Run/Swim

Ran home from work yesterday and continued on to the pool. My left shin is still bothering me a bit, but it seems to loosen up after 5 minutes or so. Kept a very light pace and HR on the run. I then went to the pool and swam for 45 minutes. Felt really under motivated in the pool until a really good swimmer showed up and swam in the lane next to me. I think i am going to have to join a masters program this spring to push me while in the water.

Easy Ride

Went for a cold 2 hour ride yesterday. The weather was promising so I bundled up and went to rock creek park. Took the wife along so she could try her new bike outdoors and went a bit slower than normal to ride with her. I felt really good and hit a few of the hills hard to get the blood pumping. Overall, It was a good recovery ride on the day after that hard bike test. Average HR was around 135. Covered 28 miles.

Rough Rest Week

This week has been tough. I started off on Tuesday with an easy zone 1 run on the treadmill and my left shin hurt a lot getting started. I am really afraid I might have more than a shin splint, but I am avoiding the doctors office like the plague. I do not want bad news!

To make matters worse, I came down with a bit of illness on Wednesday and could not work out at all. I knew the moment I woke up that it wasn't going to be a good day, but I roughed it into work and missed a swim and a bike ride. Given the shin was sore, I decided to lay off it on Thursday and bike instead. I rode for 1 hour, but felt like I was all out of wack. I feel like I went through a weird detox/rest/recovery period where my body freaked out after the first three weeks of serious training. I probably just came down with something, but I have to say I had a ton of questions about my health while riding that bike.

Friday brought many better feelings and I was able to complete my planned bike test after work. I felt strong and rode hard for a 30 min. time trial on the trainer. I was surprised to find that in the last 20 min. of the test, my average HR was 174. According to the test protocol that means my LTHR is 174 which is quite a bit higher than I thought. I look forward to the run test this weekend to see where I top out on the run. Anyhow, whatever I went through this week, I am ready to start base 2 on Monday. Looking forward to more work!

Base 1 Week 3

I started this week with a plan to do about 16 hours of work. That is too much for me to handle but enough to motivate me to work harder than last year. I realized that using the formula and schedule provided by the Training Bible is a bit unrealistic for me, but I am sticking with the plan. I reviewed a lot of training philosophies on the internet this offseason. Many people talk about the need to do large volumes of long slow distance training, while others suggest this is not needed. Feeling confused by the excess of conflicting information, I decided to go with the Training Bible guidance. Intuitively, I feel the volume goals set forth in that book are over the top, but I made a commitment to give it a go this year. The goals set forth are a bit challenging to attain - I have now missed the targets by a small percentage each week - but I can't help but trust that if I shoot for high goals, I will improve my performance.

This week had 16 hours on the plan. The plan started off with a 1 hour run, a lunch lifting session and an evening bike ride (2 hours of zone 1 & 2 with isolated leg training and spin ups worked in). On Wednesday I was supposed to do a 1.5 hour recovery spin - which I missed - and a 1 hour swim. On Thursday I completed a 1.75 hour run after work and on Friday I swam for 1 hour - missed a 30 minute run. Saturday was a 3 hour bike - completed the 3 hour tough love video and a 45 minute lifting session - which I missed. Today I am going to run for 45 minutes and do a recovery ride for 1.75 hrs. My body is a bit fatigued, but I am feeling pretty good at the end of week 3. My nutrition has been good - my weight is staying right around 170-175 lbs - and I am taking in plenty of well balanced meals. Last year at this time I was getting sick, eating too little, and eating crap foods. I think the combination of a multivitamin, recovery drinks, plenty of sleep, and better nutrition is helping me recover better and come close to meeting the lofty goals of the Training Bible. I hope I can improve my workout completion rate in Base 2, but so far I am happy with where I am.

Here are the workouts I completed this week:

Tuesday Run: http://tpks.ws/xNqz

Tuesday Lift: http://tpks.ws/AOJI

Tuesday Bike: http://tpks.ws/NuhM

Wednesday Swim: http://tpks.ws/ZSN4

Thursday Run: http://tpks.ws/4dDg

Friday Swim: http://tpks.ws/0CMX

Saturday Bike: http://tpks.ws/pEBx

Sunday Run: http://tpks.ws/Pdur

Sunday Ride: http://tpks.ws/VCwz

Long Bike and Short Run

Yesterday I rode the trainer for 2 hours. I really wanted to go outside, but it was 20 degrees and windy. I started with a 15 min. warm up and then did 75 min. of Coach Troy's Aero Base Builder. Following that I did a long steady effort in a big gear to simulate a long hill climb. The cool down was about 10 minutes. I felt really good on the bike and my HR stayed right at the upper portion of zone 2. I feel that I am way more fit than last year at this time. After the ride I changed and went to the gym to do a 30 minute light run on the treadmill. The left shin started out sore, but loosened up and didn't bother me after the first 5 min. or so.

Here is the TP file for the bike:

http://tpks.ws/lIF8

and the run:

http://tpks.ws/Dark

Back in the Pool

Yesterday I got back in the pool for a long swim. I covered 2700 yards in 1 hour. I got to the pool at 9 AM and had the water all to myself for about 1/2 an hour. The solitude was short lived because many were eager to get into the pool after the two week closure. By the time I left it was packed and it provided a reminder that getting workouts done early is always the way to go. I wish I could keep that motivation all the time. After the swim, the wife and I went out around the town to run errands. Missed my weights workout in the afternoon, but honestly didn't care much. It was a good day!

Long Ride

Bundled up today and went for a long ride in the 40 degree weather. It felt really good to get outside and back on the roads. Riding on the trainer for the past several weeks has been boring!

The plan was to hit the road for 2 hours and 45 minutes. I left the house at about noon and I felt pretty weak when I got started because of the late night and the major toothache. Thankfully, the drugs kicked in overnight and I finally got some sleep. I think I am going to need a root canal early next week and I hope the antibiotic keeps the infection at bay. Once I got going, I felt stronger and stronger and was really happy with the ride. Getting into this season, I can already tell I am a lot stronger than I was at this point last year.

You can see a summary of my ride on the trainingpeaks website.

http://tpks.ws/VWI3