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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)