martes, 28 de junio de 2011

Weekly Brush-up 06/20/11-06/26/11

Swimming: [3hrs 34min (9,150mts)

Cycling: [1hrs 50min (55km)

Running: [3hrs 55min (26miles)

Totals: 9hrs 19min

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*NOTES:

I did the 10k road race I was looking forward to and the first one in 2+ years. Bad news is I didn’t achieved my goal time of 49min. Instead I finished in 51 flat. Main positives notes after the race are that I felt under control the whole race, I managed even splits 25.33/25.28  and that I wasn’t badly sore the next couple of days.

I also got to try these bad boys, Asics Hyperspeed 4 and they performed great. They are so light and beautiful I only wish they weren't;t so flexible in the forefoot. But I will keep them as my race day only shoes for the remainder of the season.

 

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Finally now priority shifts to more cycling workouts, I need 4 of them a week. I feel very weak right now as I don’t have any base miles under me. Trying to find that balance and putting it all together without getting injured or burned out is the magic trick I need to perform now.

martes, 21 de junio de 2011

Weekly Brush-up 06-13-11/06-19-11

Swimming: [3hrs 34min (9300mts)]

Cycling: [1hrs 05min (33km)]

Running: [4hrs 09min (26miles)]

Totals: 8hrs 49min

Notes: Again will keep this very brief and short. I was once again unable to hit the streets for my rides and I am getting bored by the minute on my trainer. Otherwise I was ok, swimming over 9000mts for the week and kept my consistency on the running with 5 sessions and 26 total miles ran. I have a couple of reasons why I’m hating bike training at the moment, even if they sound pussy I write them as a not to self.

  • I don’t have a training partner or get invited to rides
  • I don’t have a car rack to transport my bike hassle free
  • I have a LOT of fear to accidents and cars crashing me out
  • I don’t have a LARGE enough area to cycle safely
  • Can’t see to accommodate bike training with other workouts
  • I can’t ride out directly from my house, stupid rough neighborhood
  • WHATEVER CRAP I CAN THINK OF IN THE MORNING TO NOT WAKE UP EARLY

martes, 14 de junio de 2011

Weekly Brush-up (06/08/11-06/12/11)

SWIMMING:3hrs 29min [9000mts]

CYCLING: 2hrs 25 min [73 km all trainer]

RUNNNIG: 3hrs 52min [24 miles]

TOTALS: 9hrs 46min

NOTES: Good week overall, I feel good with the overall training hours. Swim workouts continue to be tough, well structured and over 3k mts overall. Cycling right now is a BIG priority, this week was once again short on cycling sessions, performing just 2 (intense ones) and lacking any LONG riding or extensive endurance stuff. Running just kept constant  week in and week out , hitting 24 miles and building towards 30.

miércoles, 8 de junio de 2011

Weekly Brush–up (05-30-11/06-05-11)

Swimming:4x (3hrs 35min  [9850mts])

Happy here, quality sessions all around and added an open water session that I enjoy to the fullest.

Cycling: 2x (2hrs [57km trainer])

Just 2 trainer sessions, one FTP and then a moderate 1 hour ride on a rainy day. Definetly need to build up to at least 4 hrs of riding a week. 2 hours a week is stupidly low even for those starting out or training for a super sprint race.

Running: 5x (3hrs 31min [36.2km])

Nothing new here, just keeping consistency as my main focus. I am building mileage towards august so just 22 miles for me. I had a couple of faster paced workouts in there to spice things up a bit in preparation of my 10k race coming June 26th.

Totals: 9hrs 07min

Overall a solid second week back to training. I am happy that I swam 4 times and ran 5 during this week. I really need to step up the bike since I have SLACKED off it a LOT since my build up for san juan 70.3

sábado, 4 de junio de 2011

Benchmarks

So I took this first week back to training as a testing week to set some base times for the next build-up, targeting an Olympic race in August and a Half-Ironman race in September.

 

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First up was a FTP test but wait, I don’t own a power meter. So talking to an aero and cycling analysis ‘ghetto” friend he suggested I use speed, while giving me a specific protocol to test on the trainer.

I averaged 38km/hr on that test , so just for me to have a gauge and estimate the work rate and effort I will use %’s of that speed and use it as my zones. The average I got is roughly 105% of FTP so:

  • anything above 38k/hr is VO2 max work
  • 36-37k/hr is where I will do my FTP intervals
  • 32-34 k/hr is sweet spot/tempo work
  • <30k/hr easy aerobic stuff

Remember again these “zones” are not power based as I don’t own a PM and even then power and speed are non lineal variables but having these approximates will just help me with my focus.

Now I also did a 20km bike TT on a closed 1.407mts circuit with some undulation. The test was perform after a 15min warm-up on my TT bike with aero wheel and helmet. Unfortunately I lost the data on my computer and don’t have things like splits, heart rate or cadence. My final time was 35min and 29secs for an average speed of 33.9k/hr or 21mph. I remember my heart rate been over 180bpm for the vast majority of the effort.

I am not happy with the time results as I believe I pushed too light of a gear and was spinning too much. In the “to work on list” for next time goes pedaling a bigger gear, attacking the little climb more, relaxing some on the descend and improve my staggers and tangents while cornering.

Next was testing my running and a 5k TT was the on the menu. This test was performed during a practice race at the local running club on a well measured, known course with an aid station in the middle. Warm up was about 15min easy running with a few strides and activation drills just before the start.  Final result was 23min and 48sec good for a 7.40x mile average pace. My splits per kilometer were 4.54/4.47/4.42/4.42/4.41. Heart rate was up the roof at a whooping 192bpms max and an average of 180bpms

As you would notice a pretty EVEN run race. I actually believe that I went out too slow but I was kind of scared since I had not run a stand alone road race in over a year. Overall I am ok with the results but believe going sub 23 is around the corner if I put the mileage up.

Using this data I plugged into a known pace calculator feature and got my running pace goals for upcoming workouts of all nature.

Recovery Jogs 10.22 10.52  
Easy Runs 9.22 9.52  
Long Runs 9.22 10.22  
steady state 8.22 8.34  
Tempo 8.03 8.24  
Tempo- Intervals 7.57 8.13  
Cruise Intervals 400 1.58 2.00
  800 3.55 4.00
  1000 4.54 5.00
  16000 7.53 8.03
Speed Work 400mts 1.44 1.50
  800mts 3.38 3.48
  1000mts 4.39 4.50
  1600mts 7.37 7.53

Finally I performed a swimming 1000mts TT. Coming into it I was really excited as out of the three disciplines, it has been the swimming on which I’ve been the most consistent. Going back on my log to September 2010 a month before Ironman 70.3 Miami I did a 1k TT on the short 25mts pool setup for a 17.49. Now, I know a short pool could be faster than long course as you have more turn and stops, more gliding and LESS swimming, but I feel like I am a MUCH better swimmer now and expected a PB. I started out hard but not all out trying to save something for the last 500. Final result was 18min 10sec for a 1.49min x 100mts avg. Splits were 9.10 for the first 500 and 9.00 for the last one. Again pretty even pace and not sure if I went out too slow. On a positive note it is kind of pumping to me seeing that I am under 1.50’s for 100’s after so much work. Can I be called an average swimmer now?

With that I ended this week which I believe would be crucial to track my progress or lack of it in the next couple of months. I strongly recommend testing yourself once in a while, it can give you that mental boost knowing where you stand, how is training working and what you have to focus in the future. Off to training!!! HTFU

miércoles, 1 de junio de 2011

Weekly Brush-up (05/22/11-05/29/11)

Swimming: 2x (2hrs 18min [5700mts])

Cycling: 3x (3hrs [60km + trainer time])

Running: 4x (3hrs 20min [20 milles {33.5k})

Totals: 8hrs 39min (8 days)

Notes* First week back to training after a 1 week mid season rest just after my Joyuda race. This week was much likely just some testing and getting use to be working out once again. I have another post devoted to test results so this is at and look forward to that one. My next race is about 3 months away on August 21rst and it would be an Olympic race were my goals is to finish close to 2hrs 30min and win the age group. After that is all about Augusta 70.3 and setting a PB there if I ever go to go there, still not sure, but there’s some probability.