Thursday, May 14, 2009

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!!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

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.

Iron Gym Pull Up Bar

I picked up the "Iron Gym" pull-up bar from Target on Friday for around $30 + tax. Despite the cheesy packaging (and extremely annoying web site), it looks like a solid product (and it got good reviews on Amazon.com)


I have it attached to the door frame of my laundry room. It's one of the few doors in the house that seldom gets closed. It doesn't look like it should hold "up to 300 pounds" but it actually works.


Here's a view of the back side. The z-shaped metal clip in the middle of the bar (wedged between the door frame molding and drywall) is there just so that the bar doesn't accidentally come down when not in use. When I (or anyone else) hang on it, the weight is distributed across the top and sides of the door frame and it feels safe and stable.


Overall, a worthy addition to my fitness gear collection. Now, I just have to USE IT. Less than 3 weeks until the Navy Seal Fitness Challenge on May 9!

2009 Sam's Club MS-150 - Please Help Support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Hi Everyone,

It’s almost time again for the annual MS150 bike rally from Frisco to Ft. Worth. On Saturday, May 2nd I’ll ride 86 miles and stop at Texas Motor Speedway, and on Sunday the 3rd ride 74 more to the finish on the cobblestones of Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth! With still two weeks to go, nearly 3,000 people have already registered to ride this year to support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s efforts to fund research, advocate for change and help people with MS and their families lead powerful lives! I’m trained and ready to go – over the past month, I have logged over 300 miles of cycling, so bring it on!

I know I do a lot of races and events during the year, but this one is for a great cause. If you’d like to support our ride by making a donation, I’d truly appreciate it. Any amount ($5, $25, $100) is welcome. All donations go to the National MS Society.

HOW TO DONATE:

You can use a credit or debit card to make your tax-deductible donation - just follow the link below to access my online donation page.
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/TXHBikeEvents?px=4687176&pg=personal&fr_id=10662

Thanks for your help!

Best,
-Andy

Friday, April 17, 2009

2008 USAT Ranking

By way of some semi-random web surfing last week, I came upon the USA Triathlon Rankings web site.  After playing fairly close attention to the rankings in 2007, I had all but forgotten about/given up on them last year because USAT had (and acknowledged) some ("technical") problems getting the rankings published in a timely manner.

Anyway, here are my tri results from 2008:

Not bad at all.  My overall score of 71.78625 gave me 4,674th place out of 11,382 in the men 35-39 age group (41st percentile).  And much improved from 2007's score of 65.30078 (5,125th out of 8,150 = 63rd percentile). 

Let's see if I can keep it up in 2009!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

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 ...

Sunday, April 5, 2009

2009 Fast & Furious F1 Duathlon

I participated in the 8th Annual Fast & Furious F1 Windfest ... er, Duathlon this morning at Lynn Creek Park on the shores of Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie, TX.  I believe the "F1" refers to the race format of 2 mile run, 11 mile bike, another 2 mile run, another 11 mile and then a sprint to the finish line (with your bike helmet and cleats)!  With a 24+ MPH average windspeed this morning, biking across the dam (especially on the return trips) was challenging at best and a little unnerving at worst.

Here are the stats from my Garmin Forerunner 305 (click to expand):


and these were very close to my official splits:
  • Run 1: 16:11.9 (a solid 7:52/mi pace to start off; Roberto, along with the other speedier runners, passed me early on, but that was expected so I didn't try to go too fast and blow up)
  • T1:  1:20.8 (a little slow; decided to shed my gloves and then had a little trouble getting on my bike shoes and my helmet and sunglasses had blown over; also took my normal extra time to down a SaltStick and AccelGel)
  • Bike 1: 30:46.8 (20.2 MPH is more than 1 MPH slower than my time for the Texas Motor Speedway Du, but not too bad considering the stiff wind during nearly of the ride).
  • T2: 0:53.6 (missed my bike rack - but just by a few rows - so overall a passable bike-to-run transition)
  • Run 2: 16:43.7 (still an 8:05/mi pace - not much a drop from Run 1; I'm very happy about that!; Lee passed me just before entering transition - darn, I'm now officially 4 minutes behind him)
  • T3: 0:59.0 (much faster than T1 even though I again took a salt pill and gel)
  • Bike 2: 31:41.8 (30 seconds slower than bike 1 - getting tired, wind picked up, or both!  Passed Lee about 1/4 mile into the bike - gotta try to get some of that time back ...)
  • T4/Finish: 0:19.6 (rack bike and then sprint to the finish line - just outside the transition area -- while still donning helmet and bike shoes!  I finished just behind the 1.4 seconds behind the guy in front of me - who placed second in the Clydesdale [men over 200 pounds] division - no wonder he was pushing so hard at the end. :-P)
  • Total Time: 1:38:57.4
I placed 42nd out of 150 finishers and 7th out of 18 in my age group.  Lee took 28th place overall (about 2 1/2 minutes faster than me) and got an award for 3rd place in his age group.  I believe this is his first multi-sport award.  Way to go! Roberto was there with his friend Nick(?) and ran a solid race (top third) as well.

After the finish, we grabbed a (rather Spartan) post-race breakfast of Gatorade, bagels and bananas (Ironhead Jack said that the caterer didn't show up - not sure if that was a joke :-P) and waited near the beach at Lynn Creek Park for the awards ceremony.  Overall, it was a good event and a great course.  And the F1 format is interesting (and I heard that it used to include a third 2-mile run leg at the end).  I look forward to doing this race again in the future (especially if it is without the wind).