to note, you guys that travel alot and use foreign roads to run on, or even those crappy hotel 'pain caves', you guys are superstars. that is tuff stuff to stay on target with those circumstances.
also, I dig the garmin connect links that you're posting, watching y'all, cool stuff, looking for a pace watch sooner or later, garmin and the connect feature seem to be the way to go.
Too tired this AM and overslept ... (first time in a long time), so I had to sneak my Thurs bike in at lunch. Fortunate that I have a short drive. Bolted home @ 1145 AM, was changed and on the road by 12:00 ... 5 min w/u; 2x10 (3') @ 297 W, then did another 12 min @ 290 W for good measure ... 5 min cool down. Ran through shower and grabbed a Clif bar and bag of carrots from the 'fridge. Back at my desk by 1:15.
Not ideal, but happy to get the work in and preserve the Fri rest day as an option.
Side comment -- very different group of people out cycling and running at mid-day around here. Must be nice to have that kind of (or no?) job ... and it was a lot nicer riding when it is light and warm(er).
@ Geoff - I think the Blues Brothers played Wilmette but I'm not sure - I moved here well after the movie came out. But I do know that comedian Bill Murray grew up here and went to the same jr high and high school as my kids - he is a living legend around here. Everybody has a "young Bill" story.
@ Dewey - hope you are able to run soon. What happened? Anyway, your bike will be awesome with the extra focus on it!
@ Tim- Nice ride. Strong watts. I'm jealous of your outside ride. I haven't seen anything but a trainer since early November.
I did 2 x 10' (3') @ 250avg W (96%IF), then 1 x 24' @ 215W (83% IF). I tried something different today. I normally ride at about 90-95 rpm range, so I mixed it up today. I rode for 1' @ 90 rpms @ the target watts, then I'd drop the cadance to 60 but switched gears to maintain the watts to simulate a hill climb. After 1' I'd switch to a much easier gear and spin up to 105-110 rpms and still try to hit the same watts, simulating a descent. After a minute at high cadance, I'd slow back down to 90 rpms, again switching gears to maintain the watts, simulating a flat section. I kept rotating thru different gears and rpms every minute for almost the entire ride. It sure made the time fly by and I felt like I was using different muscles. Felt like I was doing a rolling hill ride (I'm thinking IMWI). An interesting observation was that my HR would drop 3-4 bpm during the low rpm (hill simulation) and bounce back up during the 105-110 rpm (descent) sections. I think I'll try doing this rotation again Saturday, but I might try 2' segments instead of just 1' segments.
@ Bruce, interesting cadence exercise. I'm experimenting a bit with cadence but I find I always gravitate back to 89-90. Hitting the z4 output at really high cadence is just plain hard, and at low cadence my muscular endurance just isn't there (plus I start to worry about messing up my knees).
Wow! I used the trainer to do my bike intervals last night. What a pain! I have no idea how people in the cold do it regularly. I have so much respect for people doing the OS in indoors. I have never sweat like that in my life....
Good work out though! Much easier to be consistent and focus on pace, HR, etc. Only bummer was not using the power meter (power meter is in the hub and trainer requires me to remove and not use rear wheel) and not having any milage data.
The issue was that I had a really hard getting my heart rate up into Z4. It felt like I was drilling it, bit I just couldn't get into Z4...
Dino - if that's the case, then fall back on 'tough, tougher, toughest' intervals. It'll take a few times to be able to 'pace' RPEs. HR lags behind RPE. Everyone is different as far as how long it takes to catch up. I don't train with HR. If power isn't available, I fall back on Ol' Skool stuff, do the hard parts really hard and the easy parts really ez.
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Looks like you do most of your training outdoors. So, if you do a very small percentage of your workouts indoors and without numbers, don't sweat it. It's a long year. Trends will be set even if you have to do some workouts without numbers.
Workouts all screwed up this week due to crazy week at work, but I'm gettin' it done. Wed. run done on Tues. Hit all zones and felt great! Tues. bike done tonight + an extra 10' Thurs. Z4 interval. (I'll add the other 10' Z4 to my Sat. brick so assuming I do all of the Sat. & Sun. WKOs, I'm only short the 15' Tues. brick run. Work is work, right? My legs don't know what day of the week it is!) Hit the lower-mid end of my Z4 on the bike. I am usually 100% plus on Z4 work but seeing as I have the longer bike tomorrow am, I wanted to be more conservative.
Will try to post more details from Sat./Sun. WKOs. Too tired & hungry to do it today.
Thursday I over slept--tried to crank out the workout and could not hold the watts--so I bagged it after the warmup.
So I tried it again today... Workout is 2 x 10 + 85% for remainder of hour. After Thursday botched attempt, I did get the wokout done. I'm still struggling with holding the new threshold. First set (NP 212, cadence 82, VI 1), second set (NP 213, cadence 77,. VI 0.99). WIfe was sick so I didn't have time for the rest of the 85%.
Cadence of 77? Seriously?
I got my second strength workout in this evening too.
Got in my ride outside this morning. With temps above 50 the rain wasn't going to stop me. Smaller group today so couldn't hang with the guys that took off a little bit before halfway but still got lots of work done. 20.9 mi, 1:07:15, and .85 for the ride. Heading out for the run later this afternoon.
I focused on higher cadence for 1st Z4 int. but then did whatever I could to hit the watts targets. Bike last night and today was a big struggle... usually easy for me to hit and exceed targets. I guess it is 1 of 2 things (or both): 1) Stressful week at work 2) Due to #1, a lot of WKO shifting so last bike prior to last night was last Sat.
good nite's sleep, 2 cups of joe, 1 gel + H2O, added GuBrew to the wko, 'during' bottle' was GuBrew + Base, also added 2 SportsLegs caps before the wko.
whether it was the rest day b4, or the extra calories, or whatever, crushed it today. did not get tired at all, felt like a7-8 RPE even during the work intervals. NOTE, this kind of thing works both ways, ya know? There are days when the mojo sucks and the watts or cadence just aren't there. We freak out over that but stay the course. Then, there are days like I had today. I'm not stoopid enough to think it's time to adjust FTP. Staying the course thru the good days and the bad. No adjustments will be made unless I earn them on test day. It was simply...a good workout today.
2x 10' (2') at .99 and .99, then 2x 15' (2') at .83 and .83
will run this afternoon, in the rain, no biggie, will add run info later, y'all have a great day.
Added...Saturday's Run:
tested the leg despite the run planned for tomorrow. might come back to haunt, will tell tomorrow. good news is that I knocked out a couple of 8' miles and a couple of sub 7:30 miles. filled in with some steady 9:00 miles.
all in all, most time in fastest zones of the year. will try to carry it over to tomorrow's run, but will stay vigilant on form and tightness.
Both workouts done today. I haven't downloaded the data, but the bike felt almost easy. The run, though, not so much. I almost had to take my inaugural run on our new treadmill, but thankfully the thunderstorm this afternoon passed through in time for me to get outside before dinner.
Due to travel, I am biking tomorrow. Let's see how easy the 2x12@FTP feels......
Std w/u 10 min (3) @ 296 W 10 min (3? @ 293 W. into wind. Nearly 300 w and a 92 cadence but only 18.6 mph (!) 15 min(3)@ 255w 15 min (3)@ 252w
Quick T2, then
15min @ 8:40 15 min @ 8:22
Cool down
Looking fwd to run tomorrow and still feeling good. Today was a familiar feeling to me from last OS where that second 15' of work on the bike is a bit tough. Glad I was able to get it done and also avoid the rain.
Shoveled the driveway last night. Then did Saturday workout this am @ Lifetime Fitness. Had a 1/2 bagel and a banana before the workout.
Bike on Trainer - Standard 15' wu. 2 x 10' @ 257W (3') , then 2 x 16' (2') @ 208 W. Mixed up my cadance again among 90 rpms, 60 rpms and 105 rpms to simulate rolling hill ride.
Run on treadmill - 4' @ 8:30 pace, 8' @ 7:30 pace, then 13' @ 7:10 pace.
Swim - 1000 yards of drills, then 5 x 50 sprints. I know - I went off the ranch.
Drank 48 oz of H20 during the entire bike, run, swim and still lost 3 lbs, down to 161. That's the weight I raced IMCDA last June so I'm gettting close to being back at IM race weight. Then had a big breakfast.
Hey folks, been travelling a bunch this week, so couldn't check in as often as I'd have liked. Great series between last night (4 easy miles on the 'mill), and this morning (2 x 10 FTP, 3 x 15 Z3+ on the bike, 25m brick run), all felt awesome. Also shoveled the driveway and had a snowball fight with the kids.
For the folks who are starting to experiment with doing extra sessions/more work, just one comment. Please, please pay careful attention to your fatigue, and if you find your ability to hit the workouts slip at all, don't hesitate to back down. Week 3-4 every year is when some folks start to say "wait a minute, this isn't that hard and I get 2 days of rest?!? I can do more, so I think I'll add in xx and yy". Many (though not all) of the people who decide to do that each year end up burnt out after 10-12 weeks of the OS, setting back the whole season plan. I speak from experience, having done it to myself.
Most of us lack this patience. I'm feeling good, right now. steady as she goes, let the program work itself out, peak at the right time, the specific time.
Late report on Saturday's workout. I decided to go old school and put on a DVD of the movie Commando. Wow, that really seemed to make the time fly by. The z4 intervals were still tough, but not as bad as usual…the first 4-5 minutes of each interval really went more quickly than normal. I felt pretty good for the z3, and in each interval I started out at 203-205 for the first 5 minutes then built it to a ~214 average by the end of the 15 minutes once I got into a nice groove. Interestingly although my power was higher for the second long z3 interval, my HR was lower. I guess it probably has to do with the length of recovery needed from the two z4 efforts beforehand.
Total 75'@ NP 214 (IF 0.920) – 10' easy for warmup then straight into the hard work:
The run data is interesting. Snow drove extremely poor footing. But the two three-quarter mile intervals in the middle where the roads were dryer showed good z3 efforts, and based on RPE and HR the other parts of the run were the same intensity. With no wind it was actually a beautiful day for a run.
I'm cracking up reading some of the "I bailed" posts. I'm just now starting the program (sort of) but have done the OS the past 3 years. I think it is very important to bail on workouts and to be flexible and patient early on when fatigued; especially if one's season goes well into the summer. Then again, I'm elderly.
Well, it's official. It's time to stop with the 'calf holding up' reports. Today's run was a breakthrough. Still not ready to 5k test, will do that in Feb. And will continue to play in conservative pace zones for the next 2 weeks, but tested it today.
Last nite's 50' run was the best run I have had in 3 months....until today.
Sunday run: 2 cups of joe, 1 individual PopTart (Gleason would be proud) + H2O, 1 bottle of GuBrew + Base for workout, hit the local HS track ez 10' and 3x 30'' strides then 2x 1mile at 7:35 and 7:20 with 5' recovery, then 2x .5mile at 7:20 and 7:00 with 3' recovery then about 10' at a steady RPE 7, didn't watch the clock, felt too good about the main set.
Yesterday afternoon's run went well. 49:42, 6.02 mi with Z2/Z3. The Z3 felt better. My legs seem to loosen up more with faster pace. Not sure if it's the cadence or longer stride, or something else.
Went out for ride this morning and decided not to try to hang with the A+ crew and ended up with 33.25 mi in 1:47:30 , IF .8. It was <30F at start and an irritating gusty headwind on the way back. Heading out for run in another hour or so.
Chris, terrific news! Glad to see the run going in the right direction. And, somewhere up there, CG is smiling about that Pop Tart.
Matt, sounds like you're getting stronger! I was thinking the same thing about video yesterday. Blew through 3 x 15' of the Z3 stuff, which was so much easier watching Heras, Armstrong, and Beloki blow up the field on the Tourmalet in 2002.
Run today felt terrific, hit 2 x 1/2 mi (3') and 2 x 1mi (5') all at or below 6:40, and started to feel like the Z4 pace was getting too easy, so I picked it up for the 2nd half of each of the 1mi's. Hit about 6:20 pace before I felt the RPE of Z4 on the last interval.
@Chris M- This one's for you.... I bailed on Sunday run today. Wife not feeling well so I'm laying low with her. Will do it tomorrow instead. I'd love to do one week as written but like you said, gotta be flexible in the OS.
@Chris- Great news on the calf! I've been there....
Comments
also, I dig the garmin connect links that you're posting, watching y'all, cool stuff, looking for a pace watch sooner or later, garmin and the connect feature seem to be the way to go.
@ dino - good luck in the half this weekend!
Not ideal, but happy to get the work in and preserve the Fri rest day as an option.
Side comment -- very different group of people out cycling and running at mid-day around here. Must be nice to have that kind of (or no?) job ... and it was a lot nicer riding when it is light and warm(er).
Looking forward to the weekend's efforts!
@ Geoff - I think the Blues Brothers played Wilmette but I'm not sure - I moved here well after the movie came out. But I do know that comedian Bill Murray grew up here and went to the same jr high and high school as my kids - he is a living legend around here. Everybody has a "young Bill" story.
@ Dewey - hope you are able to run soon. What happened? Anyway, your bike will be awesome with the extra focus on it!
@ Tim- Nice ride. Strong watts. I'm jealous of your outside ride. I haven't seen anything but a trainer since early November.
I did 2 x 10' (3') @ 250avg W (96%IF), then 1 x 24' @ 215W (83% IF). I tried something different today. I normally ride at about 90-95 rpm range, so I mixed it up today. I rode for 1' @ 90 rpms @ the target watts, then I'd drop the cadance to 60 but switched gears to maintain the watts to simulate a hill climb. After 1' I'd switch to a much easier gear and spin up to 105-110 rpms and still try to hit the same watts, simulating a descent. After a minute at high cadance, I'd slow back down to 90 rpms, again switching gears to maintain the watts, simulating a flat section. I kept rotating thru different gears and rpms every minute for almost the entire ride. It sure made the time fly by and I felt like I was using different muscles. Felt like I was doing a rolling hill ride (I'm thinking IMWI). An interesting observation was that my HR would drop 3-4 bpm during the low rpm (hill simulation) and bounce back up during the 105-110 rpm (descent) sections. I think I'll try doing this rotation again Saturday, but I might try 2' segments instead of just 1' segments.
My ride today...total 60' @ NP 210 (IF 0.906) – 22' "full warmup" then:
- 10'(3') @ z4 – NP 241 (IF 1.037), HR avg 152 / max 160, avg cad 89
- 10'(3') @ z4 – NP 244 (IF 1.051), HR 161/171, cad 90
- 12' @ z3 – NP 215 (IF 0.925), HR 159/166, cad 90
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/143077378
Good stuff!
[deleting double post]
22' WU; MS: 2 x 10' (3') @ .98 and 1.00; 15' @ .85; CD 5'
Regarding my nifty signature... I'd gladly trade that for some of the watts many of you are putting out!!
Night!
Good work out though! Much easier to be consistent and focus on pace, HR, etc. Only bummer was not using the power meter (power meter is in the hub and trainer requires me to remove and not use rear wheel) and not having any milage data.
The issue was that I had a really hard getting my heart rate up into Z4. It felt like I was drilling it, bit I just couldn't get into Z4...
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Looks like you do most of your training outdoors. So, if you do a very small percentage of your workouts indoors and without numbers, don't sweat it. It's a long year. Trends will be set even if you have to do some workouts without numbers.
Hit the lower-mid end of my Z4 on the bike. I am usually 100% plus on Z4 work but seeing as I have the longer bike tomorrow am, I wanted to be more conservative.
Will try to post more details from Sat./Sun. WKOs. Too tired & hungry to do it today.
Have a great weekend!
So I tried it again today... Workout is 2 x 10 + 85% for remainder of hour. After Thursday botched attempt, I did get the wokout done. I'm still struggling with holding the new threshold. First set (NP 212, cadence 82, VI 1), second set (NP 213, cadence 77,. VI 0.99). WIfe was sick so I didn't have time for the rest of the 85%.
Cadence of 77? Seriously?
I got my second strength workout in this evening too.
Z4
10' (other half of make-up from missed WKO): .969 IF, avg cad 85, avg bpm 157
8': .953 IF, avg cad 67, avg bpm 154
8': .952 IF, avg cad 71, avg bpm 155
Z3
15': .809 IF, avg cad 77, avg bpm 149
15': .818 IF, avg cad 65, avg bpm 143
I focused on higher cadence for 1st Z4 int. but then did whatever I could to hit the watts targets. Bike last night and today was a big struggle... usually easy for me to hit and exceed targets. I guess it is 1 of 2 things (or both): 1) Stressful week at work 2) Due to #1, a lot of WKO shifting so last bike prior to last night was last Sat.
2 mi TM run - 22:53, avg. bpm 153
Saturday Bike:
good nite's sleep, 2 cups of joe, 1 gel + H2O, added GuBrew to the wko, 'during' bottle' was GuBrew + Base, also added 2 SportsLegs caps before the wko.
whether it was the rest day b4, or the extra calories, or whatever, crushed it today. did not get tired at all, felt like a7-8 RPE even during the work intervals. NOTE, this kind of thing works both ways, ya know? There are days when the mojo sucks and the watts or cadence just aren't there. We freak out over that but stay the course. Then, there are days like I had today. I'm not stoopid enough to think it's time to adjust FTP. Staying the course thru the good days and the bad. No adjustments will be made unless I earn them on test day. It was simply...a good workout today.
2x 10' (2') at .99 and .99, then 2x 15' (2') at .83 and .83
will run this afternoon, in the rain, no biggie, will add run info later, y'all have a great day.
Added...Saturday's Run:
tested the leg despite the run planned for tomorrow. might come back to haunt, will tell tomorrow. good news is that I knocked out a couple of 8' miles and a couple of sub 7:30 miles. filled in with some steady 9:00 miles.
all in all, most time in fastest zones of the year. will try to carry it over to tomorrow's run, but will stay vigilant on form and tightness.
@ Steve , that is the same plan as the Hack ... Right on !!!
Due to travel, I am biking tomorrow. Let's see how easy the 2x12@FTP feels......
Std w/u
10 min (3) @ 296 W
10 min (3? @ 293 W. into wind. Nearly 300 w and a 92 cadence but only 18.6 mph (!)
15 min(3)@ 255w
15 min (3)@ 252w
Quick T2, then
15min @ 8:40
15 min @ 8:22
Cool down
Looking fwd to run tomorrow and still feeling good. Today was a familiar feeling to me from last OS where that second 15' of work on the bike is a bit tough. Glad I was able to get it done and also avoid the rain.
Shoveled the driveway last night. Then did Saturday workout this am @ Lifetime Fitness. Had a 1/2 bagel and a banana before the workout.
Bike on Trainer - Standard 15' wu. 2 x 10' @ 257W (3') , then 2 x 16' (2') @ 208 W. Mixed up my cadance again among 90 rpms, 60 rpms and 105 rpms to simulate rolling hill ride.
Run on treadmill - 4' @ 8:30 pace, 8' @ 7:30 pace, then 13' @ 7:10 pace.
Swim - 1000 yards of drills, then 5 x 50 sprints. I know - I went off the ranch.
Drank 48 oz of H20 during the entire bike, run, swim and still lost 3 lbs, down to 161. That's the weight I raced IMCDA last June so I'm gettting close to being back at IM race weight. Then had a big breakfast.
Hope everyone had a good day. Cheers!
For the folks who are starting to experiment with doing extra sessions/more work, just one comment. Please, please pay careful attention to your fatigue, and if you find your ability to hit the workouts slip at all, don't hesitate to back down. Week 3-4 every year is when some folks start to say "wait a minute, this isn't that hard and I get 2 days of rest?!? I can do more, so I think I'll add in xx and yy". Many (though not all) of the people who decide to do that each year end up burnt out after 10-12 weeks of the OS, setting back the whole season plan. I speak from experience, having done it to myself.
Most of us lack this patience. I'm feeling good, right now. steady as she goes, let the program work itself out, peak at the right time, the specific time.
Late report on Saturday's workout. I decided to go old school and put on a DVD of the movie Commando. Wow, that really seemed to make the time fly by. The z4 intervals were still tough, but not as bad as usual…the first 4-5 minutes of each interval really went more quickly than normal. I felt pretty good for the z3, and in each interval I started out at 203-205 for the first 5 minutes then built it to a ~214 average by the end of the 15 minutes once I got into a nice groove. Interestingly although my power was higher for the second long z3 interval, my HR was lower. I guess it probably has to do with the length of recovery needed from the two z4 efforts beforehand.
I think it is very important to bail on workouts and to be flexible and patient early on when fatigued; especially if one's season goes well into the summer.
Then again, I'm elderly.
Last nite's 50' run was the best run I have had in 3 months....until today.
Sunday run:
2 cups of joe, 1 individual PopTart (Gleason would be proud) + H2O, 1 bottle of GuBrew + Base for workout,
hit the local HS track
ez 10' and 3x 30'' strides
then 2x 1mile at 7:35 and 7:20 with 5' recovery,
then 2x .5mile at 7:20 and 7:00 with 3' recovery
then about 10' at a steady RPE 7, didn't watch the clock, felt too good about the main set.
Hope you guys have a great day!
Went out for ride this morning and decided not to try to hang with the A+ crew and ended up with 33.25 mi in 1:47:30 , IF .8. It was <30F at start and an irritating gusty headwind on the way back. Heading out for run in another hour or so.
Matt, sounds like you're getting stronger! I was thinking the same thing about video yesterday. Blew through 3 x 15' of the Z3 stuff, which was so much easier watching Heras, Armstrong, and Beloki blow up the field on the Tourmalet in 2002.
Run today felt terrific, hit 2 x 1/2 mi (3') and 2 x 1mi (5') all at or below 6:40, and started to feel like the Z4 pace was getting too easy, so I picked it up for the 2nd half of each of the 1mi's. Hit about 6:20 pace before I felt the RPE of Z4 on the last interval.
@Chris- Great news on the calf! I've been there....
@ Everyone else - Awesome work!