Thursday run early this AM...10.25/1:25. Last 3+ miles in 7:37, 7:48,7:18, 7:45, a bit faster than the MP prescribed. It felt great however, reflecting I guess some consolidation from the hard half marathon zi did on Sunday. Tomorrow a travel/rest day, the Tour of California, at LAST. My wife and I tried to do a tandem ride in our beautiful spring weather along the western edge of. Pusey Sound, a big production, as we had to drive there, meaning breaking the bike down to fit in the rear of the Prius, which it does, just barely. But when I hopped on, I discovered I had not brought my Tandem shoes. I was so focused on the ToC, I guess, that I brought my road bike shoes instead. I probably should get the same pedals on all my bikes, but ...
The last two days were interesting. Wednesday's bike wko was done on the trainer using Trainer Road. Very tough...couldn't maintain my virtual FTP from my last OS bike test, which tells me I've lost a some bike fitness since exiting OS. Long run Thursday went better than expected with dead legs from Wednesday. It will take a while getting used to going long at Z1. Last 3+ miles were around Z2. Friday swim (Masters Swim) was a break through...Totally out of the blue, my average pace decreased by 5 sec/100 yds. Don't know what I did differently but my level of effort stayed the same. I literally thought my Garmin wasn't working right. And to top it off I held that 1:34 pace for a 400 yd time trial. This was a pace I thought was nearly impossible. My normal pace is 1:40-1:42. After the swim, I went for an Z1+ run. Looking forward to Sat/Sun rides.
Late to the party but work/life/wko been keeping me busy like a 1-armed wallpaper hanger.....
Tusedays 2x1 @ TP turned into a 3x1 @ TP and likely sabatoged the next 2 days. Yeah I know I souldn't be so stupid but I was enjoying the grind at the track.
Wednesday I wanted to replace the regular bike wko with a test. I felt the need to retest because my last test was inside on 3/31 and recent rides on 5/2 and 5/3 were 3:33 @ .872 IF & 2:43 @ .86 IF. Neither of those seemed too challenging. In the end my test attempt was a big failure. I did manage to get thru the VO2 part, barely but by 9 minutes into the FTP portion my legs siezed up and I couldn't turn the cranks. After pulling the plug I spent the next 25 minutes @ 0.91 - and amazinly was quite comfortable at that pace. Seems like as soon as I get at or above FTP I just fall apart, whereas at 85 to 90% I'm in my happy place.
Tim Cronk pointed suggested I look at the FTP function in Strava - which I didn't even know existed, and was surprised to see it within 1 watt of my last test. So, maybe I should just go with that for my FTP and hit my training numbers as prescribed until I earn the right to go faster/harder.
Thursday's long run started late, I had been dealing with my elderly mother after work. Started slow and felt sluggish and after 2 miles of a 10+ mile run I just didn't have it. I walked a bit before bailing out and turning around. Ran 2 miles home and spent the rest of the evening with my wife.
The Friday swim (I never seem to follow the planned swim wko) was 3 x 1200 (2') pull. First set was comfortable and easy @ 1:40. Second set was much more like work and ended up @ 1:42. The last set I knew was goingrough so I added a second to my Tempo Trainer (25" to 26") and by the end was working very hard to stay on pace. Final set @ 1:44.
Long ride today but will be chilly. Currently 46* and overcast. Not exected to get much above 50* and no sun all day.
@Al your not alone, I have showed up at the DropZone without a parachute, driven 1.5hrs to rock climb without a rope, and yes , driven to go biking only to find NO SHOES!
Still a bit unstructured here as I get settled back into NH... Too much yard work etc... Got in an impromptu 900yd swim TT at a Masters class on weds in 13:36 or 1:30 100yd pace which is just a few seconds slower than my bests.... Ran a HM today in 1:34:22 , a far cry from my best and even 2 minutes off my best for that course.... But all things considered I'm very happy.... Garmin DATA translates to a vdot of 48.7 for the HM and a month ago the 5k data was vdot of 48.6... My math shows an easy bump up to a vdot of 49.7 just by hitting my race weight a mere 4lbs away ! So looking like the swim/run will be up to speed by IMLP... Next up is a bike TT on Saturday and then I'm getting to work!
Booked a room in IMLP for 6/26-6/29 for my hardcore IMLP camp.... I have room if anyone wants to join me....
I got in 3 hours on the trainer this morning and a pretty good workout. The MS of the workout was 4X25' @.75-8 and for some reason I got the .7-.75 zone in my head. I did the 1st two a little easy but finished up in the correct zones. Overall a good ride.
Looking for some advice...tomorrow I have the opportunity to do an OWS race of either 1.2 or 2.4 mi. Without hindering my Sun ride. I'm also racing Challenge Knoxville 70.3 next weekend. Which distance should I do?
I am doing IMLP and Challenge Knoxville - hope to see you there next weekend. I would do the 1.2 mile since we haven't got into the longer swims in our plan yet plus the fact that IMLP is two 1.2 mile swims with a brief break in between.
Yes, we should def try to link up at Knoxville! I went with the 1.2 today, and so happy I did! Ana, the tropical swim, was having a major effect on the lake, but I ended up having one of my best swims! Wahoo!
@Mandy - !@##!!!! COngrats on the swim performance!!
@Tim - I might take you up on the room for IMLP camp assuming you don't snore........
Survived myself this week but barely. Had to do both the Sat Long bike and Sun Long run on trainer/TM due to all day lightning bolts, rains and tornados in the DFW area........Got it all done with much room for improvement.
Jealous of all the guys at ToC event this week!
Time for some rest tonight before opening up a can of Week 10!
Wow, some great stuff here. I have had a super crazy week. Due to some family matters for my wife and work for me I hadn't seen her in two weeks. I was away all week in Vermont for work. I was able to get my workouts in and all was going well there. My only issue was I was living at Camp Johnson. Sleep was minimal and after the Thursday long run it finally hit me hard. I was down and out Friday and Saturday. The drive home Friday was not easy. I had no chance at a successful long ride on Saturday. I started feeling a little better today and did a GRP run. That felt pretty good, but the perceived level of effort was high. I may add a long bike tomorrow.
So to cap off the week I hammered the bike but didn't do the run. It was a hack of sorts, not following the intensity instructions. I have concerns about my consistently low FTP over the past year+, and have only 10 weeks to IMLP and 4 weeks to Quassy. I wanted to see where my limitations were regarding my HIM power and took this weekend to really test my capacity there.
Saturday was 4:27 ride time @ .855 IF & 1.02 VI over 85 miles and 2200'. Early on I was working to avoid too much exuberance but rode slightly high @ .87 IF. Middle went well and I was noticing that head-down aero was much faster than constantly looking up. So much so that my average speed ended up being 19.2 Something I haven't seen for anything over 2 hours before. Late in the ride, like the last 45 minutes or so, was much tougher. Had to focus more to keep my watts on target but didn't really fade much. Certainly could not have run off the bike but I was more interested in how long I could sustain my ABP efforts before failure.
Sunday was a shorter repeat of the Saturday ride. The goal was 3 hours at or as close to .85 IF as possible. Again head-down aero was big focus. Finished 3:01 ride time @ .81 IF & 1.03 VI over 57 miles and 1444'. Early miles my legs felt trashed but settled in after a bit. The last 30 minutes really had me struggling to hold on, averaging 20-25 watts lower. Part was 4 miles of the worst road where none of the original asphalt remains - only years of patches. Seems like when I have more strength, riding the rough stuff isn't too bad for power output but when tired, I just can't make it happen. But clearly I was spent and didn't have much left.
In all I am pleased with the weekends rides and the knowledge gleaned from my performance. Moving forward I do intent to follow the program a bit closer for the bike and run, but will also keep an eye on my HIM capacity.
@SS.... no snoring here.... your welcome to join... 6/26-6/29 is the only time I can get there to learn/practice on the course... my rough plan is to arrive midday on the 26th , drive bike/run courses, swim 1-2 laps on swim course, 27th and 28th will be 1 lap swim , full bike (100-112) , 3-4 mile run , 29th 1 lap swim , 1 lap run (13) then drive home
@Ed...I kinda feel in the same boat... 1 little HM this weekend killed me... you know what to do to recover.... did a 45 min swim myself and nothing else planned today
@Steve... awesome back to back bikes.... I wont say its impossible to ride 4.5 hrs at .85 but its pretty unlikely.... your FTP is probably higher... IMO its kinda irrelevant and I like your hack to find that HIM power number.... I like to do something very similar on 4hr or less rides (as much ABP as I can handle then let it fade down to IM pace) Once I get up over 4hrs I reverse it and do all IM pace, ending with 10-25% of time at ABP.... You spoke it in terms of IF to us but I know whats really important to you is the actual number you were capable of... THIS >>> knowledge gleaned from my performance .... is whats important... you wont be asking what IF should I ride for a HIM based on an "estimated FTP number" OH and nice little find on your position resulting in some more speed ! ... kinda off topic here at IMLP but I'm interested to see what we ride on the Quassy OLY/HIM back to back
@Ed - way to fight and get a lot done in the middle of life happening my friend. Been there many times. Way to go bro!
@Steve - TC beat me to the comments. What he said. Looks like you're really close to finding your 5 hour power, and ahead of schedule...I still have several more humbling excursions before I find mine.
@TC - Rest like a champion so that you can lead us as we get closer to show time! I'll be planning on a Thurs arrival at camp (28th) and find a place for one night then see you on the 29th..........
Trying to recover from weekend volume this morning and looking to swim and maybe run before the day is over.....
@ TC - I was looking at the wrong month in between work distractions - correction, I will arrive on Thurs 25th and exit on Sunday or Monday 28 / 29th.....will confirm once I book the flight.....
Yes when posting to the team I default to IF and VI because it is easy to convey the gist of the wko relative to my current FTP. It also sheds light on how my FTP may be off too, as you pointed out. But in my calculations and on the bike I am looking at a range of numbers based on FTP. On the bike I look at 3s watts & IF on the Joule. I have to admit though, I do prefer to think in terms of IF because as my FTP changes, my target doesn't need to. Help me to remember what my target watts are.
This past weekend of ride was an intensity based FTP validation. I figured if I could go 4+ at or above 85% then follow that up with another 3 hour strong ride I could infer my FTP was higher than posted, even if my last test was a failure. My takeaway is my SWAG FTP is closer to 210 than 202.
Soooo.... the journey back to Lake Placid has been slow and uphill!
Last year, in LP - crashed due to hypothermic shivering.
In September, at Esprit Ironman-distance, hit by another cyclist > ended up with a fractured scapula, fractured collarbone in 4 places (now have 3 plates and 11 screws) and 5 fractured ribs.
Just before Christmas, another driver pulled out in front of me and we collided vehicles. The shoulder belt (which runs from the left shoulder, across the right ribs) did exactly what it was supposed to do - stopped me from hitting the steering wheel. In the process, 3 ribs were re-fractured.
A couple of months ago, finally got the "go ahead" to start training - and have been playing catch up ever since!
This season, I will do Lake Placid, Peasantman and Chattanooga. Doing IM Choo as a fundraiser fir Crohn's & Colitis - a disease that eventually led to my Dad passing away (very long story).
In addition to fundraising for CCFA, I applied to be a part of the Ironman Foundation's Newton Running Ambassador Team. Proud to be the only athlete from Massachusetts selected :-)
After 6+ months off, I started about 2 miles behind the proverbial eight-ball... That said, I will chug along and finish with dignity :-)
Looking forward to catching up with everyone soon - the old timers AND the new EN folks!!
Comments
My wife and I tried to do a tandem ride in our beautiful spring weather along the western edge of. Pusey Sound, a big production, as we had to drive there, meaning breaking the bike down to fit in the rear of the Prius, which it does, just barely. But when I hopped on, I discovered I had not brought my Tandem shoes. I was so focused on the ToC, I guess, that I brought my road bike shoes instead. I probably should get the same pedals on all my bikes, but ...
3hr bike tomorrow. Foot still sore, so no run tomorrow. Maybe an extra 45 min on the bike.
Tusedays 2x1 @ TP turned into a 3x1 @ TP and likely sabatoged the next 2 days. Yeah I know I souldn't be so stupid but I was enjoying the grind at the track.
Wednesday I wanted to replace the regular bike wko with a test. I felt the need to retest because my last test was inside on 3/31 and recent rides on 5/2 and 5/3 were 3:33 @ .872 IF & 2:43 @ .86 IF. Neither of those seemed too challenging. In the end my test attempt was a big failure. I did manage to get thru the VO2 part, barely but by 9 minutes into the FTP portion my legs siezed up and I couldn't turn the cranks. After pulling the plug I spent the next 25 minutes @ 0.91 - and amazinly was quite comfortable at that pace. Seems like as soon as I get at or above FTP I just fall apart, whereas at 85 to 90% I'm in my happy place.
Tim Cronk pointed suggested I look at the FTP function in Strava - which I didn't even know existed, and was surprised to see it within 1 watt of my last test. So, maybe I should just go with that for my FTP and hit my training numbers as prescribed until I earn the right to go faster/harder.
Thursday's long run started late, I had been dealing with my elderly mother after work. Started slow and felt sluggish and after 2 miles of a 10+ mile run I just didn't have it. I walked a bit before bailing out and turning around. Ran 2 miles home and spent the rest of the evening with my wife.
The Friday swim (I never seem to follow the planned swim wko) was 3 x 1200 (2') pull. First set was comfortable and easy @ 1:40. Second set was much more like work and ended up @ 1:42. The last set I knew was goingrough so I added a second to my Tempo Trainer (25" to 26") and by the end was working very hard to stay on pace. Final set @ 1:44.
Long ride today but will be chilly. Currently 46* and overcast. Not exected to get much above 50* and no sun all day.
Quassy weekend in 4 weeks! Bring it!
@Al your not alone, I have showed up at the DropZone without a parachute, driven 1.5hrs to rock climb without a rope, and yes , driven to go biking only to find NO SHOES!
Still a bit unstructured here as I get settled back into NH... Too much yard work etc... Got in an impromptu 900yd swim TT at a Masters class on weds in 13:36 or 1:30 100yd pace which is just a few seconds slower than my bests.... Ran a HM today in 1:34:22 , a far cry from my best and even 2 minutes off my best for that course.... But all things considered I'm very happy.... Garmin DATA translates to a vdot of 48.7 for the HM and a month ago the 5k data was vdot of 48.6... My math shows an easy bump up to a vdot of 49.7 just by hitting my race weight a mere 4lbs away ! So looking like the swim/run will be up to speed by IMLP... Next up is a bike TT on Saturday and then I'm getting to work!
Booked a room in IMLP for 6/26-6/29 for my hardcore IMLP camp.... I have room if anyone wants to join me....
Missed Friday's swim.
I got in 3 hours on the trainer this morning and a pretty good workout. The MS of the workout was 4X25' @.75-8 and for some reason I got the .7-.75 zone in my head. I did the 1st two a little easy but finished up in the correct zones. Overall a good ride.
Thanks!
Mandy
I am doing IMLP and Challenge Knoxville - hope to see you there next weekend.
I would do the 1.2 mile since we haven't got into the longer swims in our plan yet plus the fact that IMLP is two 1.2 mile swims with a brief break in between.
Don
Yes, we should def try to link up at Knoxville! I went with the 1.2 today, and so happy I did! Ana, the tropical swim, was having a major effect on the lake, but I ended up having one of my best swims! Wahoo!
@Mandy - !@##!!!! COngrats on the swim performance!!
@Tim - I might take you up on the room for IMLP camp assuming you don't snore........
Survived myself this week but barely. Had to do both the Sat Long bike and Sun Long run on trainer/TM due to all day lightning bolts, rains and tornados in the DFW area........Got it all done with much room for improvement.
Jealous of all the guys at ToC event this week!
Time for some rest tonight before opening up a can of Week 10!
SS
Wow, some great stuff here. I have had a super crazy week. Due to some family matters for my wife and work for me I hadn't seen her in two weeks. I was away all week in Vermont for work. I was able to get my workouts in and all was going well there. My only issue was I was living at Camp Johnson. Sleep was minimal and after the Thursday long run it finally hit me hard. I was down and out Friday and Saturday. The drive home Friday was not easy. I had no chance at a successful long ride on Saturday. I started feeling a little better today and did a GRP run. That felt pretty good, but the perceived level of effort was high. I may add a long bike tomorrow.
Saturday was 4:27 ride time @ .855 IF & 1.02 VI over 85 miles and 2200'. Early on I was working to avoid too much exuberance but rode slightly high @ .87 IF. Middle went well and I was noticing that head-down aero was much faster than constantly looking up. So much so that my average speed ended up being 19.2 Something I haven't seen for anything over 2 hours before. Late in the ride, like the last 45 minutes or so, was much tougher. Had to focus more to keep my watts on target but didn't really fade much. Certainly could not have run off the bike but I was more interested in how long I could sustain my ABP efforts before failure.
https://app.strava.com/activities/301323084/analysis
Sunday was a shorter repeat of the Saturday ride. The goal was 3 hours at or as close to .85 IF as possible. Again head-down aero was big focus. Finished 3:01 ride time @ .81 IF & 1.03 VI over 57 miles and 1444'. Early miles my legs felt trashed but settled in after a bit. The last 30 minutes really had me struggling to hold on, averaging 20-25 watts lower. Part was 4 miles of the worst road where none of the original asphalt remains - only years of patches. Seems like when I have more strength, riding the rough stuff isn't too bad for power output but when tired, I just can't make it happen. But clearly I was spent and didn't have much left.
https://app.strava.com/activities/301987208/analysis
In all I am pleased with the weekends rides and the knowledge gleaned from my performance. Moving forward I do intent to follow the program a bit closer for the bike and run, but will also keep an eye on my HIM capacity.
@Ed...I kinda feel in the same boat... 1 little HM this weekend killed me... you know what to do to recover.... did a 45 min swim myself and nothing else planned today
@Steve... awesome back to back bikes.... I wont say its impossible to ride 4.5 hrs at .85 but its pretty unlikely.... your FTP is probably higher... IMO its kinda irrelevant and I like your hack to find that HIM power number.... I like to do something very similar on 4hr or less rides (as much ABP as I can handle then let it fade down to IM pace) Once I get up over 4hrs I reverse it and do all IM pace, ending with 10-25% of time at ABP.... You spoke it in terms of IF to us but I know whats really important to you is the actual number you were capable of... THIS >>> knowledge gleaned from my performance .... is whats important... you wont be asking what IF should I ride for a HIM based on an "estimated FTP number" OH and nice little find on your position resulting in some more speed ! ... kinda off topic here at IMLP but I'm interested to see what we ride on the Quassy OLY/HIM back to back
@Ed - way to fight and get a lot done in the middle of life happening my friend. Been there many times. Way to go bro!
@Steve - TC beat me to the comments. What he said. Looks like you're really close to finding your 5 hour power, and ahead of schedule...I still have several more humbling excursions before I find mine.
@TC - Rest like a champion so that you can lead us as we get closer to show time! I'll be planning on a Thurs arrival at camp (28th) and find a place for one night then see you on the 29th..........
Trying to recover from weekend volume this morning and looking to swim and maybe run before the day is over.....
SS
Yes when posting to the team I default to IF and VI because it is easy to convey the gist of the wko relative to my current FTP. It also sheds light on how my FTP may be off too, as you pointed out. But in my calculations and on the bike I am looking at a range of numbers based on FTP. On the bike I look at 3s watts & IF on the Joule. I have to admit though, I do prefer to think in terms of IF because as my FTP changes, my target doesn't need to. Help me to remember what my target watts are.
This past weekend of ride was an intensity based FTP validation. I figured if I could go 4+ at or above 85% then follow that up with another 3 hour strong ride I could infer my FTP was higher than posted, even if my last test was a failure. My takeaway is my SWAG FTP is closer to 210 than 202.
Last year, in LP - crashed due to hypothermic shivering.
In September, at Esprit Ironman-distance, hit by another cyclist > ended up with a fractured scapula, fractured collarbone in 4 places (now have 3 plates and 11 screws) and 5 fractured ribs.
Just before Christmas, another driver pulled out in front of me and we collided vehicles. The shoulder belt (which runs from the left shoulder, across the right ribs) did exactly what it was supposed to do - stopped me from hitting the steering wheel. In the process, 3 ribs were re-fractured.
A couple of months ago, finally got the "go ahead" to start training - and have been playing catch up ever since!
This season, I will do Lake Placid, Peasantman and Chattanooga. Doing IM Choo as a fundraiser fir Crohn's & Colitis - a disease that eventually led to my Dad passing away (very long story).
In addition to fundraising for CCFA, I applied to be a part of the Ironman Foundation's Newton Running Ambassador Team. Proud to be the only athlete from Massachusetts selected :-)
After 6+ months off, I started about 2 miles behind the proverbial eight-ball... That said, I will chug along and finish with dignity :-)
Looking forward to catching up with everyone soon - the old timers AND the new EN folks!!
Cheers,
Woody