Took today off

Ended up taking the day off as far as training goes. I had planned to do a cycling field test and a swim but last night I took a muscle relaxer... That seemed to help my back but it is still tender and I'd rather heal well and hit it hard than try to push through and potentially screw it up but good for my goal event.

It's funny because you get feeling so good and strong that you don't want to miss workouts, especially with a race coming up. It's 18 days from now and I hate to slack off, but realistically I will not get any faster before then... I could potentially run a bit stronger, longer at lactate threshold but probably not a big difference over the course of a 13.1 mile run.

So I'll see how I feel tomorrow and get in the water / run. I do need to get a long run in this weekend, I was hoping for a 12 miler on Sunday Morning.

Tweaked my back

Last night I tweaked my back picking up Heather. I was able to get on the bike for 50 minutes or so. I cut back the workout but got the intervals in (4 30 second power intervals to get my legs ready for tomorrow's field test). If my back doesn't straighten out I don't think that there is going to be a field test tomorrow...

My legs felt good but I felt like a slug. I was not able to get out of the saddle to pop over the little rises or jump coming out of corners. Its amazing how much you lose by not being able to do that. I'm hoping that I'll be ok for a long run this weekend, I was hoping to get a 12 miler in.

Distance: 12.7 miles Pace: 16.5 MPH Average HR: 132

Lake swim and a recovery run

Jill and I swam at Haviland pond today. This was the first swim in my new wetsuit and what a difference it makes!! The water was pretty clear and I did 4 loops of the island to the beach. Amy, Rich, Jill, and Sara did the pond perimeter, and Bob showed up for a while as well. Swimming through the weeds was a little freaky.

Did a recovery run at lunchtime that looked like this:

Went down to the gate and back, felt very tired; not sure if it was because of the swim or what. Raining, not too bad though.

The season looks like it will end with a bang... Then winter training starts with runs and rides outside as possible. Either a fairly flat century this weekend or a hilly 56 miles with Jill and Sara, IM Cancun on 9/17, tri in Hull on 9/24, Biketoberfest on 9/30, and the Wrentham Du on October 29. There is a marathon in Rhode Island that a buch of people from the team are doing on 10/21 so we might drop in on that too. Then before we know it the Snowstorm series will crank up as well as the fall / winter races that we like to run. Looks like we are going to have to step it up on converting the spare bedroom to an excercise room...

Distance: 3 miles Pace: 8:24 Average HR: 155

Running field test

In the CTS training program there are these periodic events called 'Field Tests' which are 8 minute maximum efforts in the run, bike, and swim which are used to fine tune the heart rates that you train at during the different interval sets. Today I did a running field test. The HR profile looked like:

I was able to cover 1810 meters in the 8 minutes which works out to a 7:07 mile which is my fastest to date. I treated this as I would a race, warmed up, stretched a bit, then let it rip!!

The average HR for the interval was 175 with a max of 192 which is slightly higher than my average HR for the 5 miler I did last weekend (race average was 187).

Ride and a run in VT

We all drove up to VT for Jill's 1/2 IM last night. All slept pretty poorly.

We rode part of the bike course today (for 45 minutes anyway). Good thing is that the course felt very fast, bad thing is that in is on a 50 MPH road. It's a rolling course with a very good shoulder. If your gearing is right you can carry the rollers at 20 MPH or so. There is a good climb from the bike loops on rt 7 back to transition that is a grinder. My bike profile was:

Distance: 13.8 miles Pace: 18.3 MPH Average HR: 135

We desperately tried to take a brief nap in the afternoon but that didn't happen, Heather simply would not fall asleep. I went for a dismal run and felt horrible (the A&W BBQ burger certainly didn't help things). I figure a crappy run is better than no run though.

Here's what it looked like. No idea on the distance, but it was for 45 min. Took the new fuel belt along to see how it felt. Definitely kicked ass.

Average HR: 149

Rain...

Well, weather forecasting has proven to be a bunch of bullshit again. Yesterday we were to have 80 degrees / partly cloudy today. It's been raining all day. At least the 'forecast' gets updated to reflect current conditions. So it's 58 degrees with rain, I'm supposed to have 1000M repeats today but it's not happenin!! I need time to pack anyway for Vermont.

Tomorrow we'll ride the course, and I'll do a hard run to make up for today.

Weather says sunny for tomorrow, I'm bringing raingear!!!

Climbing repeats

Went up to the tower 2X for climbing repeats. Felt dismal. Could not get my heart rate up for anything, probably due to the long run yesterday. My calves started to cramp up in the pool last night, so my legs need a break I think. During the climbs the highest I could get my HR was 156 and that was out of the saddle. Was in a weird place, legs were too fatigued to push the 24, yet could not turn the RPMs fast enough to get the HR to 160 in the 27.

Distance: 16.3 miles Pace: 16.2 MPH Average HR: 137

10.5 miler and a swim

10.5 mile run today, did the 5.5 mile loop twice (minus the out and back to the loop start). Time was 1:30:12 or 8:35s. Was pretty conservative with a heart rate average of 162 for the run which is about 85% of my projected race pace in the upcoming 1/2 marathon. Had to wait for traffic at 4 intersections, and took a water / gel break where the HR dips about 1/2 way through. In the last third the HR monitor was all over the place, I'm wondering if the strap is starting to go...

I need to start the 'drive to 185' for this race. If I can shave off an additional 5 lbs I gotta think that it will translate to either less effort, faster splits, or both.

Jill's mom is in town so we were able to go to the Y and swim from 8:30 - 9:30. I'm feeling better about this tri in Hull next month.

6 x 400M running intervals

6 400M running intervals at the track. Man these things sting. Best interval was 1:29, with the worst (5th) at 1:40. Busted out the last one @ 1:35.

Power intervals, and a real vacation in January

Power intervals on the dam and a quick run up to the tower. My quads and glutes felt pretty spent. Thought it was kind of weird to have power intervals the day after a race. Good crosswind on route 9 made it difficult in both directions. I was able to get my heart rate up during the power intervals themselves (which I was not sure would happen) but it was far from snappy. Coming back home, I was cruising 18 MPH in my 53/15 into a bad crosswind, legs burning and HR only 134 WTF??

I heard back from Disney today, they won't let us into the 1/2 marathon. Bummer man. I hope everybody else isn't pissed. Oh well, looks like we'll have to relax for a whole vacation (for once). Sounds fun!!

Resting heart rate was 46 this morning. Didn't beleive it so checked it again. Spot on @ 46. Clocked in at 52 before my ride. I wonder if it is down due to the high HR day yesterday.

Distance: 15.2 miles Pace: 16.0 MPH Average HR: 138

Peach festival 5 miler

Peach festival 5 mile road race today in Wilbraham. I wanted to use this as a gauge to see how much faster I have gotten, and if I could maintain it over a longer distance. It is a wheeled and therefore pretty accurate 5 miles over flat to slightly rolling terrain. Temperature was mid 70's and overcast with wet roads. Very humid. I figured my time would be between 40:00 and 42:30 (big range, yea) with a goal to be sub 41:00, and a stretch goal of sub 40:00. I came in at 40:26, or 8:05 / mile. If I could keep this up, this would mean a 1:45:58 1/2 marathon.... If only...

I warmed up for about 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile with a couple accelerations thrown in. Got the HR to 165 and sat in for a minute or 2. Dropped a gel 15 minutes before the start and did some light stretching. There was a 2 mile split and I clocked at 15:02; not too shabby, HR average was 189 but felt ok. Then I started to get slow. The next 3 miles were 8:25, 8:33; and 8:26. My heart rate monitor started freaking out a bit, I know that I backed off a bit due to not being able to breath (196 on HR monitor) and poured it back on after recovery which explains the slow mile 3. Hopefully the next 3 weeks of speedwork will drop the times a bit more.

Distance: 5 miles Pace: 8:05 HR average: 187

Saturday -- Off day

Took the day off today, felt weird (but good).

Fartlek intervals and a potential disaster

Ok, the disaster first. Yesterday I went on line to register Jill and myself for the Disney 1/2 marathon and it's phreaking full. So I sent a note to the race director (I think) to try to get in. We'll have to see what happens. The competitor list for Ironman Cancun was updated today. Including us there are 10 teams signed up so far. Not sure of the breakdown of male, female, and mixed.

Had an awesome fartlek interval workout today:

5 intervals, average heart rate was between 176 and 178 across the board. I could feel the workout in my legs today, most likely from yesterday's speedwork. I'll be taking tomorrow off and will do a 5 mile race on Sunday. Good Stuff!!!

1000M running intervals

Sweet workout today!! 3 x 1000M running intervals. Times were 4:14, 4:23, and 4:32 respectively. This works out to 6:48, 7:03, and 7:17 minute miles if I could keep it up. This is my fastest set of these to date with my slowest interval being as fast as my best with this workout in the past. Heart rate averages by interval were 180, 180, and 184.

There is a big club ride this evening at the Granby Cafe up Skinner moutain returning to the cafe for food and beer etc. Jill and I are going to a birthday party for a neighbor. It's just not fair!!!

Swim, Tempo and a flat....

Swam for about 50 minutes this AM, my workout was 10 x 100M with some drills thrown in(well, I kind of made it up). I need to start stringing them together. Last week I did 10 laps just to see if I could do it but it was hard. I think for my next pool workout I'll do 5 x 100M, 2 x 200M, 3 x 100M. I'd like the 1/4 mile to be easy stuff by the time the tri comes around in late Sept.

Well the ride started off bad, but didn't get too much worse (but could have). I jumped off a conference call and hopped on the bike. 30 lbs in the back tire, @#$%! I had not ridden since day before yesterday so I was hoping that I could throw some air in it and be ok for the hour+ ride. Not so lucky. Got about 12 minutes in and I'm riding the rim. Changed the tube in a hurry and I'm off again. I bought 2 tubes from Jerry to get me through until our performance order came in and upon inspection I think that they were 700C x 30 or something! Had a very hard time getting the tire to seat around where the valve connected into the tube because the grommet was too big for the wheel. Could feel it thumping for the rest of the ride. Didn't get as far as I wanted. Went up to the tower and coming back down (around 30 MPH) I thought that the back end felt a little squirly. I chocked it up to non-optimum tire pressure and kept on.

As I went by the state police barracks I dropped the chain on the outside of the 12 on the cassette. That NEVER happens so I stopped to check it out. It seems that the rear wheel was kind of floppy in the back. Holy cow! It's a good thing that I didn't hit a good bump, the back wheel would have flown off; Would have been a bad one. This is one con against horizontal drop-outs!!

Mile repeats

Mile repeats at the track today. Man these suck!! At 200M on my third interval my HR monitor screwed up (slid down my chest). I tried to fix but ended up shutting it off and completing sans technology. Interval 1 was 7:08, #2 was 7:21, and who know what #3 was (although I can pretty much guarantee that it was more than 7:21!!). In any case, the first 2 were my fastest miles to date which is pretty damn cool!! Got a massage tonight as well. The lady was ok, Jill got one as well and also got a rash from the lotion that was used. Personally I'd rather go to the place that we usually go. Not that we go that much but I think that monthly would be good. Definitely a better massage at the spa.

Power intervals

Power intervals on the dam today. There was a pretty good headwind going over the dam in the direction of the tower, it is pretty evident by the lower MPH (both iterations in the same direction. Speed was about 3 MPH lower as well. Did 2 intervals, then cruised up to the tower keeping my HR below 150 to recover, headed back down and finished up the intervals and headed back home. Longest bike workout will be an hour until after Ironman Cancun (then I have the tri the next weekend).

Distance: 16.1 miles Pace: 15.8 MPH Average HR: 140

5.5 mile loop

Ran the 5.5 mile loop today. First mile clocked in @ 7:44. I was feeling really good as my HR came down so decided to try to beat my fastest time which was 48:20 (until today!!). Awesome run that felt great. Finished the loop in 47:35 with 250 feet of ascent.

Distance: 5.5 miles Pace: 8:39 Average HR: 165

Long run at the cape

With the 1/2 marathon in Mexico fast approaching, I need to add some longer distances to the training... Ashley, Emma, Heather, and myself went to the cape on Friday night so I could help my folks put up the new awning.

I was able to go on an hour and 25 minute run... Awesome day, mid 70's and sunny. I'm not exactly sure how far I went but based on pace and heart rate I'd have to say that it was a bit over 9 miles. Felt great!! Nice solid HR average.

Distance: ?? Average heart rate: 161

Recovery run

Today did a 4 mile recovery run down to the water and back, my legs could definitely feel yesterday's workout! Mile 1 was 7:45; mile 4 was 8:30 (some climbing in that one...).

Distance: 4 miles Pace: 8:12 Average HR: 161

Swim, Quabbin loop, and a short run

Swam for 45 minutes this morning and Jill and I did the 56 mile quabbin loop followed by a short run. This is some tough riding with 3900 feet of climbing thrown in! We completed the loop in 3 hours and 4 minutes which is faster that my last time (its good to work with someone!!). Our run was about 2 miles which took 18 minutes or so. Man the run was not fun but we need to get our bodies used to the bike/run transition off a hard 1/2 ironman distance ride.

During the climbing aspect of the ride (which was a good part of it) I kept my HR between 160 and 165 to really concentrate on working my legs (strength, rather than aerobic).

Distance: 56.3 miles Pace: 17.9 MPH Average HR: 149

Rest day today

Taking a rest day today. Jill, myself, and perhaps Courtney will ride the Quabbin loop tomorrow. It's 56 miles and a lot of hills. A lot of folks on the team use it as training for Ironman Lake Placid. I need to give my quads a rest!!

After this ride I'll be scaling back on the bike to concentrate on the 1/2 marathon I have in mid September.

Running intervals and swim

Attempted to do 3 X 1000 meter running intervals today at the track. The first was clean at 4:30 which is 5 seconds off (in the bad direction) from the last time I did them. 2nd was extremely hard, and I blew up on the 3rd. I think that Saturday's century is still fatiguing my legs.

Had a session with my swim coach in the evening. This is the last of my scheduled lessons, I'll try to get another right before we go to Mexico as a tune up for the late Septemeber tri.

Swim and power intervals

Swam for 45 minutes in the AM and did 4 power intervals on the dam at lunchtime. Felt better than I though I would after the 100 miler on Saturday.

Recovery run

Ran a nice easy 3.8 miles to work some of the junk out of my legs. Ed ran with. I dropped him like a rock on the uphills. I think that the speedwork is really helping now.

Distance: 3.8 miles Pace: 8:45 HR average: 158

Century and a short run

The ride was posted as a 'Frowny Face'. I don't know what it is but I feel drawn to these...

The pace was to be spicy, mostly flat with a few climbs through Greenfield, then some more in Brattleboro VT and Hinsdale NH. I arrived on the early side and got my bike ready. Alan arrived, then Jim. What?? That's it? I was telling myself "oh #$%&, this is going to be a sufferfest". My computer profile for the day is:

We start out at about 7:40 and head north on rt 5 into Brattleboro VT. I felt ok on the hills though Greenfield; was trying to be conservative because I knew we had a long day ahead of us. For some of the steeper ups I'd drop off the back a bit. I did not let my HR go above 165 except for my pulls. I'd creep up to 170 then pull off. In Brattleboro we stopped for a refuel then headed over the bridge into NH. It's starting to get more hilly here and my quads can feel it. I'm starting to suffer at mile 65 or so, I can't get out of the saddle any more as I'm cramping up if my legs straighten. We go down route 63 and head back into MA stop again at a store. I buy a full on Coca Cola and man does it taste good! We're back on the bikes and I don't feel so bad any more. Got a second wind and was able to start pedaling strong again. Hook up to route 47 and we see Mark just starting out on his ride. Jim and I were working and we turned around and Alan was off in the distance. We were within 10 miles of completion and he popped. I hate to see that happen to anyone having been there myself.

Jim and I then went for a super short run because it doesn't count unless you run afterwards!

Distance: 97.6 miles Pace: 19.5 Average HR: 148

Swim today

Just a swim today so I can rest up for a 3 state century tomorrow (Saturday). That being said I got a really goot swim workout. I think that I will be ready for the tri in late September. Warmed up, then swam a bit more than a 1/4 mile, then finished up with a couple drills.

Concerned with my run workouts

I need to start adding some distance to my run workouts to get ready for this 1/2 marathon in September. I think that adding 1 mile per week to my long run should do it. I don't have to get to 13.1 miles before the race but I would feel good to get a couple 11 miles under my belt. Ran 6.5 miles today. 93 degrees and my legs could still feel the effects of the track workout and yesterday's power intervals.

Distance: 6.5 miles Pace: 9:03 Average HR: 163

Power intervals

Headed up route 202 for some power intervals. Felt pretty strong. Very hot day and pretty hilly course.

Distance: 13.4 miles Pace: 17.3 MPH Average HR: 153

8 x 200M running intervals, a swim, and more good news?

Went to the track at 4:30 or so and did 8 200 meter running intervals. 94 degrees, man was that tough!! I'm glad that I'm training fo something specific because if I were not I'd be real tempted to cut these workouts short. I think that it is important to train in the heat as well to get ready for Cancun. The intervals ranged from 40 seconds being the fastest to the last interval which was 47 seconds. HR rate for the intervals averaged 185.

I swam in the AM for 45 minutes as well.

I found out about a late September sprint tri in Hull MA. I am going to try like hell to make this my first. 1/4 mile ocean swim, 10 mile bike, and 3 mile run. I'll have to see if I can swim that distance on Friday