Training Week in Review

This was a great week. I got a lot of workouts in and even managed to do a swim, bike & run all on Thursday. I'm feeling stronger than I was last year, but I need to start focusing on my run. I haven't been running as often as I should. Since I just purchased new running shoes and the pain in my hip is subsiding, I should be able to do more runs. I felt pretty good for my long run that I ran 12.5 instead of the schedule 11. It was a relatively flat course. Not sure that I would have felt that good with hills. I'll find out next week since I'm scheduled for 12 with hills. I feel like I'm getting my form back on the swim. I don't now how well I'll do once I start adding speed, but I should get 3 days of swimming in to work on all of it. I dropped some more weight, 2 pounds. Gained 1 after last night's beer festival and post greasy burger and fries meal. Still feeling pretty good about my progress.

Date	Day	Activity
01/22/11	Sunday	32 mile bike - Silk Sheets
01/23/11	Monday	Rest
01/24/11	Tuesday	Resistance - upper body & core
01/25/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class - LT Test FT: 164 LT: 154 1100 Meter Swim - Drills
01/26/11	Thursday	4.7 mile run 1 hour Spin Class 1300 Meter Swim - Drills
01/27/11	Friday	Resistance - upper body & core
01/28/11	Saturday	12.5 mile run

New Shoes!

Getting a new pair of running shoes always gets me pumped to get back into running. This is my 3rd pair of K-Swiss shoes and they've all been different models. I decided to go with K-Swiss because they make triathlon specific shoes and are a major supporter of this sport and professional triathletes. Call me a sucker, but I bought into the marketing. Fortunately, I've had really good experience with their shoes. Recently, I've been having a little bit of pain in my left hip. I had it in my right hip for a short time and now my left. I'm not sure why, but I think it has to do with my form.

I was running in the K-Swiss Keahou II and really liked them. Unlike my previous shoes, they have a wide toe box and I think it's making my left foot roll outward. Keep in mind that I've run just over 300 miles in them and didn't have this pain when I ran in them until about 200 miles in. I also use the K-Swiss K-Ona as my race day shoe because they are incredibly light, very breathable, have drainage holes, dry quickly and can be worn without socks for quick transitions.

These new K-Swiss Blade Lights fit a bit more snug and I think will prevent my foot from rolling outward. They are as light as the K-Ona (9 oz) and provide the same benefits as I already mentioned. The only drawback is that pebbles will embed themselves between the bladed sole easily. In the winter, expect toes to get cold. As breathable as they are, they also let the cold air in.

I did a quick 4.7 mile run yesterday and they felt really good. My pace is back up and my cadence is between 90-95, right where it needs to be. Only time will tell if these will end up being my favorite running shoe, but so far, I like them. I should know more after tomorrow's 11 mile run. Hopefully my hip will also start to feel better.

Training Week in Review

What a great week! The snow is finally all gone. We had moved our long run to Sunday due to icy road conditions. We thought that by Sunday the trail would be clear. We got there and the parking lot was still iced over and the path was worse. So the long run got cancelled and I went home and did resistance training. The rest of the week was awesome. I got 3 days of double workouts and it was nice to get back in the pool. I concentrated on form and technique in the pool and not on speed. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting the proper form again, but will need to work on this regularly so I can maintain it when I jump back into speed work. I've also been focusing on getting enough protein after strenuous workouts like my Tuesday night run. Normally after running hills my calves are sore and I need to use compression sleeves to help with the soreness. Not this time. I ate a Cliff Bar 10 grams of protein before my run and then drank a bottle of Mix1 which contains 15 grams of protein. Studies say you need 20-40 grams of protein to aid in recovery. I got 25 grams worth and then some more with dinner. Legs felt good enough to get a spin workout the following day. Got my weight back down to 151.

Date	Day	Activity
01/16/11	Sunday	Resistance - Upper body & core
01/17/11	Monday	1 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer
01/18/11	Tuesday	1 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer 7.3 mile Group Run
01/19/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class 800 Meter Swim - Drills Resistance - upper body & core
01/20/11	Thursday	1 hour Spin Class 1000 Meter Swim - Drills
01/21/11	Friday	6.35 mile run
01/22/11	Saturday	Rest

Training Week in Review

This was not a great week for training. We got about 4-5 inches of snow on Sunday that turned to ice on Monday. 7 days later and there is still some ice on sidewalks. Probably a couple more days before it's all gone. All of our group training activities were cancelled. We even met up this morning for our long run on the Silver Comet Trail and we had to cancel. There was still plenty of ice in the parking lot and on the path.

Training this week was strictly done on the bike trainer. Although I did not work out as much as I would have liked, I was able to drop 1 pound this week. Unfortunately, I went out last night to watch the Falcons - Green Bay game, had a couple of beers and by this morning, I had put on 2 pounds. Ugh! Anyway hoping for better weather and getting back to a more normal training schedule this coming week.

Date	Day	Activity
01/09/11	Sunday	Run - 8 Miles
01/10/11	Monday	Rest - Snow Day - Swim Cancelled
01/11/11	Tuesday	1 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer Resistance - upper body & core
01/12/11	Wednesday	1.5 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer Resistance - upper body & core
01/13/11	Thursday	1 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer Resistance - upper body & core
01/14/11	Friday	Resistance - upper body & core
01/15/11	Saturday	1 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer

Nutrition

Because of the snow storm in Atlanta this past week, I've been stuck indoors due to dangerous road conditions. Because of the ice on the roads, all of our group workouts have been cancelled. The problem with being stuck at the house has been mostly boredom that can lead to unnecessary snacking.  The extra time has also allowed me to get on the bike trainer this whole week. It's also given me plenty of time to think about nutrition. I was worried about actually gaining weight during this week with a less structured workout schedule. Fortunately, I was able to lose 1 pound.

There's a lot of confusion about proper nutrition and weight loss. It doesn't help that at this time of year there are plenty of commercials for weight loss pills, programs & meal plans. I'm not even going to get into nutrition during a race. I still have a lot to figure out, especially when distances get longer.

Cabin Fever Training

I knew we were going to get snow and I got my run in on Sunday before it started. I don't think anyone realized that it would mean 3 days of being stuck indoors. It's not a blizzard, we only got about 4 inches of snow. However, this part of the country is not prepared for this kind of weather, which means roads don't get cleared. Of course it warms up a bit during the day, but only enough to turn the snow into ice when the temps drop again at night. First day wasn't bad, but by the evening, roads started icing over and our group swim got cancelled. Day two was bad in the morning and it will ice up again tonight, so tonight's group run got cancelled. Hoping enough of this melts so that I can make spin class tomorrow night. In the mean time, my training has been at home on the bike trainer.

It also gave me the opportunity to search for some new ways to train and in this case some stretching exercises that I'm going to incorporate into my normal routine. Check out the videos after the jump.

Cold Weather Running

There was a group training run this morning and since I knew it was going to be cold, I slept in. I was still motivated enough to want to run, even if it warmed up just a little bit. Apparently it was 19º at 8am. I headed out around 11am and the temps had risen to 29º.

I was bundled up in 4 layers and it took me about 1.5 miles to start warming up. It wasn't too bad until the wind kicked up or when running by a busy traffic area and the cars whizzed by. Once again, I need a wind barrier layer and something that breathes. Even when I got home, the layers that were wet were cold and I had to get out of them quickly.

I noticed when I did my training week in review that I only got 1 run in last week. Although I've been training regularly, I've been slacking on the run. I signed up for a half marathon in March and I know I can do the distance. I don't want to be slower than my previous time. It's the start of a new week and I'm going to try and get a couple more runs in this week despite the cold and snow predicted in the next couple of days.

Training Week in Review

Here's a summary of my training week. I got a couple double workout days in. I also did some core, stretching and resistance exercises. I started feeling a cold coming on with signs of a sore throat on Wednesday. I was able to fight it and started feeling better by Friday. As far as my weight, I've gained 2 - 3 pounds. It should be muscle with the training I've been doing. I haven't changed my diet and was hoping that the training would burn some additional calories. Although the weight has gone up by a bit, I'm noticing leaner parts of my body including arms, legs and waist. I'll have to do some research on proper nutrition & diet while training.

Date	Day	Activity
01/02/11	Sunday	1 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer
01/03/11	Monday	1 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer Swim - 1600 meters
01/04/11	Tuesday	1 hour Cycling - Indoor Trainer Run - 7.3 miles (hills)
01/05/11	Wednesday	1 hour Cycling - Spin Class Swim - 1200 meters
01/06/11	Thursday	1 hour Cycling - Spin Class
01/07/11	Friday	Rest
01/08/11	Saturday	20 mile bike ride

Winter Ride

I've been itching to take the bike out and decided to do a ride this weekend. I almost cancelled it because the weather is cold and windy. I then saw a post on our club forum that a group was going for a ride Saturday morning. I made sure to dress in layers. Temps were in the high 30's with 10-15 mph winds. By the time we were done with the ride, temps were in the mid-40's. With the wind chill, we were probably riding in 30-35 degree weather. We're some hard core riders. Did I mention that the other riders were women. It was an easy ride as I was getting used to the saddle, aero bars and aero drink bottle.

Triathlon & Twitter Followup

I posted a couple days ago about how a picture I sent was selected as a winner for some free stuff from Nuun. The package arrived today. I got some stickers, a product information booklet, a water bottle and a tube of Nuun. Not bad for uploading a TwitPic when Nunn requested holiday themed pics of their product. It pays to follow these companies on Facebook and Twitter. They offer valuable nutrition information and every now and then, they give free stuff away. There's another story here about following companies and I'll mention it in a later post. It's too soon to tell what will happen, but this could mean a big opportunity for me. As soon as I have information confirmed, I'll post details.

Anyway, I'll be taking a tube of Nuun to my spin class tonight and drop it in my water bottle. I'll need the electrolytes. Considering it's winter, I'm sweat more in one spin class than on a run during the summer months.

Swimming In A Wetsuit

The pool heater continues to be broken and I've yet to hear when it will be fixed. Luckily I was informed that the water temp would once again be in the low 70º range and we had the option to bring a wetsuit. It's not recommended to use a wetsuit in a pool since the chlorine has negative effects. I'm not sure exactly what happens, but most manufacturers state that this will void the warranty. I took a chance and rinsed it immediately, soaked it once I got home and then rinsed again. Wetsuit still looks new and should hold up as long as I continue to thoroughly rinse it. With that said, I don't want the use of a wetsuit to be a regular occurrence.

So how was my first time swimming with a wetsuit?

Upgrading Saddle

As mentioned in a previous post, I decided to upgrade to a new saddle due to some numbness I was feeling. Everyone is different and the same saddle can feel different to each person. One of the first things I noticed was how much more narrow this saddle was to my previous one, specifically the tail end. Because I was curious, I also weighed both saddles. Not that I'm one concerned with weight, but If I was going to add weight to my bike, the new saddle needed to be comfortable. Turns out the new Profile Design Tri Stryke is 10 grams lighter than the old one. I know Profile makes a lighter one with titanium rails, but I didn't feel like spending over $100 on a saddle.

Resolution Run 10k

Atlanta Track Club Resolution Run 10k
Date of Race: 01/01/2011

Total Time = 0h 53m 03s

Overall Place = ?

Age Group = Male 40-44

Age Group Place = 25/44

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Pre-race:  Race time was noon, so I had plenty of time to get up to Kennesaw. I went out the night before with some friends to a neighbors house for New Year's Eve. I had a couple of beers and then switched to water the rest of the night. I had at least 2 8oz glasses of water and then 16oz from a water bottle when I got home. I made sure I was hydrated so that I wouldn't wake up hung over or feel any effects from the beers I had. Didn't work.