GH - Good to hear that you had fun and felt good about your effort. Nice results, nice close at the finish. Way to bounce back. Sounds like you got more than a little wet with a 3 ft deep river. Brrr!! Maybe it cooled you off.
Yeah, here's the down side of my day - I run a small business. 11 full time employees. I had to fire someone for cause today. I hate that.I hate the situation, having to do it, having to be tough in front of everyone.
I've eaten nothing but M&M's all day. I feel like diving into a big glass of red wine (I am a recovering (ed) alcoholic - 19 years dry (it's no secret, I am really up front about it. Helps me stay sober), but still, I really miss being able to turn off).
@ Jane - Tomorrow is another day, and the people that still work for you will respect you for taking the tough but correct action. It is never easy to fire someone, but if it is for cause, the employee only has themselves to blame. I've had to fire more than my share of people over 32 years in business and it is never fun or easy. I hate it too, but it is what comes with a leadership role. Congratulations on being tough and empathatic at the same time. Now go find a big glass of chocolate milk to wash down those M&Ms. BTW, nice job on your bike test too.
Did the bike test this am. I'm satisfied but not thrilled. Don't have a PM so i do the tests on a bike at the gym that records the distance covered in 40 minutes. Got a 2% increase (16.98 miles vs. 16.75 miles) since the last test but a total of 14% improvement since the start of OS. My legs still felt a little heavy from the 90 minute ride & 12 mile run brick on Saturday (You'd think I would have learned by now that I don't recover like I did when I was 25). Still I'll take it. Resting up tomorrow then run test on Wednesday.
Just finished the bike FTP test (life got in the way yesterday). Improved from 176 to 184, started the outseason at 164. I wasn't sure I would see any improvement, since I've been feeling pretty wiped the last week, so I will definitely take that jump. I will probably rest tomorrow and push the run test to Thursday.
Good luck on the run for those that are testing tomorrow!
Good job everybody on the tests. I was dealing with a sore hamstring the past two weeks so I decided to delay my tests. I just finished my bike test and am up to 216 watts (3.1 watts/kg), up from 186 watts in week 1 and 199 watts in week 8. I am so excited about that! After being very inconsistent with my workouts the past two weeks I was just hoping to hold the same FTP, but saw another great increase.
I've officially switched over to the Ironman training plan, as of Monday, but will occasionally to check in with all of you. I'm thinking I'll wait until next week to do my run test, as I'm trying to fit these tests in with minimal impact to my other scheduled workouts.
@ Bruce, I am doing the 20 week IM plan. I just set an ending date for the plan of June 26th and it automatically put me in week 5. We're still a little too far out for the 12 week plan, but my understanding is that the last 12 weeks of the 20 week IM plan is exactly the same as the 12 week IM plan.
From what I've read in the Wiki, I think the general advice is to stay in the OS as long as possible and then do the 12 week IM plan (which for us would start on April 4th). The only reason I decided to switch over early was to get in some long workouts before Oceanside 70.3 on April 2nd. I didn't feel comfortable doing a 70.3 on only high intensity work and no swimming.
No run test for me yet. I've been on the edge of a nasty cold for a few days. I've got a sore throat and get that dry cough annoying thing at night. Hoping I will feel 100% tomorrow so i can finally get that 5K done. I'll admit, I"m a little scared to do it!
Melissa: scared before the vdot test is totally fine. You'll do great. By the way, your watt/kg is super high! I especially admire that with a watt/kg like that, you still respect the run. Great!
All: I am feeling motivated and have put in a solid week so far. The bike is slowly coming back strong, for me. Helped to lower my seat height a bit. The run is very strong, which is very uplifting.
Sucked it up and did the 5k test today. Was so close to stopping at 2.4 miles on the treadmill, but am very glad I just toughed it out. Got 20:58, so not much faster than last time (21:16). Hoping I can hit my zones and maybe see a bigger jump next time. Just need to keep working hard!
We have some fast folks in our group. Melissa's 3.5 w/kg. is where I want to be! GH is running like the wind. How is everyone doing on the fifth discipline - body comp? I have become a calorie tracker since January 10th. I am using Loseit.com. I am down 10 lbs since then and on my way to my goal by mid to late April. This is new for me. I recommend it for the learning, the discipline, and the results if you've never quite been where you want to be in this area. Worked for me!
@ Scott L - good to see your post. Wow! 10 lbs gone. That's great. How is the rest of the OS going for you?
@ GH: Good to hear that you are feeling better about your bike results. Sometimes confidence is half the battle.
@ Melissa - Way to gut out that 5k run test. That's the college soccer player in you making a statement. And your time is FAST. Nice improvement too.
I did the bike 4 x 2.5' ON/OFF this am. Legs felt ok but I had a hard time mentally pushing to the end of each one. Must an mental reaction to the tests this week. Then to continue to building my bike endurance I did 3 more hours @ Z3 HR 142-149. Felt pretty good the whole way. I bought some Infinit drink this week and I used it first time this am. I think it helped as I didn't get cramps like I have in the past. Then I met my swim coach for a workout. He qualified for and raced Kona about 10 years, now he mostly just does long open water swim races. He kicked my butt. Gave me some good technique tips during the WU, then we swam sets of 200s, 100s, 50s and 25s together. And I thought the run and bike VO2 intervals were hard. Thought I was gonna die and no way could I keep up with him. Well I didn't die, but now I'm ready for a long nap.
I hope everyones training is coming along injury free. Good luck.
My body comp is great this season. Basically, just took 1 week off from IMAz and started up again with dec os. I am now ~10-12lbs lighter than at Arizona. I weigh 152lbs now and have to wear jackets all the time because I am always cold! I doubt I can go below 145, but we'll see. I still have fat on my face and only have a 4-pack, not a six pack so there are still pounds to be lost.
Bruce, hope your nap was good Right now I am just sticking to the OS, winding down Week 15. It has been lots of read- the-plan, do-the-plan methodical work. Not exciting enough to post much, I suppose. My run is coming along great. I have picked up about 5-6 VDOT points over the OS. My bike was doing great but has flattened out in the last couple weeks. I go back and forth on whether to be concerned or not. In the end I choose no and put my head down and push on.
The schedule is about to enter the play period. I have some long Bike Days penciled in. I have a sprint tri on 4/16 that attracts about 600+ at Miami University, Ohio. I have a half mary on 4/30 in Louisville so need to hack the long runs for that. My wife is doing it too and my brother is doing his first marathon at nearly 50. So proud of him! Then the end of spring hack for me is the Triple T Ohio - an IM over four races on a weekend. That is May 20-22. Throw in my sons' spring breaks, some guests including my mother-in-law, and the next 10 weeks will be exciting!
I'll do the first two weeks of IM training after the TTT before my 1-2 weeks off. Deb and I have been invited for the first time to a friends' cabin on a remote Ontario island somewhere (I don't know exactly where, Jane) and I am definitely all over that as my break in mid June. Lots of canoeing, hiking, kayaking, good food, and friends. Then when back home, I jump into the IM training again culminating in IM Louisville at the end of August.
This is about the time of year that the OS forums start to fall apart so I hope we can all keep up with each other.How are others challenging themselves as they emerge from the OS?
@melissa I am totally scared of the run test! good job!
@scott - a remote ontario island. Buddy, there are 30,000 lakes in the province - it could be anywhere!
I've been off the grid for 5 days - renovating our offices, with my staff camping at my home. Two galas and a dinner to attend as well have conspired against any training this week. That and a particularly difficult staff termination. It's been a treat.
And after Monday's bike test there was something each morning to deal with. I was getting ready to get out the door on Friday to do the test - and I get a call from the office saying the installers are there two hours early. well heck.
Anyway, I did part of today's bike with the new zones. Holy cow! so 4 x 2.5 @ 120% which is now 211 W!! and then 15 mins in Z3, 141 - what used to be my Z5!!
I'll do the run test tomorrow and then get back on track!
@ Scott L - Good to hear that things are going well. I've heard that the TTT event is both fun and brutal. I recall seeing a thread about it just in the past week, I think it was in the race report forum. You might want to check it out as there were lots of good tips. The things I took away from it are:
1. Recovery is key between the races. Eat & hydrate well.
2. Pace it like it is an IM event. Don't get carried away on the Friday Sprint event or the sunday HIM will be no fun.
Hey everyone, glad to see you are all getting solid test results. Very impressive.
I personally just started extending my OS weekend workouts as the next phase for my first HIM. I am staying in the OS until the end but will increase the times and distances on the w/e and starting swimming on M and F to ensure I don't have an epic fail on June 4th! All I can say is I officially start to get bored out of my mind after 90 minutes on the trainer. I can't wait for the weather to get better on a consistent basis. (@Bruce, did you did 3.5 hours on the trainer? If so, I am impressed; I am not sure I could do more than 2.5 hours without losing my mind.)
I also bought two pairs of compression socks to help with recovery; hopefully they work as well as advertised.
@ Larry - I did my 3.5 hour ride on a spin bike in spin class. So lots of loud music, IM or TDF videos on big screens and lots of nice female legs spinning away to keep my mind off the time. Like you I am so ready to get outside for a ride, but it has to be at least above 40 *F before I ride outdoors. Maybe this weekend.
Glad tyo see everyone is doing well. I have been doing all the workouts as outlined and hitting the numbers. I have ditched the v02 weekennd stuff because weather has been nice enough out past couple weekends to get outside. I try to get a few 3-4 all out 3 minute or so efforts into the ride. Last Saturday I went out with a few buddies on a ride. They are also training for IMLP using a local coach. They had a 3 hour zone 2 ride on schedule. Long story short, on the 1.5 hours out I was bored out of my mind, ended up having to stop and wait for them several times. Then after we turned around I tried to stay with them for a bit but after all the hard work we have been doing here just absolutely could not go that slow. Felt like I was out for a ride on my beach cruiser so I just went on my own and beat them home by 15-20 minutes. Even with the somewhat slow ride out got in 53 miles in 2:50 and felt fine afterwards. So I will take that as an encouraging sign.
Starting to ramp the running back up after my foot/heel issue few weeks ago. Still not 100% but been doing the wkos for past week and so far no major setbacks, knock on wood.
Comments
GH - Good to hear that you had fun and felt good about your effort. Nice results, nice close at the finish. Way to bounce back. Sounds like you got more than a little wet with a 3 ft deep river. Brrr!! Maybe it cooled you off.
well Bike test done and man am I wiped new FTP 284 watts. Didn't make the 300 I was shooting for, but still up from 274 starting point on Nov 6th.
I'll take it. On to run test, then a week down time before hitting the last six weeks of HIM training for my first A race.
Great job, Paul and Jane!!!
Go Jane! Wish I could run as well as you do.
I've eaten nothing but M&M's all day. I feel like diving into a big glass of red wine (I am a recovering (ed) alcoholic - 19 years dry (it's no secret, I am really up front about it. Helps me stay sober), but still, I really miss being able to turn off).
Blerg.
@ Jane - Tomorrow is another day, and the people that still work for you will respect you for taking the tough but correct action. It is never easy to fire someone, but if it is for cause, the employee only has themselves to blame. I've had to fire more than my share of people over 32 years in business and it is never fun or easy. I hate it too, but it is what comes with a leadership role. Congratulations on being tough and empathatic at the same time. Now go find a big glass of chocolate milk to wash down those M&Ms. BTW, nice job on your bike test too.
Did the bike test this am. I'm satisfied but not thrilled. Don't have a PM so i do the tests on a bike at the gym that records the distance covered in 40 minutes. Got a 2% increase (16.98 miles vs. 16.75 miles) since the last test but a total of 14% improvement since the start of OS. My legs still felt a little heavy from the 90 minute ride & 12 mile run brick on Saturday (You'd think I would have learned by now that I don't recover like I did when I was 25). Still I'll take it. Resting up tomorrow then run test on Wednesday.
Good luck everyone.
@Bruce - thanks I needed that. My staff are so awesome and everyone works so hard. it's not fair to the organization when this happens.
Tomorrow is another day - to sleep in!!
and what are you doing 12 mile bricks for!! sheesh!
Good luck on the run for those that are testing tomorrow!
I dunno about the run myself - I don't think I can make it much faster...
I've officially switched over to the Ironman training plan, as of Monday, but will occasionally to check in with all of you. I'm thinking I'll wait until next week to do my run test, as I'm trying to fit these tests in with minimal impact to my other scheduled workouts.
@ Scott S - Which IM plan are you doing? 12 or 20 week? If 20, did you jump in at like week 16 or so? I'm wondering if I should do the same?
Bruce
From what I've read in the Wiki, I think the general advice is to stay in the OS as long as possible and then do the 12 week IM plan (which for us would start on April 4th). The only reason I decided to switch over early was to get in some long workouts before Oceanside 70.3 on April 2nd. I didn't feel comfortable doing a 70.3 on only high intensity work and no swimming.
How is everyone's training going?
All: I am feeling motivated and have put in a solid week so far. The bike is slowly coming back strong, for me. Helped to lower my seat height a bit. The run is very strong, which is very uplifting.
Safe training to all!
Gh
Sucked it up and did the 5k test today. Was so close to stopping at 2.4 miles on the treadmill, but am very glad I just toughed it out. Got 20:58, so not much faster than last time (21:16). Hoping I can hit my zones and maybe see a bigger jump next time. Just need to keep working hard!
We have some fast folks in our group. Melissa's 3.5 w/kg. is where I want to be! GH is running like the wind. How is everyone doing on the fifth discipline - body comp? I have become a calorie tracker since January 10th. I am using Loseit.com. I am down 10 lbs since then and on my way to my goal by mid to late April. This is new for me. I recommend it for the learning, the discipline, and the results if you've never quite been where you want to be in this area. Worked for me!
@ Scott L - good to see your post. Wow! 10 lbs gone. That's great. How is the rest of the OS going for you?
@ GH: Good to hear that you are feeling better about your bike results. Sometimes confidence is half the battle.
@ Melissa - Way to gut out that 5k run test. That's the college soccer player in you making a statement. And your time is FAST. Nice improvement too.
I did the bike 4 x 2.5' ON/OFF this am. Legs felt ok but I had a hard time mentally pushing to the end of each one. Must an mental reaction to the tests this week. Then to continue to building my bike endurance I did 3 more hours @ Z3 HR 142-149. Felt pretty good the whole way. I bought some Infinit drink this week and I used it first time this am. I think it helped as I didn't get cramps like I have in the past. Then I met my swim coach for a workout. He qualified for and raced Kona about 10 years, now he mostly just does long open water swim races. He kicked my butt. Gave me some good technique tips during the WU, then we swam sets of 200s, 100s, 50s and 25s together. And I thought the run and bike VO2 intervals were hard. Thought I was gonna die and no way could I keep up with him. Well I didn't die, but now I'm ready for a long nap.
I hope everyones training is coming along injury free. Good luck.
Bruce
My body comp is great this season. Basically, just took 1 week off from IMAz and started up again with dec os. I am now ~10-12lbs lighter than at Arizona. I weigh 152lbs now and have to wear jackets all the time because I am always cold! I doubt I can go below 145, but we'll see. I still have fat on my face and only have a 4-pack, not a six pack
Safe training to all!
Gh
Bruce, hope your nap was good
Right now I am just sticking to the OS, winding down Week 15. It has been lots of read- the-plan, do-the-plan methodical work. Not exciting enough to post much, I suppose. My run is coming along great. I have picked up about 5-6 VDOT points over the OS. My bike was doing great but has flattened out in the last couple weeks. I go back and forth on whether to be concerned or not. In the end I choose no and put my head down and push on.
The schedule is about to enter the play period. I have some long Bike Days penciled in. I have a sprint tri on 4/16 that attracts about 600+ at Miami University, Ohio. I have a half mary on 4/30 in Louisville so need to hack the long runs for that. My wife is doing it too and my brother is doing his first marathon at nearly 50. So proud of him! Then the end of spring hack for me is the Triple T Ohio - an IM over four races on a weekend. That is May 20-22. Throw in my sons' spring breaks, some guests including my mother-in-law, and the next 10 weeks will be exciting!
I'll do the first two weeks of IM training after the TTT before my 1-2 weeks off. Deb and I have been invited for the first time to a friends' cabin on a remote Ontario island somewhere (I don't know exactly where, Jane) and I am definitely all over that as my break in mid June. Lots of canoeing, hiking, kayaking, good food, and friends. Then when back home, I jump into the IM training again culminating in IM Louisville at the end of August.
This is about the time of year that the OS forums start to fall apart so I hope we can all keep up with each other.How are others challenging themselves as they emerge from the OS?
@scott - a remote ontario island. Buddy, there are 30,000 lakes in the province - it could be anywhere!
I've been off the grid for 5 days - renovating our offices, with my staff camping at my home. Two galas and a dinner to attend as well have conspired against any training this week. That and a particularly difficult staff termination. It's been a treat.
And after Monday's bike test there was something each morning to deal with. I was getting ready to get out the door on Friday to do the test - and I get a call from the office saying the installers are there two hours early. well heck.
Anyway, I did part of today's bike with the new zones. Holy cow! so 4 x 2.5 @ 120% which is now 211 W!! and then 15 mins in Z3, 141 - what used to be my Z5!!
I'll do the run test tomorrow and then get back on track!
I can't wait to get outside on the bike!
I'll do my 5K test tomorrow. 11K in an hour 5 mins with the goils.
Jane, then I suppose my friends and I would never be found unless we want to be!
@ Scott L - Good to hear that things are going well. I've heard that the TTT event is both fun and brutal. I recall seeing a thread about it just in the past week, I think it was in the race report forum. You might want to check it out as there were lots of good tips. The things I took away from it are:
1. Recovery is key between the races. Eat & hydrate well.
2. Pace it like it is an IM event. Don't get carried away on the Friday Sprint event or the sunday HIM will be no fun.
Good luck.
I personally just started extending my OS weekend workouts as the next phase for my first HIM. I am staying in the OS until the end but will increase the times and distances on the w/e and starting swimming on M and F to ensure I don't have an epic fail on June 4th! All I can say is I officially start to get bored out of my mind after 90 minutes on the trainer. I can't wait for the weather to get better on a consistent basis. (@Bruce, did you did 3.5 hours on the trainer? If so, I am impressed; I am not sure I could do more than 2.5 hours without losing my mind.)
I also bought two pairs of compression socks to help with recovery; hopefully they work as well as advertised.
Larry
@ Larry - I did my 3.5 hour ride on a spin bike in spin class. So lots of loud music, IM or TDF videos on big screens and lots of nice female legs spinning away to keep my mind off the time. Like you I am so ready to get outside for a ride, but it has to be at least above 40 *F before I ride outdoors. Maybe this weekend.
Starting to ramp the running back up after my foot/heel issue few weeks ago. Still not 100% but been doing the wkos for past week and so far no major setbacks, knock on wood.
Have a good week.