Ironman Swim (and Others)

(Yeah, yeah, I've been TERRIBLE at keeping up with this blog lately. Going to try to turn over a new leaf. I've been using Facebook status updates the last few months to log workouts, but I realize that it's darn near impossible to go back and look at past ones. Facebook Search is FAILED.)

Today, I did my first 4,000 yard (2.27 mile) swim since April. And it was a pretty good one - I completed the near-Ironman distance in 1:21:43. This is more than 2 1/2 minutes faster than my previous "PR while wearing baggy swim trunks" - and I was swimming so well today that I might have been able to break my overall 4,000 yd training PR if I were wearing the swim jammers. Scary! (And imagine the possibilities if the pool had been wet-suit legal :-)

Here are my 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:35.5 (warming up)
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:13 (better, switched alternating breaststroke/freestyle for the rest of the swim)
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:03
• 4th 500 yds: 9:48 (really cooking here)
• 5th 500 yds: 10:05
• 6th 500 yds: 10:13 (just over an hour for 3,000 yds - not too shabby!)
• 7th 500 yds: 10:27 (getting tired)
• 8th 500 yds: 10:18 (DONE!)

For future reference, here some other recent long swims (have to clear out my watch's lap memory). As you can see I've been steadily increasing the length for my long swims to get back in to Ironman distance.

Friday, 6/25/10 - 3,000 yds in 1:02:31 (almost two minutes faster than last Friday)

• 1st 500 yds: 10:20
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:17
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:22
• 4th 500 yds: 10:30
• 5th 500 yds: 10:31
• 6th 500 yds: 10:31

Friday, 6/18/10 - 3,000 yds in 1:04:28 (slower swim - I never like seeing splits in the 11:00's - but I'll take it after having taken 2 days off)

• 1st 500 yds: 10:47
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:58
• 3rd 500 yds: 11:08
• 4th 500 yds: 10:40.5 (alternating breaststroke/freestyle for this and the remaining sets)
• 5th 500 yds: 10:28
• 6th 500 yds: 10:27.5

Monday, 6/14/10 - 2,500 yds in 52:21 - not too shabby considering it was after the Collin Classic (58 mi bike + 2.5 mi brick run) + Sunday 11.43 mi run

• 1st 500 yds: 10:34 (freestyle)
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:51.5 (freestyle)
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:57 (freestyle)
• 4th 500 yds: 10:05.5 (alternating breaststroke/freestyle)
• 5th 500 yds: 9:53 (alternating breaststroke/freestyle)

Friday, 6/11/10 - 2,500 yds in 54:52 (a bit tired, this is at the middle of a long string of workouts that started on Tuesday)

• 1st 500 yds: 11:03 (freestyle, wow - so slow!)
• 2nd 500 yds: 11:09 (freestyle)
• 3rd 500 yds: 11:22 (freestyle)
• 4th 500 yds: 10:39 (alternating breaststroke/freestyle, faster - but still slower than normal)
• 5th 500 yds: 10:39 (alternating breaststroke/freestyle)

Weekend Fun

No races = no new blog posts. So maybe I'll change it up with a training update.

I'm less than 6 weeks away from my next Half-Ironman race - the Texas Man Triathlon on May 16. So I thought I'd do a "full" workout on Saturday to gauge where I stand. Started with a 7-mile run - 3 miles by myself and then met up with the Keller Running Club for the first 4 miles of their 7-mile route. After that I went to LA Fitness for a 3,000 yd swim + 2.5 hrs on the spin bike (15 min warmup + 2 spin classes with 15 minutes in between). I had skipped breakfast (was running late for the phase 1 run) - Big Mistake: I was starving by last hour of spin. Pretty solid workout - 1.5 x Half-Iron Swim, 5/6 of Half-Iron Bike, 7/13 of Half-Iron Run - which makes for a nice confidence booster.

On Sunday, I put in some more time in the spin room. (Unfortunately, even though the weather was pretty nice, I didn't have time to do a properly ride outside - we have 11:00 AM reservations for Easter brunch. :-) In total, 2 hours and 15 minutes completed - call it about 40 miles of riding. Normally, I would estimate it as closer to 45 miles (assuming a 20 MPH average) but I was definitely moving a little more slowly today and the intensity was down a notch (especially for the first 1:15 which was self-paced) - some recovery from yesterday's efforts. But even though the bike ride wasn't optimal, it still counts as time in the saddle and back-to-back days of riding ("50 miles" + "40 miles"). This is definitely welcome as my other big upcoming event is the Sam's Club MS-150 - a two-day 150-mile from Frisco to Fort Worth on May 1-2 (less than a month away).

Finally, today, I did my longest swim over six months - 4,000 yds in 1:28:16. This is about 4 minutes slower than my equivalently-matched "PR while wearing baggy swim trunks" (and nearly 13 minutes slower than my overall PR of 1:15:23). A little disappointing, but now I know where I need to improve. I'm going to try to get in my some more long (4,000+ yd) swims, and hopefully some open-water swims as well, before May 16.

Saturday Aqua-Bike, Sunday Blackjack Run & Monday Recovery Swim

I had a solid workout on Saturday morning - a 2,500 yd swim in 48:37 - splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:30.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:55
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:52.5
• 4th 500 yds: 9:51
• 5th 500 yds: 9:28

followed by 2 hours and 35 minutes of spin class (avg hr 150 bpm) ...

Then, on Sunday I had the first of my two scheduled 20+ mile long training runs for the Cowtown Marathon.

Despite having to run all by myself (just me and my MP3 player) in my neighborhood, I ended up running 21.25 miles in 3:25:45 (a 9:40/mi pace). I'm happy that I kept a fairly steady speed for the entire run - the first 7 miles were at 9:26/mi pace, next 7 at 9:32/mi, and last 7.25 at 10:03/mi - so I slowed down, but not horribly. In addition to that I am now very familiar with the roads of my community - it's amazing that I was able to run so far and yet I was never more than 1.5 miles (as the crow flies) away from my house (in case of emergency) and (for the most part) I didn't double-back on any of the roads - i.e., I didn't do a 10 mile run and then just turn around and do it in reverse.

Afterwards, I tried my first post-run ice bath. I filled the tub with about 8 inches of water. Dumped all the ice that I had in the freezer (probably about as much as one of those big bags from the grocery store) into the water and hopped in. Brrrr, it was really cold. I could only stand to keep my legs in the water for about 10-20 seconds at a time and then I had to pull them out for 20-30 seconds for some recovery. I "dunked" them about 20 times - so probably only about 5-7 minutes of total "ice bath time" (15 minutes is recommended) but that was all I could take.

I have to admit that despite the pain and discomfort during the actual bath, my legs did feel better afterwards (maybe just from being out of the cold :-). And the next day I definitely felt less soreness in my legs than my previous 20+ mile runs. So I will have to keep going on these ...

Today, I was originally planning to take a well-deserved rest day, but because of a last-minute business trip coming up (which, by nature, usually equals rest days), I decided to squeeze in a recovery swim this afternoon. It ended up being one of my fastest 2,500 yd swims to date. Total swim time was 46:55 (I think that is a PR??). Not bad for a day when I was originally just going to sit on the couch. Splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:10
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:29
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:34.5
• 4th 500 yds: 9:25
• 5th 500 yds: 9:17

So my Iron Distance Challenge totals through today - Swim: 11.65 miles, Bike: 357 miles, Run: 83.65 miles. Three full Ironman distances complete - need 91 bike miles and 21.25 miles by this weekend (Sunday evening) to meet my personal goal of four. Not exactly sure when I can get them in, but I'm going to try my best!

Clearing the "Swim Watch" memory

The 100 lap memory of my Timex Ironman "swimming" watch is full. Going to save the splits of my longer swims for posterity/future review.

Fri, Nov 06: 2,000 yds in 42:10.5 - not a very fast swim, but was at the end of a week of solid workouts.

• 1st 500 yds: 10:30.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:46
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:44
• 4th 500 yds: 10:10

Mon, Nov 09: 1,500 yds in 31:37

• 1st 500 yds: 10:33.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:40
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:23

Sun, Nov 15: 2,500 yds in 47:29 - good swim, might be a PR for this distance. For the last two sets of 250 yds - I alternated between breast-stroke and freestyle for each half-lap/pool-length. Followed up the swim with a 65-min spin session. :-)

• 1st 500 yds: 9:15
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:31.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:35
• 4th 500 yds: 9:39
• next 250 yds: 4:52.5
• final 250 yds: 4:36

Mon, Nov 23: 1,500 yds in 31:35 - recovery swim after 20.5-mile run on Sunday

• 1st 500 yds: 10:31
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:27.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:36

Tue, Nov 24: 1,500 yds in 30:53 - another (short) swim day; still recovering ...

• 1st 500 yds: 10:17.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:27
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:08.5

Sat, Nov 28: 2,500 yds in 48:45

• 1st 500 yds: 9:29
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:41.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:55.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:05
• 5th 500 yds: 9:33.5

Sat, Dec 05: 2,500 yds in 49:32

• 1st 500 yds: 9:39
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:53
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:07
• 4th 500 yds: 10:08.5
• 5th 500 yds: 9:44

Mon, Dec 07: 3,000 yds in 57:49 - a training PR for this distance ... until Jan 18 (see below)

• 1st 500 yds: 9:28
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:37.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:37.5
• 4th 500 yds: 9:42
• 5th 500 yds: 9:53
• 6th 500 yds: 9:31

Sat, Dec 19: 2,500 yds in 49:24

• 1st 500 yds: 9:31.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:44.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:04
• 4th 500 yds: 10:14
• 5th 500 yds: 9:50

Mon, Dec 21: 2,000 yds in 38:05 - squeezed in a quick lunch-time swim before our evening flight out for the holidays :-)

• 1st 500 yds: 9:22
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:30.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:45
• 4th 500 yds: 9:27.5

Fri, Jan 01: 2,500 yds in 53:44 - Happy New Year! My pace was not that fast, but I was back to wearing baggy swim trunks for this swim and it was my first workout in a several days (and first swim in almost two weeks) due to vacation/holiday.

• 1st 500 yds: 10:22.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:45
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:57.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:58.5
• 5th 500 yds: 10:40.5

Sun, Jan 03: 2,500 yds in 49:25

• 1st 500 yds: 9:26.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:49
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:02
• 4th 500 yds: 10:14
• 5th 500 yds: 9:53.5

Tue, Jan 05: 1,000 yds in 20:39 - not a bad pace for following an hour of spin class

• 1st 500 yds: 10:27
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:12

Fri, Jan 08: 1,000 yds in 21:07 - this was following a 7-mile elliptical/treadmill run

• 1st 500 yds: 10:44.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:23

Sun, Jan 10: 2,500 yds in 49:20

• 1st 500 yds: 9:24.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:54
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:01
• 4th 500 yds: 10:12
• 5th 500 yds: 9:49

Sat, Jan 16: 2,500 yds in 49:50 - I don't know why my weekend morning swims are getting slower?!? I had even taken yesterday off. :-(

• 1st 500 yds: 9:50
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:01
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:59
• 4th 500 yds: 10:04
• 5th 500 yds: 9:55

Mon, Jan 18: 3,000 yds in 57:14.68 - I believe this is a training PR for this distance! What a change from Saturday's swim - and what a great time considering that I did that 2,500 yd swim + 2.5 hours of spin on Saturday, and then 14.5 miles of running (including a 15K race) on Sunday!

• 1st 500 yds: 9:08
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:20
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:34
• 4th 500 yds: 9:52
• 5th 500 yds: 9:51
• 6th 500 yds: 9:30

Ahh, now the watch memory is cleared - all ready for more!

Ironman Swim #5

Took the day off yesterday. Getting over a cold/cough and I just wasn't "feeling it" yesterday. It felt weird to skip the Thursday lunchtime spin class, but at least the sushi buffet I had in its stead was muy bien. :-)

Maybe that rest day recharged my batteries. I did a long swim today after work and completed 4,000 yards in 1:15:23. This the fifth time that I've swum this distance, and this is a PR time by a lot (previous best was 1:24:22) - but it's really not a fair comparison since I was wearing my aerodynamic (or is it "aquadyamic") ClubSwim compression jammers instead of my baggy swim trunks. Nonetheless, it was a really solid swim session. Here are my 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:07
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:18.5
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:21
• 4th 500 yds: 9:29
• 5th 500 yds: 9:35.5
• 6th 500 yds: 9:36
• 7th 500 yds: 9:38
• 8th 500 yds: 9:18 (alternating breaststroke/freestyle)

My pace definitely slowed down a little bit as the laps wore on, but overall a good swim and no breaks at all! At least the first part of a Full Ironman should be doable. :-)

Double-Race Saturday, Recovery Workout Sunday

Saturday morning:

Completed the 20K race at Tour Des Fleurs in 1:49:24. This works out to be an 8:49/mi pace for the 12.4 mile distance. I finished 338th out of 1182 finishers, 231 out of 555 men and 53rd out of 111 in my age group. My first 10K was in 54:40 (8:49/mi pace, 359th place) and my second 10K was in 54:43 (8:50/mi pace, 310th place). So I am very happy to have kept my pace mostly constant for the entire run.

My splits/data - obviously, I missed a couple of the mile markers :-P:

Speed chart - the drops in speed are walk-breaks at the water stops:

Heart-rate chart - the drops in HR coincide with the aforementioned walk-breaks at the water stops, but it looks like the final two breaks were too short to make much of a dent!:

The weather was not too hot, but still felt muggy and humid. Although not a PR (my time was 3 minutes slower than last year), I thought I did pretty well. Especially since overall, I have not been running as quickly this year vs. last year and the fact that I had my Half-Ironman race just 6 days ago. Something is quite interesting is the difference between my average heart rate this year (161 bpm) versus last year (172 bpm). I think the walk-breaks definitely helped keep it down and yet my speed didn't drop too much.

Was nice to see lots of friends before and after the event. Melissa and I carpooled from Keller - save the planet (and save some gas) and met with some of her Luke's training team before the race. I also met up with Derek and ran into Chris & Kara before the start. After finishing, I saw Kim and Eva at the finish line area and we walked up to the "party-zone" and I grabbed pizza, bagels, and some breakfast burritos. We met up with some RVG members and compared results and snapped a few photos before heading back to the parking area at Winfrey Point.

Race results: http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=3891

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13586343

Saturday evening:

The Community Storehouse Run In The Dark is a local charity run that occurs at night. The 5K event didn't start until 8:00 PM. Luckily, the streets of the route were well-lit. As far as I know there were no darkness-related injuries.

Before the 5K, there was a 1-Mile Fun Run, which I did with my 6 year old. Actually, according to my Garmin Forerunner 305, it was about 1.3 miles - and she completed the entire thing!

The starting area of the 5K was a little cramped and crowded. Because I wasn't paying close enough attention to the time, by the time I made it to the start line, I had two choices - just jump in at the front of the pack or go all the way to the back behind the strollers, etc. So I chose the former because it was easier ... and thus I started off way too fast (7:16 for the first mile) - swept up by the speedy front-runners.

The route had a fairly steep hill up Bear Creek Parkway between Mile 1.15 & 1.45 so that slowed the pace for me (8:13 for the second mile). About 2 1/2 miles in, I got some encouragement from John from my spin class - his wife, Cassie, and daughter were running the 5K as well.

I finished up the remainder of the course and crossed the finish line in 25:22 for 116th place out of 946 overall and 20th out of 82 for men 30-39. Not too bad considering I had done a 20K just 12 hours prior.

Officially, my pace was 8:11/mi. However, my Garmin showed the course as 3.25 miles long - which calculates to a 7:48/mi pace. I'm going to with that ... since my ego is bruised thinking that I can't keep an 8:00/mi pace for a 5K. :-P

Race results: http://www.runontexas.com/Results/2009/RunintheDark965/DarkMenu.htm

Garmin Connect map & info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/13618057

So between the two races and the Fun Run, I ran 16.5 miles (17+ if you believe the Garmin) today. Logging the distance in my Dallas White Rock Marathon training log. :-)

Sunday:

No more running - gotta give my knees & shins a rest. So the workout of the day was a 2,500 yd swim followed by 1:15 of spin class. I completed the swim in 48:09, which is a pretty good time considering the hard efforts of yesterday (and the long swim on Friday). Here are the 500 yd splits for the swim:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:23 (started off fast, probably too fast)
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:30
• 3rd 500 yds: 9:48.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:04 (the fast start is definitely catching up to me)
• Final 500 yds: 9:23.5 (alternating breast-stroke/free-style)

I was able to speed up for that last set, but I paid for it. After getting out of the pool, I needed about 5 minutes to fully recover.

The spin class afterward was a solid effort. Our instructor, Michelle, is a cyclist (has done the MS-150 a couple times) and triathlete as well - and is planning to do the Monster Triathlon at the Keller Natatorium in October. Always nice to meet fellow racers.

As for the class itself, I avoided coming out of the saddle (so as to not put too much weight on my legs), so my heart-rate only averaged 146 bpm for the 75 minute session (usually when I do standing climbs, my heart-rate goes up quickly). However, it was still a great class and the spinning really helped get the blood flowing to my legs and should speed recovery.

Whew, that was quite a weekend. I think I'll take a well-deserved rest day tomorrow!

New 3,000 Yard Swim PR

Sweet, I just got back from a 3,000 yard swim at lunch-time today. Not only is it the first time that I have done this distance in a while (my 8:00 AM Saturday morning "long" swims usually top out at around 2,500 yards because the 9:00 aquaerobics class participants start gathering and giving me "the eye" at 8:50 or so), but I also set a new PR for this training distance! Total time of 1 hour, 1 minute, and 31 seconds (about 20 seconds faster than my previous record from almost exactly a year ago).

My 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:29 (warming up)
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:16
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:12
• 4th 500 yds: 10:27.5 (getting a little tired)
• 5th 500 yds: 10:23 (picking it back up)
• 6th 500 yds: 9:44 (pushed hard right to the end)

For that last set, I alternated between 25-yard lengths of breast-stroke (for recovery) and then of fast free-style (the push). With the extra breaths and use of different muscle groups during the breast-stroke laps, I was definitely able to go MUCH faster for my free-style swimming.

I probably should have be resting today since I have 15.5 miles of running tomorrow - the Tour Des Fleurs 20K in the morning and then the Run In The Dark 5K in the evening. Oh well, the swim as a good cross-training workout so no regrets!

Half-Iron Weekend

My plan for this weekend is to do (close to) a half-Ironman triathlon, but over two days ...

Saturday, August 8: Day 1 of "Half-Iron Weekend" completed! I survived a 2,500 yd swim (in 47:05 ... then the 9:00 AM water aerobics class kicked me out of the pool) + 2.5 hours of spin (avg hr 153 bpm) ... Time for lunch - man, I'm hungry!

Swim splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 9:17.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 9:20.5
• 3nd 500 yds: 9:29
  
• 4th 500 yds: 9:34
• 5th 500 yds: 9:24

Bike stats (15 min before class, Class #1, 15 min intermission, Class #2 - split into two halves):

Bike heart rate (click to enlarge):

Saturday, August 8: Day 2 of "Half-Iron Weekend" is now done. An 11.17 mile run in 1:56:45 (10:26/mi pace) ... Wow, if 11 miles is this tough at 8:30 AM, how am I going to survive 13.1 at around 11:30 AM for the actual tri?

Stats/Splits table below (click to enlarge). I (tried to) hit the "lap" button on my Garmin Forerunner 305 whenever I started/stopped my walk-breaks - you can see that I took many of them (and several were 5+ minutes in length) after the first five miles (Lap 4 and on):

Speed graph, again you can see that my average speed dropped significantly, :

Heart Rate. The depressing thing to note is how high and quickly it went up, even after the many and lengthy walk breaks. A combination of the heat and my lack of run conditioning.

Elevation profile (no notes, just included for completeness):

Looks like I'll need to do a lot more running training in the next month. Otherwise, it is going to be a tough run on September 13th ...

A Run and A Swim

Sunday: Since I didn't do a brick run after yesterday's Goatneck ride (well, to be honest, I'd be doing the long run today even if the brick had materialized), I had a goal of running 10 miles around my neighborhoood this morning. I thought this would be doable as the temperature this morning was "only" 81 degrees.

Ummm, yeah, it turns out that 81 degrees is not as cool as it would seem (especially when there is substantial humidity involved). I ended up doing 9.65 miles in 97 minutes (for a 10:02/mi pace). By the end, I was too tired to run around the block for an even 10. Exhaustion trumps OCD!

Still it was a (near-)victory of sorts. I hadn't completed a double-digit run since the Cowtown Half, and I was glad to run even longer than last Saturday's Too Hot To Handle (even if it was only by a quarter of a mile) since this was just a training session. My goal is to work my way up to 12-14 miles over the next month. I'm sure I can do the miles with consistent training; the trick will be staying injury-free during the ramp-up!

Monday: Normally, today would be a rest day following long bike and run over the weekend. However, instead I did a (slow and hard-fought) 2,500 yd lunchtime swim. Splits: 10:22, 10:35, 10:48, 10:58, 11:17. Yep, those sets got really slow and painful. But no rest for the weary - 48 days 'til the PrairieMan Half ... Yikes!

In other news, I've officially lost 4 pounds in the last two weeks. I want to lose about 6-8 more before the Half. I don't really "need" to lose the weight, but I just don't want to be carrying around extra ballast for 56 miles on the bike and 13.1 on the run!

Kicking It Up a Notch

I feel pretty good after my back-to-back events from the weekend. Even my legs feel pretty good - surprising, since 15.5 miles is more than I have run in quite a while (even that 15K felt like a really long run).

Anyway, as I look at the date of the PrairieMan Half-Ironman Tri (September 13) circled on my calendar (okay, so I don't actually own any paper calendars - it's "virtual/digital" circle :-), I definitely feel a little anxiety.

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital. -Joe Paterno

Okay, so I'd better prepare and kick my training up a notch. Especially for the swim and run.

Tuesday: 60 minute spin class (avg hr 149 bpm) + 500 yd swim in 10:16. Okay, so not much of a "kick-up" today ...

Wednesday: Another Wednesday duathlon at LA Fitness - 3mi run (24:14), 60min spin, 2.5mi run (21:29). Last week: 2mi run, 45min spin, 2mi run ... PROGRESS! I was pleasantly surprised that even for my post-spin run that I could keep a sub-8:30/mi pace on the treadmill and my heart rate stayed around 150-155 bpm. On the downside, I was planning to do 3 miles for that second (brick) run but just couldn't finish the last half-mile even after cranking down the speed. Will look to improve next week.

Thursday: Another 60 minute spin class (avg hr 152 bpm) + 1,000 yd swim in 21:16 (10:44, 10:32). Double of my normal post-spin distance. Yay!

Friday: Instead of my usual day off, I did a lunchtime run of 2.16 miles (that 8 laps around a local park while my daughter played in the playground in the middle) in the 1:00 PM Texas sun. I was running for 17:37 ... however, I took a shade/water break after every 2 laps, so the total time was nearly 29 minutes. I'm too lazy to do the math right now, but I know that's a slow overall pace and not a very long distance. But still, it's better than nothing.

Okay, time to get ready for bed. I'm going to tackle the 69-mile route at The Goatneck tomorrow morning!

Disco Taper Week

Monday: Problem: I'm torn between wanting to run (to get better at it and maybe do it outdoors to get some climate training) and not wanting to run (so my legs/knees wouldn't get sore/injured). Solution: 30 minutes on the home elliptical trainer.

Tuesday: 1 hour of spin class (152 bpm avg hr) + 1,000 yard swim (10:25, 10:30). Feeling pretty good.

Wednesday: A "Lunchtime Du" - 2-mi run, 45-min spin, 2-mi run. The runs were pretty fast (averaging sub-8:00/mi pace for both). Too bad I can't do that pace in the heat. :-P

Stats below:

First run - started slowly and gradually increased speed - 0.25 mi at 6.0 mph, 0.25 mi at 6.7 mph, 0.5 mi at 7.5 mph, 0.5 mi mph at 8.0 mph, and 0.5 mi at 8.55 mph. Spin class was quick and tougher than the 45-min duration and 151 bpm avg heart rate seems to indicate. Second run was at a constant 7.5 mph (8:00/mi) pace.

This should be my last hard workout before the weekend races - will taper and rest starting tomorrow. Also picked up my Disco Tri packet today. Bib #701 - hope that is my lucky number.

Thursday: 50 mins of spin (150 bpm avg hr) and then 500 yard swim (10:17). The spin class was probably a little more energetic than I'd planned, but overall I don't feel like I'm overdoing it.

Tomorrow will be a full rest day and I'm looking forward to it!

Disco Pre-Tri

Good workout this morning and got to meet up with some fellow racers.

Swim: Two open water swims: 9:49 + 13:27.4. I'm guessing I did about 1,200 meters total. Good practice.

Bike: Rode the sprint course - did the portion on E Lone Oak Rd that was outside of the park twice for a total distance of 31.38 miles in 1:36 (19.6 mph average speed) and an average heart rate of 149 bpm.

MotionBased stats: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8616960 (forgot to stop my watch right away so the time is a bit long)

Run: 3.68 miles in 40:22 (10:58/mi pace). More of a walk/jog than a fast brick run, but at least I got some miles in. Really feeling the effects of nearly 100 miles of cycling in the last 24 hours. My average heart rate was 155 bpm even with all the walk breaks and water stops. Oh well ...

MotionBased stats: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8616961

Back From Break

Wednesday, May 20: My last hard workout before vacation. I will be taking it easy over an extended Memorial Day weekend as my brother, his wife and my niece and nephew are coming to town for a visit. Today's workout: 110 minutes of spin (148 bpm) followed by 1,000 yd swim in 19:31 (9:52, 9:31)

Sunday, May 24: My ONLY workout during the 5-day holiday/vacation - a 5.91 mile morning neighbor run in 57:24. Very slow (that's a 9:43/mi pace - there are many walk-breaks), but at least I broke my "lazy streak"!

Tuesday, May 26: 1 hour spin class (150 bpm) + 500 yd swim in 10:23

Wednesday, May 27: First a 1 hour spin class (150 bpm). Then a 3-mile treadmill brick run in 27:03 (9:01/mi, 154 bpm).  I started at 6 MPH and slowly worked my way up to about 7.5 MPH.


Thursday, May 28: 45 min solo spin session (149 bpm) followed by 45 min spin class (157 bpm). Afterwards, a 500 yd swim in 10:34 - a little slower than Tuesday, but can you blame me after that nice long (albeit indoor) bike ride.

Saturday, May 30: Morning workout: 1,500yd swim (in tri-shorts) in 29:05 (set times: 9:40, 9:46, 9:39) followed by 2hr,40min on the spin bike (24 minutes before class then back-to-back classes with 16 minutes in between).  A solid session and I kept up the intensity (154 bpm overall average heart rate) the entire time.


Sunday, May 31: Another Sunday morning run. This time - 7.16 miles in 1:07:09 - 9:23/mi pace at an average heart rate of 157 bpm. Quite a bit faster pace than last week's effort even though the route was 1.25 miles longer. Progress!

Monday, June 1: Skipped the lunchtime workout. My daughter graduated from Kindergarten at 1:00 PM. :-)

The rest of this week is almost a clone of last week.

Tuesday, June 2: 1 hour spin class (144 bpm), 500 yd swim (freestyle) in 10:04 (no tri shorts - so this is pretty fast) followed by another 500 yd of breast stroke (hadn't planned to go this far - just kept following Don - so no timing for the second set)

Wednesday, June 3: First a 1 hour spin class (147 bpm). Then a 3.5-mile treadmill brick run in 29:58 (8:34/mi, 154 bpm). I can't believe that I cut my pace that much as compared to last week while keeping the same average heart rate and going an extra half-mile. Yay!


As you can see, a key improvement was being able to hold a sub-8:30/mi pace at 156 bpm (see Lap 4) this run while that same heart rate was nearly 9:00/mi (see last Wednesday's Lap 3).  Hopefully, this is a trend and not just a fluke.

Thursday, June 4: 50 min spin class (146 bpm) followed 500 yd swim in 9:19 (tri-shorts) and other 250 yd that were (again) untimed (hit STOP instead of LAP on my watch so no stats)

So that's it ... catching up on a long list of old workouts.  Not sure why my heart rate during this week's spin classes was lower than normal.  Well, actually I do know, I felt tired. :-P  Will try to do a little better next week.

Tomorrow, I plan to do a morning run (I guess I had better get to bed now!) and then on Saturday, I'll be doing the 100K route at the 2009 Mesquite Rodeo Bike Ride.

Texas Man Taper??

I should be tapering for this coming Sunday's Texas Man Olympic-distance Tri, but instead I seem to have been building up steam the last couple of weeks instead. I guess it feels good to have some "normal" workouts - i.e., having my Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS and heart rate data available again (after breaking during the MS-150) and a healing/improving finger (I was finally able to go in the pool after getting the stitches out).

Anyway, here are the workouts from the last week and a half:

Tue, May 5: First training session after two rest days following the "MS-72."  A 2-mile run followed by a 1-hour spin class.  No stats due to my broken watch, but it was a good workout.

Wed, May 6: 60-minute spin and a 500 yd swim. First time in the pool since the Caveman Tri - got my stitches out yesterday.  11:10 - my slowest swim pace for this distance in quite some time.  Oh well, if this is my (re)starting point in the pool, I'll take it.  Post-swim: my wounded fingers are a little sore from rubbing against each other - I may need to bandage them up.

Thu, May 7: 1-hour spin class and 1.5 mile brick run on the treadmill.  Nothing special, just chugging along. 

Fri, May 8: Woo-hoo! I got my replacement "newly overhauled" Garmin Forerunner 305!  Only took $79 and about a week of waiting.  Looking forward to testing it out tomorrow.

Sat, May 9: 6-mile treadmill run in 51:54. Tried to concentrate on base training and keep my heart rate under 150 bpm. I was somewhat successful for the first two miles, but it kept steadily creeping upwards. I increased my pace by 0:30/mi at the 4.5, 5, and 5.5 mile marks - and was running at a 7:30/mi pace at the end. 

Followed my run with 2.25 hours of spin class (avg hr = 154 bpm). Actually, my heart rate was averaging 157 bpm for the first hour or so, but by the 1:45 mark, my right foot started hurting.  I usually don't wear my running shoes for spin class - and this is the reason.  Lesson (re)learned.

Sun, May 10: Texas Man Pre-Tri - about 1,000 yards of open water swim practice (yay, my wetsuit still fits) followed by a 10-mile bike - a well-deserved easy day, I suppose, after yesterday's killer session :-)

Mon, May 11: 6.5-mile treadmill base training run in 55:35. I was able to keep a 150-153 bpm average heart rate for the first 3 miles at my approximately 9:00/mi pace. Unfortunately, at that point, it started to creep up.  But I definitely see improvement versus Saturday's run - with my average heart rate about 3 bpm lower through five miles while running at the same or even slightly faster pace than that of two days ago.

Tue, May 12: 55-minute spin (avg hr = 148 bpm ... must have been tired from yesterday's run) and then 500 yd swim in 10:27. Much better swim pace that last week.

Wed, May 13: 60-minute spin class (avg hr = 154 bpm) and then a 2-mi treadmill run in 18:21 (4 x half-miles at increasing pace: 10:00/mi, 9:30/mi, 9:00/mi, 8:30/mi). The run felt tough even with the overall slower pace, but it was still good to get it in.

Thu, May 14: 70 minutes of spin. My average heart rate for the bike was only 143 bpm.  I tried to push harder - and I think cardio-wise I could have done more - but my legs were just very tired from four days in a row of running and cycling.  After spin class, a 500-yard swim in 9:27.  A lot faster than the last two swims - definitely feeling better and more comfortable in the pool, however to be fair, I also was wearing fast/aerodynamic tri-shorts (and that also helped my speed).

Fri, May 15 (plan): Early morning 3-4 mile run. I need to do some runs outside instead of just on the treadmill (where it's perfectly flat with no humidity and a mild temperatures! :-P)

Sat, May 16 (plan): One more (easy) swim - going to try for 1,500 yards - and then take it easy for the rest of the day.

Sun, May 17: Race Day!!!

A Slow Swim Is Better Than No Swim

2,500 yards in 54:35 at lunch today.  Not super fast, but a solid effort and I didn't even get dizzy despite no Meclizine.

The first three sets were normal freestyle (preparing for the season's upcoming Olympic distance tris with their 1,500 meter swim legs), the next set was breaststroke only (prep for Navy Seal Fitness Challenge) and the final set was of alternating 50-yard laps of freestyle and breaststroke. My splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:38
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:49
• 3nd 500 yds: 10:54
  
• Water/AccelGel break: 0:36.5
• 4th 500 yds: 10:23
  
• Water/AccelGel break: 0:36.5
  
• 5th 500 yds: 10:38

Overall, a solid effort.  I am happy.

SEAL Swimming (x 2)

Some swimming to get ready for the Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge - one session planned, the other unplanned -but both were good.

Monday: My first long swim since mid-February. 2,000 yards. Yay!

• First 500 yds - breaststroke - 10:05 (a bit slower than last Tuesday, but not too bad considering that I raced yesterday)
  
• Second 500 yds - freestyle - 10:51 (slow ... ouch!)
  
• 1 1/2 minute water break.
  
• Third 500 yds - alternating between 50 yds of freestyle and 50 yds of breaststroke - 10:37 (better)
  
• 1 minute water break
  
• Final 500 yds - same thing, alternating freestyle/breaststroke - 10:20 (good)
  

A lot of work to do, but a good start.

Tuesday: Normally, a spin-class day but ... I FORGOT MY SHOES. Oops! So had to settle for the only gym workout possible with no footwear: more swimming. Kicked it up a notch with a total of 2,500 yards today. Similar format to yesterday's session:

• First 500 yds - breaststroke only - 9:44 (fastest time yet)
  
• 1 minute water break
• Second 500 yds - freestyle only - 10:08 (not bad!)
  
• 1 minute water break.
  
• Third 500 yds - alternating between 50 yds of freestyle and 50 yds of breaststroke - 9:59
  
• 1 minute water break
  
• Fourth 500 yds - more freestyle/breaststroke - 9:55
• 1 minute water break
• Final 500 yds - another breaststroke set - 9:47.5

The pool is my friend.

After the swim, I rested for about 5 minutes and then tried some push-ups. Big mistake. I could only do ten in 29 seconds (you get 2 minutes in the SEAL Challenge) before complete muscle failure. A short rest and then another attempt - only six more. Sigh ... oh well - lots of room for improvement. Next up: sit-ups ... a little better - 37 completed in the 2-minute time limit.
I guess I just have to work harder and get better. A little over a month to go ...

SEAL-Worthy?

In other news, last Friday, Lee and I signed up for the Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge. The event is on May 9th at the Keller ISD Natatorium (same venue as the St. Patty's/Monster Tri) and consists of:

• 500 yd swim – Sidestroke or breaststroke only
  
• [10 minute rest]
  
• Push-ups – Max you can do in 2 minutes
  
• Sit-ups – Max you can do in 2 minutes
  
• Pull-ups – As many as you can do (not timed)
  
• [4 minute rest]
  
• 1.5 mile run
  

I've been doing so much (too much?) "swim, bike, run" so this looked like a good goal to work towards for increasing my pathetic upper-body strength. The web site notes that the standards that must be achieved to enter the SEAL training program (BUD/S) include the following:

• 500-yard swim (using sidestroke or breaststroke) under 12 ½ minutes
  
• 42 Push-Ups (in 2 minutes)
  
• 50 Sit-Ups (in 2 minutes)
  
• 6 Pull-Ups (no time limit)
  
• 1.5 Mile Run under 11 minutes
  

Furthermore, the elevated SEAL standards for the PST, which statistically gives the candidate a much greater chance of completing BUD/S, include the following:

• 500-yard swim (using sidestroke or breaststroke) under 10 minutes
  
• 80 Push-Ups (in 2 minutes)
  
• 80 Sit-Ups (in 2 minutes)
  
• 11 Pull-Ups (no time limit)
  
• 1.5 Mile Run under 10 minutes
  

I think I can handle the swim and run segments (though the necessary sub-6:40/mi run pace for the elevated SEAL standards will be a stretch), but my weakness will be in the push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups.  So, I'm going to start focusing on these areas (and practice my breaststroke) during my workouts in the weeks ahead.

Tuesday:  I got to LA Fitness before spin class and started with 20 push-ups.  That was about all I could do (maybe 5 more may have been eeked out, but whatever).  Next up: the pull-up station - which is not a true pull-up bar (has a "gap" between where you hang on).  I did 5 pull-ups, but I'm not sure if there were actually full/legal ones - I need to find a real pull-up bar.  Then, 17 more push-ups and about 40 sit-ups (I lost count :-P) and then 2 pull-ups before running to spin class.  After that, a solid 50 minute spin class (average heart rate of 156 bpm).  I finish the workout with a 500 yard swim (breakstroke only) in 9:57.  Pretty good (and probably would be even faster if I wasn't wearing baggy swim trunks).  After exiting the pool, some push-ups.  Not a very good performance - the session went something like: 3 push-ups, break, 2 push-ups, break, 2 push-ups, longer break, 5 push-ups .... probably 16-20 total.

Wednesday: Baseline run: 1.5 miles on the treadmill (no incline)  in 10:34 (7:03/mi pace). Not bad, but it will be tough to shave another 34 seconds off the time. After the run, I alternated between push-ups and sit-ups: 3-5 push-ups and then 10 sit-ups. Approximate totals: 15 push-ups and 30 sit-ups.  Finally, a 60-minute spin class (avg hr of 152 bpm) for some more cardio work (gotta prepare for this weekend's Fast & Furious Duathlon)

Thursday/Today: A little more cycling in the form of a 45-minute spin class (avg hr of 152 bpm).  Afterwards, about 500 yds of swimming - mix of freestyle and breaststroke and little sidestroke (which seems slow and inefficient compared to breaststroke). My watch died on me so no splits - time for a new battery! A set of push-ups after getting out of the pool ... 9 total. Uggh, I'm going backwards!  My arms still sore from Tuesday & Wednesday.  I think I'll take a break from the arm/chest work for a few days and try it again next week.

Overall, I still have a long ways to go with my push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups ... but at least it's a start and I have a baseline from which to work.  Hopefully, I'll make a lot of progress in the next five weeks.

Moving the Cheese

(Perhaps "moving the finish line" is more accurate, but I really like that book.)

The only way to get better (for endurance training, anyway) is to go longer and harder.  So I'm going to try to kick it up a notch the next few weeks until I begin tapering in mid-March for the Lonestar Half-Iron.

On Saturday, I started the morning by meeting up with the Keller Running Club at the Keller-Smithfield Node for their "6-miler" on the Bear Creek Trails.  I took a detour up the steep hill on Elaine St (both times - on the "out" and the "back") and did the loop around the baseball fields at the Keller Sports Part so my run totalled just over 8 miles.  Afterward, I did another couple of miles (oops, forgot to restart the Garmin) with a fellow Cowtown Half-marathoners - back west on Bear Creek Parkway to Keller Town Hall and the KISD Natatorium and then wound along the trails back to the Node (and my car).  About 10 miles total.  MotionBased data & map (for the first run): http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7619648

After the run, I hightailed it to LA Fitness and was surprised to find that even at 9:00 AM (15 minutes before the start of spin class), all the bikes were already reserved.  I caught a huge break when someone working out on a bike told me he was planning on leaving at 9:10 and that I could have his bike then.  Nice.  Not only did I get a bike when it wasn't looking likely, but the bike he was riding was "my" bike (you spin regulars know what I mean).

After 6 minutes on the rowing machine (while waiting for the clock to reach 9:10), I hit the first class hard (avg hr 155 bpm) and then took a 4-minute breather during the 15-minute intermission (note heart rate drop on chart from 1:05-1:09) and the tried to hang in there for another hour.  The second class was very hard - the run was definitely catching up to me and my legs felt very sore.  But overall, I ran 2.75 miles more than last week and added the 6-minute rower session - so definitely a significantly more vigorous effort despite the lower heart rate during the double spin-classes.

Today, after two 2,000 yd swims last week, I decided to go a little farther.  Total swim time: 52:44.6; Total distance: 2,500 yd.  My splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:31.5
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:29
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:25
  
• 4th 500 yds: 10:40
• 5th 500 yds: 10:38.5
  

Still a ways to go when compared with my 3,000 yd PR pace, but overall, not too shabby ...

Symmetric Week

Symmetric as in [Swim] - [Bike+Run] - [Bike+Swim] - [Bike+Run] - [Swim]

Monday (2/9) : 2,000 yd swim in 37:54.4 (splits: 9:28, 9:31.5, 9:25, 9:30).  Pretty fast time (5:45 faster than January 19) - mainly because I "cheated" and wore tri-shorts.  Taking yesterday off helped as well.  Still, it felt good to get in a longish swim.

Tuesday (2/10): 1 hour spin class (144 bpm avg heart rate - hmm, why so low? - lazy!) followed by a 1:16 transition and a two-mile treadmill brick run in 16:29 (8:15/mi pace; 153 bpm avg heart rate)

Wednesday (2/11): 1 hour spin class (149 avg heart rate - better intensity, but still doggin' it!) and then a 500 yd cool-down swim in 10:36

Thursday (2/12): A clone of Tuesday - 1 hour spin class (156 bpm avg heart rate) followed by a 2:53 transition and a two-mile treadmill brick run in 18:20 (161 bpm avg heart rate despite the 9:10/mi pace; I was a little tired after that spin class)

Friday (2/13): I ended the week the way I started it - with another 2,000 yd swim.  No tri-shorts this time so I'm back to my normal pace.  My time was 42:26.6 with splits of 10:23, 10:38.5, 10:41, 10:44.  Not bad at all - just 1:08 slower than my 2,000 yd PR.

Happy Friday the 13th and that "other holiday" tomorrow!

Longish Swim, Redline Spin, Getting It In (When I Can)

Mon (1/19): After taking yesterday as a rest/recovery day (still in euphoria over my Too Cold To Hold performance :-), I headed to the pool at lunch. The goal: To swim at least 2,000 yds. Mission accomplished (in 43:39) but it wasn't easy. By the end of the fourth 500 yd set, I was feeling dizzy. I can't believe that I got motion sickness in a pool! You would think that I was swimming in the Atlantic or something with the way the room was spinning when I exited the water. Sigh ... I guess I need to take a Meclizine before any swims longer than 1,000 yds - for now anyway until I get this thing licked. Maybe I've just been out of the pool for too long. My splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:24
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:49
• Water/AccelGel break: 0:47
• 3rd 500 yds: 10:47
  
• 4th 500 yds: 10:52

This is about 2 minutes slower than my PR pace, but definitely not too bad. Will work on increasing speed and adding distance in the weeks ahead.

Tue (1/20): Normal 60 minute spin class - average heart rate of 158 bpm. Maxed out my heart rate (to 183 BPM and held it there for almost 2 minutes) during Seal's ("Guy who sleeps with Heidi Klum" -Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock) "Crazy". I'm glad I made the push, but I was so beat up after the effort that I had to take it easy for the last 10 minutes of the session. Afterwards, instead of a brick run, I had to settle for a "brick inclined walk" on the treadmill - 1.5 miles at 4 MPH with the first 1 mile at a 10% incline which was gradually lowered during the final 1/2 mile. Total time: 22:15. Total vertical distance: 645 feet. Total calories burned: 235.

Wed (1/21): Had to take my parents to the airport (leaving Texas after an extended visit over the holidays) so I missed my normal spin class. So I dragged myself to the LA Fitness near my office and did my own spin session. 45 minutes of cycling at an average heart rate of 151 bpm. Not too bad. Afterwards, a quick 500 yd swim - 9:54.40 - definitely one of my faster pool sessions in recent memory.

Fri (1/23): I'm finishing up a two-day business trip to New Jersey.  I surprised myself when I was actually able to get up early and do 30 minutes on the hotel elliptical trainer and a little bit of strength training.  I was even able to squeeze in some breakfast before starting my morning with a 9:00 AM meeting.  It's the small victories ...