Dec OS Week 7 Run and Bike thread - The Few, the Proud, the Persistent
Us few Dec OS'rs don't get quite the love as the much larger Nov/Jan groups, but getting it done nevertheless! Starting to get to a point where I've burned out on heavy training periods in earlier seasons, so keeping a close eye on motivation levels. As for the bike, Zwift truly has been a game-changer for me as I truly enjoy mixing it up on there. Running as always been my gig, but trying to balance the load without overdoing it. I think I'm well positioned for the summer short course season, but have some work to do to perform well at Florida in April...plus, of course, there's always room for improvement.
First swim since October this morning, then an easy 4 mile run. Looking forward to the FTP work tomorrow.
First swim since October this morning, then an easy 4 mile run. Looking forward to the FTP work tomorrow.
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Got up this morning and hit the hotel fitness center for 45 mins before a nice brunch and flying back to Tampa this afternoon. In the evening I got on the trainer and first knocked out an easy virtual route in Florida for 21.2 miles with 768 ft of climbing. That was the warm-up. Then I flipped to Latigo canyon near Malibu for a 9.1 mile ride with 2333 ft of climbing ... suckage!! IM Norway has 2000 meters of climbing and I plan to be ready!!
35 minute run this morning, and then plan was to ride 3x12' FTP this afternoon. Started out with a 10 mile TT race on Zwift, with 24' at FTP...didn't have it in me to do a separate 12'...I started it, but crapped out pretty quickly. Think I'll just stick with plan for the next weeks to ensure I'm not losing out on the overall work. Supposed to snow here tonight, so not sure if I'll be able to run in the morning or not. May split the long run and do the treadmill before and after class...if the gyms are open.
Tue AM - I played dead and did not work-out.
Tue PM - 5.2 mile run followed by easy 12.6 mile route with only 577 feet of climbing. Tomorrow I will be climbing BIGLY.
It was 29 degrees this morning. The first time in over 7 years that we had an official temperature for Tampa below 32. It also tied the all time low for 18 Jan, a record set in 1981. So I wimped out this morning and put in 30 mins on a treadmill at the gym. I went back to the gym this evening for 45 mins weights, and followed that up with an easy 13.92 miles on the bike. Tonight was the Vermont Sprint Triathlon, a loop bike course with just 597 feet of climbing. I have to do a lot more climbing the next couple of days.
https://www.relive.cc/view/1365106535
Dinhofer arrives tonight; hopefully it will snow on Saturday, as things look pretty bleak right now. No expert terrain open, small loose rocks litter many runs.
Snow delay here on Wed allowed me to get 8.5 miles in on the run. Steady as she goes and felt pretty good.
Thurs, did the 2x8x1'on/1'off. Wasn't as horrible as I expected, but not easy nonetheless. May look to reduce the rest intervals next week, but not sure if I'm ready for 1'on/30" off. Guess I can always start it and see where it goes.
Easy run of 4 miles this morning, and 1200m swim this afternoon. Threw in a 10x50 set to start getting a taste of the work. Pace is still okay, but not great; looking to get some combination of endurance and speed ready for FL 70.3. My swim was not great last year, so would be nice to improve by 3-5 minutes.
Weekend outlook looks good to try to ride a metric century on Zwift tomorrow, and then about 90' run on Sunday. Need to bang out a couple of papers for school as well, so will be plenty of time spent in the hotel room. Off to go see the movie "12 Strong" with some classmates.
Have a great weekend!
Mark
Fri AM - totally zonked...could not get out of bed.
Fri PM - 4.05 mile run then on the bike and over to Europe for a 26.64 mile route with 2169 ft of gain. All but 300 ft of the elevation came in the first half of the bike. It looks like it was filmed during an organized ride and it was interesting to pass a lot of people walking their bikes up the two big long climbs...some of them more than 2 miles from the summit. These weren't that steep, just long grades without any break.
Meanwhile, I'm closing in on the next level. I need 3675 ft of gain by Sunday to advance. If I feel good tomorrow I may pick a long, hard route so I can be done with it.
Completed 2 Zwift Watopia Big Loops today over 3 hours...longest trainer ride to date. Zwift continues to be a game changer. Even completed about 4400' feet of gain over 54 miles.
Mark
Sat PM - I picked a 50 mile, point to point ride across Monte Albo in Sardinia, Italy with 3800 ft of gain. About 3000 ft came in a 20 mile climb across the mountain. This was a premium ride by Real Live Videos from Germany and the video quality was outstanding as usual. Anyway, I met all the Rouvy requirements to advance to the next level and am now an "Elite" rider. The requirements to advance have just gotten a lot stiffer. I might make one more level but that's about it. Meanwhile, after 6 straight days of climbing, I'm taking the next two off from biking and will get back on the OS bike schedule for Tuesday.
Signed up for Zwift Fondo this morning to keep in the running for the Canyon bike. Only need to complete one more to qualify. About 2-hours doing the 3 Sisters route...had some technical difficulties early, so fell out of any group that would've enabled a better pack. Though it really doesn't matter on that course. Once I got it figured out, I did manage to move up through 40% of the 1300+ folks in front of me.
Was going to just go get a 1-hour run in with the 2 1-mile intervals, but it was so nice out and I was feeling okay, so ended up doing 8.5 mile TRP run with a 1-mile Z3/4 effort to finish.
Had one of my biggest training weeks by time in a long time. 12:47, with almost 8 on the bike. If I run tomorrow morning, it will be zone 1 all the way. Not sure I'll make the pool. Signed up to run a half mary next weekend with some folks; not sure how hard I will go. Will move Sat bike to Sun.
Its about now when things start to become a grind.
Good week for me with just over 1,000 TSS and 40.1 miles running while maintaining V02 and FTP work with my new threshold level.....tricky business but feeling stable and injury free so far.
Friday I had to fly to Denver / do meetings /fly back all in the same day....a bit grueling but made it through.
Have a great week all and keep leading!
SS