Went up to the tower with 2 steady state intervals. Felt good, nice warm day. Won't be too many more of these I think!

Distance: 15 miles Pace: 15.8 MPH Average HR: 141

8 x 300M running intervals

Went to the track today despite the fact that I had a race yesterday and did 8 x 300M running intervals. I felt pretty sluggish with my times falling between 1:09 and 1:12 consistently.

Wrentham Halloween duathlon

Excellent race, very windy. Took 4 minutes off my April time despite the 40 mile per hour wind. It was so windy that it actually took your breath away. On the end of the bike heading up to the transition area the headwind was so strong that several people actually got blown off their bikes. I think that I came out a little hot, and averaged 7:39 minute miles. Bike average speed was 19.1 MPH with 385 feet of ascent over 11 miles, and the second run worked out to 8:12 minute miles. In the spring I was at 8:20s on the first run, 18.4 on the bike, and 9:33s on the second run (no wind for the race).

I'm very happy with the result, but was wishing that the conditions were more conducive to a real comparison (weather as a constant). Oh well, we'll just have to race it again in April!!

Light day...prep for Wrentham

Light day today, rode the trainer for 1/2 hour with 3 x 30 second power intervals, nothing to tax the legs, just wanted to open them up to get ready for tomorrow. After the bike I ran downstairs and jumped on the treadmill for 15 minutes with 4 running strides (sprints).

Swim

Went to the pool this morning and swam for an hour. I feel like I'm slacking off, weird.....

Endurance run

Good news today! Dan (masters swim coach) called last night and apologized for the program getting cancelled in Belchertown. He will be starting up another program in Monson. In this one, we will meet once per week for 1.5 - 2 hours, and he will build workouts for the remainder of the week that we will complete on our own. Awesome!! I'll miss this week due to Wrentham, but will start up on November 5.


Ran the 5.5 mile loop today, it's funny because my HR seemed sluggish but my time still clocked in with 8:30s or so. Legs were heavy but on the several occasions where I got my HR up I really seemed to come alive, then as my HR dropped back down I got sluggish again.

Distance: 5.5 miles Pace: 8:35 Average HR: 158

Endurance miles

Took the bike out for an hour today. 43 degrees and very windy, up around the reservoir I almost got blown off a couple times. Jersey/arm warmers/thermal tights/vest/booties/gloves for kit. The race forecast for this weekend is for sun and wind (not rain yet) probably around the same temperature.

I was pretty bummed that the recreation department cancelled the masters swim program. It was the best thing I have done workout wise in some time I think. Now I 'll have to figure how how to get the good swim workouts in...

Distance: 15 miles Average speed: 15.6 Average HR: 140

400M running intervals (well sort of...)

Went to the track for 400M running intervals that just wern't happening.... My max heart rate was in the 160s and I was going anaerobic @ 300M and wheezing the rest of the way around.
I shut it down after 4 and just did some easy running.

Swim and trainer ride

Swam this morning for 1.5 hours, approximately 2000 M. Felt good. I think that the biggest advantage of the time in the pool is just that.... The time in the pool. It sounds weird but the more time spent in the water just seems to 'make you better'. The drills are super helpful too. The hardest part of today's workout was 8 50s on 1:20 followed by 5 descending (negative split) 150s with limited recovery. The recovery was 2 red hash marks on the timing clock; if you come in on the 1, you get 9 seconds rest between intervals, come in on the 4, you get 6 seconds. Not a lot in either case.

For the intervals on time, working harder sometimes won't buy you any time. If you want to rest between 50s, you need to be more efficient. This worked out well because it forced me to drive my hips and really reach. Through muscle memory I had 'forgotten' to drive my left hip since I had always breathed on my left side which threw my balance off and made it very difficult to breath to the right. But I'm back on track so it was an excellent workout.

On the other side of the coin my cycling workout was terrible, I was pressed for time so had planned to ride the trainer for 2 steady state intervals. For the life of me I could not get my HR into the range....highest I could get was 145, out of the saddle. As a result the workout ended up being endurance miles. My resting heartrate is up to 60, so I think that I may be slightly overtraining (normal is 53). The additional swim volume is doing it most likely, I think that I'll ease back a bit to try to be strong for the du this weekend.

Project stretch 10K

It was a pretty chilly start to the day (32 degrees). By race time (10:30) it had warmed up to 45. My plan called for shorts and a long sleeve, once I got to the start and warmed up I thought that I was going to be underdressed. But I had what I had, fortunatly it ended up being fine once I heated up. What an excellent race! Everything fell into place. Last year my time was 56:04 @ 9:04 minute miles. This year I had a goal time of 50 minutes, and came in at 48:30, or 7:48 minute miles.

What an excellent feeling !!! I've been chasing 7's for 2 years and I grab them on a hilly 10K. Unbelievable, it's very cool because these times are faster than my flat 5K or five mile times. Splits were as follows:
Mile1: 7:21
Mile 2: 7:19
Mile 3: 7:43
Mile 4 : 8:39 (really hilly)
Mile 5: 7:44
Last 1.2: 9:41

I'm hoping to crush the 1/2 marathon in November. I just have to get past this duathlon coming up....

Distance: 10K Pace: 7:48 Average HR: 184

Swim and recovery run

1.5 hour swim in the AM (about 1.25 miles) and a treadmill run in the evening. Nice easy pace in prep for tomorrow's 10K.

Distance: 3 miles Pace: 10:00 Average HR: 144

Recovery ride

Did a recovery ride on the trainer in the evening. I think that I will start doing more recovery rides on the trainer, this because I can control my heart rate better. Too many hills around here to come in at a low HR. This will be part of a 'mini taper' for the 10K this weekend.

Average HR: 111 for 30 minutes

Masters swim and tempo run

Swam for 1.5 hours this morning. It's really cool when you get a feeling for the water, you know when your strokes are good. On the converse, swimming is the only sport I know where you can work harder, yet go slower. As you try to power through the water if your stroke integrity falters so does your time... The key is to be strong AND keep the stroke together, I'm not quite there yet.

Gorgeous day this afternoon, partly sunny with the temps in the high 60s, was able to wear a short sleeve and shorts. I was not able to run until after work which is typically a low energy part of the day for me (especially with a 5:30 AM swim workout).

Tempo run was good, at first it did not feel that way but once I stepped it up and got into range it was fine. I did have to stop for traffic but was able to get my HR back into range fast enough as to not hose the interval.

Distance: 5.5 miles Pace: 8:34 Average HR: 163

400M repeats

Went to the track for 5 x 400M repeats. Overall my times were a wee bit faster than my last iteration of this workout as seen below:

Today Last time
1:31 1:34
1:28 1:29
1:32 1:36
1:35 1:37
1:34 1:40

It's a heartening feeling, but it take so long to get faster!! My right foot is still hurting pretty bad from the bruising, but it doesn't hurt while I am actually running unless the shoe is too tight.

My shoulders and core are a little sore from yesterdays swim workout.

Masters swim and recovery ride

I started the masters swim program today. I've been swimming for a while, but after today I realize that I have never done a 'swimming workout' per say. It was freakin hard man!! There are only 2 other people with me right now so it is really like getting 1 on 1 coaching. 1.5 hours in the pool is a long time!

We started with some warmups, then a bunch of laps of balance drills and moved into the workout portion. 8 1:30 50s followed by a timed 100 (2:10 for me), 300M pull set, 200M kick set and a 50M cool down.

Recovery ride on the bike which looked like: Recovery anything is pretty hard to do where we live as there are so many hills (elevation is dark red, 730 vertical feet today). I was able to keep the ride to an average of 131. I passed Shannon's husband on his bike as well.

Distance: 11.5 miles Pace: 15.1 Average HR: 131

Off day again...is this becoming a habit??

Legs sore today despite the easy pace yesterday. Since I'm running on paved roads I have to be especially careful with my back for a couple days after my long runs. A wrong move will typically tweak in a heartbeat due to the pounding.

I'm not sure what's going on but I have some pain and bruising on the top of my right foot, it seems like my shoes were too tight on my long run but it did not bother me during the run itself.

Long run

Long run today. I did the 6.5 mile loop followed by the 5.5 mile loop. Since I chopped one out, and one back to get to the loops it works out to about 11 miles. Casual pace, with a negative split. The next 2 weeks I won't be able to get a long run in due to the 10K, and duathlon coming up.

Distance: 11 miles Pace: 9:21 Average HR: 156

Took today off...

Given that I have a long run tomorrow I took today off. I have a pretty bad headache in my temples / behing my eyes as well as that shaky hypoglycemic type feeling that I can't seem to get rid of.

Swim and Tempo run

Went to the Y early this morning and swam for 40 minutes. Sometimes I feel like I've got it, other times not. Today I had both... My tempo run looked like:

I actually cooled down during the cooldown....well kind of. Cool down is tough since the back half of the run is all uphill. I felt like I was working less but my HR was still up.

Distance: 5.5 miles Pace: 8:49 Average HR: 168

Steady state intervals

Added an errand into my steady state intervals today, I signed up for a masters swim program in town that meets Mon, Wed, and Fri AM from 5:30 AM to 7 AM (ouch!). It was a little pricy at $80 per month (or $225 for 3 months). The day was windy and dreary, but the intervals were good, and being on the bike was great!! The bike shop called and my wheel is ready so I need to pick that up so I can get my 'good' bike rollin'.

Average HR: 150

Fartlek Intervals

Ran a 4 miler today with 3 fartlek intervals. Felt really good. At the end of the third interval I did not back off like I should have as my time was really good. I ended up pulling a personal best for that loop. Cool stuff! With this time of year the hard part is trying to figure out what to wear. Dress too light.. you freeze, too much...you overheat.

Distance: 4 miles Pace: 8:16 Average HR: 164

Steady state ride

Went up to the tower with 2 steady state intervals on my older bike (because my new one is in the shop). Boy could I feel the difference!! Great day @ 77 degrees, I don't think that there will be too many more of these left. Due to the holiday there were a lot of people at Quabbin.

No distance, speed, etc due to no computer on this bike.

Average HR: 144

11.6 miler

Jill and I ran with a bunch of people from the team this morning. Jill did 17, I dropped off the kids and joined for the last 11 of them. Excellent route out of Daves house with a couple good climbs. Good time, I need these longer runs to build back up for Philly. Didn't push my heart rate, these longer runs are to get my legs used to the miles again. Towards the end of October I'll start pushing the pace. I should be ready to rip the 10K in a couple weeks. The only issue is that I'll miss a long run due to the race.

Distance: 11.6 miles Pace: 9:39 Average HR: 163

Tempo run

Excellent, excellent run today. First mile was 8:00, chilled out down to route 9, then opened up a 20 minute tempo. Felt real strong and wrapped up the loop in 46:30 which is my fastest to date. I'm looking forward to this 10K coming up...

Distance: 5.5 miles Pace: 8:27 Average HR: 166

Endurance run

Today's treadmill run was not as good as yesterday's. I was at a 7:00 minute mile and could not get my heart rate over 168. I was supposed to have fartlek intervals but the run ended up being simply a 35 minute endurance run. I think that I will start replacing one of my longer bikes with a long run to try to train up for the Philadelphia 1/2 marathon. I feel like I have unfinished business from Cancun, it's kind of funny since there was an article that addresses this in this months Runners world. There is probably an article in the vein every month....but this time is feels pertinant.

Fartlek intervals

I'm in Richmond for a couple days so my workouts are going to be on the treadmill (unfortunately). I had 5 fartlek intervals today, I did the first 2 for the perscribed time but was feeling good so I compressed the last 3 into a single (3X as long) interval. Good stuff.

Time: 38 minutes Average HR: 160

Swim and power starts

Went to the Y early this morning and swam for 40 minutes. Rode to the dam at lunchtime for some power starts. I think I blew out the bearings in my rear hub, it sounds like rice krispies and the seat tube is vibrating like mad. I'll have to take it in... I'm glad that I have a spare bike with training for Wrentham.

Distance: 12 Miles Pace: 15.8 MPH Average HR: 138

Steady State intervals

Headed up to the tower with 2 steady state intervals. Felt good as I was able to get into the HR ranges well.

Distance: 15 miles Pace: 15.7 MPH Average HR: 145