It's 7:40 in the morning and the day is already behind schedule. You see, the Princess has Spanish preschool at 9:30 am, I have a roughly 90 minute workout schedule (travel time and shower included) ahead of me, and they haven't even eaten breakfast yet.
Throw in that both of them have noses running at an alarming rate (at least for anyone who shares childcare facilities with them) and there is quite a decision to make. You see, I'm leaving for Thailand (yeah, not helpful) on Saturday night and I need no excuses not to work out. I've run through the "getting all of the workouts in" scenarios in my head and, needless to say, taking a day off to wipe runny noses was not in the plan.
Having convinced myself that they aren't sick, only waking up, I pack the car and, around 8, hit the road. I'm to the pool by about 8:15 and, after the obligatory poolside wait for a lane to open, I'm in the pool around 8:30.
1300yd Fartlek Intervals
The nice part about doing a Fartlek set is that it might actually finish in a reasonable period of time. As opposed to a "one hour" bike set, which cannot be hurried no matter how you slice it, swimming hard through an interval workout means that I am a bit in control of my own time (sort of).
The flipside risk is that form goes all to @$%$ -- it's amazing when I feel like I am putting in maximum effort versus when I relax and really focus on my form. Long story short? They result in basically the same level of performance. Which is exactly why today I focused on form and found myself at a pretty good pace.
300 yards in the Fartlek intervals commenced. The length of each interval is increasing over time (this is the third week), but the intensity still allows for me to grow into my stroke. At the moment they are 150yds long, alternating 50 easy with 25 hard. Out of curiosity, I counted my strokes on the easy set versus the hard sets -- similar to what I had thought, I was only saving two strokes per length, but yet the hard sets were causing me to gulp for air. So, with about four of the six interval sets left, I tried to maintain form during the hard lengths as well. Lo and behold, I was suddenly moving and moving well. Sure, as we closed in on the final couple of sets I was losing steam, but I've got time to build endurance -- this was about confidence.
A quick 100yd cooldown, picked up the kids, and made it to "la escuela" by 9:35. All told a good morning -- I'm ready for that 2000yd swim on Saturday and the rest of my swim season.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Back on the Horse
I'm not sure if a study has ever been commissioned which sought to determine the effects of 48 hours of travel and about fifteen pints of quality lager on the human body -- but after my last week, I can tell you there is no need. It causes fatigue and lots of it.
With a five day trip to Munich and London, with a good friend of 30+ years traveling with me to boot, I wanted to be sure to bookend my trip with the workouts called for in the third week of my training program. I had hit the bike and pool hard in the first two weeks and while week three would be split over two weeks, I didn't want to lose any momentum.
Monday, February 16
1:20 Bike, with 8 x :20 Power Intervals
Writing this some ten days hence, I just remember that I felt really good after a solid weekend swim and challenged myself to maintain the 200 watt pace that I had been able to accomplish on the power intervals the first two weeks. As with other rides, the presence of a ghost rider made it really easy to get motivated (not to mention the week off staring me in the face) and I rode REALLY hard. In fact, not only did I leave the 200 watt pacer in my wake, I also beat my ghost rider by several minutes. Cruising into the completion of a challenging 21 mile course ahead of the 1:20, I also eclipsed the 17mph marker, one which seemed unlikely just two weeks earlier.
I felt real good and I was ready to attack the break.
Not too ready, though, as I managed to do absolutely nothing until my return on the 24th. In fact, my friend busted out a pretty good 48 minute run on a beautiful Saturday in London -- while I sat watching rugby on the couch with another friend who also pooh-poohed the exercise.
Tuesday, February 24
800 Yard Base Swim
Funny I should use the word "poo," as that is exactly what I felt like as I hit the pool on Tuesday morning. First of all, the fates were not in my corner in even allowing me to do the swim -- as I made my way to my standard pool, the entire facility was closed due to a water main break. Never fear, I thought, as the "alternate gym" about three miles away was equipped with a lap pool -- not my first choice, but it would do in a pinch. Only just.
You see, I jumped in and started to swim my base sets, which were supposed to be 1450 yards, even with my modifications, and I trudged along slowly. Slow and steady, to be sure, but slow nonetheless. I was happy to be back working out, but also feeling as if the last few nights of drinking, not to mention the 22.5 hours of flying the day before was well and truly doing me in.
Then came the reprieve. I don't wish to make it seem like it was welcome, as I had actually hit a rhythm when the maintenance crew announced that they needed to "vacuum the pool." Vaccum the pool?? Seriously? It's a 24 hour fitness facility - is 10:30 on a Tuesday the right time?
Maybe it was kizmet as I pulled myself out after a hard final length, sat in the jacuzzi for another ten, and "eased" myself into the rest of my training. Did I mention I would be heading to Bangkok on Saturday? At least there my cousin's pad has a pool and gym, but it does without saying that I was eagerly anticipating a couple weeks off when I could put my head down and hammer out my workouts -- not to mention spend a bit more time with my kids.
Wednesday, February 25
1hr Foundation Bike
If Tuesday was my day to rediscover my sea legs, Wednesday served that purpose for the bike. For the first time, I was heading to the gym by my daughter's school -- no fancy course on the screen, only the depressing news on CNBC, and fewer stats, but a good hard spin bike that would let me churn out an hour at a reasonable pace and absorb the good weeks I had put in already in February.
Unfortunately, even that interval ride last week seemed a million miles ago, at least at first. Lactic acid was the winner on this day as I could feel the heavy, thick stuff filling my thighs and calves from minute one. I didn't quit, which I would like to think is an improvement on where I was early in my half-Ironman training in 2007, but I didn't impress either. I rolled along at about 150-160 watts, getting in a good 15 miles and breaking a solid sweat, but the 170-185 heartrate I had been getting to the first couple weeks was replaced by a decent, but uninspiring 145-155. It still felt like hard work and it all has value -- there is a reason, after all, that it's called a foundation bike -- I'm laying the ground work for some serious efforts to come. I'm happy to have stuck with it and happy to check another workout off of the list (still not having missed one!) -- another ride sits there for me on Friday, not to mention a challenging swim tomorrow, so I'll keep on plugging.
With a five day trip to Munich and London, with a good friend of 30+ years traveling with me to boot, I wanted to be sure to bookend my trip with the workouts called for in the third week of my training program. I had hit the bike and pool hard in the first two weeks and while week three would be split over two weeks, I didn't want to lose any momentum.
Monday, February 16
1:20 Bike, with 8 x :20 Power Intervals
Writing this some ten days hence, I just remember that I felt really good after a solid weekend swim and challenged myself to maintain the 200 watt pace that I had been able to accomplish on the power intervals the first two weeks. As with other rides, the presence of a ghost rider made it really easy to get motivated (not to mention the week off staring me in the face) and I rode REALLY hard. In fact, not only did I leave the 200 watt pacer in my wake, I also beat my ghost rider by several minutes. Cruising into the completion of a challenging 21 mile course ahead of the 1:20, I also eclipsed the 17mph marker, one which seemed unlikely just two weeks earlier.
I felt real good and I was ready to attack the break.
Not too ready, though, as I managed to do absolutely nothing until my return on the 24th. In fact, my friend busted out a pretty good 48 minute run on a beautiful Saturday in London -- while I sat watching rugby on the couch with another friend who also pooh-poohed the exercise.
Tuesday, February 24
800 Yard Base Swim
Funny I should use the word "poo," as that is exactly what I felt like as I hit the pool on Tuesday morning. First of all, the fates were not in my corner in even allowing me to do the swim -- as I made my way to my standard pool, the entire facility was closed due to a water main break. Never fear, I thought, as the "alternate gym" about three miles away was equipped with a lap pool -- not my first choice, but it would do in a pinch. Only just.
You see, I jumped in and started to swim my base sets, which were supposed to be 1450 yards, even with my modifications, and I trudged along slowly. Slow and steady, to be sure, but slow nonetheless. I was happy to be back working out, but also feeling as if the last few nights of drinking, not to mention the 22.5 hours of flying the day before was well and truly doing me in.
Then came the reprieve. I don't wish to make it seem like it was welcome, as I had actually hit a rhythm when the maintenance crew announced that they needed to "vacuum the pool." Vaccum the pool?? Seriously? It's a 24 hour fitness facility - is 10:30 on a Tuesday the right time?
Maybe it was kizmet as I pulled myself out after a hard final length, sat in the jacuzzi for another ten, and "eased" myself into the rest of my training. Did I mention I would be heading to Bangkok on Saturday? At least there my cousin's pad has a pool and gym, but it does without saying that I was eagerly anticipating a couple weeks off when I could put my head down and hammer out my workouts -- not to mention spend a bit more time with my kids.
Wednesday, February 25
1hr Foundation Bike
If Tuesday was my day to rediscover my sea legs, Wednesday served that purpose for the bike. For the first time, I was heading to the gym by my daughter's school -- no fancy course on the screen, only the depressing news on CNBC, and fewer stats, but a good hard spin bike that would let me churn out an hour at a reasonable pace and absorb the good weeks I had put in already in February.
Unfortunately, even that interval ride last week seemed a million miles ago, at least at first. Lactic acid was the winner on this day as I could feel the heavy, thick stuff filling my thighs and calves from minute one. I didn't quit, which I would like to think is an improvement on where I was early in my half-Ironman training in 2007, but I didn't impress either. I rolled along at about 150-160 watts, getting in a good 15 miles and breaking a solid sweat, but the 170-185 heartrate I had been getting to the first couple weeks was replaced by a decent, but uninspiring 145-155. It still felt like hard work and it all has value -- there is a reason, after all, that it's called a foundation bike -- I'm laying the ground work for some serious efforts to come. I'm happy to have stuck with it and happy to check another workout off of the list (still not having missed one!) -- another ride sits there for me on Friday, not to mention a challenging swim tomorrow, so I'll keep on plugging.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The Test Before the Rest
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
Sorry I didn't post yesterday (thanks for noticing!), but it was one of those days. Actually, it was the typical "boil your workout down to the essentials" kind of day due to the occasional time constraints that kids and life put on you. I had about 90 minutes to get back and forth to the Princess' preschool and also get my workout in, but manage something I did.
1100 Fartlek Swim Set
If I'm remembering correctly, the assigned set here is some 1900 yards. To get it down to 1100 (oops!), I lopped off two 200 yard drill/kick sets and another 200 yards off of each of the warmup and cool down. Not a long term strategy for success, for sure, but one that is sometimes necessary in life. What did I do? The "meat and potatoes" of the swim set -- specifically, 6 x 150 yard Fartlek swim intervals in a 50 yard build and a 25 yard descend pattern. I continue to struggle with what build means in swimming -- especially, as I seem to have about a half-dozen speeds and all I do is switch from one to the next to the next until I'm sprinting and then, not surprisingly, descend to a sluggish crawl more slowly on the backside. But, either way, I felt it, and that remains the key at this early stage. With only ten seconds between sets, I didn't really have time to fully catch my breath, which is a good thing -- all the more work on improving my VO2 max, which is, in layman's terms, the body's threshold level for exerting and still using oxygen efficiently. The more you work on your lung's resistance, the more they can take down the road, just like anything else.
Plus, I also wasn't concerned about trimming this workout because I knew I had a swim/bike brick planned for the next morning. For those not familiar with triathlon terminology, a "brick" workout is one which combines disciplines, similar to and often in the same order as you would in a race. In my case, where I'm eschewing the run for now, my brick workouts will almost always be swim/bike. In terms of what I was trying to do Saturday, it was my full long-swim workout as prescribed for the weekend, followed closely by a hard 45-minute bike ride. I planned on putting in maximum effort, knowing that I would be taking Sunday off, doing one power interval set on the bike on Monday, and then leaving town for a week. Considering the travel is international and there's no guarantee I'll see any exercise until the following Monday, this brick workout was meant to be intense... It did not disappoint.
1300 yard swim/45 minute bike
I got to the pool about 9:30 on Saturday morning, only to observe a crowd there as large as I've ever seen -- not normally a good thing, especially if you're planning on putting in a good 45-50 minute swim in one of the eight available lanes. The good news is that no one was in the pool yet. The bad? At 10am, an "indoor" triathlon was going to get underway and the pool was going to close. Yikes! Needless to say, I stripped down to my suit, jumped in with my goggles half-off and started swimming as hard as I could. My goal for the day was 1800 yards, but that simply wasn't going to happen in 25-30 minutes (when they would kick me out). A strong (read: not me) triathlon swimmer covers a mile (1750 yards) in 25 minutes. I am more like 35 when I'm really laying the wood.
The good part about the time pressure is that I discarded the pleasantries and I swam HARD. I kicked hard and long, stretched and pulled with all my might, and completely ignored the maelstrom going on around me as they readied the pool for the upcoming race. After about 1200 strong yards, I noticed that they were starting to empty the pool. I managed another 100 yards, bringing me to 1300 in about 27 minutes (which I am pleased as punch about). It wasn't a bad effort, and I probably burned close to as many calories and built up as much lactic acid as if I had gone 1800 at my normal pace, so the effect was roughly the same.
With timing being everything, I passed by a childcare worker on the way in who notified me about a needed diaper change -- I changed quickly into my bike gear, freshened up the Pea with a new set of drawers, and headed for the bike.
Man, is doing the disciplines in combination a different world. I mean I have felt STRONG on the bike these last couple of weeks. I know I got my bum kicked by myself from last spring, but still, I completed every workout as planned, went up and down hills with aggression, and hit all of my speed milestones. Today I nearly passed out after about 15 minutes -- no joke.
First of all, it was quite apparent how hard I swam -- when I mentioned lactic acid earlier, I meant it. My hamstrings and thighs felt like molasses, slogging through all of the pedaling rotations and struggling to make it up even the smallest hill. At least three different times, during the most challenging of inclines, I nearly came to a complete stop. I'm not going to lie -- writing this blog kept me going at least once. I am determined to admit when I cut workouts short on here, and I just didn't want to do that today. I have a week off (sort of -- I have one more ride on Monday) and this was the first time I had combined the swim with the bike. I'm allowed to struggle through it a bit, but I didn't want to allow myself to stop before my prescribed 45 minutes, even if that meant I rode at 14-15mph (a full 2-3mph slower than on Thursday). Thankfully, as I recall from many races, my legs started to get back under me by about 10-15 minutes in and, while I remained slower than my bike-only sets, I got to a good 15mph average seven miles in and finished the 12 mile set averaging 16mph in the 45-minutes of time I had allotted. I was completely spent, soaked to the bone, and literally sat on the bike seat draining a 16 oz water bottle, but I did it and now I have Valentine's Day with my family and a day off on Sunday. I trust further that it did my body and my preparedness some good. At least I certainly hope so...
Sorry I didn't post yesterday (thanks for noticing!), but it was one of those days. Actually, it was the typical "boil your workout down to the essentials" kind of day due to the occasional time constraints that kids and life put on you. I had about 90 minutes to get back and forth to the Princess' preschool and also get my workout in, but manage something I did.
1100 Fartlek Swim Set
If I'm remembering correctly, the assigned set here is some 1900 yards. To get it down to 1100 (oops!), I lopped off two 200 yard drill/kick sets and another 200 yards off of each of the warmup and cool down. Not a long term strategy for success, for sure, but one that is sometimes necessary in life. What did I do? The "meat and potatoes" of the swim set -- specifically, 6 x 150 yard Fartlek swim intervals in a 50 yard build and a 25 yard descend pattern. I continue to struggle with what build means in swimming -- especially, as I seem to have about a half-dozen speeds and all I do is switch from one to the next to the next until I'm sprinting and then, not surprisingly, descend to a sluggish crawl more slowly on the backside. But, either way, I felt it, and that remains the key at this early stage. With only ten seconds between sets, I didn't really have time to fully catch my breath, which is a good thing -- all the more work on improving my VO2 max, which is, in layman's terms, the body's threshold level for exerting and still using oxygen efficiently. The more you work on your lung's resistance, the more they can take down the road, just like anything else.
Plus, I also wasn't concerned about trimming this workout because I knew I had a swim/bike brick planned for the next morning. For those not familiar with triathlon terminology, a "brick" workout is one which combines disciplines, similar to and often in the same order as you would in a race. In my case, where I'm eschewing the run for now, my brick workouts will almost always be swim/bike. In terms of what I was trying to do Saturday, it was my full long-swim workout as prescribed for the weekend, followed closely by a hard 45-minute bike ride. I planned on putting in maximum effort, knowing that I would be taking Sunday off, doing one power interval set on the bike on Monday, and then leaving town for a week. Considering the travel is international and there's no guarantee I'll see any exercise until the following Monday, this brick workout was meant to be intense... It did not disappoint.
1300 yard swim/45 minute bike
I got to the pool about 9:30 on Saturday morning, only to observe a crowd there as large as I've ever seen -- not normally a good thing, especially if you're planning on putting in a good 45-50 minute swim in one of the eight available lanes. The good news is that no one was in the pool yet. The bad? At 10am, an "indoor" triathlon was going to get underway and the pool was going to close. Yikes! Needless to say, I stripped down to my suit, jumped in with my goggles half-off and started swimming as hard as I could. My goal for the day was 1800 yards, but that simply wasn't going to happen in 25-30 minutes (when they would kick me out). A strong (read: not me) triathlon swimmer covers a mile (1750 yards) in 25 minutes. I am more like 35 when I'm really laying the wood.
The good part about the time pressure is that I discarded the pleasantries and I swam HARD. I kicked hard and long, stretched and pulled with all my might, and completely ignored the maelstrom going on around me as they readied the pool for the upcoming race. After about 1200 strong yards, I noticed that they were starting to empty the pool. I managed another 100 yards, bringing me to 1300 in about 27 minutes (which I am pleased as punch about). It wasn't a bad effort, and I probably burned close to as many calories and built up as much lactic acid as if I had gone 1800 at my normal pace, so the effect was roughly the same.
With timing being everything, I passed by a childcare worker on the way in who notified me about a needed diaper change -- I changed quickly into my bike gear, freshened up the Pea with a new set of drawers, and headed for the bike.
Man, is doing the disciplines in combination a different world. I mean I have felt STRONG on the bike these last couple of weeks. I know I got my bum kicked by myself from last spring, but still, I completed every workout as planned, went up and down hills with aggression, and hit all of my speed milestones. Today I nearly passed out after about 15 minutes -- no joke.
First of all, it was quite apparent how hard I swam -- when I mentioned lactic acid earlier, I meant it. My hamstrings and thighs felt like molasses, slogging through all of the pedaling rotations and struggling to make it up even the smallest hill. At least three different times, during the most challenging of inclines, I nearly came to a complete stop. I'm not going to lie -- writing this blog kept me going at least once. I am determined to admit when I cut workouts short on here, and I just didn't want to do that today. I have a week off (sort of -- I have one more ride on Monday) and this was the first time I had combined the swim with the bike. I'm allowed to struggle through it a bit, but I didn't want to allow myself to stop before my prescribed 45 minutes, even if that meant I rode at 14-15mph (a full 2-3mph slower than on Thursday). Thankfully, as I recall from many races, my legs started to get back under me by about 10-15 minutes in and, while I remained slower than my bike-only sets, I got to a good 15mph average seven miles in and finished the 12 mile set averaging 16mph in the 45-minutes of time I had allotted. I was completely spent, soaked to the bone, and literally sat on the bike seat draining a 16 oz water bottle, but I did it and now I have Valentine's Day with my family and a day off on Sunday. I trust further that it did my body and my preparedness some good. At least I certainly hope so...
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Kicking My Own Backside
Today proved to be quite a comical exercise in how the brain works. In talking with my friend Peter, we discussed why it is that some days seem easier to work out and others harder. Peter posited that perhaps it's more mental than anything else -- seems to make sense, after all, especially when you've had similar rest, food, training, etc. I guess I was a bit skeptical, but not anymore...
1 Hour Foundation Bike Ride
You see, I hopped on the bike this morning with what has to be the wrong mindset. When I see the words foundation bike ride, my mind goes off to some park with a cruiser bike and streamers hanging off of the handlebars. Thankfully, I have the power meter to keep me a bit honest, but even if I set that to 180, we're talking about a heart rate in the 150's (hardly high exertion), a comfortable 15-16mph, and an hour later I'm hitting the showers feeling accomplished but not fatigued.
My company on the bikes didn't help any either. The woman next to me was seriously wearing a headband circa 1975 with a head of hair that resembled Will Farrell in that terrible basketball movie he did last year. She hardly seemed to be pedaling and a quick peek at her screen told me that she had covered 9 miles in over an hour and had an average heartrate of 94. Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that Lance Armstrong probably has a 94 heading up the Alp D'Huez, but this was not because of supreme fitness -- she simply was going for a stroll. Not that I mean to criticize -- I, of all people, understand that people do their own thing, but it didn't do a lot to pump me up as I pedaled along halfheartedly at the start.
Then I caught a glimpse at my own screen. Turns out that while I was keeping the pacer in my rearview mirror, there was a "ghost rider" who was taking me to the woodshed. In my first five minutes of riding, he had already created a one-minute lead on me. Who was this ghost rider? A little more research let me know that it was myself just nine months earlier... Guess what -- I had my jackrabbit.
For the next fifty-five minutes, I pedaled at a rate that barely would have allowed me to carry a conversation. This particular route had a couple of very steep (40-50%) inclines and I attacked them with all the energy I could muster. Believe it or not, I never gained any ground on myself and ended up "losing" by nearly a minute and a half. Nonetheless, on a day when an hour of pedaling alone would have done, I ended up averaging nearly 18mph (a full two better than I had done on Tuesday during my power ride) and probably lost about four pounds of water weight.
I am now as convinced as ever that your body will do what you ask of it on most occasions -- even on days when you seem sluggish, it might be in your mind and not your legs. Sitting here five hours later, I can tell you that I feel strong, I feel (truly) accomplished and I feel wonderfully motivated. I wonder how I felt nine months ago when I kicked my own #$% -- hopefully, I'll be back there soon.
1 Hour Foundation Bike Ride
You see, I hopped on the bike this morning with what has to be the wrong mindset. When I see the words foundation bike ride, my mind goes off to some park with a cruiser bike and streamers hanging off of the handlebars. Thankfully, I have the power meter to keep me a bit honest, but even if I set that to 180, we're talking about a heart rate in the 150's (hardly high exertion), a comfortable 15-16mph, and an hour later I'm hitting the showers feeling accomplished but not fatigued.
My company on the bikes didn't help any either. The woman next to me was seriously wearing a headband circa 1975 with a head of hair that resembled Will Farrell in that terrible basketball movie he did last year. She hardly seemed to be pedaling and a quick peek at her screen told me that she had covered 9 miles in over an hour and had an average heartrate of 94. Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that Lance Armstrong probably has a 94 heading up the Alp D'Huez, but this was not because of supreme fitness -- she simply was going for a stroll. Not that I mean to criticize -- I, of all people, understand that people do their own thing, but it didn't do a lot to pump me up as I pedaled along halfheartedly at the start.
Then I caught a glimpse at my own screen. Turns out that while I was keeping the pacer in my rearview mirror, there was a "ghost rider" who was taking me to the woodshed. In my first five minutes of riding, he had already created a one-minute lead on me. Who was this ghost rider? A little more research let me know that it was myself just nine months earlier... Guess what -- I had my jackrabbit.
For the next fifty-five minutes, I pedaled at a rate that barely would have allowed me to carry a conversation. This particular route had a couple of very steep (40-50%) inclines and I attacked them with all the energy I could muster. Believe it or not, I never gained any ground on myself and ended up "losing" by nearly a minute and a half. Nonetheless, on a day when an hour of pedaling alone would have done, I ended up averaging nearly 18mph (a full two better than I had done on Tuesday during my power ride) and probably lost about four pounds of water weight.
I am now as convinced as ever that your body will do what you ask of it on most occasions -- even on days when you seem sluggish, it might be in your mind and not your legs. Sitting here five hours later, I can tell you that I feel strong, I feel (truly) accomplished and I feel wonderfully motivated. I wonder how I felt nine months ago when I kicked my own #$% -- hopefully, I'll be back there soon.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mind Over Muscle
It's 10 o'clock, the Princess is at preschool and I've driven 20 miles to put the Pea into the gym childcare, wander out into a 48-degree, albeit sunny, day and jump into a presumably heated pool. I am certain that some people would say I am nuts to swim outdoors on a day like today -- God bless those people, but I love it. For one, the pool is empty. Two, it was in fact heated and, in combination with the sun, it felt glorious. Three, there are some long swims to come in the months of June and July -- months when the mercury flirts with triple digits and the sun in Southern California is capable of inflicting tremendous discomfort. I'll take February and a chill in the air any day. Mind over matter, I say -- and then jump in.
1350yd Base Interval Swim
If there's anything unfortunate about my February swim sets, is that there isn't enough distance to truly take advantage of the more comfortable weather. Unlike the 3000m+ sets forthcoming, the February sets continue to be about building a solid base. A warmup, some drills, a reasonably sized base interval set (7 x 100yd this time around), then some kicks and a cooldown. All this means, besides that I shouldn't have any trouble keeping strong throughout, is that I have plenty of opportunity to work on the myriad of issues with my stroke.
For example, my kick remains a bit of a joke. As my wife said and I mentioned in an earlier post, it needs to be more like dribbling a basketball than an outboard motor. So, today I decide to work on it as I start my warmup -- piece of cake, I think, as I lengthen my kick, stretch my torso, rotate my body with each stroke (the second of three significant issues with my stroke) and really reach for the wall. In fact, I fully complete my 300yd warmup feeling that I gave it my all to achieve the right form. Throw in drill sets which are designed to hold good form, and I've complete more than 40% of my daily workout trying to retrain my brain to do things right. For the record, I've even worked on the third problem area, which is lengthening my breathing -- while I'm still only breathing to the left, I'm making it a priority to get more strokes in per breath, something that I can only do at a relatively tame pace and never at a race-level output.
Then I hit the base intervals... you see, these are meant to be performed at a considerably more intense pace than the warmup (obviously). So, once I get into the flow (and swimming really is quite monotonous, without any challenges of terrain, incline, visual distraction, etc.), I start to push myself a bit. What happens? The stroke all falls to... well, you know. Once I "muscle up" and really get into the stroke, the focus changes to exertion level and the muscle memory kicks in to "overkick" and "under-rotate." When I realize it and start to correct? My stroke gets thrown off and things get uncomfortable -- unless I slow down my pace.
Just shows you how incredibly hard it is to retrain yourself on something you've done your whole life. Just try eating with the opposite hand, for example, or sitting on a stationary bike and pedaling backwards for an hour. Our brain has trained our muscles to identify the action and do it in the way it has "always done." Intuitively and intellectually, I know I'd be faster and more efficient if I altered my stroke, but I now question whether I can do it when I am focused on maintaining a certain pace, not to mention when there are 1000 people kicking and splashing around me and I'm desperately trying to complete a 4000+ yard course. Fuhgeddaboudit.
So, after bits and pieces of good form and a whole lot of just slogging through the water, I completed my set and hopped out of the pool. It was one of those good days -- where my biorhythm made it seem like I could've swam for hours -- but it wasn't yet called for. I'm still building my base and only one day a week will I be doing Fartlek work that will really tax my stamina (Friday this week) -- at only 30% of the race swim length and a dozen more breaks than will be afforded at the event, it hardly seems to prepare me for anything. But it will -- I trust that much. Now if only mind over matter (or muscle, in this case) could be extended to more than just the weather, all would be even that much better
1350yd Base Interval Swim
If there's anything unfortunate about my February swim sets, is that there isn't enough distance to truly take advantage of the more comfortable weather. Unlike the 3000m+ sets forthcoming, the February sets continue to be about building a solid base. A warmup, some drills, a reasonably sized base interval set (7 x 100yd this time around), then some kicks and a cooldown. All this means, besides that I shouldn't have any trouble keeping strong throughout, is that I have plenty of opportunity to work on the myriad of issues with my stroke.
For example, my kick remains a bit of a joke. As my wife said and I mentioned in an earlier post, it needs to be more like dribbling a basketball than an outboard motor. So, today I decide to work on it as I start my warmup -- piece of cake, I think, as I lengthen my kick, stretch my torso, rotate my body with each stroke (the second of three significant issues with my stroke) and really reach for the wall. In fact, I fully complete my 300yd warmup feeling that I gave it my all to achieve the right form. Throw in drill sets which are designed to hold good form, and I've complete more than 40% of my daily workout trying to retrain my brain to do things right. For the record, I've even worked on the third problem area, which is lengthening my breathing -- while I'm still only breathing to the left, I'm making it a priority to get more strokes in per breath, something that I can only do at a relatively tame pace and never at a race-level output.
Then I hit the base intervals... you see, these are meant to be performed at a considerably more intense pace than the warmup (obviously). So, once I get into the flow (and swimming really is quite monotonous, without any challenges of terrain, incline, visual distraction, etc.), I start to push myself a bit. What happens? The stroke all falls to... well, you know. Once I "muscle up" and really get into the stroke, the focus changes to exertion level and the muscle memory kicks in to "overkick" and "under-rotate." When I realize it and start to correct? My stroke gets thrown off and things get uncomfortable -- unless I slow down my pace.
Just shows you how incredibly hard it is to retrain yourself on something you've done your whole life. Just try eating with the opposite hand, for example, or sitting on a stationary bike and pedaling backwards for an hour. Our brain has trained our muscles to identify the action and do it in the way it has "always done." Intuitively and intellectually, I know I'd be faster and more efficient if I altered my stroke, but I now question whether I can do it when I am focused on maintaining a certain pace, not to mention when there are 1000 people kicking and splashing around me and I'm desperately trying to complete a 4000+ yard course. Fuhgeddaboudit.
So, after bits and pieces of good form and a whole lot of just slogging through the water, I completed my set and hopped out of the pool. It was one of those good days -- where my biorhythm made it seem like I could've swam for hours -- but it wasn't yet called for. I'm still building my base and only one day a week will I be doing Fartlek work that will really tax my stamina (Friday this week) -- at only 30% of the race swim length and a dozen more breaks than will be afforded at the event, it hardly seems to prepare me for anything. But it will -- I trust that much. Now if only mind over matter (or muscle, in this case) could be extended to more than just the weather, all would be even that much better
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Hard Work Begins
Waking up Monday morning, it was immediately apparent that the first week is a lot easier than the second. Sure, the volume of training will increase ever so slightly (and generally does, not withstanding that every fourth week is a "recovery" week), but it wasn't so much that as the general fatigue that a week's worth of hard work had caused.
With the mercury dipping below 40 for the waking hours (and snow visible in the mountains!), part of the malaise was the bit of chill in the house, but another part of it was remembering exactly how energized I was just one week earlier as I headed to do my first workout of this long road to the Ironman.
Today I was tired. Physically more than mentally -- it had only been a week after all -- but tired, nonetheless. However, having a semblance of routine helps one fight through that and I packed up the kids and headed to the gym.
1:10 Bike, with 7 x :20 power intervals
Having inadvertently skipped 15 minutes of cool down on the power intervals one week ago, this high intensity workout represented an increase of 25 minutes. At the pace that I intend to keep on these power intervals, that increase would be significantly noticeable.
Having budgeted myself half an hour of warmup time at a power level that exceeded the weekend's longer ride, I chose a long course on the Expresso bike. My goal is to be at about 16mph on a hilly course just at the moment. With an hour and ten minutes, the math says that I should seek a course of roughly 19 miles in length. Unfortunately, the only one that fit was not only quite hilly from the start, but also had silly space-station graphics that looked like the superhighway in the Jetsons. After pausing out of wanting to find something more interesting, I realized exactly how good a fit (and challenging, with the hills) the course was and went ahead with it.
Rather than simply warming up for half an hour, like the workout called for, the combination of hilly course and the ridiculous pace kept by the guy seated on the bike next to me caused me to pedal a little harder than I probably should have. When I started the power intervals (in a particularly hilly part of the course, which was NOT helpful), I had already established a minute lead on my pacer.
I pushed through the power intervals, about 15 minutes in length when combined with the active recoveries, and lost seemingly three gallons of sweat. My legs were quite sore, although more like I had lifted weights than performed a cardio workout, but it was (and is) a good sore. The "candy" on the other side, as I thought of it, was that I now needed to get back to the starting altitude from the heights I had climbed to. I needed to do so with some urgency, as well, if I was going to match my 16mph goal. Even with extensive power intervals, my climbing speed was still well under that. Motivated by my desire to hit 16mph (and to represent my team well in the bike time trial I have coming at the end of the month), I powered down the four miles of hill, came in JUST under the gun (I averaged exactly 16mph!) at slightly under 1:10 and spent the next five minutes toweling off the bike feeling sorry for whomever was to follow. This was a hard, slogging workout and with legs that didn't have the fire in them they'd had the week prior. But perhaps that's why it felt so good in the shower afterwards -- I trust I'll get my legs back under me soon, especially with a week long business trip coming up, and working out with fresh legs isn't what prepares you for an Ironman anyway. For now, it's day by day and workout by workout -- for many, many days to come.
With the mercury dipping below 40 for the waking hours (and snow visible in the mountains!), part of the malaise was the bit of chill in the house, but another part of it was remembering exactly how energized I was just one week earlier as I headed to do my first workout of this long road to the Ironman.
Today I was tired. Physically more than mentally -- it had only been a week after all -- but tired, nonetheless. However, having a semblance of routine helps one fight through that and I packed up the kids and headed to the gym.
1:10 Bike, with 7 x :20 power intervals
Having inadvertently skipped 15 minutes of cool down on the power intervals one week ago, this high intensity workout represented an increase of 25 minutes. At the pace that I intend to keep on these power intervals, that increase would be significantly noticeable.
Having budgeted myself half an hour of warmup time at a power level that exceeded the weekend's longer ride, I chose a long course on the Expresso bike. My goal is to be at about 16mph on a hilly course just at the moment. With an hour and ten minutes, the math says that I should seek a course of roughly 19 miles in length. Unfortunately, the only one that fit was not only quite hilly from the start, but also had silly space-station graphics that looked like the superhighway in the Jetsons. After pausing out of wanting to find something more interesting, I realized exactly how good a fit (and challenging, with the hills) the course was and went ahead with it.
Rather than simply warming up for half an hour, like the workout called for, the combination of hilly course and the ridiculous pace kept by the guy seated on the bike next to me caused me to pedal a little harder than I probably should have. When I started the power intervals (in a particularly hilly part of the course, which was NOT helpful), I had already established a minute lead on my pacer.
I pushed through the power intervals, about 15 minutes in length when combined with the active recoveries, and lost seemingly three gallons of sweat. My legs were quite sore, although more like I had lifted weights than performed a cardio workout, but it was (and is) a good sore. The "candy" on the other side, as I thought of it, was that I now needed to get back to the starting altitude from the heights I had climbed to. I needed to do so with some urgency, as well, if I was going to match my 16mph goal. Even with extensive power intervals, my climbing speed was still well under that. Motivated by my desire to hit 16mph (and to represent my team well in the bike time trial I have coming at the end of the month), I powered down the four miles of hill, came in JUST under the gun (I averaged exactly 16mph!) at slightly under 1:10 and spent the next five minutes toweling off the bike feeling sorry for whomever was to follow. This was a hard, slogging workout and with legs that didn't have the fire in them they'd had the week prior. But perhaps that's why it felt so good in the shower afterwards -- I trust I'll get my legs back under me soon, especially with a week long business trip coming up, and working out with fresh legs isn't what prepares you for an Ironman anyway. For now, it's day by day and workout by workout -- for many, many days to come.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Smelling the Roses
As Monday morning approached under wet, windy weather, I was thankful to have the day off. Not completely off, mind you, as I was anxiously anticipating my first chiropractor/massage therapy session of my new training program, but the first day in seven without some form of swim and/or bike workout.
In order to facilitate a life that includes a business, a wife who puts in significant hours, and two small children, it's imperative that at the beginning of each week I analyze my schedule and find space for six workouts (preferably without pulling double duty), a day off, and, if I'm lucky, a date with the chiropractor and massage table -- in a perfect world, and this first week did go pretty much according to plan, the day off and the massage are the same day so I can heal up fully for the next six workouts.
Today, the massage was typically wonderful. My fantastic doctor, "Dr. B.," worked through my set of goals for this new six month period, as always gave me a clean bill of health (not to mention confidence) to go ahead and do the race in August, and helped stretch and loosen me up. All with the Pea sitting right there in his stroller sipping a bottle. Actually, the Pea was at his absolute best for this hour-long visit, even wooing Junior Seau (my doctor co-owns a sports medicine clinic commonly used by NFL players) by crawling up to him and smiling at him.
Then I hit the massage table and my absolute favorite massage therapist, "Mel." Mel was thorough, as always, talking through my goals with me, working on my problem areas (hamstrings, trapezius/rhomboid connectors, and lower back). For anyone interested in a prolonged training regimen, if you can afford a weekly or twice monthly sports massage, it's absolutely irreplaceable. It's essentially preventative maintenance for your body and I can attest to the fact that it works.
It does leave you sore, however -- especially at the beginning of a training schedule. My neck, which gets abused both when I'm upright on a bike for hours AND when I rotate to breathe while swimming, will be sore for a day or two. My lower trapezius muscles (above the shoulder blades) are sore as if I lifted weights for an hour. Nonetheless, it's all worth it for the restorative effect it has on tired and sore muscles, which are as constant in my world as the sunrise and sunset. Come morning, I will be able to do things again pain-free which had become uncomfortable by the end of my last week of training. Magic!
In order to facilitate a life that includes a business, a wife who puts in significant hours, and two small children, it's imperative that at the beginning of each week I analyze my schedule and find space for six workouts (preferably without pulling double duty), a day off, and, if I'm lucky, a date with the chiropractor and massage table -- in a perfect world, and this first week did go pretty much according to plan, the day off and the massage are the same day so I can heal up fully for the next six workouts.
Today, the massage was typically wonderful. My fantastic doctor, "Dr. B.," worked through my set of goals for this new six month period, as always gave me a clean bill of health (not to mention confidence) to go ahead and do the race in August, and helped stretch and loosen me up. All with the Pea sitting right there in his stroller sipping a bottle. Actually, the Pea was at his absolute best for this hour-long visit, even wooing Junior Seau (my doctor co-owns a sports medicine clinic commonly used by NFL players) by crawling up to him and smiling at him.
Then I hit the massage table and my absolute favorite massage therapist, "Mel." Mel was thorough, as always, talking through my goals with me, working on my problem areas (hamstrings, trapezius/rhomboid connectors, and lower back). For anyone interested in a prolonged training regimen, if you can afford a weekly or twice monthly sports massage, it's absolutely irreplaceable. It's essentially preventative maintenance for your body and I can attest to the fact that it works.
It does leave you sore, however -- especially at the beginning of a training schedule. My neck, which gets abused both when I'm upright on a bike for hours AND when I rotate to breathe while swimming, will be sore for a day or two. My lower trapezius muscles (above the shoulder blades) are sore as if I lifted weights for an hour. Nonetheless, it's all worth it for the restorative effect it has on tired and sore muscles, which are as constant in my world as the sunrise and sunset. Come morning, I will be able to do things again pain-free which had become uncomfortable by the end of my last week of training. Magic!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Small Dose of Spousal Reality
As ridiculous as it sounds, the Princess and the Pea actually gave me an opportunity to sleep in until seven a.m. this morning. Don't get me wrong, due to the efforts of my Lovely Wife, I was able to sleep in until nearly eight yesterday, but today it was a (relatively) late awakening for the Princess that allowed us both to have a few extra minutes of shuteye. Actually, I shouldn't speak for my wife, as the Pea woke up around six and got fed before allowing her back to sleep, but for me, it wasn't too bad getting up.
And wake up we did -- to another night of rainfall in one of the driest cities in America. You see, San Diego averages around four inches of rainfall per year and I think we've gotten nearly that many since I started this week of training. Not that I mind -- it has allowed me to eschew the sunscreen, feel strong (sometimes the sun down here just zaps the energy right out of you), and even bring my dog to the gym (the shade and cool temperatures means she can sleep in the back of the car while I swim). Plus, the 45-50 degree weather keeps the masses from the pool, which is where I headed this morning.
Another benefit to having a good night's sleep is that the Lovely Wife was motivated herself to get out and swim with me -- yeah! It's always a nice weekend morning when we both jump in the pool and do our workouts together -- both kids were up for the childcare (the Pea slept at least half of it), I had someone else to foist the inevitable diaper change on (the weekend is a long swim and it's nearly impossible for the Pea to not need at least one change), and then there's the obvious... you see, the Lovely Wife can swim. Fast. So fast, in fact, that as she was simply doing kicksets letting her arms hang at her side, she was still stretching her lead on moi.
But, it's actually a good thing. Sure, I get in the pool at first and I'm a little grumpy that a woman who just had a baby six months ago, works 50-60 hours a week, and hasn't swam since Halloween is lapping me, but after I let go of my angst a few laps in, I realize that it's nice to be at a point in our lives where we both can jump in the pool and be strong swimmers -- even if only one of us is fast.
1700 yard (approx. one mile) Base Swim
Before I oversell the night's sleep, there was one moment which could have derailed this entire project, at least for a week or two, but thankfully didn't. When I got up at around 1am to use the facilities, I stupidly walked into the door frame of the bathroom with my right foot. Oh man, did it hurt - a lot. As I sat down, I felt all of my toes and convinced myself that nothing was broken.
Then I sort of forgot about it until I pushed off of the wall at the pool on my first lap (of 34) this morning. OUCH! Turns out that the pain was more on the top of my foot (metatarsal bone?) than in my toes, but yowzer, that hurt. Without trying to sound like some sort of superman (which I clearly am not), I couldn't let it derail me -- to be fair, it clearly wasn't a broken bone or anything more than some Class five soreness, but it is the sort of thing that when you are in the wrong mindset might cause one to say "we'll take a couple of days off." I know deep down that I cannot allow anything short of actual physical injuries (as opposed to soreness or bruising) to get me off of the plan. There will be unplanned days off, to be sure, caused by such things as business travel, the common cold, sick kids, etc. and this was not going to be one of them. It is a beautiful morning (to swim, anyway, even if not by the subjective "warm and sunny" standard), your wife is kicking your backside in the lane next to you, both kids are happily playing, sleeping, or watching the Wiggles, and at least three people are going to read about whether you decided to slink out of the pool or swim your damned mile like you're supposed to. So, once again, thanks for reading my blog -- you really do help me push through the little setbacks that a year or two ago might have led to a few days of lazing around with the remote instead of finishing strong.
So, swim a mile I did. It wasn't completely comfortable, it was pretty slow, and now both the Lovely Wife and I both need some caffeine -- but I swam my first long, uninterrupted weekend swim of many to come and it feels pretty darn good. So what if my wife lapped me (repeatedly) -- I wouldn't want it any other way... and if I keep working at it, maybe I can catch up. Besides, tomorrow I have a date with a massage table -- ahhhhhhh...
And wake up we did -- to another night of rainfall in one of the driest cities in America. You see, San Diego averages around four inches of rainfall per year and I think we've gotten nearly that many since I started this week of training. Not that I mind -- it has allowed me to eschew the sunscreen, feel strong (sometimes the sun down here just zaps the energy right out of you), and even bring my dog to the gym (the shade and cool temperatures means she can sleep in the back of the car while I swim). Plus, the 45-50 degree weather keeps the masses from the pool, which is where I headed this morning.
Another benefit to having a good night's sleep is that the Lovely Wife was motivated herself to get out and swim with me -- yeah! It's always a nice weekend morning when we both jump in the pool and do our workouts together -- both kids were up for the childcare (the Pea slept at least half of it), I had someone else to foist the inevitable diaper change on (the weekend is a long swim and it's nearly impossible for the Pea to not need at least one change), and then there's the obvious... you see, the Lovely Wife can swim. Fast. So fast, in fact, that as she was simply doing kicksets letting her arms hang at her side, she was still stretching her lead on moi.
But, it's actually a good thing. Sure, I get in the pool at first and I'm a little grumpy that a woman who just had a baby six months ago, works 50-60 hours a week, and hasn't swam since Halloween is lapping me, but after I let go of my angst a few laps in, I realize that it's nice to be at a point in our lives where we both can jump in the pool and be strong swimmers -- even if only one of us is fast.
1700 yard (approx. one mile) Base Swim
Before I oversell the night's sleep, there was one moment which could have derailed this entire project, at least for a week or two, but thankfully didn't. When I got up at around 1am to use the facilities, I stupidly walked into the door frame of the bathroom with my right foot. Oh man, did it hurt - a lot. As I sat down, I felt all of my toes and convinced myself that nothing was broken.
Then I sort of forgot about it until I pushed off of the wall at the pool on my first lap (of 34) this morning. OUCH! Turns out that the pain was more on the top of my foot (metatarsal bone?) than in my toes, but yowzer, that hurt. Without trying to sound like some sort of superman (which I clearly am not), I couldn't let it derail me -- to be fair, it clearly wasn't a broken bone or anything more than some Class five soreness, but it is the sort of thing that when you are in the wrong mindset might cause one to say "we'll take a couple of days off." I know deep down that I cannot allow anything short of actual physical injuries (as opposed to soreness or bruising) to get me off of the plan. There will be unplanned days off, to be sure, caused by such things as business travel, the common cold, sick kids, etc. and this was not going to be one of them. It is a beautiful morning (to swim, anyway, even if not by the subjective "warm and sunny" standard), your wife is kicking your backside in the lane next to you, both kids are happily playing, sleeping, or watching the Wiggles, and at least three people are going to read about whether you decided to slink out of the pool or swim your damned mile like you're supposed to. So, once again, thanks for reading my blog -- you really do help me push through the little setbacks that a year or two ago might have led to a few days of lazing around with the remote instead of finishing strong.
So, swim a mile I did. It wasn't completely comfortable, it was pretty slow, and now both the Lovely Wife and I both need some caffeine -- but I swam my first long, uninterrupted weekend swim of many to come and it feels pretty darn good. So what if my wife lapped me (repeatedly) -- I wouldn't want it any other way... and if I keep working at it, maybe I can catch up. Besides, tomorrow I have a date with a massage table -- ahhhhhhh...
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Real Thing, Take One
There has been a lot written recently about the fact that endurance athletes need not kill themselves six days a week to get peak performance -- when it was once believed that only miles upon miles upon miles of base training would get you there, now it is understood that the body's physiology prefers a series of short "interval" style high impact workouts followed by a longer workout to absorb the training. In my case, almost all of the interval style workouts will be done in the cozy confines of a gym, complete with towels, drinking fountains, etc.
The same cannot be said for what will become a staple, the weekend bike ride. While it is indeed true that I live in San Diego, and, to be fair, the challenges of outdoor riding are not the same that I faced when I lived in the likes of Minneapolis, Washington, DC, or New York, there is just something different about hopping on the oh-so-skinny saddle, strapping on helmet and bike shoes and actually hitting the pavement.
1:45 Foundation Bike Ride
Over the course of my training for the Aquabike, I think it will vary as to whether I swim or bike on Saturday morning. The morning does provide a bit of a childcare challenge as the Princess and the Lovely Wife head off to ballet class every Saturday at 9am. The Princess loves it, and I wouldn't think of ever preempting it -- but, as you can imagine, this means that the Pea needs care... and while it would be easy to do the bike ride at the gym, bringing him to day care, that is just NOT what I need to get in proper shape for my goals.
On this day, the Princess and her mother headed to ballet, she did wonderfully well (and was thus treated with a chocolate-milk outing as a result), and they rolled back in around 10:15. The Princess was over the moon to see my "bike, bike shoes, bike gloves, and helmet" spread out and started to dress daddy for his ride. It's not a fast process when a two year old is in charge, but the sheer joy on her face as she sipped on my water bottles and helped me strap on my helmet simply cannot be matched. So, it was a little after 10:30 when I hit the road.
It was a little after 10:31 when it started raining. I know, I know, I live in San Diego and this isn't supposed to happen. Well, you're right -- all the while they were at ballet the sun had beaten back the rain clouds from the evening before and it looked gorgeous. I had put on only a t-shirt, slathered on sun screen and... by 10:33 I was soaked and some nice woman literally said to me "ohh, poor guy..."
But, alas, the sun did peek out as I carried on and by 11:00 the weather was once again gorgeous, I was drying off, and as I hit the typical mile-long 4-5% grade climbs that typify my part of San Diego county I was feeling bad for the other riders wearing far too much clothing.
All in all, it was a good ride -- but as I said when I started, wow is it different from the gym. Not to overdo it with the statistical analysis, but at the gym you are deluged with numbers and you are able to respond accordingly with your muscles. In the real world, for better or for worse (and I tend to think for better), riding a bike can be beautiful. There were birds out, the sprinkling of rain had opened up flowers in only a few minutes, there were vistas of mountains and streams that may not have had water in them only 12 hours earlier -- it was a nice day to be taking a "real bike ride" for the first time since before the holidays.
What I mean to say is that I was slow -- very slow. Whereas I had pumped and pumped at the gym and was able to conquer 13+ miles in 45 minutes, I got a bit lackadaisical in the schizophrenic weather and nice scenery and kind of coasted at around 15mph for nearly the whole ride. I did do a lot of hills, and I did have some highly aerobic moments, but let's just say that I was not the taskmaster I was at the gym twice this week. If I had a power meter on my bike, and I don't because they cost a few hundred dollars(!), I'm guessing I would have averaged around 150. Not good enough, and I know that, but I was getting used to the bike again. Getting used to smashing my sit bones onto a small seat, getting used to a real climb with pebbles and dirt, and getting used to being distracted by the world.
I did put in 25 miles and the training was as it should be -- and all remains right in the world.
The same cannot be said for what will become a staple, the weekend bike ride. While it is indeed true that I live in San Diego, and, to be fair, the challenges of outdoor riding are not the same that I faced when I lived in the likes of Minneapolis, Washington, DC, or New York, there is just something different about hopping on the oh-so-skinny saddle, strapping on helmet and bike shoes and actually hitting the pavement.
1:45 Foundation Bike Ride
Over the course of my training for the Aquabike, I think it will vary as to whether I swim or bike on Saturday morning. The morning does provide a bit of a childcare challenge as the Princess and the Lovely Wife head off to ballet class every Saturday at 9am. The Princess loves it, and I wouldn't think of ever preempting it -- but, as you can imagine, this means that the Pea needs care... and while it would be easy to do the bike ride at the gym, bringing him to day care, that is just NOT what I need to get in proper shape for my goals.
On this day, the Princess and her mother headed to ballet, she did wonderfully well (and was thus treated with a chocolate-milk outing as a result), and they rolled back in around 10:15. The Princess was over the moon to see my "bike, bike shoes, bike gloves, and helmet" spread out and started to dress daddy for his ride. It's not a fast process when a two year old is in charge, but the sheer joy on her face as she sipped on my water bottles and helped me strap on my helmet simply cannot be matched. So, it was a little after 10:30 when I hit the road.
It was a little after 10:31 when it started raining. I know, I know, I live in San Diego and this isn't supposed to happen. Well, you're right -- all the while they were at ballet the sun had beaten back the rain clouds from the evening before and it looked gorgeous. I had put on only a t-shirt, slathered on sun screen and... by 10:33 I was soaked and some nice woman literally said to me "ohh, poor guy..."
But, alas, the sun did peek out as I carried on and by 11:00 the weather was once again gorgeous, I was drying off, and as I hit the typical mile-long 4-5% grade climbs that typify my part of San Diego county I was feeling bad for the other riders wearing far too much clothing.
All in all, it was a good ride -- but as I said when I started, wow is it different from the gym. Not to overdo it with the statistical analysis, but at the gym you are deluged with numbers and you are able to respond accordingly with your muscles. In the real world, for better or for worse (and I tend to think for better), riding a bike can be beautiful. There were birds out, the sprinkling of rain had opened up flowers in only a few minutes, there were vistas of mountains and streams that may not have had water in them only 12 hours earlier -- it was a nice day to be taking a "real bike ride" for the first time since before the holidays.
What I mean to say is that I was slow -- very slow. Whereas I had pumped and pumped at the gym and was able to conquer 13+ miles in 45 minutes, I got a bit lackadaisical in the schizophrenic weather and nice scenery and kind of coasted at around 15mph for nearly the whole ride. I did do a lot of hills, and I did have some highly aerobic moments, but let's just say that I was not the taskmaster I was at the gym twice this week. If I had a power meter on my bike, and I don't because they cost a few hundred dollars(!), I'm guessing I would have averaged around 150. Not good enough, and I know that, but I was getting used to the bike again. Getting used to smashing my sit bones onto a small seat, getting used to a real climb with pebbles and dirt, and getting used to being distracted by the world.
I did put in 25 miles and the training was as it should be -- and all remains right in the world.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Four Days -- and I Feel Fine (sort of)
It's very difficult to describe the first few days of training for something as grotesque (for lack of a better word) as an Ironman length race. Each of the three disciplines within the race represent as far as any normal human would like to swim, bike, or run. It causes people who go regularly to the gym, stay in good shape, and like exercise as a complement to their lives, not as the focal point of their lives to ask "why," and with good reason.
But back to the difficulty in describing the first few days -- the problem is, to be honest, that they are in some ways the easiest and the hardest. They are the easiest because they actually ARE the easiest -- they are the shortest in length and the lightest in intensity of the entire six month training period. Yet, they are often the hardest for the body to absorb and assimilate, especially if, like me, you kind of eased into the training period following an enjoyable holiday season, football playoffs, and Super Bowl. They're also a challenge in terms of other components of your life -- from diet, to sleep, to figuring out which workout routine works best for family -- in my case, specifically, the daily routines of my daughter and son who stay home with me during the day.
So, here I am four days in and, while I feel good and relatively strong and fresh, I'm also tired -- and I'm typing away in a pair of sweatpants that smell of chlorine... or is that my hair? There's laundry to be put away, some to be done (and I cannot describe the urgency of laundry when you train for an Ironman and you sweat as much as I do!), and also work to be done. Let's just say I hope none of my clients ever get wind of this blog.
DAY ONE: 45 Minute bike, with 6 x :20 power intervals
I think the key to starting any workout routine is to do your damnedest to complete the desired tasks without cheating, compromising, or skipping. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm following a specific 24-week ritual composed by Matt Fitzgerald, accomplished triathlete and Triathlete magazine contributor. In it, it calls for "power intervals" on the bike. Specifically, 20 second bursts in the highest, most difficult gear, with two minute active (meaning you couldn't carry a conversation) intervals in between. For the math whizzes out there, the first workout, calling for six such power intervals, takes 12 minutes. Considering the whole thing is supposed to take 45 minutes, that means 33 minutes of warmup and cool-down.
Like all of the other bike workouts done during the work week (Day One was a Tuesday), I'll be doing it at the gym. At the Frogs Fitness in Solana Beach, CA, they have a cool bike which allows you to cycle specific routes, watching the scenery go by, while also monitoring all of your stats. For those of you who don't know me, I do have a certain obsession with stats -- in terms of bike stats, there are three very specific ones I like to pay attention to. First, the speed -- it's kind of obvious, isn't it? We all like to know how fast we are going. The second is the elevation or grade of the road -- man, oh man, would I like to have this information when riding around hilly San Diego. When the road is heading uphill, you can adjust your gear downward -- downhill, the opposite. The final stat, and this one has recently gained a lot of attention in the athletic community, is the "power" or "wattage." This, like it says, specifically measures the wattage that you are putting out at the moment you are cycling. For the best of the best (Lance Armstrong), 400 watts is a reasonable goal for a sustained ride. For the likes of me, 200-250 is when I really start to feel it and the sweat starts to run like Niagara.
So, after dropping the Princess and the Pea off at the childcare (and how wonderful are those lovely people who watch my children while I workout), I head to the bike and decide that my legs will never be fresher -- and off I go! Rather than do a comfortable, recovery pace (think easy ride in the country) ride, I decide to go for it and to try and average 200 watts for the 15 minutes or so before I start my intervals. The screen allows for a pacer to be placed at whatever wattage output you choose, so I set my pacer at 200 and go for it.
To be honest, I was extremely well pleased with the result. I had spent about 15 minutes on a bike, actual or exercise, since Thanksgiving and yet I was able to comfortably rip off about 20 minutes at 204 watt average, heading into my power intervals. For those intervals, I chose the highest possible gear, rode them out (they felt more like lifting weights than riding a bike), and kept my active levels in between. Needless to say, 12 minutes and an entire 16 oz. water bottle later, I felt rubber-legged, but good. I finished the course, which meant that I had ridden about 46 minutes, so one minute more than the prescribed distance, waddled back to the showers (my legs were tired, but in a good way), picked up the kids and was off about my day.
I felt so accomplished that I took the Princess not only for a slice of pizza (c'mon, I just burned 680 calories!) but a cupcake as well. I think she wants me to do this more often! The Pea? He was tired and was glad to hit the hay when we got home.
That night, it all came rushing back. The feeling of adrenaline still coursing through your muscles, which had been relatively dormant to that point, causing them to feel anxious and restless, like when your limbs won't fall asleep at night. The soreness and squeakiness of 36 year old joints and cartilage. It was all there, but it all felt good -- I was right at home with it and glad to be back on the horse.
DAY TWO: 1600 yard swim (more or less)
Okay, so as I opened the book to see what I was supposed to swim on Wednesday, imagine my horror when I realize that I was supposed to ride for an hour the day before and not just 45 minutes. Considering what I had said about completing everything, it was a bit of a disappointment, but at the same time I had really redlined that ride, leaving my pacer minutes behind me -- in addition, I had completed the most important part, the 6 power intervals and active recoveries in between. Let's just say my frustration turned pretty quickly into "oh, well." After all, I'll be putting plenty of miles in -- it's my lungs that need the shock just at the moment.
All of this is a prelude to an honest discussion about swim sets. Each prescribed swim set in the 24 week training program is specifically designed to allow you to swim hard and strong for well over 4000 yards come race day. To accomplish that, some of each set is warm up and cool down (presumably to help avoid injury), some is technique (drill sets, kick sets, etc.) and some is flat-out swimming as fast as you can for specified lengths. You see, unlike biking or running, swim workouts are described in terms of distances, not time length... but more on that later.
So, today's swim set started out, as they almost all will, with a 300 yard warm up. For those who are not familiar, your typical junior high pool is 25 yards long. So that means 12 lengths, or six laps. The warm up, like the cool down, is really meant to be a relaxed swim, working on rotating your torso, stretching out your arms and shoulders -- if I were as zen as a yoga instructor, I would speak to becoming one with your body for the workout to come. I understand and appreciate all of that, and agree to a significant extent, but for me it's also just yards and yards of swimming -- in many respects, that is what I will need to finish the race. So, I enjoy the warmup, but like anything, I hope to get it done and out of the way because it's more work than it is fun.
In the early days of the training program, the warmup is followed by 200 yards of drill sets. There are all kinds of drills, intended primarily to get you to rotate your torso and "catch" water with your entering hand. For me, it would probably also be good to work on breathing out of both sides (I only breathe to the left, which has potential ramifications for neck and back soreness), but I don't. I don't know why -- it's just not comfortable to breathe looking right.
After the drills, and I'm sure I'll describe them someday, it's the meat of the first set. Pretty simple stuff, actually. Six 100-yard intervals at a moderate aerobic (actually, swimming is anaerobic, like lifting weights, but you know what I mean) pace. Again, like the warmup, these are fairly monotonous. I actually find swimming at a moderate pace very contemplative. Not only do I think about work, about my day or my week, but also about how much I love my family -- all the while wondering whether one of them will have a diaper to change or a potty accident which forces the childcare people to come interrupt my workout. It didn't happen on this day, but I'm sure it will soon enough!
With the six intervals completed, this is where I "cheat," so to speak. The next 200 yards are meant to be "kick sets" with a kickboard. Let me just say this right now -- I'm never going to do more than 50 yards of kick sets. Is my kick that good? No. In fact, I seem to be the slowest kicker who's ever swam at the pool I work out in. It's a combination of things. The first is that I'm sitting in the bright sunshine (I'm fair enough skinned to be concerned about such things) in Southern California kicking like I'm in an 8-year old's swim class. I know how to kick and I'm also smart enough to be able to work on my kick while actually SWIMMING! But more than that, it's that if I'm going to cycle 112 miles and then run another 26+, I'm actually intending to do a lot more work with my arms in the swim than with my legs. If, when I'm swimming, I treat my legs as if I was dribbling a basketball, as opposed to kicking like an outboard motor on a boat, I think it will bode much better for the hours upon hours I'm about to sit on a bike. Plus, the Princess and the Pea are waiting for me (I promised the Princess some time in the pool when I'm done!) So, there you have it -- I'm never doing more than 50 yards of kicking, even though nearly every workout will call for 200. Suddenly a 1600 yard workout becomes 1450.
Or, even worse...
See, then there's the 300 yard cool down. This one, I just don't get. I have a fairly athletic background, mind you. I have played all manner of sports for many, many years. I understand the concepts of warming up, of stretching, and of allowing muscles to cool. I also understand that when you are as slow as I am in the pool, you don't need 12 more lengths to cool down your muscles -- what you need is to get out of the damned pool (and go rescue your kids from childcare! ;-) All that being said, I respect the idea, and also know that it's an opportunity to work on technique. So, I decide that I will do a 100-yard cool down, which takes me about two minutes (accomplished swimmers laugh). As the swim set lengths get longer, and the Pea is in child-care for longer, this will become important. I have two hours from the time I drop him off to get changed, get in the pool, swim, shower, and pick him up. It will become important to assess where I can save some time during the inevitably long swim sets of the months to come. The cool down seems an optimal place.
So, that is in a nutshell how you pare the first swim workout down from 1600 yards to 1250. But I don't mind, and neither did my legs, tortured from the first bike workout. I'll swim plenty and I'll finish the race -- the time spent with the Princess diving after diving rings is much more valuable.
DAY THREE: 45 Minute "Foundation" Bike
In most training programs, a set period of your training is dedicated to just getting your base level of fitness up to snuff. In this particular 24-week plan, the first twelve weeks are just that -- your "base period." During that time, many of the bike workouts are called Foundation workouts. What that means is just what it sounds like. Imagine you get on a bike, ride hard but steady as if you were out for the exercise, and then coast home after the set period of time.
On Thursday, the third day of my training, a ride of 45-minutes under those conditions was called for. Thursdays are a bit tricky in my world, and might well become swim days going forward. You see the Princess goes to "la escuela" or her Spanish-language preschool for two hours every Thursday morning. So, I have two hours from the time I drop her off, which invariably includes a few minutes for pleasantries for the teacher, other parents, etc., to be back at the school to pick her up. While I am a member of the gym literally across the parking lot from the school, I don't have any experience either with their equipment or their child care. So, while I'm sure I will end up there eventually, I much prefer to drive a couple of miles back to Frogs in Solana Beach, where the childcare people love when I drop off the Pea and where I can get back on the Expresso (that's what it's called!) bike with all of the stats. Call me weird, but I do prefer the stats and fake scenery to Oprah, or the View, or whatever those people on the regular exercise bikes are watching.
Given that I mastered the 200-watt threshold on Tuesday and that I could feel my leg's on Wednesday's swim, I decided "foundation" meant for me a 180-watt pace and that 45 minutes meant 14 miles. If I was quicker or slower in covering the miles, that would be either my reward or penance. I had just agreed to cycle the 16-mile leg of a triathlon relay with a couple of friends in three week's time, so I needed to focus on riding hard for about this length.
Let's just say that my legs disagreed -- at least initially. I had a hard, hard time keeping the 180-watt pace (what a difference two days makes!). After about four miles, and already drinking my entire water bottle, I hopped off of the bike just seconds ahead of my pacer (who kept going while I went to refill). I got back on a minute behind him, frustrated with myself and recommitted myself to the pace. I caught him with a few miles to go and then held him off while the course finished downhill (it's actually difficult to get your power numbers up when going downhill because of all of the work done by gravity -- so I had to put it in a VERY high gear and pedal at a high number of revolutions per minute to pull it off). It helped that the Expresso "radio station" was playing some good tempo music -- stuff like Livin' La Vida Loca and Sweet Home Alabama that would not otherwise be resident on my IPod, had I brought it. Anyway, as I went to pick up the Pea and drive back to la escuela (which means "school" in Spanish, for those that I have confused), my legs were clearly very taxed -- even more so than two days earlier despite the ten percent less level of exertion.
DAY FOUR: 1600 yard (erm... 1250 yard) swim set
The second swim set of a week often looks very much like the first. The third is a base swim of defined length in most weeks (the swim version of the Foundation bike, if you will), but the first two have many components.
Like Wednesday, the swim started with a 300 yard warmup and a 200 yard set of drills. I had once again forgotten my pull paddles (to help with the catch of your hand), but I found the right drills to do. Friday was an interesting day in San Diego, as well, as I had dropped the Princess of at preschool (she goes M/W/F in most weeks) in a torrential downpour. In actual fact, I was looking forward to a swim in the rain -- much of the stress involved in my swim training concerns sun protection, and this would not require any sunscreen. Considering I had already seen some level of sunburn (despite wearing SPF 30) on day one -- in FEBRUARY(!) -- it was a good thing.
Actually, the 500 yard combination of warmup and drills were remarkable in that I felt very, very good. I have come to believe that swimming, and more specifically how you feel doing it, is as biorhythmic as anything else. Some days you can go for miles and miles and it feels like nothing. Other days, 500 yards in you feel like you are going to die. Well, for me, that is. I'm sure for Michael Phelps, it's not really an issue. Or for my Lovely Wife, for that matter, for whom swimming is second nature. Now she would never skip a cool-down and they would be the entire length of one of my workouts!
So, it was with confidence that I entered the weighty portion of my swim workout -- on this day, it was 6 x 100 yard "Fartlek" intervals. Now, I don't know who this unfortunately named Fartlek was, but he is responsible for a lot of pain (and, to be fair, performance) of endurance athletes. The concept is to alternate ultra-high intensity exertion with recovery time, similar to the power intervals on the bike. The theory is that it builds your VO2 max, or the threshold level of exertion that your body is able utilize oxygen efficiently (I know that definition is incorrect in some way), thereby allowing you to exert at a higher level for longer. I don't know what level gets you to 17 hours, but I'll try and do what I'm told.
So, for these Fartlek intervals, it's 6 x 100 yards (four lengths of the pool), alternating maximum effort with easy effort. After every 100 yards, you only get ten seconds off before the next set. In theory, they work really well to build your endurance. In practice, if done right, they make you feel like you're going to hurl. In fact, this is the first of many instances before I cross the finish line in Florianopolis some 15-months from now where I hope to feel that way -- it's a good thing, right? It means you are making progress and taking your body somewhere new! Anyway, even under the clouds and as confident as I was feeling (and as relatively short as these sets were -- check in with me in a few months!), they were tough. I nearly swallowed half the pool doing a turn in set five, I think I turned ten seconds into fifteen at least twice (the poolside clock was broken!), and let me just tell you hoowwww sllooooowwww my "easy sets" were. I think another swimmer completed her entire workout during one of them.
Anyway, before you know it they were done -- that's the beauty of defined and short sets like that, as opposed to sets like "swim 3000 meters. Then I skipped all but 50 yards of my kick set (see above), did a 100 yard cool down -- quite happily, I might add -- and picked up the Pea from childcare. That's two straight swim workouts without the interruption of a diaper change and he seemed pleased as punch to be hanging out with Monika working on sitting up by himself. I was happy to see him, though, as we hopped in the car, drove back to the Princess' preschool (even early enough to have lunch with her) and eventually drove home.
So, there you have it. Four days in and I am a little sore. Add the soreness I feel now from having typed for 40 minutes (although I also feel the joy of having had the house cleaned today and the fact that they are both napping -- whoo hoo!), and I'll soon be ready for bed. Ironically, all this working out can make it hard to sleep. Certain muscles continue to have that restless feeling and they can unnerve you right out of a good sleeping pattern (and, for me, force me onto my side, which is bad for my shoulder). But, I know it's all good for my body in the short and long runs and I'm happy once again to be going forward toward a goal.
On to the weekend... and there is the boy waking up, as if on cue.
But back to the difficulty in describing the first few days -- the problem is, to be honest, that they are in some ways the easiest and the hardest. They are the easiest because they actually ARE the easiest -- they are the shortest in length and the lightest in intensity of the entire six month training period. Yet, they are often the hardest for the body to absorb and assimilate, especially if, like me, you kind of eased into the training period following an enjoyable holiday season, football playoffs, and Super Bowl. They're also a challenge in terms of other components of your life -- from diet, to sleep, to figuring out which workout routine works best for family -- in my case, specifically, the daily routines of my daughter and son who stay home with me during the day.
So, here I am four days in and, while I feel good and relatively strong and fresh, I'm also tired -- and I'm typing away in a pair of sweatpants that smell of chlorine... or is that my hair? There's laundry to be put away, some to be done (and I cannot describe the urgency of laundry when you train for an Ironman and you sweat as much as I do!), and also work to be done. Let's just say I hope none of my clients ever get wind of this blog.
DAY ONE: 45 Minute bike, with 6 x :20 power intervals
I think the key to starting any workout routine is to do your damnedest to complete the desired tasks without cheating, compromising, or skipping. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm following a specific 24-week ritual composed by Matt Fitzgerald, accomplished triathlete and Triathlete magazine contributor. In it, it calls for "power intervals" on the bike. Specifically, 20 second bursts in the highest, most difficult gear, with two minute active (meaning you couldn't carry a conversation) intervals in between. For the math whizzes out there, the first workout, calling for six such power intervals, takes 12 minutes. Considering the whole thing is supposed to take 45 minutes, that means 33 minutes of warmup and cool-down.
Like all of the other bike workouts done during the work week (Day One was a Tuesday), I'll be doing it at the gym. At the Frogs Fitness in Solana Beach, CA, they have a cool bike which allows you to cycle specific routes, watching the scenery go by, while also monitoring all of your stats. For those of you who don't know me, I do have a certain obsession with stats -- in terms of bike stats, there are three very specific ones I like to pay attention to. First, the speed -- it's kind of obvious, isn't it? We all like to know how fast we are going. The second is the elevation or grade of the road -- man, oh man, would I like to have this information when riding around hilly San Diego. When the road is heading uphill, you can adjust your gear downward -- downhill, the opposite. The final stat, and this one has recently gained a lot of attention in the athletic community, is the "power" or "wattage." This, like it says, specifically measures the wattage that you are putting out at the moment you are cycling. For the best of the best (Lance Armstrong), 400 watts is a reasonable goal for a sustained ride. For the likes of me, 200-250 is when I really start to feel it and the sweat starts to run like Niagara.
So, after dropping the Princess and the Pea off at the childcare (and how wonderful are those lovely people who watch my children while I workout), I head to the bike and decide that my legs will never be fresher -- and off I go! Rather than do a comfortable, recovery pace (think easy ride in the country) ride, I decide to go for it and to try and average 200 watts for the 15 minutes or so before I start my intervals. The screen allows for a pacer to be placed at whatever wattage output you choose, so I set my pacer at 200 and go for it.
To be honest, I was extremely well pleased with the result. I had spent about 15 minutes on a bike, actual or exercise, since Thanksgiving and yet I was able to comfortably rip off about 20 minutes at 204 watt average, heading into my power intervals. For those intervals, I chose the highest possible gear, rode them out (they felt more like lifting weights than riding a bike), and kept my active levels in between. Needless to say, 12 minutes and an entire 16 oz. water bottle later, I felt rubber-legged, but good. I finished the course, which meant that I had ridden about 46 minutes, so one minute more than the prescribed distance, waddled back to the showers (my legs were tired, but in a good way), picked up the kids and was off about my day.
I felt so accomplished that I took the Princess not only for a slice of pizza (c'mon, I just burned 680 calories!) but a cupcake as well. I think she wants me to do this more often! The Pea? He was tired and was glad to hit the hay when we got home.
That night, it all came rushing back. The feeling of adrenaline still coursing through your muscles, which had been relatively dormant to that point, causing them to feel anxious and restless, like when your limbs won't fall asleep at night. The soreness and squeakiness of 36 year old joints and cartilage. It was all there, but it all felt good -- I was right at home with it and glad to be back on the horse.
DAY TWO: 1600 yard swim (more or less)
Okay, so as I opened the book to see what I was supposed to swim on Wednesday, imagine my horror when I realize that I was supposed to ride for an hour the day before and not just 45 minutes. Considering what I had said about completing everything, it was a bit of a disappointment, but at the same time I had really redlined that ride, leaving my pacer minutes behind me -- in addition, I had completed the most important part, the 6 power intervals and active recoveries in between. Let's just say my frustration turned pretty quickly into "oh, well." After all, I'll be putting plenty of miles in -- it's my lungs that need the shock just at the moment.
All of this is a prelude to an honest discussion about swim sets. Each prescribed swim set in the 24 week training program is specifically designed to allow you to swim hard and strong for well over 4000 yards come race day. To accomplish that, some of each set is warm up and cool down (presumably to help avoid injury), some is technique (drill sets, kick sets, etc.) and some is flat-out swimming as fast as you can for specified lengths. You see, unlike biking or running, swim workouts are described in terms of distances, not time length... but more on that later.
So, today's swim set started out, as they almost all will, with a 300 yard warm up. For those who are not familiar, your typical junior high pool is 25 yards long. So that means 12 lengths, or six laps. The warm up, like the cool down, is really meant to be a relaxed swim, working on rotating your torso, stretching out your arms and shoulders -- if I were as zen as a yoga instructor, I would speak to becoming one with your body for the workout to come. I understand and appreciate all of that, and agree to a significant extent, but for me it's also just yards and yards of swimming -- in many respects, that is what I will need to finish the race. So, I enjoy the warmup, but like anything, I hope to get it done and out of the way because it's more work than it is fun.
In the early days of the training program, the warmup is followed by 200 yards of drill sets. There are all kinds of drills, intended primarily to get you to rotate your torso and "catch" water with your entering hand. For me, it would probably also be good to work on breathing out of both sides (I only breathe to the left, which has potential ramifications for neck and back soreness), but I don't. I don't know why -- it's just not comfortable to breathe looking right.
After the drills, and I'm sure I'll describe them someday, it's the meat of the first set. Pretty simple stuff, actually. Six 100-yard intervals at a moderate aerobic (actually, swimming is anaerobic, like lifting weights, but you know what I mean) pace. Again, like the warmup, these are fairly monotonous. I actually find swimming at a moderate pace very contemplative. Not only do I think about work, about my day or my week, but also about how much I love my family -- all the while wondering whether one of them will have a diaper to change or a potty accident which forces the childcare people to come interrupt my workout. It didn't happen on this day, but I'm sure it will soon enough!
With the six intervals completed, this is where I "cheat," so to speak. The next 200 yards are meant to be "kick sets" with a kickboard. Let me just say this right now -- I'm never going to do more than 50 yards of kick sets. Is my kick that good? No. In fact, I seem to be the slowest kicker who's ever swam at the pool I work out in. It's a combination of things. The first is that I'm sitting in the bright sunshine (I'm fair enough skinned to be concerned about such things) in Southern California kicking like I'm in an 8-year old's swim class. I know how to kick and I'm also smart enough to be able to work on my kick while actually SWIMMING! But more than that, it's that if I'm going to cycle 112 miles and then run another 26+, I'm actually intending to do a lot more work with my arms in the swim than with my legs. If, when I'm swimming, I treat my legs as if I was dribbling a basketball, as opposed to kicking like an outboard motor on a boat, I think it will bode much better for the hours upon hours I'm about to sit on a bike. Plus, the Princess and the Pea are waiting for me (I promised the Princess some time in the pool when I'm done!) So, there you have it -- I'm never doing more than 50 yards of kicking, even though nearly every workout will call for 200. Suddenly a 1600 yard workout becomes 1450.
Or, even worse...
See, then there's the 300 yard cool down. This one, I just don't get. I have a fairly athletic background, mind you. I have played all manner of sports for many, many years. I understand the concepts of warming up, of stretching, and of allowing muscles to cool. I also understand that when you are as slow as I am in the pool, you don't need 12 more lengths to cool down your muscles -- what you need is to get out of the damned pool (and go rescue your kids from childcare! ;-) All that being said, I respect the idea, and also know that it's an opportunity to work on technique. So, I decide that I will do a 100-yard cool down, which takes me about two minutes (accomplished swimmers laugh). As the swim set lengths get longer, and the Pea is in child-care for longer, this will become important. I have two hours from the time I drop him off to get changed, get in the pool, swim, shower, and pick him up. It will become important to assess where I can save some time during the inevitably long swim sets of the months to come. The cool down seems an optimal place.
So, that is in a nutshell how you pare the first swim workout down from 1600 yards to 1250. But I don't mind, and neither did my legs, tortured from the first bike workout. I'll swim plenty and I'll finish the race -- the time spent with the Princess diving after diving rings is much more valuable.
DAY THREE: 45 Minute "Foundation" Bike
In most training programs, a set period of your training is dedicated to just getting your base level of fitness up to snuff. In this particular 24-week plan, the first twelve weeks are just that -- your "base period." During that time, many of the bike workouts are called Foundation workouts. What that means is just what it sounds like. Imagine you get on a bike, ride hard but steady as if you were out for the exercise, and then coast home after the set period of time.
On Thursday, the third day of my training, a ride of 45-minutes under those conditions was called for. Thursdays are a bit tricky in my world, and might well become swim days going forward. You see the Princess goes to "la escuela" or her Spanish-language preschool for two hours every Thursday morning. So, I have two hours from the time I drop her off, which invariably includes a few minutes for pleasantries for the teacher, other parents, etc., to be back at the school to pick her up. While I am a member of the gym literally across the parking lot from the school, I don't have any experience either with their equipment or their child care. So, while I'm sure I will end up there eventually, I much prefer to drive a couple of miles back to Frogs in Solana Beach, where the childcare people love when I drop off the Pea and where I can get back on the Expresso (that's what it's called!) bike with all of the stats. Call me weird, but I do prefer the stats and fake scenery to Oprah, or the View, or whatever those people on the regular exercise bikes are watching.
Given that I mastered the 200-watt threshold on Tuesday and that I could feel my leg's on Wednesday's swim, I decided "foundation" meant for me a 180-watt pace and that 45 minutes meant 14 miles. If I was quicker or slower in covering the miles, that would be either my reward or penance. I had just agreed to cycle the 16-mile leg of a triathlon relay with a couple of friends in three week's time, so I needed to focus on riding hard for about this length.
Let's just say that my legs disagreed -- at least initially. I had a hard, hard time keeping the 180-watt pace (what a difference two days makes!). After about four miles, and already drinking my entire water bottle, I hopped off of the bike just seconds ahead of my pacer (who kept going while I went to refill). I got back on a minute behind him, frustrated with myself and recommitted myself to the pace. I caught him with a few miles to go and then held him off while the course finished downhill (it's actually difficult to get your power numbers up when going downhill because of all of the work done by gravity -- so I had to put it in a VERY high gear and pedal at a high number of revolutions per minute to pull it off). It helped that the Expresso "radio station" was playing some good tempo music -- stuff like Livin' La Vida Loca and Sweet Home Alabama that would not otherwise be resident on my IPod, had I brought it. Anyway, as I went to pick up the Pea and drive back to la escuela (which means "school" in Spanish, for those that I have confused), my legs were clearly very taxed -- even more so than two days earlier despite the ten percent less level of exertion.
DAY FOUR: 1600 yard (erm... 1250 yard) swim set
The second swim set of a week often looks very much like the first. The third is a base swim of defined length in most weeks (the swim version of the Foundation bike, if you will), but the first two have many components.
Like Wednesday, the swim started with a 300 yard warmup and a 200 yard set of drills. I had once again forgotten my pull paddles (to help with the catch of your hand), but I found the right drills to do. Friday was an interesting day in San Diego, as well, as I had dropped the Princess of at preschool (she goes M/W/F in most weeks) in a torrential downpour. In actual fact, I was looking forward to a swim in the rain -- much of the stress involved in my swim training concerns sun protection, and this would not require any sunscreen. Considering I had already seen some level of sunburn (despite wearing SPF 30) on day one -- in FEBRUARY(!) -- it was a good thing.
Actually, the 500 yard combination of warmup and drills were remarkable in that I felt very, very good. I have come to believe that swimming, and more specifically how you feel doing it, is as biorhythmic as anything else. Some days you can go for miles and miles and it feels like nothing. Other days, 500 yards in you feel like you are going to die. Well, for me, that is. I'm sure for Michael Phelps, it's not really an issue. Or for my Lovely Wife, for that matter, for whom swimming is second nature. Now she would never skip a cool-down and they would be the entire length of one of my workouts!
So, it was with confidence that I entered the weighty portion of my swim workout -- on this day, it was 6 x 100 yard "Fartlek" intervals. Now, I don't know who this unfortunately named Fartlek was, but he is responsible for a lot of pain (and, to be fair, performance) of endurance athletes. The concept is to alternate ultra-high intensity exertion with recovery time, similar to the power intervals on the bike. The theory is that it builds your VO2 max, or the threshold level of exertion that your body is able utilize oxygen efficiently (I know that definition is incorrect in some way), thereby allowing you to exert at a higher level for longer. I don't know what level gets you to 17 hours, but I'll try and do what I'm told.
So, for these Fartlek intervals, it's 6 x 100 yards (four lengths of the pool), alternating maximum effort with easy effort. After every 100 yards, you only get ten seconds off before the next set. In theory, they work really well to build your endurance. In practice, if done right, they make you feel like you're going to hurl. In fact, this is the first of many instances before I cross the finish line in Florianopolis some 15-months from now where I hope to feel that way -- it's a good thing, right? It means you are making progress and taking your body somewhere new! Anyway, even under the clouds and as confident as I was feeling (and as relatively short as these sets were -- check in with me in a few months!), they were tough. I nearly swallowed half the pool doing a turn in set five, I think I turned ten seconds into fifteen at least twice (the poolside clock was broken!), and let me just tell you hoowwww sllooooowwww my "easy sets" were. I think another swimmer completed her entire workout during one of them.
Anyway, before you know it they were done -- that's the beauty of defined and short sets like that, as opposed to sets like "swim 3000 meters. Then I skipped all but 50 yards of my kick set (see above), did a 100 yard cool down -- quite happily, I might add -- and picked up the Pea from childcare. That's two straight swim workouts without the interruption of a diaper change and he seemed pleased as punch to be hanging out with Monika working on sitting up by himself. I was happy to see him, though, as we hopped in the car, drove back to the Princess' preschool (even early enough to have lunch with her) and eventually drove home.
So, there you have it. Four days in and I am a little sore. Add the soreness I feel now from having typed for 40 minutes (although I also feel the joy of having had the house cleaned today and the fact that they are both napping -- whoo hoo!), and I'll soon be ready for bed. Ironically, all this working out can make it hard to sleep. Certain muscles continue to have that restless feeling and they can unnerve you right out of a good sleeping pattern (and, for me, force me onto my side, which is bad for my shoulder). But, I know it's all good for my body in the short and long runs and I'm happy once again to be going forward toward a goal.
On to the weekend... and there is the boy waking up, as if on cue.
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog. My name is Cory and I am a work-from-home dad with two kids, ages 2 and six months (as of Feb 2009). I'm also an aspiring Ironman. This is my story of how to balance work, parenting, and multisport athletics. It's also a way for me to remember this wonderful time in the lives of my children, regardless of how the races end up.
Generally speaking, Ironman length races require about 24 weeks, or six months of training. For the uninitiated, a full Ironman length is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a full 26.2 marathon run, in that order. For the best in the world, a mark around eight to nine hours is the goal. For me, the goal is to run (or walk) across the finish line before they shut down the course, some 17 hours after it all begins. If I'm really having a good day, I may beat Scott Rigsby's 2007 time of 16:42:48. Then again, I have two more legs than the impressive Mr. Rigsby, a double amputee.
While I am not an unaccomplished triathlete, what I have accomplished needs to be viewed in the light of participation, maintaining fitness, and achieving one's goals. In every race I've ever done, there are people done before I even start the run. There are people who's entire race is completed in less time than it takes me to do the bike. There are even people who are running before I am even out of the water (after completing their swim and their bike!) But I have finished well over a dozen races, some with times that I am proud of because they represent improvements and overcoming obstacles, be they man made or physical -- in other words, life or my 30-something body threw me curveballs along the way. Nothing too dramatic, mind you, but the kinds of things one prefers not to have when attempting to train for triathlons.
So, that's where we are today. Maybe I'm an obsessive planner, but my goal is to find peak fitness and complete the Ironman triathlon in lovely Florianopolis, Brazil in some 15 months time (May 2010). I hope to have my wife, my kids, and maybe even parents and my sister there when I cross the finish line -- even if that means keeping them up well past their bedtime. But finish I will -- or at least that's the goal.
To get there requires taking things in a very formulaic manner, or at least I'm told. To start, I find that months upon months upon months of running (as opposed to swimming and cycling) takes a significant toll on my body. I am 36 years old, I weight about 235 lbs, and I live in very hilly San Diego. My knees are fine (knock on wood), but the pounding training for a marathon is something other parts of my body can only endure for limited periods -- let's just say 15 months straight won't cut it. So, the first item on the agenda is to compete in what's called an Aquabike race at the Ironman distance. Specifically, it's what it sounds like -- an Ironman length swim (2.4 miles), followed immediately by the Ironman length 112 mile bike. The goal is to get to swim and bike fitness, then gradually bring in the run for the Spring of 2010. It's not that I cannot run -- I did complete the Long Beach Half-Marathon in the fall -- I just know better than to do so for 15 months straight without already having the bike and swim fitness in my hip pocket. Too many injuries and too much fatigue waylay the entire regiment, and I'm smart enough to now know my limitations.
Because Aquabike races are limited in number (even though I could just do a regular race and leave after the bike, it's nice to complete an actual race course and not just slink off like some petty thief or worse, quitter!), there is one that stands out in my area. The Vineman race in Sonoma County, California, the largest independent Ironman length race in the country, has held an Aquabike category for years -- as an iconic race in a lovely part of the state, it seems a no-brainer.
August 1, 2009 -- that's the date of the Aquabike. As I mentioned, generally one plans about 24 weeks of preparation for an Ironman length race. What I didn't mention is that my job -- I have run my own immigration law firm since 2002 -- requires a fair bit of travel. As a result, I'm giving myself 26 weeks, knowing that I'll need to take a few days off here and there as required. I intend to train three days a week on each of the bike and swim sections, presumably on alternating days. There will be two weekly workouts in each discipline of under two hours, so as to fit with available child-care options and one longer workout in each, probably when my wife is available on the weekends. Once the run gets incorporated into my workout come the fall, I'll need to reassess, but for now I think the schedule I have in my head should work out fine. As far as how to work out, or what form they take, here's where I need to plug Triathlete magazine contributor and author Matt Fitzgerald. His book of Triathlon workouts, published in conjunction with Triathlete magazine, has been my workout bible for a few years now. Matt has a specified 24-week Ironman length plan in his book -- actually, he has a dozen, and I am choosing option three (the third lightest workload -- intended for those who want to finish and still hold down a job). I'm simply removing the run portion (for now) and hammering out the swims and bikes.
So now you must be wondering what I'm blogging about. Well, other than providing myself an opportunity to journal my routine, thereby forcing myself to be honest and keep it up (not to mention a great record for posterity), I'm also going to relate how it all fits in to the wonderful lives of my children, who for privacy's sake I'll simply refer to as the "Princess" (my daughter who will turn three late this Spring) and the "Pea" (my son born in Summer of 2008). Oh, and my lovely wife -- shall we call her "Lovely Wife?" It will also provide me an opportunity to thank the dozens of people who make such an effort possible, most notably in-laws, neighbors (who put up with the barking dog when I'm off to the gym), child care professionals and preschool teachers, and any number of other people who I'm sure I'm forgetting. To all of them, let me start by saying thank you.
But most importantly, let me start... and so it begins.
Generally speaking, Ironman length races require about 24 weeks, or six months of training. For the uninitiated, a full Ironman length is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a full 26.2 marathon run, in that order. For the best in the world, a mark around eight to nine hours is the goal. For me, the goal is to run (or walk) across the finish line before they shut down the course, some 17 hours after it all begins. If I'm really having a good day, I may beat Scott Rigsby's 2007 time of 16:42:48. Then again, I have two more legs than the impressive Mr. Rigsby, a double amputee.
While I am not an unaccomplished triathlete, what I have accomplished needs to be viewed in the light of participation, maintaining fitness, and achieving one's goals. In every race I've ever done, there are people done before I even start the run. There are people who's entire race is completed in less time than it takes me to do the bike. There are even people who are running before I am even out of the water (after completing their swim and their bike!) But I have finished well over a dozen races, some with times that I am proud of because they represent improvements and overcoming obstacles, be they man made or physical -- in other words, life or my 30-something body threw me curveballs along the way. Nothing too dramatic, mind you, but the kinds of things one prefers not to have when attempting to train for triathlons.
So, that's where we are today. Maybe I'm an obsessive planner, but my goal is to find peak fitness and complete the Ironman triathlon in lovely Florianopolis, Brazil in some 15 months time (May 2010). I hope to have my wife, my kids, and maybe even parents and my sister there when I cross the finish line -- even if that means keeping them up well past their bedtime. But finish I will -- or at least that's the goal.
To get there requires taking things in a very formulaic manner, or at least I'm told. To start, I find that months upon months upon months of running (as opposed to swimming and cycling) takes a significant toll on my body. I am 36 years old, I weight about 235 lbs, and I live in very hilly San Diego. My knees are fine (knock on wood), but the pounding training for a marathon is something other parts of my body can only endure for limited periods -- let's just say 15 months straight won't cut it. So, the first item on the agenda is to compete in what's called an Aquabike race at the Ironman distance. Specifically, it's what it sounds like -- an Ironman length swim (2.4 miles), followed immediately by the Ironman length 112 mile bike. The goal is to get to swim and bike fitness, then gradually bring in the run for the Spring of 2010. It's not that I cannot run -- I did complete the Long Beach Half-Marathon in the fall -- I just know better than to do so for 15 months straight without already having the bike and swim fitness in my hip pocket. Too many injuries and too much fatigue waylay the entire regiment, and I'm smart enough to now know my limitations.
Because Aquabike races are limited in number (even though I could just do a regular race and leave after the bike, it's nice to complete an actual race course and not just slink off like some petty thief or worse, quitter!), there is one that stands out in my area. The Vineman race in Sonoma County, California, the largest independent Ironman length race in the country, has held an Aquabike category for years -- as an iconic race in a lovely part of the state, it seems a no-brainer.
August 1, 2009 -- that's the date of the Aquabike. As I mentioned, generally one plans about 24 weeks of preparation for an Ironman length race. What I didn't mention is that my job -- I have run my own immigration law firm since 2002 -- requires a fair bit of travel. As a result, I'm giving myself 26 weeks, knowing that I'll need to take a few days off here and there as required. I intend to train three days a week on each of the bike and swim sections, presumably on alternating days. There will be two weekly workouts in each discipline of under two hours, so as to fit with available child-care options and one longer workout in each, probably when my wife is available on the weekends. Once the run gets incorporated into my workout come the fall, I'll need to reassess, but for now I think the schedule I have in my head should work out fine. As far as how to work out, or what form they take, here's where I need to plug Triathlete magazine contributor and author Matt Fitzgerald. His book of Triathlon workouts, published in conjunction with Triathlete magazine, has been my workout bible for a few years now. Matt has a specified 24-week Ironman length plan in his book -- actually, he has a dozen, and I am choosing option three (the third lightest workload -- intended for those who want to finish and still hold down a job). I'm simply removing the run portion (for now) and hammering out the swims and bikes.
So now you must be wondering what I'm blogging about. Well, other than providing myself an opportunity to journal my routine, thereby forcing myself to be honest and keep it up (not to mention a great record for posterity), I'm also going to relate how it all fits in to the wonderful lives of my children, who for privacy's sake I'll simply refer to as the "Princess" (my daughter who will turn three late this Spring) and the "Pea" (my son born in Summer of 2008). Oh, and my lovely wife -- shall we call her "Lovely Wife?" It will also provide me an opportunity to thank the dozens of people who make such an effort possible, most notably in-laws, neighbors (who put up with the barking dog when I'm off to the gym), child care professionals and preschool teachers, and any number of other people who I'm sure I'm forgetting. To all of them, let me start by saying thank you.
But most importantly, let me start... and so it begins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)