So I decided I'm going to start training again this time for a half Ironman. I know it's crazy that I did one race now I'm going to have waited 2 years then I'm going to do my second one. Truth be told I didn't stop because I wasn't interested in doing triathlons I stopped because I was too busy, too busy getting married and then too busy trying to figure out if I was going to move to Hawaii, and didn't know what was going on with my life and job so I couldn't focus on training for a race when I didn't know what race i was going to be doing. Unlike most people that compete in this sport I don't train and figure out what race I want to do as I go along. I focus on one race and put my full attention to that.
So since I moved to Hawaii and now can race on the same course as to where the Ironman championships are held I decided to go for it and truly focus on training again and try and actually compete this year, not just race to show I can do it and finish. This time I'm going for time and hopefully, if all goes to plan, a qualifying time for the 70.3 championships. And yes, I realize I'm lucky that I can now train year round outdoors. I realize that my downfall in my last triathlon that was that I didn't ride my bike nearly enough in order to be successful in my new sport. It didn't matter that I finished in the top 5% of the swim if my bike speed was 5mph slower then my competitors over a 56 mile bike ride I had no shot. That puts me 45 minutes behind the leaders when I start my run and no one can over come that deficit.
The only problems as I'm planning out my training are that I'll have at least a two week lay off over the christmas holiday, so until the holiday starts I'm planning on staying in a base phase of training to get my cardio, LT, and VO2 max as high as possible before then so that when I do take time off hopefully with doing yoga and plyometrics I won't lose much time. When I return from my break my plan is to do another 3 week base phase to hopefully regain anything that was lost. The other problem I am going to face is that I don't belong to a gym that has a pool, there is one that's associated with my gym but it's too far away just to go to gym at night for an hour swim. So I'll be doing about 95% of my swimming in the open ocean. The positives will be that I'll get used to swimming in the open water and more importantly the ocean, getting salt water in your mouth is very different then pool water when your swimming. The negatives will be that I won't be able to work on speed drills or technique drills as easily and monitoring my pace like I could in a pool will be much harder. Currently I think the benefits out weigh the negatives for me but this is only because I'm already a strong swimmer. I plan on gaging my progress by once a week starting in March swimming the same 1000m length in the Ala Moana park.
So far this week I've done three training sessions. One swimming, one running, and one biking (I'm also doing strength training to help with my biking but I"m not counting that towards my cardio preparation) the swimming workout I think was the most surprising to me. I swam about 400m when the salt water built up in my mouth so much that it began to irritate me and I started coughing in the middle of the ocean. I had to stop my swim in the ocean and return to shore. I was also feeling anxious about swimming in the open ocean, the water wasn't as clear as I thought it would be which freaked me out a bit. One positive though was that my spotting markers to swim didn't seem to slow me down at all. When I didn't my last race there were more then a few times that I was off course because I couldn't see where I was going so this was very encouraging. Three weeks out from the race I want to swim the Ala Moana park 1000m length 4 times without stopping. I'll focus on swimming last in my training, as it's my strongest event but because it's the least important time wise I think extra work but in here to gain a few seconds won't do me as well as getting in an extra ride a week that would earn me minutes if not more, and also because I think that my endurance can be gained much faster in swimming so I won't need to tapper as much.
My running went much better then expected. I ran almost exactly 6 miles in 54 minutes. Not the fastest time at a 9 minute per mile pace but considering it was my first long run since I've been in Hawaii and it was almost half the distance of the race I was very encouraged. I plan on extending my long runs each week by at least a mile. Once I get to a two hour run I will stop focusing on distance and just focus on building time. Eight weeks out from the race I want to do a 4 hour run without worrying about the distance at all just continuing to run for the entire 4 hours. This far out from the race it will allow me to properly recover from the run as well and make any adjustments to my training so that I can run the entire time during the race.
The bike didn't go as well as planned. Not sure if it was because of just having eaten or being out of shape. I biked for 40 minutes and only managed a 15 mph pace. Although there were many times that I had to stop because of waiting for traffic lights. I need to find a section of road around 10 miles long that doesn't have traffic lights or stop signs on it so that I can practice my cadence. I'd like to find that in a section close enough to bike to the spot ride it up and back and then bike home but that might be hard to do without going far outside of the city. This will also be hard without getting into really hilly areas. The north shore or Kailua would probably be best but these areas I'm not able to get to on my bike. For the race I want to finish with a minimum of a 20 mph pace, this means I'll need to be practicing on flat ground at a high pace that I'm currently able to go for more then a mile or so. Eight weeks out from the race I want to do a 4:30 to 5 hour ride, this will require setting up an aid station for myself possibly a 20 mile or so loop that I can do 3-4 times stopping to get water and other supplements each time. This ride will be done the day after the run. One so that the stress of the ride will effect me more on the run if it was done first than this way and two so that I know that my endurance level will be as stressed as much as it will be on race day. Again this will allow for enough time to make any corrections to training and recover from the stress of this weekend.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Monday, March 30, 2009
Anesthesia + Training doesn't mix
March 30 (Week 6 day 1) Ironman Triathlon Training Diary
Well its been a while since I've written in here so I'll try and do a quick recap of the past 10 days training
March 19th
Swimming: 3000yrd
Running: 45 min swim
I couldn't eat this entire day I was having a medical procedure the following morning and couldn't focus on working out because of being hungry the entire time.
March 20th
Medical procedure no workout. When I woke up from my nap later in the afternoon I had no recollection of what had happened since I went in for the procedure. I guess this is why they said I couldn't drive for 24 hrs. The anesthesia would effect me for more then a week though and at times when I worked out hard I felt like I was missing seconds. The Dr. said this was normal though and to just limit the amount of intense workouts I was doing.
March 21st
30 minute bike ride about 7.5 miles
March 22nd
45 minutes on bike trainer
March 23rd
55 minutes on bike trainer
March 24th
Rest day
March 25th
6.5 mile run. It was supposed to be a 4.5 mile run at lunch but I got lost and had to run an extra 2 miles. I still managed to finish the run in 55 minutes
March 26th
Soccer game, played about 40 minutes of the game with constant sprinting. Well over 4 miles of running but still felt rested at the end of the game. This was the first time that at the end of an indoor game I was ready to play another one and I played more then twice as much as normal.
March 27th
4 mile run at lunch finished in about 35 minutes.
March 28th
1 hour on the bike trainer
March 29th
This was my big workout day. I had planned on it being on Saturday but decided we needed to get yard work done and it was supposed to rain on Sunday so it seemed a better way to go.
I decided to do my workout in order of the triathlon events. So swimming came first started with a 400 wu, 4x500, 300 kick alternating 50 free 50 butter, finished with 3x100 cd. During the swim I felt tired and like I hadn't swam in weeks which I hadn't at times I felt like the distance was going to get to me and I would need to stop. I powered through it and finished the workout. My one main problem was that I had to wear board shorts instead of my normal speedo jam shorts because they got a hole in them. The difference in drag was amazing and I could feel how much harder I was having to work.
I came home and started my bike on the trainer. My goal was 2 hours at a constant speed on the trainer. At a friends request I added an endurance drink to this longer workout to see how it would effect me (endurance drinks should be used anytime you are going to be working out for more the 2 straight hours at that point if you don't add in some type of protein your body will literally start breaking down muscle to consume itself). He suggested I get Accelerade but when I went to my local bike shop, where many of the people compete in longer rides and full distance triathlons, they suggested Perpetuem they said it was easier on the stomach and in their opinion tasted better. So i got it and used it on this ride. To me the difference was extremely noticeable, my legs didn't feel tired almost at all and even at the end of the ride could feel myself even speeding up (I was trying to resist this because I wanted to save some energy for the run).
After the bike I quickly changed shoes, took a quick swig of Gatorade, and was out the door. I need to start feeling what its like to switch from a long bike to the run because everyone that I've talk to said its a strange feeling, and they were right. I started my run on the downhill to the main street that I normally run on. Now I'm sure its due to the bike I had just done but my stride length was very different then normal and felt like it was almost slowing me down on the run and not that I was tired but because my legs just weren't used to needing to stretch out like that. This lasted for about the first 1/2 mile then I could feel my legs return to their normal stride length. I ran about 2 and a half miles on my run, more because I had to go to the bathroom then because I was tired.
This training really made me feel better about where I was in getting ready for my race in six weeks. The swim I did almost double what I would need to, the bike probably about what I would need to, and the run was cut short because of other reasons then I was tired. I'm sure by the time the big day comes that I will able to push through the run even if I don't get any more endurance before then.
Well its been a while since I've written in here so I'll try and do a quick recap of the past 10 days training
March 19th
Swimming: 3000yrd
Running: 45 min swim
I couldn't eat this entire day I was having a medical procedure the following morning and couldn't focus on working out because of being hungry the entire time.
March 20th
Medical procedure no workout. When I woke up from my nap later in the afternoon I had no recollection of what had happened since I went in for the procedure. I guess this is why they said I couldn't drive for 24 hrs. The anesthesia would effect me for more then a week though and at times when I worked out hard I felt like I was missing seconds. The Dr. said this was normal though and to just limit the amount of intense workouts I was doing.
March 21st
30 minute bike ride about 7.5 miles
March 22nd
45 minutes on bike trainer
March 23rd
55 minutes on bike trainer
March 24th
Rest day
March 25th
6.5 mile run. It was supposed to be a 4.5 mile run at lunch but I got lost and had to run an extra 2 miles. I still managed to finish the run in 55 minutes
March 26th
Soccer game, played about 40 minutes of the game with constant sprinting. Well over 4 miles of running but still felt rested at the end of the game. This was the first time that at the end of an indoor game I was ready to play another one and I played more then twice as much as normal.
March 27th
4 mile run at lunch finished in about 35 minutes.
March 28th
1 hour on the bike trainer
March 29th
This was my big workout day. I had planned on it being on Saturday but decided we needed to get yard work done and it was supposed to rain on Sunday so it seemed a better way to go.
I decided to do my workout in order of the triathlon events. So swimming came first started with a 400 wu, 4x500, 300 kick alternating 50 free 50 butter, finished with 3x100 cd. During the swim I felt tired and like I hadn't swam in weeks which I hadn't at times I felt like the distance was going to get to me and I would need to stop. I powered through it and finished the workout. My one main problem was that I had to wear board shorts instead of my normal speedo jam shorts because they got a hole in them. The difference in drag was amazing and I could feel how much harder I was having to work.
I came home and started my bike on the trainer. My goal was 2 hours at a constant speed on the trainer. At a friends request I added an endurance drink to this longer workout to see how it would effect me (endurance drinks should be used anytime you are going to be working out for more the 2 straight hours at that point if you don't add in some type of protein your body will literally start breaking down muscle to consume itself). He suggested I get Accelerade but when I went to my local bike shop, where many of the people compete in longer rides and full distance triathlons, they suggested Perpetuem they said it was easier on the stomach and in their opinion tasted better. So i got it and used it on this ride. To me the difference was extremely noticeable, my legs didn't feel tired almost at all and even at the end of the ride could feel myself even speeding up (I was trying to resist this because I wanted to save some energy for the run).
After the bike I quickly changed shoes, took a quick swig of Gatorade, and was out the door. I need to start feeling what its like to switch from a long bike to the run because everyone that I've talk to said its a strange feeling, and they were right. I started my run on the downhill to the main street that I normally run on. Now I'm sure its due to the bike I had just done but my stride length was very different then normal and felt like it was almost slowing me down on the run and not that I was tired but because my legs just weren't used to needing to stretch out like that. This lasted for about the first 1/2 mile then I could feel my legs return to their normal stride length. I ran about 2 and a half miles on my run, more because I had to go to the bathroom then because I was tired.
This training really made me feel better about where I was in getting ready for my race in six weeks. The swim I did almost double what I would need to, the bike probably about what I would need to, and the run was cut short because of other reasons then I was tired. I'm sure by the time the big day comes that I will able to push through the run even if I don't get any more endurance before then.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Training back to normal
March 18th (Week 5 Day 2) Ironman triathlon training
Well I waited a day to make this post just to make sure my Monday training wasn't just a fluke and my body does feel back to normal to train.
March 16th
I headed home after work and went straight to the gym to get my swim in. I did a quick 250 WU, 2x1000, 250 CD. I was able to keep up my 1:40 / 100yrd split all the way through both 1000. All in all the swim only took me 50 minutes, which I was pretty happy with.
That was supposed to be my only activity of the day but I came home and after my fiance went to bed I decided to bike for 45 minutes on my trainer. Not too intense of a workout more just trying to get used to the different handle bars.
March 17th
I skipped my work party in order to train, now I know I'm taking this serious.
I got home and immediately changed to go for a run. This was the first time of the season where it was actually warm enough to go for a long run and still light out. Running out doors is very different then from on the treadmill. Normally on the treadmill I"m doing a constant speed with little to no grade change. Here I was going up and down hills and over different terrain. I still managed to finish the 3.5 miles in 30 minutes that I wanted to but it was a big change from the repetitiveness of the treadmill. I'm going to have to start switching all my runs to out doors, I just need to figure out the routes I can take so that I can put water in place to stay hydrated.
After my run I ate dinner and then decided to bike on my trainer again. I was supposed to go for 90 minutes but stopped at 75, I wasn't tired or anything I just didn't have a watch or a clock that I could see so I stopped to check and then I didn't feel like getting back on so I'll just add that extra 15 minutes onto my next ride on Friday.
March 18th
Today is a rest day, not so much from the workouts the last two days but because I'm going to do a 45 minute swim and then immediately attempt a 2hr run tomorrow so I want my muscles to be nice and relaxed for it.
Well I waited a day to make this post just to make sure my Monday training wasn't just a fluke and my body does feel back to normal to train.
March 16th
I headed home after work and went straight to the gym to get my swim in. I did a quick 250 WU, 2x1000, 250 CD. I was able to keep up my 1:40 / 100yrd split all the way through both 1000. All in all the swim only took me 50 minutes, which I was pretty happy with.
That was supposed to be my only activity of the day but I came home and after my fiance went to bed I decided to bike for 45 minutes on my trainer. Not too intense of a workout more just trying to get used to the different handle bars.
March 17th
I skipped my work party in order to train, now I know I'm taking this serious.
I got home and immediately changed to go for a run. This was the first time of the season where it was actually warm enough to go for a long run and still light out. Running out doors is very different then from on the treadmill. Normally on the treadmill I"m doing a constant speed with little to no grade change. Here I was going up and down hills and over different terrain. I still managed to finish the 3.5 miles in 30 minutes that I wanted to but it was a big change from the repetitiveness of the treadmill. I'm going to have to start switching all my runs to out doors, I just need to figure out the routes I can take so that I can put water in place to stay hydrated.
After my run I ate dinner and then decided to bike on my trainer again. I was supposed to go for 90 minutes but stopped at 75, I wasn't tired or anything I just didn't have a watch or a clock that I could see so I stopped to check and then I didn't feel like getting back on so I'll just add that extra 15 minutes onto my next ride on Friday.
March 18th
Today is a rest day, not so much from the workouts the last two days but because I'm going to do a 45 minute swim and then immediately attempt a 2hr run tomorrow so I want my muscles to be nice and relaxed for it.
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