Year-to-date comparison

So, I did some comparison of my total s/b/r distances for the current year vs. last year. Running, as expected, was not too much different; since I was training for the Austin Marathon both years. It is slightly higher this year (400 miles to 325 last year), due to the fact that I'm still in training for the Boston Marathon - whereas last year I was able to drop off the run mileage after Austin. Quite a bit more biking this year (1200 miles vs 400), since I had decided to start off my ironman training with a good base this year, instead of waiting for the actual training plan to kick in. The winner though, by far, is the swimming. I clearly was not taking it very serious last year, and only had about 16K yards in total for the YEAR at this same point! This year, I am at about 110K yards already. Just a little difference, eh? The interesting part for me will be to see what kind of improvement that translated into for the actual race. Not just the time improvement, but will I feel better the rest of the race?

It's always hard for me to get motivated to bike in the winter months when it is cold, cloudy, windy, etc. What has saved me this year is making more use of indoor bike trainers, especially my new computrainer (see pic of setup to the left). Note the book in the music stand... I find reading to be much better at passing time than watching TV or listening to music. One thing that I really like about the CT is being able to see the power/watts output in conjunction with the cadence and HR... gives you a very clear and constant indication of how hard you are working. There is also a screen display for "spinscan", which gives a visual representation of your pedaling technique. My focus right now is on the left leg being weaker than the right.

Just for grins, here's a pic of the main screen in 3D mode; showing the split screen view of me racing "metal man" (you can set up to race against a pacer, who looks kind of like the Terminator guy...).


In terms of training, just doing my tapering and preparing for this weekend's triathlon. Today I went swimming at Barton Springs. Gotta love Barton Springs, it's a great 200 meter open water spring-fed swimming pool that is a constant 68 degrees. Oh yes, that does mean I wear a wetsuit! :)

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Race Schedule:

January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED

January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED

February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run)-> COMPLETED

April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run)

September 19: Redman ironman distanceTriathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

Next up... Lonestar Triathlon

Getting close to the first triathlon of the season... Lonestar Half Ironman in Galveston, Texas. Started winding down the volume a little bit, allowing the body to start recovering and rest up for the race. Not a lot different during the week, other than skipping my usual Monday bike ride; but the weekend volume will be greatly reduced. Next week the volume really goes down leading up to the race, although I'll do at least intervals of high intensity to keep primed for the race. As I mentioned when talking about tapering for the marathon; tapering makes people crazy, and nobody agrees on exactly how to do it. You just learn what works best for you over time, and adjust it based on the race and where it fits into the grand scheme. On that note, I'm doing more running than I might normally this week, since I'm trying to stay in marathon shape for the Boston Marathon on April 20th.

Gotta run, but next entry I'm going to tally up the mileage this year and compare it to where I was at last year for this same race (although I did the Quarter Ironman last year, not the half). I think the running will be similar, a lot more biking, and the swimming will be an order of magnitude higher. The big question is, will there be a payoff?


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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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The Big Weekend

Every once in while I have what I refer to as a "big weekend", meaning there is a pretty high training load; and this past weekend was one of those. Did my usual swim Friday morning and bike trainer on Friday afternoon; then had 80 miles of biking (with short run after) scheduled for Saturday and a 20 mile run for Sunday.

It was actually kind of cool in the morning on Saturday (40's), so I decided to ride the computrainer for about an hour before heading outdoors. I got everything ready to go, so after a little over one hour on the trainer; I was able to get on the road in just a few minutes. That all went well, and I ended up riding for another 58 miles; or approximately 78 when the computrainer time was added in. This was a good test, since in the summer I plan on using the trainer as a warmup and/or cooldown; in order to avoid having too many hours in 98 degree heat! After the bike ride, I did a 3 mile run to complete the day.

Sunday I was feeling a little tired, and wondered how the run was going to go; but it actually went very well. Did just over twenty miles (2 loops around Town Lake), and had a nice pace. Forecast was mid-70's, and I was feeling pretty warm on the second loop. Got to the car and learned it was actually about 86! Good job as usual, weather forecasters :)

After the run, went out with my wife (Susie) and had a nice Italian meal; as I was feeling the need for lots of food at that point... Nice way to end the weekend.

Thoughts on the coaching clinic

Overall, I thought the coaching clinic went very well. Got to meet a few new people, some of whom may become good coaching compatriots in the future. Heard from a number of different speakers, including some very high level coaches/trainers, and one very, very fast swimmer (professional triathlete Sara McLarty). As with any training program, some presenters and topics are better and more interesting than others; but I'm always glad to have the chance to learn and think about new things and new approaches.

One over-arching principle that was re-enforced is that you have to have a plan; and a reason for the training that you do. There are many different coaching and training philosophies which people will argue over, but the one thing that you really can't argue is that you need to be following some type of methodology and plan.

I wrote down a two-part question that I think summarizes what every athlete needs to think about and answer: What do you want to achieve, and how badly do you want to achieve it? If you can understand and answer those questions honestly, you have a terrific starting point for starting to put together goals and the training plans to achieve those goals. The second part of that question is critical. You may want to achieve an ironman distance triathlon, for example... but are you willing to put in the hours/weeks/months of hard work that it takes to allow your body to complete one? Most triathletes that I know ask themselves that question a lot! :)

So, back to the present - it's been a good week so far, with BIG plans for this weekend. Due to the timing of my next two races (1/2 Ironman in 2 weeks and marathon 2 weeks after that); I need to get in a long (80 miles I hope) bike ride on Saturday, and then a 20 mile run on Sunday. Check back in Monday and see if the body and willpower hold out.

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Race Schedule:

January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED

January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED

February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run)-> COMPLETED

April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run)

September 19: Redman ironman distanceTriathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

Old fashioned bikes and Home sweet home

Sunday before I left Florida I did a short bike ride (10 miles) on my stepdad's bike. Good old trusty single-speed bike with the fat tires. Was kind of fun to just roam around on that for a bit, although it didn't do much for my average speed! :)

Got back home on Monday from the coaching clinic, and started getting back into normal routine on Tuesday. Some weight training, a 7 mile run interval set, and 1:10 on the computrainer. Really liking the instant feedback the CT provides on the biking. Today I got back to swimming and did a few miles on the elliptical. Later I'll be doing some intervals on the computrainer, trying to get the watts up high for 10 minutes or so at a time.

A little tired today, but I'll post again soon and talk a little about the coaching clinic itself; and some of the kinds of things we learned.

Classroom time over, back to real life

OK, all done with the classroom portion of the certification program. They gave us a take-home test that we have to mail back in the next 6 weeks; along with some other paperwork, CPR certification proof, etc. Overall, good training class with lots of information. The trick now is to take all the information, and the information yet to come, and be able to distill and customize that into useful plans and advice for each individual athlete (including myself). There are clearly differing points of view on many training and racing topics, so that adds extra challenge.

Training-wise it has been slow as expected. Didn't do anything on Friday, but Saturday I did fit in some speed training work on the track at the training center. Pretty nice place to workout :)



Later today (Sunday), I hope to fit in a short bike ride and somewhere around a 6 mile run. Maybe even a short swim to cool down. We'll see how motivated I am...

Heading back home tomorrow, and will jump back into normal routine by Tuesday.

Time to learn me some coachin'

Currently in Florida for a USAT Triathlon Coaching Certification clinic that starts tomorrow. Figured since I'm probably not gonna stop running around and giving my opinion to people that foolishly ask for my advice, might as well get some training and have a better idea of what I'm talking about! :)

Staying with my mom and stepdad, who luckily live close by the training center. Weather here is great, highs in the low 80's and sunny. Had a real nice 8 mile run this morning, and then got in a little swimming as well. Friday and Saturday I'll be in the classroom all day, so we'll see if I can fit in any training. I planned/prepared for not doing much during this weekend, so it won't be a problem if I don't. A little rest and recovery is always good for old dudes like me...

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Numbers, we love our numbers

I mentioned having done some number-crunching in my last entry. Triathletes as a rule tend to really love their numbers. What's your 100m swim interval time? What's your 10K run pace? fastest marathon? How many watts/kg do you generate on the bike? What cadence to you maintain on the bike? What's the rolling resistance of your tires (seriously, they do ask that one)... Etc., etc. etc. One of the most frequent questions, and one that stirs up quite a bit of debate, is "how many miles of s/b/r do you do per week/month/year"? So, I did some checking to see how this year is stacking up against the last couple years.

Swimming is where the biggest change is, since I decided to finally get semi-serious about it. The last couple years I averaged around 150K yards of swimming (real swimmers, you can finish reading after you're done laughing). This year, I've done close to 100K already, and should finish close to 400K if I stick to the plan. It's really not been bad, which I credit to the masters swim group that I joined. And the swim speeds have improved already, btw.

Biking will more than double this year as compared to the previous two years; close to 6000 miles planned for the year (approx 1000 done so far). Hope I can find a way to get the carbon-frame bike that I have my eye on; as that will help reduce some of the beating the body takes on those long bike rides. And I'm also looking forward to using the computrainer.

Running is not going up as much percentage-wise as the other two, but still significant. I should hit around 1500 miles of running, up from 1000 or so. That's mainly due to the extra marathon and then having the 2 ironman distance races as well.

So, should make for an interesting season. Have to see if the body holds up. It's pretty amazing what the body can do, though; I still get very surprised at how it adapts to whatever craziness you throw at it.

Enough with the wind already!!!

Good grief, another couple days with wind gusts of around 30 mph. It is really a shame to have such beautiful weather (70's and sunny), but have all this aggravating wind. In theory, it shouldn't really affect your workout, you just go slower and adjust accordingly. The reality is that it is very stressful and discouraging, especially when you are going straight into it and feel like you're barely moving. Doing a lot more indoor bike trainer this year because of that.

Speaking of which, my computrainer is supposed to arrive today - very excited about that! I think training by power/watts will be a really good way for me to improve my biking. I'll be posting updates in the next few weeks/months regarding how that actually works out.

Other than having to do too many rides on the trainer instead of outside, things are going well this week. Getting the swims in, 60 miles of bike so far, and 11 miles of running with an 8 mile run coming later today. I've been crunching some numbers on what the total mileage for the year is looking like, I'll try to post some of that next time. Kind of fun to add it all up, and also kind of scary.

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Please see this website to read more about the HFK program and to make donations:
RMI Hope For Kidz Website Link

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Race Schedule:

January 11: RunTex 20 Miler (20 mile run) -> COMPLETED

January 25: Frost Yer Fanny Duathlon (27.2 miles run/bike/run) -> COMPLETED

February 15: Austin Marathon (26.2 mile run)-> COMPLETED

April 5: Lonestar 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

April 20: Boston Marathon (26.2 mile run)

September 19: Redman ironman distanceTriathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

October 25: Longhorn 1/2 Ironman Triathlon (70.3 miles swim/bike/run)

November 29: Ironman Cozumel Triathlon (140.6 miles swim/bike/run)

Because I still can

Quick update on training, and then on to something that I found interesting...

Had a good week last week. My last post had left off with my trifecta swim/bike/elliptical on Wednesday. I finished off the week with another masters swim, two more bike days, and three more runs. Totals for the week were about 10,000 yds of swimming, 140 miles of biking, and just under 30 miles of running. This week will be similar, with a little bit extra bike, and more running; ending with a 20 mile run on the weekend. Those always give you something to think about all week :) Getting closer to Boston, thus the increased running. So, on to the something that I found interesting...

My last post was about how to deal with the training volume, which is a question I'm frequently asked. Even more frequent, however, is the question "why do you do it?". There are lots of reasons, some hard to express. At our core, I think we all get satisfaction out of setting goals that stretch us and then achieving them. And there is no doubt that I feel much better physically and mentally... at least when I'm not dead tired! :)

I recently read an entry to a triathlon forum by a guy that added another thought to the "why" question, which I thought was pretty good. He mentions a friend that had once commented "Someday my body will not be able to run, bike and swim but today is not that day." Then he went on to say the following (note that s/b/r is swim/bike/run):

..."About a month ago I herniated a C7 cervical disc in my neck while lifting weights at the gym. So now "today" actually IS that day. Today my body is not able to s/b/r and it's killing me! I recently sent a new personal record - this is now the longest period of time I've gone w/o running in over 12 years! I feel like a part of my soul is missing. I will heal and I will get back in the game but for right now I sit and look out the window and just wish I could run. I went to the gym yesterday to just float around the pool. I thought about how good it feels - mentally and physically - to swim for a solid hour. Sooner or later, if you tri long enough, you will find yourself riding the bench and only then will you realize how much you truly love to s/b/r. .."

So, perhaps I have no better reason than "because I still can", but that is not such a bad reason after all :)