This will be short but my past week has looked like this :
Monday - AM 1 hour bike PM 40 Elliptical
Tuesday - PM 30 elliptical 45 strength
Wednesday - 3 hours Bike
Thursday - AM 15 minute run(in between classes), 40 Swim
Friday - 1 Hour Bike, 5 X 5 minute intervals HR b/w 150-163, 90 second recovery, 45 Strength
Saturday - 2 Hour Bike
Sunday - AM -33 Minute Bike, 17:23 Run(FTW!@!) PM - 45 Swim
Total Weekly Volume - 12 Hours and 10 Minutes,
Goal - 12 Hours and 30 Minutes
Short- 20 Minutes
Great week, highest bike volume ever at 7.5 hours. I also Won my 5K this morning in 17:23 which is awesome. I'll give a full race report sometime later this week.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Achilles Trouble
Like I said, its been bothering me for about 2 months now and unfortunately my achilles has had enough. To recap the major blowup occurred when I did something not so smart, which is what we always do in training. I'm running on average 3-4 days per week during my Tri-training. So last week, fully knowing I've got something going on with my achilles, I decided to run 3 days in a row. 25 minutes Saturday as a bricked run, 80 minutes on Sunday as my long run(went great, averaged 7:40 pace at a HR of 145, which is low), and then ran Monday. Come Tuesday my achilles was fried.
I haven't ran since Monday and will give it 2-3 more days before I try again. Despite that my training has been going great. My down week ended up being just under 8 hours of volume, and this week is looking to be around 10-11 Hours, not great since I was looking for 11+. Thursday was an unexpected day off because of schedule.
Also my FTP test last week went great. I averaged 229 watts. So 9 watts higher than my prediction. I'm very happy with that considering I still haven't put in great volume and have only had 3-4 intensity based workouts.
Current week looks like this.
Saturday - 35 Elliptical + 45 Strength
Friday - 165 Bike + 30 Minute Swim
Thursday - OFF
Wednesday - 60 Bike - 4 X 5 Minutes @ 148-156 HR, 90 second recoveries
Tuesday -90 bike + 45 Strength
Monday - 35 Run + 45 Swim
I have a half-marathon next Sunday which isn't happening. Going to call the director and see if I can get my entry switched to the 5K. It'll be fun to run a fast 5K which I haven't really tried to do in a while. Assuming I can run I'll predict 17:45 depending on the course. But who knows since I haven't been running.
I haven't ran since Monday and will give it 2-3 more days before I try again. Despite that my training has been going great. My down week ended up being just under 8 hours of volume, and this week is looking to be around 10-11 Hours, not great since I was looking for 11+. Thursday was an unexpected day off because of schedule.
Also my FTP test last week went great. I averaged 229 watts. So 9 watts higher than my prediction. I'm very happy with that considering I still haven't put in great volume and have only had 3-4 intensity based workouts.
Current week looks like this.
Saturday - 35 Elliptical + 45 Strength
Friday - 165 Bike + 30 Minute Swim
Thursday - OFF
Wednesday - 60 Bike - 4 X 5 Minutes @ 148-156 HR, 90 second recoveries
Tuesday -90 bike + 45 Strength
Monday - 35 Run + 45 Swim
I have a half-marathon next Sunday which isn't happening. Going to call the director and see if I can get my entry switched to the 5K. It'll be fun to run a fast 5K which I haven't really tried to do in a while. Assuming I can run I'll predict 17:45 depending on the course. But who knows since I haven't been running.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Happy St. Paddy's!
Happy St. Paddys all. Sure it was yesterday but St. Patty's has really turned into a long-term celebration like Halloween and Christmas. Compared to the 1 day holidays like Valentines day. Theres parades nearly every weekend for 3 weeks it feels like.
I also learned that the Irish are adamant about spelling it St. Paddy, and not St. Patty? I couldn't tell you why however. Just a little fun factoid.
Training last week went well until I skipped my last workout of the week. I was just shy of 11 hours of total volume which is very good considering its my first 4 weeks back. I've got to remember that I can't leave my last workouts of the week to Sunday afternoon/evenings. Its just not going to happen. Sundays are meant for being lazy. I got my 75 minutes of running which was just shy of 10 miles in early Sunday morning. But then worked for an hour, went to the most amazing brunch ever at Restaurant X and visited grandma. I had 0 desire to get in another workout. Lesson learned.
Achilles feels OK. I can still get the running stuff down but it definitely doesn't feel right. I absolutely have to start adding in some preventative stuff like eccentric calf-drops. Also will need to start adding in some glute medius work. After my second 2 hour ride this week my right glute was bothering me a bit.
This is a down week. Goal for the week is 8 hours of total training volume. I'm also doing my 30 minute cycling test tomorrow which should be interesting. Last year I put out a paltry 234 watts as my best test. Whats even worse was that at one point I tested 20 minutes for 194 was...... SAD. If I were to guess my result for tomorrow I would guess its somewhere around 220. I'd be surprised if its 10 watts higher in either direction. Thats all for now. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their St. Pattys celebrations.
I also learned that the Irish are adamant about spelling it St. Paddy, and not St. Patty? I couldn't tell you why however. Just a little fun factoid.
Training last week went well until I skipped my last workout of the week. I was just shy of 11 hours of total volume which is very good considering its my first 4 weeks back. I've got to remember that I can't leave my last workouts of the week to Sunday afternoon/evenings. Its just not going to happen. Sundays are meant for being lazy. I got my 75 minutes of running which was just shy of 10 miles in early Sunday morning. But then worked for an hour, went to the most amazing brunch ever at Restaurant X and visited grandma. I had 0 desire to get in another workout. Lesson learned.
Achilles feels OK. I can still get the running stuff down but it definitely doesn't feel right. I absolutely have to start adding in some preventative stuff like eccentric calf-drops. Also will need to start adding in some glute medius work. After my second 2 hour ride this week my right glute was bothering me a bit.
This is a down week. Goal for the week is 8 hours of total training volume. I'm also doing my 30 minute cycling test tomorrow which should be interesting. Last year I put out a paltry 234 watts as my best test. Whats even worse was that at one point I tested 20 minutes for 194 was...... SAD. If I were to guess my result for tomorrow I would guess its somewhere around 220. I'd be surprised if its 10 watts higher in either direction. Thats all for now. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their St. Pattys celebrations.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Back At It
So its been a lot longer than I had intended, both with this blog and my training. Quick recap of the past 5 weeks.
1. Went to Costa Rica. Ate amazing food and sat by the pool almost every day. I swam in the ocean for 10-15 minutes twice but that was the extent of my activity level.
2. Took a few more days off as expected but then got deathly ill. Like the sickest I've been since I was a kid. If I had health insurance I would have said take me to the hospital, but I didn't, so I survived.
3. Took 2.5 weeks of in total which was a week more than I wanted.
4. Been training for 3 weeks now. This past week I actually got some decent volume in, about 11+ hours of training.
I actually feel pretty good other than some minor Achilles stuff. The Achilles actually was bothering me a little about 2 months ago prior to my HM. Never anything serious. But this thing is a little different then my traditional experiences with achilles injuries. Usually if something starts to bother me it gets worse throughout a run. And then post run I feel it inflamed and can hardly walk. Well this actually loosens up during the run and then after the run I'm good. So yesterday got my 70 minute run in, felt fine during and after. This morning I wake up and feel the tightness in it. Very weird, almost plantar fascitis-like.
Other than that things are good. As of right now I'm signed up for 3 races with my championship race being Mussleman in Geneva NY on July 13th. My next race will be the a half-marathon, but its much more of a tempo run for training. I'm definitely not racing there. But its local and it gets a lot of runners so I figure why not have some company during my 12-13 mile long run. I'm going to try and keep this updated at least once a week going forward. Now that I'm back into training I don't see that being a problem.
1. Went to Costa Rica. Ate amazing food and sat by the pool almost every day. I swam in the ocean for 10-15 minutes twice but that was the extent of my activity level.
2. Took a few more days off as expected but then got deathly ill. Like the sickest I've been since I was a kid. If I had health insurance I would have said take me to the hospital, but I didn't, so I survived.
3. Took 2.5 weeks of in total which was a week more than I wanted.
4. Been training for 3 weeks now. This past week I actually got some decent volume in, about 11+ hours of training.
I actually feel pretty good other than some minor Achilles stuff. The Achilles actually was bothering me a little about 2 months ago prior to my HM. Never anything serious. But this thing is a little different then my traditional experiences with achilles injuries. Usually if something starts to bother me it gets worse throughout a run. And then post run I feel it inflamed and can hardly walk. Well this actually loosens up during the run and then after the run I'm good. So yesterday got my 70 minute run in, felt fine during and after. This morning I wake up and feel the tightness in it. Very weird, almost plantar fascitis-like.
Other than that things are good. As of right now I'm signed up for 3 races with my championship race being Mussleman in Geneva NY on July 13th. My next race will be the a half-marathon, but its much more of a tempo run for training. I'm definitely not racing there. But its local and it gets a lot of runners so I figure why not have some company during my 12-13 mile long run. I'm going to try and keep this updated at least once a week going forward. Now that I'm back into training I don't see that being a problem.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Half-Marathon Race Report
Its now 2 days away and I've had some time to reflect on my race from Saturday. I'm extremely happy with the result but even more happy with my preparation leading up to the race. More on that later.
I worked the night before and was home around 10:30pm, in bed and asleep around 11:30pm. Woke up at 7am and had a banana around 7:45 with a plain whole wheat bagel from D&Ds. Race time was 10:00 so thats about 300 calories 2 hours and 15 minutes prior to the race(Didn't finish bagel). Arrived at the race and started my 15 minute warm up at 9:25. Finished at 9:40 and was scrambling a little bit to change into race clothes and get my compression socks on. The weather was absolutely amazing for February in NY. I believe race time temperature was around 37 degrees and only getting warmer, so after some debating I elected to race in shorts, compression socks, and an Under Armour long sleeve top. I probably would have wore a shirt/singlet had I brought one to race. Lastly I heavily debated wearing my Garmin, but ultimately wore it for "scientific" purposes.
Gun went off and I was at the front with 4 other gentleman. They added an extra loop so we were now making 7 hairpin turns. The first 2 coming at .5 and 1 mile. I stayed with the pack of at .5 and kind of let them go between .5 and 1 mile. Again I was looking to hit 6:10-6:15 pace, and these guys were going 6:05 or faster. So I kind of let them get away which was debatable. After turning around at 1 mile I realized there was a very very slight headwind going away from the finish. So while these 4 guys ran together until mile 7ish, I was left in no-mans land by myself breaking the wind.
The first few miles went well and heres where I would like to debate the use of my garmin. I probably looked down for my pace 70-80 times throughout the race. Its such a massive distraction from whats actually going on in the race. One thing I did notice was that a few times while I was zoning out, I kind of woke up and looked down at my watch to see 6:30+ pace. So I think it did help me from getting too comfortable mid-race. And I'll add I wasn't truly comfortable at any point in this race, unlike my last race.
Around mile 7 an older gentleman from the pack started falling off and he looked horrible so my goal was to catch him. The other guys all looked really good and were already 3-400 meters up on me so I didn't think I was catching any of them. Miles 7-9 were just me trying to real the guy in. At our second to last hairpin turn the guy only had about 20 meters on me. I picked him up in the next half mile and instead of staying with him just went right past. At the last turn with 2.1 miles left I sort of questioned my decision to go past him so abruptly. Most runners fear is letting anyone pass you in the last mile of a race. The last 2 miles are what I like to call a slow death. I was pushing as much as I can to hold 6:10 pace, anytime I let off I was back up to 6:30 pace. With a quarter mile to go I looked back and although the guy actually closed the gap I knew he wouldn't get me. I finished in 1:20:47*, with a new PB. Again I was thrilled to have run 2 minutes faster than my last race on December 14th and 5 minutes faster than my first half-marathon last year. I put an asterik next to my time because my official time is listed as 1:20:54 which is impossible. I'm going to split the difference and call my official PB as 1:20:50.
I'm already thinking about the future. Having only run 25-36MPW, I can't wait until next winter to try and PB again. I think a sub 1:18 is definitely possible with some higher mileage as well as some more intensity at certain points. It also will help if I don't take off 3 months randomly in the Summer.
But now is Triathlon time!!! As soon as I finish writing this I'm going to register for my second HIM and will be onto my next goal of sub 5 hours. This will undoubtedly be the greatest challenge I've ever faced. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes over the course of the next 4-5 months to get there.
I actually jumped the gun. Its now vacation time!!! I'm leaving for Costa Rica in less than 24 hours. I can't wait to do nothing but relax, eat, and read for 5 full days!
I worked the night before and was home around 10:30pm, in bed and asleep around 11:30pm. Woke up at 7am and had a banana around 7:45 with a plain whole wheat bagel from D&Ds. Race time was 10:00 so thats about 300 calories 2 hours and 15 minutes prior to the race(Didn't finish bagel). Arrived at the race and started my 15 minute warm up at 9:25. Finished at 9:40 and was scrambling a little bit to change into race clothes and get my compression socks on. The weather was absolutely amazing for February in NY. I believe race time temperature was around 37 degrees and only getting warmer, so after some debating I elected to race in shorts, compression socks, and an Under Armour long sleeve top. I probably would have wore a shirt/singlet had I brought one to race. Lastly I heavily debated wearing my Garmin, but ultimately wore it for "scientific" purposes.
Gun went off and I was at the front with 4 other gentleman. They added an extra loop so we were now making 7 hairpin turns. The first 2 coming at .5 and 1 mile. I stayed with the pack of at .5 and kind of let them go between .5 and 1 mile. Again I was looking to hit 6:10-6:15 pace, and these guys were going 6:05 or faster. So I kind of let them get away which was debatable. After turning around at 1 mile I realized there was a very very slight headwind going away from the finish. So while these 4 guys ran together until mile 7ish, I was left in no-mans land by myself breaking the wind.
The first few miles went well and heres where I would like to debate the use of my garmin. I probably looked down for my pace 70-80 times throughout the race. Its such a massive distraction from whats actually going on in the race. One thing I did notice was that a few times while I was zoning out, I kind of woke up and looked down at my watch to see 6:30+ pace. So I think it did help me from getting too comfortable mid-race. And I'll add I wasn't truly comfortable at any point in this race, unlike my last race.
Around mile 7 an older gentleman from the pack started falling off and he looked horrible so my goal was to catch him. The other guys all looked really good and were already 3-400 meters up on me so I didn't think I was catching any of them. Miles 7-9 were just me trying to real the guy in. At our second to last hairpin turn the guy only had about 20 meters on me. I picked him up in the next half mile and instead of staying with him just went right past. At the last turn with 2.1 miles left I sort of questioned my decision to go past him so abruptly. Most runners fear is letting anyone pass you in the last mile of a race. The last 2 miles are what I like to call a slow death. I was pushing as much as I can to hold 6:10 pace, anytime I let off I was back up to 6:30 pace. With a quarter mile to go I looked back and although the guy actually closed the gap I knew he wouldn't get me. I finished in 1:20:47*, with a new PB. Again I was thrilled to have run 2 minutes faster than my last race on December 14th and 5 minutes faster than my first half-marathon last year. I put an asterik next to my time because my official time is listed as 1:20:54 which is impossible. I'm going to split the difference and call my official PB as 1:20:50.
I'm already thinking about the future. Having only run 25-36MPW, I can't wait until next winter to try and PB again. I think a sub 1:18 is definitely possible with some higher mileage as well as some more intensity at certain points. It also will help if I don't take off 3 months randomly in the Summer.
But now is Triathlon time!!! As soon as I finish writing this I'm going to register for my second HIM and will be onto my next goal of sub 5 hours. This will undoubtedly be the greatest challenge I've ever faced. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes over the course of the next 4-5 months to get there.
I actually jumped the gun. Its now vacation time!!! I'm leaving for Costa Rica in less than 24 hours. I can't wait to do nothing but relax, eat, and read for 5 full days!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Taper Week!
Race day is less than 24 hours away. Surprisingly I haven't put too much thought/stress into this A race like I do with most. This past summer I really obsessed about my HIM and even my Olympic tri prior. This time around I've been a little more care-free. I'm still paying close attention to making sure I hit appropriate volumes and intensities for each discipline.
Heres a look at how my taper has looked for the past 7 days
Friday : Off
Saturday : 60 Minutes, 2 X 15 minutes zone 3(about 30-45 seconds slower than HM pace)
Sunday : Off
Monday : AM 40 Minute Run
PM 2500 yds
Tuesday : 40 Minute Run
Wednesday : 50 Minutes on Bike(As opposed to usual 60)
Thursday : 30 minute run + Strides
Friday : 1500-2000 yards(Haven't Finished this swim yet.
So the volume is certainly down from a usual week. I must say I'm starting to feel pretty good. My diet has fallen off and I've added on about 2-3 lbs in the past 3 weeks but that could also be because my lower volume. I did a great podcast last night with my friend Pat about high volume vs low volume tapers as well as Post A Race Hangover, so please check the link out at the bottom of the page.
With regards to time. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I believe I should certainly faster than December 14th(1:22:53). Obviously I'm more fit, it hopefully won't be snowing like last time, and I actually tapered for this race. I've said my goal is sub 1:22 but after really looking at the variables going into last race I'm going to go on a limb and predict 1:21:15. I'll provide a full race recap either Sunday or Monday and then I'm off to Costa Rica with my Fiance! Looking forward to it.
Coach Spanish
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hellinaforumradio/2014/01/31/pb-nation
Heres a look at how my taper has looked for the past 7 days
Friday : Off
Saturday : 60 Minutes, 2 X 15 minutes zone 3(about 30-45 seconds slower than HM pace)
Sunday : Off
Monday : AM 40 Minute Run
PM 2500 yds
Tuesday : 40 Minute Run
Wednesday : 50 Minutes on Bike(As opposed to usual 60)
Thursday : 30 minute run + Strides
Friday : 1500-2000 yards(Haven't Finished this swim yet.
So the volume is certainly down from a usual week. I must say I'm starting to feel pretty good. My diet has fallen off and I've added on about 2-3 lbs in the past 3 weeks but that could also be because my lower volume. I did a great podcast last night with my friend Pat about high volume vs low volume tapers as well as Post A Race Hangover, so please check the link out at the bottom of the page.
With regards to time. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I believe I should certainly faster than December 14th(1:22:53). Obviously I'm more fit, it hopefully won't be snowing like last time, and I actually tapered for this race. I've said my goal is sub 1:22 but after really looking at the variables going into last race I'm going to go on a limb and predict 1:21:15. I'll provide a full race recap either Sunday or Monday and then I'm off to Costa Rica with my Fiance! Looking forward to it.
Coach Spanish
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hellinaforumradio/2014/01/31/pb-nation
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
2014 Goals
I have 1 true sports related goal for 2014. Break 5 hours for a HIM. I probably should come up with a olympic distance triathlon goal since thats where I'll do the majority of my racing but breaking 5 hours would totally make my year. As of right now I'm going to be doing Mussleman in July. Everything I do after my next race will be geared towards breaking 5 hours.
I have some other goals, like logging my own training every week. But so far I've failed that miserably. But I also haven't set up my training peaks account yet.
My other major goal is school. I'm starting classes at my local community college 5 years after finishing my undergraduate degree in Business Administration. I have to take 7 pre-requisite classes before I apply to a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program. Now its a bit far-fetched for me to get into some programs but I honestly think its doable if I do well in my pre-req. classes. Basically I'm shooting for A- or better in every class.
With regards to my current training; things are going fantastic. I have 2.5 weeks until my A race, a half-marathon on February 1st. Things are going so well that barring a disaster like sickness or snow I should certainly PB. Sub 1:22 is the goal but 1:20.XX is possible. Thats all for now, time to get on the bike for 2 hours.
I have some other goals, like logging my own training every week. But so far I've failed that miserably. But I also haven't set up my training peaks account yet.
My other major goal is school. I'm starting classes at my local community college 5 years after finishing my undergraduate degree in Business Administration. I have to take 7 pre-requisite classes before I apply to a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program. Now its a bit far-fetched for me to get into some programs but I honestly think its doable if I do well in my pre-req. classes. Basically I'm shooting for A- or better in every class.
With regards to my current training; things are going fantastic. I have 2.5 weeks until my A race, a half-marathon on February 1st. Things are going so well that barring a disaster like sickness or snow I should certainly PB. Sub 1:22 is the goal but 1:20.XX is possible. Thats all for now, time to get on the bike for 2 hours.
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