Weekly Totals and Review, Nov 1 - Oct 7.
Sunday, November 7, 2010 at 9:53AM I noticed that the phenomenal ultra runner Anton Krupicka has been updating his blog again. If you're into endurance sports, you absolutely have to check it out and see how the best seem to do inhuman feats without even blinking. Study it closely and you'll see it's possible because he takes a very simple and focused approach. It's the love of running that gets it done.
I'm laughably far from the talent of Anton, but I thought I'd give his format a try, logging a weekly analysis of what I do as an Ironman triathlete. Not only can I understand more about what's going on with myself when I sit down and analyze it, but making the training for this level of fitness more transparent could be appreciated by many people who are still trying to make it happen in their own lives. And, I bet I'll get valuable input from others as well. The week below is around ten hours, but I usually log fifteen to twenty.
I want to preface the whole project with two caveats:
1. I can't have the energy to exercise this frequently while eating junk food. I've tried. I now eat primarily raw vegan, with cooked items like beans and oatmeal only when it presents itself. I need food high in nutrition and devoid of empty calories to give the body enough energy to get this done and feel good.
2. If you find what I'm doing interesting and want to try it yourself, start off by time at a decent effort level and not distance. For example, walk or bike for an hour at a 6 out of 10 effort level, and the distance you got done is just a result, not a target. You'll get faster over time.
Ok, let's get started! This is for a training week two weeks out from my Ironman event, the Ironbaby. This week is about reduced volume as I "taper" for the race and start resting the body.
Tue-AM: Run, 6.13 miles (1:00), Treadmill
Easy run on the treadmill. A little chilly outside and the novelty factor of the thing led me to running indoors. Good run.
Wed-AM: Swim, 4000 yards (55 minutes)
Set the watch to a timed interval of 1:23 per 100 yards. Dove in an did it non-stop, listening for the watch beep while turning to keep my pace on target. Having not swam for four days made this workout a little rough.
Wed-PM: Bike ride, 12.72 miles (1:00), Rollers
Easy ride because my legs were still a little blasted from the previous weekend's big workouts. Took forever to get up to a decent speed. Finished feeling fine and glad I did it.
Thurs-AM: Swim, 4000 yards (55 mins)
Feeling better today. Did the exact same swim as yesterday, and managed to squeeze in another 50 yards in the same time. That's a 1:22 pace!
Thurs-PM: Run, 8.39 miles (1:24)
Went out for an evening run around the neighborhood, listening to the "Born to Run" audio book. Wow. Everybody needs to read/listen to this thing. The biggest lesson is to eat and train simply and make sure you love what you're doing. I usually limit weekday runs to one hour, but the book inspired me to just run until I felt like I needed to get back home.
Friday-AM: Swim, 4000 yards on 1:21 pace (55 mins)
Swam the first half thinking I might be able to sustain a 1:20 per 100 yard pace, but 3 days of hard swimming in a row took it's toll. I bonked a little, felt like I might puke, but kept at it without stopping and ended up at a 1:21 pace. I think 1:21 is where I'll keep it for a while until it seems easier.
Friday-PM: Skipped workout for tapering
Went out with Emily and a bunch of her friends to let off steam and have some fun. Good times. :)
Sat-AM: Barefoot Run, 4 miles (1:02:35), Treadmill
Walked barefoot a while on the treadmill while drinking a yerba mate tea and checking Twitter and email. Took a short break and put together some Hornet Juice and ate a date, then started increasing the speed. Slowly increased speed every time it started feeling easy, ending up at 7 mph (8:34 pace) after just over an hour.
Having the treadmill as a controlled environment is an excellent training tool. I would only increase speed after I had successfully mastered the current one with excellent form. If my feet are banging into the treadmill and I'm not running silently and landing fore/midfoot, then I don't increase speed until I'm going more smoothly.
Sat-PM: Bike ride, 21.3 miles (1:00), Rollers
Adjusted the seat back just about a centimeter and it ended up being perfect. Glad to be back training on the rollers, as they continue to impress as to how well they simulate the open road. It's essentially the open road feel with the controlled environment of a treadmill.
Set up the laptop with external speakers on a chair in front of the bike and watched three episodes of Southpark, streaming from their website. The entertainment factor was excellent and made the time fly by.
As far as the exact workout, I was setting a benchmark for an hour rollers ride I can repeat several times a week, just like I do for swimming. Everybody is different, but what works best for me to consistently improve my speed and fitness is to workout at an exact pace for an hour. It will seem a little easy at first, and that's the warmup. After a while, it gets hard to sustain that pace, and thats where the improvement comes in. I do this several times a week, and then in a couple weeks, I'm able to increase the pace. Works amazingly well in the pool, so it's time to see how well it works on the bike. I suspect that doing this several times a week and then throwing in a long ride on weekends can have some big payoffs.
I averaged 21.34 mph for the entire 1 hour ride, so that's my target for the next ride. I plan to get up to 21.3 mph and then hit start on the watch, and sustain it for the whole ride. As far as rollers go, the only variable is tire pressure, which can be a pretty big deal; small changes have big impact. I'll have to check the PSI before every ride to make sure it's consistent.
Sun-AM: Barefoot Run 6.25 miles (1:00), Treadmill
Did a nice walk/run for a few minutes to get the blood flowing while I checked twitter and email on the iPhone, reset the treadmill, and then let it fly. I started out around 5 mph and slowly increased speed as I settled in, ending up at almost 7 mph. I listened to two Zen talk podcasts while running. Barefoot, perfect resistance, Zenned out... Nice.
It is hugely satisfying to monitor and watch the form improve while running barefoot. I go from heel-banging to soft-stepping in a short amount of time. It's something that is extremely hard to notice or fix while running with regular shoes. I also noticed how the legs don't get anywhere near the beating because the soft-stepping doesn't transmit the shock up the legs. Probably essential to logging the mileage I want to get in without wrecking my legs.
I came in later and talked with Emily while she was knocking out a 5 miler of her own. We both agreed about how nice it was to be able to have the treadmill. We talked about some family stuff and upcoming holidays while she ran and I was drinking a green smoothie. Yep, the treadmill has been a nice addition.
Sunday-PM: Bike ride, 22.3 miles (1 hour), rollers.
Rode this while Emily and Kai went to the grocery store. Knew I was going to bike indoors, so I had taken Roxy skateboarding in the sun for a few miles beforehand. That was fun.
I got the bike up to 21.3 mph and then hit "go" on the watch and let it fly. I was averaging 21.4 at 30 minutes in, then hopped off the bike for a second to get some more water. Got back on and the watch said 23.3 avg. Not sure what that was about, so I just kept up the same effort level. Ended up at 22.3, which I'll take as a mistake. Felt more like 21.4 or 21.5.
Anyway, felt like a 100% solid bike ride. HR was good, sweated all over the place, and form continues to be great. I wish I had started doing this a few months ago to prep better for the Ironbaby, but that's the breaks.
Weekly Totals -
Total Time: 10:11:52
All in all, a pretty good week. I reduced my bike and run volume by half, but kept up the intensity. I usually work out Mondays and go long on Weekends. I know from experience that I can keep up the swimming until two days from race day and be fine, but the biking and running has to end now so that my legs are rested. A big shout out Emily and all her friends for taking me out Friday night and having some fun.
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