Training Week in Review

Back to full training this week after a great PR at Peachtree City. I got busy on Monday and missed swim practice, but I made up for it the rest of the week. Thursday was a casual mountain bike ride with some of my team mates, but it was still quite a workout. The tacos and margarita post ride was a great recovery meal and a good way to hang out. Back on the bike Saturday. Felt really good, but had my quads starting to cramp 7 miles from finishing. I kept an easy gear and did some light spinning. I was supposed to do a 60 minute brick, but only managed to do 43 minutes. I pushed hard during the 1st 62 miles and I could feel it during the run. I need to remember to dial it back a bit during my half IM. I can't blow out my legs before starting the run. Sunday morning's run was not something I was looking forward to. My legs still hadn't recovered from the previous day. I wanted to get in as much as I could. I managed to get 16 miles in instead of 18. Although my legs were tired and sore, I started at a slow pace but was able to pick up the pace considerably during the last 3 miles. The faster turnover and longer strides helped to stretch the legs out and actually felt better. As tired as I felt, I still went to the open water swim. I didn't expect to do well. The water was cool and felt really good. I swam about 700 yards and kept it to a good comfortable pace. My form was good and I felt strong. My legs could've kicked stronger, but considering the workout I'd put them through the last 2 days, I'm very happy with how I moved through the water.

Date	Day	Activity
08/22/11	Monday	Rest
08/23/11	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
08/24/11	Wednesday	Swim - 1000 Meters Spin - 1 hour
08/25/11	Thursday	Bike - Mountain Bike
08/26/11	Friday	Rest
08/27/11	Saturday	Bike - 84 Miles
08/28/11	Sunday	Run - 16 Miles Swim - 700 Yards OWS

Tri Peachtree City 2011 - Race Report

Tri Peachtree City Sprint

Date of Race: 08/20/11

Total Race Time = 1h 18m 27s

Overall Place = 194

Age Group = Male 40-44

Age Group Place = 48/131

Pre-Race: Alarm went off at 3:30 am. I like getting up really early so I can ease into the morning without feeling rushed. I had a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee. I already had all my gear packed the night before. I grabbed the bottles I had prepared the night before from the freezer and placed them in a small cooler. Since I haven't done a sprint since last year, I wasn't too sure what to do about nutrition. All I knew was that I wasn't going to go with Perpetuem. I was only going to do gels. I filled an aero bottle with EFS and mixed in some Hammer Gel. Froze that bottle with the drinking straw in place. I also had a second bottle of EFS that I would take on the bike as a back up. Left the house just before 5 am and drank 16 oz. of EFS on the way to Peachtree City. I had been hydrating the day before drinking water and Gatorade. Since I had heat related issues the week before, I didn't want to take any chances of dehydration. I arrived before 6 am and picked up my race packet and got body marked after I peed. I setup my transition and placed everything like I had rehearsed the day before. I talked to a few ATCers I saw out there and said hello to April (swim coach) who was one of the MCs for the event.

Training Week In Review

This was a real easy week. It was a recovery week in my 70.3 plan and it was also a taper week for my sprint race on Saturday. Swim workout was a tough one. All I remember after warming up was doing 10 x 100 yard sprints for time. I lead my lane and didn't think I would be able to hold that pace for all 10 sets. I was able to hold a 1:45 pace for the first 5 and then slowly dropped to 1:50-1:55. Coach actually called me out for hanging on the wall a bit and not doing quick turns. Wednesday's swim was more focused on technique and sighting.

Date	Day	Activity
08/15/11	Monday	Swim - 2200 Yards
08/16/11	Tuesday	Rest
08/17/11	Wednesday	Swim - 1500 Meters Spin - 1 hour
08/18/11	Thursday	Rest
08/19/11	Friday	Rest
08/20/11	Saturday	Race - Tri Peachtree City Sprint
08/21/11	Sunday	Rest

Had a great race and PR on the course. I still need to write up a race report and that's coming up next.

Training Week in Review

This week I got off my training schedule a bit. Because I had a client photo shoot that I had to get ready for, I missed swimming on Monday night.  Instead, I went mountain biking with some friends and got a trail run in before the ride. I got some advice that I may be over training for a half ironman. Considering I rode 95 miles and I only need to ride 56 for my half ironman, I think he was right. I know I can ride the distance. I want to improve on my speed and riding longer doesn't really focus on speed only endurance. So I got some interval in during my 60 mile ride on Friday. However, that may have led to the heat issue at the end of the workout. I took Saturday off and rested and then got a 17 mile run in. For some reason 15 miles is when my feet start hurting and I start questioning if I want to do a full marathon. I also bailed on the OWS. My legs were tired and I would have not gotten the benefit of swimming on tired legs.

Date	Day	Activity
08/08/11	Monday	Rest
08/09/11	Tuesday	Trail Run - 5 Miles Mountain Bike - 12 Miles
08/10/11	Wednesday	Swim - 500 Meters Spin - 1 hour
08/11/11	Thursday	Rest
08/12/11	Friday	Bike - 60 Miles Run - 4 Miles
08/13/11	Saturday	Rest
08/14/11	Sunday	Run - 17 Miles

This coming week is a recovery/taper week. I time it out perfectly. I'm doing my first sprint race this year next week. Since this is the same race I did last year, I'll be able to evaluate my improvements. Hopefully there are improvements.

Heat Syncape/Stroke - A Cautionary Tale

First let me state that I'm sharing this event as a learning experience and hopefully sparing someone else the same experience.

I'll begin by defining Heat Syncope according to Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_syncope

Heat syncope is another stage in the same process as heat stroke, occurs under similar conditions as heat stroke and is not distinguished from the latter by some authorities. The basic symptom of heat syncope is a body temperature above 40°C (104°F) with fainting, with or without mental confusion, which does occur in heat stroke. Heat syncope is caused by mild overheating with inadequate water or salt.

Causes:

Heat syncope occurs when blood pressure is lowered as the body dilates (widens) arterioles (small blood vessels) in the skin to radiate heat. Also, water is evaporated from the blood, reducing the blood's volume and therefore lowering blood pressure further. The result is less blood to the brain, causing light-headedness and fainting.

Based on my experience this is exactly what occurred to me.

Training Week in Review

It's getting more difficult to keep up and post on the blog as training days get longer and I have less time during the week for other things. I started the week tired and feeling tired from the previous weekend's long ride & run. I still managed to take 2 days off for some rest. Because I was volunteering on Sunday at a local tri, I had to move my long run to Friday. I normally run these kind of distances with the club so it was difficult to do this on my own and I'm proud that I stuck to it and did the full 16 miles. I have to confess that at mile 15 I was questioning why I would consider running a full marathon. My feet were hurting and I just wanted to take my shoes off. The benefit of running a long loop is having to finish that loop.

I rode the longest distance so far, 95 miles and I almost cut it short. I rode the first 15 mile loop at a sprint pace. I needed to see how fast and for how long I could hold a race effort. I've got a sprint race coming up and I've been training long distances, so I needed to feel that out. It felt really good and I felt like I could easily run a 5k after the bike. The next loop was 48 miles and towards the last 10 miles, I started feeling tired. I pushed through and finished with a good pace. I think it was a bit more mental than physical. At this point I considered doing the 15 mile loop, but talked myself into riding 31 miles. Pace dropped a bit, but not by much. When you consider that my first 15 miles was average of 18.5 mph and I finished at 17.2 mph over 95 miles, I think that's a great accomplishment considering the hills in Cartersville.

I talked to a couple team mates and they feel I'm more than prepared for a half ironman. I can definitely do the distance. I can also feel the fatigue in my legs 3 days later. So I think it's time for me to dial back the distance and start working on shorter rides and concentrate on interval work and try to build some speed.

Date	Day	Activity
08/01/11	Monday	Swim - 2700 Yards
08/02/11	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
08/03/11	Wednesday	Weight Training Swim - 500 Meters Spin - 1 hour
08/04/11	Thursday	Rest
08/05/11	Friday	Run - 16 Miles
08/06/11	Saturday	Bike - 95 Miles
08/07/11	Sunday	Rest

Garmin FR60 - Review

I don't do many reviews and had planned on doing one on the Garmin FR60 for a while. It wasn't until the watch band started to crack that I thought it would be a good idea to do one. I've had the watch for 1 year, so I think I've put it through it's paces and can give a pretty accurate review. Keep in mind that since I've mapped my runs, I know exactly the distance I'm running and don't rely heavily on the accuracy of the footpod. I rely more on the heart rate data and cadence. Although the band did crack, it is not replaceable. Fortunately I had a good experience with Garmin Customer Support.

Training Week in Review

This was a weird week. I bailed on swimming all week. Not once did I get in the pool. I guess I just didn't feel like it. I needed a break. The previous week was supposed to be a recovery week, but I don't think I scaled back enough to fully recover. Guess I moved it back a week. By Saturday I was back at full training. I did the bike training on my own and rode 80 miles. That's the furthest I've ever ridden. For the most part, it felt good. There were times when my energy level dropped, but I think that was in my head. I had sufficient nutrition and fluids. I finished with an average speed just under 18 mph, which is a huge improvement, especially over 80 miles. The ride on Saturday affected my run on Sunday. My legs were tired and I pushed through 14 miles. I guess the team social on Saturday night had some effect, not to mention several beers I had throughout the night. Still, I'm pleased that I didn't skip the run and when we regrouped at the finish, I still went out to finish my 14 miles. Weight has remained about the same. I think I've lost 1 pound.

Date	Day	Activity
07/25/11	Monday	Rest
07/26/11	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
07/27/11	Wednesday	Rest
07/28/11	Thursday	Run - 7 Miles
07/29/11	Friday	Rest
07/30/11	Saturday	Bike - 80 Miles Run - 4 Miles - Brick
07/31/11	Sunday	Run - 14 Miles