1000 fairly easy @ 1:38 pace 1000 with finis freestyle paddles (one finger, small) @ 1:34 pace 1000 pull buoy (no paddles) @ 1:33
OK here's the interesting part: 400 as 25s on the 45 sec. (so pretty substantial, but not complete, rest) Odds "easy but no breaths"; evens "hard" The crazy things is that the "easy but no breath" ones were surprisingly close to as fast as the ones I tried to crank on. My lap-button skills are pretty bad, but it looks like the Garmin has both a length time and a lap time, with the latter longer...so I take the lap time as more accurate here... Anyway, it took me a few of those "no breathe" ones to settle in, but then I started hitting them in 21-22 sec. Most of the "hard" ones were 19-20 sec. Yes, faster, but not as much as the work reflects. Lesson: anything that makes you think about what you're doing and do it as efficiently as possible (as not breathing) in swimming is probably good.
OK, enough soapbox.
finished up with 400 pull with a parachute at the grand pace of 1:57 and 13 (26) average strokes per length.
I hadn't used the parachute until this season. Very interesting tool. It feels like you might imagine swimming uphill or into a strong wind to be. As long as you're pulling (so feet don't interfere with the strap), it otherwise feel more like regular swimming than does using a paddle. Can't do it in a lane with 5 people though....but if you get a chance to try, go for it. :-)
Not quite as quick as Wednesday…average pace for the workout overall was the same but it seems all the intervals were about 1 sec/100 slower and then I did the 500 at the end much faster. Probably because a couple of guys got in the lane right as I was starting the 400 and we had to circle swim. There's nothing quite like getting chased around the pool to give you a few extra seconds per 100!
Overall 2500 SCY, avg pace 1:36/100. Avg efficiency 37, 10 strokes/length. Took 1:00 rest between each MS.
I ran 8 miles tonight in 68'. Weather was great for winter...37F light rain and 20 mph gusts.... oh wait it is supposed to be spring. I did yesterday's run but cut it a little short to makes sure my sore rt calf was ok. It was. I was able to do 3 x 1 mile @ 7:40 and then cruised along at 8:30 pace in between. HR was encouragingly low...never got above 130 even when I did the Z3 intervals. I clearly could have gone for another 2-3 miles but didn't want to make my calf worse.
Went for a fun, short run tonight. Intended to run kinda brisk, but probably 7:30ish, maybe 7:15.
Got started and it just went a little nuts. A little over 4 miles total. 7:14 6:30 6:23 6:18 Ok by the end here I knew I was running fast by my HR, but it still felt great. Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.
Great training day today! Started off with an early morning swim for 2750 yards. Back home for breakfast, then did the run / bike combo from tomorrow because it was supposed to rain today (and not tomorrow). Didn't rain when I wanted to run so was able to run outside, legs felt great and had good speed and rhythm. Then did the 2h ABP on the trainer since it started raining right after I came home.
2h ABP has been a struggle this year (because most of these I have to do indoors), decided to break it up into chunks of 10 minutes i.e. 8 in aero at target power and 2 sitting up, drinking, standing, etc. Seems to make it MUCH more manageable.
First in-season Saturday brick...it was big, and it was tough!
The HIM week #12 schedule called for 180' on the bike 2x20'(4')@z4 then 2x30'(2')@z3. Plus a 30' brick. It was 30 degrees with snow flurries so this was on the trainer, and per the protocol I established last season, trainer rides max out at a bit over 2 hours…i.e. do the main sets but no filler time. So the ride ends up being about 130' or so. Unlike last year I wimped out and opened the window and cranked the fan!!
Now here was the mental toughness aspect…the kids were in the basement watching their shows on a Saturday morning and letting mom (pregnant and due in June) sleep in. So for the first full hour – including the 2x20' FTP set – I watched Mickey Mouse Club then 2 episodes of "Olivia". Oh my. By the time mom came down I was an hour in and it was too late to start a movie for the z3 stuff, so I went with Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel.
Overall it was a TOUGH workout. My HR was in check (probably because the room was down to the mid-to-low 60's temp and the fans were cranking), but my power was a bit lower than usual for the z4s. The power was also a positive split with the second 20' a bit lower than the first…not typical. Furthermore, the 2x30'(2')@z3 went on and on and on and on… I'm just not used to that kind of riding yet so it took a toll both mentally and physically.
The brick run was likewise tough and my paces were nowhere near the usual 6:4x. It was cold and windy and my legs were tired. Overall the workout ended up being over 2.5 hours which is materially longer than anything I've done in a long time. After sitting for a while I got up and was stiff so clearly it was a hard workout. The ABP tomorrow should be "interesting".
Bike – overall 132', NP 222, IF 0.875. Full warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 3x3'(1')@z3. Then the main set:
Nice work Matt! As to riding on the trainer and watching Man vs Food, that would not work for me! Couple weeks ago i watched Diners, Drive ins 'n Dives while on the trainer, i got so hungry and such a craving for junk food i jumped off the trainer as soon as that episode was done. Lesson learned, don't watch food programs on the trainer!
It's funny, I watch garbage TV all the time on the trainer. Mostly because a 1-hour ride is too short for a movie and most shows require concentrating on the TV and when doing FTP work it's really just background noise to me. So Man vs. Food, Bizarre Foods, Chopped, etc are all very common for my trainer rides.
I resolved to stay on my intensity strike for the whole week, but I did get out there and do a 3 hour ABP ride today. That first 3 hr ride was not easy.
Gotta say, that was WORK. I took about 20 minutes to diddle around and warm up, and then it was 30 minute 85% sets the rest of the way. I guessed right and came in just at 3 hours. Kinda windy, kinda cold, but not extreme in either case. During the last hour, I had a hard time keeping the power where I wanted, so I ended up standing up more than I should. It was a call I had to make...suffer power or get out of position but use the muscles. Not sure if it was the right call, but I went for the up and down game. At least it was standing, not sitting up.
The HR data are useless. I have a new strap that I tried out with a very old transmitter (new battery). Tossed the transmitter after the ride. Oh well. I'm a little discouraged at the slowness of the ride 18.9 mph. I'm hoping that was largely the wind, which kind of died down on the way back and my very non aero clothing and positioning. We'll see. Couple other rides outside have been in the 21 mph range, which is more like it.
Anyway, despite no FTP intervals, this came out to 210 TSS points using my indoor FTP, which is several W higher than outdoor. (Yes, I'm That Guy.) I found that last year, I was almost always in the 180s for these three hour rides, so it's an interesting commentary that the ABP style riding can ALSO be a lot of work.
208 NP, 0.84 IF, 3 hrs, 210 TSS.
My brick run was limited to two miles for time. It's prom night. First mile was a little tough. (that ride was hard!) But the second mile came in a lot quicker. It's all good.
@ william, well looks like you hauled faster on the way back. I assume those small dropoffs in the elevation profile are bridges and not some sort of crazy divot in the land??
Yeah, it was 1:40 out and 1:20 back. I was guessing how much wind had been in my face...but I think it died down. I can ride a lot of that road 25-27 with any kind of tailwind. Oh well.
Those dips are actually a river valley crossing worthy of anything on the KS or WI course. Getting to just the other side of it marks 25 miles from my house. There's a turn on it, and usually a pretty mean crosswind or I'd totally fly down. First time this season, so I only topped out at about 37-38 one way about about 42 the other. Typically ride about 8 mph going up. 6 mph if it's at mile 75 on a century on a very hot day. :-)
So, yeah, it's a crazy divot in the land. It's about 250 feet fall and rise over about 1.2 mi, but it's steeper (almost 10% grade) in one direction.
Funny thing is that they call it the "Pilot Mound Hill" or "Twister Hill". The first time I tried to find "The Hill", I didn't know it was a backwards/insideout/inverted hill and I rode back totally mystified as to where this thing was (having gone another 5 miles out or so). Eventually someone told me that yeah, that's it. :-)
Plan for today was to do what we were supposed to do yesterday, since I switched both days due to weather. Started off with the run (been doing that consistently), legs felt tired from yesterday but no problem hitting the right pace. 34' and 48 TSS. Then planned on doing a 3h bike including the FTP test. Legs were tired from the start so opted to make my warmup longer to about 40' z1. Did VO2 interval on a hill but had difficulty maintaining power due to legs being tired and the hill being inconsistent and requiring too much shifting. Bailed after 4' since I didn't think I was getting useful numbers. Decided to make the rest of the ride a random ABP ride, would let the terrain determine the power. 188 TSS by end of the ride, so 237 for the day. Happy with that, it's been a good training weekend.
@ Ben, yeah, there's a reason the FTP long ride is the day BEFORE the Sunday ABP...
Ha, yes, I knew that And I also swam yesterday, plus did that ABP ride on the trainer (which makes it more than a 2h ABP ride according to my muscles' response). So I figured today was gonna be hard but you never know, sometimes you feel great when you're not supposed to.
Next week I have a race rehearsal planned so will use my target power based on my estimate of outdoor FTP, and experience from IM Cali two weeks ago. Im quite confident it will be reliable.
Yeeks! I just found this thread. Hopefully now that I am subscribed to the forum, I'll follow with you all.(I track the forums via email notification.)
So far today, I did the swim RR. I always swim Sun AM, with my wife for SAUs ... Even OWS in season. Some of you may know, my swimming has been an ongoing frustration for the past 2.5 years. EG, before I was doing 32-34 min for HIM, Wildflower last year was 37, and I was pleased with my progress at that.
Today, 2100yds in 35:25, splits of 8:33/30/25/22 with 1:33 for last 100. Noting the SPL comments earlier, I started @ 14-15, and finished @ 16-17.
This was really the lower limit of what I expected from my current wko times ... meaning I went as fast as I thought I could/should. Im hoping that translates into - 35:xx time @ St George. NB: I do this with a PB & flip turns.
First in-season ABP and I did it on the trainer starting afte rthe kids went to bed at 6:30pm. These workouts are sneaky. They start easy but by the end you're cooked. The great part about them is that – unlike the z4 – the intensity is not so much that I can't pay attention to the movie. And they're long enough that you can watch an entire movie start-to-finish. Today I watched Cliffhanger. Stallone…great stuff. Lots of action. The movie was the perfect length and ended with 5 minutes left to go in the workout.
I structured the workout to have a 15' warmup (10' easy then 2x1'(1')@z4 then 1' easy) then z3 intervals of 60'(3') followed by 2x20'(2'). So that made exactly 120'. The first interval was great up until the last 10' when it started to get hard. I was in the aerobars for almost the whole hour…I just took 1' out of the bars at the 47' mark and another 30" sitting up at the 55' point. I also had to take a short break to answer the doorbell at the 15' point just as things were getting underway. Surprisingly the first of the 2x20' actually felt good and I only took 1' sitting up out of the aerobars (at the halfway mark). The last 20' was hard. The room was up over 75 degrees by this point and I was SOAKED…massive puddle of sweat under my bike. I took 1' sitting up at the 5', 10' and 15' points. By the time there was 5' left I knew I had the workout in the bag and pushed a few extra watts to the finish line – you can see it in the HR chart.
In general I'm really happy to have nailed these two 120'+ workouts on the trainer on back-to-back days. I was worried heading into this weekend about how I'd hold up to the in-season volume but it looks like things are off to a good start.
Bike – overall 120', NP 214, IF 0.841. Warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 2x1'(1')@z4, then 1' easy. Then the main set:
Irked by real life, my Sunday ride was cut short to 1.5 hrs. No good excuse not to get up at 4:30 in the morning except that I hate doing that, it was prom night the night before, and there were teenagers strewn sleeping in my basement. Crappy weather, so I pulled an Aaronson and rode it on the trainer during my one window in the late afternoon. I knew time was sort so I kept to a pretty short warmup and then just tried to hit it.
Comments
Swam again. Just a long aerobic bit with one little other set in it. But it had something really interesting. Read below!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/296888896
1000 fairly easy @ 1:38 pace
1000 with finis freestyle paddles (one finger, small) @ 1:34 pace
1000 pull buoy (no paddles) @ 1:33
OK here's the interesting part: 400 as 25s on the 45 sec. (so pretty substantial, but not complete, rest) Odds "easy but no breaths"; evens "hard"
The crazy things is that the "easy but no breath" ones were surprisingly close to as fast as the ones I tried to crank on. My lap-button skills are pretty bad, but it looks like the Garmin has both a length time and a lap time, with the latter longer...so I take the lap time as more accurate here... Anyway, it took me a few of those "no breathe" ones to settle in, but then I started hitting them in 21-22 sec. Most of the "hard" ones were 19-20 sec. Yes, faster, but not as much as the work reflects. Lesson: anything that makes you think about what you're doing and do it as efficiently as possible (as not breathing) in swimming is probably good.
OK, enough soapbox.
finished up with 400 pull with a parachute at the grand pace of 1:57 and 13 (26) average strokes per length.
I hadn't used the parachute until this season. Very interesting tool. It feels like you might imagine swimming uphill or into a strong wind to be. As long as you're pulling (so feet don't interfere with the strap), it otherwise feel more like regular swimming than does using a paddle. Can't do it in a lane with 5 people though....but if you get a chance to try, go for it. :-)
3800 total for the day.
Overall 2500 SCY, avg pace 1:36/100. Avg efficiency 37, 10 strokes/length. Took 1:00 rest between each MS.
Paces:
Warmup 500 – 1:40
MS1:
- 3x100(20), desc – 1:38, 1:36, 1:32
- 3x100(15), desc – 1:39, 1:37, 1:34
- 3x100(10), desc – 1:40, 1:37, 1:35
MS2:
- 4x50(20), desc – 1:35, 1:32, 1:31, 1:28
- 4x50(15), desc – 1:35, 1:32, 1:33, 1:31
- 4x50(10), desc – 1:37, 1:35, 1:35, 1:32
MS3:
- 1x400 – 1:37
Cooldown 100 – 1:33
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/296939334
Went for a fun, short run tonight. Intended to run kinda brisk, but probably 7:30ish, maybe 7:15.
Got started and it just went a little nuts. A little over 4 miles total.
7:14
6:30
6:23
6:18 Ok by the end here I knew I was running fast by my HR, but it still felt great. Looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.
Overall 27:15 for 4.13 miles, 6:36 average. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/296975017
2h ABP has been a struggle this year (because most of these I have to do indoors), decided to break it up into chunks of 10 minutes i.e. 8 in aero at target power and 2 sitting up, drinking, standing, etc. Seems to make it MUCH more manageable.
Productive day, so I'm happy!
The HIM week #12 schedule called for 180' on the bike 2x20'(4')@z4 then 2x30'(2')@z3. Plus a 30' brick. It was 30 degrees with snow flurries so this was on the trainer, and per the protocol I established last season, trainer rides max out at a bit over 2 hours…i.e. do the main sets but no filler time. So the ride ends up being about 130' or so. Unlike last year I wimped out and opened the window and cranked the fan!!
Now here was the mental toughness aspect…the kids were in the basement watching their shows on a Saturday morning and letting mom (pregnant and due in June) sleep in. So for the first full hour – including the 2x20' FTP set – I watched Mickey Mouse Club then 2 episodes of "Olivia". Oh my. By the time mom came down I was an hour in and it was too late to start a movie for the z3 stuff, so I went with Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel.
Overall it was a TOUGH workout. My HR was in check (probably because the room was down to the mid-to-low 60's temp and the fans were cranking), but my power was a bit lower than usual for the z4s. The power was also a positive split with the second 20' a bit lower than the first…not typical. Furthermore, the 2x30'(2')@z3 went on and on and on and on… I'm just not used to that kind of riding yet so it took a toll both mentally and physically.
The brick run was likewise tough and my paces were nowhere near the usual 6:4x. It was cold and windy and my legs were tired. Overall the workout ended up being over 2.5 hours which is materially longer than anything I've done in a long time. After sitting for a while I got up and was stiff so clearly it was a hard workout. The ABP tomorrow should be "interesting".
Bike – overall 132', NP 222, IF 0.875. Full warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 3x3'(1')@z3. Then the main set:
20'(4') @z4 – NP: 253 (IF 0.997), VI 1.00, HR 163/172, cad 89
20'(4') @z4 – NP: 251 (IF 0.988), VI 1.00, HR 168/174, cad 89
-------------------------------------------
30'(2') @ z3 – NP: 218 (IF 0.858), VI 1.00, HR 153/158, cad 89
30' @ z3 – NP: 217 (IF 0.854), VI 1.00, HR 153/158, cad 89
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297256068
Run – overall 4.24 miles in 30:02, avg pace 7:04
Split.......Time.......Distance.......Avg Pace
1.......3:43.2 .......0.49 .......7:37
2.......3:29.9 .......0.50 .......7:02
3.......3:39.9 .......0.50 .......7:17
4.......5:07.8 .......0.72 .......7:06
5.......5:07.2 .......0.73 .......7:01
6.......3:37.9 .......0.53 .......6:53
7.......3:21.1 .......0.49 .......6:49
8.......1:54.6 .......0.28 .......6:45
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297256309
Gotta say, that was WORK. I took about 20 minutes to diddle around and warm up, and then it was 30 minute 85% sets the rest of the way. I guessed right and came in just at 3 hours. Kinda windy, kinda cold, but not extreme in either case. During the last hour, I had a hard time keeping the power where I wanted, so I ended up standing up more than I should. It was a call I had to make...suffer power or get out of position but use the muscles. Not sure if it was the right call, but I went for the up and down game. At least it was standing, not sitting up.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297443574
The HR data are useless. I have a new strap that I tried out with a very old transmitter (new battery). Tossed the transmitter after the ride. Oh well. I'm a little discouraged at the slowness of the ride 18.9 mph. I'm hoping that was largely the wind, which kind of died down on the way back and my very non aero clothing and positioning. We'll see. Couple other rides outside have been in the 21 mph range, which is more like it.
Anyway, despite no FTP intervals, this came out to 210 TSS points using my indoor FTP, which is several W higher than outdoor. (Yes, I'm That Guy.) I found that last year, I was almost always in the 180s for these three hour rides, so it's an interesting commentary that the ABP style riding can ALSO be a lot of work.
208 NP, 0.84 IF, 3 hrs, 210 TSS.
My brick run was limited to two miles for time. It's prom night. First mile was a little tough. (that ride was hard!) But the second mile came in a lot quicker. It's all good.
Those dips are actually a river valley crossing worthy of anything on the KS or WI course. Getting to just the other side of it marks 25 miles from my house. There's a turn on it, and usually a pretty mean crosswind or I'd totally fly down. First time this season, so I only topped out at about 37-38 one way about about 42 the other. Typically ride about 8 mph going up. 6 mph if it's at mile 75 on a century on a very hot day. :-)
So, yeah, it's a crazy divot in the land. It's about 250 feet fall and rise over about 1.2 mi, but it's steeper (almost 10% grade) in one direction.
Funny thing is that they call it the "Pilot Mound Hill" or "Twister Hill". The first time I tried to find "The Hill", I didn't know it was a backwards/insideout/inverted hill and I rode back totally mystified as to where this thing was (having gone another 5 miles out or so). Eventually someone told me that yeah, that's it. :-)
Ha, yes, I knew that
And I also swam yesterday, plus did that ABP ride on the trainer (which makes it more than a 2h ABP ride according to my muscles' response). So I figured today was gonna be hard but you never know, sometimes you feel great when you're not supposed to.
Next week I have a race rehearsal planned so will use my target power based on my estimate of outdoor FTP, and experience from IM Cali two weeks ago. Im quite confident it will be reliable.
So far today, I did the swim RR. I always swim Sun AM, with my wife for SAUs ... Even OWS in season. Some of you may know, my swimming has been an ongoing frustration for the past 2.5 years. EG, before I was doing 32-34 min for HIM, Wildflower last year was 37, and I was pleased with my progress at that.
Today, 2100yds in 35:25, splits of 8:33/30/25/22 with 1:33 for last 100. Noting the SPL comments earlier, I started @ 14-15, and finished @ 16-17.
This was really the lower limit of what I expected from my current wko times ... meaning I went as fast as I thought I could/should. Im hoping that translates into - 35:xx time @ St George. NB: I do this with a PB & flip turns.
I structured the workout to have a 15' warmup (10' easy then 2x1'(1')@z4 then 1' easy) then z3 intervals of 60'(3') followed by 2x20'(2'). So that made exactly 120'. The first interval was great up until the last 10' when it started to get hard. I was in the aerobars for almost the whole hour…I just took 1' out of the bars at the 47' mark and another 30" sitting up at the 55' point. I also had to take a short break to answer the doorbell at the 15' point just as things were getting underway. Surprisingly the first of the 2x20' actually felt good and I only took 1' sitting up out of the aerobars (at the halfway mark). The last 20' was hard. The room was up over 75 degrees by this point and I was SOAKED…massive puddle of sweat under my bike. I took 1' sitting up at the 5', 10' and 15' points. By the time there was 5' left I knew I had the workout in the bag and pushed a few extra watts to the finish line – you can see it in the HR chart.
In general I'm really happy to have nailed these two 120'+ workouts on the trainer on back-to-back days. I was worried heading into this weekend about how I'd hold up to the in-season volume but it looks like things are off to a good start.
Bike – overall 120', NP 214, IF 0.841. Warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 2x1'(1')@z4, then 1' easy. Then the main set:
60'(3') @ z3 – NP: 219 (IF 0.864), VI 1.00, HR 151/160, cad 91
20'(2') @ z3 – NP: 219 (IF 0.863), VI 1.00, HR 151/158, cad 91
20' @ z3 – NP: 222 (IF 0.873), VI 1.00, HR 157/166, cad 82
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/298210136
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/298172159
IF 0.85, NP 211 for the 90 min, giving 107 TSS.