This week I have all sorts of schedule issues and a crap-ton of stuff going on at work. It'll be a challenge to get the workouts in and this week – week #15 of the plan – is a BIG week.
So I started this morning in NYC where I had some business meetings today. As usual I chose a hotel on the Park so I'd be able to run. I woke up not feeling terrific and hoping this workout would not be a fail like my foray into Central Park the week before last. But it was 55 degrees and drizzling so the ingredients were in place for low HR and a good run.
The workout called for 3x 1-mile which as you guys know I always do as 7'(4'). As I usually go to 4 intervals for symmetry (this drives Matt Ward crazy when I run with him), but in this case the rolling hills of Central Park make symmetry impossible so I just stuck to 3 intervals plus reasonably hard remainder time at the end. I was really wondering how my paces would turn out on the terrain since 99% of my interval workouts are totally flat. Interestingly (a) I didn't look at my watch half as much…since I knew chasing paces was pointless on the hills, and (b) my overall pace actually ended up not far off where it usually is.
I will say the second interval was an absolute KILLER. By the way the timing worked out, I hit the lap button to start it right at the very bottom of the massive hill in the northwest corner of the park. Man that was brutal and I swore not to look at my Garmin since I knew I'd be starting the interval with 2-3 minutes at a really slow pace. But in the end my overall pace was z4 so no worries, got it done!
Upon returning to Chicago I hit the pool on my way home from the airport. It was a tough swim and those "last 50 as a sprint" hurt. But I got it all done and feel good about fitting those workouts in on a busy day!
RUN – overall 8.67 miles in 1:00:01, 6:55 pace, HR avg 167 / max 184. Current training VDOT 52 (z4 – 6:38, z3 – 6:45, z2 – 7:02).
Monday swim started feeling out a bit spent, but went ok. I did basically the same wko as Matt 300 wu at 1:40, 4 X 50 as 25/25 Tarzan 4 x 200 as last 50 hard at 1:34, 1:35, 1:35 5 X 150 as last 50 hard at 1:32, 1:35, 1:32, 1:33, 1:32 6 x 100 as reverse split at 1:32 3 x 50 as easy/sprint....and time ran out. :-) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/305593133
In the afternoon I ran the 3 x 1 mi workout. For the first time in months, it was 80 degrees, and I was pretty annoyed at how much that affected me. I hit the three miles at 6:30, 6:15, 6:28 on a back and forth course that is slightly uphill in the obvious direction. But the killer was how much they took uut of me. Ended up at 8.6 mi in a little over an hour for 7:30 averaage including a bit of walking and standing at a stoplight. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/305593156
Tuesday, I had to switch the scheduled swim for the hour long bike ride because of work and family. (Track meet....)
It was nice out, but for the sake of time and really hitting the intervals, I rode on the trainer. The workout called for 9 minutes of VO2. Matt and I have both been doing more 110% than 120...and I stuck with that. I did 4 x 4 min, with a bit under 4 min rest in between. Hit them at 278, 279, 278, 275, but boy did they hurt a lot. (FTP = 248 W).
Ok, now that that's out of the way. It was a big workout day for me today. I had a big meeting cancel this morning so I did the scheduled brick but extended the ride from 60' to 105' in order to ride the whole local lakeshore. Then I ran for 30'. In the evening after returning from meetings all day I got in the pool and made up for yesterday's missed swim. Actually that was a huge confidence-booster since I did 2800yd and didn't experience any cramping like I did on Saturday.
The outdoor ride was great although once I got into the hard work portion of the workout I remembered you can be in just as much pain on the bike outdoors as on the trainer! Rather than do the VO2 workout I figured for the first outside ride of the year I'd do my traditional ride on the local path where I do a warmup of easy riding for 10' then 3x1'(1') @z5 northbound to the end, then z4 intervals based on some landmarks, then z3 back home. Overall the first interval was a bit of an adjustment from the trainer but then I settled in and rode pretty well. The VI confirms that story: 1.01 for the first interval but 1.00 for the second two and also for the z3 at the end.
The run felt really slow but the splits were actually really fast. It was not at all an easy run but I kept pushing and got it done.
And as for the swim, it was fine. Slightly negative split on the 6x400…just kept chugging like a diesel!
Bike – overall 1:47:01, NP 240, IF 0.945, 21.2 mph. Warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 3x1'(1')@z5. Then:
Matt - I also sometimes find that my runs feel really slow as bricks but are faster than I think. Regardless, I wish I had your ability to run on the fast end of things almost all the time.
That (running fast) wasn't on today's mission anyway, so no big deal. :-)
I can't remember a year where all this weather-related rescheduling of kids' activities and other events has messed with my schedule so much. Today is Long Run day on the schedule and so it was for me...but this time it was snow (!) that messed with me. Not even nice snow but wet yucky snow. So I ran indoors at the local gym. Fortunately I didn't have to use a treadmill...that would have truly been torture. Anyway, I brought a couple of bike bottles worth of Gatorade, set them down by the side of the track and started to run. 18.5 miles later I stopped. (OK, I took little breaks to drink from the bike bottles, but you get the drift.)
Proscribed run would have been 30 min at 8:15, 3 x 12 min at 6:45, 15' at 7:02 and the remainder 8:15. That's about 16 mi. I was shooting for 18 and haven't run longer than 14ish for several weeks, so I made a call to eschew the fast stuff and run it very steady. I was concerned about the last few miles turning into a death march or setting myself back far enough that this weekend's rides would be compromised. (I am planning on a marathon in late June after the HIM.) The 7:25-7:30 pace I held for the whole run was challenging enough. 7:28 average. That would be a marathon PR by a minute or so if I could hold it the whole time...which would be a pretty darn aggressive goal for this half-assed marathon prep.
Brutal schedule at work so I ran 5:45am. Not typical for me, esp solo. It was colder than I thought it would be and I was under-dressed. And a BRUTAL headwind from the north…the weather report said 11mph but no way it was less than 15-18. So I ran the first of the 3x12'(5') going north into the wind, then the next two southbound. Of course that led to some blistering fast paces in the last two "z3" intervals!! Of course that put me ~15' south of where I started, so I had to flip and endure the brutal headwind much of the "z2" way back…ugggh!! HR very, very low…probably due to the cold.
Overall 12.96 miles in 1:30:12, 6:58 pace. Avg cadence 90spm. HR avg 160 / max 172. Current training VDOT 52 (z4 – 6:38, z3 – 6:45, z2 – 7:02).
Good job everyone!! Keep it up. I haven't had time to post stuff this week but I did get the wkos in. so here is a brief recap:
Monday am - swam 2600 meters consisting of short WU, then 20 x 100m @ avg of 1:51 (24" rest). 8 x 50m @ avg 51" (24" rest), CD.
Monday pm - ran 6 miles in 49:20. 1.5 mile WU @ 9:05 pace, then 3 x 1 mile (1/4 mile jog rest) @ 7:10, 7:12, 6:49, then CD @9:19. Felt strong especially on the last mile repeat, some of my old speed finally coming back.
Tuesday pm - Masters swim class. 2100 m. 500m WU, then 1 x300, 2 x 150, 3 x 100, 6 x 50, and 12 x 25, CD 100. The coach put me in the fast lane with 3 other folks and I was pretty much redlining it the entire swim just to keep up and not get lapped. I was spent by the end of the class.
Wed pm- the weather was really nice (75F, light breeze, clear sky) so I switched the long run to Weds. Did then 12 miles in 1:42. did 4 miles @ Z1 9:00 pace, then 2 x 1mile @ 7:40 & 7:28. Then 2 more 9:00 miles but up & down 4 steep hills. Then 2 more miles @ 7:29 & 7:24, then 2 final miles @ 8:18, and 8:48. A solid run and only 1 minute slower than the exact same course and length as last week except it was 25*F warmer this week. I also did this run wearing my fuel belt just to get use to wearing it again.
Thus pm - Rode the trainer for 90 minutes. legs felt heavy from the previous days run so I extended the WU to 20' (usually do 15'). then 20 x 1 minute ON/OFF @ 320w (80w). I did then odd number reps @ 90 rpms and the even reps @ 60 rpms. After 5' recovery spinning EZ, I did 2 x 11' (3') @ 220 W. Man was that hard.
Fri am - Swim 3000 meters in 73'. Did 3 x 400 @ 1:53 pace with 30" rest, 3 x 300 @ 1:52 pace with 20" rest, 3 x 200 @ 1:54 pace with 15" rest. Felt pretty good and stroke rate was @ 20 -21 strokes per 25 meters.
Doing another double brick tomorrow then a 4 hour ride + 4 mile run on Sunday. Then tapering down for the TTT.
Friday workout - run only...I decided to postpone the swim to Saturday after the big brick as part of my prep for the TTT. So on Friday I did the run only, and actually cut it to just 30' instead of the assigned 45'. I had to slot it in between a couple of conference calls so it was not ideal.
Overall 4.44 miles in 30:20, 6:50 pace. Avg cadence 91spm. No HR due to strap malfunction. Current training VDOT 52 (z4 – 6:38, z3 – 6:45, z2 – 7:02).
Another big workout Saturday today, intentionally sequencing the swim after the brick as part of the TTT prep. I really need to do a long bike then jump in a cold lake and see what happens, but I'm not sure I'll have that opportunity…
Today's workouts: - 120' on the trainer, standard EN Saturday ride (started 7am) - Brick run 30' - Brunch at some friends' place - Swim 2800 yd, 2:30pm
The bike was terrible. I got my bike tuned up and the drivetrain cleaned and I seriously wonder if the power calibration is 10 watts less. I was 10 watts off of my typical power and felt like dying. My HR was actually not that high but from the first warmup z3 I could tell this was going to be a brutal ride. The workout was 10'/12'/15'/12' and I had to cut the second interval to 10'. From then I resolved to get it done no matter what and did the rest as 15'/14' to make up for the missed time and get the total z4. But it was the low end of z4 and I was sitting up for almost the whole time in the last two intervals. Strangely for the z3 I got back into the aerobars and managed to stay there and feel pretty good (although power was still about 10 watts low). Instead of 4x12' @z3 I did 2x16' and cut the overall workout down to 2 hours in total.
The brick run actually felt smooth and good and my HR was really quite low. But strangely my pace was quite a bit slower than mormal for that kind of run. No feeling on impending cramps in my quads, thankfully.
The swim was really quite nice. I banged out 2,800 yd and felt strong and smooth throughout. The kids were in lessons in the next lane so I got interrupted a couple of times leading to a couple of longer-than planned recoveries between the 400's. And water in the goggles at the beginning of the last 400 so I did 2x25 then re-started the interval. But overall it was a great workout.
Bike – overall 120', NP 218, IF 0.858. Full warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 3x3'(1')@z3. Then the main set:
1st brick: Rode on trainer for 25 miles in 1:12. After 15' WU, I did 3 x 15' (5') @ 248, 256, 258 avg watts. My avg HR was 145, 149, 152. Avg cadence was 92, 80 (I rode most od this interval out of the saddle climbing), 89. Rested 1', then hopped right on to the TM. Ran 2 miles @ 9:05 pace Z1 with HR in128-132 range. It felt EZ. Drank 48 oz of water during ride & run.
2nd brick: Changed clothes, ate a bagel, put my feet up for 10', then did it again. On the trainer for 1:15 for 25 miles. WU again, then 3 x15' (5') @ Z2 204, 209, 216 avg watts. HR was 149, 141, 144. Cadence was in the 89-92 range for all 3 intervals. .Again, went right to the TM -- 2 miles again at 9:05 pace. HR was in the 128-132 range again, and RPE was EZ. I know I could have gone longer or faster on both runs. Drank 48 oz of H2O on 2nd ride & run.
Swim: ate a power bar and started my 5th 24 oz water. Put on my full sleeve wetsuit and hit the pool for 1500m. I hadn't worn it since IMWI last Sept and I didn't want the TTT to be my first time wearing the WS this year. I also wore my prescription goggles which I use only for open water swim races. Wanted to make sure they were ok too. Wow!! I forgot how much easier and faster it is to swim with a WS on. I felt like I was barely working at all and the clock said "fast" (at least for me). Was done with 1500m in no time at all. Ok...that is definitely enough of the double bricks. I did 5 double brick workouts in the last 8 weeks, with 3 of them in the last 3 weeks. Those babies wear you out. One more long ride tomorrow then looking forward to a mini-taper.
@ Matt -- good work. I think you are going to do really well at the TTT. You are in superb running & cycling shape, and your swimming seems to be coming along at just the right time. We just have keep telling each other that the TTT isn't either of our A races, pace ourselves well and execute EN style on the hills.
Posted By Bruce Thompson on 04 May 2013 08:25 PM @ Matt -- good work. I think you are going to do really well at the TTT. You are in superb running & cycling shape, and your swimming seems to be coming along at just the right time. We just have keep telling each other that the TTT isn't either of our A races, pace ourselves well and execute EN style on the hills.
You're exactly right...this is not an A race. It will be an epic volume weekend. My goal is to finish. I've never had that as a goal before but this is seriously a race anyone could DNF.
Friday swim was a "strength" swim, rather than a repeat of the one earlier in the week. 1000 total warmup: 400 easy free 300 as first 25 of every 100 fly 200 free 100 as fly/breast/fly/breast
MS 10 x 50 as 25 fly, 25 recovery free 6 x 200 as third 50 very hard, rest moderate 10 x 50 as 25 fly 25 recovery free 2 x very hard 100 with good recovery time I had some more planned, as Friday is usually my long swim, but the clock got me today, and I had to get out.
Times were slower than usual for me for the pure freestyle stuff. Probably a mix of all that fly (at which I am not very good) and some fatigue from Thrrsday run. But otherwise this was a good workout. Only 3400 for a long day is kind of wimpy, but I'll give it a thumbs up, all things considered. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307110055
Friday weather was awful: snowing, etc, and the proscribed run was a hill run. I ended up doing the whole treadmill thing. I set the initial slope to 1.0% and then increased it every half mile until it got to 4.5%, keeping the speed constant at 8:00 miles, for a total of 5 miles. Of course that was pretty easy at the beginning, but it got pretty hard! The treadmill was at the gym, so it quit on me at some arbitrary point that you can see in my HR mountain, but I got it going again. (I forgot to start the watch right at the beginning but the gist of the workout is all there.) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307669085
Saturday weather was also beyond awful for May in IA. Light snow, rain, wind, etc. So Saturday's ride was to be entirely indoors. I am trying an experiment with this race. In the last two iterations of my KS race, I did the normal EN bike workouts, and I had good races, but my bike power was disappointing in both of them. (You can check the RRs at my blogspot!) Matt gave me the insight you can work just as hard by riding consistently at/above race effort, so I am giving this approach a go. Trying to drill that just-above-race effort into my head a few times.
So Saturday in my basement was a quick few min to just get the legs moving, then 12 min at 200-204. This was discouragingly hard. I thought maybe I was sunk, but fortunately that was wrong. After another few min, the fun started: 5 min easy 12 min 204 5 min easy 62 min 211 W (5 min easy) 60 min 211 W (5 min easy) 15 min 212 W (3 min easy) 8 min 222 W Total NP 205, IF 0.83 204 TSS (248 W = FTP) My 3 hour rides from past years with the 40-50 min of FTP were getting 180 TSS. Boy, those hour sets are pretty tough! Can't say I'd like to do very many of these indoors, but it does let you focus.
Legs really felt like they were about to cramp in the quads, so I skipped the 30 min run. Will make sure that I do it on Sunday. Weather is supposed to be better.
Two hours almost on the nose. 17 min WU @183 ave 65 min @ 212 NP 2 min easy 37 min 211 W NP 140 TSS, 0.84 IF overall
Brick run went fine.
I would have loved to ride longer, but my oldest is taking the AP chemistry test tomorrow...and, well, I'm chair of the local university chemistry department... I have to help my own kid, right? Damn kids. Step all over our high priorities. :-)
Ride: 65 miles in 3:40. Avg watts 193, avg speed 17.8, avg rpms 82. I rode the hills in Cary and did 30 hill repeats. These were about .3 to .4 miles in length with some serious inclines. My rpms dropped into the 45-50 range to keep my watts below 275. I finally realized why the hills seemed to be harder this year than last (I thought it was because I'm a year older). I've been riding with my rear road wheel (not my race wheel) and the roadie has a 12-25 cassette, while my race wheel has an 11-28. So I've been doing my hill training without my best climbing gear. Oh well, I guess that makes for good training. It will be nice to have the 28 back on for the TTT. I drank 2.5 x 24 oz of water and one 24 oz triple concentrated Infinit. Probably not enough water but it was cool ( low 50s climbing to 60) during the ride so I got away with it..
Run: ran 4 miles right after the bike. My mile splits were 8:52, 8:36, 8:06, and 7:12. A nice strong finish. Now time to take it EZ and do a mini-taper. Complete rest tomorrow.
My head was just not in the game tonight. My ABP ride got postponed multiple times today due to family stuff then right before the ride was to begin I got sucked onto a phone call that lasted another 45'. Due to work I therefore had to shorten the ride down to 75' which really pissed me off. So I did a 15' warmup then a single 60' interval. Power was ok (I still think my newly-cleaned drivetrain is reading lower, though) and I was in the bars for most of the first 45' then sitting for a bunch of the last 15'. Overall an annoying end to the week. I could have woken up at 5:30am and gotten 3 hours outdoors but on balance I think taking the rare oppty to get 10.5 hours sleep and having a shortened ride inside in the evening was the right call.
Overall 75', NP 210, IF 0.826. Warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 2x1'(1')@z4, then 1' easy. Then the main set: - 60' @ z3 – NP: 217 (IF 0.852), VI 1.00, HR 145/153, cad 91
Bruce, live to see another day. I've done many many a more dopey thing...even in races!
Matt, I *so* hear you about workouts getting cut off like that. No worries, though. You are in great shape.
My next week is completely thrown off by a Friday-Sunday trip to NYC. However, I am lucky to have time in the mornings both Sat and Sun in NYC. I'm kinda bummed because I went to Columbia and like running in Central Park, but I'm going to be staying in an airport hotel near LGA...hundreds of dollars cheaper, but no Central Park.
Comments
So I started this morning in NYC where I had some business meetings today. As usual I chose a hotel on the Park so I'd be able to run. I woke up not feeling terrific and hoping this workout would not be a fail like my foray into Central Park the week before last. But it was 55 degrees and drizzling so the ingredients were in place for low HR and a good run.
The workout called for 3x 1-mile which as you guys know I always do as 7'(4'). As I usually go to 4 intervals for symmetry (this drives Matt Ward crazy when I run with him), but in this case the rolling hills of Central Park make symmetry impossible so I just stuck to 3 intervals plus reasonably hard remainder time at the end. I was really wondering how my paces would turn out on the terrain since 99% of my interval workouts are totally flat. Interestingly (a) I didn't look at my watch half as much…since I knew chasing paces was pointless on the hills, and (b) my overall pace actually ended up not far off where it usually is.
I will say the second interval was an absolute KILLER. By the way the timing worked out, I hit the lap button to start it right at the very bottom of the massive hill in the northwest corner of the park. Man that was brutal and I swore not to look at my Garmin since I knew I'd be starting the interval with 2-3 minutes at a really slow pace. But in the end my overall pace was z4 so no worries, got it done!
Upon returning to Chicago I hit the pool on my way home from the airport. It was a tough swim and those "last 50 as a sprint" hurt. But I got it all done and feel good about fitting those workouts in on a busy day!
RUN – overall 8.67 miles in 1:00:01, 6:55 pace, HR avg 167 / max 184. Current training VDOT 52 (z4 – 6:38, z3 – 6:45, z2 – 7:02).
Warmup: 10' @7:24
3x 7'(4') @ z4/TP – 6:31, 6:36, 6:28
(3x 4' recoveries 7:10, 7:34, 7:16)
Remainder time 18' @ 6:54
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/305206269
SWIM – overall 3,000yd in 58:57 (avg pace 1:36/100yd, excl rest intervals). Avg efficiency 37, 10 strokes/length.
Paces:
W/U 200 – 1:39
MS1: 4x200(30) with last 50 of each a sprint – 1:38, 1:38, 1:38, 1:37
50 easy – 1:39
MS2: 5x150(20) with last 50 of each a sprint – 1:35, 1:35, 1:35, 1:35, 1:37
50 easy – 1:37
MS3: 6x100(15) with last 50 of each a sprint – 1:34, 1:34, 1:34, 1:35, 1:35, 1:35
50 easy – 1:41
MS4: 8x50(20) as 25 sprint / 25 easy – 1:31, 1:31, 1:32, 1:32, 1:32, 1:31, 1:32, 1:30
50 easy – 1:37
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/305446005
300 wu at 1:40, 4 X 50 as 25/25 Tarzan
4 x 200 as last 50 hard at 1:34, 1:35, 1:35
5 X 150 as last 50 hard at 1:32, 1:35, 1:32, 1:33, 1:32
6 x 100 as reverse split at 1:32
3 x 50 as easy/sprint....and time ran out. :-)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/305593133
In the afternoon I ran the 3 x 1 mi workout. For the first time in months, it was 80 degrees, and I was pretty annoyed at how much that affected me.
I hit the three miles at 6:30, 6:15, 6:28 on a back and forth course that is slightly uphill in the obvious direction. But the killer was how much they took uut of me. Ended up at 8.6 mi in a little over an hour for 7:30 averaage including a bit of walking and standing at a stoplight.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/305593156
Tuesday, I had to switch the scheduled swim for the hour long bike ride because of work and family. (Track meet....)
It was nice out, but for the sake of time and really hitting the intervals, I rode on the trainer. The workout called for 9 minutes of VO2. Matt and I have both been doing more 110% than 120...and I stuck with that. I did 4 x 4 min, with a bit under 4 min rest in between. Hit them at 278, 279, 278, 275, but boy did they hurt a lot. (FTP = 248 W).
Most of the rest of the time was in the 210 W range. IF 0.92 for an hour (NP 228)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/305773750
Will run/swim on Wed.
300 wu at 1:40
400 swim at 1:35
400 pull at 1:32
400 swim at 1:35
400 pull at 1:31
400 swim at 1:36
400 pull at 1:31
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/306179008
AWESOME!!!!!!
Ok, now that that's out of the way. It was a big workout day for me today. I had a big meeting cancel this morning so I did the scheduled brick but extended the ride from 60' to 105' in order to ride the whole local lakeshore. Then I ran for 30'. In the evening after returning from meetings all day I got in the pool and made up for yesterday's missed swim. Actually that was a huge confidence-booster since I did 2800yd and didn't experience any cramping like I did on Saturday.
The outdoor ride was great although once I got into the hard work portion of the workout I remembered you can be in just as much pain on the bike outdoors as on the trainer! Rather than do the VO2 workout I figured for the first outside ride of the year I'd do my traditional ride on the local path where I do a warmup of easy riding for 10' then 3x1'(1') @z5 northbound to the end, then z4 intervals based on some landmarks, then z3 back home. Overall the first interval was a bit of an adjustment from the trainer but then I settled in and rode pretty well. The VI confirms that story: 1.01 for the first interval but 1.00 for the second two and also for the z3 at the end.
The run felt really slow but the splits were actually really fast. It was not at all an easy run but I kept pushing and got it done.
And as for the swim, it was fine. Slightly negative split on the 6x400…just kept chugging like a diesel!
Bike – overall 1:47:01, NP 240, IF 0.945, 21.2 mph. Warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 3x1'(1')@z5. Then:
18'(3') @z4 – NP: 267 (IF 1.052), VI 1.01, HR 157/170, cad 88, 22.7 mph
26'(4') @z4 – NP: 257 (IF 1.013), VI 1.00, HR 160/166, cad 89, 22.3 mph
23'(4.5') @z4 – NP: 251 (IF 0.989), VI 1.00, HR 159/164, cad 89, 23.9 mph
-------------------------------------------
9.5' @ z3 – NP: 233 (IF 0.917), VI 1.00, HR 150/156, cad 88, 23.9 mph
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/306179008
Run – overall 4.61 miles in 30:01, avg pace 6:30, avg HR 168 / max 184
Split.........Distance.........Avg Pace
1.........0.50 .........6:44
2.........0.52 .........6:33
3.........0.53 .........6:39
4.........0.75 .........6:26
5.........0.75 .........6:34
6.........0.53 .........6:28
7.........0.49 .........6:18
8.........0.55 .........6:21
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/306177639
Swim – overall 2800 SCY, avg pace 1:37/100. Avg efficiency 37, 10 strokes/length. Took 1:00 rest between W/U and MS and between MS and C/D.
Paces:
Warmup 300 – 1:38
MS1: 6x400(30) – 1:38, 1:37, 1:37, 1:36, 1:37, 1:36
C/D 100 – 1:36
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/306431337
That (running fast) wasn't on today's mission anyway, so no big deal. :-)
I can't remember a year where all this weather-related rescheduling of kids' activities and other events has messed with my schedule so much. Today is Long Run day on the schedule and so it was for me...but this time it was snow (!) that messed with me. Not even nice snow but wet yucky snow. So I ran indoors at the local gym. Fortunately I didn't have to use a treadmill...that would have truly been torture. Anyway, I brought a couple of bike bottles worth of Gatorade, set them down by the side of the track and started to run. 18.5 miles later I stopped. (OK, I took little breaks to drink from the bike bottles, but you get the drift.)
Proscribed run would have been 30 min at 8:15, 3 x 12 min at 6:45, 15' at 7:02 and the remainder 8:15. That's about 16 mi.
I was shooting for 18 and haven't run longer than 14ish for several weeks, so I made a call to eschew the fast stuff and run it very steady. I was concerned about the last few miles turning into a death march or setting myself back far enough that this weekend's rides would be compromised. (I am planning on a marathon in late June after the HIM.) The 7:25-7:30 pace I held for the whole run was challenging enough. 7:28 average. That would be a marathon PR by a minute or so if I could hold it the whole time...which would be a pretty darn aggressive goal for this half-assed marathon prep.
Overall 12.96 miles in 1:30:12, 6:58 pace. Avg cadence 90spm. HR avg 160 / max 172. Current training VDOT 52 (z4 – 6:38, z3 – 6:45, z2 – 7:02).
Warmup: 15' @7:18
3x 12'(5') @ z3/HMP – 6:39, 6:26, 6:25
(3x 5' recoveries 7:51, 7:23, 7:46)
14'(2') @ z2/MP – 7:13, recovery @7:40
Remainder time @z3 – 8' @ 6:48
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/306578171
Good job everyone!! Keep it up. I haven't had time to post stuff this week but I did get the wkos in. so here is a brief recap:
Monday am - swam 2600 meters consisting of short WU, then 20 x 100m @ avg of 1:51 (24" rest). 8 x 50m @ avg 51" (24" rest), CD.
Monday pm - ran 6 miles in 49:20. 1.5 mile WU @ 9:05 pace, then 3 x 1 mile (1/4 mile jog rest) @ 7:10, 7:12, 6:49, then CD @9:19. Felt strong especially on the last mile repeat, some of my old speed finally coming back.
Tuesday pm - Masters swim class. 2100 m. 500m WU, then 1 x300, 2 x 150, 3 x 100, 6 x 50, and 12 x 25, CD 100. The coach put me in the fast lane with 3 other folks and I was pretty much redlining it the entire swim just to keep up and not get lapped. I was spent by the end of the class.
Wed pm- the weather was really nice (75F, light breeze, clear sky) so I switched the long run to Weds. Did then 12 miles in 1:42. did 4 miles @ Z1 9:00 pace, then 2 x 1mile @ 7:40 & 7:28. Then 2 more 9:00 miles but up & down 4 steep hills. Then 2 more miles @ 7:29 & 7:24, then 2 final miles @ 8:18, and 8:48. A solid run and only 1 minute slower than the exact same course and length as last week except it was 25*F warmer this week. I also did this run wearing my fuel belt just to get use to wearing it again.
Thus pm - Rode the trainer for 90 minutes. legs felt heavy from the previous days run so I extended the WU to 20' (usually do 15'). then 20 x 1 minute ON/OFF @ 320w (80w). I did then odd number reps @ 90 rpms and the even reps @ 60 rpms. After 5' recovery spinning EZ, I did 2 x 11' (3') @ 220 W. Man was that hard.
Fri am - Swim 3000 meters in 73'. Did 3 x 400 @ 1:53 pace with 30" rest, 3 x 300 @ 1:52 pace with 20" rest, 3 x 200 @ 1:54 pace with 15" rest. Felt pretty good and stroke rate was @ 20 -21 strokes per 25 meters.
Doing another double brick tomorrow then a 4 hour ride + 4 mile run on Sunday. Then tapering down for the TTT.
Overall 4.44 miles in 30:20, 6:50 pace. Avg cadence 91spm. No HR due to strap malfunction. Current training VDOT 52 (z4 – 6:38, z3 – 6:45, z2 – 7:02).
Split.......Distance.......Avg Pace
1....... 0.50.......6:56
2....... 0.49 .......7:05
3....... 0.53 .......6:52
4....... 0.51 .......6:52
5....... 0.48 .......6:53
6....... 0.50 .......6:44
7....... 0.52 .......6:46
8....... 0.49 .......6:34
9....... 0.42 .......6:46
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307160355
Today's workouts:
- 120' on the trainer, standard EN Saturday ride (started 7am)
- Brick run 30'
- Brunch at some friends' place
- Swim 2800 yd, 2:30pm
The bike was terrible. I got my bike tuned up and the drivetrain cleaned and I seriously wonder if the power calibration is 10 watts less. I was 10 watts off of my typical power and felt like dying. My HR was actually not that high but from the first warmup z3 I could tell this was going to be a brutal ride. The workout was 10'/12'/15'/12' and I had to cut the second interval to 10'. From then I resolved to get it done no matter what and did the rest as 15'/14' to make up for the missed time and get the total z4. But it was the low end of z4 and I was sitting up for almost the whole time in the last two intervals. Strangely for the z3 I got back into the aerobars and managed to stay there and feel pretty good (although power was still about 10 watts low). Instead of 4x12' @z3 I did 2x16' and cut the overall workout down to 2 hours in total.
The brick run actually felt smooth and good and my HR was really quite low. But strangely my pace was quite a bit slower than mormal for that kind of run. No feeling on impending cramps in my quads, thankfully.
The swim was really quite nice. I banged out 2,800 yd and felt strong and smooth throughout. The kids were in lessons in the next lane so I got interrupted a couple of times leading to a couple of longer-than planned recoveries between the 400's. And water in the goggles at the beginning of the last 400 so I did 2x25 then re-started the interval. But overall it was a great workout.
Bike – overall 120', NP 218, IF 0.858. Full warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 3x3'(1')@z3. Then the main set:
10'(3') @z4 – NP: 247 (IF 0.973), VI 1.00, HR 152/161, cad 90
10'(3') @z4 – NP: 247 (IF 0.972), VI 1.00, HR 157/165, cad 90
15'(4') @z4 – NP: 248 (IF 0.974), VI 1.00, HR 160/168, cad 90
14'(4') @z4 – NP: 246 (IF 0.968), VI 1.00, HR 158/164, cad 90
-------------------------------------------
16'(3') @ z3 – NP: 212 (IF 0.833), VI 1.00, HR 145/148, cad 90
16' @ z3 – NP: 213 (IF 0.838), VI 1.00, HR 143/148, cad 90
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307487706
Run – overall 4.43 miles in 30:21, avg pace 6:51, avg HR 157 / max 170
Split.......Distance.......Avg Pace
1....... 0.55 .......7:34
2....... 0.74 .......6:59
3....... 0.77 .......6:55
4....... 0.80 .......6:40
5....... 0.75 .......6:40
6....... 0.59 .......6:33
7....... 0.18 .......6:19
8....... 0.05 .......6:51
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307488160
Swim – overall 2800 SCY, avg pace 1:36/100. Avg efficiency 37, 10 strokes/length. Took 1:00 rest between W/U and MS.
Paces:
Warmup 300 – 1:36
MS1: 6x400(30) – 1:36, 1:37, 1:36, 1:35, 1:36, 1:35
C/D 150 – 1:36
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307691983
Here is my last double brick before the TTT.
1st brick: Rode on trainer for 25 miles in 1:12. After 15' WU, I did 3 x 15' (5') @ 248, 256, 258 avg watts. My avg HR was 145, 149, 152. Avg cadence was 92, 80 (I rode most od this interval out of the saddle climbing), 89. Rested 1', then hopped right on to the TM. Ran 2 miles @ 9:05 pace Z1 with HR in128-132 range. It felt EZ. Drank 48 oz of water during ride & run.
2nd brick: Changed clothes, ate a bagel, put my feet up for 10', then did it again. On the trainer for 1:15 for 25 miles. WU again, then 3 x15' (5') @ Z2 204, 209, 216 avg watts. HR was 149, 141, 144. Cadence was in the 89-92 range for all 3 intervals. .Again, went right to the TM -- 2 miles again at 9:05 pace. HR was in the 128-132 range again, and RPE was EZ. I know I could have gone longer or faster on both runs. Drank 48 oz of H2O on 2nd ride & run.
Swim: ate a power bar and started my 5th 24 oz water. Put on my full sleeve wetsuit and hit the pool for 1500m. I hadn't worn it since IMWI last Sept and I didn't want the TTT to be my first time wearing the WS this year. I also wore my prescription goggles which I use only for open water swim races. Wanted to make sure they were ok too. Wow!! I forgot how much easier and faster it is to swim with a WS on. I felt like I was barely working at all and the clock said "fast" (at least for me). Was done with 1500m in no time at all. Ok...that is definitely enough of the double bricks. I did 5 double brick workouts in the last 8 weeks, with 3 of them in the last 3 weeks. Those babies wear you out. One more long ride tomorrow then looking forward to a mini-taper.
Friday swim was a "strength" swim, rather than a repeat of the one earlier in the week.
1000 total warmup:
400 easy free
300 as first 25 of every 100 fly
200 free
100 as fly/breast/fly/breast
MS
10 x 50 as 25 fly, 25 recovery free
6 x 200 as third 50 very hard, rest moderate
10 x 50 as 25 fly 25 recovery free
2 x very hard 100 with good recovery time
I had some more planned, as Friday is usually my long swim, but the clock got me today, and I had to get out.
Times were slower than usual for me for the pure freestyle stuff. Probably a mix of all that fly (at which I am not very good) and some fatigue from Thrrsday run. But otherwise this was a good workout. Only 3400 for a long day is kind of wimpy, but I'll give it a thumbs up, all things considered.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307110055
Friday weather was awful: snowing, etc, and the proscribed run was a hill run. I ended up doing the whole treadmill thing. I set the initial slope to 1.0% and then increased it every half mile until it got to 4.5%, keeping the speed constant at 8:00 miles, for a total of 5 miles. Of course that was pretty easy at the beginning, but it got pretty hard! The treadmill was at the gym, so it quit on me at some arbitrary point that you can see in my HR mountain, but I got it going again. (I forgot to start the watch right at the beginning but the gist of the workout is all there.) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/307669085
Saturday weather was also beyond awful for May in IA. Light snow, rain, wind, etc. So Saturday's ride was to be entirely indoors. I am trying an experiment with this race. In the last two iterations of my KS race, I did the normal EN bike workouts, and I had good races, but my bike power was disappointing in both of them. (You can check the RRs at my blogspot!) Matt gave me the insight you can work just as hard by riding consistently at/above race effort, so I am giving this approach a go. Trying to drill that just-above-race effort into my head a few times.
So Saturday in my basement was a quick few min to just get the legs moving, then 12 min at 200-204. This was discouragingly hard. I thought maybe I was sunk, but fortunately that was wrong. After another few min, the fun started:
5 min easy
12 min 204
5 min easy
62 min 211 W (5 min easy)
60 min 211 W (5 min easy)
15 min 212 W (3 min easy)
8 min 222 W
Total NP 205, IF 0.83 204 TSS (248 W = FTP)
My 3 hour rides from past years with the 40-50 min of FTP were getting 180 TSS. Boy, those hour sets are pretty tough! Can't say I'd like to do very many of these indoors, but it does let you focus.
Legs really felt like they were about to cramp in the quads, so I skipped the 30 min run. Will make sure that I do it on Sunday. Weather is supposed to be better.
Two hours almost on the nose.
17 min WU @183 ave
65 min @ 212 NP
2 min easy
37 min 211 W NP
140 TSS, 0.84 IF overall
Brick run went fine.
I would have loved to ride longer, but my oldest is taking the AP chemistry test tomorrow...and, well, I'm chair of the local university chemistry department... I have to help my own kid, right? Damn kids. Step all over our high priorities. :-)
Time to rest ... I'm beat. Here was my day.
Ride: 65 miles in 3:40. Avg watts 193, avg speed 17.8, avg rpms 82. I rode the hills in Cary and did 30 hill repeats. These were about .3 to .4 miles in length with some serious inclines. My rpms dropped into the 45-50 range to keep my watts below 275. I finally realized why the hills seemed to be harder this year than last (I thought it was because I'm a year older). I've been riding with my rear road wheel (not my race wheel) and the roadie has a 12-25 cassette, while my race wheel has an 11-28. So I've been doing my hill training without my best climbing gear. Oh well, I guess that makes for good training. It will be nice to have the 28 back on for the TTT. I drank 2.5 x 24 oz of water and one 24 oz triple concentrated Infinit. Probably not enough water but it was cool ( low 50s climbing to 60) during the ride so I got away with it..
Run: ran 4 miles right after the bike. My mile splits were 8:52, 8:36, 8:06, and 7:12. A nice strong finish. Now time to take it EZ and do a mini-taper. Complete rest tomorrow.
Overall 75', NP 210, IF 0.826. Warmup of 10' easy/z1 then 2x1'(1')@z4, then 1' easy. Then the main set:
- 60' @ z3 – NP: 217 (IF 0.852), VI 1.00, HR 145/153, cad 91
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/308486747
Matt, I *so* hear you about workouts getting cut off like that. No worries, though. You are in great shape.
My next week is completely thrown off by a Friday-Sunday trip to NYC. However, I am lucky to have time in the mornings both Sat and Sun in NYC. I'm kinda bummed because I went to Columbia and like running in Central Park, but I'm going to be staying in an airport hotel near LGA...hundreds of dollars cheaper, but no Central Park.
Matt - you've got a lot going on...family, work, training. Get some rest!! A day or two off will be good for mind and body.
William -- I love running in Central park too when I visit NYC. Too bad it's not in the cards for you this trip.