It's been a few days since posting last. I learned something very valuable on sunday while riding. DO NOT EAT AN ENTIRE PROTEIN BAR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIDE. Not only did I cramp up really really badly, but with the constant climbing, I was never able to rest and get rid of it. Made for a pretty miserable 2nd half of the ride. I think eating a few bites at a time, or just extra GU's would've sufficed. I did start using HEED and I think it helped. Hell, I don't know if it helped or not. It wasn't hot so I wasn't sweating like crazy. But I've heard good stuff about it and it seems to be the only sports drink that doesn't use sugar as a sweetener. I'm going to give it another go, hopefully this time without the miserable cramping I got from the protein bar.
In some positive news, I did pick up my speed a tad from my previous ride. It was about 3 miles longer, but I increased my speed about 1 mph. Not sure if it had to do with conditioning, or that I replaced my ridiculously overused cleats that were moving all over the place in the pedal. All that extra movement definitely was not helping. I had a fantastic run saturday. I did the entire Big Laurel trail down to the french broad and back, about 7.4 miles, had a nice low HR, in the 150's and felt like I could go do it again. It was very encouraging, and was a nice way to lead into my recovery week, which unfortunately is nearly over. I have an easy run and ride this weekend, then I pick it back up again. My HR is really coming down and it's great to see such improvement. Yesterday, I did a 3.4 mile treadmill run at a 10 min/mile pace, and my HR was at 146. Even a month ago, that pace would've had my HR in the 170's. Now I'm waiting for my body to show signs of improvement! My swimming, well, it's staying consistent. I was pretty solid at swimming before hand, and I suppose it's getting somewhat better, but I'm happy with it.
I changed my race schedule up a bit as I was looking at alternatives to the Valdese Tri on April 16th. I came across the Paris Mountain International triathlon. I was actually looking for a sprint and began reading about it, what I thought was the sprint, but was in fact the international. After reading about it and seeing about how unbelievably brutal it is, and the fact that it's the only international distance I've ever heard of that gives out a "finisher" t shirt(those are usually reserved for Half Ironman or half marathon distance and over) and with Rachel's encouragement I decided to step up my game and take it on. It's a generally flat race, until around mile 8 or 9, where you climb for 2.2 miles and rise about 1000 feet. I don't think I've ever done a climb like this before, so it's going to be something. And the run is 5 miles, with the first half generally flat, then a 400ish foot climb for about a mile and a half, before you come back down. It's going to be brutal, but I love to challenge myself, so I'm getting geared up.
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Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
276 days till Ironman
I haven't written in a couple days, but I felt like I had to after yesterday's workout. I'm not sure what happened, but back on saturday I had a wretched run. I ran at the biltmore estate with the dogs, and did 6.2 miles in 1 hr 15 minutes for a whopping pace of over 12 min per mile. At that pace I should've been very relaxed and barely even feeling it. Not quite the case. My HR was up, not way up, but in the 170's, far too high for that pace. It was mostly flat, with one big long climb. But even after coming down the climb and flattening out again I felt like crap. I know part of it was the dogs pulling on me constantly, and the stiff wind I faced on the second half of the run. But regardless, it was a bad run. Sunday I had a great ride which started along the french broad river and took me through Marshall, over the river, to the west bank, which is an area I've never ridden before, but absolutely plan to ride again. It was beautiful over there, and very challenging. Lots of ups and downs, and some seriously hard core climbs.
Monday was a typical swim/trainer day, nothing exciting to discuss. Well, except for the fact that the Y screwed up the cold pool and it felt more like bath water. I was told it was 88 degrees, about 9 higher than it should be, so that made for a very difficult, and miserable swim.
So on to yesterday. Yesterday the plan called for a 4.1 mile run at a 10 minute pace. I didn't look closely at my map so I wound up doing 4.3 miles. And the beauty of it was that I did it in 37 minutes, for a staggering pace of 8:36 min/mile! Which is one of the fastest runs I've had in years. Needless to say I was quite excited about it! I'm finally getting the hang of these hills! It's a great feeling. I had my long swim yesterday afternoon, 2550 miles, and that went well too, if not brutally challenging. It was a lot of speed work, so I was drained.
Bring on the Ironman!!!
Monday was a typical swim/trainer day, nothing exciting to discuss. Well, except for the fact that the Y screwed up the cold pool and it felt more like bath water. I was told it was 88 degrees, about 9 higher than it should be, so that made for a very difficult, and miserable swim.
So on to yesterday. Yesterday the plan called for a 4.1 mile run at a 10 minute pace. I didn't look closely at my map so I wound up doing 4.3 miles. And the beauty of it was that I did it in 37 minutes, for a staggering pace of 8:36 min/mile! Which is one of the fastest runs I've had in years. Needless to say I was quite excited about it! I'm finally getting the hang of these hills! It's a great feeling. I had my long swim yesterday afternoon, 2550 miles, and that went well too, if not brutally challenging. It was a lot of speed work, so I was drained.
Bring on the Ironman!!!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
284 days till Ironman
I haven't posted since thursday. After losing Lakota I hadn't been in the mood, but I need to get back on it. I had a strong run thursday. It was the best, and fastest I had run the north asheville neighborhood route. On saturday I ran the trails at the Biltmore Estate. Sunday I did a road ride from our house in Marshall to Maria and Jeremiahs. Monday I completed a 1400 yard swim, which had to be cut short due to time, it was supposed to have been 1950. I did a 54 minute trainer ride. Today I did a 3.7 mile run on the treadmill. Later I have to swim, and will post that tomorrow.
Stats:
Thursday: Run 4.5 miles, 42 minutes.
Saturday - Run 5.5 miles, 1 hr
Sunday - Road Ride 27.4 miles, 1 hr 44 min
Monday - Swim 1400 yards, 27:23; Trainer Ride 54 minutes
Today - Treadmill 3.7 miles, 37 minutes
Stats:
Thursday: Run 4.5 miles, 42 minutes.
Saturday - Run 5.5 miles, 1 hr
Sunday - Road Ride 27.4 miles, 1 hr 44 min
Monday - Swim 1400 yards, 27:23; Trainer Ride 54 minutes
Today - Treadmill 3.7 miles, 37 minutes
In memory of Lakota, 2011.
I haven't posted in a while, it was hard to try and write this sooner, it was too fresh in my mind. We lost Lakota on thursday and I just didn't want to bother. She was just a truly wonderful pet. She was more than a pet, she was a member of our family. What amazes me most about her was how awfully she was treated her entire life, and despite that, she had no anger in her at all. She was fearful when we first brought her home. Understandably so, we believe she had a cigarette burn between her eyes, her ears were completely covered in ticks, she was very malnourished, and had a strong fear of men. She was scared to come through doorways if you were standing there, which led me to believe she had been slammed in doors. Still despite that, she was a very loving, deeply affectionate dog. Every night she'd curl up on the couch with either me or Rachel. She'd give you kisses any time you requested. When she finally came around and learned to trust us she really came out of her shell and was a very playful, goofy dog. She'd do jumping pirouettes at meal time until you put her food down. When she was excited she'd drag her feet as is she were a bull about to charge. All in all she was just a wonderful pet and companion. She absolutely adored the snow. She would jump off the deck into it, and bury her face in the snow and push herself around with her back legs, then look up at us with the snow piled up on her muzzle. We both miss her very deeply and she was taken from us far too soon. We both still very fortunate even to have had the brief time we did have with her. We know she was meant to have come into our lives and stay with us till her end. She brought us together and made us closer. She loved it up on the farm, so that is where we decided to lay her to rest. I hope we were able to make her as happy as she always made us. We will always miss you Lakota. You left too soon.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
289 days till Ironman
Yesterday was a very rough day of training. I did the same course I did tuesday, was slightly faster, but more worn out. That hill from Cherry st to the civic center is just nightmarish. But at least this time I made it non stop, instead of stopping briefly at flint st. Last night I managed a full 68 minutes on the bike trainer while watching Lost and the Office. Workouts below,
3.2 mile run from work. One grade 5 climb. 33:05 minutes, avg HR 176, Max 215, though I highly doubt that's accurate
68 minute trainer session. main set included 20 min of 30 sec X 30 sec hard effort, recovery and 28 minutes of endurance riding. Avg HR 146, max 182.
3.2 mile run from work. One grade 5 climb. 33:05 minutes, avg HR 176, Max 215, though I highly doubt that's accurate
68 minute trainer session. main set included 20 min of 30 sec X 30 sec hard effort, recovery and 28 minutes of endurance riding. Avg HR 146, max 182.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
290 Days till Ironman
So far having a good week with training. It's been tough however, after the lay off I feel like I've lost a good bit of fitness. I finally was able to go for an outdoor run yesterday, and dear god was it brutal. I am just NOT in shape for the hills here. I got in a very long swim yesterday. Probably the longest I've done in almost a year. Or at least it felt like it. I was planning to do a 20 mile ride today from work to marshall, but after blowing out two straight tubes, I ran out of time and am going to have to do a trainer ride instead :( ugh. my poor butt. I don't know why it hurts my butt so much more than a normal ride. But alas, my training sessions...
Monday - 48 minutes on the trainer, avg HR 129. Mostly endurance pace with high cadence intervals thrown in
Yesterday - 3.4 mile run, 36 minutes. avg HR 171....serious hills throughout. 2300 yard swim. Stroke work, drills, and 1000 yard threshold pace.
Monday - 48 minutes on the trainer, avg HR 129. Mostly endurance pace with high cadence intervals thrown in
Yesterday - 3.4 mile run, 36 minutes. avg HR 171....serious hills throughout. 2300 yard swim. Stroke work, drills, and 1000 yard threshold pace.
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