Week in Review: 3-7 through 3-28

Quiet and hilly roads around the Training Farm

It was a pretty solid week, finishing with a great weekend of biking and running at the Training Farm with Triboomer.  It was so good, I needed to take Monday completely off to rest and recover.  I got some new gear (Nike Frees) and nailed my nutrition, so everything is coming together nicely.  Here's some totals:  

Swimming - 2 hours, 4.78 miles.

Biking - 7:18 hours, 116 miles.

Running - 6:15 hours, 40 miles.

Heart attack, anyone?

The highlight of the week* was running 14.5 hilly miles at a 9:12 pace on Sunday morning, despite having ran and biked over 5 hours the day before. 

Click on the links below ("Move") to see detailed numbers and notes from each workout.

Sunday Bike Move 2:00'00 hours, 30.19 miles.

*Sunday Run Move 2:13'31 hours, 14.50 miles

Saturday Bike Move  3:17'21.9 hours 54.45 miles 

Saturday Run Move 2:00'15.7 hours 12.79 miles

Friday Bike Move 1:00'06.2 hours 14.90 miles

Thursday Swim Move 1:00'17 hours 2.39 miles

Wednesday Run Move 1:00'40.7 hours 6.59 miles

Tuesday Bike Move 1:00'02 hours 16.61 miles

Tuesday Swim Move 1:00'00 hours 2.39 miles

Monday Run Move 1:00'53.1 hours 6.21 miles

Monday Core Move 0:16'48 hours 

How to Train in Zone 2 in the Pool.

Zone two is great stuff - it is that perfect level of effort that makes you faster but doesn't beat you up so bad that tomorrow's workout is compromised.  The problem is that most people need a heart rate monitor (HRM) to make sure they stay in that zone, but HRMs are difficult to use in the pool.  

The way to get it done with the least amount of fuss is to train yourself to know what zone two feels like while you are wearing the HRM when biking and running.  Hit the pool and try to emulate that exact same feeling while swimming.  How do you do this?  Easy:

1. Breathing - Study your breathing pattern while biking and running in zone two.  How hard is it?  Bump up into zone three and look for the changes.  Notice them and put them into your memory bank.
2. Muscle burn - How much more stress do you put on your muscles when moving from zone one to two and up to three?  You should be able to discern the difference and remember it.
3. Repetition - One workout of studying this isn't going to help.  It takes several weeks of training your mind to pay attention to the differences before you can get it done in the pool.  When you get good at it, you should be able to guess your heart rate within just a couple of beats at any time during your bike or run.  Give it a try by not looking at your HRM for long periods of time and then guessing what the value is before you look. 

That's really about it.  Keep practicing this and you should be on your way to great swims in a short time.  Big thanks for this blog post idea go out to the incredibly handsome Coach Adam on Twitter.

My Perfect Green Smoothie

I get asked a lot about how I make my green smoothies.  The recipe does change, but this is what I'm doing lately.

About two cups of Odwalla Superfood.
Tall boy of Amy and Brian's coconut juice.
Two big leaves of kale.
Handful of carrots.
Fat slice of pineapple.
Spoonful of spirulina
Tablespoon of flax oil.
Tablespoon of olive oil.
Half an avocado.

I grind that up in my Vita-mix and sometimes add some pumpkin seeds for additional texture.  It's far sweeter than you'd think and really good for you.  Give it a try!

Week in Review - Feb 28th thru March 6th.

It's been a great rest week, capped off with running the Armadillo Dash Half Marathon with Cathy.  She is visually impared, so I ran with her to help get it done.  There is lots more about this incredible experience coming in a podcast later this week.

I cut back my training hours and focused on getting some other things done and spending time with Cathy and family.  It's been fun!

Here's the totals and a small sampling of some of the workouts (still working on that query!) - 

Duration

Running

5:20 hours

Cycling

4:30 hours

Swimming

2:44 hours

Circuit training

0:02 hours

Distance

Cycling

72.05 mile

Running

29.08 mile

Swimming

6.08 mile

Total - 12:36 hours, 107.2 miles.

Podcast - No, YOU'RE Awesome!

Click Here to Listen to the Show!

Join in for another great episode of ZenTri as we introduce a new segment called, "This Week in Awesome."  I also take you with me for another installment of The Training Log, and I detail how to not eat for a day in preparation for my colonoscopy.  

Shownotes!

Fahrendreisen Bike Ride.

Mayday Challenge bike race. (Old site, new site coming soon.)

Amy and Brian's kicks ass.

This Week in Awesome!

Coaching kid's soccer.

Best training tool ever.

Swimming as recovery.

Carbo-Pro rocks.

Overfueling issues.

Cottonmouth sucks.

Pigging out on free food at H.E.B.

Portion control is where it's at.

"I've never met anybody that's run 100 miles before."

Out on a long run in the fog.

Gotta lube up the undercarriage.

"Brett's taking grass away from all those poor cows."

What's in non-dairy coffee creamer.

Arguing in a triathlete household.

Better communication gets you better workouts.

Running like Michael Jackson.

I'd rather not get shot in the butt with electrify.

Move your long run to the middle of the week if possible.

The world is better with lots of people eating less meat than only a few people eating no meat.

I've lost 50 lbs. doing triathlons and eating better.

Socks suck.

Out to coach soccer.

Out on 4 hour bike ride, brutal conditions.

Fueling issues… when to quit?

RoadID Elite Bracelet review.

Skateboarding with Roxy, working on balance.

I'm a prisoner.

On the way to my colonoscopy.

Colonoscopy review with Emily.

Pro list for my next triathlon.

Zen Thoughts - "You cover where you stand."

Click here to listen or download!