S: 58 min. 3230 yds. Really wasn't that bad. Time to step it up, especially if I'm not going to be running that much.
B: Recovery ride with Amy to Mt. Vernon. Stopped a few times for brunch and then at Mt. Vernon. Total riding time was about 2:30ish. 42 miles. 100bpm.
R: Off.
W: abs.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Saturday: 77 mile bike; 2660 yd swim; strength
S: 46 min. 2660 yd. Did some pull buoy work. Not great, but not terrible. Mentally, a noticeable difference between 35 min swims and 46 min swims.
B: 3:32 min endurance ride. Pretty good legs today. 230w.
R: Off. Hip seems to feel much better today.
W: 2x10 pullups; 6x30 pushups; 4x15 legs; abs.
B: 3:32 min endurance ride. Pretty good legs today. 230w.
R: Off. Hip seems to feel much better today.
W: 2x10 pullups; 6x30 pushups; 4x15 legs; abs.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday: 30 mile bike; abs
S: Off. Slept in. Missed swim.
B: 1:30 recovery bike. 185w. Good legs.
R: Off. Frickin hip is sore. Not much I can do about it, but it is upsetting.
W: abs.
B: 1:30 recovery bike. 185w. Good legs.
R: Off. Frickin hip is sore. Not much I can do about it, but it is upsetting.
W: abs.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday: 116 mile bike; 6 mile run; abs
Bike Tempo + Brick Run
S: Off.
B: 5:16 in two rides w/90 min Tempo (280-310w; 65-75rpm) during second ride.
Morning ride was 2:45 easy. 218w.
Late night ride was 2:30. The first 60 min was warm up. The last 90 min was at Tempo, 280-310w, 65-75rpm. I've never felt better at Tempo. I felt like I could have held Tempo watts all day. Definitely getting stronger and right on schedule.
I went through 56 miles in 2:25. 259w avg for the entire 2:30. For nutrition, I had water, Gatorade, and Red Bull. No solids. Followed the ride with a brick run to test the legs.
R: 50 min late night brick run following 259w ride. 6.12 miles. 8:10min/mi. I love the late night runs. I felt much better than I thought I would, but nevertheless, as expected, I'm behind schedule. Once I get my hip/groin healthy, ramp up the volume, and shed the weight, I should be ok. I just need to get better. I could still feel some discomfort - not terrible, but it was there. Hopefully it won't be sore in the morning.
W: abs.
Tomorrow is going to be an awesome day at the Tour. I can't wait. Let's go Lance!
S: Off.
B: 5:16 in two rides w/90 min Tempo (280-310w; 65-75rpm) during second ride.
Morning ride was 2:45 easy. 218w.
Late night ride was 2:30. The first 60 min was warm up. The last 90 min was at Tempo, 280-310w, 65-75rpm. I've never felt better at Tempo. I felt like I could have held Tempo watts all day. Definitely getting stronger and right on schedule.
I went through 56 miles in 2:25. 259w avg for the entire 2:30. For nutrition, I had water, Gatorade, and Red Bull. No solids. Followed the ride with a brick run to test the legs.
R: 50 min late night brick run following 259w ride. 6.12 miles. 8:10min/mi. I love the late night runs. I felt much better than I thought I would, but nevertheless, as expected, I'm behind schedule. Once I get my hip/groin healthy, ramp up the volume, and shed the weight, I should be ok. I just need to get better. I could still feel some discomfort - not terrible, but it was there. Hopefully it won't be sore in the morning.
W: abs.
Tomorrow is going to be an awesome day at the Tour. I can't wait. Let's go Lance!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Wednesday: 84 mile bike; 2185 yd swim; strength
S: 45 min. Did drills today. Very boring. Was counting down the minutes. Workout was:
250 w/u;
5x50 kick;
250 pull w/buoy;
250 free w/fins;
5x50 Drills w/fins (Head down; side w/3 stroke; superman; catch-up);
350 c/d.
B: 4+ hours in two rides. Morning ride was 3+ hours easy. 210w. Evening ride was 60min recovery after weights. I've now done 4 easy/recovery days in a row. I feel fit, strong, and fresh. If I feel good when I get on the bike in the morning, then I may end my regeneration period tomorrow; otherwise I'll end it on Fri or Sat.
Anonymous: Regeneration is just term used to describe several consecutive days of recovery rides. I've read about it in several books. Seems to have worked for me in the past. The name of it is not important. The basic idea is to stress yourself for 3 weeks, and then unload during a regeneration phase (~5 days or so), so that your body can rebuild itself (stronger) from the stress. (Your body only rebuilds itself, gets stronger, and improves power when you are resting/recovering - not when you are actually going hard - that is why I place so much emphasis on recovery rides rather than going hard all the time, a mistake I made last year). Think of regeneration as a drawn out recovery workout or as a mini-taper until the next building block, but riding only recovery/easy.
R: Off. Will try to run tomorrow, but if I'm being completely honest, hip/groin doesn't feel much better. Strange injury. Don't feel it while lifting, on the bike, or while swimming, but feel lots of discomfort when walking.
W: 6x30 push ups; 2x10 pullups; 4x15 legs (press, curl, extension, calf raises, hip ab/adductors); 2x15 squats and 2x15 lunges (body weight only); abs.
250 w/u;
5x50 kick;
250 pull w/buoy;
250 free w/fins;
5x50 Drills w/fins (Head down; side w/3 stroke; superman; catch-up);
350 c/d.
B: 4+ hours in two rides. Morning ride was 3+ hours easy. 210w. Evening ride was 60min recovery after weights. I've now done 4 easy/recovery days in a row. I feel fit, strong, and fresh. If I feel good when I get on the bike in the morning, then I may end my regeneration period tomorrow; otherwise I'll end it on Fri or Sat.
Anonymous: Regeneration is just term used to describe several consecutive days of recovery rides. I've read about it in several books. Seems to have worked for me in the past. The name of it is not important. The basic idea is to stress yourself for 3 weeks, and then unload during a regeneration phase (~5 days or so), so that your body can rebuild itself (stronger) from the stress. (Your body only rebuilds itself, gets stronger, and improves power when you are resting/recovering - not when you are actually going hard - that is why I place so much emphasis on recovery rides rather than going hard all the time, a mistake I made last year). Think of regeneration as a drawn out recovery workout or as a mini-taper until the next building block, but riding only recovery/easy.
R: Off. Will try to run tomorrow, but if I'm being completely honest, hip/groin doesn't feel much better. Strange injury. Don't feel it while lifting, on the bike, or while swimming, but feel lots of discomfort when walking.
W: 6x30 push ups; 2x10 pullups; 4x15 legs (press, curl, extension, calf raises, hip ab/adductors); 2x15 squats and 2x15 lunges (body weight only); abs.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tuesday: 37 mile bike; 1900 yd swim
S: 35 min. 1900 yds. Was going to up the swim to 45 minutes today, but wasn't mentally into it. 8x10 easy.
B: 2 hours on the road bike. Ran into quite a few deer again. Still pretty cool. 116bpm. 87rpm.
R: Off.
W: abs.
B: 2 hours on the road bike. Ran into quite a few deer again. Still pretty cool. 116bpm. 87rpm.
R: Off.
W: abs.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Monday: 34 mile bike; strength
S: Off
B: 2+ hour recovery ride on the road bike. Beautiful morning. Saw a couple deer. Good ride. 34 mi. 110 bpm. 85 rpm. I had a couple hills that I had to go up in order to get home where my HR spiked to 145ish. But other than that, was sitting around 100-115bm for most of the ride.
R: Off.
W: 3x12 legs; 2x8 pull; 6x25 push; abs.
B: 2+ hour recovery ride on the road bike. Beautiful morning. Saw a couple deer. Good ride. 34 mi. 110 bpm. 85 rpm. I had a couple hills that I had to go up in order to get home where my HR spiked to 145ish. But other than that, was sitting around 100-115bm for most of the ride.
R: Off.
W: 3x12 legs; 2x8 pull; 6x25 push; abs.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Preparation Phase - Week 4 Summary
Ok week. Fell short on a couple of rides and missed a few main workouts. But still feel good after going pretty strong over the last 4 weeks. And had a my best Tempo ride yet yesterday. I'm where I need to be. I cut my ride short today to get a head start on regeneration, which I begin in earnest tomorrow.
Regeneration lasts for 4-5 days. I'm less concerned about watts and probably won't even look at them. But watts will be around 150-180w I'm guessing. My heart rate will be capped at 125 bpm, but I should avg about 110-115bpm if not less. Rides will be between 1-3 hours depending on how I feel. The goal is to keep the engine and the mental side of things running but not to ride so hard or so much that I don't recover both physically and mentally from the last 4 weeks. A good diet will be key as well.
My swim is starting to see some improvements, but I don't except major improvements until a few months down the road. I'll just keep swimming. I'm upping my routine swim of 35-36 min, which I have been doing for the last two weeks, to 45-46 min. If time permits, I'd also like to do at least two drill days. My best swim last week came after doing drills. And then I didn't really have a good swim again during the rest of the week. So I think more drills would help.
I finally started running again. I managed to get 10 miles in, less than I had wanted, but better than nothing. I wouldn't say my hip/groin/glutes is completely healed, but it doesn't feel as bad as it did the last few weeks. I'm happy about that. I think the regeneration on the bike may also help; even though I don't feel any discomfort on the bike, maybe biking hard is slowing down the healing process.
S: 10596 yds.
B: 363 miles.
R: 10 miles.
Regeneration lasts for 4-5 days. I'm less concerned about watts and probably won't even look at them. But watts will be around 150-180w I'm guessing. My heart rate will be capped at 125 bpm, but I should avg about 110-115bpm if not less. Rides will be between 1-3 hours depending on how I feel. The goal is to keep the engine and the mental side of things running but not to ride so hard or so much that I don't recover both physically and mentally from the last 4 weeks. A good diet will be key as well.
My swim is starting to see some improvements, but I don't except major improvements until a few months down the road. I'll just keep swimming. I'm upping my routine swim of 35-36 min, which I have been doing for the last two weeks, to 45-46 min. If time permits, I'd also like to do at least two drill days. My best swim last week came after doing drills. And then I didn't really have a good swim again during the rest of the week. So I think more drills would help.
I finally started running again. I managed to get 10 miles in, less than I had wanted, but better than nothing. I wouldn't say my hip/groin/glutes is completely healed, but it doesn't feel as bad as it did the last few weeks. I'm happy about that. I think the regeneration on the bike may also help; even though I don't feel any discomfort on the bike, maybe biking hard is slowing down the healing process.
S: 10596 yds.
B: 363 miles.
R: 10 miles.
Sunday: 67 mile bike; 2042 yd swim
S: 2042 yds. Not my greatest swim. Stopped a bunch. 37 min.
B: 3:15 min easy spin. 67 miles. Decent ride. Took me 2 hours to warm up and then I felt pretty good. But the fact that it is taking me so long to warm up leads me to believe that I need some rest.
R: Off.
W: abs.
B: 3:15 min easy spin. 67 miles. Decent ride. Took me 2 hours to warm up and then I felt pretty good. But the fact that it is taking me so long to warm up leads me to believe that I need some rest.
R: Off.
W: abs.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Saturday: 115 mile bike
Happy Anniversary BLGs.
Tempo
S: Off
B: 5:20 w/ last hour at Tempo. Strange ride. Felt terrible for 4 hours. Then I hit Tempo with a little more than 1 hour left and felt incredible.
R: Off
W: abs.
Tempo
S: Off
B: 5:20 w/ last hour at Tempo. Strange ride. Felt terrible for 4 hours. Then I hit Tempo with a little more than 1 hour left and felt incredible.
R: Off
W: abs.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Friday: 41 mile bike; 5 mile run; 2138 yd swim
S: Same as yesterday. Didn't feel as powerful. 36 minutes. 10 20 30 20 10. 2138 yds.
B: 2:02 hour recovery. Despite heart rate being high throughout ride, legs felt good. Nevertheless, eased off. Looking forward to the regeneration week.
R: 5 miles. 8:31min/mi. Can still feel hip, but felt okay all things considered. Won't run again this week.
W: abs.
B: 2:02 hour recovery. Despite heart rate being high throughout ride, legs felt good. Nevertheless, eased off. Looking forward to the regeneration week.
R: 5 miles. 8:31min/mi. Can still feel hip, but felt okay all things considered. Won't run again this week.
W: abs.
What a Great Weekend
I can't decide whether I am more excited for the start of the Tour de France, Ironman Germany, or Wimbledon finals. Nothing like watching the Tour and Ironman to motivate. Doesn't get much better than this.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Thursday: 65 mile bike; 2138 yd swim; abs
S: 35 min swim. 2138 yds. Best swim so far this year. I'm definitely improving. The goal of today's swim was to make sure that I was completely following through during the pull of my stroke, which I hadn't been doing. Was going much faster. Workout was: 10 20 30 20 10.
B: 3 hour endurance ride. 125-135bpm. 226w. Had good legs today.
Anonymous: I'll reply to your post tonight or tomorrow morning. In short, I don't think there is such a thing as "junk" miles or "quality." Every workout I do has a purpose - it's all "quality." It may not appear that way from a snapshot view or just glancing at my daily training. But I do agree that the key to gaining fitness is to continually stressing yourself. I'll explain more in my reply.
R: Off. Hip felt decent today. Am contemplating running maybe Saturday, depending on how the next couple of days go.
W: abs.
B: 3 hour endurance ride. 125-135bpm. 226w. Had good legs today.
Anonymous: I'll reply to your post tonight or tomorrow morning. In short, I don't think there is such a thing as "junk" miles or "quality." Every workout I do has a purpose - it's all "quality." It may not appear that way from a snapshot view or just glancing at my daily training. But I do agree that the key to gaining fitness is to continually stressing yourself. I'll explain more in my reply.
R: Off. Hip felt decent today. Am contemplating running maybe Saturday, depending on how the next couple of days go.
W: abs.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Wednesday: 56 mile bike; 2400 yd swim; strength
Easy Bike + Swimming Drills
S: Today I did drills and didn't really do any real swimming except for warm up and cool down. I am hoping that improved technique will help me go faster. I did drills for my first Ironman and that was my fastest swim time by far, so I am hoping they will work again this year. Couldn't have been more boring and couldn't help but think of Karate Kid "Wax on, wax off Danielson."
I did four drills: (1) Chest Lean; (2) Three Stroke Kick-On-Side; (3) One Arm Superman; and (4) Catch-Up. Workout was (pool is ~24 yds): 240w/u; 10x48 drills; 240c/d). It took a loooong time to get through all of them. 52 minutes.
B: 56 mile easy ride (115-135bpm). 2:37. 212 watts. Have some lingering muscular fatigue from last week (Saturday in particular) but felt pretty good. Should be just about fully recovered by tomorrow.
R: Off.
W: 2x8 pullups. 6x25 pushups. 3x12 leg press, extension, curls. 2x12 lunges, squats. abs.
Diet sucked today. Passed by a burger joint and caved into the smell and then temptation. Double hamburger, seasoned fries, and a milkshake to top it off. As my niece says, "ummm, it was deeeelicious!"
S: Today I did drills and didn't really do any real swimming except for warm up and cool down. I am hoping that improved technique will help me go faster. I did drills for my first Ironman and that was my fastest swim time by far, so I am hoping they will work again this year. Couldn't have been more boring and couldn't help but think of Karate Kid "Wax on, wax off Danielson."
I did four drills: (1) Chest Lean; (2) Three Stroke Kick-On-Side; (3) One Arm Superman; and (4) Catch-Up. Workout was (pool is ~24 yds): 240w/u; 10x48 drills; 240c/d). It took a loooong time to get through all of them. 52 minutes.
B: 56 mile easy ride (115-135bpm). 2:37. 212 watts. Have some lingering muscular fatigue from last week (Saturday in particular) but felt pretty good. Should be just about fully recovered by tomorrow.
R: Off.
W: 2x8 pullups. 6x25 pushups. 3x12 leg press, extension, curls. 2x12 lunges, squats. abs.
Diet sucked today. Passed by a burger joint and caved into the smell and then temptation. Double hamburger, seasoned fries, and a milkshake to top it off. As my niece says, "ummm, it was deeeelicious!"
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday: 1903 yd swim; abs
Rest and Recovery
S: Fist Drills. 1903 yds. 10 w/u. 6x10 fisted. 10c/d.
B: Day Off.
R: Off. Hip/groin not feeling great today. Not painful necessarily, but not right.
W: abs.
S: Fist Drills. 1903 yds. 10 w/u. 6x10 fisted. 10c/d.
B: Day Off.
R: Off. Hip/groin not feeling great today. Not painful necessarily, but not right.
W: abs.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday: 19 mile bike; 5 mile run; strength
Recovery
S: Day Off.
B: Recovery ride for 61 minutes. It feels like my body is retaining whatever I eat. I've been very bloated throughout the day. Everything is just sitting in my stomach.
R: First run in two weeks. 5 miles. 8:53min/mi. First 2 miles were warmup. Run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute, for first 20 minutes. I could tell I hadn't run in a while. Felt good last 3 miles. No pain while running. Hoping it won't show up later.
W: 6x25 pushups. 2x8 pullups. 3x12 legs (press, curl, extension, calf raises). Abs.
S: Day Off.
B: Recovery ride for 61 minutes. It feels like my body is retaining whatever I eat. I've been very bloated throughout the day. Everything is just sitting in my stomach.
R: First run in two weeks. 5 miles. 8:53min/mi. First 2 miles were warmup. Run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute, for first 20 minutes. I could tell I hadn't run in a while. Felt good last 3 miles. No pain while running. Hoping it won't show up later.
W: 6x25 pushups. 2x8 pullups. 3x12 legs (press, curl, extension, calf raises). Abs.
Preparation Phase - Week 3 Summary
This was a good week for me. I hit just about all of my scheduled workouts. And I feel strong and motivated. My resting heart rate this morning was the same as always. So I'm happy with that.
I have one more week before I take a regeneration period, in which I'll rest and recover for 5 consecutive days. After the regeneration cycle, I'll retest power zones to see whether I have made any improvements over the last 4 weeks.
My plan is start running again this week. If all goes as I hope, I am shooting for 15-30 miles, depending on how I feel, but if I feel any pain at all, then I'll stop running again. My swim will be similar to last week.
S: 10,037 yds (3:00:35)
B: 401 miles (19:10:04)
R: 0 miles
W: 2xs.
T: 22:10
I have one more week before I take a regeneration period, in which I'll rest and recover for 5 consecutive days. After the regeneration cycle, I'll retest power zones to see whether I have made any improvements over the last 4 weeks.
My plan is start running again this week. If all goes as I hope, I am shooting for 15-30 miles, depending on how I feel, but if I feel any pain at all, then I'll stop running again. My swim will be similar to last week.
S: 10,037 yds (3:00:35)
B: 401 miles (19:10:04)
R: 0 miles
W: 2xs.
T: 22:10
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday: 82 mile bike; 2045 yd swim
S: 36 min. 2045 yds. I only had 4 swims planned but had some extra time today so got in another swim.
B: 4+ hours. 116bpm. This was my worst ride in a while. Completely cracked during the second half and struggled just to finish. My legs were tired from yesterday's effort. Weren't firing. Also, this ride was meant to be an easy effort so I thought I wouldn't need as many calories. Mistake.
R: Off. Going to try to run this upcoming week.
W: Off.
B: 4+ hours. 116bpm. This was my worst ride in a while. Completely cracked during the second half and struggled just to finish. My legs were tired from yesterday's effort. Weren't firing. Also, this ride was meant to be an easy effort so I thought I wouldn't need as many calories. Mistake.
R: Off. Going to try to run this upcoming week.
W: Off.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Saturday: 94 mile bike; 2141 yd swim; abs
S: 35 min. 2141 yds. 10 length w/u 20 20 20 10 10c/d. This was my best swim so far this year. Felt really good.
B: 4+ hour ride w/last 90min @260-280w. 245w avg. 144bpm. 85rpm. Then 10+ min cool down at about 150-170w. This was a good test ride for me to see where I am as I let my heart rate come up a little bit more than usual before the last 90min of the ride. I felt great the whole ride. I did have quite a bit of cardiac drift though, which tells me that I need to work on my endurance and incorporate more and longer Tempo rides. Next week is my last week before I begin a regeneration week. At the end of the regeneration week, I'll do a Field Test on that Friday to set new power zones, and then I'll do a relatively hard 112 mile test that weekend to see where I am.
R: Off.
W: abs.
B: 4+ hour ride w/last 90min @260-280w. 245w avg. 144bpm. 85rpm. Then 10+ min cool down at about 150-170w. This was a good test ride for me to see where I am as I let my heart rate come up a little bit more than usual before the last 90min of the ride. I felt great the whole ride. I did have quite a bit of cardiac drift though, which tells me that I need to work on my endurance and incorporate more and longer Tempo rides. Next week is my last week before I begin a regeneration week. At the end of the regeneration week, I'll do a Field Test on that Friday to set new power zones, and then I'll do a relatively hard 112 mile test that weekend to see where I am.
R: Off.
W: abs.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday: 42 mile bike; 1903 yd swim; strength
Bike Recovery + Fist Drill Swim
S: 36 min swim. 1903 yds. 10 lengths w/u. 6 x 10 lengths fisted. 10 lengths unfisted. Swimming normally for those last 10 lengths feels great after doing 75-80% of the swim fisted. Can really notice a difference. I can also notice that swimming fisted doesn't put as much strain on my shoulders. Hopefully it will translate into more swimming and faster times.
B: 2:01 recovery ride (115-125bpm). 201w. 119bpm.
R: Off. Seriously can't wait to run. I'll give it a go next Monday or Tuesday.
W: Chick trainer started talking to me. She must have been fresh out of college. 21-22. Did 2x15 lunges and 2x15 squats with her. Body weight only. 3x12 press, curls, extensions, calf raises, hip ab/adductors. 2x8 pullups. 6x25 pushups. abs.
S: 36 min swim. 1903 yds. 10 lengths w/u. 6 x 10 lengths fisted. 10 lengths unfisted. Swimming normally for those last 10 lengths feels great after doing 75-80% of the swim fisted. Can really notice a difference. I can also notice that swimming fisted doesn't put as much strain on my shoulders. Hopefully it will translate into more swimming and faster times.
B: 2:01 recovery ride (115-125bpm). 201w. 119bpm.
R: Off. Seriously can't wait to run. I'll give it a go next Monday or Tuesday.
W: Chick trainer started talking to me. She must have been fresh out of college. 21-22. Did 2x15 lunges and 2x15 squats with her. Body weight only. 3x12 press, curls, extensions, calf raises, hip ab/adductors. 2x8 pullups. 6x25 pushups. abs.
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