Short Course 22-28 July
This is the halfway point for me this triathlon season, so it is time for a break. My wife and I are going to a little town north of Bolivar, Missouri to visit my parents and will be lucky to get a run in the morning. 
When I get back, I'll be joining Aleksander and Kim on the Get Faster Plan. It worked really well last year except when I overdid those bounding drills. A friend of mine told me that if I wear calf guards, I wouldn't have those issues this year. So, I think I'll be wearing those calf guards a lot these next few months. 
Hope everyone is racing smart and staying healthy! Post when you can! 
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I race this weekend in a local sprint then I am supposed to change to the GF plan.
I plan to hang here since there is no forum for the get faster plan. Hope you guys don't mind.
EPIC self-coaching fail this AM :
have been out of town for almost a week and a half. no swim and no bike available.
So, I have this trainer that I have been working with for years, mostly upper body and core.
I saw him at 5:30 AM and then (since I was at the Y) I decided to swim. Bad idea after 60 pushups and 3 sets of upright rows with a 50 lb dumbell.
I actually made my swim distance but boy was it a slow start.
also makes it hard to use your arms at work.
Will know better next time.
Have a good week all.
Good luck with everyone's races this weekend
Ralph- U definitely OD'd on upper body stuff. Ouch
Short swim last night as I only had less than 30 mins before the "aquarobics" group took over the pool. Got in 4 x 300.
Bike test tonight. Last test was late May and a big F since I went out too hard so last FTP test was May 1 w/ FTP 177 which works out to a 212 VO2. Both of the last tests were TTs. Tonight was a solo effort. My VO2 actually tested at 216 (last VO2 test was 205) and FTP 170. Booo. I did notice my avg HR was 166 vs. last "good" test of 176 so I prob wasn't pushing as hard either. (And prob toasted myself pretty good with the VO2 test) PLUS this was my new tri bike and I was doing a lot of "saddle dancing" (NOT comfy... Adamo on the way!) So, I'm going to call it even and keep my training zones the same. I did do run focus plan for 6 weeks so quite possible I lost a few watts. That's my story and I'm stickin to it. Plus any watts I lost are more than compensated for with "Blaze", my new bike. (Not 100% set on the name, just tryin it out)
@Joe, you will be close to me, KC is not very far!!!!! Enjoy.
@Ralph, my swimmers would know exactly what you mean.
In the Fall we do dryland for 30min before swimming.
@Kim, any rise in any component of fitness is a win! Period, forget the rest.
I am here to admit that I did a huge NO NO. I DNFed my race. I was dead, it was a 7th morning in a row rising before 4am, week at work killed me. I should have not raced at all. Total mental check out, nothing to do with fitness.
Showed up with zero interest, set up, went through the motions, swam 4th out of the water in 35+ wave, pace spot on 1:25/100y no wetsuit, biked into 2nd overall and caught by 3rd, went same time into T2, power well below target of NP 250, NP was 230W, IF .85, time 1:06, went out on the run, ran with 2nd, felt ok but zero motivation, we were running something like 7:50 pace......I asked myself what am I doing here, no answer..........took my chip off at mi 1 and walked back, being 3rd overall and in position to run for better placing.......oh well. I deepest apologies to you all. I meant no disrespect to all competitors, just did not have metal power.
Training continues as normal, taking an unstructured 18hr week with more riding than usual, but no intensity, running also with frequency but using our SC Adv run structure. I will likely take a shot at HyVee........my fitness has never been better, highest FTP, solid run, swim as usual......gonna have to give it another shot before I turned the interest in Fall half marathon stuff, plus OS.......
Yesterday's run, 4x800m(400m)@IP, went down as 5:59 pace, 5:52, 5:53 and 5:54, all in 72F and 65% himidity, not too bad, my legs are still here.
Unstructured week continues. Last night swam with kids on the team, mixed stroke/ IM type workout. Liked a bit of change not swimming FR, however, FL and BR are putting me anaerobic quickly.....
This AM went on a bike ride with two of my buds:
46mi in 2:07, AP 204/ NP 238 IF .88, MS 5x10min(3min)@FTP, my FTP is around 277W, 72F, 78% humidity, NNW@6mph:
int 1 AP/NP 290W/291W IF 1.08 cad 90 HR 143/153 went way over where I should have been
int 2 AP/NP 286W/286W IF 1.06 cad 91 HR 149/155
int 3 AP/NP 283W/284W IF 1.05 cad 89 HR 151/159
int 4 AP/NP 288W/289W IF 1.07 cad 91 HR 154/161
int 5 AP/NP 275W/275W IF 1.0 cad 89 HR 150/157 finally came down where I should have been all along, had enough
That is it, easy back home. Likely couch time, Friday PM, no swim.....no nothing.
3x 1 mi in the rain Z4 last night. Today was to be my own little sprint but got rained out so I just swam .5mi then ran 3 x 1mi Z2/3 ish, in the rain again. Just don't want to ride the new bike in the rain. Group ride tomorrow.
My paces:
Z1/LRP:12:04
Z2/MP:10:29
Z3/HMP:10:12
Z4/TP:9:47
Z5/IP:9:22
Here's what I did:
.5mi @ 11:16 pace
.75@ 10:20
.25@ 11:56
.25 @ 9:45
1.00 @ 11:16
1.00 @ 10:44
1.00 @ 11:25 (Ran into wife and ran with her for a bit)
1.00 @ 10:18
Overall 6 mi in 1:05. I don't think I've run more than 3 mi since Quassy on June 1 so I was pleased with that. Having some ankle pain after I run but doesn't bother me while I'm running... For now. Trying to keep that under control....
Yesterday was my birthday - of course being involved as we are with USAT you get use to the idea of being a year older starting Jan 1 - this year is not a biggie BD since there was not an age group change
Still traveling a little too much - had a 4 day biz trip to Seattle this week. The good out,of it was that I did 3 run workouts in but no biking. I'll try and manage it better for the next month - meaning, I don't plan on traveling.
Yesterday I did a 45 mi bike ride that started with 3x10' @ FTP after the warm up before heading out for a more hilly ride. Today I hit the local HS track doing 3x1000 @ Z5 and then 2x2 mi @ Z2. I did all sets faster than my last test paces indicate. This suggests that a re-test is in order - but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
This concludes week 18 of the SC and has me feeling pretty good heading into the USAT AG Sprint Nationals two weeks from today.
@Kim - to answer your question from last week, the K-Swiss is about 5oz with almost no cushioning. So, in a sprint with a 5K run, it is bearable since I am about 185. it has drain holes so that when I sweatand get water on me, it just drains out. But, increase the distance and it is a lot of pounding on the feet. Also, it is not good for any trail running since I can feel all the rocks.
@Jim - your last race result about plaing third.What an impressive race. Looks like you are set for the nationals! Based on that last one, I would say sprints are your strength! EN makes us so much stronger than our AG peers at the sprint distance from what I can see these past few years!
@Kim - blaze is a good name. So is "La Otra Mujer". One costs many SAUs othe other is free...
@Aleksander - I understand about the race. Although I am impresssed by your standing when you dropped out, I admire more your courage to say, "I'm done" and just walk away. Hope you get that fire back and find the joy in doing all this again soon!
Joe- is that you??
I'm enjoying watching the LP finish line. We've got some fast peeps!! I was con spidering 2014 IMLP but I'm trying really hard to stick to my decision. For 2015. I don't want to just finish. And I def don't want to have to stress about cutoffs. Been there done that. So 2 more years for me.
Nice work all!!! Finished the week at 17:45 hrs, TSS over 1000, 10000m swimming, 220mi on the bike and 30mi of running, one interval session per bike and run, swim one 4000m session, all controlled, no fast swimming. Not too bad, now onto a normal EN SC week but with more riding, likely about 10hrs for the week.....
@Joe, that is so awesome, LOL. I fueled the week with multiple jars of Nutella actually, sometimes in crepes, most of the time straight out with the spoon......1000TSS done with Nutella!!!!!!!!!
This week I'm hitting the workouts pretty hard as I'll taper some next week before I race on Sun, Aug 12. Today I did a hard Bike-Run Brick that included 20 miles 1/2 @ FTP and the other half on hills. Then ran 2.5 mi half at Z5 and the other half at Z4. Boom!
I did a preview (in the car) of the USAT AG Sprint Triarhlon Nationals bike course. The course goes over a lengthy bridge and the climb is about a 4% grade that goes for 1 mile. It's part of the Interstate system and can't be previewed on the bike.
I was a bit worried about the length and slope combination of this bridge-hill so I posted a question on this topic on the Race Execution Forum.
Al Truscott said:
4% was nothing and that I should just hammer it out in the big chain ring.
I agree with the 4% not being all that much but the 1mile is the concern - what do you think?
Tim Cronk said:
For a sprint..... swim like there is no bike..... bike like there is no run.... run like someone is chasing you....
This is too funny but seems appropriate for this race - I'm sure I'll think about this phrase multiple times during the race.
I'm sure this has been beat to death, but I can't find any info. What RPE should I shoot for during an Olympic? Swimming is my weakest link, so I'm not sure how much harder to swim in an Olympic vs Half/Full pace. All I see is "maintain good form", but beyond that I'm not sure how to execute.
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=Short+Course+Triathlon+Pacing
This will give you all you need. For the swim, I would add that the difference between hammering a 100m @ Z5 and cruising at Z3 is about 10 sec/100m. So, that 150" or 2.5' is what separates you from an all-out anxiety attack and an easy swim setting up a great bike, take the 2.5' and enjoy the swim and make it up in T1 and T2 with great transitions!
@Jim, GO JIM!!!!!! 4% is nothing to be worried about
......
@Brandon, 1500m is long enough that if you go too hard you will bugger the bike and run. Powermeter will tell you if you swam too hard.
I disagree with EN guidance on the swim effort, as I can swim pretty damn hard for pretty damn long and destroy myself for biking/ running well before my stroke falls apart. I used to train swimming as swimmers do, so ability to hold stroke late in races was not missing.
Instead, use breathing as a measure, breathe to one side every other stroke, but every so often try to breathe every 3 or every 4 strokes, if you are not gasping for air on 3 stroke breath, you are doing good, if gasping, reduce effort ASAP until you can or find feet that swim the same speed as you and park behind, effort/ O2 debt will reduce. Check every so often using breathing.
The workout this morning (5x400 @ RP minus 2-3 seconds) was really helpful in gauging effort. I went a touch harder than I'd go during the race but still breathed every 3rd.That seems to keep me honest.