Training Log Archive: O Steve!

I thought I would get a read on where I am at by doing a training Time trial around LOI....after a walk run warm up and a few short mild sprints to get ready I went for it....

started good but the heat slowed me on the back half (just my perception)...my best time was last years 23:12...so I was planning to get under that...I pushed hard charged the last hill and punch my watch to reveal......23:03...for the 2.75 mile loop?...

....I hit 181 at the end...and avg 160 HR for the loop....if it had been cooler I likely had dipped to 22:30 or 22:45...but alas I did not quite break 23:00 which is what I was hoping for.......

I am almost done with all the intense work for my next two triathlons......one more week before I taper and focus on recovery and consolidating....I have done pretty good in all 3 sports getting in structured intervals and making the workouts count...in my next races i will see what that has bought me....

cool down back....

HIIT....did :30 all out (>500 watts)/ 3:30 easy spin recovery

x 6

like last time I had a hard time getting over 500 W on the first two but finished strong with having no problem getting it done on the last two...HR to 150's on the interval...

C • Where were you? 2

quick hill work at Hyland with Kari while Syd is at a b'day party....

hiked up 4 times and jogged down....

A call to action to get a 5K snow making loop at Hyland....act now or it may not happen! It could be in place this Fall!

http://www.skinnyski.com/trails/display.asp?Id=300...

C • Bloomington 1

back in KC and it was 83F or so this time....but overcast and humid after a storm moved through...I figure I would hit that track near the hotel again after the 6.5 hour drive down....

decided to do 400's due to the heat. Keeping it shorter as opposed to 800's would give me a fighting chance in the heat....also decided to give myself 2:30 rest as opposed to the typical 2:00 to compensate for the heat....

warm up with a run 100 walk 100 alternating... for 1600:

12:20

1:15 rest

1 straight 1600 with HR in 120's ending at 129

10:20

3:37 recovery...

ready for the classic 8 x 100 (w 2:30 up and back walk for recovery):

(down to 105-117 on recovery and 147-165 on the interval)

2:04/2:03/2:04/2:03/2:02/2:03/1:56/1:54....

was hoping to be a :05 faster on each repeat but it was hot and humid....worked the last two a bit harder just to prove a point to myself.

:25 rest

1600 walk cool down w/ HR at 120-110

15:39...

off to Snap at KC for a quick one...

3 x 5:00 at 180 watts w/2:00 spin rest

another 10x100 classic....should tell me where I am at....

warm up with:

7 x 50 on 1:15 (:30 rest)

:43/:44/:43/:43/:43/:42/:42 (pretty quick times bodes well)

2:48 rest

main set:

10 x 100 on 1:50 (:20 rest)

1:27/1:29/1:30/1:31/1:32/1:30/1:30/1:31/1:31/1:29

hard workout!!

I couldnt go much faster...happy to avg just under 1:30...made it on the last one.....I might have to do another 450 Y TT...I might be ready to go under last years time of 6:52

random training thoughts:

-like Ian said, just as running wont necessarily make you a better orienteering runner, I don't think hard Orienteering runs is the best way to train for running fast....both are aerobic and have similarities but they are different animals....Orienteering is a good way to maintain fitness but if you want to run fast you are going to have to do pure runs on the track or roads...

-I come to fully accept and embrace that I am getting slower every year with age but I find that my new challenge....if I can slow down less than the norm i will gain on my peers....using age graded calculators on the run, bike, and swim are great motivators for me....I plan to beat the aging curve...

-I figure most get less motivated by seeing their time slows...I see that as an opportunity. I am motivated to train more efficient and more effective as I slow and use it as motivation to fight the fade...

-With a lack of genetics I have had to focus to be competitive in a small arena...that is why I focus on local sprint triathlons. They give me enough competition to make placing matter and I have a fighting chance. This makes the training matter. If I am within 3 minutes of a peer for a sprint triathlon I can train hard and make it a horse race by lowering my overall time by 3 minutes (:30 on the swim, 1:30 on the bike, 1:00 on the run).

-Having said all this, many times its just a matter of who shows up to determine where I will place. There are some people who will beat me no matter how hard i train....and others that I will beat. I am aiming for those close enough to me that I have to train hard to get fast enough to give me a chance and then I have to have a great race to beat them...in a typical field there may be 2 or 3 or people in this category and we will be racing for 1 or 2 places....with the 1st or 2 in my age group just to good to beat....my first tri this year was a perfect example of a fun field to race where the first 4 places where within :51 of each other....and I was able to out race one of these for 3rd. That was highly unusual though....

Still pushing it as hard as I can take it.....

bike intervals on the tri bike....same a before out in the Cedar Lake meadow trails on a appx one mile strip of path.....Kenil split to path over past Cedar lake bridge split....

go hard/spin back....HR reached 150 on the last one...I was fading as the intervals progressed despite the effort not being terminally intense.....

went as follows:

6:27 easy ride over

1 mile interval/spin back rest x 8

first one was east to west, ...the rest west to east....

2:53/3:32/2:45/4:22/2:49/4:24/2:57/4:17/2:55/4:29/3:00/4:24/3:03/4:32/2:59

7:30 easy spin back...

faster avg on intervals than last time (but wind will effect that), lower HR, one more repeat than last time.....progress????.....

main set of 6 x 200 on 5:00 (avg appx 1:50 rest) dupicating a workout from April...

3:13/3:12/3:12/3:10/3:07/3:09

(not bad....I avg 3:10.5/200 when I avg 3:18/200 in april....)

1:50

4x50 hard!...on 1:30 (HIIT)

:40/:39/:40/:39

seomewhat encouraging on the times.....

I was planning on intervals on the bike again...but I just couldnt do it.....decided on a ride with Kari before day care pick up.....

after we got going ahile we started pushing a bit and actually did a very solid speed bike...129 HR avg.....

did Hopkins loop in appx 42:00.....

another stroller run with the Fam.....around LOI but added the Kenwood tower loop...

1 min on 1 min off again....med effort on the mild intervals.....

Needing to get some intervals in on the bike....

decided on some temp effort loops of LOI...taking the roads counter clockwise..

biked over in 3:42

2.8 mile loop times as follows

9:01 (tempo pace)
11:43 (easy recovery)
8:39 (tempo pace)

4:10 back home....

tired legs dead and a family run...Syd in the stroller, with Kari....we run 1 minute on 1 minute off us the Greenway doing a few of the games set up by the greenway glow bike ride...recovery effort....

stopped at Bar Louie for a juggling street show and Pizza at Mesa before walking back (unlogged)

its 87F in Kansas City and I am done with my client my 3pm..... what to do?...

nice rubberized track located a half mile from the hotel so its time for a major track workout!.....

its africa hot! but lets give it a whirl anyway....

decided on a ladder

2 x 400/1 x 800/1 x 1600/1 x 800/2 x 400

warm up with 200 meter run/200 meter walk

mile run 11:04

4:35 walk 400 meters

2 x 400 w/2:00 rest

1:56/1:58

2:00 rest

1 x 800

4:08

3:00 rest

1 x 1600

8:43 (HR to 179!!!!....I am crashing in the heat)

4:00 rest

1 x 400

4:26 (hanging on in the heat)

3:00 rest

2 x 200

2:10/2:10 w/3:00 rest (barely getting through it as my HR is jumping out of my chest despite the slow pace...

17:25 1600 walk (avg HR 139! for a walk cool down....)

More proof hat the heat really gets to me...it killed my speed and jacked up my HR but I made it through.....barely....

C • nice log 3

found a Snap in KC...

Manned up for this one.....pools of sweat were abundant....

6:00 at >180 watts (HR up to 155 on last interval) w/ 3:00 rest (HR down to 105)

x 4....


This workout should pay dividends on the bike in my remaining races.....tough one....

interesting how you world becomes nothing more than reaching the end of the interval...everything else falls away....

warm up:

3 x 100 on 2:30

1:35/1:36/1:36

2:23 rest

main set 3 x 300 on 7:30 (appx 2:30 rest)

concentrated on starting easier and pushing more at the end....seemed to work better....

4:54/4:50/4:43

very good last one....I cant believe it was :11 faster than the first one....it didn't feel that different...the last one demonstrates I can go close to 6:51 for 450??....not to far off.....

HIIT training...back at it..

:30 over 500 watts....4:30 rest

x 6

the first two were epic fails...Icould not push up to 500?!....then I grooved in and the last two I was steady as a rock pushing over 500 watts the entire :30...weird....

after the first two i thought I was overtrained with intensity...bu finished strong...

With Kari....1 min on / 1 min off.....hitting around mild v02 effort or hard tempo....did about 12 or so?...east cedar trails....

Time for the almost annual...and sometimes twice a year 450 yd swim time trial....was hoping to go sub 7 minutes and perhaps match or get close to 6:51 which was my time last year....

here is the warm up:

4 x 100 on 3:00 (1:30 rest appx)

1:31/1:31/1:30/1:30

had to push just a bit more than i wanted to but was right at my warm up times from my last 450...ok...

2:58 rest

now 3 x 50 on 1:30 (:45 rest appx)

:45/:45/:44..

ok...ready to go

3:30 rest....

push off the wall and do the first 100 in 1:23-4 so I am right on pace for the 6:51 but its not feeling great......

I think I was checking the wall clock at times thinking I was on pace to beat 6:51 but I think lactic acid makes math a bit fuzzy and when I touched out i stopped the clock at 6:56.98....

made my sub 7 goal but not quite at my season end 6:51 of last year....perhaps I will give it one more go before the season ends but with my career best of about 6:12-15 or so I might have to check some age grading swim calculators to see how it stacks up to my all time best....

Decided to two temp efforts Brick workouts, aiming to get me fast off the bike.....

the plan was to bike easy for 6:30 or so....bike hard at slightly above tempo effort for 6:30...HR up to mid 150's....

transition...

and then run hard for roughly 5 minutes....

transition and repeat...6:03 and 6:21 hard efforts on the bike..

C • Way to train like a man 1

5:11 and 5:08 running HR up to 160's

warm down

dang!....my desire to do hard interval workouts is eclipsed by my inability to recover. I am willing to put in the work and do tough workouts but my recovery doesnt seem to keep pace....aging process in action I guess...

I havent worked out in two days bu my legs really aren't that springy. they arent bad but I would have expected them to feel better....I dont seem to absorb the training and rebuild like I use to...I am getting ready to go run some hill repeats with Kari and see how it goes...

random hill repeats with Kari leading the workout in the Kenwood area...worked out to be more of a HIIT workout although I like a bit more structure....

24:06 1 min run/ 1 walk warm up

hill repeats/ walk rest went as follows....

:46/2:15/:43/2:20/:35/8:26/:56/1:37/:33/1:45/33/5:32/:54/2:07/:39/2:48/:37/2:36/:40....HR to 150's and high 150's on the intervals

lunch lakeside at JJ's in Uptown and run home..

Hopkins loop in 40:11 doing intervals...

4 minutes on/2 minutes off.....HR hitting 150's on the interval....

again the timing was probably not right and my legs felt stale but I will be in Willmar the next two days so I decided to head to the St Louis Park High track for some speed work....

after a warm up of pacing 100 meter walking 100 meters for a mile...12:57 mile

and then pacing 200 meters walking 200 meters for another mile...11:23 mile

I was ready for the main set....legs were very stale so I did not have high expectations....

4 x 800 meters...w 2:00 walk recovery

4:13/ 4:10/ 4:10/ 4:10....as expected a little on the slow side....

HR hitting low 160's on the last interval..

had to suck it up for the last two....very tired legs

as I was finishing my workout a youth track club was gathering for a meet or practice....

back at it....I have a 3 week window to really hit it to prep for my last 3 triathlons...

warm up with 5 x 50 w/:30 rest to warm up...

:44/:45/:45/:46/:45

1:44 rest

main set is 200/300/300/200 with listed rest...went like this:

3:12/rest 1:02/4:55/rest 1:34/4:49/rest 1:25/3:07 (nice last one)

2:00 rest

100 cool down in 1:49

avg 1:36/100....coming along....might be time for my 450 yard time trial at the next swim...

I had a firm tempo workout in the race and this workout might have been pushing it but I have to make hay while the sun is shining...

I would have liked to have a day of rest before this workout but I have some work travel coming up for a couple days so I wanted to get on the bike and I went for some VO2 max intervals today....

after a 24 minute ride warm up I went for 8 x 3 minutes hard repeats out on the Cedar Lake trails using my little up and back area near the Kenilworh split and just beyond the Cedar Lake bridge....

biked into a head wind and easy spin with tail wind back

making the last two was pretty tough but I hung in there...worked the HR up to 154 or so on each of these...

work/easy spin back went as follows

3:00/3:58/3:00/4:02/2:53/4:10/3:01/3:57/2:56/4:09/2:55/4:06/2:57/4:05/3:00

10:00 bike home....

Manitou Triathlon a date with my past but it is not to be...

steady rain, cool temps, and gusty winds greeted some reluctant triathletes and they announced that they would cancel the swim and turn the whole affair into a run/bike/run duathlon....I need the swim to be competitive so I decide to use the whole thing as a tempo workout rather than race it...

We line up and they tell us to run to the 1 mile marker and run back for a 2 mile opener...I start out at a relaxed pace and push the HR up to high 140/low 150's and decide to keep it there....

With the wind blowing hard I start regretting leaving my disk wheel on my bike thinking I am likely to get blown around but I did not want to run around and change things after they canceled the swim....

back in T1 and hop on the bike without incident...

Tried to tape open my bike shoe openings and put them on while in T1 (this race gave me a good chance to try a few things)....seemed to work well....most of the T1 time was running to and through the area...

Rolled out with a flying mount (went well)....

Rain is pelting all of us and the wind is gusting....I had changed into a bit warmer attire after deciding to pace rather than race the event...glad I had on t he extra tech t shirt and very light jacket for the bike....

We head into a head wind and I am out of my aero bars here and there because the wind is blowing the bike around a bit, very rare for me but I just want to get a workout in....

While I am out there I am glad they modified the event, trying to go hard in these conditions might have been unsafe for me...the rainy wet roads with limited visibility, the terrible road surface, and the gusting wind had me feeling uneasy and unsafe at times...in these moments I just sat up and paced along not pushing it.....my HR was running in the 140's and 150's I did push on the hills to get some hill work in and warm up a bit...

Coming back from the turn around we had a massive tail wind and I ended up 5 minutes faster coming back than going out on the out and back. I was passing people consistently but it was a very small field...I am guessing only 60-70 decided to race...coming down some longer hills I did not push it....the last thing i would want to do is crash...

I was really surprised on how bad the road surface was...I don't remember it ever being like this...a note for any future races out here....constant cracks and potholes....more reason to be careful....

....rolled in to T2 but almost waited to late to get out of my bike shoes while rolling to leave them on the pedals....cold hands dont function as well...need to get out earlier in these conditions....another little lesson....

...rack bike, helmet on...shoes back on....run out....

...back out on the run course....the full deal this time, reported 5k....

note for future comparisons: the course is slightly different than in the past...they dont go around the block that surrounds the park but the turnaround is farther out about 10 meters from hwy 61 by the Jiffy Lube...

keep the HR at 155...glad to be off the bike.....nice tempo but no pushing to the red zone.....decent time given the HR...if I had been going all out I would have likely gone about 24:30...which is what i would have shot for....

finish in 1:32:02....glad to be done and figure it was a good solid long tempo effort I can build on...I sure as hell would not have been out there if I had not been signed up for a race...

forgot to hit the HR monitor till 8 minutes after I finished...it read 146 avg....likely 149-50 avg for the event....

Actually won my AG as I beat 3 other guys in this small field but since I wasnt racing it I dont really count it....On the plus side the guy I beat who was in 2nd was someone I figured I would have a good race to beat....perhaps he was soft pedaling also...

C • good for the day 3

Time to get back on some hard interval training for round 2 of 3 racing segments...next Triathlon is mid July.....I have 3 weeks to hit it...

the plan is to shave a few seconds off the swim and run but really hit the bike for intervals to get more speed (HIIT, V02 max, and tempo)....going to try to drop 1 or 2 lbs also to race at 173-4 (easier said than done)...the trick will be fitting this all in with some work travel to KC Mo.....

need to figure out a way to start some training to prep for the big swim showdown with Ian...first one to the Island wins!

2 goals tomorrow...

1. place in AG...

looking at the participate list for the Manitou Triathlon tomorrow looks like the best I can hope for (if everyone shows) is 3rd in AG. The national 55-59 Sprint Tri Camp is signed up and a local guy who is national class (and I have never come close to be beating) is also signed up...

...and I have plenty of competition for the 3rd spot....of course, with the predicted downpour they are predicting you never know who is going to show so regardless I will go for it....

2. get within 10% of my 1992 time at the same event on the same course???

I cant really factor in the swim on this goal since the 1992 swim distance was supposed to be 1/3 mile and tomorrow its listed as 1/2 mile...but regardless you NEVER know what the actual swim distance is in any triathlon....

but...the swim and run should be the same course (the run could be slightly different since the turnaround might be a bit different tomorrow when compared to 1992.. but looking at times should give me a good idea)...

it will be fun to age grade my bike and run efforts and see how I do...I plan for my age graded effort to easily beat my 1992 result...we will see....

C • Good luck 1

pre race sharpening brick.....

biked with the race wheels to make sure everything is a go.....man the wheels on this bike feel fast...did some :30 surges randomly thrown in...

feel pretty good...saw Crusher out training in her domain and had a quick chat....

change shoes to go out and run...

did:

1:00 easy run
:30 sub 5K race pace by PE
1:00 walk...

x10

last sharpening before tomorrow.....

got outside for a sharpen/taper workout....same formula as I seem to like...burst of speed and lots of easy running....went by PE not HR...circling Cedar Lake.....

2 min easy run
1 min faster than 5K race pace
2 min walk

x 7

felt ok....not great, not bad....

wanted to get on my tri bike but did not want to change out my race wheels so I settled on taking the mt bike out on the paths for a spin....sharpening workout....getting ready for sundays race..


1 min firm race pace
4 min mild pace

x 7

a few quick random thoughts...

-My results at the Triathlon were interesting...I did best on the bike..the one area I felt I was less prepared for....its not the first time something like this happen...

-I averaged 21.4 mph on the bike on Saturday. A result that I would have been happy with 20 years ago....aging causes you to lose speed on the run...and on the swim....but the bike?....its amazing how much speed you keep with consistent training.

-HIIT training is a hit!...at least based on one race...the high intensity very short intervals seemed to serve me well...I need more experience but my first impression is favorable...

-Typical race for me...get out front after the swim and bike and then run scared....

-When you pick a triathlon to play to your strengths (a race with a longer swim and perhaps shorter run for me...) you think you will be at an advantage...but in reality all the other good swimming triathletes have the same idea and show up also....The New Bri Tri I did this weekend and a longish swim at 1/2 with a 14 mile bike and 3 mile run...had a much better swimming field in my AG than the Buffalo sprint that went on Sunday and had a 1/4 miles swim.....so when you select a triathlon based on your strength it is typically negated my your like minded peers....that is what happen last weekend...

I am the king of indoor workouts....seems like I have been putting in some quality training without ever being outside in the sun....

the plan was to do just a bit of intensity coupled with milder efforts to keep my taper for this week....

did this

2 minutes at 5.0 mph
1 min at 7:53 pace
2 min at 3.5 mph

x 5...

with easy warm up and cool down...felt pretty good....

same deal on the bike.....a bit of intensity but lots of recovery...

1:00 at 200 watts
4:00 at 83 watts

x 5

the structure made the time go by faster....

same deal on the bike.....a bit of intensity but lots of recovery...

1:00 at 200 watts
4:00 at 83 watts

x 5

the structure made the time go by faster....

wanted to get a bit of speed training but not over do it...opted for intervals with copious rest...

5 x 50 on 1:30

:44/:45/:45/:46/:44

1:15 rest

main set of 10 x 100 on 2:30 (appx. 1:00 rest)

1:31/1:34/1:34/1:33/1:32/1:31/1:31/1:30/1:30/1:27

(avg about 1:31/100)

mild ride about Calhoun and LOI via the Greenway......

the plan this week...same as last week....sharpening workouts for my Sprint Triathlon on Sunday....the Manitou Triathlon at White Bear Lake....the first time did it was 1991 on basically the same course....I get to race my 33 year old self...sans mullet this time....

slow recovery run with Kari at Wirth...walked many hills to keep the effort down...

easy bike on the target loop done counter clockwise...

great morning for the New Bri Tri...first of the season after some pretty focused training...

Decided to wear my neoprene swim cap for cold weather swimming for the 62F water along with my full sleeved wet suit.

the old guys (46 and up) are in the 2nd to last wave of 8 and I line up in the front and get a couple dolphin leaps before stroking the crawl...I get out front but the front tip of the masses takes me over after the first 200 meters....I did not get any drafting opportunities on the first half of the 1/2 mile swim...

circling the two turn buoys and swimming through tons of people goes pretty good as I concentrate on keeping my strokes long and strong to take advantage of the wetsuit floatation. Rounding the 2nd turn buoy for the turn for home I realized the slight fog on my goggles was hampering my ability to see and caused me some moments of half hearted strokes and I tried to sight the finish line buoys....I eventually reached up pulled the goggle just enough to let a drop of water in so I would clear off the lenses inside....that worked and I resumed a more forceful pace....

I had a few seconds of drafting a zig zagger that I let go of since he was so erratic so i ended up swimming with no real drafting opportunities....

Hit the beach in 12:47 and across the timing mat in 13:15 on an accurate 1/2 mile course I suspect...:18 seconds slower than 4 years ago on a very similar distance swim....about where I suspected I would end up with a good effort....

very well executed T1 that actually loomed large in the final results...I did go with putting bike shoes on in the T rather than on the roll on the bike and felt that was slow but I moved through very quickly.........

Good flying mount and I am moving quickly...I was dog fighting with others after the first two miles and the low winds made for some good speed...Heart rate at 162-165 most of the time and I go over a minute faster on the course than I did 4 years ago....setting me up for a good race. Very surprising result with only 3 training rides on my Triathlon bike before the race...looks like my Snap fitness exercise bike routine worked pretty well....

I felt I could have been a bit quicker getting my shoes on....was a little awkward bending over and pulling them on....

I figured I was ahead of my time from 2009 in the same event so I just needed to run at a good pace and I would have a strong result. My HR was running about 165 and that felt like where I could sustain...I didnt feel great but kept the pressure on....they didn't mark our calves with our age (I wish all races would do that) so it was hard to tell if the people that did pass me were in my age group....I was hoping to get a close as possible to my 25:25 split of 2009 and I crossed in a time of 25:42 and an overall time of 1:19:53 which was :31 faster than 2009.....I figured that would be more than enough for me to place in my Age Group which was my goal for the race...

....checking the results it was all good news and bad news......the good news: I placed 3rd in my Age Group reaching my major goal.

The Bad news: I had was in 1st in my Age Group till the last .75 mile of run where I run down by the guy who went on to place first just :32 in front of me and even worse I lost 2nd when I guy ran me down the last minute of the run and finished :08 in front of me....run down like a dog!

but the good news....I held off a guy in 4th that beat me in every race but one last year by only :11....another 1/3 mile and he would have passed me...

The top 4 in my age group were all within :51 of each other.....

The bad news....the guy in 4th was 1:35 slower in the first transition....if the guy learns how to strip off his wet suit and get on his bike faster I will be in trouble....

the good news...a guy in 6th of 8 in our AG at this race, raced the Buffalo Tri Sprint the next day and got 3rd of 26 so I would have likely easily placed at that event....

http://www.frontrunnerusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2...

bottom line: without all the training I have been doing I would have been out of the money at this race, I needed every second. I am likely to in contention at every Triathlon I am planning

C • Very nice! 1

swim warm up...

bike warm up

run warm up....