Back at it...

Well I just couldn't sit still.  Not for very long anyway.  I did take about a week to ten days off and it was both enjoyable and awful.  I was so antsy and anxious to get on the bike or take a run I was starting to pester those around me.

So I am back in the game.  But on a limited basis.  I do workout everyday.  These days are devoted to running and biking and I will begin to add swim workouts in December.  I am slowly building volume focusing mostly on building that volume during running.  My run has always been my weakest event.  I am a big man for triathlon.  At 6'1" and (today at least) 194 lbs it takes a lot of energy to drag myself 10 miles in any kind of respectable time.  Friends have said, "Well you have more muscle mass, shouldn't that help?".  Well that's true. In short bursts I can generate a tremendous amount of energy and force.  But over an extended period of time it takes a lot more energy for me to move 194 lbs over a given distance than a person weighing 160 lbs.  

Say a friend and I are riding a bike pretty quickly and both of us are generating 300 watts of power.  If he weighs 30 pounds less than me it just takes much less energy to move his mass over a given distance than for me over the same distance.   Or with the same energy output he is moving at a much faster speed than me. Considerably faster.  Its why unless I can drop 40-50 pounds I will never win a Half Ironman competition.  Ever.  At 194 lbs I am also at about 11% body fat. If I drop 6 more percentage points I will still weigh 182 and cannot lose any more body fat.   The male human body just won't go below 5% body fat for very long and remain healthy.

But maybe I can win a sprint triathlon...:)

So over the winter I need to lose that 5% and its very hard to do. 

But here's to trying!

Time Off

So for the next few weeks I will be doing the most difficult part of my training program.  Taking time off.  I'm not sure I can totally do it.  It may be I am just doing things a little bit slower and not as much!! It seems impossible for me to take 2-6 weeks off and do nothing.

But here's to trying...

Running

I did a 10 mile run today.  Actually it amazes me that I can write that.  It wasn't all that long ago that such a run would have been incomprehensible.  A fantasy.  Yet I banged it out today in about 1:17.  Not fast but not butt dragging either.  I must confess the last two mile were misery and I had to walk a few times.  The weather here is now wonderful and the running is great.  I have not done a big run in awhile,  limiting myself to about 7-8 miles.  That will begin to change with me eventually cranking out 15 mile runs once a week and two more runs in the 6-8 mile range but with fast tempos.

I had a great bike ride on Saturday, pedling 52 miles in 2:38.  Traffice slowed me down some and I climbed about 2300 feet of elevation.  I should be hitting 70-75 rides in a few weeks with regularity.

i enjoy the training.  It just is something hard to describe...it feels like a real weird day when I don't get a really great workout in.  Must be obsessed or something...

Sweltering

Goodness it has been hot in Texas lately.  Yesterday I wanted to do a 60 mile training ride in the afternoon but the temps were above 90 and the air was so thick with humidity it seemed to create its own form of drag.  I was strong on the bike but at my 13 mile mark I could feel the water pouring out of me and turned back for the house.  By the time 26 miles had been ridden, I hopped on the scale and had lost 6 pounds.  Unbelievable.  Next week promises to be classic Texas fall weather with temps in the 70's and no clouds or rain.  Can't wait.

My knee hurts.  It is clearly the inside ligament strap that crosses over from the inside of my left knee to the front of my leg below the knee cap.  I don't know the medical description of this part of my body but I think it is just strain from the running I've been doing lately as most runs are about 8 miles.  I am pleased with my running progress and will take it easy for a day or so.  An injury right now would put me way behind schedule.

My nutrition stinks. I wish I could do better but I lack real discipline in eating the right foods.  Lately I'm not eating enough and when I do its all mediocre or bad food.  I must change this.

Today is the gym and weights.  Tomorrow swimming and Saturday the big long ride I missed yesterday.

Flat Tires

Anybody who rides a bike for any length of time will have a flat tire.  This is just simply no fun.  But learning to change a flat quickly and easily is a developed skill and vital for races.  I was riding yesterday and had flat on my race wheels pictured here which use tubular tires.  These are different than the classic clincher tires that most people are familiar with.  The tubular tire has the tube integrated within the structure of the tire and both tire and tube are changed as a single unit.  That unit is literally glued to the wheel.  Prior to riding and at least 24 hours before using the tire, the glue is applied to your tire and allowed to dry forming a very sticky base.  Taking the tire off the wheel and reapplying a spare takes a little finesse and some strength.  You have to stretch the tire over the rim and some upper body strength is necessary.  Tubular tires are typically much more durable and not prone to flat, certainly compared to clinchers.  I can attest to this as I've ridden on these race tires since May, have maybe 1000 miles on them and have had two flats. 

Riding yesterday I was terrified by the traffic.  It was late in the afternoon and my route was crowded and slow with commuters.  It would seem to be easier to ride when traffic is at a virtual standstill versus having cars whizzing by at 60 mph, but it is not.  The roads I ride have big wide shoulders and cars were constantly darting onto that shoulder to make turns directly in front of me or to zoom past everyone to the next intersection.  Additionally, cars would make the right turn onto the shoulder directly in front of me.  All of this made my jumpy and nervous.  This one route has a fair amount of hills where I am either doing 10-12 mph up or 40 mph down,  plus on and off ramps.  This all added up to slower times and not a fun experience.  It will be late morning or mid day rides for me from now on.

Running Improvement

I have run twice this week, so far, and biked once.  Swimming is out because the pool I use, Barton Springs, is  closed because of the Austin City Limits music festival.  Both of my runs have been good ones and the bike was ok; pretty fast but cut short because of weather. I wanted to go more than 40 miles, in fact 50 miles was the goal, but a torrential rainstorm hit us as I was dashing back home for cover.  I ended up riding about 25.

My running is improving.  My base conditioning is the highest its ever been at this time of year and I've not yet started my base training.  I am pleased with that.  Yesterday I ran 7 miles in about 55 minutes.  That is not a fast time but I was pleased as there was nothing substantially difficult about the run. I am focusing on always keeping form and a high cadence which for me is tough to do.  A one leg turnover of about 90 strides a minutes is the goal and that's hard for me to maintain. I will either lose focus or fatigue shows up and the cadence falls off.  What I am looking to do is keep cadence but shorten the stride when fatigue is building or my aerobic capacity is hurting.  I've found that when I do that I can maintain pace.

I took a very brief rest at mile 5 for some water and then finished home.  It was hot, close to 90 degrees which always just sucks the energy right out of me, but I managed to do just fine.  All of it without my ipod either...what a bummer.  Maybe I should run all the time without one?  Well my hearing might improve, or at least not deteriorate any further!

Weeks Activites

Well not only did I create this blog but I actually did some good training this week.  Beginning in October I will start the volume build up for off season workouts.  By January I should be running 30-40 miles a week riding about 150 miles a week, and doing 3 swim workouts a week, emphasizing distance (volume) work.  Between now and then I will also lift weights about twice a week depending on how I feel.

I would like to weigh in the 180 pound region when I begin serious competition in March.  That will be tough to do as I have not seen that weight since Ronald Reagan was President.  It will take disciplined nutrition as I must eat enough of the good food to be able to do these big volume workouts and stay away from hi caloric low nutrition foods, you know, the good stuff...

This week I did a little over 21 miles worth of running, about 70 miles on the bike, two weight training sessions and no swimming.  We had much needed heavy rains for several days this week so I can't complain about how it affected my training.  I am somewhat surprised at how good everything felt despite not doing heavy serious workouts in awhile.  I consider this part of my training as "maintenance" training.  Just keeping things tuned until the heavy stuff starts later in the year.

Update

This is a revamped and updated version of a previous blog about my pursuit of my first 70.3  Half Ironman competition.  I accomplished that goal on August 1, 2009 in Benton Harbor, Michigan.  It was a wonderful/miserable experience.  I swam well (much to the relief of all those that know or care, more on that later) biked OK and ran like a crippled horse that needed to be shot.  But I finished.  After 56 miles on the bike the last 20 plus being directly into the teeth of a 20 mph wind my legs said, "We just aren't going to run today..."and I limped, jogged, crab-walked the 13.1 miles home.

The truth is I had been somewhat "cramming" for the event.  That doesn't work well for science tests or triathlons.  I made the decision earlier in 2009 to race a 70.3, as in miles.  I started heavy training in late April with a coach, Derick Williamson of Durata (http://www.duratatraining.com) and discovered I wasn't nearly in the condition I thought I was for this type of event. My first race being the Boise 70.3 on June 13th.  I felt prepared for Boise but during the 1900m swim I passed out.  That's right passed out in the water.  Lucikly Ironman is a superb organization and had safety people all over the lake and quickly dragged me out.  They believed I had Swimming Induced Pulmonary Edema (SIPE, there is an ancronym for everything...) a rare but real condition that occurs when a particular set of circumstances happen to athletes or people in stressful conditions in the water.  The Navy Seals have the best data on the condition and lose several people a year to the occurence.  Well they wash out of Seal training...they don't die.  And clearly I didn't die either but it was not a good experience to say the least.  I was more mentally hurt by the event than physically and it took me several weeks to get my mind back together.

So I wanted to try again. I had a horrible cough for 2-3 weeks or more after the episode but still signed up for the Michigan 70.3.  My wife Claire was not amused.  I was confident that SIPE was a conditional thing and not permanent for me.

I swam well in Lake Michigan, taking it easy and completing the 1900m swim in +34 minutes by my watch.  They had an odd transition where the timing mat was 2-300 yds up the beach and around the end of the tranistion area adding non-swimming time to the swim portion.  Most swims the timing mat is within a few yards of exiting the water.  I took my time in transition as I was not going for time but an experience, left T1 about 4 minutes later and charged off on the bike. My bike has improved vastly this year with Derick and I've learned to apply power for extended periods of time.  I knew however that a long run was coming up and did not press hard on the bike. I hit the 25 mile mark at around 1:11 at an average of about 21 mph.  Then the wind kicked in on our return leg.  A front moved in with the most vicious wind I've ever ridden in.  The remaining 20+ miles took an enormous amount of effort to just keep moving.  I finished the 56 miles in about 3:02 for an average of about 19 mph.  About 15 minutes slower than I thought acceptable.  And then the run...

I am not a great runner.  Well, at least for distances. I was a sprinter/hurdler in high school and college and learned to loathe any distance training over a few miles.  So a 13.1 mile endurance event at the end of three and half hours of swimming and biking is not my idea of a good time.  But off I went and immediately my legs started cramping and locking up.  And that's the way it went for over two hours.  It was miserable.  But I did it and I am glad I did it.

So what next?  I have an ambitious race schedule for 2010.  I will attempt four 70.3 races., three Olympic races, and three Sprints for a total of 10 races  The fourth 70.3 should be...OK brace yourselves...the Ford 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater Florida.  I know...it sounds crazy.  I told Claire about this and she busted out laughing.  I was not offended.  But Derick believes it is possible.  I am competitive enough in the swim and the bike and with  great off season conditioning work should be very competitive in those two events.  But oh yeah, the tri in triathlon is for three events...I still have to run.  I need  to vastly improve my running to realize my goal of Clearwater.

So why such a goal?  In 2010 I race as a 50 year old.  I "age-up" as we say in the sport.  I won't be the youngest in a particular age group for five more years.  If I'm going to do it now's the time.  And I have to be competitive at this.  I simply cannot stand "just finishing" or doing it "for the experience..."  I am a competitive person.  I realize I have limitations in this sport as a 6'1",  195 pound guy.   My best competitors are about 40-50 pounds lighter than me.  But if I train my weaknesses and race my strengths I can make a serious run at excellence.  And that is always the goal.