Rian- Nice work. Sorry the elk weren't more supportive.
Did Wed. swim/run today since I forgot my shorts on Wed. and skipped the run. 4 x 500 (skipped last 500 as my left shoulder was bugging me the whole time and I can't afford to have any issues at this point!) Then 20' on the treadmill @ 2% incline at long run pace.
Bike felt hard today.... My group did a different (hillier route today) and it hurt. I got some Z4 in on the ride to the bike shop and maybe that hurt me. But I was cruisin and it was fun! Here's how it shook out:
Ride to the ride total- 7.44 mi, 26:36, .888IF Z4 10' @ .969 IF, 2' @ .986, 3:47 @ .967
I don't feel bad about not getting in all the Z4 stuff cuz I was working hard. Here's the group ride: Total: 32 mi, 2:00 even, 16mph moving avg 52'- 14mi @ .899 IF 1:08, 17.4mi @ .734 IF
RIde home (this was ugly) 42', 7.25mi, .65IF
Total about 47 mi, 2,656ft gain, 3:08
Hard to decide what to do first... shower, eat, nap?
@Kim - nothing ugly about your ride. SOLID work there!!
@Matt - I think we need you with us at IMCOZ - strong work on that long ride! I can't wait to see what you become with a couple more years of experience!
Fri p.m. 3,000M swim
This morning: 1st hour on the trainer with 15' of Vo2 done - 7 X 2' and 1X 1' ...legs felt hammered after I dropped the bike and went outside for the remaining 30 miles but did get in an additional 81' of Z3 time....good, warm ride today.
Topgun Triathlon results. Dad - 55:37 (1st M55); Son - 58:10. He's run 15:30 5K on the track recently so this is pretty sweet ... I am now entitled to talk smack for another year! There's nothing like a swim and hard bike to sap your legs. Not to mention that the air temperature was 83 before the sun even came up, and the water was 86. But let more tell you...that race hurt bad. I purposely took a 2 week mid season break after Muncie to prepare for the 2nd half of the year. You can't hold your form for an entire year so I wasn't in peak fitness or at race weight today. I think the entire run I was probably 1 heartbeat under my anaerobic threshold. Just painful. And that's the shortest swim I've done this year...just a raw sprint. That counts as my go fast training for the week. I think I'll bike an easy 20 miles later today to shake out the legs.
wow. big work today folks. Congrats to paul and matt for sure. today was the last 150min get faster ride. the intervals were 2x20(4). Pretty much an ftp test in the middle of the ride. The good news is that I beat my old ftp test results by a few %. Bodes well for my actual test on wednesday. Have a good weekend folks.
Race Rehearsal #2 in the books. Great results, given the hard past 2 weeks of training. Feeling pretty good about the upcoming race since I did both RR's on the course.
Ride: 56.2m in 2:46:10. 3143 ft of Gain. AP 185, NP 196. IF .85. VI 1.06. IF is based on lowering my FTP by 15watts. VI was a higher this time. I'm not sure exactly what it is but I suspect because I spin out more often on this bike, so that I'm getting more variability and a lower AP, and even with the new compact gear set (50/34-12/25) I'm stll maxed out on 4 of the climbs so there are still times when I'm pushing 110% FTP doing 8mi/hr.
Run: 6.5m in 49:10. Av 7:36. My z2 pace is 7:24 so this is pretty close to perfect (EN pacing says 48:00), especially since the 2nd mile has the hill from hell in it. 6% grade for over a mile. Luckily I make up easy time on the return down. What kind of sadist Race Director puts and out and back leg on a hill like that ?! This run felt really good and smooth. I had lots more to give so I dont think sub 1:40 is beyond the pale.
Nutrition. 48oz of Gatorade on the Ride ~300cal. 1.5 waffles ~ 200cal. ~500/2.75 hrs = 180cal/hr. Low by IM standards, but I think this is okay for the HIM. Run easy sips of gatorade. Didn't have sloshy stomach this time, but it was cooler today.
If i can execute on race day like today and have NInja Transitions, its gonna be very close to 5:00. Man I want break that sooooo bad.
The best part is... I can sleep in tomorrow!!!! No workout!
@ Rian, nice job. Sub-5 is an awesome goal. Is the terrain on the RR similar to the race or can you expect some additional speed on the bike from a flatter course? One thing you should make sure to do is some transition practice. It makes a huge difference...can give you a minute or more. I do several transition practices over the course of a season.
@ Paul, another race, another standout result! Nice work. And nice to maintain family bragging rights. That is key!
Matt -- No I did the rehearsals on the race course. Its nice to have a hometown race. I'm hoping fresh legs, race tires, and an aero helmet may help get me a little bump on the bike though. Great point on Transition practice. Thanks! I will throw some in this week and next. My Ts have been pretty smooth in the past, but not very fast. I'm shooting for maybe 2 mintues or less per T. I'll go by the K.I.S.S. method. T1: helmet glasses shoes loaded on the bike and ready. No Socks. T2: Rack it, visor & shoes quicklaced and at the ready grab the fuel belt and put it on the move. What could possibly go wrong?
Another big ride today in Madison. My legs were really wrecked after yesterday's epic effort of 108 miles @z3 so today it was all I could muster to achieve IF of 0.694 on another two loops of the IMWI course totaling 85 miles and ~5970 feet of elevation gain. I'd say 75% of the reduced output today was due to leg fatigue and the rest due to skin chafing from all the riding that had me very uncomfortable in the saddle. The group long run of 13.1 miles tomorrow will be…interesting…
Overall 4:41:59 @ 176 watts, IF 0.694, TSS 225.9. Distance 84.99 miles, avg 18.1mph. Yesterday I averaged 19.6mph on NP 208 watts for 108 miles that included the 85 miles I rode today, so the fatigue impact is clearly evident. Also avg cadence is 8-9 rpm lower today…pretty amazing differences.
Loop #1: 144' – NP: 178 (IF 0.702), VI 1.06, elev gain 2500, HR 130/147, cad 78, 17.9mph
Loop #2: 139' – NP: 175 (IF 0.690), VI 1.06, elev gain 2500, HR 130/149, cad 79, 18.3mph
Don't ask me how the speed was higher on the second loop at lower power and identical VI. Very strange. Possibly a PM calibration issue?? I did a backpedal recalibration several times over the course of the ride.
Note the above are the entire loop, whereas yesterday's "loop" excluded a 2 mile portion at the end. Apples-to-apples, the loop today if the same bit were excluded took 135' and 133' vs. 123' for both of yesterday's efforts. There is a lesson here on watts vs. speed and "could split" vs. "should split" which as EN execution ninjas we all know about, right….???
@Paul - Great job @ Topgun and congrats on continued bragging rights!
Jimmy- I'm sure you'll see some nice gains on your FTP test!
Rian- Awesome RR! I see sub-5 in your future!
Matt- Way to keep it up in Wisc!
34.42mi today in 2:14. .844IF, 2,452ft. gain. Rode w/ my (much stronger cyclist) cousin and it was tough. My last Sun. ABP ride was closer to 75% since that's all I could muster so hitting 84% today was rough. Actually felt pretty good later in the ride but after the first 10 I was wondering how on earth I would get through it....
The brick run wasn't even an option today. (But at least the plan said it was optional!)
ok, last gf run is completed. 90 minutes wit 3x1mi and 2x1/2 mi intervals. I was not able to hit the target paces. But I gave it a shot.
I now have 2 days off. That will also be a challenge. I am clearly worn down and need the erst but I am such a creature of habit that it will be hard to not sneak something in. Oh well. One day at a time.
Pretty sure that I will beat my last 5k TT next saturday. Which will mean faster intervals. And I can't even hit the old ones. Seems that I can put out a better 5k than I can longer distances.
That is some big work Matt. I would love to do one of those rallies one of these days.
@ Rian - anything called MountainMan HIM sounds hard! If you pop sub5 there; then wow!
Speaking of the importance of transitions, of the 2:33 I beat my son, 1:35 came from T1/T2 combined. I kicked his butt in transition! When you come out of the water, it's a race, not a jog. My primary limiter on short course transitions is the transition road surface quality. If it's smooth pavement, then I'm going with shoes clipped to the bike and a flying mount. If it's chip/seal, then I can run out of T1 faster with my shoes on. Plus my feet will hurt for a week if I run barefoot on a rough surface ... not worth it.
Sat PM - 20 miles on the road bike at JRA pace Sun AM - 70 miles on the tri-bike. Did 2 x 10 mins Z4 then 1 x 5 mins Z4 and the legs were gone. Still feeling yesterday's Z5. Sun PM - 1500 yards in the pool w drills. Will run 30 mins easy tonight when it cools off a little.
After two rides totaling almost ~200 miles (including a brick run following one of them), the weekend ended with a half-marathon distance run – one loop of the 2-loop IMWI course on the University of Wisconsin campus. I was a bit nervous about how my legs would hold up on a long run given all the biking, but it turned out just fine. I ended up running with two non-EN members who were attending the training camp and we ran an extremely easy conversational pace and actually ended up talking pretty much the whole time.
Overall 12.34 miles in 1:32:55, avg 7:32 pace, although we started super slow with a large group so ran the second half a lot faster than the first half.
I'm back. Life got in the way last week. I was traveling for work 4 days and then got back and the weekend was full of family stuff. I only got in 2 bike rides and walk/jog 5K with some beginner runner friends.
This next week will be weird too. I leave to L.A. on Friday for my cousin's wedding so all I can do is Monday thru Thursday workouts. Since my achilles is on the mend, I just plan to do:
Monday - FTP Bike wko Tuesday - Swim Wednesday - Aqua Run & Swim Thursday - 56 mi RR
Oh, and one cool thing I did today. I converted my wheels to tubeless using Stan's No Flats kit. I'm hoping it works as advertised and I don't ever get a pinch flat or a staple, etc ever again.
Comments
Fri PM ... 1100 SCY for a shakeout.
Fri PM ... 1100 SCY for a shakeout.
Rian- Nice work. Sorry the elk weren't more supportive.
Did Wed. swim/run today since I forgot my shorts on Wed. and skipped the run. 4 x 500 (skipped last 500 as my left shoulder was bugging me the whole time and I can't afford to have any issues at this point!) Then 20' on the treadmill @ 2% incline at long run pace.
Lots of riding planned for the weekend!
Ride to the ride total- 7.44 mi, 26:36, .888IF
Z4 10' @ .969 IF, 2' @ .986, 3:47 @ .967
I don't feel bad about not getting in all the Z4 stuff cuz I was working hard. Here's the group ride:
Total: 32 mi, 2:00 even, 16mph moving avg
52'- 14mi @ .899 IF
1:08, 17.4mi @ .734 IF
RIde home (this was ugly) 42', 7.25mi, .65IF
Total about 47 mi, 2,656ft gain, 3:08
Hard to decide what to do first... shower, eat, nap?
@Kim - nothing ugly about your ride. SOLID work there!!
@Matt - I think we need you with us at IMCOZ - strong work on that long ride! I can't wait to see what you become with a couple more years of experience!
Fri p.m. 3,000M swim
This morning: 1st hour on the trainer with 15' of Vo2 done - 7 X 2' and 1X 1' ...legs felt hammered after I dropped the bike and went outside for the remaining 30 miles but did get in an additional 81' of Z3 time....good, warm ride today.
Entire workout (223 watts):
Duration: 2:36:23
Work: 2065 kJ
TSS: 184.4 (intensity factor 0.851)
Norm Power: 248
Distance: 57.189 mi
Elevation Gain: 539 ft
Elevation Loss: 453 ft
Power: 0 453 223 watts
Heart Rate: 79 163 138 bpm
Cadence: 31 231 83 rpm
Speed: 0 37 22.3 mph
@Paul - way to represent Superman! .....I am not surprised. Well earned!
today was the last 150min get faster ride. the intervals were 2x20(4). Pretty much an ftp test in the middle of the ride. The good news is that I beat my old ftp test results by a few %. Bodes well for my actual test on wednesday.
Have a good weekend folks.
Nice work everyone!
Paul way to represent Dads everywhere!
Race Rehearsal #2 in the books. Great results, given the hard past 2 weeks of training. Feeling pretty good about the upcoming race since I did both RR's on the course.
Ride: 56.2m in 2:46:10. 3143 ft of Gain. AP 185, NP 196. IF .85. VI 1.06. IF is based on lowering my FTP by 15watts. VI was a higher this time. I'm not sure exactly what it is but I suspect because I spin out more often on this bike, so that I'm getting more variability and a lower AP, and even with the new compact gear set (50/34-12/25) I'm stll maxed out on 4 of the climbs so there are still times when I'm pushing 110% FTP doing 8mi/hr.
Run: 6.5m in 49:10. Av 7:36. My z2 pace is 7:24 so this is pretty close to perfect (EN pacing says 48:00), especially since the 2nd mile has the hill from hell in it. 6% grade for over a mile. Luckily I make up easy time on the return down. What kind of sadist Race Director puts and out and back leg on a hill like that ?! This run felt really good and smooth. I had lots more to give so I dont think sub 1:40 is beyond the pale.
Nutrition. 48oz of Gatorade on the Ride ~300cal. 1.5 waffles ~ 200cal. ~500/2.75 hrs = 180cal/hr. Low by IM standards, but I think this is okay for the HIM. Run easy sips of gatorade. Didn't have sloshy stomach this time, but it was cooler today.
If i can execute on race day like today and have NInja Transitions, its gonna be very close to 5:00. Man I want break that sooooo bad.
The best part is... I can sleep in tomorrow!!!! No workout!
@ Rian, nice job. Sub-5 is an awesome goal. Is the terrain on the RR similar to the race or can you expect some additional speed on the bike from a flatter course? One thing you should make sure to do is some transition practice. It makes a huge difference...can give you a minute or more. I do several transition practices over the course of a season.
@ Paul, another race, another standout result! Nice work. And nice to maintain family bragging rights. That is key!
Thanks Guys.
Matt -- No I did the rehearsals on the race course. Its nice to have a hometown race. I'm hoping fresh legs, race tires, and an aero helmet may help get me a little bump on the bike though. Great point on Transition practice. Thanks! I will throw some in this week and next. My Ts have been pretty smooth in the past, but not very fast. I'm shooting for maybe 2 mintues or less per T. I'll go by the K.I.S.S. method. T1: helmet glasses shoes loaded on the bike and ready. No Socks. T2: Rack it, visor & shoes quicklaced and at the ready grab the fuel belt and put it on the move. What could possibly go wrong?
Another big ride today in Madison. My legs were really wrecked after yesterday's epic effort of 108 miles @z3 so today it was all I could muster to achieve IF of 0.694 on another two loops of the IMWI course totaling 85 miles and ~5970 feet of elevation gain. I'd say 75% of the reduced output today was due to leg fatigue and the rest due to skin chafing from all the riding that had me very uncomfortable in the saddle. The group long run of 13.1 miles tomorrow will be…interesting…
Overall 4:41:59 @ 176 watts, IF 0.694, TSS 225.9. Distance 84.99 miles, avg 18.1mph. Yesterday I averaged 19.6mph on NP 208 watts for 108 miles that included the 85 miles I rode today, so the fatigue impact is clearly evident. Also avg cadence is 8-9 rpm lower today…pretty amazing differences.
Loop #1: 144' – NP: 178 (IF 0.702), VI 1.06, elev gain 2500, HR 130/147, cad 78, 17.9mph
Loop #2: 139' – NP: 175 (IF 0.690), VI 1.06, elev gain 2500, HR 130/149, cad 79, 18.3mph
Don't ask me how the speed was higher on the second loop at lower power and identical VI. Very strange. Possibly a PM calibration issue?? I did a backpedal recalibration several times over the course of the ride.
Note the above are the entire loop, whereas yesterday's "loop" excluded a 2 mile portion at the end. Apples-to-apples, the loop today if the same bit were excluded took 135' and 133' vs. 123' for both of yesterday's efforts. There is a lesson here on watts vs. speed and "could split" vs. "should split" which as EN execution ninjas we all know about, right….???
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/204028052
Jimmy- I'm sure you'll see some nice gains on your FTP test!
Rian- Awesome RR! I see sub-5 in your future!
Matt- Way to keep it up in Wisc!
34.42mi today in 2:14. .844IF, 2,452ft. gain. Rode w/ my (much stronger cyclist) cousin and it was tough. My last Sun. ABP ride was closer to 75% since that's all I could muster so hitting 84% today was rough. Actually felt pretty good later in the ride but after the first 10 I was wondering how on earth I would get through it....
The brick run wasn't even an option today. (But at least the plan said it was optional!)
Looking forward to swim tomorrow!
I now have 2 days off. That will also be a challenge. I am clearly worn down and need the erst but I am such a creature of habit that it will be hard to not sneak something in. Oh well. One day at a time.
Pretty sure that I will beat my last 5k TT next saturday. Which will mean faster intervals. And I can't even hit the old ones. Seems that I can put out a better 5k than I can longer distances.
That is some big work Matt. I would love to do one of those rallies one of these days.
Speaking of the importance of transitions, of the 2:33 I beat my son, 1:35 came from T1/T2 combined. I kicked his butt in transition! When you come out of the water, it's a race, not a jog. My primary limiter on short course transitions is the transition road surface quality. If it's smooth pavement, then I'm going with shoes clipped to the bike and a flying mount. If it's chip/seal, then I can run out of T1 faster with my shoes on. Plus my feet will hurt for a week if I run barefoot on a rough surface ... not worth it.
Sat PM - 20 miles on the road bike at JRA pace
Sun AM - 70 miles on the tri-bike. Did 2 x 10 mins Z4 then 1 x 5 mins Z4 and the legs were gone. Still feeling yesterday's Z5.
Sun PM - 1500 yards in the pool w drills. Will run 30 mins easy tonight when it cools off a little.
After two rides totaling almost ~200 miles (including a brick run following one of them), the weekend ended with a half-marathon distance run – one loop of the 2-loop IMWI course on the University of Wisconsin campus. I was a bit nervous about how my legs would hold up on a long run given all the biking, but it turned out just fine. I ended up running with two non-EN members who were attending the training camp and we ran an extremely easy conversational pace and actually ended up talking pretty much the whole time.
I'm back. Life got in the way last week. I was traveling for work 4 days and then got back and the weekend was full of family stuff. I only got in 2 bike rides and walk/jog 5K with some beginner runner friends.
This next week will be weird too. I leave to L.A. on Friday for my cousin's wedding so all I can do is Monday thru Thursday workouts. Since my achilles is on the mend, I just plan to do:
Monday - FTP Bike wko
Tuesday - Swim
Wednesday - Aqua Run & Swim
Thursday - 56 mi RR
Oh, and one cool thing I did today. I converted my wheels to tubeless using Stan's No Flats kit. I'm hoping it works as advertised and I don't ever get a pinch flat or a staple, etc ever again.
Hope you all have a great week!!