I Hate the Stairmaster

Didn't wake up early enough this morning for a run so I headed to the gym at lunch time instead.

Why is it that the Stairmaster never gets easier? 20 minutes on that torture device then a 3.5 mile treadmill tempo run in 28:29 (8:08/mi pace). Almost a minute and a half faster than Wednesday's effort for the same distance (albeit after a 20-minute stair session vs. 60 minutes of spin class).

Three quarter miles at 6.0, 6.3, and 6.7 mph respectively.  Then, 0.75 miles at 7.1 mph (around an 8:30/mi pace) - heart rate still at a respectable 156 bpm.  The next mile was at 7.5 mph (8:00/mi).  Finally, half-mile segments at 8 & 8.5 mph (7:30/mi & 7:03/mi paces) to finish the run. 

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.

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

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!