Training Week in Review

Made some significant strides this week. I did my first brick workout of the year and it felt pretty good. I'll need to continue doing bricks from this point forward especially on the longer rides. I was able to hold my own during swim practice. Fast pace on the swim and distance was increased. I showed up late for my group run Tuesday. I pulled into the parking lot as everyone started out on the run. I was able to catch up to  one of the groups and coach had us do intervals along the route. Really pushed hard and it helped me out during this weekend's 10k (race report to follow). Didn't do too well during spin class. We were supposed to get our heart rate up to Functional Threshold, but I was unable to raise it. I think it had to do with a combination of the run the day before and not being properly fueled up prior to spin class. There was no spin class on Thursday, so I decided to make it a long swim. I was exhausted at the end, but I was able to concentrate on my catch, pull, breathing and body mechanics. My goal for the swim is to feel comfortable during my half iron distance swim and be ready for a 56 mile bike ride. Friday was a day of rest before my 10k race on Saturday. Had the best race ever. I ran a 7:35 pace and finished 47:06. I was hoping for a 50 time and didn't even consider sub 50, or even sub 48 for that matter. Weight maintained at 148 and even dropped to 147 one day. We'll see if I can get to 147 and maintain it this following week. Great week!

Date	Day	Activity
02/20/11	Sunday	32 mile bike & 20 minute brick - Cartersville
02/21/11	Monday	2200 Meter Swim
02/22/11	Tuesday	7.3 mile run
02/23/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class 800 Meter Swim
02/24/11	Thursday	2700 Meter Swim - Endurance
02/25/11	Friday	Rest
02/26/11	Saturday	Race - Charles Harris 10k

Training Week in Review

I was still recovering from my cold this week. I felt much better but was congested and that affected my aerobic workouts. I skipped swim on Monday, got a decent swim on Wednesday, but a short swim on Thursday. However, my runs are getting better. I'm able to keep up with some of the faster runners in the club or at least not fall so far behind. Saturday's group long run felt really good. The only problem was being congested and blowing snot rockets regularly throughout the run. Pace was steady and faster than I would have done on my own. I think I'm recovering pretty well. I'm not feeling quite as sore as I had in the past after long runs. Weight remained steady at 149 pounds.

Date	Day	Activity
02/13/11	Sunday	56 mile bike - Silver Comet Trail
02/14/11	Monday	Rest
02/15/11	Tuesday	7.3 mile run
02/16/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class 1400 Meter Swim - Endurance
02/17/11	Thursday	1 hour Spin Class 800 Meter Swim - Endurance
02/18/11	Friday	Rest
02/19/11	Saturday	13 miles

Swimming - Technique

I've searched for various sites and viewed numerous YouTube videos trying to see what the proper freestyle technique is or at least see someone break it down so that I can analyze and apply them to my technique. The problem is there is too much information and some of it is outdated. I was applying one technique and talked to my coach about it and she pointed out some things that were wrong and not efficient. That led me to doing some more searching and came across this site, swimtypes.com. I didn't immediately consider them to be a resource until their other site was recommended by Triathlete magazine, swimsmooth.com. Here's a video that is exactly what my coach was telling me about using the bent elbow for the catch (around 3:40)

They also have a free program that can be downloaded that shows the proper form and technique that can be viewed from multiple angles.

I'll be downloading the program and will evaluate it over the next couple of days and let you know what I think. So far I think this site is exactly what I need to be watching before my pool workouts. I even read some of the beginner instruction and learned a few things about breathing that had not been explained to me before.

Out all 3 disciplines in triathlons, I think swimming is the one most struggle with. You'll see me post a lot about my swim progress.

First Long Ride of the Year

Today's was the first long ride. I was going for 56 miles with the group and felt pretty good about doing this distance. Since my bike computer didn't work properly the last couple rides, I didn't get any info on speed or distance. I replace the batteries, but realized later that it was setup for kph instead of mph. I was able to keep up with some of the faster riders until they threw down the hammer. I wasn't too far behind, but I don't have the strength to really hammer. At one of the stops I was able to switch the bike computer to mph, but lost all the previous ride data. I was feeling pretty good and was getting comfortable on the aero bars. My speed was hovering between 18-20 mph, which is pretty good for me, so there has been some improvement.

Training Week in Review

I think I pushed it a bit this week. Started feeling under the weather by the middle of the week. It started with a little bit of a sore throat and then into a runny nose. Luckily that's all. I had read that as long as it remained above the neck, I could continue to train. It's when it starts affecting the chest, you need to back off and rest.

I looked up some videos on proper swim technique, specifically on the catch and pull through since it seems I was not doing it properly.  I used the next 2 swim days to practice this technique. Seems like it's working, but it really tires my arms out. I guess that means I'm doing it right. I'll post the video in a couple days and go over in more detail.

My weight remains at 149 pounds, but it dipped to 148 and even 147 once. Since I wasn't feeling well, I made sure to eat a bit more. You're supposed to feed a cold, right?

Date	Day	Activity
02/06/11	Sunday	Red Top Rumble - 11.5 mile trail race
02/07/11	Monday	1400 meter swim
02/08/11	Tuesday	7.3 mile run
02/09/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class 1400 Meter Swim - Endurance
02/10/11	Thursday	1 hour Spin Class 1700 Meter Swim - Endurance
02/11/11	Friday	8.0 mile run
02/12/11	Saturday	Rest

Red Top Rumble

Red Top Rumble
Date of Race: 02/06/2011

Total Time = 1h 52m 01s (official)
1h 47m 42s (from my watch)


I don't know why the official time is more than 4 minutes different than the time on my watch. I started my watch at the start of the race. Weird

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Pre-race:  I carpooled up with Robin, an Atlanta Triathlon Club team mate, that was volunteering at the event. I woke up early, had bowl of cereal w/banana & a cup of coffee. We arrived really early and as Robin went off to setup the first aid station, I waited in the car to stay warm. About 45 minutes before the start of the race, I ate a Cliff Bar and drank half a bottle of Gatorade.

Training Week in Review

Another great training week.  I did take 2 rest days and I think it helped for my 11.5 mile trail race on Sunday (race report in the next post). Monday was my first time back in the pool with the group. Once again I started off pretty well, but by the end of the hour, my pace dropped and I was the last in my lane. I'm not going to let that bother me since I felt my form was good. Despited the rain on Tuesday night, I had a great run. According to the time and distance, I had an 8:30 average pace, which puts me back on track to my pre Thanksgiving Day half marathon pace. I'm getting stronger on the hills and that's going to help during the Publix Georgia Half Marathon. I got a 2nd & 3rd day of swimming and I focused on endurance and good form. You can see a sample of my workout here. I'm going to continue with this routine and try to increase the distance every week. Saturday was just a easy recovery day. I got on the trainer to loosen my legs for Sunday's trail race. The weight lose is continuing. I'm now under 150. I managed to get down to 148 for a couple days and settled on 149 by the end of the weekend. Since I had a post race breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then had a burger & a couple of beers while watching the Super Bowl, I'm fine with 149 pounds.

Date	Day	Activity
01/30/11	Sunday	Rest
01/31/11	Monday	4.7 mile run 1400 meter swim
02/01/11	Tuesday	7.3 mile run
02/02/11	Wednesday	1 Hour Spin Class 1200 Meter Swim - Endurance
02/03/11	Thursday	1 hour Spin Class 1500 Meter Swim - Endurance
02/04/11	Friday	Rest
02/05/11	Saturday	1 Hour Indoor Trainer Resistance - upper body & core

Swimming - Work in Progress

I've been in the pool 3 times this week and it's starting to feel better. I don't have the speed yet and I was slowing down considerably by the end of Monday's workout. It seemed that I could keep up with everyone else in my lane at the beginning, but as the sets started getting faster, my arms got tired and I got slower. I'm not really frustrated because I concentrated on my form and really worked on maintaining it throughout the workout.

On Wednesday, I put in some more time in the pool. It was after an hour spin class and we had done a couple sets of jumping off the bike and doing squats for 1 minute. I wasn't going for speed. I wanted to do longer/endurance swims and maintain my form. I was tired and I didn't really think about structuring a specific workout. I just wanted to swim.

Thursday, was a more structured workout. I set it up so that I would increase my distance between each set with about 1 minute break between sets.

2 x 50 meters Warm up
1x 100 meters Warm up
1x 100 meters
1x 200 meters
2 x 300 meters
1 x 200 meters
1 x 100 meters
1 x 100 meters Cool down

1500 Meters total

I felt comfortable the entire time at a pace that I felt I could maintain over a long distance. On the shorter sets, I would push a little faster by pulling more through the water, not necessarily increasing stroke count. I'm concerned jumping from Sprint distance to Half Iron distance, especially the swim. I've got 3 months to work on it, so I want to make sure I start getting some long swims in. Getting in 3 swim workouts a week should really help.