Last Long Thursday Long Run

This is folks! Next Thursday is 90min and the following 60. Today is the last really long run before Ironman.

The weather here is much cooler than the report has you believe:
Temp: 55
Wind: From SSE at 9 mph
Humidity: 77%

I dressed for that with a long sleeve base shirt, t-shirt, and shorts. Jogged to the Chicago lakefront and headed North. I knew there would be a head wind coming back but figured I could always use some mental toughening. Going out it was hard to stay anywhere close to my EZ pace and I often found myself a minute faster. A quick turnaround at 75min and smack in the face with the 10mph wind. OK, I knew this was coming. Continued on now only 10sec faster than EZ pace. The further South I went the stronger the wind became (I guessed 15 – 20mph) and I ended up bailing on the intervals in favor of just keeping the EZ pace. Made it 16mi in 2:33min and am still shivering a little at my desk.

A quick weather check of a landmark along the lakefront:
Temp: 55
Wind: From SE at 15 mph
Humidity: 79%

Last Weeks Workouts and My First Outdoor Bike of the Season

This was my second week of training with power and that thing is unforgiving!  Great workouts and all very tough.  The big news is that this last Saturday I got to ride outside for the first time.  It was really something to see how the watts translated to speed and real world road conditions.  There were a couple things that really struck me.  First, how many watts you spend accelerating up to speed and up hills.  Second, how much easier it is to sit at higher wattage outdoors than in.

It was a lot of fun watching the power meter fluctuate and checking the reading on the tiny Chicago hills on the lakefront bike path.  We rode on the South side of the city where there is generally less traffic on the path and it's easier to maintain a steady pace.  The ride was a beginner bike session that I was helping lead with the Element Triathlon Club.  Our pace was an easy 13 - 14 MPH that allowed us to help coach and teach the hand signals and other nuances of riding in a group.  It amazed me to see how many watts were spent keeping that pace while climbing up these really small hills.  Without effort or knowing, I would spike up to 450 - 500 watts on these small climbs and started to make an effort to keep the watts down.  These aren't big hills and if Chicago wasn't so flat there would be no point in mentioning them other than the surprising amount of wattage it took to get over them.  This is good to know now.  The more wattage it takes to get over a hill, the more work that has to be done, the less energy that is available for the run later.  I'll have to watch how I power up hill and try to become more effective in my shifting and attacking hills.

After the beginner ride, I took about 20 - 25 minutes and just played around on the path to see what riding at FTP feels like and what riding at my previous pace registered on the power meter.  Interestingly enough, FTP felt like cake!  It was so easy!!  Riding at threshold was a nice 21 - 22 MPH pace and one that I could have kept up for a long time.  The pace gearing that I rode at last year put me at about 23 - 24 MPH and 10 - 15 watts higher than threshold.  This was an effort that I could hold through an Olympic distance race or most of a Half Ironman.  The interesting part was how hard I have to work to get over threshold when I ride in-doors on my bike trainer.  After consulting with my new team, Endurance Nation, the answer became apparent.  There is no momentum, inertia, or coasting on the bike trainer!  The wheel either turns from pedaling or it stops.  I guess this compliments the no BS attitude of the power meter and Endurance Nation workouts.

For those who aren't familiar with reading workout plans, the zones I'm supposed to work at are listed on the right hand side of the blog.  The 2 x 15min designation means that I'm supposed to do 2 intervals 15 minutes long at a certain intensity.  There is usually a 3 - 5 minute recovery between intervals.

Date	Sport		Training Plan	Actual
3/16	Swim	Warm UP		100yards 3 x 8 drills
		Main Set		4 x 100 Z1 + 100 Z4
		Warm Down		100yards
3/17	Bike	Warm Up	15min @ Z1	15min @ less than 151W
		Main Set	2 x 15min @ Z4 - Z5 4min recover between sets	2 x 15min @ 220 - 242W 4min recover between sets
		Warm Down	10min @ Z1	10min @ less than 151W
3/18	Run	Warm Up	15min @ Z1	15min @ Z1
		Main Set	4 x 1 mile @ Z4 4min recover @ Z1	3 x 1 mile @ 8:22 4min recover @ 10:22
		Warm Down	5min @ Z1	5min @ 10:22
	Swim	Warm Up	8 laps of drills.  Drill 25 yards and swim back 25 yards	8 laps of drills.  Drill 25 yards and swim back 25 yards
		Main Set	3 x 200 2 x 300 2 x 400	3 x 200 2 x 300 2 x 400
3/19	Bike	Warm Up	15min @ Z1	15min @ less than 151W
		Main Set	2 x 10min @ Z4 - Z5 4min recovery	2 x 15min @ 220 - 242W 4min recover between sets
		Warm Down	10min @ Z1	10 min @ less than 151W
3/20	brick	Warm Up	15min @ Z1	15min @ less than 151W
	Bike	Main Set	1 x 10min @ Z4 - Z5 5min @ Z1 2 x 12min @ Z3 3min recovery	1 x 10min @ 220 - 242W 5min @ less than 151W 2 x 12min @ 176 - 187W 3min recover between sets
		Warm Down	5min @ Z1	5min @ less than 151W
	Run	Main Set	15min @ Z2 15min @ Z3	15min @ about 8:45 15min @ about 8:30
		Warm Down	5min @ z1	5min walking
3/21	Run	Warm Up	15min @ Z1
		Main Set	3 x 200 @ z5 3 x 400 @ z5 3 x 200 @ z5 full recoveries between	Missed this workout
		Warm Down	5min @ z1

Last Weeks Workouts - Now With POWER!

As a birthday gift to myself I purchased a Power Tap power meter.  These devices have been around for a while and can really transform the way workouts are structured and their effectiveness.  Heart rate training is pretty subjective and is easily influenced by outside factors such as stress, caffeine, rest, or alcohol.  Power meters measure the wattage you generate while pedaling and a watt is a watt no matter what.  The power meter doesn't care if you had a double espresso or if you got a full nights sleep.  It only cares how hard you are working during your intervals.

For those who aren't familiar with reading workout plans, the zones I'm supposed to work at are listed on the right hand side of the blog.  The 2 x 15min designation means that I'm supposed to do 2 intervals 15 minutes long at a certain intensity.  There is usually a 3 - 5 minute recovery between intervals.

Date	Sport	Training Plan		Actual
3/10	Bike	Warm UP	15min @ Z1	15min @ less that 151W
		Main Set	2 x 15min @ Z4 - Z5 4min recover between sets	2 x 15min @ 220 - 242W 4min recover between sets
		Warm Down	10min @ Z1	10 min @ less that 151W
	Run	Main Set	40min @ Z1	Missed the workout
3/11	Run	Warm Up	15min @ Z1	15min @ Z1
		Main Set	4 x 1 mile @ Z4 4min recover @ Z1	3 x 1 mile @ 8:22 4min recover @ 10:22
		Warm Down	5min @ Z1	5min @ 10:22
	Swim	Warm Up	8 laps of drills.  Drill 25 yards and swim back 25 yards	8 laps of drills.  Drill 25 yards and swim back 25 yards
		Main Set	Don't remember	Don't remember
3/12	Bike	Warm Up	15min @ Z1	15min @ less than 151W
		Main Set	2 x 10min @ Z4 - Z5 4min recovery	2 x 15min @ 220 - 242W 4min recover between sets
		Warm Down	10min @ Z1	10 min @ less than 151W
3/14	brick	Warm Up	15min @ Z1	15min @ less than 151W
	Bike	Main Set	1 x 10min @ Z4 - Z5 5min @ Z1 2 x 12min @ Z3 3min recovery	1 x 10min @ 220 - 242W 5min @ less than 151W 2 x 12min @ 176 - 187W 3min recover between sets
		Warm Down	5min @ Z1	5min @ less than 151W
	Run	Main Set	15min @ Z2 15min @ Z3	15min @ about 8:45 15min @ about 8:30
		Warm Down	5min @ z1	5min walking
3/15	Run	Warm Up	15min @ Z1
		Main Set	3 x 200 @ z5 3 x 400 @ z5 3 x 200 @ z5 full recoveries between	3 x 1.5 mile @ 8:22 4min recover @ 10:22
		Warm Down	5min @ z1	5min walking

Tenative Race Schedule

Official training for Ironman Arizona (IM AZ) hasn't started yet (And won't start until I get a coach!) but I am preparing for St. Anthony's Triathlon with Team In Training.  Training with TNT helps me by getting me back into the routine of training, have people to train with, and, most importantly, help people who really need it.  This is the 3rd time doing this race with them and it was the first triathlon I participated in.  Plus, starting to build my endurance now will better prepare me for what's ahead.  That said, even once the "official" training starts there are still other races to do.  Racing through out the season leading to IM AZ will accomplish several things.

Break the season up  IM AZ isn't until November and that's 10 months away!  If I were to start training for and focusing on the IM I would burnout by July or August.  Adding various races through out the season will help keep my mind fresh and ready for what's ahead.

Provides a dress rehearsal  The best way to get better at doing something is to do it!  While there are several strenuous and challenging workouts looming this season, the only true way to prepare to race is by racing.  It's the best way to test the race plan and nutrition.

Have fun  Racing is fun!  It's why we do this!!

Here's my tentative schedule.  It will probably change based on money and how things work out my coach.

A level race

B level race

C level race

Tenative race

• Shamrock Shuffle         (8K) 3/29
  
• St Anthony's Triathlon (Olympic Dist) 4/26
• Memphins in May   (Olympic Dist) 5/17
• Soldier Field 10            (10 Mile) 5/23
• High Cliffs Half  (Half IM Dist) 6/20
  
• Culver Triathlon   (Sprint Dist) 7/12
  
• Lake Geneva Extreme  (Half IM Dist) 9/12
• Ironman Arizona (Ironman Dist) 11/22