Happy New Year! - 2013 Totals

Wow, what a year it's been.  8 years ago, when I got back into the sport, I would never have imagined I'd be where I'm at now.  I've learned so much about training, running, cycling and now even swimming.  All the things I was doing wrong, doing well, but most of all what I need to do to reach the next level.

The best of 2013:

1) Staying healthy.  No crashes this year, significant injuries, broken equipment.  Things went well.  I continue a lucky streak of now flats in races and no rainy or cancelled  races (now I've had it  for 2014).  Although I always said that I would probably have my best race ever in cool rainy conditions.

2) Winning Lake Geode.  My best race ever in terms of pacing, execution and overall performance.

3) Pigman Long Course - My 2nd 70.3 ever and I knocked almost 1 hour off my previous best.  I beat my goal bike time by 4 minutes, my goal swim by 1 minute and still ran within 4 minutes of my goal run time despite bad GI issues. 

4) Matched my high school 5k PR of 17:15.  

The Worst:

1) T2 in Pigman - the absolute worst transition I've ever had.  Went to the wrong spot, then forgot my GPS watch as well and had to double back.

2) Nutrition in Pigman - ate too much prerace.  Then was off balance and drank too much on the bike causing GI issues on the run.  Horrible.

3) Pre-race nutrition Great River Road Run 1/2 mararthon.  I guess I didn't learn from Pigman, and messed this up again.  I think I had everything set for a great PR.  Good form, more fit, perfect pacing.

4) Hyvee Triathlon - Good overall result, but the event was a bit of a disappointment, bad weather that morning, too much drink while waiting, but not enough food, WAYYY too much time walking around Saturday.   The logistics there were terrible.  I easily walked as far as a I ran in the race that weekend.  Little head to head competition and TONS of lap traffic making it hard to stay focused.

Annual Totals:

Swim - 158h21m, 482,055 yards/273.8 miles (3.75mi racing)

Bike - 220h06m, 4230.6 miles (+148.6 in races)

Run - 177h50m, 1416.3 miles (+52.8 in races)

Race - 12h13m, 193.1 miles

Strength - 14h36m

TOTAL - 583h6m

Other stats:

11.1 hours per week average

Starting CTL of 22, Ending of 90.3

Can't wait to see what 2014 will bring

Weekly Wrap-up 12/29/13

Had a great Christmas with the family.  My triathlon gifts included a Timex Bike Computer to go with my  Stages power meter that's on order.  Hopefully it's only 3 weeks out so I can do my next threshold  test with power.

I did manage my first outdoor ride yesterday for the first time in 2 weeks.  It  was a short easy ride, but felt good to get out and dodge some potholes in the unseasonably warm weather.

This week wraps up the end of my Preparation Phase.  Now the real work starts.  Strength training picks up intensity and overall volume ramps up significantly.  The week was focused on recovery and testing.  The first was a run test.  It was a 1 mile run at 8-10 beats below threshold.. or in other words high end of zone 3 tempo, or a running "sweet spot tempo" (SST) if you will.  I did this on the treadmill and managed a 6:03.  Pretty good.  The swim test followed, but apparently I was nursing a stomach bug and it kicked in.  I suffered through the 1000M and swam a miserable 1:26 pace overall.  I guess that's a baseline, but I know I can go a lot faster.   The stomach bug knocked me down a bit.  I skipped a strength training session, but that's all.

Today I did a cycling threshold test.  I surprised myself a little.  I also went in with a CTL of 7.6, so very well rested.  My legs didn't disappoint and hung in there.  I use the Sufferfest "Rubber Glove" video and in a 20 minute TT I held an average of 168bpm, finishing the last 2 miles with and average of 175.  That's actually higher than I thought I was capable of.  So that will bump up all of my zones the next couple weeks a little.... until I get my power meter.  

Weekly totals:

Swim - 9300y, 2h48m

Bike - 79.3mi, 4h23m

Run - 25.7mi, 3h17m

Strength - 1:05

TOTAL - 11h33m

I'm definitely looking forward to more intensity.  While hard, that TT effort made me miss harder workouts.  Bring it on.

Sub Zero Weather

Woke up to -5F this morning.  I elected to hit the treadmill at the YMCA instead.  It worked out well since I had a swim planned today too.  Ran 9 miles on the treadmill, then 2600y in the pool.  Took about 2 hours combined, so a solid effort.   Funny, this is supposed to be a recovery week, but my TSS the last 2 days is still above my CTL.   I guess the 2nd half of the week is where I recover.

My shoulder is still a little sore, but seems to be getting slightly better.

I made a few tweaks to the cockpit on my tri bike.  I spread the bars a little which will allow the BTA bottle mount to be moved back 3-4" so that it's almost over the stem.   This should be slightly more aero and make the steering more balanced with the bottle closer to the pivot point.  Cleaning up the cables is the next item on my list.   I might order them soon and try and get them replaced some time in Jan.

Merry Christmas to everyone one!   I hope everyone has a great time with friends and family... and gets all the gear and toys they wanted for the upcoming season.

Weekly Wrap-up 12/22/13

Weekly Metrics:

Swim - 12550 yards, 3h57m
Bike - 91.6 mi, 5h15
Run - 37.73 mi, 4h49
Strength - 2h41m

Last week in my Preparation Phase over.  I actually managed to build my CTL a couple points.  I am having some right shoulder soreness I'll have to keep and eye on and a little foot soreness as well.  Just soreness not pain for now, but something to watch.  I put in a little extra swimming this week, so that didn't help.

This coming week is a recovery week plus testing for some baselines.  The weather is calling for some really cold weather.  I think my long run this week (fortunately only 9 miles) will be on the treadmill.  This is also the last week of the year, so we'll get some final annual numbers.  This will be by far the most I've ever run in a year and probably close to my highest cycling mileage.

This was my 1st week of no outdoor rides.  I think there will be a lot more to come.

Looking forward to Christmas with the family, guests this weekend and an a little time off work.

Weekly Wrap-up 12/15/13

This weeks totals:

Swim - 9850y, 2:59h
Bike - 86.6, 4:38h
Run - 34.6, 4:39h
Strength - 2:15h

Pretty good week.  Just 2 weeks left of preperation phase, which is sort of the "calm before the storm".  The focus continues to be on drills and imrpoving my economy in all disciplines.  I think I've made some good improvements in my swim technique that should pay off.  Right now I feel faster withotu goign as hard.  Because of specifity, I actually lost a little top end speed, but I feel like my effciency is better.  The speed will come back as my muscles adapt to the change.  It might take a few weeks.  But I have plenty of time.

I di my first snowy run of the season.  I got out the Kinvara Trail shoes and went for it.  They performed pretty well.  Saturdays' run was in 6" of heavy wet snow for over a 1/2 mile near the beginning and end.  That dropped my pace down to 8:25 for the whole run.  IT was tryinf to stay in zone run.  That meant dropping to about a 13:00 mile going uphill in the snow.  It was a interesting high knee, high recovery kick technique.  I kept the strides very short and tried to maintain my normal cadence.

I had a little scare this morning.  I dropped a 10lb weight on my foot.  I was unracking the weights and got distracted, then went to remove the 45lb and forgot I had a 10lb in front of it.   It's just a good solid bruise for right now and thanksfully doesn't hurt to walk on it or push off the wall or kicking swimming, so I think I dodged a bullet.

I finished reading the Triathlete Training Bible by Joe Friel.   I think I'm pretty well preparred to put together my season, monitor my progress and make changes as needed.   In other words, coach myself. 

The one debate I'm having now is whether or not to do a "Big Day".   It's not somethign elites normally do.  But since this will be my first IM, it might not be a bad idea.  I think the risk is manageable. The downside is that I'll have to drop 1 or 2 breakthrough workouts the following week for recovery.  It might fit in well in my 2nd short base period in July.  It will be something to think about.  OTOH, I might beenfit more form a 6 hour bike with a solid 1 hour run afterwards.  That still forces me into a solid nutrition plan without pushing myself too far into a long run.  So recovery is reasonable.           

The strange things you see when running

So I'm running along my usual route along the river and 15' away I hear branches break abs a fish falls to the ground.   Yes a fish.   I think about it and then see a couple bald eagles  fighting.

So please,  when running,  watch for frozen fish falling from the sky.

Weekly Wrap-up 12/08/13

I've now fully committed to Training Peaks and my ATL (Annual Training Plan).  I entered all of my historical workout data with best estimates on heart rate where it was missing.   I end up with this PMC.   (Performance Management Chart... for thsoe not familiar with TP).

SO what do all those numbers and lines mean?   Well, ATL (Acute training Load) is a roughtly a 7 day rolling average of your TSS/Day.  TSS (Training Stress Load) is calculated based on the duration and intensity of yoru workout.  Intensity is measured by average or the distribution of Heart Rate or Power during a ride (Power is most accurate).  Run, is using heart rate.  Swim is based on average pace compared to threshold pace.  Based on "feel", these seem to give a good approximation.   CTL (Chronic Training Load) is a 42 day rolling average of your TSS/d and gives you a good approximation of you overall fitness at that given time.  TSB, is roughtly the inverse of ATL and represents your "form" or how rested you are or conversely how fatigued you are.  A negative value represents a gradient of fatigue.  A positive number is generally good form (your ATL is below you CTL).  The point being that you lose fitness slower than you gain it.  (I think we all wish weight loss worked that way)... unless you cross into the realm of being being overtrained or a form of chronic fatigue.   THE FIRST RULE OF TRAINING.... you ONLY realize fitness gains from recovery.  Therefore, you training plan doesn;t revolve around key workouts, rather it revolves around fitting in adequate recovery while maintining target volume and intensity durign a training block.   The way TP and Joe Freil do this, is through periodization, with a training block being 4 weeks with the 4th week being a recovery and testing week.  Then you use 2-3 taper week before a key "A" race.  

A good rule of thumb is that you need at least a CTL of 80 going into a Race.   I'm thinking that for myself, assuming my numbers on here are good, I want a solid 100 minimum going into my races and a peak of possibly 120-130 or reaching a weekly TSS peak of 900.  But I'll have to feel it out.  I averaged 800 for a 3 week period. in November and you cna see the sharp rise in fitness.  But the question is, can I sustain that.  I've had 3 good training seasons going in, each one buildign on the previous.  My annual hours are set at about 15% higher than last year, so all in all, I think I'm set for an amazing season if I can stay healthy.   

My concern is that I put in a pretty large training block in Nov. and saw a nice fitness boost, but I'l thinking that I sort of skipped a full "transition" week and I'm in the preperation phase now and going into the base phase without being fully rested.  I'm compensating by having a light week during the week of christmas.  Hopefully that will bring my TSB back up and set me up for my base phases. 

Couple other notes analyzing this chart.  I did a descent job of tapering before key races in July, August and Sept. and in thoery should ahve had a breakout race at Hyvee, but my race strategy was lacking along wiht overall motivation to push myself just a little harder.  The lap traffic also made focusing on a steady pace more challenging than at Geode.  I'm currently sitting with a higher fitness level than I had even at Pigman, but if I break it down my discipline, Most all of my gains are in swimming and running, due to a focus on each recently, and my bike is pretty well flat despite some long rides I put in.  But without those harder quality rides, improvement is pretty stagnant.


IF you can't tell, I'm pretty excited and really into this training plan.  I've never had anything like this laid out in front of me before in my entire athletic career.  I've followed some amount of periodization in the past, but nothign nearly this deliberate, focused and specific.  The combination of drills, strength training, and a balanced mix of quality and volume, shold pay dividends.   The key to sucess will be consistency along with going easy when it's an active recovery workouts and going hard and hittign my numbers on the key workouts. 

I have managed a compromise with my wife, and dropped NOLA 70.3 in trade for a family vacation in Juan and a power meter.  It's a real win-win for all involved and the PM will go a long ways to improving my bike fitness.  Believe it or not, it's actaully my weakness overall and has been a real limiter to how well I've run off the bike and looking at Pigman, I got left in the dust on the bike leg.  IF the swim was longer it too would be a weakness, but overall I hold my own.


Last weeks numbers:

Swim - 3:33, 11500y
Bike - 3:59, 78.5mi
Run  - 5:13, 48.25
Strength - 1:50
TSS - 612
ATL - 99.1
CTL - 91.3
TSB -  (-3.0)

Overall a solid week.  The strength training is going well.  It's high rep circuits that take over 15 minutes per curcuit.  I've been doing 3 circuits.  I might go to 4 this week if I have time, but probably not.

I think the big pucture right now is to consider my fitness at this time last year.  I think it was hovering around a CTL of 30.  So basically I'm averaging roughly 3X the training load of a year ago.  The reality check, is that I have some limiters in terms of my overall talent, and 3X the load will only yield maybe a 4% improvement in my overall times.  But hey, that's huge!  and puts me right at all of my goal times.

For my weekly schedule.  I've found a pretty good combination to fit in all my workouts.  I have 5-6 runs, 5 bike sessions, 4 swims and 2 strength training sessions.  Or about 16-17 workouts.  Now 2 of the runs and the strength training get combined.  Some weeks a bike and run get combined as well and later in the base phase I drop 1 swim too.  So it's actually 13-14 workouts other than recovery weeks.  So yes, that's a lot.  It's 2 a day most days with a couple 3 workouts days.  The peak week in my 3rd base phase in late March is 22 hours!  Same number of workouts, but biek session become a minimum of 1-1/2-2 hours with a very long brick on the weekend.  Run mileage levels off.  I never do more than 55 miles in a week.  Most weeks are 40-50.  

I don't have many long runs planned at all.  They take too much recovery and I'll risk injury with limited gains.  I've foudn that weekly mileage seems to drive my endurace better than a weekly extended run. 


I'll get into more detail as the weeks go on.  Right now I'm looking forward to christmas with the family and enjoying a moderate training schedule while I can.

Many thanks again to my wife for being understanding and putting up with my addiction, goals and dreams.  I'm getting more an more confident that my mission is attainable and possibly even conservative.  Maybe I can really race for the top of my age group.   

Weekly Wrap-up - Dec. 1st

Weekly Totals:
Swim - 3h14m, 6.6miles  (11,600y)
Bike - 5h20m, 107.4mi
Run - 6h15m, 51.3mi

A new yearly record for run miles.  I was definitely feeling it by Saturday.  Good solid bike and swim week.  I wanted to bike more, but family plans over the holiday took priority.

I joined Training Peaks and bought a paper copy of the "The Triathlete's Training Bible" with a discounted 1 year subscription.  I has a pretty slick wizard/tool to set-up an annual plan and as as create workouts based on peridization strategies.  It's just up to you to drop the workouts into your schedule where they make sense and create the length of the workouts to suit the overall training volume recommended and again, what fits in your weekely schedule.   Then just track your progress.

Power meter - OK, ok, this ones off the table at this point.  It would financially be the straw that broke the camel's back I think.  I'll just have to make due with heart rate at this point.

I've added (Per TP recomendations) strength training 2 days a week into the schedule.