Training Week in Review

Training this week has been sporadic, but I'm getting it in. Since I put in some serious workouts in on the weekend, I used the holiday Monday to rest and get some stuff done around the house. Got back into swimming on Wednesday nights before spin class. Pool is setup for 50 meters and I'm going to have to get used to that (no more breaks at 25 meters). Finally got to ride Thursday night. Buckhead Bellyache is a tough ride especially when the temp gets to 95º F.  As tough as this ride is, it did not feel as difficult as it did when I rode it last year. That means I'm getting stronger. It'll never get easier because I'll keep pushing the pace. Besides, I'm starting to like riding hills. We are now swimming Friday nights outdoors in a 50 meter pool. It's a shallow pool and it's warm. Coach setup buoys similar to a triathlon race course and we would simulate race conditions swimming in a group, practicing sighting and even drafting. Great workout. No workout on Saturday. I volunteered down at the Macon race and then took photos of those racing in the club. Bike ride on Sunday and I didn't expect too much of a workout considering I was still dehydrated from the previous day and had lost some sleep with early morning wake up calls. So I was surprised that I was averaging about 19 mph over the 48 mile ride. It's the fastest I've ever ridden up in Cartersville (normally a 17 mph pace). I even got to ride with the Red Group (fast training group) for most of the ride. Looks like I'm getting stronger and that motivates me to keep pushing and keep improving.

Date	Day	Activity
05/30/11	Monday	Holiday - No workouts
05/31/11	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
06/01/11	Wednesday	Swim - 1000 Meters Spin Class - 1 Hour
06/02/11	Thursday	Bike - 24 Miles
06/03/11	Friday	Swim - 2200 Meters
06/04/11	Saturday	Macon HIM- Volunteer
06/05/11	Sunday	Bike - 48 Miles

Training Week in Review

Since I don't have any target race in the near future, I'm just maintaining my base level for a HIM. Hopefully gaining some speed and strength. I'll most likely do Augusta 70.3, so if I can keep doing mid to high milage, when it's time for me to ramp up, I'll be ready. It funny to think that I now consider my 7 mile runs as short when a couple of years ago, 5 would have been long. Saturday was a great day. I got a 9 mile ride in, then did some mountain biking (which I haven't done in 8 months) and then meet our club for an open water swim followed by a cookout. I was wiped. I also got a great ride in on Sunday doing 52 miles. I really pushed those hills. I concentrated on power and cadence to push the pace, but never really felt fatigued during the first 31 miles. The last 10 were more of a easy pace to spin out the legs, which is kind of what I want to do during a HIM. Nutrition is going well. I've been experimenting with the amount of calories I take in. Currently I'm taking in about 200 calories per hour. I should probably be closer to 250. I've got a century ride coming up in a couple weeks and that will be a great opportunity to really test things out.

Date	Day	Activity
05/23/11	Monday	Swim - 2050 Yards
05/24/11	Tuesday	Run - 7 Miles
05/25/11	Wednesday	Spin Class - 1 Hour
05/26/11	Thursday	Bike - Cancelled T-Storms
05/27/11	Friday	Rest
05/28/11	Saturday	Run - 9 Miles Bike - 12 Miles Mt. Bike 1500 Meters - OWS
05/29/11	Sunday	Bike - 52 Miles

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

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.

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.

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!!!

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	Sunday	Rest
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