Evan's Training Log

2011-12-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

13.8 miles today, feeling like garbage. HR was high, speed was low, legs were tired, but my knee held out fine.

Another long run tomorrow, but at a HR of just 145 bpm or so.

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How much for a 3,200 square foot Victorian home dating from 1910 in Detroit, you ask?

Try $7,900. That's about how much my last tri-bike cost.
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Today's song, by M83:

Good News and Hopefully Minor Bad News

2011-12-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Starting with the good news, I am feeling stronger than ever on long runs. I used to begin feeling a bit of fatigue about an hour into a run, but now that's more like 1:30 into a run. 14-15 miles isn't too tough. That bodes well for future marathon success, as I've always had pretty extreme positive splits (yeah, yeah, I know other factors are involved...ahem*pacing*ahem). Hopefully by the time I run another marathon I can feel strong through 20 mile training runs. I'm also feeling strong running several days in a row, and the "dead legs" feeling is only there the day after a fast run or really long run. So muscular endurance or whatever it may be called seems improved.

The other good news is I have all but forgotten about my Achilles tendinitis. It's been completely unnoticeable, except this weekend when I banged my heel while an Ikea bed for the guest bedroom. It'll always be in my mind, but the injury seems behind me.

The bad news is that I had to cut short a long run this weekend because my knee really hurt. I was about 14 miles into a 16-18 mile run when the pain became too much to keep running, and I had to walk it on home. Now, I'm pretty sure this pain is just muscular. The pain doesn't come from the joint itself, but from my quad just above the knee. Perhaps its from too much volume/intensity/hills over the past few days. Maybe 4 long runs in 8 days, none of which were particularly easy, was too much. Maybe I didn't allow enough recovery after Friday's 1:30 jot along hilly Magnolia. Even on a snowshoe Sunday I was really happy to be done because my knee was aching on the descent home.

The good news, however, is that today's easy test jog went fine. I made it 40 minutes with only a little odd feeling in the knee. Tomorrow I will try an hour easy in the AM and another hour easy in the PM without ever getting too far from home in case the pain returns.

A takeaway is to keep an eye on my intensity. I did too many runs at a steady pace and not enough easy running.

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Snowshoe photos:

Tebowing on St. Mary's Glacier

Ozzy loved the glacier. He ran back and forth and back and forth the whole way up.

The lake at the base of the glacier.

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2011 in music:
Great albums: (in no particular order)
Yuck by Yuck
Bon Iver by Bon Iver
Wild Flag by Wild Flag
Father, Song, Holy Ghost by Girls

Honorable mention:
James Blake by James Blake

More time needed because I bought it yesterday:
Days by Real Estate

There were also several albums that received loads of critical acclaim that I'm not thrilled with (see, Tune Yards, Fleet Foxes), albums by bands that previously released amazing records but this year only released okay albums (here's looking at you Radiohead, Panda Bear), albums that I want to buy and expect to be really solid but haven't heard in full yet (burning ears for King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, The Black Keys), and finally albums by new bands that have gotten great reviews but have previously slipped under my radar (por ejemplo, Wye Oak, Civil Wars).

65 miles is a lot

2011-12-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

This week I've been wearing my Garmin every run to get an accurate count of my typical weekly mileage. It's not that the actual number of miles I run is all that important, but I want to make a push for a big week next week and counting my miles this week will give me some basis for comparison.

Saturday I managed 16.5 miles in about 1:55, averaging 7:10/mile at 155 bpm. (Side note: I'm curious to see how much faster that'll be once the snow/ice on the path melts.) That run thrashed my legs enough that Sunday became a 4.5 mile jog (~8:00/mile). Monday was just an easy/steady aerobic run: 10.5 miles at 7:30/mile (hovering around 145 bpm). Today I planned on some harder running, but my legs still aren't fully recovered from Saturday. Instead, today becomes an off day where I just go for an evening walk.

Halfway through a decent week, and I'm only at 31.5 miles. 65 miles will be a reasonable weekly mileage, but it sure feels like a lot of running. I think my legs will require a steady build-up to higher mileage, or I need to keep my long runs to 145-150 bpm, max. At any rate, my build up to high mileage weeks will be slow. I might hit 80 next week as a one week high mileage experiment keeping the effort low.

While I haven't trained with much structure over the past few months, I plan on reading Jack Daniel's Running Formula (for the second or third time) over the next two weeks to begin planning my training a little more formally. I've also got Lore of Running, but that book is so intimidating that I've barely peaked through its pages.
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I was reading Running Times the other day and noticed that the 2012 US Snowshoe National Championship takes place in Frisco in February. The qualification standards look pretty lax, so maybe I'll jump in a race and see if I can hit the standard. Hmm...
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Tebow!?!? Two weeks ago I became a fan. This week didn't disappoint, either. I'm afraid Brady, et al. will be too much this coming Sunday.
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The best thing about the end of the year are all the "Best Album" lists. I'm mentally planning my own list, but right now only a few artists come to mind. In the meantime, here's a new-to-me track that I really like:

For some reason, all the records I've bought lately are instrumental. First Explosions in the Sky, then Godspeed! You Black Emporer, and recently Mogwai. Is "good background music" a compliment?

Tempo Run

2011-12-06T19:50:00.001-07:00

1.5 mile warm-up, 3.5 miles tempo (165-170 bpm, or somewhere around marathon pace I'd guess), 1 mile easy, 3 miles tempo, 1 mile easy, almost entirely on a slick, 1inch thick hard pressed sheet of snow.

miles 1-5 slightly downhill
mile 1 - 7:12 at 141 bpm
mile 2 - 5:49 at 157 bpm
mile 3 - 6:01 at 165 bpm
mile 4 - 6:12 at 165 bpm
mile 5 - 6:05 at 169 bpm

back uphill
mile 6 - 8:15 (jog)
mile 7 - 6:43 at 164 bpm
mile 8 - 6:35 at 168 bpm
mile 9 - 6:45 at 170 bpm
mile 10 - 8:29 (jog)

those uphill miles were a killer with no traction. i just tried to keep my feet turning over as fast as possible.

Snowshoe

2011-12-04T19:38:00.001-07:00

Running update: All is going well. I continue to work on running consistently, doing one or two 1:30+ runs per week, and adding a bit of faster running when I feel the urge. I spend a lot of time running 7:00-7:30/mile, which is pretty easy, and for the moment very little time running anything near race pace. Maybe I'll try a treadmill speed workout tomorrow, though, and do some efforts building from 6:00/mile until it gets hard (an optimistic 5:30/mile).

I'm considering a June marathon as my next "A" race, and then using my fitness from the marathon to try an ultra just for fun (to the extent that 6+ hours of running can be considered fun).

Snowshoes: First, thanks to Ralph and Pat for the early Christmas gift. The Front Range got smothered with snow this weekend, so Stacey and I took our shoes and headed as far into the mountains as we felt our vehicle was capable of safely traveling (read: not all that far). Snowshoeing was pretty fun, and I hope to add it to my winter cross training routine.

(Stacey: You look high in this picture, like you're a snowboarder or something.)

Too much snow is coming down to see very far.

Ozzy: Hey guys, hurry up.

Football: Michigan is into a BCS game! That's a long climb from the Rich-Rod era.
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Muzak: After listening to this Girl talk song, here's my new getting ready to run song:

That's the gratuitous length live version, and I'm shocked that so many Germans were going crazy for this song in 1995.

Another track run

2011-11-12T16:26:00.001-07:00

Running is going well. I'm up to a cycle of 4 to 5 days running followed by 1 day off (on which I usually walk around the neighborhood with Stacey and Ozzy for an hour or so). My long run is 1:45 to 1:50 most weeks, though sometimes I'll do 2 hours as 1 hour in the AM and 1 hour in the PM. Total mileage per week is likely in the 65-70 mile range, although there's some uncertainty because I do a lot of "by feel" runs where I don't know my exact mileage. Today was an off day and I rode my bike for the first time in almost 2 months. Keeping up with Stacey required working, and my legs feel it!

I've got some cool pictures of recent trail runs, including great shots of St. Mary's Glacier during an aborted attempt at running up James Peak. But, my desktop memory card slot isn't working and I don't feel like pulling out the laptop. As a result, this will be a boring text only post. I am hitting the mountain trails as much as possible, usually once a weekend. My favorite route at the moment is Rawhide Trail at White Ranch.

Yesterday's run was another track workout of mile repeats. My mile repeat strategy is to run the first mile fast but not hard, and then to hold that pace the next 4 miles with 400m easy between miles. This week I ran the first mile in 5:47 with a max HR of 163 bpm, and then I cut 1 second off each mile until I ran 5:42 for the final mile. By mile 5 my HR is into the low 170s, and my PE has increased from 6 during the first mile to 8-9 for the final mile. Still, ~5:45/mile pace at altitude is pretty fast for me, so I'm happy with my progress.

Pretty boring post, but it's been a while.

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Here's one of my favorite recent songs:

I like the Bon Iver style auto tune.

Track Workout Killed My Legs

2011-10-16T16:47:00.001-06:00

Running is coming along great. I'm able to run 4 or 5 days consecutively without too much fatigue, and I'm beginning to do super easy jogs for recovery instead of days totally off. I don't do much running at a higher intensity that a Half Ironman run pace (about a HR of 170 bpm), but I try to mix things up as much as possible instead of doing the same runs day after day. I'm up to around 60-65 miles a week and continue to climb in volume.

Friday was a great hour or so run on Rawhide Trail in White Ranch. It's one of my favorite local trails because it's got a nice variation of up and down, as opposed to some trails that begin with 5 mile uphills and end with 5 miles downhill.

Saturday I wanted to get in a workout before watching the U of M vs. MSU football game, so I went to the local track for an hour session. The main set was 5 x 1 mile repeats getting progressively faster with a lap easy between each mile. My first mile was 6:00, and I went down to 5:40 by the last one. I never had to strain or work really hard, but I could feel some fatigue in my legs at the end. Morning total: 8.5 miles in 56 minutes, or 6:37/mile at 150 bpm average for the whole set. Despite the tired legs, I got in another 50 minutes in the evening, bringing the daily total to around 16 miles.

Today I planned a nice and easy 13-14 mile run with a detour through Civic Center Park to check out what the scene is like at Occupy in Denver. (Is it called Occupy Wall Street outside of NY?) Unfortunately, my legs had nothing, so I turned around after a few miles to recover for tomorrow. Total: 6 miles in 45 minutes, for 7:30/mile at an average HR of 136 bpm. My HR seems a bit depressed here...

While I still don't have any race plans set in stone, this video makes me want to do an Ultra trail run:

Then there's also this video, referenced in today's NY Times:

I don't think I'm crazy enough to do either an Ultra (at least the 100 mile variety) or that sort of mountaineering.

Fall in Colorado - Photo Dump

2011-10-01T16:32:00.000-06:00

Somehow I never made it to the high country last fall, my first in Denver. I'd heard the tree coloring is spectacular for two or three weeks at the end of September and beginning of October and didn't want to miss this year's short-lived golden foliage.

Last weekend Stacey and I made it to a trail just outside of Central City for a run, and while the scenery was great, I forgot my camera. This weekend we made it back to the mountains, but this time to Rollinsville. After parking in town, we ran west toward Rollinsville Pass.

Photos:

Fast Day + Easy Day

2011-09-20T17:12:00.000-06:00

Tuesday/Today:
Off, but maybe with a bike ride or cruiser bike ride. TBD.

Monday:
About 50 minutes and just under 7 miles. Two miles easy, then 3 x 1 mile hard with about 1/4 mile recovery job between each effort, then a short jog home. The first two efforts were slightly uphill, while the third mile was slightly downhill. My mile times were 6:05, 5:50, and 5:45. PE was about an 8 for the first half of each mile, then a 9 toward the end. Those times are pretty slow give my effort. Oh well. I've got no race in sight so there's plenty of time to improve. Next time I should do this at the track for more repeatable data.

Four day total: 5 + 15 + 9 + 7 = 36 miles. With an off day, another long run, and a short-ish run, that'll put me right around 60 miles for the week. That's a good volume this month before building to 65 then 70 miles/week over the next two months.

Three Days

2011-09-18T19:52:00.002-06:00

Dear Blogger,Please insert line breaks when I press the 'enter' key.Regards,EvanFridayRan in the morning and only managed 40 minutes. It was an easy run because I couldn't get my legs feeling good. I included 6 or 8 short uphill sprints, and they did a surprisingly good job of stressing my legs. I hoped to run in the evening, too, but after taking Ozzy for a Frisbee session I didn't have time to squeeze a second run in before heading out for the evening. On a different note, if a Fred Sandback exhibit comes to your local modern art museum, I'd recommend passing.Saturday15.5 miles in 1:50 or something like that. All I remember is 7:33/mile at 155 bpm (!). Don't know what was up with the extraordinarily high HR, but the run wasn't too tough.Followed that up with some furniture shopping, where I was successful in finding a pendant light.Sunday (today)An easy 9 miles. 7:45/mile at 140bpm.Tomorrow will be some actual fast running. Maybe 6 x 800 at 5:30 pace, unless that's too hard.____________________________________________________________Today's song is a tune from the new Girls album:

Update

2011-09-13T21:48:00.002-06:00

In chronological order from Saturday to today:

Saturday
Stacey and I drove out to Frisco for a trail run. We selected our route from a hiking book, which described the trail as moderately uphill for the first 2 miles and then steep for the next 2 miles. Well, the first 2 miles were not easy. The gradient and the altitude combined, perhaps along with some residual fatigue in my body, to make for a hard run. I ran a bit over 30 minutes (pretty much all steep uphill) before turning the run into a hike with Stacey. Hiking must work slightly different muscles than running or biking because I am always sore after a hike. Even this 2.5 hour jaunt fatigued me enough to effect Sunday's run.

Sunday:
My legs were dead at the start of this run from Saturday's jog/hike. I ended up doing 15.5 miles in 1:50. The first 11 miles were at just under 7:00/mile pace with a HR starting at 150 and building to the lower 160s. At times I was cruising at 6:20 pace without much effort (okay, so that was slightly downhill aided, but not much). After 11 miles, my PE was starting to climb to hold my pace, and I didn't want to dig too deep. I opted to jog home the last couple of miles. Once home, I had to relax a good hour before being much use for anything.

Monday:
Off. I was exhausted after work and yesterday's run. I listened to my body's signals and rested to absorb my weekend's efforts.

Tuesday/Today:
10.5 miles in 1:15. 7:18/mile at 148 bpm. A nice and easy run. Harder than a jog, but very low perceived exertion. The only issue is that around 8 miles my legs begin to tire a bit. I think more running consistency and volume will solve that problem.

The issue with this workout is that it isn't hard, but it isn't easy. I may follow it up tomorrow some harder intervals, but if I feel tired I'll go very easy tomorrow and then hard on Thursday.

On a final note, after a successful month of 3 days on, 1 day off, I'm switching to 4 days on, 1 day off. The goal is to run 6 days a week within the next few months (no hard deadline), and then up my running frequency to 8 times per week with one day off.

White Ranch + Guanella Pass

2011-09-04T20:47:00.004-06:00

Today
Getting into some higher elevation trails doesn't take much longer than just going to the foothills outside of Golden, so today I drove over to Georgetown, then a few miles up Guanella Pass. After driving up for around 15 minutes, I parked and began my run. A half hour of running uphill later, I reached the pass and descended on the road the down toward Grant. There are loads of trails near the pass' summit, but I forgot to charge my Garmin and didn't want to risk getting lost. Despite being above the tree line for a good portion of the run, I didn't notice the elevation much. Maybe it's because the gradient on the road is so much less than the gradients I've been encountering on trails.

While this was only an alright run (a trail would have been nicer) it would make for one of the best bike rides around. The climb out of Georgetown would be great, the pavement is perfect, and there is not much traffic. I may have to try to get out there again on the bike before it gets much colder.

Anyhow, 1:30 of running with about 1:00 of that being climbing. I feel great and time permitting will run another 1:45-2:00 tomorrow.

14ers all around.

No traffic, and then suddenly a parking lot's worth of cars near the summit.

A nice 30 minutes of uphill running on each side of the pass, much of it like this.

Saturday
Yesterday I drove over to Golden to check out White Ranch. After a 2.5 mile climb up Belcher Hill (Hill?!?), I turned onto Mustang Trail. There were a few flats, but then lots more climbing. I'm getting a bit better at trail running, but it's hard not to shoot my HR way up if I push at all going uphill.

I ended up going 1:45 with about 1:30 of that running and the rest hiking. In that time I manage just over 10 miles with about 2,500 feet of climbing. I have no idea how anyone can do the Hardrock 100, which as 33,000 feet of climbing over 100 miles. That's almost 50% more climbing than I did on this run, but 10 times over and at a much higher altitude. Crazy...

There were quite a few of these stairs/mtb ramps on the Mustang Trail. These were nice because the gradient is a lot gentler than other portions of the trail.

Just getting started...

Week Summary

2011-09-02T21:17:00.002-06:00

Good sports weekend coming up: University of Michigan football Saturday, men's world champs marathon Saturday, Hy-Vee triathlon Sunday, and US Open tennis both days.

Friday:
Three and a half miles fast but just under straining, then just cruised for a while. 6:20/mile. Total is 50:00 -- 6:43/mile -- 157 bpm -- 7.5 miles. I threw in 5 or 6 (I lost count) ten second sprints up a steep nearby hill. This is a strength/injury prevention method recommended by Brad Hudson. I want to incorporate these sprints pretty frequently, maybe once a week, as I want to work all my systems.

This would have been a long run, but with the long weekend I may trail run the next three days and get in some serious volume. That'd be six days running in a row, however, so I'll exercise caution and maybe take Sunday off. So far I'm at 22.5 miles in the past three days, which is a small enough total that I'm optimistic about getting in three more days.

Thursday
An easy 45 minutes (5.9 miles) followed some bare foot running with the dog in the park. 7:20/mile at 141 bpm, which is a very mellow effort.

Wednesday
Track workout, but not tough. 8 x 400 with two laps at each of 5:40 pace, 5:30 pace, 5:20 pace, and back to 5:40 pace with two minutes jogging between. Otherwise just going easy/moderate to and from the track. 9.1 miles in 1:05, so 7:04/mile at 151 bpm.

Tuesday
Moderate bike ride. Already my legs feel weak compared to my cardio system.

Monday
I don't remember, but probably a pretty mellow run.

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This week's song is from a little known 60s album by a guy out of Detroit. It sounds immediately familiar.

Forgotten Valley

2011-08-27T17:28:00.005-06:00

Tomorrow I may go down to Manitou Springs and give The Incline a try. 3 miles of stairs that gain 2,250 feet will leave me with some buns of steel.

For today's run I headed up to the north side of Golden Gate State Park. I intended to run along a hilly dirt road named Gap Rd. for 7 or 8 miles and then turn back. After parking, however, I opted instead for a trail run into the center of the park. Park trails maps were posted at most trail intersections, and these markers guided my way.

The run started great as I popped over a ride and descending into Forgotten Valley.

That little home was built in 1876 by a Swedish family, and four generations lived off the land in the valley until the 1950s. There's not a real road within a few miles of this place. Kind of crazy how isolated and pre-industrial people in the mountains here continued to live until only recently.

Anyhow, my route descended further down into the valley before climbing up to the top of a 9,000 ft. peak that defined a southern boundary of the valley. The climb up was very steep at times, and maintaining a 150 bpm HR while walking some sections was no problem. The peak featured a rocky outpost that provided a grand view of the valley.

As I began my ascent, I misread one of the route markers and descended in the wrong direction (and no, I don't mean "up"). Instead of looping east back to the trail that took me into the valley -- a route that would have taken me back to my car for a total run time of 1:45 or so and that is downhill for a mile or two and then uphill for a mile -- I inadvertently descended west into the far end of the valley. My descent was left me both lower in elevation than I intended and much further from my car. Ugh. 1:45 into my run and I had a long time to go.

My legs were pretty shot, so I walked the steepest sections and ran when I could. I made it back to my car just over an hour later for a total time of 2:45. I was very thirsty and hungry. Ah, oh well, a nice jog all things considered.

Totals: 13.6 miles at an average HR of 141 with something crazy like 7,000 feet of elevation gain according to my not to be trusted Garmin (once I upload, I can get a much more accurate reading, though). I only needed a two hour nap and a giant BBQ sandwich when I got home to feel somewhat normal again.

Friday:
Off

Thursday:
1:25, 11.5 miles, the first 6 miles at 7:00/mile and 155 bpm before running easy home. The accumulation of miles is leaving my legs tired by my third day of running in each mini 4-day cycle.

Wednesday
50 minutes easy, 6.8 miles, 7:20/mile, no HR

Tuesday
1:16 with three miles at 6:00/mile. For the first two miles, this pace was working without hurting. For the third mile it started to approach the "getting a bit uncomfortable" level of work, so I ended the repeats after three miles. Anyhow, 10.7 miles at an average of 7:08/mile.

Three day mileage total: 29 miles in 3:30 of running. The difference in speed and mileage between running in Denver and running in the mountains is so extreme that they're not even worth comparing. Today's 13.6 miles at 12:00/mile was much, much more difficult than Tuesday's 10.7 miles at 7:08/mile.
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Today's song is by Jason Schwartzman's new group Coconut Records. In addition to being a Coppola, staring in Rushmore, being the drummer in a hit power-pop band (see Phantom Planet; you'll know the song), AND being the sole proprietor of a fantastic mustache, Jason has a few solo records under his Coconut Records moniker. This song is nice:

Mags!

2011-08-20T15:03:00.005-06:00

Today Stacey and I headed up to Boulder for a nice jog along Magnolia Road. That name should be familiar to anyone that has read Running with the Buffaloes, which covers a season of CU's cross country team in the late 90s (though I'm not positive about the date). It's a great read for anyone interested in running. Anyhow, Magnolia Road was the team's standard long run each Sunday. After today's run, I can see why. It's a rolling dirt road at around 8,500 feet with almost no flats. Check this site out for an elevation profile.

Stacey and I started our out-and-back run at the Nederland end of the road, and on the way out I was flying. I was holding just over 7:00 miles at 8,500 feet over some tough hills, and that's while restricting my effort to tempo going uphill and relaxing on the downhills. What I didn't realize is that the rolling hills obscured a nearly 500 foot elevation drop. Needless to say, the way back was tough. Instead of mid-6 to mid-7 minute miles, I started seeing more 8s and 9s. I even had to walk twice for about 30 seconds to keep my HR below threshold.

My favorite moment of the run came as I was charging up a hill about 6 miles into the run. A car stopped in the middle of the hill and the driver motioned that he was in need of some assistance. I paused my watch and said hello. "Is there any place to run around here?" the guy asked. Seriously?!? This guy asked a runner obviously in the middle of a run along a beautiful, up-and-down dirt road at the edge of the Rockies with panoramic mountain views every few hundred meters whether there is any place to run? "Right here," I replied, "on this very road." Not a lot of common sense, that one.

(The second photo is from a nice downhill section which looks totally flat in the photo, while the third photo is not from the run but instead from the drive home along an amazing new running route I lucked upon.)

Stats: 1:41, 13 miles, 7:50/mile, 155 bpm average, felt great until the last 15 minutes when my legs started to really feel the climbing. Oh, and here's a better write-up with better photos to describe the run.

Afterwards we went to the best taco place on Earth. It's located in a not so nice part of Denver at 4th and Federal. Stacey and I were the only non-hispanic people there (a good sign!) and while we waited for our food we were offered both counterfeit DVDs and homemade Mexican cheese by two separate street vendors that wandered into the restaurant. If these tacos receive a 10/10, then the next best tacos I've hard are at most a 7/10. (Sorry, mom.) Stacey's burrito was only pretty good, though.

Yesterday: Trail run up some small peak near Golden. Very, very steep at times. 1:00 of running covered just 5.5 miles. Average HR was 150 but again that's basically a 50/50 mix of 160+ and 140-. I had to walk some during this run, too.

(Looking over to Lookout Mountain, where many of the best cyclists in the world will be battling it out next Saturday. I'll be at the second switch backs watching.)

(Yes, that's the trail. There was a lot of this straight up rock stuff.)

(The start. I climbed the peak that's cut-off on the left side of the picture.)

3 More On Days

2011-08-18T20:54:00.002-06:00

First, thanks for comments and emails. Not responding to any comment in particular, but I should elaborate on my decision to switch to running for the time being. My poor race in Boulder recently didn't have much if anything to do with the decision. More so the decision had to do with how excited I was to race before the race -- which is to say not very. Even more so the decision had to do with how my desire to push myself in tri training was this past year. I see cyclists out now and feel content with my decision. I'll still do my favorite climbs from time to time.

I do worry about injuries now that I'm running so much, so I'm building my mileage slowly as mentioned before. But perhaps just as importantly I'm taking a bunch of other steps to stay injury free. One of those steps is frequent calf massages. I annoy Stacey every other evening by asking her to do a "The Stick" session on my Achilles and both calves. While it doesn't match the effectiveness of a real massage therapist (based solely on my subjective feelings), The Stick does seem fairly effective. Over the course of one session my calves can go from painful to touch to being able to handle all the pressure Stacey can muster.

Right after my Achilles injury, my left calf was so sensitive that she could barely apply any pressure. I wonder whether calf tightness may have contributed to my injury, and I'm not taking chances with that again.

Anyhow, on with the show:

Today
No running, just some injury prevention stuff.

Wednesday
12.3 miles in 1:32. That's 7:34/mile, and my HR averaged 152. I ran somewhat Fartlek in style, changing up my pace frequently but never going really hard. Oh, and it was 100+ degrees according to a toggling electronic bank sign I passed. I felt okay. Not great, not horrible.

Tuesday
Easy run, again by feel but wearing a Garmin to see the stats afterwards.
53 minutes - 6.7 miles
140 bpm average with an average pace of 7:48/mile
Felt good, run was cake. Legs, especially my calves, felt tired but also springy. It was an oddly contradictory feeling.

Monday
A bad night of sleep after Ozzy woke me up at 2:30am and I couldn't fall back asleep.
57 minutes - 7.6 miles
5 min at each of 155, 160, 165, 160, 155 bpm continuous
155 -- 7:06/mile (slight downhill, the rest is slight uphill)
160 -- 7:04/mile
165 -- 6:57/mile
160 -- 7:18/mile
155 -- 7:20/mile
Those pace:HR ratios all pretty much suck. Maybe it was the slight uphill, or maybe it was the fatigue I'm carrying from trail run on Saturday.

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Today's song: a classic sounding indie-rocker from a horribly named band, Yuck. This sounds really familiar, maybe some Sonic Youth and Pixies influence with something else I can't put my finger on.

3 Days On, 1 Day Off

2011-08-14T20:50:00.004-06:00

My plan to become a better runner is to runs lots. (Pretty complicated, eh?) The more miles, the better. Right now, though, I'm not ready to run loads of miles. I consider my current training to be "training to train". The idea is that my only focus now is building durability to eventually be able to run big miles. It'll probably take several months before I'm running serious volume.

By building my mileage slowly, I hope to minimize my risk of injury. For the time being, building my mileage slowly means taking frequent days off of running. So, right now my schedule is 3 days of running followed by 1 day of cycling, typically at a recovery intensity, or 1 day completely off. Over time, I'll increase to 4 days running, 1 day non-running, then 5 days running, 1 day running. I will spend several weeks at each of these levels, and my body will tell me when I'm ready for more.

I've got a host of other strategies I am using to run safely, and I'll mention more of those in future posts.

Anyhow, the most recent 3 on, 1 off cycle looked like this:

Thursday: 45 minutes with a fair amount of it at a steady pace (based on rhythmic breathing, no Garmin used)

Friday: 43 minutes easy, based on keeping my intensity low enough that my breathing never became deep and rhythmic. (I ran by feel, but I wore a Garmin to check the stats -- 7:42/mile at 150 bpm, a higher HR than anticipated)

Saturday: 1:37 trail run from Chimney Gulch to the mansion at the top of Lookout Mountain, then down a steep neighborhood road before returning on nearly the same route. My Garmin said 4500 feet of climbing, but my gut says that's a gross over-estimation. Average HR was 150 bpm, but that's misleading because it was more like 160 bpm on the way up and 140 bpm on the way down. Felt great at the end, except the big toe on my right foot which drilled the toe of my shoe with each step descending. Shoe issue since remedied.

The view half-way up:

One of the many hang gliders floating around the area:

The start, looking up to the wooded area on the left where I'm headed:

Sunday: 1:10 super easy bike ride.

My Achilles feels great and I can't wait to wake up at 5:40 AM tomorrow for a morning run before work.

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This week's song is by a band that describes their sound as "everyone high-fiving everyone", Fang Island:

A Shift in Focus to Running

2011-08-11T17:35:00.003-06:00

"I learned that rewards in running, as in life, come only in direct proportion to the amount of effort I am prepared to exert, and the extent to which I can summon the required discipline and application." - Tim Noakes

I did not fully apply myself to triathlon this year. That's not self criticism; it's just the truth. I had a few okay results, but did not take as much joy in the sport as in years past. This season more than ever I came to the same realization as Noakes: that my enjoyment of the sport is a function of the effort I put forth. Results don't drive enjoyment.

Looking forward to next year, I'm not prepared to exert the effort required to get the same joy from triathlon as I have in the past. The time commitment is wearing on me, and I'm not looking forward to early morning swims and winter training rides. The fire has (perhaps temporarily) been extinguished. I used to look forward to trainer rides, at least sometimes, but even more so I enjoyed sticking to a plan and working toward a goal.

Part of the problem is that I cannot think of an exciting triathlon goal for next year. I don't care about qualifying for Kona, and the potential of winning my age group at an Ironman or a half-IM is also not enough to motivate me. I had considered continuing with shorter tris so that I could spend more of my training time focusing on swimming. The prospect of being in a race from the gun sounded fun, but that plan doesn't cause me to look forward to tomorrow's workout.

Still, I want to work toward some athletic goal, ideally one that has me outside and in nature as much as possible. I want to continue training rigorously, as it's become a big part of my life over the past 6 years. In the past I had talked with Stacey about potentially spending some time focusing on running, since that seems to be the athletic area where I'm most naturally gifted, and see how far I can take it. Right now, training to run excites me more than training for triathlon. So with that, I'm changing my focus to running.

I do not know what specific events I will train for or what my goals will be. Trail running is certainly appealing, as is running a fast marathon (I think I can well under my current PR of 2:48 set at Chicago on a hot day). There is even some appeal to an ultra-marathon or multi-day running event. Until I figure that out, I will focus on gradually building up my mileage with mostly easy to moderate running while keeping a close eye on my recently recovered Achilles.

Biking will still be a part of my fitness routine, and I may even sell my tri gear once I'm sure of the change and use the proceeds to buy a mountain bike. I'd also like to spend more time camping and maybe cross country skiing.

The time has come for a new challenge.

Boulder 70.3 -- Race Report

2011-08-08T08:04:00.002-06:00

Three sentence summary:
Worst race ever.

More in-depth explanation:
I just didn't have any energy on race day. My swim was 2-3 minutes too slow, my bike was 15 minutes off last year, and I had zero energy on the run.

I don't know why I was so weak on race day. One possibility is that I had a cold that started two weeks ago -- the morning of the Mt. Evans Hill Climb, actually -- and was still suffering the effects even though the symptoms subsided at the start of this week. That seems an unlikely explanation, though. Another thing that is potentially relevant to my horrible performance is that two or three days this week I got home from work and complained to Stacey that I felt exhausted. I figured it was just mental fatigue from staring at my computer all day at work, but now I'm not so sure. Still, this explanation has no solution since I don't know the cause, so it's not very satisfying. A final explanation -- this one promulgated by Stacey -- is that I didn't give my body enough of a break after IM CdA, and it finally caught up with me on race day.

I don't mean to make a bunch of excuses for my crap performance. The thing is I know I am way, way faster than 5:0X with a 2 hour half-marathon. On a typical moderate training day I can go 70.3 miles faster that I did yesterday! There's no doubt in my mind that something was off with my body, and I'd like to know what the problem is so I can do my best to avoid it in the future.
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This week's video of two awesome kids:

Mt. Evans Hill Climb

2011-07-24T13:56:00.002-06:00

(Here's an image of the last half mile of the race. Not exactly what one wants to encounter when exhausted from already having climbed 6,000 feet.)

My Garmin file for the Mt. Evans Hill Climb

A quick hill climb race report:
The Mt. Evans Hill Climb is a 28 mile climb from Idaho Springs, altitude of approx. 7,500 feet, to the summit of Mt. Evans, at right around 14,200 feet. I partook in the CAT 4 race, which was about 150 strong including some 17/18 year old juniors doing a shorter version of the climb.

This being my first cycling race, I positioned myself in the middle of the large pack at the start of the race. After an early pack separation, maybe a mile or two into the race, I ended up at the back of the lead pack. This proved to be a bad position.

For a while my position was fine. Though the pack separated two or three more times, each time I was able to find a wheel on which to ride back up to the lead pack. Still, I always just rode up to the back of the pack. I should have moved forward so I wasn't off the back every time the pack separated.

Around five miles into the race -- I'm now at the back of a lead pack that's down to maybe 25 riders -- the pack split once more. No one in my group was making a move to catch back up to the pack up the road, so I went on my own. The problem is that when I reached the pack up the road, I realized that it was not the front group. In fact, the lead pack had split into three groups. I had only moved from the third group to the second, and now the first group was still a ways up the road. I gave it a shot to catch up to that group, but after 20 minutes of hard work I was not successful. I still had nearly 20 miles to ride, and I was on my own. Had I been further up in the pack, there's a better chance I'd have been able to stay with, or at least bridge the gap to, the lead group. My lesson is to be a more aggressive with my positioning in the pack so I'm better prepared to respond to gaps.

Now on my own, I kept trying to reel in any rider I could see up the road. For the next 30 minutes I was able to pass several riders that were dropped from the lead pack. Eventually, though, the distance between myself and any riders up ahead just remained constant. My morale dropped as the climb progressed but my position did not. Toward the very end of the ride, three or four guys passed me and I didn't, or maybe couldn't, put up much of a fight.

The results aren't posted yet, but my 2:24 time is not spectacular. I'm guessing somewhere in the top 25% of the CAT 4 field. My average HR was 161 bpm, which makes this the hardest 2+ hour ride I've done.

Despite a lackluster result, the race should position me well for Boulder 70.3 in a few weeks. Plus, the ride is extremely scenic; there aren't many chances to be on a bike at 12k+ feet, let alone above 14k feet.

As a final add-on, I just found this video of Tom Danielson (9th place going into yesterday's TT in the Tour de France) at the hill climb a few years back. He holds the record for a time of 1:41.

Product Review: Coco Hydro instant coconut water

2011-07-18T11:16:00.005-06:00

Coconut juice or water -- I'm not really sure what the difference is -- is all the rage at the moment. I first tried the stuff out of curiosity last year, and my initial impression was not positive. I almost tossed the can after just a few sips! However, like coffee, beer, and most good bands, the taste grew on me. Now, I can't get enough coconut juice. Seems I'm not the only one, either: I was in Boulder at Whole Foods after a ride a few weeks back, and at least half the people eating outside selected coconut juice as their beverage of choice.

Coconut juice is marketed as a fluid replacement drink for athletes, as well as a hangover cure. I just drink it because it's delicious on hot days. In the winter coconut juice is only pretty good, but when the temperature exceeds 90 degrees, coconut juice becomes a vastly more tasty beverage. With the temperature in Denver forecast to be around 100 degrees for the rest of this week, it's prime coconut juice drinkin' season.

On hot days I could drink 3 cans of coconut juice a day, no problem. Well, except that my favorite brand, Amy & Brian's, is $2 a can. (Side note: the 16oz. can of Amy & Brian's is superior to the 12oz. can, which inexplicably has a strong hint of caramel.) As a result, coconut juice is more of an occasional treat than an every day part of my diet. While coconut juice is palatable, $6 a day for a beverage is not.

Enter Coco Hydro. I spotted it at Whole Foods today on a granola run. For $8 one gets 25 servings of cononut water powder. Just add the powder to water and, voila, homemade coconut juice. An inspection of the ingredients revealed only three: evaporated coconut juice, dextrose ("as a processing agent", whatever that means), and sea salt. Intrigued, I bought a packet. (Another aside: there are other brands that sell similar products; see, e.g., here.)

The directions recommend about a tablespoon of the powder for each cup of water. I opted for two tablespoons into about 10-12 oz of water in a pint glass, and then I topped it off with ice. The powder dissolved with just a few stirs, and unlike protein powder there was not a lot of residue stuck to the spoon or the glass. After stirring and allowing a few moments for the water-turned-juice to chill, it was time for a taste test.

The Coco Hydro coconut juice has the same great flavor as my aforementioned favorite, Amy and Brian's, although the flavor is a bit more subtle with Coco Hydro. Also, there's a bit of a soapy taste with Coco Hydro, which I'm guessing is due to the addition of sea salt. I will try adding a bit more powder next time so that the flavor has more "pop" to it, but I fear that more powder will also exacerbate the soapy issue. Overall, the soapy or salty taste isn't too bad, and my taste verdict is positive. Coco Hydro is no Amy and Brian's flavor-wise, but it's also 1/3 the price.

Amy & Brian's remains the gold standard of coconut juices. If I'm going to treat myself to coconut juice after a long ride or run on a hot day, Amy & Brian's remains my first choice. If, however, I'm going to drink coconut juice more frequently -- like I probably will this week -- Coco Hydro is tough to beat because of its substantially lower price.

I will update this review after I finish the packet. And since guerrilla marketing online is no good, I'm happy to say that I have no affiliation whatsoever with any of the companies whose products are discussed herein. I buy both Amy & Brian's and Coco Hydro at Whole Foods at regular pricing. Not that I'd object if either company wanted to send me copious amounts of their products...

UPDATE: Make sure to stir the powder in very well; don't stop when the powder has merely dissolved. After a 2:45 ride in 90+ degree weather today, I had another glass. This time all the salt was at the bottom...not tasty!
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Wavves "King of the Beach" is a good song for running intervals on a nice day:

Ironman Coeur D'Alene Race Report

2011-07-04T12:04:00.005-06:00

PREFACE:

My goals for the race were not lofty back in the spring. All winter I was sidelined by an Achilles injury and did no running from September 2010 to March 2011, and I wasn't running at anywhere near IM volume until mid-April. That's basically 1.5 months of rehab running and then a bit under 2 months of cautious IM training. With a new home, a new job, and a dog that I can't leave in his crate all day every weekend, I struggled to get in long IM specific rides. Back in the spring, my goal was simply to enjoy training and racing and not get fixated on my result.

...And then goal-creep, the phenomenon whereby one's initially mild goals morph into ambitious, difficult to obtain expectations, set in. My running recovered surprisingly quickly, my cycling metrics were great, and I thought I had a good shot at an Age Group win or first amateur overall performance. Sure, I questioned my swimming prowess and my run durability. But I reasoned a poor swim isn't an Ironman deal-breaker, I could easily ride a low-5:00 ride, and then my natural running talent could carry me through the race.

In fact, I worried enough about my run durability, and perhaps overly confident about my cycling, that I decided to ride the first loop of the bike nice and easy to save more than usual for the run. So that was my plan: swim like normal, ride easy, run like normal.

SWIM:

The 58 degree water, give or take 2 degrees, was a non-issue for me in only a wetsuit and single swim cap. The first loop was all about positioning myself not to get too beat up, as this was the roughest swim in which I've partaken. The second loop I paid a bit more attention to finding feet, sighting, and my stroke. Surprising, I matched my IM swim PR with a 1:05.

BIKE:
I kept repeating "Ride to run, ride to run" in my head throughout the first loop of the bike. My effort was low, and I erred on the side of energy conservation at all opportunities (e.g., by not passing groups of riders, by spinning up each hill). Based on my training, I expected a 2:30-2:35 first loop. My recollection, fuzzy now several days after the race, I that my time for Loop 1 was 2:38 or so.

No problem, I'd just increase my effort to regular IM effort for lap 2, finish the ride in the low-5:00 range, just like always, and then have a solid run. However, even as I increased my effort, my second loop time was a bit worse than my first. On the positive side, the easy first loop left me feeling fantastic throughout the ride. While I normally am hurtin' by mile 80 of the bike, this race I passed the mile 80 marker thinking how great I felt and how easy the ride was coming along.

For my future records, I rode at an average of 138 bpm (whereas my past three IM average bike HRs have been 147, 147, and 151) and put out an average of 200 W (vs. 205ish W for my past three IMs). I was and still am a bit shocked that 200 W only resulted in a 5:17 ride, while just a few more watts got me 5:07 or something like that at Lake Placid.

RUN:

Now is when the goal creep came into play. After an easy ride, I was rewarded with fresh legs. With such great feeling legs, I made a game-time decision -- literally -- to go for the AG win. My guess was I'd need to run in the low 2:50s to have a shot. With my legs feeling fresh, I thought I had a good enough chance to achieve a fast marathon that the reward outweighed the risk blowing up.

My plan was to push really hard the first loop of the run in hopes of reaching the front of the AG race. If I could do that, I'd hope to hold on and allow my natural running ability and competitiveness to carry me to the finish line. The biggest question mark in my head was whether my lightly trained running legs would withstand 26.2 hard miles.

Instead of capping my HR at 160 bpm, like my normal and prudent plan, I went by feel and tried to run as fast as I could without feeling like I was straining. My HR was in the mid-160s and my PE was surprisingly low as I ran the first 13.1 miles right around 6:30/mile. The pace felt easy enough that a 2:50 run seemed possible, even approaching the halfway point of the run.

I continued that pace for a few more miles after the turn-around, and then had to start pushing really hard to hold sub 7:00/mile as I went reached the run course hills around miles 16-17. Climbing the steepest hill on the course shortly before the turnaround zapped my legs of their remaining energy with around 8 miles to go and my pace dropped to around 8:00/mile at its best. Hello, death march.

Fortunately, my death march pace isn't too bad and I was able to finish the run in a respectable 3:07. (Side note: I am extremely impressed by the number of athletes that ran below 3:10 -- the results are littered with low 3:00 runs!) My quads were so shot after the run that in the med tent after the race I could not move my legs. I had to ask volunteers to help my change my legs' position while resting on a recliner. My legs gave all they could during the race.

SUMMARY:
I wonder how my race would have gone if I'd held typical IM effort on the bike. I lacked confidence in my ability to hold 220 W for the ride and still run well, especially coming off so few run miles in training. But, it is also my experience that I don't need to work that hard to have a good AG bike split. So in retrospect I think my race plan on the bike was good. I'm just surprised at the result.

I also don't regret my suicidal run pacing. Sure, it didn't go as perfect as I'd hoped (knowing a 2:50 run was a long-shot). But despite my hard run, I still podiumed, and more importantly I didn't hold anything back. Winning my AG will require taking risks during races, and running with a HR in the mid 160s was a risk I knowingly and willingly took.

FACTS:

-- 9:37, which I think is my second fastest time, although almost 20 minutes of my PR.
-- 4th in my AG, and 4th straight IM podium.
-- 30th overall, which is my second worst overall placing in my 6 IMs. This despite my second fastest time...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY:

Ironman CdA fell on Stacey and my 1st anniversary. Yay, us! (As opposed to the typical "yay, me!" theme of the blog.) What adventure can we do next year?

CONGRATULATIONS:

Not only did the race fall on our anniversary, but my brother Conor and his wife Teresa also competed in the race. Congratulations to all of you. Special congrats to Stacey for shattering her goal by 20 minutes!

Why Ironman? + Photo Dump

2011-06-25T14:57:00.006-06:00

At some point while racing an Ironman, one thought goes through every racer's head: "Why I am doing this?" For me, the answer is because I enjoy the training process, but also because race day is a chance to test myself.

Our modern lives are arranged around being comfortable. Physical exertion is intentionally minimized, our climate is precisely controlled, every pain should have an instant cure, and any diet must include chocolate flavored (fill in the blank) so we can have our cake and eat it too.

With discomfort banished, we now demand instant satisfaction, instant cures from all ailments, and instant food. "Want to lose 20 pounds? With our special program you can lose all the weight you want without exercising and without changing your eating!" People buy that stuff, and not just once but repeatedly. Sacrifice is discouraged.

Tomorrow will not be an easy or comfortable day. Tomorrow I will not be thinking about work or bills or home decorating. By 2:00 PM tomorrow I will be thinking about my instant needs, not wants. Ironman is one of the few times when that change occurs -- when real needs fully occupy one's mind. The satisfaction I get from my race tomorrow will be directly related to the work I've put in and the sacrifices I've made.

Hopefully this post doesn't come across as a crazy rant! My guess is that if you've done a few Ironmans you understand what I mean.
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My family and I drove from Denver to Coeur D'Alene earlier this week, opting for the scenic route. We passed through both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, but didn't have the time to get too far away from our cars. Nonetheless, the scenery was spectacular and I plan on considering a circum-Yellowstone cycling trip next summer. Random photos below:

Ironman Fears + Solutions

2011-06-17T16:23:00.003-06:00

Chris McCormack's new book, I'm Here to Win, is the inspiration for this post. While I don't love the book, it had enough useful information that I'd recommend it to any fan of the sport.

One point McCormack makes is that the goal of training is to perform well in races, not to accumulate training hours or push one's self to the brink. Race results, not training logs, define successful training. Triathletes have a tendency to over train, McCormack writes, because they often lack confidence in their ability to race well. Athletes want to bolster their confidence with huge training volumes, or by cramming in one more tough workout before each race just to make sure they've still got it.

I'm not immune to feeling a lack of confidence, especially this year. My training volume in preparation for CdA has not be as great as the past two years, and I don't have many recent race results on which to fall back. However, I have good reason to be confident for Ironman Coeur D'Alene.

Despite a lack of 5- and 6-hour rides, every test workout I've undertaken recently has shown great results. Last week I did a ride with 3 hours at under IM effort and averaged 22.2 mph with an average HR of 131 bpm. (I'll keep my power numbers secret for that one!) The route was two loops outside of Boulder and was nearly as hilly as CdA. That speed is faster than any IM bike split I've done and still came in 15 bpm lower than I can hold for an IM.

Just today I did a 3 hour ride with 1 hour at IM effort on Lefthand Canyon from Boulder to Ward and averaged 230 W at 147 bpm. For comparison's sake, 147 bpm has been my average HR for my last two IMs, while I've only averaged a bit of 200 W for each of those races.

These metrics are much more directly related to race performance than the number of hours of training I log. So, even if my volume isn't up to previous levels, my actual performances exceed benchmark workouts in past IM build-ups. In other words, I've got the fitness I need to perform well. I don't need to get more fit by squeezing in another training effort. Every time I have the urge to squeeze in one more workout from now until June 26, I will remind myself that the workout will likely do more harm than good.

Another insightful section of the book explains one of McCormack's mental strategies for race day. Defeat in an Ironman, he explains, occurs when one convinces one's self that quitting or slowing down is okay. McCormack developed a strategy that he uses to fend off the negative thoughts that all IM racers get.

The first step McCormack takes is to predict all the negative thoughts that might go through his head during the races, essentially creating a list of fears. Then, he comes up with a solution to each fear. This way, if a negative thought creeps into McCormack's head, he can quickly dispel it with his preconceived solution. This strategy helps him avoid rationalizing slowing down or quitting. A great example of this strategy is how McCormack overcomes the desire to ease up when the inevitable pain at the end of an Ironman sets in: he simply reminds himself that he's pushed through the pain before and come out fine. The pain is just temporary, he tells himself, and it actually a sign of a successful race.

I like the McCormack's strategy, so I thought I'd create my own list of fears and write my own solution here. This should help me quickly remember the solution and maintain a positive attitude throughout my race.

Fear: I swim slower than 1:05-1:08.
Solution: Remind myself that my fastest Ironman began with a 1:12 swim. I can have a slow swim and still be in contention to win my AG and be the fastest amateur. Plus, my cycling has been strong lately and I can make up a lot of time on the bike.

Fear: I get a flat tire or have a mechanical issue on the bike.
Solution: I've changed plenty of tires and can do so very quickly. Losing three or four minutes won't affect my overall position much. Again, my cycling has been very strong so I could ride several minutes faster than in the past, negating any time lost during a flat change.

Fear: My bike time isn't fast.
Solution: At Louisville two years ago, I had a horrible swim and what at the time I thought was a poor ride. I saved the race with an amazing run. I can do that again. I've likely run 15 minutes faster than anyone else in my AG, so I can make up a lot of time at the end of the race.

Fear: I feel exhausted at the end of the bike and worry that I went too hard.
Solution: It's a 112 mile ride, I'm supposed to feel tired at the end of it! I've run well under 3 hours in the past on tired legs; there's no reason I can't do it again. Even if my run gets off to a bad start, I can still run 3:20 on my worst days. The key is to keep moving onward and to know that I can have a solid run under any conditions. A good ride and even a 3:20 run will put me in a position to place high in my AG.

Fear: Liquid pools in my stomach during the run.
Solution: Take in some sodium and ease off the calories. Drop the pace for a moment. The feeling will pass. Once it passes, I'm right back in the game. I've seen my HR jump 15 bpm (a good thing) after taking in sodium to relieve pooling liquid in my stomach. Almost everyone goes through a bad patch in an Ironman. Those that do well stick it out.

Fear: I'm in pain.
Solution: Enjoy it! The pain and the challenge of overcoming it are why I sign up for Ironmans in the first place. It's not going to hurt me. Hell, if I don't hurt, I better speed up!

Sunrise Triathlon

2011-06-08T16:44:00.005-06:00

This was my first race since IM Louisville 9 months ago. I was curious to see how rusty I'd be and how pushing myself would feel.

Swim:
Blah. A cold and uneventful 25 minutes. I was far enough back from the good swimmers that I passed a Team Timex lady a few miles into the bike, which wouldn't be all that bad but for the fact that the women's wave started several minutes after the guys'.

Bike:
My cycling metrics have been good lately, so I was optimistic about putting up a good time "in the field". I know the course pretty well, and I know that the first few miles are the toughest because they're gradually uphill. My plan was to go really, really hard until the first downhill section on Hwy 36 (about 10-15 minutes into the ride), then push every uphill and flat section really hard until Nelson. At Nelson, the course is pretty much flat or downhill until returning back to the reservoir. I expected to be going ~26-27 mph or faster most of the way after turning onto Nelson, and therefore I figured pushing the effort there offers marginal benefits.

My plan seemed to go well, as I passed everyone in sight on the bike. The course offers a handful of vantage points that allow racers to see far up the road, and the course ahead of me looked clear. I was optimistic that there'd be no bikes in T2 when I returned, but unfortunately 4-5 guys beat me to the run.

My strategy is evident in the graph below, as my HR is highest initially, low along the Nelson decent, and then back up to normal Olympic effort around 75th Ave.

Normalized power appears to be ~270 W. Average HR was 158 bpm. Speed was 25.5 mph, which is a bit slower than expected.

Run:
The big question mark. I took a lot of time off running due to a still not completely healed Achilles injury. Would my speed still be there? Well, the good news is that I had the fastest run split at 5:54/mile at an average HR of 167 bpm. The bad news is that my run isn't good enough to overcome my swim.

Takeaways:
3rd overall, 1st in 25-29 AG
Positives -- I am fit heading into CdA. My running is strong and near or back to my former level. My bike is also a strength.

Negatives -- My swim prevents me from actually "racing" anyone. It'd be more accurate to say I do an individual time trial every race, and then see where I end up. If I came out of the water near the front, I could gauge how hard I need to ride based on the power needed to stay at the front of the race. I have no doubt in my mind that I could have rode harder. Yes, a harder ride may have slowed my run, but if I started out with a good swim at least I'd be in contention. Better to die trying, as they say.

I'm considering basing my entire training and racing schedule next year around improving my swim. This idea deserves a post unto itself.

Finally, congrats to the winner, Drew Scott. He smoked me by 7 minutes. I had to look back at last year's 70.3 results and noticed I beat him by 20 minutes. (I remember his name from that race because at the awards ceremony the announcer made a point to mention Drew's father, Dave Scott, who did a race or two in his day.). He's a young guy but appears to have taken a giant leap forward.

Benchmarks

2011-06-04T20:26:00.003-06:00

I'll start off with some pictures of my typical long run in Denver. It's a great running city, and I can pass through and around several large parks in the span of one long run. (I really should stop to shoot to avoid blur...)

The build to IM CdA is almost done. I'm taking a few days easy after an olympic race today -- report coming tomorrow hopefully -- then going pretty hard next weekend before commencing with a two week taper.

Here are a few benchmark workouts I've done over the past month:
-- Benchmark swims have been based solely on time and perceived exertion. I focused on very IM specific sets, such as 4 x 12 minutes with the evens at IM effort and the odds with paddles and a pull buoy. My goal here isn't so much to improve my swim time as it is to ensure I exit the swim feeling prepared for a solid ride and run.
-- Long ride 1: Warm-up, 2:45 at a bit below IM effort (21.6 mph average sans aero-gear over terrain a bit more hilly than CdA), and then 45 minutes of hill repeats up Lee Hill.
-- Long ride 2: A bit over 4 hours with 2:30 at a bit below IM pace on mostly flat terrain. In the 2:30 I covered 56 miles, again sans aero gear.
-- Long ride 3: The plan was 2 times up to Ward from 36 in Boulder, but I cut the ride short due to severe wind. Still, it was a noteworthy ride because I averaged a very easy 215 W at 135 bpm in the aero bars. Last year I did the same climb with a HR several bpm higher.
-- Long run 1: 45 minutes in the morning, 1:30 in the evening. The evening run included a warm-up, 3 times through 2 miles at IM effort + 1 mile easy. IM effort miles were in the 6:35 -- 6:50 range.
-- Long run 2: 9 miles at IM pace based solely on PE. Average pace was right around 6:50. I followed that up with a long steady hill climb and then a cool down for a total of 1:50 running.

So, things are coming along. Before the race I will post a detailed race plan, along with my fears for the race and solutions for those fears.

This week's song is a great listen on a sunny run.

(Jonsi, FYI, is the singer from Sigur Ros.)

More Inconsistent Training

2011-04-25T21:09:00.005-06:00

This past month has been busy. Stacey and I went to Saratoga Springs for a wedding a few weekends ago, then I had one weekend of mediocre training, then the past two weekends have been occupied with moving out of our apartment and into a house. That's mostly good stuff, but it tends to really reduce my training load. I'm a big proponent of at least one long day a week during an IM build, yet the most volume I've done on a day is 5 hours, and I haven't done one of those days in a few weeks.

Still, my metrics aren't bad. I set a new PR in a 200m free while in New York. I put an 11-23 or -25 cassette on my new bike, which allowed me to push 265-270 W during my favorite big gear trainer ride (lots of 5 minute intervals at 60 rpm and 150-155 bpm). My long run is up to 1:40, and yesterday my run included three miles at ~6:40/mile at right around IM effort.

Weight is an important number for IM racing, too. Right now I'm around 160 lbs, so that's all well and good. Still, starting tomorrow (not to sound like a quitting smoker...) I am going to adopt a "diet" inspired from a post on Slowtwitch that greatly limits or eliminates eating after 7:30 per night. Running is especially weight sensitive, and given my recent injury I need all the running help I can get. 155 lbs at CdA?

Finally, I should post some recent ride photos. First up, here's my new ride, a Ridley Dean RS, right near I-70 between Golden and Morrison:

Here are some pictures of a climb from Boulder to Peak-to-Peak. The old lookin' town is Gold Hill, which is a 150 or so year old yet still occupied mining town circa 8,000 feet. Evidence of last summer's Gold Hill Fire is also visible in many of the pictures. There were loads of houses burnt to the ground with only their chimneys remaining. (I tried to capture one such chimney with minimal luck in the last photo.) Around 8,500 feet, it became really, really windy and began snowing. I struggled up under-dressed to 9,500 feet over some very rough roads afraid I was going to get lost or stranded. Overall, a great ride.

Finally, this week's song: a metal and flamenco influenced acoustic duo from Mexico City whose recent album topped the charts in Ireland.

Looking up this video, I noticed these two are playing in Boulder in two days. Hmmm...Anyhow, it's good stuff to listen to while running fast.

Big Week

2011-03-29T19:06:00.002-06:00

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.

One Hour

2011-03-13T18:32:00.004-06:00

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:

Critique My Swim

2011-02-14T20:10:00.004-07:00

My thoughts from watching the videos:
1- Hand alignment: I need to prevent my hand/arm from going so wide, especially when I breath. The best way to accomplish this for me is to focus on the position of my elbow -- for some reason I have an easier time judging my elbow's position than my hand position. Another way I will work to achieve proper hand position is to focus on pulling straight back and getting my hand lower in the water. (Watching the video again, my hand on my non-breathing side crosses over a tad and could be a bit wider.)
2- My hand is pointed nearly perpendicular to my direction of travel toward the end of my stroke. I think this issue is related to my wide elbows, and I think focusing on pulling down and straight back may help my hand position.

Here are two great photos (circled in red) of what I'm going for, courtesy of the Swim Smooth blog:

Two other things I will keep in mind are (a) flexing my wrist to initiate my pull and (b) keeping my elbows pointed toward respective forward corners of the pool during my catch and pull. Both these should help my high-elbow catch/pull.

In other news, I'm running up to 4 times per week now. I've run 30 minutes as 3 min. running/15 sec. rest, I've run 25 minutes straight, and I've run 20+ minutes with 3 minutes at <7:00/mile. So, the run is coming along. The heel is better, but not perfect. Still, it's getting better every week, so things are heading in the right direction. In fact, I'm heading out for my second run of the day today to see how 40 minutes in a day feels.

Cycling is hit and miss. I had an awesome ride one day (a trainer ride with intervals at 220 W while my HR is in the low 130s), and then the next day my power to HR ratio was crap again (250 bpm wasn't even getting 240 W). Hopefully more consistency and volume will help. I did have a killer 2.5 hr trainer ride culminating with a painful 5 minutes at 285 W.

Two final notes:
(1) Ozzy is now 32+ lbs and gaining 1.5 lbs a week. How big will he get?!?

(2) This week's song of the week:

(Marc Bolan called -- he wants his riff back.)

A Nice Ride

2011-01-30T21:11:00.003-07:00

Yesterday Stacey and I headed up to Boulder to take advantage of the 55 degree weather (it was in the high 60s on Friday!). We were planning on riding up to Ward via Lefthand Canyon, but I decided to lead us along an alternate route through Jamestown, then south on Peak-to-Peak before descending into Ward.

The Jamestown route is quite a bit tougher than Lefthand. After passing through the town of Jamestown, the road pitches up more steeply, and the remainder of the ride alternates between what I'd guess are 5 and 10% gradients. The 5% gradient allows a bit of rest before cranking the effort back up again to surmount the next steep section.

At about 8,500 feet a few miles East of Peak-to-Peak we were rewarded with some of the best riding I've encountered. A smooth dirt road passed by an idyllic wood barn sitting toward the end of a prairie in the forefront of snow covered mountains. I stopped here for a moment to enjoy the quietness and take a few photos:

Even if I weren't training for an Ironman, I'd need to be fit enough to pedal to locations like this.

After nearly 3 hours of climbing, we reached Ward and rewarded (ha!) outselves with a nice cookie and orange soda. My legs felt the effort of 4 hours in the saddle, and I needed an easy day today.

Overall, training is going well. I am once again able to shift into the 53 x 12 when doing big-gear efforts, and on Friday I averaged 250+ W for each of my ten 5 minute big gear efforts.

I made one little mistake of running a bit too hard. My ankle was sore for a day, but now is feeling great again. I've got to remain disciplined and view my running as rehab and not as training. On the plus side, running is still easy (though I am going very slow).

On a final note, I registered for Triple Bypass (the Avon --> Evergreen edition) and am filling out my 2011 race schedule. I'm thinking of making the 70.3 World Champs my main goal for the season since I'm not confident I'll be going into CdA in perfect condition. Plus, I'll have the summer to train like a pro.

Running mostly pain free

2011-01-17T20:21:00.002-07:00

I can't remember what info I included in my latest Achilles update, but here's the latest:
- for the next week, I'm to run 20 minutes as 2 minutes running/30 seconds walking every other day;
- the following week, I can run 20 minutes as 3 minutes running/15 seconds walking every other day;
- my PT expects that I'll have no Achilles pain, even when pressure is applied directly to the sensitive part of my heel, within two weeks; and
- I should be back to regular run training within six weeks.

All very good news. I did my second 20 minute run today and I had no pain whatsoever. There was a slight Achilles stretching sensation at the start of the run, but once that dissipated I felt good as normal. Even better, after the run I still had no pain. Running feels odd, and Stacey says I don't look nearly as smooth as I used to, but I'm just happy to be able to move again.

In other training news, I'm starting to gradually build my volume. Between traveling for Christmas and then being sick all last week, my training has been inconsistent at best. This week is off to a good start, however, with almost nine hours of riding, an hour and a half of swimming, and 40 minutes of running over the past three days. My power to HR ratio is still not good (e.g., 230 W during a 6 minute, 150 bpm big gear interval instead of the 250+ W I produce when fit), but I think a month of consistent training will have it back to acceptable ranges.

There are just over 5 months until IM CdA, so I've still got plenty of time to get fit.

Test Post

2011-01-11T19:58:00.001-07:00

I just got the new MS Office and accidentally created a new "Blog Post" document. This post is a test of whether or not I've got things configured correctly.

I Ran!

2011-01-09T10:35:00.004-07:00

On Friday, for the first time in about 4 months, I went for a run. I can't say "I ran so far" -- my PT limited me to five reps of 1 minute walking, 1 minute running. Still, there was no noticeable pain either while running or later on. Good news.

I've got another PT appointment this week, and I hope it'll be my last. Ideally my therapist will suggest immediately beginning a gradual built to regain my running strength that minimizes the risk of re-injuring my Achilles. I know that for the foreseeable future my routine needs to include calf exercises and stretches.

In other news, Ozzy, my 4 month old puppy, is putting on 1.5-2 pounds a week and now tips the scales at just under 25 pounds. He is looking more and more like a German Sheppard and less and less like his Border Collie mother.

IM Effort Test

2011-01-02T19:38:00.003-07:00

In the next few weeks, I need to start upping the training volume (esp. on the bike on weekends) in preparation for IM CdA. As a baseline, today I did a trainer ride including 1 hour at 145 bpm -- right about IM effort for me -- to see what sort of power I'm putting out.

Results in 10 minute intervals:
143 bpm -- 227 W -- 79 rpm
146 bpm -- 225 W -- 77 rpm
146 bpm -- 222 W -- 78 rpm
146 bpm -- 220 W -- 75 rpm
146 bpm -- 217 W -- 76 rpm
145 bpm -- 216 W -- 75 rpm

So, overall 220 W at right about 145 bpm and 77 rpm, with a PE of 6.5/10. My wattage dropped by about 10W over the course of the hour, which is a bit more than I'd like to see at this duration and effort level. Anyhow, I expect these numbers to improve quite a bit once I get back into a more rigorous training regimen.

My Achilles continues to improve. I'm now doing run simulating exercises at physical therapy. My favorite exercise, although it doesn't simulate running, is standing on a balance board and throwing a medicine ball back and forth with my therapist. It's seriously entertaining and would probably make a good drinking game.

Running may be in my immediate future, perhaps as early as Tuesday. Right now I use aqua jogging as a test to see if it produces any pain, and after 20 minutes plodding up and down the pool this afternoon I was fine.

In other news, there's an interesting article about Chrissie Wellington over at the Guardian. The photo in the article reminds me of an ESPN video showing Wellington's freakish body:

Finally, for Lauren, a photo of this evening's dinner, Cobb salad (named after Robert H. Cobb, the salad's creator):

The recipe is from the cookbook you gave Stacey for Xmas.

A ride I'll hold off doing again until I'm near race-fit...

2010-12-20T19:07:00.005-07:00

...but first, the boring stuff: My Achilles is doing pretty well. I've been to PT twice now, and there was some improvement in just the three days between sessions. The therapist is optimistic I'll be running again within the next couple of weeks. However, he wants me to do some aqua jogging in chest deep water first to see how that goes.

Otherwise, I'm doing a few lower leg stretches as well as some heel drops (though only to neutral -- i.e., I do the exercise on a flat surface so it's impossible for my heel to drop far enough to create an acute angle relative to my leg). I also do an odd exercise where I hold my ankle stable with one hand and rotate my heel to the side with the other. At PT today, I could feel a drastic improvement in movement while doing that exercise, which the therapist tells me is a good sign.

Without running, I'm left with riding to keep me sane. (Swimming is no help in this regard.) The weather in Denver has been unseasonably warm, and I've been able to ride outside every weekend in December. I had today off work, so I took advantage of the weather and drove up to Boulder for a trip up Flagstaff. From downtown Boulder to Gross reservoir is right around 13 miles, but it took me about an hour and a half to make the trip up. The trip down is much quicker -- 30 minutes, and I descended even slower than normal because of wet, sand-strewn roads.

The problem with this ride is it forces my HR up beyond my FTP HR. One section in particular had me up to 175 bpm at 4 mph, and that's with a compact crank. My fitness isn't great right now, but this ride would be tough even in pretty good shape. Still, it's a fun ride if you've got proper gearing.

Today's atypical cloud cover made me feel like I was back in Michigan, at least until I looked West:

A leg-burning climb (well, the entire way up is basically like this):

Damage from one of the many fires to scorch Boulder this fall:

Gross Reservoir, situated at just over 7,000 feet:

After Gross Reservoir, I was hoping to reach Peak-to-Peak Highway, but after heading down this dirt road for a while I came across a sign informing me that I still had 6.5 miles of dirt road climbing to go...no thanks:

The elevation profile and my HR -- I tried not to go much over 160 bpm:

I started heading up Gold Hill after descending Flagstaff, but I was too exhausted to get further than a few miles up. Following a few months without much training, I'm far from indefatigable.

Oh, and here's some grainy footage set to a bad Daft Punk remix of Tom Danielson setting a record for the climb:

Official Diagnosis: Achilles Tendinopathy

2010-11-22T21:30:00.002-07:00

I just returned from a visit to the CU Sports Med clinic in Denver. Dr. Poddar's diagnosis is Achilles tendinopathy. Stacey, you got it right way back in September.

According to the doc, there are two varieties of Achilles tendinopathy. The kind I've got is where the Achilles is damaged where it inserts into the heel. That doesn't surprise me given that my heel is the only place where my pain is sharp.

After the diagnosis, the doc had me do a one-legged squat test. One stipulation is that one's torso must remain completely upright while performing the squat. On my first attempt, I was able to squat but only because I leaned forward. The doc reminded me to keep my torso upright and had me attempt another squat. With my torso vertical, I could only bend my knee a small amount before it would wobble inward laterally. That, the doc told me, is a sign that I need to work on my hip and core strength. Without improving my strength there, I'm likely to get more overuse injuries. The upside is that overuse injuries can be drastically reduced by completing a few simple exercises (I think that's anecdotal, but the doc referenced some research as well).

I received a handout with a few exercises to do 3-5 times/week. Glancing them over, I thought they'd be a cake walk. First up, there's a leg lift exercise (that link also has a good photo of the one-legged squat test). Next, there's the one-legged bridge (also: a sure-fire way to impress the ladies). Another exercise is kinda like the plank pose in yoga -- basically lying on one's side with one elbow against the ground and raising one's hips into alignment. Finally, I'm to do some calf exercises where I start nearly on my tip-toes and slowly lower my heel until my foot is level.

I'll also head to PT this week or next to get some additional pointers.

Additionally, for those with ITBS, here's a link promoting hip abductor strength as a cure to ITBS.

Oh, and on the positive side I can ride and swim with doc's approval. Running, however, will have to wait 8-10 weeks or until my pain is gone.

Training in a different sense

2010-11-12T18:39:00.004-07:00

First, thanks for the advice and encouraging comments folks have left.

My ankle had been doing better...until yesterday. I'm not sure if it was a bit of jogging outside, a big-gear bike ride, or an aqua jog, but something I did in the past few days made my ankle sore once again. The big-gear ride was a test to see if I can ride long this weekend. My ankle failed the test.

Things that help:
(1) Getting Retuled -- Todd raised my seat, installed wedges to rotate my feet thereby more evening distributing my pedaling load laterally across my foot, moved my cleats to the lateral outside of my shoes (again, more evenly distributing my pedalling load), and moved my aerobars up and toward me. I've extremely comfortable and think the new shoe/cleat/seat height modifications will help me ride a bit while I recover.
(2) Cork heel risers in my shoes seemed to reduce my pain almost immediately.
(3) I wear an ankle brace when I'm walking around a lot. The brace prevents me from twisting my foot, which is good because my ankle is most painful when I twist while under load.
(4) The Stick massage -- When I first had Stacey roll this thing over my calf, it was so painful she could barely press down. Now she can press as hard as she's able and I'm fine.

Anyhow, I'm off to a sports med doc the week after this coming one. Hopefully he tells me more than rest, ice, etc.

In the meantime, I've gained almost 10 pounds. My power:HR ratio is an all time low. I've been reduced to aqua-jogging. Aqua-jogging! Oh well, my fitness will recovery (however, the dignity I've lost from aqua-jogging may be gone forever). Still, so long as I recovery by February I should be good for IMCdA.

Instead of training myself, I now train my new puppy, Ozzy:

Achilles tendinitis (tendiopathy)

2010-10-16T08:58:00.004-06:00

Damn. Two weeks sans running and one week without riding and my foot is doing no better. Looking at common running injuries in view of my symptoms leads me to believe that I've got Achilles tendiopathy. Two things that make a person highly susceptible to Achilles issues are limited ankle flexibility and weak calves. I'm the poster boy for limited ankle flexibility, and based on their size there is no way my calves can be very strong. Also, the heel pain I referenced in a prior post may be right where my Achilles connect to my calcaneus. (Who needs a doctor when I've got books and the internet? I say that only half joking.)

Still, there are two reasons I'm not sure this is an Achilles issue. First up is that the pain in my heel may be a bit below where the Achilles is joined. Second is that I also have dull pain along the top of my foot, though perhaps this could be the result of some other tendon carrying an extra burden to compensate for my malfunctioning Achilles.

My plan for the short term is to ice two or three times a day, start some heel drops (eccentric loading), wear my compression socks to promote blood flow to the Achilles, wear shoes all day (the goal is to raise my heel to take stress of the Achilles), get a massage and/or ART, and give things another week. [FYI: Here's the heel drop protocol.] I'm also going to buy some new cleats for my old trainer cycling shoes and perhaps move the cleats rearward, though I don't plan on riding for the next few days so this is somewhat a moot issue. If I'm not feeling better by next Friday, I'll visit a doctor.

I'm also considering some kinesio-tape and a Strassburg sock, although with so many injury prevention gimmicks on the market it's hard to discern what's actually effective and what's just snake oil. Kinesio-tape would be great if it stabilizes my Achilles enough that I can swim and ride without causing further aggravation.

Another concern I have is figuring out what can I do to stay active. At this point, I'd be fine without running for a month or two if I can still swim and ride. I need some form of physical activity every day! Yet right now even swimming aggravates my Achilles. Maybe I'll do a short swim today and will avoid kicking just to see how it goes.

Taking a bit of a longer outlook, as a former hockey player skate skiing has a strong appeal. If my Achilles issue persists, and if a skate ski boots prevent Achilles movement as I imagine they do, then I'll definitely get some skate skiis so I can get outside this winter. Maybe I will get back to weight lifting and focus on exercises that don't stress my Achilles. This could be an opportunity to focus on strength, flexibility, and all that other boring stuff that many folks say is important to staying injury free.

My biggest fear is that I'm going to be immobilized for months or longer. My second biggest fear is developing chronic Achilles tendiopathy and being constantly injured.

I'm looking forward to my races next summer so much that I'll be extremely disappointed if I can get this issue straightened out in time to be at least moderately fit come summer.

No riding, no running

2010-10-10T12:21:00.002-06:00

Injury Update
Well, my heel has been feeling slightly better, but the rest of my left ankle is pretty messed up. The tendons or ligaments on the top/outside of my left foot and the inside of my foot above my heel are tight and sore. I'm going to take a week off riding and another week off running. I think my morning trainer rides have been too hard too frequently, and that I've over-stressed my ankle by not allowing sufficient time for recovery. Better now than this coming spring... Hopefully swimming loosens everything up and aids recovery.

Kona
Great race yesterday. Ironman gets a lot of flack for being as exciting as watching paint dry, but if you're an informed viewer the race is very exciting. Even Stacey enjoyed watching the entire race and was even on the edge of our couch for the last hour of the race. The coverage was actually pretty good, too.

Once Raelert caught Macca at around mile 22 but failed to make a pass I put my money on Macca. Macca seems so stubborn, experienced, and shrewd that I'd take him over anyone else under those circumstances. It wasn't too surprising to see Macca make a move at an aid station, but it was amazing how quickly he dropped Raelert. Raelert must have expended everything he had just to catch Macca.

Preliminary 2011 race schedule:
June 26 -- Ironman Couer D'Alene (celebrating Stacey and my one year anniversary!)
July 10 -- Boulder Peak (haven't signed up yet; perhaps too soon after CdA)
July 17 (?) -- Centurion Cycling Boulder (my first bike-only race)
July 24 (?) -- Mount Evans Hill Climb (my second bike-only race)
August 7 -- Boulder 70.3
September 11 -- 70.3 World Championships (now in Vegas)

I could use another two or three spring or early summer events in the Denver area to fill out my schedule. I'll look for some trail runs and maybe a half-marathon in the spring. Suggestions appreciated.

Still Can't Run...

2010-10-08T17:06:00.002-06:00

Heel Issue
After a week off from running, I headed out yesterday for a jog. My foot was feeling pretty good, though admittedly not perfect, and a few minutes into the run I knew it was time to head back. I ended up jogging for just 15 minutes. Despite the week off and the very short jog, I still had more pain than last week.

Without running, my "training" has consisted of a hard trainer ride every morning and then a swim some evenings. On weekends I manage one long-ish ride (circa 3:30). Now with the foot pain remaining I'm considering dropping the intensity and/or frequency of my trainer rides, even though my foot feel fine before, during, and after riding.

I've also started taking some Motrin to reduce any inflammation, icing my heel, and wearing a Zoot compression sock to bed at night. This little injury also has me considering scheduling a monthly massage, as perhaps that'd reduce the likelihood of injury in the future.

I'm not concerned with time off of running since my next event isn't for a long time, but I really enjoy running and want to get back to it.

Tomorrow
Kona is tomorrow, as is the University of Michigan v. mid-rate state university football game. My plan is to sync a trainer ride with the IM world champs and put in a 4+ hour effort on the trainer with a fair amount of that at IM effort based on HR. I'll be flipping back and forth between the race and the football game on my computer.

Go Blue!

Next year
Finally, I'm starting to think about my race schedule for next year, and so far I'm definitely doing IM CdA in June and Boulder 70.3 in August. The big news in the world of Ironman is that the 70.3 world champs will be moving from Clearwater, Florida to Las Vegas next year. While I've never been to Vegas and honestly think the town sounds like the worst place on Earth, I'd be tempted to do the race if the bike course is sufficiently challenging that I'd break up drafting. We'll see...

Endurance Conspiracy

2010-09-30T19:02:00.003-06:00

Anyone want a free Endurance Conspiracy shirt? It's a size XL, which I tried my best to shrink down to a medium via a boiling water bath --> hot dryer session to no avail. (A bit too optimistic, perhaps.) I'd say the shirt is a large after my attempted shrinking. It's a white shirt and I'm too lazy to take a photo or check out their website to see if I can find the same one...still, it's free so you've got nothing to lose!

Also, for those going to Kona, check out the Gu Energy house for some free stuff. Details here:

Finally, I ran this morning. Even though my run was short and slow, it was a bad idea. My foot was feeling good the past two days, now it doesn't. I'll take several more days off running. Be resilient, body!

Foot pain

2010-09-28T16:50:00.003-06:00

I've been fortunate to have never had to take time off of running due to an injury. I'm knocking on wood that that streak continues. My left foot has been troubling me lately. The first sign that something was awry was my heel hurt if set my foot on my coffee table. The weight of my foot and leg was enough to produce pain on the backside of my heel about a half inch or an inch above the bottom of my foot.

A week or so later, I started to feel pain in my heel at the start of each run. The pain goes away once I get going (that or I block it out) and is never excruciating. The tinge of pain occurs when I roll my heel off the ground to transition my weight onto my toes. I even have pain if I press directly onto my heel.

(Pain location...)

Last night I woke up to use the bathroom, and my ankle didn't want to move. I basically limped to the john. I can't figure out what the connection could be between my heel pain and the tightness in my foot at times. Hmm...maybe I'll take a few days off running and see what happens.

The main goal is to avoid any prolonged period sans running. Fitness at this point in the year isn't important, but consistency is.

Golden Gate Canyon Pictures

2010-09-19T21:43:00.010-06:00

I'm always happy when race season ends and I can ride without worrying about my effort level, worrying about data, or otherwise being concerned with how my ride goes. It's not that I don't like training, but riding just for fun is more relaxing. This weekend I got in my first long ride since IMLou when Stacey and I ventured up Golden Gate Canyon. After a quick drive over to Golden, we began the long, long climb up to 9,000+ feet. Golden Gate Canyon is the hardest of all the climbs I've done since moving to Denver. It's 18 miles long and, even though the elevation is about the same as other climbs to Peak to Peak Hwy, takes a long time.

When we started the climb, I thought there were some low clouds.

Shortly into the climb we were out of the clouds, but the road kept heading up.

After passing a forest fire (much closer than the one shown below), I realized that the haze in Golden was mostly the result of fires.

A few miles into the climb, Stacey and I turned onto a less busy road (Crawford) because Golden Gate Canyon has a bit too much traffic. Several miles later the road turned to dirt. Not only that, but the dirt section was loose and predominately downhill. Not the best terrain to be riding one's tri-bike...

We ended up walking one hilly section that neither of us wanted to ride down (one of the photos below is looking back up the hill, which is steeper than it appears). The 180 degree turn at the bottom was part of our concern. If I had my road bike, however...

All-in-all, a nice autumn ride. Somehow, even the descent back to Golden has some climbing.

Detailed IM Louisville Race Report

2010-09-11T06:44:00.008-06:00

[I must have made a mistaken copying links for some of the photos. Click on the photos to see the whole images.]

(Louisville pre-race)

Starting with an update of the past two weeks:
I have been extremely busy with work the past two weeks -- I actually had three days sans training this week because work has been taking up so much of my time. Still, over Labor Day weekend I went on a three-day hiking trip with Stacey and my parents. Carrying a 40-60 pound pack for three days made for some good base training. Being the triathlon nerd that I am, I wore my HR monitor for the first day and was able to average 113 bpm for the time we were moving (about 5 hours). As a side note, My advice to Stacey is to incorporate more hike-type workouts into her routine because her HR gets pretty high as soon as she starts running. Perhaps some base-work would be of benefit to her.

I've been thinking about how to most effectively prepare for IM CdA next June in the event that I remain this busy for the next several months. Besides making room for one long ride on the weekend and a long run midweek, I'd likely only have time for one workout per weekday and not a very long one at that. I'll likely talk that one over with the coach in the next few weeks...

Okay, to the race report:

Training Summary
Training went great leading up to the race. I saw some fantastic power numbers, numbers like holding 245-250 W at sub-150 bpm during longer intervals on the trainer. Being at altitude, I was encourage that perhaps those numbers would be even better where there's more oxygen in the air. I also completed some tough track workouts on brutally hot days. One day in particular comes to mind: Stacey and I went to Harvard Gulch for a run on the dirt track. We started our run at 1:00pm in 95 degree heat, and then I cranked out 18 miles in just over 2 hours even as the temp increased and the sun shone brightly. Stacey, having to slow dramatically to keep in HR in check due to the heat, was impressed. I even got in a few huge weeks of training volume, with a peak week of around 30 hours. In summary, a few weeks out from the race I was very, very confident in my fitness.

Pre-Race

(Stacey applying sunscreen where the sun surprisingly does shine when riding a tri-bike, and Conor proving that he is NOT applying sun screen to my backside.)

Then, I became very busy with work two weeks out from the race. This is fine, since triathlon is a hobby and secondary in importance to work. The timing also wasn't too bad, either, since I was starting to taper. Still, my stress level increased to less than ideal levels. Also because of work, my trip out to Louisville was very brief -- fly out Friday, fly home Monday.

Despite the stress, once I got to the airport the Friday before the race I felt relieved. I had just started reading Born to Run, and while reading I began to remember how much fun I have racing Ironmans. The book put me in the perfect mental state to race. I've got some similar books that I'll put off reading until before my next big race.

Once in Louisville, everything went smoothly (well, other than getting pulled over Friday evening while driving a rental car for forgetting to turn on the lights...but in my defense my car's lights automatically turn on so I'm not in the habit of turning the switch myself). I met up with Jake from Zoot at the expo and he hooked me up with a SpeetZoot swim skin. Jake and Zoot have been great to me all year. I don't give Zoot stuff enough praise on my blog, so let me take this opportunity to say that in all honesty Zoot's shoes and tri compression shorts are some of the best products I've ever used. If Zoot boots me from the Ultra Team next year, I would still happily spend my own hard-earned cash to buy their products. The compression shorts are bar-none the best tri-shorts I've worn, no exaggeration.

Stacey and I stayed with my parents and my brother Conor and his wife Teresa at my cousin's husband's parents' house just outside of Louisville. Conor was racing his first IM, and Conor and Teresa did an awesome job of stocking the house with good food and getting all the stuff for my pre-race meals. Thanks guys! After dinner we settled in to watch Hot Tub Time Machine and then got to bed really early.

Like all of Saturday, Sunday morning was without any issues. Conor and I were in transition right at 5:00 am and headed off to the swim start just 15 minutes or so later. Still, but the time we got to the swim start we were well back from the front of the line. (Please WTC, stop permitting people to save spots in line!) We had an hour to kill waiting in line, but the time to relax was nice. I wasn't the least bit nervous, just like last year at the same time.

Swim

(Running down the ramp with Conor and doing my best dork pose before heading into the water.)

Once the race started, the line moved quickly and soon Conor and I were jumping into the disgusting Ohio river. I focused on a high turnover and was constantly passing people (seems all the slow folks start at the front of the swim). Having a time-trial start allows those that start at the back to see just how poorly so many of the competitors swim. I saw a surprising large amount of backstroke, breast stroke, and even just bobbing right at the beginning of the swim. Odd...

The swim went by very fast. I wondered if I'd swam sub-1:00 because the time went by so quickly -- perhaps there had been a current, I thought. My breathing was also very controlled, and I think being at a lower elevation had a lot to do with it. I occasionally did four-stroke breathing, and even then I wasn't out of breath.

I exited the water in 1:06. Not bad, but not as fast as the swim felt. Still, 6 minutes ahead of last year's pace.

Bike
After an uneventful T1, I was off on my Orbea. The start of the ride was very comfortable, as should be the case for an Ironman. Despite the comfortable effort, my HR was a bit high, right in the 150-152 bpm range. As soon as the crowd of riders thinned out a bit, I rode really easy to let my HR fall to 145 bpm. Once my HR dropped I resumed riding at my IM perceived exertion. Now, my HR stayed under 150 bpm and sometimes dropped to the low 140s despite pushing 220-230 W. For the first 40 miles I didn't compulsively check my HR or power, but when I did they were both inline with my expectations.

(I get my head a bit lower on the fast sections, but otherwise not looking too bad. My hands are a tad higher than normal, but I like this position.)

There's an out-and-back section starting about 45 minutes into the ride with some of the largest hills on the course. This section was extremely crowded and made for some dangerous riding. At one point, frustrated by the riding style of the guys around me, I eased off to 200 W on an uphill so the guys I was around would ride away from me. I was confident that I'd catch and pass them later, but for now I just wanted to avoid getting caught up in their sprinting-slowing-sprinting-slowing style of riding.

There was one guy in particular that I passed on every flat and that re-passed me every uphill. A few hours into the ride, as he passed me going uphill, he said something like "Man, you stick right to your wattage." Little does he know that I ride the uphills around 270 W and the flats around 220 W -- hardly sticking right to a wattage. Yet guys like this unknowingly push 350 W on every hill. I even told him that actually he is going way too hard on the hills, and he replied that that's how he likes to ride. What are guys like this thinking? These must be the Slowtwitchers whose sole goal is passing people on the bike, no matter the costs on the run. (I know, I know, I have the same complaint after every big race, but Louisville's time trial start only exacerbates the problem.)

As the bike progressed, the temperature and humidity rose. After 2.5 hours my power began to drop off. Check out this comparison of my bike splits from this year and last year at Louisville:

2010
FIRST BIKE SEGMENT 23 mi (57:47) 23.88 mph
SECOND BIKE SEGMENT 40 mi (44:45) 22.79 mph
THIRD BIKE SEGMENT 70.5 mi (1:25:00) 21.53 mph
FINAL BIKE SEGMENT 112 mi (1:59:10) 20.90 mph
TOTAL BIKE 112 mi. (5:06:42) 21.91 mph

2009
FIRST BIKE SEGMENT 22 mi (1:01:47) 21.36 mph
SECOND BIKE SEGMENT 37 mi (43:32) 20.67 mph
THIRD BIKE SEGMENT 67 mi (1:25:43) 21.00 mph
FINAL BIKE SEGMENT 112 mi (1:56:16) 23.22 mph
TOTAL BIKE 112 mi. (5:07:18) 21.87 mph

I could analyze this in greater detail (Did I overcook the start of the bike? Did the heat just kill me? The course was slightly different -- was that the reason for the speed difference during the first segment?), but I'll save that for another post.

By the end of this year's bike I was suffering. Others were, too, as there were a lot of competitors at the side of the road -- several of them vomiting or seeking shade. At mile 100 or so I passed a guy that had gone down in a ditch. He appeared to be severely cramped, but I couldn't tell for sure. There was a fire station ahead, and I tried to tell the fire fighters that when I passed by on the way out to help the guy. This time, however, no one was outside the station, so I circled back and rode into the station's bay to get some help for the guy down the road. (As an aside, I think it's fine if competitors do not stop to help one another. After all, it's a race -- don't sign up if you expect all the other competitors to stop for you.)

I suffered through the last 10 miles of the bike, most of it without water due to the odd aid station placement toward the end of the bike course, knowing that the run was going to be very difficult. My suffering is a bit confounding. I had peed once on the bike and had to go again at the start of the run, so dehydration didn't seem to be a cause. Perhaps my body needs a lot of blood circulation near my skin for cooling and that's why my performance suffers. I don't know enough about physiology to really make all that educated of a guess.

Oh, and for my future reference, my nutrition on the bike consisted solely of liquid calories and gels. I was hydrating so much that I had no problem drinking enough sports drink to take in 350 calories an hour. I only needed a small sip from my flask full of Vanilla Bean Gu every 10 or 20 miles. I was even drinking water on top of the 48 oz. of sports drink/hr that I consumed. Around the 3.5 and 4.5 hour marks of the bike I popped a Salt Stick salt tablet in hopes of keeping my water to sodium ratio in balance. I was sweating so much that my face was crusted over with salt. Even my eye lashes were full of salt. It was like waking up in the morning with those weird crystals in the corners of one's eyes, except mine were crystals of salt.

Data: 199 W average (4 W less than last year but a slightly faster overall time); 147 bpm average.

(I can't get the file to open with PowerAgent so my analysis is pretty limited.)

Run

(Not looking fresh starting the run. What's up with the horrific heal strike that appears to be imminent?)

I am always happy to get off the bike at the end of a 112 mile ride, usually because I'm excited for the run to start. I was especially looking forward to entering T2 on this day, although this time it was because I was totally exhausted. As I mentioned in my brief report, dropping out went through my head. I told myself that last year I didn't feel spectacular off the bike and amazed myself with a sub-3:00 run. Maybe I'd still reel off a great run and finish in the top 10.

Those thoughts vanished after a few strides. My legs had no spring. My stride felt short and choppy. Last year I blazed through the first 3 miles at 5:42/mile. This year, barely under 7:00/mile. My HR was right where I expected -- 160 bpm or a few bpm lower -- but my pace was sssslllloooowwww.

Four miles into the run and I began feeling better. I became optimistic. Some brief cloud cover blocked the sun, and my pace quicken to 6:30/mile for a half mile or so. Once the cloud cover passed, I heated back up and slowed back down.

I took a salt pill (Endurolyte brand? something with about 1/10 the salt of the Salt Stick tablets) right before every aid station and then grabbed a Coke and then a water. Fueling went well and I peed three times during the run! Some of that was probably fluid I'd taken in on the bike. Still, even with a high level of fluid intake there was no pooling in my stomach and I craved more water. I think the salt + coke + water is the perfect fuel strategy for me on an IM run.

Around mile 12 I passed Conor going the other way and he appeared to be suffering. It was a tough day for a first IM and knowing how much I was struggling even with my level of fitness and experience I figured he was likely having a tough day. He ultimately dropped out after puking in a porta-john and then cramping badly shortly after I saw him. There's always next year...

At this point I still had ran every step and talked myself into running every step until at least mile 16. I made it to mile 16 still feeling alright and didn't walk that aid station. At mile 19 my pace plummeted to 9:00/mile on a slightly uphill and with a HR over 160 bpm. I decided to walk every other aid station. At mile 21 I changed to talking every aid station because I didn't think I could make it two miles without walking. The aid station walks allowed me to rest enough that my pace between aid stations increased enough to offset the pace lost from walking. I even walked the mile 25 aid station even though the finish was just over 1 mile away.

As I approached the finished I once again felt a surge of achievement for having made it through the day. It was a very hard run for me and took all my determination to complete it. I thought my time was going to be horrible, but ended up with a not-too-shabby-on-any-day (and great for a 95 degree/90% humidity day) 3:20 run split. I even ran the last 1/4 mile at sub-6:00 pace due to the adrenaline rush that comes when one approaches the finish line.

(Five miles are missing about midway through the race. I must have accidentally stopped my watch and didn't notice for a while.)

Still, it's hard to be satisfied with a 3:20 run when (1) that's more than 25 minutes off my time from last year and (2) I lost my AG because I was out-run. Of the top three guys in my AG, I had the fastest swim by more than five minutes. Since when do I out swim someone by 5 minutes and not beat that person?

Finish
Total: 9:38, my second fastest IM and the toughest conditions of any IM by far.

Anyhow, I crossed the finish line feeling good physically, meaning I didn't need to go to the med-tent and felt like I could actually eat something. I had myself weighed at the med-tent just to be safe, and I was only 5 pounds lighter than normal. If I can hydrate myself to the extent that I only lose 5 pounds on a day as hot as this one, I think that means my nutrition is dialed in pretty well.

15th overall, just like last year. 2nd in my AG, just like last year.

I felt great just a few days after the race. I ran three days afterward and didn't feel fatigued. Once again, my rapid recovery suggests I wasn't able to empty the tank and really fatigue my muscles. It's tough to do one IM a year, and then have it not go perfect. Could I have gone sub-9:00 on an ideal day? Did I have the fitness for a 4:50 or 4:55 bike? Will I ever finish top 10 overall? I can't answer these questions, but the race allowed me to test my will-power and I am happy with how I responded. Testing myself is the appeal of doing Ironman regardless of the outcome, and that's not limited to race day. I'm happy with my race performance in the harsh conditions and I enjoy training more than ever. Another year passes and the allure of Ironman hasn't diminished.

Thanks to Stacey for her endless support of my pursuit of my perfect race, thanks to Chuckie for the coaching and training support, thanks to Zoot Sports and Jake at Zoot in particular for providing me with awesome training and racing gear that I don't plug nearly enough, thanks to Orbea and Zipp for also providing top-notch gear, and thanks to my family for cheering for me and for having everything organized when I arrived in Kentucky.

Ironman Number 5 in the Bag

2010-08-29T17:01:00.002-06:00

Quick summary: HOT! As the heat picked up on the bike, my power dropped off. By mile 100 my face was covered with sale. There was so much salt building up around my eyes that I had to pull off chuncks of it. I took in almost all my calories from liquid (and the other 400 or 500 were Gu) and was pounding water. The heat on the bike took its toll, and my pace and power dropped way off throughout the bike.

I started the run considering dropping out. Then I though I don't want to get in that habit. If I got to the point that I couldn't run and still had loads of miles to go, then I'd drop out. Until then, keep going. Plus, it's really hard to tell how I'll feel once I start the run.

...and then ten feet into the run I knew I'd be a tough day. I had no jump in my step. Still, I held 7:00/mile or only a bit slower for the first 7 miles. I gradually slowed to 8:00/mile, and I was a-hurtin'. I walked 5 or 6 aid stations, though I think my pace between stations is faster when I walked than when I run to the stations to the extent that it was pretty even.

Overall, 1:06 swim (okay) + 5:06 bike (no bad considering the heat-induced drop off) + 3:20 run (really good considering the 95 degree temp with very, very few clouds).

2nd in my AG for the third IM in a row (though I suppose there's a chance the results will be updated and I'll drop a spot or two). I just cared about finishing, though, given the conditions. I was told a few times I was 6 minutes back of #1 in my AG, but that was probably on course time not including the time trial swim (incidentally, the dude finished ended up finishing something like 6 minutes ahead of me).

Physically, I'm feeling not too bad. I only lost 5 pounds throughout the race and even peed a few times during the run.

MAF test

2010-08-17T20:25:00.003-06:00

Well, I've been extremely busy with work as of late, so the blog has taken a back seat. I update sporadically until Louisville. I should write a race plan this weekend so that I start to focus on the race. It's hard to focus with so much other stuff going on. My diet hasn't been great lately (too many work-related lunches -- one at a pizza place, one with fried chicken), but I sneak in fruit frequently and finish the day off with a huge salad.

Workouts of note as of late:

Today:
Fun ride with 20 x [30 sec hard, 30 sec easy] then 40 x [15 sec hard, 15 sec easy]. For the 30 second efforts I did most in the 340-350 W range before building to 370 W for the last several. For the 15 sec efforts, I averaged 257 W for the entire 20 minutes. I blasted some Girl Talk on the iPod to keep things going.

Now I'm out the door for today's second workout: a 45 min swim.

Sunday:
MAF test - 6 miles, Harvard Gulch, 85 degrees, sunny, PE was 5 or 6/10
Avg HR for the 6 miles was 148 bpm and my paces were: (1) 6:57, (2) 7:11, (3) 7:18, (4) 7:25, (5) 7:19, (6) 7:19. I didn't feel like heat was an issue.

Afterwards:
400m in 1:23
800m in 2:57
1200m in 4:39
1600m in 6:21
1600m in 6:23
1200m in 4:42
800m in 2:59
400m in 1:24

Those times are for an effort a notch below really hard, something like 95%.

Also, some easy riding and swimming.

Saturday:
5:30 ride with 5 hrs at 129 bpm. I rode a bit past Evergreen and back. It's not as nice as Boulder, but it sure beats Birmingham, MI.

Also, easy swimming.

Ellen Hart

2010-08-14T09:27:00.003-06:00

(ASI did a good job with the Boulder 70.3 photos. I thought this one in particular was cool. I'm tempted to buy the high resolution photo.)

Buring the Boulder 70.3 last weekend, I was at about mile 9 on the run as I ran along an out-and-back section. A lady running the other direction was looking very strong. It took me the next 3.5 miles to catch up to her, and when I did I was amazed to see that she was 52 years old. She had the physique of a 30 year old professional triathlete. I asked her if she was really 52, and she said she was and that I better speed up or she'd beat me to the finish.

I had to look her up online, and it turns out she has run in the Olympic trials for the marathon, won Boulder Bolder twice, and even almost made the Olympics trials in the marathon at age 48. ABC made a made-for-TV movie about her and her struggles with bulimia called "Dying to be Perfect". She's also a graduate of Harvard and CU law school. Slacker. If you check out my race photos here -- http://asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=64048&BIB=154 -- she's the lady finished at the same time as me. Fifty two years old...

Anyhow, training has been pretty easy for the past week. I've put in about two hours a day, with about half of that in the pool. My runs have all been very easy -- 8:30 to 9:00/mile pace. Riding has also been easy, with my toughest workout including a 60 minute ride with a whole bunch of 2 minute "hard", 1 minute "easy" repetitions. My "hard" reps started at IM effort and increased to a bit above HIM effort.

I feel recovered from the race, but haven't test myself yet. Better to err on the side of caution with Louisville fast approaching. Chuckie suggested that my recovery may be quicker than normal because I wasn't able to go to the bottom of the well during the race (see the second half of my run). Today will be a bit of a test, as it includes a long (6 hr) but moderately paced ride. Then tomorrow I get to do a track run. Track runs are fun because I get to run fast.

The only other workout of note is yesterday's swim. Stacey joined me for a bunch of hard 100s. While we used to be very evenly matched swimmers, since I started working hard on my swim last year I usually finish 3 or 4 seconds ahead of her in a 100. Somehow, though, she picked up the pace big time yesterday and beat me on most of the 100s. What the...??? She loves it when she can beat me. I might have to start sneaking in extra time in the pool so that doesn't happen anymore!

Boulder 70.3 Race Report

2010-08-08T19:11:00.005-06:00

One of these days, I'll put together my perfect race. Over the past year I've had a lot of races where my bike or run is solid, and I'm even happy when my swim doesn't take me completely out of contention for the AG win. Yet in every race I've also had a lack luster discipline. That happened again today, and this time where I least expected it -- on the run.

Swim
Knowing I veer left, I lined up on the far right so that other swimmers would box me in and prevent me from heading off course. I kept my turnover high and even found a few pairs of feet to sit on at times. About 1250m into the swim, I felt something against my neck and thought it was a strand of sea weed. I grabbed the thing I yanked it, only to pull off my own goggles. Oops. I quickly put the goggles back on even though they were flooded with water. To my surprise, my vision was amazing. Turns out I've been having sighting issues only because my goggles are completely fogged up. With goggles full of water, I could see everything -- picking a line and finding feet to sit on have never been so easy. I've found few strategies to prevent goggle fog and hopefully I'll perfect on before Louisville.

The swim went well for me and I exited in 31:24, good for 14th out of 86 in my age group. That's five minutes off my competitors' times, but I was also off by five minutes at the shorter Boulder Peak swim. That's progress, I suppose.

Bike
This is a fast bike course. Even though it's two loops, it seems like the route is 3/4 downhill.

Heading out of T1, I kept an eye on the SRM and kept my power below 300W. It's easy to crush the first few minutes of the bike, but that's not a wise strategy. Still, when the first few miles are crowded I'm will to put out a bit more power than would otherwise be prudent.

About 5 miles into the ride two-time IM world champ Tim DeBoom passed me (due to the wave format and Tim being much faster than me, he was on his second loop while I was on my first). I was actually able to legally hang onto him for a bit, and even had to sit up at times to avoid getting too close, before he pulled away on an uphill. The rest of the pro pack following Tim soon passed. These guys ride hard uphill, and for a while I put out more watts than I wanted to keep pace. I was hoping to legally ride their train for the rest of the loop. My lack of legal drafting experience got the better of me, however, and I allowed such a large gap to open that I was no longer getting any benefit. I'd have had to push real hard to catch back up, and even then I was afraid of getting a penalty. Anyhow, there's an out and back 15 miles later and I was able to see that they only put about a minute on me during that time.

I drank a lot on the bike. Two Gatorade, almost two waters, and a few Gus. That's probably IM equivalent fueling at about 400 cal/hr. A tad much for a half, but my stomach was quickly taking care of any pooling from the big gulps I was taking.

Usually at the end of a hard 56 mile ride my legs are beat. Actually, they're typically beat about 40 miles in, and I spend the last 16 miles really focusing to keep the effort up. Today, however, that was never an issue. I got off the bike feeling better than I can ever remember for a half. Not that there was no fatigue, but I never had to dig deep on the bike.

Time: 2:10 (a whopping 8 minute PR for a 56 mile ride). This ride moved me up to second in my AG and in position to get the win with a really good run.

Stats:
239 average W (yes, just 239 W for 25.8 mph)
243 W normalized
87 rpm average
164 bpm average (wow, is that high!)
48.8 max speed (where'd that happen? St Vrain?)

Run
I left T2 2:44 into my race. That meant a 1:20 run, two minutes of my PR, would give me a 4:04 half IM. Great, I thought, don't push too hard, just hang onto 6:00-6:15/mile and run right around 1:20. No need to try for 1:18 only to blow up and run 1:30.

The run started great. I was easily hitting 6:00/mile (well, not easily, but below maybe 0.5/10 below the PE I think I can hold for a half). I was really thinking I could hold that pace until mile 9 or 10 and then go all in from there. Through the first half of the race, my plan was working. 6:08/mile for the first 6.55 miles -- right on track for 1:20 and feeling good.

(Chuckie shot this cool photo during the run.)

Then, pretty shortly after mile 7, I recognized some trouble. There's a short hill and my PE climbed way up just to get over the thing. I had a bit of fluid pooling in my stomach, but I craved water. That's always the worst situation -- the one thing you want the most will only exacerbate your other problem. The temp was hot at 90 degrees or so, but not unbearable and not unlike what I've been training in.

I think some salt pills would have aided my digestion, allowing me to take in more water and Coke. I haven't been successful racing in heat, and fueling is one primary reason for that (or at least that's my present theory). Yes, this is another "oh, I'd have gone faster if I had nailed my nutrition" race report. I apologize for that, but I *think* it's the case. My run strength is there and my endurance is there, so there's no reason to fade other than heat (which wasn't that bad) and fueling.

Anyhow, I dropped to 6:46/mile for the last 6.55 miles and finished the run in 1:24. Bah! A 1:20 would have put me right in the vicinity of Brian Schaning, a fast dude and the eventual AG winner, and while I'm not the fastest runner in triathlon I'd be glad to have a race come down to the run.

So, there ya have it. Acceptable swim, fast bike, good 1st half of the run, bad second half of the run. Overall, I still finished 2nd in my AG and 16th overall. Plus my bike was only about 5 minutes back of some of the top guys in the sport. Now just to put it all together!

Finally, congrats to Stacey on her race. She was worried because between planning our wedding and starting a new job, she hasn't focused on training for the past several months. She still hung on and just missed her 6 hour target (despite a run a whole 40 minutes off her PR). Stacey tells me the real highlights of her race were seeing Craig Alexander, Andy Potts, and Michael Lovato.

(This picture is from everymantri.com and was taken before the Boulder Peak.)

Alright, I'm off to continue eating and drinking amazing quantities of food and liquid. It's probably a sign of dehydration that I can drink about 100 oz. of fluid after the race and not have to "use it."

Week Summary

2010-08-01T19:42:00.004-06:00

I had a few less than idea workouts this week, but that happens. I've been on a roll as of late so there's no need to be discouraged.

Also, I have finally looked at my swim videos. I'll post a critique tomorrow. There's a lot to critique.

Oh, and congrats to Conor for a stellar Steelhead this past weekend. That should set you up nicely for Louisville. Just be sure not to ramp things back up too quickly at the beginning of this week.

Now on with the show...

August 1
(1) It's August already? Wow. After a tough ride yesterday (see below), I was curious how my legs would react. Today's ride was up to Ward and then over to Niwot High School for a track run. On the climb to Ward I pushed IM effort up until mile 15, averaging 235 W at 143 bpm for 1:05. Once I hit mile 15, gravity and the steepness of the road forced my effort up a bit, and I spent the next ten minutes averaging 256 W and 151 bpm. PE crept up toward the end of the ride, I think just due to muscle tiredness (particularly in the bum). Anyhow, good numbers for me but aided by the terrain.

(2) The post-ride track run went alright. The original plan was 5 miles at 6:00/mile. My HR was 160 bpm after the first mile and 170 after the second. A combination of heat and dehydration were likely responsible for the high HR. CV altered the plan and had me do a bunch of 400s and a few 200s, all at about 6:00/mile pace. The 400s are pretty easy for me, as it's not until 200m in that I even start breathing deeply.

(3) I finished off the weekend with a 15 minute flop.

July 31
(1) The day got off to a good start. I began with a 1:00 run with 2 miles at 6:20/mile pace, but otherwise easy.

(2) After the run I headed up to Boulder to join CV and the gang for a 5 hour ride. My instructions were to do 3 hours at IM pace (~220 W). The best thing I can say about my ride was that the first hour went well. I was cruising along pushing 220-240 W and a HR in the high 140s and feeling great. The second hour didn't go too bad, I guess, but by the time the third hour rolled around I was "in a spot of bother" as Phil Liggett would say. My power dropped way off, my HR stayed high, my stomach was full of fluid, and I had no energy.

I think I know the cause of my issue. First, it was a hot day. Second, my nutrition plan for the ride was real foods, or at least somewhat real foods (e.g., things that strike a good balance between staying edible in my pocket for five hours on a 95 degree day and including only non-machine made ingredients, such as Whole Foods energy nuggets with lots of nuts and fruit and LaraBars). So, I've got a high sweat rate due to the conditions and I'm combating that by taking in a lot of water (not sports drink), yet I am taking in almost no sodium. A few hours into the ride, and suddenly water stops leaving my stomach, I get dehydrated, etc. etc. That's my theory, anyhow.

My ride ended basically limping back to Boulder at <180 W. Still, I averaged over 22 mph for the three hours at IM intensity on terrain similar to Louisville and hit 100 miles in 4:45 despite said limping home.

(3) Very short flop.

July 30
(1) 3400m swim with a 1000m time trial. My time was 17:25, with the first 500m in 8:38 and the second in 8:47. I'm no Grant Hackett.

(2) 1 hour run with 40 minutes at 150 bpm. I averaged 6:52/mile at 152 bpm for those 40 minutes on terrain a bit more challenging than Louisville. Nice. That speed felt easy and I kept having the desire to run around 6:30/mile.

July 29
(1) 4500m swim. I did 3200m or so of this swim earlier in the week, but CV made me do the whole thing all over again since I didn't get the entire 4500m in. Not too bad, really.

(2) Extra curricular: 1 hour spin

(3) 30 minute easy run with Stacey. I did not feel that great. Usually these jogs are effortless, like walking, but this day I had a slight side-stitch.

July 28 - Death Run
(1) 2:15 run scheduled, 2:00 complete. I just fell apart. The only other time I can recall feeling this bad on a run is during the latter stages of a marathon or IM. The goal was to warm-up, start running 6:45-7:00/mile, and then cool-down. Sounded easy enough on paper.

My expectation was for a 150-155 bpm HR, yet after 40 minutes my HR was approaching 160 bpm. It started hitting 165 bpm on hills, and I made the executive decision to pull the plug on running by pace. Hour 1: 7:00/mile at 160 bpm average.

I switched to running at 155 bpm for the second hour. Despite slowing to 7:37/mile, I only made it another 30 minutes before making executive decision #2: get home ASAP. I dropped my pace to balance minimizing suffering and getting home quickly.

The hike is Aspen may have taken more out of me than I realized, and it showed during this run. (Again, just my theory.)

(2) Flop.

July 27
(1) Swim. This is the one I mentioned above. I did 3200m of the scheduled 4500m. Hey, a man's got to work! (CV noted on the schedule that if I couldn't fit the whole thing in, I just needed to wake up earlier.)

(2) Tempo ride w/ 1:30 at 230-240 W. I did nine 10 minute intervals with 2 minutes easy pedaling between. Average watts were 245-248 for all sets, and my HR average gradually increased from 143 bpm to 148 bpm. Solid and pretty easy, PE-wise.

Aspen Photos

2010-07-27T22:15:00.002-06:00

July 25
Spin with Stacey up to Maroon Bells. They're definitely over-rated, and I'd recommend the Electric Pass hike as having superior scenery.

July 24
Stacey and I went on a 6 hour hike from the end of Castle Creek Rd (~10,000 ft.) to Electric Pass at 13,500 ft. This was a great hike and left my legs very sore for two days. I carried about 25 lbs of stuff, but that's not that much.

July 23
Stacey and I rode over Independence Pass. Stacey allowed me to ride ahead and turn around occasionally. The ride goes from 7,800 feet to 12,200 feet in 25 miles. The altitude doesn't bother me much, though I didn't have my power meter to check power:HR. After Independence Pass, we went back through town then up to 10,000 feet again to the end of Castle Creek Rd. After eating a selection of breads and spreads at the Pine Creek Restaurant (amazing views, btw), we cruised back into town. This ride was 5+ hours.

July 22
I got in a quick run along a trail above town. Nice views of the town along the way.

A Nearly Eight Hour Day

2010-07-21T21:40:00.002-06:00

July 21
Today was scheduled to be about 6 hours. However, I got in some extra curricular swimming in the morning. I shot some video during the swim, and I'll post it in my next update after I've had a chance to review the footage. The underwater camera is a great (and surprisingly inexpensive) tool that I need to use more often. So, ~40 minutes of swimming.

Next, I drove up to Boulder to ride with Chuckie's whole CO-based gang (Angela, Michelle, and Sonja). My instructions were to take it easy and ride around 110-115 bpm. This basically allowed me to hang in behind Sonja and Michelle. After about 4 hours, I did an hour at IM effort and averaged 230 W at 146 bpm, although that effort was predominantly uphill. A storm cut the ride short, and I think we got in 5:30.

Post-ride we all headed out for a transition run. I did 10 minutes at HIM pace (~6:00/mile) and then turned around and jogged home. Total time was about 25 minutes.

All that put me at 6:35 of training for the day. However, Stacey wanted to get out for a ride so I got my road bike out and rode another hour or so with her.

A long day, but none of the efforts were too tough. Tomorrow Stacey and I are off to Aspen for a few days for a quick honeymoon. I'll try to post a few updates while we're there. (<--Joke)

MAF Run + 2:20 at IM bike intensity

2010-07-20T21:14:00.002-06:00

July 20
Today was supposed to be a double swim day that turned into a single swim day. I helped Stacey get set up on her road bike and we ended up making an unexpected bike shop trip. By the time I finished I didn't have the motivation to go swim in the 20m pool (a thunderstorm meant the outdoor 25m pool is closed). Anyhow, I'll do the second swim tomorrow morning, bright and early. More motivation to get to bed early.

(1) ~4000m swim. Lots of 250s pulling and then more 100s free. I did the 250s in 4:06 to 4:10, which is okay for me. But then I could only manage 1:38-1:40 for the hundreds, which isn't too great given my effort level (hard!).

(2) 1:25 run. All easy and by feel. Nice day, good songs on the iPod.

July 19
(1) 2:45 ride with 2:20 at IM intensity based on PE. I did two laps of Hwy 36 (starting at Nelson Rd) --> Hygiene Rd. --> 75th St --> Nelson --> back to start, and then one 50 minute effort on the way home zig-zagging to dodge some approaching lightning. Here's the data:

Lap 1 - 15.6 miles; 41:25; 22.7 mph; 135 bpm average; 210 average W; 215 W normalized; 83 rpm avg
Lap 2 - 15.6 miles; 42:16; 22.2 mph; 133 bpm; 210 average W; 216 W normalized; 83 rpm avg
Quasi Lap 3 - 20.3 miles; 55:32; 22 mph; 137 bpm; 205 average W; 212 W normalized 84 rpm avg

Loops 1 and 2 each have about 660 ft of ascending according to my Garmin, which is comparable to the amount of climbing I'll face in Louisville. Also, it was warm again at 95 degrees.

Throw on some Zipps and my aero helmet and I'll be moving pretty well. Of course, at 5600 feet the air offers less resistance.

(2) Flop. 35 minutes, if I recall correctly.

July 18
(1) MAF test + intervals for a total of about 1:35 of running.

MAF data:
Mile 1 - 6:38; 146 bpm average (my HR stayed in the low 140s for the first 3/4 mile)
Mile 2 - 6:41; 151 bpm
Mile 3 - 6:45; 154 bpm
Mile 4 - 6:58; 154 bpm
Mile 5 - 6:58; 154 bpm
Mile 6 - 6:58; 155 bpm

PE was 6/10 for the MAF test. Conditions were hot -- I ran from 1 to 3 o'clock and it was 95 degrees with the sun out almost the whole time. There was a bit of wind, but it felt great when running into the wind so i didn't mind. Oh, and I ran on the dirt track at Harvard Gulch.

After the MAF test, it was interval time. Between each interval I ran an easy 200, which typically took 1:20. These efforts weren't all out, but they were hard.
400 - 81 sec (targeting 80 sec)
800 - 3:00 (targeting 3:00)
1200 - 4:36 (targeting 4:40)
1600 - 6:12 (targeting 6:15)
1200 - 4:39 (targeting 4:45)
800 - 2:59 (targeting 3:05)
400 - um, made it halfway before stopping to avoid puking up the sports drink that I had just chugged way too much of, especially given the drink's tea-like temperature resulting from having sat in the sun for an hour and a half.

Stacey was pretty impressed by my workout. She was doing her own MAF test, and let's just say the heat was winning. All these workouts in hot weather have given me some confidence for a good result in Louisville even if it's a scorcher. I welcome that confidence because I did two Chicago Marathons in I think 2007 and 2008 that were both very hot, and I withered in each of them (e.g., 1:18 at half feeling great to a 2:48 finish in 2008).

(2) Flop. 30 minutes.

Big Week - Days 2-5

2010-07-18T10:11:00.004-06:00

July 17
(1) 6 hour ride - I rode my road bike, so I didn't capture power data. I spent a lot of time at ~130 bpm, which for me feels like a good balance between working and being able to ride all day. Oh, and the high temp during the ride according to my Garmin was 111.8 degrees. That's one hundred and eleven and eight tenths degrees. When I looked down and air blew over my sunglasses and across my eyes, it felt like someone was blow drying my face. It was 100 degrees or over for about four hours of the ride. At one point some clouds moved in, and I could see a rain storm nearby. The temperature dropped 20 degrees in 15 minutes. 92 degrees has never felt so cool. Once the storm passed, however, the temp went right back up over 100 degrees. I drank about two 24 oz bottles of water per hour, though I was a bit worried about sodium intake because other than a few GUs, most of my calories were from "real" foods like Fig Newtons, nut bars, and other things without much salt. Still, I felt very good at the end of the ride.

I did one climb -- Lookout Mountain -- and spent about 30 mintues at 150 bpm during the climb.

(About 5 miles are missing during a portion of the ride where I left my computer off accidentally.)

(2) 20 minute jog. My legs were tired, but had enough energy that I could have run strong. However, I ate a ton of food after my ride and my stomach was too stuffed to get the HR up. Still, mission accomplished with just 20 minutes of running.

(3) Extra credit: 20 minute flop. I didn't swim the prior day, and I didn't want to go two days without getting in the water.

July 16
Just one workout today: a 7 hour ride with a 2 hour climb and then another 2 hours at circa 8000 ft. My route was Denver --> Golden --> up Golden Gate Canyon to Peak to Peak --> Rollinsville --> Nederland --> Ward --> Boulder --> an hour and a half cruising around outside of Boulder. Piece of cake...

Actually, this was one hard ride. I had a viscous headwind the entire climb from Golden to Peak to Peak. Keeping my HR down for this stretch was tough. Then, once I got to Peak to Peak there's still a fair amount of climbing to be done. Still, this is an awesome ride. Peak to Peak is one of the best routes for riding, perhaps only second behind the climb out of Lyons to Raymond.

Giant thanks to Stacey for coming to pick me up in Boulder to make my ride possible!

Jul 15
(1) 1:15 swim -- 4000+ m. 5 x 500m descending and then some strength work.

(2) 1 hour run. I felt horrible during my 10 minute warm-up, but decided to attempt the main set of 40 minutes at 150-155 bpm anyhow. After a minute and a half, I stopped to walk. During the walk I regrouped for a minute or two, then decided to give the main set another go. This time I felt much better, and sub 7 minute miles felt like a fast shuffle. I ended up averaged 6:49/mile at 155 bpm.

July 14
(1) 4:30 ride in Boulder w/ Chuckie, Angela, and Michelle. Boulder --> Ward --> Allenspark --> Lyons --> Hygiene --> Boulder. Looking at the data for my climb on Lefthand Canyon, I averaged 228 W at 145 bpm for one hour and ten minutes (I started the timer at Old Stage Coach and stopped it at the waterin' hole just before Ward). That's right around IM effort, I'd wager.

(2) 30 minute jog.

(3) 20 minute "flop" at the pool.

Big Week - Day 1

2010-07-13T20:49:00.003-06:00

Additional Boulder Peak Comments
One thing I forgot to mention is how great the race organizers handled the pro race. Instead of having pros start early so that they're never seen by the target audience -- i.e., other racers -- at Boulder Peak the pros started so most AGers were done by the time the pros started their run. Then, the organizers altered the pro run so that they did 3 spectator friendly loops. This was a great way to make the pro race add value for AG racers, as the format allowed viewers to actually watch the pros' run unfold. More races should adopt this type of format.

July 13
The goal for the next 6 days is almost 30 hours of training. I started today with an hour swim, a three hour ride, and a half hour run. The swim included twelve broken 250s. I performed better on the first six than the last six even though the last six were with paddles. I was about 5 second slower per 100 with paddles than without!

The ride went alright. I still have some fatigue from the Boulder Peak this past weekend. The ride was all up and down and always turning. Take a look at a Google Earth image of the ride and compare it with the elevation profile shown in green in the data image. Also, you can see in the data that I spent a fair amount of time at about 225 W, mostly when climbing. Maintaining power on the downhills was tough. Had there been flats, I think my fatigue would have prevented me from putting out IM levels of power. Oh, and it was also 99 degrees at times today...

Finally, in the evening I ran a half hour with Stacey. Nice and easy.

July 12
A recovery day. One hour of easy swimming in the morning and a 1:45 spin around Denver with my cousin Gavin in the evening. I got dropped whenever we hit a hill.

Boulder Peak Race Report

2010-07-12T11:41:00.010-06:00

July 11
(1) Boulder Peak Triathlon
The Boulder Peak was my best olympic distance tri to date. I finished 3rd in my age group -- my fourth podium at an Ironman-owned event in a row -- at a competitive race over a distance that doesn't fully utilize my strengths.

Here's how it went:

Warm-up
My wave started over an hour after transition closed. Since my shoes were stuck in transition, my 10 minute run warm-up took place long before my race started. Fortunately, the race organizers allowed athletes to warm-up in a roped off swim area. I did some easy laps and a bit of aqua-jogging, and I was ready to go.

In the future if I had a sherpa I'd bring a second pair of shoes so that I could do a run warm-up closer to my race time.

Swim
The good: I completed the swim in 25:25, which I'm pretty sure is a new PR for me. I was only four minutes -- not the typical 7 or 8 minutes -- down on most of the tops guys in my AG. I also felt strong exiting the water, like the swim didn't take much out of me.

The bad: I am still coming out 4 minutes down on my competitors. That's a huge difference to make up in a 2 hour race. I finished as the 8th amateur overall, yet if I swam just 3 minutes faster I would have been 3rd amateur and would have beat some well-respected guys. Still, my swim was in the top 10% overall and I'm making progress.

Also in the "bad" category is my spotting. I breathe to my left, and fortunately for me most triathlon swims are counter-clockwise. I like that because I can spot while breathing and also because my tendency is to drift to the left, which isn't bad when the drifting just takes me closer to the buoys. At the Boulder Peak, however, the swim is clockwise and my drifting took me off course. Here is the route I believe I traveled:

I kept looking up and seeing that I wasn't where I wanted to be, and I'd make an effort to take an optimal line from my location back to the pack of swimmers. Yet the next time I'd look up I'd still be off course. I need to practice spotting more! I will try to get into the 2 mile swims at Cherry Creek reservoir tomorrow and next week. Anyhow, at least I'm aware of this and I will make sure not to make the same mistake in Louisville.

Bike
The Boulder Peak bike course is awesome. I really like the course's climb and descent. My plan was to go nearly all-out on the first uphill section (designated by the first green line in the diagrams below), then get some rest on the middle downhill section (designated by the red line) while still putting in some power where possible, and then to pick the effort back up for the flat section at the end (designated by the second green line).

This strategy worked well because knowing I'd get a little break in the middle allowed me to really push the effort at the beginning and end. Also, it's not so much that I tried to go easy in the middle -- I didn't, and my cadence was 110+ rpm on the downhills in my 53x12 so that I could put out some power -- but that the terrain makes it tough to put out 270 W at some points.

Anyhow, my bike split was a very respectable 1:04 (and four seconds) for the 25+ mile course. This was the 7th fastest amateur bike split, although a few AGers went 1:01!

Stats: 247 W avg (although a 60 minute average of 256 W -- I had to coast for a while at the end as explained below), 266 W normalized, 20 minute max power of 282 W, 29 minutes of the rider were at 270+ watts. No HR data. A solid ride for me.

Other notes about the bike:
- I could have pushed a bit harder during a few sections at the start of the ride. For example, on Hwy 36 I noticed I was riding at 240 W for a while and made myself pick up the effort.
- Going off in the last wave is annoying. Example: Near the top of Old Stage coach, I was rapidly approaching a rider that was making a pass. The rider making the pass was all the way to the left of the lane, basically straddling the double yellow line. Not wanting to break the rules, I said, "on your left," as I approached. The rider didn't budge. I repeated, "on your left," this time louder. The rider still didn't budge. Finally, I shouted, "ON YOUR LEFT!" as I'm right on the guy's tail. He turned and said, "I heard you!" "Yeah? Then MOVE TO THE RIGHT! When passing it is not necessary to take up the entire lane," I attempted to explain. I could have easily fit between this rider and the person he was passing, but alas that'd also be against the rules.
- The roads were open to vehicular traffic. While I passed a few cars on the right coming down Nelson without any hassle, the open roads caused a long delay entering the reservoir. Traffic was going in both directions on 51st St., and a strip of pavement only about 8 feet wide was alloted for riders. I had to cruise easily for a quarter mile or more as a result. This is why I averaged 256 W for the first hour, and then the next three and a half minutes dropped my average by almost 10 W.

Run
My bread and butter. I was aiming for a third straight IM-branded race with the fastest amateur run, though I knew it'd be a challenge with the race in Boulder (I make the IM-branded distinction just because IM-branded races usually bring out quality fields.) I felt good despite the hard effort on the bike, but ran to the 3rd fastest amateur run at 5:48/mile. My turnover could be a bit quicker for a race this short, and that's what I'll focus on during the 5430 Half. Still, a solid run to cap off the day.

(2) This week may be my biggest training week ever. I did a 15 minute flop at the Res and an hour spin later in the evening to hasten recovery.

July 10
(1) 45 minute run in the morning with a few short race-paced efforts.
(2) A short ride to loosen the legs for the next day's race. I only did 15 minutes or so because I forgot my bike shoes and had to ride in my Zoot running shoes.
(3) A short swim in the evening just to keep my feel for the water going and to stay loose.

July 9
(1) 1:20 run in the morning. More of a jog than a run, running 8:00-8:30/mile.
(2) 3800m Swim. I got booted from the gym at closing time before I could finish the other 900m! The main set was 42 x 100m, alternating seven 100s pulling and then seven 100s with no gear. I nailed the first twenty one 100s in 1:33-1:35, leaving on a pretty long interval of 1:50. However, I slowed to ~1:40 for the next fourteen hundreds.

Double Ride Day

2010-07-09T07:43:00.004-06:00

July 8
Two, one hour long trainer rides, both with some intervals around FTP level. PE was 7.5 out of 10 for each ride. The morning ride was probably a bit tougher, and my legs had a dead feeling for a few hours afterward.
(1)

(2)
For this second ride I bumped up the wattages by 5-10 W for each interval because my HR was staying low.

When looking at both rides I think the max HR (when accurate) is the best indicator of effort. My average HRs are too influenced by my low HR heading into each effort. Regardless, still some solid power/HR data for me.

July 7
(1) 1:15 spin on the trainer. I rode by feel, which ended up being not too hard. My HR was typically in the 110-115 range, and I averaged a bit over 160 W.

(2) Swim. I did a trial with the masters group at my new pool and got some useful tips. There workout was already well under way by the time I was invited in, so I only got 25 minutes or so of swimming with the group.

(i) My ankle flexibility is so limited that my feet are at a nearly 90 degree angle to my legs. The instructor recommended some fins that attack to one's feet with a strap behind the heel instead of the stiff rubber heel cup found on Zoomers. Also, I should do some foot flexibility focused stretches.

(ii) My head position is a bit too low, the instructor said, to the point where my head doesn't break water for my shoulders and instead just presents additional frontal area.

(iii) When I begin to tire I have a tendency to cross over a bit.

(iv) My right arm doesn't follow through. My opinion is that this is because I tend to pull with my elbow behind my hand, which allows my whole arm to slip through the water without much resistance. I'm working on this, though. I think my feel for the water is improving because I'm aware of this issue. It's still hit or miss whether or not I actually pull water with each stroke, but I try to keep the feeling of a successful stroke in mind so that I can execute a successful stroke with increasing frequency.

I will have Stacey shoot some video during our swim this evening. Taping myself is valuable, and I haven't done it in a while.

July 6
(1) 1:00 swim in the morning. I wasn't able to fit in CV's full workout -- I only made it 2700m out of 3900m! During the day I was a bit exhausted from the weekend's ride, so I expect that my fatigue was holding me back a bit in the pool, too.

(2) 1:00 run. Nice an easy -- 125 bpm. I included five 10 second sprints and 2 x 12 jump-ups. My legs were dead.

Yet Another Long Ride

2010-07-05T20:11:00.004-06:00

July 5
(1) 4:45 ride. Data (once again, note that my ride time is not as long as the graph shows -- I only rode 4:45 but stops are for some reason included in the data):

The route was Boulder -- Lyons -- Ward -- Boulder via 36. I circled back downhill plenty of times to make sure Stacey was alright, so I got extra climbing in. I felt pretty good on the ride and didn't have much trouble holding IM like efforts on the climb. I paced myself based on feel and didn't look at the CPU much. I shut things down with about 45 minutes left and just cruised pretty easy for that time. Wattage to HR seemed good when wattage was in IM range.

(2) 30 minute jog w/ 120 bpm HR cap. I can now actually jog (say, 10:00/mile) at about 105 bpm, so staying under the cap was no problem. The effort was so easy that fatigue wasn't too evident. I guess that means my legs aren't totally shot despite almost 14 hours of riding in the past three days.

Other notes from the ride: (1) I was briefly trapped between Chrissie Wellington and her riding partner. Chrissie is thin and tan, but she isn't so thin that she doesn't look powerful. (2) In Raymond Stacey and I talked to a guy that's doing IM Louisville. He and his buddy were doing the same ride as we were, and they left the general store there at the same time as we did, too. Turns out one of the guys lived about one mile from us back in Birmingham, MI last year.

Pictures:

Another long ride

2010-07-05T07:47:00.004-06:00

July 4
(1) 4 hour ride. Stacey and I rode from Boulder to Carter Lake and back. Total ride time was 4:10 or thereabout. During the middle 3:45 that wasn't a warm up or cool down, I averaged 21.0 mph at 126 bpm. My average power, zeros including, was only 190 W. The ride wasn't entirely flat, either, with over 3500 feet of climbing according to my Garmin.

As the graph below shows, however, I spent a fair amount of time around 215 W. My legs were still quite fatigued from yesterday, and this was most noticeable on climbs. When going uphill I had a hard time getting my power up, which is the opposite of normal but probably the result of my climbing muscles being exhausted.

Again, the time on the x-axis in the graphs is wrong. Garmin should update their software...

(2) 2.5 mile run. The plan was to run 1 hour immediately after my ride with the first 40 minutes at 6:30 or so per mile. I started out feeling great and was running 6:15/mile when on flat terrain at 157 bpm. However, I forgot socks and was running in a pair of shoes I haven't used sockless before. The shoe quickly tore through the skin on my heel and I called the run a day. Too bad, as I was feeling great (other than the feeling of sandpaper against my flesh, of course).

(3) 30 minute recovery swim. Well, make that 25 minutes of swimming and 5 minutes of aqua-jogging.

Now I'm off for another 5 hour ride. I'm thinking Boulder to Lyons to Raymond to Brainard Lake to Ward over Lee Hill back to Boulder. Stacey will dictate our ride time, as I turn around for her every few miles, and I have no idea how long this one will take her. The climb into Brainard Lake is tough after all the climbing that precedes it.

All Tuckered Out

2010-07-03T18:42:00.003-06:00

July 3
(1) 5 hour ride
Lots of climbing with a focus on IM effort. Lots of time in the 220-250 W range, typically at a HR of 140-150 bpm. Not the best route for a really constant effort, but Stacey had to work this morning so I saved my flat terrain ride for tomorrow when she'll join me. Oh, and the graphs below are a bit distorted along the x-axis -- my ride was 4:52 but my stoppage time (yeah, I've been watching the World Cup) is shown on the graphs below for some reason. I stopped to refill my bottles several times, I stopped to take some guy's picture for his blog, and I stopped to try to help a lady change her flat. Those stops are why the ride looks longer than 4:52 and partly why there are so many low wattage times. I made sure to drink a ton of water and had to "use it" multiple times - always a good sign. Oh, and for the last half hour or so I was riding through Boulder to get back to my car. Hence the sporadic wattage for that period.

(2) 20 minute transition run. Really easy and all by feel. My legs took a while to get moving, which is abnormal for me.

(3) 20 minute swim a couple hours after the ride and run. I also got in a nice nap before the swim. I was pretty tired after the ride/run and feel asleep right when I got on the couch. Stacey had to vacuum around me for a while before I woke up.

Now it's time to eat some good stuff so that I'm fueled up to work hard again tomorrow and then again on Monday.

Efficient

2010-07-02T18:52:00.004-06:00

July 2
(1) FTP focused trainer ride. 1 hour with 34 minutes of intervals at around 270 W. Here's the data:

I like the 5 minute interval at 278 W with an average HR of 158 bpm and a max of 164 bpm. Perceived exertion was 8 out of 10. I was dripping sweat -- the stream dripping down my nose onto a towel resting on my aerobars was like a leaky faucet all by itself.

(2) Easy run. Here's where the title of this post came from: an easy one hour run with an average HR of 131 bpm and an average pace of 8:07/mile. I don't remember what my stats were around the time I started running, but I think I'd have been over 160 bpm to run circa 8 min/mile.

July 1
(1) 1:05 swim. 3,000m. I couldn't make it through the whole 3600m of the plan in the time I had. I felt alright in the water, though. My stroke at times feels good. Maybe in another week it'll my improved stroke will feel natural.

My trip over to the pool is nice:

I timed myself getting home a few days ago while driving and made it from the edge of the pool to my kitchen in under 8 minutes. Nice.

(2) 50 minute ride, easy except for Tabata sprints (8 of them, 20 seconds each with 10 sec between). Sprint data:
553 W,
455 W,
408 W,
402 W,
418 W,
410 W,
411 W, and
414 W.
My legs weren't feeling it.

June 30
Instead of one long run, I did two short runs today because I had to pick Stacey up at the airport. In the morning I did 1:10 including 3 x 2 miles at 6:30/mile (no HR data), and my PE ended fairly high for the pace at 8.5 out of 10.

In the evening I did another 40 minutes with 20 minutes at 160 bpm. I had to push really hard to get my HR up that high, though I didn't record pace data this time.

Trainer ride w/ data + swim

2010-06-29T19:40:00.002-06:00

June 29
Well, between the wedding, work, and training, I wasn't able to post the last week and a half of training. I should be able to post more regularly for the next several weeks. On with today's workouts...

(1) Trainer ride. 1:05. Data:
First set
8 min. at 235 W and 65 rpm -- 136 bpm avg., 140 bpm max, 6 PE
6 min. at 245 W and 70 rpm -- 141 bpm avg., 144 bpm max, 6 PE
4 min. at 255 W and 75 rpm -- 144 bpm avg., 150 bpm max, 6.5 PE
2 min. at 265 W and 85 rpm -- 142 bpm avg., 153 bpm max, 6.5 PE
1 min. at 275 W and 95 rpm -- 138 bpm avg., 144 bpm max, 7 PE

Secont set
8 min. at 235 W and 65 rpm -- 142 bpm avg., 144 bpm max, 7 PE
6 min. at 245 W and 70 rpm -- 145 bpm avg., 149 bpm max, 7 PE
4 min. at 255 W and 75 rpm -- 148 bpm avg., 153 bpm max, 7.5 PE
2 min. at 265 W and 85 rpm -- 143 bpm avg., 156 bpm max, 7.5 PE
1 min. at 275 W and 95 rpm -- 134 bpm avg., 151 bpm max, 7.5 PE

One minute easy between all sets, and with a 10 min. w/u and 5 min c/d

(2) Swim
I'm off to the pool right now for a 1:10 swim. The main set is a 21 hard 100's on 10 sec. rest with additional rest after sets of 6, then 5, then 4, then 3, then 2, then 1. Once again due to business, I neglected to update my swim yardage for the month. It's not great, though. I'd estimate 40,000 y.

Picture dump

2010-06-23T21:49:00.009-06:00

Heading up to Raymond from Lyons.

The always flattering self-portrait.

I think that's Longs Peak in the background of the above two images.

This shot is cool because you can see where the road goes in a half mile or so. The climb basically continues like that for 25 miles!

The trash can at the general store in Ward. Hmm, wonder who has been shopping there today?

My trusty steed (with a slightly tipped up saddle...oops).

A bunch of shots at Brainard Lake (10,300 ft. -- holding 230 W there is not easy!).

Flatirons, Boulder's most prominent geological feature.

Several shots along the climb up Flagstaff. I did the climb 4 times on this ride (plus a bit of Sunshine Canyon).

Two shots from the Artist's Point atop Flagstaff.

My makeshift computer mount after my computer flew off my bike while going downhill at 35 mph. Fortunately, the computer still works fine.

Swim times

2010-06-22T21:42:00.003-06:00

A very quick write up...

June 16
(1) 30 minute run in the AM with 15 minutes at about 6:00/mile

(2) 1:45 run, all by feel but starting easy and then picking up the pace in the middle...never too hard but moving decently

June 17
(1) 45 minute power swim in the AM (power meaning plenty of hard 25s)

(2) 1 hour spin in the evening

June 18
(1) Here are the swim times I referred to:
500m all-out: 8:05
400m all-out: 6:25 (good here...though I should compare to my prior efforts)
200m all-out: 3:10 (hmm...not great here)

(2) Spin with one-leg drills. 30 minutes.

I've got some great rides from the weekend with photos and power files to share, and I hope I can get them up tomorrow. However, I'm getting married in Michigan on Saturday, and I need to get packed to fly home Thursday evening. Between the wedding and a new job, my blog is not exactly a high priority right now.

Workouts w/ power

2010-06-16T18:04:00.004-06:00

First up, I got a nice letter in the mail yesterday:

Apparently I won the 20-29 age group at the Colfax Half Marathon a few weeks back, and I didn't even realize it. When I opened the package, I thought, "Great, another little plaque." (Note the sarcasm.) Packaged with the plaque, however, was a piece of paper. The paper said I won a free pair of Native sunglasses, a $150 value, for my effort. Awesome. Native, I discovered, is a Denver-based company, so that's cool. I ordered up a pair of these:

So, thank you Native Eyewear for supporting local races and providing nice prizes.

June 12 continued
Okay, on with the show. I left off last post with a duathlon race report. After the race I got in a 3.5 hour ride in a nice drizzle. I rode by feel but went easy. Since my goals were (1) time in the saddle and (2) promote recovery (or not get more rundown from the race), I made sure to dress in warm clothes. Stressing my body more with exposure to the cold, wet weather wouldn't have been smart.

June 13
First up was a 2:00 trainer ride with 1:45 of it at 140 bpm and 80ish rpm. My stats were very impressive, for me anyhow. CV has noticed a similar phenomenon in the past, where a workout the day after a really hard effort can start off extremely well. Here's the stats:
1- 243 W, 137 bpm, 83 rpm
2- 234 W, 140 bpm, 82 rpm
3- 229 W, 141 bpm, 80 rpm
4- 227 W, 141 bpm, 79 rpm
5- 223 W, 141 bpm, 78 rpm
6- 224 W, 141 bpm, 78 rpm
7- 221 W, 142 bpm, 76 rpm

Now if I can just hold 243 W at 137 bpm for 112 miles, and I'll cut 30 mintues off my IM time. While the stats are good, I need to repeat them (over and over, really) before I can consider them to be indicative of my ability.

Afterwards I did a super secret workout that I am not allowed to share, and then an easy swim. A solid day, all in all.

June 14
(1) 45 minute swim
Up at 5:38 AM, out the door at 5:55 AM, in the pool by 6:10 AM, out of the pool at 6:55 AM, out the gym door to work at 7:15 AM, at work by 7:45 AM. That's going to be very normal for me for the next several weeks. I love the early morning swim, though, as it allows me to do just an hour or 1.5 hrs in the evening and still get in a pretty solid day.

Plus, I am now swimming outside. Starting the day off with a bit of time in the sun (well, the sun is barely up, but still...) is always nice.

(2) 40 minute run planned, but I ran 1:00 because the This American Life podcast I was listening to was still going. All by feel, moderately-easy, but not too easy.

June 15
(1) Another morning swim. 45 minute, once more.

(2) 1:00 trainer ride w/ intervals. Again, my stats were pretty good. I've got two 8 minute efforts highlighted in the photo:

The first was at an average HR of 137 bpm (max 142 bpm) and 241 W at 67 RPM. My perceived exertion was low, about 6 out of 10, for the first half of the ride.

For the second half my stats got a bit worse, but were still solid. The 8 minute effort, for comparison's sake, now had an avg HR of 141 bpm (max of 149, but it was mostly in the 142-43 range) for 239 W. Perceived exertion was up to 7.5 out of 10.

I'm really happy with these stats, and I hope my power meter is still accurate! I'm calibrating my SRM with the zero function, but I should do the weight hanging again soon just to make sure it's correct.

Uncomfortably Numb -- A Big Sky Duathlon Race Report

2010-06-14T21:08:00.003-06:00

June 11
Today's schedule called for a 1:15 run, all easy. I misread the schedule before going to sleep the night before and awoke thinking I had a 45 minute run. I didn't have time to do 1:15 in the morning, so I did 50 min in the morning and another 30 in the evening.

June 12

(Yes, I picked this photo for the quad definition. At least I admit it.)

Big Sky Duathlon: I prefer to overdress for cold weather, and I'm usually about the warmest dressed person in any race I enter. For whatever reason, I didn't bring my normal suitcase of clothing to this race, so I was stuck wearing a tri singlet with a short sleeve base layer underneath and a pair of shorts. Well, it turned out to be 45 degrees and raining for the race.

The run was interested because it included a 1/4 to 1/2 mile section on a dirt road that had become slick with mud following a day of rain. I had to run in the grass and slipped several times. I'm surprised my time is as fast as it was given the poor running surface, though maybe the organizers mis-measured the run distance.

While I was fine temperature-wise during the first run, I froze on the bike and could not get going. First my hands went numb, then my arms, and finally my feet. I came into T2 and had a slow transition because it took me a while to get my helmet undone and my shoes on due to barely functioning hands. The first mile of the second run was tough, too, but once I warmed up I felt better.

Stats:
5:44/mile for the first run (14:19 ... a bit under 3 miles)
24.8 mph (off a not so great 240 W average power ... 37:27 for 15 miles)
6:11/mile for the second run (15:25 ... I should have pushed myself harder here)
9th overall out of 200 or so

Good and Bad

2010-06-10T21:13:00.003-06:00

June 10 -- The Bad
Today's plan called for a swim and, if I could fit it in, I'd also do an hour or so trainer ride with 30 minutes of intervals at 250 W. I wanted to do the ride since I haven't been on the bike in a few days.

The swim looked tough: w/u, a quick golf set, 1000m TT, 10 x 100m all out, and 10 x 50m all out. I got in the water and felt awful. I was off balance and I couldn't pull catch any water. I did the golf sets and my scores were pathetic. E.G.: 49 seconds for a 50m, plus 22 strokes on the way down and 24 on the way back! I'm pretty sure that's an all-time worst for me! I bailed on the planned workout because my motivation to push myself for the 1000TT was gone. I was very discouraged. My stroke felt all messed up and I didn't think my effort would be representative of my ability. Instead, I did a bunch of 200s focusing on body position on odds and catch/pull on evens. Even going easy I felt bad. I realized that to make the stroke corrections that I need to make I need to be in the pool almost every day.

A quick backstory: I'm switching pools because DU is closing for two months starting in July. I'm going to be very busy for the next four weeks, so switching to a closer pool would also be nice. I checked out one nearby place that has an indoor and outdoor pool, but the indoor pool is only 20m. Also, that club's price structure strongly discourages month-by-month memberships, so I'd have to join for a year and spend my winter in a hotel sized pool.

Being not thrilled at the idea of swimming in the 20m pool all winter, I did today's swim in another pool that I was considering joining. However, after today's horrible and realization that swimming frequency is going to be important for me, I'm joining the nearby gym tomorrow and I'll suffer the winter in the tiny pool.

By the time I got home it was 9pm and I didn't do the ride either. Bad training days happen, and I'll just come back tomorrow and get the work done.

June 9 -- The Good
Starting with the good, on Wed. I did a 2 hour run. If I felt good, I was allowed to do some alactic sprints (4 x 8 seconds all out with plenty of recovery between) and some time at 155 bpm. I spent the first hour building to 150 bpm, and I felt great so I did the sprints. I also threw in 3 x 12 jump-ups, and then cranked out 45 minutes at 155-160 bpm before a cool-down. Even I the end I was feeling good.

June 8
4100y swim. Not too bad.

Tough, moderately long ride

2010-06-07T20:17:00.003-06:00

First up, any suggestions for breakfast that can easily be eaten in a car? I'm thinking maybe granola (Whole Foods' best kind, or homemade when Stacey has the time to make it for me...she makes the best granola!) in whole-fat plain yogurt. I want a fair number of calories to hold me over for 5 hours or so, and convenience may outweigh nutritiousness for the next few weeks.

June 6
(1) 4:40 ride. Out of Boulder on Hwy 36, left on Lefthand Canyon up to Ward (17 miles or so of climbing), back down to Hwy 36, another 17 miles of climbing back to Ward, and back to Boulder via Lee Hill. The temperature was pretty warm, 85-89 degrees on my CPU. In graphic form:

I road the climbs at IM intensity based on perceived exertion. The first time up I didn't look at HR or power. My legs weren't feeling great following the prior day's two hour track run, but I made it up at an average of 225 W. HR didn't record properly the first time up, and cadence averaged 80 rpm. Climbing in the aero position uses slightly different muscles, and that resulted in a bit of abnormal muscular fatigue.

The second time up was a bit tougher and felt more like the end of an IM ride where I just hang on and keep riding. I wasn't hurting bad, but I wasn't fresh. It was nice to have someone about my speed to ride with. I stopped to grab some bananas from Chuckie, and Angela went on by. For once I had a rabbit to chase, which is nice when tiredness is setting in. I lost a few watts on the second climb, averaging 221 W. Cadence was 79 rpm and HR averaged 153 bpm.

(2) 30 minute transition jog. HR was high relative to pace, and perhaps I was dehydrated. Staying hydrating will prove challenging in Colorado's warm and sunny weather. I may need to add a third cage to my bike.

June 7
(1) One hour run, all easy and all by feel. I felt weak at the start and great by the end.

Long track workout w/ MAF test

2010-06-05T19:26:00.004-06:00

June 3
(1) Moderately long, but very easy, run. 1:30 at 132 bpm. Running tip: If you suspect that your refrigerator is broken because all the food stored inside is warm, do not continue eating said food for two days and then going for a long run. Fortunately, Wash Park is well stocked with porta-johns, and that's all I'll say about that...other than that my refrigerator is now working properly once again.

(2) I was supposed to do a 4k swim today, but wasn't feeling too hot (see above). I bumped the swim a day.

June 4
(1) Easy 1:50 ride, except with Tabata sprints. I find Tabatas so much easier to do on the trainer than on the open road, so I started the ride on the trainer. After a 15 minute warm-up with several short pick-ups building in intensity toward 400 W or so, I commenced the Tabatas. Here's the data:
1 - 571 W
2 - 510 W
3 - 474 W
4 - 428 W
5 - 433 W
6 - 432 W
7 - 426 W
8 - 425 W
My max HR was 173 bpm. Painful stuff.

After the sprints, I pedaled very easy for a few minutes, then jumped on the cross-bike to finish the rest of the ride outside.

(2) A 4k swim, originally scheduled for yesterday. Lots of hard 25s, then 2100y straight. I had to break up the 2100y straight because I couldn't hold my form. Still, I got it all in. At the end I tried paddles w/o the wrist strap, and on my first pull the paddle flew off. Hmm... After putting the paddle back on, I was able to complete a quick 200y without any issue, and it seemed like an effective way to ensure my hand position is correct at the end of my stroke.

June 5
(1) 2 hour, 16.5 mile track workout. After a 2 mile warm-up, I began a 6 mile, 145 bpm MAF test. Here's the data:
Mile 1 - 7:24, 145 bpm
Mile 2 - 7:41, 146 bpm
Mile 3 - 7:51, 146 bpm
Mile 4 - 7:46, 147 bpm
Mile 5 - 7:47, 147 bpm
Mile 6 - 7:41, 146 bpm
I ran on a dirt track at Harvard Gulch, as my usual track is under construction at the moment. The conditions were hot -- 89 degrees at the start of the test and 85 degrees at the end. Fortunately, it was overcast for most of the run. Perceived exertion was very low, about 5/10. I felt like I was barely working, and if I wasn't very diligent about watching the HR monitor my HR would be up to the high 140s. Odd that my pace started improving toward the end of the test. Perhaps that's a result of cooling off a bit.

After the MAF test, I ran 8 x 800m (target time: 3:05 to 3:10) with 400m easy between. Here were my times: (i) 3:07, (ii) 3:04, (iii) 3:04, (iv) 3:05, (v) 3:00, (vi) 3:02, (vii) 3:00, and (viii) 3:02. PE was about 8/10. My legs started to tire a bit toward the end. A graph of HR is shown below.

After the 800s, I ran 4 x 400m (target time: 1:25) with 200m easy between. My times were: (i) 1:22, (ii) 1:23, (iii) 1:24, and (iv) 1:23. I tried to slow a bit while still hitting 1:25, but I erred on the side of too fast. PE was 9/10, maybe 9.5.

Here's a graph with HR for both the 800s and 400s:

(2) Workout two for day was supposed to be a swim. Alas, my pool closes pretty early, and because of commitments earlier in the day (yes, on a Saturday!) I couldn't start my run until after 4:00pm. Instead, I'll head for a recovery ride as soon as I finish eating two burritos I just picked up from Whole Foods. I'll likely ride an hour or so at a very easy pace just to promote recovery.

Tomorrow is a big day: very easy swim in the AM, up to Boulder for a 5.5 hr ride (I may ride with Angela Naeth, so I've got my work cut out for me to not get dropped), and then finally a short transition run.

Two days, one w/ FTP intervals

2010-06-02T22:00:00.003-06:00

Training continues:

June 1:
(1) 3,600 yards of masters swimming, during which I focused on form even during hard efforts. Chuckie said to work on form during the warm-up and recovery sets, and to just swim hard during hard efforts. However, I couldn't help worrying about form the whole time, which is only bad if it prevents me from working hard...and I probably only worked a tiny bit less than normal.

(2) Easy run: 30 minute prescribed, but I was allowed to go longer if I felt good. I ran very easy (less than 135 bpm average) and went for 45 minutes.

June 2:
(1) One hour ride with 30 minutes of FTP intervals at 265-275 W. However, if HR was lower than 155 bpm I could add 5-10 W. All intervals were followed by one minute easy:
4 x 2 min:
1 - 269 W, 154 max HR, 94 rpm (decided to go a gear harder for the next one given the low max HR; also, I am reporting max HR here because it's more relevant than average HR for these short efforts)
2 - 285 W, 155 max HR, 87 rpm
3 - 284 W, 157 max HR, 87 rpm
4 - 284 W, 158 max HR, 87 rpm
3 x 3 min:
1 - 273 W, 159 max HR, 86 rpm
2 - 271 W, 159 max HR, 86 rpm
3 - 269 W, 160 max HR, 86 rpm
2 x 4 min:
1 - 267 W, 161 max HR, 85 rpm
2 - 269 W, 163 max HR, 86 rpm
1 x 5 min:
1 - 271 W, 166 max bpm (I pushed 300+ W the final 30 seconds, which drove up the HR), 86 rpm

My effort wasn't too high, even though my HR passed 160 bpm toward the end. I did this ride on the trainer and it was pretty warm inside, which doesn't help. I kept my cadence higher than 85 rpm most of the time, though one issue was that shifting up a gear required a cadence of 95+ rpm to hit 270 W.

(2) One hour run: Prescribed as easy, but I was allowed to go harder if I felt good. This song came on my iPod Shuffle --

-- and then I started running fast. Other good tunes followed, and I ended up running much of the hour fast. It was just one of those rare days where my Shuffle was a great DJ. Average HR excluding w/u and c/d was about 155.

FTP Test + Critique My Position

2010-06-01T08:01:00.006-06:00

May 28:
(1) 1 hour swim - 3000 yards with several 300s as 75 hard, 75 easy, 50 hard, 50 easy, 25 hard, 25 easy.
(2) 1 hour run + 3 x 12 jump-ups - Run was easy, circa 135 bpm

May 29: FTP Test
The ride started with an hour long warm up ride out to a bit east of Lyons and then one loop around the course that I'd conduct the FTP test on. The course was a loop: N on 75th St, E on Woodland Rd, S on 95th St, and back W to 75th St along Ute Hwy.

After the warm up, my plan was to begin the test by holding 270 W and then hopefully build from there. The conditions were pretty good, although it was a bit on the warm side. An additional note about the course is that there is a slight downhill leading to the corner of Woodland and 95th and a more significant downhill leading to the corner of 95th and Ute Hwy, and slowing to take these turns result in my avg. wattage dropping about 5 W and 10 W, respectively. I don't have much experience with normalized power, so I'm not sure how well that value handles these power drops.

Anyhow, here's the data:

(Power is yellow, HR is red, and the numbers on the image are incorrect.)

Lap 1: 16:20 (time); 161 bpm avg. (168 max); 258 W avg./263 W norm; 84 rpm
Lap 2: 16:16; 166 bpm avg.; 251 W avg./257 W norm; 83 rpm
Lap 3: 16:35; 166 bpm avg.; 244 W avg./250 W norm; 82 rpm
Lap 4: 10:30 (partial);167 bpm avg.; 242 W avg./245 W norm; 80 rpm

Average power for whole hour = 249 W
Normalized power for whole hour = 255 W
Average HR for whole hour = 165 bpm

I also graphed my cadence over the warm up and FTP test, and there is no discernible difference between these two distinct portions of the ride -- the entire ride is at about 83 rpm until the very end. I need to work on increasing my cadence as my effort increases, and I should ride at perhaps 90-95 during a hour FTP test.

Perceived exertion: umm, as high as it can be for an hour. 9.5, 10 at times.

After the test I rode another hour back to Boulder at a very easy pace.

Conclusion: Waiting to hear Chuckie's take on the data before establishing my FTP, though it's probably 255 W or thereabout. That's much lower than I'd expect, but one thing to take into account is that elevation can lower one's FTP by around 10% according to CV. Since my A race is at a much lower elevation, I need to do at least some training based on an elevation adjusted FTP.

Critique my position:
Here's some footage from my FTP ride (and my high effort explains my spastic head movement):

I'm going to try to keep my heel a bit higher at the bottom of my pedal stroke. Even though my leg appears to be nearly straight, which would indicate my seat being too high, the fact that my heel is very low is an indication that my seat is in fact not too high. If I'm unsuccessful raising my heel a bit, I'll probably (1) say, "oh well" and consider myself to have some slightly odd biomechanics or (2) raise my seat a tad bit and see what my heel does.

Regarding the angled-up forearms, that's something I just decided to try out. I noticed on the trainer that raising my hands a bit relieved some tension in my lower back. During IM races, my lower back has gotten a bit sore around 4:30 into the ride. That feeling is hard to replicate during training because I think the soreness is the result of rarely leaving the aero position and of working pretty hard the whole ride, and I rarely combine both those aspects into a single training ride. Overall, I like the hand position and imagine it is aerodynamically beneficial since I can lower my head right against my hands to create a nice point to slice through wind.

Finally, I've got to keep my head a bit more relaxed so that it stays still. This isn't an issue when riding at lower efforts, but I should still be aware of it.

May 30:
(1) 2 hour run w/ 1 hour at 7:00/mile if I was feeling up to it.
I ended up running the middle hour of the run at 6:50/mile at an average HR of 162 bpm. That's a pretty comfortable pace for me -- I'm working a bit, but am always very comfortable. The weather was comfortable as well, with the high being 70-75 degrees.

2 hours is still a tough run for me, and I felt okay but not great at the end. I covered 16.8 miles in all...not bad.

(2) 2 hour spin.
Just an easy ride about town to promote recovery and increase my time in the saddle.

May 31:
(1) Super easy swim
Stacey and I headed up to Boulder and met up with CV and Angela to swim and then watch a bit of the Bolder Boulder. Chuckie gave me some swimming tips, which I appreciate because now I can be confident of what a good stroke feels like. Here's what I'm working on:
(i) head down so that my feet are high and as a result my body is nicely aligned and streamlined;
(ii) keeping the shoulder of my stroking arm high as I initiate the catch, as this promotes and early vertical forearm/high elbow;
(iii) avoiding a wide pull by keeping my hand vertically aligned with or just slightly wider than its shoulder, as pulling with a wide hand creates a moment that I have in the past corrected with a scissor kick; and
(iv) kicking quickly with small motions and close together feet by thinking of keeping my "feet in a bucket" as I kick -- a wide kick, as explained in tip (iii), is an indication of bad balancing.

It's tough to keep my shoulders high as I initiate my stroke. I'll work on this during easy efforts like warm ups and easy 100s between tougher sets at masters, and then I will just swim hard during harder efforts so that I maintain swim fitness.

(2) 2.5 hour spin
Another very easy effort. The tough workouts of Sat and Sun require some recovery, and that's what I was shooting for with this ride.

Two days training

2010-05-28T15:36:00.005-06:00

With IMLou fast approaching (13 weeks!), it's time to get a bit more focused with training. From now until that race, I'll likely be updating the blog more often and including summaries of my daily training. If you like numbers and are curious to see what type of training it takes to be toward the front of the amateur group at an IM, you may find this interesting. Otherwise, it'll mostly be boring.

My goal is to go under 9 hours, assuming good weather. Last year's weather at IMLou was ideal, so that will be tough to top. Still, I think if conditions are good and I continue to make progress, sub 9 hours is a realistic goal. Potentially the biggest obstacle for me is ensuring I can get enough training time in over the summer. In the past I've been able do 20+ hour weeks in my IM build ups, but I might not be able to do that this summer. We'll see...

May 26
(1) 1:30 run w/ 70 minutes at 145 bpm
With that introduction now behind us, on Wed. I did a 1:30 run around Wash Park. I selected Wash Park because the goal was to use a repeatable route, and it's (1) not too far from my apt., (2) dirt surfaced, (3) not completely flat (though some bigger hills would be appreciated), and (4) stocked with porta-pots, drinking fountains, etc.

The "meat" of the workout was 70 minutes at 145 bpm. I made it about three and a half 2.6 mile loops. Here's the stats:
Loop 1: 19:44; 7:41/mile; 146 bpm
Loop 2: 20:06; 7:53/mile; 147 bpm
Loop 3: 20:31; 7:60/mile (yes, that's what Garmin says); 147 bpm
Loop 4: 10:01; 8:19/mile; 148 bpm

The weather was great -- high 70s and overcast with a very brief thunder storm with a bit of hail. Perceived exertion was low, maybe 6 out of 10. I have trouble slowing down to 145 bpm. My tendancy is to run at 150 bpm or so, as that pace is easy yet natural feeling. I've got to watch it up hills, as that's where my HR pops up. I cannot maintain my stride, and instead must consciously drop the pace a notch to keep the HR down when heading uphill.

(2) 1 hour spin
No data. Just an hour easy. I rode at night and it was fun, even though my headlight was dead from the get go. There were lots of other riders out, which is great to see. My pictures turned out very poorly:

(The pictures make it look darker than it really was. Don't worry, mom, I could see fine and was not in any danger.)

May 27
(1) 2 hour spin w/ Tabata sprints and 6 x 1 min one-leg drills (per leg)
It was very hot here -- 100 degrees according to my computer. Here's the stats for the Tabata sprints:
500 W
438 W
418 W
432 W
437 W
517 W (computer froze after the prior effort; I took a minute or two break to reset it)
396 W
408 W
374 W (d'oh! one too many)

I think in the future I'll stick to the trainer for these, unless I am in Boulder and can do the whole set uphill. It's too difficult to get in a good sprint on level ground on a tri bike because of location of the shifters. Plus inside I can work a bit harder without worrying about crashing. My wattage isn't good for this set (compared to this random set performed inside last year).

(2) 1 hour swim (~3000 hards)
Pull focused swim. 1500y of pulling. I focused on keeping my head down and rotating my hand relative to my elbow the entire stroke, as that is the sensation required for me to avoid pulled backward with my elbow when my hand isn't yet vertical.

I felt best when I did a very deep pull -- I tried to push my hand nearly straight down in front of me, windmill style. I'll try to get some video of this so I can ensure that my stroke is okay when I do this. I have a bit of a bent elbow at the beginning to try to get an okay catch.

Oh, and I worked on keeping my head down and feeling my bum and heels out of the water. That's the feeling I'll keep in mind for body positioning.

Cycles workouts

2010-05-25T14:29:00.004-06:00

The first update is that Chuckie is now in Boulder, so I finally met him in person on Saturday. We were planning on riding, but the wind was so strong that riding wasn't an option (unfortunately, this sort of wind has been prevalent as of late -- yesterday the wind was projected at 45 mph, and gusts up to 70 mph were reported). Still, I got in a hard swim led by Jane Scott at a masters program in Boulder, then managed a 1:45 run. I'm told I need to keep my head down in swimming to get my feet a bit higher. I've been swimming uphill.

The next day Stacey and I volunteered at the Summer Open tri in Longmont. This was my first time volunteering at a race, and I intend to continue volunteering because without volunteers I would not be able to race. Stacey and I were each assigned an intersection to guard, and Stacey had the added duty of signaling for riders to make a turn. My day was very uneventful -- I only got to tell two drivers to turn around and neither one cussed me out. Stacey, however, got to deal with a minor medical emergency. This should come as no surprise, she is kind of like Hurley from Lost -- accidents seem to happen with far greater frequency when she is around. Apparently, some fast older lady was passing a slow mtn bike rider and the older lady didn't give herself enough room to make the pass. Instead, she clipped the mtn bike's rear wheel and both riders went down pretty hard. Headaches, minor scrapes, and an ambulance ensued. Not fun.

Anyhow, after volunteering I did a 3:30 ride. My orders were to include 10 x 5 min at 260-285 W at a low cadence of 65-70 rpm. I took about 2 minutes rest between sets. For whatever reason, my Garmin recorded the whole ride and it will display the results under its History, but I can't get the stupid thing to upload the ride. (That's the second time this has happened, but every other ride is fine!) I did the odd reps seated and the evens in the aero position. Here's the stats:

(1) 297 W; 59 rpm; 150 bpm -- this was up Old Stage Coach and I couldn't go easier with my 12-15 cassette.
(2) 272 W; 68 rpm; 145 bpm
(3) 280 W; 63 rpm; 148 bpm
(4) 277 W; 67 rpm; 150 bpm
(5) 276 W; 65 rpm; 149 bpm (elevation is probably around 7,000 ft here)
(6) 278 W; 68 bpm; 147 bpm
(7) 272 W; 65 bpm; 149 bpm
(8) 273 W; 66 rpm; 147 bpm
(9) 276 W; 64 rpm; 149 bpm (elevation is probably around 8,000 ft here)
(10) 274 W; 65 rpm; 151 bpm

Those numbers look great. I'm happy that my power to HR ratio barely varied even as I passed 8,000 ft. My HR looks great - riding at 270+ W at a HR of about 150 bpm is excellent. I could absolutely crush an Ironman ride if I could hold 270 W at 150 bpm for hours on end. (150 bpm is only a few bpm above my avg. Ironman HR for the past two IMs.)

Unfortunately, those HRs are averages, and since I started each interval with a HR of 120-130 bpm the averages are not too representative. Still, my HR peaked at 154 bpm during the intervals. That's good, but I bet it would continue to rise if I held 270 W for longer than 5 minutes. Oh, and I don't think I'm physically strong enough to sustain 270 W for hours on end. My legs get too tired.

At the end of the set I had a nearly 4,000 foot descent to tackle. I am a giant chicken going downhill. I don't know why I can ride 30+ mph on the flats (e.g., when the wind is at my back) and not worry at all, but put me on a downhill and I ride the brakes. This time, however, some kid that appeared to be on Garmin's U-23 team (does Garmin have such a team?) was descending at the same time as me. I copied his lines for a while before using my aero advantage to pass him on a straight-away. We swapped positions a few more times, and then I was in the lead heading into a turn with a "Warning, 20 mph" sign. I tapped my brakes to slow for the turn and the Garmin kid was instantly 100 feet ahead of me. I watched in awe as he took the turn at 30 mph or so.

The descent was a blast and hopefully will change my attitude about descending. I tapped the brakes three times during my descent, which is a lot less than normal. (Okay, there was a headwind, but it was still my best descent yet.) I've got to become a more confident bike handler to enjoy descending more.

Oh, and yesterday I did an easy run around Wash. Park. I tracked my pace for one mile: 8:24/mile with a pretty strong headwind at 128 bpm avg. That leads me to believe that either my HR was suppressed or my economy is excellent.

Colfax Half-marathon -- Race Report

2010-05-16T10:05:00.010-06:00

As I explained in my last post, following perhaps too long of a run on Thursday my goal for Friday and yesterday (Saturday) was simply to recover in time to race this morning. Yesterday I was still sore from the long run, but decided to go for a long ride with Stacey instead of doing a double swim day as I had initially planned. We don't ride together too often, so when it fits my training schedule I try to take advantage of riding together. I went really easy and ended up riding 3:20 with a HR of 115-120 bpm, and then followed that up with a 30 minute "flop". Despite putting in a nearly four hour day, the intensity was low enough that my recovery was not hindered.

Anyhow, I made it to the race with enough time to get in two five minute warm-ups spaced apart by about twenty minutes. My legs felt okay during the warm-ups, reaffirming that my recovery was pretty good. The race was pretty crowded -- I heard that around 3,500 people were entered in the half -- but I was still able to walk in at the last minute and get a great starting spot right up front.

Pre-race (it was a bit chilly at 6:15 AM):

The plan was to race completely by feel and to take miles 1 and 2 at a moderate pace before picking the effort up a notch to race pace. Looking at my data (shown below), I think I was successful because my HR climbed to 168 bpm or so within a few minutes and then stayed there until twelve minutes into the race. At that point I picked the effort up and my HR went to the mid 170s, where it remained until a final push in the last half mile.

Between miles 1 and 2 (Stacey made it over from the start just in time to see me passing):

The first 7 miles seemed to be either flat or slightly uphill. I was ticking them off at 6:00/mile on the dot through 7 miles, which I know because there was a nice digital clock every two miles. Not quite as fast as I'd hoped, but I was feeling good and was optimistic that the last 6 miles would be faster because they'd all be either flat or downhill. To my surprise, the last 6 miles seemed almost all downhill with very few flat sections. It was just a gradual downhill, but a downhill nonetheless. I just couldn't get in a good rhythm, though; the timing of my stride felt off. I noticed a few times in the last 6 miles that I was very upright, with my head back a bit further than normal, instead of leaning slightly forward. At 10 miles I noticed my pace dropped down to about 6:10/mile. Hmm...runners aren't supposed to be faster uphill than downhill!

Race data:

The downhill running was surprisingly tough. My legs were taking a bit of a beating, but around mile 11 I caught up with a guy that had been 50-100 feet in front of me the entire race. We exchanged a few pleasantries, and then I pulled ahead a bit. Around mile 12.5 I caught another guy whose pace must have slowed drastically, as he came out of nowhere. I crossed the line in 1:19:05 (unofficially) and in 6th place, or so Stacey tells me.

Just before the finish:

Immediately post race:

An okay shot of City Park, the start and finish location of the race and one of Denver's many fine parks:

Overall a good workout and a decent run. I don't have much experience racing at elevation, and my predicted time was way, way off. This tells me perhaps two things: (1) training specifically for a race and resting greatly improves race results and (2) racing at altitude is slower than nearer to sea level. Regarding the first point, for my first few years running and doing tris every race was a PR, whether or not I tapered. Now a bit more planning is required to have a PR performance. This is likely one reason that I ran faster at Cali 70.3 than either of my past two races, which were much shorter.

Regarding the second point, here's a table I found that shows my predicted paces at other elevations based on today's race:

Not that it matters, but it's interesting to see the difference elevation makes. I should consider elevation when making race predictions -- my prediction of 1:14-1:15 wouldn't have been off by so much had I raced at the elevation I'm used to, at least according to the chart. Also, considering elevation may provide a better comparison to my past results. FYI, my PR stand-alone half marathon is 1:17:XX, IIRC, and I ran 1:18:08 at Cali 70.3 two months ago. The chart shows that perhaps today's run was faster than my Cali run with elevation factored in.

Now it's time to relax for a while and rest my quads -- they're quite sore. Thanks Stacey for waking up early to drive me to the race, taking my jacket, snapping a few photos, etc.

Half-marathon this weekend

2010-05-14T18:23:00.009-06:00

A week or two ago CV emailed and told me to jump into a running race. After procrastinating a week or so, I pulled up an online running calendar and discovered the Colfax Marathon, which takes place this Sunday. The start and finish are at City Park, just a few miles down Colorado Blvd from my place -- nice. The biggest downside is the 6:45 AM start -- yuck.

I'm not going to taper for the race, but I am going to try to be at least semi-rested so that my time is reflective of my fitness. Here's the problem, though: yesterday I decided to head out for a run and simply go by feel. I had no notion of how long to go or where to run, and I didn't use a HR monitor or GPS. In fact, I didn't even look at my watch the entire run. My run ended up lasting a bit over two horus and ten minutes, which needless to say left me a bit sore.

That leaves me with today and tomorrow to recovery. Today I did an easy 1 hour swim and was fairly exhausted. In the evening I added some active recovery, a 45 minute spin in a nice light rain (I stayed warm though!). I was considering a second swim, but I feel tired and just want to close my eyes. I'll take that as a sign to lounge on the couch the rest of the evening. Hmm...time to catch up on Lost episodes, I guess. The show has been pretty bad the past few seasons, and I have very low expectations for the finale. But I digress.

Tomorrow I'm thinking I will do a double swim day with a ride in the middle. I'll keep the intensity moderate at most for both swims, and I will shoot for 6-7k. The ride might be an issue fatigue wise, so I'll start with a readiness test to see how my recovery is going. (Incidentally, implementing a test like this is a great way to see if you're ready for intensity or whether you should take easy.) If things aren't looking good, I'll either do more active recovery or get off the bike altogether.

The goal is to get some hours in while ensuring that I'm at least moderately rested for the race, and I think my plan should work. I'm at 13 hours so far this week, and I'm thinking if I do 3.5 hours tomorrow and another 4 hours on Sunday (the race plus an easy spin and easy swim) I'll have put in a solid week with a slight run focus.

Prior to this week I've averaged about 22 hours the last four weeks. Even if the hours aren't huge this week (e.g., if I go really easy tomorrow because I'm still not recovered), I'll still be well positioned to begin IM specific prep very soon.

On another subject, on a ride earlier this week I picked a route from mapmyride.com, but for whatever reason didn't take the directions out of my pocket and instead just headed in the general direction of the mountains. After an hour and a half I wasn't sure where I was, but it there was a nice view:

I continued on, figuring I could always backtrack if I got totally lost. A few miles later I figured out where I was:

You may be able to figure it out from this one if you've been there before:

I liked this part:

If you haven't yet figured out where I was, here ya go:

Definitely a ride I'll do again. From Red Rocks I can head up 93 to Golden, where I can then climb Lookout Mountain, head over to Golden Gate Canyon (haven't ridden that one yet, only been up in a car), or head back to Denver, among other options.

Finally, a shout-out (yeah, that's right, I said "shout-out") to Gu for this recent shipment:

I love vanilla Gu and if I had a bit less self-discipline I'd eat 'em for dessert.

Oh, goal half-marathon time: 1:14 or 1:15. Who knows, though.

Barkin' Dog Duathlon - Race Report

2010-05-11T11:16:00.002-06:00

This past Saturday Stacey and I raced the Barkin' Dog Duathlon at Cherry Creek State Park just outside of Denver. (Don't ask me where that name came from -- I did not see or hear a single barking dog.) The race was my first duathlon and the shortest multisport event I've ever done, excluding the prologue at the American Triple T. The race venue is near our apartment, and I do a lot of training rides there. Stacey and I were able to ride over to the start of the race, which provided a nice warm-up.

Stacey's race highlight occurred before the race even started. She was following me as we entered the park and rolled into the race area. We needed to pick up our race packets, so I was riding straight toward the registration tent. About 50 feet away from the tent, I unclipped my right foot and swung my leg over my saddle, then glided toward the tent with just my left foot clipped in. Yes, I am extremely smooth. As I approached the tent through a moderate sized crowd, I swiveled my left foot to try to separate myself from my bike. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had recently installed new cleats on my shoes, and my attempt to clip out failed. I bit it, though luckily into a patch of grass next to the road.

I stood up and very loudly told Stacey and anyone else that may have witnessed my fall, "Oops, forgot about those new cleats." Stacey particularly appreciated my fall for two reasons: (1) I was decked out head-to-toe in Zoot stuff, with my team jersey and what not, looking very PRO and (2) when I stood up I had grass all over my butt that I was not aware of as I continued toward the registration tent.

Not a good start to the day, but not quite this bad (skip ahead to 1m05s if you want):

Anyhow, my nice ride all decked out for the race:

I am glad to be riding the carbon Ordu instead of my old aluminum frame, as the course at Cherry Creek is VERY rough. There are a lot of bumps that can throw a rider out of his aerobars if not careful.

The race format is a 5k run, 34k ride, and another 5k run. This short stuff doesn't suit me too well, as I don't go much faster for 5k run than a half marathon. Still it's a solid workout and a good opportunity to get out of my comfort zone.

I registered for the elite wave -- my first time ever -- and knew there'd be some guys I wouldn't be able to run with. I thought perhaps I would try to stay with them for the first 5k, but I wasn't up to it. A few of the faster guys pulled away pretty quickly, and by the two mile marker my primary concern was avoiding puking. I never got going too well, and ran the first 5k in 17:27. My average HR was 162 bpm for the first 5k, while I would have expected to average well into the 170s.

In a typical triathlon, I start to move up on the bike because I'm a poor swimmer relative to my biking ability. However, since this race started with a run, I was toward the front from the get-go. The bike was very uneventful: I only passed one guy and I was only passed once, though by a guy on his first loop while I was on my second. I didn't look at my wattage much, and I somehow ended up not recording it. Still, my average HR was 161 bpm. That's a solid effort for me, but I expected 5 bpm higher or so. I completed the bike portion in just over 53 minutes with an average speed of 23.2 mph. Not great since I road the course earlier in the week at HIM intensity and averaged 25 mph.

By the final 5k I was in cruise mode. Not that I went extremely easy, but I was around 10th place and wasn't going to move up. As I approached the first mile marker, I saw that the top two guys were a bit over a mile ahead of me. Ouch. I continued pushing a bit and finished the second 5k in 18:30 or so. My average HR for this last leg was 166 bpm.

Even though I wasn't able to push myself quite as hard as I would have anticipated (juding by my HR anyhow), I was still pretty beat after the race. I ended up 9th out of 13 elites, and I was beat by a few non-elites as well.

The race made for a fun yet tough workout. I've got another duathlon coming up in a few weeks, and I've got to change my breakfast so that I don't spend the first 5k worrying about throwing up. Maybe these short races will help my high-end speed a bit. As a long course guy, I'm not too concerned with high end speed, but perhaps the gains would translate to lower effort levels, too.

I need some hard training

2010-05-10T09:57:00.009-06:00

First up, I raced the Barkin' Dog Duathlon this past weekend. The race went pretty poorly; I'll have a more detailed race report posted in the next day or two once race photos are uploaded. I didn't rest ahead of the race, so that's probably why I wasn't fast. Still, it's a bit of a confidence drainer to have such a poor performance. I look forward to gaining more experience in the sport so that I do not get discouraged by poor performances at "C" races. Last year, for example, I raced an early season open marathon and ran 1:23 -- an awful performance -- feeling horrible the entire race. A few months later I ran sub-3 hours at Louisville -- a performance that surpassed my highest expectations. Experiences like that are what I need to be able to brush off bad races. I know that it's stupid to get discouraged by a race that I didn't care much about and treated as a tough training day. Greater confidence will come with another year or two of doing endurance sports, and this is the type of performance that will ultimately enhance my confidence by teaching me not to worry about a single bad race or bad workout.

Anyhow, it seems like I haven't had a killer workout in a while. My next Ironman isn't for several months still, but the time is here to begin the 5, 6 or 7 hour workouts that are so great at preparing me for racing well at long distances. Plus, those are the workouts provide a great sense of satisfaction. I don't know why, but the feeling of having put in a solid training day is extremely satisfying, and that's one of the things that keeps me excited about the sport.

Yesterday I took it easy to recover from the race on Saturday so that I can start this week off with some quality sessions. Stacey and I rode around town for almost two hours, checking out a few neighborhoods we're interested in eventually living in and just enjoying the beautiful sunny 75 degree day. Denver has a lot to offer.

Here is a nice shot of the kayak area at Confluence Park:

I want to see some kayakers head down the rapids, but instead I've only seen them start from the bottom and head up the first rapid:

As you can see from this video, the kayakers basically tread the rapids like a treadmill, venturing into the flow of water and then holding their position:

It's not too exciting.

Nonetheless, Confluence Park is a great hang-out spot, and it was crowded yesterday:

We also made our way over to Sloan Lake. It's just a few miles from downtown Denver and offers great views of the city and the mountains:

Lastly, we did a quick loop through Washington Park. I run at this fantastic park several times a week, but the bike path isn't for serious cycling. The park was extremely crowded, and I couldn't get a good photo for fear of running a pedestrian over. It's great to see so many people out and about and utilizing such a nice resource:

This is not a workout...

2010-05-01T21:00:00.004-06:00

...this is a revolution. It's SCIENCE FACT! It burns MUSCLE ENERGY! Forget riding the trainer for four hours tomorrow, I'm going to SHAKE WEIGHT!

(On a more serious note, congrats to everyone that completed IM St George yesterday, especially Heather Wurtele -- one of CV's athlete's -- that destroyed the women's field for her second IM win.)

(Oh, and I changed up my links. Slate, Pitchfork, The Onion, and other websites that update regularly are no longer listed because there's not much point. I added a few sites; be sure to check out www.foodpolitics.com for some interesting reading.)

Stacey and I are getting married in June...

2010-04-29T16:07:00.005-06:00

...but our ceremony will have no resemblance to this:

Iron Man Wedding from Cinematique Films on Vimeo.

Note some of the details, specifically the bride's bouquet, the "ring" exchange, and probably some others I missed. To each his own, I guess.

FTP + MAF + ride pictures

2010-04-21T15:36:00.002-06:00

First up, after making some of the stroke tweaks discussed in my previous few posting, I set a new 100 y time of 1:13 last night. That equates to about 1:22 per 100m, which is 3 seconds or so faster than I've ever gone before. In addition, that effort came 3,000 y into my workout and after a 1:40 run earlier in the day. Not bad!

I can tell that my stroke is still inconsistent -- sometimes I feel like I get a good pull and other times I do not get that feeling -- so there's still a lot to work on. I will also try to talk Stacey into taping me in the pool again this evening to ensure that the changes I feel like I'm making are actually the changes I am making.

FTP TEST
CV had me do an FTP test this weekend. The goal was an hour all out on the Lefthand Canyon climb from Boulder to Ward. I took off pushing 300+ W, thinking I was crushing the test. 10 minutes in, I realized that the test was in fact crushing me. Uh oh, time to switch from an hour test to a 20 minute test. I held on for the last 10 minutes and finished the test at an elevation of 7,500 feet or so thinking my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Result: 297 W at averages of 165 bpm (max 179 bpm) and 80 rpm. Thus, FTP = 280-285 W.

Next time I will start conservatively, circa 275 W. Also, one tough thing about testing on this particular climb is that as the gradient of the climb varies I frequently need to shift between my small and big chainrings. Sometimes I instead opted to pedal in a less than ideal gear knowing that I'd have to shift right back a few hundred feet up the road. My power output is not as consistent as it could be.

MAF TEST
In summary, I did the test with a target HR of 150 bpm but went a bit hard and typically averaged 151-153 bpm. My initial pace was 6:51/mile and I fell to 7:12/mile (when looking at the chart below, look at the actual time and not the pace because the track is likely more accurate than my GPS).

Oh, and for my future reference: the conditions were excellent, 50 degrees or so, little wind, dirt track at South High, quick pee break in the middle with an extra lap to get HR back up before resuming test (note pace improvement post-peeing). PE was pretty low, around 7.

What to take from the test? First, I'll pay attention to my running pace during subsequent tests over the next several weeks as I focus more on swimming and cycling to ensure that I'm not losing too much run speed. I'll do this by comparing my initial speed and average pace throughout the test with future tests. Second, I lost about 20 seconds/mile over the course of the test. I think this is an indication of my base fitness being pretty good but not great, and I want to compare that gap over time to try to minimize it. For shorter than IM distance races, I'm not quite as concerned with the drop off, but for IM it's good to have as little loss as possible (at least that's how I interpret things).

Here are a few earlier test results: Jan. 2010, July 2009, and June 2009. My recent test was better than my only other one at altitude, the Jan. 2010 test. My July 2009 test was pretty awesome -- 7:00/mile or so at 145 bpm -- but that was back in Michigan at a few hundred feet elevation and on what I'd guess is a faster track (being not dirt). In that July test, however, I slowed a bit less throughout the test.

Finally, I recently did a nice 5 hour ride right from my door out to Deer Creek Canyon for some climbing and then back home.

The ride is kind of crappy heading south from Denver, as the bike path travels through an industrial area. After that, however, the scenery gets a bit better:

Continuing south, approaching the Chatfield reservoir:

Just about to enter the mountains via the pass in the distance:

This photo isn't a great example, but the area just south of Chatfield State Park is cool because there are a ton of rocks protruding at about a 45 degree angle from the ground, and many of the homes are built into the rocks:

Much nicer views than my old rides in Michigan offered:

A nice curvy mountain road:

45 minutes or so into the climb there are some nice views:

Here's a shot zoomed in on one of the houses way off in the distance in the photo above:

Swim Form Critique

2010-04-16T10:22:00.017-06:00

Swimming is all about form, which is why 12 year old girls with twigs for arms and beer-bellied 55 year old guys with good technique can crush me in the water. This post is about some specific things I can improve.

I reviewed a few videos Stacey recently shot while we were swimming and compared my form to the immodestly christened Mr. Smooth.

Let's look at my arm extension first, as I think this is the origin of a few issues with my stroke:

(Sorry for the poor image quality; these photos are stills from video.)

Note that these two photos are in sequence with the top photo being the earlier picture, even though it looks like I'm beginning the catch in the top photo while I still haven't started the catch in the bottom photo. The red lines are an estimate of the height of my hand relative to the surface of the water.

My arm and hand position looks good in the top photo. My arm is extended, my hand is aligned with or slightly lower than my shoulder, and my hand is flexed ready to begin the catch. However, in the second photo I raise my hand closer to the surface of the water, as the red line in the bottom photo is shorter than in the top photo.

Here is a picture at a point slightly later in my stroke than the bottom photo above that better shows the positions of my hand and elbow:

My hand is now above my elbow and my forearm is angled upward! Applying leverage from this position is not easy and causes additional problems explained below.

Compare my hand position to Mr. Smooth's:

Mr. Smooth has his leading hand lower than his elbow. As his stroke progresses, his hand goes slightly forward and then down and is always at least slightly below his elbow.

The takeaway is that I need to avoid raising my hand. I should commence my catch with my hand in the position shown in the top photo of the two-photo sequence above. Keep that hand down!!!

Like I mentioned above, my hand being too high causes a few problems with my stroke. Here is another photo of my too high hand with the red arrows showing torques that I create (please avoid looking directly at my apparently massive butt):

I need to somehow generate torque to rotate my forearm into a vertical position, with this torque being shown by the clockwise red arrow near my hand. Normally a swimmer uses his shoulder and lat to apply this torque, I think. However, my hand is in a position that makes applying torque with my right shoulder and lat difficult. Instead, I end up pushing my torso out and down to create the necessary torque. The counter-clockwise red arrow is intended to illustrate this torso-produced torque.

In other words, in order to get my hand into a vertical position I end up sticking my whole torso out and creating a bunch of drag:

(My torso rotation being linked to rotating my forearm is more apparent in the video than in an single frame that I could find.)

If I kept my hand lower in the water I could more easily generate torque properly, meaning using my shoulder and lat. Then I wouldn't need to stick my torso way out and I'd look more like Mr. Smooth.

Having my chest rotated so far forward greatly increases my frontal area, which is the last thing a swimmer wants. Generating torque differently will likely improve my slipperiness in the aqua.

There are a few other things I can try that will probably help streamline my body. Raising my head a bit, pushing my sternum down a bit, and using my abs to keep my lower torso in line with my upper torso should all improve my streamlining ability.

However, I still think the main culprit is the whole torque issue caused by my hand being too high as explained above. I think this is the case because I'm nicely aligned at other points in my stroke as shown here:

"Hey," you might be thinking, "your arm looks nice and vertical in that picture!" However, looking at my pull from another angle reveals that my arm is in fact in a pretty poor position:

The videos I have show this a bit more clearly, but my forearm never gets vertical (despite my high elbow!). If I were to post the video, you'd see that my elbow is rearward of my hand the entire stroke -- my hand never catches up.

Instead of pushing backwards, I'm pushing back and down, while also likely allowing water to slip off my forearm. I start my pull before my forearm is in the correct position. This is potentially still caused by my too high of a hand, as the too high hand prevents me from getting my forearm properly aligned in time for the pull (i.e., it takes too long to move my forearm from angled upward to angled vertically -- my hand actually rotates a similar amount as Mr. Smooth's, but since my starting point is too high my finishing point isn't vertical enough).

Mr. Smooth, however, gets his forearm vertical by the time his forearm is inline with his head, and then his hand continues slightly rearward of his elbow as shown below:

Mr. Smooth's arm position allows him to apply more force in the rearward direction, and thus to generate more forward propulsion. The idea is to maximize the amount of force that is applied in the rearward direction; force in the vertical direction is wasted!

Finally, a note on the phrase "high elbow": It seems to me that swim coaches are after a vertical forearm. Coaches likely noticed that whenever a swimmer's forearm is vertical, the swimmer's elbow is above an imaginary line extending from the swimmer's shoulder to hand, or "high". However, a swimmer can have a high elbow without a vertical forearm, as I demonstrate in the photo of me above. A high elbow in and of itself is not important. After all, it's the vertical forearm that provides propulsion. The high elbow is just the result of a vertical forearm. But since a high elbow can also result without a vertical forearm, the emphasis should not be on the elbow position.

Check out Mr. Smooth's elbow position in these two images generated at the same point in his stroke:

His elbow isn't high relative to the surface of the water but his forearm is vertical.

Acheiving a Goal Pt. II

2010-04-15T10:06:00.004-06:00

I ended my last post discussing my plan for improving my swim in order to swim 58 minutes or less at Louisville this year. One thing CV pointed out after my last post was that my open water swim times are a bit worse than expected based on my pool swim times. The obvious conclusion is that I need to work on my open water swim skills, e.g., sighting and swimming a straight line without the aid of a black stripe to guide me. I will do more open water swimming this year than in the past, and I'm even signing up for a few open water races (specifically the Aquaman open water series).

(4) Total commitment
Unfortunately I do not have unlimited time to train. Swimming more will require a trade-off in that I'll have less time to bike and run. I need to allot extra time to my swim until it approaches the level of my bike and run, even if that means allowing my bike and run to stagnate or, gasp, decline. Maybe my bike and run splits won't be as good this season, but the in the long run I will be a better athlete. I'm aiming for 25k yards per week on average and will probably put in quite a few weeks of > 30k yards.

(5) Perform periodic assessments
Every couple of weeks I will perform a 1000 long course meter time trial to assess my progress. This test is fairly specific to IM swimming without being too mentally draining (though I don't doubt that Chuckie will have me perform longer continuous sets as well). I last did this test at the end of January in 17:20 for a pace of 1:44/100 lcm. Looks like I'm past due for another go at it. I'll likely give it a shot this weekend.

In addition to performing a time trial every 2-4 weeks, I can more frequently assess myself by noting my times for various distances. For short course yards, I'm around 1:22/100, 2:50/200, and 3:12/225 (though those times may be off by a second or two). By continually noting my times I can get more frequent assessments.

The entire point of assessment is to make sure that my plan is working. Therefore, if I am not making progress I need to reconsider my plan. Perhaps I'll need to pay a visit to Swim Labs. Perhaps I'll need to work harder and/or increase my yardage. Perhaps I'll need to consider altering my stroke. As another cliche favored by my high school tennis coach goes, "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting." If I keep swimming poorly, I need to change things up!

(6) Taking action
In the 10 days since my first post on improving my swimming, I've started taking action. Reading has allowed me to increase my knowledge of swimming. Stacey taped me and I'm reviewing the footage. I swam close to 30k yards in one week (though I went out of town for a few days and didn't get in any swimming during that time). Two of Chuckie's other athletes, Sonja and Michelle, invited me for a swim and gave me some very helpful tips (in addition to crushing me during a set of 10 x 225 y, or in Michelle's case 10 x 250 y). I've got a lot to work on, but that actually makes swimming more enjoyable because there's a sense that I can improve.

So, I'm on track. Hard work, if performed intelligently, will pay off.

Acheiving a Goal

2010-04-06T11:59:00.002-06:00

A few days ago I was doing some reading completely unrelated to triathlon. One passage I read dealt with establishing and achieving goals. As I read the passage, I immediately realized that I need to take a more methodical approach to improving my swimming.

As is likely apparent to anyone that is familiar with my race results or that reads this blog on even an occasional basis, my slow swimming is holding me back from being the best triathlete that I can be. While I've sought to address my weakness in the water in the past by doing things like upping my yardage a bit and joining a masters team, I have not done everything in my power to improve. The time for making minor changes to my training and hoping for major improvement is over.

There are all kinds of methods for achieving goals. My method is as follows: (1) set a bold yet achievable goal, (2) acquire the knowledge necessary to achieve the goal, (3) establish a plan for achieving the goal, (4) totally commit to achieving the goal, (5) perform periodic assessments to gauge progress and modify the plan as necessary, and (6) take action. I'll address these steps in order. (Oh, and this is the first time I have ever so systematically and explicitly set about achieving a goal; I'm not always this weird!)

(1) My goal: swim sub-58 minutes at Ironman Louisville
While this is a somewhat arbitrary goal, a sub-58 minute swim would position me nicely to win my age group at Ironman Louisville. Additionally, achieving a sub-58 minute swim this year would also nicely position me to race as a professional in 2011 because I would only need to improve by a few minutes to have a competitive pro swim. This goal is bold enough to inspire and motivate me without being so bold that I believe deep-down that the goal is unattainable.

(2) Acquire the knowledge necessary to swim sub-58 minutes
While one can be a fast swimmer without knowing a great deal about the technical aspects of swimming, and while one can be a slow swimmer despite having a depth of swimming knowledge, I believe improving my knowledge of swimming will help me achieve my goal. My ability to learn is one of my strongest skills, and I should do everything I can to use this skill to my advantage. Further, prior experience tells me that I am perform best in a certain area when I have a great deal of knowledge about that area.

How am I going to acquire swimming knowledge? First, I have began reading everything I can about swimming. I've gone through Gordo's swimming achieves and I've started reading everything at www.smoothswim.com and www.goswim.tv. Additionally, I am making my way through Breakthrough Swimming, albeit slowly because it is not exactly a captivating read, and I'll move onto other swimming books once I finish that one.

In order to manage all the information I'll be coming across, I am compiling a list of swim tips. My list is arranged by motions (e.g., reach, catch, and kick) and body parts (e.g., hips and head), and all the tips are very concise (e.g., a catch tip is to initiate the catch by flexing the wrist downward). While I expect to come across contrary recommendations -- for example whether my thumb should enter the water first during recovery or whether all fingers should enter simultaneously -- the point is simply to know as much as possible about swimming so I can figure out the stroke that is optimal for me.

In addition to obtaining knowledge about "the perfect stroke", I need to know everything I can about my own stroke. To this end I will have Stacey shoot more video of my stroke, and I'll pester my masters coaches to let me know what I can do to improve. Additionally, once Chuckie sets up shop in Colorado this summer I'll have yet another set of eyes to advise me. All the knowledge in the world about "the perfect stroke" is useless if I don't know the areas of my own stroke that require correction.

(3) Establish a plan for achieving the goal
My plan is multifaceted. One component is to always swim purposefully, and by that I mean not just for the purpose of gaining fitness. It's so easy to mentally zone out and think about something other than my stroke while swimming. Mindlessly cranking out a set is laziness. Since the "acquiring knowledge" step will presumably provide me with a list of stroke tweaks that I should make, I need to have at least one of these tweaks in mind at all times while swimming. One method I'm going to use to ensure that I constantly focus on technique is to pick one or two items from my "perfect stroke" list and put those items at the top of my workout printout so that each time I refer to my workout I'm reminded that I need to focus on technique.

A certain sports cliche is applicable here. Coaches used to say, "practice makes perfect." However, that cliche has become passe as coaches have encountered athletes like myself that fail to improve despite practice. Such coaches have modified their saying to "perfect practice makes perfect." That is a cliche I should embrace by mustering all the focus I can so that I approach "perfect practice".

Next, I will continue to focus on the pace clock. As Chuckie says, use the pace clock as a power meter. Sometimes during masters I don't pay attention to my pace, like when I know that a set's interval won't be too tough to achieve. I need to push myself out of my comfort zone, and the pace clock is a great tool for doing so. I need to start doing my fast 100s below around 1:27 for meters and 1:20 for yards, which I'm capable of when I work hard and get 10-20 seconds rest between.

The last part of my plan is to swim more. A little anecdote: every time Stacey and I swim masters the lanes next to us are occupied by the Hilltoppers youth swim team. This team is one of the best in the nation and produced a handfull of D1 swimmers this year. I think these kids practice from 6-8 pm most evenings, and they also swim weekends and some mornings. Not only do they do a good amount of volume for kids as young as 13, but they crush their workouts. A few days ago I witnessed a young girl, maybe 15 years old, cranking out dips on a bench. She probably did 15 dips in 15 seconds! That was impressive enough, but then her coach blew a whistle and the girl went over to the starting block, strapped a belt around her waist, dove in the water, and began sprinting -- sprinting!! -- down the lane. A rope attached to the belt looped over a pulley and was tied to a barrel slidable along a vertical track. As the girl sprinted toward the far end of the pool, she had to lift the barrel off the ground. I could last about 15 minutes in one of their workouts before being blown to pieces.

The point of this anecdote is that hard work pays off. I'm not going to match these kids in terms of swimming volume, but the closer I can get the greater my time will improve. From everything I've been told by coaches and from what I know about stroke mechanics, my stroke is actually not horrible. Thus, my plan is to swim a minimum of 20,000 yards per week with a target of 25,000 y.

This post is rapidly becoming too long. I'll tackle the rest of my plan later.