I dropped the ball with my January OS postings. I missed Tuesday's bike due to life issues, actually buying a new vehicle and SAU's so no big deal. I got my run in today 4X1/2 mile @ 5:15. The runs continue to feel good and after this week I will start stretching them out longer han the intervals. My longest run to date has been 45 minutes.
@John - Yeah, would love to get together and ride! My schedule's a bit weird for the next couple of weeks but I'll PM you.
"The recovery week is when fitness happens" I heard, and I believe it. Feeling good this morning, elastic on the shorts is starting to feel tighter YEAH BABY!
Good conversation this morning. The group is very active this week. I LOVE IT! And glad Al and Bill are back. But where is Joel Bell?
I'm over here...pissy because I have no PM, and I'm on a treadmill in the basement of a hotel. The work is getting done I'm sour about the PM (Ergomo can blow me). Quarq has compacts on backorder. Screw it, I'm going for the Lightning compact - it's only money. Now I still have to wait for Saris to start shipping out the Joule. Hurry up and wait.
Anyone else tired? I have an IV of caffeine and PowerBars and I just can't get moving this morning. Legs were buzzing a bit last night too which I take as a good thing. Maybe a donut is in order?
Just gonna swim fairly easy with Masters today at noon. That's all.
We had some good snow last night so I decided to swap my thursday workouts to tomorrow and go snowboarding today instead. It was a blast ! I have to take advantage of this weather and the fact i'm not working days right now. Now all of these will change next week because it's tax time ..Off I will go to work at an accountant. I wil have to do my workouts early in the am like a lot of people here..bummer. It's so nice to have allll day to do one workout , sometimes two with a small brick. Got to love EN : )
I'm tired also from the workouts. I coudn't stop yawning today even though i got plenty of sleep..!
I am like THE BIGGEST NERD ever!!! I had to take my computer in to get some problems fixed and can't download my info from today's bike until I get it back. I am like a FREAKIN crack addict or something - I need my fix!!! I NEED to know . I felt like it went pretty well, but like John my legs were a little dead. I also had to do it in a hotter than normal location and w/out MP3 - mental strength training at it's finest . My "run" on the elliptical machine went great yesterday.
@John - did you ever listen to that podcast? If so just imagine being chased down and chicked by me on that hot pink bike. That will get you going . I had 3 donut holes yesterday in your honor, couldn't do the whole nut though - I'm just not man enough for that . I wonder what the heck they put in DD coffee - that stuff is like rocket fuel and I like strong coffee already. Maybe give that a go. Hope the swim went well. oh and BTW, volunteered to co-ordinate and cook the meal for the Blue and Gold Banquet. I must certifiable.
@Joel - agreed it's only money - at least that is what I kept telling myself last week when I lost $200 in cash - YIKES!!! Luckily it turned up between the car seats this AM.
Glad everyone sounds like they are doing well this week. Keep it up!!!
@Robin - Yep, listened to your podcast! 20 year old $120 tri bike? Talk about ROI! Do you have any pics? If so, post. My first tri was on a mountain bike and I asked the local tri shop after if I should put aerobars on it. I love that you kennel and breed dogs. That is so cool. And you like sweets and dark beer!? Tell me you love football and I would say your husband is the luckiest guy ever. Oh ya, #lowfatnonfatsux. Thanks for doing that!
As for me . . . I swam 2,800 yards today with Masters. This was WU and MS. I am done. Put a fork in me. Definitely a day off tomorrow. I am so frigging fatigued. Time to start more focus on the diet.
Lastly, per the coaches notes in the IM SG forum I will be jumping out of OS after Sunday and into transition week and then into 12 week IM plan. Do you all miss me yet?
ran 2 miles in the grass this morning... did master's swim at lunch, where you swim for one hour and you hit lane and it counts the laps for you so nice. 43 laps, 2150 yards so not speedy but didn't stop so steady! had never done that before so wasn't sure how to "pace" and hadn't warmed up... sorta showed up cold to that one. anyways a refreshing change cuz you could zone out and not have to worry about stopping. the run also felt good and I cut it off early so I sorta did yesterday's run today but not quite. I feel great but then I took off all of last week! and got my pushups to 52 after swimming..... maybe icy weather coming this way, not sure. m
@John, do visit frequently we'll miss the mojo if you don't. Enjoy your buildup. Did the 2x1.5 miles today @ gym between shifts. Went well. Crushed the power lifter (Patrick Thomas)r yesterday in the 300 battle of the Station 4 Titans. Wow, I forgot the physiological cost of doing real intense crossfit style workouts. As if the OS stuff isn't hard enough.
Good day on the Trainer. Hit right on my goals for my intervals. I did something a little funny. I moved my Tuesday run to today and did it before my bike. High today 10F. Doesn't look much better for the weekend!
yep we will miss you John! and any other IMSG peeps leaving.... too. icy here means no school and I thnk it was a rest day anyways.. four kids, one dog at home and sleet! yep we have weird weather, wed night I was riding my bike in moderate temps and got hot and today I am grounded! however a good day to sort thru my car as I feel like a homeless person with all the gear in it!! I hope you have a good Friday!!! 1year2ironman5.blogspot.com
Did anyone besides myself move there numbers up this week? I know that we did not test so I just took a guess at were I think I would have tested and have been going from those numbers this week. So far I've hit my workouts right on. I went from a bike of 193 to my guess of 215 and I held that for my Tuesday and Thursday ride. I moved my VDOT up one number too and had no problem with Wednesday run either. Just wondering if anyone else did the same?
@John - Thanks for all the encouragement, entertainment and participation in the Jan OS group the last few weeks. We'll miss having you around - don't be stranger to our threads. Good luck with the IM training!
@Tom - Perfect ride! Looks like you're nailing it lately. Keep pushing hard.
@Chad - I think many of us are seeing some improvements now. For me personally, I'm hitting all of my intervals well above my FTP from week 1; however, I'm not going to test or adjust the numbers in WKO+ to where I think I am. I only change WKO+ when I have a test that proves my ability and if I don't have to test, i.e. training plan doesn't call for it, then I'm not going to (I've found in the past that the first thing I get sick of late in the HIM/IM training is the testing). So, if I don't have to, I don't do them. On the flip side it is good mental toughness training and a great workout. So for now, when I do my FTP intervals I just target the watts where I think I'm at right now, plus a little. But it has to be watts that I can definitely hold for the entire duration of each interval. That's just my approach.
Speaking of improvement...I had a huge confidence booster/breakthrough trainer session yesterday. Week 1 FTT was 271. For the last couple weeks I've been riding my FTP intervals in the low- to mid-280s. Yesterday I had some major snap in my legs...my 2 x 12's were 293 and 298 (1.08 & 1.10 IF). I felt awesome. Total ride IF was .925. This was my first trainer ride of the OS that I didn't start the ride 10' after getting out of bed in the morning (it was late afternoon). Not sure if this was the reason for the bump or if it's that the work is starting to WORK. I think the latter. Anyway, my new benchmark for the next couple weeks has been set!
@ John ..Good luck in your IM training. I hope you visit OS Jan and tell us about your progress.
Today I did my thursday ride in the am. It was good, 2x12 zone 4, rest zone 3. I'm above ftp for most of them but I have to focus. A quick glance at the tv or a sip of water and down it goes..12min intervals seem's easier. I'm glad one more week though before it goes up again. I know testing will be coming up kind of soon and i'm a bit aprehensive but I know it's needed . Good weekend ahead. It's bitterly cold he're so all workouts will be inside.
@Chad - I feel pretty confident my numbers are up as well, but don't plan to test or change any settings in WKO+ until we test again. I like seeing those 1.0....####!!!!! That also makes me feel better about the days when I am not killing it - I know I'm going to need a lot of that strength for the V02 max stuff and I've got a long season planned
@Jim - that is great!!! How are you liking that elliptical machine . I am actually starting to figure out how to use it so that I think it's beneficial.
@Marianne - sorry about the ice. We are at our 1 year anniversary of the ice storm of the century last year - I shudder just thinking about it.
@Nathalie - I know what you mean. I like to read during my 80-85% and I have to be really diligent about keeping the cadence up or my numbers dip too. No reading during the 95-100% though - game face on for those
@John - we will miss you!!! but our loss is the gain of the IMSG peeps - come back and visit though and I put the pictures of the pink bike up in the Jan OS social thread.
I am hoping to run tomorrow and bike Sun - just works better for my schedule, but they are saying 5 inches of snow - we'll see what tomorrow brings. Happy Weekend Everyone!
@Robin - I'm really liking the elliptical, although this morning I was back in the pool for another deep water running session just to be conservative. On Wednesday I tried to duplicate the 2 x 1.5 mile run workout per the OS plan on the elliptical. It felt freakin awesome getting one step closer to actual running and at a pretty high intensity. I think I figured the machine out and was doing about 180-190 strides per min for the intervals with resistance at 10 (Precor machine). I was a little nervous after the workout that I pushed it too hard because I was pooped. Legs felt a little sore but not in the groin/fracture area. By the next morning I was good so I'm planning on putting in some good elliptical sessions next week. Then take my strides Feb 8!!
Holy cow, is this the Jan OS group? My oh my are you all chatty! I'm back from the trip to Dallas (Great meeting Phil, Scott, and Carrie H) and finally trying my best to catch up on the forum.
The hotel had an affiliation with a nearby club/spa which had a 25meter lap pool so I was able to swim this week. They did have aqua-running belts too- but the lanes were completely full each morning with lap swimmers and I didn't want to take up a whole lane to water run. So I swam.
I did a T-Test on a bit of a whim. I basically started out with my normal 200 warmup and then thought "hmmmm, maybe I should just keep going and see what my T-test would look like". Now keep in mind, I've done very little if any "speed work" with my swimming AND I've only been swimming about 2x per week for the past 4 weeks since this whole injury thing popped up.
Here's the results compared to prior T-Tests: 20:29 7/18/08 (Mid-way through IMWI training in 08 with lots of volume & speed work with a Masters group) 22:08 3/6/09 (End of OS last year and first test for the transition to HIM training) 21:50 1/28/10 (OS 2010 with about 4 weeks of swimming under my belt)
It's nice to see the consistency- and a great reminder of that whole ROI dealio that R&P talk about all the time. I know that what I really need to improve my swim is some serious stroke improvement.
Ok, ok I know your getting sick of looking at my WKO, BUT I am kinda proud of this one so I had to share!!! I am really starting to be able to feel where I want to be while riding and stick to it. I love consistency - it makes for such pretty graphs No run today - too much snow for me
Awesome day! It was tooooo cold for me to BRick and I rarely say that. But to head out in single digit temps when I am already soaked with sweat just sucks! But I was feeling really good so I stayed in the bike for longer. I have 2 reasons for this and 1 person to thank.
First up- Shout out to John Stark! Thank you man! You posted about how during the 85% you switch gears every minute and adjust cadence to keep watts the same. Since I decided to do 30 minutes straight of 85%, this was a total life saver after 15 minutes. Usually I change hand/ body position every 3 minutes, and that is fine for a 15 minute interval. After that I needed more mental work. It was great!
Second- I may have found the saddle I have been hoping for. I ordered a Cobb V-Flow Max (wrong color so I gotta send it back). But I have been using it this entire week. No bruising, blisters, or any other issue to date, even when wearing my crappy shorts. I rode for just over 90 minutes today. Other saddles have made me cry after 45 minutes. I put it on myself and will get a professional to check my work next week. But so far it gets 2 thumbs up! It's better in the aero position than anything so far. I try the Adamo Typhoon and SRM Lady Glider next week.
@ Nemo ..Great job on your impromptu swim tt. You are consistent ! It is amazing how no swim training doesn't mean you lose your swim fitness. It was a hard sell for me at first but last year after not swimming for 6 months because of injury and then swimming with little change I was a believer too !
@ Michele..Kudos to you on your bike today. I'm like you I change hand position too but never tried to change gear. Good idea ! I will try that !
My workouts today went prettry well. My bike I must say was tough. I donl't know why. My first interval was fine but by my second it was def tough. Zone 3 too was hard for the reminder..I will see what happens next week. Maybe just a off day. I did my run later on at the Y. I was fine with my run. Good pace too. Interesting day. Tomorrow 's run will be inside too. It's frigid here in Rochester NY !!
@Robin - You are ON FIRE! WOW! Way to nail those intervals! Damn girl! Smokin'!
@Nathalie - See my videos from last week. I know EXACTLY how you feel! It is only one session. Get on the horse next time and channel Robin's mojo!!
@Michele - Did I say that? I will take the credit, but I am not sure I said that.
@Nemo - Welcome back. Missed you banter in here this week.
@Tom, Marrianne, Dan, Chad, et al: Great work and nice bump in the numbers, Chad!
As for me . . . .
Did a 9 mile run, mostly rolling trails at tempo HR pace. 932 feet of climbing over the 9 miles. Practicing switching between pace and HR to get ready for the hilly IM SG run course. But as you can see there weren't really any flat areas to hit the pace numbers. Almost fell on my arse several times and slipped constantly on the uphill sections.
I seriously did NOT want to do a run today but did it anyway and got another "win" under my belt. Below is a vid and also the elevation chart. You can see the sweat dripping off the bill of my hat. WORK WORKS, baby!
Another good week; I can feel the speed and strength coming back. I know that if I just keep taking these baby steps I'll be plenty fast come spring.
Once again I swapped the bike and run around to allow for warmth (such as it is) on Sunday's ride; I'm committed to doing all of my OS outside. Today's Beginner plan called for 1 hour as 2x1/2 mile, then 1x1 mile; I felt strong! Coming back in the door I had frost all over my hat and a solid rim of ice around the collar of my jacket; 18 degrees, baby!
As always it's great to have the company of like-minded lunatics to share the journey; around here I'm an outlier, to say the least.
Very strong so far this week. Bike IF were 0.91, 0.97, and 0.91 for the overall workouts for the week. Probably need to retest to raise my FTP, but it feels good to be relatively crushing it right now. Great run on Wednesday, averaging 7:51/mile for 1=hour with my 2x1 mile at 7:20 and 7:18, will try to replicate tomorrow if the legs will produce.
Comments
I dropped the ball with my January OS postings. I missed Tuesday's bike due to life issues, actually buying a new vehicle and SAU's so no big deal. I got my run in today 4X1/2 mile @ 5:15. The runs continue to feel good and after this week I will start stretching them out longer han the intervals. My longest run to date has been 45 minutes.
Gordon
"The recovery week is when fitness happens" I heard, and I believe it. Feeling good this morning, elastic on the shorts is starting to feel tighter
Lap 2 (0:12:00.00):
Duration: 12:00
Work: 152 kJ
TSS: 17.3 (intensity factor 0.93)
Norm Power: 209
VI: 0.99
Pw:HR: -1.5%
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 0 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 132 277 211 watts
Heart Rate: 132 163 155 bpm
Cadence: 73 103 95 rpm
Crank Torque: 114 243 188 lb-in
Lap 4 (0:12:00.00):
Duration: 12:00
Work: 154 kJ
TSS: 18.2 (intensity factor 0.954)
Norm Power: 215
VI: 1
Pw:HR: -0.86%
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 0 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 132 279 215 watts
Heart Rate: 135 168 160 bpm
Cadence: 75 104 94 rpm
Crank Torque: 133 245 193 lb-in
I'm over here...pissy because I have no PM, and I'm on a treadmill in the basement of a hotel. The work is getting done I'm sour about the PM (Ergomo can blow me). Quarq has compacts on backorder. Screw it, I'm going for the Lightning compact - it's only money. Now I still have to wait for Saris to start shipping out the Joule. Hurry up and wait.
Anyone else tired? I have an IV of caffeine and PowerBars and I just can't get moving this morning. Legs were buzzing a bit last night too which I take as a good thing. Maybe a donut is in order?
Just gonna swim fairly easy with Masters today at noon. That's all.
I'm tired also from the workouts. I coudn't stop yawning today even though i got plenty of sleep..!
Nathalie
I am like THE BIGGEST NERD ever!!! I had to take my computer in to get some problems fixed and can't download my info from today's bike until I get it back. I am like a FREAKIN crack addict or something - I need my fix!!! I NEED to know
@John - did you ever listen to that podcast? If so just imagine being chased down and chicked by me on that hot pink bike. That will get you going
@Joel - agreed it's only money - at least that is what I kept telling myself last week when I lost $200 in cash - YIKES!!! Luckily it turned up between the car seats this AM.
Glad everyone sounds like they are doing well this week. Keep it up!!!
@Robin - Yep, listened to your podcast! 20 year old $120 tri bike? Talk about ROI! Do you have any pics? If so, post. My first tri was on a mountain bike and I asked the local tri shop after if I should put aerobars on it.
I love that you kennel and breed dogs. That is so cool. And you like sweets and dark beer!? Tell me you love football and I would say your husband is the luckiest guy ever. 
Oh ya, #lowfatnonfatsux. Thanks for doing that!
As for me . . . I swam 2,800 yards today with Masters. This was WU and MS. I am done. Put a fork in me. Definitely a day off tomorrow. I am so frigging fatigued. Time to start more focus on the diet.
Lastly, per the coaches notes in the IM SG forum I will be jumping out of OS after Sunday and into transition week and then into 12 week IM plan. Do you all miss me yet?
Did the 2x1.5 miles today @ gym between shifts. Went well.
Crushed the power lifter (Patrick Thomas)r yesterday in the 300 battle of the Station 4 Titans. Wow, I forgot the physiological cost of doing real intense crossfit style workouts. As if the OS stuff isn't hard enough.
@Jorge - Recovery week? Where?
@Joel - Channel that frustration into wokouts! (I was going to "channel that piss ...")
@John - Tired? YES!! and Don't be a stranger - we'll miss your donut motivation!
As for today's workout, I took it as a rest day, with a nice short swim, and then a 12-hour day at work. Back at it tomorrow!
12'@FTP(224w):
Duration: 12:08
Work: 163 kJ
TSS: 20.2 (intensity factor 0.999)
Norm Power: 224
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 3.21%
Pa:HR: 1.64%
Distance: 3.99 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 178 279 224 watts
Heart Rate: 156 167 162 bpm
Cadence: 74 83 80 rpm
Speed: 18.1 20.3 19.7 mph
Pace 2:58 3:18 3:03 min/mi
Crank Torque: 186 306 236 lb-in
3'Recovery:
Duration: 3:00
Work: 23 kJ
TSS: 2 (intensity factor 0.635)
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -67.02%
Pa:HR: -26.67%
Distance: 0.734 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 212 130 watts
Heart Rate: 132 165 143 bpm
Cadence: 30 85 79 rpm
Speed: 2.4 19.8 15.5 mph
Pace 3:02 25:25 3:52 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 310 140 lb-in
12'@FTP (224w):
Duration: 12:14
Work: 168 kJ
TSS: 21.3 (intensity factor 1.022)
Norm Power: 229
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 4.58%
Pa:HR: 3.18%
Distance: 4.027 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 187 273 229 watts
Heart Rate: 146 174 168 bpm
Cadence: 75 85 80 rpm
Speed: 18.7 20.6 19.7 mph
Pace 2:55 3:12 3:02 min/mi
Crank Torque: 197 289 241 lb-in
3'Recovery:
Duration: 2:58
Work: 25 kJ
TSS: 1.9 (intensity factor 0.625)
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -7.67%
Pa:HR: -6.46%
Distance: 0.792 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 95 222 141 watts
Heart Rate: 137 171 148 bpm
Cadence: 69 85 78 rpm
Speed: 15.1 19.9 16.0 mph
Pace 3:00 3:58 3:45 min/mi
Crank Torque: 103 235 152 lb-in
15'@85% (190w):
Duration: 15:03
Work: 172 kJ
TSS: 18.2 (intensity factor 0.852)
Norm Power: 191
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 0.09%
Pa:HR: 1.07%
Distance: 4.558 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 106 257 191 watts
Heart Rate: 135 160 155 bpm
Cadence: 70 88 77 rpm
Speed: 16.3 18.8 18.1 mph
Pace 3:11 3:41 3:19 min/mi
Crank Torque: 108 282 209 lb-in
Cooldown:
Duration: 5:02
Work: 38 kJ
TSS: 2.7 (intensity factor 0.564)
Norm Power: 126
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 2.82%
Pa:HR: -1.47%
Distance: 1.267 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 72 206 125 watts
Heart Rate: 126 157 137 bpm
Cadence: 72 86 79 rpm
Speed: 13.8 18.2 15.1 mph
Pace 3:18 4:21 3:59 min/mi
Crank Torque: 72 229 134 lb-in
Entire workout (185 watts):
Duration: 1:01:00 (1:01:52)
Work: 676 kJ
TSS: 79.8 (intensity factor 0.886)
Norm Power: 199
VI: 1.08
Pw:HR: 6.19%
Pa:HR: 4.05%
Distance: 17.913 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 279 185 watts
Heart Rate: 88 174 153 bpm
Cadence: 30 110 79 rpm
Speed: 2.2 20.6 17.8 mph
Pace 2:55 26:49 3:22 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 363 198 lb-in
I went from a bike of 193 to my guess of 215 and I held that for my Tuesday and Thursday ride. I moved my VDOT up one number too and had no problem with Wednesday run either.
Just wondering if anyone else did the same?
@Tom - Perfect ride! Looks like you're nailing it lately. Keep pushing hard.
@Chad - I think many of us are seeing some improvements now. For me personally, I'm hitting all of my intervals well above my FTP from week 1; however, I'm not going to test or adjust the numbers in WKO+ to where I think I am. I only change WKO+ when I have a test that proves my ability and if I don't have to test, i.e. training plan doesn't call for it, then I'm not going to (I've found in the past that the first thing I get sick of late in the HIM/IM training is the testing). So, if I don't have to, I don't do them. On the flip side it is good mental toughness training and a great workout. So for now, when I do my FTP intervals I just target the watts where I think I'm at right now, plus a little. But it has to be watts that I can definitely hold for the entire duration of each interval. That's just my approach.
Speaking of improvement...I had a huge confidence booster/breakthrough trainer session yesterday. Week 1 FTT was 271. For the last couple weeks I've been riding my FTP intervals in the low- to mid-280s. Yesterday I had some major snap in my legs...my 2 x 12's were 293 and 298 (1.08 & 1.10 IF). I felt awesome. Total ride IF was .925. This was my first trainer ride of the OS that I didn't start the ride 10' after getting out of bed in the morning (it was late afternoon). Not sure if this was the reason for the bump or if it's that the work is starting to WORK. I think the latter. Anyway, my new benchmark for the next couple weeks has been set!
Hit it hard this weekend guys!
Today I did my thursday ride in the am. It was good, 2x12 zone 4, rest zone 3. I'm above ftp for most of them but I have to focus. A quick glance at the tv or a sip of water and down it goes..12min intervals seem's easier. I'm glad one more week though before it goes up again. I know testing will be coming up kind of soon and i'm a bit aprehensive but I know it's needed . Good weekend ahead. It's bitterly cold he're so all workouts will be inside.
Have a good training weekend everybody !
Nathalie
@Chad - I feel pretty confident my numbers are up as well, but don't plan to test or change any settings in WKO+ until we test again. I like seeing those 1.0....####!!!!! That also makes me feel better about the days when I am not killing it - I know I'm going to need a lot of that strength for the V02 max stuff and I've got a long season planned
@Jim - that is great!!! How are you liking that elliptical machine
@Marianne - sorry about the ice. We are at our 1 year anniversary of the ice storm of the century last year - I shudder just thinking about it.
@Nathalie - I know what you mean. I like to read during my 80-85% and I have to be really diligent about keeping the cadence up or my numbers dip too. No reading during the 95-100% though - game face on for those
@John - we will miss you!!! but our loss is the gain of the IMSG peeps - come back and visit though and I put the pictures of the pink bike up in the Jan OS social thread.
I am hoping to run tomorrow and bike Sun - just works better for my schedule, but they are saying 5 inches of snow - we'll see what tomorrow brings. Happy Weekend Everyone!
The hotel had an affiliation with a nearby club/spa which had a 25meter lap pool so I was able to swim this week. They did have aqua-running belts too- but the lanes were completely full each morning with lap swimmers and I didn't want to take up a whole lane to water run. So I swam.
I did a T-Test on a bit of a whim. I basically started out with my normal 200 warmup and then thought "hmmmm, maybe I should just keep going and see what my T-test would look like". Now keep in mind, I've done very little if any "speed work" with my swimming AND I've only been swimming about 2x per week for the past 4 weeks since this whole injury thing popped up.
Here's the results compared to prior T-Tests:
20:29 7/18/08 (Mid-way through IMWI training in 08 with lots of volume & speed work with a Masters group)
22:08 3/6/09 (End of OS last year and first test for the transition to HIM training)
21:50 1/28/10 (OS 2010 with about 4 weeks of swimming under my belt)
It's nice to see the consistency- and a great reminder of that whole ROI dealio that R&P talk about all the time. I know that what I really need to improve my swim is some serious stroke improvement.
Ok, ok I know your getting sick of looking at my WKO, BUT I am kinda proud of this one so I had to share!!! I am really starting to be able to feel where I want to be while riding and stick to it. I love consistency - it makes for such pretty graphs
Power-Tap #1:
Duration: 10:06
Work: 94 kJ
TSS: 17.8 (intensity factor 1.028)
Norm Power: 155
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 0.78%
Pa:HR: 8.37%
Distance: 3.363 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 133 182 155 watts
Heart Rate: 129 154 146 bpm
Cadence: 76 87 81 rpm
Speed: 18.8 21.3 19.9 mph
Pace 2:49 3:11 3:01 min/mi
Crank Torque: 138 197 163 lb-in
Power-Tap #3:
Duration: 10:06
Work: 94 kJ
TSS: 17.8 (intensity factor 1.029)
Norm Power: 155
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 1.44%
Pa:HR: 3%
Distance: 3.212 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 133 179 156 watts
Heart Rate: 134 157 152 bpm
Cadence: 78 85 82 rpm
Speed: 18.5 19.8 19.0 mph
Pace 3:02 3:15 3:09 min/mi
Crank Torque: 134 187 160 lb-in
Power-Tap #5:
Duration: 15:08
Work: 114 kJ
TSS: 17.6 (intensity factor 0.835)
Norm Power: 126
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 1.85%
Pa:HR: -0.3%
Distance: 4.635 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 104 149 126 watts
Heart Rate: 134 146 141 bpm
Cadence: 83 96 88 rpm
Speed: 17.6 18.8 18.3 mph
Pace 3:11 3:24 3:16 min/mi
Crank Torque: 96 143 121 lb-in
Power-Tap #7:
Duration: 15:04
Work: 114 kJ
TSS: 17.5 (intensity factor 0.835)
Norm Power: 126
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 1.42%
Pa:HR: 2.58%
Distance: 4.692 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 105 169 126 watts
Heart Rate: 129 145 139 bpm
Cadence: 81 102 90 rpm
Speed: 18 19.5 18.6 mph
Pace 3:05 3:20 3:13 min/mi
Crank Torque: 96 168 119 lb-in
But I was feeling really good so I stayed in the bike for longer. I have 2 reasons for this and 1 person to thank.
First up-
Shout out to John Stark! Thank you man! You posted about how during the 85% you switch gears every minute and adjust cadence to keep watts the same. Since I decided to do 30 minutes straight of 85%, this was a total life saver after 15 minutes. Usually I change hand/ body position every 3 minutes, and that is fine for a 15 minute interval. After that I needed more mental work. It was great!
Second- I may have found the saddle I have been hoping for. I ordered a Cobb V-Flow Max (wrong color so I gotta send it back). But I have been using it this entire week. No bruising, blisters, or any other issue to date, even when wearing my crappy shorts. I rode for just over 90 minutes today. Other saddles have made me cry after 45 minutes. I put it on myself and will get a professional to check my work next week. But so far it gets 2 thumbs up! It's better in the aero position than anything so far. I try the Adamo Typhoon and SRM Lady Glider next week.
@ Michele..Kudos to you on your bike today. I'm like you I change hand position too but never tried to change gear. Good idea ! I will try that !
My workouts today went prettry well. My bike I must say was tough. I donl't know why. My first interval was fine but by my second it was def tough. Zone 3 too was hard for the reminder..I will see what happens next week. Maybe just a off day. I did my run later on at the Y. I was fine with my run. Good pace too. Interesting day. Tomorrow 's run will be inside too. It's frigid here in Rochester NY !!
@Robin - You are ON FIRE! WOW! Way to nail those intervals! Damn girl! Smokin'!
@Nathalie - See my videos from last week. I know EXACTLY how you feel! It is only one session. Get on the horse next time and channel Robin's mojo!!
@Michele - Did I say that? I will take the credit, but I am not sure I said that.
@Nemo - Welcome back. Missed you banter in here this week.
@Tom, Marrianne, Dan, Chad, et al: Great work and nice bump in the numbers, Chad!
As for me . . . .
Did a 9 mile run, mostly rolling trails at tempo HR pace. 932 feet of climbing over the 9 miles. Practicing switching between pace and HR to get ready for the hilly IM SG run course. But as you can see there weren't really any flat areas to hit the pace numbers. Almost fell on my arse several times and slipped constantly on the uphill sections.
I seriously did NOT want to do a run today but did it anyway and got another "win" under my belt. Below is a vid and also the elevation chart. You can see the sweat dripping off the bill of my hat. WORK WORKS, baby!
Who's next?
Gettin er dun.
Another good week; I can feel the speed and strength coming back. I know that if I just keep taking these baby steps I'll be plenty fast come spring.
Once again I swapped the bike and run around to allow for warmth (such as it is) on Sunday's ride; I'm committed to doing all of my OS outside. Today's Beginner plan called for 1 hour as 2x1/2 mile, then 1x1 mile; I felt strong! Coming back in the door I had frost all over my hat and a solid rim of ice around the collar of my jacket; 18 degrees, baby!
As always it's great to have the company of like-minded lunatics to share the journey; around here I'm an outlier, to say the least.
Hey John - do I get any credit for this? Spent about an hour building my masterpiece.
I knew those Truck Nutz would come in handy some day. Welcome to VIRGINIA BEACH!
Very strong so far this week. Bike IF were 0.91, 0.97, and 0.91 for the overall workouts for the week. Probably need to retest to raise my FTP, but it feels good to be relatively crushing it right now. Great run on Wednesday, averaging 7:51/mile for 1=hour with my 2x1 mile at 7:20 and 7:18, will try to replicate tomorrow if the legs will produce.
15'@95-100%FTP(213-224w):
Duration: 15:03
Work: 199 kJ
TSS: 24.3 (intensity factor 0.985)
Norm Power: 221
VI: 1
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 4.993 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 128 261 220 watts
Heart Rate: 163 168 166 bpm
Cadence: 72 85 81 rpm
Speed: 15.8 20.7 19.9 mph
Pace 2:54 3:48 3:01 min/mi
Crank Torque: 137 304 230 lb-in
rest:
Duration: 4:02
Work: 33 kJ
TSS: 2.4 (intensity factor 0.598)
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -13.36%
Pa:HR: -10.26%
Distance: 1.093 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 99 226 135 watts
Heart Rate: 131 168 142 bpm
Cadence: 64 94 81 rpm
Speed: 15.3 20.2 16.2 mph
Pace 2:58 3:56 3:42 min/mi
Crank Torque: 97 210 140 lb-in
15'@95-100%FTP(213-224w):
Duration: 15:05
Work: 204 kJ
TSS: 25.6 (intensity factor 1.008)
Norm Power: 226
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 3.34%
Pa:HR: 3.48%
Distance: 5.075 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 188 269 226 watts
Heart Rate: 135 175 168 bpm
Cadence: 75 86 82 rpm
Speed: 19.4 20.9 20.2 mph
Pace 2:52 3:06 2:59 min/mi
Crank Torque: 187 277 231 lb-in
rest:
Duration: 4:02
Work: 34 kJ
TSS: 2.6 (intensity factor 0.627)
Norm Power: n/a
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: -20.4%
Pa:HR: -13.13%
Distance: 1.113 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 76 225 141 watts
Heart Rate: 139 173 148 bpm
Cadence: 59 106 78 rpm
Speed: 15.6 20.4 16.5 mph
Pace 2:56 3:51 3:39 min/mi
Crank Torque: 96 232 153 lb-in
2x15'@80-85% (179-190w):
Duration: 30:23
Work: 338 kJ
TSS: 34.9 (intensity factor 0.83)
Norm Power: 186
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 0.3%
Pa:HR: 0.24%
Distance: 9.354 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 231 186 watts
Heart Rate: 139 161 155 bpm
Cadence: 32 94 78 rpm
Speed: 7.8 19.3 18.4 mph
Pace 3:07 7:43 3:15 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 327 200 lb-in
Entire workout (188 watts):
Duration: 1:19:15
Work: 893 kJ
TSS: 102.3 (intensity factor 0.88)
Norm Power: 197
VI: 1.05
Pw:HR: 2.35%
Pa:HR: -1.54%
Distance: 24.286 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 269 188 watts
Heart Rate: 131 175 157 bpm
Cadence: 32 106 80 rpm
Speed: 2.2 20.9 18.4 mph
Pace 2:52 26:49 3:15 min/mi
I got my final bike workout in of 1 hour. No data as my wife and I have travelled to the mountains to ski and not WKO+ on the work laptop.
Gordon