Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Big Week

I am ramping up for IMCdA with a huge week of training this week. I kicked things off Friday with an hour swim and 1:20 run, which I was happy to complete pain free. Saturday and Sunday both included 4+ hour rides along with a swim each day and a short run on Sunday. Monday was a recovery-type day with two swims -- one long and one short -- and an hour spin. Today was a moderately long ride and nearly an hour run.

My training volume for the past 4 days is around 17 hours. The plan for tomorrow is a long ride in Boulder and a recovery swim before an easy double swim day on Thursday. Two hard days, one easy day.

All my rides, excluding the recovery spin, have included plenty of climbing. (I'd post pictures of some of the climbs and views, but my camera broke!) I haven't been using power or HR to guide my effort, instead opting to go by feel. Such a leap in volume may raise my injury risk substantially, so hopefully avoiding chasing metrics will allow me to more easily perceive any signs of bodily discomfort.

Oh, and I think I saw a guy exposing himself during my run this evening.

This week's songs, both by Dan Deacon but with vastly different styles:


It's nice to be running again and listening to music on headphones.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

One Hour

It's been a while since my last update. Training is coming along, and I may actually be able to pull off a decent race at CdA in just over 3 months. The key for my success will be safely increasing my running and getting up early every Tuesday-Friday to hit the pool before heading to work. With one workout out of the way, I likely won't have a problem fitting in a second one after work.

The title of this post refers to the duration of my run today: a full 60 minutes. I'm hoping to add 10 minutes per week until I hit 1:30, and then hang there for a few weeks to see how things go. Running still feels smooth and easy, although my pace has been pretty slow as a precaution.

Cycling is progressing surprisingly well. I've hit lifetime best power numbers during my favorite trainer ride, an hour or so off big-gear reps. Lately I've seen 270 W at ~150 bpm and 260 W at 145 bpm. I've got to start some more IM specific trainer rides to get some more relevant numbers. The other thing I need to do with my cycling training is to increase my long ride duration and specificity. I've got to start getting the tri-bike out for some 4-5 hour rides, since that's what my day in Coeur d'Alene will require. So far, I've kept to the road bike except for trainer rides.

Oh, and speaking of cycling, if anyone is interested in buying a 2010 Orbea Ordu, size 54, please let me know. I'll beat whatever they're going for on eBay.

This weekend's long ride was 4 hours from Golden --> Morrison --> Evergreen --> the end of some road leaving Evergreen. A pretty stunning ride, I must say:


My only issue with riding right now is getting my cleats set up properly. I'm playing around with different wedges to change the cant of my foot, and I cannot get the correct angle. I feel like I'm pedaling far too much with the outside edges of my feet. My quads aren't getting enough work.

One reason I haven't been able to post lately is that Stacey and I have been pretty busy with buying a house (closing in mid-April) and taking care of our indefatigable puppy, Ozzy:

Poor guy was just castrated.

In honor of daylight savings -- the best day of the year! -- the song of the week is "Hello Sunshine" by the Super Furry Animals: