Weekly Wrap-up (from last week) 2/27/15

Whoops, time got away from me this week.  I'll make this short and to the point.

I had a solid week of training.  My long run felt good, my faster runs felt OK and overall I think I'm finally past my injury.  I'm only doing my specific stretches once a day and less extensive with no side effects.  I'm still not up to full running speed due to lack of run fitness and my weight, but it's interesting to see the impact of those on pace, sort of like how you look at FTP on the bike.   I'm about 0:20-0:30 slow right now at an easy pace... and probably the same at all race distances even faster races since I last the specificity to sustain fast paces as well.  Though I still set my threshold pace a little fast, even though I can't sustain it, just because I want my training load and training zones to be set accurately.  So I still use HR to set where that's at.  That's actually an interesting point that I'll have to dive into eventually in another blog or coaching article.

Overall my bike feels strong.  Stronger that where I was before IMWI, so that's a great sign.  I don;t have the endurance right now, but during short sessions I'm matching or beating my power targets despite a ramp up in my run volume.  I'm still trying to find the right balance of recovery and quality however.   Feeling it out mostly.

This current week is going great, but I'll summarize that next week.  Also, I did purchase a coaching version of BestBikeSplit.com and will be plugging in my athletes and will offer evaluations on a consultant basis.  More on that with my coaching blog.

By the numbers:
Swim: 3h23m, 14,950y
Bike: 8h55m, 168mi
Run: 4h33m, 36.4mi
Strength:1h
TOTAL: 17h51m
TSS: 1174

2015 Race Schedule & Weekly Wrap-up 02/16/15

Here's my tentative 2015 Race Schedule

02/08 - Kroc Center Indoor Triathlon - Quincy, IL
03/08 - Shamrox 15k - Columbia, MO
03/13 - Quincy Family YMCA Indoor Triathlon
05/03 - Trizou Sprint Tri - Columbia, MO
05/16 - Bridge the Gap 1/2 Marathon - Quincy, IL
05/24 - Madison 1/2 Marathon - Madison, WI (TBC IMWI Camp)
June ? - TBD
07/19 - Racine 70.3
08/16 - Pigman Long Course
10/10 - Ironman World Championship


This was a recovery and testing week.  I skipped the run test, as I felt I hadn't really improved any in terms of a short duration test, and the weather wasn't suitable for an outdoor test this time.  Plus the day i had it planned, Ok, ok, here's the real answer, I stupidly had a big lunch and was too bloated to crank out sub 6' miles.

Swim test went great and broke 13:00 for the first time in the 1000TT.  Felt great doing it.  I then set a new 5' power record and based on that I knew my FTP test would likely go well.  I rode 334W for 20' for a new FTP of 317W!   A alltime record.  I never tested over 310W last year, thought I set my FTP at 315 just before IMWI feeling that it best represented where I was at.   Now to drop some weight and put it all together.

By the end of this build block, I'll have a solid overall training load and descent run fitness as well.  I'l then continue to  hone in on sustained upper Z4 efforts with some Z5 tossed in.  Similar to crit training.  This is because the race I'm tapering for, for fun, is a sprint distance on a hilly course with lots of turns.  You can't pedal through several turns, so I need to practice putting is a threshold or slightly above effort then recover quickly in the turns. But manage my output to above spikes in power at the same time.  So not quite like a crit exactly, but some similarities.  I think this fits nicely with early season long course training, as it's so different overall.   My weekly long ride however, continues to be a long tempo ride.  So I'm not ignoring longer efforts, but not many 3+ hour rides either.

Motivation comes a goes a little.  It's never easy sustaining a high level and training solo all the time.  Especially deep into winter training.  Plus plenty going on outside of training as well.  I continue to be impressed by those that do this year in and year out at a high level.

By the numbers:
Swim: 2h49m, 12,450y
Bike: 5h02m, 90.7mi
Run: 2h48m, 22.3mi
Strength:2h15m
Total: 12h54m
TSS: 771

Weekly Wrap-up 02/10/15

A good solid week to cap off my last base 3 training week.   MY legs were still pretty flat and energy levels were low from the ToS.  But my running felt very good including a 9 mile run during the week.  I'm feeling he extra pounds, but otherwise OK.   My new Hoka Bondi 4's feel pretty good.  Firmer than the Cliftons, but similar net cushioning effect, but a little more stable, a little more comfortable tongue and substantial training shoe.  I'm happy with the purchase.  Fit is almost identical.  A slightly smallish toe box, but not as cramped as my Saucony Cortanas or Kinvara 4's.  Maybe just a tad more snug than my Kinvara 5's.  But pretty close to the same fit.   Very nice insole in included with good arch support.

On Sunday I did an indoor triathlon at the Quincy Kroc Center.  A short 10 minute swim in a 18y 87F pool.  It was an interesting practice in pacing and finding a rhythm to get enough air and not overheat.  It reminded me of the start of a 70.3.  The bike was on a typical spin bike.  There was no predefined setting, so it was a practice in spinning at 140RPM.  I had mine at setting 12-14, it displayed around 240 Watts and probably wasn't far off, maybe just a little low.  My HR was 150-155bpm.  Solid Tempo effort.  The run was on a short indoor track.  I'm not sure the length.  I'd guess 10-12 laps to a mile.  It was ideal for running under 7:00 pace.  Above that took some effort to navigate corners and traction was a bit limited.  Yes, I'm taking this too seriously.  it was a fun challenge.  I think I he;d a steady 5:40 pace.  HR kept climbing to around 175-180 the last 5 minutes.  So somewhere between 10k and 1/2 marathon pace I think.   Considering where my run fitness is at, I was pretty happy with what my legs gave me really.

Wardrobe decision - Yes I wore my old Desoto Liftfoil trisuit.  Hey, it's comfortable, nice to swim in (stretches less when wet) had a great pad and nice compression for running.  It's like 6 years old now, so it's lot like pulled out some fancy new fangled suit.

Biggest milestone was my first training run over 1 hour since August.  Can't wait for my FTP test.  Then to just lose some more weight.  I forget sometimes how blinking hard that is.  TSS wasn't real impressive, but it still was forward progress.  The ToS just took a lot out of me.  Not a lot left to give this week.  Quality over quantity at this point, since my 1st "A" race is a sprint tri anyway.   Just trying to build fitness back.   I'll save the heavy lifting for May-Aug.


By the numbers:
Swim: 4h07m, 17,750y
Bike: 6h46m, 123mi
Run: 3h43m, 29.4mi
Strength: 2h20m
TOTAL: 16h56m
TSS: 984.1

Tour of Sufferlandria! - Weekly Wrap-up 02/01/15

I survived the tour!   I managed 1008TSS over 9 stages.   What's more is that as we all know, TSS isn't created equal.  Every rides had Zone 4-5 efforts plus some anaerobic sprints efforts too.  Very, very different from my normal training and I would typically have done a Z2 recovery ride between each of those rides.  I did keep up some running and swimming which added to the challenge.  Overall,  I learned the following:

1) I recover better than I thought.
2) You body "remembers" it's previous fitness levels very well even when current training loads are 60-75% of 6 months earlier.
3) Running, not surprisingly, has a huge impact on recovery from hard rides.
4) Its easier to hold on to fitness, than build it again.
5) My ITB is not aggravated by cycling at all anymore... if it was, I would certainly have found out this week.

One more week of my last base phase of training.  I'm pretty excited as I'm confident I've seen some major gain in bike fitness.   My running isn't doing OK and hampered more by weight, and just lack of miles.  I think it will come back just fine, but if I've learned anything, it's that I need to be patient.  Like baking a cake.  You can't just crank up the temperature to speed things up and expect it to come out right.  

Then it's onto the Build phases.  Which will be very unique, as I've chosen a sprint race for an early season "A" race.  I think it plays well.  It's a change of pace from almost year round long course training, and since my primary race is in October, it plays well into moving from less to more specific.  It's a good test, as I've done this event 4 years in a row, so I can compare my improvements on the same course each year.  Plus, same bike, same helmet, but some changes to position and bike set-up.

This was my biggest week since the week of July 28th and tied for 4th largest in the last 12 months.  What's impressive, is that taking away my PT stretches, strengthening exercises and snow shoveling (yes I count that), it was <17 hour week.

By the numbers:

Swim: 4h08m, 17,900y
Bike:  9h57m, 192mi
Run: 2h54m, 22,7mi
Strength (includes PT): 3h00m
TOTAL: 19h59m
TSS: 1370