Not sure exactly how hot n humid it was here today but it felt about 110 degrees... Anyway, managed a whopping 6-ish miles. Not exactly what I was planning on (10-11 was the original plan) but it felt longer... Does that count? Legs felt like bricks after. I'm cutting myself some slack this week as I just started a new position at my company on Wed. and my head is spinning a bit and I leave for Cali tomorrow to visit my Aunt who is terminally ill. So plenty of stress aside from training....Just trying to squeak out whatever work I can and hopefully be back 100% next week...
@ Kim - it's killer to run in heat and humidity. I was sick to my stomach after last night's 10 miler. I couldn't even watch TV...had to lay down for over an hour before I finally had a little ice cream before bed. No solid food last night...that should kick start my diet.
Fri AM ... recovered enough to swim 3500 SCY followed by 2.50 mile run in 20:05 (8:02 avg). I started out at 8:26 first mile then was accelerating the rest of the run until I got close to Matt's jogging pace. The heat was already getting to me but it was short enough to hold the effort without evaporating.
Ok, got my Garmin uploaded...thank goodness!! Overall 12.7 miles in 1:32:01, 7:15 avg pace. A couple of water stops. HR pretty high throughout, probably due to the heat/humidity. Kept my cadence pretty high to the end which was nice. Current z4=6:45, z3=6:52, z2=7:09.
Is there another heat wave on the East Coast? Sounds awful.
(Taper Week Panic & Rant Alert)
Swim this morning: Supposed to be a HIM RR in the pool, but I could not get my arms to turn over. No cadence, no power, just suck. Just woke up totally flat and uninspired. GRRRR.
2200yd in 39:45 -> 1:48.
I've been holding 1:41-1:44 in long sets recently, so I was sure I could hold a 1:43 or faster today, and do sub 38. I know its a small diff and I'm being whiney, but you know its all starts to be a head game -> 38 in the 25yd pool would easily give me 36 in the OWS, 36 in the swim gives me.... Of course, now its working on my head that my swim is going to suck next week.....
I'm going to tell myself I'm just short on sleep....yeah and slightly fatigued...yeah and taper hasn't really kicked in yet.... yeah thats it.... #Deep Breath#.....
@ Matt - another reason why your HR was high might have been that you were running really really fast.
Had my first swim today with my shiny new T-Pace. I was afraid that itwould be a rough go. It was. The target was 200M @ Tpace(30") then 2x100 at T-3, then 300 and 3x100 then 400 and 4x100 same set up.
I really dont like 100 repeats. For some reason my brain yells louder to quit between intervals.
I hit the rounds of 200 and 300 ok but on the 400M I was a few sec slow per 100. Some where between my old tpace (2:06) and my new one (1:55). All of a sudden, swim day is work again.
Yesterday I went to crossfit because it is fun. And I did the one thing that I promised my self that I would not do at crossfit - I let my form go because I was in a hurry and I tweaked my back. Not bad. Swma on it today ok and I will try and run on it tomorrow. But it was a reminder that form is first when it comes to that sort of thing.
Flying back to TX now with my 3 boys from 5 days in Canada fishing. The cooler weather and time with the boys was wonderful. Ran 3 times. This morning early I did 10 miles on 900 feet of elevation including 3X1s.....
The workout MS called for 6x400(30) but I did that on Tuesday so for a change of scenery I did 5x500(30) instead. Nice consistent easy splits…did not push the pace and just focused on nice form.
Overall 2800 yd in 48:24, avg pace excl rest intervals of 1:36, efficiency 37, strokes per length of 9.8.
What luck. After the last swim my right shoulder is in pain. Race is in 2 weeks. Hoping for quick healing. Also after the RR ride yesterday, my rigt knee is a bit tender in that tissue right below the knee cap (tendon?)!
So now I'm not sure about the aqua bike race in 2 weeks. It feels like its time to end the season early, skip the race, and rest my body. Sounds like you are all doing great! Keep it up!
@ Enrique - Just get complete rest for a few days, then see how you are feeling. Seems like you've been fighting various injuries for a while so maybe just a complete "stand down" is what you need.
run test today. was a few steps slower than I was in mid may. Different course, different weather. Not that concerned. The truth is that I have never run to the times that my vdot predicted anyway. Oh well. At the end of get faster, I improved swim and bike but not run.
onward.
***********
After lunch I took that dog out for another 2.5Mi @ z2 pace. So 8.5 for the day, a few of them pretty hard.
Good day.
After that I watched the women's race on DVR. Wow. What a race.
My kids had a sleepover at my parents' house last night so I got a bit of a late start this morning, leaving the house at just after 6:30am. I did a good long ride from my house, the "North Shore route" with a good extension that the Chicago folks will know very well. I was riding by myself so my warmup was at a good clip and I got out of the city quickly. Then it was all business, banging out the FTP intervals of 10'(2'), 12'(3'), 15'(4'), 12'(5'). Since the Madison ride was last weekend and the weekend before I rode with Matt Ancona, I haven't done an FTP set in a while. It reminded me that it is hard work! For the ABP part of the ride I modified from the scheduled 3x12'(2') to be 4x16.5'(2'). That took me all the way back to Evanston and was overall a very nice push. My average speed of 21.1mph for the 3:15 ride is illustrative of the effort!!
@ Enrique - my right shoulder started bothering me back in June. I ignored it until Muncie then backed off my swim volume as part of a planned rest period. I also got a prescription for 500mg Naproxin twice a day; and got serious about my rotator cuff exercises. So a month later, my shoulder is feeling close to new and I did 10,200 yards this week in 3 swims and will continue to increase volume again.
ROUGH TRAINING DAY!! Sat 7:00am - started on a 82 mile bike ride. First hour was steady in Z2/3 but feeling very good although I knew it was really warm and heading to mega hot. Lost my discipline in a little trail competition shortly after 20 miles in and threw down a 2 min Z7 effort that took me about 30 mins to recover from. Stupid! I was sucking down liquids like crazy but ran out at 65 miles while my legs were getting twitchy. Next water stop at 67 and praying the rangers had refilled since it's first come first serve with all the bikers on the trail. Got there and ... nothing. Made it to 68 and CRAMPED in the adductors. Excruciating pain, but I was several miles from a gas station. Stopped, stretched, back on the bike...make it .8 mile and AGONY. Tried again...TEARS of PAIN! I didn't count the walking I did but it took me about 40 mins to get to 70 miles when I was able to get back on and made it to the gas station to refill my bottles. After that, I was able to get back into Z3 to the finish, but I wasn't even going to try to brick on my damaged legs. Worked at recovery for most of the day except some yard work. Sat 8:30pm - 4 mile run @ 8:50 avg. Nothing to brag about but at least the legs were working again.
Many thoughts today about doing only northern IMs in the future!
@ Paul - that "rough" training day turns into competitor elimination fuel down the road. WTG!
My break is over and did a 62 mile bike this morning with 90' on the trainer including 2X20s and 8' of V02 the 90' outside with some Z3 intervals.....legs felt like mush near the end....
Sun AM ... Made the drive out to San Antonio, Fl for hills. Ran 5 miles first trying to bound up the hills for a good workout. So had a great run, but at the expense of the bike. I got in a 41 mile ride with a few big gear climbs, but the rest was JRA pace since my legs are still shelled and sore from yesterday's cramp feet.
Next up today... Taking my daughter to see the 3rd installment of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We all saw the first one, and my wife and I wanted to shoot ourselves. So when #2 came out...that was assigned to me. And now I'm stuck with the latest movie. On the other hand, my wife says this duty clears any SAU debt. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Are you listening Shaughn?
sunday abp ride 1:48 at an IF of .93. Rode a course that I had not been on since I joined EN. My Avg MPH was .8 faster than my fastest prior ride. I am really looking forward to getting to re-race the Austin Oly and 70.3 courses from last year over the next couple of months.
OK, I've been a loser recently. Lots of excuses, but the bottom line is that I've been consumed with other things...and not especially inspired since my training has been kind of up and down.
I'm racing in a month with Matt and Paul, so I'm going to pledge here to be a good boy and get back into the game.
Thursday's long run took an incredible toll on my quads. Unfortunately, this happens to me sometimes on very hot days, and I don't really know why...but I really felt like I needed to complete the run since the race is coming on so soon. I ended up slowing down pretty bad the last while, and ran for about 2:10.
By the time Saturday rolled around, the quads were really still very unhappy and there was no way I was going to get all that FTP time (50ish minutes) near FTP...probably not even the 80-85% without really driving them into a hole that would take ages to heal. (I know this to be a slow process for myself, unfortunately.) So, for beter or worse, I decided to do the Saturday ride essentially in road bike position. This way, I could push the watts assigned (even though I know it is easier to do so) and at least get some good muscular training in...and not just hobble along for 3 hours at a really crappy wattage. Good news was that - although the ride wasn't perfect - I was pretty much able to hit all the targets, albeit sitting up.
Today, the weather was beautiful, and so was the workout. 2 hr ABP ride went great. All in aero bars with 4.5 20 minute segments right in that 80-85% range. Despite wind, I averaged over 20 mph, which is always a good sign. Got home and slipped on the shoes. After about 5 minutes of warmup, the rest of the 25 min were all around MP (about 6:55) and pretty comfortable. This afternoon, I can feel my quads again, but they are in much better shape than they were Saturday morning before the ride.
So, here's hoping it's all good.
This week up coming I have a business trip and my regular masters group is off for the month of August...swimming will be dicey, which sucks, and I have to rearrange things for the week...but I am optimistic I'll get it all in.
Back from the dead, or at least the comatose... William
Despite postponing my brick run yesterday I did manage to get it done before dinner. Then this morning I did my ABP ride out in Barrington with EN teammate Matt Ward who is racing IM Mt Tremblant in a couple of weeks…as a result my power was a bit lower than target but not bad. Plus we did a 30' brick from the parking lot in Barrington when we finished up. So overall not bad at all.
Yesterday evening's run
Overall 4.19 miles in 28:32, avg 6:49/mile. Standard route and standard pacing…started slow, finished fast. Kept my cadence up. Pretty humid. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/206951771
Overall 3.94 miles in 27:02, avg 6:51/mile. An extreme version of "the usual" where I start slow and build. In this case the first 5 mins was at 7:26 pace, the last was at 6:14. So typical…http://connect.garmin.com/activity/206951755
@ William...great to have you back in the game. You sound a bit down but hey, we have a race to look forward to in about 6 weeks! So let's get it goin'!!
I am standing down as Bruce put it. Focus is on getting back to health, injury treatments, PT, mental reset... Also focus on preventing future injuries.
Comments
91 and humid. Did my long run...90 mins, avg 7:15, 3x12'(5') @ 6:46, 6:45, 6:45.
Then forgot my Garmin at the office so I cannot upload.
VERY ANNOYING (esp for a guy like me!!)
Be assured the detail will be available on this site tomorrow!!!!
Fri AM ... recovered enough to swim 3500 SCY followed by 2.50 mile run in 20:05 (8:02 avg). I started out at 8:26 first mile then was accelerating the rest of the run until I got close to Matt's jogging pace. The heat was already getting to me but it was short enough to hold the effort without evaporating.
Warmup: 15' @7:31
MS: 3x12'(5') @z3 -- 6:46, 6:45, 6:45
(5' recoveries 7:38, 8:12, 8:08)
Remainder structured as 2x11'(2') targeting z1/2, with the last 2' a kick to the finish, not a recovery!
- 2x11' -- 7:26, 7:24
- last 2' -- 6:46
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/206087253
Is there another heat wave on the East Coast? Sounds awful.
(Taper Week Panic & Rant Alert)
Swim this morning: Supposed to be a HIM RR in the pool, but I could not get my arms to turn over. No cadence, no power, just suck. Just woke up totally flat and uninspired. GRRRR.
2200yd in 39:45 -> 1:48.
I've been holding 1:41-1:44 in long sets recently, so I was sure I could hold a 1:43 or faster today, and do sub 38. I know its a small diff and I'm being whiney, but you know its all starts to be a head game -> 38 in the 25yd pool would easily give me 36 in the OWS, 36 in the swim gives me.... Of course, now its working on my head that my swim is going to suck next week.....
I'm going to tell myself I'm just short on sleep....yeah and slightly fatigued...yeah and taper hasn't really kicked in yet.... yeah thats it.... #Deep Breath#.....
Stay Cool Everyone!
@ Matt - another reason why your HR was high might have been that you were running really really fast.
Had my first swim today with my shiny new T-Pace. I was afraid that itwould be a rough go. It was. The target was 200M @ Tpace(30") then 2x100 at T-3, then 300 and 3x100 then 400 and 4x100 same set up.
I really dont like 100 repeats. For some reason my brain yells louder to quit between intervals.
I hit the rounds of 200 and 300 ok but on the 400M I was a few sec slow per 100. Some where between my old tpace (2:06) and my new one (1:55). All of a sudden, swim day is work again.
Yesterday I went to crossfit because it is fun. And I did the one thing that I promised my self that I would not do at crossfit - I let my form go because I was in a hurry and I tweaked my back. Not bad. Swma on it today ok and I will try and run on it tomorrow. But it was a reminder that form is first when it comes to that sort of thing.
Flying back to TX now with my 3 boys from 5 days in Canada fishing. The cooler weather and time with the boys was wonderful. Ran 3 times. This morning early I did 10 miles on 900 feet of elevation including 3X1s.....
Not looking forward to the heat...............
app.strava.com/runs/16313087
Overall 2800 yd in 48:24, avg pace excl rest intervals of 1:36, efficiency 37, strokes per length of 9.8.
Paces:
Warmup 200 – 1:34
MS: 5x500(30) – 1:36, 1:36, 1:35, 1:35, 1:35
C/D – 1:40
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/206251788
What luck. After the last swim my right shoulder is in pain. Race is in 2 weeks. Hoping for quick healing. Also after the RR ride yesterday, my rigt knee is a bit tender in that tissue right below the knee cap (tendon?)!
So now I'm not sure about the aqua bike race in 2 weeks. It feels like its time to end the season early, skip the race, and rest my body. Sounds like you are all doing great! Keep it up!
@ Enrique - Just get complete rest for a few days, then see how you are feeling. Seems like you've been fighting various injuries for a while so maybe just a complete "stand down" is what you need.
run test today. was a few steps slower than I was in mid may. Different course, different weather. Not that concerned. The truth is that I have never run to the times that my vdot predicted anyway. Oh well. At the end of get faster, I improved swim and bike but not run.
onward.
***********
After lunch I took that dog out for another 2.5Mi @ z2 pace. So 8.5 for the day, a few of them pretty hard.
Good day.
After that I watched the women's race on DVR. Wow. What a race.
Overall 3:13:45 @ 216 watts, IF 0.852, TSS 233.3. Distance 68.12 miles, avg 21.1mph.
Warmup
- 15' – NP: 156 (IF 0.616), VI 1.11, HR 114/127, cad 81, 17.5mph
- 2' – NP: 133
- 3x3'(1') @z3, NP: 214, 216, 212
- 5' – NP: 169 (IF 0.666), VI 1.02, HR 126/138, cad 84, 19.3mph
FTP (z4) intervals
- 10'(2') – NP: 249 (IF 0.979), VI 1.00, HR 154/165, cad 93, 23.9mph
- 12'(3') – NP: 249 (IF 0.978), VI 1.00, HR 159/163, cad 94, 24.0mph
- 15'(4') – NP: 242 (IF 0.954), VI 1.00, HR 157/163, cad 96, 23.5mph
- 12'(5') – NP: 252 (IF 0.994), VI 1.00, HR 158/165, cad 98, 24.4mph
ABP (z3) intervals
- 16.5'(2') – NP: 215 (IF 0.848), VI 1.00, HR 147/153, cad 94, 22.1mph
- 16.5'(2') – NP: 213 (IF 0.840), VI 1.00, HR 146/152, cad 92, 21.4mph
- 16.5'(2') – NP: 221 (IF 0.870), VI 1.03, HR 148/157, cad 93, 22.5mph
- 16.5'(2') – NP: 226 (IF 0.888), VI 1.03, HR 151/158, cad 92, 21.8mph
Remainder time (high VI due to traffic / city riding)
- 21.5' – NP: 217 (IF 0.854), VI 1.11, HR 147/161, cad 88, 20.3mph
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/206472348
ROUGH TRAINING DAY!!
Sat 7:00am - started on a 82 mile bike ride. First hour was steady in Z2/3 but feeling very good although I knew it was really warm and heading to mega hot. Lost my discipline in a little trail competition shortly after 20 miles in and threw down a 2 min Z7 effort that took me about 30 mins to recover from. Stupid! I was sucking down liquids like crazy but ran out at 65 miles while my legs were getting twitchy. Next water stop at 67 and praying the rangers had refilled since it's first come first serve with all the bikers on the trail. Got there and ... nothing. Made it to 68 and CRAMPED in the adductors. Excruciating pain, but I was several miles from a gas station. Stopped, stretched, back on the bike...make it .8 mile and AGONY. Tried again...TEARS of PAIN! I didn't count the walking I did but it took me about 40 mins to get to 70 miles when I was able to get back on and made it to the gas station to refill my bottles. After that, I was able to get back into Z3 to the finish, but I wasn't even going to try to brick on my damaged legs. Worked at recovery for most of the day except some yard work.
Sat 8:30pm - 4 mile run @ 8:50 avg. Nothing to brag about but at least the legs were working again.
Many thoughts today about doing only northern IMs in the future!
@ Paul - that "rough" training day turns into competitor elimination fuel down the road. WTG!
My break is over and did a 62 mile bike this morning with 90' on the trainer including 2X20s and 8' of V02 the 90' outside with some Z3 intervals.....legs felt like mush near the end....
app.strava.com/rides/16678177
Next up today... Taking my daughter to see the 3rd installment of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We all saw the first one, and my wife and I wanted to shoot ourselves. So when #2 came out...that was assigned to me. And now I'm stuck with the latest movie. On the other hand, my wife says this duty clears any SAU debt. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Are you listening Shaughn?
I am really looking forward to getting to re-race the Austin Oly and 70.3 courses from last year over the next couple of months.
I'm racing in a month with Matt and Paul, so I'm going to pledge here to be a good boy and get back into the game.
Thursday's long run took an incredible toll on my quads. Unfortunately, this happens to me sometimes on very hot days, and I don't really know why...but I really felt like I needed to complete the run since the race is coming on so soon. I ended up slowing down pretty bad the last while, and ran for about 2:10.
By the time Saturday rolled around, the quads were really still very unhappy and there was no way I was going to get all that FTP time (50ish minutes) near FTP...probably not even the 80-85% without really driving them into a hole that would take ages to heal. (I know this to be a slow process for myself, unfortunately.) So, for beter or worse, I decided to do the Saturday ride essentially in road bike position. This way, I could push the watts assigned (even though I know it is easier to do so) and at least get some good muscular training in...and not just hobble along for 3 hours at a really crappy wattage. Good news was that - although the ride wasn't perfect - I was pretty much able to hit all the targets, albeit sitting up.
Today, the weather was beautiful, and so was the workout. 2 hr ABP ride went great. All in aero bars with 4.5 20 minute segments right in that 80-85% range. Despite wind, I averaged over 20 mph, which is always a good sign. Got home and slipped on the shoes. After about 5 minutes of warmup, the rest of the 25 min were all around MP (about 6:55) and pretty comfortable. This afternoon, I can feel my quads again, but they are in much better shape than they were Saturday morning before the ride.
So, here's hoping it's all good.
This week up coming I have a business trip and my regular masters group is off for the month of August...swimming will be dicey, which sucks, and I have to rearrange things for the week...but I am optimistic I'll get it all in.
Back from the dead, or at least the comatose...
William
Despite postponing my brick run yesterday I did manage to get it done before dinner. Then this morning I did my ABP ride out in Barrington with EN teammate Matt Ward who is racing IM Mt Tremblant in a couple of weeks…as a result my power was a bit lower than target but not bad. Plus we did a 30' brick from the parking lot in Barrington when we finished up. So overall not bad at all.