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FEB 2015 Get Faster Folks!

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  • This week has been a little different with workouts. I've been testing road bikes all week so I've ridden every day this week except today. Yesterday was a nice day and so I went for today's ride yesterday and then I went to the bike shop to do a longish ride on one of the two finalists on my bike list. I really liked it so I went back today and bought it and got fitted. So now I'm a proud owner of a Cervelo R3.

    Getting back to workouts though, I did get in all of the swims, but I did go a little light on the run workouts this week. I did tomorrow's run today and hit the pace on the first mile and the last half mile but was a little fast on the second mile and first half mile. 

  •    Sat. bike. Had to get up xtra early to get bike in before work, so I didn't get my Zn 3 time done. Still had a solid wko. 2X15' zn 4 @ 1.0, .99  6X1.5' Zn5 @ 1.12, 1.13, 1.13, 1.14, 1.16, 1.26

       Sun. run done early this morning, between this being my 14th straight day working, and low back acting up, I decided not to force the Zn 4 intervals. Instead I did a 60' tempo run. Still a good wko after yesterdays bike, and my back is much happier, and even got to see a very cool falling star while running.

  • OK< i feel like I got mixed results this weekend.

    Let's start with yesterday.  Got out for my first outside ride here in Wisconsin. It was windy, and you can't avoid hills here.  It makes keeping 15 minutes of FTP difficult with the rollers, but I managed to get in  48 miles (@2hrs:45') 3500 ft climbed,  and hit my 2 x 15, 7 x 1.5 VO2 and did some nice Zone 3 work into the wind coming back.  Felt good overall.  Biggest thing I noticed was my sore neck. 

    Today: another story.   My wife told me to quit complaining about my tired legs before I went out.   My legs felt heavy, and  after the warm up I tried my first 1 mile at zone 4 (7:33).  With the wind to my back, I could hardly hold 7:47.  My second mile at zone 4 ended up a fail as I was running in the wind, and got winded at about .67 miles.  I didn't finish it and was around 8 minute average, huffing and puffing.   I then did one more .25 mile at about 8 minute pace, and then decided to zone 1 it home.  ended up with 7.5 miles and 1hr.10 minutes. 

    I'm guessing that I ramped it up just a little bit too much this week after swim camp which was low volumn and intensity. I didn't do everything that the plan had me do.  Good thing.

    I'm skipping my swim tomorrow and recovering so I can hit next week strong. 

  • Since I did the Saturday bike on Friday and the Sunday run on Saturday I took the day completely off yesterday and did bike mechanic stuff to get all the bikes ready for our big bike week that starts this Friday. When I got off work this afternoon the sun was out and so I took the opportunity to get out on my new road bike and did tomorrow's workout today. I hit all seven Z5 intervals between 1.22 and 1.34 with most being in the 1.26 range which is right at my tested Vo2 max. I did a short brick run with strides after that. I'll do today's swim and run tomorrow.
  •      Still haven't had a day off work in March, hopefully soon! Still managing to get wko's in.

         Monday swim went well, hit intervals, just seemed like it took a long time to warm up.

         Tues bike 7X1.5's @ 1.17, 1.17, 1.20, 1.22, 1.23, 1.28, 1.30

         Wed. run done, Garmin died during wu, did yall know we have to recharge these things?! Still did the intervals 3X 1 mi by RPE, we've done so many of these intervals I know it was close, either way solid efforts.

  • "hitting next week strong" has not come to fruition as I have been sick for two days.  Feeling about 85% this morning.

    I've had some kind of stomach bug/ flu like symptoms.  Haven't worked out at all Monday or Tuesday.  Will see how things go today.  In one way it makes me understand my poor performance last Sunday as I was probably already in early stages of my illness. 

     

  • Starting to get worried as I don't have energy for the high priority run today.  Still not 100 %, a lot better, but not back to normal and I feel like I'm recovering from two days of being really sick.  I also wonder if I'm not a little dehydrated after all that bathroom time.  That will be three missed days in a row.

    Need to figure out how to get back on board.  I guess, if I can just get back with the regular schedule  tomorrow, I should be ok.  Any suggestions on how you have done this when you have been sick for a few days  would be welcomed.

  • Oops, haven't chimed in for a while, but workouts are going well this week! My IT band felt REALLY tight at the end of my run tonight, not painful, just real tight. Hitting the foam roller hard. I had ITB issues back in 2009 for my first marathon, and never felt the tightness, just right to pain. Hoping to nip this in the bud early, because I remember that pain as BAD!

    @Stephan- I recommend just getting into a schedule again of doing workouts, and worry about the intensity later. I'd recommend putting out a question on your micro for the expert as well!
  • This is a great thread. Any chance you 'll be around for April? I transition to get faster next week and would love to hand out. 


  • Posted By Jacklyn Moore on 19 Mar 2015 10:25 PM

    This is a great thread. Any chance you 'll be around for April? I transition to get faster next week and would love to hand out. 

    I think I have until April 19th, and then move to Half IM.  Join us, i'm not sure where others are.  Maybe start a new one in April? 


  • Posted By <a href='http://members.endurancenation.us/ActivityFeed/tabid/61/userid/4679/Default.aspx' class='af-profile-link'>Stephan Brunelle</a> on 20 Mar 2015 06:11 PM

    Posted By <a href="http://members.endurancenation.us/ActivityFeed/tabid/61/userid/4191/Default.aspx" class="af-profile-link">Jacklyn Moore</a> on 19 Mar 2015 10:25 PM


    <p>This is a great thread. Any chance you 'll be around for April? I transition to get faster next week and would love to hand out. <img alt="" src="http://members.endurancenation.ushttp://members.endurancenation.us/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/cool.gif" /></p>



    <p>I think I have until April 19th, and then move to Half IM.  Join us, i'm not sure where others are.  Maybe start a new one in April? </p>
    I'll be doing GF for the month of April. Not contributing until then while on vacation with spotty web connectivity.
  • OK< hope i'm not getting too happy but I had my first satisfying workout of the whole week after feeling weak and sick.  I skipped my run today, but went to the pool and perfectly executed my T Time workouts,  for a total of 2500 yrds.  Hopefully, this continues into tomorrows long ride tomorrow.  Temps are going to be cold, but I still plan to ride outside here in Wisconsin.  

  • @ Stephen- Great! I hope the ball has started to roll for you. Be careful with the cold temp and you in recovery mode. It could set you back. 

    Thanks everyone. I've never started a thread before. Put it on my calendar for April fools day. 


  • Posted By Jacklyn Moore on 20 Mar 2015 10:38 PM

    @ Stephen- Great! I hope the ball has started to roll for you. Be careful with the cold temp and you in recovery mode. It could set you back. 

    Thanks everyone. I've never started a thread before. Put it on my calendar for April fools day. 

    Maybe I'm a fool, but i'm trying to muster up courage to go outside to attempt my Saturday ride.  It is sunny and lovely looking outside, but the temps say upper 30s and 15 MPH winds.  However, I live in Wisconsin what can I say.  It is weather to be celebrated after a brutal February and it should be in the mid to upper 40s by afternoon.

  • I hope it warms up for you. I heard a story on NPR yesterday about the oil fields in the Dakota's and they were keeping the kids inside at school that day because it was less than -10 and -10 was the cut off for playing outside at recess. I guess they would laugh at me because my cut off is a lot higher than -10.
  • @ Mark- You asked me what I thought of the Hoka Bondi's. Love them! Used them in my 5k test today. They are changing my gait a little. I am a terrible leaner. I have a tendency to be straight up. I'm finding that they give me a more natural lean. No achilles or big toe issues either. I am a happy tri mom! 

    Well, 5k test went better than planned. Started with a plan to start slow and negative up. Buried the hatchet and came in right on target. PR'd by 2:30. Makes me wonder what I could have done if I hadn't been sick for 3 weeks. Went for a mental health ride this afternoon. Warm, sunny. About 0.25 miles from home hit a patch of gravel I couldn't avoid because of traffic and pinch flatted. NUTS! So managed to stop without crashing. Took off my shoes, picked up my bike and ran home. ( I was late.) Boy did I get laughed at! 

    Does anyone know what metrics Garmin uses to determine whether or not you have "good" recovery or not? I have a 920 and it gave my a "poor" recovery alert when I was riding. Heart rate was right on target for the speed and terrain I was riding. 

    Thank you and I hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday!

    ~Jacklyn 

     

  • My wife Susan and I are in Walla Walla Washington for spring break and we brought a tri-bike and a road bike for each of us to ride. We plan on riding most days this week. Today we started with a 40+ mile bike ride with some climbing, or at least that was the plan. We downloaded a ride into our Garmin's and headed south. I was doing my normal GF Sat workout of 2X15 FTP and 5X1.5' Vo2 and then some Z3 work. I started the second FTP interval and the road turned to gravel. Not good.I thought that it might be a short stretch and then I crested the top of a hill and saw that the gravel went on for as far as I could see so I turned around and road back to Susan. I was on my road bike but she was on her tri-bile and wasn't having any fun at all so we headed back to pavement. That FTP interval was a little on the low side as you might expect. I hit all of the Vo2 intervals at or above 1,2 except for one when I hit the city limits and had to deal with a few stop signs.I tacked on 45 minutes of Z3 work and then cruised on back with Susan. Tomorrow is hills day with 2100 feet of climbing in 40 miles.

    Today was the first longish ride I've done on my new road bike and I love it. It even handled the gravel really well. I did have to stop and adjust the rear derailleur during the ride but that was no big deal.  

  • So, after much ado about everything, I got outside to do the week 4 get faster 2 1/2 ride.  I had planned on seeing how I was doing and cutting back on the intensity as several of you have encouraged me.  I felt pretty good over all.  Here is the ride. 

    http://tpks.ws/Anvy

    It was cold and slightly windy.  So I decided to head into the wind for the first half.  Coming back was much faster and mostly at zone 2,3. 

    I cut back the FTPs to 12 minutes, and 8 minutes (I was a little under, but not bad), it is hard to hit these FTPs perfectly with rolling hills, cars, and like Mark said gravel or whatever. 

    I did not do the VO2 repeats as I thought that would be overdoing it, but I did place two tougher hills at the halfway point where I briefly touch vo2.  More importantly, it was gorgeous out there and I felt fairly good.  Not back to my former strength but feeling better (sore muscles today).

    I kept it mostly at zone 2 and zone 3 all the way back. 

    Question:  when you choose to do another bike ride on Sunday do you skip the run too, or do both?  I"m so married to my workout schedule that I have a hard time imaging doing anything else.  I'm a slave to my schedule.

    Glad the run today seems to be much easier than Last Sundays!

    Thanks for your support through this tough week for me.  I'm starting to feel optimistic and upbeat again.

     

     

  •     Workout check in:

        Fri. swim 4X500's  good intervals

        Sat. bike EN 25' wu+ 2X15' Zn4 @ 1.01, 1.00, 5X1.5' Zn5@ 1.15, 1.14, 1.15, 1.15, 1,18,  2X10' Zn3@ .80, .82  Good wko.

        Sun. run EN wu+ 3X1mi Zn4@ 8:28, 8:22, 8:27 + Zn2 work for 85' almost 8 miles.

  • Day two of spring break saw a 4.2 mile run this morning followed by a 45.6 mile Z1-2 bike with my spouse and fellow ENer Susan Johnson. Lots of hills and rollers in the Palouse in south central Washington. Two files for the bike due to user error.

    http://tpks.ws/ujV4 

    http://tpks.ws/4wWC

  • Starting the GF this week. Will continue until transitioning to HIM in May. Appreciate all the insight provided in earlier posts.

    @Jaclyn - I'll plan to post here for the GF unless you start a new thread for an April GF session. If you do I'll follow you there.

    @Stephan - good to see you working hard. Starting to head toward Louisville and the big 50!
  • Hit a solid swim yesterday at the YMCA,

    Ran my hill strides at lunch on the only hill near my work,  The Mississippi Bridge.  Beautiful view, not very steep incline.

    Hit the trainer for the bike since it is snowing here again.   Hit the first four vo2s, but then backed off for the last two and just did one minute each.  Finished strong in zone 3.

    Next.

  •    Workout check-in:

       Mon. swim ok, sprints a little slow, but maintaining form.

       Tues. bike/ run done as a brick. 8X1.5's @1.15, 1.17, 1.19, 1.19, 1.21, 1.24, 1.25, 1.29 + 10X hill repeats

       Wed. run done. My lower back has beem acting up hampering my mile intervals, but is doing much better. I had hoped to do next run test with 8 flat pace, and thought that might be in jeopardy, but had a good wko. 3X1mi @ test pace 8:13, 8:06, 8:00 with HR max @160. Might still make my goal.

        Wed. swim: interval paces good

  • OMG! Whose idea was this? I'm in week 2 of GF and just did the Saturday ride because I'm out of town this weekend. Did it on the trainer. Not sure what hurt more-my legs, my butt or my mind. Can't wait til next week. Y'all have a good weekend!
  •       Fri. swim done 4X500's   First 2 set's good time interval's, faded on the last 2 to about RP. Between work and weather, I've missed some swims. Form ok, fitness still lagging.
  • Finished the week strong, but have some seriously tired legs, gonna be tough this weekend.

    Wednesday:   Question, what is race pace for swimming, is it the same as T Pace?  Which race, olympic, half, full?

    5 x 400  morning swim, consistent IM race pace,  Hit the run well in the evening with the treadmill (been cold and snowy here)  2 x 1 mile, 2 x 1/2 zone 4,

    Thursday,  solid VO2 workout on the treadmill while watching my Badgers come from behind to win.  Final 8 baby!

    Friday,  another 5x400 swim in morning,  Easy 40 minute run at lunch with 6 x 20" strides,  felt good to run outside in 30s. 

    Those hill bounds early this week totally wiped out my calves.

     

  • We've been on spring break in Walla Walla WA and I've been working out but not posting. Monday was rainy and so we didn't bike but we did go for a run. I was going to do my 3X1 Z4 intervals but when I got warmed up and out on the chosen trail I found it turned to gravel and was very hilly and my legs were heavy from biking so I decided not to do the intervals. I ran around a reservoir on the trails and then got back to a paved trail along the river which was fairly flat so I hit the lap button and started the intervals. I got the first one done and 0.6 tenths of the second before I got back to the car. It was raining hard by then so I climbed in and drove back to the rental. 

    Tuesday I didn't feel very well. I was either coming down with a cold or severe allergies. Luckily it was raining and very windy so going out for a bike was not very appealing so I sat around and finished Joe Friel's Fast After 50. Late in the afternoon it cleared up and calmed down so we did go out for a short recovery ride which hit the spot.

    Wednesday I took the tri-bike out for the first time since early February and did a out and back ride. Going out I did a ABP ride against the wind and generally uphill. Coming back I cruised in Z1 since we were planning a longish bike on Thursday. To get an indication of the wind, going out I had an NP of 192 and it took me 70 minutes. Coming back I had an NP of 153 and it took me 52 minutes. Tail winds make me feel so fast!

    Thursday was the best day weather wise of the stay. It got up into the 70's that day and I got in another 68 miles on the tri-bike. I was riding with Susan so I did a series of Vo2 hill fartleks at the beginning of the ride and then Z1-2 stuff for the rest of it. I would ride until I couldn't see her any more and then loop back until she was just about out of site and catch up with her. So riding that way is a little more chopped up than on riding by myself but I earn a lot of SAU's that way. By the end of that ride my neck and upper back were getting sore because I wasn't used to riding my tri-bike for that long, but I did get in over 110 miles on it in two days. All in all I think my positional fitness will come back pretty quickly.

    We had 6 full days in Walla Walla and we managed to ride 5 of them. I got in 216 miles over the week and a couple of runs. That was less than I thought I would get in when we were planning it, but I did do most of the rides with FTP or Vo2 work which I haven't done in the past. The good thing is that I don't feel too trashed. I took today as a rest/travel day and will resume swimming and running tomorrow and plan on another bike on Sunday.

  •     Working again this weekend, I've had 2 days off this whole month. Getting most of the workouts done, but starting to feel the cumulative effect with test week next week. Don't know how that's going to work out. The bright side, at least this isn't happening in last 5 or 6 weeks of IM training! Did manage this morning's bike: 2X20' Zn 4 both at .99, second set tough, HR elevated. no time for Zn 3 work.

  • Posted By <a href='http://members.endurancenation.us/ActivityFeed/tabid/61/userid/4679/Default.aspx' class='af-profile-link'>Stephan Brunelle</a> on 27 Mar 2015 08:20 PM
    ...
    <p>Wednesday:   Question, what is race pace for swimming, is it the same as T Pace?  Which race, olympic, half, full?</p>

    I've used my next A race for race pace intervals. Using 1:40/100 yds (100 seconds) as. T pace, eg, that would be 1:47 for IM, 1:43-4 for HIM, 1:41 for Oly. Transpose based on your own T pace.
  • I've been on vacation in sunny Florida this past week and had fun riding around the Siesta Keys area. Got in a couple longer rides and had a good mental reset from the trainer! While I love the suffering of OS/GF rides, it is good to also remember how much I just love riding a bike! I also successfully made sure it stayed a family vacation and not a training camp, so all around win. Resting up today, will do a long run tomorrow.
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