Back to Running

And it feels great. The 10 days off really helped out and I'm not feeling any knee pain. I've been thinking about scaling back (though there is not much volume from which to scale back) or eliminating weights entirely. I haven't seen any empirical studies showing that lifting weights improves power on the bike. The studies I have seen have concluded weights do not increase power at lactate threshold. See e.g., Jackson NP, Hickey MS, Reiser RF 2nd., High resistance/low repetition vs. low resistance/high repetition training: effects on performance of trained cyclists. I have been lifting (very light) mainly to prevent injury; however it seems that whenever I do lift, I only bring on injuries. So I haven't decided for sure, but am seriously contemplating time off at the gym (which in turn, I could allocate to swim, bike, or run). Irrespective of whether I continue to lift, I will continue with my core work.

On a different note, here is a movie of some clips from one of the best bands ever......

Foundation Week 8

Jan 21 (Mon)

Bike: 120min: 193w; 134bpm; 81rpm; 40.48mi

Jan 22 (Tues)

Bike: FL: 2:41:55; 206w; 138bpm; 81rpm; 20.8mph

Jan 23 (Wed)

Gym: 30min: Abs; 4x15 legs

Jan 24 (Thurs)

Swim: 30min: 1650yds
Bike: 70min: 187w; 128bpm; 81rpm; 23.51mi

Jan 25 (Fri)

Day Off

Jan 26 (Sat)

Bike: 75min: Field Test: with wu and cd: (25mi): Avg 309w; 175bpm

Jan 27 (Sun)

Bike: 180min: FL: 2:40:16; 211w; 146bpm; 85rpm; 21.0mph; 20min RR
Gym: 30min: 4x15 legs

TOTALS:

Swim: 0.5 hrs
Bike: 10.1 hrs
Run: 0.0 hrs
Gym: 1.0 hrs

Total: 11.6 hrs

Foundation Week 7

This was a tough week. I rested the legs on Monday as planned. However, by Tuesday, I wasn't feeling well and my back and behind my right knee was hurting. So I took Tuesday off completely. I tried running on Thursday, but my leg was still hurting so I haven't run since. The pain is not that bad and I probably could run through it, but I don't think that would be wise at this stage of the game. So no running for another week. On the positive side, I am very pleased with the way my bike fitness is coming along.

January 14 (Monday)

Swim: 30min: 1500yds

January 15 (Tuesday)

Rest Day

January 16 (Wednesday)

Bike: FL: 2:40:32; 210w; 137bpm; 82rpm; 20.9mph
Gym: 30min: Abs; 4x15 legs

FL: 2:40:32; 210w; 137bpm; 82rpm; 20.9mph

January 17 (Thursday)

Run: 30min: 3.38mi

January 18 (Friday)

Swim: 30min: 1650yds
Bike: 71min: 201w; 24.02 mi; 82rpm

January 19 (Saturday)

Bike: FL: 2:39:53; 212w; 140bpm; 81rpm; 21.0mph

January 20 (Sunday)

Bike: FL: 2:43:18; 201w; 130bpm; 81rpm; 20.6mph
Bike: 60min

TOTALS

Swim: 1.0 hrs
Bike: 10.2 hrs (~212mi)
Run: 0.5 hrs
Gym: 0.5 hrs

Total: 12.2 hrs

Foundation Week 6

My volume was low, but I feel much fitter than just 5-6 weeks ago. With the race 10 months away, the key is to stay injury free and remain consistent. I'll take tomorrow off on the legs with just a swim, as I have biked or run (or both) on 46 consecutive days. And then I look forward to cranking it up again.

Jan 7 (Monday)

Bike: 60min: 148w; 117bpm; 77rpm; 18.1mi

Jan 8 (Tuesday)

Bike: FL: 2:34:55; 230w; 145bpm; 80rpm; 21.7mph
Run: 44:09; 5.15mi; 8:34 min/mi; 149bpm

Jan 9 (Wednesday)

Bike: 100min: 204w; 132bpm; 81rpm; 34.42mi
Run: 40min: 8:20min/mi; 4.92mi; 147bpm

Jan 10 (Thursday)

Swim: 31min: 1550yds
Run: 44:20; 5.09mi; 8:42min/mi; 149bpm

Jan 11 (Friday)

Bike: 71min: 198w; 136bpm; 84rpm; 24.19mi
Gym: 20min: Abs; 4x15 legs

Jan 12 (Saturday)

Bike: 110min: 221w; 83rpm
Brick Run: 45min: 5.14mi; 8:45min/mi; 150bpm
Bike: 70min: 211w; 140bpm; 82rpm

Jan 13 (Sunday)

Bike: 120min: 226w; 131bpm; 82rpm
Gym: 30min: Abs; 4x15 legs; push, pull

Totals:

Swim: 0.5
Bike: 11.4
Run: 2.9
Gym: 0.8

TOTAL: 15.7hrs

Frustrating Times

My Computrainer has decided it doesn't want to cooperate anymore. That's somewhat of a problem considering I do all my rides on it. It started on Thursday and then continued yesterday when it crashed halfway into my ride. It didn't work again today. The DIN cable broke, which is the cable that connects the load generator to the handlebar controller. I've sent away for a new one which hopefully should arrive in the next few days. (Isn't time they upgraded the technology on this thing?) In the meantime, I've had to pull out the Cycleops fluid trainer. It's definitely not fun and mentally very tough to do rides anything over two hours on it. And to top it off, my rear tire shredded and blew apart 1 hour and 50min into my ride today. Definitely frustrating times. Tomorrow is about salvaging the week and trying to get the volume in anyway possible.....

What I'm Listening To

What About the Swim?

John C. writes -- Curious: Why no swimming yet?

John C. Thanks for the question. I'm sure many may disagree with my philosophy. If I were competing for the win or a professional triathlete, I would focus more energy on the swim. However, time is my biggest limiter. And unfortunately, I just don't have the time (though I do have the desire) to do it all. Thus, I have to make choices. I believe that, in my situation, the opportunity cost to focus more on the swim is too high. First, even I were to focus heavily on the swim, I think I could only improve my swim time at best by 10-15 min over the course of the year (and even that I think is generous), and that of course would be at the expense of improving the bike and run. I believe there is much more upside to improving bike fitness, run fitness, and overall endurance. Second and on a related note, I've calculated that in order to get to and from the pool and swim 45min takes me about 1 and half hours total time. That's at least 45 minutes wasted. On the other hand, I have my bike set up on the trainer (where I do 99% of my riding) so that I can start a relatively long ride or I can go for a run on the treadmill or out the door, literally within 5 minutes of waking up. I also don't have to worry about scheduling my workouts according to when the pool is open but rather can get in as much training as my schedule allows. That is a huge bonus when I have to wake up early or only get home late, which is often the case. Finally, while swimming more may balance my program, I believe that to reach my sub 10 goal, I need to reach 300-350 miles biking and 50-60 miles of running, irrespective of my swim time. So while I concede I will not have a good swim, I think I can maximize my race given my time constraints by focusing more heavily on the bike and run. That is not to say I will neglect the swim entirely. But I don't really schedule my swim into my program and rather just swim when I have a chance. As you can see, I haven't done a very good job of it so far, but ideally, I would like to get a couple of swims in a week but don't sweat it if I can't. As the race approaches, I will be more diligent about getting to the pool.

Foundation Week 5

Pretty good week overall. Took Tuesday easy because of New Year's. Knee was hurting on Saturday's long ride, so cut it short. Other than that, I'm feeling pretty good and seem to be recovering well from work out to work out.

12/31/07 (Monday)

Bike: FL: 2:59:29; 160w; 118bpm; 77rpm; 18.7mph

01/01/08 (Tuesday)

Run: 20min: 2.52mi; 8:22min/mi; 141bpm
Bike: 20min: 177w; 81rpm; 6.7mi
01/02/08 (Wednesday)

Bike: FL: 2:38:24; 217w; 144bpm; 81rpm; 21.2mph

01/03/08 (Thursday)

Run: 60min: 6.78mi; 8:50min/mi;
Bike: 60min: 199w; 142bpm; 81rpm
Brick Run: 40min: 4.55mi; 8:47min/mi; 143bpm

01/04/08 (Friday)

Bike: 60min: 155w; 116bpm; 77rpm; 19.05mi
Run: 50min: 5.62mi; 8:53min/mi
Weights: 30min: Abs; 4x15 legs

01/05/08 (Saturday)

Run: AM: 60: 7.04mi; 8:31min/mi
Bike: 80: 221w; 142bpm; 80rpm; 29mi (w/20min race simulation at 250w-cut ride short b/c knee)
Run: PM: 40min; 4.46mi; 8:58min/mi

01/06/08 (Sunday)

Run: AM: 2:01:21: 14.00mi; 8:40min/mi
Run: PM: 46:03: 5.25mi; 8:46min/mi; 145bpm
Bike: 60min: 191w; 139bpm; 82rpm; 20 mi
Weights: 30min: Abs; 4x15 legs

TOTALS
Bike: 10.3hrs (~207mi)
Run: 7.3hrs (50.2mi)
Weights: 1.0hrs
Total: 18.6hrs

Dec 3 - Dec 30 Summary

Inspiration