Weekend Roundup

Four great days of workouts!

Thursday

Brick day: 10.37 miles on the bike followed by a 5K with 5x1:00 intervals. The bike was easy, and for the most part so was the run, but by the last interval I felt like I had asthma: my throat was closing up slightly, and I couldn't get a full breath. No big deal, the cool-down was fine.

Friday

More swimming! 2000m total:

• 500m warm-up
• 500m long (in 10:05)
• 4x100m
• 8x50
• 8x25

Felt great the whole time. The 500m was a breeze, and I almost wish I had gone farther, but I'm glad I didn't as I struggled a bit more in the 100's. 

Saturday

56.50 miles on the bike, 9 loops at Yorktown. Runkeeper messed up a bit, and it lags like crazy when I try to edit it, but oh well. I had gatorade prime before the ride, and a cliff bar at the half-way point. I didn't have any heart rate issues on the last loop (unlike in my 50 mile ride last week), but it was still pretty hard on my quads, and a bit on my knees. No mechanical issues either, of course because I now carry a spare tube in my saddle bag for just such an occurrence. Went home and pigged out on a cheeseburgers, fries and soda. Probably not a good idea, but I had a craving.

Sunday

After watching the Olympic Marathon (won by a Uganda runner in 2:08) I was inspired to attempt a 20 mile run. I took last Sunday off, did 19 miles the week before that, and 18 the week before that, so I felt like I was perfectly primed for a big push. So I filled up a 1-gallon jug with water, grabbed a bunch of energy gels, and planned on doing four 5-mile loops at battlefield. However, after one loop it was obvious that I didn't have 20 miles in me, so I cut the mileage and push the pace instead. Ended up with 13.1 miles at a 10:00 pace, though I focused primarily on keeping my heart rate just below 160 bpm. It's a good thing I cut the mileage early, because by the last few miles my left knee was acting up a bit... not major pain but a little discomfort. Went home and pigged out on cheez-its and soda.

My diet has been garbage on the weekends lately, but it is what it is. I'll shore that up when I have races coming up, but during training I don't think it's a big deal.

Who Said Swimming Was Hard?

I was able to shake off my poor swim workout for the rest of the night on Tuesday, but at work on Wednesday it was like a stain on my pride. It was in my head, gnawing away at what little swim confidence I'd built up in the last month. I felt like a baseball closer who had blown a game: I wanted to get back on the mound as soon as possible. So I tinkered with my training schedule and went straight to the pool when I got off work. It was my first "Week 5" swim, which meant the following:

• 500 warm-up (4x25, 2x50, 2x75, 2x50, 2x25)
• 500 long
• 6x100m
• 10x50m
• 12x25m

I took the warm-up as slow as possible, and I felt pretty fresh, but the 500m long swim seemed like a daunting task. I got started, felt okay after the first 100m, but by the 200m mark I was already bartering with myself. "Okay, if you can't do more than 250 then stop and rest for 30 seconds before doing the rest." That sort of thing. But 250 came and went, and I fell into a nice groove and finished the 500 without much trouble in 10:01. Doing 75-free/25-breast really breaks up the monotony of the long swim and gives me something to focus on. 

I moved on to the sets of x100, and felt so good that I did 8 instead of 6. During the 50's my right shoulder started getting exhausted; not sore the way it has gotten in the past, but "dead" the way it gets when I've done 5 sets of barbell overhead press. Weight lifters call this the "pump", and I'm sure I got this because I swam two days in a row. I was happy that this was my limiting factor instead of cardiovascular exhaustion, so I did 5x50 and 4x25 before exiting the pool victorious. My success was immediately rewarded by an ice cream social that the neighborhood was hosting at the pool. 

Before now I've been scheduling each pool workout rigorously: warm-up, long swim, and then this many sets of 100, this many sets of 50, this many sets of 25. I'm thinking from now on I won't be so strict. I'll keep the warm-up and the long swim the same, but beyond that I'll just do as many 100's I can and listen to my body for the 50's and 25's. 

Fuck You, Rain.

There was a high chance of rain on Monday (for the 4th time in the last 5 planned swims!) so I hopped on my bike and did intervals instead. This proved to be a good decision, as it started thundering a few minutes into the ride. Did one loop warm-up, then 5x2:00 intervals up in Z4. I usually do a full loop as a cool-down, but the wind was picking up and it was sprinkling so I went straight home.

First time averaging over 18 mph! I can feel myself getting stronger. Next week I do intervals again, and then the week after that I'm doing a brick speed test to simulate my sprint triathlon: 12 miles on the bike followed by a 5K, both as fast as possible. Because I've felt so good while doing bricks I want to see how fine my legs feel after KILLING it on the bike. This will let me know if I need to hold back on the bike at all to save for the run, or if I should go all-out the entire race.

On Tuesday I went to the pool after work, and had probably the worst workout I've ever had. The warm-up felt fine, and even the 400m long swim wasn't terrible, but after that it fell apart. Instead of 6 sets of 100m, I did two. No problem, I thought, I'm just extra tired today. I'll switch to 50's earlier. So I switched to 50's... and could only do 7. I stayed winded, couldn't take a deep-enough breath in between sets, and could tell that my heart rate was too high the whole time. I switched to sets of 25's, did four of those, and reevaluated everything.

Sometimes you have to power through the pain and push yourself during a workout, and sometimes you have to call it quits. Today was the latter.

I went home and encouraged my wife to go for a run (she was debating it because the sky looked like it was going to rain), but the heavens dumped on her. After 2.5 miles of rainy running she called me to come pick her up since there was lightning. We both felt pretty pathetic, but hey, not all days are rainbows and gumdrops. I'm planning on swimming again on Wed and Fri, which would allow me to focus on the long bike on Sat and the long run on Sun. 

Impromptu Half-Century

Saturday morning I woke up at 4:00am to watch the Women's Triathlon in the Olympics, and was glad I did after seeing the photo finish. I met Uri at Yorktown afterwards, with the plan of biking with him until he got tired and then continuing on until I hit my goal of 40 miles. This time I brought my newly purchased repair bag, which straps on underneath the saddle. I also had my hand-pump, which attaches to the cross-bar on the frame and rattles slightly when the ground is bumpy. I also brought plenty of nutrition: two bottles of water, a bottle of gatorade, 2 gel packs, a gatorade prime pack, and a power bar.

Uri and I got started a little after 7:00, and I gulped down the gatorade prime (which tastes like liquid jello!) before heading out. Riding with a partner is much easier than going solo. Not only are they a welcome distraction, but drafting is fantastic. This was my first time drafting, and you can really tell a difference, especially going down hills where the wind resistance is high. We did three loops together, stopping after each one so Uri could refill his water and I could eat a gel pack.

After he left I continued on, feeling fantastic. However, I felt so good that I didn't pace myself well at all. My heart rate was in the 140s for most of the first three laps, but in lap 4 it was up in the 150s and 160s and I didn't bother to slow things down. After 36 miles I still felt good so I decided to do two more full laps, which would put me at 56 miles, the distance in a half-ironman. But in the next lap I really bonked. My heart rate quickly got into the 160s and never slowed down, even though I was riding at an easy pace. My legs started getting tired, and the hills got harder and slower, and after 50 miles I was done. Still a great accomplishment for me, but I learned a valuable lesson: no matter how good you feel, don't push yourself too hard too early. The data told me that I should have slowed down and I ignored it, and I paid the price.

Before now I've been using triathlon shorts for biking, and on Friday I bought some cycling-specific shorts. They're significantly more comfortable with a larger, thicker chamois pad. I felt good during the entire ride Saturday, and can't wait to see how they feel when I do intervals on Monday.

Sunday morning I woke up and had no motivation to do a long run. My quads were sore, it's was hot/humid at 6:00am, and the Women's Marathon was on, followed by tennis. So Bre went running and I stayed in and relaxed. At 11:00 I went to the pool (since I skipped it on Saturday) for my swim workout, and I tried another new trick. I found a website that talks about how most swimmers don't exhale enough, and suggested a way to test this: go to the deep end, take a deep breath, and float under water. Then start exhaling air until you begin to sink. The amount of air required to sink is how much you should expel while swimming. I did this for a few minutes to get a feel for the amount and then swam my routine, and I felt pretty damn good the whole time. Between that, swimming every stroke, and adding breast stroke every 4th length I had no problem doing my 400m long swim, which I finished in 7:48. Slightly slower than on Thursday, but I felt better the whole time, and probably could have done more. My arms still ache by the end of the 100m sets, but I'm not getting winded anymore and they were noticeably easier. The 50s were a breeze as well. After that I was very thirsty and could tell I was getting sunburned, so I only did 4 sets of 25 before calling it quits. Felt great, and ate like a horse the rest of the day.

Two more hard weeks of training before tapering for the RockNRoll half-marathon on Sep 2 and my sprint triathlon on Sep 9. I'm getting excited!

Saved by the Thunder

Why does it only seem to rain on days that I have a swim scheduled? It was sunny all day yesterday until I got off work at 4:00, and then the clouds are rolling in. Like Tuesday it looked like rain was imminent, but I headed over to the pool anyways to get my first Week 4 swim workout in. Here was the plan:

• 500m warm-up (4x25, 2x50, 2x75, 2x50, 2x25)
• 400m long
• 7x100m
• 10x50m
• 16x25m

Fearing the worst from the rain I skipped the 2x75 warm-up sets in order to ensure I at least got my long swim in. I asked for advice in the Swimming group on Fitocracy about getting winded too easily, and received some good pointers. I mentioned that I start off breathing every 3rd stroke, and eventually switch to breathing every stroke when I get winded, so someone suggested breathing every stroke from the beginning and continuing that the entire time. Another person suggested switching to breaststroke or backstroke every 4th lap as a way to "catch up" on breathing. I tried both during my long swim, and I think it helped. Breathing every stroke seemed more natural to me, though I think this caused me to swim faster than I otherwise should have, so I need to focus on keeping slow, smooth strokes. Doing breast stroke every 4th lap also helped, though not as much as if I had done backstroke, which I may try next time. However, doing a different stroke every 4th lap made it MUCH easier to keep track of how much I had swam, as it begins getting difficult after 200m or so. I completed the 400m in 7:45, a 1:56/100m pace. Good enough for me.

I continued breathing every stroke as I switched to my 100m sets. It seemed fine, and I wasn't getting winded, but my arms were getting fatigued very quickly. My first few sets I was averaging about 1:41 (very pleased with the time!), so perhaps I'm going too fast since I feel less winded. In any case the speed is unintentional; on the 100s I just sort of swim without thinking about pace, trying to focus on good breathing. I'm wondering if I'm starting to find my ideal groove to swim in, though my arm strength needs to catch up. It makes me hopeful. 

After three sets of 100 my arm fatigue was pretty extreme, so I decided to listen to my body and switch to 50s. I did four of those at an easy pace before thunder closed the pool. I must admit that I was relieved at the thunder. My body just wasn't feeling this workout, and I didn't want to cut it short on my own accord. 1250m is still a solid workout though, and every drop in the bucket helps.

I pigged out for dinner: homemade nachos, Half Baked icecream, and sour patch kids. Shut up.

Looking forward to the weekend: 40+ mile ride with Uri on Saturday followed by a swim, and then a long run on Sunday. The forecast is a high of 88 both days, though some cloud coverage would be welcome. I'm not sure how much I want to run: I think I'll either do a half-marathon at a pretty solid pace, or if it's cooler I'll push it and go for 20 miles. The women's triathlon is on Saturday morning at 4:00am, so I want to wake up early and watch that before going on my long ride with Uri. I'm also planning on buying some real cycling shorts before my long run, since the tri shorts have been killing me lately. 

Brick and Intervals - All In One!

Yesterday I was scheduled to do running intervals, and I decided to throw in some cycling beforehand because I haven't done a brick in a while. It was a pretty easy 10.43 mile ride, which ended up being my fastest average speed (17.65 mph) while keeping my average heart rate at 147! That's at the very low end of Z2, hardly any effort at all. It helps that I didn't hit a single red light, too.

Quick 3:00 transition to throw my vibrams on and I was out the door on the run. When I just run it takes 2-3 miles for my legs to feel good, but I always feel fantastic when I bike beforehand. Today was no different. I kept a pretty good pace (9:33) for the first mile before starting my intervals. Here's what the map looks like:

LOOK AT THE PRETTY INTERVAL SPIKES IN MY SPEED!

When I did intervals last week I felt dead by the end, but this time I felt so good that I did 6x1:00 intervals instead of 5. And once I finished those I kept my pace reasonably high for the final mile; my heart rate was staying right at 180, which is at the very top of Z4, but I felt good so I didn't slow down. Finished feeling unstoppable, and I almost wish I had pushed myself to do another loop to attempt a 10k PR. Oh well, maybe next time.

My contact lenses have been bothering me lately, and I've chalked it up to dehydration from all the exercise. However, I woke up this morning and my right eye is a little swollen/puffy, so it may be something worse. It seems to happen after going to the pool, which worries me. Hopefully it's not bothering me this afternoon so I can start Week 4 of my swim plan.

Saddles Sores are Becoming a Problem

Monday was interval day on the bike, and I felt surprisingly good despite running 19 miles the day before. 10.38 miles total on the bike, 5x2:00 intervals at >170 heart rate. When I did my first bike interval workout last week I was struggling by the end. This time it felt much better, and if it weren't so windy I probably would have done more. But it was windy, so I stopped at 5 intervals and did a very short 4 minute cool-down before heading home. It's good to know that my enormous thighs are good for something!

However, I had some pretty bad saddle sores during the ride. I'm wondering if this had anything to do with Saturday's ride. I felt fine during the first 24 miles before getting a flat tire, but hurt that afternoon when I went back out for another 10. I wore my tri pants in the 4 hour period in between rides, which may have been a bad idea. Regardless, I think I need to buy some real cycling pants for training.

Tuesday had a 100% chance of rain forecast from 4:00-6:00, confirmed by the huge blob of green on the radar, so I delayed instead of going straight to the pool after work. Around 5:00 the radar showed the rain directly on top of us... but there was no rain outside. After 10 minutes of this I said "Fuck it", ran over to the pool, and swam my workout. It sprinkled a little bit while I was there, but there was never any thunder that required everyone to leave the pool. I'm glad I didn't play it safe by staying home. It was my final Week 3 workout, and it went pretty well: the 300m long swim was a little tough, and I had to resort to breathing every stroke to my left, but I got it done in 5:50, a 1:56/100m pace. Not great, but right now I'm just trying to get the distance down.

The rest of the workout was easy, but a bit monotonous. The 100m sets are easier every time, and the 50s are now a piece of cake. My biggest struggle is still getting winded too soon. Focusing on swimming slow is key, because when I start getting winded I speed up in order to breath more frequently, which of course exhausts me even quicker. Thursday is my first Week 4 plan swim, and I'm going to do my best to concentrate on slow, easy strokes.

When I first started running in 2010, I could go for maybe half a mile before getting winded, and I would stop and walk for 20 seconds before running again. I would run/walk like this for long distances, but could never just run endlessly. It wasn't until I ran with my wife, which forced me to go at a slower pace, that I found my "groove" and could suddenly run continuously at the right sustainable pace. It was a breakthrough for me, and running became extremely easy afterwards. I'm hoping for the same sort of breakthrough in swimming, and feel as if I'm only a few weeks away from that.