Ironman Western Australia 2009

As the Australian saying goes: "That sucked balls mate!" In short, I got my ass kicked, quite literally.

I'll heavy load the report to the swim, well because, there was no run, and the bike was a blur.

Let's get to it. The race started at 6:15 a.m., an hour earlier than IMFL. I had set the alarm for 3 so that I'd have time to eat breakfast, digest, get to transition, and then otherwise get going. In this instance, the jetlag worked in my favor as still being on West Coast time, or East Coast time, or some time other than Western Australian time, I was wide awake at 2:50. After making the usual prerace preparations, (e.g., going to transition, taking a dump, checking out the bike, putting the water bottles on the bike, pumping up the tires, taking another dump, listening to Foo Fighters on the loudspeakers (even in Australia, Foo Fighters is apparently a M-Dot standard), putting away my dry clothes bag, putting on my wetsuit, walking around, taking off my wetsuit so I could try to take another dump), I finally headed down to the beach for the start of the race with ten minutes to spare.

The nice thing about Western Australia is that, like a big city stand alone marathon, there is a self seeding process at the beginning of the swim. When you register for IMWA, they ask you what your expected swim time is, and then they give you a different colored swim cap depending on the group withing which your expected time falls. When I registered, I had written down 1:05 (if you have noticed yet, I'm an optimist!), which put me in the white cap group, the second fastest expected group. The blue caps were the fastest expected group.

In any event, the swim starts out in the water, rather than a beach run start like IMFL. So in the water I got, treading water for 5 minutes or so, taking the time to pray that there would no sharks.

The gun went off. And I immediately felt the best I had ever felt during an Ironman swim. The fact that the swim was already almost sorted out, made me think of all the Hawaii Ironmans that I have seen on TV: long drafting lines drawn out over 50-100 meters. It felt very cool. And I was feeling fast.

The route of the swim takes you out a little less than 1.2 miles or 1900 meters (I'm getting very good with these conversions!), ends the first half with a U-turn along the jetty, and then takes you back to shore. If nothing else, I had kept up my swimming since IMFL (save for the past week). So adding in the drafting effect, and knowing that I was swimming with a group of relatively fast swimmers, I felt like I was flying, for me at least, so much so that with the help of my drafting buddy, I caught up to some of the blue caps. However, ironically, it would be the swim and the drafting that ended my day.

Once we hit the turnaround, suddenly everyone seemed to hit the breaks, a huge bottleneck occurred, and instead of there being a few swimmers in front of me, I was now surrounded by hundreds of swimmers. The washing machine had started.

Up. Down. Up. Down. White water all over. Chaos ensues. And unfortunately for me, I got absolutely clobbered. I took someone's full-powered kick right into my goggles which in turn twisted right into my eyes. I had just taken a knockout punch.

I moved over to the right side where I could try to collect myself, but it was tough. I literally could not see a thing. Both eyes were swelling up. And my left eye in particular stung like b%tch.

After treading water for some time trying to figure out what was going on, I just started swimming again (sans goggles) opening my eyes ever 10 strokes or so to make sure I was headed in somewhat of the right direction. I looked for a kayak, so that I could swim to it and ask for some help, but couldn't find any. So I just kept swimming back to shore - 10 strokes with eyes closed, stopping to look up, and then swimming again - for what felt like an eternity. I finally made it back. 1:09:51. Not bad. I thought it was going to be more than 1:20 - 1:30.

As I got into T1, I was just trying to determine whether to stop and ask for some assistance or keep going. I didn't want the slow transition time, so I just went, hoping for the best. The best did not come.

Out on the bike, both eyes started to swell up more and more over time. But my left eye swelled up completely - I couldn't open it. The sweat running down my race just exacerbated the stinging in my left eye. So I was depending on the little I could see out of my right eye. It wasn't fun.

Making matters worse, I'm not a very good at bike handling. Taking my left hand off the bike - especially the TT bike - makes me nervous. Here in Australia, because you are riding on the left side of the road, and passing on the right, you catch water bottles at the aid stations with your left hand. Putting my inability to see out of my left eye and my terrible biking skills was not a good combination. I had to pretty much come to a complete stop at every aid station to fill up nutrition.

As I kept going, my eyes were just kept getting worse and worse. It was very difficult to see at all so that by the time I was halfway through the bike, everything, and I mean everything, was a blur. I could barely even see my bike computer. My goal was to get to the finish line in one piece.

I haven't downloaded it yet, but I think my average watts for the ride ended up being about 190+. The bike course would be very fun if in peak shape. Very fast. Lots of room to ride. No cars in sight. And I'd say despite the flat course, everyone for the most part rode clean.

Once I got into T2, again, I was debating whether to stop and get treatment or continue on. I continued on. But not for long.

I landing up walking pretty much the entire first lap. I attempted to run at the very beginning, but I could not see a thing, the sun was hurting my eyes, and I had to keep my head down to try to shield my them as much as possible from sweat and any light.

Despite walking, the crowd support was unbelievable - by far and way the best support out of any Ironman that I have done. Those Aussies are hardcore. Very much into triathlon. The marathon course, which is a three-loop course, is covered the entire way with Aussies screaming their heads off. It was awesome, even if I was walking.

Once I went past the first loop though, I saw the first aid station and stopped. I had them check me out and they said that I needed to stop the race and see the doctor. Again I was deliberating what to do. I finally told them to call for the van. And that was the end of my day. A long way to come for a DNF.



This morning I feel like crap. My left eye is completely shut. The cornea is apparently scratched up. And my right eye is still swollen, though I can open it somewhat.

Nonetheless, the pain from having DNF'd far outweighs any pain in my eyes. A 17 hour Ironman is better than a DNF. It really fucking feels awful, or as the Aussies say, "It sucks balls mate!"

Friday

It took a frickin long time to get here - over 30+ hours - not including my travels to the east coast, but here I am in Busselton, Australia, ~ 24 hours before the race starts, after having finally slept in a bed and not on an airplane. It's been quite the adventure. Sunday: 8+ hours of travel to the east coast; Monday: 8+ hours back to the west coast; Tuesday + Wed + Thurs: (Lose a day due to the time change): 30+ hours from LA to Sydney to Perth to Busselton.

I'm all registered and now that I have given up trying to go back to sleep because of jetlag, I am finishing up packing my transition bags. This Ironman will be much different than the last 2-3 that I have done (which may be a good thing!) as I have not done much training since IMFL, have yet to ride over 190 watts since IMFL, and have not done a lick of training - nada - since last Sunday, the longest I have gone without doing anything, and certainly the longest I have not ridden a bike, in about 2+ years. I plan on doing a short run and a 1 hour bike this morning just to get moving again. But I have no idea where my fitness is, how to pace myself, or how I will feel during the race.

Right now, I have all the same pre-race jitters as I normally do, but I feel more similar to how I felt before my first Ironman - scared of the distance! - than I do to how I felt before the last two races in IMFL - focused on going sub 10. An Ironman is a long ways, something you start taking for granted when you get in relatively good shape. I'm just hoping now that I can finish without killing myself. So my goal for this race is simply to have fun, and enjoy racing in Australia -- but if I have another 8+ minute transition, I'll be pissed!

Busselton is just like any other Ironman venue that I have been to - a small town with not much going on, far away from any metropolitan area, in the middle of frickin' nowhere. I just happen to be in the middle of frickin' Western Australia, which is very crazy to think about. I saw a dead kangaroo on the side of the road as I was driving here, which made me feel like I was in Crocodile Dundee.

But I am no Crocodile Dundee. As I was flying here, I was studying the map of Australia. There is a place about 1000k north of here called Shark's Bay. 1000k may seem like a lot, but for a guy like me, 1000k is close enough to put shivers down my spine. In in any other type of situation, I get out of the water if there is a goldfish in it.

Monday

Monday: Travel back to the west coast. Crazy day. Bad weather canceled flight from Connecticut. Took a taxi to New York and flew back from there.

Tuesday: Am about to get on a plane to Sydney for vacation in Australia and New Zealand. Stopping off in Perth and then Busselton for IMWA. I hadn't initially planned on doing this race and am grossly undertrained and still recovering from IMFL, but since I will be relatively close to the race, I've decided to do it. When else would I ever get to do an Ironman in Australia? This is going to really hurt but its going to be awesome. Apart from finishing, my goal is to have faster transitions. I arrive in Australia the day before the race. I can't wait!

Sunday

4 mile run with my dad this morning. The guy is tough as nails and has run 50+ marathons.

Travel to Connecticut, connecting through Philly. The Philly airport has changed quite a bit from when I used to live there. I remember once seeing Allen Iverson at that airport back in the day. Hard to believe he has now retired. Time flies. Airports were super busy today. 7+ hours of flying time, which is just a taste of the crazy amount of traveling I will be doing over the next few days.

Wednesday - Saturday

Wednesday: 4000 meter swim; 90 min bike

Thursday: Off

Friday: 3000 meter swim.

Saturday: 3000 meter swim; 7 mile run.

Monday - Tuesday

Monday: 2k swim; 6 mile run.

Tuesday: 4k swim; 90 min bike.

Sunday

6000 meter swim.

6 mile run.

Saturday

S: 5000 meters

R: 6 miles.

Wednesday - Friday

Wednesday: 2 hour bike.

Thursday: 70 min bike; 6 mile run.

Friday: 4000 meter swim.

Tuesday

Bike. 1:30. Easy.

Run. 30 minutes.

Sunday + Monday

Monday - 2000m swim.

Sunday - 2000m swim. 1 hour group ride and then tacked on about another hour later on in the day. While it was fun, I'm not a huge fan of group rides. Dropped off the back and rode my own easy pace.

Friday + Saturday

Friday. Swim 2000 meters. Bike 2 hours. 187w.

Saturday. Off.

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday: Bike 2 hours.

Thursday: Swim 2000m; bike 2 hours.

Thoughts on Resting and Training

"Arhh! Take a month off! You need to switch off mentally and physically. Or you're going to dig yourself into a big black hole."

Pete, thanks for the comment. I agree that I need to take it down a notch after having just raced the Ironman to rest and recover both mentally and physically. I plan to do that by lowering my volume and intensity and listening to my body.

I have now completed two years of solid training in which I have gained the ability to identify how my body is feeling and how it will react to different training stimuli and rest. When I feel like I need to take a day, week, or month off, I'll take it. The worst thing that can happen to me is to get injured or, as you say, dig myself into a deep black hole. Injuries over the last couple of years have really screwed up my run training. I hope to avoid that this year.

Having said that, I don't think complete time away for a month is necessary or beneficial. In his book "Outliers," Malcolm Gladwell describes the results of an empirical study suggesting that wealthier children and Asian children tend to get better grades in school, achieve more success on exams and scholastic tests, and attain the intellectual ability to take more advanced classes, than their less financially well-off or completely "Americanized" peers, not because wealthier and Asian children have some intrinsic intellectual talent or advantage. In fact, at younger ages and in earlier grades, the children performed relatively quite closely on all exams and scholastic tests.

Rather, the study hypothesizes that wealthier and Asian children performed better on tests as they got older because they tended to study year-round without taking a summer vacation. The parents of the wealthier children tended to hire tutors to teach their children during the summer months; and the parents of Asian children tended to ingrain in their childrens' heads at an early age that studying year round was part of their culture and a path to future success.

On the other hand, the less financially well off children tended to get summer jobs to help provide support for the family and help put food on the table. And the "Americanized" children tended to spend their summer months hanging out at the beach or amusement parks.

What ended up happening though is that, while at earlier stages of their education all children performed similarly on tests, as the children got older and advanced to higher grades, the wealthier and Asian children started to pull away more and more each year and achieve much more success on tests and in school. The authors of the study, as Gladwell describes, hypothesized that the wealthier and Asian children started to do better because they had continued to study for an extra 3 months every year. While those extra three months may have had only a marginal impact in the first couple of years of educational development, after several summers, the wealthier and Asian children started to perform substantially better on test after test; all the summers of extra studying started to add up. Indeed, based on that study, many intellectuals and politicians have advocated for eliminating or shortening the summer vacation in public schools. (The teachers' unions however have a different point of view).

Whether in fact the wealthier and Asian students started to perform better on tests because of studying during the summer months or for some other reason, I think that lesson applies well to achieving success in most things in life, including Ironman. The point of the story, and my recollection of the exact details of the story might be a little off as I read the book awhile ago, is that consistently putting in the effort, hard work, and hours, day after day, week after week, month after month, pays off, whether the purpose is to succeed in school, jobs, relationships, or hobbies.

Having just completed the Ironman, there is obviously a delicate balance between doing too much too soon and recovering. However, the opportunity cost of doing nothing, I think, is great. The goal for me right now is to recover, but not fall too far off from my current fitness level, and not too far away from my current routine, which I think is also important in achieving success. I think I can achieve this by staying in my routine, but lessening the volume, almost as an inverse taper.

It is hard to believe that I did the Ironman last Saturday. I am not naive to think that I am even close to recovered, but I do feel surprisingly relatively very fresh. I actually feel very energized. So I'll continue to train easy, recover, and hopefully maintain close to my current fitness level so that when I do start up in earnest again, I will be starting from a much higher fitness level than I would be had I taken a month off completely.

The Quest for Sub 10 Continues

Monday: Swim 2000 meters.

Tuesday: Swim 2000m; Bike 2 hrs; Run 4 miles.

Ironman Florida 2009

10:14:27. Res ipsa loquitur. Obviously I am very disappointed, but I think my time reflects well the training I did in the lead up to the race - more on that below. So I am not as disappointed as I was last year, even though my overall fitness level may have been better this year. Most of all, I was very happy to finish, and finish (relatively) strong.

SWIM

S: 1:08:00. No surprise here. It's about what I expected given the level of swimming I did - 5 or 6 weeks of swim training before the race wasn't going to cut it, but I knew that going in so I wasn't that upset when I got out of the water.

T1: 00:08:07!!! Absolutely atrocious. Nothing remarkable happened in T1; I was just very slow. I have no idea how it took me over 8 minutes to get through it. Then again, I didn't know how slow I went until after the race, so it didn't affect my mental state at all while I was racing.

BIKE

B: It took me about 45 minutes for my legs to open up, but once they did, I felt fantastic. My bike training this year was consistent and solid for the most part, though with one fatal flaw, which landed up, I think, ruining my whole race.

The first couple of hours of the bike, particularly on the Florida course, have been tough for me the last couple of years. Being a slow swimmer puts me in a terrible position once I get on the bike, and particularly because of the packs in Florida, it takes a concerted amount of effort to get by everyone. Lots of surges.

Unlike last year though, once I made my surges, none of the packs kept up with me and I never got swept up (until 100 miles into the ride), so I had some open roads where I was picking off literally hundreds of people (and tens and tens of packs) within the first hour and until the fourth hour.

(As an aside, if you have a moral issue with people drafting, don't do Florida. I personally don't care that people draft unless the drafting starts to affect my race, which it didn't this year. But I'd say the large majority of participants that I saw - and I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I were to say that > 60-70% of the people that I passed and 100% of the people that passed me - seemed to think that they were riding in the pro peloton.

I am proud of my bike time (even though I thought I'd be faster) and am highly suspicious of the majority of times posted in the results. If you are going for a Kona slot, I'd think twice about doing Florida; if you are racing for your own reasons or just competing against yourself, then the Florida course is fun and well organized - the drafting shouldn't be a problem).

I averaged 260 watts (269 normalized) for the first 3 hours with an average heart rate of 148bpm. (As a point of reference, I averaged 258w with an average heart rate of 162bpm at FL70.3 last May - so my biking fitness for this year's Ironman was very good). However, the wheels, so to speak, started to come off at about 3:30 into the ride. My back completely seized up around that point and from then on until the end of the bike ride, I struggled to produce any power whatsoever and struggled to push off during the run.

I see what happened as completely preventable and as a direct result of my training. While I had a lot of biking miles under my legs, my longest ride during my build was only 4+ hours, which I was nervous about and which turned out to be not long enough. It was within that 3-4 hour time span that my back acted up. Had I biked 6 hours in the aero position several times in training, I don't think I would have encountered the same problem.

Broken down by hour, my stats were as follows (my speedometer went in and out throughout ride due to poor magnet placing on my disk so distance and mph is slightly off):

Hour 0 - 1



Hour 1- 2



Hour 2 - 3



Hour 3 - 4



Hour 4 - 4:50



As the stats show, I wasn't having too much fun from 3:30 until the end of the ride (and unfortunately until the end of the race). Adding insult to injury, a huge pack, which I had worked hard to pass around the 40 mile marker, caught and flew past me at about the 100 mile marker. It was disheartening to say the least and I knew then that my dream of sub 10 for this race was likely over. TOTAL BIKE TIME: 4:50:16. Not outstanding, but good enough.

T2: 00:4:36. Less atrocious (relatively speaking). My transitions are obviously terrible. That comes from not practicing them and only doing 1 race per year, something I need to correct going forward.

RUN

R: I knew it was going to be a long day on the run course. If I couldn't push down on my pedals during the end of the bike, I was scared about being able to run. And unfortunately, I couldn't. I saw my parents out of transition and that gave me some adrenaline. But my marathon consisted of running 7:30-8's for a few miles and then walking. It wasn't fun. I saw my brother (who ran ahead so he could see me several times during the run) at mile 6. At that point, I had been averaging about 8:20's. He said I looked great, which motivated me to keep going, but I think secretly he knew I was struggling as he asked me if I had been walking and told me that I could slow down to make sub 10.

Once I got to the 11 mile marker, I was done. I could barely move. My back was killing, but I also think it was result of a lack of running fitness. My longest brick run off of a long bike was about 10 miles and it was then that I really started to hurt. I walked until mile 12 at which point I started to run again so my parents wouldn't see me walking where they were waiting for me at the halfway mark. Miles 13-18 were pure agony. For those 5-6 miles, I traded off running 8's for one mile and then walking for the second mile. At one of the aid stations, a very nice lady asked me if I needed anything; I asked for some advil and she said ok carry on, I'll bring it to you. I kept walking and 5 minutes later she pulled up to me in a full sprint with the Advil. (The volunteers and spectators were awesome).

I saw my brother again at mile 18. He told me that I needed 7:30s to hit sub 10. That wasn't going to happen. But I also wanted to finish strong and try to get under 4 hours for the marathon. Also didn't happen, but I did give everything I had, particularly from mile 22 until the end. Total Marathon Time: 4:03:28.

TAKEAWAYS

Despite not going sub 10, there are a lot of positives to take away from this race. First, I really feel like I am on the verge of going fast, even much faster than sub 10. This was the first Ironman that I have done where I felt like I was really racing. The other Ironmans that I have done have all been about survival.

Second, taking away my transition times, my swim, bike, run total time was actually faster this year than last year, despite my slower marathon time. And I placed higher in my age group and overall. The swim was much rougher and the bike much windier than last year too. So I think this year's 10:14 this was better than last year's 10:12.

Third, I know what I need to do to get better. Swim and run. I am going to dedicate myself to swimming as I have done to biking. While I used to the think the swim didn't matter, I now think that the swim completely sets the tone for my entire race. If I can get out of the water faster, I think my bike time and overall time will be much faster. This coming year will all be about the swim and run, though the run will take me longer to build up.

Fourth, while I only ran a 4+ hour marathon, I convinced myself that I can actually run in an Ironman. My 4:20-4:30 marathons of old used to be a result of lots of walking with steady efforts at 9-10+ min/miles sprinkled in. Now my 4 hour marathons are a result 7:30-8 min/miles sprinkled in with lots of walking. While the total times are similar, the efforts and fitness level required to achieve the latter are much different. Once I get my running miles up (I only started running 30+ miles six weeks out from the race), which I haven't been able to do for the last two years because of various injuries, I think I will be ok.

Fifth, it has been 2 days since the race and a day of traveling, and I have zero soreness or stiffness. This tells me that I have a good base going forward and that my rate of recovery has improved tremendously, which will help me as I train for next year's goal of sub 10.

Finally, based on this race, there is no doubt that I need to race more throughout the year. My race execution is terrible. My pain threshold during a race is terrible. And my ability to get into that extra gear during a race is terrible. No more 1-2 race seasons. I need to learn to race and that requires racing, whether it be a 5k or a half ironman. Furthermore, for the amount of training that I do, putting all my eggs in one basket is just a bad strategy.

Ironman is a frickin' tough sport and I am still learning what it takes to be good. But that's what I love about it. Here's to next year's training and racing. Cheers.

Friday

Training is done. Bike is in. Bags are in. Showtime!!!

B: 90 min w/ 3x3min max effort; 5 min recovery.

Going all black tomorrow.



And if it gets hot, I'll go Faris style with the manbra!



Bike



T1





T2



Thanks to everyone for the emails, texts, and phonecalls.

Thursday

If you had seen the course today, you would have thought that the race was going on right then and there. Everybody was out there today. Let's get it on!

Ate a huge meal tonight. Am stuffed.

S: 40 min.

B: 90 min.

R: 3 miles.

Wednesday

Slept too much yesterday. Had trouble sleeping last night.

The course is now littered with triathletes. I'd guess that over half the participants are here. Tomorrow will be crazy.

Nothing exciting going on today. Saw a movie and then swam 40 minutes this evening in the wetsuit. While I started my swim training much later than I should have, I'm hoping I've improved upon my time from last year - 1:08 - 1:09.

Tuesday

Here was my day. Woke up at 11 after 12 hours of sleep. Ate some cereal and fruit. Went for a 2 hour bike on the course. Came back, ate lunch and then went back to sleep for a few hours. Woke up and went for a 5 mile run. Went to the pool, which was freezing cold, for a little swim. Ate dinner. And am now going to sleep.

Monday

Travel to Florida. The sun was setting by 4:30-5. Don't like the time change.

Biked for an hour. Flatted a couple miles before I got back to the hotel. I was surprised to see so many athletes riding and running on the course already. I had thought that I'd be one of the first ones here. Some fit looking people out there. Pretty inspiring.

Went grocery shopping. Lots of fruits, veggies and cold cuts. But the grocery store is a very dangerous place right now! Was tempted by everything. Looking forward to pizza and beer on Saturday night.

Chilling now but not much to do around here. Anxiously waiting for the race to start.

Sunday

Hard to believe that this is it. Last year's race seems like it was yesterday.

B: 1 hour. ~200 watts.

R: 6 miles easy. 2 runs left before the race.

Saturday

Skipped the long ride. My power is good. I'm in the red zone and now need to convert on race day.

On Monday, I'll do intervals and then on Tuesday, I'll do a 2-3 hour easy ride on the course in Florida. The rest will be recovery.

S: 2000 meters.

B: 2 hours with 70 minutes @295 watts.

Friday

Didn't have time to do long ride. Will do it tomorrow.

S: 2000 meters. Feeling very good in the water. Don't know if I am any faster but feel more comfortable.

B: 2:30+. 56 miles.

R: 9 mile brick run. New running shoes. Same model - Brooks Adrenaline - but new edition. Didn't notice a difference on the run, but if I do over the next couple of runs, then I'll wear my old ones for the race.

Thursday

Getting a little nervous.

S: 2000 meters.

B: New pair of shoes (same model as old ones) today. 3:30 w/60 min overgear @ 280w. Power is coming back.

Tomorrow is a dress rehearsal. Final long ride/brick before the race.

Wednesday

Thanks all for the comments. When the going gets tough, I'll think about the support that everyone has offered.

S: 2000 meters.

R: Last long run before the race. 15 miles. While I am obviously at my fittest state of the year right now, I think the biggest difference in my run right now is that I am just about at race weight, which makes a huge difference for me in speed and durability. I used to think I kept getting injured from increasing my mileage too quickly or from running 2x/day or from some biomechanical problem - which still may be a part of it. But now after having looked back at my log and matching up my weight, my new theory is that I tend to get injured whenever I am above 160 lbs, and I had been hovering around 160-165 for most of the year until the end of the summer. I won't let myself go that high next year and hopefully I'll be able to run more. I'm at 151-153 right now. I'll weigh myself again at the end of this week and just before the race.

Tuesday

Feeling much better relative to the last couple of weeks. Overall, I feel good and am fit and strong; but I don't think I am as fit as last year. I certainly haven't had the monster workouts (power-, pace-, and volume-wise) that I had last year - though my overall volume has been higher this year. And I wish I had another 6 weeks of training---I honestly think that with another 6 weeks, I'd crush the race. On the other hand, I have been much more patient this year - perhaps too patient - and definitely do not think that I have peaked too soon, which I think I did do last year.

I am confident that a sub 10 hour Ironman is doable with my current fitness, but it won't be easy and will take perfect execution on race day. Two weeks of tapering/peaking - three-day block starting tomorrow - and then that will be it.

S: 1 hour swim lesson/stroke analysis with the former coach of the UCLA swim team. According to the guy, my stroke is not that bad; He made some minor adjustments and told me that,for the future, I just need to swim more and do more intensity sets.

B: 1 hour. 209w. Feeling powerful again.

Monday

S: 4250 meters.

Sunday

S: Overslept and then was running late. Pool closes early today so couldn't swim after main workout.

B: 4:25. 25 min w/u. Then steady at 250w.

R: 11 mile brick run. Very hilly route. Tough but fun.

Saturday

Feeling much better.

S: 4000 meters. Best swim to date.

B: 4+ hours w/ 2 hours @ ~270w. Avg was ~250w.

R: 7 mile brick run. Mile 3 was tough but felt great after mile 4. I don't know what it is about mile 3 but I always find that one tough and walked it last year.

Friday

Still coughing but starting to feel better. Am probably about 80-85%.

B: 56 miles w/ 60 min @ 250w.

R: 10 miles.

Thursday

S: 2000 meters

B: 3 hours. 210w.

Wednesday

Still have this cough which won't go away, but energy levels a little better today. Will resume normal training hopefully tomorrow.

S: 4000 meters.

B: 1 hour. Some power coming back. Based on my past training, it takes about 3 weeks to get my power up. I don't think I'll be able to get it to where I thought it'd be (i.e., my peak won't be as high as I thought) but I still think I should have decent power for the race. The taper should help some but it'll be close.

R: 6 miles with Gigs. First 3 miles were tough, but then legs opened up. Felt pretty light going uphill (the benefit I guess of being sick - have had no appetite the last week).

Tuesday

Off. This sucks.

Monday

1 hour bike.

Sunday

Not well. No energy again today. Can't stop coughing.

S: 4000 meters.

B: 2+ hours. 40 miles.

Saturday

Cough and postnasal drip persist but otherwise feel a lot better than the last few days. Seems like whatever I have is going around. So someone got me sick - f@cker. Just joking of course.

S: 4000 meter swim.

B: 56 miles.

R: 6 miles. Lungs absolutely burning.

Friday

Sick. Don't feel as weak as the last couple of days. But symptoms still present. Running is especially tough. Lungs burn after just a few steps.

B: 56 miles. 2:41.

R: 20 minutes.

Thursday

Still sick. A little better than yesterday.

B: 56 miles. 2:37.

R: 30 min.

Wednesday: 4 mile run; 2000 meter swim

Sick. Rest.

Tuesday: 56 mile bike; 2000 meter swim.

A little on the sick side. Feel ok when training and shitty otherwise. Arghh.

S: 2000 meters.

B: 2:38. 56 miles. 210w.

Monday: Bike 40 miles

Bike 2+ hours. Easy. 40 miles

Sunday: 90 mile bike; 15 mile run; 4000 meter swim

S: 4000 meters easy.

B: 4+ hours. 90 miles. 85rpm.

R: 15 mile brick run. Miles 12-15 were tough. Those were the miles that got me last year too.

Saturday

S: 4000 meters

B: 4+ hours w 2x20 climbing intervals. No powermeter today. Intervals were done at @ 160-165bpm.

R: 10 miles.

Thanks for the comments. I'm not concerned about my fitness; it is almost there. I'm concerned about not digging myself into too big a hole before the race. Last year, I had my best workouts before the race. This year, if I don't feel great, I ride easy. I have the confidence already that I can get my power up. I'm more focused on recovery this year, in addition to getting my run miles up before the race, which hasn't been easy.

Friday: 32 mile bike; 4000 meter swim

Was planning on a big day felt like I needed one more easy day.

S: 4000 meters. Tougher than I thought. Got bored.

B: 1:30. 215w.

Thursday

Another easy day. Bike 1:30 hours.

Wednesday: Bike 43 miles; 5 mile run; 2000 meter swim

S: 2000 meters easy.

B: 2 hours. 221 watts.

R: 5 miles easy.

Light day today. Tomorrow will be light as well.

Tuesday: 64 mile bike; 10 mile run; 2000 meter swim

S: 2000 meters.

B: 3 hours w/60 min @~285w overgear. Rest of ride was easy.

R: 10 mile run.

Monday: 60 mile bike

Bike 3:03. 60 miles. ~180w. No running or swimming.

Sunday: 63 mile bike; 17 mile run; 3000 meter swim

S: 3000 meters. Easy. Left lat a little sore.

B: 3+ hours. 210 watts.

R: 17 miles. Felt pretty good actually.

Saturday: 60 mile bike; 2000 meter swim

S: Swam in outdoor saltwater pool with Ari. Great swimming under the sun as opposed to under a roof. Swam ~2250 yds. Easy. Lost count on a few laps. Will count it as 2000 meters.

B: 3+ hours easy. 180-185ish. 60 miles.

R: had a 5 mile run planned but skipped it.

Friday: 56 mile bike; 2000 meter swim

S: 2000 very easy.

B: 3 hrs. 56 miles. 161w.

Thursday: 77 mile bike; 11 mile run; 2000 meter swim.

S: 2000 meters. Shoulders already a little sore - after only 5k so far for the week.

B: 3:30. No main workout. 235w.

R: 11 mile brick run.

Wednesday: 52 mile bike; 5 mile run; 3000 meter swim

S: 3000 meters. 9 out of 10 times that I swim - and sadly that is about as much swimming that I have done all year - I, for some strange reason, get serious bloating and a terrible stomachache 20 minutes after I get out of the pool. And today was no different.

B: 2:32. Easy. ~200 watts.

R: 5 miles

Tuesday: 113 mile bike; 8 mile run

Bike: 5+ hours in 2 rides. First ride was 3 hours. Steady. Second ride was 2 hours: 30 min w/u, 60 min @290w (65-75rpm), 30 min c/d. Avg for the day was 250w.

Run 8 miles.

Monday: Rest

Day off.

Sunday: 40 mile bike; 13 mile run

Bike: 2:03. Easy. 179w.

Run: Run got interrupted. 8 in the morning. 5 a few hours later.

Saturday: 103 mile bike; 5 mile run.

Bike = pain. 4:35 w/2 hrs overgear, 2x20 min intervals. Overgear was @ 280w. Intervals were @ 300-320w. Rest of ride was easy and recovey between intervals.

Run 5 miles.

Friday: 89 mile bike; 2000 meter swim

4:03 w/2 hours overgear. Overgear was @ ~260w. 241 avg for ride.

2000 meter swim.

Thursday: 46 mile bike; 9 mile run; 2000 meter swim

S: 2000 meters.

B: 2:15. 200w. 46 miles.

R: 9 miles

W: abs

Wednesday: 56 mile bike; 9 mile run; ocean swim

Started the day with a very early swim in the Pacific. I need to to jumpstart my swimming and the pool just doesn't sound that appealing, though starting tomorrow, I'll be swimming a lot. It was dark, cold, murky, and cloudy and there were tons of waves. A lot of fun despite my fear of sharks. Swam for about 30 min, not sure how far.

At night, 56 mile bike. 2:41. 201w.

Then 9 mile brick run.

Tuesday: 88 mile bike; 3 mile run

Bike 4:02 w/2:30 overgear. Main workout of 2:30 was @ ~250w.

Followed with 3 mile brick run.

Monday: Rest

Was very tired today. Opted for rest instead of training. Will start back up tomorrow.

Sunday: 80 mile bike

3:30+ bike w/2:30 overgear. First hour was warm up at 210w. Then 2:30 overgear. Avg. 266w for the 2:30. After first hour, went through 56 in 2:23. Total ride was 3:32. avg. was ~250. Didnt have time for a cool down which I'm hoping won't screw up tomorrow's workout.

Saturday: 41 mile bike; 5 mile run.

I have been studying my training log from last year. I was in damn good shape; makes me nervous about this year.

41 mile bike. ~185w. 2+ hours.

5 mile run.

Friday: 50 mile bike; 11 mile run

Bike for 2:35 easy. Was about 175w.

Run 11 miles.

Thursday: 101 mile bike; 3 mile run; Travel

That's it for the traveling until the Ironman. Started my ride at 7pm on the Computrainer. Played Madden football on my iPhone until my hands became too sweaty to play anymore. Made the time go by a little faster. Ride was 4:30+ for 101 miles. 242watts.

I rode 200 watts for the first hour and twenty mintues. And rode 260w avg. for the remaining 3:10.

Followed with a 3 mile brick run only because I find it more difficult to fall asleep right after biking hard than right after running. It's still going to be tough. That's the bad part about working out late.

Wednesday: 62 mile bike + Travel

Bike 3 hours, first 2 hours easy, last hour overgear. Then travel to San Diego for the birth of my niece Alexa. Welcome to the World Alexa!

Tuesday: 56 mile bike

Bike 56 miles. 2:28. 242w. Didn't feel that great today. Heart rate high for effort as well.

Monday: 41 mile bike; 8 mile run

Bike 2+ hours easy. 190 watts. 41 miles.

Run 8 miles.

Sunday: 60 mile bike

60 miles. 250 watts. Getting there. This was an easy recovery week. Feeling incredibly strong. Last week's ride with the guy below -- it was an awesome ride --gave me a lot of confidence, even though it was a training ride for him, he could have crushed me at any moment, and I struggled to keep up, particularly on the hills. The focus of the next few weeks will be building Ironman endurance and spending a lot of time in the pool.

Saturday: 91 mile bike; 4 mile run

91 mile bike along PCH. ~240 watts. 56 miles in 2:30. A 240 watt ride these days is much different than a 240 watt ride was just a month ago. My strength is the best it has ever been.

4 mile run. Ran out of time unfortunately. Felt great.

Wednesday - Friday

Wed - 40min swim; 60 mile bike; 10 mile run.

Thursday - 40 mile bike; 10 mile run

Friday - 61 mile bike; 1 hour swim

Monday + Tuesday

Monday. 2.5 hours in San Diego. Definitely not as fun as Sunday's ride. On Sunday, I rode up to an athlete, whom I won't mention by name out of respect for their privacy, but who is at the very top of the sport. I landed up riding 4 hours with this athlete. And this athlete answered every single one of my questions-and I didn't stop asking questions for all 4 hours of the ride- about training, racing, nutrition, the business side, gossip, etc. This athlete also waited for me when I needed to stop to refill bottles, to go to the bathroom, when I missed a couple turns, and when I was dropped, and even changed their original route to continue riding with me and waited with me when I got lost right before getting back my starting point. And when I say the very top of the sport, I mean the very top. A real class act and by far the highlight of my triathlon "career." I am still shocked that tje athlete allowed me to ride with them. It was unfuckinbelievable. The downside was that I wasn't feeling especially fresh given Saturdays ride and was only going planning on ridining am easy 2. My adrenaline got going though and I felt like I had an extra gear because of who I was riding with. Really wad an incredible day. Out of movie.

Tuesday: Rest.

Sunday: Bike 97 miles

97 mile bike in San Diego. 250w.

Friday + Saturday

Friday: 42 mile bike. 5 mile run. 30 min swim.

Saturday: 74 mile bike. 3 hours w 2x10 min @ 310-330w. 257avg. 70 miles in 3:03. Then 12 min cd.

Wednesday + Thursday

Wednesday. 90 min bike. 60 min swim.

Thursday. 106 mile bike. 9 mile run. Bike was in two rides: first ride was 2:40 (30 min wu, 60 min overgear, 60 min Tempo, 10 min cd). 251w avg, 143bpm; second ride was 2 hours (30 min wu, 90 min steady). 250w avg. Then 9 mile brick run.

Tuesday: 42 mile bike; 10 mile run

Back into routine.

S: Off.

B: 2 hours easy. 217w. 42 miles. No heart rate monitor.

R: 10 miles.

W: Off.

Monday: Bike 97 miles.

2 rides, both easy. First ride was 2:05. 182 watts. Second ride was 2:40. 202 watts.

Sunday

Travel and bike 1 hour.

Saturday

Bike 2+ hours. 40+ miles. 185w. 110bpm. Got a flat tire. Changed it but then it was getting late. Cut ride short.

Run 10 miles.

Some ocean swimming.

Thursday + Friday

Thursday: 2 hour bike, 40 miles, and some swimming.

Friday: 3 hour bike. 61 miles 193w. 115bpm. It's extremely humid here, making it tough to replace all the lost fluids. Good thing this is an easy bike week. Some ocean swimming.

Tuesday + Wednesday

Tuesday: 90 min recovery bike. Legs wouldn't fire. Was bad about replacing glycogen stores from day before.

Wednesday: 56 miles. 2:40 recovery ride. 13 mile run. Strength.

Sunday + Monday

In Mexico. Not much Internet access here.

Sunday: Travel + 90 min recovery bike.

Monday: 2:35 recovery ride; 10 mile run; strength.

Saturday: 56 mile bike; 5 mile run; 30 min swim

S: 30 min easy.

B: No main workout. 2:35 steady.

R: 5 miles on the treadmill.

W: Abs. 5x25 pushups. 2x8 pullups. 2x15 dips. Abs.

Friday: Rest

Moved today. Took up the entire day so unfortunately no training. Saw Inglorious Basterds tonight. Entertaining, good acting, but long.

Thursday: 64 mile bike; 9 mile run

Ironman Preparation Day 4: Overgear Riding + Run Endurance

S: Off.

B: 3 hours w/3x10 min overgear, 10 min recovery. 64 miles.

R: 9 miles.

W: Abs

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spent tonight studying my data from the same time last year. At this point in my training, I had already ridden several steady rides at Ironman pace. I haven't ridden any thus far this year. Having said that, I am much more powerful this year, no question about it. I recover day-to-day much quicker and I am able to push my power up like I have never done before, so things are looking good for the bike. I am confident that I will be close to my target once I peak.

I had a solid run tonight, not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but given the lack of run training the whole year, not bad. Based on my 9 mile run tonight, I am about 5-10 sec per mile slower than I was at this time last year. I expect my pace to increase quite bit though over the next 2-4 weeks as I get some more miles under my legs. Right now, I am completely relying on my cardiovascular strength gained from biking. As soon as my legs get used to running again, I am hopeful I will be faster than last year fairly quickly; I am stronger this year and in much better overall shape.

Wednesday: 70 mile bike; 30 min swim

Ironman Training Day 3: Tempo Riding

S: 30 min easy.

B: 3:05 w/60 min @ Tempo. Workout was 1 hour warmup; 1 hour at +/- 250w; 1 hour at Tempo (280-310w, 60-75rpm). Total ride was 254w, 139bpm. 70 miles

R: Off.

W: Abs.

Tuesday: 41 mile bike

Ironman Training: Day 2

Recovery

Took a redeye flight last night. Got zero sleep despite having 3 glasses of wine. Very tired today. Skipped swim.

S: Missed.

B: Recovery. 2 hours. 41 miles.

R: Off.

Monday: 31 mile bike; 8 mile run; 1500 meter swim

Ironman Training Day 1 (Preparation)

Bike Recovery + Run Endurance

S: 30 min easy. 1500 meters.

B: 1:30 recovery. First hour capped at 125 bpm. Then 30 min capped at 135bpm. Good legs.

R: 8 miles. It has taken 10 weeks but I finally do not feel any pain, discomfort, or any other abnormal feelings in my hip, groin, buttocks, glutes area. It was a real pleasure to finally get a decent run in. I am optimistic that 12 weeks will be sufficient to get my run where it needs to be. Surisingly perhaps, because of all of the biking, my running cardiovascular system is not that far off from where it was last year; my heart rate is relatively low for any given pace. I obviously just don't have the muscular strength yet to run fast.

W: Off.

Sunday: 58 mile bike

Tempo

S: Off.

B: 2:40 w/60 min @ Tempo. 58 miles.

R: Off.

W: Off.

Tomorrow starts 12 weeks of Ironman training leading up to the race. I won't enter Ironman specific intensity until late September, but starting this week, my schedule has me training harder than I have ever trained before. I'm looking forward to it.

Saturday: 56 mile bike; 2 mile run

Overgear

S: Off.

B: 2:37 w overgear. 56 miles.

R: 2 miles.

W: Abs.

Friday: 71 mile bike

Overgear

S: Off.

B: 3:25 w/ overgear work. 71 miles.

R: Off.

W: Abs.

Thursday: 41 mile bike; 2 mile run; 30 min swim

S: 30 min swim.

B: 2 hours recovery. Tuesday was great but am still feeling the effects from that ride. Didn't feel right today, even for recovery.

R: 2 miles.

W: 2x8 pullups. 6x25 pushups.

Wednesday: 43 mile bike; 30 min swim.

S: 30 min.

B: 2+ hours.

R: Off.

W: Off.

Tuesday: 90 mile bike; 4 mile run

Tempo

S: Off.

B: 4:05 w/2 hours @ Tempo. At this time last year, I was doing many more steady rides at Ironman pace or slightly below. I think it's way too early to do these rides as I had my best rides before race day. I'm not going to make the same mistake this year. As I enter my Ironman build, I'll incorporate race pace rides soon, but I won't ride 5 hours specifically at race pace until late September/early October. For now, I am going to continue concentrating on Endurance, Tempo, and Sub-Lactate Threshold Interval rides.

I installed an 11-23 cassette to get an extra gear and make sure I don't cheat my power and cadence on the downhills during Tempo rides. My power at Tempo today was the best it has ever been. I'm happy with where my bike fitness is.

R: 4 miles.

W: abs.

Monday: 42 mile bike; 2 mile run

Recovery

S: Off.

B: 2 hours recovery. 122bpm.

R: 2 miles.

W: Abs.

Sunday

S: 30 min.

B: 2:30 steady.

R: 4 miles.

W: abs.

Saturday: 56 mile bike; 30 min swim

S: 30 min.

B: 2:30 w/ overgear.

R: Off.

W: Abs.

Friday: 50 mile bike; 2 mile run

Recovery

S: Off. Need to get to the pool this weekend.

B: 2+ hour recovery ride in the morning. 30+ minutes super easy in the evening after running.

R: 2 miles easy.

W: abs.

Thursday: 78 mile bike; 6 mile run

Bike Overgear + Intervals; Run Endurance.

S: Off.

B: 78 miles. 3:45 w/90 min overgear and then 2x15 min intervals, full recovery between.

R: 6 miles.

W: abs.

Wednesday: 56 mile bike; 30 min swim

Overgear

S: 30 minutes.

B: 2:30 w/90 min Overgearing.

R: Off.

W: Off.

Tuesday: 45 mile bike; 6 mile run

S: Off.

B: 45 miles in 2:05. I'm pissed at myself. This was meant to be a recovery ride but landed up being far from it, with one sub lactate threshold interval and 2 max efforts. I'm not sure what I was thinking. I actually wasn't thinking at all and now hope I haven't messed up my workouts for later in the week. The one good thing is that the ride was short enough hopefully not to have taxed me too much. We'll see.

R: 6 miles. Not easy.

W: abs.

Monday: 56 mile bike; 2 mile run

Recovery

S: Did some untimed swimming. Not sure how long or far, but wasn't very long.

B: 2:45 recovery ride.

R: 2 miles easy.

W: abs.

Sunday: 56 mile bike

Steady State Intervals

S: Off.

B: 2:35 w/2 x 10min Intervals, 10 min full recovery. Intervals were done at 300-320watts. The first 2 minutes of each inteval hurt some, but then I felt lactate buffering kick in and felt decent.

R: Off.

W: abs.

Saturday: 19 mile bike.

Travel to Los Angeles and Rest

S: Off.

B: 1 hour recovery ride before leaving.

R: Off.

W: Off.

Friday: 56 mile bike; some swimming

Bike Overgearing/Tempo

S: Pool swim. Ocean swim.

B: 2:27. 56 miles. 254w avg.

Workout was:
- Warmup (~200 avg) for 30 minutes (10 min easy/10 min at 220w/10 min easy);
- 30min overgearing (240-250w);
- 87min Tempo (280-300w)

R: Day Off.

W: abs.

Thursday: 25 mile bike; 6 mile run

Recovery and Run Endurance

S: Off. No swimming today.

B: 75 min. 25 miles recovery. Wanted to ride longer but ran out of time.

R: 6 mile run after bike. Also did 2+ hours of kayaking and then hiking.

W: Off

Wednesday: 70 mile bike; some swimming; strength

Bike Overgearing

S: Some swimming and messing around in the pool.

B: 3:10 w/2 hrs overgearing. 1 hour warmup; then 2 hours overgear (~250w avg); then 10 min cool down.

R: Off.

W: 4x15 legs; 5x30 pushup; 3x10 lat pulldowns; abs.

Tuesday: 56 mile bike; 4 mile run; some swimming

Bike Recovery

S: Some swimming in the ocean. Fun.

B: Recovery ride w/3 min at 300-320 watts to open the legs, full recovery for 5 minutes. 2:42 total. 199w.

R: 4 miles. Running just seems very foreign to my body right now. Went hiking as well. Very beautiful place.

W: abs.

Monday: 39 mile bike; some swimming; strength

Recovery

I love Hawaii and in particular Kauai. All are good, but Kauai is the best of the islands that I have been to. Just a beautiful place.

S: Did some swimming in the pool and the ocean. More structured than yesterday, but not sure how long or how far.

B: 1:30 recovery ride in the morning. 183w. Then 30 min ride high cadence (90+) after lifting to get the blood flowing to my legs.

R: Off.

W: 4x15 legs; 3x10 lat pull downs (the gym here doesn't have a pull up bar); 5x30 pushups; abs.

Sunday

Tempo

S: Some swimming in the large hotel pool. Not a lap pool, so didn't do a workout - too many people around. Just swam a little for fun.

B: 4 hours with 60 min @ Tempo. Good ride.

R: 3 mile run. I frickin suck. I'm super slow and felt like my heart was about to pound out of my chest going 9:30 - 10 min/mi. But am glad I was able to run.

W: abs.

Saturday

Travel to Hawaii - Day Off

Flew to Kauai. Got a massage upon arriving at the hotel, but otherwise didn't do any training.

Friday: 87 mile bike

Bike Overgearing

S: Pool closed on me. Missed swim.

B: 4 hours w/overgearing work. Workout was: 1 hour warmupw/10 min Tempo; 2:26 for 56 miles, 255w, 74rpm; cool down. I am not in Ironman shape yet, but I still want to reap the benefits of riding hard at low cadence without compromosing recovery. The purpose of Tempo is to increase strength at upper aerobic zones. Since I can't yet ride for 2+ hours at Tempo, I'm going to start incorporating Overgearing work, which serves the same purpose as Tempo, but not as hard.

After having done Tempo this week and then with the warmup before the ride, the 255w for 56 miles was easy.

R: Off.

W: abs.

Thursday: 61 mile bike; 3100 meter swim; strength

Bike Tempo

S: 60 min. 3100 meters. Main set: 5x(100 hard, R:10 sec; 100 easy).

B: 3 hours w/ Tempo. First two hours very easy. Then Tempo. Felt very good starting halfway through Tempo.

R: Still no running.

W: 4x15 legs; abs.

Wednesday: 56 mile bike

Bike Endurance

S: Off.

B: 2:35. 56 miles.

R: Off. Hip not perfect but may try to run tomorrow.

W: Abs.

Tuesday: 63 mile bike

Bike Tempo

I tried to take a quick power nap last night but landed up sleeping through the entire night. Missed evening workouts.

Taking off last week was the best thing I have done for my training. My hip is still not pefect, but feels the best it has in almost two months.

S: Off.

B: 3 hours w/Tempo. Legs opened up a little more than Monday.

R: Off.

W: Off.

Monday: 56 mile bike; 3000 meter swim

Bike Endurance + Masters Swimming

S: 3000 meters? I went to my first masters swim class tonight. I surprised myself with how much I have improved over the last few weeks. I am certainly not fast, but I caught and overtook some swimmers that appeared faster to me when I first started out.

The big differences between what I have been doing and tonight's class are that during the class (1) the time flies by much quicker and (2) I swim faster, but there is much more rest. Despite swimming faster though, I actually feel like I get a better workout swimming alone, but I'll try to go to masters as much as possible.

I lost track of how far the swim was, but I'm pretty sure it was at least 3000 meters. I'll count it as that.

B: The first real bike ride back after some time off always hurts for sure. Amazing how much I feel "off" when I stop biking. (I'm not sure where that saying "It's just like riding a bike" comes from!) I knew I just had to get through this ride, but it was pretty painful, especially the first 90-100 minutes. 2:40. 203w.

R: Off.

W: Abs.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty fit, motivated, and ready to take it up a notch.

Preparation Week 6 - Summary

I had two radiologists look at my MRI (the benefit of having both my dad and brother as doctors) and neither found anything wrong with my hip, groin, back, spine, pelvic area, etc. So good news. Unfortunately, I still have some pain when I walk, but I think by not really riding (or running) last week has helped.

On Saturday, I biked easy for an hour. On Sunday I swam 3000 meters w/1 hard set of 2x100, R:10s, in 60 min. The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with my brother and nephew.

I'm back at full-blown training today. I still may land up not running again this week, depending on how I feel, but it would be nice to get some miles in. I really can't wait to run again.

Friday

Today I had an MRI and traveled to Los Angeles. Didn't have time to make it to a pool, so no training.

Fred - Thanks for the good wishes. I'll know the results of the MRI tomorrow morning.

Thursday: 3373 yd swim

My hip has not gotten much better in the last 5 weeks. It's still as painful now to walk (and run) as it was back then. So even though I don't feel any discomfort while biking, I've decided to stop biking (and lifting) until I see the doctor and get the results of the MRI, which should be tomorrow or Saturday. It's not worth blowing the whole season if I am inadvertently aggravating my hip by biking. When I am cleared, I'll pick it back up.

S: 61m min. 3373 yds. I did 2 hard sets of 5x100, R:10 sec, going as hard as a could. Felt really good. I've made some significant improvements over the last few weeks and am really happy about that.

B: Off.

R: Off.

W: Abs

Wednesday: 40 mile bike; 2470 yd swim

S: 45 min. 2470yds.

B: 2 hours easy. 120 bpm.

R: Off.

W: Abs.

Tuesday: 19 mile bike; abs

Slow start to the week. Thought maybe some time off the bike might help my hip.

S: Off.

B: 1 hour ride. Recovery.

R: Off.

W: abs.

Monday: 3159 yd swim; abs

S: 60 min. 3158 yds. Slow swim today. Lots of shorts easy sets. Shoulders/chest/lats a little sore from yesterday's swim.

B: Completely resting my legs today. No ride. No weights.

R: Off

W: abs.

Preparation Phase - Week 5 Summary

This week started out as a bike regeneration/recovery week. I felt very fresh come Wednesday/Thursday and had my best workout so far this week on that Thursday. Other than that ride, and while my bike volume was high, all rides were pretty easy.

Swim was standard. Mentally I struggled a little this week. But still got decent volume in.

Not much to say about the run. More rest is needed. I'm getting an MRI at the end of this week; hopefully I can fully recover in another 1-3 weeks.

I feel much more fit and much stronger than I did 1-2 months ago. Things are going in the right direction on the swim and bike. As for the bike, I'm ditching the interval workouts for now. They left me too tired and my other workouts suffered as a result. For the next 3 weeks and the next training block, I am solely concentrating on Tempo workouts. So I will be doing only 3 workouts on the bike: (1) Recovery; (2) Endurance (about 200-230 watts); and (3) Tempo. My goal is to get the Tempo workouts up to 2-2.5 hours. Once I finish this Tempo block, then I'll move to the intervals in 4 weeks time.

As for the swim, I think I am improving. I feel more fluid with my stroke. I'll start doing 20-30 minute time trials every now and then to see whether I am in fact improving. I would like to up the volume a little more over the next 3 weeks.

Run sucks. Not much to report.

Week Summary

B: 421 miles
R: 6 miles
S: 5.7 miles
W: 2xs

Sunday: 42 mile bike; 3230 yd swim

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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: 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.

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!"

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Thursday: 61 mile bike

S: Off. Wanted to swim but thought better of it. I'm going for 4 swims this week. I'm already at 2.

B: 3 hours w/2x8 min at 280-300w, 8 min recovery. Didn't have great legs today despite going easy over the past 3 days. I think it was a combination of biking really late last night, not eating anything afterwards before I went to sleep, not getting much sleep, and then starting today's ride first thing early this morning. Need to figure out a better recovery strategy for late night rides, even if easy.

R: Off. I can still feel my hip/groin. Doesn't seem to be completely healed. It sucks. I really want to run.

W: Abs.

Weight. I weighed myself this morning. 164lbs. I don't seem to be losing any weight despite eating healthier. I'd like to lose 6-9 pounds over the next 6 weeks starting next Monday, so I start the Specialization Period only a few pounds (4-5) off of race weight. In addition to posting my training, I'll start posting what I eat every day to give myself a little more incentive to stick to a better diet. I'll also add a column to the right listing my weight by week as I have listed my totals miles in each discipline per week.

Wednesday: 66 mile bike; 1903 yd swim; strength

Bike Endurance and Fist Drill Swim

As my fitness improves, my motivation grows. I don't think I have ever been this motivated. I'm kicking myself for not starting my swim training earlier. As it becomes easier to get the distance in, I am (finally) really enjoying it. While I want to swim much more, I need to be cautious in building up to prevent injury.


S: 36 min. 1903 yds. Because the pool that I swim at is a little less than 24 yds, I land up getting these weird non-round numbered distances. Today I did most of the swim with my hands making a fist. I have read that doing this (a) reduces the strain on your shoulders, thus reducing the risk of injury, and (b) gives you a better feel for the water and improves body position. I'll start incorporating these drills more often. The workout was 10 lengths w/u, 6x10 lengths fisted, 10 lengths normal. I could definitely notice a difference once I swam unfisted for the last 240yds. I felt much silkier/smoother.

B: 3:02. 125-135bpm. 223w. Felt great. I find that I am holding myself back on the bike, which is a good thing. I feel ready to let loose. In due time....Tomorrow I have intervals.

R: Off. My hip didn't feel quite right in the morning, but by the end of the day, it was fine. It's strange; no pain or discomfort while biking or lifting, but feels weird when walking.

W: Getting stronger....2x8 pullups; 6x25 pushups. 3x12 legs (press, curl, extension, hip ab/adductor, calf raises); abs.

Tuesday: 56 mile bike; 1.1 mile swim

S: 35 min swim. 2045 yds. Felt much better than just two weeks ago. I'm upping my standard 30-31 min swims to 35-36 min swims. I hope to build them up to 75 min 4-5/wk by the time I begin my Specialization Phase. Realistically, I'm not going to be in 59 min shape--I started way too late--but I think 1:05 is still doable.

B: I had two hours recovery scheduled but felt decent so kept going to finish off 56 miles. Made sure to keep heart rate down. 2:43:43. 190w.

R: I attempted to run today. I stopped after half a mile. My hip is still bothering me unfortunately. It's not super painful. But it just doesn't seem right. I might try to run again on Friday or just take the week off again. With 20 weeks to go, I am not too concerned about not running. I want to make sure that it's healed for when I need to start Ironman specific training. As an aside, I don't feel it on the bike but am not sure if biking is preventing it from healing?

W: Abs.

Monday

Rest

Complete day off and eat whatever I want. My legs feel good, but I am definitely tired. Hoping for an early night.

Preparation Phase - Week 2 Summary

Decent week considering I was unable to run, out of town, and couldn't get longer rides in or swim during the week. I skipped all main bike workouts and instead focused on just getting the volume in.

S: 2 miles.

B: 375 miles.

R: 0 miles.

W: 2xs

I didn't weigh myself this morning, but I didn't eat that well last week, especially over the weekend.

Sunday

Bike Endurance

S: Swimming and playing with the nieces. Got in maybe 300 meters of actual swimming including 2 x 50 meter sprint races against my brother, who only runs. I barely beat him both times. I suck.

B: 5.5+ hours in two rides. 125-135bpm. First ride was 3 hours. 222w. Second ride was 56 miles in 2:33:47. 224w. 121 miles for the day.

R: Off. Hip/groin area is starting to feel better. I'll start running again this week.

W: abs.

Saturday

Bike Endurance

S: Off

B: 5+ hours in two rides. 125-135bpm for both rides. First ride was 56 miles in 2:34:17. 222w. Second ride was 56 miles in 2:32:44. 228w.

R: Off.

W: abs.

Friday

S: Off. There's a swimming pool close by. It's closed on Saturdays but hopefully I can get there on Sunday.

B: 2 hour ride. 229w. 129bpm.

R: Off.

W: abs.

Thursday

S: Off.

B: 65 min on spin bike at hotel gym. 115-125bpm. Saw some of the USA Brazil soccer match. US look terrible.

R: Off. Fred. Thanks for your comments. I plan to take the rest of the week off and see how it feels.

W: I didn't lift yesterday. Abs. 3x12 legs. 3x4 pull. 5x25 push.

Wednesday

Travel

S: Day off.

B: 2 hours. 124bpm. 220w. Flatted. Wasted a lot of time dealing with it and from then on wasn't mentally into ride. Missed main workout - intervals - and let power and heart rate slip.

R: Taking another day off.

W: Will do abs and maybe weights tonight.

Tuesday

Recovery

S: 31 min. 1760yds. Felt better than yesterday.

B: Recovery ride. 2 hours. 181w. 110bpm.

R: Another day off. Hip/groin still hurts.

W: 3x4 pulls; 5x25push; 3x12 leg press, extensions, curls; abs.

Monday

Rest

Almost a complete rest day. I am going to New York in the middle of the week and will be there for the weekend. It will be difficult to get swims and long rides in. I was therefore contemplating riding today, despite having scheduled a rest day. I opted for rest instead.

S: 30 minutes. Very slow. 6x10 lengths, rest 30 seconds. 1427yds (The pool where I swim measures slightly slightly less than 24yds/length). My shoulders were a little sore today.

B: Day Off.

R: Day Off. Hip is still a little tender, even when just walking.

W: abs.

Preparation Phase - Week 1 Summary

The first week of the preparation phase went as planned. On the bike, I managed to two Tempo rides of 1 hour each, and one ride of Steady State Intervals. The goal of the this period is to build up to (1) 4-5 hours of Tempo per week, completed in two rides (2-2.5 hours per ride), (2) two rides of 2-3 x 20 min intervals at slightly below lactate threshold, and (3) 2-4 hours of above aerobic threshold outside on the TT bike (done in two rides).

I would like to build my run up from 30-40 miles within the next 13 weeks. I'm not concerned with running fast yet. I just want to be able to run without any pain. As I mentioned before, I am eliminating all double runs, as I think it was hurting more than helping me at this point - i.e., not enough recovery time.

I have finally started to swim consistently. My goal is to build up to where I am comfortably swimming 60 minutes at a time. Unfortunately, like last year, I no doubt have waited too long to start swimming. Nevertheless, I will gradually build up the swim over the next 3 months, rather than rush straight into long swims. I don't have the strength yet to really swim more than 30 minutes at a time.

Week 1 Totals.

S: 10,227 yds. 3:16

B: 412 miles. 20:01

R: 24 miles. 3:37

W: 3x/week.

Weight on 6/15: 164 lbs. Somehow, despite training more and eating healthier/less, I weigh more than on 6/1. Maybe I have more muscle from lifting?

Sunday

Bike Endurance

S: 30:57. 1760yds. Still stopped a couple times. Fastest time of the week.

B: 4 hours in 2 rides. Both rides were easy. It was a beautiful day outside - best of the summer so far - so split ride so as not to waste the whole day riding. Went to a Jazz festival instead. Morning ride was 56 miles in 2:35. 218w. Second ride was was easy pedaling for 1:30 during the Lakers game.

R: Day Off. I'm feeling some pain in my hip when I walk and run. So no running until Tuesday. I've been going back and forth but I've decided to ditch the double runs for now until I can handle them down the road. On the one hand, my running base is probably the best it has ever been, running 8:30s at 130-135bpm, which for me is great. On the other hand, I keep getting aches and pains. In an attempt to run more, I land up running less. So for the next 10-12 weeks, I'm going to stick to single runs for the most part and pretty much start my run training from scratch, at 30-40 miles. There is still plenty of time to up the volume come the end of August and throughout September, and October.

W: abs.

Saturday

Steady State Intervals

S: 31+ minutes. 1760yds. Took a while to warm up but then felt great.

B: 4 hour ride w/2 by 8 min @ 290-320w, 8min recovery at the end of the ride. These intervals, which are slightly below lactate threshold, are meant to increase the power that you can produce and the amount of time you can produced it at lactate threshold. Was pretty painful considering that up until now, I have done all my training at low heart rates. Total ride. 223w. 132bpm. Felt like a rock star today.

R: 3 mile brick run. 9 minute miles at 123bpm.

W: 3x4 pullups, 5x25 pushups, abs.

Friday

Bike Recovery + Endurance Run

S: Day Off.

B: 2 hour recovery ride. Avg HR: 119bpm.

R: First run was 7 miles in 60 minutes. Then a 20min recovery run after lifting. 122bpm.

W: 3x12 leg press, curl, extension. Abs. I skipped upper body strength to give my chest, back, and shoulders a complete day of rest. I'll do pushups and pullups tomorrow after swimming.

Thursday

Day 2 of Bike Tempo Block

S: 1760yds. Stopped a couple of times. A little over 31 minutes.

B: 3 hour ride w/60 min at Tempo (250-280w; 65-75rpm). Today, I did the Tempo work during the last hour, which actually made the ride much easier mentally. Yesterday, I just wanted to get off after I had finished the Tempo set during the second hour so I switched it up.

These Tempo rides are tough. They take a lot of concentration. A watt may be a watt, but the low cadence makes these workouts much tougher. They feel like lifting weights. Doing them indoors also doesn't help much either as, with little air circulation, I become absolutely drenched in sweat. I'm glad this block is done for the week.

R: 2 miles. Made a mistake again by running.

W: abs

Wednesday

Day 1 of Bike Tempo block + Run Endurance.

S: 31 min. 1760yds

B: 3 hours w/60min at Tempo (250-280w; 65-75rpm). Felt very good during the hour of Tempo. But I have lost some endurance over the last few weeks. I had a tough time mentally and physically during the last hour, which was just easy pedaling.

R: 60 min run. My shin hurt a little. Not the compartment syndrome but the shin itself. I felt it yesterday too. I ran too hard at the end of last week. May need a couple days off. Skipped second run.

W: 3x4 pull; 5x25 push; abs; 3x12 leg press, curl, extension. It's getting harder and harder to bike and especially to run from lifting, even though I am barely lifting any weight at all. I scheduled 10 weeks of lifting so that I end it 4 weeks before my Specialization phase begins, hoping to get that extra bit of power (on the bike and swim) and because lifting helps me keep a better diet (as I become more vain). I'll give it a few more times, but not sure if I'm going to keep up the leg lifting.

I'm wiped. A lot more so than I thought I'd be.

Tuesday

S: 30 min. 1427 yds. Swam next to two hot chicks. Tried to keep up. Couldn't.

B: 2 hours. Easy. 115-125bpm. Tomorrow begins a two-day Tempo block.

R. 30 min. Meant to take day off. Ran anyway. Shouldn't have. Was sore.

W: abs.

Monday

S: 40 min. 1760 yds. Felt better than expected.

B: 2 hours. Recovery/Easy. Good to be back on real bike.

R: Off

W: 5x25 push (was painful; I'm weak); 3x4 pull; 3x12 legs (press, curl, extension, hip ab/adductor, calf raises)

Sunday

A.m. 4 mile run. A bit hung over.

P.m. 7 mile run with Gigs. Pretty quick pace. Was struggling a little to keep up with him towards the end.

Saturday

B: 1 hour spin at the hotel gym

R: 7 mile run in Central Park. Love New York.

Friday

On my way to New York for yet another wedding. I'll try to get in as much as I can over the weekend, but it won't be much. I think I will have been away now for 5-6 weekends in a row. Looking forward to next weeekend when I can get some big sessions in.

a.m. 1 hour ride.

Lunch. 30 min swim.

P.m. Strength at hotel gym upon arrival. Same as Mon

Thursday

a.m. 6 mile run.

lunch. 30 min swim.

p.m. 4 mile run.

I'm starting to get more serious about my diet earlier this year and this week has been great so far. I believe I lost too much weight too quickly which led to being sick and a loss in power. I'm hoping to correct that this year.

Wednesday

Ride. 3 hours. Steady.

Strength. 3x3 pull, 5x20 push, abs, 3x12 leg exercises.

Tuesday

a.m. 2 hour recovery bike.

lunch. 6 mile easy run.

p.m. 4 mile run. easy.

Monday

Today marks the beginning of my Preparation Phase. It lasts from June through August and leads up to my Specialization Phase, which begins in September. The focus is to add swimming, continue to build run and overall endurance, continue to increase power on the bike at upper aerobic zones, and begin to increase power and the amount of time I can spend at lactate threshold.

I'm still looking for a half to do, but I would like to do one maybe in July and then another one at the end of the Preparation Phase in August.

_________________________________________________________________________________

a.m. 9 mile run.

p.m. Strength (5x20 push; 3x3 pull; abs; 3x12 legs - press, curls, extension, hip ab/adductors). Run home from gym. 2 miles. Easy. 60 min recovery spin. Another flat.