Sunday, May 22, 2011

Training Week in Review

Started the week off with a 46 mile bike ride. I had originally planned for 62 miles, but this was a small group ride and nobody was doing that distance (2 were planning on riding almost 100 and that was too much for me right now). I worked on my nutrition and had only 1 bottle of Perpetuem and some Hammer Gel. For a total of 585 calories or 212 calories per hour (2.75 hour ride). Which works out pretty well with what I've heard about your body only being able to consume 200 calories per hour. I felt pretty good and did a 20 minute run afterwards and I didn't have any of the issues I had during my half iron race. I might try to get 250 per hour, but anything more will probably be too much. Back in the pool Monday (first swim since my HIM) and it was tough, but I got faster. I got a 1:36 100 meter set. Previously I had gotten 1:45. Ran on my own the rest of the week, but set some good paces. Finally running sub 8 minute mile on hills. Didn't work out at the end of the week. I volunteered at the Getting 2 Tri training camp. What a great experience and phenomenal group of individuals. Completely inspired and love what the training camp is all about. Next week I'm back to a full training schedule. Should be great.

Date Day Activity
05/15/11 Sunday Bike - 46 Miles
20 Minute Brick
05/16/11 Monday Swim - 2050 Yards
05/17/11 Tuesday Run - 7 Mile Tempo Run
05/18/11 Wednesday Spin Class - Hills & Intervals
05/19/11 Thursday Rest
05/20/11 Friday Run - 8.4 Miles Hills
05/21/11 Saturday Rest

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Training Week in Review

This was a recovery week after Gulf Coast. I took it a bit easy, but still got some good workouts in. Recovery is just as important as training. I took an easy recovery run on Tuesday and used that time to recount Gulf Coast stories and talk about future races while on the group run. I pushed it during spin class. This was an interval workout with full recovery between sets. I got my heart rate higher than I have in the past and showed me what I'm capable of doing when I focus. I was also able to control my heart rate and hit a specific heart rate at a specific time. That's going to help on race day. Ran hills on Friday and did a tempo pace on Saturday. I was able to run sub 8:00 /mile pace for the entire distance. The first time, but it was a flat course. It reminded me what I should have been able to run at Gulf Coast if I had gotten my nutrition right. Recovery week is over, time to start the hard work again.

Date Day Activity
05/08/11 Sunday Rest & Beach Time!
05/09/11 Monday More Beach Time & Drive Home
05/10/11 Tuesday Run - 7 Mile Recovery Run
05/11/11 Wednesday Spin Class - Intervals
05/12/11 Thursday Rest
05/13/11 Friday Run - 6 Miles
05/14/11 Saturday Run - 8.4 Miles

I'm going to do a separate post on my nutrition at Gulf Coast and some things I've learned since then in a later post.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Gulf Coast Triathlon 70.3

Gulf Coast Triathlon - 70.3
Date of Race: 05/07/2011
Total Race Time = 6h 25m 03s
Overall Place = 532/746
Age Group = Male 40-44
Age Group Place = 80/104

ATC - Atlanta Triathlon Club
PCB - Panama City Beach
OWS - Open Water  Swim
EFS - Electrolyte Fuel System by 1st Endurance

Okay, this is going to be a long one. I think I did this race in less time it took to write about it. I got into the nutrition detail, so that if anyone has any suggestions or ideas, I'm open to hearing them. I think detailed race reports are very helpful to a newbie like me. This is my 3rd triathlon. I only did 2 sprints last year. I trained over the winter, dropped about 8 pounds(14 in the last year) and really worked on the swim. Swim used to be my weakest and I would never have considered myself a swimmer until this race. I set a good base to build on and improve upon on. It's going to be a great year.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Training Week in Review

This was the last week of training/tapering before the big day. It was a busy week with some work projects and I didn't get a lot of training done, but any training I did this week would be of no benefit on race day. I was pumped all week and really looking forward to the race. I'll go into a more detailed race report and race preparations in the next post.

Date Day Activity
05/01/11 Sunday Rest
05/02/11 Monday Work
05/03/11 Tuesday Errands & Packing
05/04/11 Wednesday Rest/Work
05/05/11 Thursday Drive down to Panama City Beach
05/06/11 Friday Ocean Swim
3 mile easy run
05/07/11 Saturday RACE DAY!!!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Training Week in Review

This was a really easy week. Good thing I'm tapering. Not much to say, but I'm feeling good about each leg of this race. It's when I put all 3 together that I start worrying a bit. Specifically, fuel & nutrition during the race. It seems that I'm not taking in enough calories to fuel long workouts. I felt drained during an 80 mile ride a couple weeks ago and it had to do with not consuming enough calories. So now I'm totally reevaluating my nutrition on the bike. I'll need to take in more calories to not only sustain the 56 mile bike ride, but get me at least half way through the run. I'll be taking gels on the run, but I'll need some additional calories to feel strong when I first start out on the run. As I write this today, I'm only a 4 days away and I still need to pack and I've got a ton of stuff going on between now and when I hit the road on Thursday. Feeling pumped, but also starting to feel a little stressed. Anyway, I'll post something in a day or two before I head out of town.

Date Day Activity
04/24/11 SundayRest
04/25/11 Monday 2500 Meter Swim
04/26/11 Tuesday 7.1 Mile Run
04/27/11 Wednesday 1 Hour Spin Class
04/28/11 Thursday 20 Miles - Intervals
20 Minute Brick
04/29/11 Friday 8.4 Mile Run
04/30/11 Saturday Rest