Wicked Wednesday!

Today shaped up to be a tough one... fast ladder swim in AM and GRC track in PM with a busy work day sandwiched in between.

I actually had been "fearing" this swim workout because it sounded so daunting... ladder down (500-4-3-2-1 at tpace) with 4x25 sprints in between each interval instead of recovery. Not sure my arms would hold up to that much tpace and sprints all lumped together. With Michelle motoring through her aquarunning like a reciprocating engine on an early 1900s cruise liner, I knew that I had no choice but to do the workout COMPLETELY and in full force. And it wasn't too bad! I was getting the longer intervals in 1:26 pace, slowing down a little for the last 200 and 100 (tired). So it wasn't bad. I wish I had gone a little faster, but I was conservative on the 500 and 400 thinking that I wouldn't have enough for the rest of the workout.

In the evening, met a large GRC crew for track. In preparation for the UMD Outdoor Invite 5K, I wanted to do 3x1600 at 5:10 pace, working to 5:07 for the last one. I ran with Jesse Dylan Keith and his wonderful moustache, Mike and former high school opponent Jimmy Daly.

Splits:

Mile 1 -- 5:09

Mile 2 -- 5:08

Mile 3 -- 5:07

Mile 4 -- 5:00 (I decided to tack on a 4th because I was feeling strong after 3. Patrick Murphy helped me push the pace)

That's a very good omen for the 5K. I can average around 5:08 pace and still have enough to push in a fast final mile. I'm pretty confident about this race now. My fitness is definitely there. All it'll take is some practice getting used to the pace and ingraining it in my legs.

Speedy start to the week

I'm beginning my taper for the National Half, so while my overall training hours and mileage will go down, I'm doing the same amount or maybe a little more power/speed work in biking and swimming, while my running is just mileage and a little speed.

Monday I did a fins/paddles swim, first time I've used the paddles in months. About ten 100s of alternating fins and paddles, with some power drills thrown in. Paddles made me swim a little faster, but I made a point of not looking at the clock so I could stay relaxed. I trust my stroke and speed enough now that I don't necessarily need to see the clock to know my pace. Totaled about 2000m. In the PM I met with Jordan and Scott for our first Monday run since the snowstorms. Ran the CJ trail, about 7.6 miles, nice and slow. I forgot how heavy my trail shoes are, I haven't had to wear them for a while!

Yesterday met with Michelle for strength in the AM, and a bike sprint workout at the Gtown rec center loop in the afternoon. Perfect weather. No wind, high 50s... awesome! After a 10 minute warmup, we started the sprint set, 5x3 minutes all out. Course was a little hilly, so as to simulate a race setting. Despite a traffic slow-down point, we both averaged fast speeds.

For the 5 sets, I averaged 24.5, 24.3, 23.5, 24.1, 24 mph!! Michelle must have been in the 23s, as she wasn't too far behind and kept the same distance throughout (and actually gained a little on the last set). So to confirm what we learned Sunday, those cruise intervals and hill workouts on the trainer, as well as strength training, has really upped our power output in these race-pace and faster workouts.

Will post about today's swim and tonight's track workout later.

23+ mph!

Today was a great day... mid-high 50s, 9-10 mph winds, a perfect day for a journey to Hain's Point for Super-brick #2. I would finally get to bike outside and see how my speed development is going.

Went there with Michelle. I was excited to see how much she would improve as well. We've been training about equally on the trainer during the winter, so we could only improve. Got there and Dirk rode up to meet us. My goal for the day was to stay within my HR zone 4, but also to keep up with Dirk, or keep him in view. Workout was 2x (20 minute ON, 5 minute OFF, 10 minute ON, 5 minute OFF, 10 minute ON), followed by 4x6 minutes zone 4 run.

We took off and after a 10 minute warmup, started our first 20 minute interval. And wow. I immediately felt a world of difference from 2 months ago. My legs felt like they were surging with power and my cadence was high. And I wasn't slowing down. And most of all... I wasn't losing Dirk! We switched leads, and I tried not to draft him to see what I could do with a headwind. On the tailwind stretch, our speeds approached 27 mph. On the headwind stretch, 21.5-23 mph. Incredible. I was averaging 22.5 on flat race courses for shorter distances last summer.... Now I was suddenly averaging 23+ mph, my goal for the winter. And I was feeling STRONG.

Kept up the pace and effort despite traffic stops (the cars just kept coming) for 5 more intervals. Dirk was strong as always. Michelle was also busting loose. She was a low-mid 20s mph biker last year... and she was doing 21-22 today. Just remarkable. And this was all with stop signs and traffic jams near the golf course... We all might have been 1 mph faster if it weren't for those stops.

The excitement was palpable. 35.5 miles... longer than I'll be riding in any race this year.

After the bike, Dirk and I set out for the run. After running a (gulp) 5:19 mile pace first interval, Dirk gave me a talking-to and I slowed up to 5:40 pace. That's still much faster than I ran in tri/duathlons last year. Totaled about 5.5 miles.

So today's brick was a real eye-opener. All those hours on the trainer, both for myself and Michelle, have really paid off. I'm very inspired by her and my own improvement. I'm going to keep it up. Maybe I'll be up to 23.5 mph by the start of tri season. It's very possible.

Who knows how much faster we would have been today if there weren't so many traffic slowdowns/stops...

Furious Chill victorious!

Burned in the water

Met up with Jordan (finally healed), Scott and Jake for another chapter of the North Bethesda Distance Project. Kept an easy pace for about 8 miles, maybe a little more. Good recovery run for me after the bike TT the night before.

Met up with Lindsey Jerdonek, the "rookie" pro triathlete for a swim at Wilson in the evening. I was nervous as heck to meet her, as I knew I was in for a clinic in top-notch speed. And clinic-ed I was. It was a recovery swim for me so I wasn't going all out by any means... but man. I usually started 4-5 seconds behind her, and ended up 5-10 seconds behind... and those were her EASY sets. I knew she was smoking me when I couldn't see the bubbles from her kicking. Anyway, it was a good experience for me. I got to witness the speed of a very fast and accomplished swimmer (although she wouldn't say that about herself)... very inspiring. I want those swimming abilities, badly!

Oh, and those 1:24-5 100s I do? The ones I celebrated and bragged about?

Yeah. That was cool-down pace for her.

All-out on the bike

Yesterday afternoon I hopped on the trainer to do a 30 minute time trial to see what kind of shape I'm in now. While I can't figure out my speed, my heart rate is a good indicator of how much I've improved since my last TT in late fall of 2009, when I set my Lactate Threshold (race pace) at 174 BPM, about 10-12 bpm below my running LT.

After a 5 minute warmup, I started the TT. The first 5 minutes were tough, trying to get my legs in a rhythm and get my body used to the fact that it had 25 more minutes of pain and full-force effort. Once I got the cadence rhythm down, I just had to focus on keeping the effort going. 10 minutes in, I hit LAP on my HR monitor to begin the HR measurement. I noticed that my HR was hovering in the high 170s and low 180s... and it was an effort, that while difficult, I could keep up for at least 20 more minutes. It was tough indoors, but I got it done and nearly fainted getting off the bike, I must have really gone all out. Drowned myself in recoverite and felt better instantly.

My LT HR average ended up being 180 bpm! That's 6 bpm better than a few months ago, showing that my bike fitness has taken a huge leap. I'm almost as fit on the bike as I am in running. I can't wait to get outside and see what that means in terms of speed...

Short recovery

Monday evening I went for a slow shakeout jog with Sloane, about 6.5 miles. Went in with a tender groin, finished with no pain. Slam dunk (copyright The RED FOX).

Yesterday I lifted in the AM and did 30 minutes of dominant leg biking in the PM. The first 10 minutes I felt tight, didn't really feel it, when all of a sudden an amazing string of events took place. First, Michelle texted me that her Pacers coach predicted a low-17 5K at the UMD Invite for her. That's AWESOME, it made me think about 15:45 for myself. Cadence began to pickup. Then Jordan called me, which always perks me up, even when he has nothing to say. Cadence is getting higher. Then I looked up at the television to see GODZILLA blasting MECHAGODZILLA with his radioactive fire. That was all I could handle. I couldn't control myself any longer. I was pedaling, 90% effort on one leg every 30 seconds, at a cadence of at least 105 rpm. YES. Chicken tenders at FD's with Jordan afterwards added to the awesome.

Swam this AM, descending 100s... Started at 1:40 pace, did the last 100 in 1:15!! (that's a personal record for me...)

Oh, for fun.

1k Swim PR!

Woke up this AM with pretty much my whole lower half stiff as a board. Groin area a little tender, so I walked laps around the apartment to try and shake things out. It worked well enough that I felt like going to the pool and hitting up a 1km time trial. Knowing that Dirk just put in a good 400 and 800 at the DC Tri Swim Meet got me feeling like I needed to see where I'm at.

For my last TT, in December 2009, I swam a 14:24, a 20 second or so improvement over a month before. I expected an improvement today and I attacked the first 500m hard. My breathing started getting a little out of control around 700m, but I started kicking a little more and focused on taking in only air, not water. The more tired I get swimming, the less carefully I breathe and I start swallowing water, which causes me to tire out and burp like crazy.

Anyway, hit the wall in 13:42! About a 40 second improvement over 2 months ago. It reflects my most recent t-paces of 1:23-24. I'm pleased with my continued progress.