then I have to pay for it by doing the second even faster. That'll teach me to be more conservative.

Today's run went without too much effort. Not too fast, just a nice even pace. An afternoon of hockey and Mongolian BBQ for dinner capped the day. Good stuff.

Run: 10.5 miles, 43:42 (8:19/mile)/42:33 (8:06/mile)

Every bit of improvement counts

Another morning on the trainer. The weather is finally turning, and outdoor rides will be possible (and regular) soon. I think my new club starts the group rides on May 3, so that will give me a few chances out before my first race. Today I stayed in the basement, and did a repeat of the Green Heart Classic RLV, part I. Just like last time, I ramped up the effort every 20 km, now calibrated to me new (estimated) FTP. It's a tough ride, but good.

Then I ran errands, and tried to have a nap. Couldn't really nod off, since I've left the TV on the Canadian Olympic Trials for swimming. Good lord, these folks are fast. It boggles the mind. They're literally over twice as fast as I am. The world record in the marathon isn't twice as fast as me. The best 40km TT riders in the world aren't twice as fast as me. But these people are. Really puts things in perspective. I need to really hammer it on Monday.

Bike: 2.5 hours, zone 1-3, 65-80% FTP (185-230w)

I guess it's coming together

After a bit of a restless night's sleep (ache in the legs), I had another early rise for another swim. (Q: When will I stop talking about how early I wake up? A: When I stop waking up at 4:50.) The legs actually weren't too bad, it wasn't like "I can't go down stairs" pain, just a dull ache to remind me of what I did yesterday.

Just to make things fun, we had our assistant coach out today, fresh from Oceanside 70.3, so things get switched up a bit. You can imagine my joy when I see that the warm-up includes a couple of 100m kick lengths. (Did I mention the ache?) The workout was actually lots of fun, with different paces throughout the main set. I was swimming very strong today, to the point that I lapped my lane. Two reasons for this: 1) I had a good day, and was putting out a good effort, 2) Because I lead the lane, there's no one to talk to during shorter rest periods, so I can keep to the prescribed workout. Sometimes the rest of the lane takes longer rest with some chatting. (Not a complaint or a criticism, just an observation.)

Swim: w/u - 2x300m as 100 free/100 kick/100 pull
3x(200 free, 30", moderate
2x100 free, 30", faster than pace of 200
200 ez pull, 30")
c/d - 400 as 50 drill/50 free (1&2: six-kick switch, 3&4: one-arm (5 strokes per arm))
Total: 2800m

For the three 200m efforts, I did 4:04, 4:04, 4:14. My goal for the 100s then was sub-2:00, and I got it every time (1:53-1:59). These weren't quite all-out, but I wasn't going to be holding that pace a whole lot longer. When I was getting a bit too far ahead of my lane, there was some talk of moving me up, but I think it's best we wait and see what Adam thinks about that. Maybe I'm not shit anymore, I may suck.

We'll see how the 750m TT goes on Monday. I'd love 15:00, but would be excited with 16:00.

Run: 3 miles @ 7.2 mph

The start of speedwork

It's a rare occasion that I get nervous before a workout. Maybe for some of the swim sessions that I'm aware of beforehand, but not very often for running or cycling. Tonight was one of those times. I've actually been dreading this for over a week. I haven't done anything resembling speedwork on the run since November. That's five months, a long time between hard efforts. With about 6 weeks until my first 10k, it was time. I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold the pace required for my goals, and the treadmill would be forcing me to. (I considered asking my wife to buy a video recorder, in case I get shot off the treadmill. If I'm going to fail my workout, I might as well win America's Funniest Home Videos, or gain Youtube notoriety.)

My nerves were apparent right away, when a warm-up jog at 6.3 mph forced a heart rate of 143 bpm. Then it was time to get the work done. And so I did. It wasn't easy (it wasn't supposed to be), but I made it, without floundering at any point. I'll call that a win. Let's see how I feel tomorrow. It might not be a win by then.

Run: 55 minutes, w/15 min @ 8.8 mph, 3 min recovery, 10 min @ 8.8 mph, 2 min recovery, 5 min @ 8.8 mph

Solid little run

It was a just a short, easy effort after work. Four miles, no stress. Since my HR was up so high yesterday, it was kind of neat seeing that over the whole ride I never went above 139. So that tells you something about the usefulness of a single HR observation.

Now I'm hopefully all set for tomorrow's speed work. Is it wrong to be a little nervous?

Run: 4 miles @ 7.2 mph

Some days, I just don't know

So Monday was a little disappointing, what with my failure to swim quick at the end of the workout. This morning, I wanted to make up for it with a quality effort. I was able to ride to the pool, which made for a little warm-up, then off we went. Honestly, within the first few lengths, I figured I was going to suck all day. Nothing felt right. But given our usual crew, I was once again sent off to lead the lane through the main set.

That's when things changed. There was no timing today, but I had a huge day. Every set, I pulled whoever was behind me away from the rest of the group. We leave at about 10 second intervals, so when I'd finish, someone would pull in 8-15 seconds later, then it would be another 20-30 seconds to third position. And they rotated who followed me every set. And a few times, I was either right with, or passing, the faster lane next to us. But still, my form didn't feel very tight. Assuming my catch adjustment was wrong, I tried a kind of hybrid of what I used to do, and what I just tried. It seems fast. I don't get quite the same "climbing the ladder" sensation, but hopefully as I groove this, it will come.

Like I said, some days, I just don't know.

Swim: w/u - 200yds each free, non-free, pull + 2x25 quick/75 ez
300 free, 30", as 75 ez/25 hard/50 ez/50 hard/25 ez/75 hard
50 breast/50 back, 30"
2x150 pull w/paddles, 15"
50 breast/50 back, 30"
300 tempo (mod-hard), 30"
250 as 50 breast/50 back, 150 ez pull
300 free, 30", as 75 ez/25 hard/50 ez/50 hard/25 ez/75 hard
50 breast/50 back, 30"
2x150 pull w/paddles, 15"
250 as 50 breast/50 back, 150 ez pull
Total: 3100 yds

I am NOT the April Fool

Tough session on the trainer this evening. More FTP work, longer sets, and because I'm convinced that my FTP should have gone up although I was too racked to do the test, harder intervals. It could have been a very bad night.

But I was able to power through all of the sets. From last week's 4x8 min, we've moved to 3x12. One less interval, but each interval is 150% in length, and the total work time for the day goes up by 4 minutes (12.5%). As I complained above, I believe my FTP should have gone up at least 5% from the last test (from 271 to ~285w). With the sickness, I didn't re-test to confirm this at all, so I'm dumb enough to just go out and assume it. Luckily, I looks like I was right. I was able to hold ~290w for all three work sets. I can't say it was easy, the last couple of minutes of each interval were tests of concentration, but I had the juice to get through. Nice ride. I don't feel completely shattered, but I'm pretty worked.

Heart rate was a bit high again, but I'm not too worried. At similar power levels last week, I was about 10 bpm lower. There's no good reason for such a high rate today, but it was consistent right from warm-up through the work. I'll chalk this up as an anomaly, until I start seeing a more consistent issue. I prefer to think of heart rate as a trend variable. Too many confounding factors for any one observation to have a great deal of meaning, but patterns are worth checking out. And there's no pattern yet.

Bike: 65 minutes, w/3x12 min @ >285w, 3 min recovery
Run: 2 miles @ 7.2 mph