Where’s Waldo

First of all, I apologize for my lack of blogging over the past couple weeks. I’m still around though, still training, and have some good thoughts to write about, so don’t stop checking back. Better yet, if you subscribe you’ll get email notice whenever I make a new post.

We are nearing the end of the month, and the end of the holidays. I’ve been reconsidering some of my training strategies, and will share those ideas soon.

In the current issue of LAVA magazine (the Kona edition) there is a picture of me. It’s much like finding Waldo though. I mentioned it to Jonathan Jefferson at the triclub meeting, and he found it pretty quick. If you happen to find it, post a comment. If not, I’ll mention the page number in a later post.

Hope everyone had a great December and has a great New Years!

Base2 Week3 Training Summary, 2011 Race Plans

I am pretty much using a 2 week build with a 1 week rest cycle, but for Base 2 Period I am doing a 3 week build. Part of this was to get my weekly run plan with the weekly training cycle. My runs are currently on a 3 week build, with my long runs at 14, 17, 20 miles. I am planning on holding this mileage for the long runs, but gradually run them faster. I may cut back on the mileage if needed to achieve the run paces I want to run. My weekly run mileage is also building on a 3 week cycle, with the next cycle plan being 37, 40, 43 miles. As the pace increases I may reduce the mileage, but am planning on a maximum run mileage of 40, 45, and 50. Although I think of the running cycle starting with the low mileage and building over 3 weeks, the actual periods consist of 2 build weeks and a rest week, so the rest week is the start of the next run cycle, but the end of the current training period. Does it matter? Well, yes. The periods have specific training goals, mostly with progressive intensity, so the rest week should have the same intensity as the previous two weeks instead of increasing the intensity during the rest week to the next training period.

Okay, I’ve probably confused anyone reading that. Don’t bother dissecting it. It’s not the point of this post.

Now, summary of the training this week:

Total Swim: 14,900 yards

Total Bike: 180 miles

Total Run: 40.3 miles (goal was 40 miles)

Long Run: 20 miles (goal was 20 miles)

Total Training Duration: 20.6 hours

TSS: 1150 (goal was 1200)

Overall I am pleased with the training this week. You might have noticed that the TSS this week was about 100 higher than last week, and the training duration was almost ½ hour less. This is because of higher intensity in the biking and running. I tried to keep out of L1 (active recovery) for much of the biking, increasing the amount in L2 and L3 power ranges. Running is starting to feel better, so I’ve been able to increase the pace a little bit.

I’ve also looked a lot at my race plan for the year, beyond Ironman California 70.3 on April 2, 2011. Molly and I had planned on going to Paris for the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200K Brevet. The event is scheduled for 21-25 August, 2011. We know that we are going to have to move in August, possibly overseas. Also, our youngest son will be starting college in August, so we’ll be moving him into wherever he decides to go to school. We will have some vacation time, but we decided that planning on going to France for two weeks will be a little too much chaos. Trying to figure out what other goals to pursue in 2011 I realized that there are many options. I talked to several friends about what they were doing, read race reports, and considered a lot of races. I ended up deciding to register for Ironman St George on May 7, 2011.

Many of the Ironman events sell out very quickly. Some sell out in minutes, and this an entire year before the event! Ironman St George registration has been open for seven months, and is still open. Why? It has a reputation of being a very challenging course. The non-completion rate was high, and there were a lot of complaints. Yes, bad ass ironman triathletes were wining about how tough the race is. I get it, in a way, but Ironman is supposed to be an ultra-triathlon, and some of the most famous ultra events are known for their tough elements. I’ve seen recently “beginner” Ironman training plans. Should beginner and Ironman be put together? I’ve met people that had lottery spots into Kona, and after they do the 70.3 event to validate their lottery spot, Kona ends up being their second (and often last) triathlon. This also happens with “beginner” triathletes that move right into registering for an Ironman. In many ways it is awesome that everyday-nonathletic-people can become an Ironman, but many of those people are missing out on a great culture and lifestyle of triathlon. I’m always baffled when I see people acting as if an Olympic distance race is beneath them when they can’t even break 3 hours. They obviously could benefit a lot by appreciating the challenge of improving their time at a shorter distance race.

Okay, enough ranting about that…

Ironman events have a lot of appeal because when you finish “…you are an Ironman!”, and you may potentially qualify for Kona (Ironman St George there are 65 spots available for Age Group athletes). If you are just trying to finish an Ironman, and unsure of meeting the 17 hour cutoff, an “easier” race may be more desirable. If you are trying to qualify for Kona, a fast race might make people think that they would have a better chance of qualifying. There are still only 65 spots available! I do agree that a more challenging race provides a lot of opportunity for the race to go bad, and is more challenging to execute a good race. I went back and forth on this because hills have never provided me an advantage. Finally I realized though that a challenging course like this really fires up the drive to prepare properly. Some of my favorite races have been the toughest ones.

An example I have of a tough race is the Bataan Death March Memorial Marathon. This is a hilly marathon, and the military heavy weight division is in boots and cammies, and carrying a 35# ruck. Training for it was extremely tough, and the race was epic. I’ve longed to do this race again (did it twice) but the opportunity to do Ironman California 70.3 (2011 with be 4^th consecutive year) has made me decide not to do it. This year Ironman St George is going to be my Death March.

After Kona I wasn’t sure if I would do it in 2011 because PBP was going to be my biggest event for the year. Since I’m not doing PBP, and my friend Matt Dixon qualified for Kona at Ironman Arizona, I’ve decided I really need to go for a spot. I still don’t know if I’ll even come close to meeting that goal, but right now I’m fired up and determined to give it my best shot.

Thanks for reading. Let me know if you are doing Ironman California 70.3 or Ironman St George 140.6.

Weekly Training Summary

Today ends my Base 2, week 2 training. My goals for the week were:

Long run of 17 miles (Done!)

Sub-threshold run of 11 miles (Done!)

Total run mileage 37 miles (Actual 37.5)

85% threshold power on climbs (Done!)

85% threshold power intervals (Done, twice!)

Training Stress Score of 1100 (Actual 1076)

Totals for the week:

Swim 12,150 yds

Bike 192 miles

Run 37.5 miles

Time 21 hours

TSS 1076

Here is my power distribution for the week (L1-L4):

 

November Training Summary

November 1 I began my training for the 2011 season. Below is a summary table of the month’s totals.

Nov 2010
Swim	56,250 yd
Bike	697 mi
Run	143 mi
TSS	4270
CTL ∆	11.2
Weight ∆	-5 lbs

Using the PMC calculator, I predicted a CTL on 11/30 of approximately 128.2, but was actually at 132.4.

East Miramar, 5X10

I went out for some more intervals today, similar to the previous 3X12 and 4X12 intervals I wrote about. This time I chose to do 10 minute intervals because the 12 minute ones covered the length of the road at East Miramar, and I figured doing 5X10 would only be a small increase from 4X12. I kept the same rest interval, 3 minutes, but didn’t keep the intervals exactly at 10 minutes. With the 12 minute intervals I had the visual cue of the road ending soon, so I knew I was at the end of the interval. I kept the same power goal of 300 watts, didn’t pay much attention to cadence, just went by feel, and did the last interval with 53X12 gearing.

Int	Time	Cadence	AP	NP
1	10:25	92	305	299
2	10:00	91	309	303
3	10:16	93	308	301
4	10:32	89	303	298
5	10:51	66	320	317

Overall, I feel pretty good with each split. Even the first interval was a bit more challenging today than three days ago because my TSB today is -17, and on Monday it was -14.8. I did a 17 mile run yesterday evening which my legs were still feeling. The last interval was at the low end of my L4 (threshold), which wasn’t my goal, but it felt good pushing with tired legs.

Today I came across a blog post where the author took a beginning ironman training plan and mapped out the performance management chart (PMC). You can read the post here. There are some interesting points that could be made from the author’s revelations as he mapped out the 20 week training plan. I think the post shows how many of us (myself definitely) are trying to figure out how to effectively use a power meter, analysis software, design training plans, etc. I was talking to a triathlete a couple weeks ago that was commenting on how he liked the data analysis I write about in my blog, but that he doesn’t really understand any of it. I said “oh, you don’t have a power meter?” and he said “actually I do!” There is so much being said about power meters that many people think they should buy one, but when you end up with one, what do you do with it? These are great tools for coaches because the data is so quantified, and if the coach is familiar with how to analyze the data they can really tweek an athlete’s training plan and make sure the athlete is progressing toward their goals effectively. Most people don’t have a coach, however, and even if you do have a coach it is pretty cool learning about how the power meter can be used to improve your training.

I certainly welcome comments/questions/feedback. I had a good discussion with TCSD member Brad Wise, and I think those discussions are important to learning how to self-coach more effectively. Brad’s blog is here.