2/24 -- Pedaling with Virenque

Thursday's workout was a ride on the trainer. 20min warmup to L2, followed by 2x (10min L3/tempo, 2min recovery, 4x1min L5+, 1min recoveries). I thought this would be easier than this past Tuesday's threshold workout... But hmm, I was certainly wrong! I had the heavy-ish feeling from Wednesday again during the warmup, but after about 10 minutes I was spinning up to the ideal rpms (around 95-100). The first tempo was fine, staying right within L3 (223w avg, 98 rpm), and the 4x1s at L5 were good also (312, 330, 334, 323w avgs, 100+ rpm). Second set was a little harder, but got around the same for the 10min tempo (229w avg, 100rpm), while I was better on the L5s (330, 334, 348, 339w avgs, 106 rpm). I got stronger and my cadence increased near the end, which is what I really wanted to accomplish, especially in the L5s. It was also nice to average 300+ comfortably in the 4x1s. I seem to be developing more control of my cycling legs and pedaling so I can hold higher wattages longer.

Just like on Tuesday, I had a training partner, sort of. I cycled to the 2003 Tour de France Stage 7, where Richard Virenque broke away from Rolf Aldag about 30km from the finish. He was really pounding the hills but staying relaxed. I'm trying to learn to do that... pace myself better on the hills to be stronger on flats and downhills. Too often I try to sprint up the hills because I know I am strong on hills. I need to be strong up, but also keep that same wattage going down and on flats. If I go up too hard, I'll coast on the downhills and be weaker on flats. That has to change if I want to succeed at Columbia and cycling races.

2/23 -- Heavy but fast?

Wednesday AM I swam at GISC solo. A pretty pull-heavy workout, as usual for Wednesday swims. The main set contained several 4x100 sets of pull with 10" recovery, with longer swim sets in between. The pulling is helping my form and I feel stronger from it. I suppose that's the idea. I've been getting some good tips from fellow Wards and CB swimmers. I need to lengthen my stroke though... I think I regressed a bit, so I'll keep my focus on form the next few swims.

In the afternoon I hit my hill on Wootton Parkway for another week of repeats. The hill is about .75-.8 miles long, with a half mile marker at the bottom and near the top, so I made the repeats half mile so I could get a time. During my 2-mile warmup, I felt noticeably heavy and

flat. I haven't felt that way since I started Todd's training, and I think it was from Tuesday's threshold bike workout and not running since Saturday (I missed Tuesday's run due to time constraints). The first hill felt just as heavy and slow. About 30 seconds from the half mile mark and without looking at the clock, I thought this would be an AWFUL workout... it could only get worse with the way my body was feeling. When I got to the top, I got quite a shock when the clock read 2:36! Surprised, I jogged back down to start the second repeat... same split. I kept that time for the first 4, slowing up a bit to 2:40 on the 5th and 6th repeat. My body didn't feel that much better, but it definitely didn't feel worse. I did start feeling lighter on the cooldown though.

Considering how flat I felt going in and how last week I was doing all reps in 2:40, when I felt fresher, this seemed strange to me! I'll take it though, obviously. I like to think it shows my legs are ready for speed. It's strong enough to push me to good times on a bad day without too much taxing, so I think all the hill workouts have done me well. This should be my last week of hills. Next week, back to the GRC track workout!

Thanks, Tyler

That Falcon Punch was so powerful it caused the tomorrow of then to be today. That's the only way I can explain it.

So I haven't posted on this thing for a while and pretty infrequently, causing derision from my peers. Well, here's a post! And I'll admit, that weekly training update was too annoying to do, so I'm going to TRY (or tri, sorry Michelle) to do it EVERY DAY, but just give a shorter write up of that day's workout. Then do something at the end of the week like a total, so I can feel I'm not doing enough. So let's begin with yesterday's workout:

Tuesday's workout was a trainer workout... 4x8 minutes, broken up as 4min @ at least 230w, 4min @ at least 260w. The 230 is high L3/low L4, so not tough, but not easy... 260w is at or a little bit over 40k race pace, so into L5. 2-minute recoveries between each interval. I made it a goal to be at least 94 rpm the entire workout, excluding recoveries and cooldown, so that required me to stay in one gear ratio the entire ride. About 94 rpm average for the 4min @ 230, 100 rpm average for the second 4min.

This got tough. By the end of two intervals, I was sweating quite a bit. I had some good extra motivation, as I had 2003 Tour de France stage 16 playing, where Tyler Hamilton broke away from the pack and held on for the last 30km to Bayonne. I like Tyler Hamilton, so it was a good motivator to ride with him (on TV). It definitely helped me push through the last interval, which was actually my best in terms of average power and RPM, averaging around 279w for the 4 minutes, and I was rocking in the saddle a bit (back and forth, I mean).

FALCON PUUUNCH!!!!!!

Welcome back. Training update to come tomorrow.

2010 (a long time ago) in review

Ok, so wow, I've missed a lot of posts. How about this... I go the lazy route, forget about the boatload of training I've done (tons of swimming... tons of hard trainer rides... and 30-40 miles per week plus hills and track workouts) I've done since my last post and now... and start fresh??? That's a great idea. I like it.

I'll make this post a quick review of 2010, a mostly successful racing campaign. Last year, I posted some goals and whether I achieved them or not, and set goals for 2011. I'll run through those and set some new goals first.

RUNNING

1-mile
Goal -- 4:30
Actual -- 4:39
2011 Goal -- Not running a mile race in 2011

5K
Goal -- sub 16:00
Actual -- 15:44
2011 Goal -- 15:35

8K
Goal -- 27:15
Actual -- Did not run an 8k in 2010
2011 Goal -- 26:50

10K
Goal -- 33:30
Actual -- 34:06
2011 Goal -- 33:15

10 mile
Goal -- 00:59:00
Actual -- Did not run a 10-miler in 2010
2011 Goal -- 00:55:00

TRIATHLON/DUATHLON

Goal -- in age group at Columbia and sprint races
Actual -- Won age group at Columbia and DC Triathlon sprint
2011 Goal -- Finish in top 25 overall at Columbia and top 10 overall at Nation's.

Goal -- Win a sprint triathlon
Actual -- Did not, only did one sprint unprepared.
2011 Goal -- No related goal

Goal -- Qualify for Duathlon Worlds
Actual -- Qualified for Duathlon Worlds, did not go.
2011 Goal -- Not trying to qualify for anything specifically, but get as close to Best of the U.S. as I can.

Goal -- Get sub 2:08:00 in Oly distance triathlon
Actual -- Got a 2:07:04 with a 2 minute penalty at Nation's
2011 Goal -- 2:07:59 at Columbia, 2:00:59 at Nation's.

So this year I was quite a bit more successful in multisport than running. I attribute this to focusing on cycling and swimming and less on running after the spring season. I'll keep the focus on triathlon in 2011, while hoping for some smaller PRs in running. I'm most proud of my 5k, Columbia and Nation's performances. Aside from the penalty at Nation's, everything seemed to go pretty well in that race. I want to improve on my non-penalty time by 5 minutes and attack the 2 hour barrier. Columbia is all about placement, but I'd like to get close to my 2010 Nation's time. That would mean some big improvements in the swim, while not giving up much on the bike and run. I've been training my butt off in the pool and we'll see how that plays out on race day. I'm going to add some new goals to 2011, to include some cycling goals:

Goal -- Go under 21 minutes in a 1500m swim in a triathlon

Goal -- Break 61 minutes in a 40k time trial, stand-alone or in a triathlon

Goal -- 34:30 10k in a triathlon

Goal -- Earn my cat 4 cycling license (need 6 or 7 more races)

That should be sufficient for goals. I'm pleased with my progress in 2010, but I do consider 2010 as more of a progress year. I achieved some cool things, but I'm not close to where I want to be yet. I'm training more and harder than most people I know... and that's a fact I am sure of! I believe I am capable of achieving the goals I've set out for, thanks to some great training partners (Michelle and Dirk), a new coach (Todd Wiley), and an overall improved outlook on racing and training... a powermeter and intense masters swim program don't hurt either! I know much more about each sport than I did before, and I aim to continue being a student of swimming, cycling and running, to become a complete triathlete.

REALLY looking forward to 2011. Let the cowboys ride!

A New Hope, er, T-pace

I've recently taken to watching Star Wars during my trainer rides, specifically Star Wars IV: A New Hope. I am captivated by the Battle of Yavin sequence, when the Rebel fleet attempts to destroy the Death Star. It's fast-paced, which is helpful for trainer rides that go over an hour. I mention T-pace because in my most recent 800y time trial, I set a landmark PR and have a new training pace, almost 5 seconds per 100y faster than my previous time. That definitely is in large part thanks to swimming with Michelle, Dirk and the masters practices. Basically, yards equal success! Also, since I've been running more for miles than speed, I've come to enjoy running more and feel better as a whole. I hope to keep up the 40-50 mile per week average I've been doing.

This is a little late due to being pretty busy at work... and looking for videos of Red Squadron:

Monday, Dec. 6 - Monday, Dec. 13 (6 swims, 6 rides, 6 runs)

Swimming: 19,800 yards

Tuesday -- Endurance swim at GISC w/ Michelle. Main set of 2x300 (1:20/100y pace, :15 RI), 4x50 (drill/build, :15 RI), 2x250 (1:20/100y pace, :15 RI), 4x50 (drill/build, :15 RI), 2x200 (1:20/100y, :15 RI), 200 kick, 2950y total. Swam alone at GISC around lunchtime, putting in 6x500 to give me 6000y total for the day.

Thursday -- TIME TRIAL! Michelle and I split the lane to add some competitive fire to the TT. It didn't start out well for me... my goggles filled up with water about 75y in, so I had to stop briefly at the 100 to empty them, losing about 5 seconds. However, after that it was SMOOTH swimming. I kept a constant pace and didn't feel tired until the last 50y, where inexplicably I forgot to sprint to the finish. Not at all sure why I forgot, but I hit the wall in 10:22, 1:17/100y average! That is a PR for me. Most importantly, I could have kept going at that pace... I was tired, but not done, totaling 1600y with warmup and cooldown. Another promising sign for the coming months! Michelle averaged about 1:41/100y, down from 1:45/100y a little over a month before. Huge improvements for both of us! In the afternoon I did 2000y of long pull sets for recovery.

Friday -- Recovery swim @ GISC w/ Michelle. Just swam long, easy sets with a 10x100 set (on 1:45) thrown on at the end, totaling 3200y.

Saturday -- CUBU masters swim @ AU w/ Dirk. The coach didn't show up so we had to alternate coaching with other swimmers. Put in 4x300 among other easier sets, with one of the 300s in 3:45, which Dirk proclaims is the fastest swum between us. Take that, Beastman! 3000y total.

Sunday -- Endurance swim @ GISC w/ Dirk. This was near the end of a long weekend and we agreed to take it easy on this swim. Main "set" was 4x300 around 1:20/100y pace, but I can't remember anything else we did. Still totaled 4000y.

Biking: 110 miles

Monday -- ILT on the trainer. 8 minutes on each leg in 30-second intervals. Felt fine, averaging around 180 watts per leg.

Wednesday -- Easy spin on the trainer, 45 minutes. Didn't want to do anything tough before Thursday's swim TT.

Thursday -- Easy spin on the trainer, 35 minutes. Was tired from the TT and a long day of swimming, so took it easy.

Friday -- Spin-ups on the trainer, 45 minutes total over 7 sets of spin-ups. Unfortunately I lost my Powertap info, so no power data!

Saturday -- Columbia ride with Dirk. We rode the Columbia course after a 30 minute jog, and I forgot how tough the course is! Inexplicably, I agreed to do it a second time... I got about 13k into the second go-round and decided to turn back. Too tough of a course to "just do" when you're not in the best bike shape, not to mention "just doing" it twice! Still, totaled 40 miles on a tough course, 213 watt average.

Sunday -- Long trainer ride w/ Dirk. We took it (er, I did, at least) easy on this ride after the Columbia challenge. Totaled 26 miles over 90 minutes, 145 watt average.

Running: 40 miles

Monday -- Trail run w/ tha boys. 8 miles.

Tuesday -- Solo run in neighborhood. 5 miles.

Wednesday -- Easy run around the track. 8 miles.

Saturday -- Columbia course run w/ Dirk. Took it easy with long bike ride ahead. Ran first and last 2 miles of the course. 4 miles.

Sunday -- Solo trail run. 6 miles.

Monday -- Trail run w/ tha boys. Ran some long hills. 9 miles.

Hooray for chlorine

I swam the most this week that I ever have in one week. No wonder I always smell chlorine wherever I go. Good thing chlorine has a... er... bearable smell. But back to the yardage... it was a lot. Some days I felt really good, some days I felt like a sponge. But even when I felt spongy, I was able to put in some good times. That has me getting pretty confident about my swimming! I finally feel like I'm back in good bike shape after a couple weeks of drill rides and zone 2 rides. Now I can finally get to work on starting to get some speed back, or at least establish a good tempo pace. I also got in 35 miles running, which isn't bad. I'm excited to just run easy. I've had enough of fast running for a while.

Saturday, Nov. 27 - Sunday, Dec. 5 (9 swims, 5 rides, 4 runs)

SWIMMING: 27,946 yards

Saturday -- Endurance swim @ Wilson w/ Dirk. 50m pool. Main set of 2x400, 3x300, 3x200, 3x100 (neg. split first two, pull third), 4046y total. This was really tough and I was tired going into it. Paces were around 1:27/100m, which is pretty decent for me. Dirk was stronger on this day though.

Sunday -- @ GISC w/ Lucas McCollum and Michelle. Main set of 5x200 (on 3:00, 1:20/100y pace), 1x300 neg. split, 5x100 (on 1:30, 1:15/100y pace), 16x25 (on :30, 1:00/100y pace!), 3200y total. This was one of my best practices. Splitting the lane with Lucas helped. Fast triathlete, that I was able to keep up with him means he's either out of shape or I am really improving!

Monday -- CUBU Masters @ Prep w/ Dirk. Main set of 2x(2x300, 2x100, 2x50, 2x25, 1:20/100y pace), 6x75 kick (easy-fast-easy), 5x100 (on 1:40), 2x100 (on 1:30), 4000y total. I felt pretty bad in this swim. Went out too fast in the first part of the set and paid for it!

Tuesday -- Solo @ GISC. Main set of 3x(200 pull, 3x50 descend), 1x800(odds easy, evens build, finished just under 11:30), 3500y total. Did this during lunch break. Felt better than Monday, but I took it easy for half of the workout. The 800 was pleasantly comfortable and fast, for half of it being easy.

Wednesday -- Solo @ GISC. Main set of 8x400 pull, 3200y total. Simple! I just wanted to FLUSH OUT THE JUNK!

Thursday -- Solo @ GISC. Main set of 12x50 (dist./stroke odds, build evens), 5x(150, 100, 50, 1:20/100y pace), 4000y total. Another solo swim... thanks to a fanged deer that nearly killed Michelle. Swimming alone is tough but I did fine the past 3 days. Felt good!

Friday -- Force swim @ GISC w/ a scabby Michelle. Main set of 2x300 pull, 6x50 fast, 2x300 pull, 6x50 fast, 2x300 pull, 3600y total. The fast 50s were around 1:12/100y pace for each. Good to have Michelle back.

Saturday -- Snapple clinic @ W&L pool. Mainly drills, around 1200y total. Later in PM, swam @ GISC, 5x300 pull to get some yards in, 2700y on the day. I learned a few important but easily applicable improvements from Chip Berry, who had the fastest swim split at Nation's a couple years ago.

Sunday -- Muscular endurance @ GISC w/ Lucas and Michelle. Main set of 6x100 (:20 RI, 1:15/100y pace), 6x75 (:20 RI, 1:13/100y pace), 6x50 (: 20 RI, 1:10/100y pace), 6x25 (:20 RI, 1:00/100y pace), 3200y total. This was an AWESOME swim! Splitting the lane with Lucas again helped. We were able to really pick up the pace in each interval. 1:15 felt really good... felt tempo-like!

BIKING: ~100 miles total

Saturday -- Hilly 22.5 mile ride w/ Dirk on his Beach Drive hill loop. It was very cold and windy, and was pretty darn tired from ILT the day before and the swim at Wilson prior to this. Averaged 190 watts.

Monday -- ILT on the trainer, 9 minutes on each leg. Day off on from cycling on Sunday helped, I felt better.

Wednesday -- 15-mile zone 2 ride on the trainer. Felt average. 166 watt average.

Friday -- 15-mile zone 2 ride on the trainer. Same as Wednesday. 165 watt average.

Sunday -- 36-mile zone 1-2 recovery ride on the trainer. Felt a little weak for the first hour, was able to pick it up for the second half. 162 watt average.

Running: 35 miles

Wednesday -- 8 mile run on the Wootton track. I can't say I took it easy, averaged around 6:30/mile for 6 miles.

Friday -- 6 mile easy run around neighborhood trails after my trainer ride.

Saturday -- 15 mile trail run with Scott and Steve. Run ended up being quite a bit longer than planned, but it felt just fine. Only issue was my right hip which began to ache a little with all the hill climbing.

Sunday -- 6 mile easy run after my long trainer ride around neighborhood trails.