Real Swim Progress

Had a bad couple weeks with the dog screaming at night. Had to move kennel down into the bedroom which isn't the most optimal use of space down there. Luckily the wife doesn't mind having it right up on the bed next to her. Had some REALLY bad night of sleep so my training, as per usual with lack of sleep, has suffered severely. The bright shining spot has been my swim though.

Today I did a 500 warm up and then a med pace 500 which I came in at 7:39. This used to be faster then my PR not too long ago. I decided to see where my speed was at with an all out 100. This has been a good indicator of my swimming in the past. I came up and saw 1:07 and was kinda shocked bc it felt like my best ever. The things that were different were that I didn't swallow any water, and my strokes caught water every time instead of windmilling through the water. I can almost always split a good 50 but that 100 has eluded me until now. Who knew that regularly putting time in the pool is a good way to get faster. Still not convinced that super tons of yardage is the best but 2500-3500 should be my sweet spot.

Did a 20 mile TT as well (was planning a 40K or 24.8) but I went out in 20.7 miles per hour bc of the wind and just wasn't having it. Came back in with an elevation gain at 28.2 mph on a fairly hilly course. Ended with a 23.9 with a HR of 156. Felt pretty good about it since whenever you have that much wind, even with an out-and-back you could have gone much faster. At leas tri's are in the morning around here. Gonna start to cut back on the bike to 2-3 rides a week at most since my run is lacking quite a bit right now and I want to be recovered for some faster workouts. Also with the lack of sleep thing I feel pretty fatigued so I want some time to re-adjust before I start back up to work in April.

The only bad thing is I gained about 5 pounds and am now sitting at 175.3 so I know my running woes are still sitting right there.

Jan Totals and Update

Weights 1:25:00

Swim 4:10:00 11100

Bike 23:50:00 443

Run 18:46:00 147.65 (Bettered any 2010 month by 25 miles)

Total 48:11:00

Days off: 6

Workouts: 47

Key Workouts: (5x5min TT 27-27.4, HR 159, 80rpm) (1:23:09 Half Mary)

(1/11: 10M TT in 22:33, 78rpm, 155 HR, then 8x240 @ 5:40 pace)

(16M run with 1/9: Series of 7:00, 6:48, 6:42, 6:32, 6:41, 6:51)

(500y TT in 7:10 with first 100 in 1:17)

Swim rank was 2nd and bike was as well. Massive month in all for Jan. Had 2 Swim PR's a run PR for 13.1 and a bike PR on the trainer. Feeling great in the pool and nominal on the bike. Endurance is definitely there as the 3 hr trainer rides are getting almost east to knock out. Need to keep on the run mileage right now bc speed is just gonna come later. I must get some stuff under 6min pace in though. That really hurt me during the half as I was trying to run the whole thing faster then I had run since Nov in a triathlon. This week kinda sucked bc the dog has been having night terrors or something. Being terribly angry at 1 and 3 and 5 in the morning throwing things is not the way for me to sleep and as I have mentioned before sleep is one of my true strengths as an athlete. So not too bad. Ready to keep pushing the mileage on the run and swim and start uping the biking intensity already.

Weekly Recap: 15 hours 31 minute

This was my second biggest week ever. Got in 4100 swim, 166 on the bike and 40 running. I wish there had been another swim but my pass ran out and forgot to renew it (complicated process of course). Next couple weeks I would like to stay around 150 on the bike but up the swim and run to 7000 and 50 miles a week and hold that for a while and get some efforts when the weather is better. I also want to have a rest run day on Mon after a long run which I messed up this week. I think around this volume I should be able to loose a tad bit more weight. I am realizing more and more that I just have tons of trouble with weight loss. It was also a stressful week bc the kiddo is now throwing food on the ground again and bashing her head on the ground in parking lots and fitting like mad. It is really bad and I hit quite a low the other day so we shall see how this manifest in my general mood. I have finally found a training partner but they had to go out of town. This should help a bit as it was really nice seeing people down at the SG half marathon.

Race Report SG Half Marathon

I am going to preface this post with a video of my child. Just put this on repeat with food throwing and loud screaming for the past 10 days. She lost 3 pounds off her 30 pound frame in 6 days. She is having her independence struggle and is doing it for a long time. It is finally turning around but as you will see my brain was totally fried which lead to some mistakes. (BTW Squawkwalla is a nickname from a type of lizard in Death Valley, we are science nerds)

So I woke up and got in a 15 minute spin on the Bike before heading down to SG. One thing I was worried about was making the distance at the speed I wanted so I didnt want to warm up too much . Well the above mentioned shorted my brain and I just stood around until race start with no running warm up. Oh well I thought bc then I would have to start slower.

I went out in 3:01 and then a 3:03 and then started to slow. I had two half miles of 3:26 and 3:31 in there for my 6:22 total. My final time ended up being 1:23:09 and I weighed almost 174 which is completely unacceptable. Seeing that I should easily weigh 163 on my 5'10" frame that puts me at a 6:02 pace just based on weight alone. That puts me at a 1:19:05 which is much more in line how I felt. I will take the 50 second PR though since I have had biking and swimming PR's this month already and it is Jan. The only thing I am behind on is the weight which is so tough with the above mentioned.

I could talk most of the race just fine and my breathing was fine even though I got a side stitch at the beginning but that was the lack of warm up and trying to run out of my ability so quickly. Quads are a little sore but got in a 1:47 stroller tow and a 53 min stroller push the next day so that is pretty good. Joints and the rest of the body are good though.

I think I learned a lot about what needs to happen to take my running to the next level so that is the most important thing here. We will see.

Breakthrough week.

Big news is that I set a new trainer PR on the 10 mile TT. I went 22:33 at 78 rpm at 155 avg HR. 26.6 mph I think I finally hit the nail on the head with my start. I did an outdoor TT this spring in 25:13@144HR using a low cadence and not starting too hard obviously. I have also noticed that I can ride around 22 mph on an out and back 50 miler at when I am just out for a ride. On Tues I made sure to note when I really felt like I was pushing it and when I was not. IT was when I was around 83 rpm and my HR was at 162 is when the red light on my RPE turned on. I was hitting miles in 2:19 at the begining and then brought that down. Normally on an indoor TT I am all over the place. After the halfway at around 11:33 I really kicked it in and ran through some 2:10 miles. The hurt was there but it was constant.

This is the single biggest breakthrough in cycling that I have ever had.

Went to the track and knocked out some 240's (indoor 160M track) at about 5:40 pace afterwards. Outdoor track is clear now thankfully.

Sunday I got out for a long run up the canyon. Starting at 5600 ft and running up to 6800 ft in 8 miles before turning around. Threw in a 41 minute 6 miler (~6:45 pace) coming back. Didnt even feel good until mile 9. Glad I stuck with it. Longest run since moving down to Utah.

Tied my 100 yard swim PR with another 1:15 at the end of a 2400 yard set.

The late post is from a trip to Death Valley with ZERO workouts for 4 days due to the kiddo deciding to throw every single bit of food given to her onto the ground while camping and then being pissed all day long. The sites were great and still glad we went but it was super stressful and my body felt more tired and strained from this then when normally working out. So I dont really have any big expectations for the half except for a good mental battle.

Weekly Recap

I have devised a set of workouts that I will try to work towards with specific goals in mind. The first one I came up with is 5x5min on the trainer above 26.4 mph. I choose this because I hit this workout in Missoula when I was hitting the trainer a lot but when I came down here to altitude I couldn't muster even 3 this hard.

Sat was a recovery day from staying up to late so Sunday I decided to hit this interval set to see how I would do. This is one of the sets that a lot of people do but I think that I execute much better. Sorry about the ego trip there but my training seems lacking severely when compared to others doing the same speed or way higher then others in the same range. The workout takes 50 minutes to complete and I want to quite every minute after the second minute. The recoveries don't seem long enough and the intervals are terrible about 30 seconds in. Normally I prescribe to the part about liking to train but I love to see the numbers at the same time so I can get through this workout. I managed averages 27-27.4 mph at 80 rpm and a 159 HR which would top out at 170 for the last couple minutes.

Still struggling with the weight loss but after lunch I have only been eating workout drinks, a bowl of low cal chili, and a glass of bourbon and water in the evening. Occasionally I will have a 100 cal hot cocoa right before bed. The snow on the ground is terrible here. Stupid lightest snow on earth crap.

Swimming is coming along nicely and I have been using the bands to do a modified front lat pull down that turns into a tricep pulldown and then traditional lat pulldowns. Worked up to 50 lat, 20 mod, 50 lat, 20 mod before I rest. Will see how that works.

Got a PR on the 100 free when I had a lifeguard watch my form. I hit a 1:15. I really really need to remember to stay relaxed bc that was what I picked to focus on when she was watching. Finished the day with a tough 6 mile recovery run. Need to pick up the run frequency so I don't have to run as many 10 milers in the cold.

Year Totals: A long post.

Weights 2:07:00

Swim 24:34:00 70800

Bike 192:42:00 3539.5

Run 165:32:00 1266.7

Total Time 382:48:00

Averages

1:o3:00 workout per day.

7:20:00 workout per week.

Weeks over 10 hours: 11

Biggest week Dec 25-31: 12:56:00

Swim 1316 yards per week. 5700 a month

Biked 68 miles per week. 294 a month

Ran 24.4 miles per week. 105 a month

Days Off: 89 (1.7 per week)

Workouts: 367

Triathlons: 4

Running Races:2

Link here to my breakdown of the year in a more raw form.

Things that I like to see are the monthly breakdown where Sept was my lowest totals but I hit some faster workouts at the time as well.

Easy things to pick out are getting my highest week in the end of Dec.

Swimming so little. I would like this to get to 3000 a week yearly avg.

89 days off is about 37 too many.

I would like to bike 100 per week but that can be tough so not too unpleased with the 68

Running needs to get to at least 30 if not 35 over the year

Wins

Overall: 2

Amatuer: 3

Losses: 1

Winnings out of $240 in entry fess.

$50.00

120.00 in Shoe Gift Certificates

A cookbook and a 5.00 gift cert.

Major developments

Wife got PhD.

2 year old is impossible and frustrating in winter. Stress levels very high.

Finances have hit an all time low.

I have a plan to get my professional triathlon license so that I can actually do some races seeing as money is still going to be a problem for a while. Now I will list the reasons why I do triathlon.

I need physical activity and challenges.

Triathlon lets me use my scientific mind.

Triathlon allows my adventurous side to be calmed and leave out the epic that is both dangerous and time consuming. This is more important that it might seem.

I like the comraderie that triathletes share as I have had trouble finding friends otherwise and in Utah in general. Thanks internet buddies.

Triathlon is an outlet for frustrations of daily life and an opportunity to challenge myself. I really felt this part in my last two races when I was able to push to new levels within myself. This is what gives me the drive.

I have built my triathlon career carefully and I am ready to go full force seeing as my racing plans are crap for a while bc I have no idea where I will be living or how much money we will have so this is the time to go big. At the end of it if I fail then things will have settled down and I can go back to entering every 5K and small local Tri. I can do either mentally but with the pressures I need a challenge other then the local stuff.