Yeah, yeah. I know. Long time. No post. Don't worry. I've got stuff coming down the pipe, and I'm hoping that today's post will be the first in a series to help out those of you who are just getting in to multisport racing, or are trying to train in race on a less-than-liberal budget. You see, within the last couple of weeks, The Wife signed up to do her first duathalon. Plus, not one, not two, not three but FOUR of my close friends have also signed up for their first races. Some will be doing the YWCA Triathlon in August and one will be doing the IronGirl Du along with The Wife in September. It's pretty exciting stuff.
Folks sign up for their first Tris and Dus for all sorts of reasons, but for the most part they fall into two categories: those with a bucket list, and those seeking a lifestyle change. The bucket-listers see their first race as a new challenge, but may not have any long term plans after the race is finished. Then, you have the lifestyle-changers. Sure, their first race is a big deal, but they also have some other things lined up further off in the future.
Either way, getting set up to complete your first race could be a substantial investment. Here are just a few expenses that you may have to look forward to:
Sprint Triathlon Race Fee: $50-$150
Bike: $250-$2000
Running Shoes: $50-$120
Cycling Gear (Helmet, Jersey, Shorts, Gloves): $100-$300
Gym Membership: $20-$50 per month
Gulp.
It's easier for the lifestyle-changers to justify the expense because they know they're likely to continue to use all their new gear. It's a little bit different for the bucket-listers. Understandably, it's harder to stomach the cost when it might be just a one-time deal. Nobody wants to be looking at a $1500 bike sitting in their basement that hasn't been ridden in years.
My goal will be to help you spend your hard-earned cash effectively so that you can get the most bang for your buck. I'll go over things like choosing what kind of bike to use, how to get set up with running shoes and how to fuel yourself without breaking the bank.
If you've been racing for a while now, I'm really not going to cover anything that you don't already know. The 'Multisport on a Shoestring' series will be for my wife, my friends and any other newbies out there that just need a little nudge in the right direction.
Am I a pro triathlete or a coach? No. But, I do know how to eek every last ounce of value out of my dollar.
So, stay tuned and feel free to drop me a line if there's something that you'd like to see covered.
Toodles.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
2011 Ironman Bike Ride
Last weekend was heavy on the events. Not only did I have the Get in Gear 10K, but there was also the Ironman Bike ride. This was my 4th time doing the ride and my 3rd time in a row. This ride is infamous for it's brutal weather conditions. It seems that every year, the weather figures out new and creative ways to beat the crap out of us. In 2002, I did my first Ironman through 6 inches of wet snow. In 2009, it was torrential downpours. Last year, we had freezing rain.
This year was the most difficult of all. The word of the day was "Wind". This was no Spring breeze mind you. This was 20-30 MPH sustained winds with gusts that could peel the skin off your face. Sure, the temperature at the start was in the low 30s, but it felt closer to the mid-teens. Yikes.
Now, if it had just been me, I would have considered wussing out and just doing the 30-mile ride. But, there was a crew of 10 riders from the Twin Cities Spoke who had come out to tackle the 68 and 105-mile routes. Well, shoot. I wasn't about to let them have all the fun.
The wind was blowing straight from West to East, so naturally, the first 23 miles were predominantly straight West. Ugh. We started out as a cohesive group, but with a few different ability levels we were soon spread out. For the first 10 miles or so, I didn't know if I was going to make it to the first rest stop in Jordan. My legs were still sluggish from the 10K on Saturday and the wind wasn't helping.
Then, at about mile 12, while I was plugging along, I started getting passed by a large group of cyclists. There were about 40-50 in the peleton. My first thought was "Holy Crap! Look at all of those delicious wheels to suck on!". I shifted over into the pack and immediately my speed when from ~15 MPH to ~18 MPH. It was great. It really helped me appreciate the impact that drafting can have on speed. I was able to ride this wave all the way into Jordan before stopping for some food and to regroup with the rest of the team.
At that point we had a decision to make. As much as I wanted to do the 105-mile route, I knew that it was probably asking too much from my body. Sure, I probably could have finished it, but really, that just seemed like unnecessary abuse. So, as the group split up, some of the he-men continued on their way into the wind and the rest of us turned South.
The good news was that the wind was no longer in our faces. The bad news was that it was now trying to blow us into the ditch. I saw a guy riding with a disc wheel who I'm pretty sure is still airborne somewhere over Wisconsin. Soon though, we were in for a treat. A few miles before the next rest stop, we turned to go with the wind. Holy Moley! For the next 5 miles, I cruised along at 28 MPH. WOO HOO!
We made another pit stop in Lonsdale and grabbed some more grub. If anything, the ride organizers did a great job of stocking these rest stops with all sorts of goodies. I didn't realize how cold my body was until I tried a cup of hot chocolate. I could feel ever drop going down my throat and warming me from the inside out. Plus, there was a fire pit in the parking lot for us to warm our buns. Man, that felt good.
The next 23 miles were interesting to say the least. The route was a North and East zig-zag back into Lakeville. The wind had picked up, so it's impact was even more significant. There was one particular stretch where we turned back into the wind for about 1 mile. I was going all out, downhill, and hit a blistering 10.5 miles per hour. I was scared that if I stopped pedaling, I'd get blown back up that hill.
Fortunately, that didn't last too long before we were back to alternating between leaning into the wind and shooting across the countryside like a rocket. Soon, we were back in Lakeville and on our way back home. When it was all said and done, I had ridden 67.4 miles in 4 hours and 22 minutes. That gave me an average speed of only 15.4 MPH. Sure, it wasn't fast, but I earned every one of those miles.
Will I do this ride again next year? Eh, probably. I figure that after snow, rain, sleet and wind, what could possibly be left for the weather to throw at me?
This year was the most difficult of all. The word of the day was "Wind". This was no Spring breeze mind you. This was 20-30 MPH sustained winds with gusts that could peel the skin off your face. Sure, the temperature at the start was in the low 30s, but it felt closer to the mid-teens. Yikes.
Now, if it had just been me, I would have considered wussing out and just doing the 30-mile ride. But, there was a crew of 10 riders from the Twin Cities Spoke who had come out to tackle the 68 and 105-mile routes. Well, shoot. I wasn't about to let them have all the fun.
The wind was blowing straight from West to East, so naturally, the first 23 miles were predominantly straight West. Ugh. We started out as a cohesive group, but with a few different ability levels we were soon spread out. For the first 10 miles or so, I didn't know if I was going to make it to the first rest stop in Jordan. My legs were still sluggish from the 10K on Saturday and the wind wasn't helping.
Then, at about mile 12, while I was plugging along, I started getting passed by a large group of cyclists. There were about 40-50 in the peleton. My first thought was "Holy Crap! Look at all of those delicious wheels to suck on!". I shifted over into the pack and immediately my speed when from ~15 MPH to ~18 MPH. It was great. It really helped me appreciate the impact that drafting can have on speed. I was able to ride this wave all the way into Jordan before stopping for some food and to regroup with the rest of the team.
At that point we had a decision to make. As much as I wanted to do the 105-mile route, I knew that it was probably asking too much from my body. Sure, I probably could have finished it, but really, that just seemed like unnecessary abuse. So, as the group split up, some of the he-men continued on their way into the wind and the rest of us turned South.
The good news was that the wind was no longer in our faces. The bad news was that it was now trying to blow us into the ditch. I saw a guy riding with a disc wheel who I'm pretty sure is still airborne somewhere over Wisconsin. Soon though, we were in for a treat. A few miles before the next rest stop, we turned to go with the wind. Holy Moley! For the next 5 miles, I cruised along at 28 MPH. WOO HOO!
We made another pit stop in Lonsdale and grabbed some more grub. If anything, the ride organizers did a great job of stocking these rest stops with all sorts of goodies. I didn't realize how cold my body was until I tried a cup of hot chocolate. I could feel ever drop going down my throat and warming me from the inside out. Plus, there was a fire pit in the parking lot for us to warm our buns. Man, that felt good.
The next 23 miles were interesting to say the least. The route was a North and East zig-zag back into Lakeville. The wind had picked up, so it's impact was even more significant. There was one particular stretch where we turned back into the wind for about 1 mile. I was going all out, downhill, and hit a blistering 10.5 miles per hour. I was scared that if I stopped pedaling, I'd get blown back up that hill.
Fortunately, that didn't last too long before we were back to alternating between leaning into the wind and shooting across the countryside like a rocket. Soon, we were back in Lakeville and on our way back home. When it was all said and done, I had ridden 67.4 miles in 4 hours and 22 minutes. That gave me an average speed of only 15.4 MPH. Sure, it wasn't fast, but I earned every one of those miles.
Will I do this ride again next year? Eh, probably. I figure that after snow, rain, sleet and wind, what could possibly be left for the weather to throw at me?
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Get in Gear 10K Race Review
Summary: Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you.
Okay, you probably wanted a little more detail than that. Fine.
The Get in Gear 10K is actually a whole lot more than just a 10K. Sure, the 10K is the main event and has the most racers, but there's also a 2K fun run, a 5K and a half-marathon. There were a little over 3100 runners registered in my race, 1800 in the 5K and 1000 troopers in the half-marathon. So, at any given time during the race there were close to 6000 people out on the course.
It's kind of a big deal.
The Wife and I woke to some gloomy weather. It had been raining most of the night and the forecast said that it wasn't going to clear up any time soon. I suppose it wasn't that big of a deal. Last year was rainy too, so it wasn't something that either of us couldn't handle.
We each ate a bagel with some peanut butter and snarfed down a banana before hopping in the car to head to the course. After about 10 minutes on the road, I realized that I had made my first mistake of the day and left my bib number back at the house. Crap. So, after a little bit of lead-footed driving and a little bit more cursing, we swung back home, grabbed the missing gear and got back on the highway.
Lesson Learned: Get your act together the night before the race. C'mon, you've done this before.
The Wife's mom lives about a mile from the start line, so we met at her place and strolled over to Minnehaha Park. Our friends Ike and Maggie (and their baby, Ruth) were there too. Heck, even my mom made it this year. She was always there to cheer for me back in high school, so it was cool to see her today.
Even with all the rain, there was still a fairly intense crowd at the start. One of the hardest parts of a race this size is picking a good place in the crowd to start. If you start too far forward, you end up getting trampled by speedy folks. Start too far back and you'll be running zig-zags around the slower runners.
By the time my chunk of the crowd reached the start line, approximately 4 1/2 minutes had gone by. It was pretty jumbled up, but at least everyone was running off the start. Adrenaline kicked in and I did the best that I could getting to my goal race pace of just over 8:00 per mile. At the same time, I was playing a game of human Frogger and probably ran a couple of extra blocks going side-to-side to move up in the pack. So, my second mistake of the day was starting way way waaaaaay too far back in the pack.
Mile 1: 8:09
Lesson Learned: Be more careful when seeding yourself at the start line.
The next couple of miles were frustrating.. By miles 2 and 3, I was starting to overheat. As it turns out, I didn't need long sleeves after all and would have been better off with just a tri-top and lightweight gloves. Also (and I don't know if overheating had anything to do with it) I just couldn't get a good rhythm going. I knew that I could run faster, but every time I pushed a little harder, I just couldn't maintain the pace I wanted.
Mile 2: 8:34
Mile 3: 8:54
Lesson Learned: It's better to be cold at the beginning of the race than to be hot in the middle.
After stumbling through mile 3, I started to get angry with myself. I mean, for crying out loud, I've averaged 8:54 in easy workouts before. I tried to run with better form, focusing on mid-foot striking and leaning slightly forward with good posture. It seemed to help a little bit as my splits started to get a little better, but still weren't anywhere near my goal pace.
Mile 4: 8:43
Mile 5: 8:29
Lesson Learned: I had better start to work more on my running form.
Lesson Learned: A little rage while running isn't always a bad thing.
For the last mile and change, I tried to force every last bit of energy I had into forward momentum, but it just wasn't happening. Usually, I get an adrenaline rush that helps me finish strong. This time: no rush, just more frustration. On a positive note, I heard my mom yelling my name as I headed towards the finish chute. It took me back to cross country races back in high school. It was pretty cool.
Mile 6: 8:25
Mile 6.3: 2:12 (Remember all that zig-zagging? Well, it added another .1 miles onto the run. No biggie.
Total Time: 53:29, 8:31/mile.
Goals Reached: None. Not even my 'Meh' goal of 52:30
HOWEVER: I DID break my previous 10K record by over 3 minutes. So, um, yay!
Lesson Learned: Suck it up buttercup. Sometimes a strong performance just ain't in the cards.
Lesson Learned: Moms that always cheer for you are awesome. Plus, they don't care how crappy you think you did, which is awesome-er. AND, I had 2of them there for me yesterday. So, I suppose that's doubly-awesome.
After finishing, I stumbled around looking for where all those cheers came from. In the process, I ran into The Wife, who had just finished her race. I gave her a squeeze and slapped her on the booty in a 'good game' kind of way. I'm glad I saw her first after the race. Then we met up with the rest of our crew and made our way back to the cars.
As a special treat, Ike, Maggie, The Wife and I went to the 5-8 Club and treated ourselves to Juicy Lucy's.
Okay, you probably wanted a little more detail than that. Fine.
The Get in Gear 10K is actually a whole lot more than just a 10K. Sure, the 10K is the main event and has the most racers, but there's also a 2K fun run, a 5K and a half-marathon. There were a little over 3100 runners registered in my race, 1800 in the 5K and 1000 troopers in the half-marathon. So, at any given time during the race there were close to 6000 people out on the course.
It's kind of a big deal.
The Wife and I woke to some gloomy weather. It had been raining most of the night and the forecast said that it wasn't going to clear up any time soon. I suppose it wasn't that big of a deal. Last year was rainy too, so it wasn't something that either of us couldn't handle.
We each ate a bagel with some peanut butter and snarfed down a banana before hopping in the car to head to the course. After about 10 minutes on the road, I realized that I had made my first mistake of the day and left my bib number back at the house. Crap. So, after a little bit of lead-footed driving and a little bit more cursing, we swung back home, grabbed the missing gear and got back on the highway.
Lesson Learned: Get your act together the night before the race. C'mon, you've done this before.
The Wife's mom lives about a mile from the start line, so we met at her place and strolled over to Minnehaha Park. Our friends Ike and Maggie (and their baby, Ruth) were there too. Heck, even my mom made it this year. She was always there to cheer for me back in high school, so it was cool to see her today.
Even with all the rain, there was still a fairly intense crowd at the start. One of the hardest parts of a race this size is picking a good place in the crowd to start. If you start too far forward, you end up getting trampled by speedy folks. Start too far back and you'll be running zig-zags around the slower runners.
By the time my chunk of the crowd reached the start line, approximately 4 1/2 minutes had gone by. It was pretty jumbled up, but at least everyone was running off the start. Adrenaline kicked in and I did the best that I could getting to my goal race pace of just over 8:00 per mile. At the same time, I was playing a game of human Frogger and probably ran a couple of extra blocks going side-to-side to move up in the pack. So, my second mistake of the day was starting way way waaaaaay too far back in the pack.
Mile 1: 8:09
Lesson Learned: Be more careful when seeding yourself at the start line.
The next couple of miles were frustrating.. By miles 2 and 3, I was starting to overheat. As it turns out, I didn't need long sleeves after all and would have been better off with just a tri-top and lightweight gloves. Also (and I don't know if overheating had anything to do with it) I just couldn't get a good rhythm going. I knew that I could run faster, but every time I pushed a little harder, I just couldn't maintain the pace I wanted.
Mile 2: 8:34
Mile 3: 8:54
Lesson Learned: It's better to be cold at the beginning of the race than to be hot in the middle.
After stumbling through mile 3, I started to get angry with myself. I mean, for crying out loud, I've averaged 8:54 in easy workouts before. I tried to run with better form, focusing on mid-foot striking and leaning slightly forward with good posture. It seemed to help a little bit as my splits started to get a little better, but still weren't anywhere near my goal pace.
Mile 4: 8:43
Mile 5: 8:29
Lesson Learned: I had better start to work more on my running form.
Lesson Learned: A little rage while running isn't always a bad thing.
For the last mile and change, I tried to force every last bit of energy I had into forward momentum, but it just wasn't happening. Usually, I get an adrenaline rush that helps me finish strong. This time: no rush, just more frustration. On a positive note, I heard my mom yelling my name as I headed towards the finish chute. It took me back to cross country races back in high school. It was pretty cool.
Mile 6: 8:25
Mile 6.3: 2:12 (Remember all that zig-zagging? Well, it added another .1 miles onto the run. No biggie.
Total Time: 53:29, 8:31/mile.
Goals Reached: None. Not even my 'Meh' goal of 52:30
HOWEVER: I DID break my previous 10K record by over 3 minutes. So, um, yay!
Lesson Learned: Suck it up buttercup. Sometimes a strong performance just ain't in the cards.
Lesson Learned: Moms that always cheer for you are awesome. Plus, they don't care how crappy you think you did, which is awesome-er. AND, I had 2of them there for me yesterday. So, I suppose that's doubly-awesome.
After finishing, I stumbled around looking for where all those cheers came from. In the process, I ran into The Wife, who had just finished her race. I gave her a squeeze and slapped her on the booty in a 'good game' kind of way. I'm glad I saw her first after the race. Then we met up with the rest of our crew and made our way back to the cars.
As a special treat, Ike, Maggie, The Wife and I went to the 5-8 Club and treated ourselves to Juicy Lucy's.
 |
| Nothing says 'Sorry about the crummy race' like cheese wrapped in meat. |
Friday, April 29, 2011
Get in Gear 10K Race Preview
Have you ever had one of those workouts where you wish you could harness your performance, put it in a bottle and drink it before a race? Last week, I had that type of workout. I had recently been getting over a nagging knee injury. It wasn't serious; just a bit of a pain in the butt (er...knee). The result was that I hadn't really done any hard-core running for the last couple of weeks.
Anyway, last Saturday, I left the house for a tempo run. For those of you not in-the-know, tempo workouts are used to increase your speed over longer distances. For example, one may run a 5K at their 10K race pace, or a 10K at their 1/2 marathon pace. In my case, I wanted to get in a solid 5-6 miles to prepare me for the Get in Gear 10K.
Well, I took off on my run and, after a little complaining from my legs (awwww...do we HAVE to run today? The couch was SOOOO comfortable) I was able to find a nice, steady pace. I felt great, and everything seemed to be clicking. When my Garmin chimed in at the first mile at 8:15 I was pretty surprised. That's the fastest mile I've run since the downhill portion of the Chaska Tri last year.
I still felt fresh, so I tried to keep the pace the same for miles 2 and 3. They clocked in at 8:05 and 8:02. Mile 4 was 7:47, but that was mostly downhill, so I was cheating a little. Mile 5 was flatter, and I managed an 8:11. I was starting to really feel it at this point, but was able to push through the last .62 miles at a 7:44/mile pace. So, I covered 5.62 miles in 45:08. That's an average of 8:01 per mile. Holy Cats!
So, that brings me to the preview of the Get in Gear 10K race this Saturday. I'd love to have a repeat performance and finish with splits at or below 8:00 per mile. That would mean breaking 50:00. So, that'll be my lofty goal tomorrow.
The course is flat. Like, pancake flat. The only real hills to speak of are to get on to and off of the bridges over the Mississippi. So, if I fall short of my goal, I can't exactly blame the killer hills.
Anyway, last Saturday, I left the house for a tempo run. For those of you not in-the-know, tempo workouts are used to increase your speed over longer distances. For example, one may run a 5K at their 10K race pace, or a 10K at their 1/2 marathon pace. In my case, I wanted to get in a solid 5-6 miles to prepare me for the Get in Gear 10K.
Well, I took off on my run and, after a little complaining from my legs (awwww...do we HAVE to run today? The couch was SOOOO comfortable) I was able to find a nice, steady pace. I felt great, and everything seemed to be clicking. When my Garmin chimed in at the first mile at 8:15 I was pretty surprised. That's the fastest mile I've run since the downhill portion of the Chaska Tri last year.
I still felt fresh, so I tried to keep the pace the same for miles 2 and 3. They clocked in at 8:05 and 8:02. Mile 4 was 7:47, but that was mostly downhill, so I was cheating a little. Mile 5 was flatter, and I managed an 8:11. I was starting to really feel it at this point, but was able to push through the last .62 miles at a 7:44/mile pace. So, I covered 5.62 miles in 45:08. That's an average of 8:01 per mile. Holy Cats!
So, that brings me to the preview of the Get in Gear 10K race this Saturday. I'd love to have a repeat performance and finish with splits at or below 8:00 per mile. That would mean breaking 50:00. So, that'll be my lofty goal tomorrow.
The course is flat. Like, pancake flat. The only real hills to speak of are to get on to and off of the bridges over the Mississippi. So, if I fall short of my goal, I can't exactly blame the killer hills.
The weather is supposed to be in the low 50s tomorrow morning, which is right in my wheelhouse for fast runs. Unfortunately, it's also supposed to be rainy. I don't mind running in the rain too much. It's standing in the rain waiting for the race to start that can be a pain. Of course, hopefully I'll be working hard enough so that I'll be worried more about my achy legs and less about getting a little soggy.
One other thing to keep in mind is that this could potentially be a very crowded race. Last year, it took more than 20 minutes for the 10K runners to cross the start line. I'm hoping to start far enough back in the pack that I won't get trampled by the real runners - you know, the folks averaging under 6:00/mile. Then again, I don't want to start so far back that I have to weave through the crowd for 6+ miles.
So, lets recap:
Super-Lofty Goal: Break 50:00
Not-Quite-As-Lofty-But-Still-Pleased Goal: 51:30
"Meh." Goal: 52:30
I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how it went.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Training Hurt vs. Training Injured
As much as training and racing in triathlons has helped me get (and stay) healthier, I'll also admit that they can beat the holy heck out of your body. Over the last few years, I've had my share of minor setbacks. Last year, I developed tendinitis in my left foot, which took a good chunk out of my training right in the middle of the season. This year, I've had some minor abdominal stress along with a little patellar tendinitis in my right knee.
Now, I know that I've been pretty lucky so far. Nothing has sidelined me for any significant amount of time. Aside from juggling around a few workouts or holding back on running for a day or two, there's hasn't been a huge impact to my training. Of course, one nice thing about triathlon is that if you can't train for one sport, there are two others to keep you occupied. When I couldn't run for a while last year, it was time to rock 'n' roll in the pool. In other words, I've trained 'hurt' plenty of times, but haven't hit anything serious enough to be considered 'injured', causing me to have to stop training altogether. Again: Hurt = keep training. Injured = no training.
So, then the question becomes, "How do I know the difference?". Like most of us, I'm not going to head to the doctor every time I feel a little stiff. Shoot. If that was the case, I may as well move in to the clinic. No. As a general rule, once a body part gets hurt, I'll give it a day or two so I can understand it. After that, I'll try home therapies. If the body part starts to feel better, I'll continue. If not, it's time to see the doc to see what they have to say. Obviously, the severity of the pain is going to have a lot to do with this. If my broken shinbone is poking up through my skin, I'm not going to 'see how it goes' before heading to the doctor. Let's use my recent spell of tendinitis as an example.
Things first felt a bit 'off' near the end of a run two weeks ago on Sunday. At first, I thought that I had just tweaked my knee a bit and didn't thing much of it. I thought that I would just walk it off and it would go away on its own. Then, later in the day, while on a bike ride, things went from 'off' to downright painful. Every time I pushed down on my right pedal it HURT. Of course, I couldn't just stop and call a cab, so I just sucked it up and limped my way home. Again, I wasn't too worried. I iced it, took some ibuprofen and stayed off my feet for the rest of the day. I didn't get really worried until the next day when I woke up and it still hurt like a mother.
Luckily, I only had a swim workout scheduled on Monday, so at least my legs would get a rest. After my time in the pool, I headed home for some RICE therapy (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation). The next morning, the pain was much more manageable than the day before. "Okay," I thought, "at least we're going in the right direction."
Tuesday, my plan called for a run and a bike. Running was out. No freaking way. But, I wanted to see what would happen on a quick bike ride. I headed out on a nice, flat route that would be easy on the knees. I was definitely aware of my knee, but it felt more like pressure than pain. It was a good sign. I upped the intensity just a tad, but the pain didn't increase. So far, so good. I headed home and started icing again, just to be safe.
Wednesday was a mid-week rest day. It was good timing.
Thursday was supposed to be a long tempo run along with speed work in the pool. Well, the knee was feeling light years better compared to Sunday, but it still wasn't to the point where I was comfortable running - especially for a 100-minute sufferfest. So, I did the pool workout and then a spinning session to at least get my heart rate up for a while.
Friday was another long day in the pool. Easy-peasey. No issues.
By Saturday, I was finally ready to try running again, but I wanted it to be in a controlled environment. So, for the first time in weeks, I packed up my running gear and headed to the gym. I started at a modest 6.5 mph on the treadmill and things felt okay. Over the course of 40 minutes, I slowly sped things up to 7.0 mph. I could feel a little pressure in the knee, but no real pain. Great! We ARE on the right track. I also wore a kneecap strap, just to add a little extra support, but I'm not sure if it made any difference. Honestly, I think it only succeeded in chafing the back of my leg.
During the first chunk of the following week, I still stuck to swims and bikes. The pain was all but gone, so, by Tuesday, it was time to get back on the schedule. The plan called for a 2-hour run. Since the forecast called for snow (ugh, SNOW?!?) I hit the treadmill again. It went something like this:
Good Idea: Going for a 2-hour run.
Not-So-Good Idea: Going for a 2-hour run on the treadmill at the gym.
Bad Idea: Selecting the treadmill pointed at the TV playing a Bravo marathon of 'Pregnant in High Heels'.
Now, I know that I've been pretty lucky so far. Nothing has sidelined me for any significant amount of time. Aside from juggling around a few workouts or holding back on running for a day or two, there's hasn't been a huge impact to my training. Of course, one nice thing about triathlon is that if you can't train for one sport, there are two others to keep you occupied. When I couldn't run for a while last year, it was time to rock 'n' roll in the pool. In other words, I've trained 'hurt' plenty of times, but haven't hit anything serious enough to be considered 'injured', causing me to have to stop training altogether. Again: Hurt = keep training. Injured = no training.
So, then the question becomes, "How do I know the difference?". Like most of us, I'm not going to head to the doctor every time I feel a little stiff. Shoot. If that was the case, I may as well move in to the clinic. No. As a general rule, once a body part gets hurt, I'll give it a day or two so I can understand it. After that, I'll try home therapies. If the body part starts to feel better, I'll continue. If not, it's time to see the doc to see what they have to say. Obviously, the severity of the pain is going to have a lot to do with this. If my broken shinbone is poking up through my skin, I'm not going to 'see how it goes' before heading to the doctor. Let's use my recent spell of tendinitis as an example.
Things first felt a bit 'off' near the end of a run two weeks ago on Sunday. At first, I thought that I had just tweaked my knee a bit and didn't thing much of it. I thought that I would just walk it off and it would go away on its own. Then, later in the day, while on a bike ride, things went from 'off' to downright painful. Every time I pushed down on my right pedal it HURT. Of course, I couldn't just stop and call a cab, so I just sucked it up and limped my way home. Again, I wasn't too worried. I iced it, took some ibuprofen and stayed off my feet for the rest of the day. I didn't get really worried until the next day when I woke up and it still hurt like a mother.
Luckily, I only had a swim workout scheduled on Monday, so at least my legs would get a rest. After my time in the pool, I headed home for some RICE therapy (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation). The next morning, the pain was much more manageable than the day before. "Okay," I thought, "at least we're going in the right direction."
Tuesday, my plan called for a run and a bike. Running was out. No freaking way. But, I wanted to see what would happen on a quick bike ride. I headed out on a nice, flat route that would be easy on the knees. I was definitely aware of my knee, but it felt more like pressure than pain. It was a good sign. I upped the intensity just a tad, but the pain didn't increase. So far, so good. I headed home and started icing again, just to be safe.
Wednesday was a mid-week rest day. It was good timing.
Thursday was supposed to be a long tempo run along with speed work in the pool. Well, the knee was feeling light years better compared to Sunday, but it still wasn't to the point where I was comfortable running - especially for a 100-minute sufferfest. So, I did the pool workout and then a spinning session to at least get my heart rate up for a while.
Friday was another long day in the pool. Easy-peasey. No issues.
By Saturday, I was finally ready to try running again, but I wanted it to be in a controlled environment. So, for the first time in weeks, I packed up my running gear and headed to the gym. I started at a modest 6.5 mph on the treadmill and things felt okay. Over the course of 40 minutes, I slowly sped things up to 7.0 mph. I could feel a little pressure in the knee, but no real pain. Great! We ARE on the right track. I also wore a kneecap strap, just to add a little extra support, but I'm not sure if it made any difference. Honestly, I think it only succeeded in chafing the back of my leg.
During the first chunk of the following week, I still stuck to swims and bikes. The pain was all but gone, so, by Tuesday, it was time to get back on the schedule. The plan called for a 2-hour run. Since the forecast called for snow (ugh, SNOW?!?) I hit the treadmill again. It went something like this:
Good Idea: Going for a 2-hour run.
Not-So-Good Idea: Going for a 2-hour run on the treadmill at the gym.
Bad Idea: Selecting the treadmill pointed at the TV playing a Bravo marathon of 'Pregnant in High Heels'.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Milestones
I hit two major milestones in the last couple of weeks. First off, I passed 1000 miles of cycling miles for 2011. Now, most of those miles were on the trainer, and the trainer doesn't always accurately represent how far I've gone. Okay, technically I wasn't actually GOING anywhere, so I guess most of those 1000 miles are virtual miles. But, the work was anything but virtual, so I'm going to celebrate. Yay me.
Second - and this is a bit of a bigger deal - I celebrated my 1-year blog-iversary. Woo hoo!
Way back in 2010 I started writing as a way to document my training experiences leading up to Ironman Wisconsin. Go ahead, check out my first post. Pretty modest, eh? Well, the Ironman came and went, but the blog kept on going. Sometimes I'd post about training, sometimes I'd post about food, and sometimes I'd post about all sorts of unrelated crap.
In the end, things usually come back to training and racing. I've had a lot of great experiences and met many groovy people through swimming, cycling and running. In my mind, blogging about it is just a natural extension of being a member of this community. Plus, I like writing, and this blog allows me to scratch that writing itch in a way that I usually don't have the opportunity to out there in the Real World.
So, I'll keep writing. Sure, there's no big name triathlon this year, but I've got a marathon coming up in October, and all kinds of other goodies to look forward to this summer.
Oh, and don't forget to 'Like' me on Facebook. The more 'likes' that I have, the more it feeds my hungry ego, and the more entertaining I become.
Second - and this is a bit of a bigger deal - I celebrated my 1-year blog-iversary. Woo hoo!
Way back in 2010 I started writing as a way to document my training experiences leading up to Ironman Wisconsin. Go ahead, check out my first post. Pretty modest, eh? Well, the Ironman came and went, but the blog kept on going. Sometimes I'd post about training, sometimes I'd post about food, and sometimes I'd post about all sorts of unrelated crap.
In the end, things usually come back to training and racing. I've had a lot of great experiences and met many groovy people through swimming, cycling and running. In my mind, blogging about it is just a natural extension of being a member of this community. Plus, I like writing, and this blog allows me to scratch that writing itch in a way that I usually don't have the opportunity to out there in the Real World.
So, I'll keep writing. Sure, there's no big name triathlon this year, but I've got a marathon coming up in October, and all kinds of other goodies to look forward to this summer.
Oh, and don't forget to 'Like' me on Facebook. The more 'likes' that I have, the more it feeds my hungry ego, and the more entertaining I become.
 |
| I'm kinda like Audrey 2, except, instead of dentists, I eat Internet traffic. |
Monday, April 11, 2011
A Week of Workouts
It's been a busy week. My training plan is calling for a lot more two-a-day workouts, plus the volume is going up. So, basically, my day consists of waking up, working, working out and sleeping. Don't get me wrong though, I love getting some longer workouts in, especially since all but the swimming can be done outside now.
Here's what I've been up to over the past 7 days:
Monday
There was just a swim last Monday, and it was a speed workout at that. In general, speed workouts are shorter, but more intense. So, I spend less total time in the pool, but swim faster than race pace during the repeats. Here's the plan for Monday along with my 100-yard splits:
Warmup:
50y Swim, 50y Kick Drill, 50y Swim, 50y Kick Drill, 50y Swim.
Main Set:
400y - 1:32/100y
100y - 1:22
100y - 1:22
100y - 1:22
100y - 1:22 (how do you like THAT for consistency? Eh? EHHHH?
300y - 1:34/100y
100y - 1:25
100y - 1:26
100y - 1:25 (starting to feel it here - had to struggle to keep it up)
200y - 1:34/100y
100y - 1:25
100y - 1:25 (DEFINITELY had to work harder to keep the pace steady for these last two)
Cooldown:
3 x 75 yards (nothing fancy here, it was just enough to wind down and return to 'normal')
Tuesday
This was a long day. Since I work an earlier shift, any workout that can't be done over lunch has to wait until after I punch out. So, I packed the bike into the car the night before so I could zip out to Medina and cruise around for a 2-hour bike, before heading over to the pool for an evening swim.
I have an affinity for the roads out west. The wind can be a little rough when it's coming out of the west. It really teaches you to get nice, low and aero. I started at Holy Name Church and headed out onto the course. It was breezy, but nowhere near as bad as it could be. After 1:48 on the road and a little over 32 miles, I ended up with a 17.8 MPH average. No, it's not race pace, but for a solo ride early in the season, it's not too shabby.
So, I packed up the bike again and sped over to the nearest pool. This is where I learned a valuable lesson about fueling for workouts. You see, I had plenty of gas in the tank for a 2-hour bike ride, but I neglected to eat while riding and ended up running on fumes during the swim. Heck, I was so pooped that I had to cut the swim short. Ordinarily, I would just tough it out, but I was so drained that my swim form was turning to garbage. It was better to just cut my losses rather than practice bad form.
Wednesday
It was the 3rd day of the week, and I did my 3rd swim. This time, it was a long, steady session.
Warmup:
200y
Main Set:
2500y (1:34/100y) - I felt really good about this set. Since last year, my splits have dropped about 6-7 seconds per 100 yards. That's 2-3 minutes of saved time over a half-iron swim. Hopefully, that will get me out of the water even more quickly so that I can put more distance between myself and the stronger cyclists on faster bikes.
Cooldown:
4 x 50y - Again, nothing special. It was just enough to relax and get limber again.
After the swim, I headed home and went for a run. No, it wasn't anything epic. I just did a quick 4.25 around the neighborhood. I managed to keep my splits under 9:00/mile, but it wasn't easy. I always feel a little oogy running after a swim. Maybe it just takes a while to get my land-legs back.
Thursday
There was only one sport to work on for Thursday. Shoot, after all these two-a-days, it was nice to just worry about doing ONE thing. The weather was absolutely PERFECT for a run. It was warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt, but it was cool enough so that I didn't sweat buckets. As a result, my splits rocked. Heck, they were better than my 10K race splits from last year. In the end, I covered 6.7 miles in 57:38. That gave me an average of 8:36 per mile. Sure, I'm no runner. I mean, really, there are plenty of folks out there that can wax my fanny in running. But, 2 years ago I was grunting out 11:00 splits in training and couldn't break 10:00/mile in a race if you were chasing me with a knife.
Friday
Friday was a rest day...or so I thought. I got a text from The Wife half-way through the day asking if I would go for a run with her. She's just getting back in to running again and is aiming to to the Get in Gear 5K in a couple of weeks. So, I sure as heck wasn't going to say no. We did a 2.5 mile loop around the neighborhood. She ran the whole thing and only stopped for a stoplight. Not bad. I'm proud of her.
Saturday
I did another group ride out of Chaska with the Twin Cities Spoke, just like last week. Only, this time around it was a 38-mile loop. We were really hauling tail that morning. These guys focus a lot more on cycling than I do, so they're much stronger in the saddle.
As we got further into the ride, a handful of the faster riders picked up the pace. I tried to keep up, but ended up being just a smidge too slow. As a result, I ended up riding a good chunk of the route alone. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I got the chance to get into the aero bars again and get in some good time-trialing.
Sorry. I don't have a map for this ride. I neglected to charge the battery on my Garmin, so I had to ride nekkid on Saturday. What I DO know, is that we covered 37.75 miles in just a hair over 2 hours. That puts my average speed at about 18.1 MPH. Now, this was a group ride, and it's a heckuva lot easier to go faster in a group, especially when you hide from the wind behind the stronger riders, like I do.
Sunday
The workout plan called for an hour run followed by a 90-minute ride. The nice thing about running with a Garmin, is that you can make up your runs as you go along and always know how far you've gone. Sunday, I did another jog around the neighborhood. Near the half-way of the run, my right knee started to feel a little goofy. I didn't want this to turn into anything, so I just cut the run short and headed back home.
For the bike, I headed out to Baker Park again to meet with the folks from Beginner Triathlete. The weather was looking nasty, and the wind was really kicking up. Only one other person showed up to ride, but we still rode a good chunk of the Liberty Tri course. In the end, I did get in just over an hour and a half of riding.
My knee started to feel weird again during the tail end of the ride. It hurt just below the kneecap whenever I flexed my quad to push down on the pedal. Again, I didn't want to risk injury, so I sped home after the ride and iced that sucker.
Monday
The knee was still pretty sore this morning, so I decided to skip my evening ride. However, I was able to get in another nice swim.
Warmup:
4 x 75y, 1 x 100y
Main Set:
1000y (1:33/100y)
1000y (1:33/100y)
Cooldown
250y
So, there you have it. One week of workouts. Well, almost. I'll try to get in a longer bike later this week to make up for what I missed today. I'm not too worried yet. Every season has its setbacks. Last year, I had problems with my left foot, so a sore knee isn't too big of a deal...yet. In the mean time, I'll keep icing the sucker and concentrating on the swim.
Later gators!
Here's what I've been up to over the past 7 days:
Monday
There was just a swim last Monday, and it was a speed workout at that. In general, speed workouts are shorter, but more intense. So, I spend less total time in the pool, but swim faster than race pace during the repeats. Here's the plan for Monday along with my 100-yard splits:
Warmup:
50y Swim, 50y Kick Drill, 50y Swim, 50y Kick Drill, 50y Swim.
Main Set:
400y - 1:32/100y
100y - 1:22
100y - 1:22
100y - 1:22
100y - 1:22 (how do you like THAT for consistency? Eh? EHHHH?
300y - 1:34/100y
100y - 1:25
100y - 1:26
100y - 1:25 (starting to feel it here - had to struggle to keep it up)
200y - 1:34/100y
100y - 1:25
100y - 1:25 (DEFINITELY had to work harder to keep the pace steady for these last two)
Cooldown:
3 x 75 yards (nothing fancy here, it was just enough to wind down and return to 'normal')
Tuesday
This was a long day. Since I work an earlier shift, any workout that can't be done over lunch has to wait until after I punch out. So, I packed the bike into the car the night before so I could zip out to Medina and cruise around for a 2-hour bike, before heading over to the pool for an evening swim.
I have an affinity for the roads out west. The wind can be a little rough when it's coming out of the west. It really teaches you to get nice, low and aero. I started at Holy Name Church and headed out onto the course. It was breezy, but nowhere near as bad as it could be. After 1:48 on the road and a little over 32 miles, I ended up with a 17.8 MPH average. No, it's not race pace, but for a solo ride early in the season, it's not too shabby.
So, I packed up the bike again and sped over to the nearest pool. This is where I learned a valuable lesson about fueling for workouts. You see, I had plenty of gas in the tank for a 2-hour bike ride, but I neglected to eat while riding and ended up running on fumes during the swim. Heck, I was so pooped that I had to cut the swim short. Ordinarily, I would just tough it out, but I was so drained that my swim form was turning to garbage. It was better to just cut my losses rather than practice bad form.
Wednesday
It was the 3rd day of the week, and I did my 3rd swim. This time, it was a long, steady session.
Warmup:
200y
Main Set:
2500y (1:34/100y) - I felt really good about this set. Since last year, my splits have dropped about 6-7 seconds per 100 yards. That's 2-3 minutes of saved time over a half-iron swim. Hopefully, that will get me out of the water even more quickly so that I can put more distance between myself and the stronger cyclists on faster bikes.
Cooldown:
4 x 50y - Again, nothing special. It was just enough to relax and get limber again.
After the swim, I headed home and went for a run. No, it wasn't anything epic. I just did a quick 4.25 around the neighborhood. I managed to keep my splits under 9:00/mile, but it wasn't easy. I always feel a little oogy running after a swim. Maybe it just takes a while to get my land-legs back.
Thursday
There was only one sport to work on for Thursday. Shoot, after all these two-a-days, it was nice to just worry about doing ONE thing. The weather was absolutely PERFECT for a run. It was warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt, but it was cool enough so that I didn't sweat buckets. As a result, my splits rocked. Heck, they were better than my 10K race splits from last year. In the end, I covered 6.7 miles in 57:38. That gave me an average of 8:36 per mile. Sure, I'm no runner. I mean, really, there are plenty of folks out there that can wax my fanny in running. But, 2 years ago I was grunting out 11:00 splits in training and couldn't break 10:00/mile in a race if you were chasing me with a knife.
Friday
Friday was a rest day...or so I thought. I got a text from The Wife half-way through the day asking if I would go for a run with her. She's just getting back in to running again and is aiming to to the Get in Gear 5K in a couple of weeks. So, I sure as heck wasn't going to say no. We did a 2.5 mile loop around the neighborhood. She ran the whole thing and only stopped for a stoplight. Not bad. I'm proud of her.
Saturday
I did another group ride out of Chaska with the Twin Cities Spoke, just like last week. Only, this time around it was a 38-mile loop. We were really hauling tail that morning. These guys focus a lot more on cycling than I do, so they're much stronger in the saddle.
As we got further into the ride, a handful of the faster riders picked up the pace. I tried to keep up, but ended up being just a smidge too slow. As a result, I ended up riding a good chunk of the route alone. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I got the chance to get into the aero bars again and get in some good time-trialing.
Sorry. I don't have a map for this ride. I neglected to charge the battery on my Garmin, so I had to ride nekkid on Saturday. What I DO know, is that we covered 37.75 miles in just a hair over 2 hours. That puts my average speed at about 18.1 MPH. Now, this was a group ride, and it's a heckuva lot easier to go faster in a group, especially when you hide from the wind behind the stronger riders, like I do.
Sunday
The workout plan called for an hour run followed by a 90-minute ride. The nice thing about running with a Garmin, is that you can make up your runs as you go along and always know how far you've gone. Sunday, I did another jog around the neighborhood. Near the half-way of the run, my right knee started to feel a little goofy. I didn't want this to turn into anything, so I just cut the run short and headed back home.
For the bike, I headed out to Baker Park again to meet with the folks from Beginner Triathlete. The weather was looking nasty, and the wind was really kicking up. Only one other person showed up to ride, but we still rode a good chunk of the Liberty Tri course. In the end, I did get in just over an hour and a half of riding.
My knee started to feel weird again during the tail end of the ride. It hurt just below the kneecap whenever I flexed my quad to push down on the pedal. Again, I didn't want to risk injury, so I sped home after the ride and iced that sucker.
Monday
The knee was still pretty sore this morning, so I decided to skip my evening ride. However, I was able to get in another nice swim.
Warmup:
4 x 75y, 1 x 100y
Main Set:
1000y (1:33/100y)
1000y (1:33/100y)
Cooldown
250y
So, there you have it. One week of workouts. Well, almost. I'll try to get in a longer bike later this week to make up for what I missed today. I'm not too worried yet. Every season has its setbacks. Last year, I had problems with my left foot, so a sore knee isn't too big of a deal...yet. In the mean time, I'll keep icing the sucker and concentrating on the swim.
Later gators!
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