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.
Monday, March 30, 2009
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.
Monday, March 16, 2009
New Bike
My amazing parents bought me a bike for christmas. It was a Trek 7.3 FX, great bike overall but not that great for doing distance ridding (it's a hybrid bike so the ride position is more like a mountain bike but it has more gears and smaller tires). So this past weekend while I was home I took it to the shop that sold it to them and convinced them that they should let me turn it in for full credit because it had not been ridden outside yet, which they let me. I tried out a bunch of different road bikes and could immediately feel a speed and handling difference. I ended up getting a Scott bike it was a little more expensive then the Trek bike but was a much better design.
I also ended up getting clip in pedals and shoes, something i've never used before and was a little scared to try (even the guy that sold them to me said you will fall down at least 4 times so just be ready for that). When we were going over the shoe options he was talking about the starter shoe and then the shoe that I should grow into and then the shoe that he has which is a high performance shoe with a carbon fiber sole. Well as he is saying this I notice that the shoe he has is on sale for only $10 more then the shoe he said I should start with (starter $108 carbon fiber shoe $118 normally $270). I asked why they were so cheap and he said it was because they were the last two they had in house and he didn't think they were going to order any more, lucky for me I have small feet and the two pairs they had left were the two sizes I was looking between. So in the end I got the super high end shoe.
My first few rids have been scary. Now I have yet to fall but let me tell you I have never been going that fast in my life on a bike and at one point I even past a car. A road bike has such a different feel then any mountain bike I have owned, you feel the road more and at least for me I feel less stable on the road bike because the handle bars are so much closer to the stem.
All in all I love my new bike and am very happy that I got it but so far my rides have felt very different then when I was on the trainer. I don't know if its because I feel like i need to go really fast or that I'm doing tons of hills now but the short rides I've been doing have tired me out just as much as the long rides I was doing on the trainer. I fear that I'm not as far along in my training for the bike as I thought. I'll keep you posted.
I also ended up getting clip in pedals and shoes, something i've never used before and was a little scared to try (even the guy that sold them to me said you will fall down at least 4 times so just be ready for that). When we were going over the shoe options he was talking about the starter shoe and then the shoe that I should grow into and then the shoe that he has which is a high performance shoe with a carbon fiber sole. Well as he is saying this I notice that the shoe he has is on sale for only $10 more then the shoe he said I should start with (starter $108 carbon fiber shoe $118 normally $270). I asked why they were so cheap and he said it was because they were the last two they had in house and he didn't think they were going to order any more, lucky for me I have small feet and the two pairs they had left were the two sizes I was looking between. So in the end I got the super high end shoe.
My first few rids have been scary. Now I have yet to fall but let me tell you I have never been going that fast in my life on a bike and at one point I even past a car. A road bike has such a different feel then any mountain bike I have owned, you feel the road more and at least for me I feel less stable on the road bike because the handle bars are so much closer to the stem.
All in all I love my new bike and am very happy that I got it but so far my rides have felt very different then when I was on the trainer. I don't know if its because I feel like i need to go really fast or that I'm doing tons of hills now but the short rides I've been doing have tired me out just as much as the long rides I was doing on the trainer. I fear that I'm not as far along in my training for the bike as I thought. I'll keep you posted.
Traveling+Eating Out+New Equipment = Bad Training weekend.
March 16th (Week4 Day 7) Ironman Triathlon Training
Well normally I summarize each of my days and how well training went on each of them. Lets sum up the bad this way. Friday night traveled back to my parents house got in around 9 was exhausted so didn't work out. Saturday spent most of the day picking out a new bike, awesome explain in a bit, then figuring out how to re-ride did about 8 miles of biking. Sunday had to pack up my grandma's house went out to lunch then traveled back home, still getting used to my bike did about 5 miles (maybe). That sums up my workout this weekend. All in all week 4 was a disaster for training and I feel like I took a step back rather then forward. This morning was no better had to get up to go pick up my car from the shop, for the third time in a week, so no training.
Well normally I summarize each of my days and how well training went on each of them. Lets sum up the bad this way. Friday night traveled back to my parents house got in around 9 was exhausted so didn't work out. Saturday spent most of the day picking out a new bike, awesome explain in a bit, then figuring out how to re-ride did about 8 miles of biking. Sunday had to pack up my grandma's house went out to lunch then traveled back home, still getting used to my bike did about 5 miles (maybe). That sums up my workout this weekend. All in all week 4 was a disaster for training and I feel like I took a step back rather then forward. This morning was no better had to get up to go pick up my car from the shop, for the third time in a week, so no training.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Terrible Training Day
March 13 (Week 4 day 4) Ironman Triathlon Training
Well last night's run was probably the worst I've had since I started training. Nothing seemed to go right. I headed to the gym after work to start my 90 minutes run. My goal was to run 10.5 miles in the 90 minutes. I got there only to realize that I forgot my head phones, then I realized I forgot my towel. Not good. I decided to run anyway and the first two miles seemed great. I was running at 8mph and then my left foot started cramping water, gatorade, powerbars nothing seemed to work. I thought that I had forgotten my shoe inserts so my arch wasn't being supported (this turned out to not be the case so I have no idea why it happened). At the two and a half mile mark I had to slow down to 4mph. I was watching Survivor by this point and decided that I would run only on the commericials (as they timed out to be about three and half minutes in duration each and this is about all my foot could stand running before it would start hurting again). After 70 minutes I had to call it quits my foot was hurting too bad and even walking was now bothering it. I had only done 6.5 miles well short of my 10.5 mile goal in 90 minutes like I wanted and I don't think i could have run at 12 mph for the last 20 minutes to make up the difference.
Any way even this morning my foot was hurting so bad that I couldn't get a workout it. This weekend I'm head to my parents house and my fiance and I brought our bikes so lets hope I have a good weekend of training.
Well last night's run was probably the worst I've had since I started training. Nothing seemed to go right. I headed to the gym after work to start my 90 minutes run. My goal was to run 10.5 miles in the 90 minutes. I got there only to realize that I forgot my head phones, then I realized I forgot my towel. Not good. I decided to run anyway and the first two miles seemed great. I was running at 8mph and then my left foot started cramping water, gatorade, powerbars nothing seemed to work. I thought that I had forgotten my shoe inserts so my arch wasn't being supported (this turned out to not be the case so I have no idea why it happened). At the two and a half mile mark I had to slow down to 4mph. I was watching Survivor by this point and decided that I would run only on the commericials (as they timed out to be about three and half minutes in duration each and this is about all my foot could stand running before it would start hurting again). After 70 minutes I had to call it quits my foot was hurting too bad and even walking was now bothering it. I had only done 6.5 miles well short of my 10.5 mile goal in 90 minutes like I wanted and I don't think i could have run at 12 mph for the last 20 minutes to make up the difference.
Any way even this morning my foot was hurting so bad that I couldn't get a workout it. This weekend I'm head to my parents house and my fiance and I brought our bikes so lets hope I have a good weekend of training.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Great Swim
March 12 (Week 4 Day 3) Ironman Triathlon Training
March 10
Took a must needed rest day and played Poker with friends at night (finally after three weeks of the game getting canceled).
March 11
Morning workout got canceled because I had to pick up my car from the shop. It was finally ready after 20 days in the shop.
After work I headed home had dinner and then headed to the gym. I was scheduled to do a quick warmup, long swim, and quick cool down (200 wu, 2500, 4x50 cd). When i got there I decided I needed to push my self a little harder so I did a 300 wu, 3000, 3x100 cd this would put me at just over 2 miles and my goal was to finish in 60 minutes. Warm up was easy and only took 1 minutes rest before I started my long set. The first 1000 went pretty easily and I was averaging just over 1:30 per hundred. The second 1000 I was starting to tire and could definitely feel myself getting distracted I know I wasn't going as fast as I could and a couple times thought I had forgotten what lap I was one. The last 1000 i really pushed myself to stay at a steady pace of 1:40 I found that I could see a second clock on the wall and was timing my 50s to be on the 50seconds. I finished up my long set at just under 50 minutes. I think if i could have focused through out the second 1000 I could have brought that time down but a couple minutes. All in all though I was able to finish the 3600 yards in 60 minutes.
Notes on how my body was feeling. I could definitely feel like I was getting dehydrated after about 1500 yards. At around 2500 yards I could feel my calves starting to feel like they were going to cramp every time I pushed off the wall. this was weird to me considering during my longer sets I barely kick. Next week I"ll try and use Gatorade before I start my swim instead of water to see if there is a difference in the feeling of dehydration and the onset of cramping over the long swim.
March 12
This morning I had to take my car back to the shop because they may have fixed my bumper and trunk but for some reason my interior lights and radio won't work. So that took up all my time before work so I didn't get in my 90 minute bike. Tonight I'm going to try and do my 90 minute run. Goal will be to run 10.5 miles in that time.
March 10
Took a must needed rest day and played Poker with friends at night (finally after three weeks of the game getting canceled).
March 11
Morning workout got canceled because I had to pick up my car from the shop. It was finally ready after 20 days in the shop.
After work I headed home had dinner and then headed to the gym. I was scheduled to do a quick warmup, long swim, and quick cool down (200 wu, 2500, 4x50 cd). When i got there I decided I needed to push my self a little harder so I did a 300 wu, 3000, 3x100 cd this would put me at just over 2 miles and my goal was to finish in 60 minutes. Warm up was easy and only took 1 minutes rest before I started my long set. The first 1000 went pretty easily and I was averaging just over 1:30 per hundred. The second 1000 I was starting to tire and could definitely feel myself getting distracted I know I wasn't going as fast as I could and a couple times thought I had forgotten what lap I was one. The last 1000 i really pushed myself to stay at a steady pace of 1:40 I found that I could see a second clock on the wall and was timing my 50s to be on the 50seconds. I finished up my long set at just under 50 minutes. I think if i could have focused through out the second 1000 I could have brought that time down but a couple minutes. All in all though I was able to finish the 3600 yards in 60 minutes.
Notes on how my body was feeling. I could definitely feel like I was getting dehydrated after about 1500 yards. At around 2500 yards I could feel my calves starting to feel like they were going to cramp every time I pushed off the wall. this was weird to me considering during my longer sets I barely kick. Next week I"ll try and use Gatorade before I start my swim instead of water to see if there is a difference in the feeling of dehydration and the onset of cramping over the long swim.
March 12
This morning I had to take my car back to the shop because they may have fixed my bumper and trunk but for some reason my interior lights and radio won't work. So that took up all my time before work so I didn't get in my 90 minute bike. Tonight I'm going to try and do my 90 minute run. Goal will be to run 10.5 miles in that time.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Weekend Mistake and Speed Swimming
March 10th (Day 1 Week 4) Ironman Triathlon Training
March 6th
Friday night I finished up the night doing a nice easy 90 minutes on the bike trainer I was able to keep good speed throughout the workout and finished about 27 miles. No real problems to speak of still sweating more then I want to but this could be because I don't use a fan so my body isn't getting the air resistance that it would if I was doing street ridding. During this ride I also tried just to use water on Sunday my plan was to add in Gatorade and see the difference.
March 7th
Originally my plan was to finish up my swim today and then do the bike on Sunday, this would allow me to finish all the training I was to do for the week but it would have been without a day off. Well I started reading online that you should really give yourself at least one day off a week it allows for your muscles to truly recover and will actually build strength and endurance faster. So I figured, we'll I'm training to be an endurance athlete anyway why not do my long swim and long bike on the same day. So...
March 8th
My Plan was to wake up early get my swim in come home have lunch and then go for my bike ride (it was finally supposed to be nice out so I was going to do my first outdoor ride). I woke up early to head to the gym and get my swim in but there was one problem, I couldn't find my gym back anywhere and it had all my swimming equipment in it suit, goggles, everything. Well my fiance had gone to a friends for the weekend because it was her friends birthday and on Monday she had a workshop that she needed to go to that was near her friends house so her plan was just to stay until Monday and then come home, my problem was I left my gym back in the back of her car because I had taken it to work on Friday. So now I wasn't able to do my swim, I decided to just eat my training loss and go for my bike ride. Well at just that moment the skies decided to open up and it started down pouring. I was going to try and get in a few rain day rides before the race (many experts say to train in all types of weather because race day conditions are not always pristine) but this was not going to be one of them. It was in the low 40s out and I don't really have the right rain gear to bike ride in plus it was going to be my first out door ride of the season. So I did my 120 minute ride on the trainer again. Gatorade made a big difference in the ride, it was much easier to sustain a higher tempo and I didn't even feel a bit fatigued until I passed the 90 minute mark. I could even notice a difference between when I was drinking the water during this ride and when I drank the Gatorade. When I would drink the water I could feel myself getting hydrated but when I would drink the Gatorade I could also feel my leg muscles getting energy. I know that sounds weird but have you ever been really dehydrated and drank something and you can almost feel it travel to you stomach that was the same feeling I was getting with the Gatorade but it was traveling to my Quads and Hamstrings.
March 9th
Yesterday morning daylight savings time really had my body all screwed up, I know it happened Saturday into Sunday and this was Monday but this is when I really felt it, so I didn't get a workout in because I was exhausted in the morning. When I came home from work though I headed to the gym with my fiance to get a goo swim in. I did the following set
300 WU, 400, 4x100, 300, 3x100, 200, 2x100, 3x100 CD
Each of the long swims were swam at about a 40-50% exertion and the 100s were swam at about a 80-90% exertion the last 3 100s for the cool downs were swam slower then the last.
It was amazing to me I haven't timed myself in the 100 since college and probably haven't broken 1:15 since high school (in high school my best time was 0:54:9). The first set of 100s the first 2 broke 1:15 and then the last 100 of the entire swim was at 1:10. I was dumb founded at how fast I was able to swim and this was with very little rest between sets (1 minute at the most) it felt really good to see the results in a way that I had been used to seeing them my entire life, when I was seeing a minute drop off my 1000 time it really didn't mean that much because I didn't know how to equate it but to me this was real proof of the results.
March 10th
This morning again my body just wasn't adjusted to the time change I was able to get up at 7 pretty easily, which a week ago would have been 6, but that isn't early enough to get a good workout in. Tonight I'm supposed to play in my Tuesday night poker game lets hope I get to play after being canceled the last 3 weeks.
March 6th
Friday night I finished up the night doing a nice easy 90 minutes on the bike trainer I was able to keep good speed throughout the workout and finished about 27 miles. No real problems to speak of still sweating more then I want to but this could be because I don't use a fan so my body isn't getting the air resistance that it would if I was doing street ridding. During this ride I also tried just to use water on Sunday my plan was to add in Gatorade and see the difference.
March 7th
Originally my plan was to finish up my swim today and then do the bike on Sunday, this would allow me to finish all the training I was to do for the week but it would have been without a day off. Well I started reading online that you should really give yourself at least one day off a week it allows for your muscles to truly recover and will actually build strength and endurance faster. So I figured, we'll I'm training to be an endurance athlete anyway why not do my long swim and long bike on the same day. So...
March 8th
My Plan was to wake up early get my swim in come home have lunch and then go for my bike ride (it was finally supposed to be nice out so I was going to do my first outdoor ride). I woke up early to head to the gym and get my swim in but there was one problem, I couldn't find my gym back anywhere and it had all my swimming equipment in it suit, goggles, everything. Well my fiance had gone to a friends for the weekend because it was her friends birthday and on Monday she had a workshop that she needed to go to that was near her friends house so her plan was just to stay until Monday and then come home, my problem was I left my gym back in the back of her car because I had taken it to work on Friday. So now I wasn't able to do my swim, I decided to just eat my training loss and go for my bike ride. Well at just that moment the skies decided to open up and it started down pouring. I was going to try and get in a few rain day rides before the race (many experts say to train in all types of weather because race day conditions are not always pristine) but this was not going to be one of them. It was in the low 40s out and I don't really have the right rain gear to bike ride in plus it was going to be my first out door ride of the season. So I did my 120 minute ride on the trainer again. Gatorade made a big difference in the ride, it was much easier to sustain a higher tempo and I didn't even feel a bit fatigued until I passed the 90 minute mark. I could even notice a difference between when I was drinking the water during this ride and when I drank the Gatorade. When I would drink the water I could feel myself getting hydrated but when I would drink the Gatorade I could also feel my leg muscles getting energy. I know that sounds weird but have you ever been really dehydrated and drank something and you can almost feel it travel to you stomach that was the same feeling I was getting with the Gatorade but it was traveling to my Quads and Hamstrings.
March 9th
Yesterday morning daylight savings time really had my body all screwed up, I know it happened Saturday into Sunday and this was Monday but this is when I really felt it, so I didn't get a workout in because I was exhausted in the morning. When I came home from work though I headed to the gym with my fiance to get a goo swim in. I did the following set
300 WU, 400, 4x100, 300, 3x100, 200, 2x100, 3x100 CD
Each of the long swims were swam at about a 40-50% exertion and the 100s were swam at about a 80-90% exertion the last 3 100s for the cool downs were swam slower then the last.
It was amazing to me I haven't timed myself in the 100 since college and probably haven't broken 1:15 since high school (in high school my best time was 0:54:9). The first set of 100s the first 2 broke 1:15 and then the last 100 of the entire swim was at 1:10. I was dumb founded at how fast I was able to swim and this was with very little rest between sets (1 minute at the most) it felt really good to see the results in a way that I had been used to seeing them my entire life, when I was seeing a minute drop off my 1000 time it really didn't mean that much because I didn't know how to equate it but to me this was real proof of the results.
March 10th
This morning again my body just wasn't adjusted to the time change I was able to get up at 7 pretty easily, which a week ago would have been 6, but that isn't early enough to get a good workout in. Tonight I'm supposed to play in my Tuesday night poker game lets hope I get to play after being canceled the last 3 weeks.
Friday, March 6, 2009
First Runners High
March 6 (Week 3 Day 4) Ironman Triathlon Training
I realized this morning that I never wrote about what I did yesterday morning, well it wasn't much so maybe that's why I didn't write about it. Yesterday morning I had my last physical therapy appointment, great for my neck and back but not really a workout so onwards.
Last night I think for the first time in my life I experienced a runners high. I started off with my normal 30 minute constant run but this time increased it up to 7mph completed that with ease then took 40-50 second breaks every ten minutes while still running at 7 mph. For some reason right around the hour mark I started to feel more energized then I had since the first 5 minutes of the run and just continued on for the last 30 minutes at 6.7 mph. In all i finished the 90 minute run right at 10 miles. It felt really good to finish the first 9 miles 5 minutes faster then I had previously been able to do it and then to complete the 10 mile was awesome. I finished up by walking another mile (I was in the middle of watching Survivor so I couldn't just leave).
This morning though my legs felt like jello again and I finally got a blister on my one foot, figured it was bound to happen sooner or later, so I didn't do any exercising, however, if I work out tonight and do a short workout tomorrow (supposed to be my day off) then I will for the first time completed every workout I was supposed to do for the week according to my training guide. I might not have finished all of them in order or on the right days but I will have done all of them.
I realized this morning that I never wrote about what I did yesterday morning, well it wasn't much so maybe that's why I didn't write about it. Yesterday morning I had my last physical therapy appointment, great for my neck and back but not really a workout so onwards.
Last night I think for the first time in my life I experienced a runners high. I started off with my normal 30 minute constant run but this time increased it up to 7mph completed that with ease then took 40-50 second breaks every ten minutes while still running at 7 mph. For some reason right around the hour mark I started to feel more energized then I had since the first 5 minutes of the run and just continued on for the last 30 minutes at 6.7 mph. In all i finished the 90 minute run right at 10 miles. It felt really good to finish the first 9 miles 5 minutes faster then I had previously been able to do it and then to complete the 10 mile was awesome. I finished up by walking another mile (I was in the middle of watching Survivor so I couldn't just leave).
This morning though my legs felt like jello again and I finally got a blister on my one foot, figured it was bound to happen sooner or later, so I didn't do any exercising, however, if I work out tonight and do a short workout tomorrow (supposed to be my day off) then I will for the first time completed every workout I was supposed to do for the week according to my training guide. I might not have finished all of them in order or on the right days but I will have done all of them.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Don't go to the Gym durring peak time.
March 5th (Week 3 Day 3) Ironman Triathlon Training
So last night I attempted to go to the gym directly after work with my fiance to get a good run in. When we got there non of the cardio equipment was available and the YMCA I go to has quite a large number of cardio machines, finally after 15 minutes of waiting a elliptical trainer opened up (not what I wanted but it would have to do because its 30 degrees out and 6 inches of snow on the ground) I would have rather gotten a treadmill but it will have to do. The plan was to do a quick 30 minute cardio workout (for those of you that don't know a cardio workout is when your heart rate is in the aerobic zone between 70-80% of your max heart rate for me that's approx 163-172 beats per minute) now working on the elliptical I found out is quite different then running on a treadmill.
For one, according to the speed indicator on the elliptical I was able to run at a constant 9-10 mph for the entire 30 minutes without ever raising my heart rate above 135 (which would be considered a fat burning workout) now on a tread mill running at a constant 9-10 mph would raise my heart rate to my targeted 165 beats per minute with in two minutes and at this point in my training would probably need to slow down with 7-10 minutes after that otherwise my heart rate would get too high and I would then be working in an anerobic threshold of my heart rate which isn't want I want.
The second and even bigger difference is that your stride length never changes no matter what speed you are going. This is vastly different from a treadmill or outdoor running, a 3 mph walk should not have the same feeling as a 10 mph run. Which brings me to my point about why I just didn't go faster to raise my heart rate to the correct cardio zone, it was impossible for me to make the elliptical go as fast as would need be to raise my heart rate up because I was taking a stride length that on a normal treadmill would be, for me anyway, about a 6 mph pace so taking eight million extra strides to speed up to a higher speed for a better heart rate just wasn't working.
The annoying thing for me was that there was no one monitoring the cardio room, normally during peak time they ask that you limit your workout to 30 minutes to accommodate as many people as possible and are pretty strict about enforcing it. There were many kids in there that I don't even think were old enough to be in the cardio room (my ymca has a strict 16 & over policy for the cardio room) and worse yet half the time they were on the treadmills they were just standing on the rails talk to each other while the treadmill was still going. Now these kids definitely needed to be working out but working out and socializing are too different things.
**RANT OVER**
This morning was my last physical therapy session so obviously no workout and I should be able to get back to a good training regiment next week without interruption, and better yet on the way into work I found out its supposed to be 65 this weekend which means no more snow, outdoor riding, and better running.
So last night I attempted to go to the gym directly after work with my fiance to get a good run in. When we got there non of the cardio equipment was available and the YMCA I go to has quite a large number of cardio machines, finally after 15 minutes of waiting a elliptical trainer opened up (not what I wanted but it would have to do because its 30 degrees out and 6 inches of snow on the ground) I would have rather gotten a treadmill but it will have to do. The plan was to do a quick 30 minute cardio workout (for those of you that don't know a cardio workout is when your heart rate is in the aerobic zone between 70-80% of your max heart rate for me that's approx 163-172 beats per minute) now working on the elliptical I found out is quite different then running on a treadmill.
For one, according to the speed indicator on the elliptical I was able to run at a constant 9-10 mph for the entire 30 minutes without ever raising my heart rate above 135 (which would be considered a fat burning workout) now on a tread mill running at a constant 9-10 mph would raise my heart rate to my targeted 165 beats per minute with in two minutes and at this point in my training would probably need to slow down with 7-10 minutes after that otherwise my heart rate would get too high and I would then be working in an anerobic threshold of my heart rate which isn't want I want.
The second and even bigger difference is that your stride length never changes no matter what speed you are going. This is vastly different from a treadmill or outdoor running, a 3 mph walk should not have the same feeling as a 10 mph run. Which brings me to my point about why I just didn't go faster to raise my heart rate to the correct cardio zone, it was impossible for me to make the elliptical go as fast as would need be to raise my heart rate up because I was taking a stride length that on a normal treadmill would be, for me anyway, about a 6 mph pace so taking eight million extra strides to speed up to a higher speed for a better heart rate just wasn't working.
The annoying thing for me was that there was no one monitoring the cardio room, normally during peak time they ask that you limit your workout to 30 minutes to accommodate as many people as possible and are pretty strict about enforcing it. There were many kids in there that I don't even think were old enough to be in the cardio room (my ymca has a strict 16 & over policy for the cardio room) and worse yet half the time they were on the treadmills they were just standing on the rails talk to each other while the treadmill was still going. Now these kids definitely needed to be working out but working out and socializing are too different things.
**RANT OVER**
This morning was my last physical therapy session so obviously no workout and I should be able to get back to a good training regiment next week without interruption, and better yet on the way into work I found out its supposed to be 65 this weekend which means no more snow, outdoor riding, and better running.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Poker Cancelled Workouts resume
March 4th (week 3 day 2) Ironman Triathlon Training.
So after planning on playing poker all night my friends decided to cancel with 15 minutes notice. Luckily I had already planned for this because I brought my work out stuff with me to work anyway. So after work I headed straight for the gym to try and complete both the workouts I was supposed to do today and was planning on doing on Saturday.
My Ironman triathlon training workout for today was swimming and running, 60 minutes or each. My swimming workout was quite easy 6x500. For some reason the third one was exhausting my left lat was feeling weak and felt like it was going to start cramping but when I started my fourth set it seemed fine and I finished my workout without any more problems. At the end of my swim i was talking to a friend of mine from the gym that has done many 70.3 Ironmans and even competed in worlds last year, I was asking him about using a wet suit during the swim. I had noticed when looking at photos online that almost always the majority of the participants wear a wet suit even if the water temp was in the 70s and was asking him if he had used one in the past, what benefits are there to wearing one, and do you need to use anything to prevent chafing while swimming with them since your body isn't used to it. He encouraged me that anytime the USAT allows you to use one to use it. He said that it increases your buoyancy so much that it turns an average swimmer into a good swimmer, it won't make you a great swimmer but it will make you faster, on a side note he actually doesn't like races where you are allowed to use them because he is such a good swimmer that it levels the playing field more during the swim and he has to work even harder to get ahead. He said if you are going to use a wetsuit and you are a good swimmer make sure you go out in the swim hard to get ahead of most of the other participants, according to him anytime you are in the swim being away from other participants will actually make you faster because you aren't worrying about being kicked or blocked in. And as far as chafing is concerned, they make a roll-on (kind of like a roll-on deodorant) greaser that is more the consistence of Pam cooking spray but for the most part its not needed unless you are swimming a full (2.4 mile) ironman. On a side note never use a petroleum based product, like Vasoline, on a wetsuit it will destroy it.
After the swim I hit the treadmill for 60 minutes. In the end I completed 6 miles but this was a much harder 6 miles then the 9 I had completed on Saturday after my swim. I started out running at 7 mph but was exhausted after only 20 minutes i slowed down to 6.5 mph for another 5 minutes then had to walk at 4 mph for another 10. After that I would do 5 minute intervals for the remaining 25 minutes of the workout, run for 1-2 minutes at 8 mph and walk the other 3-4 minutes at 4 mph. I hit 6 miles right at the hour mark. I was concerned about why this was so much harder the last Saturday so lets explore my nutrition and activities leading up to each workout.
As I was heading to the gym for both workouts I ate a Powerbar Performance (peanut butter is my favorite), I realized after looking at the Powerbar website that I was using their product wrong. The powerbar performance bars are supposed to be eaten 30 minutes BEFORE a workout, I had been trying to use them during my workouts and wasn't getting the full benefit of them. So there was no difference there. But during my swim on Saturday I had a Gatorade during my swim and last night I was drinking only water at the breaks of my swim (my runs on both days I drank both Gatorade and water). Could that little difference of a Gatorade really made all the difference or was it what I had eaten the meal just prior to workout, lunch for yesterdays workout and dinner on Friday for Saturdays workout. Friday night I had a large portion of chicken alfredo full of complex carbs and proteins, Tuesday lunch I had a couple things of fruit (good simple carbs) and a pulled pork sandwich and okay source of protein. I'll have to do some experimenting with different foods in my meals prior to workout to see what benefit I get from each. I don't want to always be eating pasta just to have enough carbs to work out but I don't want to be struggling through my workouts either. For now I'll change the one variable I know I can control, if I'm going to be doing two activities back to back I'll make sure I have a Gatorade during both to see if that makes a difference or not.
So after planning on playing poker all night my friends decided to cancel with 15 minutes notice. Luckily I had already planned for this because I brought my work out stuff with me to work anyway. So after work I headed straight for the gym to try and complete both the workouts I was supposed to do today and was planning on doing on Saturday.
My Ironman triathlon training workout for today was swimming and running, 60 minutes or each. My swimming workout was quite easy 6x500. For some reason the third one was exhausting my left lat was feeling weak and felt like it was going to start cramping but when I started my fourth set it seemed fine and I finished my workout without any more problems. At the end of my swim i was talking to a friend of mine from the gym that has done many 70.3 Ironmans and even competed in worlds last year, I was asking him about using a wet suit during the swim. I had noticed when looking at photos online that almost always the majority of the participants wear a wet suit even if the water temp was in the 70s and was asking him if he had used one in the past, what benefits are there to wearing one, and do you need to use anything to prevent chafing while swimming with them since your body isn't used to it. He encouraged me that anytime the USAT allows you to use one to use it. He said that it increases your buoyancy so much that it turns an average swimmer into a good swimmer, it won't make you a great swimmer but it will make you faster, on a side note he actually doesn't like races where you are allowed to use them because he is such a good swimmer that it levels the playing field more during the swim and he has to work even harder to get ahead. He said if you are going to use a wetsuit and you are a good swimmer make sure you go out in the swim hard to get ahead of most of the other participants, according to him anytime you are in the swim being away from other participants will actually make you faster because you aren't worrying about being kicked or blocked in. And as far as chafing is concerned, they make a roll-on (kind of like a roll-on deodorant) greaser that is more the consistence of Pam cooking spray but for the most part its not needed unless you are swimming a full (2.4 mile) ironman. On a side note never use a petroleum based product, like Vasoline, on a wetsuit it will destroy it.
After the swim I hit the treadmill for 60 minutes. In the end I completed 6 miles but this was a much harder 6 miles then the 9 I had completed on Saturday after my swim. I started out running at 7 mph but was exhausted after only 20 minutes i slowed down to 6.5 mph for another 5 minutes then had to walk at 4 mph for another 10. After that I would do 5 minute intervals for the remaining 25 minutes of the workout, run for 1-2 minutes at 8 mph and walk the other 3-4 minutes at 4 mph. I hit 6 miles right at the hour mark. I was concerned about why this was so much harder the last Saturday so lets explore my nutrition and activities leading up to each workout.
As I was heading to the gym for both workouts I ate a Powerbar Performance (peanut butter is my favorite), I realized after looking at the Powerbar website that I was using their product wrong. The powerbar performance bars are supposed to be eaten 30 minutes BEFORE a workout, I had been trying to use them during my workouts and wasn't getting the full benefit of them. So there was no difference there. But during my swim on Saturday I had a Gatorade during my swim and last night I was drinking only water at the breaks of my swim (my runs on both days I drank both Gatorade and water). Could that little difference of a Gatorade really made all the difference or was it what I had eaten the meal just prior to workout, lunch for yesterdays workout and dinner on Friday for Saturdays workout. Friday night I had a large portion of chicken alfredo full of complex carbs and proteins, Tuesday lunch I had a couple things of fruit (good simple carbs) and a pulled pork sandwich and okay source of protein. I'll have to do some experimenting with different foods in my meals prior to workout to see what benefit I get from each. I don't want to always be eating pasta just to have enough carbs to work out but I don't want to be struggling through my workouts either. For now I'll change the one variable I know I can control, if I'm going to be doing two activities back to back I'll make sure I have a Gatorade during both to see if that makes a difference or not.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Weekend and Snow Day review
March 2nd (start of 3rd Week) Ironman Triathlon Training
Feb 27th Ironman Triathlon Training
Finishing up my work out didn't happen Friday night but this was more due to choice then because I was lazy or any other distractions.
Feb 28th Ironman Triathlon Training
I decided I wanted to push myself even more on Saturday so i woke up early and headed to the gym.
Swim - 2x300 wu, 1500, 500 fast, 4x100 cd
Run - 90mins 9.25 miles (finished 9 miles in 85minutes then did a 5 minute cd walk)
The Swim I felt great and I decided to change up the work out slightly from the one purposed, it was supposed to be 2x1000. Well during the first 1000 I decided that I need to get some speed back into my workouts even if it's distance speed and I was still feeling strong 750yrds into it so I pushed myself to finish the 1500 (which i did in just over 26min) and then rested for 4 minutes. My goal for the 500 was 7:30 (which is a 1:30 per 100yrd time my goal for the actual swim will be a 1:20 per 100m split) I ended up finishing right at the 8min mark. Good but not what I wanted. I could chalk it up to having already completed 1900yrds but this is still off the pace I want to be able to do through out the swim.
The run felt much better the last week. Tip of advice when ironman triathlon training make sure you either run with synthetic boxers or no underwear at all, I was still chafed from last week (hence not running all week except for soccer) and at the end of the run and even the next day the chafing wasn't worse. This time i was able to run at 6.5mph for the first 30 minutes then I switched to 40s rest and 9:20min run at 6.5 for the next 30 minutes the remaining time was spent at 6mph 1:30 rest and 8:30 run until I finished the 9 miles. Originally my plan was to walk for another 30 minutes to get up to 11 miles but my legs were starting to give out so I decided that since I had swam immediately before the run and I finished the 9 miles 5 minutes faster then last week that I was good to finish up.
March 1st Ironman Triathlon Training
My fiance had been bugging me for weeks to do our taxes and she needed the day to do report cards for her kids so this was the day I decided to do them. I still had a swim to make up and the Bike that was scheduled for the day. In the end I wasn't able to get to the swim because the gym is only open until 7 on Sundays and I didn't finish my taxes until 6. My biking went well did 90 minutes approximately 24-25 miles.
March 2nd Ironman Triathlon Training
Woke up to find 12inches of snow on the ground with my street still not being plowed. So I figured running this morning was out of the question so I hit the bike again. Did 60 minutes on the trainer approx 17 miles. Felt good the entire time and really worked on my tempo. I was able to maintain a 65-67 rpm rate through out the entire time I was on the trainer.
My work actually was canceled because of the snow so at 12 I headed over to the gym to get a swim and run in. Only to find out when I got there that they decided not to open for the day. I ran some errands and headed back home. I really wasn't in the mood to bike any more so I took the rest of the day off.
March 3rd Ironman Triathlon Training
Today I had physical therapy in the morning, so that killed any chance at a morning workout, and I am planning on staying late at work to play poker with some friends. So I guess after a good weekend of training today will be my rest day for this week.
Feb 27th Ironman Triathlon Training
Finishing up my work out didn't happen Friday night but this was more due to choice then because I was lazy or any other distractions.
Feb 28th Ironman Triathlon Training
I decided I wanted to push myself even more on Saturday so i woke up early and headed to the gym.
Swim - 2x300 wu, 1500, 500 fast, 4x100 cd
Run - 90mins 9.25 miles (finished 9 miles in 85minutes then did a 5 minute cd walk)
The Swim I felt great and I decided to change up the work out slightly from the one purposed, it was supposed to be 2x1000. Well during the first 1000 I decided that I need to get some speed back into my workouts even if it's distance speed and I was still feeling strong 750yrds into it so I pushed myself to finish the 1500 (which i did in just over 26min) and then rested for 4 minutes. My goal for the 500 was 7:30 (which is a 1:30 per 100yrd time my goal for the actual swim will be a 1:20 per 100m split) I ended up finishing right at the 8min mark. Good but not what I wanted. I could chalk it up to having already completed 1900yrds but this is still off the pace I want to be able to do through out the swim.
The run felt much better the last week. Tip of advice when ironman triathlon training make sure you either run with synthetic boxers or no underwear at all, I was still chafed from last week (hence not running all week except for soccer) and at the end of the run and even the next day the chafing wasn't worse. This time i was able to run at 6.5mph for the first 30 minutes then I switched to 40s rest and 9:20min run at 6.5 for the next 30 minutes the remaining time was spent at 6mph 1:30 rest and 8:30 run until I finished the 9 miles. Originally my plan was to walk for another 30 minutes to get up to 11 miles but my legs were starting to give out so I decided that since I had swam immediately before the run and I finished the 9 miles 5 minutes faster then last week that I was good to finish up.
March 1st Ironman Triathlon Training
My fiance had been bugging me for weeks to do our taxes and she needed the day to do report cards for her kids so this was the day I decided to do them. I still had a swim to make up and the Bike that was scheduled for the day. In the end I wasn't able to get to the swim because the gym is only open until 7 on Sundays and I didn't finish my taxes until 6. My biking went well did 90 minutes approximately 24-25 miles.
March 2nd Ironman Triathlon Training
Woke up to find 12inches of snow on the ground with my street still not being plowed. So I figured running this morning was out of the question so I hit the bike again. Did 60 minutes on the trainer approx 17 miles. Felt good the entire time and really worked on my tempo. I was able to maintain a 65-67 rpm rate through out the entire time I was on the trainer.
My work actually was canceled because of the snow so at 12 I headed over to the gym to get a swim and run in. Only to find out when I got there that they decided not to open for the day. I ran some errands and headed back home. I really wasn't in the mood to bike any more so I took the rest of the day off.
March 3rd Ironman Triathlon Training
Today I had physical therapy in the morning, so that killed any chance at a morning workout, and I am planning on staying late at work to play poker with some friends. So I guess after a good weekend of training today will be my rest day for this week.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Championship Soccer Game
So my company competed and won the championship soccer game last night for our indoor league. I was great and fun but of course took away from my real training. Indoor soccer has so little to do with distance training but I live to compete so I can't say no. The game was great and we ended up scoring the winning goal with about 5 minutes left in the game to go up 6-5. This was the most we have scored in one game and the most we have let up. It was a great game and a lot of fun. I played for about 20 minutes of the game and pretty much the entire time your on the field you sprint so I'd say with stoppages and delays I sprinted about 2 miles. Not exactly a great distance workout or nearly the time I wanted to be running for yesterday but better then the off days I was having. The game did let me know just how different my body is from my old soccer playing days. Each shift we play is about 5 minutes long, indoor soccer for those of you that don't know works more like Hockey then you just sub on the fly, at the end of every shift I was breathing heavy but even by the end of the game my legs weren't tired. This is the complete opposite experience I've had in previous years where I train shorter distance and higher speeds, its always been that my legs are beat but I can breathe fine after a few minutes. It's yet to be determined if this is a good thing or not for my Ironman Triathlon Training I'm doing or not.
This morning again I struggled to get out of bed. I had planned on getting up going over to the gym and getting a good swim in. That didn't happen but I did manage to get up and bike for 45 minutes and during this time the realization hit me. Swimming for me will always be harder in the morning then biking or running. I've been getting up pretty easily at the earlier time my fiance gets up, 6am, but by the time I get moving and would be able to get to the gym change and start my swim its way to late for me to get the full work out in I want, shower, change, and get to work on time. So I've decided that from now on if I have a swim planned it will be after work any biking for running I'm to do, unless it's scheduled to be over 90 minutes, I'll do before work. The biking and running I don't need to leave the to go some where change, workout, shower, and change again I can just get up put on my workout close and get to it. This mornings work out was much easier without all the stress of worrying about having to finish up before I'm really finished to get to work. And that lead to my other realization my biking and running are much easier to finish if need be in a shorter amount of time when I'm pressed to get to work because although my training guide only ever lists times and heart rates to do for running and biking I can easily switch to a higher gear biking or increase my pace a little running and get the miles in that I would have going at the slower pace. Now this might not be exactly what is intended from the people that made the workout plan obviously they have done this before and I believe what they are trying to say is you need to get your body used to be in motion for that long at this point and not focus so much on the miles, the miles will come; but still increasing my speed and finishing up earlier makes me feel like I got a full workout in. And at the very least I'll be building my cardio up a little earlier then intended.
Oh and the 45minute bike this morning I'd estimate I did just over 10 miles, I really need to get a bike computer to know for sure but my birthday is coming up and I think I might be getting one for that.
This morning again I struggled to get out of bed. I had planned on getting up going over to the gym and getting a good swim in. That didn't happen but I did manage to get up and bike for 45 minutes and during this time the realization hit me. Swimming for me will always be harder in the morning then biking or running. I've been getting up pretty easily at the earlier time my fiance gets up, 6am, but by the time I get moving and would be able to get to the gym change and start my swim its way to late for me to get the full work out in I want, shower, change, and get to work on time. So I've decided that from now on if I have a swim planned it will be after work any biking for running I'm to do, unless it's scheduled to be over 90 minutes, I'll do before work. The biking and running I don't need to leave the to go some where change, workout, shower, and change again I can just get up put on my workout close and get to it. This mornings work out was much easier without all the stress of worrying about having to finish up before I'm really finished to get to work. And that lead to my other realization my biking and running are much easier to finish if need be in a shorter amount of time when I'm pressed to get to work because although my training guide only ever lists times and heart rates to do for running and biking I can easily switch to a higher gear biking or increase my pace a little running and get the miles in that I would have going at the slower pace. Now this might not be exactly what is intended from the people that made the workout plan obviously they have done this before and I believe what they are trying to say is you need to get your body used to be in motion for that long at this point and not focus so much on the miles, the miles will come; but still increasing my speed and finishing up earlier makes me feel like I got a full workout in. And at the very least I'll be building my cardio up a little earlier then intended.
Oh and the 45minute bike this morning I'd estimate I did just over 10 miles, I really need to get a bike computer to know for sure but my birthday is coming up and I think I might be getting one for that.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Credit where credit is due for my Ironman Triathlon Training Diary
I realized this afternoon that now that this is online I should give some credit for some sites that I have looked at that have given me good training advice as well as some motivation while doing my Ironman Triathlon Training Diary.
The first site is pseudo where I am trying to mirror my daily trainings to. I found one of their Ironman Triathlon Training week by week guides very useful so I've been trying to follow at least what to do on each day. The site is http://www.beginnertriathlete.com after navigating through it a while you can find FREE, yes free, training exercise for any length or triathlon you want to compete in and you can select from a variety of lengths at which to get you to your accomplishments. While I've found the swimming to be spot on as to increasing my distance per time swimming as well as the variety of workouts suggested on each day, so far I've found the running and cycling to be off in opposite directions.
I'm no where near an experienced cyclist in fact I just got my first bike since I was fourteen and its the first non-bmx bike I own. For Christmas my parents got me a the Trek 7.3 FX hybrid road bike , sweet present I know. So you can I've only been "cycling" for just over a month and a half before I decided to train for this Ironman and all of that was done indoors on a trainer because there has been snow on the ground since I got the bike. Now by no means do I think I can go out there and finish even the road portion of a full Ironman but some of the workouts so far seem really easy. The 30-45 minute workouts I only even begin to break a sweat towards the 30 minute mark and then most of the time its over. I've found in 22nd gear i can sustain a 65rpm pace for about an hour and a half fairly easily which works out to 25.5 miles (17 mph). I don't want to question their methods quite yet, as I'm sure many people that have written these Ironman Triathlon Training guides have competed in and maybe even won an Ironman, and I see that in a few weeks the training really picks up one day a week but still I've consistently been going over the time I'm supposed to because I want to feel like I really got a workout in.
On the other hand. I feel like I'm a pretty good runner, by no means would I consider myself and elite runner or even a distance runner, but I've been struggling with some of the runs. Most of the training I've seen for just a beginner marathon are not at this high of an intensity this early on. Now this might just be because of my competitive nature and my inability to run at a slower pace for long periods of time, this actually seems to put pressure on my knees so I find it more comfortable to run at a slightly higher pace, but most of the trainings seem to be based on time then miles. Again I feel at the slower pace not only am I getting little to no burn but even at the end of a 90 minute run I feel like I have plenty of energy to keep going. If I complete the same amount of miles in a shorter say 60 minute run at the end I feel tired and like I got a work out it. Again I don't want to question their methods but I think for my Ironman Triathlon Training program if I don't see the results I want, in a few weeks I may modify it.
Now the other web site, which I don't use for any training tips, that inspired me to chronicle my expereince is http://www.triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.com/. It gave me a first hand experience of what he went through to prepare and then do his first Ironman. The thing I loved about reading his stories where they were real first hand accounts of what an amateur should expect from training for and doing an Ironman. On the other hand the thing I totally disagreed with was his stretching and swimming tips.
He basically tells you that he got no benefit from stretching before ANY workout so you DON'T need to do it. In everything I've learn through out my grade school, high school and collegiate experience as well as my own random pick-up game of any sport since then is that stretching is paramount before you do any exercise. I follow this so much that if I'm doing two exercises back to back in my training, swimming/biking, biking/running, or swimming/running I stretch in between each one. Anything I have ever read in my entire life has said that there are no downfalls to stretching, as long as you are doing it properly that is, and that not only will stretching prepare you for the workout you are about to do it can strength and maintain muscles while you are inactive as well as increase your flexibility and speed during activities.
Also his swimming tips are dead wrong. Well doing free-style will increase the distance you can swim, just doing free-style with out kick drills, pull drills, and other drills will only cement any bad habits that you have in your stroke and rather then learn to build those flaws into a proper stroke you will develop improper stroke technique and perhaps even hurt yourself in the long run because they can lead to muscle and joint problems. Well i might not have agreed with all the training tips of the other article this guy is just dead wrong about these two and to back up my swimming knowledge so you know I'm just not totally off base I was a competitive swimmer from the time I was 5-22yrs old. I was a certified lifeguard from 15 until now a certified lifeguard instructor for the last 6 years have held my WSI license for 8 years a swim coach on a USS team for 4 years and was an Aquatics director at a YMCA for 2 years. To say that I know how to swim and how to teach swimming would be an understatement.
As I find new sites that I get tips from I will add them to the list as I said I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I don't want you to think that I'm going out there blind with out reading up on what I'm getting myself into or seeking advice in an place I can. Ironman Triathlon Training is no joke you will be putting your body through tough workouts that will more then increase your heart rate if you have any health concerns please consult a Dr. In future blogs I will be talking about nutrition tips that I learn from different sites and will start experiment with both meals and in training nutrition. I had no idea until a few weeks ago that people eat, and are encouraged to do so, durring the Ironman events.
The first site is pseudo where I am trying to mirror my daily trainings to. I found one of their Ironman Triathlon Training week by week guides very useful so I've been trying to follow at least what to do on each day. The site is http://www.beginnertriathlete.com after navigating through it a while you can find FREE, yes free, training exercise for any length or triathlon you want to compete in and you can select from a variety of lengths at which to get you to your accomplishments. While I've found the swimming to be spot on as to increasing my distance per time swimming as well as the variety of workouts suggested on each day, so far I've found the running and cycling to be off in opposite directions.
I'm no where near an experienced cyclist in fact I just got my first bike since I was fourteen and its the first non-bmx bike I own. For Christmas my parents got me a the Trek 7.3 FX hybrid road bike , sweet present I know. So you can I've only been "cycling" for just over a month and a half before I decided to train for this Ironman and all of that was done indoors on a trainer because there has been snow on the ground since I got the bike. Now by no means do I think I can go out there and finish even the road portion of a full Ironman but some of the workouts so far seem really easy. The 30-45 minute workouts I only even begin to break a sweat towards the 30 minute mark and then most of the time its over. I've found in 22nd gear i can sustain a 65rpm pace for about an hour and a half fairly easily which works out to 25.5 miles (17 mph). I don't want to question their methods quite yet, as I'm sure many people that have written these Ironman Triathlon Training guides have competed in and maybe even won an Ironman, and I see that in a few weeks the training really picks up one day a week but still I've consistently been going over the time I'm supposed to because I want to feel like I really got a workout in.
On the other hand. I feel like I'm a pretty good runner, by no means would I consider myself and elite runner or even a distance runner, but I've been struggling with some of the runs. Most of the training I've seen for just a beginner marathon are not at this high of an intensity this early on. Now this might just be because of my competitive nature and my inability to run at a slower pace for long periods of time, this actually seems to put pressure on my knees so I find it more comfortable to run at a slightly higher pace, but most of the trainings seem to be based on time then miles. Again I feel at the slower pace not only am I getting little to no burn but even at the end of a 90 minute run I feel like I have plenty of energy to keep going. If I complete the same amount of miles in a shorter say 60 minute run at the end I feel tired and like I got a work out it. Again I don't want to question their methods but I think for my Ironman Triathlon Training program if I don't see the results I want, in a few weeks I may modify it.
Now the other web site, which I don't use for any training tips, that inspired me to chronicle my expereince is http://www.triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.com/. It gave me a first hand experience of what he went through to prepare and then do his first Ironman. The thing I loved about reading his stories where they were real first hand accounts of what an amateur should expect from training for and doing an Ironman. On the other hand the thing I totally disagreed with was his stretching and swimming tips.
He basically tells you that he got no benefit from stretching before ANY workout so you DON'T need to do it. In everything I've learn through out my grade school, high school and collegiate experience as well as my own random pick-up game of any sport since then is that stretching is paramount before you do any exercise. I follow this so much that if I'm doing two exercises back to back in my training, swimming/biking, biking/running, or swimming/running I stretch in between each one. Anything I have ever read in my entire life has said that there are no downfalls to stretching, as long as you are doing it properly that is, and that not only will stretching prepare you for the workout you are about to do it can strength and maintain muscles while you are inactive as well as increase your flexibility and speed during activities.
Also his swimming tips are dead wrong. Well doing free-style will increase the distance you can swim, just doing free-style with out kick drills, pull drills, and other drills will only cement any bad habits that you have in your stroke and rather then learn to build those flaws into a proper stroke you will develop improper stroke technique and perhaps even hurt yourself in the long run because they can lead to muscle and joint problems. Well i might not have agreed with all the training tips of the other article this guy is just dead wrong about these two and to back up my swimming knowledge so you know I'm just not totally off base I was a competitive swimmer from the time I was 5-22yrs old. I was a certified lifeguard from 15 until now a certified lifeguard instructor for the last 6 years have held my WSI license for 8 years a swim coach on a USS team for 4 years and was an Aquatics director at a YMCA for 2 years. To say that I know how to swim and how to teach swimming would be an understatement.
As I find new sites that I get tips from I will add them to the list as I said I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I don't want you to think that I'm going out there blind with out reading up on what I'm getting myself into or seeking advice in an place I can. Ironman Triathlon Training is no joke you will be putting your body through tough workouts that will more then increase your heart rate if you have any health concerns please consult a Dr. In future blogs I will be talking about nutrition tips that I learn from different sites and will start experiment with both meals and in training nutrition. I had no idea until a few weeks ago that people eat, and are encouraged to do so, durring the Ironman events.
IronMan Training Diary now online
I've decided that I should put my Ironman Triathlon Training Diary online. I figure this will be a good way to get other people that have already done an Ironman to give me tips, hint hint, or to inspire others that want to start training for an Ironman but don't know how to get started or don't know where to go to get tips on training. This will be a diary of my workouts I do each day in preparation for the Ironman as well as how I'm feeling about the workouts I'm doing whether they are hard, exhausting, causing any pain, generally just my feeling about what I'm going through
Feb 18 (Middle of week “1”) Ironman Triathlon Training Day 1
I’ve decided to start writing this diary so I can remember my experiences of training for my first ironman. For years I’ve wanted to do this and for some reason this past new years when I was watching the Hawaii Ironman on TV I decided that I could wait no longer and it was time to get off my ass and actually do what I said I was going to for years (this was much the same experience when I stated that I was going to get my nipples pierced sophomore year on in college until I finally did it the day before my 24th birthday). In hind sight, after a week of training (only the third day of the training program but I started working out the week before), I wish I would not have waited so long; many of the workouts that I’m struggling through now in high school and even college I would have completed with ease and my goal of just surviving my first 70.3 Ironman (you have to do at least one before you can compete in a full Ironman) would have been to qualify for worlds.
Summary of workouts done so far in week “1”:
Saturday Feb. 14
Sunday Feb. 15 0:45 minutes swim (200 SKIPS, 8x100 EBEH, 200CD)
0:45 minutes run (4.5 miles completed)
Monday Feb. 16 0:55 minutes bike (spinning class, miles ???)
0:30 minutes run (2.5 miles completed)
Tuesday Feb. 17 exhausted from weekend took day off
So Saturday’s workout I felt good I had been doing between an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes on my bike every few days for a few weeks and that felt like a good amount of time I wasn’t exhausted when I was done but I felt like I got a good workout. The hour and forty five minutes however did exhaust me the last 5-10 minutes I felt myself looking at the clock counting the minutes till I would stop. I was shocked at how fast I became tired after I went past my previous times. I thought I was in pretty good shape for the bike but now I realize just how much further I have to go. I was doing a good cadence of 63-65 revolutions per minute but I wasn’t in my top gear yet, understandable for how early on I am in training but with how easily I was finishing the hour and fifteen minute workouts I thought I would be able to just keep that temp and just increase my gear so that I was going at top speed. Guess I was wrong I’ll need to increase my distance by quite a substantial time before I increase my gear and try and keep the same pace.
My swim on Sunday wasn’t too bad the “warm-up” wasn’t quite a warm-up and it was a swim because an easy 200 SKIPS isn’t quite as easy as it used to be. My fiancé came to swim with me right after my 8x100 so my cool down wasn’t so much a cool down as it was swimming back and forth across the pool with her trying to help her become a better swimmer. Going into the run I felt fine, within a few minutes of the start of the run I knew I was in trouble. I had read that preparing for the run, especially in your first ironman, shouldn’t be so much about how fast you can complete it but just the act of completing it in and of itself should be enough. On of the tips I had read said that you should run at a good pace for the first fifteen to twenty minutes walk for two to three minutes then continue back at your pace (this was originally a tip for one of the last workouts you do where you are supposed to run for five to six hours straight six to eight weeks before the actual event to get your body ready for what it would feel like to be running for that long but I thought I could adapt if for some earlier workout) this will help simulate when you are running and hitting the different aid stations, water, gator aid, etc., Well this did help me complete this run I don’t think I will be employing this strategy of running in the early stages I don’t think it really helped me build endurance, I think rather I need to slow down and try and sustain a slower pace for the entire time. When I get to some of the runs that are supposed to be over two hours or over a half marathon then maybe I’ll try this but otherwise I think it will just hinder me in the long run.
Monday was presidents day so we had off from work, good because I needed more time for my body to rest, bad because I slept in and wasn’t able to do the swim in the morning like I had planned. My fiancé and I wanted to do a spin class together and even though biking wasn’t on the agenda for today I felt like I could easily switch my Monday and Tuesday workouts. The class really kicked my ass I haven’t seen my t-shirt that soaked with sweat since playing out door soccer for 90 minutes in 95 degree heat. I felt really out of shape trying to complete the class and at the end I didn’t feel like had gotten all that much benefit out of it. The glass is designed to increase cardio and build some muscle with the use of different ridding postures, sprits, resistances, and simulated hill climbs, right now I’m trying to just get my muscles used to training for long periods of time. I think I need to focus on my distance muscles and not worry so much about how fast I can go right now. That will come in a few months. Tuesday night while My fiancé was tutoring I went back to the gym and did a thirty minute run, it was supposed to be forty five minutes but I had to get home to make dinner (right now my personal life still needs to happen the last couple weeks of training I’m sure this will change but that’s a ways off)
Waking up on Tuesday morning trying to do my first morning work out, historically I have never been an morning person let a lone a person to wake up early and work out I think other then when I was thirteen or fourteen getting up for swim practice at seven this was the earliest I had ever gotten up to work out and it wasn’t even with someone aka a coach tell me I had to, with my legs tired and aching I knew I needed to rest but I now feel like I’m behind because I wasn’t supposed to take yesterday off and because I had planned to mix up my Monday workout with the Tuesday workout so maybe in the end that made it a little easier to get out of bed, it’s kind of good to make yourself feel guilty about missing your own workouts isn’t it? This morning I swam my Monday morning workout (200 SKPS, 1x1000, 200CD). In high school this would have been closer to a warm up but the 1000 really kicked my ass although on a high not I realized about the 450 mark that I wasn’t really going any faster or slower then other laps and was only planning to do a 500 and then put my fins on to complete the rest of the swim (my guide said to swim 1x1500 or 1x1000) I would have swam further but I ran out of time with going to the gym and not brining my cloths for work, I’ll need to correct this mistake in the future. Next week I need to do a much further swim I need to see where that point is like in my biking where all the sudden I start to die, if I’m really going to try and compete and do well in a full iron man that’s going to have to be well past mile three or 5500 yards (on a side note I’ve never swam that far in practice ever let alone straight that’s 270 laps what am I getting my self into)
So tonight I’m left with a few options Wednesday’s workout was supposed to be another swim session with no run or bike, Thursday’s workout is supposed to be a long run with no swim or bike but I’m still behind from not doing my Tuesday workout and I have an indoor soccer game tomorrow night. So I have a few options I can do my long run tonight, instead of tomorrow, wake up early and then do my swim then and finish with the soccer game then I would be completely caught up. I could swim tonight or tomorrow morning do the soccer game and then run on Saturday morning, which is supposed to be rest day or I could just totally blow off one of the workouts but I don’t really see a point in that because I’m doing this for me so why cut myself short.
Feb 19th Ironman Triathlon Training Day 2
So nothing really went as planned last night or this morning. I came home last night to have my fiancé already made dinner so I ate with her. Then of course once I eat I don’t want to work out so I decided to just stay home and go with the other work out plans and not take Saturday off.
This morning wasn’t much better with getting out of bed so I guess this week is just shot as far as getting every workout in. Tonight is soccer and I know I’m going to that we’ll see how good of a work out I get there are a lot of people signed up to play.
Feb 20th Ironman Triathlon Training Day 3
Last night’s game was one of the best our team played and I had a solid performance as well. I continued my streak of getting at least one goal or one assist in each game I’ve played. The down fall of last night’s game was there was so many people there that I only played for about 12-15 minutes of the game. While I did feel like I got a good cardio workout, I knew I wouldn’t play that much because of all the people there so I just sprinted ever second I was on the field, I was still disappointed with the workout I got. When I came home my fiancé was already there with dinner again so of course I was starving and ate and then didn’t work out after to build my endurance.
This morning was a struggle again to get myself out of bed but I did manage to get my self up in time to get a 30 min bike ride in (approx 9 miles) it felt like a good workout but I wish it would have been longer. The only reason I was able to get it in was because I didn’t car pool with Denise, it feels bad to say but sometimes carpooling is already interfering with my workouts. We’ll see how this goes if it gets too bad I might just stop carpooling for a while. Might try and get a swim in tonight if my fiancé is up for it.
Feb 23rd Ironman Triathlon Training Day 6
Weekend rap up. Well it wasn’t what I wanted it to be but I did learn a lot. Friday night I came home and my fiancé didn’t want to go to the gym and I always feel bad about not spending enough time with her so I decided I would just stay home and get in that long run in the morning. So Saturday morning came and we woke up early to get to the gym. I started with the goal of running 7.5 miles in 90 minutes. I figured I would go for as long as I could at a slightly higher pace of 6 miles per hours to start and then would eventually need to slow down for water breaks and that would make up the difference in time vs. distance. Well I started to bump up my speed to 6.5 or even 7 miles per hour a few times and was able to sustain that speed, so after 45 minutes of my 90 minute run I was already at almost 5 miles and decided to set a new goal of 9 miles for myself. In the end I timed it out almost perfectly and finished the nine miles with 1 minute left on my timer. I felt good after the run, tired, but good. I don’t think I would have been able to keep up my pace for another 2 and a half hours to finish a marathon nor do I think I could have kept up that pace for 4.1 miles to finish a half marathon. But this is early in training and I think that was a good first run to build my distance.
Now this is where all the problems started. So after the run when I got home I felt like I was starting to chafe a little bit on my inner groin area. After my shower I was in a lot of pain and found some gold bond to ease my pain. We were headed up to my fiancé’s parents so I new it would give me some time to rest. The rest of the day I was in pain but nothing like the next morning. The chafing on my groin was basically gone but both inner thighs were covered in what looked like bad acne. Pretty much every place a hair was attached to my legs had a pimple and some even had a white head with them. I only now read online that you aren’t supposed to run for long distances with cotton boxers and they cause a lot of friction and can lead to chafing and these bumps.
I went ice fishing with My fiancé’s dad in the morning and thank god you have to take small steps to maintain balance on the ice because I don’t taking a normal stride I could have standed, with all the pain I was in. After ice fishing I switched into my new warm up pants and didn’t wear any underwear to reduce any rubbing I could prevent on my legs. When we got back home I took Advil and put ice on my thighs to stop the burning. My fiancé ran to the store to get me some cream that would help, and it did. Needless to say I didn’t do my long bike ride on Sunday like I had planned.
This morning wasn’t any better, still had the red bumps and even more had formed white heads. I tried to pop some of them which hurt at first but seems to have help. Tonight and tomorrow morning I won’t be able to workout because of my colonoscopy so at least this will give me a medical reason to let my body rest until my thighs are healed.
Feb 24th (week 2) Ironman Triathlon Training Day 7
Well this week has gotten off to a rocky start I had the bad chafing that isn’t going away so I can’t run. I was supposed to have a colonoscopy today supposed to being the key word but that ended up not happening the Dr.’s office canceled luckily right before I started doing my prep. So I tried biking last night and that seemed to have the same effect as trying to run so again I’m out of commission with that for a few more days.
This morning I had my first physical therapy session, I was rear-ended in a car accident on Feb 5th and I had a bad case of whip lash that was getting better but then after a week just went into a holding pattern so my Dr. decided to send me to physical therapy, it didn’t seem like it was doing anything that is until I went to the gym later in the day to swim.
My swim today went really well I was able to do 3000yrds (my set was 7x100 warm up, 4x500, 2x150pull cool down) in an hour. The thing I noticed from my physical therapy was that I was able to breath better to my right side then I had before.
Feb 25th Ironman Triathlon Training Day 8
Well my problems of getting up in the morning have persisted. I feel like my body is just achy and I feel unmotivated in the morning. I wish I could just ask my fiancé to get me up but the hell I would give her and then the subsequent her not speaking to me just doesn’t seem to be worth it at this point. The odd thing is every time I do manage to get up early and start my workout I feel better about myself and am even more motivated and energized throughout work and my workout in the evening I just some how need to remind myself of that well I’m trying to get out of bed.
This evening workout was supposed to be a nice long set swim with my fiancé but unfortunately she hurt her hip and was in a lot of pain so I decided to stay home with her make her dinner and use my bike trainer instead. The chafing seems to be getting better so I thought I would try this out, if it hadn’t worked I probably would have just gone to the gym by myself without her but we’ll never know. I did a 10 minute warm up at 21st gear then did sets of 8minutes at 23rd gear and 2minutes at 21st gear; finally I finished with a 5minute cool down in 21st gear. I tried to keep a consistent pace of 65rpms which should put me somewhere around 15miles in 45minutes. The 8 minutes seemed a bit tougher then it had before and I felt a slight burn in my final set but I still completed the entire 45minutes with what I consider relative ease.
It seems odd that most of what I’ve read seems to say to stick to lower gear workouts of only 45-60minutes for the first few weeks then it gradually increase the time. If I’m already doing the time at a much higher gear and not having trouble finishing the workouts shouldn’t I continue to at the higher gear or would it be best to switch to the lower gear and go for even more time. I’ll have to do some experimenting of the next couple weeks to see which I feel like I get a better workout with?
Tomorrow morning I have another physical therapy appointment so not morning workout but I will have to get up early the appt is at 7 so hopefully this will help in my pursuit of getting up early to workout before work.
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