Weekly Training Log – 02/20/2011

Week #6 was a “recovery” week, but with travel from Wednesday to Friday, there wasn’t a whole lot of recovery for me.  The week started with a typically tough workout session with Olivier – my legs were fried.  Tuesday was another long swim with the group – we ended up doing more than 3,000 and half of it was with the kick board.  I realize I need more kick strength, but wow… almost a mile of kicking blows.  Tuesday night brought some new Spinerval DVDs that I gave a shot – made for a tough bike workout, but it was only 45 minutes which was shorter than I needed.  Wednesday morning was 6 miles of running with 8 hill sprints in the middle; followed up with my trip out to Cincinnati in the afternoon.  Wednesday night was a great dinner with some of my co-workers, so no workout for me… but it was a late night of eating and preparing for meetings.  Up early on Thursday morning to do a brutally boring (and sweaty) ride on the stationary bike in my hotel’s gym.  Thursday night was actually a really good time-trial swim. I did a mile in 30 minutes which is pretty good for me.  Friday morning was a great 6-mile run along the river in Cincinnati (sad, I have no clue what the river is?!) – but it is kind of like the Esplanade in Boston.

My long weekend workouts were both good and bad.  Saturday was a relatively short brick workout with Ryan. We did 40 miles on the bike followed up with a 4-mile run.  The bike was AWFUL.  Actually, it wasn’t that bad, but Ryan absolutely humiliated me (he’s getting me back for killing him in the swim and run… ).  But my gosh – it was like I wasn’t even moving.  So I clearly have identified the area for improvement… looks like no more cutting workouts short – I will be doing the full bike workouts (and then some) from here on out.

Sunday’s run was good. We did just over 8 miles on the single-track trails in Umstead.  We averaged about 8-minute miles which is actually really fast when you consider the rough terrain and the steep hills.  Olivier kicked my butt which I would expect… but I kicked Ryan and Michael’s which is damn fun.

This upcoming week is back to preparing for a longer weekend.  I will be doing a 3.5 hour ride on Saturday and then a 1.5 hour run on Sunday.  Good times. I am supposed to travel on Thursday which will complicate things a bit, but it’s a day trip so I think I can fit all the workouts in.

Tags: 30 minutes, 4-mile run, 45 minutes, 8-minute miles, 90 miles, Bike Run Strength, boring, Boston, cincinnati, clue, co workers, cutting workouts, damn, esplanade, Friday morning, good time, good time-trial swim, good times, gosh, great dinner, hotel, hr 11.75 hrs, humiliated, kick board, kicking, late night, long swim, long weekend workouts, longer weekend, Michaels, Mile, miles weekly training, new spinerval dvds, Physical exercise, pretty good, rough terrain, Ryan, short brick workout, single-track trails, spinerval, Sports, stationary bike, steep hills, sweaty, swim bike run, Thursday morning, Thursday night, time trial, Total Time, tough bike workout, tough workout session, triathlon, trip, Tuesday night, umstead, Wednesday morning, Wednesday night, Weekly Training Log, whole lot, workout, workouts
Category Featured, Weekly Training Logs |

Weekly Training Log – 02/13/2011

Week #5 is done and I am quickly starting to see a pattern in these IM workouts.   What I am realizing is that the workout is really defined as the entire week and not by any of the individual workouts during the week.  Matt Fitzgerald (author of my workout plan) would probably say “duh – of course it is”,  but as I wrapped up my long run earlier this morning, that was my big “ah-hah”.  I wasn’t happy that I finished the run (which was miserable, by the way).  I was happy that I had finished the week… uninjured and still motivated… with a real sense of achievement for completing another unit.  Each week in the plan has a purpose and each week that I finish is completely satisfying.  I guess you could call the feeling an “ironman high”… much like the runner’s high people talk about after they finish a good long run.

Anyway, the week went well.  The swim sessions were most noteworthy.  Tuesday was a killer 3,900m workout and Thursday was almost as brutal with 3,400m.  My bike workouts were fine.  For the most part, they were indoors with the exception of my Saturday long ride which got me 50 miles in just under 3 hours.  Not bad, but it was cold, hilly, and I was in a hurry to get back so Mary Lynn and I could head over to the Fearrington House in Chapel Hill.  My runs during the week were fine, but my long run this morning was awful.  We were using a gift certificate to stay at the Fearrington house and breakfast didn’t start until after I was planning to start my run.  So, I went with no food and no coffee and I had absolutely nothing.  I ran for 1.5 hours and by the end, I was nearly crawling.  And now I am absolutely exhausted.  Maybe I just had too much wine last night.

This week is a recover week, so I should get a chance to relax a bit which is good since I will be travelling out to Cincinnati for a few days towards the end of the week.

Tags: absolutely nothing, achievement, Anyway, author, Bike Run Strength, bike workouts, breakfast, brutal, Chapel Hill, cincinnati, coffee, Events, fearrington house, few days, fine, food, gift certificate, good long run, Happy, high people, Hospitality Recreation, hr 12.2 hrs, hurry, IM workouts, individual workouts, indoors, killer, long run, Mary Lynn, Matt Fitzgerald, miles weekly training, Physical exercise, real sense, Recreation, relax, Runner, sessions, Shopping, Sports, swim bike run, swim sessions, Swimming, time 3, Time 3.2 hrs, Total Distance, training log, United States, wine, workout plan, workouts
Category Weekly Training Logs |

Weekly Training Log – 02/06/2011

Week #4 was a recovery week for me, so this was not a particularly challenging one, but it was another step in the process and it’s done.  The mid-week workouts were not real different than most, but the weekend workouts were relatively short, so my total was low.  I was supposed to travel up to Boston on Thursday, but weather cancelled the trip, so I shifted things around a few times during the week.  Net result is that I got on the trainer most nights, ran in the rain for a few mornings, and had my typical tough morning swims.  Saturday was a short brick workout and since it was raining, I rode the trainer (the bike, not Olivier) for an hour and then ran in the rain for 30 minutes.  Sunday was  just shy of 8 miles in the rough trails of Umstead – I didn’t feel great during the run, but I had a few stretches were I felt great and was running sub-7 minute miles, but otherwise struggled up the hills. Not sure why.  Actually, I do know why. It was still very wet from the rain and with leaves still covering the rocks and roots, it was very tough to get in a groove.

This upcoming week will ramp up the distance and time. I will be travelling to Boston on Monday (no weather expected), but since it’s my day off, it shouldn’t impact things.  Mary Lynn and I also head to the Fearrington House this weekend, so I will be squeezing in some long rides and runs around that, but I should be able to get it done.  It’s still early enough in the program so the long workouts are too crazy.

Tags: 30 minutes, Bike Run Strength, Boston, brick, crazy, fearrington house, groove, Hospitality Recreation, long rides, long workouts, Mary Lynn, Mile, miles weekly training, mornings, Net result, nights, Physical exercise, rain, Ramp, rocks, roots, rough trails, short brick workout, shouldn't impact, Sports, squeezing, step, stretches, swim bike run, time 3, Time 3.0 hrs, training, triathlon, trip, typical tough morning, umstead, United States, weather, weekend, workout, workouts
Category Featured, Weekly Training Logs |

Weekly Training Log – 01/30/2011

Week #3 is done and this was one of the best weeks of training I have had in a long long time.    I typically judge the week by reflecting on my long weekend workouts … so I am obviously happy with those, but more on that in a bit.  My workouts during the week were average at best.  I should have been on the bike for 3:40 during the week, but I was only able to get on for 1:50 – not quite enough but a long shot.  My swim sessions were as good as always – Olivier makes us do more yardage  than the plan ever says, so I am never short-changed in the water.   My time-trial swim session for the week had me finishing a mile in about 31 minutes – not fast by most people’s standards, but an improvement for me.

This week’s brick was supposed to be an hour on the bike followed by a 20-minute run.  I got the time on the bike, but only about 15 minute of running… had to run to a meeting for work.  Regardless, the run felt fine which is the point I guess.

Saturday was my long bike ride.  I was supposed to do 2:30 but ended up going 3 hours to make up for some of my shortened workouts earlier in the week.  I headed out through the hills north of Raleigh and ended up going 52 miles.  Not a super-fast pace, but with several steep hills and lots of rolling terrain, I was pretty happy with it.  Sunday was my long run – if you remember last week, I had thoroughly kicked Olivier’s butt and he wanted to “race” for real.  So Oliver, Ryan, Chris and I headed out on what’s known as “Z-Big Loop” in Umstead (9.5 miles… horse trails… lots of brutal hills).  We started out easy and stayed together for the first mile.  But then Olivier and Chris pressed forward, leaving Ryan and I behind.  That lasted for a few minutes before I split off from Ryan and caught up to Chris… and then set my sites on Olivier.  It took about a mile and a half to catch up to Olivier – turns out he struggles up the hills which I find surprising since he weighs about 20 lbs.  But he does struggle and by the second big hill, I was past him.  By the third big hill I had a few hundred yards on him and he was sufficiently demoralized.   Anyway – long story short, I ended up beating him by about 3 minutes and Ryan by 4.    Olivier is officially my bitch (on the run).     USA! USA!  USA!

My watch ran out of batteries, so I am not sure what my official pace was, but Ryan’s said 7:30 which means my pace was somewhere around 7:10.  I am VERY happy with that – especially when you look at the terrain we were dealing with.   But what I am even more happy about is that I had that strong of a run after having a solid long ride the day before.  To me that’s saying my body is dealing with the strain of the increased training very well and not getting too fatigued.  I realize it’s early to say that – I still have 21 weeks to go – but still… I am happy.

Tags: 20-minute run, 31 minutes, Anyway, big hill, bike ride, Bike Run Strength, bitch, brick, brutal hills, butt, Chris, Cycling, few minutes, fine, finishing, forward, Happy, hills, horse trails, Hospitality Recreation, judge, leaving Ryan and I behind, long bike ride, long long time, long run, long shot, long time, long weekend workouts, Mile, miles weekly training, mountain bike, official pace, olivier, pace, Physical exercise, Raleigh, rolling, Ryan, ryan chris, Ryan's, sessions, shortened workouts, solid long ride, Sports, standards, steep hills, struggle, super-fast pace, swim session, terrain, Time 3.0 hrs, time trial, time-trial swim session, trails, training log, United States, USA, weekend, workouts, Z-Big Loop
Category Featured, Weekly Training Logs |

Weekly Training Log – 01/16/2011

Week #1 is in the books and I successfully navigated my way through it despite some messy travel and a relatively stressful week at work.  I put in just under 11 hours and it felt fine.   Monday started with a morning swim and then I traveled up to snowy Boston for work.  Up there, I did an hour on a recumbent bike (hated it!) and then 40 minutes on the treadmill the following morning.  Wednesday ended up being my day off, then Thursday was a long swim followed a session on the bike trainer at night.  Friday was a brick workout (1 hour spin class followed by a 3-mile run).

On Saturday, I finally got outside for a ride.  I left before 9 am when it was still below freezing and it was actually really nice.  I had my new winter biking gear on (straight from China… sorry US workers!) combined with a neck-warmer, ski gloves, and a hat under my helmet. I was surprisingly comfortable for the entire 40-miles.   It took me 2:15, which when you consider the hills on 75% of the ride and all the crap I was wearing, I was very happy.  I really feel like my focus on leg strength is paying off.   Today (Sunday) was a tough trail run with Olivier, Ryan, and Chris.  We did about 8 miles and had the heart rate monitor busting at 180+.

Week #2 is much of the same, although the weekend won’t be as long.  Instead of a long ride, I do a brick on Saturday and then only run for 40 minutes on Sunday.  But I do more on the trainer and in the pool during the week, so I guess it evens out.  Good times.

Tags: 3-mile run, Bicycle trainer, Bike Run Strength, bike trainer, biking, biking gear, books, Boston, brick, brick workout, busting, China, crap, Cycling, entire 40-miles, fine, following morning, freezing, good times, Happy, heart rate, helmet, hills, Hospitality Recreation, hrs 10, it despite some messy travel, leg strength, long ride, long swim, messy travel, Mile, miles weekly training, morning swim, new winter, olivier, pool, Recumbent bicycle, recumbent bike, Ryan, ski gloves, spin, Sports, time 3, Time 3.0 hrs, tough trail, training log, treadmill, United States, Up there, week 1, Winter biking, winter biking gear, workout
Category Featured, Weekly Training Logs |

Weekly Training Log – 01/09/2011

The picture to the left is supposed to represent the calm before the storm… and tomorrow marks the beginning of my 24-week training program for Ironman France, so I guess to me it seems appropriate.  Really, it’s not a HUGE difference in what I have been doing on a weekly basis, but it is definitely different.  The biggest change is an increase in distance for my long rides and runs and an additional workout or two during the week.   But the real change is mental.  From this point forward, there is self-imposed stress about making sure I hit each of the workouts.  The last few months have been nice because I wasn’t real concerned about missing a workout – I would just continue on, knowing that it wouldn’t make a real difference.  Don’t get me wrong… I still worked out a lot compared what is “normal”, but I wasn’t stressed.  From this point forward, it still won’t make a difference, but being the obsessive compulsive type that seems to be very typical in this sport, I want to do all the workouts exactly as prescribed.

Anyway, here is my week.  My mother-in-law is still in town helping to take care of my wife (my swim partner and future biking partner) who recently had surgery on her hip to repair some torn cartilage.  So, our dinners tended to be on the early side and we tried to play games each night which didn’t leave me much opportunity to get on the trainer.   I guess that’s the price you pay for some great food and games!  That all said, I got some real good workouts done in the morning.  Standard schedule of strength training with Olivier on Monday (KILLED my calves), swimming on Tuesday and Thursday, 6-mile run in Umstead on Wednesday, and a brick of spin and treadmill on Friday.  On Saturday, I decided to ride the trainer instead of doing my long ride outside and it was going to be for as long as a movie would take me.  Unfortunately, Office Space is one of the shortest movies in history – I was done riding after 75 minutes.  So, I tacked on some “swimming” exercises on the Total Gym after; a good workout.  Sunday was a trail run through Umstead that included me trying to keep up with and beat Ryan and Chris.  I was not successful.  VERY very hilly trails and we were going an average of 8:00 miles.  Doesn’t seem real fast, but when you consider the massive hills and the boulders in our way, we were flying.

I travel to Boston this week, so my week #1 will be a bit of a challenge.  But I have it mapped out to where I should be able to get it all done.  Unless the predicted snow screws me all up… which it probably will.

Tags: 24-week training program, 75 minutes, additional workout, Anyway, biggest change, Bike Run Strength, biking, Boston, boulders, brick, calm, calm before the storm, calves, Chris, Cycling, exercise, exercises, food, future biking partner, games, good workout, great food, helping, HUGE difference, Ironman France, long ride, massive hills, miles weekly training, mother-in-law, movies, Natural Disaster, obsessive compulsive type, Office Space, olivier, Physical exercise, picture, real change, real difference, real fast, real good workouts, repair, Ryan, shortest movies, snow screws, spin, sport, Sports, Standard schedule, Storm, strength training, stress, surgery, swim partner, Time 2.5 hrs, tomorrow marks, torn cartilage, Total Gym, trails, training, training log, treadmill, umstead, weekly basis, workout, workouts
Category Featured, Weekly Training Logs |

Weekly Training Log – 01/02/2011

T-8 days and counting until my official Ironman Training program starts… and this week actually felt like I was right in the middle of it.  That’s scary because relatively speaking, I really didn’t do all that much – but I am very tired.  The week started per usual with my strength training session with Olivier.  We didn’t do anything crazy – just a bunch of low impact leg stuff which, unfortunately, meant my legs were killing me until Thursday.  Funny how the low-impact workouts hurt the most.  Tuesday was a morning swim with the group over at Pullen Aquatic Center with a short 30-minute ride on the trainer later that day.  I essentially took Wednesday off as I prepared for my mother-in-law to arrive (had to clean, etc).  That said, I did do some work on the Total Gym and a few minutes on the bike just so I felt like I did something.  Thursday morning started with a crazy swim that pretty much wiped me out… but then, for whatever reason, I decided to do a 7.5 mile run later that day.  Not sure why, but I felt REALLY good on that run – I averaged just over 7:30/mile.  Friday was a holiday, so I actually slept in until 7 or so and then did a nice long workout at the gym followed by a bunch of stretching…. THAT was very much needed and felt so good.  I got on the trainer again for about 30 minutes at the end of the day.  These 30-minute trainer rides aren’t great, but it’s better than nothing and if I can get several done throughout the week, I figure it has to help.  Also, I am doing mostly strength drills during those 30 minutes, so hopefully I am getting the most out of them.

Saturday was warm, so I actually got in 35-miles on the bike outside.  Nothing crazy, but it was a very hilly ride… legs were a bit stiff the rest of the day.

Today was the best workout of the week.  I joined up with Oliver and Ryan for a fast run through the woods in Umstead on a very muddy 7-mile trail run.  It was a little treacherous, but a lot of fun (for the record, Olivier kicked my ass and I kicked Ryan’s… a good day).

Not sure what this week will be like.  It’s back to a normal work week which always makes it difficult…

Tags: 30 minutes, 30-minute trainer rides, Aquatic Center, best workout, Bike Run Strength, bunch, crazy, crazy swim, exercise, few minutes, funny, group, holiday, hopefully, Hospitality Recreation, impact leg stuff, ironman training, Ironman Training program, Ironman Triathlon, legs, low impact, low-impact workouts, Mile run world record progression, miles weekly training, morning swim, mother-in-law, muddy 7-mile trail, nice long workout, normal work, official, Oliver, olivier, Physical exercise, pullen aquatic center, relatively speaking, rest of the day, Ryan, short 30-minute ride, Sports, strength drills, strength training, strength training session, The week, Thursday morning, Time 2.5 hrs, Total Gym, Trail Running, training, training log, training session, umstead, United States, wiped, workout, workouts
Category Featured, Weekly Training Logs |

Weekly Training Log – 08/02/2010

Bit of a strange week this week. This was supposed to be a relatively hard week in final preparation for the Timberman half-Ironman, but I decided to do the Lake Mayo Sprint Triathlon which skewed my schedule a bit.   The swim workouts were all good – nothing real notable.  The runs were easy this week.  But the bike… let me tell you about the bike.

On Thursday night, I went out to join Ryan, Ian, and Jeff for a 90 minute ride.  When I left, I saw some clouds, but nothing crazy.  I have about a 15 minute ride to Ryan’s house where we planned to meet, so I was only going about an hour with the group (30 minutes out and back).  Anyway, the first 30 minutes with the group were fine… I was pushing hard (trying to keep up with Ryan), but nothing crazy.  But at the exact point where I was set to leave the group and turnaround, it started to pour.  And when I say pour, I mean raining those giant raindrops that hurt when your standing… much worse when you’re riding.  So as I started to make my way back, the rain got heavier and heavier.  It got to the point where I could hardly see, lightning seemed to be hitting trees over me, and water running down the road was hitting my feet (yes, really… I was riding through a monsoon).  Needless to say, I was much slower on the way back and I knew that Mary Lynn would be in a panic. So I FINALLY got to a place where I could pull over under cover and try my phone.  Did it work?  Well, a replacement Droid will arrive in the mail in 2 days – I guess that answers that question.  So, I continued on and stopped at Ryan’s house to make a phone call.    So, yes, I had an interesting bike week.  I had to drain my tires the next day and I STILL have some water sloshing around in the tube.

Tags: 30 minutes, Anyway, Bike Run Strength, bike week, clouds, Cycling, droid, Events, exact point, final preparation, fine, first 30 minutes, giant raindrops, group, half ironman training log, Hospitality Recreation, hrs 10, interesting bike week. , Ironman 70.3, ironman training log, Ironman Triathlon, Jeff, lake, Lake Mayo Sprint Triathlon, lightning, mail, Mary Lynn, Mayo Sprint Triathlon, mean raining, miles weekly training, monsoon, Multi-Sports, Needless, panic, phone call, raindrops, real notable. , replacement droid, running down the road, Ryan, Ryan's, skewed, sport, sprint, sprint triathlon, strange week, swim bike run, swim workouts, Thursday night, timberman half ironman, time 3, Time 3.6 hrs, tires, Total Distance, training log, triathlon, triathlon training log, turnaround, United States
Category Weekly Training Logs |

Weekly Training Log – 07/12/2010

This week was tough.  The beginning wasn’t so bad, but then Wednesday came around and the 12 mile run kicked my butt.  The heat and humidity definitely took its toll on me.  Then on Thursday, the morning swim was fine, but then I tried keeping up with Ryan and John for the evening bike ride.  I am pretty sure I lasted about 1/2 mile before there was no chance of me catching them.  Ryan did his best to stay slow so he could pull me around, but it wasn’t happening – my legs were shot.  BUT, I still got a decent workout (for me) riding a very hilly course for 28 miles.  Saturday brought a mile swim in the 85 degree lake (at least – it was definitely hot – much hotter than outside) followed by a 62 mile bike ride.  Again, I was nowhere near as fast as Ryan and John, but I was able to keep an 18mph pace for the hilly 62 miles and I never really felt like I bonked like I had in the past.  I think the difference was I paid much more attention to my hydration and nutrition.  I didn’t stuff my face… but I ate a lot which carried me through. 

Only 5 weeks until the Timberman.  I am feeling prettty good about things.  Should be a good race!

Tags: bike ride, Bike Run Strength, butt, butt.  the heat, decent workout, degree lake, evening bike ride. , Events, fine, good race, half ironman training log, hilly 62 miles, hilly course, Hospitality Recreation, humidity, hydration, ironman training log, John, legs, Mile, mile bike, mile bike ride. , Mile run world record progression, mile swim. , miles weekly training, morning swim, nutrition, pace, Running, Ryan, Sports, swim bike run, Timberman, time 3, Time 3.4 hrs, Trail Running, training log, triathlon, triathlon training log, United States
Category Weekly Training Logs |