Thursday, April 28, 2011

Here Comes the Sun!

So after what seemed like a month of rain/storms/floods/tornadoes we finally have a break in the weather.  Been stuck indoors on my bike, didn't get the ride the IMKY course on Saturday and so on.

The swim volume is really picking but so is my endurance.  Since I've been cycling for a few years and also running regularly, I'm feeling good about the event in August.

Monday was an interval based bike ride indoors meant to simulate hills and Tuesday was a 2000 meter swim.  Yesterday, I think was the hardest I've ever worked in a bike.  On the trainer were several big gear go as hard as you can intervals meant to simulate time trial conditions. 

Today was my longest swim ever I think:  2500 meters.  Felt really good. After some recovery time, I followed that with an interval run on the treadmill.  I don't have the dexterity to hop off and on the treadmill with it going 8-9 mph so I had to modify it slightly. 

For the rest of the week is another swim workout tomorrow, 3400 meters total, which is nearly the IM distance.  Saturday is the big day:  my first mini(half) marathon.  Weather is supposed to be nice so should be a fun day.  Because of that, had to move my long bike to Sunday.

Next update on Sunday! 

Sunday, April 24, 2011

End of Week 2

Today ended the second week, of 20, of my IMKY training program.  The big event this week was my longest run ever today at 11.5 miles (18.5 km).  Not that I was super strong at the end but I am feeling very good about the mini marathon on Saturday.  I'm certain I could have gone another 1.5 miles.  The only issue was feeling like I could have used another dose of electrolytes toward the end.  Will make the adjustment on Saturday.

The bad news of the week was yesterday's IMKY training ride.  We've had so much rain that's it just dangerous to ride the course as a lot of it is near the river.  That means I got to spend 2 hours indoors on the bike trainer, which I just hate.

For the week:  15 miles run; nearly 4 hours cycling; and 5300 meters swimming.

Week 3 starts tomorrow with a slight deviation for the mini-marathon on Saturday, my normal long biking day.  After this week, I plan on following the plan as closely as possible until event day.

Monday:  70 minutes on bike trainer with some intervals.
Tuesday:  2000 meter swim; 30 minute run.
Wednesday:  70 minutes cycling.
Thursday:  2500 meter swim; 30 minute run.
Friday:  3400 meter swim.
Saturday:  Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon.
Sunday:  3 hours cycling.

See you Wednesday!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

A Short Update

Today was day 10/140.  Did an indoor ride on Monday with some low cadence intervals built in, a swim yesterday and a 75 minute ride around the parks today.  The riding distances are starting to pick up, which makes sense as the bike portion is the longest part of the day. 

I'm riding part of the Ironman course as my long bike on Saturday with several other potential Iron folks.  For a $10 donation, you get nutrition, support, etc.  Very good deal for all that you get.  I have no crazy ideas of trying to go the full 112 miles (180 km) this early in the season but I hope to make the 60 mile route that's offered, which I assume will be one loop of the two loop IMKY course.  This is going to be one huge benefit of living in the city you're doing: I can train on the actual course.  It's also going to be time to start testing my race day nutrition.

To finish up the week, I have 2 runs and 2 swims to go with the long bike. 

See you on Sunday!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

End of Week 1

Finished with the first week, part of the "Building a Routine" section over weeks 1 - 4.  Didn't run as much as I'm used to but did get to run on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track today as part of a charity 5k.

That's me kissing the bricks at the speedway.

For the week, 5 hours cycling, 6 miles run and 2900 meters swimming. 

For the upcoming week, week 2 out of 20:

Monday: 60 minutes cycling including some hard 1 minute intervals.
Tuesday: 1400 meter swim.
Wednesday: 75 minutes moderate cycling.
Thursday: 2000 meter swim; 30 minute easy run.
Friday: 1700 meter pyramid swim set.
Saturday:  2.5 hour cycling.  Going to be riding some of the IMKY course with fellow entrants.
Sunday:  Long run, last long one before the mini-marathon on April 30th.  Hoping to go 10-12 miles.

Next update on Wednesday!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Mid-Week Update

Finished up today with day 3 out of 140.  I knew it was going to feel "light" at first as I selected a beginner level plan and had been regularly doing the 3 disciplines over the winter.  However, I'm determined to stick with the plan.

Monday was a 60 minute easy bike ride.  I was hoping the weather would hold but ended up riding the trainer indoors as it rained and stormed for something like 15 consecutive hours in Louisville.  So cranked up Netflix on the PS3 and watched 3 episodes of The Office while I rode.  Still a bit boring but The Office certainly made it more bearable.

Tuesday was a 1400 meter swim with some 25 meter sprints built in to get you used to the feeling of swimming fast.  As I said in my Sunday post, I planned on using cycling as an active recovery tool and still enjoy some cycling with my LBC buddies.  Tuesday evening's weather was sunny and about 63 (17 C for my international friends) so couldn't resist.  Chose the short route however and forced myself to ride nice and easy.

Today was another 60 minute easy bike ride and the weather was perfect outside in long sleeves.  So did a couple Seneca/Cherokee Park loops and again forced myself to take it easy.  As all the training programs say, "make the easy days easy and the hard days hard."

Finally, my running buddy Ken and I made a slight change to our Sunday long run this week.  We're going to head to Indianapolis and run with Dean Karnazes, the guy who is currently running across the USA over 75 days.  The event will raise money for charity and also have us running on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's track. Should I bring a quart of milk to drink at the finish and kiss the bricks?  I'll post some shots of our fun next week.

Swimming and running tomorrow, biking Saturday, update on Sunday.  Thanks for reading!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

And so it begins...

Yes, it's time.  140 days until IMKY.  Even though I've been doing the 3 disciplines on a regular basis, the official TriFuel 20 week program begins tomorrow. 

But before I get started on that, I wanted to share my thoughts on something my running buddies and I talked about today during our (hot as hell) 9 miler.  I'm not sure "race" is a good name for these triathlons, marathons, etc.  Yes, there are some people racing, but for most of us, maybe we should call them "events" or "celebrations?"  IMKY might have 3000 or so people signed up? How many are actually racing? 100-200?  The rest of us are just trying to better ourselves, get a medal, finish, etc. 

Just my 2 cents.

On to the training at hand.  The title of weeks 1 - 4 is "Building a Routine."  The idea is to get you used to working out each week and teaching your body the days you work on a specific discipline.  So the numbers won't seem big but it is only week 1.  I am, however, going to adjust the running portion until I complete the Mini Marathon on April 30.  So the Sunday runs the next 2 weeks will be long relative to what the plan says.  I will also use cycling as active recovery so may add some fun rides to my schedule, just to get out a bit more with my cycling buddies.   The running also seems light at first but during the first few weeks, you are often doing 1 workout per day and will be adding second workouts on some days in later weeks.

Monday: 60 minutes easy cycling.
Tuesday: 1400 meter swim.
Wednesday: 60 minutes easy cycling.
Thursday: 1500 meter swim; 30 minute easy run.
Friday: Off.
Saturday: 2 hours easy cycling.
Sunday: Long run (something around 10 miles).

Next update on Wednesday.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

It's Been a While...

Yes, it has been a while since my last update.  The reason is that I haven't really had much to say beyond just posting workout info.  Kind of boring if you ask me.  However, I thought I was due for an update after a couple interesting events and the official start of my IMKY training program in a few days.

The first event was completing the Papa John's 10 Miler in a personal best, 1:49:51.  Not fast, I know but that sort of distance usually takes me about 8 minutes longer.  The cool part was doing it with my pal Ken and doing it "naked."  That is, no iPods, no GPS watches, just goofing off and having fun, enjoying the day.  Since the course was pretty hilly in the mile 3-6 area, I was very happy with the result.  One other interesting fact was that there was water only on the entire course.  I had luckily packed some electrolyte tabs so that helped.  It was good that it was a nice cool day.

The other big event was a bike crash last night.


That's my knee.  I went down, thankfully at a relatively low speed so just a nice knot and scrape on my knee along with a few other scrapes and bruises.  My right hand is really sore but hopefully just a bruise or sprain.  Going to give it a couple days before I get too worried.  The bike, on the other hand, suffered.  The carbon base handle bar cracked up near the brake lever.  After the crash, I got up, inspected my bike, and except for the right brake lever being a bit askew, everything looked fine.  But on the next track crossing about 3 minutes later, I felt the bar crack.  Since it was right where the tape is, it was still sort of held together, so I didn't go down.  More good luck I guess. 

The bike is at my favorite local shop for repairs so will have it back in a few days.  Will have to get out my road bike for any rides this weekend but that's a relatively small bump in the road.

As far as training goes, still doing all three disciplines regularly but not going overboard until the real training program starts on Monday.  I will be posting updates on Sundays and Wednesdays as I get closer.

Expect a big post on Sunday.