3/26 & 3/27 -- A weekend of tempo

This was going to be a tough weekend. Originally I had lined up a long sub-tempo run, a masters swim, a 2 hour bike + 15min run. But as it turned out I had signed up to run with Snapple at the Multisport Expo 5k competition. I didn't want to miss my long tempo run nor did I want to flake on the 5k... so after consulting with Todd, I decided to tempo both. Would my body hold up? I hope so!

Saturday morning was the long run/tempo with some GRC teammates. We ran easy from the store to Hain's Point, at which point we started the tempo. Patrick and I broke away from the B group pack we started out with, and started pushing 5:15-:25s after a 5:30 first mile. That was better than tempo effort, but we were working together and it felt all right. I was feeling a little congested due to the cherry blossoms around me, but completed the almost 4 miles with little difficulty. I definitely won't be running 5:20s on race day, until hopefully the last 3 miles of the race, so this was a good practice, running that pace around Hain's Point, which is more or less the finishing stretch. 3 miles back to the store and workout #1 was finished.

In the afternoon I went to Curl Burke's masters practice at AU since I would have to miss Ward's practice the next morning. It was a pretty sprint-heavy workout, so it was tough on me, since I am pretty much all slowtwitch in the pool now. Several sets of 4x50s all out with 200easy, with some sets having variations on the 200 total of sprint. I hit even times all throughout, :31 avg on the 50s, 1:08 avg on the 100s, :15 avg on the 25s. Not my fastest times by any means, but it was what I could do. Not slowing down was the key.

Sunday was the race. Dirk, Matias, Chip and I as a team... that's pretty good, if you ask me. Dirk, Matias and I took the lead after half a mile and never really relinquished it... all while holding a tempo effort and sticking together. It was fun, and part of the course ran through the old Georgetown Prep Cross Country classic course, so that brought back some memories of high school XC meets there. We had a late challenge by one guy (who turned out to be a pro-level Xterra guy) but he died out on the track in the last 400, and we three passed him. Dirk first, Matias second, me third, separated by 5 seconds between each, around a 16:30 effort or so. Fun, and a good tempo workout. Started to feel some tightness in my calves, unfortunately, so it might have been a bit much. Still, we won free Newton shoes as a prize ($150 value!), so it was good to WIN.

In the afternoon, I biked in the basement, about 2 hours at 215w, staying within L2. My legs were definitely tired from the run, so this wasn't as easy as it should've been. The run afterward wasn't any easier and my legs were REALLY happy to be done when I arrived back home. It was a tough weekend, but it was a lot of fun to get in the hard work. Now is the time to recover and relax and be fresh again for this coming SUNDAY.

The winning Snapple team after our victory at Prep on Sunday... it was pretty cool to race side by side with Dirk and Matias, two of my best training pals and friends. Matias and I should be doing the same at Cherry Blossom!

3/24 & 3/25 -- Keep plugging away

This has been a tough week. Todd said this and last week were going to be pretty hard. And by Friday I was definitely feeling it. The track workout was good, but it did take a toll on me.

Thursday I just had a bike trainer workout 4x5min @ L4. A pretty basic workout, with a long warmup and long cooldown. Using my new power zones from the ill-fated test from last week, I hit wattages of 261, 265, 266, 274, which are right in the middle of my new L4 (248-273). I felt comfortable. A little tougher than my previous L4 zone, but I kept my cadence level in the high 90s and didn't have trouble maintaining consistent effort.

Friday was a crummy day, really busy at work and it got me pretty tired. I swam at GISC with Michelle in the morning, and felt a little off, tired from the track and bike threshold workout 2 days in a row, but kept my focus on form. I struggled with that at first, but halfway through got comfortable again. Some 300 builds and more drills. After finally GETTING THE WORK DONE at my job, I bolted outside for an easy jog, just to shake out my legs and stretch my feet out. 45 minutes, pretty relaxed. I suppose there's nothing to say about it. I just needed to get something done.

3/23 -- Make Way for Triathletes

Wednesday AM I swam with Michelle at GISC, a pretty relaxed pull-heavy workout. No build sets, just long pull and shorter hard/easy intervals. Really made an effort to focus on form and not look at the clock. I was joined by Michelle AGAIN in the evening, this time for the team track workout, as she has officially joined GRC, providing a huge boost to the growing women's team... it was only a matter of time until we were on the same team. NICE.

Men's workout was 6xmile, with my group, the "B" group going 2x5:15, 2x5:10, 2x5:05. Our group is barely a "B" group as we have guys like Dickson, Patrick, Charlie, Matias and, for today at least, Dirk. That's pretty mighty. Charlie wasn't present for this workout, but we all took turns leading, and produced splits for the first 5 of 5:16, 5:14, 5:09, 5:07 (I led this one), 5:05. Then Matias, Dirk, Patrick and I decided to go HARD on the last one, aiming for sub-5. I stuck behind Patrick for the first 800 as I thought my calves, which were getting some lactic buildup, wouldn't let me go... but they cleared up after about 700m and I moved up to get up with Matias and Dirk... and we WENT. With 400 to go Matias moved ahead of Dirk and I tried to do the same, but BEASTMAN had enough of my insolence, and didn't let me pass. I started losing them with 300 to go, but still came in only 4-5 seconds behind in 4:52. Not a bad way to end the workout! Coach Todd told me to unleash for this workout so I did, and left the workout feeling pretty energized and strong... not in any way depleted or achy.

It was pretty neat having Matias, Dirk and I work together at the end as the 3 male triathletes on GRC... and seeing Lindsey J and Michelle working out together was pretty intense too. It made me think of this book I read as a younger youngster (hence the title of the post):

3/21 & 3/22 -- Shaking off the weekend

Monday rolled around and I found it hard to get out of bed in the morning. Luckily for me, Michelle has started coming to Masters practice with me in the evening, so no need to wake up at 5:15AM. GOOD, because I needed the sleep after a tough end of (and, well, whole of) last week. I eschewed an easy spin and decided just to go to my swim lesson with Mark and then swim practice. The lesson was good, Dirk and I worked some drills to open our hips more and rotate better. My stroke count decreased by the end of the lesson, so it was useful. I just need to implement those lessons during my faster sets. For practice, we continued mainly working on drills, with lots of 75s, and ended with a 4x200 descending pull set on 3:00, where I finished my last 200 in 2:22. I like Ward's practices better (this was more of a CUBU practice) as there are longer sets and shorter rests. But I can use the drill work, obviously.

I was feeling better by Tuesday, having fought off a short-lived, one-day "cold" on Monday. My legs were feeling better so I went to South Germantown for an 80 minute ride. It was sort of warm, not really though, as the Germantown Clipper was present as usual. I averaged around 220w for the ride, although this time the Clipper had shifted direction a bit from the usual south or west and I got a little tailwind on the tougher sections, so that was like a reward for my persistence! Then afterward I met Jordan, Scott, Jamie and Steeeeeeve for what was supposed to be a 30 minute run for me. Well, I got excited to be running with them again and kept going... bad idea. We ran a hilly route and I played a part in pushing the pace to under 6:30s. Once I realized what a mistake I was making, I backed off with Steve and stuck to the trails. Still, I think the damage was done as I would be more tired from that RECOVERY run than I should have been. I need to stick to Todd's advice next time!

I was listening to this during work today... I thank Michelle for alerting me to its existence.

3/20 -- My Legs Talk to Me

Sunday AM Dirk and I rampaged to Wards Masters swim practice, which was empty except for us, because most of the other regulars competed at the Albatross meet the day before. Fine by me since my compatriot Dirk was there. We did lots of drills and then a main set nugget of 15x100 (as 5 on 1:30, 5 on 1:25, 5 on 1:20, averaging 1:13/100y), and a 12x50 (4 on :50, 4 on :45, 4 on :40). The 15x100 was great and I felt really good throughout the whole thing. If I can average 1:13s at Columbia, that'll put me in a very good spot, and way better than last year (I guess anything is).

Not long after we dried off, we stampeded to the Capital Crescent Trail for another one of Todd's creations, a long/tempo run, 7 miles out @ 7:00/mile pace, 6 miles back @ 6:00 or faster pace. I've done this twice before, but this version would be a lot longer. And after a pretty tough swim, I didn't know what I could do, but I hoped I would at least give Dirk somewhat of a workout. We went the 7 out on the downhill toward DC at exactly 7:00/mile pace, which felt pretty easy. We turned around and began our fast ascent back to Bethesda. First mile was fast, 5:51, but my legs seemed to say "We're cool... let's keep going." So I said "Ok...really?" And they responded "Yeah, what, you chicken?" And I said "No, no... but Beastman just sai--" But they interjected with "Shut up." So I said "Ok." And just kept going.

Legs were right. 5:51, 5:54, 5:52, 5:40, 5:50, 5:41 were my splits for an uphill run. Faaantastic. And it didn't feel tempo-y even... just a little below that level. I'd say that's what I was shooting for... supposedly you take off 10-15 seconds and that's pace on flat road. And Dirk seemed pretty tired at the end, so that made me feel a little better about the effort. It was uphill so that's good practice for him. Anyway, a fine confidence builder 2 weekends out from Cherry Blossom, and it's showing again that all this cross training is working and making me a stronger runner.

Or maybe I ran fast because this guy was next to me:

3/18 & 3/19 -- Up ol' 28

Friday was an AMAZING weather day, almost. It reached a high of 70, but huh? What's this? Wind? You want to enjoy the day with me? Aw man. 15-20 mph winds put a damper on an otherwise amazing day. But because of the temperature, I decided to get in my long ride today instead of Saturday. Lucas M and I collaborated to meet somewhere halfway between Frederick and Germantown, along MD Route 28. I had never ridden that far up 28 on my bike, so I was a little nervous, especially with the fact that I'd be riding into a headwind, trending uphill. Car speeds reach over 50mph on stretches of that road so I really made sure to hug the shoulder. I rode ZeroZeroTwo as I need to do most of my training on it to prepare better for Columbia. My aero position felt a little odd though and my neck got a little stiff, so I'm going to get it checked by Matt at All-American Bike Center on Tuesday.

By the time Lucas and I intercepted each other, I had put in 50 minutes and a 224w average, elevated a bit by the headwind. Coming back, I stayed in his slipstream on downhills and pushed pace on the ups to keep the power level. It was a LOT easier coming back, even though Lucas is a much stronger rider. Overall, 40 miles and 221w average. Felt good.

Saturday was a DAY OF REST, which I sure needed. I only rode about an hour total, getting to Michelle's race and rolling back to Germantown with her. A couple hills, but kept my power below 190w to make it a real recovery. I would need it for Sunday...

3/17 -- This is a Test

I woke up not too sore from track the night before thanks to the rolling I did to my calves... but I was TIRED. Race, epic Monday swim and a track workout that should've been a bit easier were taking their toll on me. I had a pasta thing for breakfast and fruits for lunch in an effort to get some decent food into me before the afternoon's bike test to see where I'm at power-wise.

The warmup was 17 minutes L2, 4x60sec 120+ rpm, 2min max effort, 5min recovery, leading into a 20min time trial. I hit 125-130 rpm for the high rpm bursts, and 335w for the 2min max effort (what I can hold for 2min, not all out) @95rpm. I felt... OK. I wanted to feel snappier, but I was already sweating quite a bit and breathing harder than I should have for a warmup. The 5 minute recovery felt too short and I had to get right into the 20min TT. I started out too strong... first 5 minutes at 292, settling a bit to hit 285w for the first 10min. Almost immediately my legs felt like they were overcome by a wave of lactic acid and power started dropping. RPM was ok, high 90s in the 53-19 and low 90s in the 53-17, but I was starting to struggle. I knew at this point I wasn't going to keep 280w, and watched my power slipping into the low 260s/high 250s. I just hung on at this point, feeling overheated and dehydrated and overall TIRED. I averaged 259w for the second half of the ride, which while it WAS my previous 20min best (FTP), it wasn't what I wanted to be doing... surviving to the end. All said and done, averaged 272w for the 20min... a 13w improvement over my previous best from January, but not quite what I wanted.

So my training zones get tougher, which is good, but I feel I let an opportunity to make my training better slip a little. I need to be more conservative when I start out next time, a good lesson and practice for race day as well. I'll also try to be more rested. But I'm happy with improvement. I am getting strong and the training is working!

When the going got tough in the last 6 minutes or so, I turned to one of my favorite songs to cycle to... Big Sky by The Reverend Horton Heat: